Shows

WNYC marks Black History Month with an array of specials, beginning Saturday, February 16. First up is "Against the Odds," produced and hosted by Newsweek columnist Ellis Cose. It offers compelling stories about individuals who have triumphed over extreme adversity. PRI’s Tavis Smiley hosts "Memories of the Movement," a two-part documentary exploration of the civil rights movement. Other offerings include a profile of pioneering Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, as well as a look at life in post-Katrina Louisiana.

Embracing the Radical King: Prophetic or Passé?
Sunday, January 20
To commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, WNYC's Brian Lehrer and Civic Frame founder and president April Yvonne Garrett hosted an interactive panel discussion at the Brooklyn Museum exploring the "radical" King, and how he might respond to today's pressing social issues.
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Against the Odds: Ivy League Refugee
Airs February 16, 3pm on AM820, February 17, 8pm on AM820
After fleeing war, a young Somali in a Kenyan refugee camp clings to his belief in the power of education, studies by lamp light, excels in national exams... and wins a scholarship to Princeton University. This powerful new radio documentary, "Against The Odds," explores this amazing odyssey in fascinating detail.
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Rediscovering Barbara Jordan
Airs February 18, 3pm on AM820
This is a documentary about one of the most unique characters in modern American history. On the evening of July 25th, 1974, Barbara Jordan awakened America. For over a year leading up to that moment the nation had been mired in the Constitutional crisis known as Watergate. That evening, it took a mere thirteen minutes on nationwide television for this freshman Congresswoman from inner city Houston armed with only the power of her voice, her reasoning, and her character, to re-focus the country’s will and faith in its Constitution. Within two weeks the President resigned.
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Mandela: An Audio History
Airs February 19, 3pm on AM820
This special documents the struggle against apartheid through rare sound recordings, the voice of Nelson Mandela himself, as well as those who fought with him, and against him.
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Finding Solid Ground
Airs February 20, 3pm on AM820
This audio snapshot examines residents' sense of security in New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf Coast, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It aims to answer the question: “What’s it like down there now?” A look at how people are creating - or are unable to create - secure foundations on which to rebuild their communities and lives. From public housing to Uptown mansions, city music clubs to rural fishing docks, a range of perspectives are covered. Louisianans struggle to continue to piece and patch together solutions to social, environmental, and economic crises.
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Memories of the Movement
Part one airs February 21, 3pm on AM820
Part two airs February 22, 3pm on AM820
Introduced by Tavis Smiley, Memories of the Movement is a remembrance of the Civil Rights Movement through the words of the people who lived it. This powerful two hour special celebrates the courage, conviction and commitment of the everyday people who made extraordinary contributions to American social progress. You’ll hear the poignant, humorous, unheard, or little known stories from living civil rights icons Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee, Rev. Jesse Jackson and many others.

Talking History: The History of Black History

The Brian Lehrer Show

February 21, 2008

Howard Dodson, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, joins us on Thursdays in February to talk about African American history. This week: the history of Black History scholarship.

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Talking History: Teaching Slavery

The Brian Lehrer Show

February 14, 2008

Howard Dodson, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, joins us on Thursdays in February to talk about African American history. This week: what’s missing from the way we teach about slavery.

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Remembering Arthur Ashe

The Brian Lehrer Show

February 12, 2008

Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe talks about her late husband, tennis great Arthur Ashe, and his legacy covering sports, civil rights and AIDs education.

Listen to Arthur Ashe's call to the show in 1993

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Willie Brown: "The Real Slick Willie"

The Leonard Lopate Show

February 11, 2008

Bill Clinton called controversial former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown "the real Slick Willie." Willie Brown is here to reveal some secrets to his very successful political career... from how to work a room at a party, to managing scandals. His new autobiography is Basic Brown.

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Talking History

The Brian Lehrer Show

February 07, 2008

Howard Dodson, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, joins us on Thursdays in February to talk about African American history. This week: the bicentennial of New York's Abyssinian Baptist Church.

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Free, Yet Enslaved

The Brian Lehrer Show

February 07, 2008

James McBride, musician and author of Song Yet Sung, talks about Harriet Tubman, contemporary black culture, and--perhaps--why Holiday Inn cures his writer's block.

Song Yet Sung is available for purchase at Amazon.com

Event
James McBride will be reading tonight at Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe (2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard @ 125th Street) at 6PM.

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