This Week's Program Highlights

for Thursday, May 7 - Sunday, May 18, 2008

Wednesday 5/7

4:00-4:15 PM
Keeping It Fresh ... Host Charles Myers devotes this entire show to a discussion of the crisis in our local Salmon fisheries with the directors of the Central Coast Salmon Enhancement. Their web side is at www.centralcoastsalmon.com.

4:15-4:30 PM
The Reluctant Therapist ... Host Elizabeth Barrett discusses the over-use of medications in treating children diagnosed with attention disorders and the barriers to utilizing alternative treatments.

4:30-5:00 PM
Ears On Art ... Today hosts Crissa Hewitt and Steven DeLuque visit with artist Mike Tracy to talk about his exhibition "Tales, Toys 'n Toons" currently on display at the San Luis Obispo Art Center through May 25. Mike lives in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of medium including printmaking, painting and pen 'n inks. He was an animator for Disney and now prides himself on the volume of work he enjoys creating every day. His website is www.miketracy.net.

6:30-7:00 PM
An Evening With ... Voodoo Economics: Senior Fellow at Demos, and author of Inequality Matters, James Lardner joins the program this week to discuss how shady lending practices and our failed economic policies are drowning us in debt. A new books he's co-authored debunks the notion that Americans' personal indebtedness results from reckless extravagance. Lardner offers analysis and realistic solutions.

Friday 5/9

11:00-NOON
McPartland's Piano Jazz ... Pianist Larry Vuckovich hails from Yugoslavia, where he studied classically until Armed Forces Radio turned him into an ardent jazz fan. He launched his jazz career in San Francisco in 1960 and has since carried his evocative and elegant music around the world. He plays his own composition "Blue Balkan," before conspiring with McPartland on "Billie's Bounce."

6:30-8:00 PM
the Club McKenzie ... Hot! Trumpeter Louis Armstrong was at the pinnacle of the greatest jazz musicians. His lightening fast technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity he exuded, and quick, inventive musical mind still influence jazz musicians today. Hear him tonight in his earliest setting with a combo he lead for Okey Records in the latter 1920s.

Saturday 5/10

6:00-7:00 PM
The Thistle and Shamrock ... Welsh Roots: This week discover roots music from Wales with established and emerging artists, including master of the Welsh triple harp Robin Huw Bowen and singer-songwriter Meic Stevens.

Sunday 5/11

11:00-NOON
This American Life ... The Giant Pool of Money: A special program about the housing crisis. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns? Why did banks make half million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930's? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

6:00-7:00 PM
Selected Shorts ... You'll hear "The Meeting," by Aimee Bender, read by Paul Hecht; and "Pride and Joy" by Etgar Keret, read by Robert Sean Leonard.

Monday 5/12

4:00-5:00 PM
Alternative Radio ... Iran: All Options on the Table: Iran is virtually encircled by American military forces. It has not threatened the US So why would America attack? Former Marine intelligence officer and a veteran of the first Gulf War, Scott Ritter, looks at the course Iran has taken that has brought it in Washington's gun sights. He served as a UN weapons inspector in Iraq for seven years, and is an expert on weapons and arms control. Ritter is the author of "Frontier Justice" and "Waging Peace." His latest book is "Target Iran."

Tuesday 5/13

1:00-2:00 PM
New Dimensions Radio ... The Need for Beauty: You know beauty when you see it, but may not know why one object looks beautiful while another does not. Artist and a writer J. Ruth Gendler looks beyond definitions to explore the feeling of beauty, and the wisdom that makes it possible to transform the world to a place that's more beautiful than we imagined it could be.

Wednesday 5/14

4:00-4:30 PM
Issues and Ideas ... Botanical Gardens representatives Liz Scott Graham and Mary Ann Rutshaw join the show to talk about the "Vista and Visions" fund raiser. Later in the program Superior Court Management Analyst Hector Gonzalez, and Presiding Judge Martin Tangeman discuss the annual Community Law Night and Superior Court Open House.

4:30-5:00 PM
Ears On Art ... In what seems particularly timely, hosts Crissa Hewitt and Steven DeLuque visit with Tibetan born artist Karma Thupten who is visiting San Luis Obispo during May. He lives in Katmandu. An exhibit "Sacred Paintings of Tibet" is currently on display at Arts Space Obispo in the Creamery through May 29. Robert Sachs of San Luis will be part of the interview for his friend from Tibet. There will be a reception and lecture at Arts Space Obispo Wednesday, evening May 14th beginning at 6:30 with Karma's talk at 7:15. There are two other events during the month including a workshop May 23rd. Information is available at arts obispo dot org

6:30-7:00 PM
An Evening With ... Perspectives of an Occupation: Jewish American Columbia graduate and Fulbright scholar, Anna Baltzer, provides a perspective of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict not usually heard in mainstream media. Providing documentation and critical information often misrepresented or ignored in the Western press, Baltzer encourages an open dialog towards taking informed action.

Friday 5/16

11:00-NOON
McPartland's Piano Jazz ... Pianist Oscar Peterson was one of the giants of jazz piano. Fast fingers and a hard-wired sense of swing defined Peterson and made him a favorite musical partner for everyone from Ella to Dizzy to Herbie Hancock. In this encore presentation, Peterson demonstrates his deft touch and amazing technique on his own "Love Ballad" before joining McPartland on Ellington's "In a Mellow Tone."

Saturday 5/17

4:00-5:00 PM
The Thistle and Shamrock ... Host Fiona Ritchie uncovers musical connections with Stevenson, Yeats, Scott and other literary figures in the company of Bonnie Rideout, Loreena McKennitt, Battlefield Band and Jean Redpath.

Sunday 5/18

11:00-NOON
This American Life ... Big Wide World: When he was a teenager, Haider worked in the Iraqi Ministry of Information. He was specially trained to talk to visiting dignitaries and foreign reporters, and he loved his job. It was exciting, and he was treated like a celebrity. Then the war broke out, his job disappeared, and Haider suddenly had to figure out what to do next: hide, like his father wanted, or jump into the fray. Plus, other stories about what happens when you strike out into the world.

6:00-7:00 PM
Selected Shorts ... You'll hear, "War Wounds," by Tom Bissell read by Oskar Eustis.