Weekend America for Saturday, August 28, 2004


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How did your life collide with the headlines in 2007?
Iraq, the subprime crisis, Facebook, immigration, oil prices - 2007 had no shortage of hefty headlines. We'd like to hear about how these and other major news events of the past year affected you. Where did your life collide with the news in 2007?

What's your holiday performance story?
The office talent show, the neighborhood caroling posse, the school pageant ... At holiday time we often sing, dance, and dress as shepherds. Did you bloom in the warmth of your audience's adulation, or freeze up like the snowman you'd rather be building? Did your holiday performance change your life or that of someone close to you?

Broadcast Information for August 28, 2004

Music Bridge: Start From Scratch
Artist: Galactic
CD: Crazyhorse Mongoose (Capricorn)

Heckling the President
We talk with graphic designer Glenn Hiller of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, who was fired from his job for heckling President George Bush during a political rally last week.

Related story:
"Worker fired for heckling president"

Heckling Dylan
That's the way it is for hecklers: Their target is famous and they're anonymous. You've probably never heard of Keith Butler, but he pulled off what may be the greatest heckle of all time.

Music Bridge: Like a Rolling Stone
Artist: Bob Dylan
CD: Bootleg Series Vol 4 Bob Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall (Columbia)

Photo courtesy
High Country News

Olympics Update
Our man in Athens is Adam Burke, who's been telling us about life in the city during the Olympics. Here are his impressions over the past 15 days.

Online resource:
Olympics official Web site

Music Bridge: Soul Miner
Artist: Tommy Guerrero
CD: A Little Bit of Something (Mo-Wax)

Convention Flashback
Thousands of protestors have swarmed into Manhattan as they prepare to demonstrate at the Republican National Convention. It's interesting to note that today - August 28 - marks the 36th anniversary of the Chicago riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Producer Barrett Golding created a montage of this momentous, violent event.

Online resource:
PBS - Retrospective: Going Back to Chicago

Music Bridge: For What It's Worth
Artist: Buffalo Springfield
CD: Buffalo Springfield (Atlantic)

Weekend Weather
Weekend America's survey of events, celebrations, unplanned gatherings and -- of course -- weekend weather.

Weather reports:
From hour 1
From hour 2

The Real Price of Chicken
So you clip coupons and watch the grocery store circulars - but are you really getting a good deal? If you're looking to tighten the belt, your food budget is a great place to start because it's got the most flexibility, but it takes a little research, as our own frugal queen - Tanya Ott - reports.

Online resource:
Chicken Calculator

Sports and Mirror Neurons

Listen
Why do we get so emotional when watching sports? The answer is simple - scientific research has found that our brains charge up while someone else does the action. To find out more about the science of mirror neurons, we went to a baseball game with Dr. Michael Arbib, professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California.

Listen
We then talk to Alla Svirsky -- coach, gymnast and former Olympic judge -- to get a sense of how much the mirror theory works. Alla is director of the LA School of Gymnastics.

Online resources:
Los Angeles School of Gymnastics
Michael Arbib Bio.
"Mirror Neurons"
"Monkey Do, Monkey See ... Pre-Human Say?"

Music Bridge: Markscheider Kunst
Artist: Kvasa Kvasa
CD: World 2004 (Wrasse)

"Rivalry"
What happens when teenage antagonists are forced to merge? J. Robert Lennon reads his short story about high school wars called "Rivalry."

Music Bridge: Fire in The Middle
Artist: Nightmares on Wax
CD: Carboot Soul (Wrap)

Amanda Smithers
Bentley

Listener Letters and the Magic Bed
Last week we asked listeners to send us letters about sleep. We liked one in particular sent by Amanda Smithers Bentley called "Magic Bed."

Online resource:
Amanda's Blog

Would you like to share?
Send us your stories

Featured in Hour Two

Phyllis Owens

Reliving the Bully
Our colleague Phyllis Owens confronts someone from her past. She tells us a story about a bully she knew in grade school, how this person terrified her life, and their encounter 30 years later. We then speak with clinical psychologist Jim Coane about Phyllis' experience.

Online resources:
Listen: Jim Coane talks about Phyllis' experience and the process of dissociation.

David Benioff

Live Chat with Author and Screenwriter David Benioff

"Troy" was his latest screenplay. He also wrote "The 25th Hour" for Spike Lee, and his new book of short stories, "When the Nines Roll Over."

Listen
David talks about dissociation, the writing process and his recent collection of short stories.

Listen
David recalls his experience of being a DJ in Moose, Wyoming, and taking liberty with Homer's "The Iliad."

Online resources:
Benioff's book, "When the Nines Roll Over," is available at the Public Radio BookSource.

Music Bridge: Nude on the Moon
Artist: Tipsy
CD: Trip Tease (Asphodel)

Elena Maroulleti

Scoring the Olympics
We check in with Greek-American broadcaster Elena Maroulleti from WNYE in Astoria, New York. She scores the Olympics for us.

Online resource:
Aktina FM Web site

Ray Charles
Tony Bennett
James Brown

Jazz Picks
We talk with Jazz Times writer Nate Chinen, who tells us what to choose, and what to leave behind in the music bin.

Set list:
Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word & Here We Go Again -- Ray Charles from the album, Genius Loves Company (Concord Records)
Darn That Dream -- Tony Bennett from the album, Cloud 7 (Sony)
For Once In My Life -- James Brown from the album, Soul on Top (Verve)

Music Bridge: Arabic
Artist: The Claudia Quintet
CD: I, Claudia (Cuneiform)

Gallery

Rosenstrasse
In a little known incident in history, German women lodged a silent protest and secured the release of their Jewish husbands and children from the Rosenstrasse detention center. Barbara Bogaev has an interview with survivor Dr.Gerhard Weiss, Professor Emeritus of German at University of Minnesota, whose father was held for a week at Rosenstrasse. The incident is also the subject of a recently released film by director Margarethe Von Trotta.

Online resources:
"Movie Web site"

Music Bridge: Setting Sail
Artist: Gorodisch
CD: Thurn and Taxis (Leaf)

For the August 28, 2004 broadcast:

... on our December 15 broadcast:

» Weekend America
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» The Huckabee Mystique: See video of Mike Huckabee and Chuck Norris.

» Another Great Moment in Small Talk: Read how Charlie Schroeder became an unpopular "tool" because of Borat.

» Listener Letters: Renewable Christmas Trees: Read listeners' alternate endings to "Puff the Magic Dragon."

» Sign Up for the Weekend America weekly newsletter: Find out what's on the upcoming show, and listen to the most popular previous segments.

Weekend Weather

From the July 5 broadcast

Awful Car Night

Auburn, N.Y.
National Brewery Museum Opening Ceremony

Potosi, Wis.
Sand Sculpture Contest

Bruce, S.D.
Oregon Coast Geezer Games

Newport, Ore.
Annual Coolest Fourth of July Celebration

Fort Davis, Texas
Maui Invitational Band Festival and Blues Fest

Wailuku, Hawaii

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This week: Have you exper-
ienced any strange seasonal changes: springtime plants sprouting; squirrels sunbathing?
Let us know...

Weekend Weather

Awful Car Night

National Brewery Museum Opening Ceremony

Sand Sculpture Contest

Oregon Coast Geezer Games

Annual Coolest Fourth of July Celebration

Maui Invitational Band Festival and Blues Fest