Poetry Instead

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Patricia Smith is the four-time champion of the National Poetry Slam. Jay Parini discusses the power of poetry and how it especially empowers young people in troubled times. Gioia Timpanelli uses her poetic sensibility to write prose novels and talks about the two kinds of writing. Les Murray is considered by many literary critics to be the greatest living poet in English today.

Patricia Smith is an African American who is the four-time champion of the National Poetry Slam. Her book ""Blood Dazzler"" was nominated for the 2008 National Book Award. She talks about her work with Steve Paulson and performs several poems.

Jay Parini teaches poetry at Middlebury College, and is the author of ""Why Poetry Matters."" He talks with Jim Fleming about Jim Fleming about the power of poetry and how it especially empowers young people in troubled times.

Gioia Timpanelli uses her poetic sensibility to write prose novels. She talks with Anne Strainchamps about the two kinds of writing, and her story ""What Makes a Child Lucky."" And we hear selections from the story.

Australian Les Murray is considered by many literary critics to be the greatest living poet in English today. He rarely gives interviews, but spoke with Steve Paulson and read several of his poems. His latest book of poetry is called ""The Bi-Plane Houses.

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE (Must Listen)

(http://www.wpr.org/book/090823a.cfm)

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David Foster Wallace may have understood the modern American better than any writer of our time. His suicide in September of 2008 stunned his friends and fans. Wallace was a master at capturing the way we think, feel and live, and his books and essays conveyed an intimacy that made a lot of people feel like Wallace was a friend they'd never met. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we celebrate the life and work of the late David Foster Wallace.

SEGMENT 1:

Salon book critic Laura Miller explains why David Foster Wallace was the most important writer of his generation. Wallace became a literary rock star in his thirties for the novel "Infinite Jest." Time Magazine later included it on its list of "All Time 100 Greatest Novels." When Wallace committed suicide in September 2008 his fans grieved, wrote tributes, and began to speculate about rumors of an unfinished novel. Journalist DT Max tells Steve Paulson about the novel's discovery, Wallace's creative struggles with "The Pale King," and the novel's subject - boredom. Also, an interview with David Foster Wallace with Steve Paulson from 2004, just after the publication of his short story collection "Oblivion."

SEGMENT 2:

Time magazine's book critic Lev Grossman remembers David Foster Wallace, and we present another interview with Wallace in 1996, right after "Infinite Jest" was published. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Lipsky spent a week with Wallace after "Infinite Jest" came out, and was later assigned to cover the writer's life and death. He tells Jim Fleming that Wallace's emotional struggles began again after graduate school. Michael Pietsch was Wallace's editor at Little, Brown starting in the 90s and is currently at work editing the unfinished novel "The Pale King." Pietsch has given us exclusive rights to a passage from the novel, which is read by Chicago actress Carrie Coon.

SEGMENT 3:

One of David Foster Wallace's most popular essays is "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," which ran originally in Harper's Magazine. In 1997 he read a bit of the article for us, and talked with Steve Paulson about it. Wallace's Sister Amy Wallace-Havens describes her brother as immensely bright, funny and courageous. She tells Anne Strainchamps about growing up with him, and about life without him. Also we have an excerpt from the commencement speech David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005. It was eventually published under the title "This is Water," but it has never before been broadcast.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 09-05-24-A.

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Books & CDs:

David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest (Little Brown)
David Foster Wallace, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (Back Bay Books)
David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster: and Other Essays (Back Bay Books)

Audio Extras:

• Three TTBOOK Interviews with David Foster Wallace:
  Infinite Jest interview from TTBOOK Program "Unwholesome Entertainment" 1996
  “Another Supposedly Fun Thing…” Essays from TTBOOK Program "Pursuit of Pleasure" 1997
  The unedited interview from the Oblivion Stories 2004.
• Amy Wallace Havens unedited interview 2009
• Kenyon College audio clip
• Boswell ‘09 on “This is Water”
  

Websites:

• Pomona College Tribute to DFW
  http://www.pomona.edu/adwr/president/dfw2.shtml
• McSweeney's tribute to DFW
  http://www.mcsweeneys.net/dfw/memories.html

Music:

• -Everywhere You Turn/ The Bad Plus/ "These are the Vistas"/ Sony
  
• -Comfortably Numb/ The Bad Plus/ "For All I Care"/ Head's Up
  
• -Reciting the Airships/ Eluvium/ "Copia"/ Temporary Resistance
  
• -The Pacifist/ DJ Vadim/" USSR"/ Ninja Tune
  
• -Souvenirs; Danced All Night; The Pall Bearers/ "Circus Songs"/ The Tiger Lilies/ Misery Guts Music
  
• -Five String Serenade/ Mazzy Star/ So Tonight That I Might See/ Capitol Records
  
• -Edge of the World/ Josh Ritter/ "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter"/ Sony BMG
  
• - The Long Road/Eddie Vedder/ Sony Entertainment
  
• -Dirty Blonde/ The Bad Plus/ "Give"/ Sony Music

THE HORROR, THE HORROR

(http://www.wpr.org/book/080928b.cfm)

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You're driving along a dark road when you're distracted by what appears to be a flight of arrows. You crash into a ravine and suffer horrible burns over most of your body. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll talk to Andrew Davidson abouthis debut novel "The Gargoyle," It's been described as an "Inferno" for our time. Also, the delightfully disturbing tales of Kelly Link.

SEGMENT 1:

A clip from a commercial for "Dawn of the Dead" sets us up for an examination of the horror genre. Andrew Davidson is the author of "The Gargoyle." It's his debut novel and has been described as "an Inferno for our time." Davidson reads from the book and talks about it with Steve Paulson.

SEGMENT 2:

Richard Hand is the author of "Terror on the Air!: Horror Radio in America, 1931 - 1952." Hand describes several of the programs that made that period the Golden Age of radio and we hear excerpts from classics like "Lights Out." Also, Glenn Kay is the author of "Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide." Kay talks with Jim Fleming about his book and some of the over 300 zombie films he reviews and rates. And we hear clips, of course.

SEGMENT 3:

Kelly Link has published her third collection of short fiction. It's called "Pretty Monsters" and is aimed at Young Adult readers. Link talks with Anne Strainchamps about the challenges of writing for teenagers, and reads excerpts from a few of her stories.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 08-09-28-B.

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Books & CDs:

Andrew Davidson, The Gargoyle (Doubleday)
Richard Hand, Terror on the Air!: Horror Radio in America, 1931 - 1952 (McFarland)
Glenn Kay, Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide (Chicago Review Press/An A Cappella Book)
Kelly Link, Pretty Monsters: Stories (Viking)

Websites:

• -- Andrew Davidson/"The Gargoyle"
  http://doubleday.com/thegargoyle/
  
• -- Richard J. Hand/"Terror on the Air!: Horror Radio in America, 1931-1952"
  http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-2367-5
  http://people.glam.ac.uk/view/384/
  
• -- Glenn Kay/"Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide"
  http://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/catalog/showBook.cfm?ISBN=1556527705
  
• -- Kelly Link
  http://www.kellylink.net/

Clips:

• -- "Dawn of the Dead" radio commercial
  from the DVD, "Dawn of the Dead (Ultimate Edition)" (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
  http://tinyurl.com/4mw4qh
  
• -- "Horror Radio" clips from Richard Hand Mix:
  
• -- "The Author and the Thing" episode of "Lights Out"
  
• -- ""Poltergeist" episode of "Lights Out"
  
• -- "Chicken Heart" episode of "Lights Out"
  http://www.archive.org/details/LightsOutCollection-OTRKIBM
  
• -- "Death for Sale" episode of "Inner Sanctum Mysteries"
  http://www.archive.org/details/InnerSanctumMysteriesOTRKIBM
  
• -- Clips used in Glenn Kay/Zombie Movies Mix:
  
• -- "Night of the Living Dead" clips
  from "Elvira's Horror Classics" DVD (Time Life Video)
  
• -- "Dawn of the Dead" clips
  from the DVD, "Dawn of the Dead (Ultimate Edition)" (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
  http://tinyurl.com/4mw4qh

Music:

• -- "Mulholland Drive"/Angelo Badalamenti
  Performed by Angelo Badalamenti with the City of Prague Philharmonic
  from the CD, "David Lynch's Mulholland Drive Original Soundtrack" ((Milan)
  http://www.milanrecords.com/index.php
  
• -- ""Rita Walks/Sunset Boulevard/Aunt Ruth"/Angelo Badalamenti
  Performed by Angelo Badalamenti with the City of Prague Philharmonic
  from the CD, "David Lynch's Mulholland Drive Original Soundtrack" ((Milan)
  http://www.milanrecords.com/index.php
  
• -- "Time Bomb"/Los Straitjackets
  from the CD, "Supersonic Guitars in 3-D" (Yep Roc)
  http://www.straitjackets.com/ http://www.yeproc.com/artist_info.php?artistId=44
  
• -- "Mulholland Drive/Love Theme"/Angelo Badalamenti
  Performed by Angelo Badalamenti with the City of Prague Philharmonic
  from the CD, "David Lynch's Mulholland Drive Original Soundtrack" ((Milan)
  http://www.milanrecords.com/index.php

To The Best Of Our Knowledge: Post-Modernism

(http://www.pri.org/arts-entertainment/post-postmodernism.html)

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Salman Rushdie's multi-layered novel, three types of postmodernism identified, and Stuff White People Like.

Award-winning author Salman Rushdie talks to Steve Paulson about his new novel, "The Enchantress of Florence," which features stories within stories within still other stories, along the lines of Scheherzade's stories of "One Thousand and One Nights." Rushdie also reads a few excerpts from the novel.

University of Tennessee Associate Professor Amy Elias identifies the three types of postmodernism for Jim Fleming. Elias is the author of "Sublime Desire: History and Post-1960s Fiction."

Christian Lander talks to Anne Strainchamps about his popular website, "Stuff White People Like," and the companion book, "Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions."

Singer/songwriter Robert Ellis Orrall talks to "To the Best of Our Knowledge" producer Doug Gordon about his fictional indie rock band, Monkey Bowl. We also hear excerpts from several songs off Monkey Bowl's new album, "Ultimate," including "Al Gore (The Musical)."

Christian Lander returns briefly to confirm with Anne Strainchamps that public radio is another thing that white people like.

"To the Best of Our Knowledge" is an audio magazine of ideas - two hours of smart, entertaining radio for people with curious minds. More "To the Best of Our Knowledge"

Atheism and Its Critics

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Atheists have been called the most hated minority in America. And yet recent atheist manifestos by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris have all made the best-seller list. So have these atheists changed our thinking about religion? We'll talk about the New Atheism with Richard Dawkins and two of his critics on To the Best of Our Knowledge.

Atheism and Its Critics