Weekend America for OCTOBER 14, 2006
Hour 1
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Electioneering
With the upcoming midterm elections around the corner, political ads will be all over the televsion this weekend. We called up actor and voice-over expert D.C. Douglas to find out how he uses his voice on the weekend.
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Alaskan Oil Crisis
This month, many Alaskans will get over $1,100 deposited into their bank accounts. The deposits are Permanent Fund Dividend checks, an annual cut of the state's $35 billion in oil wealth. But if the state's so rich, why is Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offering free heating oil to some native villages? It turns out that in one of the country's top oil-producing states, heating oil costs $7 a gallon in some remote communities. And most villages have accepted Chavez's offer. We sent independent producer Ashley Gross to a community just north of the Arctic Circle.
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- Music Bridge:
- Black Forest
- Artist: Radio Citizen
- CD: Berlin Serengeti (Ubiquity)
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Capote and Carson
Joanne Carson was close friends with Truman Capote for 18 years. They met when he was at the height of his professional life--days before the Black and White Ball and the same year "In Cold Blood" was published. Joanne was married at the time to Johnny Carson. Truman even lived with Joanne off and on, until he died in her arms in 1984. Since the writer's death, Joanne Carson has been the custodian of many of his things. She has recently decided to part with over 300 of Truman's possessions.
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- Music Bridge:
- Peninsula
- Artist: Flanger
- CD: Spirituals (Nonplace)
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Indie Pick: The Poems
Critic Mark Wheat brings a new record from the Scottish band, The Poems, called "Young America." We listen to a track called "Sometime, Somewhere, Someone Should Say Something."
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Early Frost
A record amount of snowfall dumped on Buffalo, New York yesterday. According to the U.S. National Weather Service, it was the "snowiest" October day in Buffalo in their 137-year history. We call up some Buffalo residents, to see how they are weathering the storm.
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- Music Bridge:
- I Am The Arm
- Artist: Cale Parks
- CD: Illuminated Manuscript (Polyvinyl)
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Check Mate
The title winner was announced yesterday at the World Chess Championship in Elista, Russia. Chess isn't just a game played on the board, it's about playing with each other's minds. Bill talks strategy with author David Shenk, who wrote "The Immortal Game: A History of Chess."
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- Music Bridge:
- Lift Every Voice
- Artist: Jason Moran
- CD: Artist in Residence (Blue Note)
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Cold Diving
It's fall, not normally a time when most of us would choose to scuba dive off the coast of British Colombia. But Independent producer Cathy Duchamp says the waters off of Canada have some of the best scuba diving in the world, lush and rich with color. This weekend, she takes the chilly plunge.
Hour 2
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Population Now
This week, the U.S. Census Bureau expects the country's population to reach 300 million, bringing the issue of immigration to the fore yet again. Now, at 300 million, we'll see how the issues of population and immigration play out in Stillmore, Ga., and another small town in Kentucky. Last month, immigration officials arrested and deported dozens of Mexican workers in Stillmore, and many have started over in Kentucky.
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- Music Bridge:
- A Little Something
- Artist: Aeroc
- CD: Idol Tryouts Two (Ghostly)
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Afghan Education
After September 11, Iranian-American Fary Moini was so moved by the plight of Afghani women, she decided to open a school for girls in Afghanistan. So far she has been able to organize the construction of a school, including dorms for 2,000 girls. But in the process, her marriage of 21 years has collapsed and she has lost her tuxedo rental business. Independent producer Peter Crimmins brings us her story from San Diego.
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- Music Bridge:
- Glacier
- Artist: ROM
- CD: Rom (Wimm)
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Indie Music Pick: Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Mark Wheat, music host on the Current, joins Bill Radke to talk about the latest independent release from Bonnie "Prince" Billy, called "The Letting Go." We hear the first track, "Love Comes to Me."
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Miramar Air Show
Sean Tucker is one of the hardest working stunt pilots in the business. He's performed in over 20 air shows just this year. Back in June, we spoke to him after he lost his beloved stunt plane, Challenger, in a tragic crash. This weekend, Sean is planning to take to the sky, in his new plane, at the Miramar air show in Southern California. We talk with him from the ground.
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- Music Bridge:
- Springfield
- Artist: Arthur Russell
- CD: Springfield (Audika)
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Remembering How to Play
Guest host Tess Vigeland was a piano prodigy as a child. She was a groomed concert pianist, and then one day she stopped playing. Tess recently sat down at the keys, and much to her surprise, it all came rushing back to her. We take a look at music and memory.
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Mottephobia
Yesterday was Friday the 13th, which is enough to send shivers up the spines of people with paraskevidekatriaphobia. Weekend America's Hillary Frank has spent a lot of time researching phobias like paraskevidekatriaphobia. Her upcoming novel follows seven teenagers, each with a different phobia, one modeled on her own fear. Hillary has her own fear, she's terrified of things with wings that flap around, like moths, butterflies, and bats.
