The legacy of slavery left behind many complicated stories, relationships and places – including unmarked cemeteries. While researching her family history, author and activist China Galland uncovered such a cemetery in East Texas. We’ll explore slavery’s difficult history and the paths to reconciliation this hour with Galland, whose new book is “Love Cemetery: Unburying the Secret History of Slaves” (HarperOne, 2007).
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When did American Cuisine begin and where is it headed? Ask Andrew F. Smith. He’s written about turkeys, popcorn, ketchup, and junk food. He serves as the Chair of The Culinary Trust and teaches culinary history at the New School in Manhattan. He’s the editor of the “Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America” and the brand new “Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink” (Oxford, 2007). Smith is in town to teach a class called “A Taste of America’s New Culinary Revolution” at the Dallas Central Market location this evening. He’ll be our guest this hour.
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Do you love your neighborhood? Consider yourself lucky. As society becomes more centered on the individual, many worry that neighborhoods are becoming less… well neighborly. Jay Walljasper, Senior Fellow of the Project for Public Spaces, hopes to reverse that trend. He’ll join us this hour to discuss “The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking” (New Society Publishers, 2007).
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Is the military running short on doctors in Iraq and Afghanistan? According to Mother Jones Magazine, the U.S. Army has only 4,200 physicians on active duty worldwide. We’ll spend this hour with Dr. Kevin Patterson, an emergency room doctor who put himself through medical school by serving in the Canadian Army. Patterson’s article on his experiences in Afghanistan, “Talk to Me Like My Father,” appears in the current issue of Mother Jones.
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Remember the Alamo? Of course you do. But what about Goliad? Just weeks after the more famous battle in present-day downtown San Antonio, Goliad marked the deaths of more than 340 Texans and the nadir in the struggle for independence from Mexico. We’ll revisit the battles this hour with William R. Bradle, author of “Goliad: The Other Alamo” (Pelican, 2007).
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What would you do to celebrate the end of your single years? Throw yourself a bachelor or bachelorette party? Go skydiving? Not so for Josh Wolk. To celebrate his transition to the married life, Josh decided to go back to summer camp as a counselor. We’ll spend this hour with Wolk, whose new book is “Cabin Pressure: One Man’s Desperate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor” (Hyperion, 2007).
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How are art and war related? During World War II, the Nazi’s looted European art treasures by the thousands. Author and film producer Robert M. Edsel tells the story of this theft and the subsequent Allied recovery in his book “Rescuing Da Vinci” (Laurel, 2006) and the documentary film “The Rape of Europa.” We’ll talk with Edsel this evening.Sam Dean, Director of Special Projects at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will join us in the Scene segment to discuss “STAR WARS: Where Science Meets Imagination” – on display until September 3rd.
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How does the current immigration debate in North Texas compare with the climate in the early 20th Century? We’ll spend the hour with Michael Phillips, author of “White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001” (University of Texas Press). Phillips will deliver the talk “Less Desirable People: Racism and the Politics of Immigration” at the First Unitarian Church in Dallas on July 8.
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Last month the U.S. Federal Claims Court began hearings concerning alleged links between vaccines and autism. How can vaccination, a procedure that has saved millions of lives be so controversial? We’ll discuss the case and the history of vaccination with Slate’s “Risk” columnist Arthur Allen, who explores the subject in his recent book “VACCINE: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver” (Norton, 2007).
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From the archives: Should countries spy on each other? Should our government spy on us? We examined the spy game, its benefits and detriments in May with James M. Olson. Olson teaches at Texas AandM University, but before that he served as the chief of CIA counterintelligence at CIA headquarters. He’s also served overseas in Moscow, Vienna, and Mexico City. Olson was in town to speak at the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth, but we were able to discuss the state of espionage today and his book “Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying” (Potomac Books, 2006) while he was here.
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From the archives: What happens when a young man is accused and convicted of a brutal rape and murder that he didn’t commit? It happened to Darryl Hunt in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1984. Hunt spent 10 years in prison before DNA testing exonerated him of the rape. He spent another 10 years in jail before finally winning his release in 2004. Hunt and his attorney S. Mark Rabill are both featured in a recent HBO documentary “The Trials of Darryl Hunt.” They were our guests in April.
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From the archives: We often think of ourselves as the pinnacle of life on the planet. But the largest and tallest living organisms are very different from us. They’re the magnificent coastal redwoods of Northern California. Author Richard Preston was our guest in May. He profiles the trees, their explorers and the lost ecosystems they inhabit and foster among their branches in his book “The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring” (Random House, 2007).
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