"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
-- Edith Wharton
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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 November 8, 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, November 2 | Amelie Is All Good Amelie, a French film just released in the US, is all about good things. The title character is a somewhat isolated and introverted person who changes her own fortunes by doing anonymous good deeds for people she doesn't know. Amelie experiences infectious joy after seeing the results of her actions, and eventually it comes back around to her. The unabashedly upbeat film was originally rejected by the Cannes Film Festival before it became last year's biggest box-office smash in France. [All Things Considered] Listen (length of clip 3 min 30 sec). :: Read a review of the film Amelie. SATURDAY, November 3 | New Stamp Appeals for Tolerance The tradition of mailing holiday greetings in the US with commemorative holiday stamps becomes more inclusive this year. The first-ever Islamic-themed stamp is now being sold in post offices across the country. The stamp features the words "Eid Mubarak" (a general Islamic holiday greeting) as well as a classic calligraphy design. In light of the current anthrax scare, the stamp's designer says the stamp won't change the world, but believes that "amazing things can happen" if we allow ourselves to learn more about each other. [Weekend Edition Saturday] Listen (3:00). :: Learn more about the Islamic unity stamp. SUNDAY, November 4 | Scheduled Laughter Meetings Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from Bombay, India, started the world's first laughter club a few years back. Now, the movement is gaining steam throughout the world as evidence increasingly suggests that a link may exist between laughter and improved mental and physical health. A growing laughter club in Seattle, adjacent to the city's Harborview Medical Center, is helping relieve stress, infusing spontaneity into people's lives, and encouraging people to get over their fears of laughing in public. [Weekend All Things Considered] Listen (3:45). :: Learn more about laughter clubs. [more] MONDAY, November 5 | Marathon Effort When the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, many people who had planned to run this year's New York Marathon perished. 29-year-old bond trader Noell Maerz was one such person. In his son's memory, Noell's father Ralph decided to run the marathon in his place. A high school athlete, Ralph has not run in some 39 years and had only three weeks to train for the race. Before the race, the furthest he had ever run was 12 miles. Inspired by his son's memory, Ralph finished the marathon in five and a half hours, all the while wearing a t-shirt with the simple word, "Dad." [All Things Considered] Listen (4:00). TUESDAY, November 6 | In Search of Comfort Food Few can dispute the healing power of food, and during times of crisis, certain foods naturally come to mind. Home, a restaurant a few blocks from the World Trade Center, has seen a run on so-called "comfort food" in the past few weeks: there have been more orders for things like chocolate pudding than ever before. In this piece, the restaurant's owners talk about their "Chicken in a Pot" recipe, full of whatever's in the refrigerator and a perfect leftover. Another restaurant owner talks about her favorite macaroni and cheese recipes and how a good mac and cheese should feel like a hug, taking you back to a time and a place when you felt nourished and secure. [All Things Considered] Listen (8:00). :: Get comfort food recipes. WEDNESDAY, November 7 | Why We Send Mail Despite the new fear associated with traditional mail, it remains our most cherished, deeply significant form of personal communication, offering beauty, depth of thought, and meaning where e-mail falls woefully short. In this piece, A.R. Gurney shares his perspective on real mail. Gurney wrote the play Love Letters, the story of a lifelong love affair maintained through letters. Also in the piece, Andrew Carroll -- the founder of the Legacy Project -- talks about the loss of a lifetime's worth of his family's letters in a house fire. Nothing can chronicle a life the way handwritten letters can. As one person in the piece puts it, letter-writing is our most "democratic art form," accessible to anyone able to write. [Morning Edition] Listen (5:55). :: Buy a copy of Love Letters. :: Learn about Andrew Carroll's Legacy Project. [more] THURSDAY, November 8 | Hope Dies Last The 89-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning author and iconic personality Studs Terkel has just published a new book about the hope that can emerge from death. In Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Terkel speaks with people from all walks of life about their unique perspectives on the end of life. Often considered a taboo subject, death was an inspiring, even exciting topic for many of the people Terkel spoke with, most of whom had felt repressed on the subject for many years. Terkel found the topic extraordinary in the way it lent itself to broader discussions of both the meaning of life, and life with meaning. Terkel began work on the book just months before his own wife of 60 years passed away and ultimately found the project deeply therapeutic. He's already working on his next book, tentatively titled Hope Dies Last. [Morning Edition] Listen (8:34). :: Buy a copy of Will the Circle Be Unbroken. [ : 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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