Weekend America for Saturday, January 21, 2006


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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?

Broadcast Date: January 21, 2005 | Map these stories

Jill Carroll Update
Weekend America will be monitoring the latest information about journalist Jill Carroll who is being held hostage in Iraq. Host Bill Radke will talk with Washington Post Baghdad Bureau Chief Jackie Spinner about Carroll's fate and what special dangers women journalists face in the Mideast. A friend of Carroll's, Spinner is back in Washington now, and has written a book about her Iraq tour called Tell Them I Didn't Cry.

Online resources:

» Jackie Spinner's book, Tell Them I Didn't Cry: A Young Journalist's Story of Joy, Loss, and Survival in Iraq is available at the Public Radio BookSource.

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Looking back at the Iranian Hostage Crisis
It's been 25 years since 52 American hostages were released from the embassy compound in Tehran, Iran. Mark Bowden, the author of a forthcoming book about the hostage crisis, tells Weekend America host Barbara Bogaev that the current hostage taking in Iraq has its roots in that long embassy standoff that began on November 4, 1979.

Online resources:

» Mark Bowden's book, Guests of the Ayatollah, is available at the Public Radio BookSource.

Music Bridge: Sehnsucht - Artist: Ellen Alien
CD: Camping (Bpitch Control)

Prison Book Club
To be part of a good book discussion group, you need to put in a lot of time reading the selections being talked about. That's no problem for one women's book club. They have plenty of time. They're behind bars. Contributor Rachel Dornhelm visits the California Institution for Women to see what they're reading... and what they're getting out of it.

Music Bridge: Toy Bass - Artist: Paul Duncan
CD: Be Careful What you Call Home (hometapes)

World Music: Susheela Raman
Susheela Raman's musical influences span the globe. Listening to her songs draws comparisons to South Indian, West African, jazz, cabaret and other musical styles. Billboard Magazine music critic Anastasia Tsioulcas joins host Barbara Bogaev to talk about Raman's latest release.

Online resources:

» Susheela Raman | Sharavana | From the album, Music for Crocodiles (Narada)

Impermanence
How do you manage your life knowing you're only on the earth for a short time? Filmmakers David and Hi-Jin Hodge have created a video exhibit called: Impermanence: the Time of Man. Their work is part of an international program called The Missing Peace Project. The program's purpose is to renew and revitalize global dialogue about peace. Weekend America sat down with the filmmakers to talk about how their thoughts on impermanence changed during the making of their work.

Online resources:

» David and Hi-Jin Hodge Web site
» View the trailer of the Hodge's documentary Impermanence
» Missing Peace Project Web site

Music Bridge: Lonely - Artist: Lanterna
CD: Sands (Badman Records)

Future Me
We all put notes on calendars and in notebooks to remind us of things in the days and months ahead. But what if there will be a serious matter you need to address say, in 30 years? There's a new Web site that can help remind you of those long-term issues. Host Bill Radke talks to Mat Sly about why he helped create the Web site, FutureMe.org.

Online resources:

» Send an email to yourself in the future at FutureMe.org

Music Bridge: Kreuzung - Artist: Hauschka
CD: The Prepared Piano (Karaoke Kalk)

Weekend 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)

Truth is Stranger Than Satire
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been taking a lot of verbal jabs since his remarks this past week about the future of his city. Host Bill Radke explores the comedic potential of such words with two professional comedy writers:, Allison Silverman, head writer at Comedy Central's The Steven Colbert Report, and Dana Gould, a writer for The Simpsons. Radke asks them how they craft satire around current events that already seem too good to be true.

Music Bridge: King Charles - Artist: The Budos Band
CD: The Budos Band (Daptone)

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Love Jerry
Love Jerry doesn't contain the type of subject matter typically associated with a music-filled show. The new musical tells the story of a boy who's sexually molested by his uncle. Weekend America Host Bill Radke talks with playwright Megan Gogerty about the debut of her show. Gogerty explains how music and theatre may help an audience understand the complex emotions at work in a family dealing with incest.

Online resources:

» Love Jerry Web site

My Computer, Myself
If you use Google or another search engine to find information online, you may not realize that you are leaving a trail of all the sites you've accessed. This week we learned federal investigators want to follow that trail. The government says the information would be used to help regulate online pornography. MIT Professor Sherry Turkle talks with host Barbara Bogaev about the intimate relationship that one develops with their search engine.

Online resources:

» MIT professor Sherry Turkle

Music Bridge: Sehnsucht - Artist: Ellen Alien
CD: Camping (Bpitch Control)

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The Baraka Boys
If you're a young black male in Baltimore, there's a three-out-of-four chance you won't graduate high school. That statistic led to a project called "The Baraka School." The program took 20 black middle school boys from one of the poorest parts of Baltimore and transplanted them into an experimental boarding school in Kenya. Host Barbara Bogaev talked to one of the students, Devon Brown to see what happened.

Online resources:

» Official movie Web site and trailer

Music Bridge: Lost of Love - Artist: The Bad Plus
CD: Suspicious Activity? (Columbia)

World Music: Son de la Frontera
Son de la Frontera, or "Sounds of the Frontier" specializes in blending a wide variety of Latin sounds into hot flamenco music. Billboard Magazine music critic Anastasia Tsioulcas talks to host Barbara Bogaev about their latest CD.

Online resources:

» Son de la Frontera | Bulería Negra Del Gastor | From the album, Son de la Frontera (World Village)

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Life of a Lobbyist
Even as the investigation continues into the corruption scandal involving the now notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff, 27-thousand other registered lobbyists continue their work in Washington. Independent producer Jessica Smith spent the day with a young lobbyist who represents the interests of a trade association to see if the Abramoff investigation has stigmatized her job.

Congressional Travel
In the wake of the lobbying scandal, Congress is debating a limit to the amount of travel members can take when private interests foot the bill. World traveler Jesse Kalisher disagrees with the efforts to cutback on travel, and tells Weekend America why he would be the ideal travel guide for members of Congress.

Online resources:

» Web site and photography of Jesse Kalisher

Weekend Weather
Weekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country.

Online resources:

» Event information

Song and Memory
What song creates the strongest memory in your mind? Weekend America explores the songs that leave an impact on you in our new series, "Song and Memory." This week, our first participant, Jeffery Carpenter explains his special connection to John Denver's popular song, "Rocky Mountain High."

Online resources:

» Weekend America wants to know what song left a lasting impression on you? Tell us about it.

Music Bridge: Looking For Space - Artist: John Denver
CD: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits (RCA)