Archive for August, 2004

Political Roundtable

Monday, August 16th, 2004

Host Melinda Penkava hosts a roundtable discussion on issues affecting North Carolinians, such as the changing perspective on the war in Iraq, the runoff elections, and other political topics. Guests include Mike Munger, chair of the political science department at Duke University; Paul O’Connor of the Winston-Salem Journal, and Ed Cone, journalist and blogger from Greensboro. (55:00)

Dell In The Triad: Justin Catanoso, executive editor of the Triad Business Journal, handicaps the Triad’s chances at landing a Dell Computer plant. (4:00)

Listen Here

Blue Moon Cafe/John Dean

Sunday, August 15th, 2004

The Blue Moon Café isn’t a quaint bistro, but a collection of more than two-dozen contemporary Southern writers who have cooked up what the book’s editor, Sonny Brewer, calls “a by-god feast for your reading appetite.” Guest Host David Crabtree speaks with Sonny Brewer about “Stories from the Blue Moon Cafe III” (McAdam/Cage 2004) and with Chapel Hill-based writer Daniel Wallace, whose short story “Good Neighbor” is included in the anthology. (32:00)

John Dean: Host David Crabtree talks with John Dean, former White House Council to President Nixon and a key figure in the Watergate scandal. Dean’s new book is “Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush” (Little, Brown and Company/2004). (17:00)

Listen Here

Military Issues

Thursday, August 12th, 2004

Military: A recent survey shows that the levels of post-traumatic stress disorder among Ft. Bragg paratroopers returned from Iraq are nearly as high as those seen in Vietnam War veterans. Host Rusty Jacobs leads a discussion about PTSD and other current issues in the military. He’ll talk to Harold Kudler, Associate Clinical Professor at Duke University and Coordinator for Mental Health for VA Network No. 6. We’ll also speak with a Vietnam veteran from Raleigh.

Gay and Lesbian Film Festival: Host Rusty Jacobs talks with Jim Carl, senior director of the Carolina Theater, about the 9th Annual North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. He also talks with Adam Attarian, whose film “The Joy of Being Mary,” will be shown at the festival. In its first, unofficial year, the Festival was met with protests in downtown Durham. For the last few years, the Festival has drawn an audience of 10,000 people. (8:00)

BugFest: Host Rusty Jacobs talks with Daniel Johnson, a veterinarian of avian and exotic animal care. Johnson will have a table at this year’s BugFest, an annual event at the North Carolina Museum of Art. He will talk about the charm and care of invertebrate pets like scorpions, tarantulas, and millipedes. BugFest is Saturday, August 14. (8:00)

Listen Here

Minor League Baseball

Wednesday, August 11th, 2004

Most professional baseball players don’t make millions of dollars and fly to games in charter jets. They play out their careers in the minor leagues, where life is a series of bus rides and bad food. Host Rusty Jacobs examines the life of a minor league baseball player with: Christopher Kline, writer for Baseball America magazine; Neal Conan, host of NPR’s Talk of the Nation and author of “Play by Play: Baseball, Radio and Life in the Last Chance League” (Crown/2002); Torey Luvullo, manager of the Kingston Indians; and Brooks Badeaux, infielder with the Durham Bulls. (59:00)

Listen Here

Ron Rash

Tuesday, August 10th, 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)

Listen Here