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| Short, Fresh Radio Waves
When you turn on the radio, what do you want to hear? What about a fresh perspective on the situation in Afghanistan, insight into ways that poetry makes us more human, reasons to have hope for the future of environmental protection, and news of a moving new stage tribute to the firefighters we now all know were heroes? This week, public radio gave us all of that and more.
Dear GoodLetter readers,
As most of you know, we've been bringing you "GoodThings on Public Radio" faithfully for the past year. We've been scanning all the best from the previous week's worth of National Public Radio news and features so that you don't have to. We listen and then pick our favorite seven pieces, give you our own original summary of what we heard, provide you a way to click to the NPR site to listen to the story, and then usually give you an added bonus: a way to get more information or get involved. It's been one of our favorite features to create for you every week, and when we've heard from all of you who've told us you love it too, it's made our day.
Of course, we know it's difficult for all of you to find the time to click through to our Web site every week to see what you missed on the radio, so for this week's GoodLetter, we're giving you a treat -- seven of our scannable, easily digestible public radio summaries right in your inbox. Usually, this is what you'd get on our site. This week, it's right here, complete with easy access to additional information to the amazing people and organizations behind these fresh, informative, inspiring stories. Enjoy.
[ Rather read the summaries on our site? No problem: click here. ]
FRIDAY, December 7 | Journey of Loss
With the eyes of the world glued on Afghanistan, the timing of the new film, Kandahar, couldn't be more appropriate. The film fictionalizes the true story of one Afghan woman's return to her homeland, twelve years after fleeing to Canada, to try to find an old friend. The friend has suggested to her in a letter that she can no longer survive under Taliban control. Directed by the creator of the film, The Cyclist, the film uses no professional actors and has gained wide acclaim for its portrayal of the shared realities faced by all Afghan people. [Morning Edition]
Listen (length of clip 6 min 22 sec). Need help listening?
:: Learn more about the film, Kandahar. [ still more ]
SATURDAY, December 8 | Homage to History
The Panama Hotel is a celebrated cornerstone of Seattle's International District, long a vibrant community for recent East Asian immigrants to the city. The Panama was a commercial nexus for the neighborhood until the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor put the world at war. The Panama soon became a temporary holding area for Japanese-Americans who were, sadly, to be transferred to wartime internment camps all over the American West. The current owner of the Panama, Jan Johnson, has spent the past fifteen years restoring the hotel to its former glory and has turned its basement into a tea room and extraordinary memorial, featuring many photographs and period belongings of those whose lives were changed there during World War II. [Weekend All Things Considered]
Listen (4:15).
:: Learn more about the Panama Hotel and Seattle's International District.
SUNDAY, December 9 | The "Stubborn Art"
Poet Edward Hirsch, author of the book How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry, believes the world needs poetry. Never has this been more apparent to him than in the months since September 11, when we all seem to have developed a "hunger for seriousness." Hirsch thinks of poetry as a kind of elixir with the power to strengthen our emotional fiber despite our being overwhelmed by a certain superficiality in our culture. Poetry allows those who read and write it to experience grief and other such fundamental emotions with an uncommon depth. Citing the recent resurgent interest in poems like W.H. Auden's September 1, 1939, Hirsch suggests poetry has a way of helping us to make meaning out of the unthinkable. [Weekend All Things Considered]
Listen (4:10).
:: Buy a copy of Edward Hirsch's book How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry.
:: Read W.H. Auden's poem September 1, 1939.
MONDAY, December 10 | A Precautionary Environmental Tale
Gordon Moore, founder of computer-chip maker INTEL, and his wife Betty have recently endowed the environmental group, Conservation International, with an historic $261 million program grant. To be spread out over ten years, the grant is, by far, the largest of its kind to support environmental protection and wildlife conservation and will enable the 14-year-old organization to protect some of the world's most biodiversity-rich areas. According to board chair and CEO Peter Seligmann, it's a wonderful beginning to the group's ambitious long-range quest to stabilize the world's ecosystem over the next century. Seligmann thinks that since September, many people have come to see the earth as the small place it actually is and are more committed than ever to supporting efforts that will guarantee its health. [Morning Edition]
Listen (3:37).
:: Learn more about the work of Conservation International.
TUESDAY, December 11 | Gardener's Paradise
One of the greatest treasures of Washington DC -- and the world, for many botanists and plant lovers -- is the US Botanic Gardens. But during the recent anthrax scare in the nation's capital, the gardens were off limits to the public because they were a known "anthrax-free" area being utilized by the Centers for Disease Control. Now, though, the gardens have reopened in all their former and newfound glory. The 1933 building has been magnificently restored and retrofitted with cutting-edge technology that makes even remote plant care and maintenance possible. Executive director Holly Shimizu discusses the gardens' highlights (the oldest plant is nearly 160 years old) and the reasons why people continue to cherish them. [Morning Edition]
Listen (4:51).
:: Learn more about the US Botanic Gardens. [ still more ]
WEDNESDAY, December 12 | The Invisible People
A new book by humanitarian activist Harsh Mander recounts stories he collected during twenty years of working to end poverty in developing countries around the world. His London-based organization, Action Aid, has established poverty-prevention programs in thirty countries in every part of the world, and his book -- Unheard Voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives -- charts the lives of many of the people in need he's encountered over the years. In this interview, Mander discusses the sense of isolation that diseases like leprosy -- still rampant in much of the world -- create in people's lives. He also considers the process of building trust with those who share their personal stories with him and what it means to use storytelling to restore humanity. [Morning Edition]
Listen (7:04).
:: Learn more about Action Aid.
:: Buy a copy of Harsh Mander's book Buy Unheard Voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives.
THURSDAY, December 13 | Doing It for The Guys
In the days following September 11, Columbia University journalism professor Anne Nelson found herself faced with the heart-wrenching task of helping write eulogies for the firefighters lost when the World Trade Center collapsed. Asked by a fire captain to help him give beauty to their individual stories, Nelson was soon overcome with a deep sense of human duty, wanting "the world to know about these guys." She asked the captain for permission to write a play; what resulted was The Guys, a new play featuring Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray now playing at the Flea Theatre, not far from ground zero. Playwright Nelson knew nothing about the real bravery of firefighters before she began to working on some of the nearly 350 eulogies. Now, she's an articulate and creative voice helping give New Yorkers and the world a clearer picture of how dedicated firefighters are to the people who need them. [Morning Edition]
Listen (6:40).
:: Learn more about The Guys. [ still more ]
Hope you'll take a minute this week to let us know if you enjoyed reading and exploring these public radio pieces. Hearing from you makes it all worthwhile. Have a great weekend.
:: GOODTHINGS
(Thoughts on this GoodLetter? E-mail us -- don't forget to tell us your name, where you're from, and if we can use your words in a future GoodLetter or on our Web site.)
TALK ABOUT IT
Are you a fan of our "GoodThings on Public Radio" feature? What do you like about it? How can we make it better? We're taking a long hard look at it to see if it's something you look forward to about the GoodLetter. If it's not, it may fade into the sunset in 2002 to make room of new things... So now's your chance: if you're a fan, let us know!
Share your thoughts and ideas.
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Favorite GoodThings 2001 Spotlight
The response is in! Our Favorite GoodThings 2001 honorees are thrilled to have been recognized and even more thrilled that you're paying attention. If you did miss last week's GoodLetter, we recognized 25 of your favorite ideas, actions, and organizations working for a better world. Thanks again for all your nominations. We'll regularly use this space to give feature profiles of our honorees, but if you want to check out all the profiles for yourself in one place, be sure to visit our Web site and let us know what you think. Come check out this year's Favorite GoodThings.
This week, in keeping with the radio theme of this week's GoodLetter, we're happy to feature Transom, one of our "Favorite World Views":
Transom
Are you a big public radio fan but often wonder why some folks are on the radio and others aren't? Enter Transom. Former New Yorker staff writer Bill McKibben had a dream of hearing a wider range of voices on the radio; Transom founder Jay Allison was determined to give life to McKibben's vision. As a result, Transom has become an Internet staging area for budding documentary-radio talent. Get your stuff on www.Transom.org and a whole world of radio resources becomes available to you. Public radio is one of the fastest growing forms of journalism and the harbinger of reliable, engaging reporting and feature writing not found anywhere else. It's the Transoms of the world that are working to ensure that public radio's future remains spirited and bright.
:: Learn more about Transom
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Readers Respond
By now, you know we're following the non-profit Bountiful Table's month-long Heart of America Bus Tour across the US to promote community, diversity, and compassion. Last week, we heard from road operations manager, Ella Dillon. This week, Alana Karran tells us there's more magic out on the road than you can find in any Harry Potter movie. Click the link below to our Web site to get Alana's full story and find out how you can get involved:
"Twenty days into the Heart of America Bus Tour, we have arrived in Washington DC. As I search for the patterns apparent in our conversations across the country, I am convinced that what the world needs now is magic. Now, I know Hal David and Burt Bacharach would argue that "it's love, sweet love," but how do we get there? Magic.
Magic is what I have witnessed as we roll into city after city, with Chef Tom French acting as Master Magician. "Let's make something happen!" he says with a twinkle in his eye. And it does. Somehow.
Why does magic happen? Because we -- Tom, Allen, Ella and I -- have learned to trust. We've learned to trust the transformative dip from ordinary to non-ordinary reality. We've learned to let go of outcome and trust that whatever happens is the only thing that could have. We've learned to trust the process. We've learned to trust the sacred. We've learned to trust each other. We've learned to trust ourselves."
:: Visit the GoodThings Web site to see all the ways Alana has discovered magic on the tour.
We love to hear from you about anything: ideas or situations that are inspiring you or challenging you to think, as well as organizations, programs, and people that contribute to your community and the world everyday. Please drop us a line.
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The Upshot
Even in a year when belts are cinched tighter than ever, it's still impossible not to see the holiday season as a startling example of consumerism run amok. What if there were a way to make the spirit of giving feel more thoughtful and meaningful, not only where your friends and family are concerned but also to the planet? Bountiful Table's Heart of America Tour, an ongoing GoodLetter feature, is a great example of how that's happening this year. We're happy to say we've just found another.
The Chinook Book and Blue Sky Guide have only just launched, but they're long overdue. Now available in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, the books make great $18 gifts for anybody with half a mind to make a difference in the world. The books are full of easy-to-use, action-oriented information about living more responsibly, with answers to all the questions you ask yourself all the time: how to recycle, how to use transit, where to get hiking information, how to find environmentally sound materials for home repair. And once you get the information you need, the books are overflowing with thousands of dollars worth of valuable coupons from area businesses that care about the impact the things they sell have on the planet.
We can't recommend the Chinook Book and Blue Sky Guide highly enough. Check out the helpful Web site to get inspiration and useful ideas, no matter where you call home. [Buy your copy if you're from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Portland, or Seattle.]
THE UPSHOT. Good and green.
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Good Gravy
Having a hard time figuring out what to give your friends and family for the holidays? GoodThings can help you narrow your picks.
Music
Great Holiday Music! Need some new holiday music to listen to along with those old favorites you resurrect every year? Check out our brand-new holiday music recommendations.
Books
Great Gift Books! Books make perfect holiday gifts. Check out our suggestions.
Movies
Great Gift Movies on VHS or DVD! Give someone a new video or DVD to enjoy during the holidays. We've got plenty of ideas.
Want to share some Good Gravy of your own? Tell us what you're reading, watching, or listening to and why you think it's good.
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