Weekend America

Searching for Pig's Eye, Minn.

As the Republican Party gathers in St. Paul, Minn., few people following the convention will realize that "St. Paul" is not the city's original name. It was originally "Pig's Eye Landing" after French settler and bootlegger Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, then later changed to the more pious and proper sounding "St. Paul." It's kind of like what happens to a city when a big event comes to town; things are tidied up and made to look sharp. But what about those old Pig's Eye elements to St. Paul?

Dread of Back to School

This is back to school weekend. For parents, it's a relief. But for students and many teachers, it can create a feeling of dread. Even kids who like school and teachers who love their jobs get this feeling of resentment, fear, even animosity at the prospect of returning. Many adults, long after graduating, also report that feeling of dread at the end of summer. It's a serious thing. We wanted to hear from folks who are going through it right now.

Poetry Radio Project

Summer Cottages

This weekend, lots of folks are saying goodbye to their summer homes, at least until next year. Boats are coming out of the water, beach blankets are heading for the closet. Poet Cornelius Eady and his wife, graphic designer and writer Sarah Micklem, won't be doing either one of those things.

Weekend Soundtrack

"Dancing With Tears In My Eyes"

It's time to listen to your weekend soundtrack - the songs that bridge the gap from Friday to Monday. Our latest story comes from Greta Sproul. Greta is the editor of the Penobscot Times in Old Town, Maine. She told us the soundtrack to her weekend is "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" by Ruth Etting.

After the Floods

It was three years ago that Katrina made landfall in the southeastern corner of Louisiana. Within a day, New Orleans was filling with water. But small towns along the coast were also devastated by Katrina, and by Hurricane Rita, which would follow less than three weeks later. We take a road trip to the hurricane-ravaged bayous along the Southern Louisiana coast to see how the recovery is going.

Song & Memory

Song and Memory: The New Christy Minstrels

In our latest installment of Song and Memory, we hear from acclaimed non-fiction writer Luc Sante. He was born in post-war Belgium, but his parents soon emigrated to New Jersey. It was while living in the suburbs of the Garden State that Luc Sante first discovered folk music. At the time, folk was so big that it had its own television program, "Hootenanny." The show made quite an impression on a boy from a strict Catholic family in post-war Europe. This piece comes to us from the public radio Web site, HearingVoices.com.

One Delegate

John McCain, Sarah Palin, loads of other Republicans and approximately five billion members of the media are heading to St. Paul. It's the Republican National Convention. Delegates will be casting their votes and nominating the McCain-Palin ticket. Delegates are expected to unite behind the candidate since dissension could be seen as politically toxic. This was the case in 1972 as well, when the Republicans were united behind Richard Nixon. Well, almost united.

An Extra Day

It's a three-day weekend for many Americans, an extended weekend to hit the beach one more time. Or a state fair to have one last food item on a stick. But more and more Americans get to enjoy a three-day weekend every week. An increasing number of towns and cities, even school districts, are adopting four-day weeks in an effort to curb energy use. It often means longer days at the office, working four ten-hour days, but there is that one extra day off.

Good News, Bad News, No News

Veeps, Fastballs, and Slow Death.

Republican John McCain has chosen as his running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Is that Good News, Bad News or No News?

Grunt It Out

Tennis fans have migrated east this weekend to watch the U.S. Open. If you listen closely, you can hear the chair umpire at Arthur Ashe stadium try to calm down the New York fans. Maybe a Bronx cheer would work a little better than the standard "Quiet, please." Of course, there are other sounds that come to mind whenever gladiators of the court gather.

Biloxi's Luck

It's been three years since Hurricane Katrina. The damage to flooding and botched response to the flooding in New Orleans has gotten the most attention. But it was actually Mississippi that received the full brunt of Katrina's 120 mile-per-hour wind and 27-foot storm surge. In Biloxi, Miss., the casinos that sat on huge barges in the bay were washed inland and destroyed. But the coastal casinos are now making record profits, more than one-billion dollars in revenue last year.

Instant Novel

When Nancy Janoson tells people what she does for a living, the answer is usually "jazz musician." But this weekend, it's "writer." She's a participant in the Three Day Novel Writing contest. For contestants like Nancy, this weekend is all about self-exile. The choices for things to do are limited to drinking pots of coffee, sleeping only long enough to keep your eyes from blurring, and writing until your hands cramp.

Getting Back to the Mainland

Labor Day provides another three-day weekend. Some people take advantage of that extra day in unique ways. Rob Schroeder loves to travel, and over one recent three-day weekend, he satisfied his bug with a trip to Culebra, a tiny island just off the coast of Puerto Rico. Schroeder hiked, snorkeled and just plain old relaxed. Everything went according to plan. That is, until he got to the airport.