Dec 27 - 31 Programs

Jean’s Pick of the Week (watch video): Whitman and Lincoln: Parallel Lives on the World Stage: Who knew that San Marino made Lincoln an honorary citizen? Or that Karl Marx was a fan and followed the progress of the Civil War with great interest, thinking it might be a model of resistance? And given the political tensions that seem threatening to tear us apart in our own time, how hopeful to look back and remember why it was so important to the whole world that this nation, "so conceived, and so dedicated," did not perish from the earth.

Monday: Kung Fu for Life: Think Kung Fu is just for Jackie Chan? How about the Kung Fu of cooking? Philosophy professor Peimin Ni is bridging the divide between East and West to show that the true Kung Fu is not a style of fighting but a philosophy of life we can all learn from.

Tuesday: A Kidnapping in Milan: The CIA snatched off the terrorist suspect Abu Omar from a street in Milan on February 17, 2003, and spirited him away to Egypt for extraordinary rendition. The Italian court responded by convicting 23 CIA agents, marking the first time the CIA has ever been brought to trial. Freelance journalist Steve Hendricks investigated the case and wrote about it in his book, "A Kidnapping in Milan: The CIA on Trial."

Wednesday: Capital Punishment on Trial: Why does the U.S. hold on to the death penalty while other countries in the West have abolished it? Justice Stevens caused quite a stir in explaining why he turned against the death penalty in his review of David Garland’s new book "Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition." Find out why when we talk with David on the show next Wednesday.

Thursday: Love and Other Letters: Anthropologist and Milwaukee native Nancy Lurie discovered a treasure trove of over 500 letters that her father wrote to her mother in the years leading up to their marriage, from the gaslight era to the Jazz Age, yielding fascinating insights into the First World War, the Russian Revolution, Prohibition and many other signs of the time. What’s waiting to be discovered in your attic?

Friday:Eating Animals: I’m still not a convert, but after talking with Jonathan Safran Foer about vegetarianism, I’m weakening. His 2009 book "Eating Animals" sparked both a nationwide conversation about how we eat and a movement which is gaining momentum.

Merry Christmas and to all a Good Night!

Jean