Let America Be America: Community In A Cafe

July 11, 2012

Let America Be America: Community In A Cafe

Play

Andy Shallal has big ideas for a group of cozy cafes in the Washington D.C. region. He set out to bring different groups together by offering a space for political discourse, as well as a bookstore and a great room in which poets are welcome to perform. His project is called Busboys and

Tagged with:

Business

You might also like…

Fix A Well, Change The World

Dick sits down with Doc Hendley of the group Wine to Water and talks about his transition from bartending in Raleigh to working to bring clean water to people in Darfur.

Listen

A New Vision for Architecture

Chris Downey had put in 20 years as an architect when the doctors told him he was going blind. Today, he still works as an architect, but he is dedicated to creating more environments for those with disabilities. Also: last we heard from Chris Higginbotham, he was just called back to deployment - but as we hear today, his story didn't turn out as he expected. And: the story of two dogs and their owner looking past the chewed up shoe to see art.

Listen

Out Of School, Out Of Work

Analysts say Bank of America could lay off as many as 30,000 employees in their merger with Merrill Lynch. Ned grew up helping his dad with the family real estate business. He studied finance at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, and was recruited by Bank of America before he'd even graduated. As soon as he started his job in Charlotte it was clear that times were changing. He watched people cleaning out their desks only months after they started. Less than a year after he was hired, it was Ned's turn. Now he's one of the tens of thousands of highly educated bankers out of work. Also in this show, our series "Tough Jobs", this one, a teleprompter operator.

Listen

Don't Mess With Travis

Jim Hays commissioned a novel about the succession of Texas to make a point about the federal government.

Listen

Chilean Crush

Derek Mossman runs a small winery in the hills near Santiago called the Garage Wine Company. As he tells Dick Gordon, when he made his way to the vineyard after the earthquake, the spilled wine on the floor looked like blood. He and his wife Pilar Miranda lost four barrels, a fortune for a small business like theirs. Also in this show: The Original Wasps

Listen

Hoping To Stay

Leila Vaziri-Farhani dreamed of becoming an engineering professor, but as a woman in science her options in Iran felt limited.

Listen

Spend Thrift

Terri Thompson was embarrassed as a child when her mother dragged her to thrift stores to try on clothes. She still remembers going to school in one particularly hideous outfit: a secondhand skirt altered to make bell bottoms. But as an adult, Terri soon realized she liked shopping in thrift stores. She could find everything she wanted - at affordable prices that often go to support charities.

Listen

Janet Goes To Washington

IBM was central to Janet Krueger's life. Her father worked there. The company paid for her college education. After graduating, Janet began working there herself. She expected to be there until retirement - at which point she expected IBM would take care of her just as it had her father. But when she learned about drastic changes in IBM's pension plan, she lost faith in the company. Also in this show: Second Chance