"Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope, and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable."
- John F. Kennedy
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"Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope, and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable." - John F. Kennedy
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Get Involved
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 GoodThings on Public Radio April 25, 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, April 19 | Self-Evident Truths As the use of DNA evidence in crime investigations widens, more and more old cases are being reopened. And in many cases, the new evidence is exonerating people who were previously convicted. In this gripping and heartwrenching piece from This American Life, we meet Omar, one of a group of Chicago teenagers framed for a 1986 murder and eventually cleared, some 15 years later. Omar's case sheds alarming light on the US criminal justice system; his unwavering faith in the principles of a free society, as articulated in the Declaration of Independence, is inspiring. [This American Life] Listen. :: Learn more about this installment of PRI's This American Life. SATURDAY, April 20 | Righting Wrongs An ardent former supporter of the death penalty, Illinois' Republican Governor George Ryan became aware of overwhelming evidence that in his state, there were a startling number of innocent people on death row and that capital punishment was being used unfairly. He formed the Illinois Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment to make recommendations about how to reform his state's use of the death penalty. The commission has recently published its report. Commission member, attorney, and novelist Scott Turow describes some of the commission's most fundamental recommendations and talks about how proposed policy changes will continue to protect the innocent, both the victims of heinous crimes and those wrongly accused of committing them. [Weekend Edition Saturday] Listen (5:40). :: Learn more about Illinois Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment. SUNDAY, April 21 | The Sound of the Sublime Long Mexico's "unoffical national music," mariachi is making its way into high schools throughout the United States. An oral tradition in Mexico since the 17th century, the music, featuring rich orchestras of guitars and brass instruments, is being formally taught to young music students in all corners of the US and perhaps nowhere more effectively and successfully than at Roma High School in south Texas. Directed by Yamil Yunes, Roma's Mariachi Nuevo Santander is the most decorated high school mariachi ensemble in the country. The group is a fresh example of efforts to keep mariachi music alive for future generations and a strong source of pride for the Roma community, long associated only with its high rates of crime and poverty. [Weekend Edition Sunday] Listen (6:07). :: Learn more about Mariachi Nuevo Santander. [more][more] MONDAY, April 22 | Too Much Information The trouble with cars is that there at least as many reasons to buy them as to avoid them altogether. Commentator Carol Wasserman is abundantly aware of this conundrum as she considers an appropriate replacement for her road-worn Subaru. In this piece, she ponders the possibility that she "knows too much" -- whether it be about the environmental impact of cars, the anti-Semitic past of Ford or Volkswagen, or the politics of post-September 11 economic stimulation. And when she encounters a Vietnam War veteran turned car salesman while shopping, she gets yet another glimpse of how real information and the real life it describes often lie just beneath the surface of everything around us. [All Things Considered] Listen (4:32). :: Buy a copy of commentator Carol Wasserman's book Swimming at Suppertime: Seasons of Delight on the Wrong Side of Buzzards Bay. TUESDAY, April 23 | Unified Opposition to Le Pen The success of ultra-conservative Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of France's presidential elections has left many flabbergasted and disturbed. But Le Pen, whose political platform is emphatically anti-immigrant and unabashedly racist, is just one of a handful of hardline, far-right-wing candidates who have gained mainstream success in recent years, in places like Austria and Italy, by fueling people's irrational fears about crime and unemployment. Le Pen himself has targeted France's North African population, by far the country's largest immigrant group, and France's membership in the European Union. Outraged voters throughout France, including a dedicated and vocal student opposition, are working to defeat Le Pen in his May 5 runoff against current president Jacques Chirac. [The World] Listen (4:47). :: Learn more about the French effort to defeat Jean-Marie Le Pen. [more] WEDNESDAY, April 24 | Thinking About Everything All Israeli singer-songwriter Chava Alberstein ever wanted to do was share her commitment to peace and harmony through song. But in the heated environment of the Middle East conflict, her opposition to the Israeli government's occupation of Palestinian territories has been met with significant controversy. Alberstein calls herself an activist for peace who thinks "about everything," even if those thoughts are critical of her own government. In addition to performing spirited klezmer music, Alberstein sings many of her songs in Yiddish, a language is filled with melancholy rooted in the loss of so many of the language's speakers during the Holocaust. In this piece, she discusses the powerful resonance the Holocaust continues to have in her country. [Morning Edition] Listen (4:50). :: Learn more about the music of Chava Alberstein. [more] THURSDAY, April 25 | A Changing City, An Evolving Newspaper The self-proclaimed "Gateway to the Southeast," the city of Atlanta is the centerpoint of a region that increasingly has global significance. And the more Atlanta becomes one of the world's great cities, the more it looks like the world. Particularly in the years since the 1996 Summer Olympics, immigrants from all over the world have flocked to a region full of new economic opportunities. Recently, to better reflect the dynamic new face of Atlanta, the city's newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, launched a new weekly section called "Atlanta and the World." The section focuses on real people from around the world who now call Atlanta home. The section's editor says he's been overwhelmed with letters from readers who say it's "refreshing to see immigrants portrayed in a positive light." [Morning Edition] Listen (3:41). :: Learn more about the new weekly section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, Atlanta and the World. [ : 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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