TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
from Wisconsin Public Radio
May 26, 1996 Programs
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1100 - 1159 Hour #1 Politics and Morality
1200 - 1259 Hour #2 Human Materials
1300 - 1359 Hour #3 Getting Older
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 1:Politics and Morality
SEGMENT 1:
Journalist Elizabeth Drew tells Jim Fleming what made Newt
Gingrich so powerful after the '94 elections and what's
happened to him since. She also assesses the strange
relationship between Gingrich and Bob Dole. Drew's new book is
"Showdown: The Struggle between the Gingrich Congress and the
Clinton White House."
SEGMENT 2:
University of California-Berkeley linguist George Lakoff tells
Steve Paulson that the liberal and conservative positions are
riddled with contradictions and grow out of radically different
perceptions of reality: conservatives espouse the strong father
model, while liberals prefer nurturing families. Lakoff is the
author of "Moral Politics."
SEGMENT 3:
Andrew Bard Schmookler thinks we can learn more by examining
the contradictions in our own position than by just bashing the
other guy. He tells Steve Paulson that we need to find common
ground in our polarized moral landscape. Also, two members of
an innovative citizens project in Colorado tell Judith Strasser
what happens when people who are ideological opposites meet
regularly for meals and respectful conversation. Amy Divine
and Glenn Paauw are board members of Food for Thought.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
05-26-A.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 2:Human Materials
SEGMENT 1:
When a research team at Rice University discovered a new form
of carbon, congratulations from scientists all over the world
poured in. But the world at large hardly noticed. Chemist
Rick Smalley tells Jim Fleming about the buckyball - which may
revolutionize industry. The buckyball, he says, is 100 times
stronger than steel. Art Ellis of the University of Wisconsin-
Madison tells Jim about another human material that is already
changing things -- memory metal remembers how it was meant to
look like, and returns to that shape upon request.
SEGMENT 2:
Nature loveres may just want to "get away from it all," but
they don't like to remember just how much that's made possible
by the discoveries of the past few decades. REI product
designer David Mydans (MY-dance) tells Judith Strasser how
materials like Goretex have revolutionized outdoor sports.
SEGMENT 3:
Remember the advice Dustin Hoffman received early in the film
"The Graduate"? "Plastics" said the man at poolside. Well, he
may not have been much of a role model, but he was right none
the less. Art professor Jeffrey Meikle has traced the impact
of plastic on American life in his book "American Plastic," and
he tells Steve Paulson that plastic is here to stay.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
05-26-B.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN: HOUR 3: Getting Older
SEGMENT 1
Margaret Gullette (goo let') writes on gender and age issues
for national magazines and is the author of "Safe at Last in
the Middle Years: The Invention of the Midlife Progress Novel,"
and the forthcoming "Cultural Combat: The Politics of the
Midlife." She tells Judith Strasser that the story of aging as
inevitable decline forms the background noise of our culture
but is being challenged by forces like feminism. Also,
Stephen Katz, who teaches sociology at Kent University in
Peterborough, Ontario, tells Jim Fleming that "middle-aged" and
"elderly" are recent intellectual constructs and are still
evolving. Katz is the author of "Disciplining Old Age: The
Formation of Gerontological Knowledge."
SEGMENT 2:
Letty Cottin Pogrebin tells Judith Strasser how she confronted
turning fifty and learned to live in the moment. Pogrebin is a
feminist activist, a founding editor of Ms. magazine, and the
author of seven books, including "Getting Over Getting Older:
Intimate Journey."
SEGMENT 3:
Photographer Jacqueline Hayden works with older artists' models
to create life-sized nude portraits that echo ancient statuary.
She tells Steve Paulson why she works with older models, how
her work offers an alternative vision of the ideal, and how
viewers respond to it.
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 24, 1996