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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 December 25, 2004
Opening Music: Start From Scratch
Artist: Galactic - CD: Crazyhorse Mongoose (Capricorn)

Borzou Dargahi
 Christmas Patrol in Baghdad
Correspondent Borzou Daragahi reports on how American soldiers are spending their Christmas in Baghdad.

Online resource:
More about Borzou Daragahi

Music Bridge: Si Paloma
Artist: Sun Kill Moon - CD: Ghosts of the Great Highway (Badman)
Mayoral Wish - Part 1
Most soldiers from Paris, Illinois are serving in a National Guard unit that has lost five soldiers, more than any other unit in Illinois. Alex Cohen asked the town's mayor, Craig Smith, about his Christmas wish for his town.
Music Bridge: My Comfort Remains
Artist: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook - CD: Night Song (Pakistan)

Vitaliy Shyyan
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Ukrainian Election Update
Ukrainian elections happen tomorrow. Earlier this month, Weekend America spoke with a Ukrainian graduate student living in Minnesota about how it feels to watch his country's election from afar. We check in with him to find out if he is going to vote.

Online resources:
More about Vitaliy Shyyan

Weekend America Music Picks
 Classical Music Picks
You've heard of minimalist art -- a black square on a white background, for example. But what about minimalist music? Steve Smith of Time Out New York has these classical picks: John Adams, Steve Reich and Slow Six.

Steve's set list:
Short Ride in a Fast Machine - John Adams from the album, Earbox: A 10-CD Retrospective (Nonesuch)
Different Trains - Steve Reich from the album, Reich: Different Trains, Triple Quartet, etc / Robertson (Naive)
Evening Without Atonement - Slow Six from the album, Private Times in Public Places (If.Then.Else.records)


Mayoral Wish - Part 2
Guest host Alex Cohen talks with the mayor of Santa Claus, Georgia about his holiday wishes.
Weekend Weather
Weekend America's John Moe takes a look at weather patterns and Saturday happenings all across the country.

Weather reports:
hour 1 | hour 2

Music Bridge: Beat Connection (Disco Dub Version)
Artist: LCD Soundsystem - CD: DFA compilation #2 (DFA)

Supersized Santa
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Santa Sleuth
What happened to the 30-foot Santa Claus on highway 101, just north of Los Angeles? Weekend America producer Phillip Babich took his curiosity and his microphone to find out.
Music Bridge: Feliz Navidad
Artist: Los Straitjackets - CD: Tis the Season For (Yep Roc Records)
Inquiring Minds
Three professors join Bill Radke to debate the question, "What academic discipline is most relevant to America today: Science, Religion or Literature?"

More about the debate participants:
Bob Goldberg, Unversity of California, Los Angeles
Sandy D. Martin, University of Georgia
Amy Hungerford, Yale University


Scientology Pageant
Gallery
Scientology Pageant
Alex Cohen went to a production of "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant" and has a review to share with Bill Radke.

Online resources:
Official Scientology website
A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant

Music Bridge: Christmas Jazz (instrumental)
Artist: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - CD: The Lost Christmas Eve (Lava)
Featured in Hour Two
Christmas Coda
Two weeks ago, Katy Sewall said her father was trying to ruin Christmas by giving fewer presents. Weekend America checks in with Katy to see how her holiday is turning out.

Online resource:
Listen to Katy Sewell's Christmas Negociations

Music Bridge: Arabic
Artist: The Claudia Quintet - CD: I, Claudia (Cuneiform)
Painless America
Several major painkillers have been pulled off the shelves recently because of possible negative side effects. But can pain be a useful thing? Bill Radke talks with Dr. Jerome Hoffman about how Americans think of pain and treatment.
Music Bridge: Old Fashioned Morphine
Artist: Jolie Holland - CD: Escondida (Anti)
Working on Christmas
Bill Radke is working this Christmas, and so are many others. He calls the Weather Forcast Office in Norman, Oklahoma where meteorologist Kenny James is working today.
"Shelf Life" Series
Weekend America has another story from its series, "Shelf Life." Producer Chelsea Merz talked with Jerry, a blind reader about his personal shelves.

Online resources:
Jerry Berrier's website
More from the Library series: Vanishing Bookshelves and Shelf Life

Music Bridge: Crevette Le Bandit
Artist: Billie Mahonie - CD: Bucolique Vol. 1 (Audio Dregs)

Paul Schipper
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Endless Winter
In another story from our series entitled "Cold," producer Greg Warner tells this story about a man who has skied every day of ski season for 22 years. Why does he do it? Does he still enjoy it?

Online resources:
Sugarloaf Mountain
More from our Cold series: Interview with Gretel Ehrlich

Music Bridge: Tremor
Artist: Japancakes - CD: Waking Hours (Warm)
Mayoral Wish - Part 3
Guest host Alex Cohen talks with Mark Begich, mayor of Anchorage, Alaska about his holiday wishes.

Meshuganog
Recipe
Jewsmas
For some Jewish people, Christmas is more than Chinese food and the movies. Host Bill Radke talks to the creator of Jewsmas about its purpose and traditions.

Online resource:
jewsmas.org

Music Bridge: Frosty the Snowman
Artist: The Ventures - CD: Ultra Lounge: Christmas Cocktails 2 (Capitol)
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As Mentioned on Weekend America
For the December 25, 2004 broadcast:

audio iconListen to Hour 1
audio iconListen to Hour 2
podcast iconPodcast / Download
cassette iconOrder a cassette
programs tools
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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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This week: Have you exper-
ienced any strange seasonal changes: springtime plants sprouting; squirrels sunbathing?
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