Weekend America Voices
Angela Kim
Recent Stories
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Coping With Olympic Withdrawal
If you've had Olympic fever the last two weeks, well, your temperature is about to go down. The Olympic torch will soon be extinguished and fans of international contests in diving, beach volleyball and trampoline will have to wait four years until the next summer games in London. Those who have been glued to the past two weeks of coverage will have a letdown - what else compares to the Olympics? When else does the country go crazy for a swimmer? More importantly, what do Olympic junkies do now?
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To Choose a VP
Barack Obama and John McCain each have a big decision to make: who to pick for a running mate. There's a lot at stake: in a close election, the right running mate could tilt the balance. And with Al Gore and then Dick Cheney, the VP's office has become a powerful one.
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Gigs by Canoe
Summer is a time for music, but what happens when your musician can't afford to get to you? Christopher Bell has remedied the rising cost of gas by deciding to canoe to his shows. He's in week two of his six-week tour down the Erie Canal. He hopes to make it to Manhattan by the end of the tour.
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Getting Race Right
From immigration to Sen. Barack Obama to Middle Eastern prejudices, race is a hot topic in the news. Journalists are meeting this weekend at the Unity convention in Chicago to discuss how race and ethnicity is covered by the media. Weekend America's Desiree Cooper is at the event, and she speaks with two seasoned journalists about the difficulties of accurately reporting on racial diversity.
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Waterfalls Along the East River
If you are walking this weekend along the East River in New York City, you might notice something different: waterfalls. It's New York's largest public art project since Cristo's "The Gates" two years ago in Central Park. We talk to residents about their first impressions, and hear from the artist himself.
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Three Decades of Bakke's Mixed Legacy
Thirty years ago today, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of U.C. Regents v. Bakke that public institutions can't put quotas on minority student enrollment. But the ruling wasn't clear-cut about the role of affirmative action. Desiree Cooper talks with University of Houston professor Cathy Horn about the ruling's impact.
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Economy, War and Military Recruiting
All branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, with the exception of the Army National Guard, have been either meeting or exceeding their monthly recruiting goals. That's a surprise, given American discontent over the war in Iraq. MIT professor Cindy Williams has studied military recruiting trends, and says there is more to the numbers than people think.
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Those Summer Song 'Ear Worms'
It's summer, and that means that elusive summer song is about to make its way into your brain and take up residence. Do you remember songs from your past summers? And why can't you get them out of your head? Psychologist and author Dan Levitin explains how those "ear worm" songs actually stay on your mind, even if you don't want them to...
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Rocking Out in the War Zone
"Heavy Metal in Baghdad" is now playing in selected cities. It's a documentary about two New York filmmakers who go to Iraq in search of the metal band Acrassiacauda. It's about the band trying to stay together as musicians while surviving a war. We talk to the band's drummer and the film director.
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Teen Researcher Targets PTSD Treatment
Ilana Rice is only 16, but she's already making a difference for veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She's linking treatment of PTSD with the relationships veterans make with those who haven't seen the horrors of war, and how that dynamic might lead to better treatment.
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When Southern Cooking Migrates North
What does the story of food say about the American story? Amy Evans, an oral historian with the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, visited Chicago to collect stories from restaurants specializing in Southern recipes and soul food. Those stories mirror the African-American experience.
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What Makes a Great War Movie?
The second-annual GI Film Festival gets underway in Washington, D.C. this weekend. They're showing a mix of recent feature films, documentaries, even some classics. Larry Suid is a military historian, speaking on a panel today about the 100 greatest war movies. Desiree Cooper asks what makes a good war film.
