Is school segregation worse today than it was 50 years ago? Journalist Susan Eaton thinks it is. Eaton spent four years at an all-minority public school in Hartford Connecticut and maintains that schools are poorer and growing more segregated every year. Susan Eaton will join us this hour to discuss the situation and her new book “The Children in Room E4; American Education on Trial” (Algonquin, 2007).
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Can the brain continue to change and grow, even as we age? According to Wall Street Journal science columnist, Sharon Begley, Western science and the ancient wisdom of Buddhism can combine to retrain and even re-grow parts of the brain. Begley will join us this hour to discuss her new book “Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves” (Random House, 2007).
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In December, NASA announced plans to return to the moon by 2020. How will this ambitious goal be accomplished and what will a moon base look like? We’ll spend this hour with Scott Horowitz, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems.
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What is it like to be orphaned by civil war, driven from your home and forced to cross a desert and an ocean to survive and ultimately make a new life? We’ll spend this hour with John Bul Dau, one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan who now makes his home in Syracuse, New York. Dau’s experience is the subject of a new award-winning film “God Grew Tired of Us” which opens February 16th in Dallas. We’ll also be joined by Rev. Joseph S. Roberson, Director of Church World Service’s Immigration and Refugee Program.
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Have you ever wondered what the human body really looks like on the inside? You can find out at the acclaimed exhibit Body Worlds, which is on display at the Museum of Nature and Science until May 28th. We’ll talk about the exhibit this hour with the inventor of the plastination process and creator of Body Worlds, Dr. Gunter von Hagens. We’ll also get the perspective of a local physician from Dr. Rod Rohrich, Chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
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What makes a literate person? According to Diane Ravitch, Research Professor of Education at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, there are certain works of literature with which one should be familiar. She along with her son Michael have edited “The English Reader: What Every Literate Person Needs to Know” (Oxford, 2006). Professor Ravitch will be our guest this hour.
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Henri Matisse is best known for his paintings. But like many artists, he worked in several mediums including sculpture. The Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center are currently exhibiting “Matisse: Painter as Sculptor.” We’ll get a preview of the exhibit and talk about the artist this hour with Dr. Steven Nash, Director of the Nasher Sculpture Center and Dr. Dorothy Kosinski, Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture and the Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art at the Dallas Museum of Art.
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Is building green an option for you and your community? Many builders and corporations are beginning to embrace the idea of green design for homes, businesses, and communities. We’ll spend this hour with Dan Fette, chair of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas’ Green Building Initiative and Jim Motavalli, editor of “E-The Environmental Magazine” which features green building trends in the current issue.
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No location is too remote or dangerous, no terrain is too rough, and no culture is too exotic for explorer and survival expert Josh Bernstein. Fans of his popular History Channel program “Digging for the Truth” are already in the know. Bernstein, whose new season premieres on Monday, January 22nd has also written a book about his adventures. He’ll join us this hour to discuss the show and “DIGGING FOR THE TRUTH: One Man’s Epic Adventure Exploring the World’s Greatest Archaeological Mysteries” (Gotham Books, 2006).
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Why are hawks so influential? According to Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel laureate in economics and Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, “people have dozens of decision-making biases, and almost all favor conflict rather than concession.” We’ll spend this hour with Kahneman, co-author of the article “Why Hawks Win” which appears in the current issue of Foreign Policy Magazine.
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Since 1865, many defenders of the Confederacy have maintained that secession was not about slavery, but southern independence. Their proof is the “Confederate emancipation proclamation.” Our guest this hour, Professor Bruce Levine of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is the author of “Confederate Emancipation: Southern Plans to Free and Arm Slaves During the Civil War (Oxford, 2006).
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What is the future of Iran/U.S. relations? How will our country’s activities in the Middle East influence that relationship and how do Iranians view our country? We’ll spend this hour with Dr. Mahmoud Sadri, Professor of Sociology at Texas Women’s University, and Jay LaMonica, producer of Ted Koppel’s documentary “Iran – Most Dangerous Nation.” Sadri and LaMonica will participate tomorrow in “INSIDE IRAN: American/Iranian Perspectives,” a Dallas panel discussion sponsored by The Pluralism Fund.
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