Soundprint programming for 2006 Click here to remove program descriptions

December 2006

December 29	A Little Before 'Tis Day There is a centuries old caroling tradition that was thought to be lost, but discovered to still exist in a tiny village in Newfoundland. The villagers sing the New Year's carol, brought from Europe with the first settlers, and handed down through the ages in the community's oral tradition. There is no written transcription of the melody or its origin. For generations villagers have walked from house to house, entered darkened kitchens after midnight, and sung the carol as occupants listened in the darkness. Producer Chris Brookes tracks down the village carolers and follows them on their rounds as they sing their medieval melodies. A Trilogy of Holiday Traditions The holiday season is a time of traditions sometimes nostalgic, sometimes quirky. In this program, three public radio listeners share their holiday stories. Cameron Phillips takes us inside the wonderful and horrible world of craft shows. Cathy De Rubeis tests out a special fruitcake recipe to see if she can reverse the backlash to the holiday dessert. And all her life, in all the places she's lived, Caroline Woodward has found a way to sing - from anxiously performing Christmas carol solos on stage as a young girl to feeling joy and zest today with her choir. This program was produced by Iris Yudai and Steve Wadhams from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series Outfront. This program is part of the international documentary exchange series Crossing Boundaries.
December 22	Children and God The three major monotheistic religions operate from the assumption that: We have the truth, we have a privileged position, we are above others who do not believe as we do, and we are against others who do not believe as we do. This line of thinking creates strong communities of people with deep, abiding faith. But the dark side of these ideas can be seen in Srebrenica, the West Bank and the World Trade Center. The religious person learns concepts like "God" and "My Religion" at the same time as concepts like "Green" and "Family." By preadolescence, these ideas have been planted quite deeply. This program takes a look at the results by following three 12-year olds - an Orthodox Jew, a Muslim and an Evangelical Christian -- as they pursue their religious education. We hear the songs they sing, the prayers they chant, the lessons they read and how their formal and informal training drives them to believe that, because of their religion, they have a special and exclusive relationship with God. Throne of St.James In a Washington, D.C. garage, James Hampton, a non- descript janitor by trade, started work on the Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly. Built entirely out of discarded objects, this 180 piece sculpture was discovered after James' death in 1964. Considered by some to be one of the finest examples of American visionary religious art, the Throne resides at the Smithsonian. This is the story of The Throne of St. James. This program comes to us from Radio New Zealand and airs as part of the international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.
December 15	Original Kasper's Hot Dogs During its seventy year tenure, a hot dog stand in Oakland has become an anchor for residents of the city's Temescal neighborhood in good times and bad. This is the story of Kasper's Original Hot Dogs. The Last Out If you are a baseball junkie, this program is for you. Producers Moira Rankin and Dan Collison explore the baseball fan's addiction to the game as they follow two die-hard enthusiasts to see how they endure the off-season in anticipation of the spring.
December 8	God Knows Why Why does a woman give up her life to enter a world that many of us cannot comprehend, the closed order of the Carmelites? Outgoing, attractive Aunty Janny knew 42 years ago, at the age of twenty, that she had a special calling, to lock herself away from the modern world and leave all that she knew behind. She entered the closed order of the Catholic Carmelite nuns where she swore herself to three vows, Chastity, Poverty and Obedience, and never to live in the outside world again. Janny has physically hugged her brothers once in 42 years and her sister on only a couple of occasions. Aunty Janny or Sister Johanna of the Cross, as she is formally known, has chosen a world that many of us cannot comprehend, a world totally devoted to God in which she prays for the salvation of us all. Her brother Denver struggles with his sister's decision and feels she could have been the head of any corporation had she, in his eyes, not wasted her life behind those walls. However, her younger sister Maryanne understands the faith that drove her sister to do what she has done and believes the power of prayer could be the salvation of us all. Violet Flame Producer Brenda Hutchinson's sister has been a member of the Church Universal and Triumphant in Corwin Springs, Montana for several years. As a result, Brenda became interested in finding out more about the church, and has spent time there talking with the people and discovering how the church involves her sister. This religious community includes families and single people from all walks of life. Sound plays an important role in the Church from chanting and singing to teachings and services. The Violet Flame is a portrait of this group and an exploration of the issue of faith.
December 1	In My Father's Dreams Rob Robins has always wanted to learn to fly, but with five kids to feed the former brewery worker’s budget would not stretch to lessons and running up the required number of flying hours to get his private pilot’s license. Now at 74, and Rob is at last living his dream. He’s learning to fly. Rob is fit. Until recently he’d regularly cycle up the winding hills that lie alongside his home town of Christchurch, and a few months ago, he walked the tough Milford Track through New Zealand's Southern Mountains. Yet, it’s taken him almost a year to pass the physical tests required before he can start flying lessons. There’s also another catch - Rob has been deaf since he was five. This means that he has to learn at an airfield that does not have radio controls. So in mid-March Rob and his wife Glenis, packed up their camper van and headed to an appointment with a vintage Tiger Moth bi-plane and the isolated Mandeville airfield, near Gore Rob’s son , Julian Robins , goes along with a microphone to observe his father's progress Burning Embers In these days of big sticks, harsh words and war-talk, who couldn't use a little romance, a little love. Isn't that, as the song goes, what the world needs now. Well, in that spirit, we bring you the story of Sherman Hickey and Marie O'Toole. Theirs is a tale of innocence and desire that began almost seventy years ago. It's also a tale of unrequited passion and enduring devotion that only recently found its happy ending. This program comes to us from Bob Carty of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: Romance Series.

November 2006

November 24	Washington Goes to the Moon: The Day That Changed Everything Americans have no trouble recalling where they were when the Challenger exploded. But outside the aerospace community, you'd be hard-pressed to find people who remember the fire on-board Apollo One which killed three astronauts. Nevertheless, the loss, the tragedy and the impact of that fire were as bad, if not worse, than Challenger: the Apollo One fire called into question the most fundamental aspects of NASA's management structure. In this program, NASA, upon experiencing its worst catastrophe ever, attempts to respond to the Apollo One fire just like every other accident they'd ever had. Those efforts are thrown into turmoil when frightening information about the company that built the Apollo One capsule is leaked to a Member of Congress. Washington Goes to the Moon: Climbing the Hill Following the fire on Apollo One, NASA tried, for various reasons, to keep the investigation in-house. But Members of Congress had other ideas. NASA had gathered, and then kept secret, highly critical information about the company that built the Apollo One capsule. When that information was leaked, it threw the agency open to suspicion for the first time in its history. This program looks at the nearly devastating impact of Congressional investigations into the Apollo One fire on NASA's way of doing business.
November 17	The Avega Widows Winner of the 2002 New Media Award for Best Radio Documentary. The l994 genocide in Rwanda was one of the worst the world has known. In the space of one hundred days, nearly one million people were killed in an attempt by the Hutu dominated government and its militia to exterminate the Tutsi population. The killings left a land of widows and orphans. Now these widows are courageously trying to rebuild their lives and care for some of the orphans, helped by Avega Agahosa, a group they have set up. Kati Whitaker of the BBC travels to Rwanda to bring their story. Nigerian Closet As in many countries homosexuality remains an enormous taboo in Nigeria. Many gay men face intense social and family pressure. Homosexuality is regarded as a Western import but activists point out that it has always been an integral part of the culture. There are no laws regarding same sex relations between women, but lesbians have also suffered persecution. Producer Eric Beauchemin reports on the perils of being gay in Africa's most populous nation.
November 10	Daughter of Family G One day in 1895, a Michigan seamstress named Pauline Gross confided her worst fears to the doctor who employed her. "I'm healthy now," she said, "but I fully expect to die an early death from cancer. Most of my relatives are sick, and many in my family have already passed on." The doctor decided to investigate. His work was the first step in the discovery - one hundred years later - of a gene mutation that causes colon cancer, known as Family "G". Ami Mackay is a writer in Scott's Bay, Nova Scotia. The seamstress was her great grandmother's sister. With a test for the gene mutation now available, Ami Mackay is a woman with some very hard decisions to make. This program comes to us from the CBC as part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries. My Dinner With Menopause Record numbers of women worlwide are entering menopause, facing numerous health and psychological questions. In the absence of clear science, women often turn to the long-whispered world of menopausal gossip to learn how to salvage their marriages, what can save their libido, and what value society will give them now that they are considered post-procreative. This piece addresses the emotional underpinnings of menopause among a variety of women.
November 3	Wrapping Dreams in Lavender Gregory was only five when he knew he should have been born a girl. But it took till his mid-50s to harness the courage to become Susan. The gender he knew he was in his brain was different to the sex of his genitals. This is now known to be a medical rather than psychological condition but is still commonly confused with cross-dressing - where people dress as the opposite sex to fulfil a psychological need. For Susan this diagnosis of transsexualism was a godsend. But for Mary, his wife, it was devastating. This program was a finalist in the Australian Human Rights Media Awards for Radio. Intersex A group of women talk of their experiences with a rare condition - intersexuality. They are women who have the male XY chromosome. One was forcibly raised as a boy. One only found out about her condition accidentally when she was a teenager. And one was kept in the dark about it deliberately by doctors. About one baby in 20,000 infants is born intersex. Often these infants can be clearly seen to belong to one sex, but a small percentage of them are born with ambiguous genitalia and in the past, doctors made a unilateral decision about which sex they thought the child belonged to. Sometimes they even performed surgery without properly consulting or informing the parents. That practice has been banned in the Netherlands but although medical personnel and lay people are more open to variations in sexuality these days, people with an intersex condition still find the subject very difficult to bring up. This program was produced by Dheera Sujan of Radio Netherlands and airs as part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.

October 2006

October 27	The Day of the Dead Accompany a Mexican family to the town cemetery on November First to celebrate the sacred holiday of the Day of the Dead. Join them as they spend the day and night at their loved one?s graves-honoring them by bring their favorite foods, perhaps a drink of tequila, toting their favorite songs. The holiday combines ancient Aztec and Indian rituals with Christian beliefs, but it also holds important philosophical, sociological, and political meaning for today's Mexicans. What does the holiday reveal about the national character, and how has this quinticentially Mexican approach to life and death been manipulated by cynical rulers over the centuries to excuse poor health care, horrendous labor conditions, and even violent political repression. Frida Kahlo: Viva La Vida Surrealist Andre Breton called the work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo " a bomb with a ribbon around it." And Isanu Noguchi describes it as a private diary of herself. The epic work of muralist Diego Rivera, to whom she was married, often overshadowed its miniature detail. Kahlo said she simply painted her life. This week we present the story of that life, delving into Kahlo's work borne of the color of Mexico's popular culture, the political legacy of Villa, Zapata and the Revolution of 1910, the violence of a debilitating spinal injury, the pain of lost motherhood and the desperation of immobility.
October 20	My World: Officer Candidate School In 1965 and 1966, Producer Askia Muhammad was a star-struck and naive college student who had matriculated from Watts to San Jose State University, while getting college deferments to serve two years active duty in the U.S. Navy Reserve. As Askia began struggles with becoming a Reserve Office Candidate, the country began to struggle with itself with blacks' rights, the hippie movement, the constant protest against the war in Vietnam. In My World: Officer Candidate School, Askia takes us through his path from faithful Naval Officer to conscientious objector. Sleeping through the Dream In 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King led the March on Washington and spoke the famous words "I have a dream." Then 18 year-old Producer Askia Muhammad was, as he recalls, 'sleeping through the dream.' Growing up in Los Angeles, Muhammad was far away from the civil rights uproar and any self-proclaimed political consciousness. Now 40 years later, Muhammad revisits his youth with two close friends. Join us for the journey of a young man's political awakening during a time of intense social unrest.
October 13	The World at Your Fingertips Helen Keller said that blindness separates a person from objects, and deafness separates that person from people. Without support, encouragement and education, the world of a deaf-blind person can be an isolated one of darkness and silence. In the documentary "The World at Your Fingertips" produced by Anna Yeadell of Radio Netherlands, we visit India where more than half a million people are deaf-blind. But with the help of Sense International and the Helen Keller Institute in Mumbai, many deaf-blind children and young adults are reaching out to the world around them, widening their horizons, and fulfilling their potential. This program airs as part of the international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries. A View From the Bridge Thecla Mitchell is a triple amputee. For her, running in a marathon means finding complete physical existence within one wrist, one elbow and one set of fingers. Henry Butler is a blind jazz pianist, but through photography, Henry has found a meeting ground for the sighted and the sightless. Producer John Hockenberry, who is himself mobile in a wheelchair, has been a war correspondent, reporting from the field. He and associate producer Joe Richman show us what the disabled learn from living in a fundamentally different way -- where daily adventure is a part of life.
October 6	At Home on Cape Cod In AT HOME ON CAPE COD, reporter Alice Furlaud remembers her childhood and adolescence in summers on the Lower Cape. Furlaud has come back, after 26 years in Paris, to live year-round in the 1829 Truro house which her parents bought in l933. She revisits sites full of memories, and talks to friends who remember her early days on the Cape. April in Paris Ever since Ben Franklin fell in love with it and came home with tales of 'Gay Paree', Americans have held to golden images of the city: the capital of eating and drinking, of glamorous night life, of perfume. Even if we haven't been there we can see in our mind's eye the barges gliding along the Seine, the lovers kissing in the streets and on park benches; we can smell the exotic cooking, and over it all we can hear the wistful accordion music. But how much of all this is myth, how much reality? Producer Alice Furlaud explores the question, starting with the myth that Vernon Duke created in his nostalgic song, 'April in Paris'. Don't come in April, she advises, better wait 'til May.

September 2006

September 29	Finding Alpha On February 1 this year, sometime after 10 o'clock at night, on a section of the CPR tracks in midtown Toronto, a young man was struck by an oncoming train. His name was Bardia Bryan Zargham. He was eighteen years old and he died a few hours later. Zargham was a graffiti artist and he was writing his tag- his graffiti name- on the side of a stationary freight car when the train hit him. His tag was Alpha, the beginning of everything. Alpha was known as the king of the Bombers. He was that good at writing his name in big letters in a few short minutes and then moving on to it again and again and again. Hard core graffiti is not about painting pretty murals on easy-to-reach surfaces. It is about writing your name artfully against the law where everyone can see it at great personal risk. Alpha tags are still everywhere in the city. And since his death, a companion graffiti has begun to appear, even on the wall of a police station, huge defiant letters spelling "RIP Alpha." Young People Against Heavy Metal T-shirts This program is a parody, listen to it before you complain Young People Against Heavy Metal T-shirts (YPAHMTS) is a grass roots organization determined to fight the perception of young people's moral decline as epitomized by Heavy Metal T-shirts...Or is it? In 1992, Matthew Thompson decided it was time to fight back. He aimed to give the media a different image of youth, one that was disciplined, ordered and strong. From a single letter to a tabloid newsletter, YPAHMTS was born. However, when YPAHMPTS developed into a media juggernaut that threatened to run him over, Matthew discovered how difficult it could be to argue a sophisticated message in an era of sound bites.
September 22	Leaving a Mark: The Story of An Auschwitz Survivor This documentary features the story of Eva Schloss whose life bore remarkable parallels to that of Anne Frank. Eva Schloss was also 15 years old when she and her family were transported to Auschwitz. Like Anne Frank she also lost beloved family members in the death camp. However, unlike Anne Frank, she lived to tell the tale. After their liberation, Eva’s mother married Otto Frank, Anne’s father. Eva’s story takes up where the Anne Frank diary left off. This program was produced by Dheera Sujan of Radio Netherlands and airs as part of the international documentary exchange series Crossing Boundaries. Hana's Suitcase At the Children's Holocaust Education Center in Tokyo, children - flocks of them - come to see a suitcase, sitting in a glass case. The owner of the suitcase was Hana Brady. She died in Auschwitz in 1944 at age 13. The museum acquired the suitcase a few years ago and since then the director, Fumiko Ishioka, has made it her mission to find out more about Hana. Her search leads to George Brady, Hana's older brother. This program comes to us from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and airs as part of the international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.
September 15	Traffic Jam Across the United States, construction on new freeways, lane additions, and bridges clog traffic. With more people and vehicles on the road, the rush hour is now three hours long. So what are city planners doing about it? In the nation's capital, home to some of the worst congestion, traffic modelers are working on solutions to the problem. From understanding human behavior to designing intelligent highways, the modelers are working to make your commute easier. Producer Richard Paul reports. Working Nights We're all animals, and like the bears and deer, our bodies are governed by Circadian rhythms -- biological imperatives to sleep and to wake. So what happens if your job is in conflict with those rhythms? Producer Stephen Smith stays up late with some night workers and some biological experts to examine the effects of the graveyard shift on the human body and mind.
September 8	America's Journey Americans ended 2001 struggling to understand a dramatically changed world. Since September the 11th, they have been on an emotional voyage that is at once profoundly personal, and yet shared by all. It's a voyage of reflection, pain, fear, and hope. And in many ways it's embodied by one man. He is a New York truck driver who was one of the first to race to Ground Zero to clear the rubble and witness the devastation. On America's Journey we hear his voice, and the voices of others from all over the United States. War Comes to Twin Peaks War Comes to Twin Peaks explores the rumblings of protest at home during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. From a priest who takes up the anti-war protests, disillusioned war veterans, and a mother who fears for her son as he departs for service, War Comes to Twin Peaks shows us the varied human faces affected by administration policy. Their stories strike a familiar chord as the United States again confronts the possibility of war with Iraq more than a decade later.
September 1	Who's Got the Dog? Divorce has an immediate impact on family and friends beyond the couple and their children. Marcia Sheinberg of the Ackerman Institute for Family Therapy in NY says that the crisis that a divorce creates in the wider network of relationships has been underexplored. It underscores the fact that divorce is more traumatic than we as a society acknowledge. It is not the quick paper solution of a society which discards and moves on all to easily. The program explores the ripple effects of divorce – how divorce has an impact far beyond the immediate family. In part, this is personal reflection from the producer's own divorce -- Kampfner discovered that there were people who were shocked, in pain and grieving about her family break up and that she felt obligated to console and reassure them. It both made her feel guilty and blessed to know that we are more closely bound to a wide orbit of friends and relatives than we realize. Who’s Got the Dog? will look at how we think we live only in nuclear families, but are actually tied to a community and it often takes a crisis to realize this. Picture from a late-1990's Halloween in Chicago of Milo the Bee, with Alex as Toto's human and Max as Dogbert's human. Mixed Blessings Elsie Tu came to Hong Kong from Britain in the 1950s as a married missionary. She fell in love with one of her Chinese converts, controversially divorced her husband and married her Chinese love. She later became a very vocal activist in Hong Kong politics, and has just written a book about her relationship called "Shouting at the Mountain". In Mixed Blessings, Producers Sarah Passmore and Clarence Yang from Radio Television Hong Kong compare Elsie's experiences with modern East/West relationships, and they take a look at why, in the 21st century, Asian men marrying Western women is still relatively rare. This program airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: Romance Series.

August 2006

August 25	Hungry for Justice A small group of citizens attempts to help 18 men who are on a hunger strike in a New Zealand prison. The men from Pakistan, India and Iran arrived in the country seeking refugee status, but have been jailed pending resolution of their claims. Join producer Allan Coukell of Radio New Zealand for their story. Meccano Set Between 1951 and 1957, the New Zealand government hanged eight men for murder. Of the fifty or so witnesses present at the executions, only a handful remain. Weaving first hand accounts of police officers and journalists, with the rummagings of a curator working on material evidence of the gallows and a sociologist's recordings on the colonial judiciary, the Meccano Set, tells a thought proving story that resonates even today.
August 18	McDonaldization of Hong Kong Hong Kong is know as a city where time is money and money is everything. But it's also, arguably, home to the best Chinese food in the world, the origin of a cuisine as rich and subtle as that of France or Japan; so why do so many locals choose burgers, pizza and fried chicken when they want a meal out? Does that mean they're becoming more like Sydney-siders, New Yorkers and Parisians? Radio Hong Kong's Hugh Chiverton talks to the man who brought fast food (and queueing) to Hong Kong, and hears how Hong Kong is selling it right back to America. Big in Japan Every year thousands of Americans pack their bags and move to Japan. They go in hopes of making it big in one of Japan's most lucrative industries... English. Desperate to learn the language, Japanese schools, businesses and government agencies offer small fortunes to just about anyone who can help teach English. No experience necessary. The Americans who flock to Japan each year make up one of the more eclectic if not strange and often comical subcultures of our nation's social landscape. While many are well-educated with the best intentions, a large number are complete misfits drawn to Japan by the low qualifications and high pay of the English teaching industry. Our documentary profiles this unique subculture and explores the surreal world that surrounds them in Japan.
August 11	The Dragon that Slew St. George In the early 1950's, life was peaceful in the almost exclusively Mormon community in the small town of St. George, Utah. But then, radiation linked illnesses began to appear. Families lost mothers and husbands, children died. St. George and its people were the victims of radioactive dust, drifting over from atmospheric atomic tests, carried out in the Nevada desert. Only in recent years has the government acknowledged weapons testing as the likely cause of killing or sickening civilians downwind. The Justice Department started a compensation program that requires victims to prove they have a qualifying type of cancer and that they were residents of counties in southern Utah, Nevada, or Arizona. Many victims have been compensated, but the money has run out and an estimated $70 million worth of claims are still unfulfilled. Producer Wayne Brittenden of the British Broadcasting Corporation, talked to the 'downwinders' and reports on the official cover-up by the U.S. government and the Mormon church. The Cold Walk Home Chances are you've encountered a drunken man, staggering around in the streets. Occasionally, the local police may take the louder ones to the station, clap them in the drunk tank, and do the paperwork. Unofficially, there's the "midnight ride" or the "starlight tour", as they call it in Saskatoon. Drive the guy to the outskirts of town and leave him to find his way back. When two men were found frozen to death on a winter's night, two years ago, it opened an investigation and divided a town. CBC producer Bob Carty reports from Saskatoon
August 4	A Hiroshima Story On a sunny August morning in 1945, Keijiro Matsushima sat in his math class in Hiroshima. He looked out the window, saw two American bombers in the clear blue sky, and suddenly his world was torn apart. Now a retired English teacher, he fears young people today are no longer interested in his story. On a sunny June morning in 2005, Amsterdam English teacher Kevin Hogan’s 11th grade class are reading a novel about Hiroshima. They are the same age Mr. Matsushima was sixty years ago. How will they react when they hear his story? A Hiroshima Story was produced by David Swatling of Radio Netherlands and airs as part of our international documentary exchange series Crossing Boundaries. Flight from Kosovo The war in Serbia and the subsequent displacement of Albanians has become a savage epilogue to the 20th century. Tens of thousands fled their homes for the refugee camps in neighboring countries. The camps, giant tent cities, housed twenty to thirty thousand people in overcrowded conditions. Heat, starvation, long lines and fatigue epitomized the tragedy of their nation. As NATO troops entered Kosovo, Operation Safe Haven was launched as a humanitarian effort, to evacuate thousands of refugees from the war zone to safe havens until the situation stabilized. This is the story of 19-year old Tony and his flight from the refugee camp to Australia. This program comes to us from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and airs as part of the international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.

July 2006

July 28	Residence Elsewhere Settling down. It's a term that's associated with maturity, with being well-adjusted. The converse-- a person drifting from place to place-- is usually regarded with some suspicion and wariness. If, in the act of settling down, we join mainstream society, then the documentary, "Residence Elsewhere," is about someone living on the margins. His name is Doug Alan and he's a musician. His chosen life- style is that of urban nomad. Alan moves from city to city in a self-crafted mobile home--a life on wheels. He is in Chicago at the moment, making improvements to his rolling home. His story is layered with a chorus of three other Chicago nomads in varying stages of arrival and departure. All of them are trying to define the meaning of "home," when you're constantly on the move. The Haircut A tale of love lost, a haircut, and romantic redemption. Producer Ira Glass shares the trauma of breaking off a relationship, and the healing process that began when he cut off his hair. We hear from those affected by his haircut -- his new girlfriend, his mother -- and the change of heart it brings.
July 21	The Gulag and The Garden of Eden The apple may have originated not in Mesopotamia, but in Alma Ata, Kazikstan. There Frank Browning discovers that one of the world's oldest apple breeding programs is still on-going. Frank tells us about current efforts to hybridize better apples, and the place the program has in the global picture. Grandmother's Seeds Thousands of varieties of plants are rapidly disappearing in the United States, especially non-hybrid types of garden vegetables. These are called heirloom varieties, and they're difficult, if not impossible, to buy from commercial sources. The seeds are instead often passed from gardener to gardener, often in families, and they represent an irreplaceable genetic heritage that is being lost. Producer Neenah Ellis examines the reasons these seeds are disappearing and the efforts underway to preserve them.
July 14	First Do No Harm First Do No Harm is a cautionary tale of two countries, two doctors, and two families. The story surrounds families who lost children, only to have their lives torn apart by criminal investigations, accusing them of murdering their children. The cases involved Dr. Charles Smith, then head of the pediatric forensic pathology unit at Sick Kids hospital in Toronto and a so-called expert witness in those children's deaths in Canada. And in the UK, Dr. Sir Roy Meadow, a former president of the British Pediatric Association, also a distinguished expert witness. A look at what went wrong and what's being done to right them in both countries. This program was produced by Karin Wells of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and airs as part of our international documentary exchange series Crossing Boundaries. First Words Prompted by the early efforts of her son, Kate Howells of the British Broadcasting Corporation set out to discover how we go about learning to talk. Do all babies start off with the ability to speak any language? Why are the words 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' so similar in every language? What goes on in a baby's mind and mouth before he is able to produce his first words? Linguists and psychologists share their experiences.
July 7	A True Brother A cautionary note to homophobes everywhere: Whoever you hate will end up in your family. This according to comedian Chris Rock, who points to real life for the evidence. Take Paul Burke. He's an Evangelical pastor with the Cornerstone Urban Church, in downtown Toronto. Paul Burke was fourteen when he learned that his older brother Timothy was a homosexual. Shocked and disgusted, Paul barely spoke to Timothy for fifteen years. And though he felt called by his faith to work with the poor, the outcasts, the marginalized in society, Paul felt only shame at having a gay brother. Then something shifted. Paul decided to call his brother, and ask for his forgiveness. Since that day, Paul and Timothy Burke have tried hard to build a relationship. In this documentary from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Paul and Timothy tell their story - from childhood in a religious white family in Jamaica, to the painful falling out and the struggle for reconciliation. This program was produced by Frank Faulk, and airs as part of our international documentary exchange series Crossing Boundaries. Gay Ballroom Dancing Ian and his partner had no experience dancing in competition. Yet they decided to enter the ballroom event at the International Gay Games held in Australia. They kept an audio diary of their training in the Waltz, the Quick Step and the Tango. They also recorded how they learned to glide around the dance floor with confident smiles, even when shaking with nerves and, on one memorable occasion, with Ian's trousers falling down. Ian Poitier steps out onto the dance floor and takes us into the world of ballroom dancing. This program was produced by Louise Swan of the BBC and is part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.

June 2006

June 30	For the Glory of the Game Producer Sam Levene of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation presents this documentary about a league of base ball (that's 2 words) enthusiasts who play the game the way it was first devised in the mid 19th century. Across the U.S. and Canada, teams regularly meet in period costume, and without gloves to play a polite, very gentlemanly (and womanly) version of the game that's become America's favorite sport. This program is part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries. The Baseball Plantation It's a story about big business, modern colonialism and people struggling to survive; it's also a story about hope, and dreams coming true. In the Dominican Republic, where political corruption and poverty run rampant, baseball is a respite from economic struggle; it is also a way out to a new life in a new country. Baseball is also big business for North American Leagues. Since the '50s, recruitment of young players has been relatively cheap and easy. Now the Japanese have decided to enter the market, bringing new styles of acculturation and baseball. Producer Kathy McAnally looks at the issues with Stan Javier of the Oakland A's; Luis Polonia of the New York Yankees; Epy Guerrero, scout for the Toronto Blue Jays; the retired pitcher Joaquin Andujar; and others.
June 23	Grace to a Stranger They are the worst of the worse - men who sexually attack children. Their crime revolts everyone. In prison, they are often kept seperate from other inmates for their own protection. But what happens once they are released? Once their crime becomes known, they are the subject of threats, vandalism, and made into pariahs. But in Canada, a small group of Mennonites is trying to change that. Hundreds of ordinary Canadians are now reaching out to pedophiles - trying to reintegrate them into the community. The CBC's Elizabeth Gray has a profile of these neighbors. Her program is called Grace to A Stranger. This program is part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries. Serial Killers Producer Bill Drummond examines the shadowy world of serial killers with Dr. Janice Morrison, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has extensively interviewed most of Americas known serial killers. In the course of analyzing the thousands of hours of interviews with these notorious killers, she has developed intriguing theories about the reasons serial murderers like John Wayne Gacy or Ted Bundy are compelled to kill.
June 16	Making Faces Michael Williams-Stark gives comedy improv workshops to a special group of children. Like Michael, they're kids who have cleft palates, or no palates. They meet regularly, and through comedy and performing, they learn to stand up for themselves, to gain confidence and feel less alone. Producer Cate Cochran of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation presents this program as part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries. Life Outside The closure of the last great institution for the intellectually disabled in New Zealand has raised a host of questions about the ongoing process of deinstitutionalization. For decades, citizens with intellectually disabled children relied on these specialist facilities to provide for their needs. These former 'havens', have come to be seen as sites of neglect, abuse, and dehumanizing rigidity. They became dumping grounds for a whole range of people who fell through the gaps in social welfare. Often isolated, the institutions were also seen as a metaphor for the way in which society itself chose to deal with the issue. Producer Matthew Leonard of Radio New Zealand shares the story of the patients and families, whose lives have been affected. This program is part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.
June 9	Every Tree Tells A Story Urban forests provide economic, social and cultural value to neighborhoods and cities. But what are the needs and expectations different ethnic and racial groups have for green space? And how does understanding those needs draw tighter communities? Producer Judith Kampfner compares the cities of New York and London, and the approach new and old ethnic racial and immigrant groups have towards green space. This program airs as part of our ongoing series, Tales from Urban Forests. Photo of Max's cement square from the revitalized New York City park. From Brooklyn to Banja Luka An interesting cross cultural relationship that spans New York, Banja Luka and Amsterdam. Jonathan is a loud New Yorker, a Brooklyn Jew who has been living in Holland for 13 years. He has joint Dutch US nationality, speaks fluent Dutch, and yet remains essentially his boisterous loud American self. He is married to Dragana, a Serbian from Banja Luka, who came here in the midst of the Bosnian war and remains deeply affected by the war and its after effects in her country. They met at a party in Amsterdam ten years ago and have been together ever since. They now have a young trilingual son. The two have much in common - they're clever, loud, extravagant people from musical backgrounds. But she has a Slavic melancholia that contrasts with his wisecracking Jewish humour. In this program, they discuss their different cultures, how they feel being such big personalities living in a country that doesn't seem at first glance particularly suited to their ethnic backgrounds and character, and also the nature of their tempestuous relationship. This program was produced by Dheera Sujan of Radio Netherlands and airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: Romance Series.
June 2	Cities of the Plain Urban forests in desert settings -- no, this is not about transferring Central Park to L.A. Arid environments have their own "green" cover, and cities destroy and ignore that vegetation to their peril. Veteran producer Bill Drummond travels out West from mountains to shore to ask: when are trees beneficial and when are they not? This program airs as part of our ongoing series, Tales from Urban Forests. Water is Gold Multi-year droughts are an accepted part of life in the Southwest. The summer of 2002 was the worst drought in Arizona in nearly a century. Will the next year be any different? Water is Gold explores the role of climate modeling and the effects of the extreme drought on people, livestock, policy makers and the economy. Find out, if modelers can predict future droughts? Why is the tropical Pacific Ocean important in understanding the droughts in the Southwest? What role do long-range climate models play in assessing drought conditions? Learn how modelers are constantly improving their understanding of the forces and conditions that create climatic and weather events. Producer Lex Gillespie brings the science of climate modeling, in a language you will understand.

May 2006

May 26	Knitting with Dog Hair An entertaining and informative look at knitting with dog hair, from its alleged origins in Catalonia to contemporary practice in Australia. This program will encourage listeners to look at their four legged friends in a new and creative light. Knitting with Dog Hair was produced by Natalie Kestecher of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and airs as part of our international exchange series, Crossing Boundaries. Dog Day Afternoons The arrival of the dog days of summer is marked by the appearance of the Dog Star, Sirius. The Romans believed that Sirius added to the heat of the sun and made dogs more prone to madness. The Romans weren't the only ones fascinated with dogs, add to that list writers, artists, historians and every dog owner today. Radio Netherlands producer and dog lover, David Swatling embarks on a humorous tribute to dogs. This program is part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.
May 19	The Reason I'm Here Over a four year period from 1988 to 1992, a serial rapist terrorized Calgary, Alberta. He was known as the Hemlock rapist. On June 20th, 2005, the rapist pled guilty, almost 17 years after the first attack. It was on that day, too, that his four victims met and spoke with each other for the first time. In Canadian courts, the names of sexual assault victims are kept secret for two reasons: To encourage women to step forward freely, and to shield them from public scrutiny and judgment. But in the Hemlock case, two women insisted that the publication ban on their names be lifted. In so doing, they join a mere handful of victims of sexual assault who have chosen to go public with their stories. The two other victims chose to maintain the ban. One is too traumatized to speak at all. Producer Jane Farrow of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation presents a story about three women, raped by the same man. Three women who made very different decisions - privately and publicly - about how to deal with the attack on their bodies and their lives. This program airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: The World of Crime. Try Not to Breathe It happens more than once, but you can't quite see his face. Sometimes, the sound of the wind outside your bedroom window turns into a tuneless but determined whistle. Then the robberies start. Therese (not her real name) takes it very seriously. She reports each incident to the police, and investigates herself. She comes to the conclusion that she is being stalked. Months later, the man she suspects is in court - and irrefutably linked to her break-ins - but do the charges reflect his crimes? Producer Lea Redfern of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation follows this complex story, interviewing several women who are watching this case carefully, and hoping for justice. This program is part of our international documentary series, Crossing Boundaries.
May 12	Born Free Built on the site of a colonial era estate, the John Morony Correctional Complex in Sydney’s outer suburban fringe covers 300 acres and all the bases. There are minimum and maximum-security prisons for men, and a women’s prison. There is also accommodation for a seized crocodile, smuggled parrots, endangered snakes, crippled kangaroos and wounded wombats. In the middle of an Australian summer the sprawling prison grounds are dry, bare and flat, and the whole complex is surrounded by high chain link fences topped with razor wire. Within this forbidding environment there lies an unlikely refuge, a literal sanctuary of green, with a lush garden, shady trees and plenty of water. The wildlife center is part animal hospital, part educational facility – and a congenial workplace for three correctional officers and ten minimum security male inmates. Producer Natalie Kestecher of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation takes listeners inside a jail to meet up with a group of men for whom working in a cage might even be fun. This program airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: The World of Crime. Building Blocks Several years ago at Long Creek juvenile detention center in Maine, one MIT professor revolutionized the existing school system. He instituted a learning-by-doing program where young offenders spend their day using Legos to build programmable robots - clocks, vehicles and moving fantasy figures. Teens photograph their creations and write diaries proudly chronicling their progress. Can incarcerated youth gain important skills and confidence from such a program or should they be learning discipline in a conventional schoolroom? Producer Judith Kampfner takes us inside the classroom to find out. This program is part of our ongoing series on education and technology.
May 5	Mobile Phone Theft On the streets of Accra, everyone seems to be shouting into a mobile phone. Heading down Tiptoe Lane, which has a reputation for illegal business, there’s a huge selection of second hand phones and business is brisk. The international circulation of stolen mobile phones is hugely profitable. Phones taken in Britain have been traced to Ghana, and London police now run the world’s only dedicated mobile phone unit. In this program from radio station Joy FM, Reporter Sena Atoklo goes on the trail of mobile phone thieves in Ghana, where stealing a phone is the fastest means of making money, much better than taking a wallet that might turn out to be empty. This program airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: The World of Crime. Trading in Tulips Trading in Tulips has been a Dutch mainstay since the 1500's, when the first tulip bulb arrived from Turkey. Since then the Dutch have created a multi-billion dollar industry. Now, scarcity of land, new pesticide regulations and vastly improved air transportation are pushing the Dutch to grow their bulbs elsewhere, including Turkey and China. Producer Michelle Ernsting of Radio Netherlands, brings you the story of one family, who has almost completely moved their operations overseas. This will be the last year they grow their tulips in Holland.

April 2006

April 28	Triads and Film Enter the Hong Kong Triad "Underworld", where actors, directors, and police describe the Triad control of the film industry in the 1990s when a whole series of murders, beatings and dodgy dealings went down. That's when the Triad techniques of persuasion allegedly came into play - extortion, blackmail, beatings, rape - to get actors and stunt men to appear in their flicks. Eventually the actors had enough and campaigned against the violence. In “Triads and Film”, Producer Sarah Passmore of Radio Television Hong Kong looks at the current situation in the Hong Kong film industry to see the extent to which it may have broken free of these groups, and how much Triads are still involved in the entertainment industry. This program airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: The World of Crime. Japan is a safer place to be a fish With the shooting deaths of two Japanese students in the U.S. in the early 90's, crime in America has been of great concern in Japan. Producer Mary Beth Kirchner interviews Americans and Japanese about the subject of safety and compares the lifestyles of the two countries.
April 21	Kiribati in Crisis As global warming creates rising sea levels, no one is perhaps more vulnerable than people who live on small islands. Expecting to find a country battling to keep the sea back, Radio New Zealand's environmental reporter, Bryan Crump, traveled to the atoll nation of Kiribati, which straddles the equator in the middle of the Pacific. This thirty-three island nation lies no more than thirteen feet above sea level. But Crump found a nation already in an environmental crisis of a different sort: overcrowded, polluted, running out of water, affected by coastal erosion and disease. And while much of that is the result of outside influences, Kiribati is failing to find solutions. Schokland - The Island on Dry Land In the middle of Dutch wheat fields, miles away from the sea rises the little island of Schokland. In the never-ending tug of war with the sea, the Dutch rescued the island from the sea by building one of their famous polder dikes. The island soon bustled as a farming community and a tourist spot. Now the island is sinking, and Radio Netherlands producer Michele Ernsting reports that in a dramatic reversal of their old policy, the Dutch have decided to flood the land around it - to keep Schokland afloat. This is part of our special international collaboration called Global Perspective: Nature in the Balance.
April 14	Code Green Code Green explores the impact that hurricanes have on urban greencover, from integrating trees and wetlands into a city's infrastructure and disaster plan, to post-hurricane damage assessment of city trees and coastal marshes, to recovery and rebuilding. Hear from scientists, city planners and urban foresters about their work to establish, protect and restore the green infrastructure in the wake of catastrophic hurricanes, in coastal cities from Charleston to New Orleans. This program, from Producer Gemma Hooley, airs as part of our ongoing series, Tales from Urban Forests. Carving the Coastline New meteorology tools like satellite data are helping scientists to keep environmental disasters from being a surprise. Measuring coastal changes - from disasters, to rising sea levels caused by global warming, or even the daily pounding of waves upon the seashore - is laborious if done on the ground, and is better done by air. Compounding the problem is that the coastline is forever changing - mostly because of human development. Our program looks at how scientists are mapping coastal erosion patterns using a variety of techniques, including planes, satellites and infrared detection, then using that information to predict impact. We take you up in a small plane with a laser as it maps the North Carolina coast post-hurricane season, then to a town on the West Coast that is literally sliding into the Pacific Ocean.
April 7	Girls Like Us Marisela and Yadira immigrated illegally to the United States as small children. Marisela, who immigrated when she was 7, remembers crossing over the border while lying in the back of a truck. Yadira, who was 3 when she crossed, remembers nothing of her entry into the U.S. Her first memories are of life in California. After their families moved to Denver, Colorado, the two young women met in middle school. Both went on to become star students in high school – AP classes, top ten percent of their class – and recruiters from Colorado colleges were telling them that they would bend over backwards to snag students like them. But of course they had a big problem, which they were afraid to share: They didn’t have Social Security numbers. This meant that they didn't qualify for any federal aid, or for most private scholarships. “Girls Like Us” is the story of two young girls trying to get into college in a country where they are undocumented. Dream Deferred Each year 5,000 refugee children arrive in the U.S. penniless and alone, seeking asylum and freedom. A third are locked up - some alongside violent offenders. Many are deported back to traumatic home situations. The U.S. government does not provide them with lawyers, yet whether they can stay legally is decided in court. Dream Deferred follows two of these children, Juan Pablo from Honduras and Jimmy from Punjab, India. Why did they leave? What dreams are they chasing? How did they get here and where are they today?

March 2006

March 31	Ana Grows Up "Ana" is Anastasia Bendus, a 13 year-old girl who lives in Ottawa. She uses a wheelchair and has done so all her life She was born when her mother, Pat Erb, was in her 6th month of pregnancy. She weighed just over a kilogram, 2lb 4oz, and could fit in her father's hand. What happens to such a tiny baby? Will she grow up like any other kid? What are the challenges that face the family? Ana went through years of surgery, doctors visits and all sorts of physio and occupational therapy. Now, l0 years later, Ana Grows Up picks up the story as Ana, her mother, two of Ana's friends and their mother go camping in Fitzroy Harbor Provincial Park. This was their summer vacation and producer Karin Wells of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation went with them. This program is part of the international exchange series, Crossing Boundaries. Eric and Milena We often hear amazing stories of people risking or sacrificing themselves for loved ones. Perhaps you've often wondered what you would do in a similar situation. Radio Netherlands producer Dheera Sujan meets a remarkable couple. One a young American man, who met the woman of his dreams, a Dutch student. Shortly after they married, Eric contracted a form of Multiple Sclerosis that left him debilitated, paralyzed from the neck down. Told in first person, Eric and Milena is an incredible love story. This program is part of the international exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.
March 24	Totally Hidden Video Through the medium they call 'totally hidden video,' a group of Harlem 7th graders present a disarming perspective on life in their neighborhoods, at school and on the playgrounds, and at home. Producer Mary Beth Kirchner first explained the use of microphones and tape recorders to a small workshop of 7th graders at The Children's Storefront school, and then let them take over. They've selected the subject matter and conducted the interviews for this humorous and touching self-portrait. My So Called Lungs Laura Rothenberg is 21 years old, but, as she likes to say, she already had her mid-life crisis a couple of years ago, and even then it was a few years late. Laura has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that affects the lungs and other organs. People with CF live an average of 30 years. Two years ago, we gave Laura a tape recorder. Since that time, Laura has been keeping an audio diary of her battle with the disease and her attempts to lead a normal life with lungs than often betray her.
March 17	Identity Fraud Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in Britain, but most people are still unaware of how vulnerable they are. Even the smallest piece of information about any one of us – an envelope with a name and address, for example – could be the first piece of the jigsaw the fraudster needs to start building up a picture. And it’s an increasingly sophisticated crime, with identities stolen not just to get money or credit, but also for use by organized gangs involved in prostitution, drug and people trafficking. It’s the so-called ‘victimless crime’, because it’s the banks and credit card companies who eventually have to pay out. But as the victims explain, convincing the financial institutions that your identity has been stolen, and that you know nothing about the debt they insist you owe them, is a long and worrying process. Producer Simon Cox of the BBC demonstrates how easy it is to be duped by plausible individuals determined to get personal information, how the contents of our trash bins provide clues that can easily be followed up, and hears how victims, police and criminals regard Identity Fraud. This program airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: The World of Crime. Revenge It seems we all love to hear revenge stories -- the petty ones and the grand -- even when they are painful or the recipient is blameless. And we seem to love to tell revenge stories about ourselves -- even stories that make us look childish or venal. Revenge visits the unspoken dark place where revenge impulses lie through the stories of people who have planned revenge and those who have carried it out.
March 10	Running with Atalanta Ten years ago, two young women were studying law – one in The Netherlands and the other in Latvia. Years later their lives would intersect. Ruth Hopkins, researching a European Commission report on the trafficking of women, interviewed Anna Ziverte – a victim who had been forced to work as a prostitute in Rotterdam. The number of women trafficked and exploited in the sex trade annually in Europe is estimated to be as high as 700,000. Nearly a third are trafficked from Eastern and Central European countries. Ziverte escaped her traffickers only to find herself entangled in another nightmare – a Dutch system where victims are perceived as illegal immigrants. Taking matters into her own hands, she founded a support group called Atalantas, inspired by the swift-footed goddess from Greek mythology who could outrun any man. Producer David Swatling of Radio Netherlands follows the journey of two women trying to find the light at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel. This program airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: The World of Crime. Fear on the Inside: Diary of Domestic Violence Producer Dan Collison documents a week in the life of "Anna," a battered woman in Chicago. The documentary begins three days after Anna's estranged husband has threatened to kill her and their baby at gunpoint. Anna keeps an audio journal of her attempt to have her husband, who she says beat her repeatedly before they separated, arrested. She tells of her frustration with the police and legal system and of her attempt to live a "normal life."
March 3	The Changing Face of Neighborhood Crime A look at how neighborhoods change as new people move in, and when urban dwellers go to the suburbs. Race and class are issues here, with perceptions that crime rates are rising, fuelled by preconceptions about race. The program profiles the town of Laurel, Maryland, a midway point between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, where Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama was shot and paralyzed during his presidency campaign in 1972. The governor was there appealing to the mostly white constituents. However today Laurel is a town better characterized by its growing minority and ethnic populations, and also by crime. We investigate how the town has changed in the past 30 plus years, and whether crime is actually on the increase, or whether the perception of crime is what is changing. This program airs as part of our special international collaboration, Global Perspectives: The World of Crime. Detroit Dialogue Like many American cities, Detroit has survived cycles of decay and renewal. Producer Susan Davis invites you to lunch with a group of long-time friends and former neighbors--six local women, spanning two generations, three of them African-American, three of them Jewish. Listen as they share their memories of neighborhoods and a time when the city's racial divide could be conquered over a backyard fence or a kitchen table. They talk about what it means to build a real sense of community, and how easily it can be lost, as well as their hopes and dreams for the city's future.

February 2006

February 24	Short Circuit Literally synaesthesia means "a crossing of the senses." In practice synaesthetes may see colors when they hear music, or experience taste when they are touched. Letters and numbers have individual colors and words can appear as paintings. For a long time it was thought that synaesthetes were fabricating their experiences, but recent neurological studies show that they do in fact perceive things like music or words with several senses. In Short Circuit, people with synaesthesia talk about the difficulties of explaining what they see, hear and taste. We also hear from two artists, Carol Steen and Ans Salz, who use their work to translate the complex landscape of their minds. This program was produced by Michele Ernsting of Radio Netherlands as part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries. Upright Grand A document of the poignant moment in the life of Producer Tim Wilson's own mother, a daunting figure and a once-accomplished pianist, now diagnosed with Alzheimer's, when she is forced to leave her apartment, her pearls, and her 'upright grand' to enter 'a home.' Upright Grand turns into a searching examination of the often ambiguous relationship between a mother and son.
February 17	After Katrina: Charmaine Neville's Story Born into the third generation of the legendary musical family, jazz singer Charmaine Neville has always called New Orleans ‘home’. And when Hurricane Katrina headed for the Gulf Coast, she stayed in New Orleans because she didn't have a car or money. She also didn't think Hurricane Katrina would be serious. In fact, she was trapped in water for five days, with great fear that she was going to die. But she survived. She witnessed dire events – death, rape, robbery. Overshadowing all of that, she witnessed a community working together to survive – neighbors, elderly people, children. This is Charmaine’s account of Hurricane Katrina, interwoven with her own music. Vietnam Blues Vince Gabriel is a Maine-based blues musician who's written an album of songs chronicling his experience in the Vietnam War. In this program, Vince takes listeners chronologically through his time in Vietnam, with his music leading us into stories about getting drafted, arriving in the jungle, what combat was like, the loss of his closest friend, the relief of finally returning home, and his reflections on the legacy of Vietnam today. Vince's stories give listeners an almost visceral sense of what it's like for those on the front lines. Though it is an account of a war that took place years ago, Vince's observations feel disturbingly immediate and poignant. Producer Christina Antolini brings us the "Vietnam Blues."
February 10	The Education of Charles 67x The political philosophy of Black Nationalism, which maintains that African Americans can govern themselves in their own nation, has deep roots in Chicago. Journalist Askia Muhammad returns to Chicago to explore his grounding in Black Nationalism. As editor of the Nation of Islam's newspaper 20 years ago, he learned a great deal about Black Nationalism at Elijah Muhammad's dinner table in Hyde Park. Conversations in a Black Barbershop Join us as we spend an afternoon in a barbershop in Washington DC run by black Muslims. The conversation runs from issues of religion and family, to school, sports and the political system, all set against the buzz of the hairclippers and the busy neighborhood ambience of this informal gathering place.
February 3	Survivor In 1942 a US Navy destroyer was shipwrecked off Newfoundland. Of the few who survived, one man, Lanier Phillips, was black. The rescuers, never having seen a black man before, tried to scrub his skin clean and white. This is a story about growing up with fear in segregated Georgia, enlisting in a segregated navy, facing death in the icy North Atlantic, and a rescue which galvanized a man to fight racial discrimination. The Homeboy and the Hurricane Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the number one contender for the middleweight crown and outspoken civil rights advocate, was convicted of a triple murder in 1966 and was sentenced to three life terms. Lazarus Martin was fifteen, essentially illiterate, and trying to survive a violent ghetto in Brooklyn. Both their lives were changed through the efforts of a group of aging Canadian hippies who took in Lazarus and took on Carter's legal cause. Producer Jon Kalish brings us the fascinating story of the friendship between Carter and Lazarus, and the struggle to earn Carter's release.

January 2006

January 27	The Urban Forest Healing Center From the time he wrote ‘Walden – Life in the Woods’ philosopher Henry David Thoreau understood the restorative value of trees to the human soul. More than 100 years later researchers are discovering that a pleasurable walk among trees and green space can calm an active child, refresh a tired mind, and make all of us feel better. The view of a tree outside a window can make an office worker more productive, a hospital stay shorter, or a prison sentence more bearable. Even in the most deprived inner city, trees and green space around buildings reduce crime and violence as well as promote a sense of community and well-being. In our series, Tales from Urban Forests, Jean Snedegar explores the power of trees to restore us, body and mind. Curanderismo: Folk Healing in the Southwest In an age of high-tech, highly specialized medicine, the ancient healing arts of Curanderismo are an attractive alternative. When they are ill, Mexican-Americans in the southwestern states often prefer to visit the curandero-- the traditional healer-- who uses herbs, aromas, and rituals to treat the ills of their body, mind and spirit. It is a much more personal approach to treating illness -complex, but not necessarily scientific- and one that modern health care professionals in the region are now exploring, and in some cases embracing as a healing tool.
January 20	The Public Green and the Poor Numerous times in American history, reformers have sought to help the poor by putting them amidst nature -- the belief being that physical beauty can make beautiful people. It seems like an odd idea. But Thomas Jefferson believed it fervently. And it's also the reason Central Park exists in New York and the town of Greenbelt exists in Maryland. This program, from Producer Richard Paul, looks at a time in our past when nature was used to uplift the poor. It airs as part of our ongoing series, Tales from Urban Forests. Roads From reckless taxi drivers to women who are digging ditches and breaking rock by hand, roads are a buzzword in South Africa. Driving cattle is tough under any circumstances. But try crossing a six-lane highway every day - now that is real trouble. When it's your livelihood, you improvise with a daring plan. In South Africa, where everything is political and much is symbolic, rebuilding the country's road infrastructure requires an inventive philosophy, a ground-breaking plan, and hands willing to implement it at every level.
January 13	The Evolution Boomerang As humans continue to make their imprint on Earth, they find they are making a noticeable difference in the evolution of different species. The Evolution Boomerang looks at the effect humans are having on insects, fish and certain kinds of bacterium, and how that evolution is in turn affecting humans. Supported in part by the National Science Foundation. Sanctuary Our series Global Perspectives: Nature in the Balance continues with a visit to Australia. In one small corner of Australia, just off one of the country's busiest expressways, the Cohen family is cultivating 80 acres of natural bush land, with the aim of reintroducing vulnerable native animals. Australian Broadcasting Corporation Producer Nick Franklin explores the legacy of Australia's early acclimatizers, the reality of modern 'nature' as opposed to romantic notions of 'wilderness,' and one family's expensive experiment in nature conservation.
January 6	A Visit to Sedona Just two hours south of the Grand Canyon, the scenic remote village of Sedona, Arizona, has gone from being an isolated haven for visual artists and retirees to a bustling center of New Age activity. Sedona is now home to an increasing number of young seekers who claim that the land has powerful healing energies. The population has doubled in recent times and longtime residents and local Native tribesmembers are concerned about the destruction of the land and the removal of sacred artifacts from the ruins, as well as the misappropriation of traditional culture by well meaning New Age seekers. Producer Njemile Rollins talks with members of local tribes, longtime residents, and new arrivals to Sedona who come seeking inner peace, fulfillment and new cultural identities. Greetings from White Australia In the closets of many suburban homes lurk some of the strangest representations of Aboriginal people and culture - chubby piccaninnies, reclining dusky nudes, bearded warriors - on everything from tea towels to ashtrays. This mass-produced Aboriginalia we now call kitsch. Producer Lorena Allam was content to let these souvenirs of white Australia gather dust in op shops ... until she found a hoard of them in her grandmother's house. Greetings from White Australia was produced by Lorena Allam of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and airs as part of our international documentary exchange series, Crossing Boundaries.