Bob Edwards Weekend – July 10-11, 2010
HOUR ONE
General Stanley McCrystal resigned late last month as the commander of the international troops in Afghanistan, ostensibly, due to disparaging comments about the Obama administration he and his staff made in a Rolling Stone article. But at the heart of those comments was a debate about the current strategy in Afghanistan, an issue overlooked during the personnel change. Caroline Wadhams is the Director for South Asia Security Studies at the Center for American Progress. She’ll discuss the counterinsurgency strategy and its progress in Afghanistan.
In their new book, Merchants of Doubt, historians of science Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway tell the story of how for more than four decades, a small group of pro-industry, politically-connected scientists carried out effective campaigns to mislead the public. They argue that ideology and corporate interests, helped by a lazy media, have clouded public understanding of some of the most critical issues of our time.
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series This I Believe, Bob talks with curator Dan Gediman about the essay of Chester Bowles. He gave up a successful advertising business to be a public servant, political figure and diplomat. He worked in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations until 1948, when he was elected Governor of Connecticut. Bowles later served as U.S. Ambassador to India and Nepal.
HOUR TWO
We continue our series of music interviews recorded at this year’s New Orleans Jazz Fest, this week with Roger Lewis, a founding member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Lewis talks with Bob about his band’s progression from revolutionizing upstarts more than thirty years ago to established — though still inventive — old masters. Lewis spoke with Bob in the green room of the famous club Tipitina’s, in Uptown New Orleans.
Truman Capote wrote the novella that became a beloved film classic starring Audrey Hepburn in her most iconic role. But if Capote had had his way, Marilyn Monroe would have played the naïve and sprightly Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, not Hepburn. Sam Wasson has authored a new book exploring the making of the movie and its influence on the contemporary woman — the “little black dress” is just the beginning. Wesson’s book is titled Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman.