We probably all know someone who has used assisted reproductive technology to have a child. According to journalist Liza Mundy, rising infertility rates and the reliance on technology to conceive are changing our conceptions of the American family. We’ll examine the changing reproductive landscape this hour with Mundy, whose new book is “Everything Conceivable: How Assisted Reproduction is Changing Men, Women, and the World” (Knopf, 2007).
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There have been many comparisons of the current conflict in Iraq with America’s Vietnam adventure which ended officially almost 32 years ago. But how do the experiences differ for the soldiers? Dr. Charles Moskos, professor emeritus of sociology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, is one of the foremost military sociologists in the world. He’ll deliver the talk “American Soldiers in Vietnam and Iraq, What is Different? What is the Same?” at TWU tomorrow morning. We’ll get a preview this hour.
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Children’s Medical Center Dallas and the Coalition for North Texas Children recently released “Beyond ABC: Growing Up in Dallas County,” a 15-year comprehensive analysis of 58 indicators that measure the well-being of the more than 675,000 children in Dallas County in relation to health, education, safety and security. We’ll discuss the report this hour with Julia Easley, Executive Director of the Coalition for North Texas Children and director of advocacy for Children’s Medical Center.
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Imagine being banished along with your entire community to a veritable wasteland 1200 miles away from home. It happened to sixteen Inuit families from Hudson Bay in 1953 when the Canadian Government moved them to barren and frozen Ellesmere Island. We’ll hear their story this hour with Melanie McGrath, author of “The Long Exile: A Tale of Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic” (Knopf, 2007).
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Do African Americans and Native Americans share a similar experience? We’ll spend this hour with Dr. Tiya Alicia Miles, Assistant Professor of American Culture, Afroamerican and African Studies, and Native American Studies at the University of Michigan. Dr. Miles will receive the Hiett Prize from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture at the Dallas Museum of Art tonight.
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Is the United States of America still a worthy nation? In spite of rancor between the political parties and divisive foreign and domestic policies, Senator Bill Bradley thinks so. We’ll explore his vision of the common good as laid out in his new book “The New American Story” (Random House, 2007).
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We often think of ourselves as the masters of the natural world. However, according to Princeton Professor James R. Gould and science writer Carol Grant Gould, the dwelling constructions of animals point to a level of cognition beyond instinct and perhaps even a concept of beauty. We’ll examine the animal mind this hour with James R. Gould, co-author of “Animal Architects: Building and the Evolution of Intelligence” (Basic Books, 2007).
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What does it take to be happy? For 74-year-old David Pearlman, A.K.A. Poppa Neutrino, the essentials of happiness are Freedom, Joy and Art. In addition to philosophy and many other pursuits, Neutrino has dedicated his life to making rafts out of garbage – one of which he used to cross the Atlantic Ocean We’ll talk this hour with Neutrino and his biographer Alec Wilkinson whose new book is “The Happiest Man in the World: An Account of the Life of Poppa Neutrino” (Random House, 2007).
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Is living the good life a justifiable pursuit? Should we concern ourselves with others before we consider our own wants and comforts? Jean Kazez, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at SMU will deliver the lecture “How Good Do We Have To Be?” to the Dallas Philosopher’s Forum tomorrow evening. We’ll get a preview this hour and discuss her new book “The Weight of Things: Philosophy and the Good Life” (Blackwell Publishing, 2007).
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What role will scientific and technological research play in the future of North Texas? This evening, we’ll talk with Dr. David Daniel, President of the University of Texas at Dallas about the university’s new Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Laboratory and what it means for the region. Darren Woods, General Director of the Fort Worth Opera will join us in the Scene segment to discuss the Opera’s 60th Anniversary and transition from a season format to a 3 week festival from May 19th through June 10th.
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Wait. Before you hit “send” – ask yourself if you really want someone to read that email. We’ll explore the relatively new world of email etiquette this hour with David Shipley, deputy editorial page editor and Op-Ed page editor of The New York Times and co-author of “Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home” (Knopf, 2007).
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Do women approach philanthropy differently than men? Should they? The Dallas Women’s Foundation will host the Third Annual Power of the Purse Philanthropy Forum on April 25th. We’ll get a preview this hour with Becky Sykes, Executive Director of the Foundation, Dodee Crockett of Merrill Lynch, and Robbie Raphael, Board President of the Dallas Women’s Foundation.
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