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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: June 10, 2006
World Cup Fever
World Cup fever's struck the entire world, except maybe here the U.S. But there are a few ex-pat hideaways where soccer, or football, is the only thing on the menu. Weekend America's Pat Loeb visits one.
Online resources:
» The Official World Cup web site
» Live World Cup scores on Google

Music Bridge: Afrihouse - Artist: Sao Paulo Underground B
CD: CD: Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres (Aesthetics)
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Attention Deficit Disorder at 23
Shannon Heffernan has had trouble staying focused her whole life because she has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. A few months ago, she finally decided to try to do something about it. She kept a record of how her treatment might change her and let us listen in on the process.
Online resources:
» Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
» Attention Deficit Disorder Association

Music Bridge: Dogville - Artist: Wayne B
CD: CD: Night of the Hunter (Sonic Bubblegum)
Artist as Witness
Susan Meiselas is an acclaimed photojournalist. She spent a decade in Latin America in the 1970s and 80s photographing the civil strife there and then she spent 6 years documenting life in Kurdistan. Producer Blue Chevigny visits Meiselas in a war zone a little closer to home.
Heard:
» Susan Meiselas's Web Site
» "The Concerned Photographer" at The Art Institute of Chicago
» The Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk Web Site

Music Bridge: Sororities - Artist: Mapstation
CD: Distance Told Me Things To Be Said (Scape)
Music Picks
Jazz Pick: Trio Beyond
Jazz Times Critic Nate Chinen brings us a new live recording by the super group Trio Beyond. The band was conceived by drummer Jack Dejohnette as an homage to his long-time friend and fellow drummer, Tony Williams. The disc also features John Scofield on guitar and Larry Goldings on the Hammond B3 organ. Williams burst on to the jazz scene at age 17 as a member of one of Miles Davis' quintets. He went on to become one of the early leaders in the jazz fusion movement and is widely considered one of the best jazz drummers of all time. Williams died of a heart attack in 1997, but his spirit lives on in this recording.
Heard:
» A new album by Trio Beyond, "Saudades " (Label: Ecm Records)

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Digging Through the Cr*p
Weekend America's Bill Radke and Barbara Bogaev talk with Craig Pfannkuche about a lecture he gave this week at the National Genealogical Society conference in Chicago. It's called "Excavating Grandma's Privy for Family History Data." That's right, Craig digs up privies—or old outhouses—to unearth things people have thrown away. Apparently the site of old outhouses are a treasure trove of genealogical materials like bones, bottles, toys, money, clothing, jewelry, dishware, cutlery, and watches. All of which can tell even an amateur archaeologist a lot about the people who used them.
Online resources:
» The National Genealogical Society and the Chicagoland Consortium 2006 Conference

The Oxford Project
Peter Feldstein started taking pictures of all of the residents in Oxford, Iowa in 1984. Within about a month of his start Peter had photographed 670 of the 673 people in town. Last year he repeated his project and photographed the population of Oxford once again. Bill Radke talks with Peter about documenting a town, and about how the people and the place have changed over the years.
Online resources:
» The Oxford Project

Music Bridge: Bay - Artist: Mountains
CD: Sewn (Apestaartje)
Weekend Weather
Weekend Weather
Weekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country.

» Event information

Music Bridge: Beat Connection (Disco Dub Version) - Artist: lcd soundsystem
CD: DFA compilation #2 (DFA)
The Itinerant Rabbi
Deborah Kassoff is a traveling rabbi. She provides religious services for congregations too small to have a rabbi of their own. Philip Graitcer recently joined her on her rounds in Helena, Arkansas.
Online resources:
» Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life
audio iconHear one of Rabbi Kassoff's sermons (MP3: 6.3MB)

No Kidding
There's a conference this weekend in Toronto called the "5th Annual Child-Free Festival." It's for people who don't have kids and are adamant about keeping it that way. Vincent and Laura Ciaccio will be there, as they have been for the past five years. Married and in their 20's, the two decided when they were dating that they didn't want to have children. Weekend America's Barbara Bogaev talks with them about their decision.
Online resources:
» No Kidding International
» Laura and Vincent's Wedding Photos

A Life Without Kids
Professor David Barash is not entirely surprised by people like Laura and Vincent, making the decision not to have kids. He's an evolutionary biologist who studies how living things reproduce. Barbara Bogaev and Bill Radke talk with him about free will and this latest trend against what some see as a biological imperative.
Online resources:
» Professor David P. Barash at the University of Washington

Music Bridge: Just Like a Real Book - Artist: Portastatic
CD: Who Loves the Sun (Merge)
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Enter the Fourth Dimension
A fourth dimension, after the three dimensions of length, width, and height, has been bandied about by science fiction enthusiasts for almost a century. But now two scientists have designed an experiment that will actually test the existence of this dimension. The experiment involves gamma rays, a space born telescope and black holes. If a fourth dimension does exist, the theory would have shattering implications for the way we look at the world. Weekend America's Philip Babich brings us the story.
Online resources:
» "Satellite Could Open Door on Extra Dimension," by Maggie McKee, New Scientist
» "Scientists Predict How to Detect a Fourth Dimension of Space," PhysOrg.com
» The Wikipedia definition of the Fourth Dimension

Music Bridge: Cold (Funckarma remix) - Artist: Plaid
CD: Refurbished One (n5MD)
Song and Memory: Eleanor Rigby
What song from your past brings back a strong memory? Weekend America continues with another installment of the "Song and Memory" series. We hear from Kelly Kinsey, a Weekend America listener, about a tune that takes her back.
Online Resources:
» More stories from our "Song and Memory" series

Music Bridge: Eleanor Rigby - Artist: The Beatles
CD: Revolver (Apple)
Coming Back from Iraq
The most comprehensive psychological study of Iraq war veterans, completed in 2004 as the insurgency was still gaining strength, found that about 18 percent suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a constellation of physical and psychological symptoms first diagnosed among soldiers who served in Vietnam. Weekend America hears from Abbie Picket, who served in Iraq. Her life has not been the same since she returned from the war. We'll also hear from one of Abbie's friends, Hannah Diedrich, about what it's been like, since Abbie came home. This story was produced by Youth Radio.
Online Resources:
» Abbie Pickett's "Depression after Combat" on Youth Radio

Music Bridge: Little Dance - Artist: Tom Verlaine
CD: Instrumentals (Thrill Jockey)
Weekend Weather
Weekend Weather
Weekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country.

» Event information

Music Bridge: Beat Connection (Disco Dub Version) - Artist: lcd soundsystem
CD: DFA compilation #2 (DFA)
The Ryder Stakes
This weekend the Belmont Stakes, the third horse race in the Triple Crown, will be run in Saratoga, New York. In Roanoke, Virginia, a less prestigious but equally competitive race will also conclude. This year marks the "Tenth Annual Ryder Family Triple Crown Handicapping Contest." Independent Producer Jesse Dukes is a Ryder and he brings us his story about a family tradition.
Online resources:
» Read Elizabeth "Libby" Ryder's Field Notes " Observations for the Belmont Stakes (MS Word: 44KB)
» Read Elizabeth "Libby" Ryder's Field Notes " Observations for the Kentucky Derby (MS Word: 61KB)


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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