The Bob Edwards Show, June 11-15, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012: Derek Jacobi is one of Britain’s most celebrated and respected actors. He first left his mark on the stage after being invited by Laurence Olivier to become a founding member of the Royal National Theater. Jacobi has played most of Shakespeare’s major roles, but it was his performance as a stuttering Roman emperor in the epic BBC series I, Claudius that brought him international attention. Acorn Media has just released a 35th anniversary edition of I, Claudius on DVD. And last year the company released Discovering Hamlet, a 1990 documentary about Jacobi’s directorial debut with Kenneth Branaugh as Hamlet.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012: The author of almost 100 books, writer, children’s book author and illustrator, and public radio regular, Daniel Pinkwater is one of America’s most important voices in young people’s literature. His most recent book is Mrs. Noodlekugel. Then, Bob talks to Dale Cockrell and Matt Combs about Pa’s Fiddle, a CD series and live musical events that bring to life the songs found in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House On the Prairie series. Charles “Pa” Ingalls was an avid fiddler, and the Little House books contain 127 old-time songs embedded in the narratives. Cockrell is the director of Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Popular Music. Combs is director of the fiddle program at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music and is one of the primary fiddlers on the project.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012: 40 years ago Finland implemented its economic recovery plan. Education was its central focus. Since 2000, Finland’s educational system remains among the top three on the globe; its students lead the world in reading, math and science. Bob talks to Pasi Sahlberg, Director General of Finland’s Ministry of Education, about his book Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? Then, in 1912, Clarence Birdseye was working as a fur trapper in Canada and tired of the heavily salted foods that he ate during the long winter. On returning to America, Birdseye developed the patented Birdseye freezing process and started the company that still bears his name. Best-selling writer Mark Kurlansky tells his story in Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man.
Thursday, June 14, 2012: Every momentous turn in human history is tied to a place — Italy during the Renaissance, France during the Enlightenment and England during the Industrial Revolution. David Talbot is the founder and CEO of the online magazine Salon, and he tells the story of San Francisco during the cultural revolution of the 1960s and 70s in the new book, Season of the Witch. Talbot’s narrative encompasses everyone from Harvey Milk to Jerry Garcia, Charles Manson to Jim Jones, and the events and movements they came to represent – all building blocks in what has come to be known as “San Francisco values.” Then, Bob talks sports with John Feinstein, Washington Post columnist and co-host of SiriusXM’s “Beyond the Brink” (Mad Dog Radio, channel 86).
Friday, June 15, 2012: Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times, joins Bob to discuss the latest political news. Next, looking back at last year’s Libyan civil war, award-winning journalist Lindsey Hilsum’s new book Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution gives readers a ground-floor view of the tumultuous Arab Spring. Hilsum is the international editor for Britain’s Channel 4 News. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Mary Curran Hacket. When Curran Hacket was a child, her father’s never-give-up lectures were heard often by his eight children. She never did anything to challenge his fortitude until she became pregnant in her early twenties out of wedlock. Curran Hacket says her father didn’t lecture her – but he didn’t give up on her. And that inspired her not to give up on her own child.