 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||
 How did your life collide with the headlines in 2007? What's your holiday performance story? 
|
|
 Take Your PickThe process of choosing a Medicare drug benefit plan is not simple for a lot of people. There's a lot to choose from, and it has been overwhelming and tedious for many beneficiaries and their families. With this in mind, host Bill Radke hits the streets of Los Angeles and discovers -- from cold cuts to cell phones -- there's no shortage of choices to be made. Online resources:
The Perfect ChoiceHost Barbara Bogaev speaks with Barry Schwartz, the author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, and Virginia Postrell, the former editor of Reason magazine. Schwartz has compiled research about the abundance of choices we have to face in our lives. He argues that Americans have to deal with too much choice, and that more choice does not necessarily make you more free. Music Bridge: Little Dance - Artist: Tom Verlaine
CD: Instrumentals (Thrill Jockey) Beyond the MirrorBeyond the Mirror is a new theatrical production taking the stage in New York City. It's a collaboration between New York's Bond Street Theater and the Exile Theatre of Kabul. American and Afghan actors are brought together to depict life in Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion of 1979 to the present. Host Bill Radke speaks with Christina Geslone, an actor and puppeteer with Bond Street Theater. Online resources:
Music Bridge: Hope - Artist: Quraishi
CD: Pure and True Rubab (Evergreen Music) 
Third Coast: The Oscars of RadioHost Barbara Bogaev recently attended the Third Coast International Audio Festival in Chicago. Third Coast is an opportunity for radio producers from around the world to meet and share their work. Awards are presented honoring the best radio stories of the past year. Barbara talks with Jowi Taylor and Paolo Pietropaolo, producers of the Canadian public radio series "The Wire." Online resources:
Music Bridge: If People Could Fly They'd Likely Have Talons - Artist: Désormais
CD: Dead Letters To Lost Friends (Intr-version) Searching for FamilyMichael Allen Potter spent the past ten years of his life searching for the scattered members of his biological family. Michael's upbringing was turbulent: He was removed from his home permanently by the age of two, spent time in foster care and in orphanages, and he was officially adopted eight years later. The search for his biological family has been relentless, and full of ups and downs. Producer David Miller profiles Michael and the search for his biological family. Online resources:
 Independent Picks: Jens LenkmanThe Current's Mark Wheat shares some new music from Sweden's Jens Lenkman. Mark weighs in on Jens' Burt Bacharach style. Online resources:
Weekend WeatherWeekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country. Online resources:
Music Bridge: Beat Connection (Disco Dub Version) - Artist: lcd soundsystem
CD: DFA compilation #2 (DFA) 
Story Competition: Your Local Unsung HeroWeekend America announces it's Fall 2005 story competition for writers of all stripes, storytellers and independent radio producers whose work has not been previously broadcast nationally. The Story Competition's theme is "Your Local Unsung Hero." If there is a local hero you know, tell us their story. Online resources:
We Give Thanks TodayThe Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has a new element this year -- it's an opening number featuring 475 kids performing a song called "We Give Thanks Today." Independent producer Pamela Renner went to an open casting call for kids this past August in New York. Renner also caught up with the choreographer, Tony Parise. Online resources:
Operation GratitudeThanksgiving traditionally kicks off the Christmas shopping season. But the time for sending packages to U.S. military personnel stationed around the world is now. The non-profit organization, "Operation Gratitude" is preparing thousands of holiday gift packages for troops overseas. Producer Jonathan Menjivar stopped by the National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, California to see how it all comes together. Online resources:
Holidays OverseasYou can send troops gift cards this holiday season. They can be redeemed at stores all around Iraq. Host Bill Radke checks in with one store popular with soldiers in Baghdad to see what's selling. Online resources:
Virtual EconomiesModern video games consist of entire virtual worlds with their own forms of commerce and trade. Game player and economist Ed Castronova estimates that over $200 million are changing hands in the form of transactions within virtual worlds. And the virtual economy is starting to spill over into the real world. Castronova explains to host Barbara Bogaev that we can learn a lot about the real world economy from its virtual counterpart. Online resources:
Music Bridge: One After the 808 - Artist: Static
CD: Re: Talking About Memories (city centre)  Independent Picks: Dirty ThreeMark Wheat, of the Current, shares the latest release by the Dirty Three, an instrumental trio from New Zealand. The song is called, "The Zither." Online resources:
Surviving CancerChristine Antoldi Sossi, of Oceanside, New York was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer five months ago. Sossi was blind-sided by this diagnosis. She's thirty-eight years old and has four kids at home -- including a baby. Meg Yoniack lives in the same community as Christine and she beat the same type of cancer six years ago, in her late 40s. Host Bill Radke speaks with the two women about their shared battle. Online resources:
Music Bridge: Dusk: A Peach In The Orchard - Artist: Eels
CD: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (Vagrant)
Third Coast: The Oscars of RadioHost Barbara Bogaev recently attended the Third Coast International Audio Festival in Chicago. Third Coast is an opportunity for radio producers from around the world to meet and share their work. Awards are presented honoring the best radio stories of the past year. "A Map of the Sea" won honorable mention at this year's festival. Chris Brooks, the producer, lives in Newfoundland, which was once home to one of the greatest fisheries in the world. "A Map of the Sea" explores the changes that came, when suddenly the fish disappeared. Online resources:
Weekend WeatherWeekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country. Online resources:
Music Bridge: Beat Connection (Disco Dub Version) - Artist: lcd soundsystem
CD: DFA compilation #2 (DFA) A New TraditionThirty years ago, Andrew Lam and his family fled Vietnam two days before the fall of Saigon and moved to America. Andrew was eleven at the time and his family moved to San Francisco. Andrew remembers his first Thanksgiving in America and how it felt to be so far from home. 
|
For the November 19, 2005 broadcast:
|
 |
... on our December 15 broadcast:
» Weekend America
 Enhanced 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.
|
|
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
