The Bob Edwards show, February 10-14, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014: In 1956, the government leaders of Mississippi created the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a secret organization that spied on Civil Rights activists. Director Dawn Porter’s documentary, Spies of Mississippi, tells its history and airs February 10th on the PBS series Independent Lens. Then, Bob talks to African American poet and National Book Award finalist Marilyn Nelson about her latest book, How I Discovered Poetry.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014: The Death Class: A True Story about Life is a book by award-winning reporter Erika Hayasaki about a professor, Dr. Norma Bowe, and her “Death in Perspective class,” which she teaches at Kean University in Union, NJ. This hugely popular, unorthodox class has boasted a 3-year waiting list, and many of the students who have taken it have been uniquely affected by it. Then, Bob talks to electric soul band The Honorable South about their tour and forthcoming album.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014: MIT professor Craig Steven Wilder has documented a shocking history of Ivy League universities. Not only were they funded by slave-owners and built by slave labor, many actually had slaves working on the campus – imagine slaves being whipped in Harvard yard. Most of the universities have gone to great lengths to cover up this history that is just now being fully realized. Wilder’s book is titled Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities.
Thursday, February 13, 2014: In 2004, Sonali Deraniyagala and her family—her parents, husband and two sons—were vacationing in Sri Lanka. A tsunami swept the family away, killing all but Deraniyagala. Her book, Wave, is now out in paperback, and was an Amazon and New York Times Best Book of 2013. Then, National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Richard Powers talks to Bob about his latest novel Orfeo.
Friday, February 14, 2014: Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times, joins Bob to discuss the latest political news. Then, Philomena Lee, whose story inspired the Oscar nominated movie “Philomena” starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. Philomena Lee is an 80-year-old Irish woman who spent decades searching for a son she had to give up when he was just a toddler, and she an unwed teenager. Catholic nuns took the boy and had him adopted to a couple living in the United States – a common practice in Ireland at the time – and then refused to help Philomena re-connect with her son. She then met a BBC journalist who helped her learn about her son’s life.