What makes a writer a writer, and how can a great teacher influence the arc of a writer’s career? We’ll spend this hour with playwright, author, screenwriter, actor, director Doug Wright and Linda Raya, the Highland Park High School Fine Arts director and theatre teacher who instructed Doug when he was a student at the school. Doug Wright will deliver the keynote address at this weekend’s 15th annual Highland Park Literary Festival.
Read moreAmerican Women at the Dawn of the 1960s
How and where did the American women’s movement begin? We’ll look back at the mid-20th Century this hour and explore the lives of our mothers and grandmothers with Stephanie Coontz, Director of Research and Public Education at the Council on Contemporary Families. Her new book is “A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s” (Basic Books, 2011).
Read moreWomen for Women
What do women in developing and war-torn countries face as they try to build independent and better lives for their families and themselves? We’ll talk this hour with Zainab Salbi, former member of Saddam Hussein’s inner circle and founder of and president of Women for Women International. She’ll address the Global Outreach Forum and accept the Austin College Posey Leadership Award at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre tomorrow evening.
Read moreThe Illumination
What would happen if our injuries, suffering and sicknesses began to glow? The phenomenon is a key element in novelist Kevin Brockmeier’s latest book “The Illumination: A Novel” (Pantheon, 2011). Brockmeier, who speaks to the Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts & Letters Live series this Friday, will be our guest this hour.
Read moreGeopolitics in The Next Decade
How will the United States deal with Iran, China and other countries with growing geopolitical influence and how fast will those relationships change? We’ll talk this hour with George Friedman, president and CEO of STRATFOR – a private intelligence company. His new book is “The Next Decade: Where We’ve Been…and Where We’re Going” (Doubleday, 2011).
Read moreHow We Age
What does “old” really mean? We’ll explore the concept of aging this hour with someone who sees it every day – Marc E. Agronin, MD, adult and geriatric psychiatrist and Medical Director for Mental Health and Clinical Research at Miami Jewish Health Systems. His new book is “How We Age: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Growing Old” (DaCapo Life Long, 2011).
Read moreA Family's Tour of Duty
What’s it really like to wait for your loved one to return from military service overseas? What’s it like when they do return? We’ll talk this hour with writer Siobhan Fallon, whose husband did two tours of duty in Iraq himself. Her new collection of stories is called “You Know When the Men Are Gone” (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam , 2011).
Read moreAlexander the Great
Who was the real man behind the legendary conqueror Alexander the great? We’ll explore the achievements of the famous Macedonian king this hour with Philip Freeman, Qualley Professor of Classics at Luther College in Decorah, Illinois. Freeman’s new biography is “Alexander the Great” (Simon & Schuster).
Read moreThe Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
It’s hard to resist your young daughter’s request for the latest and greatest trendy must-haves, but what will be the ultimate effects of the ubiquitous commercialization of American girlhood? We’ll talk this hour with journalist Peggy Orenstein whose new book is “Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture” (Harper, 2011).
Read moreBhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth
Where can true happiness be found? Former Marketplace radio journalist Lisa Napoli discovered it halfway around the world in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. She’ll join us this hour to tell her story and discuss her new book “Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth” (Crown, 2011).
Read moreThe Future of Power
How is global power represented in the digital age and what strategies are developing nations and non-state entities using to gain power in our ever-more-connected world? We’ll talk this hour with Joseph S. Nye, Jr., University Distinguished Service Professor, former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and former Assistant Secretary of Defense. His new book is “The Future of Power” (Public Affairs, 2011).
Read moreCharting a Course to the Next Renaissance
Can the countries of the world join together to create the next golden age? Our guest this hour thinks so. We’ll talk to Parag Khanna, director of the Global Governance Initiative at the New America Foundation and author of the new book “How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance” (Random House, 2011). He speaks to the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth this evening.
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