Programs for the Week of 1/23

Jean’s Pick of the Week: Bill Strickland: Bill Strickland is one hell of a guy. A man who grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in Pittsburgh in the ruins of the steel industry, he built a world class jobs training and community arts center right in the middle of that same neighborhood where the lives of at-risk teenagers, welfare mothers, and ex-steel workers are radically transformed. He has somehow managed to combine the soul of an artist with the entrepreneurial instincts of a robber baron. No wonder Harvard Business School is studying him.

Monday: An Open Door: Jewish Rescue in the Philippines: Most of us have heard of Schindler’s List, but how many of us know about the shiploads of German and Austrian Jews who were rescued in the Philippines beginning in 1935, when most other nations turned them away. Filipino filmmaker Noel Izon, who owes his life to a German Jewish refugee, sets out to document the story of Jewish rescue in the Philipines in his new film, An Open Door.“It is my hope, & indeed my expectation, that the people of the Philippines will have in the future every reason to be glad that when the time of need came, their country was glad to extend to a persecuted people, a hand of welcome.” - Manuel Quezon, President of the Philippine Commonwealth, April 23, 1940

Tuesday: Abraham’s Family: Three principal members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s LUBAR Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic Religions join me for a candid conversation about their own personal religious beliefs, how faith illuminates their lives, and what they have learned from one another.

Wednesday: The Muslim Brotherhood: In the wake of the pro-democracy protests in Tahrir Square, many Western observers are dismayed by the electoral success of the Muslim’s Brotherhood’s in Egypt. Dr. Tariq Ramadan, grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, joins us to talk about what the Brotherhood’s leadership means for the future of Egyptian democracy.

Thursday: A Peace Maker in Syria: In her memoir, The Bread of Angels, Stephanie Saldana wrote about an Italian Jesuit who restored a tenth century monastery near Damascus, and then dedicated it to Muslim/Christian dialogue. Father Paulo was recently forced into exile by the Assad regime, but he’s back. Stephanie joins us with an update.

Friday: The French Slow Cooker: Who knew that cooking Provençal vegetable soup, red-wine braised beef with mushrooms, chicken with forty cloves of garlic, and even bouillabaisse could be as easy as setting a timer and walking away? Lori Skelton talks with Michele Scicolone about recipes from her new cookbook, The French Slow Cooker.

Batten down the hatches, here comes Ol' Man Winter! Stay safe and warm!

Jean