Weekend America

Teaching War

This week President Bush laid out his new strategy for Iraq. And for the first time he also acknowledged that mistakes have been made. We'll go to West Point, one of the country's leading military colleges, to find out how the Iraq war figures into the coursework. Then we'll talk with Lieutenant Colonel Ike Wilson, who teaches policy and strategy courses at the college.

Americans on the Hajj

This weekend tens of thousands of Americans are recovering from a long spiritual journey. The Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, is one of the pillars of Islam--all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to go must make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. This year the Hajj fell at the end of December, when a lot of the U.S. is on vacation anyway, and that made it easier for many American Muslims to make the trip. Ulises Mejias and Asma Barlas are a married couple from Ithaca, N.Y. They returned last Saturday. And they had very different experiences.

Us and Them

Often on Martin Luther King Jr. Day we get asked to treat one another like brothers and sisters. But recent research about the brain may point to reasons why this brother and sisterhood never seems to come about. It shows that the portion of the brain that controls fear is activated when encountering the face of someone who is "other." But Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky wrote an essay at Edge.org about his hope that the us/them dichotomy can become more benign.

A Day of Service

Last week on the show, we asked our listeners what they would be doing to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This week, we hear some responses.

Watching the Other War

A major focus this week has been the war in Iraq, but some have been riveted by the escalating conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia, one that the U.S. has recently become involved in. Minnesota has a large Somali population, upwards of 25,000, and we go to a Somali mall in Minneapolis to see how people are reacting to the news from home.

All Hail the Saints

A year ago, the New Orleans Saints were 3-13, the second worst team in the National Football League and, by all accounts, as dead as the city they represented. Now, one year later, the Saints are making one of the most unlikely runs in NFL history. They are in the playoffs, two wins away from the Super Bowl. A playoff victory tonight won't fix the problems in the city. But with the game in New Orleans Saturday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Saints are inspiring a city in desperate need of inspiration. Keith O'Brien has the story.

Remembering MLK

On Friday night, Martin Luther King's voice filled Temple Israel in Hollywood. The synagogue recently found long lost tapes of a sermon King gave there in 1965 and played them in an interfaith service in honor of the slain civil rights leader's birthday. It was an occasion to remember the force of King's oratory and the power of his ideas and also to recall how revolutionary they sounded in 1965.

Training for Change

This year Philadelphia is hosting their 12th annual Martin Luther King Day of Service. It's the largest event honoring Dr. King in the country. People can sign up to do things like remove graffiti from public buildings and prepare meals for the poor. But George Lakey, the founder of Training for Change, and his colleagues, say service projects like these are not really true to King's legacy. We play some excerpts from Martin Luther King's speeches for four members of Training for Change, to find out how they believe King should be interpreted.

Good News, Bad News, No News

Good News, Bad News, No News

Our panel of non-experts review the week's events in a parlor game to gauge what kind of week America had. Weighing in is Amy Hungerford, a professor of literature at Yale, our weather guy and culture vulture, John Moe, and writer Nancy French.

Beauty Pageant, Sort Of

This weekend, the 101st Annual National Western Stock Show is in full gear in Denver, Colo. Ranchers from around the country have been bringing their prized cows, sheep, horses and other livestock to compete and show off. Tom Field, a professor at Colorado State University, knows a little about showing off: he's selected nine students from his school to exhibit their best cows to the thousands that attend this event. They'll arrive at dawn to shampoo, blow-dry and primp these four-legged creatures and Field will be there to advise them.

Model to Musher

In Glenallen, Ala., this weekend, several dozen mushers are grabbing their sleds and letting their dogs out for the Copper Basin 300 sled dog race. Mushing is Alaska's official state sport, and many people in the state mush recreationally and/or competitively. While some Alaskans jump on a sled and take hold of the reins as soon as they can walk, others come to it from an entirely different direction. Alaska Public Radio's Rebecca Sheir has our story about a woman who found the sport after a modeling career.

Drowsy Bear

This past week there have been numerous reports from all over the world about bears that are off their normal hibernating schedules. Some reports suggest that bears are forgetting to hibernate altogether. Most people are linking this behavior to global climate changes, which are outlined in the annual report recently released by the National Climatic Data Center. We talk with John Hechtel, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, to get his thoughts about what's really going on.

Tour of Groovy

This weekend the local New Hampshire band, Groove Alliance, is embarking on their first international tour. They are calling it "Deadly Force Tour 2007" and their first stop is in Iraq. The band will be playing four to five shows to benefit the Starfish Network, an organization dedicated to sponsoring surgeries for children in Iraq. They will be playing for officials, service men and women, and Iraqis. We talk with Mike Pacheco, the lead singer, and his band mate Jesse Silva.