Are we responsible for making the world a better place for animals or are animals here for humans to use as we see fit for food, clothing and entertainment? We’ll discuss these questions and more this hour with Ingrid Newkirk, president and founder of PETA and author of the new book “The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights: Simple Acts of Kindness to Help Animals in Trouble” (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2009).
Read more
According to the United Nation’s World Food Program, 25,000 adults and children die every day from hunger and hunger-related causes. How can the world’s rich help solve this problem? We’ll talk this hour with Frederick Kaufman, whose piece “Let Them Eat Cash: Can Bill Gates Turn Hunger into Profit?” appears in the current issue of Harper’s Magazine.
Read more
Do you know someone who’s hungry? We’ll explore the growing issue of domestic hunger this hour with Joel Berg, a former Clinton Administration food security official and current head of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. His recent book is “All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?” (Seven Stories, 2008).
Read more
Why does some literature seem better when read aloud? That’s the question that Selected Shorts has been answering for almost twenty years on the stage and nationwide on public radio. We’ll spend this hour with Isaiah Sheffer, a founder and artistic director of Symphony Space in New York City, and director of Selected Shorts. Sheffer will read tonight as part of Arts and Letters Live’s “Texas Bound from Broadway: Food Fictions” event at the Dallas Theater Center. Selected Shorts airs on KERA 90.1 on Saturdays at 7pm.
Read more
What really goes on in the halls of the United Nations? We’ll explore those halls this hour with journalist Michael Soussan who worked for the (now known to be corrupt) U.N. Oil-for-Food program in the late 1990s. His new book about the experience is “Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy” (Nation Books, 2008).
Read more
Is the world’s food supply stable? Will humanity be able to produce enough to feed itself in the future? The answers may lie in the research of a Stalin-era Soviet botanist. We’ll spend this hour with Gary Paul Nabhan, whose new book is “Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine” (Island Press, 2008).
Read more
What’s new in the kitchen of your favorite restaurant? Perhaps it’s one of this hour’s guests. We’ll talk with Lan Nickens, Omar Flores, Jeremy Neilson, and Christopher Alford – all winners of the Dallas Wine and Food Festival’s 2008 Rising Stars Chefs Competition.
Read more
What’s for dinner? It’s an age-old question. But if you want to know what people were eating in late 11th Century England, you can consult the Bayeux Tapestry or turn to Yale History Professor Paul Freedman. He’s the editor of the impressively comprehensive volume “Food: The History of Taste” (University of California Press, 2007). Freedman will join us this hour.
Read more
Do you take your cheese for granted? You shouldn’t. Cheese is an ancient food, with origins that actually pre-date recorded history. We’ll talk about the more recent history of cheese this hour with three successful local cheese makers. Tonia Ashworth of Chateau de Fromage, Deborah Rogers of Deborah’s Farmstead Goat Cheese, and Paula Lambert of Mozzarella Company will participate with other cheese makers in Slow Food Dallas’ “Texas Cheese Plate” event this evening. We’ll get a preview this hour.
Read more
We’ve all heard about programs that help people in developing countries around the world – from food and housing relief to micro-lending. This hour we’ll talk about programs that make a difference right here in North Texas with Larry James, President and CEO of Central Dallas Ministries and Anthony Pace, Executive Director of The Plan Fund.
Read more
Southern Methodist University officials are confident that the George W. Bush Presidential Library will have a home on the SMU campus. Some faculty members, however, are concerned about the library and the policy institute that would accompany it. In our first segment we’ll discuss the issue with Professor James F. Hollifield, director of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and Professor Kathleen A. Wellman Professor of History at SMU’s Dedman College. D Magazine Food and Travel Editor Nancy Nichols will join us in the Scene segment to discuss current food trends in North Texas.
Read more
There’s probably one in your freezer right now. And even if you’re not cooking one this week, chances are good that you’ll tuck in to a plate of turkey this Thanksgiving holiday. But what do we know of the history of the turkey – a bird that once competed with the bald eagle as America’s national symbol? We’ll spend this hour with food historian Andrew F. Smith, editor-in-chief of the “Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America,” and one of our favorite guests. Smith’s latest book is “The Turkey: An American Story” (University of Illinois Press, 2006). The Turkey: An American Story (University of Illinois Press, 2006)
Read more