THE BOB EDWARDS SHOW, April 23-27, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012: Robert Santelli is the former CEO of the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and he currently heads the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Santelli has also written several books about popular music. His latest is titled, This Land is Your Land: Woody Guthrie and the Journey of an American Folksong. The Grammy museum is partnering with the Woody Guthrie Foundation to observe Woody’s 100th birthday this year. Then, for many years, Woody Guthrie’s daughter Nora has offered her father’s unpublished lyrics to musicians with an interest in setting his words to their music. The latest album in that effort is New Multitudes. It’s a collaboration between four longtime friends with separate bands, working together for the first time. They are Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, and Jim James. Bob talks with Jay Farrar and Anders Parker about the project.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012: Writer Seth Grahame-Smith found surprising success with his 2009 novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It became a New York Times best-seller and spawned many imitators. Another best-seller, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter followed in 2011 (Tim Burton’s film version will be out this year) and now Grahame-Smith returns with Unholy Night, another dark revisionist tale. Here he tells his story of the Three Wise Men from the Christian nativity, murderous thieves who unwillingly become guards for Mary, Joseph and their newborn’s journey into Egypt. Then, when David Finland was 21 years old, his mother Glen tried to teach him to use the Metro in Washington, DC. If her autistic son could learn the train system, then she figured he could get a job and if he could get a job, then he could move out, and if he could move out, then maybe her marriage to David’s father could get the jumpstart it needed. Glen Finland shares their bittersweet and humorous stories in Next Stop: a Memoir of Family.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012: Bob talks to Dale Farran, professor of education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody School, about her research on early childhood learning. Then, at a dinner party in 1997, a rich lawyer asked, “I mean you’re a teacher, Taylor. Be honest. What do you make?” Taylor Mali took offense and since then has been on the defense. His poem “What Teachers Make” has been viewed more than five million times on Youtube and he now has a book by the same name.
Thursday, April 26, 2012: As an ex-felon, writer Jack Gantos might have seemed like an odd choice to win this year’s Newbery Medal, the most prestigious award in children’s literature. But Gantos has been writing acclaimed books for young people for years, including his popular Joey Pigza series. His most recent novel Dead End in Norvelt was awarded the 2012 Newbery Medal and the 2012 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Then, Dan Gediman is the Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. He discusses the 60 essays in the new collection, This I Believe: On Motherhood.
Friday, April 27, 2012: Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times joins Bob to discuss the latest political news. Next, actor John Cusack rose to fame after his starring role the 1989 off-beat teen hit film Say Anything. Since then, Cusack has been a mainstay in American cinema, starting in cult hits like High Fidelity and Being John Malkovich, as well as Hollywood blockbusters like 2012. In Cusack’s most recent film, the actor plays horror writer Edgar Allen Poe in the period thriller The Raven. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Annie Azzariti. She believes that when a loved one dies, their life should not be measured by awards, achievements or by how much money left behind. When Azzariti’s mother died, she and her siblings found an archaeological treasure trove of family mementos. Hand-made clothes, photographs, telegrams, report cards and years of Mother’s Day jewelry had all been lovingly wrapped and saved. Azzariti says her mother’s life revolved around her three children, and the keepsakes of their shared lives prove the depth of her love.