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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?

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Broadcast Information for June 26, 2004
Music Bridge: Start From Scratch
Artist: Galactic
CD: Crazyhorse Mongoose (Capricorn)
Political Polarization
Can we all get along? Boston College political scientist Alan Wolfe says we can and we do, despite the way politicians act. But Scott Keeter of the Pew Research Center says we don't get along, and he has the polls to prove it. We'll divide the duties: Barbara speaks with Wolfe, while Alex speaks with Keeter.

Suggested reading:
More about Alan Wolfe
More about Scott Keeter


Will Markson 2004
Laugh,
Register,
Vote...
A Uniter, Not a Divider
We hear from fictional candidate Will Markson, who blends the red states and the blue states into purple prose. Markson is the political alter ego of Bill Shein.

Online resources:
www.markson2004.com
"Will Markson - Compassionate": The 60-second commercial that started it all! Will demonstrates the insight, compassion, and heart he brings to his campaign for America.
"Will Markson on 'Menudogate'": Will admits he was a member of the boy band "Menudo" in the early 1980s, and -- gasp! -- actually apologizes for hiding the truth.

Music Bridge: Ragtag
Artist: Mercury Rev
CD: Goddess on the Highway (V2)

Kristi reviews...
Roy Ayers
Amp Fiddler
Zap Mama
Soul Salvation
Barbara gets some soul salvation, with an R&B chaser, courtesy of Kristi Lomax. She's the host of "Restless Soul" on radio station KPFK 90.7 fm, Los Angeles.

Kristi's set list:
Sugar, Roy Ayers from the CD, Virgin Ubiquity: Unreleased Recordings 1976-1981 (Studio K7)
Soul Devine, Amp Fiddler from the CD, Waltz of the Getto Fly (Pias America)
Bandy Bandy, Zapp Mama (Carl Craig Remix - unreleased)

Skerker the Soothsayer of Weekend Weather...
Ben Skerker's unusual survey of events, celebrations, unplanned gatherings and -- of course -- his prognostications on weekend weather.


City Rankings
first: Seattle
last: Cleveland
Listening Post: Kid-Friendly Cities
This week, Population Connection (once known as Zero Population Growth) released its list of the best and worst "Kid Friendly" cities in America. Barbara looks at the rankings with a happy Ross Reynolds, a talk show host from KUOW in Seattle, the town that topped all major cities in the "Kid Friendly" rankings. We'll also hear from Dave Pignanelli from WCPN in Cleveland, the city near the bottom of the chart.

Online resource:
Kid Friendly Cities: Report Card 2004
"Seattle, Des Moines most child-friendly cities" (USA Today)

Music Bridge: Daylight (Radio)
Artist: Osborne
CD: Daylight 12" (Ghostly International)
Public Conversations: Abortion
Barbara meets two women who were part of the Public Conversations Project, an effort in Boston to find common ground between people with opposite political views.

Online resource:
www.publicconversations.org
PCP's Abortion Workshop

Music Bridge: Tonic Water
Artist: Jet Black Crayon
CD: Low Frequency Speaker Test (Function 8)

Lewis & Clark
On the Trail of Lewis & Clark
It's the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark journey, and this summer, we're going to feature places along the trail. Radio producer Barrett Golding and his friend Josef Verbanac bicycled and kayaked the Lewis & Clark Trail, and sent us audio postcards on the people and places they found along the way.

More from Golding and Verbanac on Lewis & Clark:
"Biking with Lewis and Clark" parts I, II, III, IV at Savvytravler.org
"Pedaling Lewis and Clark" at the Living On Earth Web site

This story comes from HearingVoices.com, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Music Bridge: Frost Heaves
Artist: Jay Farrar
CD: From Soundtrack to "The Slaughter Rule" (Bloodshot)

Pat Duggins Enlarge
In Search of the Perfect Food: Key Lime Pie
WMFE/Orlando News Director Pat Duggins keeps his eyes on the heavens as part of his usual duties covering NASA and the space program for NPR. But today, Pat's in pursuit of a heavenly creation here on earth: the perfect key lime pie.

Online resources:
Blonde Giraffe Bakery in Miami

Music Bridge: Wouldn't it Be Nice
Artist: The Beach Boys
CD: Pet Sounds (Capitol)
Cinema Politique
As Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" hits movie screens, Alex speaks with Jim Hoberman, senior film critic at the "Village Voice" about the historical intersections between cinema and politics.

Learn more about these films at the Internet Movie Database:
State of the Union, PT 109, Bulworth

Music Bridge: Guns Don't Argo
Artist: Ennio Morricone
CD: The Legendary Italian Westerns (RCA)

Ulysses S. Grant
Grant Writer
Bill Clinton's book may have made more money, but no ex-President has written a better book of memoirs than Ulysses S. Grant. The Civil War hero wasn't much of a President . but he was a terrific writer, according to Kenneth C. Davis - the author of the "Don't Know Much About" series of history books. Alex speaks with Davis about the first Presidential autobiography authored a century ago by U.S. Grant.

Online Resources:
"Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant" is available at the Public Radio BookSource. Your purchase helps support Weekend America.
Kenneth C. Davis is the series author of "Don't Know Much About..."

Music Bridge: The Aces Breakdown
Artist: The Four Aces
CD: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music Volume 4 (Revenant)

Fine-Tuning U.S./Cuba Policy
On June 30th, the United States is tightened travel and trade policies with Cuba. Independent journalist Reese Ehrlich profiles an expert on American relations with Cuba: a piano tuner who's gotten in trouble time and again for his "Send a Piana to Havana" program.

Online resource:
www.sendapiana.com

Penguin Letters
What if we could give the universe a piece of our mind? That cause was taken up by TIMOTHY MCSWEENEY'S INTERNET TENDENCY, an online literary magazine. From time to time, we'll be airing the magazine's "Open Letters to People and Entities Who Are Unlikely to Respond." This week, a letter to penguins.

Online resources:
Read Tony Cross' open letter to penguins
Submit an open letter to McSweeney's Open Letters to people and entities who are unlikely to respond

Hungry March Band
Barbara introduces us to the Hungry March Band in Brooklyn, the hippest marching band since Harold Hill landed in Iowa.

Online resources:
The Hungry March Band Web site
Video of the Hungry Marching Band in action
Image gallery of parades and festivals
Listen to the Hungry March Band live at the Asparagus Festival


Karen Guttieri
Iraq and the Handover
In four days, the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq will transfer sovereignty to the Iraqi people. How will that work and what does it mean? Alex speaks with Karen Guttieri, a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Post Graduate School. She's an expert in "war termination."

Online resource:
"More about Karen Gutierri

Music Bridge: Crevette Le Bandit
Artist: Billy Mahonie
CD: Bucolique Vol. 1 (Arbouse Recordings)

Richard Paul
Betting on Politics
If the media cover the Bush-Kerry contest like a horse race, why not pick a pony and lay down a bet? Our election guy Richard Paul says you can, and he tells Barbara the bookies that set the presidential odds often understand more about politics than the pundits do.

Presidential Futures in the U.S. and Ireland:
Iowa Electronic Markets
Tradesports.com
Presidential Markets game presented by Frontline and Marketplace

Legal Betting in the UK:
William Hill Online Betting
oddschecker.com
readaBet.com

More about Richard Paul:
www.rlpaulproductions.com

Use It Again Road Show
Right now in Seattle, people are flocking to a garage sale with the best deals in town. It's called the Use-It-Again Road Show, and everything is free. Reporter Cathy Duchamp, from partner station KUOW went to one recently. She's here to explain how it works.

"The Use-It-Again Road Show schedule"
www.letsrecycle.com
www.recycle.com
Internet Consumer Recycling Guide
ServiceMagic.com - find a recycling service in your neighborhood
www.epa.gov/recyclecity/
www.nrc-recycle.org

Music Bridge: Do you Wanna (Soul Party Mix)
Artist: Mr. Scruff
CD: Verve Remixed 2 (Verve)
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As Mentioned on Weekend America
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As Mentioned on Weekend America
... on our December 15 broadcast:

» Weekend America
iPodEnhanced Podcast:
Skip back and forth through stories, see images on iTunes and on your iPod, all with better sound quality.
» 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.
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Weekend Weather

From the July 5 broadcast

As Mentioned on Weekend America
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