We’re approaching the third anniversary of the Spirit and Opportunity Rover landings on Mars, and the rovers, which were expected to function for a few months at best, are still exploring the red planet and sending stunning photographs home. We’ll spend this hour with Jim Bell, the NASA scientist responsible for the rovers’ color imaging […]
Is there a problem with the current idea of diversity? Has our cultural focus on identity allowed economic inequality to flourish? Walter Benn Michaels, professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, argues (among other things) that affirmative action in schools has not made them more open, it’s just guaranteed that the rich […]
Earlier this month, the Farmers Branch City Council passed an ordinance designed to thwart illegal immigration by requiring apartment renters to provide proof of citizenship or residency. The council also agreed that Farmers Branch police officers should be allowed to check immigration status of detainees and begin deportation proceedings in certain cases. We’ll talk about […]
Are fundamentalists rewriting U.S. History? Jeff Sharlet thinks so. The Harper’s Magazine contributing editor and editor of The Revealer.org examines new interpretations of our nation’s past in textbooks and teaching guides in his December cover story “Through a Glass Darkly: How the Christian Right is Reimagining U.S. History.” Jeff Sharlet will join us for the […]
Who was Harry Houdini? We know him as a magician and escape artist. But did you know he was an aviator, a movie mogul, and a spy? We’ll spend this hour with William Kalush and Larry Sloman, co-authors of “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero” (Atria, 2006).
What does the future hold? Can we even plan for the future? Futurist Dr. James Canton examines ideas as diverse as radical life extension, a self-aware internet and the future of energy production in his new book “The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will Reshape the World for the Next 5, 10, and 20 […]
Today is the 43rd anniversary of one of Dallas’ most infamous days – the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. We’ll talk this hour with a journalist who was on-duty that day. Eddie Barker was news director and anchor of KRLD-TV, Channel 4 and was prepared to cover Kennedy’s address at the Trade Mart. […]
How long would you like to live? Have you made plans for your health care or will you depend on your family to help you through your final years. Tonight’s FRONTLINE program, “Living Old,” examines the fastest growing segment of America’s population – those over the age of 85 – and how the medical community […]
What do you know about pigeons? Pigeons have served as fertility symbols and symbols of peace. They’ve also served as important messengers for countries at war. So why are they vilified as “rats of the sky?” We’ll spend the hour with journalist Andrew D. Blechman who takes us from pigeon shoots to pigeon races; and […]
Statistics show that of the foster care children in Texas, African-American children remain in the system longer than any other ethnic group. In the first part of the hour, we’ll talk with Jessica Dixon, Director of the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic at SMU’s Dedman School of Law, about the legal and social impact […]
