Joe Donahue

The Book Show #1300 - Zadie Smith

Joe Donahue — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:06:00 +0000

Zadie Smith's fourth novel, NW, is a return of sorts to the voices and the northwest London landscape of her 2000 debut, White Teeth. Her tragi-comic new novel follows four Londoners - Leah, Natalie, Felix and Nathan – as they try to make adult lives outside of Caldwell, the council estate of their childhood. From private houses to public parks, at work and at play, their London is a complicated place.

Jesse Feiler - The Other Side of Social Media

Joe Donahue — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Facebook, Twitter, and even mobile apps aren't just communication tools.

They're highly automated systems that provide a vast storehouse of data you can use to measure your organization's reach and influence -- and to help with grant-writing and fundraising.

Our tech guru, Jesse Feiler, joins us to tell us more.

"Scott and Zelda" reading at Williamtown Theatre Festival

Joe Donahue — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:12:00 +0000

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald share a famously tumultuous and public life together. In Scott and Zelda, we hear the story in their own words – drawn from novels, including The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night, alongside commentary from intimates like Ernest Hemingway and others. Their edgy union, challenged by traumatic breakdowns and critical failures, found its best expression in their final letters, which are among the most moving ever written.

The Williamstown Theatre Festival will present a reading of Kay Cattarulla’s Scott and Zelda on Monday, July 1st. The reading will feature John Benjamin Hickey and Patricia Clarkson and will be directed by Maria Tucci.

Book Picks - The Open Door Bookstore

Joe Donahue — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:10:00 +0000

Today's Book Picks come to us from Amy Lane of The Open Door Bookstore and Gift Gallery in Schenectady, NY.

List after the break.

6/18/13 - Panel

Joe Donahue — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Today's panelists are WAMC's Alan Chartock, Newsman Ray Graf, and Times Union Associate Editor, Mike Spain. Joe Donahue moderates.

Topics include:
GOP Abortion Agenda
G8 Meeting
Obama on Surveillance
Graduation Rates
Green Transit

"Turnaround: Third World Lessons for First World Growth" by Peter Blair Henry

Joe Donahue — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Thirty years ago, China seemed hopelessly mired in poverty, Mexico triggered the Third World Debt Crisis, and Brazil suffered under hyperinflation. Since then, these and other developing countries have turned themselves around, while First World nations, battered by crises, depend more than ever on sustained growth in emerging markets.

In Turnaround: Third World Lessons for First World Growth, economist Peter Blair Henry argues that the secret to emerging countries’ success (and ours) is discipline—sustained commitment to a pragmatic growth strategy.

Teri Roiger Celebrates Juneteenth and The Music of Abbey Lincoln

Joe Donahue — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:35:00 +0000

This Wednesday at the Falcon Arts Center in Marlboro, NY - Teri Roiger will be singing the music of Abbey Lincoln in celebration of Juneteenth - the annual holiday celebrating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S.

Abbey Lincoln was a legendary singer, poet, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist and Teri’s latest CD “Dear Abbey” captures the spirit of the rising civil rights movement and showcases Lincoln’s talents as a lyricist, mixing personal confession with larger social and political implications.

The album has been a real passion project for Teri and she joins us to tell us more.

"As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling" by Anne Serling

Joe Donahue — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:10:00 +0000

To Anne Serling, the imposing figure the public saw hosting The Twilight Zone each week, intoning cautionary observations about fate, chance, and humanity, was not the father she knew. Her fun-loving dad, Rod Serling, would play on the floor with the dogs, had nicknames for everyone in the family.

After his unexpected death at 50, Anne, just 20, was left stunned. Gradually, she found solace for her grief by talking to his friends, poring over old correspondence, and recording her childhood memories.

Now she shares personal photos, eloquent, revealing letters, and beautifully rendered scenes of his childhood, war years, and their family's time together. Her new book is: As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling.

6/17/13 - Panel

Joe Donahue — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Today's panelists are WAMC's President and Political Observer, Alan Chartock and WAMC News Director, Ian Pickus. Joe Donahue moderates.

Topics include:
New Obama Poll
Apple Requests
Composting in NYC
Media Conflicts
Bullying Siblings

"Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis" by Robert Edsel

Joe Donahue — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:12:00 +0000

When Hitler’s armies occupied Italy in 1943, they also seized control of mankind’s greatest cultural treasures. As they had done throughout Europe, the Nazis could now plunder the masterpieces of the Renaissance, the treasures of the Vatican, and the antiquities of the Roman Empire.

Robert Edsel joins us to talk about the efforts to save Italy’s great artistic treasures from the Nazis.

His book is Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis.