"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-- Theodore Roosevelt
Get Involved
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"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." -- Theodore Roosevelt
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Get Involved
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September 8, 2008 | |||||||
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 GoodThings on Public Radio March 28, 2002 We want to hear from you. What's the best public radio story or show you heard this past week? Share. If you want to listen, you'll need RealPlayer on your computer. (If you don't already have it, it's a FREE download.) Visit Real Networks. FRIDAY, March 22 | The Cycle of Life When the Academy Award was given to the Best Foreign-Language film at the Oscars ceremony last Sunday night, No Man's Land -- the entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina -- took top prize. But among the runners-up was the refreshing Argentine film Son of the Bride. Filmmaker Juan Jose Campanella is best known in the US for his behind-the-camera work on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Audiences will recognize Son of the Bride, though, as a clear departure for Campanella. The film explores the life-changing event of one man and how it clarifies for him who and what are really important. [The World] Listen (length of clip 8 min 29 sec). :: Read a review of Son of the Bride. SATURDAY, March 23 | Don't Let the Heat Out Despite a weakened economy, the housing market continues to boom in the US, but something fundamental may be changing. Until recently, the energy efficiency has rarely been on the minds of people looking to buy new homes, so there was no compelling reason for home builders to be environmentally responsible or even careful in their construction practices. But with the rising popularity of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program (and related state programs), rewarding home owners for energy efficiency, the tide is turning. [Weekend Edition Saturday] Listen (4:45). :: Learn about the US Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program to improve home energy-efficiency. SUNDAY, March 24 | Invisible Men Ralph Ellison's seminal 1952 novel Invisible Man shed powerful light on the plight of the black man in contemporary American society. For many African Americans, the struggle is still as trying as ever, a full 50 years after Ellison's book made waves. The recent Oscar triumphs of Denzel Washington and Halle Berry were lauded as landmarks, as have been the corporate successes of black Americans who are or will be leading such companies as American Express and AOL Time Warner. But Ellis Cose's new book The Envy of the World describes how deeply the wounds of racism and discrimination run for most African Americans. In this piece, he reads an excerpt describing his feelings when it became clear to him that his teachers in Chicago's public schools had no intention of trying to educate him and his classmates as intelligent human beings with real potential. [Weekend Edition Sunday] Listen (2:58). :: Get your copy of Ellis Cose's book The Envy of the World: On Being a Black Man in America. :: Get more information on NPR's coverage of this issue. MONDAY, March 25 | A Tale of Two Countries The world's largest producer of cocoa -- the plant from which chocolate is derived -- is the west African country of Ivory Coast, and human right advocates agree the conditions within that nation's cocoa industry are abominable. Among the worst problems, women and children are sold into slavery to work at environmentally destructive cocoa farms. But in Ghana, a close neighbor of Ivory Coast, the cocoa production situation is quite different. It is increasing profits for small Ghanaian farmers and empowering women with important rights. Historically, women have no claim to land in Ghana, but because of their role in cocoa farming, that is changing. Cocoa farming practices in Ghana are also reducing soil erosion and benefiting biodiversity. [Morning Edition] Listen (2:50). :: Learn more about the problems with cocoa harvesting in Ivory Coast and how it compares to cocoa production in Ghana. TUESDAY, March 26 | Just Good Theater People with disabilities often find themselves languishing in isolation and despair for much of their lives. But an inspiring theater group in Minneapolis is applying the government welfare for the disabled into a triumphant creative outlet. The Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts welcomes people with physical and mental disabilities -- from schizophrenia to Down's syndrome to paralysis -- into its fold and consistently produces stage performances that have cross-over appeal to what the Interact staff might affectionately call "temporarily able-bodied" audiences. Remarkable for its internal "culture of acceptance," the Interact troupe has been so well-received that it has actually begun touring to as far away as Scandinavia, giving many of the performers their first-ever opportunities to see the world. [Morning Edition] Listen (6:54). :: Learn more about the Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. [more] WEDNESDAY, March 27 | A Kind of Ark for Plants Years of war and drought have rendered much of the once fecund landscape of Afghanistan barren. But a seed-gathering project that took place some 25 years ago may be the key to restoring Afghanistan to its former glory as something of breadbasket of Central Asia. As part of an effort to improve food production in the arid lands of the Middle East, chick pea, lentil, fava bean, and other seeds were collected and propagated in controlled conditions in northern Syria. But the intent was always educational. Now, plant material from many of those original samples is slated to be the humble beginnings of a focused effort to bring abudant food production back to Afghanistan. [All Things Considered] Listen (5:00). :: Learn more about the effort to revegetate Afghanistan. [more from Future Harvest] THURSDAY, March 28 | Mexican Identity in Film Last year's biggest box office smash in Mexico was not that country's entry in the Best Foreign-Language Film category at last week's Oscars. Some critics say it's because Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too) is one of the only Mexican films in recent memory to explore the heart and soul of what it means to be Mexican. Class issues loom large in Mexico but are rarely dealt with in film. The refreshing, irreverent treatment of class and ethnic identity from the perspective of two teen runaways has appealed to audiences in huge numbers, and the filmmakers expect nothing less when the movie opens in the US this month. They're also hopeful it marks a new day in the global appeal of Mexican filmmaking. [Morning Edition] Listen (6:26). :: Learn more about the film Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother, Too). [more] [ : previous week : ] WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. Did we miss a good public radio story this week? Want to recommend one for next week? Share it with us!  |
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