"If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities."
-- Maya Angelou
Get Involved
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"If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities." -- Maya Angelou
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Get Involved
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August 29, 2008 | |||||||
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 GoodThings on Public Radio July 11, 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, July 5 | The Freedom to Read Here's a case of a story making all the difference. When Melissa Street heard a National Public Radio story in January 2002 about how the Kabul, Afghanistan library had been left in shambles and without books in the aftermath of the country's civil war, she was inspired to action. From her entry-level job in a small New York publishing house, she began collecting donated books from colleagues and friends, which she planned to deliver to Afghanistan. In her wildest dreams, she thought she might collect 500 books. Six months later, she has collected over 40,000 books from across the country and has formed a spirited non-profit organization -- Books for Freedom -- to continue her work. [NPR's Morning Edition] Listen (4:41). :: Learn more about Melissa Street's non-profit, Books for Freedom. SATURDAY, July 6 | A Lesson in Buying Recycled In a city that has long thrived on chaos, it is perhaps surprising that New Yorkers are nearly rabid recyclers. It's almost self-regulating -- commingling of glass, plastic, paper, and metal elicits the frowns of your neighbors. Until now. In the wake of September 11, the cash-strapped city has been forced -- at Mayor Michael Bloomberg's urging -- to cut back on non-essential programs. But with landfills overflowing, one might ask: how can recycling programs be deemed nonessential? It's simple. Because Americans like to recycle but don't buy products made from recycled materials with the same fervor, recycling programs cost cities like New York millions of dollars a year, with much of the valuable material ultimately ending up in landfills anyway. The upshot? Put your money where your trash is, and buy recycled. [NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday] Listen (3:00). SUNDAY, July 7 | Peace Like A Rose Before Rose Martin founded Ann Arbor, Michigan's Peace Neighborhood Center, she was down and out. She'd been a transient foster child, the victim of spousal abuse, and a heavy drinker. But with the help of "genuine friends" and a little luck, she turned her life around, established the center, and for years has provided nonjudgmental support for the area's homeless, its substance abusers, its foster children, and its otherwise downtrodden. Her new book, One Rose Blooming, tells her inspirational story about how she's learned never to doubt the sincerity of someone who tells her, "I want to change my life." In this piece, she shares some of the most moving stories from her book and describes her inclusive philosophy of community service. In addition to raising her own children, she's taken in over 500 foster children. [NPR's Weekend All Things Considered] Listen (8:40). :: Buy your copy of Rose Martin's new book One Rose Blooming. Learn more about the Peace Neighborhood Center in Ann Arbor. MONDAY, July 8 | The Freshest Voice With the death of American poet Kenneth Koch last weekend, many are reflecting upon his unique legacy. Koch taughter for many years at Columbia University and founded the New York Arts School. Three things in particular distinguished Koch's poetry: his incredible, wry sense of humor, his determination to promote poetry that didn't fit into any particular literary formula or genre, and his commitment to motivating children to express themselves through poetry. In this piece, host Robert Siegel reads some of Koch's most memorable poems. The piece also includes a recording of Koch himself reading his wonderful piece One Train May Hide Another in a public television interview. [NPR's All Things Considered] Listen (3:00). TUESDAY, July 9 | A Union Without Borders This week marks the beginning of the so-called African Union, an alliance of African nations modeled after the European Union that seeks to promote peace and prosperity throughout the vast and, in many cases, troubled continent. A recent inaugural ceremony in Durban, South Africa featured long-time luminaries like former South African President Nelson Mandela, as well as new stars like the Senegalese national soccer team, fresh from its recent success in the World Cup. Many Africans are beaming with hope about what the Union can mean for Africa in its role in the global stage. But with the sometimes troubling presence and participation of figures like Libya's Moammar Qaddafi, the African Union faces many challenges. [PRI's The World] Listen (4:20). :: Learn more about the new African Union. WEDNESDAY, July 10 | "Public Health As A Corner Store" Joe Wright will begin medical school in the fall, but his interest in public health is nothing new. Before he became interested in burgeoning research to develop a vaccine for the virus that causes AIDS, clearly an effort with the potential to help people on a grand scale, Wright was standing on street corners and putting on grassroots workshops to help individuals access simple tools that prevent the spread of AIDS. In this piece, he describes his own shift from social worker to laboratory technician and then back again, and how differently the two pursuits attempt to change the world. He sees his own role in the fight as intrinsically personal, whereby he gets to know the people who participate in the needle exchange program he spearheads and those who benefit from the free condoms he helps make available to people on the streets. [NPR's All Things Considered] Listen (4:00). THURSDAY, July 11 | A Fundamental Connection Former US President Jimmy Carter's commitment to public service didn't come from his mother, in spite of the fact that at age 70 she became a Peace Corps volunteer. Similarly, neither did the dedication of Carter's grandson Jason to making a difference in the world come from his forebears. Still, the Carters share a unique bond that has transcended the generations of their family and has culminated in the publication of Jason's new book, Power Lines: Two Years in South Africa's Borders. As a Peace Corps volunteer himself, Jason lived in a remote village where he was the only white person for miles and miles around, who struggled with the country's vestiges of racial discrimination that seemed to always keep him in a position of power, regardless of his own humility. But as he made a commitment to the community, learning to speak both Zulu and Siswati, the barriers came down. As a result, he was able to help foster self-reliance among the people in his village, while at the same time learning about the South African principle of ubuntu, which assumes that people are "fundamentally connected." His grandfather has written the foreward to his new book. [NPR's Morning Edition] Listen (7:32). :: Buy your copy of Jason Carter's new book Power Lines: Two Years in South Africa's Borders. [ : 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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