"I am an idealist. I don't know where I'm going but I'm on the way."
-- Carl Sandburg
Get Involved
|
|
"I am an idealist. I don't know where I'm going but I'm on the way." -- Carl Sandburg
|
Get Involved
|
|||||
|
August 29, 2008 | |||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
 GoodThings on Public Radio August 23, 2001 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, August 17 | "Scaffolding Up" Dr. Patricia Harvey, superintendent of public schools in St. Paul, Minnesota, is hopeful that a new program will help make it easier for students having difficulty in school to advance. As part of its new EXCEL program, St. Paul schools will be offering grades 3.5, 5.5, and 8.5 as part of an intensive training that functions much like tutoring and offers an alternative to repeating grades for many borderline students. The added support and longer period of instruction are designed to give hope to students who might otherwise be dropout candidates. [All Things Considered] Listen (length of clip 4 min 30 sec). SATURDAY, August 18 | Freshly Mown Imagination David Mellor is the longtime grounds director at Boston's Fenway Park, home of the beloved Red Sox baseball team. When his own dreams of a future in baseball were cut short, Mellor remained determined to have his life's work be at the ballpark where he might still be able to bring joy to fans. How does Mellor do it? He spearheads the creative mowing of Fenway's grassy turf. He's been able to create logos, starbursts, and waves, as well as more traditional patterns. His work has become one of the many reasons why Fenway continues to delight and inspire the imagination of fans. [Weekend All Things Considered] Listen (4:45). Get a copy of David Mellor's book Picture Perfect: Mowing Techniques for Lawns, Landscapes, and Sports. SUNDAY, August 19 | New Grange Grange halls emerged in the United States over 130 years ago to provide rural dwellers with a place to gather for socializing and to organize for political reasons. Granges were highly ritualized secret societies that advocated for the preservation of the family farm and for support for an agrarian lifestyle. Once numbering 700,000, grange membership is now around 250,000 members nationwide. Many remaining granges are in Maine, and as in Trenton, Maine, many are rethinking some of their traditions in order to attract younger members. [Weekend All Things Considered] Listen (5:35). MONDAY, August 20 | One Man Crying Freedom The longtime editor of South Africa's Daily Dispatch, an independent, anti-apartheid newspaper, has died after a struggle with cancer. A fifth-generation white South African, Donald Woods was a firebrand journalist whose column alternately lampooned and raged over apartheid. In addition to running a failed campaign for Parliament on a platform of freedom for all South Africans, he befriended Black Consciousness activist Steve Biko, who was later tortured and killed while in jail. Their friendship was the subject of the 1987 film Cry Freedom, starring Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline. [Morning Edition] Listen (3:52). Learn more about Donald Woods' story in the film Cry Freedom. TUESDAY, August 21 | Marriage in Modern Africa Ghanaian author Ama Ata Aidoo is the subject of the first profile in a series of stories about women writers from around the world. A former education minister in the west African nation, Aidoo has used her writing to express her views about the plight of many women in Africa. The protagonist in her award-winning 1991 novel Changes leaves her husband because of the demands he places on her individuality. In the process, she struggles with the expectations of her family and her community, as well as her own. In this interview, Aidoo describes her thinking as she crafted the story in Changes. [The World] Listen (6:20). Get a copy of Ama Ata Aidoo's Changes: A Love Story. WEDNESDAY, August 22 | Life on the Fringe Edinburgh, Scotland becomes festival land during the summer, especially during the month of August. In addition to book and film festivals and even extremely niche festivals, there's also the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which features as many as 16,000 theater performances in over 200 different "venues," that is, if you can call the front seat of a car a "venue." Benji Ming's one-man show to an audience of exactly one for each performance offers choices of monologues, including one about an alien who comes to Earth and is convinced cars and trucks are the dominant species, given their numbers. [The World] Listen (4:31). Learn more about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. THURSDAY, August 23 | Swamp Sounds John J.J. Grey has spent almost his entire life lurking on the edge of the swamps of north Florida, and his band Mofro plays a brand of roots music that fuses blues, rock, and funk into a sound that's altogether unique. Grey's vision attracted musicians from all over the world to form his band. But what really puts Mofro in a class of its own is Grey's undying commitment to the swamps where he grew up. The band's infectious songs are full of messages that draw attention to the tragedy of environmental decline. [Morning Edition] Listen (8:59). Learn more about Mofro and their new album Blackwater. [ : 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! |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
