Dec 20 - 24 Programs

Jean’s Pick of the Week (watch video): The Butterfly Mosque: Well, it’s been a banner week, and we haven’t even got to the Italian Grandmothers yet. I’m hard pressed to come up with a favorite – I liked them all – but since I have to choose, it doesn’t get much better than Wednesday’s show with G. Willow Wilson, who writes for Superman and is a devotee of Nine Inch Nails, explaining, with calm, open-eyed clarity, why she converted to Islam. And what a lovely title for a memoir: The Butterfly Mosque. I just wish she had a put a little more Superman into it.

Monday: Best Foreign Films: Is it really true that Americans don’t have the patience to read the sub-titles? Veronica Rueckert sits in for me talking with Village Voice film critic Jim Hoberman about America’s on again/but mostly off again love affair with foreign films. And we’ll want to hear about your first, favorite, and most recent excursions into the wider world of cinema.

Tuesday: Our Intangible Heritage: What do Falconry and Turkish oil wrestling have in common? They are two masterpieces of human culture recently added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity. We’ll speak with Cécile Duvelle, Chief of the Intangible Heritage Section, about the challenges and rewards of protecting living traditions.

Wednesday: International Children’s Literature: What are the books you grew up with? If you are still looking for the right book to give to the kids in your family, join us to explore the rich tradition of children’s literature from around the world.

Thursday: Lincoln and Whitman: In 1856, Walt Whitman wished that 'some… middle-aged, beard-faced American blacksmith or boatman come down from the West across the Alleghenies, and walk into the Presidency.' Five years later, Abraham Lincoln did just that. Less known is the shared admiration between the two. Lincoln inspired Whitman's poetry and for years he held imaginary conversations with Lincoln in his journal. We look back at the Civil War, 150 years later, through the shared regard of two of the times' most distinct voices.

Friday:Christmas Eve in Sicily: We combed the Here on Earth archives and came up with the perfect food program for Christmas Eve: On Dec. 24, la vigilia di Natale, Guissepe Scarlata's family will sit down in their home in Trapani to a seven course fish feast: marinated octopus and squid salad, smoked swordfish and thin slices of cured tuna. And that's just for starters. Join us for Christmas Eve in Sicily.

Buon Natale! Buon Natale, tutti quanti!

Jean