The Bob Edwards Show Highlights – October 10-14, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011: John Carlos won bronze in the 200 meter dash at the 1968 Olympics, but it was his raised-fist salute alongside gold medalist Tommie Smith that etched him into the lasting iconography of sports. His autobiography, co-written with progressive sports journalist Dave Zirin, is titled “The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World.” Then, today is Columbus Day and we celebrate by dipping into the archive to bring back Bob’s interview with James Reston. He explains how pivotal the year 1492 was in his book Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011: One of the most famous photographs to come out of the Civil Rights era is of a black high school girl, dressed in white, walking stoically in front of Little Rock Central High School, while behind her stands a white girl screaming racial epithets, her face showing rage. The two girls are now grown women, and. In 1962, Hazel Bryan Massery tracked down Elizabeth Eckford and apologized. The two had a public reconciliation in 1997. Journalist David Margolick tells the history of their lives and complicated relationship in a new book, Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock. Then, our resident folklorists Steve Winick and Nancy Groce delve into the folk life collection at the Library of Congress to bring us sounds and songs having to do with law and order.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011: Then, Irish writer Eoin Colfer is famous as the author of the highly popular Artemis Fowl books for young people. Now he’s giving adults a taste of his fast paced and often very funny prose with Plugged, a noir crime capper set in New Jersey.
Thursday, October 13, 2011: Deborah Fallows set out on a mission to understand the nuance of “ai,” the Mandarin word for love, after a Chinese friend asked her (in Mandarin) which of her sons she loved more. Fallows was learning the language while living in China for three years with her husband, Atlantic writer James Fallows. In her book, Dreaming In Chinese, Fallows explains how learning Mandarin helped her better understand modern China. It’s now out in paperback.
Friday, October 14, 2011: Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times joins Bob to talk about politics and other news. Next, scholar, literary critic and best-selling writer Stephen Greenblatt’s book The Swerve: How the World Became Modern examines the ancient Roman document that inspired the Renaissance. As one of the founders of New Historicism and one of the most important scholars of our age, Greenblatt is also the author of, among other works, Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Catherine McDowall. When McDowall was in middle school, she threw a party for her classmates, and her mother made her invite everyone — popular and unpopular alike. Since then, the motto “everyone is included” has guided McDowall’s life. She strives to treat everyone equally, reaching out to provide a helping hand and a friendly smile.