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The Story with Dick Gordon brings the news home - through passionate points of view and personal experiences. The program brings together ordinary and extraordinary people to provide perspective on the issues which affect us all. Our goal is to inspire conversation, thinking and understanding. Produced at North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC.
Dance Lessons from Michael
Friday, July 03 2009
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Dance lessons from Michael
Joanne Spencer
Joanne Spencer was a budding dancer when she first heard the music of Michael Jackson. She became obsessed with watching his videos and concerts on TV and soon became a master Michael Jackson mimic. Her exposure to his new dance moves prompted her to take her dancing to the next level. Joanne went on to become a successful professional dancer.
But it wasn't until Joanne stood her kitchen listening to the first news about Jackson's death that she realized the profound effect that the King of Pop had on her life. Joanne talks to Dick Gordon about finding herself through the music of Michael Jackson, and how she's now sharing that music with her kids.
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A New Life at Home Plate
Robin Wadsworth
Robin Wadsworth has always had baseball on her mind. At 12, she became a star pitcher - on a boys team. After graduating college, she felt the call to the baseball diamond again, and worked on a minor league team before she was lured away by the call of big business.
Recently, Robin returned to baseball as the CEO of a small collegiate team. She thought she was building on a winning formula, but soon hit economic problems and decided to move the team to another state. That taught her more than she'd ever known about the role of baseball in American communities. She talks with Dick about pulling up roots and setting them down again and in the process, re-learning the glory of the game.
- Learn more about Robin's team
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Two Teachers, One Out of Work
Thursday, July 02 2009
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Two Teachers, One OUT OF WORK
Connie and Steve Rice
Connie and Steve Rice relocated from Southern California to work as teachers in Oregon. Both have years of experience, and they enjoyed their classrooms in Oregon. But the national budget woes have hit schools hard. First Connie was laid off, then Steve. Dick Gordon talks with both Connie and Steve about how the lack of job stability for teaching has affected their lives, and about how they heard the welcome news that Steve would be rehired.
SUMMER JOB SERIES: selling TIME SHAREs
Eileen Powers >>More
Eileen Powers has been listening to our series of summer jobs and she decided to write in and tell us about hers. One hot June night in 1988, Eileen and a friend decided there had to be more to summer than sitting at home in New York City watching QVC. So they hopped in the car and headed to Cape Cod. After days of trolling for jobs at every restaurant and hotel they knew, the two girls saw an ad in the newspaper for "tour guides." Eileen ended up selling questionable time shares. She talks with Dick about why that summer job is one she'll never forget.
- Music in this story: "Old Cape Cod" performed by Lauren Silverstein for the album "Something Blue: Fingerstyle Guitar and More"
The Hubble Repairman
Wednesday, July 01 2009
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THE HUBBLE REPAIRMAN
John Grunsfeld
John Grunsfeld is an astronaut who just completed his fifth mission into space. He blasted off earlier this year aboard the Shuttle Atlantis to fix the ailing Hubble Telescope. A key part of the mission involved a space walk to tend to some delicate repairs to the telescope. The work was intricate and detailed: one mistake and the astronauts could put themselves and their team in jeopardy.
John joins Dick Gordon to discuss his thoughts on this, perhaps his last, space mission.
MY DUTCH GRAndPA
Lesley Bevan left her home in Chicago to live as an exchange student in the Netherlands. Lesley was very excited about this journey. But she became bored and lonely. Then one day she met an elderly man who showed her some sights in a nearby town. Pierre Pyttee became a surrogate grandpa. Years later, Lesley had a chance to repay Pierre's kindness.
Contact UsRemembering a Revolution
Tuesday, June 30 2009
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REMEMBERING A REVOLUTION
Wolfgang Kleinwachter
People around the world have watched and speculated about the street protests in Iran. The images have been particularly interesting for Wolfgang Kleinwachter. He was a part of the crowd in East Germany in October 1989, when protests helped lead to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.Â
Wolfgang remembers that, early on, the St. Nikolai Church in downtown Leipzig opened its doors to reform-minded groups. The regular Monday night meetings grew over the years, and one night in October 1989, a mass march poured from the church out into the streets, the beginning of the end of the communist government. Wolfgang himself took political and professional risks to attend the church meetings, and he marched in the famous Candlelight Revolution that October evening. He joins Dick Gordon from Germany to recount those radical days almost 20 years ago, and the parallels he sees with the young people who took to the streets in Iran.
Meeting at the airport
Julio and Pat Halty
Pat and Julio Halty have been married 22 years - but they almost lost one another.
They first met when Pat was vacationing on the island of Mallorca where Julio was working as a waiter. The two began a romance, but Pat ended up leaving to continue her travels. Both wondered if they'd ever meet again. They tell Dick about what kept them looking for one another and the moment that has become a well-loved story in their family - when they found one another at London Gatwick Airport.
- Music in this story: Caro Mio Ben G. Giordani performed by Franco Morone for the album Italian Fingerstyle Guitar
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Patents on the Body
Monday, June 29 2009
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Patents on the Body
Genae Girard
When Genae Girard was diagnosed with breast cancer at 36, her doctors recommended she get tested for two genes that relate to an elevated risk of breast and ovarian cancer - BRCA1 and BRCA2. That's when Genae found out only one company could test for the mutation: Myriad Genetics. Myriad holds the patent on those two genes, along with the gene test. After she tested positive, Genae had to make the difficult decision about having her breasts and healthy ovaries removed, without a second opinion.
Genae and other women have now signed on to a federal lawsuit to get these patents reversed. They say no company has the right to have a patent over human genes.Â
- Read Myriad's description of its test
in tribute
Rashod Ollison
Rashod Ollison was 6 years old when Michael Jackson's Thriller came out. He'll never forget the day his mom brought the album home. He and his sisters played it on a special record player that sprayed rainbow lights across the walls and brought joy into their house. Rashod says the album helped him get over his sadness about his parents' divorce and turned him, temporarily, into a star at school. Rashod grew up and became a music critic. Today, after Jackson's death, we share an excerpt of that interview.
- Hear the complete interview with Rashod
Color War General
Sarah Sobel >>More
Many families have packed off the kids to camp this summer. Sarah Sobel is heading to camp again this year, but this time she'll be a counselor at the weight-loss camp she attended as a camper. Sarah chose to attend the camp thinking that she would simply lose some weight. But after a couple of tough weeks, she was chosen to be one of two "generals" in the camp's annual color war. That moment made Sarah see herself in a new light.
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A Very Long Road to Florence
Friday, June 26 2009
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A VERY LONG ROAD TO FLORENCE
Jason Arkles
Jason Arkles was an accomplished puppeteer in the States. When he didn’t get into a special training program in France, he decided to go to Europe anyways. While there, he became enchanted by a beautiful woman named Ana. Jason joined Ana’s troupe of street performers. In fact, he sold all his worldly possessions to follow her.
The street performing was so bad that Jason was soon digging in Parisian dumpsters for food, but perhaps divine intervention was playing a hand. It was this gaggle of odd-balls that lead Jason to his true calling as a sculptor - and a dream job in Florence that he holds to this day. Sometimes, it seems, you need to get lost to figure out exactly where you’re going.
- Check out Jason's sculpture site
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The Ultimate Test
John Kernell
John Kernell has heard the story series we call “your story" and wrote in with his. When John was young, he says he almost washed out of Naval Air Training because “I kept screwing up.” But the Navy gave him a mentor to settle his nerves. And one day he got the ultimate test: his plane came under attack. He joins Dick Gordon to tell how he faced up under pressure.Contact Us
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