"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
-- Edith Wharton
Get Involved
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"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." -- Edith Wharton
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Get Involved
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August 29, 2008 | |||||||
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 GoodThings on Public Radio July 18, 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 12 | "Experiment in Idealism" Cancer felled journalist John Wallach last week, but not before he had made a contribution to the world that will continue to have lasting positive effects. In 1993, he founded Seeds for Peace, a summer camp that began as a way to bring Palestinian, Israeli, and Egyptian teenagers together in a context that would forge extraordinary friendships. Since then, at least a thousand youth from all parts of the world struggling through armed conflict have attended the camp in Maine's northwoods. Many of them have left the camp far different people than they were when they arrived. By helping people "give faces to their enemies," John Wallach hoped to help people build lasting friendships where none previously existed. His idea was predicated on his own optimism, and former campers attest to the success of Seeds of Peace in this story. [NPR's All Things Considered] Listen (4:45). :: Learn more about the summer camp John Wallach left behind, Seeds of Peace, by reading a powerful letter written by his son after his death. SATURDAY, July 13 | Music's Emotional Truth Lucy Kaplansky is a singer-songwriter now in every fiber of her being, but before she began recording her own brand of contemporary folk music full-time, she earned her doctorate in clinical psychology. In this interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Kaplansky describes with humor and passion how her music still reflects her own fascination with the human mind and depths of emotion that people experience. Like the three that came before it, Kaplansky's latest album, Every Single Day, deftly toes the fine line between between creative expression and psychotherapy. Suggests Kaplansky, both reveal incredible things about the self and the often-lumbering quest for personal truth. A sampling of some of her best new music forms the melodic backdrop to this inspiring piece. [NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday] Listen (12:30). :: Read the GoodThings review of Lucy Kaplansky's latest album Every Single Day. SUNDAY, July 14 | Growing Smart in New Jersey Few regions in the US have faced suburban sprawl to the same degree as New Jersey. But in spite of the state's decades-old attempt to plan for growth, the result has been more than a little haphazard, with the scramble for tax revenues resulting in development that looks bad and functions even worse. In an unprecedented move, the current New Jersey governor has established the cabinet-level Smart Growth Policy Council to ensure that the state's enforcement of growth controls is as rigorous as its planning. As it stands now, the state's farmland is being overrun with corporate business parks while at the same time, inner cities struggle to land even basic grocery stores. Many local politicians, facing the ire of voters, are paying for it with their jobs. [NPR's Weekend All Things Considered] Listen (4:30). :: Learn more about New Jersey's Smart Growth Policy Council. MONDAY, July 15 | Teaching Compassion By Example Internationally renowned children's television innovator Sesame Street is again breaking new ground. The South African version of the show will soon feature an HIV-positive character, the first of its kind in children's broadcasting. In South Africa, people with HIV and AIDS face profound social stigma, so the producers of Sesame Street hope to create a character that will prevent kids from developing harmful stereotypes about people with the disease. The character will interact casually and normally with other characters, setting a positive example for South African children. Even so, conservative legislators in the US have expressed their distaste for the new character to PBS, the public broadcasting network that distributes Sesame Street. [PRI's The World] Listen (1:39). TUESDAY, July 16 | Home Built On Friendship Home is where the heart is, and nowhere is that more true that at any of the over 900 Oxford Houses around the world. Oxford Houses provide a safe and supportive place for people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. More importantly, though, these homes are maintained and managed by other addicts in recovery. This piece explores the interpersonal relationships that both challenge and hold together one Oxford House in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Oxford House model was conceived in 1975, continues to be based on the same straightforward 29-page model handbook, and is an example of the kind of glue that can hold a "family" together, even if that family isn't related by blood. [NPR's All Things Considered] Listen (12:30). :: Learn more about NPR's series, Housing First and about Oxford House. WEDNESDAY, July 17 | Keeping Culture Alive The world knows how much Afghanistan has crumbled under years of civil war and the campaign to root out members of the al-Qaeda network. But at least one part of the country, in the western city of Herat, remains intact. The handmade tiles embellishing an ornate mosque that was restored in the 1940s have survived the worst tumult and may stand as one of Afghanistan's most important cultural symbols. The mosque also houses the factory within which only 50 tiles are carefully crafted each day. Many believe the continued health of Afghan tile-making is essential to both the strength of the country's cultural and its ability to do business with the rest of the world. [NPR's Morning Edition] Listen (3:45). THURSDAY, July 18 | Minority Report: Networks Should Do More For the fourth year in a row, a coalition of groups advocating for diversity in the media have criticized mainstream television networks for their exclusion of people of color from prime-time programming. Citing Latino-oriented programs like The George Lopez Show, the coalition acknowledged strides made by ABC and FOX in the past year, while pointing out the fact that NBC and CBS have both lost ground. Coalition members believe the networks are missing a huge opportunity to cash in on diversity. The networks remain defiant, though, saying the coalition's analysis fails to consider the increasing numbers of people of color who are in positions of influence behind the scenes. [NPR's Morning Edition] Listen (3:44). [ : 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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