Programs for the Week of Feb 21

Action Alert: Threats to Public Broadcasting: This week Congress is set to take a vote that is virtually certain to include ELIMINATION of all federal funding for public radio and television. This includes Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television. Click here to learn more and to make a difference.

Our Winter Membership Drive begins this week on WPR. Volunteers will be taking your pledges all week but for Here on Earth, the two big days of the drive are this Thursday, the kick-off day, and the last day, Friday, March 4th when Barry Levenson, Curator of the Mustard Museum joins us for another round of the Food Whiz Quiz. We'll also be offering a very special pledge premium, "Jean Feraca's Mustard on Earth"! You can choose this thank you gift during our show with Barry on the 4th or anytime during the drive when you pledge to the Ideas Network.

Jean’s Pick of the Week: A Love Divine: Well, it goes without saying that I loved the Rumi Valentine's Day show. Coleman Barks knows Rumi's poetry so well that it just rolls off his tongue in that southern drawl of his. I was quite riveted by his description of the waking dream he had that prepared him for the arrival of Bawa, his Sufi guru. And it was quite thrilling to hear from an Afghan caller who introduced Rumi to us as Mowlana, the name by which he is known in Afghanistan, and shared his story of a deep friendship with a man he called his Shams. Beautiful.

Monday: The King’s Speech: While the American public sees the Oscar-nominated film "The King’s Speech" as a story about the king heroically overcoming his personal limitations in the face of great adversity, the same film in the UK is perceived as being a story about class differences. What does the film teach us about class in the UK? How did you see "The King’s Speech?"

Tuesday: Peace, Love and Parazit: Iran's Daily Show: Tired of their routine jobs, Saman Arbabi and Kambiz Hosseini, two irreverent young Iranians, started a comedy program called Parazit that's modeled after Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and broadcast over The Voice of America. The show is billed for those who "don’t have the patience for news ... and all news is bad news."

Wednesday: Inside Islam: What kind of a book is the Qur’an?: What kind of a book is the Qur’an? Does it incite Muslims to violence? What are its core messages? What kind of God is Allah? We'll talk with UW-Madison professor Anna Gade about the Qur'an and why it is so misunderstood.

We want to hear from you as well! Send your questions about the Qur'an to our Facebook page or to hereonearth@wpr.org and tune in to the show.

Thursday: The Peace Corps Turns Fifty, Part II: We'll kick off our Winter Pledge Drive with a preview of the UW's Peace Corps and Africa Conference featuring stories of impact from returnees.

Friday: Day of Honey: While living in Baghdad and Beirut for six years during the time of the Iraq invasion and the Lebanese war Annia Ciezadlo broke bread with Shiites and Sunnis, warlords, and refugees, matriarchs and mullahs. From the oldest recipes in the world to her Lebanese mother-in-law’s rare family recipes, she shows us a Middle East full of humor and delicious flavors that outlive even the most tumultuous of times.