TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
from Wisconsin Public Radio
May 19, 1996 Programs
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1100 - 1159 Hour #1 Anarchy
1200 - 1259 Hour #2 Math - repeat of 95-06-11-B
1300 - 1359 Hour #3 Food and Identity
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 1:Anarchy
SEGMENT 1:
NPR's Tom Gjelton talks with Steve Paulson about the current
cease fire in Bosnia and the prospects for long term peace.
Gjelton covered the war from Sarajevo and is the author of
"Sarajevo Daily: A City and Its Newspaper under Siege."
SEGMENT 2:
Robert Kaplan, contributing editor of The Atlantic Monthly,
tells Steve Paulson that much of the Third World is on the
brink of anarchy due to rising populations, ethnic rivalries,
environmental disasters and ineffective governments. Kaplan is
the author of "Balkan Ghosts" and "The Ends of the Earth: A
Journey at the Dawn of the 21st Century."
SEGMENT 3:
Journalist David Bornstein talks with Jim Fleming about his
book - "The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank and
the Idea That is Helping the Poor to Change Their Lives." The
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh loans out money to some of the
poorest people in the world. Also, Nicholas You, coordinator of
the Best Practices and Local Leadership Program at the United
Nations, tells Judith Straasser about "Best Practices," a
number of successful solutions to some of the most pressing
problems facing the world today.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
05-19-A.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 2:Math
SEGMENT 1:
The fields of molecular biology and computer science are
merging in the guise of the DNA computer, invented by
University of Southern California mathematician Leonard
Adelman. Keith Devlin, editor of "Focus," the magazine of the
Mathematical Association of America, describes Adelman's
astonishing experiment to Margaret Andreasen, and explains the
tremendous excitement about the new field of biocomputing.
Also, according to mathematician John Allen Paulos, a lot of
the math in newspapers should make all of us think twice.
Paulos' last book, "Innumeracy," was a best seller. He talks
with Judith Strasser about "A Mathematician Reads the
Newspaper."
SEGMENT 2:
The kind of math illiteracy that troubles John Allen Paulos is
related to how math is taught in the schools. Mark Saul, a
math teacher at Bronxville School in New York, tells Steve
Paulson that math education is quite different in Russia, where
the structure of the teaching experience kindles students'
enthusiasm.
SEGMENT 3:
Aptitudes for math and music often seem to go together, and
Edward Rothstein, chief music critic of the New York Times (and
one-time math student) explores the relationship between the
two fields in his book "Emblems of the Mind: The Inner Life of
Music and Mathematics." He talks with Jim Fleming about the
similarities and beauty of these two passions. Also,
mathematician Eli Maor tells Steve Paulson why everyone from
the ancient Greeks to modern children is fascinated by the idea
of infinity. Maor is the author of "To Infinity and Beyond"
and "e: the Story of a Number."
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
95-06-11-B.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN: HOUR 3: Food and Identity
SEGMENT 1
Marian Burros, food columnist for the NY Times and author of
"Eating Is the Best Revenge," talks with Steve Paulson about
the growing popularity of organic foods and how the grocery
industry cashing in on the public's demand for healthy food.
Also, Johns Hopkins anthropologist Sidney Mintz, tells Steve
that food choices and rituals define our cultural identity.
Mintz is the author of "Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom."
SEGMENT 2:
Food writer Margaret Visser (Pronounced Fisser) tells Judith
Strasser that the argument about whether or not humans should
eat meat goes back at least to the ancient Greeks; that meat is
the ancestral food and charged with religious significance.
Also, journalist Lolis Elie tells Judith Strasser about his two
year barbecue tour of America. Elie is a columnist for the New
Orleans Times-Picayune and the author of "Smokestack Lightning:
Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country."
SEGMENT 3:
Pretentious culinary and literary writing gets skewered in food
critic/literary editor John Lanchester's novel "The Debt to
Pleasure." Lanchester tells Jim Fleming about his main
character - a food enthusiast, chef, culinary scholar, and very
weird guy.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
05-19-C.
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Last modified: Friday May 17, 1996