Document Actions
Archive
The Story with Dick Gordon brings the news home - through passionate points of view and personal experiences. The program brings together ordinary and extraordinary people to provide perspective on the issues which affect us all. Our goal is to inspire conversation, thinking and understanding. Produced at North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC.
Give My Poor Heart Ease
Friday, November 06 2009
| 
Send to a friend
GIVE MY POOR HEART EASE
Bill Ferris            photo by Dan Sears
Bill Ferris is one of this country's leading folklorists. His new work, Give My Poor Heart Ease, includes a book, a CD and a DVD. It is a collection of original recordings that Bill made in his native Mississippi.
As a boy, Bill began going to church with his family's housekeeper, Mary Gordon. He fell in love with the music and the drama of the church. As a teenager, he hit the road with recording equipment. Soon he was capturing music in lots of different African American communities. Bill soon discovered the blues, and the recordings he made in the 60's and 70's capture the roots of the Mississippi blues. Bill Ferris joins Dick Gordon to tell about his passion for the people and the stories behind the Mississippi blues.
- See video clips of BB King and the men at The Parchman Penitentiary
- Find out more about the one strand guitarÂ
- All archival recordings are from the CD/DVD included in the book
- All music is from the CD included in the book. Musicians include: Going Down to the Station by 'Sonny Boy' Williams; Going Away Blues and Boogie Chillun by Lovey Williams; Lazarus and Oh, Rosie by Inmates at the Parchman State Penitentiary; There are Days by Southland Hummingbirds; You Shall Be Free by Mary Gordon; Highway 61 Blues and Cairo Blues by James 'Son' Thomas
Combat Bunny
Thursday, November 05 2009
| Send to a friend
Combat Bunny
Carolyn Schapper
Carolyn Schapper was a 30-something Army sergeant serving in Iraq, and the only woman in a unit full of men in their teens and 20s. One day her convoy was approached by an Iraqi boy selling bunnies. Carolyn tried to dissuade one of her fellow soldiers from buying one, but Carolyn was soon reluctantly holding a white rabbit on her lap as the convoy headed back inside the wire.
The bunny was a hit as soon as it arrived at the base - the soldiers called it Combat Infantry Bunny, or CIB, for short. Soon it became Carolyn's job to care for CIB. And before long she realized the bunny was saving her from her loneliness and isolation. Carolyn talks with Dick Gordon about how her unlikely connection with a rabbit changed her experience of the war.
- Meet CIB, Combat Infantry Bunny
 RuNNING TOGETHER
Nancy & Tim West, larger >>
Nancy West felt like her son was growing away from her, immersing himself in video games and baseball, things that Nancy had little interest in. In an attempt to find an activity they could do together, Nancy, an avid runner, invited her then 8-year-old son to take on a challenge: see how many consecutive days they could run. Called streak running, Nancy and Tim started out with no goal in mind, and ended up running at least a mile per day for two years. Nancy talks to Dick about her mother-son experiment, and how it brought them closer together, which was the point all along.
Contact UsA Dispute Over Solar
Wednesday, November 04 2009
| Send to a friend
A Dispute over solar
Doug and Karen Kitt
Karen and Doug Kitt live in a lovely Victorian apartment building in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco, one of the most progressive communities in the country. For the past four years, the Kitts have been saving up to go solar. They've recently installed almost 50 panels on their rooftop, which will provide power for all three flats in their building, and an electric car.
Two days before installation was completed, neighbors complained about the panels blocking their view. The Kitts' permit was pulled by the city, and a court date was scheduled. The Kitts talk to Dick Gordon about neighborhood politics, and the clash between scenic views and green energy in the city by the bay.
- Read about the conflict in the San Francisco Examiner
Growing Up SOlar
George (top) and Linnea Lof
Larry Lof was 14 years old when he and his siblings moved into their newly-built home in Denver. His sister Linnea was 5. The home was an architectural showpiece, down to the two tall red tubes in the foyer. But the really unique thing about their home was that the tubes were filled with rocks that were heated by solar panels on the roof. It was the 1950s, and their father George was a leader in solar energy innovation.
Larry and Linnea talk to Dick about their father's legacy and what it meant to grow up at the beginning of the solar power age. They say just before he died last month, their father George was saying the time for solar energy may finally be here.
- See a photo of George in his home.
GM's Electric Car
Bill Buhl
What's your story about alternative energy?
Teri Buhl wrote to us about her dad, Bill
Buhl, who once built an electric car for General Motors. Bill says that electric
car was very fast and very heavy. Eventually, GM canned the project.
Bill was so disappointed he walked away from electric cars and has
never gone back. This story originally aired on April 1, 2008.
Since the Election
Tuesday, November 03 2009
| Send to a friend
Since the election
Curt Moody
It was a year ago this week when Americans went to the polls and elected Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States.
Curt Moody knows that the election of a black man to the highest office in the land is a pivotal next step for the country. Curt faced an uphill struggle trying to gain legitimacy as an architect. He didn't know any black architects when he was a kid, and he has faced specific examples of racism throughout his career. Early on, Curt was surprised to have to convince people even in his own community that a black architect could be every bit as good as a white one. But earlier this summer, Curt won the competition to design a major new museum: The International African American Museum in Charleston, S.C. He joins Dick Gordon to talk about race and architecture.
My Cairo CousinÂ
Margo Massoud Marver
Margo Massoud Marver has heard the series of stories we call "Your Story" and she decided to write about the one time in her life she will never forget. She was leaving war-torn Lebanon for a much needed vacation in Egypt when her grandmother gave her the name of a long lost cousin to try to find in Cairo - no number, just a name. Margo reluctantly took the name, and then unwittingly ended up at the office of the very cousin she had been asked to find. She joins Dick Gordon to tell her story.
- See Margo in Cairo
A Difficult Defense
Monday, November 02 2009
| Send to a friend
A difficult defense
Steven Kay
The former Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic is now being tried at the International Criminal Tribunal at the Hague. Like Slobodan Milosevic before him, Karadzic is defending himself. Till now, he has boycotted the proceedings. At the time of Slobodan Milosevic's trial, attorney Steven Kay was appointed to the former leader's defense team. Between delays, lack of funding, and his client’s courtroom antics, the case was even more difficult than Steven imagined. But during the several year trial, Steven also came to know Milosevic in ways he never expected. Steven Kay talks with Dick Gordon about what really happens in a trial of this nature. This story originally aired on March 4, 2009.
hedging Bets with the Swine Flu
Edwin Kilbourne >> more photos
Each day we see new developments with the H1N1 flu vaccine: who has it, who doesn't, who wants the vaccine. 1976, the U.S. vowed to fight off a potential swine flu pandemic with an unprecedented vaccination campaign. Dr. Edwin Kilbourne developed the swine flu vaccine that year, and he was one of the people who advocated for a mass vaccination program. The pandemic never happened. What's more, doctors reported new cases of a rare illness that the public feared was associated with the vaccine. Dr. Kilbourne's name hit the papers and he defended his position repeatedly. Dr. Kilbourne, now 88, talks to Dick about the time in his life that he calls his "fifteen minutes of infamy" - and what he'd advise now that we're in the midst of another outbreak. This story originally aired on May 12, 2009.
Nurturing Monet's Garden
Friday, October 30 2009
| Send to a friend
Nurturing Monet's Garden
Elizabeth Murray
Elizabeth Murray quit her dream job to volunteer in Monet's garden in Giverny, France. Her family thought she was mad to leave her cushy horticulture job in California on a verbal promise for free room and board. But Elizabeth says her urge to work there was unbreakable. She talks to Dick Gordon about what it meant to her to toil in Monet's garden, and how she came to more deeply appreciate the scenes of abundance in his art.
- Visit Claude Monet's garden at Giverny
- Learn more
about Elizabeth
- Find out more about Elizabeth's book, Monet's Passion
- Music Heard in this program: Clair de Lune (Moonlight), and Girl with the Flaxen hair, by Claude Debussy
Brush with Fame - Wicked Witch of the West
Kathy Hopwood holds dear her memories of hanging out in Washington, D.C. one day with the Wicked Witch of the West, actress Margaret Hamilton. Kathy met the famous thespian unexpectedly and spent close to 24 hours with her.
They began their day by searching out collectible dolls and finished by eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at 3:00 a.m. in "Maggie's" hotel room. Kathy says she has never forgotten the lesson she learned from her new friend - trust.
Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West - more >>
- See Kathy's signed photos from Margaret Hamilton
- Kathy showed up for the interview in costume. See how she scared Dick
- Listen to Dick's first conversation with Kathy, about her career teaching self-defense
- Music heard in this story: Main Title and Delirious Escape /End Title from The Wizard of Oz , Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
Caring for Aunt Mary
Thursday, October 29 2009
| Send to a friend
Caring for Aunt Mary
Mary Bonamo >>More
Lots of people are caring for aging relatives and their own children. There's even a name for the caregivers: the sandwich generation. On a visit to Florida to visit her dad and his sister, Sue Perna realized her 98-year-old aunt needed more daily help, and that her dad couldn't look after her anymore. Sue's father asked her to take care of Aunt Mary, and sent her a check to build a bedroom onto her Vermont home. Two days after the check arrived, Sue's dad died, and the mother of four took in her 98-year-old aunt. Seven years later, Aunt Mary is 105 and still thriving. Sue talks with Dick about how that decision affected her family's life - the challenges and the unexpected benefits.
- Music in this story: Young at Heart. One version performed by Dean Martin, one performed by Jonathan Miles Freeman for the album Journey to Piano Land.
The Pumpkin Chase
The Hutchins Family - larger >>
Zach and Alana Hutchins were brought together by a pumpkin.
It started days before Halloween of his freshman year in college, when Zach and some friends broke the rules and serenaded a girl after visiting hours. It was an adrenaline-pumping experience, and for some reason, when Zach was running off with his friends, he stole a pumpkin from the girls' dorm hallway.Â
The pumpkin belonged to Alana, who wasn't pleased when Zach returned it later, already carved. The two tell Dick their unlikely Halloween love story.
- Music in this story: Great Pumpkin Waltz performed by Vince Guaraldi for the album Oh Good Grief
| To subscribe to this as a podcast use this link: |
|
| To subscribe to this as an RSS feed use this link: |
|
