Programs for the Week of 3/26

Former Here on Earth guest Bill Strickland will be in Wisconsin on April 16 and 17 as the keynote speaker at this year’s Fox Cities Book Festival in Menasha.  Bill is the author of Make the Impossible Possible, and president-CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation, helping the disadvantaged achieve a better future. Jean will also be at the festival, reading from the new edition of her award-winning memoir, I Hear Voices.

Tune into Here on Earth all this week for a reprieve from fundraising. Think of us as your oasis!

Jean’s Pick of the Week (watch video): Poetry Circle of the Air:

Monday: L is for Lion: Annie Lanzillotto has been a frequent guest on Here On Earth, delighting us with her songs, stories and poems. Annie’s memoir, L is for Lion: An Italian Bronx Butch Freedom Memoir, won’t be available until next fall, but I couldn’t leave WPR without a sneak preview.

Tuesday: The Saints Come Marching In: When I first contemplated producing a series on female leadership in the early church back in the eighties, scarcely anybody had ever heard of Hildegard of Bingen. But the news that Pope Benedict XVI will name her a Doctor of the Church this year– making her only the fourth woman to be so honored – gave me a reason to bring my award-winning series to Here on Earth during this last week of broadcasts. Women of Spirit had a huge impact on me, and when Barbara Newman, a world-class scholar who served as faculty advisor for the series agreed to revisit the series, I knew we were in for a treat. Plus, three of the original five programs in the series have been re-mastered as CD’s and will be made available as a pledge premium.

Wednesday: How a Global Nomad Becomes a Blake Scholar: Here on Earth has been following the hopscotch progress of Susanne Sklar, a pilgrim soul who spent twenty years travelling the world, working for peace and justice, before finally landing at Oxford where, against the odds, she earned a Ph.D. and became one of the foremost authorities on William Blake.

Thursday: Ten Years (Almost) of Here on Earth: Host Jean Feraca and technical wizard Joe Hardtke team up in a retrospective of the best of Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders, the pioneering global affairs program they created together.

Friday: Tips on How to Retire From a Classy Hobo: Luther the Jet, King of the Hoboes, hosts a final farewell party for Here on Earth with original song lyrics and tips on how to get the most out of the retirement years.

Well, as my old Bronx buddy Bugs Bunny used to say, “That’s all, Folks!”

A big hug to all of you,

Jean

Programs for the Week of 3/19

This week begins the countdown to my retirement and a Last Hurrah for Here on Earth. To mark the occasion, we’ve been given special permission to deviate slightly from the usual order of things. Instead of brand new shows, I will be bringing back some of my very favorite guests all through the rest of the month – people who have been my personal movers and shakers over the years. The Hit Parade begins this Wednesday with Parker Palmer, followed by Molly Peacock on Thursday with a special Poetry Circle of the Air. Be sure to check next week’s bulletin when the excitement will be building right up to the very last show.

Jean’s Pick of the Week: 'Crazy Daisy': What’s not to love in the story of “Crazy Daisy,” aka Juliette Gordon-Low, the intrepid early pioneer and feminist who founded the Girls Scouts and managed to transform it into an international movement before she died, cancer be damned. Fittingly, Juliette was buried in her scout uniform. Judging from so many callers who gave such ardent testimonials, her legacy lives on. What a joy. And shame on Bob Morris for attempting to tarnish the image of the Girl Scouts by falsely linking them with Planned Parenthood and abortion.

Monday: United World Colleges: An Experiment in International Secondary Education:: At United World Colleges in countries as diverse as Norway, Swaziland, India and the United States, high school students from all over the world learn together in unique classes that encourage global citizenship and international understanding. It’s a fifty year old educational experiment that is building a sustainable world culture, one student at a time.

Tuesday: Kids Solving World Problems: Global Youth Service Day is one month from today. Organized by YSU, Youth Service America, it recognizes young people, ages 5-25, in all four corners of the planet who are working to solve serious social and environmental problems 365 days of the year. I first learned about this organization and met Steve Culbertson, its dynamite leader, at last year’s Summit on Global Citizen Diplomacy, and got really enthused when I learned about some of the incredible things these kids are up to. Lots of inspiration here.

Wednesday: Parker Palmer: Here on Earth Guru: Throughout most of my many years on WPR, Parker has been my friend and mentor. I’ve learned so much from him, and his ideas have been crucial both to my own development and to my ideas about talk radio.

Thursday: The 2012 Spring Equinox Poetry Circle of the Air: For this very special last round-up poetry circle, Molly Peacock has chosen two poems by Emily Dickinson, the famous one that includes her inimitable advice on writing poetry, “tell the truth, but tell it slant,” and another one that Molly chose for its wisdom about what it takes to enter a new stage in life. Look for the poems on our website and be sure to bring your own choice of favorite poem of the season (not your own, please), to the circle.

Friday: The Country Cooking of Italy: For my last Food Friday, I have been utterly self-indulgent in choosing to talk about the kind of cooking that is nearest and dearest to my heart. Fortunately, most of the rest of the world seems to agree. Drawing on more than 40 years of experience traveling and eating in Italy, lucky guy, Colman Andrews explores every region, from Piedmont to Puglia, and discovers that even the most sophisticated dishes derive from simple, rustic fare.

This final note: The Spring Pledge Drive begins this week, but Here on Earth has been given a special dispensation. Our programs will continue as usual without interruption, so be sure to stay tuned! And thanks!

Jean

Programs for the Week of 3/12

Jean’s Pick of the Week: Afghan Women’s Writing Project: Being a writer myself, I was very moved by the stories that Afghan women tell about their lives, and the risks they take in doing so. Were it not for the efforts of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, these women would not only be hidden, they would be silenced.

Monday: Ancestral Roots; Ancestral Wisdom: Encountering the Indigenous Traditions of the Americas: This year’s annual interfaith retreat hosted by The Christine Center, a very special place deep in Wisconsin’s Amish country, features two seekers whose Christian faith has been enriched and deepened by their immersion in Native American spirituality.

Tuesday: U.S. State Partnerships and Citizen Diplomacy: Did you know that Wisconsin has a state partnership with Nicaragua that was started by a Wisconsin housewife over fifty years ago? Oklahoma is partnered with Azerbaijan; Hawaii with Indonesia; and Alaska with Mongolia. Wisconsin’s former Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton has been a long-time champion of our state partnerships. She joins us to talk about their role in advancing global cooperation and citizen diplomacy.

Wednesday: 'Crazy Daisy' and the Girl Scouts of the USA: One hundred years ago, Juliette Gordon Low, popularly known as "Crazy Daisy," founded the Girl Scouts, an organization she hoped would build strong, independent young women. To celebrate the organization's centennial, we speak with Stacy Cordery about her new biography of the Girl Scouts' intrepid founder.

Thursday: Islam and Democracy: The Arab Spring surprised many in the West who believed Islam is inherently incompatible with democracy. But the citizens of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya proved them wrong. Reza Aslan joins us once again for this last program in our Inside Islam series.

Friday: Cooking for Nelson Mandela: At 93, Nelson Mandela may be the most famous man in the world, but his tastes are simple. He is happiest with traditional isiXhosa food, which could be the key to his longevity, He loves his umngqusho (samp and beans), umleqwa (farm chicken), ulusu (tripe), amasi (sour milk)--dishes lovingly prepared for him by his chef of 20 years, Xoliswa Ndoyiya. Her new cookbook is a collection of the recipes Madiba (as Mandela is affectionately known across Africa) loves most. She joins us to share her love of cooking, recipes and anecdotes from Madiba’s daily life.

Jean

Programs for the Week of 3/5

We’re dedicating our programming all this week in honor of International Women’s Day, March 8th, this Thursday. Upcoming Event: I also have to say that I thought Green Islam with Cal De Wit and Anna Gade was one of the best programs to date in our three-year running series on Inside Islam, and a great prelude to our upcoming live event to be held this Tuesday, March 6, at the Pyle Center from 6:00 to 8:00pm. Anna M. Gade will keynote, and I’ll be moderating an interfaith panel representing four different faith traditions.

Jean’s Pick of the Week (watch video): Green Faith: I’m a bit torn this week because I’m strongly drawn to Panther Baby, our show last Tuesday featuring former Black Panther leader Jamal Joseph, which was such a classic Here on Earth story of redemption. But I simply have to give 5 stars to our interfaith conversation on Green Faith, Wednesday’s show exploring the connection between faith and eco-consciousness with Evangelical environmental activist Cal DeWitt and the amazing Islamic scholar Anna M. Gade, surely one of our best Inside Islam shows ever. Very dense, very illuminating, and a great prelude to our culminating Inside Islam live event coming up next Tuesday evening at the Pyle Center when I’ll be moderating a panel of faith-based environment activists. It’s free and open to the public and I hope to see many of you there!

Monday: Can something as simple as ringing the doorbell stop domestic violence?: Bell Bajao, which means Ring the Bell in Hindi, one of the projects of Breakthrough, a human rights group that operates in both India and the US, is an award winning media campaign promoting public awareness of domestic violence in India. Its simple message: you can stop violence by just ringing the doorbell. Bell Bajao is now in Vietnam, China and Canada.

Tuesday: The Afghan Women Writers Project: In a country where women have been told their stories do not matter, and have been threatened for telling them, women still muster the courage to write about themselves, even at the risk of severe punishment. The Afghan Women Writers Project is a US based organization dedicated to bringing their stories to light.

Wednesday: Update on the Worldwide Status of Women: Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress and formulate policies to promote gender equality and women's empowerment worldwide. The 56th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women is taking place all this week. We talk with three participants in this year’s conference.

Thursday: From the Frontlines of Hunger: The World Food Program: Every year, the United Nations’ World Food Program feeds over 90 million people worldwide. From Darfur to Haiti, Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, when disaster strikes, they are the first ones in, and the last ones out. Bettina Luescher, WFP’s chief spokesperson, joins us to talk about the global fight against hunger. This program is part of Ms. Luescher’s two-day visit to UW-Madison

Friday: The Food of Morocco: Standing at the crossroads of Europe and Africa, Moroccan food is a mouthwatering blend of spice and color, flavor and texture. From Berber skillet bread and spiced harira to lamb stuffed with couscous and dates, James Beard Award-winning author, Paula Wolfert, takes us on a culinary journey across the Moroccan foodscape.

March 1 is the first day of the last month of Here on Earth. We have some very special programming planned throughout the month. Keep checking the bulletin for updates. Almost time to start blowing kisses!

Jean