The Bob Edwards Show, November 21-25, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011: Guantanamo has become perhaps the most notorious prison in the world, but its use in the global war on terror is only the most recent chapter in what has been a long, complicated and strange history. Harvard historian Jonathan Hansen tells the story of the American naval base on the southeastern coast of Cuba in his new book, Guantánamo: An American History. Then, English director Simon Curtis’s new film My Week With Marilyn brings together an all-star cast led by Michelle Williams as the iconic actress Marilyn Monroe and Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier. Based on Colin Clark’s 1996 memoir, the movie shows the on-set tension between Monroe, who wanted to be considered a serious actress and an aging Olivier, who was trying to revive his screen career during the production of the 1957 film The Prince and The Showgirl.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011: Reporter and former editor of The New York Times Michael Cannell tells the wild but true tale of the race track rivalry between driver Phil Hill and his teammate, the German count Wolfgang von Trips. Cannell’s book is The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011: The album Note of Hope has taken Nora Guthrie 12 years, one divorce, one re-marriage and two grandkids to complete. It’s another collaboration of words from her father Woody Guthrie, set to music by other musicians. The new album features performances by Jackson Browne, Ani DiFranco, Lou Reed and Pete Seeger.
Thursday, November 24, 2011: Steve Roberts has written a book about immigration at a time when it’s a hot topic in Washington. But From Every End of This Earth is not about politics or policy; it’s a collection of thirteen stories from thirteen families about the new lives they made in America. Then, each year about one million people renounce the birth of their country and swear allegiance to the United States of America. A few years ago, one of those new American citizens was filmmakerAlexandra Pelosi’s Dutch-born husband, Michiel Vos. “I can’t be a foreigner in my own family,” Pelosi recalls her husband saying. His story inspired Pelosi to travel the country attending naturalization ceremonies and hearing the stories of brand-new Americans. Her film is titled Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip.
Friday, November 25, 2011: Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times joins Bob to discuss the latest political news. Next, KFC is as an iconic American company, but Colonel Sanders generates more revenue from the Chinese than Americans. And because of their collective buying power, the chicken-eating decisions those Chinese consumers make influences the menu at the KFC on Main Street, USA. Karl Gerth is an Oxford historian who studies the implications of Chinese consumerism. His book, China Made: Consumer Culture and the Creation of the Nation, examined the connections between nationalism and consumerism in China in the first half of the twentieth century. His newest book explains why we should all care about the everyday choices made by ordinary Chinese. It’s called As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers are Transforming Everything. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Korinthia Klein. She is a lifelong musician who knows the power of the perfect song. When Klein was young, her grandfather was her biggest fan, but he always requested one song she didn’t know — “Amazing Grace.” When her grandfather was dying, and medication could not ease his pain, Klein played “Amazing Grace” for him, and saw the comfort her music brought.