The Bob Edwards Show, October 7-11, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013: The indie rock band Okkervil River has been a critical darling since the late 1990s. The group formed in Austin, Texas but the founding members first met at a New Hampshire boarding school years before. The parents of bandleader Will Sheff taught at Kimball Union Academy and despite his subsequent success and cross-country touring, Sheff’s thoughts often returned to his childhood spent in tiny Meriden, New Hampshire. The songs on Okkervil River’s latest album are autobiographical and set in that specific place during the year 1986. Bob talks with Sheff about his hometown, his songwriting process, the band’s unusual name and Okkervil River’s brand new CD titled The Silver Gymnasium. Then, Paul Schomer of Radio Crowd Fund is back again to share some new music, this time from up-and-coming band Olin & The Moon. Their new CD is being produced by indie music star Ryan Adams.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013: After being diagnosed with breast cancer, British writer and activist Siobhan Dowd worked out all of the plot details for what she hoped would be her final book for young people. Tragically, she passed away in 2007 before she was able to write it. Award-winning writer Patrick Ness accepted the difficult charge to write the book in her stead, and his finished book, A Monster Calls, won the Carnegie Medal and the Greenaway Medal, Britain’s highest awards for children’s literature. Candlewick Press has released A Monster Calls in a new edition for adult. Then, Michael Chabon won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Now, the celebrated writer turns his attention to San Francisco’s bay area, centering his book Telegraph Avenue around a vinyl record store. It’s now out in paperback.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013: Bob welcomes back famed author Margaret Atwood to discuss MaddAddam, the conclusion to the trilogy of novels which started with Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the Booker prize. Then, Ashley Monroe is one of the three members of the band “Pistol Annies,” along with Miranda Lambert and Angeleena Presley. Her new solo album is Like a Rose. That title track was created when Monroe used the phrase “But look at me, I came out like a rose” after telling Guy Clark, who co-wrote the song, her life story. Finally, Bob talks once again with Paul Schomer who runs the new music discovery blog www.radiocrowdfund.com. This time he shares the music of two new acts – The Seattle band Dark Horses and Austin-based orchestral pop band Mother Falcon.
Thursday, October 10, 2013: Today marks two noted anniversaries. First, the 40th anniversary of the day Spiro Agnew agreed to resign as Richard Nixon’s vice president. Bob speaks with Jules Witcover about his book Very Strange Bedfellows: The Short and Unhappy Marriage of Nixon & Agnew. Then, today also marks the 200th anniversary of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s birth. Bob talks with writer and SiriusXM’s Met Opera Radio commentator William Berger about Verdi’s life and legacy. Berger is the author of Verdi With a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of the King of Opera.
Friday, October 11, 2013: Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times, joins Bob to discuss the latest political news. Next, Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy joins Bob to discuss the evolution of affirmation action and more from his latest book For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action and the Law. Finally, the latest installment of our ongoing series This I Believe.