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Van Living
Tuesday, February 02 2010
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Van Living
Ken Ilgunas
College is more expensive than ever these days, across the country. Ken Ilgunas took on enormous debt as an undergraduate, then worked non-stop to pay it off. When he decided to go to grad school, Ken swore he wouldn't take a penny from anyone, not his parents or the bank. So he's living in a van in a campus parking lot, cooking meals on a camping stove, and bathing at the university gym. Ken talks to Dick Gordon about the very high cost of higher education and his adventures in austere living, past and present.
- See pictures of Dick touring Ken's van
- Read Ken's article in Salon
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Finding the Sweet Spot
Jackie Green
The bad economy has forced many people to take jobs they never thought they'd take - and others into jobs they never knew they wanted. Jackie Green had a college degree and made good money as a manufacturing manager when she was laid off. With no job prospect in sight, she resorted to going to the local food bank. But just when Jackie had sunk as low as she thought she could go, she had a realization: "go back to what you know." Jackie spent her childhood perfecting biscuits and pies under her grandmother's watchful eye. She's now started her own baking business called Sweet Cheeks Bakery. Jackie talks to Dick about this unexpected turn of events, and the secret to her special buttermilk pie.
- Learn more about Jackie's bakery
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The First Sit-In
Monday, February 01 2010
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The First Sit-In
Jean Howard
Fifty years ago today, on February 1, 1960, a sit-in staged by four local college boys at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. captured the attention of the country. Jean Howard was in high school when her older brother Jibreel Khazan and his friends decided they'd had enough of white-only establishments. Jean wanted to join in, but organizers didn't allow high school students to skip class or take those kinds of risks. Once she got to college though, Jean took up her brother's cause - protesting, marching, and sitting in for civil rights. Jean talks to Dick Gordon about growing up in segregated Greensboro, witnessing the birth of a movement, and how her brother, and parents, helped her take a stand.Â
- Learn more about the documentary February One
- Learn more about The International Civil Rights Center & Museum
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The battle for F Street
Trish Geran had just finished her work as a volunteer in the Obama campaign when she realized she had a fight on her hands in her own hometown. Trish grew up on the west side of Las Vegas, a mostly black neighborhood. As part of a larger development, the city had cut off F Street, the major thoroughfare between the west side and downtown. Trish decided to confront the city to re-open the street. As she tells Dick, it looks like she's won that battle.
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UPDATE: HEALTH IN HAITI
Delson Merisier's flattened home
In the spring, we spoke with David Walmer, a doctor in North Carolina, and Delson Merisier, a doctor in Haiti, about the work they were doing together to improve women's health. When the earthquake struck, Delson's home in Leogane was flattened. The second-floor of the clinic collapsed. Delson had just delivered a baby. He talks with Dick about the tough decisions he's made about his family, and how he hopes to help his community recover.
- See pictures of Delson's house
- Learn more about Delson and David's organization, Family Health Ministries
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Home Away from Haiti
Friday, January 29 2010
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Home Away From Haiti
Darline Blanchard Williams (top) and her adopted parents, Rebecca and Jerry (bottom)
Last week, Haitian teenager Darline Blanchard Williams arrived in Florida to live with her adoptive parents. Darline says she thinks she survived the quake because she'd attended a funeral instead of school that day - her school collapsed. Also joining the conversation is her adoptive mother Rebecca Williams. Dick Gordon talks to them both about how they managed to get Darline out of Haiti and into the U.S. - and how Darline is adjusting.
- Learn more about Rebecca's organization, Promised Provision
- See photos of Darline and Rebecca
- Follow efforts in Haiti to care for infants
- Music in this story: Jou a rive performed by Boukan Ginen for the album Jou a rive
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Hot Drums
Kip McCabe
Kip McCabe is the drummer for the Chicago indie rock band Dianogah. A few years back, he and his band mates had just come home from touring. They were too lazy to unload their van, so they left their gear in the back for a couple of weeks. It was all locked up in a big wooden box, so they weren't too worried. Sure enough, thieves broke in and stole Kip's drum set. When he called the Chicago police to report the crime, they refused to investigate. Angry, and needing his drums back for gigs, Kip got on the case, and tracked down the thieves. He talks to Dick about doing the cops' job for them, and meeting the guys who stole his stuff, face-to-face.
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Remembering Salinger
J.D. Salinger
The author J.D. Salinger died this week at 91. Jim Sadwith is one of the lucky few who got to talk to the reclusive author of "The Catcher in the Rye." Jim was taken with the book in high school and wanted permission from the author to perform it as a play. Salinger said no, but as Jim tells Dick, that taught him an important lesson. This story originally aired on July 9, 2009.
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Preparing for War
Thursday, January 28 2010
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Preparing FOR WAR
Sir Christopher Meyer
Tomorrow, Tony Blair is set to speak to Britain's Iraq Inquiry, which has been set up to review Britain's policies before and after the war. Sir Christopher Meyer will likely be following the hearing intently. He was the U.K.'s Ambassador to the U.S. when planes slammed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. As Ambassador, Sir Christopher played a crucial role during the chaotic events leading to the invasion of Afghanistan. Even more difficult was the behind-the-scenes navigation between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as America rapidly shifted its focus to Iraq. Sir Christopher shares his unique perspective, and talks about England's current public hearings into the run-up to that war.
- Find out more about Sir Christopher Meyer's book
- Watch the live feed from The Iraq Inquiry
- Learn more about the book Sir Christopher Meyer referenced
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Miracle on Ice
Jerry McGovern
The
2010 Winter Olympic games are a couple of weeks away. For Jerry McGovern, it's a chance to look back at one very memorable time - the 1980 games in
Lake Placid.
Jerry wasn't an athlete in Lake Placid. He was a chauffeur for the
VIPs attending the games. One day Jerry picked up a man who made the staggering prediction of a gold medal for the underdog U.S. hockey team over the dominant Soviets. The prediction was all the more unbelievable because the man was from the USSR.
Jerry talks with Dick about what he saw in the "Miracle on Ice" hockey game, and how that memorable conversation changed the way he looked at the Cold War.
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Haiti Partners
Wednesday, January 27 2010
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Haiti Partners
Kent Annan
When Kent Annan heard about the earthquake in Haiti, he immediately began making plans to go there. As co-director of the organization Haiti Partners, he’s invested years in improving education there. Kent talks with Dick Gordon about what he saw once he landed on the ground. In just one overnight trip, Kent managed to see and interview some of his closest friends and contacts. We’ll listen to some of those interviews. Kent’s Haitian friends say they’re sleeping outside, counting their blessings, worrying about their sick kids, and wondering how Haiti will ever recover. Â
- Learn more about Haiti Partners
- Learn about Kent's book - all proceeds benefit Haiti
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Auschwitz Forgiven
Eva Kor
Today is the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. It has become known as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Eva Kor is at the camp in Poland today with a group of teachers, students, and others. Eva was one of the twins who survived the experiments of Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele at Auschwitz. For years she was filled with anger and hatred over her ordeal. But meeting a Nazi doctor changed everything. She forgave that man, and even forgave Dr. Mengele. But her decision doesn’t sit well with some Holocaust survivors. Eva talks with Dick about her experiences during the Holocaust and how forgiveness changed her life.
- Find out more about Eva and The Forgiveness Project
- Music in this story: Schindler's List by John Williams from the album The Ultimate Guitar Collection; I Could Have Done More (Schindler's List) performed by the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic for the album As Time Goes By
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Grief and Hope in Haiti
Tuesday, January 26 2010
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Grief and Hope in Haiti
Yolette Etienne, photo: Carolyn Gluck, Oxfam - larger >>
One of the main worries in Haiti now is health and sanitation. One agency that works directly on those issues is Oxfam. Yolette Etienne is Haiti's country director for Oxfam. She has been working long hours just to make the places around the tents clean. At the same time Yolette is dealing with her own tragedies. Her mother was killed, her house was destroyed, and now she's responsible for two orphans. Yolette joins Dick Gordon to talk about the realities of living and working in Haiti after the quake.
- Learn more about Oxfam
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Out from the Fire
Robert Leffer - larger >>
One year ago today, trucker Robert Leffer was in his big rig carrying cargo down Interstate 40 in North Carolina. In the late evening darkness Robert suddenly saw a disabled car, with no lights on, right in front of him. Robert's truck careened off the road into a fiery crash that left Robert severely burned. Robert talks with Dick about his remarkable recovery, and the cherished moments with his toddler son that give him hope.
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Lessons from the Rubble
Claude Jeudy, photo: Habitat for Humanity International
Aid agencies are gathering this week to talk about what's next after the earthquake in Haiti. Claude Jeudy has a few ideas. He's Haiti's director of Habitat for Humanity, an organization that prides itself on providing safe and affordable housing. Claude tells Dick that once he saw all the crumbled homes in Port au Prince, he knew it was time to convince fellow Haitians to change the way they build their homes.
- Learn more about Habitat for Humanity
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