People & Life
People & Life on Weekend America
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Campaign Addiction
The presidential campaign has been hard to avoid lately as we really get into crunch time. But following it can take many forms. Some Americans keep a casual eye on it. For others, it's different - the race is an obsession. But you've got to know where to draw the line. When does an interest in current events become dangerous to your health and happiness - an addiction?
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Urban Cowboys
New York City and cowboys. They have nothing in common, right? Different landscapes, different characters, different values. Well, a group of New Yorkers have figured out a way to live the cowboy lifestyle in the most urban environment. The Federation of Black Cowboys' stable sits just feet away from the noisy Belt Parkway near JFK airport.
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Jadis: Santa Monica Prop Shop
Need a huge, double-pole, triple-throw knife switch? Well, if you're trying to create a new life form out of a bunch of left over body parts, you really can't do without one. It's the thing you pull before the thunder crack. You can find a knife switch and other curiosities at a very unusual antique store and prop shop along Main Street in Santa Monica. It specializes in odd laboratory equipment.
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"Get Ready for Love"
It's time to listen to your weekend soundtrack: The songs that bridge the gap from Friday to Monday. Our latest story comes from Kevin Bunten, an addiction counselor in St. Louis, Mo. On the weekend, he likes to listen to a track by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds called "Get Ready for Love."
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Political Dreams
Sometimes you don't have to be a political junkie for the presidential candidates to seep into your subconscious. Each time you turn on the TV or read the news, there they are. For some people, these sounds and visions have made their way into their dreams. But what does it all mean?
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Coming Out
This weekend is National Coming Out Day. But coming out can still be dangerous and risky. Pape Mbaye is a well-known, openly gay Senegalese entertainer. In February, a magazine published photos of him attending an underground gay marriage that started an onslaught of threats and attacks. With the help of human rights organizations, Pape has attained refugee status in the United States. He's been living in New York for a month.
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Google Goggles
Ever had the clever idea late at night - after you've had a few - to email your crush, or your ex? Google wants to save you from yourself. Gmail debuted something called "Gmail Goggles" this week. If you're emailing late on a Friday or Saturday night, it flings a quick math test up on your screen to see if you're really fit to send that email. If you flunk, your message doesn't go anywhere. Will an "email breathalyzer" work?
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Debate Advice
Did you watch the debate last week? Millions of you did. If not, you have only one more chance. Wednesday night in New York is the third and final contest between John McCain and Barack Obama. That means this weekend, the Obama and McCain camps are trying to get their candidates ready to make one last push. Even though they didn't ask for it, we decided to get some advice for the candidates, so we brought in two of the top high school debaters in the area.
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Open Letter to a Thief
Just two months ago, someone broke into Weekend America producer Angela Kim's apartment while she was away. Everything was taken, including her computer and two backup hard drives. Along with many possessions, six years of digital memories are suddenly gone. Angela wonders how she can regain what was lost.
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Everyday Sidewalk Poetry
A street party is getting underway here in St. Paul to celebrate a collection of poems by local residents that's been published on paper - and in cement. For the last few months the city has been implanting poems penned by St. Paulites in freshly poured sidewalks all over town. The public art project is designed to engage residents' artistic impulses and bring more poetry into everyday life. Chris Roberts of Minnesota Public Radio has the story.
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Letters: Black Hebrews and Google Bets
It's time to open the Weekend America mailbag and hear your responses to recent shows. This week we hear listener reactions to a difficult childhood as a Black Hebrew in Israel; how we settled bets in the days before Google; and we wonder why nobody admits that listening to the radio is part of weekend fun.
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John Henry vs. Book Shovel
Every once in a while a piece of technology changes an industry completely. Imagine what it would have been like to be a scribe when the printing press came out in 1439. Well, booksellers have gone through a similar experience recently. They've spent their whole lives gathering arcane information about the books they sell - and now an invention has come along and made all that studying completely unnecessary.
