Things to note this week. (And everything noted has online archives in case you miss it.)
WBAI (broadcasting out of NYC and available to online listeners as well) offers, among othe programs, the following this week:
Sunday, September 9, 11am-noon
THE NEXT HOUR
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," with Regina Weinreich (Beat scholar and editor of Kerouac's collected haikus); Joyce Johnson (author of the Kerouac memoirs "Door Wide Open" and the newly re-issued "Minor Characters"); Tim Moran (editor of "You'll Be All Right," the newly published memoirs of first wife Edie Parker Kerouac; and John Leland (author of "Why Kerouac Matters"). Hosted by Janet Coleman.
Monday, September 10, 2-3pm
CAT RADIO CAFE
Writer Kate Christensen on "The Great Man," her novel on the afterlife of a famous painter; a trio of actors playing Palestinian brothers in "Masked," a play by Israeli playwright Ilan Hatsor; and members of New York City's Life Fund discuss a gala benefit. Hosted by Janet Coleman and David Dozer.
Monday on Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman interviews Jimmy Carter for the hour. Excerpt:
AMY GOODMAN: At this conference, you describe the wall as worse than the Berlin Wall.
JIMMY CARTER: Oh, it's much worse. The Berlin Wall was built by the communists on the communist side of the border between East and West Germany, as you know. This wall is built on Palestinian land, and it's designed not for security -- that’s an ancillary benefit -- but it goes deep within the West Bank just to carve out more and more land for the Israelis to occupy in Palestine.
AMY GOODMAN: What is the point of the wall?
JIMMY CARTER: The wall was built -- was planned originally by Yitzhak Rabin when he was prime minister -- he's the one that negotiated the Oslo Agreement, a peace agreement -- to be built along the border, the 1967 border between Israel and Palestine. And the International World Court and I and others approved completely. There's nothing wrong with that. That would have been like the Berlin Wall. But then Rabin was assassinated, and his successors -- Netanyahu, Sharon and others -- decided: let's move the wall from the Israeli border to intrude deeply within Palestine to carve out some of that precious land for the Israeli settlers to occupy.
Friday on most PBS stations, NOW with David Brancaccio offers an hour long broadcast:
"Third Time Around" (NOW #337)
On the heels of a much-anticipated progress report in Washington, NOW travels to Iraq for an exclusive, hard look at the war through the eyes of the U.S. men and women fighting an elusive enemy that prefers roadside bombs to pitched battles. We first met the Third Infantry's First Brigade from Georgia's Ft. Stewart in January, only weeks before they headed back to Iraq for the third deployment in four years. They left behind newborn babies, young children, fiancées and wives. As the long months of the "surge" unfold, we see them fighting in the country's volatile Anbar province, while back at home their newborns become toddlers, and birthdays and anniversaries come and go.
"I think my biggest hope for this next year is just for it to go quickly and smoothly. I don't want anything major to happen to any of my guys or the rest of the squad or platoon," Soldier Michael Murphy tells NOW. "My biggest concern is just to make it home with ten fingers and toes."
What are the personal and political costs of constant redeployment? Is the war effort at a turning point, or a breaking point? "Do American soldiers think that this is a war worth fighting? Do they think this is a war we can win?" Andrew Krepenevich, a former army officer who now runs a Washington think tank told NOW. "In a sense, you're battling not only for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, but the heart and mind of the American soldier."
"Third Time Around", an hour long NOW special, airs Friday, September 14. (Check local listings).
* A preview of the September 14 special: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGC9IrhOC90
* The original NOW episode where we first meet the soldiers: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/303/
* A web-exclusive video extension featuring Ft. Stewart soldiers and their spouses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi9zazc0plA
And, in case you missed it, this week's NOW with David Brancaccio explored the rapes and assault on US female service members by the males they serve with. (If it's not airing in your area today, it is available online.)