Archive for August, 2004

Obesity In Children

Tuesday, August 24th, 2004

Childhood Obesity: North Carolina is the 11th fattest state in the country, and the obesity numbers are growing, particularly among the state’s younger population. Host Melinda Penkava talks with Penny Gordon-Larsen, an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Public Heath; Sherree Thaxton, the Coordinator of the Healthy Weight Initiative for the North Carolina Division of Public Health; and Dr. Terrill Bravender, an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Adolescent Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Listener Call-In. (54:00)

Essay: WUNC’s Jennifer Deer on turning 40 years old. (5:00)

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Ron Rash

Sunday, August 22nd, 2004

Ron Rash: Host Rusty Jacobs talks with writer Ron Rash about his new novel, “Saints at the River” (Holt/2004). Rash is professor of Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University and author of the award-winning novel “One Foot in Eden” (Picador/2003). Rash’s new novel is set along a powerful river in the Appalachian mountains. When a young girl drowns in the river, characters in the novel are forced to confront divided feelings about the river and their relationships with one another. Listener Call-In. (35:00)

Collectors: Producer Paul Overton captures one of North Carolina’s ubiquitous summer sounds. . . the popular weekly flea market. (3:00)

Hurricane Alex: WUNC reporter and “The State Of Things” host Rusty Jacobs reflects on Hurricane Alex, which hit the Outer Banks last week. (4:00)

Summer Reader: David Hammond, artistic director at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, tells us what he is reading this summer. His list includes: “The Life and Times of Richard II” by Michael Senior; “Shakespeare’s Kings” by John Julius Norwich; “The Memoirs of Cleopatra” by Margaret George; “On Actors and Acting” by Peter Thomson; and “Messiah” and “Casanova in Bohemia” by Andre Codrescu. (1:30)

Originally broadcast on August 10, 2004

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Homeschools/Roger McGuinn

Thursday, August 19th, 2004

Homeschooling: The rate of homeschooling in North Carolina is rising; 54,000 students in the state are currently being educated at home. Some parents choose homescholing for religious reasons, while others do so because of a perception of inadequate public schools. Host Melinda Penkava speaks with Hal Young, President of North Carolinians for Home Education; Karen Palasek, Education Analyst with the John Locke Foundation and a homeschool parent; Dr. Marcia Herman-Giddens, Senior Fellow at North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute; and Dorothy Bailey, a sophomore at Duke University. (32:00) (SH)

Roger McGuinn: Roger McGuinn is best-known as the front man for the 1960’s folk-pop-rock group The Byrds. Now, he’s a well-respected solo performer who will play a concert at the North Carolina Museum of Art on Saturday, August 21. Host Melinda Penkava speaks with Roger McGuinn about his career, his upcoming performance, and his new CD “Limited Edition.” (17:30)

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Adult Entertainment

Wednesday, August 18th, 2004

Host Melinda Penkava talks with Phil Harvey, president and founder of Adam & Eve, an adult mail order company based in Hillsborough, NC. Phil Harvey is also president of DKT International, a non-profit organization that distributes contraceptives. A major part of Adam & Eve’s business is adult films. We hear from Lynn Isenberg, a screenwriter for adult films and author of the novel “My Life Uncovered: Unraveled, Revealed…Bared” (Red Dress Ink/2003). And we hear from Ann Fox, Professor of English and Coordinator of the Gender Studies concentration at Davidson College. Listener Call-In. (59:00)

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Defining The Wind

Tuesday, August 17th, 2004

Defining the Wind: Host Melinda Penkava talks with Scott Huler, author of “Defining the Wind: The Beaufort Scale, and how a 19th-century admiral turned science into poetry” (Crown/2004). The Beaufort Scale was invented as a method of measuring the force of wind using only human observation. Huler discovered the scale in a dictionary while he was working as a copy editor in New Jersey. He fell in love with its spare poetry. Today, the Beaufort Scale is rarely used. We also hear from Bob Leker, Renewable Energy Program Manager at the State Energy Office, about how he measures the wind for wind farms. Listener Call-In. (53:00)

Summer Camp Cheers: WUNC’s Leoneda Inge introduces the sounds of her six-year old son and the raucous cheers he learned at summer camp. (4:00)

Summer Reading Series: Paul Jones, faculty member at UNC-Chapel Hill, tells us what he is reading this summer. His list includes Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig, Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow, and Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson. (2:00)

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