After a century of support, the Dallas Morning News Editorial Board reversed its position on the death penalty this week. What factors influenced the reversal and what role does an editorial board play in shaping public opinion on crime and punishment? We’ll discuss the decision this hour with Keven Ann Willey, Dallas Morning News Editorial Page Editor.
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How will yesterday’s tragic Virginia Tech shootings affect your family and children? We’ll talk this hour with Dr. Peter Stavinoha, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, about how parents can help their children cope with fears and anxieties that result from the shootings.
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How did the organic food business get started and is it becoming a reflection of the industrial food system it was created to replace? We’ll explore the topic this hour with Journalist Samuel Fromartz, author of “Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew” (Harcourt, 2006) which is now out in paperback.
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What does it take to be a successful chef? The Dallas Wine and Food Festival’s Rising Stars Chefs’ Contest answers that question every year by recognizing “up-and-coming” chefs who are particularly skilled at pairing wine and food. We’ll spend this hour talking about food, wine and the thrill of competition with this year’s winners – Juliard Ishizuka of Fuse, Ke’o Velasquez of Ferre Ristorante e Bar, Robbie Lewis of Salum, and Rachel Jeske of Culpepper.
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What’s going on in Washington and how does it affect the lives of North Texans? This evening, we’ll talk with 30th District Representative, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson about bridging the local-national gap. Fort Worth Museum of Science and History President Van A. Romans will join us in the Scene segment to discuss plans for a new museum facility which were unveiled earlier this week.
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What happens when a young man is accused and convicted of a brutal rape and murder that he didn’t commit just because he is black? 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. We’ll spend this hour with Hunt and his attorney S. Mark Rabil, both of whom are featured in a new HBO documentary “The Trials of Darryl Hunt.”
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Who is the Dalai Lama? He’s a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile, and spiritual leader of millions. We’ll spend this hour with journalist Mayank Chhaya, author of the first authorized biography of the Dalai Lama by a non-Buddhist. The book is “Dalai Lama: Man, Monk, Mystic” (Doubleday, 2007).
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Are class conflicts within the African American Community changing the nature of racial solidarity? We’ll explore the issue this hour with Mary Pattillo, professor of sociology and African American studies at Northwestern University. Her new book is “Black on the Block: The Politics of Race and Class in the City” (University of Chicago Press, 2007).
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Is the drought over? Not by a long shot according to the Texas Observer. This hour we’ll discuss how the drought is affecting rural Texas and what legislators are doing about it with David Pasztor, Managing Editor of the Texas Observer which has a package of drought-related stories in the current issue.
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We’ve all heard of or even visited the Smithsonian. But how did the institution that houses our nation’s treasures come to be? This hour, we’ll learn how the 18th Century bequest of an Englishman who never visited America led to the founding of the institution in 1846. Our guest is Heather Ewing, author of “The Lost World of James Smithson: Science, Revolution and the Birth of the Smithsonian” (Bloomsbury USA, 2007).
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Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its decision not to regulate greenhouse gases under the federal Clean Air Act. What does the decision mean for businesses and citizens? We’ll discuss the ruling this hour with Scott Deatherage, a partner in the Environmental Law Practice Group at Thompson and Knight, L.L.P, H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., a Senior Fellow for the National Center for Policy Analysis, and Tim Greeff of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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Think the American Dream is dead? Don’t tell that to U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel. Rangel, now Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, dropped out of high school to join the military, was wounded in Korea in 1950, and has served an impressive 18 terms as a U.S. Congressman. He tells the story in a new memoir “And I Haven’t Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress” (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007). We’ll spend this hour with Congressman Charles B. Rangel.
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