Bob Edwards Weekend, September 7-8, 2013
HOUR ONE:
Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times, joins Bob to discuss the latest political news.
In her latest book, Rose George once again chronicles a little-known world that we’d prefer to know little about. Her previous book, The Big Necessity, was an anthropological study of human waste. George’s new book is titled Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate. George explains why you should care about the men who steered your breakfast cereal through winter storms.
New music enthusiast Paul Schomer joins us again with another batch of artists you’ve probably never heard of. Schomer runs the new music discovery blog called RadioCrowdfund.com and shares new songs by Jack Wilson, Lo Fine, Northern Hustle and Huxlee. He’s also here to spread the word about the fundraising campaign to commission a memorial gravestone for the blues singer Mamie Smith.
Then, the latest installment of our ongoing series This I Believe.
HOUR TWO:
On June 10th of this year, Army veteran Daniel Somers left behind a grieving family and heartbreaking letter that began, “I am sorry that it has come to this. The fact is, for as long as I can remember my motivation for getting up every day has been so that you would not have to bury me.” Unfortunately, Daniel did commit suicide, adding to this appalling statistic: on average, 22 U.S. military veterans take their own lives every day. Considering that figure, coupled with the massive backlog of veterans waiting for help from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Bob wanted to find out if there is a connection. In this documentary, “End of Watch: What Happens to US Veterans Waiting for Help,” we hear from former Veterans Affairs workers who resigned in protest of VA practices and procedures. Bob also talks with a few of the more than 700,000 veterans currently waiting in line to get the benefits they were promised upon enlisting.
Visit Bob Edwards Weekend on PRI’s website to find local stations that air the program
Dear Mr. Edwards,
Thank you for the exceptionally important and moving story today (9/8) about the plight of our nation's veterans. This is indeed a humanitarian crisis that too few Americans know much about. Every American should hear your program.
With appreciation.
I am a veteran who is thankful to the DaV for processing my claim without them I would probably be under a bridge or dead the entire VA system is flawed the administers get bonuses and awards for not finding benefits should be the opposite peace to all we are the terrorists remember that remember your Oath
hi this is a son of a veteran with ptsd my father has been fighting for his disability for near six years now i heard your show this morning on the way to work and were hoping you could help out my father and mother the veterans in northern new york are treated like less than human my father spent a bit over three years in the military and worked for 33 years after that my father edward charleson and my mother monique live off 700 dollars a month and cant afford to pay the light bill right now national grid agreed to wait until my father got his disability to receive payment in full long story short my parents are currently living without power and are forced to spend nearly fourty dollars a day in fuel to keep there food good and be able to maintain good personal hygien not to mention run my mothers bi pap machine and my fathers oxygyn machine at night my father worked hard and paid his dues to this country it time he returns the same courtesy i believe if you could contact me at 315-389-4539 or at and give me some ideas to help us out i would appreciate it thank you very much for your time
sincerely joshua w. charleson