A Year Inside the Nation's Most Exclusive Police Unit

We’ve all seen them on the news – Kevlar-clad members of the bomb squad, investigating and exploding suspicious packages. But what is it like to serve on the squad and how do its members deal with the extraordinary pressures they face? Journalist Richard Esposito will take us behind the scenes of the 33-member New York Police Bomb Squad this hour. He’ll join us to discuss the new book he wrote with Ted Gerstein, “BOMB SQUAD: A Year Inside the Nation’s Most Exclusive Police Unit” (Hyperion, 2007).

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Texas Cheese Plate

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.

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The Newspaper Today

How does a newspaper editor manage and meet the challenges of today’s ever-changing media environment? We’ll find out tonight with Bob Mong, Editor of The Dallas Morning News.Michael Cain, CEO and Artistic Director of the AFI DALLAS International Film Festival, joins us in the Scene segment to preview the festival.

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All the Presidents' Pastries

Everyone likes good desserts. But when you’re the President of the United States you get really, really good desserts. We’ll spend this hour with Chef Roland Mesnier, who served for 25 years as the White House Pastry Chef. His new memoir is “All the Presidents’ Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House” (Flammarion, 2007).

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The Future of Cars and The Dallas Auto Show

Considering a new car? The Dallas Auto Show runs this week at the Dallas Convention Center. The 550,000 square feet of new cars, trucks and SUVs will be on display until Sunday, March, 18th. We’ll get a round-up of what’s new, what’s hot and what’s not this hour with David Boldt freelance automotive writer, and contributor to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, KBB.com, Edmunds.com and American Driver.

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The Middle East and other Global Hotspots

How do others view the international issues of our time? From Iraq and Afghanistan to Global Warming and humanitarian outreach, it pays to remember that the individual American’s view is not the only view. We’ll get a couple of different perspectives this hour with Bruce Feiler, author of “Where God Was Born” in the first part of the hour, and with His Excellency Sir Emyr Jones Parry, KCMG – Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations in the second part of the hour.

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MORTIFIED

Have you been mortified lately? David Nadelberg stumbled upon the sweet angst of public humiliation when he read an old love letter aloud to friends in his mid-twenties. He then made the (not quite so) obvious conclusion that others might be interested in doing the same sort of thing. In 2002, Nadelberg launched “Mortified,” the longest and largest running stage show of its kind. He’s recently published a companion anthology called “MORTIFIED: Real Words. Real People. Real Pathetic.” (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2006). David Nadelberg will join us this hour.

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Women in Prehistory

What was the role of women in the prehistoric past? Our view of prehistoric society is usually dominated by museum dioramas and movie images of male-focused hunter groups. But according to Dr. J.M. Adovasio and Professor Olga Soffer, this image has very little to do with reality. We’ll examine what can be deduced about the distant past this hour with Adovasio and Soffer, two of the authors of the new book “The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Roles of Women in Prehistory” (Collins, 2007).

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A Story of War and Family

Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the treatment of veterans has been one of the biggest news stories of the past few weeks. Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News, Martha Raddatz, knows about the challenges that American war-fighting families face and their lasting effects. Raddatz will join us to discuss her new book “The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family” (Putnam, 2007).

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A Life in Film and a New Life in Novels

How does one transition from a life as a successful comedy actor who’s appeared in over 30 films to the solitary world of the novelist? You could ask Gene Wilder. We’ll spend some time with Gene Wilder who’s currently on tour promoting his first novel “My French Whore” (St. Martin’s Press, 2007). Andrea Karnes, curator of the “Pretty Baby” Exhibit now on display at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth will join us in the Scene segment.

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