Bob Edwards Weekend Podcast
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Bob Edwards Weekend is a two-hour interview showcase, in which celebrated host Bob Edwards highlights the life and work of interesting people, from newsmakers, historians, and authors to artists, actors, and regular folks too.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: presidential scholar and author Chuck Wills; writer Margaret Atwood; documentary director Julie Checkoway
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Nov 20, 2009
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 and one of the most recent books about JFK just came out. It's titled "Jack Kennedy: The Illustrated Life of a President." The book features intimate photos, personal memorabilia, and history-making documents. It also includes a CD of some of JFK's most famous speeches. Presidential scholar and author CHUCK WILLS discusses his research for the book.
In her new book, "The Year of the Flood," MARGARET ATWOOD has created a dystopian world that can be read as a commentary on religion, politics, science, and the environment. Atwood has written 15 books of poetry but she's best known for her novels including "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Blind Assassin."
In the early 1990's, Maryland artist Billy Pappas set out to draw the impossible. For the next eight years, Pappas worked to capture what is normally unseen in portraiture: each pore, each individual strand of hair. His obsession was matched only by his obsessive pursuit to show his opus to the acclaimed modern artist David Hockney. JULIE CHECKOWAY is the director of a film about Pappas. She talks with Bob about "Waiting for Hockney" which debuts on the Sundance Channel on Monday.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: actor Hal Holbrook and director Scott Teems; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman and photojournalist Molly Bingham
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Nov 20, 2009
HAL HOLBROOK is known for his iconic portrayal of Mark Twain. His first performance in the solo act about the famous writer was in 1954. More than fifty years later, Holbrook is still at it and nobody can bring Mark Twain alive like he can. Now Holbrook stars in "That Evening Sun," a Southern Gothic film about a man refusing to face the waning years of his life and his worth. Holbrook is joined by the film's director, SCOTT TEEMS.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Barry Bingham, Sr. He was the long-time owner, editor and publisher of The Courier Journal and The Louisville Times. The Bingham family's leadership of the newspapers as well as radio and TV properties in Kentucky led to numerous journalism awards including multiple Pulitzer Prizes. Then, Bob is joined by MOLLY BINGHAM, one of Barry's grandchildren. She recalls some favorite memories of her grandfather and describes how his example of journalistic courage prompted her to become a photojournalist and documentarian.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: actors Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and director/screenwriter Oren Moverman; author Barbara Kingsolver
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Fri, Nov 13, 2009
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In the new film, "The Messenger," WOODY HARRELSON and BEN FOSTER portray members of the Army's Casualty Notification service, representatives of the military who must deliver the news of fallen soldiers to the next of kin. Harrelson, Foster and screenwriter and director OREN MOVERMAN discuss the film, and describe the tense, improvisational scenes of notification. Harrelson and Foster didn't know what their fellow actors planned to do to show their grief.
Writer BARBARA KINGSOLVER is one of America's most respected novelists. She is the author of "The Bean Trees," "The Poisonwood Bible," and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," a non-fiction account of her family's attempt to eat locally grown food. Kingsolver's new book, "The Lacuna," is her first novel in nine years. It's follows a Mexican American writer who travels between Mexico City and South Carolina, mixing historical events with fiction.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: our documentary "The Mirage of War: A Day in the Life of the Army's National Training Center"; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Nov 13, 2009
We visit the Army's billion-dollar NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER at Ft. Irwin and meet some of the people who help prepare our troops for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Covering more than a thousand square miles of California's Mojave Desert, the NTC includes realistic mock villages populated by role-playing Iraqi nationals and military wives who aim to give the soldiers a taste of what's to come overseas. We witness a group of Army reservists for the 244th Engineers training in a "trauma lane." Amid IED blasts and sniper fire, the untested medics encounter role players pretending to be the enemy, frightened villagers demanding their attention, and actual amputees who pretend to be injured in explosions. The commander of the 244th, SERGEANT FIRST CLASS BERTRAN SCHULTZ, describes the action and gives a blow by blow account of what his men are getting right and wrong.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Percy Lee. She served four terms as the national president of the League of Women Voters from 1950 to 1958. The daughter of the inventor of the Maxim gun silencer, Lee passed up college to marry at age 19 and raise a family.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger; book critic Laura Miller; author Jonathan Lethem
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Fri, Nov 06, 2009
For three years, director JOE BERLINGER gathered footage for his new documentary "Crude." In the classic battle between the "haves" and the "have nots," the film examines both sides of the legal case known as the "Amazon Chernobyl." Thirty thousand residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon rain forest claimed that the American oil giant Chevron contaminated an area roughly the size of Rhode Island, resulting in high levels of cancer, birth defects, and other health problems.
Salon.com book critic LAURA MILLER shares some of her favorite new books, including "Blame" by Michelle Huneven, "The Children's Book" by A.S. Byatt, "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman and "Chronic City" by Jonathan Lethem.
JONATHAN LETHEM describes his new novel this way: "It's set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it's strongly influenced by Saul Bellow, Philip K. Dick, Charles G. Finney and Hitchcock's 'Vertigo,' and it concerns a circle of friends including a faded child actor, a cultural critic, a hack ghost writer of autobiographies, and a city official. And it's long and strange." "Chronic City" is Lethem's seventh novel. His previous books include the bestsellers, "Fortress of Solitude" and "Motherless Brooklyn."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: Paul D. Miller, better known as DJ Spooky; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Fri, Nov 06, 2009
PAUL D. MILLER, better known as DJ SPOOKY, is a conceptual artist, spoken word artist, writer and musician whose work has appeared in the Whitney Biennial, the Andy Warhol Museum and the Village Voice. He "re-mixed" a famous 1915 silent film about race relations in America. His updated version is called "RE-birth of a Nation." Last year he traveled to Antarctica for a new, large scale multimedia performance piece. Miller discusses those projects, his book titled "Sound Unbound," and his new album, "The Secret Song," which he describes as "meditation on hip hop and electronic music's relationship to philosophy, economics and the science of sound."
In this week's installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from General Lucius D. Clay. During World War II, Gen. Clay was Director of Material for the Army. After the war he was U.S. Military Governor of Germany. Clay ordered and organized the massive airlift to feed people in Soviet blockaded Berlin. Then Bob talks with Don Whitford, a veteran of the Korean War who won an Army sponsored This I Believe essay contest in the 1950s. Finally, we offer a sneak preview of next weekend's program, a behind-the-scenes documentary about the Army's National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, California.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: journalist Patricia Murphy; oceanographer and author Sylvia Earle
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, 30,
Oct 17:03:28 2009, +0000
The 2010 Census is slated to begin soon. And 18 months ago, as required by law, the Census Bureau submitted to Congress the exact wording of each of the 10 questions that would be included on the survey. But now Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter has introduced an amendment that would require an 11th question: "Are you an American citizen?" PATRICIA MURPHY writes "The Capitolist" column for Politics Daily and explains the controversy over the proposed 11th question.
With everyone from the environmental movement to big business "going green," oceanographer SYLVIA EARLE urges us to remember the blue. In her new book, "The World is Blue," Earle describes the deteriorating health of our oceans and how their decline affects other animals, including humans. Earle is a National Geographic Society explorer in residence and she led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1990-1992.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: former CBS cameraman Isadore (Izzy) Bleckman; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Oct 30, 2009
Beginning in the late 1960s, Charles Kuralt headed out with a small crew to document unusual and overlooked stories from America's back roads. Logging more than a million miles and going through several motor homes, the resulting vignettes became "On the Road," and dozens of those segments are now available on DVD. ISADORE (IZZY) BLECKMAN was Kuralt's cameraman for more than two decades, and he shares his stories from the road.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from Robbins Milbank. A Princeton graduate and son of a prominent New England family, Milbank worked as a logger in British Columbia for six years. He later moved into advertising, becoming a vice president for his agency, and he wrote docudrama scripts for television.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: teacher and author Rafe Esquith; writer and satirist Paul Rudnick
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Fri, Oct 23, 2009
RAFE ESQUITH teaches fifth grade at Hobart Elementary in Los Angeles. He's the only teacher ever to win the National Medal of the Arts and he returns to the show to discuss his new book, "Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World." His students not only graduate high school and go on to college, but they attend some of the country's best universities. Esquith's first book was a guide for fellow teachers, while this latest one is meant for parents.
Any fan of Libby Gelman-Waxner's monthly column, "If You Ask Me," in Premiere magazine (1987-2007) could tell you all about Libby's home life and her hilarious observations on Hollywood and films. But many of those fans never knew that "Libby" was actually a pseudonym for screenwriter, playwright, and novelist PAUL RUDNICK, one of America's greatest humorists. Rudnick's most recent book is a memoir about his work in the theater world, titled, "I Shudder: And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: environmentalist Bill McKibben; writer Sidney Offit; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Oct 23, 2009
The number 350, as in parts per million, is the level scientists have identified as the safe limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Environmentalist BILL MCKIBBEN talks about his latest project, www.350.org and why this year is so crucial to scientists concerned about climate change, and what the group has planned for this weekend. October 24th is the International Day of Climate Action.
Author Kurt Vonnegut is gone but not forgotten. His works are celebrated for their satirical humor and a startling creativity that experimented with traditional narratives. A new book collects some of Vonnegut's previously unpublished short stories. It's called "Look at the Birdie." Vonnegut's longtime friend SIDNEY OFFIT wrote the forward, and he joins Bob to reminisce about Vonnegut's early career. A writer himself, Offit is the author of two novels and two memoirs, and serves as the curator of the George Polk Awards in Journalism.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Bobby Doerr. He was the second baseman for the Boston Red Sox from 1937 to 1951, played in nine All Star Games and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986. Doerr now lives in Oregon on land he bought when he was a teenager. That's where we reached him by phone to reflect on the essay he recorded decades ago.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: writer Nick Hornby; director Lone Scherfig; musician Paul Burch
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Sat, Oct 17, 2009
Novelist NICK HORNBY has made a career of writing about the issues facing many contemporary men. "High Fidelity," "About A Boy" and "Fever Pitch" were best-selling books, and each was also made into a successful movie. Hornby's latest book, "Juliet, Naked," tells the story of an obsessive music fan named Duncan, who discovers an unplugged version of one of his favorite albums and his effort to connect with the record's now washed up creator.
Danish director LONE SCHERFIG is best known for her film "Italian For Beginners." Her most recent film, "An Education," is based on a memoir by English journalist Lynn Barber and adapted for the screen by the previous guest, Nick Hornby. This young English girl's coming-of-age tale won the Audience Choice and Cinematography awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Ten years after his first album, Nashville favorite PAUL BURCH continues to write honky tonk music that even the most staid of Yankees can't help but enjoy. His latest album, "Still Your Man," showcases new music from this musician who is proud to include Marianne Faithful and Chet Atkins in his fanbase.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: composer, conductor and PBS host Michael Tilson Thomas; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Sat, Oct 17, 2009
As one reviewer put it, "If you think classical music is boring, you haven't met MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS." Thomas is doing for classical music today what Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts did in the 1950s and 60s. Thomas is music director of the San Francisco Symphony and the host of the PBS program, "Keeping Score." The program was created in 2006 to make a general audience "more comfortable" with classical music. This month, three new episodes are scheduled, highlighting Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 5," Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" and Ives' "The Holidays Symphony."
In this week's installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from critic, journalist, novelist and feminist Rebecca West. She is known for her reporting on the Nazi war crimes trials at Nuremburg, for which President Harry Truman called her "the world's best reporter." In 1959, West was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire, the female equivalent of an honorary knighthood.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author Francine Prose; musician Rosanne Cash
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Sat, Oct 10, 2009
The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank is required reading for many junior high and high school students, but most fail to revisit the work in adulthood. When author and critic FRANCINE PROSE reread Anne Frank’s famous diary, she realized it was the work of a great writer. In Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife, Prose examines the words and cultural effects of this young woman’s writings.
When ROSANNE CASH was 18-years-old, her father made a list of 100 essential songs she should hear and appreciate. Luckily, Johnny Cash’s daughter saved that piece of paper and performs her versions of some of those tunes on a new CD called “The List.”
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: Tony Bennett and the ribbon cutting ceremony at The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in New York; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Oct 10, 2009
Last month, another new school year started for students at the FRANK SINATRA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS in Astoria, New York. The difference is now they have a brand new, state-of-the-art building in a vibrant neighborhood. Bob talks with TONY BENNETT and his wife, SUSAN BENEDETTO about their work in founding and funding the school. Then, Bob tours the new building with student body president ALEX LENDOR.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Martha Graham. In seven decades as a dancer and choreographer, Graham created hundreds of ballets. A founder of modern dance, she is known for her collaborations with other leading artists, including composer Aaron Copland.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author Juan Gabriel Vasquez; explorer Mike Fay and photographer Michael "Nick" Nichols; entertainment critic David Kipen
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Thu, Oct 01, 2009
JUAN GABRIEL VASQUEZ grew up in Colombia, was educated in Paris at the Sorbonne, and lives in Barcelona. His short stories and novels have been translated into nine languages and now for the first time published in the United States. "The Informers" is a novel set in Colombia during World War II and tells the story of a man who publicly betrays his son and how long-buried family secrets come to light.
MIKE FAY is an explorer and conservationist who specializes in long journeys. In 1999, he hiked 2,000 miles across the Congo River Basin to take an ecological census of the area. His latest journey was through the redwood forests of the Pacific coast. Along the trek, Fay met loggers, environmentalists and ecologists who are developing “enlightened forestry.” Photographer MICHAEL "NICK" NICHOLS accompanied Fay on the journey, and their work is in October’s edition of National Geographic Magazine. The journey is also featured in “Climbing Redwood Giants” on the National Geographic Channel’s “Explorer” program.
Bob talks with entertainment critic DAVID KIPEN about new movies in theaters this
weekend : "Capitalism: A Love Story" ; "Zombieland" ; "Bright Star"
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: author Allison Hoover-Bartlett; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Thu, Oct 01, 2009
Journalist ALLISON HOOVER-BARTLETT investigated the world of rare book collecting, getting to know several book dealers and John Charles Gilkey, the thief who stole from them. Bartlett’s book "The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession" ties their stories together, and offers a glimpse into the exclusive world of book collectors.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from William O. Douglas. He was an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1939 to 1975. As a boy, he hiked the Cascade Mountains near his home in Washington to strengthen legs weakened by polio. Douglas’ prolific career on the bench was marked by controversy and two attempts to impeach him.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: documentary filmmakers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Sep 26, 2009
Documentary filmmaker KEN BURNS is back with a majestic and sweeping documentary for PBS. "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" charts the history and current status of the country's most treasured real eastate. Bob talks with Burns and writer and co-producer DAYTON DUNCAN about the ten years they spent on the project.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from television and film actress Julia Adams. Her career has spanned more than 50 years. She is best known for her role in "Creature From the Black Lagoon." Adams has starred with movie icons John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Charlton Heston and many others. More recently, she has appeared on TV shows "Lost" and "Cold Case."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author Jill McCorkle; musician Chris Smither
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Fri, Sep 25, 2009
Bob first talked with JILL MCCORKLE at the beginning of her career. Now, they're back together to discuss "Going Away Shoes," her ninth book. It's a collection of short stories that McCorkle describes as a litter she was nursing. The characters confront unhappy marriages, loneliness and loss, and therapy, but McCorkle manages to inject a lot of humor into those dark subjects.
CHRIS SMITHER is a musician with a reputation for storytelling, weaving catchy melodies and intricate lyrics together. Smither mixes the blues with folk to create his recognizable style, and it's one that has influenced other artists, like Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris. Smither's latest album is called "Time Stands Still," and it includes his own songs and covers from Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: literary critic and writer James Wood; director and screenwriter Jane Campion
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Sat, Sep 19, 2009
JAMES WOOD is a literary critic and staff writer for The New Yorker and a professor of English and American literature at Harvard University. In his book "How Fiction Works," Wood examines the alchemy of fiction, questioning why some literary devices work, while others fall out of fashion.
Director JANE CAMPION'S new film "Bright Star" tells the story of the final three years of English Romantic poet John Keats' life. Keats had a secret love affair with his neighbor Fanny Brawne which, in keeping with the Romantic Age's sensibilities, ended tragically. Campion directed 1993's "The Piano," winning an Oscar for Best Screenplay, and she was the second woman in Oscar history to secure a nomination for Best Director.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: photojournalist Molly Bingham; Mayor of Newark, New Jersey Cory Booker; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Sat, Sep 19, 2009
Drawing on her heritage, journalistic experience, and lack of loyalty to any one media brand or format, MOLLY BINGHAM is setting out to change the way we think about media. She explains it all to Bob, including her new project "The Global Council for Media Transformation," which she will introduce at next week's Clinton Global Initiative hosted by former President Bill Clinton.
As a city councilman, CORY BOOKER moved into a tent pitched in front of one of Newark's most notorious housing projects. He was trying to draw attention to an open air drug market thriving there. Booker is now the mayor of Newark and he's the subject of a new five part documentary series on the Sundance Channel called "Brick City." Bob talks with Mayor Booker about trying to reinvent a city saddled with a history of violence, corruption and poverty.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from Will Thomas. He was born in Kansas City and worked as a newspaper writer, editor and prizefighter. Thomas eventually settled in Vermont with his wife and three children. His book, "The Seeking," details the family's integration to the all-white community of Westford. Bob also talks with Anne Smith, the eldest child of Will Thomas, about her father's essay.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: Nina Morrison of The Innocence Project and Stephen Bright of The Southern Center for Human Rights; author and adventurer Tori Murden McClure
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Fri, Sep 11, 2009
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court did something it hadn't done in 50 years. It ordered a stay of execution and a new court hearing for an inmate attempting to prove his innocence. Since 1991, Troy Davis has been on death row in Georgia, convicted of shooting an off-duty cop. Even though seven of the nine eyewitnesses who testified against him have come forward to say they either were mistaken or deliberately lied, no court has let them testify with this information. NINA MORRISON of the Innocence Project joins STEPHEN BRIGHT of the Southern Center for Human Rights to talk about the case and what it could mean for other wrongful convictions in death penalty cases.
Bob speaks to adventurer and author TORI MURDEN MCCLURE in front of an audience at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. McClure was the first woman, and first American, to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She began her successful crossing ten years ago this weekend. McClure has written a book about her experience called "A Pearl in the Storm."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
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Fri, Sep 11, 2009
DAVIS GUGGENHEIM is best known as the director of "An Inconvenient Truth" which won an Oscar in 2007. Now he has a new, lighter documentary called "It Might Get Loud." The film chronicles the meeting of three masters of the electric guitar: The Edge of U2, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and Jack White. The movie opens widely across the country this weekend.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Julien Bryan. He was a documentary filmmaker who made educational movies exploring cultures as diverse as the nomadic tribes in Saudi Arabia and the mountain families of Appalachia. He documented the Nazi siege of Warsaw in 1939, and toured the Soviet Union. Bryan's films were translated into 40 languages and shown around the world.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: Part 3 of our series on education reform, featuring teachers, after school programs, and educational researchers
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Fri, Sep 04, 2009
Today, we feature the last of a three part series about education reform. After focusing on the specific changes that have been made in New York City and Washington, DC, we’ll discuss broader issues such as the value of national standards and how to implement them locally. Bob first talks to Rafe Esquith, a fifth grade teacher at Hobart Elementary in central Los Angeles. His students, who consistently outperform their peers, ranking in the top five percent in the nation, often continue their education at Ivy League universities. Later, Bob talks with Sara Mead, the Director of the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation about the dramatic difference pre-kindergarten makes for students, especially from low-income families. Then Bob talks to Paul Griffin, founder of City at Peace, an after school theater program he established in Washington, DC. Finally, Bob talks to Howard Gardner, professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Gardner explains his theory of multiple types of intelligence and how it can be used to help teach all students in the classroom.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: writer David Bradley; journalist Kirstin Downey; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
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Fri, Sep 04, 2009
FDR’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded four arts program. One of those, the Federal Writer’s Project, employed thousands of writers and started the careers of some of America’s most famous authors like Studs Terkel, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, and Zora Neale Hurston. Bob talks with writer DAVID BRADLEY about a new documentary that tells the story of the Federal Writer’s Project. “Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story” premiers on the Smithsonian Channel this weekend.
Frances Perkins was FDR’s Secretary of Labor and his moral conscience. The very first woman to hold a cabinet level position, it was Perkins who created and guided many of the New Deal programs. Perkins’ ideas became some of the country’s most important laws. Journalist KIRSTIN DOWNEY has written the first biography about Perkins. It’s titled The Woman Behind the New Deal.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from James Carey. Called “Labor’s Boy Wonder,” Carey was still in his 20s when he was elected national secretary of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. By age 40, Carey founded and became the first president of the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: Part two of our series on education reform, featuring interviews with Washignton DC public shcool chancellor Michelle Rhee and Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers
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Fri, Aug 28, 2009
In part two of a three week series on EDUCATION REFORM, we focus on the nation’s capital. Washington, DC Public School Chancellor Michelle Rhee is the protĂ©gĂ© of Joel Klein, chancellor of New York City Public Schools, who was featured last week. However, Rhee has probably been even more controversial than her mentor. Rhee and Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, will discuss issues related to No Child Left Behind and teacher pay.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: author and women's studies professor Bonnie Morris; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
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Fri, Aug 28, 2009
In the classroom, her one-woman play, and her book, Revenge of the Women's Studies Professor, BONNIE MORRIS tries to convince her audience that even though she teaches women's history, she's NOT a "feminazi." That term was coined in the early 90s by a well-known conservative talk show host, but the name stuck. Even in 2009 Morris says most students at George Washington University where she teaches will not take a woman's studies class due to the lingering stigma. Morris will share insightful and humorous stories -- and maybe just a little bit of women's history -- in a chat about academic sexism.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Margaret Sanger. She was the founder and president of the American Birth Control League, which later became Planned Parenthood. She organized the first World Population Conference in Geneva in 1927. Even into her 80s, Sanger traveled the world helping to establish birth control clinics.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: part one of a three-week series on Education Reform - guests this hour include NYC public schools chancellor Joel Klein and former Asst. Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Aug 21, 2009
This week is the first of a three part series on EDUCATION REFORM. The focus is on New York City, the origin of many of the reforms being tested and proposed for other cities. Joel Klein is the chancellor of New York City Public Schools. Diane Ravitch is a former Assistant Secretary of Education and now a research professor at New York University. In this hour, Klein and Ravitch discuss the issues facing New York, including mayoral control, transparency, and accountability within the school administration.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: author Sarah Lyall; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Aug 21, 2009
New York Times reporter SARAH LYALL moved to London 15 years ago, sending back reports on the habits and and eccentricities of her new neighbors. She's collected her observations in the book, "The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British." Lyall' writes about England's personality and the social changes that are altering it. Her book comes out in paperback on Tuesday.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from George Mardikian, an Armenian immigrant. His first job in America was washing dishes in a San Francisco cafeteria; he eventually bought the place and built it into a renowned restaurant. For his work to improve food service for combat troops in Korea, Mardikian was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award an American can receive.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: a special program on homeless veterans and the people who try to help them
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Aug 15, 2009
Every night, there are up to 200,000 homeless veterans and not nearly enough shelters to house them. Of that total, 4,000 served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bob visits a shelter in Washington, DC dedicated to supporting homeless veterans to talk directly to former military men and women and the social workers trying to help them.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: remembrance of the late musician Les Paul; author Greg Walter; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Aug 15, 2009
Bob pays tribute to legendary guitarist Les Paul. Now hailed as one of the 20th Century's guitar masters and innovators, Les Paul has influenced countless musicians. In 2008, Bob visited Paul at Iridium, the club where he played a weekly gig with his trio. Les Paul died Thursday at the age of 94.
Then, one of the most legendary moments in rock-n-roll history started with an ad placed in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal: "Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions." The 40th anniversary of what was billed as "An Aquarian Exposition" is this weekend. GREG WALTER worked on the backstage crew of Woodstock and came away with more than his share of stories, which he includes in his book "Woodstock: A New Look," along with photographs he shot during the festival.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Bernard Baruch. He rose to prominence as a financier and member of the New York Stock Exchange. Baruch advised Presidents Woodrow Wilson during World War I, Franklin Roosevelt during the New Deal and World War II, and Harry Truman in the post-war era.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author William Meller; author Julie Klam
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Aug 07, 2009
The theory of evolution was introduced 150 years ago by Charles Darwin. Yet most medical schools do not teach how the human body and mind evolved during and since the Stone Age. DR. WILLIAM MELLER has spent the bulk of his career studying evolutionary medicine and spending time in countries such as Bhutan, Myanmar, and Peru to study ancient methods of healing. Meller discusses evolutionary medicine and how scientists can better learn through the study of anthropology. His book on the subject is titled "Evolution Rx."
Most people would have found JULIE KLAM'S childhood enviable. Her mother often kept her out of school to spend the day shopping at Bloomingdale's and eating lavish lunches. But Klam would soon learn that her glamorous life growing up in New York's wealthy Westchester County did little to prepare her for the real world. In her memoir, "Please Excuse My Daughter," Klam records her successes and failures with humor, wit, and self-effacing grace.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: musicians Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Aug 07, 2009
This summer, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer BONNIE RAITT and Blues Hall of Famer TAJ MAHAL are traveling the country together on the "BonTaj Roulet" tour. "This tour is just what the doctor ordered," Raitt says. "Taj and I have so much in common, but there's so much unexplored territory between us." There's a charitable element to the "BonTaj Roulet" tour as well. A portion of ticket sales will go to charities voted on by the fans.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from Iowa native Anne Heywood. She held 34 different jobs before founding the Career Changing Clinic in New York City to help troops returning from World War II find work. Heywood is the author of "There Is a Right Job for Every Woman."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: activists and corporate pranksters "Andy Bichlbaum" and "Mike Bonanno" (The Yes Men); authors and pranksters Charlie Todd and Alex Scordelis (Improv Everywhere)
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jul 31, 2009
ANDY BICHLBAUM and MIKE BONANNO have made a career out of humiliating greedy corporations and corrupt government agencies that they feel dishonor human life. Their exploits are documented in a new film called "The Yes Men Fix the World." The documentary has won standing ovations and audience awards at festivals across the country, and it's airing this weekend on HBO.
One night in 2001, aspiring actor Charlie Todd was out with his friends at a Greenwich Village bar when they decided to pretend that Charlie was the famous musician Ben Folds. After an evening of signing autographs and getting free drinks, Todd realized New York City was the ultimate stage for his craft, and from there dreamed up his group Improv Everywhere. Now eight years old, Improv Everywhere continues to live up to its mission statement: "we cause scenes." Founder CHARLIE TODD and fellow agent ALEX SCORDELLIS recount their finest missions in the new book "Causing a Scene: Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Improv Everywhere."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: former health insurance executive Wendell Potter; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jul 31, 2009
WENDELL POTTER was an executive with the insurance company Cigna for almost 20 years. Now, he's speaking out against the health insurance industry. Several weeks ago, Potter testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation about what he sees as an industry corrupted by Wall Street greed and investor expectations.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Eleanor Roosevelt. She was the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, was active in Democratic politics and helped shape her husband's New Deal programs. Considered one of the most active and influential first ladies in U.S. history, Roosevelt advocated for racial equality, women's rights and world peace.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: James Lovelock, Lizzie Skurnick
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jul 24, 2009
Bob talks with environmental scientist James Lovelock about his latest book The Vanishing Face of Gaia. Lovelock argues that itĂ¢s already far too late to stop global warming, and that we should be committing our resources to surviving in the new hotter world to come instead of trying to stop it. Then, for millions of women, the books they read (and re-read) as young girls helped them become the women they are today. Lizzie Skurnick writes the column Ă¢Fine LinesĂ¢ for Jezebel.com, and blogs about books on her website Old Hag. Her book Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading explores why the books of so many womenĂ¢s youth continue to inspire, inform, and mold them well into adulthood.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, This I Believe
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jul 24, 2009
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller met as teenagers in Los Angeles in 1950, forming a songwriting team that churned out hits for early rhythm & blues artistsĂĆ’Ă‚¢and later for Elvis Presley, The Drifters, The Coasters, Peggy Lee and many more. Their partnership even extends to a joint autobiography titled, Hound Dog. Then, in this weekĂĆ’Ă‚¢s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from James A. Michener. He wrote his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Tales of the South Pacific, during his naval service in World War II after winning a transfer from a desk job in Washington to the Pacific theater. MichenerĂĆ’Ă‚¢s literary career spanned 50 years and 40 books.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: actor Robert Redford and Dan Gedimen
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Tue, Jul 14, 2009
A trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council for more than three decades, Robert Redford has dedicated nearly as much of his life to the environment as he has to acting and filmmaking. Redford joins Bob on stage at the Lincoln Center in front of a live audience to talk about his film career and the many NRDC campaigns he has supported in the past ĂƒÂ¢ and why that work will still be needed for years to come.
Then, in this week's installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with executive director Dan Gediman about the essay from anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978). She spent many years in Polynesia studying native cultures there. She also worked as an associate curator at the American Museum of Natural History, professor at Columbia University, and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: Helene Cooper, "When we Were Kings"
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Tue, Jul 14, 2009
New York Times diplomatic correspondent Helene Cooper talks with Bob about her book, The House at Sugar Beach. Cooper was born into a society of wealth and privilege in Liberia, as a descendant of one of the first settlers in the African country. In 1980, her life was forever changed when the Liberian government was overthrown and her family was forced to flee to America. Cooper tells the story of how she reconnected with her Liberian roots years after she left the country. Her book is just coming out in paperback.
Then, the Academy Award-winning documentary When We Were Kings chronicled the 1974 fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire, giving only supporting mention of the epic 12-hour, three-night concert show-casing prominent African-American and African musicians of the day. Now, director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, who edited When We Were Kings, has released 35-year old footage of the concert, featuring Celia Cruz, James Brown, BB King, and Bill Withers, among other artists. Soul Power documents the musical performances and the effects of this once in a lifetime event.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author Jancee Dunn; musician Melody Gardot
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jul 10, 2009
Writer JANCEE DUNN explores the dichotomy of being a successful professional who, when she visits her parents, immediately reverts back to her teenaged self. Her new book, "Why Is My Mother Getting A Tattoo And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had To Ask" wonders if we ever really grow up, and chronicles Dunn's attempt to come to grips with getting older.
After MELODY GARDOT was seriously injured in a bicycle accident at age nineteen, she used music therapy as a way to rebuild her cognitive skills. Though permanently disabled, her therapy resulted in critical acclaim as a jazz and blues artist. She talks with Bob about her latest album, "My One and Only Thrill."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: author Michael D'Antonio; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jul 10, 2009
Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley came to be hated in his native New York, loved in Los Angeles and was called one of the most notorious baseball owner in sports history for moving the Brooklyn Dodgers across the country after the 1957 season. MICHAEL D'ANTONIO has writen a new biography called "Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles."
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Jackie Robinson. In 1947, Robinson became the first black player in Major League Baseball. During his 10 seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson played on six World Series teams and was voted the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1949.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: travel writer Rick Steves; author Peter Carlson
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jul 03, 2009
For the past 30 years, travel guru RICK STEVES has advocated for thoughtful and informed traveling in his public television series, his radio show, and his best-selling guide books. His new book," Travel as a Political Act," teaches readers how to become travelers, not tourists.
PETER CARLSON isn't sure which anecdote turned him into a Khrushchev-in-America buff. It could have been the one about the irascible Soviet leader throwing a fit because he wasn't allowed to go to Disneyland. Or it could have been Khrushchev's suspicion that Camp David was really a leper colony. Or it could have been Khrushchev arguing with Nixon over which kind of animal dung smelled the worst. Carlson includes those stories and many more in "K Blows Top," a book about Nikita Khrushchev's great American road trip of 1959.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: novelist Luis Urrea; commentator Baxter Black; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jul 03, 2009
Writer LUIS ALBERTO URREA'S latest novel, "Into The Beautiful North," tells the epic journey of 19-year-old Nayeli, as she sets out from her native Mexico to find her own "Magnificent Seven" to save her village from the drug dealers who have taken over the town. Inspired by the 1960 film, Nayeli travels to America in search of protection. Urrea was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and has won an American Book Award, among many other honors. His previous books include "The Hummingbird's Daughter" and "The Devil's Highway."
Then, cowboy poet BAXTER BLACK shares his thoughts about America this holiday weekend.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Maximilian Hodder, who worked in the movie industries of Eastern Europe before World War Two. While serving in the Polish Army, he was captured by the Soviets but later escaped. Hodder came to the United States in 1949 to work in Hollywood, and he writes about the generosity and freedom he found in this country.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author Matthew Algeo; Eugene DeAnna, head of the Recorded Sound Section at the Library of Congress
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Jun 27, 2009
Six months after he left the White House in 1953, former president Harry Truman drove with his wife Bess from Independence, Missouri to the east coast and back again, stopping at motels and diners just like any other tourists. MATTHEW ALGEO retraces the excursion in "Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip." This Sunday would have been the Trumans' 90th wedding anniversary.
The Library of Congress adds 25 recordings deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" to the National Recording Registry each year. EUGENE DEANNA, head of the Recorded Sound Section at the Library, joins Bob to discuss this year's selections, which include Marian Anderson's 1939 recital at the Lincoln Memorial; the sounds of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the Louisiana swamp; Etta James' "At Last"; and "My Generation" by The Who.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: curators and artists behind art exhibit "Iran Inside/Out"; neuroscientist and author Daniel Levitin; Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. Dan Gediman
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Jun 27, 2009
A new exhibit opened this weekend at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City. "Iran Inside/Out" presents the work of more than 50 contemporary artists living both inside and outside of Iran. The curators describe the context and intent of the show, and four of the artists discuss their art, the challenges they faced mounting this exhibit, and the importance of self-expression in the face of a repressive government.
Neuroscientist DANIEL LEVITIN is the author of books like "This is Your Brain on Music" and "The World in Six Songs." Now he's also the co-host of a new documentary airing on PBS called "The Music Instinct: Science & Song." The program investigates the connections between music and the human mind and explores musical universals across time and cultures.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Louise Dickinson Rich. Her life in northern Maine became the inspiration for her best-selling book, "We Took to the Woods."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author Curt Smith; author Michael Lewis
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Jun 20, 2009
Vin Scully has been calling baseball games on radio and television for almost 60 years now. He began in the booth with the legendary Red Barber in 1950, then moved with the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles for the 1958 season. Author CURT SMITH joins Bob to discuss his long-overdue biography called "Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story."
Just in time for Father's Day, Bob talks with MICHAEL LEWIS about his new book "Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood." Lewis kept a journal for the first few years after the birth of each of his three children. The essays are true, hilarious, insightful and portray the disappointments and eventual joys of being a dad.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: Broadway director Arthur Laurents; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Jun 20, 2009
Playwright, screenwriter, and director ARTHUR LAURENTS has 50 years of Broadway experiences and memories. Among his notable accomplishments are directing newcomer Barbra Streisand in "I Can Get It for You Wholesale" and directing "La Cage aux Folles," Broadway's first openly gay musical. Laurents also wrote the books for "West Side Story" and "Gypsy," which remain two of Broadway's legendary musicals. His memoir is called "Mainly on Directing: Gypsy, West Side Story and Other Musicals."
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from actor and director John Cromwell. He directed dozens of films and is the father of actor JAMES CROMWELL, who is also our guest and reacts to hearing his father's essay for the first time.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: author Eric Boehlert; filmmakers Robert Kenner and Michael Pollan; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jun 12, 2009
In the tradition of the 1973 classic book "The Boys on the Bus," journalist ERIC BOEHLERT offers "Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press." Boehlert uses the 2008 presidential race to show how bloggers influenced voters, the candidates, and their campaigns.
The new film "Food, Inc." presents an enlightening and sometimes disturbing view of the American food system. Director ROBERT KENNER and co-producer MICHAEL POLLAN join Bob to talk about their new documentary and to discuss some of the problems of modern food, as well as some solutions.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Walter White. He was executive secretary of the NAACP from 1931 to 1955. As a writer and activist, White lobbied for federal anti-lynching laws and the desegregation of the United States armed forces. Although fair-skinned with blonde hair and blue eyes, White considered himself an African-American.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: director Stephan Elliott; musician Jorma Kaukonen
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jun 12, 2009
Director STEPHAN ELLIOTT talks with Bob about adapting playwright Noel Coward's classic "Easy Virtue" for the big screen. This comedy of manners has a glamorous American woman disrupting the quiet world of her new husband's prim British family.
JORMA KAUKONEN is one of the most accomplished guitar players in America. His intricate finger-style melodies are well known to fans that have followed his career from The Jefferson Airplane to Hot Tuna to solo work. Kaukonen joins Bob in our performance studio to play a few tunes and to talk about his latest CD, "River of Time."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: musician Elvis Costello; folklorists Steve Winick and Nancy Groce
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Tue, Jun 09, 2009
Musician ELVIS COSTELLO is adding television host to his resume. Beginning December 3rd, the Sundance Channel will air a series called "Spectacle" in which Costello interviews and performs with celebrities including Sir Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed, Julian Schnabel and Bill Clinton.
Folklorists NANCY GROCE and STEVE WINICK from the Library of Congress dip into the archive of the American Folklife Center and bring along songs, poems, and stories about food.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: political science professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell, columnist David Broder, talk show host Rebecca Roberts, and commentator Ron Walters; reporter Jeffrey Smith; folklorists Steve Winick and Todd Harvey
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Tue, Jun 09, 2009
Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States, and with a new commander-in-chief comes a new administration. Chicago native and Princeton University political science professor MELISSA HARRIS-LACEWELL talks about what an Obama administration might look like. And our political roundtable will analyze the results of this historic election. Bob talks with Washington Post columnist DAVID BRODER, REBECCA ROBERTS of XM's presidential channel and with RON WALTERS, Director of the African-American Leadership Center at the University of Maryland.
Bob talks with Washington Post reporter JEFFREY SMITH about the Bush Administration's last push to weaken environmental regulations.
STEVE WINICK and TODD HARVEY, folklorists with the Library of Congress, share historic musical field recordings that served as the basis of pop hits when they were later covered by contemporary artists. Hear how Feist, Led Zeppelin, and Moby were inspired by what they heard in the American Folklife Center.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author Anne Nelson; musician Yusuf Islam
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jun 05, 2009
The Red Orchestra was a group of ordinary Germans who tried to bring down the Nazi regime from within Germany. After years of research and exclusive interviews, ANNE NELSON has published her findings in a book called "Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler."
Cat Stevens was one of the most beloved songwriters of his generation. But at the height of his fame in 1977 (and with 8 gold records under his belt), Stevens converted to Islam, changed his name to YUSUF ISLAM, and left music to do philanthropic work in the Muslim community. He returned to music in 1995, and now has a new album titled "Roadsinger."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: author and historian Simon Schama; Dan Gediman of This I Believe, Inc.
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Jun 05, 2009
Historian, professor and author SIMON SCHAMA didn't look too far back in time for his latest book "The American Future: A History." Using the 2008 presidential election as a reference point, Schama examines the history of four on-going social debates in America: war, religion, race and immigration, and economic division.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Helen Keller. As an infant, Keller was struck by a fever that left her deaf and blind. With the guidance of her teacher Anne Sullivan, Keller learned to communicate with and learn about the rest of the world. Keller became a renowned and radical author, activist, and lecturer.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Feb. 22, 2008 Hour 1: folk singer Pete Seeger
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Mon, Jun 01, 2009
Pete Seeger was banned from American commercial television for more than 17 years, after topping the pop charts and being blacklisted. Seeger wrote or co-wrote many of our most iconic folk songs. Now almost 90, Seeger is still performing and still writing. He's publishing a new songbook this year and the PBS program American Masters pays tribute on February 27th with "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song."
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: author Michael Shaffer; journalist Peter Laufer
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, May 29, 2009
A third of all pet owners admit to buying birthday presents for their furry friends. Many groomers now offer pet pedicures as part of their routine service. And if your dog is deemed to be suffering from separation anxiety, your vet might prescribe puppy Prozac. MICHAEL SHAFFER has written a new book about our pet-obsessed culture. It's called "One Nation Under Dog."
Author and journalist PETER LAUFER tells Bob all about his new book "The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists." It touches on the relationships between butterflies and organized crime, ecological devastation, species depletion, the integrity of natural history museum collections and the role butterflies play in the art world.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich; food critic and author Ruth Reichl; Dan Gediman of This I Believe, Inc.
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, May 29, 2009
For his editorial cartoons, MIKE LUCKOVICH has won two Pulitzer Prizes - which he calls "the ultimate coloring contest." Luckovich is the staff editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His work is also syndicated to hundred of papers nationwide and regularly appears in Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
RUTH REICHL is editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, a former food critic for both the New York and the Los Angeles Times, and the author of three best-selling memoirs. Her latest, "Not Becoming My Mother and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way," is a tribute to her mother Miriam, whose larger-than-life personality dominated Reichl's younger years.
In this week's installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with Dan Gediman about the essay from Herbert Lehman. He co-founded the Lehman Brothers investment banking firm in 1908 and served in the Army during World War I, rising to the rank of colonel. Lehman was governor of New York from 1933 to 1942 and served as a U.S. Senator from 1949 until 1957.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 2: a rebroadcast of our documentary "Stories from Third Med: Surviving a Jungle ER"
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, May 22, 2009
It's been more than forty years since many Americans were shipped to and died in the jungles of Vietnam. For this Memorial Day weekend, we pay tribute to our service men and women with an encore presentation of our award-winning show STORIES FROM THIRD MED: SURVIVING A JUNGLE ER. The documentary features stories from the men of the Navy's Third Medical Battalion, which served alongside the Third Marine Division. They were based near the DMZ, close to North Vietnam. Four decades later, the doctors and corpsmen recount the horrific experiences they can never forget.
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Bob Edwards Weekend Hour 1: filmmakers Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney; Dan Gediman, Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc.
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, May 22, 2009
To environmentalists, green building methods are forward-thinking and socially responsible. But the construction workers who actually build the structures are a tough sell. The new documentary "The Greening of Southie" records the ascent of The McCallen Building in South Boston. The film is narrated by architects, project managers, and formerly skeptical construction workers. Filmmakers CURT ELLIS and IAN CHENEY join Bob to discuss their new documentary and the green building movement.
For the latest installment in our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from educator and folklorist J. Frank Dobie. Along with writing numerous books and articles about vanishing ways of life on the ranches of his native Texas, Dobie also taught in the English department at the University of Texas and lectured on U.S. history at Cambridge during World War II.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: poet E. Ethelbert Miller; director James Toback; author Christopher McDougall
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Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, May 16, 2009
E. ETHELBERT MILLER is a poet, though "literary activist" is the term he uses to describe himself. He's also a baseball fan, and nearing 60 years of age, figures he's in "The 5th Inning.". That's the title of his second memoir in which he uses baseball as a metaphor for measuring his life so far.
Mike Tyson was once boxing's biggest star. He was dominant in the ring, but the same inner demons that propelled Tyson's ferocity eventually led to his downfall. After serving time in prison and falling into bankruptcy, Mike Tyson tells his own story in the new documentary, "Tyson." Bob speaks with director JAMES TOBACK about his film and his friendship with the boxer.
One simple question sent journalist and running enthusiast CHRISTOPHER MCDOUGALL across the globe: Why does my foot hurt? In his quest, McDougall ran endurance races across America, visited science labs at Harvard, and spent time with a tribe in Mexico's Copper Canyons, whose speed and health could match any Olympic marathoner. McDougall's book is titled "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: political strategist James Carville; actor Kenneth Branagh; Dan Gediman of This I Believe, Inc.
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, May 16, 2009
Bob talks with political strategist and author JAMES CARVILLE about his new book "40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation."
Actor and director KENNETH BRANAGH is best known for performing the plays of Shakespeare, but now he's starring as the scruffy Swedish detective Kurt Wallander in the new Masterpiece Mystery! miniseries. "Wallander" is based on the bestselling novels by Henning Mankell, and it airs Sunday evenings on PBS through the end of the month.
For the latest installment in our ongoing series THIS I BELIEVE, Bob talks with executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Marty Mann. Born into a wealthy Chicago family, Mann worked as a magazine editor, art critic and photographer. She was the first woman to join Alcoholics Anonymous, and she also created the National Committee on Alcoholism.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: novelist Arthur Phillips; author Jonah Lehrer; essayist Tom Bodett
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, May 08, 2009
In his new novel, ARTHUR PHILLIPS uses our modern culture's preoccupation with iPods, cell phones, and the Internet to question whether we are actually closer as a society or further apart. The book is called, "The Song Is You." Phillips is also the author of the best-selling novels "Angelica," "The Egyptologist" and "Prague."
JONAH LEHRER'S newest book examines how the human brain makes decisions. Lehrer describes how scientists use experiments and fMRI machines to determine which parts of our brains are active as we solve riddles or choose which toothpaste to buy. Lehrer says decision making is a constant tug of war between the rational mind and our gut instincts. Lehrer's book is called "How We Decide."
Finally, essayist TOM BODETT describes his decision to join the online social network Twitter.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: former astronaut Sally Ride; journalist Michael Walsh; Dan Gediman of This I Believe, Inc.
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, May 08, 2009
As the first American woman in space, SALLY RIDE inspired a generation of young girls to get interested in science. In 2001, she founded Sally Ride Science, a company that creates entertaining science programs and books for kids, with a particular focus on girls. Ride's latest books -- "Mission: Planet Earth" and "Mission: Save the Planet" -- teach kids about global warming and how to become responsible energy consumers.
In 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin named American-born George Koval a Hero of the Russian Federation. Putin revealed that Koval, who worked at the U.S. military research center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, passed along nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Journalist MICHAEL WALSH writes about George Koval for Smithsonian Magazine's May edition in the article "Iowa-Born, Soviet-Trained."
We continue airing classic audio essays from the original THIS I BELIEVE series. This weekend, Bob talks with This I Believe, Inc. executive director DAN GEDIMAN about the essay from Edward R. Murrow, who hosted the original series from 1951 to 1955. The newsman gained acclaim for his CBS Radio broadcasts during World War II. Later, his television series tackled subjects ranging from Joseph McCarthy to farm worker rights. In his essay, Murrow describes the fear and uncertainty Americans felt in the early 1950s.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: writer Joe Queenan; filmmaker Michal Goldman
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, May 01, 2009
No one in American culture has been immune from JOE QUEENAN'S scathing observations. Now the satirist and critic has set his sights on the life of a poor young man, the son of an alcoholic high school dropout, who grew up in a Philadelphia housing project. Queenan picks apart his own life in his new memoir, called "Closing Time." Bob talks with Queenan about his search for surrogate father figures, and the ways he tried to escape his household.
In the mid-1920s, thousands of Jewish immigrant garment workers moved out of Manhattan ghettos by pooling their resources to build four cooperative apartment complexes in the Bronx. Even though most were first generation and Communist, the strength of that community helped propel them socially and economically. Producer MICHAL GOLDMAN discusses the families and the challenges they faced. The stories are told in her documentary, "At Home in Utopia" which airs this weekend on PBS.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: financial reporter and author Alan Beattie; This I Believe, Inc. Executive Director Dan Gediman
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, May 01, 2009
Politics, religion, and natural resources help shape the economies of nations. In "False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World," author ALAN BEATTIE compares economically successful countries with those that have faltered. Beattie explains how the history of economic development can teach us to address our current economic woes.
Beginning this weekend, we're airing classic essays from Edward R. Murrow's 1950s THIS I BELIEVE radio series. Each week, Bob will talk with This I Believe, Inc. executive director DAN GEDIMAN about a featured essayist and play the essay as originally broadcast more than 50 years ago. In addition to Edward R. Murrow's personal essay, in the weeks to come you'll hear essays by baseball legend Jackie Robinson; writer and activist Helen Keller; and Walter White, the long-time executive secretary of the NAACP.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: professor and retired Army colonel Andrew Bacevich; documentary filmmaker Laura Waters Hinson; Sirius XM classical music host Martin Goldsmith
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Apr 24, 2009
ANDREW BACEVICH is a unique observer of American politics. He is a retired Army colonel, a self-described conservative Catholic, a history professor at Boston University and the father of a soldier who was killed while fighting in Iraq. Bob talks with Bacevich about his book, "The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism." It comes out in paperback April 28th.
Then, Bob talks with LAURA WATERS HINSON, director of the documentary, "As We Forgive." The movie tells the stories of survivors of Rwandan genocide as they prepare to face the men who slaughtered their families. It comes out on DVD in May.
In honor of Holocaust Awareness Month, MARTIN GOLDSMITH, host of Sirius XM's Symphony Hall, discusses the musicians and composers who died in the Nazi concentration camp Terezin.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: researcher Vivek Wadhwa; author Franz Wisner; musician Elliott Murphy
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Apr 24, 2009
At the end of 2006, more than one million highly skilled immigrant professionals and their families were waiting for permanent resident visas in the United States. But only 120,000 visas are given out every year. A new study by VIVEK WADHWA shows that instead of continuing to wait, foreign-born engineers, scientists and doctors are returning home. Wadhwa explains the cause of the brain drain and why it matters to the U.S. economy.
FRANZ WISNER became famous when his would-be bride dumped him just before their wedding. Wisner wrote a best-selling book about the experience called "Honeymoon With My Brother." Now Wisner has taken his brother Kurt on another global adventure and written "How the World Makes Love...And What It Taught a Jilted Groom."
Singer-songwriter ELLIOTT MURPHY has released 29 albums since his 1973 debut, "Aquashow." But he's not a household name, maybe because he was one of the first American artists to go independent -- and because he's lived in France since 1989. Murphy talks with Bob about his music, his life on the road and his books. Murphy has written five, including a semi-autobiography, "Cold and Electric," and the novel, "Where the Men are Rich and the Women are Naked." His latest CD is "Notes from the Underground."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Mythbusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman; author Evan Wright; journalist Tom Frail
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Apr 17, 2009
As the Discovery channel's hit show "Mythbusters" starts its seventh season, JAMIE HYNEMAN and ADAM SAVAGE talk with Bob about the hard but entertaining work of using science to confirm or expose popular myths.
EVAN WRIGHT was embedded with the Marines for the first forty days of the Iraq War. His articles were printed in "Rolling Stone" and became the basis for the HBO miniseries called "Generation Kill." Wright's latest book, "Hella Nation," draws on detailed observations of members of the underbelly of American culture, from skinheads to taxi dancers.
Writer Eudora Welty is best known as a chronicler of the American south, especially for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Optimist's Daughter." She was also a photographer. During the Great Depression, Welty drove around Mississippi, recording the details of everyday life in what she called her "snapshots." Bob talks with journalist TOM FRAIL about his article "The Writer's Eye" which details Welty's photgraphic work and appears in the April issue of "Smithsonian" magazine.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: reporter Amit Paley; musician Jesse Winchester; music reviewer Anthony DeCurtis
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Apr 17, 2009
The $160 million in bonuses paid to AIG employees angered politicians in Washington and citizens across the country. But other companies also handed out huge bonuses after getting bailed out, attracting far less negative attention. Washington Post reporter AMIT PALEY discusses who is getting help from the federal government, and why many lawmakers are perplexed by the complicated rules related to executive compensation during the financial crisis.
JESSE WINCHESTER went to Canada in 1967 to avoid the Vietnam War. While in Montreal, he wrote songs that were recorded by other artists, but his career as a performer suffered because he could not tour in the United States. Only after Presidential amnesty in 1977 could Winchester return to the U.S. to perform for his American fans. Winchester talks about some of his earliest songs, like "Yankee Lady" and "Brand New Tennessee Waltz."
Bob talks with music reviewer ANTHONY DECURTIS about "Love Filling Station," the new CD from Jesse Winchester.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: journalist and author Ellis Cose; musician Corneille
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Apr 11, 2009
Newsweek columnist ELLIS COSE's new public radio series, "Against the Odds," focuses on stories of individuals who endured terrible events, but have made positive contributions to the world. One of the hour-long programs is titled "Hope on a Pile of Bones," and examines how the small country of Rwanda is pulling itself back together after the 1994 genocide. It all started 15 years ago this month, and before the killing stopped in July, nearly a million Rwandans were dead.
CORNEILLE is a young R&B artist who was born in Germany, raised in Rwanda, lives in Canada, and sings in English and French. His sound has been compared to Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Sam Cooke. Although he's sold millions of records in both France and Canada, Corneille is relatively unknown in the US. Motown Records plans to change that with the release of his latest CD titled "The Birth of Cornelius." And if the music doesn't move people, the back-story will: Corneille's parents and many members of his extended family were killed in the Rwandan genocide.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Thomas Cahill; Sirius XM classical music host Martin Goldsmith
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Apr 11, 2009
Writer THOMAS CAHILL first met Dominique Green in December 2003. Green had spent twelve years on death row in Texas for a murder he said he didn't commit. Cahill pleaded for Green's life, even recruiting Archbishop Desmond Tutu to help, saying Green had "a level of goodness, peace, and enlightenment that few human beings ever attain." That fight ended on October 26, 2004 when the 30-year-old inmate was executed by lethal injection. But Thomas Cahill continues to tell Green's story in his book titled "A Saint on Death Row."
Sirius XM classical music host MARTIN GOLDSMITH explains some of George Frideric Handel's musical trickery in his masterpiece "Messiah." Its performance is now associated with Christmas, but Handel first composed it to be played during Lent and Easter services.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: "Inside Guantanamo" podcast special
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Apr 03, 2009
In recent years, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility has become a lightning rod for controversy, symbolizing both freedoms protected and human rights denied. The crew for the National Geographic Television film "Inside Guantanamo" was allowed unprecedented access inside the camp, and Bob talks with director BONNI COHEN and coordinating producer KATHRYN WALLACE about Guantanamo's day-to-day operations, life as a Gitmo guard, and what closing this facility will mean to the U.S. and the detainees.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Sandra Cisneros; documentary filmmaker Scott Hicks
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Apr 03, 2009
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of SANDRA CISNEROS' seminal work, "The House on Mango Street." This slim book of vignettes about a young Latina girl is one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed books of the 20th century.
In July 2005, SCOTT HICKS began filming a documentary about Philip Glass. Hicks had unprecedented access to the composer, following him across three continents -- from New York City to his vacation property in Nova Scotia to the world premiere of his new opera in Germany and to a solo performance in Australia. On April 8th, "Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts" premieres on the PBS program American Masters.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: an original radio documentary titled, "Iraqi Refugees in America"
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Apr 03, 2009
When the US Military deposed Saddam Hussein, many Iraqis celebrated the brutal regime's downfall. However, the ensuing power vacuum created an environment of violent instability, forcing millions of Iraqis to flee for their safety. Iraqi refugees registered with the UN in hopes of being relocated, sometimes halfway around the world. Charlottesville, Virginia is the new hometown of one Iraqi woman and part of her family. In our documentary, IRAQI REFUGEES IN AMERICA, we meet "Leila" and her family as they try to build a new life in Virginia, and we'll hear officials of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) about the process of refugee resettlement in the United States.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: political reporter Howard Fineman; film critic David Denby
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Mar 27, 2009
Newsweek magazine's HOWARD FINEMAN joins Bob to talk about the role of faith in government, the limits of individualism, debt and the dollar, and other recurring issues in American political discourse. Fineman writes about those issues in "The Thirteen Arguments: Enduring Debates that Define and Inspire Our Country." It's just been released in paperback.
Later, you know "snark" when you hear it: biting, mean, condescension disguised as high-brow teasing. Maureen Dowd is very good at it - so was Cicero. New Yorker film critic DAVID DENBY says it's "spreading like pinkeye through the media" and weakening the public discourse. Denby's new book is titled "Snark."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: musician Carol Kaye
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Mar 27, 2009
Bob spends the hour with CAROL KAYE and her bass guitar. Kaye was the top session bassist of the 1960s and 70s, playing on dozens and dozens of hits for the likes of The Beach Boys, Ritchie Valens, Ray Charles, The Righteous Brothers and The Monkees. It's estimated that Kaye has played on more than ten thousand recording sessions in her career. Kaye is also responsible for the distinctive bass notes of the "Mission Impossible" theme and for many other familiar songs from TV shows and movies.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Elaine Showalter; Everett McCorvey, founder and music director of the American Spiritual Ensemble
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Mar 20, 2009
Writer and literary commentator ELAINE SHOWALTER talks about the history of American female writers from 1650 to 2000. Her new book is called "A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx." Showalter chose both famous and obscure authors for her book.
The AMERICAN SPIRITUAL ENSEMBLE was founded by EVERETT MCCORVEY in 1995 and is based in Lexington, Kentucky. McCorvey and twenty-five members of the Ensemble discuss and perform examples of the American negro spiritual -- music with African roots and biblical text.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: reporter Pat Duggins; astronauts Sandy Magnus and Mike Fincke; NASA food scientist Michelle Perchonok; astronomer Alan Boss.
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Mar 20, 2009
Public radio reporter PAT DUGGINS updates us on NASA and Space Shuttle Discovery's mission. One task is to pick up astronaut Sandy Magnus from the International Space Station. She's been up there since mid-November following the launch of Endeavour, which we covered on this program. Then Bob talks with astronauts SANDY MAGNUS and MIKE FINCKE as they orbit the Earth aboard the International Space Station.
MICHELLE PERCHONOK of the Space Food Systems Lab joins Bob to chat about how foods are prepared, stored, re-heated and eaten during space travel. Bob will also taste some of NASA's astro-delicacies.
Scientist ALAN BOSS is one of the world's leading scholars on the formation of stars and planets. His latest book, "The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets," details the strides contemporary science has made in locating signs of life outside our own solar system.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Christopher Dickey; wildlife researcher Joel Berger; actor Chazz Palminteri
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Mar 13, 2009
Most people have no idea that New York City has its own spy agency with twice as many Arabic speakers as the FBI. CHRISTOPHER DICKEY has covered international terrorism for more than twenty-five years and writes about the NYPD's counterterrorism force in "Securing the City."
Then, one morning JOEL BERGER watched a pack of wolves approach a herd of elk at Yellowstone National Park. The elk had enjoyed 60 years of predator-free living at the park, but wolves had been reintroduced, and the elk had forgotten their fear. The carnage that morning prompted Berger's book, "The Better to Eat You With: Fear in the Animal World."
Finally, when CHAZZ PALMINTERI was having trouble landing a good role, he decided to write one for himself. "A Bronx Tale" is based on his life -- growing up in New York, caught between the worlds of his family and the neighborhood wise guys. Palminteri performed his one-man show on Broadway, where Robert DeNiro saw it. The two made a movie of "A Bronx Tale" in 1993. Now Palminteri is taking the one-man show on the road.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Mac Destler; authors and former hostages Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Tom Howes
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Mar 13, 2009
Retired Marine General James L. Jones is the new National Security Advisor. MAC DESTLER talks about the history and responsibilities of the job. Destler is a professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and the author of numerous books on American foreign policy. His newest is "In the Shadow of the Oval Office."
Later, the story of three men who were taken hostage by a leftist guerrilla group. MARC GONSALVES, KEITH STANSELL, and TOM HOWES were captured by the FARC after their plane crashed in the mountainous jungle of southern Colombia in 2003. At the time of ther capture, they were working to gather counter-narcotic intelligence for the US Department of Defense. The three men are now free after being held hostage for more than five years. They've co-written a new book about their experience called "Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: journalists Charles Sennott and Philip Balboni; musician Bela Fleck
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Mar 06, 2009
News outlets are cutting reporters and closing foreign desks, but a new website has hired more than 60 foreign correspondents to report from 40 countries. Global Post.com was started by veteran foreign correspondent CHARLES SENNOTT and media entrepreneur PHILIP BALBONI. They explain how they hope to revive America's interest in news from other countries.
Later, BELA FLECK is probably the best known banjo player in the world, and he's been lauded for stretching the instrument's repertoire with his band The Flecktones. Fleck's latest project centers on a musical pilgrimage to Africa to trace the roots of the banjo. "Throw Down Your Heart" is the title of his new album and a documentary film, both recorded during the trip. Now, Bela Fleck is preparing a U.S. tour with some of the African musicians featured in the project.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Rose George; comedian Mike Birbiglia
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Mar 06, 2009
Ninety percent of the developing world's sewage is dumped - untreated - into oceans, rivers and lakes. Inadequate sanitation kills more people in developing nations than AIDS, tuberculosis, or malaria. In her book, "The Big Necessity," journalist ROSE GEORGE argues that the way a society disposes of its sewage tells you a lot about its economy, politics and religion.
Then, Bob first spoke with MIKE BIRBIGLIA a couple of years ago, when the comedian was touring the country. Now Birbiglia is being hailed by everyone from Nathan Lane to Ira Glass for his off-Broadway one-man show, titled "Sleepwalk With Me." In the show, Birbiglia mixes humor and pathos as he describes his adventures in sleepwalking, anxiety over relationships, and uncertainty about growing up.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Louis Ferrante; motivational speaker Alex Ellis
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Sat, Feb 28, 2009
LOUIS FERRANTE fought his way up the mafia ranks, earning himself a spot in the Gambino clan. Then, as an inmate in federal prison, he traded in the thrill of the heist for the thrill of a great piece of literature. Bob talks to Ferrante about his memoir, "Unlocked," which has just been released in paperback.
Later, Bob talks with ALEX ELLIS about his youth outreach program Tied to Greatness, which enlists successful African American men in local communities to connect with and mentor black high school boys in need of positive role models.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: journalist and author Robert Kaiser; film critic and filmmaker Elvis Mitchell
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 27, 2009
In "So Much Damn Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government," Washington Post reporter ROBERT KAISER explains how things really work in Washington today -- and why they largely don't.
Later, Bob talks with ELVIS MITCHELL about "The Black List: Volume 2." Mitchell produced the HBO documentary, which features interviews with prominent African Americans about what it's like to be black in America. Some of the people featured in the film include actor Laurence Fishburne, activist Angela Davis, musician Charley Pride and actress Maya Rudolph.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: musicians Christopher Guest and David Nichtern; linguist David Harrison with filmmakers Jeremy Newberger and Seth Kramer; CD producer Jeff Campbell
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 20, 2009
CHRISTOPHER GUEST is known for his "mockumentary" films, including "A Mighty Wind," which poked fun at folk music -- something Guest knows a lot about. Guest plays the mandolin, mandocello, clarinet and guitar. And Guest's band, the Beyman Brothers, has released its first album. Guest and childhood friend DAVID NICHTERN talk about the release, "Memories of Summer as a Child."
Then, DAVID HARRISON studies languages that are dying. He travels to the most remote parts of the world to find and interview the last known speakers of threatened languages. His quest is told in a documentary called "The Linguists." Bob is joined in the studio by Harrison, and by two of the film's three directors, JEREMY NEWBERGER and SETH KRAMER. They explain why documenting dying languages is important.
Finally, JEFF CAMPBELL runs a non-profit organization called Hungry for Music. It provides musical instruments to disadvantaged children across the country, and it's funded with proceeds from the CDs of baseball music he produces. Campbell has two discs out now in the series he calls "Diamond Cuts."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: film critic Kenneth Turan; director Stephen Daldry; authors Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 20, 2009
Bob talks with Los Angeles Times film critic KENNETH TURAN about his picks in this year's Academy Awards.
Then, Bob talks with director STEPHEN DALDRY about the movie, "The Reader," which is nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. "The Reader" is based on a novel of the same name by the German writer Bernhard Schlink. It's part mystery, part love story, and part historical confession.
Finally, a song that united enemy soldiers during World War II. "Lili Marlene" was played every night by German-controlled Radio Belgrade, and became known as the unofficial anthem of World War II. Writers LIEL LEIBOVITZ and MATTHEW MILLER recount its history in "Lili Marlene: The Soldier's Song of World War II."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: musician Graham Nash; Sirius XM classical music host Martin Goldsmith
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 13, 2009
Singer-songwriter GRAHAM NASH has released a boxed set for the first time in his career. It features four decades of music from his solo career, his work with The Hollies and with Crosby, Stills and Young. "Reflections" also features several previously unissued tracks.
Later, an observation of Felix Mendelssohn's 200th birthday. Bob talks with Sirius XM classical music host MARTIN GOLDSMITH about why Mendelssohn is a composer worth celebrating.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Washington Post "Book World" editor Rachel Shea; author James Moore; author Sean Carroll
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 13, 2009
Washington Post Book World editor RACHEL SHEA talks with Bob about the Post's recent decision to close down the print version of "Book World." This weekend will be its last as a stand-alone section in the paper.
Later, two interviews about the life of Charles Darwin, 200 years after his birth. First, JAMES MOORE discusses Darwin's background in the abolitionist movement, and how his objection to slavery helped shape his theory of evolution. Moore's book is titled "Darwin's Sacred Cause." Then Bob talks with professor of molecular biology and author SEAN CARROLL. His new book "Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species" places Darwin in context with the pioneering naturalists who came before and after him.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: artist and author Wafaa Bilal; music reviewer Anthony DeCurtis
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
When the brother of Iraqi-born artist WAFAA BILAL was killed in Iraq by a remote-controlled aircraft, the artist channeled the experience into a performance piece. For a month, Bilal lived in an art studio, in the line of fire of a remote-controlled paintball gun. A camera connected him to the internet where people could watch him, chat with him and shoot at him -- 24 hours a day. The piece was titled "Domestic Tension," and The Chicago Tribune called it "one of the sharpest works of political art to be seen in a long time." Bilal has written about his experiences in a book titled "Shoot an Iraqi: Art, Life and Resistance Under the Gun."
Later, Bob talks with our music reviewer ANTHONY DECURTIS about a new CD collection titled "Let Freedom Sing: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement." It features music from Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, and Gill Scott-Heron.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: A special report on the Family Medical Leave Act
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
The FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA) was passed into law in 1993 to protect the rights of workers who need to take time off for medical reasons. But almost half of working Americans do not qualify for that leave, and of those who do, most opt not to take it because they can't afford to. Additionally, changes implemented last month by the outgoing Bush administration make it more difficult to qualify for FMLA leave. We'll hear from advocates for workers, the business community, and workers themselves as a part of this special feature.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: John Updike
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
JOHN UPDIKE died Jan. 27th of lung cancer. He was 76. In remembrance of the award-winning writer, here is a portion of an interview that first aired in 2006, after the publication of Updike's novel, "Terrorist."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Michael Davis; author Dave Zirin
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
This year marks the 40th anniversary of "Sesame Street." To celebrate, Bob talks with MICHAEL DAVIS, author of a new book titled "Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street." Davis conducted more than 200 interviews over five years to tell the story of the beloved children's television show.
Later, Bob talks with DAVE ZIRIN. Zirin writes the weekly online column "Edge of Sports." In his newest book, Zirin tracks an alternative history of our country as seen through the sports and games Americans have played. The book is called "A People's History of Sports in the United States."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: National Gallery of Art curator of photography Sarah Greenough; photographer Robert Frank
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
Bob tours an exhibition titled "Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans" with SARAH GREENOUGH, the Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Art. It's been 50 years since Robert Frank published his landmark photo essay in a book called "The Americans."
Later, Bob talks with ROBERT FRANK, himself. In 1955, Frank received a Guggenheim grant to document American society as he saw it. After a few years traveling the country and shooting almost 30,000 pictures, Frank chose 83 images to include in "The Americans." Frank's photographs were embraced by young artists and some critics, but the book was generally loathed by the public as a cruel and unsympathetic look at the country.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Steven Johnson; author Mark Harris
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
Joseph Priestley was a prominent philosopher and amateur scientist in the Eighteenth Century. Author STEVEN JOHNSON uses Priestley's writings to examine the ways revolutionary ideas emerge and spread. Johnson's book is "The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America"
Later, Bob talks with writer MARK HARRIS about his book, "Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood." Harris profiles the five Oscar nominees for best picture of 1967. In the Heat of the Night beat out Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Doctor Dolittle.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: journalist and author David Sanger; filmmaker and author Eugene Jarecki
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
DAVID SANGER is the chief Washington correspondent for "The New York Times" and the author of "The Inheritance." Sanger talks with Bob about foreign policy challenges the Obama administration will face.
Later, Bob talks with EUGENE JARECKI. His documentary "Why We Fight" was about the inner-workings of the military-industrial complex. Jarecki spent the next few years building on the ideas in the film and has written a book called "The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a Republic in Peril."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Peter Ackroyd; musician Boz Scaggs
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
In honor of the 200th anniversary of poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, writer PETER ACKROYD talks with Bob about his new book "Poe: A Life Cut Short."
Later, Bob talks with singer and musician BOZ SCAGGS about his expansive career and his latest CD, "Speak Low." On it, Scaggs sings standards from the likes of Johnny Mercer, Rodgers and Hart and Duke Ellington.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Azar Nafisi; director Edward Zwick
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
In her 2003 best-seller "Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books," AZAR NAFISI wrote about the lives of women in Iran. Now she tells her own life story in "Things I've Been Silent About." Nafisi's new memoir is a historical portrait of a family and country leading up to the Islamic Revolution.
Later, Bob talks to EDWARD ZWICK, director of the new film "Defiance." It tells the true story of three Jewish brothers who led an armed resistance against the Nazis and saved the lives of more than 1,200 Jews at the end of World War Two.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: filmmakers Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor; author David Sterritt; author Matthew Goodman
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
There's a new documentary about the history of comedy in America. LAURENCE MASLON and MICHAEL KANTOR are two of the people behind "Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America." It features stories, interviews and jokes with some of our funniest comedians.
Later, Bob talks with film critic DAVID STERRITT about some of cinema's under appreciated movies. Sterritt is the co-author of "The B List: The National Society of Film Critics on the Low-Budget Beauties, Genre-Bending Mavericks, and Cult Classics We Love."
Finally, we hear a lot about the imminent demise of newspapers, but in 1835, when most Americans were not daily readers, the fledgling New York Sun printed a remarkable story that made newspapers a must read for millions. Author MATTHEW GOODMAN explores how and why that happened in his new book titled "The Sun and The Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Jay Parini; professor and author Joel Best
Sirius XM Radio
Author: Sirius XM Radio
Fri, Feb 06, 2009
Middlebury College professor JAY PARINI is well-known for his poetry, biographies, and fiction. Parini tells Bob about his latest book, "Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America." Some of the titles include "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "On the Road."
Later, almost 97 percent of newspaper articles, TV shows, blogs and radio programs quote statistics. If you believe that tidbit, then you really need to listen to Bob's interview with JOEL BEST. Best is a professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. He's created a guide for seeing through faulty statistics, with his book "Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data."
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bob_edwards/bob_edwards_090116_hour_1.mp3
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Author: XM Radio
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bob_edwards/bob_edwards_090116_hour_2.mp3
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Author: XM Radio
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bob_edwards/bob_edwards_090109_hour_2.mp3
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Author: XM Radio
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bob_edwards/bob_edwards_090109_hour_1.mp3
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Author: XM Radio
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Bob Edwards Weekend: bonus interview with cowboy poet and environmentalist Wally McRae
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Jan 01, 2009
Bob Edwards spent an entire afternoon with WALLY MCRAE at his ranch in Montana. Here is more of their interview about cowboy poetry and environmental issues.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Stephen Baker; cowboy poet and environmentalist Wally McRae
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Jan 01, 2009
Every day, we all create a digital trail of information that forms a picture of who we are, what we buy and where we go. Bob talks with journalist and author STEPHEN BAKER about THE NUMERATI -- the statisticians who translate that raw data into highly targeted ads for consumers and voters.
Bob visits with cowboy poet, rancher and environmentalist WALLY MCRAE at his ranch outside of Colstrip, Montana. McRae's family has been raising cattle near Little Big Horn for four generations.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: author Jonathan Curiel; author Jon Meacham
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Jan 01, 2009
Journalist JONATHAN CURIEL explains how everyone from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Dick Dale were influenced by Muslims. Curiel's book is titled AL' AMERICA: TRAVELS THROUGH AMERICA'S ARAB AND ISLAMIC ROOTS.
Newsweek editor JON MEACHAM discusses his latest book, which chronicles the life of Andrew Jackson. AMERICAN LION sheds light on the myth surrounding America's seventh President and examines Jackson's personal struggles and political philosophies.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Susan Stamberg
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Tue, Dec 23, 2008
Bob spends the hour with one of public radio's favorite personalities. In 1971, Susan Stamberg was a writer and producer on the original staff of NPR's All Things Considered. A year later, Stamberg started hosting and became the first woman in the US to anchor a nightly news program. Bob talks with Stamberg about her experience as a radio pioneer, what she feels makes a great interview and the true story behind her mother-in-law's Thanksgiving cranberry relish.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Gary Meyers, Reza
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Tue, Dec 23, 2008
Gary Myers is a former Navy JAG officer and now an attorney who works to protect the civil rights of US troops and veterans. Bob talks with Myers about his experience working on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder cases and how PTSD affects troops in all of our military branches.
The Iranian-born photographer Reza has spent his professional life viewing the beauty of humanity and the horror of war through his camera lens. These days, he takes pictures for National Geographic. A retrospective of Reza's career has recently been published in the form of a stunning new book titled War and Peace.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Kate DiCamillo, Annie Lebovitz
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 19, 2008
Bob talks with writer Kate DiCamillo who has written four young adult novels. Her works have received some of the genre's most prestigious honors, including the Newberry Award. DiCamillo's third novel, The Tale of Despereaux, is being released as an animated film this weekend. Then, Bob talks with Annie Leibovitz, perhaps the world's most famous photographer. Leibovitz has been the featured portrait photographer for Vanity Fair magazine since 1983, and her images of celebrities and public figures have reached an iconic status. Her latest book, Annie Leibovitz At Work, features some favorite portraits taken throughout the span of her career.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Ron Howard and Peter Morgan, Laura Miller, Anthony DeCurtis
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 19, 2008
For years, Ron Howard was known as Opie from "The Andy Griffith Show" and then as Richie from "Happy Days." Now he's known as one of Hollywood's most renowned filmmakers. Howard has directed and produced more than 20 films and won an Academy Award for 2001's A Beautiful Mind. His newest project, Frost/Nixon, chronicles the interviews between British television host David Frost, played by Michael Sheen and President Richard Nixon, played by Frank Langella. Bob talks with Ron Howard and Peter Morgan, who created the original stage play, and wrote the screenplay for the new film. Next, Salon.com book critic Laura Miller recommends books for holiday gift giving. Finally, Bob talks with music reviewer Anthony DeCurtis about the best music of 2008 that we somehow managed to overlook this year. The list can be found at www.bobedwardsradio.com and includes some up-and-coming artists, and some well-established stars like Lucinda Williams and David Byrne.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Roy Blount Jr., Susan Tedeschi
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Dec 13, 2008
Bob talks with author and humorist Roy Blount, Jr. For years Blount has been intrigued with the sounds of certain words and why people use them the way they do. So, he did some research and wrote a book titled Alphabet Juice. Blount says it's not just a list of his pet peeves, the book also points out what a great word peeve is. Then, three-time Grammy nominee Susan Tedeschi has been doing her best to bring the blues to a wider audience. She talks with Bob about her career and her latest album called Back to the River.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Toni Morrison
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Dec 13, 2008
Bob spends the hour with Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison. It's been twenty-one years since Morrison published the Pulitzer Prize-winning Beloved, a story about slavery set in 1855. Now Morrison offers a prequel to Beloved with her new book A Mercy which takes place around 1690. Morrison said she wrote the book because she was "wondering what it must have felt like to be a slave before racism."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Adrien Brody & Jeffrey Wright, Christopher Plummer
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 05, 2008
To prepare for his role in "The Pianist," Adrien Brody withdrew for months, gave up his apartment and his car, learned how to play Chopin on the piano, and lost 29 pounds. His dedication earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor, making him the youngest actor ever to win the award. In Cadillac Records, which chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists, Brody stars as Leonard Chess alongside our other guest - Jeffrey Wright - who plays Muddy Waters. Then, Christopher Plummer is one of our greatest actors. He talks with Bob about his memoir, In Spite of Myself which chronicles Plummer's more than 50 years of performing on stage, on the movie screen, on live television and on the radio.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Michael Lewis, Niall Ferguson
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 05, 2008
Writer Michael Lewis compiled an anthology of the best contemporary financial articles in the book Panic! He talks with Bob about America's history of financial catastrophes and puts the latest economic crisis in context. Then, Bob talks with historian and business scholar Niall (NEEL) Ferguson, author of The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World. Ferguson writes about the evolution of credits and debt and the inevitability that every bubble will someday burst.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: William Least Heat-Moon, Dr. Richard Fortey, Martin Goldsmith
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Nov 28, 2008
Much like the bear who went over the mountain, writer William Least Heat-Moon set off across America 25 years ago to see what he could see. Heat-Moon recorded his findings in Blue Highways, putting his work on the literary map. Now, after all these years, he ventured out again to see how small town America has changed. His new book is called Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey. Then, Dr. Richard Fortey is a paleontologist, researcher, writer and a former employee of the Natural History Museum in London. His latest book, Dry Store Room No.1, tells the behind-the-scenes stories of some of the museum's quirkier employees. Dr. Fortey has been a member of the Royal Society since 2007 and is currently the President of the Geological Society of London. Finally, Sirius XM Classical Music host Martin Goldsmith talks with Bob about Leonard Bernstein's career as America's first celebrated conductor and his often overlooked role as a gifted composer. The classical music world is celebrating the 90th anniversary of Bernstein's birth this year.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Elvis Costello, Nancy Groce and Steve Winick, Tom Gish Obit
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Nov 28, 2008
Musician Elvis Costello is adding television host to his resume. Beginning December 3rd, the Sundance Channel will air a series called Spectacle in which Costello talks and performs with celebrities including Sir Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed, Julian Schnabel and Bill Clinton. Then, our resident folklorists Nancy Groce and Steve Winick from the Library of Congress dip into the archive of the American Folklife Center and bring along songs, poems, and stories about food. Finally, Bob remembers journalist Tom Gish, who died this past weekend at the age of 82. Gish, along with his wife Pat, published the Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Kentucky. The Gishes tirelessly investigated the environmental practices of the coal industry, overcoming threats of violence and the firebombing of their newspaper offices. We'll hear an excerpt from Bob's 2004 interview with Tom and Pat Gish.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Catie Coleman, Robert Satcher, Pat Duggins
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Nov 24, 2008
Space Shuttle Endeavour blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on Friday, November 14 - the last scheduled night launch for the program. Bob was there to witness the countdown and to learn about the past, present and future of NASA. We'll meet two astronauts, Catie Coleman who's already been to space twice and Robert Satcher who's scheduled to fly late next year for the first time. Bob also speaks with local public radio reporter and NASA expert Pat Duggins about his latest book Final Countdown which chronicles the history of the
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Denis Leary, Christo and Jeanne-Claude
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Nov 24, 2008
Denis Leary started his career as a stand-up comedian, but has developed into a respected film and television actor. He leads his own award-winning dramatic series Rescue Me on the cable network FX. Leary also still loves performing and writing comedy. His new book is called Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid. Then, Bob talks with artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude about their exhibit Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Over The River, a Work in Progress. The exhibition of more than 150 photographs, collages, drawings, and maps, will chronicle the artists' process as they prepare to assemble and suspend massive panels of silvery fabric horizontally over the Arkansas River in Colorado. The exhibition traces the development of this ambitious project over the past 16 years.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Dana Gioia, Jim Dickinson
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Nov 13, 2008
Bob speaks with Dana Gioia (JOY-uh), the outgoing Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Gioia took charge of the government agency at a time when many Republicans were calling for the NEA to be abolished. Gioia's mantra is "arts are not a luxury" and he has spent his four years in the post shepherding programs like Shakespeare in American Communities, NEA Jazz Masters, and The Big Read. Gioia recently announced that he will resign in January. Then, Bob talks Memphis music and radio with legendary music producer Jim Dickinson at his Zebra Ranch in north Mississippi. Dickinson made his first record in 1958 and has worked with Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin and many other big names. Being out of the spotlight at his home studio is where Dickinson says he's most comfortable producing records - including those of his sons Luther and Cody - founding members of the band North Mississippi All-Stars.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Whit Ayres and Doyle McManus, Philip Dray, Anthony DeCurtis
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Nov 13, 2008
In this year's presidential election, Republicans lost nine states to President-elect Barack Obama that George W. Bush carried four years ago. The Democrats also solidified their control of Congress, gaining 20 seats in the House and at least six in the Senate. Republican strategist Whit Ayres and Doyle McManus, Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times discuss what went wrong for the GOP and what conservatives have to do to rebuild their party. Then, almost 140 years ago, the United States elected the first African-Americans to its government. The new politicians faced a hostile press, public backlash and extreme racism while attempting to help remake America after the bitter division of the Civil War. Those pioneers are now mostly forgotten or regarded as puppets of the Republicans and of Reconstruction. Bob talks with Philip Dray about his new book, Capitol Men which aims to enlighten Americans on this important chapter in our nation's history. Finally, Bob talks with our music reviewer Anthony DeCurtis about a new re-issue of the late Warren Zevon's classic self-titled album from 1976.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Rebecca Roberts, Ronald Walters, David Broder, Jeffrey Smith, Steven Winick and Todd Harvey
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Nov 07, 2008
Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States and with a new commander-in-chief comes a new administration. Chicago native and Princeton University political science professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell talks about what an Obama administration might look like. And our political roundtable will analyze the results of this historic election. Bob talks with Washington Post columnist David Broder, Rebecca Roberts of XM's 24-hour presidential channel and with Dr. Ron Walters, Director of the African-American Leadership Center at the University of Maryland. Bob talks with Washington Post reporter Jeffrey Smith about the Bush Administration's last push to weaken environmental regulations. Steven Winick and Todd Harvey, folklorists with the Library of Congress, share historic musical field recordings from the archives that served as the basis of hits when they were later covered by more famous, contemporary artists. Hear how Feist, Led Zeppelin and Moby were inspired by what they heard in the American Folklife Center.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Jeffrey Goldberg, Alaa Al Aswany
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Nov 07, 2008
In the current issue of The Atlantic magazine, reporter Jeffrey Goldberg tests the Transportation Security Administration and finds that measures put into place after September 11th amount to nothing more than "security theater." Then, Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany is the Arab-language's best selling novelist, founding member of the Kefaya political party, and still practices dentistry in his downtown Cairo office. Bob talks with Aswany about his new novel Chicago, which is a follow-up to his 2002 debut The Yacoubian Building. Chicago is a story of a group of Egyptian expats struggling in post 9/11 America.
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Bob Edwards remembers Studs Terkel
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Nov 03, 2008
A special tribute to Studs Terkel by Bob Edwards.
Bob travelled to Chicago and the home of 93 year old Louis "Studs" Terkel to reminisce about Terkel's career as a writer, broadcaster, oral historian and story teller. Terkel won a Pulitzer Prize for The Good War: An Oral History of World War II. (The New Press).
Studs Terkel passed away on October 31, 2008. He was 96 years old.
For more information on Studs visit www.studsterkel.org
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Viveca Novak, Neil Gaiman
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 31, 2008
The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a non-partisan, non-profit organization whose mission is to "reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics." The organization's Deputy Director, Viveca Novak, joins Bob to help separate fact from spin in the 2008 presidential campaign. Then, writer Neil Gaiman won so many awards for his last book Coraline that expectations are running high for his latest. Gaiman talks with Bob about The Graveyard Book which follows the story of young Nobody Owens who lives in a cemetery.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, James Taylor
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 31, 2008
Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein share their strategy for deciphering exactly what politicians are trying to say. Their book is called Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington: Understanding Political Doublespeak Through Philosophy and Jokes. Then, James Taylor is known as a great American songwriter having penned songs like "Fire & Rain" and "Sweet Baby James." But for his latest album, Covers, Taylor took some of his favorite songs by other artists and put his own twist on them. Taylor talks with Bob about his career, his new album and the recent political work he's been doing.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Charlie Kaufman, Jim Davis
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 24, 2008
Bob talks with Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman who makes his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a troubled theater director. Kaufman's off-beat, absurdist tone was displayed in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation. In this new film, Kaufman takes an even darker look at sanity and relationships. Then, Jim Davis started out writing and drawing a comic strip called "Gnorm Gnat" which soon ended up being about a beloved, fictional orange cat. Garfield made his first appearance 30 years ago and is now the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world --- translated into 45 languages and delighting more than 200 million readers. Jim Davis has kept the Garfield operation in his home state of Indiana, where Paws, Inc., employs about 50 people, most life-long employees
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Nicholas Katzenbach, Steven Rosenfeld, James Cromwell
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 24, 2008
Former Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach is the man who represented the federal government during the stand-off with Alabama governor George Wallace who tried to prevent black students from entering the University of Alabama in 1963. Katzenbach was a behind-the-scenes player in many of the seminal events of the 1960s-- the Civil Rights movement, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the Cold War and the Vietnam War. He talks with Bob about his new memoir Some of It was Fun: Working with RFK and LBJ.Then, Steven Rosenfeld has been tracking accusations of voter fraud and manipulation going into this year's Presidential election. He's the co-author of What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election and most recently, of Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting. Rosenfeld talks with Bob about how voter registrations are being challenged, how some states have illegally purged voter lists, and other tactics that have been used to alter the outcome of this year's election. Next, James Cromwell was a run-of-the-mill character actor until the movie Babe or, as Cromwell puts it, until "my pig came in." Now he's a well-known movie star, currently portraying George Herbert Walker Bush in the new Oliver Stone movie W.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Dexter Filkins, Mike Leigh, Jenny Lewis
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 17, 2008
First, Dexter Filkins has been covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for The New York Times since 2001. He describes his new book, The Forever War, as visceral, not intellectual. He talks with Bob about his book and his aim to give readers a sense of what it is really like in those countries, which means leaving the protected Green Zone, listening carefully to what Iraqis and Afghanis have to say, and putting his life in great danger.
Then, director Mike Leigh, whose latest film Happy-Go-Lucky follows the story of 30-year-old school teacher Poppy played by Sally Hawkins. PoppyĂĆ’Ă‚¢s cheery outlook on life is challenged by her driving instructor who has anger management issues.
Finally, musician Jenny Lewis started her career as a child actress, but it didn't take long for her to firmly establish herself as one of indie music's best-known female rockers. 'Acid Tongue' is Lewis' second solo album, and this time she's joined by musical guests like Elvis Costello on a few of the tracks.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Owen Matthews, Laura Miller, Jennifer Hudson & Gina Prince-Bythewood
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 17, 2008
Owen Matthews aims to humanize Russia and its people with his new book, 'Stalin's Children.' It's a family memoir, filled with amazing stories of betrayal, survival and perseverance including his mother's childhood spent in a series of orphanages and his Welsh father's obsession with Soviet Russia. Matthews also recounts his own experiences working as a journalist in Russia, resulting in one of our most complete pictures of the Russian psyche.
Then, Salon.com book critic Laura Miller talks with Bob about new fall fiction.
Finally, Bob talks with Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson and director Gina Prince-Bythewood about the new film 'The Secret Life of Bees,' adapted from the New York Times best-selling novel. The story, set in South Carolina in 1964, centers around 14-year old Lily Owens' journey into the lives of three women who show her the true meaning of life and love. The movie also stars Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Anthony DeCurtis, Anthony DeCurtis
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 10, 2008
Music critic Anthony DeCurtis reviews a new double CD from Bob Dylan. Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Volume 8 features rare and unreleased songs recorded by Dylan between 1989 and 2006. Bob visits with Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen, who made up the first -- and last -- black and white stand-up comedy team in America. They're the subjects of a new book, called Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White, about their ill-fated and often painful attempt to foster tolerance in the 1960s and 70s.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Eugene Rotberg, Brian Greene, Judy Collins
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 10, 2008
Eugene Rotberg started his career as an attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the early 60s then was Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank for almost 20 years. He's testified before Congress multiple times about the problems facing the US banking system -- the same exact problems that triggered the need for the $700 billion government bailout. Rotberg talks with Bob about why the Fed and regulatory agencies have been resistant to change and why there likely won't be any permanent fixes made to the system in foreseeable future. Theoretical physicist Brian Greene has authored two of the best-selling and most accessible books on science: The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos. Greene talks with Bob about his most recent book, Icarus at the Edge of Time, which is a retelling of the Greek myth of Icarus. For decades now, folk singer Judy Collins has been performing songs that she hopes "help people heal." On October 14, Wildflower Records will release Born to the Breed - A Tribute to Judy Collins. The album will include covers of songs Collins made famous by artists such as Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, Jimmy Webb, Shawn Colvin and Dolly Parton.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Paul Theroux, Lila Downs
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 03, 2008
In the early 1970s, a young writer named Paul Theroux traveled by train through Europe and Asia. The resulting book, 'The Great Railway Bazaar,' launched Theroux's career and set a high standard for the modern travelogue. More than 30 years and 30 books later, Theroux talks with Bob about why he made the trip again, searching for differences and similarities, both in himself and the many countries he visits. TherouxĂĆ’Ă‚¢s latest book is called 'Ghost Train to the Eastern Star.'
Lila Downs didn't always appreciate her multi-cultural background. Her Irish-American father taught at the University of Minnesota, her mother is Mixtec Indian from Oaxaca, Mexico--and for a while Downs rejected all of that to be a traveling "Deadhead." But through music, she embraced her Mexican heritage, now performing passionate songs in Spanish and English. Downs talks with Bob about her life, career and her most recent album titled 'Shake Away.'
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Heidi Hyatt, The Oxford English Dictionary's 80th anniversary
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Oct 03, 2008
Heidi Hyatt is the widow of musician Walter Hyatt who died in a plane crash eight years ago. During his lifetime, the singer/songwriter was part of the Austin music scene and Hyatt is credited with being the original Americana musician. Heidi talks with Bob about a new CD she produced of her late husband's music. It's called Walter Hyatt: 'Some Unfinished Business, Volume One.'
Then, this year marks the Oxford English Dictionary's 80th anniversary and to celebrate, Bob speaks with chief editors John Simpson and Jesse Sheidlower to discuss the etymologies of a few of the 291,500 entries in the world's most comprehensive collection of the English language.
Finally, a conversation with Ammon Shea, author of 'Reading the OED.' It chronicles SheaĂ¢s year spent reading the Oxford English Dictionary Ă¢ all 21,730 pages of it Ă¢and tells what he discovered about the English language from A to Z.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: David Bacon, Jackson Browne
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Sep 26, 2008
Journalist and photographer David Bacon covers labor and immigration issues in his new book Illegal People. He illustrates how globalization and even some well-meaning legislation creates the need for people to migrate and criminalizes immigrant workers. Then, Jackson Browne has been called a "thinking man's rock star." The confessional singer-songwriter is known for his introspective and poetic lyrics but is also the creative force behind the Eagles' first hit, "Take It Easy." Bonnie Raitt, The Byrds, Gregg Allman and many others have recorded songs by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. Browne discusses his life and most recent album, Time the Conqueror, his first studio recording in six years.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Julian Barnes, Spike Lee
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Sep 26, 2008
Julian Barnes is the author of ten novels, several collections of essays and stories, and most recently, Nothing To Be Frightened Of. Bob talks with Barnes about his book, which is part essay and part memoir, and is described as a meditation on religion, mortality and the fear of death. Then, Spike Lee has made feature films and documentaries about race relations, urban crime, poverty and political issues. Usually his movies speak for themselves. Bob talks with Lee about his film career, from She's Gotta Have It to Do the Right Thing to When the Levees Broke to his latest movie, a World War Two drama titled Miracle at St. Anna.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Bernard-Herni Levy, Irena Salina
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Sep 19, 2008
Bernard-Henri Levy is a French philosopher and one of Europe's best-selling authors. For his 2006 book, American Vertigo, Levy retraced the footsteps of an earlier Frenchman, de Tocqueville. He talks with Bob about his new book, Left in Dark Times: A Stand Against the New Barbarism. Then, the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day. In the developing world, people are lucky to find five gallons and that water is often contaminated. The United Nations estimates that dirty drinking water kills about 500 children each day. Water is now the third largest industry in the world, right behind electricity and oil. But can anyone really own water? That's the question Irena Salina investigates in her documentary, Flow: For Love of Water.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Philip Roth, John Pizzarelli
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Sep 19, 2008
Bob talks with writer Philip Roth who claims that his two closest friends are "sheer playfulness" and "deadly seriousness." Both are routinely found in his writing from his first novella, Goodbye, Columbus, to his best-known Portnoy's Complaint, to his more recent American Pastoral. Now Roth has written his 29th book. Indignation is set during the second year of the Korean War and Roth's narrator is Marcus Messner, a 19-year-old son of a Newark kosher butcher. Then, after 25 years of making records, jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli finally decided it was time to honor one of America's greatest composers. Bob talks to Pizzarelli about his album, With a Song in My Heart, which pays tribute to the late Richard Rogers.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Christopher Buckley, Thomas Frank
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Sep 12, 2008
After the publication of Thomas Frank's 2004 book, What's the Matter With Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, columnist George Will called the author "a formidable controversialist -- imagine Michael Moore with a trained brain and an intellectual conscience." Frank talks with Bob about his new book, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, in which he distinguishes between conservatism in Kansas and conservatism-in-power.
Then, satirical novelist, Christopher Buckley comes in to chat about his latest novel Supreme Courtship, which takes on the most revered branch of our Federal Government.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Melissa Leo and Courtney Hunt, Joan Baez
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Sep 12, 2008
Bob speaks with actress Melissa Leo and director Courtney Hunt about their film Frozen River. The movie follows two women whose need for fast cash drives them to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Canadian border. Then, in 1957, Joan Baez bought her first guitar for $50. Two years later, she made her debut at the Newport Folk Festival, astounding the audience with her unique three-octave vocal range. Bob talks with Baez about "Day After Tomorrow" - her first new studio recording in five years. They'll also talk a little politics. Baez has always spoken her mind and next week, she'll receive the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award from the Americana Music Association, which recognizes artists who have challenged the status quo through their music and action.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, Ruth Smith
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Sep 05, 2008
Tia Lessin and Carl Deal went to New Orleans a week after Hurricane Katrina with the idea of focusing a documentary on the work of National Guardsmen during the disaster. Then the filmmakers met Kimberly Roberts and her husband Scott who filmed their experiences on a secondhand camcorder. Lessin and Deal incorporate that raw footage -- documenting a frustrating wait for help -- into their new film titled "Trouble the Water." Then, Ruth Smith turned 101 in August. She was one of the founders of what is now NARAL, an organization which fights for the reproductive rights of women. But when Smith began her advocacy in the 1940's, the goals were quite different. Bob visited Smith in her New York City apartment to talk about the changes she's witnessed over the past century - from birth control and abortion rights - to the changes in her upper West side neighborhood.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Stanley Jordan
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Sep 05, 2008
Stanley Jordan is one of the world's most innovative jazz guitarists. Known for his "tapping technique," which he demonstrates for Bob, Jordan has inspired an entire generation of musicians. Jordan joins Bob in the studio to play a few tunes, discuss his career and his passion for music therapy.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Tim Folger, Joseph Horowitz
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Wed, Aug 20, 2008
The Colorado River starts high in the Rocky Mountains and ends seven states later as it trickles into the Gulf of California. Tim Folger traveled that distance, talking to scientists, landowners, and water authorities about how the river has changed in the past 80 years. He shares those stories and explains how global warming might be taking effect on cowboys and casinos.
George Balanchine, Greta Garbo, Billy Wilder and countless others were all part of a wave of European exiles fleeing their country for the United States. Cultural historian Joseph Horowitz examines their effect on American culture, and how their presence encouraged artistic exchange between countries. His book is Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth-Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Michael Pollan, Peter Chapman
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Wed, Aug 20, 2008
Bob talks to nutrition writer Michael Pollan about his book: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Pollan is the author of New York Times bestsellers The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire.
Peter Chapman recounts the rise and fall of one of the most controversial global corporations ever in his new book Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Noel Paul Stookey
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Tue, Aug 19, 2008
Peter, Paul & Mary sounded better than Peter, Noel & Mary. But Noel or Paul, it's the same guy. Noel Paul Stookey talks about being in the middle of the 60's folk music movement and brings along recordings of the ten finalists from last June's MUSIC TO LIFE 2008 songwriting contest.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Steven Greenhouse, Philip Dine
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Tue, Aug 19, 2008
When he began poking around America's workplaces as the labor correspondent for the New York Times, Steven Greenhouse says he was taken aback by what he found --- "squalid treatment, humbling indignities, relentless penny pinching." Greenhouse examines the decline in the status and treatment of American workers in his book, The Big Squeeze. Then, Bob talks to journalist Philip Dine about what happened to American organized labor and what can be done to restore its role as the defender of middle-class values and economic well being. Dine's book is State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Brian Mockenhaupt, Anthony DeCurtis
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Author: XM Radio
Tue, Aug 19, 2008
Bob talks with journalist and former soldier Brian Mockenhaupt. He served two tours in Iraq, is now a writer for Esquire and recently returned to Baghdad to profile the troop surge for the magazine.
Bob talks with Rolling Stone music critic Anthony DeCurtis about some new releases.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: John Leland, Joyce Johnson
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Tue, Aug 19, 2008
New York Times reporter John Leland most recent book is Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of On the Road (They're Not What You Think). In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's Beat novel, Bob talks with Leland about the importance and lasting effects of "On the Road."
Writer Joyce Johnson's memoirs "Minor Characters" details her relationships with many key figures of the Beat movement and focuses particularly on the years she lived with writer Jack Kerouac. Joyce talks with Bob about 1957 and 1958, when Kerouac rose from obscurity to fame with the publication of "On the Road." This month marks the book's 50th anniversary.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: James Blake, Lee Smith, Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Aug 18, 2008
Bob talks with American tennis player, James Blake about rebounding from personal tragedies and professional setbacks he sustained in 2004. Blake's new memoir is called Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life.
Bob talks to one of his favorite writers. Lee Smith says she wrote her first civil war novel in an effort to cope with the grief of losing her son. On Agate Hill is released in paperback next week.
Midsummer is a perfect time to talk to the authors of The Songs of Insects. Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger join Bob to talk about the chirps, trills and buzzes made by the bugs found in your own backyard.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Chris Rose, Seth Gordon
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Aug 18, 2008
Bob talks to New Orleans Times-Picayune reporter Chris Rose about his collection of post-Katrina essays and articles. An updated version of Rose's book, 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina is now available in paperback.
Bob talks to filmmaker Seth Gordon about his documentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Gordon documents the battle over world records, high scores and the title of all-time Donkey Kong champion.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Gustavo Soto, Michael Hyatt and Dr. Bob Cairns
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Aug 15, 2008
Bob speaks with Border Patrol agent Gustavo Soto who drives us down to the border wall at Nogales (no-GAL-es), Arizona. We witness three illegal immigrants being apprehended after trying to sneak into the United States through a drainage tunnel.
We join Samaritan volunteers Michael Hyatt and Dr. Bob Cairns, as they drive south from Tucson, keeping an eye out for dehydrated migrants in need of medical attention. Twelve miles from the border, we witness another arrest. One of the dozen migrants appears dazed and has a bloody wound on the top of his head which he received while running from Border Patrol agents.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Stetson Kennedy
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Aug 15, 2008
Bob talks to folklorist, author and investigative historian Stetson Kennedy. In the 1940s, Kennedy infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan, passing on information about the group to the writers of the Superman radio program. The result was a four episode series in which Superman took on the Klan. Details of actual Klan rituals, code words and secret handshakes were written into the Superman scripts. Soon the Klan's mystique was trivialized and membership plummeted. Kennedy went on to write a number of books dealing with human rights.
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Bob edwards Weekend: Francine Prose, Peter Yarrow
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Tue, Aug 12, 2008
Novelist and critic Francine Prose talks with Bob about her book "How to Read like a Writer." Prose writes that before creative writing workshops aspiring writers learned to write by reading the work of great writers. She reads the work of the very best writersĂ¢Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Kafka, Austen, Dickens, Woolf, ChekhovĂ¢and discovers why these writers endure.
Singer songwriter Peter Yarrow's most beloved song "Puff the Magic Dragon" is brought to life in a new illustrated children's book. Yarrow talks to Bob about how "Puff" came into being, what it was like to record with his daughter, and his years with friends and musical collaborators Paul and Mary .
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Helen Thomas, Tom DiCillo, Mundell Lowe and Jim Ferguson
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Author: XM Radio
Tue, Aug 12, 2008
Helen Thomas has been part of the White House press corps for decades, covering every president since John F. Kennedy. Bob sits down with Thomas in her Washington office to discuss her long and impressive career. Her latest book called "Watchdogs of Democracy?" is now out in paperback.
Bob talks with filmmaker Tom DiCillo ("The Real Blonde," "Johnny Suede," and "Living in Oblivion") about his new movie "Delirious" starring Steve Buscemi.
Mundell Lowe and Jim Ferguson are separated in age by a few decades but they are united in their love of playing jazz together. With Lowe on guitar and Ferguson on bass, the pair began touring and eventually realized that their musical pairing was deserving of an album. Bob talks with Mundell Lowe and Jim Ferguson about jazz, their careers, and their new album, titled "Haunted Heart."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Alastair Campbell, Colin Thubron
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Tue, Aug 12, 2008
Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former press secretary (1994-2003) talks with Bob about his book The Blair Years: The Alastair Campbell Diaries. It's an intimate account recorded daily by Blair's most trusted strategist and confidant. He has often been described as the second most powerful figure in Britain.
Bob talks to travel writer Colin Thubron about his latest book Shadow of the Silk Road. In the book, he chronicles his events through the ancient paths of the Silk Road. He spent eight months traveling 7,000 miles tracing the vestiges of the legendary trade route between China and Antioch.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Katherine Eban, Ken McCormick, Ted Anthony
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Tue, Aug 12, 2008
Bob talk to Katherine Eban about her article "Rorschach and Awe" in Vanity Fair. American's coercive interrogation methods were reverse-engineered by the two CIA psychologists who had spent their careers training US soldiers to endure communist-style torture techniques. The spread of these tactics was fueled by a myth about a critical "black sites" operation.
Thorstein Veblen was the economist who coined the phrase "conspicuous consumption." Economics professor, Ken McCormick talks to Bob about Veblen's legacy on the sesquicentennial of his birth. McCormick is the author of Veblen in Plain English .
Bob talks to Ted Anthony. He has written an entire book about one song. It's called Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song.
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Bob Edwards Weekend:Philippe Petit & James Marsh, Vivian Cherry
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Aug 08, 2008
In 1974, walking on a wire strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center gave Philippe Petit the credit for the "artistic crime of the century." Bob talks with Petit and James Marsh, director of the documentary "Man on Wire" which details the famous stunt.
Bob talks to photographer Vivian Cherry, who started shooting pictures of her native New York City as a young woman in the 1940s. Although she followed various career paths, Cherry continued to take pictures of the city that never sleeps. Now 90 years old, many of Cherry's photographs are published for the first time in "Helluva Town: New York City in the 1940s and '50s."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Linda Lotridge Levin, Roger Mudd
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Aug 08, 2008
Bob talks with Linda Lotridge Levin, author of "The Making of FDR: The Story of Stephen T. Early, America's First Modern Press Secretary." Early was Roosevelt's press secretary for 12 years and was responsible for helping shape FDR's public image and for getting the president's message out to the press.
Roger Mudd covered the Congress for CBS News in the glory days of network TV. His anchorman, Walter Cronkite, was partial to Washington stories, so the CBS bureau in the nation's capital was The Place to Be, and that's the title of Mudd's memoir. Bob talks with Roger Mudd about the news business, Washington and the glory days of CBS News.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Dame Stella Remington, Bruce Hornsby
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Aug 01, 2008
After 23 years with the British Security Service Dame Stella Rimington was named first female director of Britain's MI5 in 1992. Now retired, Rimington pulls from her experiences to write…spy novels. She talks with Bob about her latest book titled Illegal Action.
Bruce Hornsby has sold more than 11 million records, drawing from a wide-range of American musical traditions. He was schooled in bluegrass, folk, rock, pop, country, blues and jazz, although the "adult-contemporary" label has plagued him ever since his hit, "The Way It Is," became the most-played song on American radio in 1987. This year, Hornsby created the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program at his Alma Mater, the University of Miami. Last year he released a bluegrass CD with Ricky Skaggs and an album with his jazz trio.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: King Kaufman, David Maraniss
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Aug 01, 2008
Bob talks with sports columnist King Kaufman about the baseball season and previews the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Bob talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning editor for the Washington Post and best-selling author David Maraniss about his latest book Rome 1960. Cassius Clay, Rafer Johnson and Wilma Rudolph were some of the most prominent American athletes competing then - and their performances helped change perceptions of racial and gender equality in the US. To tell this story, Maraniss combined his three favorite subjects -- history, politics and sports.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Paul Muolo and Mathew Padilla, Edward Dolnick
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jul 25, 2008
The collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry has cost many people their homes, worsened the credit crisis and shaken up Wall Street financial firms. In their new book, Chain of Blame, authors Paul Muolo and Mathew Padilla detail the growth of sub-prime lenders and how mortgages turned into a Wall Street bubble.
Bob talks with writer Edward Dolnick about his new book The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century. It tells the story of a mediocre Dutch artist who convinced the world that his paintings were the lost and invaluable work of Dutch master Johannes Vermeer.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Nick Sagan, Linda Salzman Sagan
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jul 25, 2008
'Whatever happened to my flying car?' and other questions about promised technologies are answered by Nick Sagan in the book, 'You Call This the Future?' Nick is the son of the late astronomer Carl Sagan.
Linda Salzman Sagan was the wife of Carl Sagan. She was also the co-producer of the phonographic time capsule that was launched aboard the Voyager Spacecraft in 1977. The capsule, and its gold-plated record, have left the solar system and are drifting through space, waiting to be found by intelligent life. Salzman Sagan talks about the sounds and images she helped select to represent all of humanity.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Richard Bausch, Fred Hiebert
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jul 18, 2008
Bob talks with author Richard Bausch about his 11th novel titled, Peace. It tells the story of a company of American soldiers scrabbling up an Italian mountainside in the closing days of World War II. The Germans are retreating and Bausch's crew has been sent on a thankless mission: to confirm the retreat without being killed.
Curator and archaeologist Dr. Fredrik Hiebert walks Bob through the National Gallery of Art's latest exhibit Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. This remarkable collection survived wars and looting only through the courage and ingenuity of Kabul's National Museum director and curators.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Ben Jones, Ry Cooder
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jul 18, 2008
Even though he was a U.S. Congressman for two terms, Ben Jones is best-known as "Crazy Cooter" for his role on The Dukes of Hazzard. Jones' road to the halls of Congress was an unlikely one - starting in a shack with no electricity or plumbing. Jones tells his story in his memoir Redneck Boy in the Promised Land.
Ry Cooder's eclectic and celebrated career qualifies him to stand among America's most accomplished guitarists. He has relentlessly pursued new challenges, working as a session musician, a songwriter, a film music composer and a producer. His unique collaborations have earned Cooder three Grammys, including his most recent for 1998's worldwide smash Buena Vista Social Club. Cooder's latest album is titled: I, Flathead: The Songs of Kash Buk and the Klowns, its being released simultaneously with a novella of the same title.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Steven T. Wax, Jon Gould
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jul 11, 2008
Brandon Mayfield was an American lawyer in Oregon when he was mistaken for a terrorist involved in the bombings in Madrid. Mayfield was arrested after his fingerprint had been incorrectly identified. Steven T. Wax was Mayfield's public defender and is the author of 'Kafka Comes to America: Fighting for Justice in the War on Terror ĂƒÂ¢ A Public DefenderĂƒÂ¢s Inside Account.' Wax argues that what happened to his client is proof that everyone's civil liberties are in jeopardy in today's political climate.
Then, since the Innocence Project began in 1993 more than 200 people have been exonerated after DNA testing. That includes 15 who were on death row. Jon Gould is Chair of the Innocence Commission for Virginia and the author of 'The Innocence Commission: Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Restoring the Criminal Justice System.'
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Bob Edwards Weekend: David Simon, Liz Phair
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jul 11, 2008
David Simon's HBO series, 'The Wire,' dealt with politics, crime, journalism and everyday life in inner-city Baltimore. And it did all of that in layers and nuance usually reserved for novels. 'Generation Kill' is the name of Simon's new project. The seven-part mini-series is about the war in Iraq and premieres Sunday night on HBO.
Then, "Exile in Guyville" was Liz Phair's debut album in 1993. She said at the time that it was a song-by-song reply to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. Fifteen years later, Phair reissued the ground-breaking album with a few never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions, and a DVD documentary which she shot herself to explain how it all came about.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Paul Light, Paul Roberts
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jul 04, 2008
In his new book, 'A Government Ill Executed,' Paul Light sounds the alarm on the collapse of the federal agency system. One of his proposals to fix the problem calls for drastically trimming the number of presidential appointees to head and serve in various federal government departments and agencies.
Then, more than 40 world leaders gathered in Rome recently to discuss soaring food prices that threaten nearly 1 billion people with starvation. That could lead to violence around the globe. Paul Roberts, the author of the best-selling 'The End of Oil,' now investigates the modern food system with his new book, 'The End of Food.'
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Russell Banks, Alex Gibney
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jul 04, 2008
Since this is an election year, we are inundated with pundits and politicians talking about "real" Americans and what they want out of life. The question is, what is an American, really? What makes us different from people in other countries? How has our culture been shaped by our history and the continent we conquered? The novelist Russell Banks ponders those questions in his first work of nonfiction, titled 'Dreaming Up America.'
Then, filmmaker Alex Gibney visits with Bob to discuss his new project. The latest documentary for the Peabody and Academy Award-winning director is called 'Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.' It's narrated by actor Johnny Depp and opens this weekend.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Laura Miller
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jun 27, 2008
Bob talks with Salon.com book critic Laura Miller about books for the summer and recommends new books of fiction for your library.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: George Black, James McMurtry
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jun 27, 2008
Bangladesh is a hot spot -- literally and figuratively. The coastal country is about the size of Iowa -- but is home to 150 million people. Journalist George Black reports on the country squeezed between India and Myanmar and describes what will happen when this poor, Muslim nation loses even more landmass as sea levels rise.
Singer-song writer James McMurtry is a self-proclaimed misanthrope who often uses his music to declare his views on the state of the Union. His album Childish Things was named Best Album of 2006 at the American Music Awards, and his most recent release is Just Us Kids.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Andrew Yarrow, Ahn Trio
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jun 20, 2008
The U.S. national debt is now well above 9 trillion dollars -- more than 30 thousand dollars for every person in the country. As the total debt grows, so do the interest payments. And if Congress and the White House do nothing to reign in spending, those interest payments will someday eat up the entire federal budget. Andrew Yarrow is director of the Washington, D.C. office of the nonpartisan group Public Agenda. He advocates for bipartisan cooperation to pay down the debt. Yarrow's new book is 'Forgive Us Our Debts: The Intergenerational Dangers of Fiscal Irresponsibility.'
Then, the Ahn Trio is a group of three Korean-born sisters, classically trained at Julliard. Angella plays violin, Lucia plays piano and Maria plays cello. The Ahn sisters will discuss their career with Bob and play a few songs from their latest CD titled 'Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac.'
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Gregory Levey, David Kipen
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Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jun 20, 2008
Gregory Levey was bored with law school when he applied on a whim for an internship with the Israeli Mission to the United Nations. He was hired instead as head speech writer, and was soon transferred to Jerusalem as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's English speech writer. Levey's memoir 'Shut Up, I'm Talking' charts the diplomacy lessons he learned during his three years working in the Israeli government.
Then, resident entertainment critic David Kipen discusses some new films, including 'The Love Guru' and 'Get Smart.'
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Bill Bishop, Jewel
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jun 13, 2008
The divisions among Americans run beyond red states and blue states and they can be measured down to the neighborhood. Religion, race, social values, and education -- all of these have an effect on whether you choose to live downtown or in the suburbs, in Dallas or in Portland. Journalist Bill Bishop has spent several years studying the increasing social self-segregation within the United States, and his new book on the subject is: "The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart."
Then, Jewel's debut album "Pieces of You" sold over 12 million copies. Now she's just released her first album of new songs in more than three years titled "Perfectly Clear" -- and the sound is more country than pop. In the years between albums, Jewel, who was once homeless herself, has been working to raise awareness for the problem of homeless youth in America.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Lewis Black, Keith Bellows
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jun 13, 2008
On the award-winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Lewis Black exercises his quick wit and ability to highlight inconsistencies in politics and culture. In a new collection of essays, Me of Little Faith, Black has turned his critical eye towards religion. He talks in a way most of the rest of us can't -- about violence committed in the name of God and about his smart rants on Comedy Central.
Bob talks to Keith Bellows, editor-in-chief of National Geographic Traveler magazine. Bellows and his fellow writers have traveled the globe to compile a list of the 500 greatest trips the world has to offer. The book is called Ă¢Journeys of a LifetimeĂ¢ and encompasses every continent and every possible mode of transportation, including the world's top 10 elevator rides.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Elie Wiesel
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Jun 05, 2008
Bob spends the hour with Nobel Peace Prize winner, author, activist and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. As a teenager he was separated from his mother and sisters and watched his father die in a concentration camp. Wiesel survived Auschwitz and was a prisoner at Buchenwald when Edward R. Murrow reported on its liberation. Now Wiesel is a professor and the chairman of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Lorin Maazel, Bob Elliott
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Jun 05, 2008
Bob visits the Virginia estate and theater of New York Philharmonic maestro Lorin Maazel, where young opera and symphony performers were rehearsing and getting ready to perform "The Beggar's Opera." Maazel spoke with Bob about his career and his orchestra's historic trip to North Korea.
"Bob and Ray" started their legendary radio career together in 1946 at WHDH in Boston and have been admired for their timeless humor and satire ever since. Bob Elliott, the surviving half of the duo, talks about the decades they spent together on the air.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Sharon Olds, Henry Butler
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 30, 2008
Sharon Olds has earned literary respect with her raw and intense poetry. She earned the respect of activists by denouncing the war in Iraq. Bob talks to the New York University professor about her writing, her teaching, and her refusal to dine with First Lady Laura Bush.
Then, jazz pianist Henry Butler is a virtuoso of many different styles and techniques. Although Butler was blinded by glaucoma at birth, he performs and records all over the world, and is also a noted photographer. Known as "The Pride of New Orleans," Henry Butler plays some songs for Bob and discusses his life and career.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Steve Winick & Nancy Groce, Andrew Blechman, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz & Doug Pray
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 30, 2008
Our resident folklorists Nancy Groce and Steve Winick from the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress share some politically-themed songs from the past.
Then, Andrew Blechman was shocked when his older New England neighbors moved to The Villages in central Florida. It's the world's largest gated retirement community, takes up more space than Manhattan and includes a golf course for every day of the month. Blechman explores this rapidly growing trend and its ramifications in his new book titled, "Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias."
Finally, through the 1960s, 70s and 80s, Dr. Dorian 'Doc' Paskowitz and his wife Juliette raised their nine children in a 24-foot camper - living wherever the surfing was good. The new documentary, "Surfwise" examines the results of the Paskowitz family's extraordinary upbringing. Bob talks with director Doug Pray and the still feisty Doc Paskowitz about his experiences.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Stories from Third Med, Surviving a Jungle ER
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 23, 2008
It's been forty years since many Americans were shipped to and died in the jungles of Vietnam. For this Memorial Day weekend, we pay tribute to our service men and women with stories of the Navy's Third Medical Battalion, which served alongside the Third Marine Division. They were based near the Demilitarized Zone, closest to the enemy in North Vietnam. Four decades later, the doctors and medics recount the horror (and humor) they can never forget, and reflect on the forces that drive people to war in the first place.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Mary Atwell, Rev. Carroll Pickett
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 23, 2008
Since the death penalty was re-instated in 1976, only 11 women have been executed. Mary Atwell is a professor of criminal justice at Radford University and in her book, Wretched Sisters: Examining Gender and Capital Punishment, Atwell examines the stories of the 11 condemned women and what they reveal about how the death penalty is applied in this country.
For fifteen years, Carroll Pickett served as the death house chaplain for the prison in Huntsville, Texas. Over that time, Pickett witnessed 95 executions, staying with the condemned inmate from cell block to grave. After each execution, Pickett made an audio tape recording about what he witnessed. Pickett's story is told in a new documentary called 'At the Death House Door.'
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Victor Wooten
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 16, 2008
Victor Lemonte Wooten is perhaps the most important bassist of his generation. He's from a musical family and best known for his work as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, but Wooten has also released six albums of his own, including the latest 'Palmystery.' Victor Wooten is also an author. His first book, titled 'The Music Lesson, a Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music,' prompts readers to re-consider traditional notions of music, instruments and knowledge.
Wooten joins Bob for a wide ranging conversation, and he also performs some of his best loved songs & arrangements.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Matt Taibbi, Amy Goodman
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 16, 2008
Reporter Matt Taibbi attended an "Encounter Weekend" at pastor John Hagee's San Antonio-based mega church. Taibbi spent several months at Cornerstone Church and witnessed exorcisms, spiritual and political indoctrination, and he almost learned to speak in tongues. Taibbi writes about that experience and others in his book 'The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire. '
Amy Goodman anchors the foremost progressive daily news program in the country, 'Democracy Now!' Goodman along with her brother, investigative reporter David Goodman, recently wrote a new book which tells the stories of courageous citizens who have challenged government policies. It's called 'Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times. '
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Richard Howorth, Anthony DeCurtis
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 09, 2008
Deep in the heart of Dixie, just down the road from William Faulkner's house, there sits a little independent book store. Square Books has been a fixture in the small college town of Oxford, Mississippi for almost thirty years. Bob talks with Square Books founder Richard Howorth about fending off challenges from the chain retailers, and nurturing the talent of local writers.
Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis talks with Bob about two new CDs -- Flying Upside Down by Griffin House and the latest album from Langhorne Slim.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Quil Lawrence, Sen. Harry Reid, Jimm Carter
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 09, 2008
Bob talks with Quil Lawrence, a correspondent for the BBC and The World, about the history of Iraqi Kurds, a group that bore the brunt of Saddam Hussein's violence. Lawrence has spent almost 10 years reporting on Kurdistan, and his new book is Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid talks with Bob about politics and about his formative years spent in tiny Searchlight, Nevada. Reid's new biography is called The Good Fight: Hard Lessons from Searchlight to Washington.
To mark this Mother's Day, former president Jimmy Carter shares some of his favorite memories about his unique mother. Miss Lillian joined the Peace Corps at the age of 70. She was also a registered nurse, a nursing home administrator, a civil rights activist and she was there to keep our 39th president humble at his inauguration. Carter's book is called A Remarkable Mother.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: David Mamet, Ricky Jay
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 02, 2008
The dialogue in Glengarry, Glen Ross is classic David Mamet - fast, cynical, sharp. Mamet won the Pulitzer for the play in 1984, and he made his directorial debut three years later with a movie he also wrote called House of Games. That film, and two of his others, The Spanish Prisoner and Heist, are about con artists. Mamet's newest, Redbelt, is an action movie about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters.
Magician, actor, and writer Ricky Jay is believed to be one of the greatest sleight of hand masters in the US. He talks with Bob about his passion for cards and magic, as well as his recent work with director David Mamet.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: John and Brad Hennegan, Mary Roach
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, May 02, 2008
If you're a fan of horse racing, you already know that the first Saturday in May is when twenty thoroughbreds race for the sport's holy grail, the Kentucky Derby. "The First Saturday In May" is the title of a new film about six horses and their hopeful trainers, on the road to the starting gate of the 2006 Derby. Bob talks to the directors, brothers John and Brad Hennegan.
Her first book was Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Next she wrote Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife. Her latest is Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. Mary Roach discusses scientific research and facts about human reproduction unknown to many.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Robert Schlesinger, Eddie Izzard
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Apr 25, 2008
Being the son of a famed historian and presidential speechwriter has its perks - one was having access to all living presidential speechwriters. For his new book titled White House Ghosts, Robert Schlesinger draws on more than 100 hours of interviews examining how presidential speechwriting has changed over the years.
Then, British comedian Eddie Izzard's big break came when his stand-up routine Dressed to Kill aired on HBO; it won him two Emmy awards and an American audience. This spring, Izzard starts his second season on FX's The Riches with actress Minnie Driver and begins a nation-wide stand-up tour.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Edward R. Murrow's centenary, Michael Eric Dyson
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Apr 25, 2008
Broadcasting pioneer Edward R. Murrow was born 100 years ago on April 25th. Bob remembers his journalistic hero with an essay, complete with clips of some of Murrow's best-known reports.
Then, forty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Michael Eric Dyson evaluates the fate of Black America -- how it has advanced, where it hasn't, and how black leaders can best affect racial justice going forward. Dyson speaks with Bob about the candidacy of Barack Obama, the comments of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and about the history and legacy of hip-hop culture and rap music. Dysons most recent book is titled April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.s Death and How It Changed America.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: King Kaufman, Peter Cooper, Fayssoux McLean
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Apr 17, 2008
Bob talks with Salon.com's sports analyst King Kaufman about the major league baseball season and the NBA playoffs.
Peter Cooper is the senior music writer for the Nashville Tennessean, but he's also worked as a music producer and a session player. Now he's released his own solo debut called "Mission Door." Cooper is also credited with "re-discovering" our next guest.
Fayssoux McLean started out singing harmony vocals on early Emmylou Harris songs. Now McLean has released her own solo debut and the two have switched roles. Emmylou sings back up on a few songs on McLean's CD called "Early."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Errol Morris, Young at Heart Chorus
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Apr 17, 2008
Errol Morris calls his new documentary a nonfiction horror movie. His starting point for Standard Operating Procedure was the infamous photographs from Abu Ghraib. And to get the stories behind those images, Morris spent hours interviewing the people who appear IN those photos. Errol Morris has also made the Oscar-winning documentary The Fog of War, A Brief History of Time and The Thin Blue Line.
Bob talks with Jeanne Hatch and Stan Goldman, members of the Young at Heart Chorus and with founder and director Bob Cilman. The average age of the chorus is 80, so when they perform songs such as “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” the lyrics often take on new meanings. The group’s latest CD is called Mostly Live and there’s a new documentary in theaters now called Young at Heart.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Les Paul and a tour of the Gibson guitar factory
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Apr 11, 2008
Dissatisfied with the electric guitars sold in the 1930s, guitarist and inventor Les Paul came up with what he called "The Log." It was a bridge, pickup and guitar neck attached to a piece of fence post and it worked. Paul's innovations made rock and roll possible and his playing got him recognized as one of the 20th century's guitar masters. Bob visits with him at the New York club where he stills plays a weekly gig with the Les Paul Trio.
Bob takes a tour of the Gibson guitar factory in Memphis, Tennessee and learns more about the company's most popular model -- the Les Paul Standard.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Tobias Wolff, Stephen Root
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Apr 11, 2008
Writer Tobias Wolff came to national attention with his 1989 memoir This Boy's Life and has gone on to produce volumes of short stories and two novels. His most recent collection, Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories combines some of Wolff's classics along with 10 new tales.
Stephen Root is one of Hollywood's hardest-working character actors. He often works in movies by the Coen brothers, and is probably best known for his role in the cult comedy hit Office Space. For his latest project, Root joins George Clooney and Renee Zellweger in "Leatherheads", a comedy about football's early days.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Maxine Smith, Frank McRae, Benjamin Hooks (MLK Assassination)
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Apr 03, 2008
To mark the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, Bob spoke with several Memphis residents who knew King and were active during the civil rights struggle of the 1960's. All three guests touch on the city's sanitation workers' strike which brought Dr. King to Memphis. Maxine Smith led the city's chapter of the NAACP from 1962 until 1996. Frank McRae was a local white minister who supported the sanitation workers marching for their rights and dignity. Benjamin Hooks was a close friend of King's and went on to serve as national executive director of the NAACP. Martin Luther King was killed 40 years ago in Memphis, Tennessee.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Steve Coll and Michael Quinion
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Apr 03, 2008
Steve Coll won the Pulitzer Prize for Ghost Wars, his book about the origins of Al Qaeda. Now he's written a book about the origins of al Qaeda’s leader. Coll’s new book is called The bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century.
Bob is joined by our regular wordsmith Michael Quinion. This time we learn the roots of some phrases that are well-known, newly-coined and out of use.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Susan Jacoby and David Wilcox
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Mar 28, 2008
Every few months, a new poll or study comes out showing how dumb Americans are compared to the rest of the world. In her new book The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby writes about the serious and very real consequences of anti-intellectualism, starting with the War in Iraq.
Singer-songwriter David Wilcox has been characterized as a cross between musicians James Taylor and Nick Drake. Although his music does have a quiet, acoustic feel, its tone and message are unique to this guitarist. His latest album Airstream was written over the past two years as Wilcox, his wife, and their son traveled across America. He plays selections from the CD and talks with Bob about his career in music.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Jan Egeland, Steve Winick and Nancy Groce
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Mar 28, 2008
Jan Egeland was the man in charge of coordinating humanitarian relief for the United Nations during some of the world's most horrific recent events: the Indian Ocean tsunami, the crisis in Darfur, the aftermath of the Iraq war. Egeland speaks with Bob about his new book called A Billion Lives: An Eyewitness Report from the Frontlines of Humanity.
Our resident folklorists Nancy Groce and Steve Winick join Bob to share rarely heard songs that celebrate different modes of travel. These selections and a few million more are housed at the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Erik Weihenmayer and Sabriye Tenberken; Anthony DeCurtis; Laura Boswell
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Mar 20, 2008
Blindsight documents the three-week expedition of a group of blind Tibetan children who set out to climb Mt. Everest. Bob talks with blind climber Erik Weihenmayer who inspired their journey, and Sabriye Tenberken who accompanied the children on the expedition, about their experiences making this documentary.
Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis talks with Bob about two new CDs. They'll discuss the return of the B-52s with "Funplex" -- their first new studio CD in 16 years, and Volume One by She & Him -- a collaboration between actress turned singer Zooey Deschanel and one-man band M. Ward.
And essayist Laura Boswell considers spring cleaning.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Jonathan Steele, Paul Thorn
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Thu, Mar 20, 2008
Jonathan Steele has worked eight assignments in Iraq since April 2003 as the senior foreign correspondent for the Guardian. Five years after the invasion, he examines the consequences in his new book titled Defeat: Why America and Britain Lost Iraq.
Paul Thorn's first paying gig was as a four-year-old at a tent revival led by his Pentecostal minister father. Thorn went on to become a successful professional boxer, and a furniture maker. Now he's back in music. Once called the "best kept secret in the music business" Paul Thorn has a new CD called A Long Way from Tupelo.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Tom Daschle, Nathaniel Heller, Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Mar 14, 2008
The US is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee necessary health care to all of its citizens. Former Senator Tom Daschle explains why the nation's economy is threatened by its failing health care system in his new book titled Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.
Each year, Global Integrity researches and publishes an index which ranks 55 nations based on anti-corruption mechanisms and government accountability. The organization's managing director Nathaniel Heller speaks with Bob about the 2007 results.
Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in 1967 and immediately made an impression on the NBA by averaging over 24 points a game and winning the rookie of the year award. The Hall of Famer speaks with Bob about his new project "Black Magic," a film to be shown on ESPN March 16th and 17th. It explores the links between the 1960s civil rights movement, American society and sports.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Tom Hooper, Marian McPartland
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Mar 14, 2008
David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning book John Adams is one of the best-selling historical biographies of all time. Now, it's been turned into a seven-part HBO miniseries directed by Tom Hooper. "John Adams" stars Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney as the president and first lady and premieres Sunday at 8pm.
Since 1978 Marian McPartland has been hosting Piano Jazz, NPR's longest running cultural program. McPartland started her love of the piano at the age of 3 and has never let up. She talks with Bob about her life and career and about the release of her first studio album in 6 years - Twilight World.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Philip Fradkin and Bret Morgen
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Mar 07, 2008
Wallace Stegner is one of our nation's most lyrical and passionate writers of the American West. The Spectator Bird, Crossing to Safety, and his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Angle of Repose exposed readers to both the beauty and the environmental issues of the West. Bob talks with writer Philip Fradkin about his biography Wallace Stegner and the American West.
Brett Morgen is the writer and director of the new film "Chicago 10," an innovative cinematic postcard from the protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the subsequent conspiracy trial of eight anti-war activists.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Edward Albee, Stanley Hedeen
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Mar 07, 2008
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Bob talks with three-time Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Edward Albee. He established his place in the American theater pantheon in 1962 with his controversial Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf. Albee will celebrate his 80th birthday next week and continues to write and direct.
Big Bone Lick, Kentucky was the first major paleontological site in North America and it was highly controversial. The mastodon bones were the first find to indicate that a species could become extinct and that challenged religious views at the time. Bob talks with former biology professor Stanley Hedeen about his book - Big Bone Lick: The Cradle of American Paleontology.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Tim Weiner, Lester Brown and George Romero
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 29, 2008
Bob talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times correspondent Tim Weiner about his latest book Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. It's already won a National Book Award and is up for a National Book Critics Circle award next week.
Lester Brown is the president of the Earth Policy Institute. He's here to tell us about how quickly the world is physically changing and what can be done to sustain the growing global population. Brown's most recent book is Plan B, 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.
With his groundbreaking 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, George Romero began a new era in American horror films. Now, forty years later, he's released the fifth in his "living dead" series. Romero talks about using horror as political allegory, why he'll never live in New York or Los Angeles and about starting his filmmaking career with Mr. Rogers.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Jimmy Breslin and Tift Merritt
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 29, 2008
Bob talks with legendary New York reporter and writer Jimmy Breslin. He'll introduce us to some of the characters from his new book The Good Rat: A True Story. It's all about the real-life mobsters Breslin met and covered as an investigative reporter for Newsday.
Musician Tift Merritt is a North Carolina native who lives in New York City and longs for Paris. An extended stay in France inspired her to write and record the songs on her new CD, "Another Country." Merritt talks with Bob about playing piano and writing songs in Paris and about her new second job as a public radio host.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Ken Turan and James Newton Howard
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 22, 2008
Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan previews the 2008 Academy Awards. He tells Bob which actors, actresses, directors and movies should expect to bring home Oscars this year.
Bob talks with composer James Newton Howard about his career and about his Oscar-nominated score for "Michael Clayton."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Linda Perlstein, Rudy Crew, Paul Dickson
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 15, 2008
(ORIGINALLY AIRED 9/8/2007)
Former Washington Post reporter Linda Perlstein spent a year in an elementary school to observe the No Child Left Behind Act in action. Bob talks to Perlstein about the mixed results she discovered and the private influence over public education. She's the author of Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade and Not Much Just Chillin': The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers.
Bob talks with educator Dr. Rudolph F. Rudy Crew about his plans to reshape public education. A former teacher and superintendent, Dr. Crew's new book is ONLY CONNECT: The Way to Save our Schools.
Bob speaks with author Paul Dickson about Burgess Unabridged: A Classic Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed, by turn of the century author Gelett Burgess. Burgess Unabridged, published in 1914, introduced a playful spirit of linguistic experimentation into the American cultural landscape.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Richard Kahlenberg, Maryanne Wolf
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 15, 2008
(ORIGINALLY AIRED 9/8/2007)
Bob talks with Richard D. Kahlenberg, author of Though Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy.
Bob talks with Boston based cognitive neuroscientist and reading expert Maryanne Wolf about her new book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Charles Cobb, Eran Kolirin, Tom Lantos
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 15, 2008
Bob talks to author Charles E. Cobb Jr. about his new book On The Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail. Cobb takes us to places where pioneers of the movement marched, gathered, spoke, taught, where they were arrested, and where some lost their lives.
When an Egyptian band arrives in Israel to play at the opening of an Arab cultural center, the musicians know the event could determine their musical future. Bob discusses the larger themes of the movie with writer and director Eran Kolirin. The Band's Visit is now playing in New York and Los Angeles.
We mark the passing of California Representative Tom Lantos with a portion of his 2005 conversation with Bob. Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, died on Monday at the age of 80.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Ned Sublette, Red Barber
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 15, 2008
Bob talks with writer Ned Sublette about The World That Made New Orleans. The book chronicles the people who shaped the Crescent City and how it has evolved since its colonial beginnings.
One hundred years ago this weekend, legendary sportscaster Red Barber was born. To mark the occasion, Bob revisits their conversations and highlights the lessons he learned about broadcasting and about life from "the old redhead."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Sergei Tretyakov, The Seldom Scene
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 08, 2008
During the late 1990s, Russian "diplomat" Sergei Tretyakov was in fact a Russian spy in New York City for the post-Cold War successor of the KGB. But unknown to his superiors, Tretyakov also worked for US intelligence as a double agent. Bob talks with Tretyakov and with writer Pete Earley about his new book titled Comrade J.
Bob talks to Ben Eldridge and members of the Seldom Scene about their urban approach to bluegrass and what it means to be working musicians. Their latest CD - "Scenchronized" - has been nominated for a Grammy this year.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Nany Kriplen, Pat Metheny
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 08, 2008
Bob talks with author Nancy Kriplen about her new book, The Eccentric Billionaire. For her biography of John D. MacArthur, Kriplen interviewed his relatives and former associates -- and used recently found recorded interviews of the reluctant philanthropist. MacArthur's money is behind the "genius awards" and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny has won a stunning 17 Grammys -- in nine different categories. He sits down with Bob to recount his thirty-year career and to discuss his latest CD -- Day Trip. All ten tracks are Metheny's original compositions and were recorded in a single day between tour stops.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Thomas McGuane, k.d. lang
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 01, 2008
Writer Thomas McGuane has enjoyed a prolific literary career. His work includes nine novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life out West.
Bob talks with Grammy winner k.d lang about her new album "Watershed." It's Lang's first newly written material since 2000 and the first self-produced CD of her 25-year career.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Russel Banks, King Kaufman and Laura Boswell
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Feb 01, 2008
Russell Banks is one of today's most critically-acclaimed and popular writers. Banks is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and his novels The Sweet Hereafter and Affliction have been adapted as movies. His latest novel is called The Reserve.
Bob talks with sports analyst King Kaufman about the big game this weekend. Then commentator Laura Boswell offers a different perspective on Superbowl 42.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Al Young, Jon Scieszka, Brian Selznick
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 25, 2008
Bob talks to Al Young, California's Poet Laureate and the author of Something About the Blues. Young writes poetry with a blues sensibility and has traveled the world as a cultural ambassador for the US. He shares his thoughts on life, love, poetry and the blues.
Bob talks to Jon Scieszka, the recently named first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. He's also the author of several bestselling children's books, including "The Stinky Cheese Man," which won a Caldecott Honor medal, and he's the founder of Guys Read (www.guysread.com), a nonprofit literacy organization. Then, writer and illustrator Brian Selznick's Invention of Hugo Cabret is easily the biggest book to ever win a Caldecott award. At over 500 pages, half of them illustrations, Selznick wrote a book about a boy living inside a Paris train station. Bob talks with Selznick about his recent win and about the marriage between illustrations and words.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Sarah Posner, Anamaria Marinca, Julian Schnabel
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 25, 2008
Last month, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa began investigating some mega churches and televangelists for a possible violation of their tax-exempt status. Sarah Posner, a journalist for the American Prospect, writes about gospel televangelists' prosperity and their influence on Republican policy in her new book God's Profits.
Bob talks with actress Anamaria Marinca about her staring role in the Romanian film "4 Month, 3 Weeks, 2 Days." The film follows the story of Marinca's character in 1980's Romania, who helps her friend get an illegal abortion. The film won the Golden Palm at Cannes.
Painter and director Julian Schnabel talks to Bob about his latest film, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." It's based on the memoirs of former Elle magazine editor and won a Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Film. This week, Schnabel received an Oscar nomination for best director.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Alex Gibney, Tahmima Anam, David Anderegg
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 18, 2008
Bob talks with documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney about his latest project, "Taxi to the Dark Side." The film opens this weekend and examines the Bush administration's policy on torture through the death of a taxi driver in Afghanistan.
First time novelist Tahmima Anam tells Bob about her book A Golden Age. Set in East Pakistan in 1971, the novel follows the story of a mother and her children caught up in the Bangladesh Liberation.
Bob talks with David Anderegg about his latest book, Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them. Anderegg is a child psychologist and his book explores how the stereotyping of nerds affects everyone
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Bob Edwards Weekend: David Frum and David Earnhardt
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 18, 2008
David Frum is a former speechwriter for President Bush and deserves some of the credit for the phrase "axis of evil." Frum is currently a senior policy adviser to Rudy Giuliani and has a new book to help Republicans get back on top. It's called Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again.
Bob talks to David Earnhardt about his new documentary "Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections." The film covers the questionable practices and results of the last three national elections by addressing concerns about electronic voting machines, voter intimidation, exit poll discrepancies and media coverage.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Shannon Brownlee, James Sheehan, Geraldine Brooks
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 11, 2008
Bob talks with medical journalist and author Shannon Brownlee who likes to illustrate the hypocrisies in what she calls America's "medical-industrial complex." Brownlee's book is called Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer.
For centuries, most of Europe was a battlefield and war was its defining narrative. Today, as one scholar has put it, Europe is about as aggressive as a sloth. In his new book, Where Have All the Soldiers Gone, historian James Sheehan examines the continent's century-long transformation into a peaceful, stable society more focused on 'civilian power' than military might.
For eleven years, Geraldine Brooks was a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and her beat included some of the world's hotspots -- Bosnia, Somalia, and the Middle East. While reporting in Sarajevo, Brooks heard about a priceless six-hundred-year-old book that is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. The amazing story of the book's survival inspired Brooks to write her latest novel titled People of the Book.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: The Invisible--Children Without Homes
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 11, 2008
Bob spent hours interviewing homeless men, women and children, social workers and government officials to learn about the growing problem of homeless families and kids. The resulting documentary, The Invisible: Children without Homes, presents how economics, education, healthcare, and culture impact those lives.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Daniel Schorr
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 04, 2008
Bob spends the hour with veteran reporter Daniel Schorr, the last of Edward R. Murrow's legendary CBS team still active in daily journalism. Schorr recounts his 70-year career from newspaper reporter to radio newscaster to television broadcaster up to his current job as NPR's senior news analyst. Schorr's latest book, "Come to Think of It," is a collection of his years of NPR commentaries.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Nina Burleigh, Victor Navasky, Marsha Hunt and Walter Bersnstein
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 04, 2008
Bob talks with journalist Nina Burleigh about her book "Mirage." It tells the story of Napoleon's efforts to democratize Egypt over 200 years ago. In the attempt, he used more than just brute force. Along with soldiers, Napoleon brought with him a small army of French intellectuals and scientists who became Europe's first Egyptologists.
It's been over 60 years since the Hollywood Ten stood before the House Un-American Activities Committee. They refused to name their fellow screenwriters, directors, actors and musicians who were suspected of having communist ties. Bob talks about the resulting blacklist with Victor Navasky author of "Naming Names."
Then Bob speaks with two blacklisted artists - actress Marsha Hunt and screenwriter Walter Bernstein. They describe how their lives and careers were affected by being blacklisted.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Chuck Leavell
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 28, 2007
Bob talks with one of his musical favorites, Chuck Leavell, the piano player who has graced recordings from The Allman Brothers Band in the '70's to The Rolling Stones of today. Leavell's memoir about his 35 years in the music business is titled Between Rock and a Home Place.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: John Sayles, Lewis Hyde
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 28, 2007
Bob talks with independent filmmaker John Sayles, the director, writer and editor of the new movie Honeydripper. Their conversation covers Sayles novels and short stories, the beginnings of his independent film career with early movies like The Brother from Another Planet through hits like Eight Men Out and Sunshine State.
25 years ago, Lewis Hyde wrote The Gift. Bob marks the anniversary with Hyde as they discuss his modern classic, which deals with creativity and the artist in the modern world.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Julio Medina, Alvin Valentine, Nick Szuberla, Amelia Kirby
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 21, 2007
Bob talks to Julio Medina founder of the Exodus Transitional Community. Medina served 12 years in jail for dealing drugs and now his organization helps other ex-cons looking to return to a legal lifestyle. Medina believes that ex-cons are the best role models for other ex-cons.
Bob continues his tour of the Exodus Transitional Community with Alvin Valentine, the outreach coordinator at the center. Valentine was jailed for almost ten years for armed robbery, got his second chance at Exodus and now tries to make a difference in the lives of other ex-convicts.
Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby are the filmmakers behind a documentary about the prison industry in their community in Virginia. Up the Ridge deals with the impact of moving inner-city minority offenders to distant rural prisons
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Ann Pancake, Jack Wright, Nancy Groce, Stephen Winick
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 21, 2007
Bob talks to author Ann Pancake about her novel Strange as This Weather Has Been. It's based on interviews and actual events from an Appalachian community under siege from mountaintop removal coal mining.
Bob talks to Jack Wright about his latest CD Music of Coal: Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields. The 2-CD set is a collection of 48 songs addressing various aspects of coalmining history and culture.
Then, our latest visit to the archives of the Library of Congress. This time, folklorists Nancy Groce and Stephen Winick join Bob to talk about bad weather songs.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Sebastian Junger, Tim Hetherington, Steve Rose, Anthony DeCurtis
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Dec 17, 2007
Bob talks to writer Sebastian Junger and photographer Tim Hetherington about their article Into the Valley of Death, which appears in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. They traveled with an American platoon through one of Afghanistans most strategic and deadly mountain passes.
Lieutenant Steve Rose is a Georgia cop who writes informative and entertaining crime reports. For the past six years, Rose has been warning residents of North Fulton County about what could happen to them both as victims and as criminals. He shares with Bob how not to have your car broken into, and the easiest way to catch a drunk on the run.
Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis joins Bob for our annual look back at the year in music. We'll review the top ten CDs NOT covered on this program in 2007.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Elisabeth Bumiller, Ted Leonsis
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Dec 17, 2007
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is one of the most powerful women in the world, but most people dont really know that much about her. Bob talks to New York Times Washington correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller about her new biography titled Condoleezza Rice: An American Life.
Bob talks with producer Ted Leonsis about the new documentary Nanking. The film tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China in the early days of World War II and focuses on the efforts of a small group of unarmed Westerners who helped save the lives of tens of thousands of Chinese refugees.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Ira Flatow, Michael Krasny, Matt Hinton
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 07, 2007
Bob talks to Ira Flatow, the host of NPR's Talk of the Nation "Science Friday." Flatow's latest book is titled Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature.
Bob talks to public radio host Michael Krasny about his latest book. Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life includes some of Krasny's most memorable interviews with eminent writers like Umberto Eco, Amy Tan, Alice Walker, Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Joan Didion.
Bob talks with filmmaker Matt Hinton about Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp. This is the first feature documentary about America's oldest music which is neither dead nor dying. The program can be seen on public television stations across the country throughout the month of December.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Frank Schaeffer, Joe Wright
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Dec 07, 2007
As a young man Frank Schaeffer inherited his evangelical parents' beliefs and flair for public speaking. Now a best-selling fiction writer, Schaeffer talks to Bob about his memoir titled "Crazy for God."
Bob talks with director Joe Wright about his latest film "Atonement." It's based on Ian McEwan's Booker prize-winning novel and stars Kiera Knightly and James McAvoy. This is Wright's second film, following the success of his 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Jonathan Gould, Laura Linney
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Dec 03, 2007
The Beatles' influence on music, fashion, and taste began in the 1960s and never really let up. Writer Jonathan Gould talks with Bob about an era heavily affected by the group, in his book Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America.
Bob talks with actress Laura Linney about her career and her latest movie. Linney stars opposite Phillip Seymour Hoffman in "The Savages" as siblings from a dysfunctional family.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Craig Silverman, Judith Thurman, Shirley MacClaine
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Mon, Dec 03, 2007
Craig Silverman, creator of the blog regrettheerror.com, has compiled the best and worst mistakes from today's newspapers in his book Regret The Error. He talks with Bob about contemporary society's insatiable appetite for media coverage and why journalistic mistakes are on the rise.
Cultural critic Judith Thuman's latest book Cleopatra's Nose is a collection of some of her finest essays culled from her 20 year career at The New Yorker. She talks with Bob about her mostly female, and often imperious subjects, from Madame du Pompador to Jackie Onassis.
Bob talks with actress Shirley MacClaine about growing older and her views on what happen after we die. Her new book is Sage-ing While Aging.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: A.E. Hotchner, Linford Detweiler, and Karin Bergquist
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Nov 24, 2007
A.E. Hotchners close, 14-year friendship with Earnest Hemmingway resulted in the landmark biography, Papa Hemmingway. In more recent years, hes partnered with Paul Newman on various charities. Bob spends the hour talking to Hotchner about his life, his writing and his legendary collaborations.
Bob talks with the husband-and-wife team behind the band Over the Rhine, Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist. The duo have released three albums this year and their latest CD is titled The Trumpet Child.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Greg Behrman, Ian Cheney, Curt Ellis, and Alex Prud'homme
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Nov 24, 2007
Bob talks with author Greg Behrman about America's unprecedented and audacious policy to help rebuild Western Europe after World War II. This year is the 60th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, which cost more than $100 billion in today's dollars. President Bush has compared the U.S.'s post-reconstruction plans in Iraq and Afghanistan to the Marshall Plan, but many have criticized the administration for not learning the lessons from the first time around. Behrman's book is called The Most Notable Adventure: The Marshall Plan and the Time When America Helped Save Europe.
Bob talks to Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, the stars and narrators of a new documentary film, "King Corn." It's about the pervasive influence of corn and the corn lobby on our nation's food production. King Corn is now in limited theaters.
Bob talks to Julia Child's grandnephew Alex Prud'homme (PRUDE-ome) about their bestseller My Life in France. Prud'homme completed his Aunt's memoirs after her death in 2001. It is now available in paperback.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Ted Nordhaus, Jennifer Warnes
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Nov 16, 2007
Bob talks with one of "the bad boys of environmentalism," Ted Nordhaus. Along with his co-author, Michael Shellenberger, Nordhaus has spent his life working in and with environmental organizations, but earned his nickname after turning on the movement's approach to solving problems. In their book, "Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility," the authors criticize everyone from the Sierra Club to Al Gore.
Bob talks with one of his favorite singers, Jennifer Warnes. She had a run of Academy-Award worthy songs from films such as Norma Rae, Ragtime, An Officer and a Gentleman and Dirty Dancing. In 1977, Warnes produced and recorded a Famous Blue Raincoat - a tribute to Leonard Cohen. The remastered 20th anniversary CD was released last month.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Bill Bryson, Michael Ian Black
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Nov 16, 2007
Bob talks to writer Bill Bryson about his work, life on both sides of the Atlantic, and his most recent book William Shakespeare, the World as Stage. Bryson, a well-known Anglophile, writes about the personal life of Britains most beloved writer.
Bob chats with Michael Ian Black about his career in comedy. Black is an actor, pop critic and comedian who recently released his first stand-up album titled "I Am a Wonderful Man." He's a member of The State comedy sketch group, is one of the guys trying to sell you Sierra Mist on TV and was the voice of the pets.com sock puppet. Lately, Black has been moving towards writing and directing films and will also update us on those projects.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Tom Brokaw, Jan Scruggs, Dan Wilson
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Nov 10, 2007
Bob talks to Tom Brokaw, the former anchor of NBC Nightly News. Bob talks to Jan Scruggs, the founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Bob talks to musician Dan Wilson about his new cd, "Free Life," produced by the now-legendary Rick Rubin.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Dr. Henry Simmons, Joe Bussard
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Nov 10, 2007
Bob talks to Dr. Henry Simmons about the nation's ongoing healthcare debate. Bob visits with record collector Joe Bussard at his home in Frederick, Maryland. Bussard is the founder and proprietor of his own label, Fonotone Records.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Oliver Sacks, Porter Wagoner, Julien Temple
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Nov 03, 2007
Bob talks with neurologist and author Oliver Sacks about his latest book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. We mark last weekends death of country music legend Porter Wagoner. Bob speaks with director Julien Temple about his new documentary The Future is Unwritten. Its about the life of Clash guitarist Joe Strummer.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Kevin Bales, Marcus Rediker and Tony Cohen
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Nov 03, 2007
Bob talks candidly about past and present slavery and its impact around the world with Kevin Bales, Marcus Rediker and Tony Cohen.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Charles Simic, Thomas Lynch, Anthony Hopkins
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Oct 27, 2007
Bob talks to the new US poet laureate Charles Simic. Bob talks with poet and undertaker Thomas Lynch. He's a funeral director in a small town in central Michigan where he and his family have cared for the dead and the living for three generations. Bob talks with Anthony Hopkins who writes, directs and stars in his new film.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Ann Patchett, Nora Guthrie
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Oct 27, 2007
Bob talks to writer Ann Patchett about her novel Run. Bob talks with Nora Guthrie about the release of a rare live performance of her folk icon father, Woody.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Diane Ackerman, Edward P. Jones, Frank Kelly
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Oct 20, 2007
Bob talks with writer Diane Ackerman about her latest book The Zookeeper's Wife. Pulitzer Prize winner Edward P. Jones is this year's guest editor of New Stories from the South, a collection of short stories influenced by the American South. Bob goes for a walk with senior curator Dr. Frank Kelly through the National Gallery's Edward Hopper exhibit.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Kevin Bender, Phil Ramone
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Oct 20, 2007
Bob talks to Kevin Bender about his documentary "Ball Talk: Baseball's Voices of Summer." Bob talks to legendary music producer Phil Ramone about his life and career.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Tom Miller, Hampton Sides, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Oct 13, 2007
Bob talks to writer Tom Miller about a new collection of essays he edited. The book is called How I Learned English: 55 Accomplished Latinos Recall Lessons in Language and Life. Bob talks with Hampton Sides about his book, Blood and Thunder. It focuses on legendary trapper, scout and soldier Kit Carson. Bob talks with director Kenneth Branagh and actor Michael Caine about their new film.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: President Jimmy Carter
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Oct 13, 2007
Bob talks with former President Jimmy Carter about his new book Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Orhan Pamuk, Wangari Maathai, Jim Musselman
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Oct 06, 2007
Bob talks with writer Orhan Pamuk, the 2006 Nobel Prize recipient for literature. Nobel peace prize winner Wangari Maathai talks with Bob about her recent memoir. Bob talks to Appleseed Recording president Jim Musselman. 10 years ago, this former consumer advocate lawyer formed the independent record label, now home to musical luminaries such as Pete Seeger, Donovan, David Bromberg and others.
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Matthew Brzezinski, Mark Knopfler
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Sat, Oct 06, 2007
Bob talks with Matthew Brzezinski about his new book Red Moon Rising. Bob talks to Mark Knopfler about his latest CD "Kill to Get Crimson."
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Maureen Dowd and Bonnie Raitt
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 06, 2006
Bob talks with author and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. She won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary on the Bill Clinton impeachment. Her new book is called Are Men Necessary? (Putnam).Then Bob speaks with musician Bonnie Raitt. In 1970, Raitt took a leave of absence from Radcliffe College to embark on her first tour -- with The Rolling Stones. Needless to say, she did not return to school. Raitt's soulful vocals and scathing slide guitar work have been praised by roots music aficionados for years. Bonnie Raitt's new CD is called "Souls Alike" (Capitol).
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Bob Edwards Weekend: Joe Feuerherd, Carole Coleman, Tom Bodett
XM Radio
Author: XM Radio
Fri, Jan 06, 2006
With the Samuel Alito confirmation hearings coming up, Bob asks Joe Feuerherd of the National Catholic Reporter about the likelihood of the first majority-Catholic Supreme Court. Then Bob talks to Carole Coleman, former Washington correspondent for the Irish broadcaster, RTE. She made headlines of her own with a controversial interview with President Bush. Her new book is Alleluia America! An Irish Journalist in Bush Country. (Liffey Press). And finally, writer Tom Bodett offers this commentary about the burden of being quotable.
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