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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 Date: December 10, 2005 | Map these stories
WA Production Image
Listen IconSnowstruck
Winter weather pummeled the nation this week. In mountainous regions, heavy snow can turn deadly when avalanche conditions are triggered. Jill Fredston, author of Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches, speaks with host Bill Radke about the harrowing task of avalanche rescues. Fredston is the co-director of the Alaska Mountain Safety Center.
Online resources:
» Jill Fredston's book, Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches is available at the Public Radio BookSource.

Listen IconA Chilling Tale
John Stroud from Anchorage, Alaska is all too familiar with the danger of avalanches: He survived an avalanche four years ago in the South Fork area of Alaska. John was completely buried and was only able to move one finger while he was trapped. Luckily, he made it out alive.
Online resources:
» Snowstruck (AnchoragePress.com)

Listen IconRedemption on Death Row
How much must a man change before he is considered redeemed -- by the law and by society? This question is on the minds of many this week with Crips co-founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams' scheduled execution on Tuesday. Williams says he has found redemption. He has written books against gang culture and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Unless California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger grants him clemency, Williams' execution will proceed. KPCC reporter, Frank Stoltze, examines the case.

Music Bridge: Flying Officer - Artist: Skalpel
CD: Konfusion (Ninja Tune)
Music Picks
Listen IconJazz Picks: Bebo Valdes
Bebo Valdes just received his second Latin Grammy for the record Bebo de Cuba. Nate Chinen, from Jazz Times magazine, shares a cut called "Copla No. 4."
Online resources:
» Bebo Valdes | El Solar de Bebo, Copla No. 4 | From the album, Bebio De Cuba (Calle 54)

Listen IconIn His Boots
Military wives in 29 Palms, California recently took part in a training exercise, hoping that the experience would help them understand what their husbands experience. Weekend America's Pat Loeb paid a visit to see if the exercise could help the women relate.
Online resources:
» United States Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

Music Bridge: Happy Birth & Sweet Blue - Artist: Slowly Minute
CD: Tomorrow World (Bubble Core)
Listen IconThe Games We Played
What do the games we play say about us? Host Bill Radke poses this question to John Blades, the executive director at the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida. The museum is displaying games played by Americans between the Civil War and World War I. From board games to puzzles, Flagler says that a lot can be learned about an era from the games the people played.
Online resources:
» Flagler Museum Web site
» The Flagler Museum Presents -- The Games We Played: American Board and Table Games from the Liman Collection.

Weekend Weather
Listen IconWeekend Weather
Weekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country.
Online resources:
» Event information

Music Bridge: Beat Connection (Disco Dub Version) - Artist: lcd soundsystem
CD: DFA compilation #2 (DFA)
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Listen IconIf These Pants Could Talk
Impulse buying strikes even the most levelheaded of shoppers. But what would drive a man to buy pleated leather pants? Hosts Bill Radke and Barbara Bogaev talk with Brian Sack about a not-so-hot pair of pants that he bought on a whim.
Online resources:
» Learn more about Brian Sack's leather pants at Banterist.com
» Brian Sack Web site

Music Bridge: Instructograph - Artist: Solvent
CD: Apples + Synthesizers (Ghostly Int'l)
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Listen IconTo Snitch or Not to Snitch
Can a t-shirt impact a city's murder rate? This week, the mayor of Boston ordered stores to clear their shelves of t-shirts that say "Stop Snitchin'." The shirts have become popular over the last several years among inner-city kids. And some law-enforcement officers think that they are partly to blame for a recent rise in the city's murder rate. Weekend America hosts Bill Radke and Barbara Bogaev hear from Martha Bebinger, a reporter at WBUR in Boston who has been talking with area kids about snitching. Weekend America then turns to Joseph Esposito, the assistant head deputy of the Hardcore Gang Division in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, to discuss how he does his job in a world where snitching is a sin.

Music Bridge: Test Drive - Artist: Skalpel
CD: Konfusion (Ninja Tune)
Listen IconWearable Computers
Will your clothes soon control your cell phone or I-Pod? Weekend America's technology reporter Rick Karr talks to fashion and technology designers who say it's a possibility that isn't too far into the future.
Online resources:
» MIT | Media Lab | Human Dynamics: Wearable Computing
» Cyborg Suits Strut the Catwalk (Wired.com)

Music Bridge: Magnetic - Artist: Miles Tillman
CD: One Winter Is Notenuf (Notenuf)
Listen IconListener Letters
Last week, we were musing about how we know when it's winter, and it's not about the calendar. Well, that drew some e-mails from our listeners.

Music Bridge: Lost of Love - Artist: The Bad Plus
CD: Suspicious Activity? (Sony)
Music Picks
Listen IconJazz Picks: Bobo Stenson
Jazz Times columnist, Nate Chinen, shares some music from Bobo Stenson. Stenson is a Swedish pianist who is recognized as one of the top players in Europe. Nate plays a track for host Bill Radke called "Alfonsina."
Online resources:
» Bobo Stenson | Alfonsia | From the album, Goodbye (Ecm Records)

Listen IconCowboy Love
There has been a fuss about the love story between two men in Ang Lee's new film, Brokeback Mountain. And not just because it's a mainstream film with gay male characters, but also because the film is a Western, and Westerns tend to be both macho and old fashioned. Host Barbara Bogaev talks with The Advocate's arts and entertainment editor, Alonso Duralde, about the film and the genre. Barbara then speaks with film critic Nigel Anderson of the Financial Times about how Brokeback Mountain fits into the history of Westerns.
Online resources:
» Official movie Web site for Brokenback Mountain
» More about Alonso Duralde

Music Bridge: Ed's Wake - Artist: Zubot and Dawson
CD: Rough Guide to the Music of Canada (World Music Network)
Weekend Weather
Listen IconWeekend Weather
Weekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country.
Online resources:
» Event information

Music Bridge: Beat Connection (Disco Dub Version) - Artist: lcd soundsystem
CD: DFA compilation #2 (DFA)
Listen IconOld World, New Kitchen: Beef Curry
This month, Weekend America is exploring some of the connections we have with food, our traditions and different cultures. In the second piece of our series, producer Beth Hoffman explores Bengali cuisine with Tahmina Martely, an immigrant from Bangladesh who makes her home in Utah.


Online resources:
» Recipe for Tahmina's Beef Curry
» Part I of this series: Persian Cuisine

Music Bridge: Transcendence - Artist: Thievery Corporation
CD: Mystic Groove (Quango)
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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