TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
from Wisconsin Public Radio
August 4, 1996 Programs
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1100 - 1159 Hour #1 Addiction 3 - Addictive Society
1200 - 1259 Hour #2 Finding Our Place (in the Universe)
1300 - 1359 Hour #3 Frontier Myths
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 1:Addiction 3 - Addictive Society
SEGMENT 1:
Vanderbilt psychologist Oakley Ray agrees that drugs and
alcohol are a problem, but goes on to tell Judith Strasser that
they are just the tip of the iceberg. America, he says, is an
addictive society. Buddhist psychiatrist Mark Epstein concurs.
Like Ray, the author of "thoughts without a thinker" believes
that the lure of addiction is in its promise of pleasure
without pain. He talks to Steve Paulson about his efforts to
define and to treat addiction.
SEGMENT 2:
Valerie Monroe knows first-hand about the realities of
addiction. Her husband almost threw away a successful career
and a loving family in his commitment to cocaine. Her book is
called "In the Weather of the Heart," and she tells Jim Fleming
that it took her almost as long as Keith to admit that he had a
problem, and that beating the addiction was no simple matter.
SEGMENT 3:
Addiction isn't just something that happens to someone else.
Science writer Stephen Braun points out to Steve Paulson that
much of America is addicted to caffeine. In writing his book
"Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine," he
uncovered all sorts of interesting information. Novelist Mark
Helprin would probably agree with most of the study. He has
never drunk coffee and almost certainly never will. He tells
Judith Strasser that the protagonist of his novel "Memoir from
Antproof Case" found his whole life changed by a cup of coffee.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
08-04-A.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 2:Finding Our Place (in the Universe)
SEGMENT 1:
In June, astronomer George Gatewood announced the discovery of
a planetary system around a nearby star. Steve Paulson
discusses this and other planetary discoveries--and their
implications for our view of the universe--with David Black,
director of the University Space Research Association Lunar and
Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas.
SEGMENT 2:
Andrew Ingersoll, professor of planetary science at the
California Institute of Technology, tells Judith Strasser that
recent astronomical surprises--including the discovery that
Jupiter's satellite, Ganymede, looks more like a planet than
our moon--are moving us toward the completion of the Copernican
Revolution. Also, Jim Fleming talks with University of Chicago
astronomer Priscilla Frisch, who describes the movement of our
solar system through interstellar clouds, including the "local
fluff."
SEGMENT 3:
Pennsylvania State University astronomer Peter Usher believes
that Shakespeare wrote "Hamlet," at least in part, in defense
of the Copernican revolution. Usher offers his evidence to
Judith Strasser--including the origins of the names Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern in the family history of the Danish anti-
Copernican astronomer Tyco Brahe.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
08-04-B.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN: HOUR 3: Frontier Myths
SEGMENT 1
Historian David Scobey tells Judith Strasser about the
parallels between 19th century New York and the frontier West.
He says they were both places where it was possible to play out
a utopian vision of America as unbelievably vast and dynamic.
David Scobey teaches history and American Culture at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Also, Richard Slotkin,
author of "Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in
Twentieth Century America" talks with Steve Paulson about the
centrality of violence to the American myth and how this is
reflected in popular culture. Slotkin directs American Studies
at Wesleyan.
SEGMENT 2:
American performance artist and writer James Luna calls himself
half Indian and half Mexican. He tells Judith Strasser about
some of his installations in which he put himself on display;
about making art for an Indian audience and about dealing
honestly with some of the negative realities of Native American
life.
SEGMENT 3:
Novelist Louise Erdrich talks with Jim Fleming about her latest
book "Tales of Burning Love." It's set mostly in and around
Fargo rather than on the Reservation, and involves the
enormously complicated romantic life of Jack Mauser, whose four
living ex-wives are trapped in car together during a North
Dakota blizzard.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
08-04-C.
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Last modified: Thursday August 1, 1996