HOUR ONE:

Los Angeles Times columnist Doyle McManus joins Bob to discuss the latest political news.

Christopher Buckley is back with a new book, this time a fictional novel about U.S.-China relations.  In They Eat Puppies, Don’t They, a Washington lobbyist teams up with a neocon to turn the American public against the Chinese.  Buckley discusses the novel, how his famous father influenced him and his writing and how to determine fact from fiction in our capitol city.

Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Jessica Paris.  Summer is fast approaching – the season of taking it easy.  Paris says we should just say no to those impulses.  She is not a puritan or a miser, but in a world of bounty, choices have to be made.  And Paris believes that sometimes deprivation leads to greater satisfaction than indulgence.

HOUR TWO:

Try to imagine what would happen if Middle Eastern women were able to take control of their religious conflicts. That’s what writer, director and lead actress Nadine Labaki has done in her new film, Where Do We Go Now, and the result is poignant and witty.  Labaki will discuss the film, and the new promises and perils facing the Arab world.

Writer Seth Grahame-Smith found surprising success with his 2009 novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  It became a New York Times best-seller and spawned many imitators.  Another best-seller, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter followed in 2011. He also wrote the screenplay adaptation for Tim Burton’s film version which comes out next month. Now Grahame-Smith returns with Unholy Night, another dark revisionist tale.  Here he tells his version of the Christian nativity scene and recasts the mysterious Three Wise Men as murderous thieves who unwillingly become guards for Mary, Joseph and their newborn’s journey into Egypt.

Bob Edwards Weekend airs on Sirius XM Public Radio (XM 121, Sirius 205) Saturdays from 8-10 AM EST.

Visit Bob Edwards Weekend on PRI’s website to find local stations that air the program.

essayist Jessica Paris

Click here to read a transcript and to listen to her essay.

Click here for guidelines to submit your own statement of beliefs.

Monday, May 21, 2012: Criss-crossing the continent, renowned geneticist Bryan Sykes provides a groundbreaking examination of America through its DNA.  Then, Bob talks with Phil Madeira about the album he produced called Mercyland: Hymns for the Rest of Us. Phil is a member of Emmylou Harris’ band Red Dirt Boys.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012:  Diana Henriques has written the definitive book on Bernie Madoff, based on unprecedented access and interviews with more than one hundred people at all levels of the crime. The Wizard of Lives: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust is now out in paperback.  Then, for nearly fifty years, Frank Deford has been dissecting American and international sports.  He has covered just about every sport, in every medium, and he touched on it all in his new memoir, Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012:  Kate Bornstein’s memoir A Queer and Pleasant Danger is the story of “a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today.”  Then, singer-songwriter Joe Pug joins Bob to talk about his latest album, The Great Despiser.

Thursday, May 24, 2012:  Nashville singer-songwriter Kate Campbell took up piano at age seven before switching to the guitar as a teenager during the folk-rock heyday of the 70s. Since then, over the course of thirteen albums, she has written, recorded and performed almost exclusively on the acoustic guitar. On 1000 Pound Machine Campbell returns to the instrument of her childhood and enlists Will Kimbrough to produce the eleven-song disc. Campbell joins Bob to talk about her new album and performs a few of her songs.

Friday, May 25, 2012:  Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times, joins Bob to discuss the latest political news.  Next, Bob talks with banjo player Bela Fleck and the Original Flecktones, who have reunited for their latest CD called Rocket Science. Howard Levy is back on piano and harmonica, joining bandleader Fleck, bassist Victor Wooten and Futureman on percussion. The group is touring now and we sit down with them backstage at The Birchmere before their show.  Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Michael Seifert.  We know that powerful people influence politics.  By comparison, it’s sometimes hard to believe that ordinary citizens with modest means can make a difference.  But inside the voting booth, everyone is equal.  Seifert is a Catholic priest from Cameron Park, Texas – the poorest place in American, according to the 2000 Census.  The rate of civic participation matched the economic description.  But, Father Seifert has been encouraging his neighbors to get out the vote, and their actions have resulted in more attention from local politicians, and better quality of life for the townspeople.

HOUR ONE: 

Los Angeles Times columnist Doyle McManus joins Bob to discuss the latest political news.

For a relatively young country, Israel and its supporters wield immense power in shaping United States government policy. Peter Beinart is a former editor of the New Republic who lays out his criticism of the Jewish State in a new book called The Crisis of Zionism. Among Beinart’s more controversial ideas is a proposed boycott on products made in Israeli settlements. 

Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Lauren LeBlanc.  Americans like to dream big – for the country, and themselves.  Teenagers imagine a future for that includes throngs of adoring fans, and photographers tracking their every move.  LeBlanc was no different, but life hasn’t worked out that way.  Instead, she’s a mother of two, living in the suburbs.  Her life is simple, and she couldn’t be happier.  LeBlanc says that she may never make an impact outside her community, but that’s okay because inside her home, she is irreplaceable. 

HOUR TWO:

Studs Terkel was a noted writer, broadcaster, oral historian and story teller.  He died in 2008, but shared several lengthy conversations with Bob.  We honor Terkel’s centenary by re-airing portions of their chats.  Terkel was born on May 16, 1912. 

For his latest album, singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright reflects on his life … this time on the sunny topics of aging, decline and demise. He also brings in his family to help: all of his kids and most of his ex-wives appear on the album. Wainwright joins Bob in the studio to perform a few songs and to talk about his CD titled Older Than My Old Man Now.

Bob Edwards Weekend airs on Sirius XM Public Radio (XM 121, Sirius 205) Saturdays from 8-10 AM EST.

Visit Bob Edwards Weekend on PRI’s website to find local stations that air the program.

Lauren LeBlanc and one of her daughters

Click here to read a transcript and to listen to her essay.

Click here for guidelines to submit your own statement of beliefs.

Studs died more than three years ago, but you can still hear him every week on his home station, WFMT. Click here to find out how.

There’s an entire website dedicated to Studs’ centenary, and you can find it here. Be sure call in with your own stories about Studs and how his work affected you.

For a refresher on all of Studs’ books, click here.

Monday, May 14, 2012: In the fall, the Dance Theatre Of Harlem (DTH) will begin its first professional tour since it lost funding in 2004. Bob talks to the company’s Artistic Director, Virginia Johnson, about the past and future of the predominantly black ballet company. Then, Misty Copeland began ballet classes at age 13, ten years later than most aspiring ballerinas. Today, at the acme of her career, Copeland is 29 years old and the first black woman in the American Ballet Theatre. Bob talks to Copeland about being a prima ballerina and her sixteen years in the world of swans.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012: Bill Veeck was born into baseball. His sportswriter father became president of the Chicago Cubs, and Bill later worked for owner Phil Wrigley, rebuilding Wrigley Field to achieve the famed ambience that exists today. In his late twenties, he bought into his first team, the American Association Milwaukee Brewers. He later bought the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and the Chicago White Sox.  In 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, the American League’s first black player. A year later, he signed the legendary black pitcher Satchel Paige, who helped win the 1948 World Series—Cleveland’s last championship to this day. Bob talks to Paul Dickson about his book Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012:  Today would have been Studs Terkel’s 100^th Birthday.  We bring back Bob’s interview with Terkel to honor his centenary. Bob reminisces with Terkel about his career as a writer, broadcaster, oral historian and story teller.

Thursday, May 17, 2012:   “Criss-crossing the continent, renowned geneticist Bryan Sykes provides a groundbreaking examination of America through its DNA.”  Then, in Tucson, Mexican American high school students are very likely to drop out before they graduate. But, students enrolled in the Mexican American Studies Program don’t just graduate – they go on to attend college. A new film in the PBS series Independent Lens follows several students in that program. Precious Knowledge tells the stories of these teenagers against the backdrop of new anti-immigration laws in Arizona and other states. Eren Isabel McGinnis directed Precious Knowledge, which features Alanna Castro, among other students.

Friday, May 18, 2012:  Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times joins Bob to discuss the latest political news.  Next, Mitch Ryder was the leader of the rock group Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, and had hits including “Devil with a Blue Dress On” and “Sock It to Me Baby.” After achieving pop success he descended into addiction and bankruptcy - and lived to tell about it. He has a new memoir out, as well as an album called The Promise. Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Jessica Paris.  Summer is fast approaching – the season of taking a break, cutting yourself some slack, and indulging in a little R-and-R.  Paris says we should just say no to those impulses.  She says she is not a puritan or a miser, but in a world of bounty, choices have to be made.  Paris doesn’t believe we satiate our desire by feeding it any more than we do by depriving it.  And sometimes deprivation leads to greater satisfaction than indulgence.

HOUR ONE:

Los Angeles Times columnist Doyle McManus joins Bob to discuss the latest political news.

As an ex-felon, writer Jack Gantos might have seemed like an odd choice to win this year’s Newbery Medal, the most prestigious award in children’s literature.   But Gantos has been writing acclaimed books for young people for years, including his popular series about Joey Pigza, Rotten Ralph and the Jack Henry Adventures. series.  His most recent novel Dead End in Norvelt was awarded the 2012 Newbery Medal and the 2012 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Then, in this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, we hear the essay of Jeana Lee Tahnk.  Parents are one of the biggest markets for the publishing industry.  You could fill a bookstore with all the manuals addressing everything from thumbsucking to bedwetting to discipline.  And many of the authors offer contradictory advice.  It’s hard for modern parents to feel they’re raising their kids the “right” way.  Tahnk thinks of herself as the CEO of her household, but she also has a career outside the home.  She says the decisions she makes at home are always with the best interests of her children in mind.

HOUR TWO:

At a dinner party a few years ago, a rich lawyer asked, “I mean YOUR’RE a teacher, Taylor. Be honest. What do you make?”  Taylor Mali took offense and since then has been on the offensive, defending the role and the profession of teachers.  His poem “What Teachers Make” has been viewed and shared millions of times online and now Mali has written a book titled What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World. Here is one version of his performance. 

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch returns to the small screen as the world’s greatest detective, the brilliant yet sometimes irritating Sherlock Holmes.  After last year’s hit first season, Masterpiece Mystery’s Sherlock picks up with a contemporary Holmes and Watson battling evil mastermind Jim Moriarty.  The series is co-created and written by Steven Moffat.