To The Best of Our Knowledge

from Wisconsin Public Radio

Captain William Kidd is considered to be one of the most notorious buccaneers ever to sail the Spanish Main. But apparently history got it wrong – Captain Kidd wasn't a pirate, he was a sea captain who hunted down pirates. Talk about being misunderstood!. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the life and times of Captain Kidd. And some female swashbucklers like Sadie the Goat and Lai Choi San.

Richard Zacks, author of "The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd," tells Jim Fleming that Kidd, was a privateer - a pirate hunter - not a pirate. Kidd was hung for the political convenience of his masters while his nemesis, a REALLY bad pirate, got a pardon. And we hear how pirates learn to sound like pirates, courtesy of Doug Gordon. And we hear lots of pirate songs!

Jack Gottschalk is an attorney and one of the authors of "Jolly Roger with an Uzi: The Rise and Threat of Modern Piracy." He tells Steve Paulson that piracy is alive and well on the high seas, from crews who hi-jack tankers and container ships to well-armed bandits who prey on boat people. Also, Captain Jack Dalby runs a company called Marine Risk Management that out-pirate the pirates and reclaims ships for their rightful owners. He tells Steve Paulson a little about how they do it, with global positioning units and big, strapping ex-special forces types.

Sara Lorimer is the author of "Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas." She tells Jim Fleming about the Chinese woman who ran an empire of six fleets and eighty thousand pirates, and the Irish pirate who gave birth during a battle. Also, non-mariners use the word pirate today to talk about un-authorized duplication of music. John Alderman is the author of "Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the New Pioneers of Music." He tells Steve Paulson that once young people figured out how to share music on the Internet, the floodgates were opened. He thinks the industry will fail in its efforts to stop technology and looks to the various music licensing models for a solution that rewards artists without penalizing consumers.

Books:

• John Alderman, Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3 , and the NewPioneers of Music (Perseus Publishing)
• Jack A. Gottschalk and Brian P. Flanagan with Lawrence J. Kahn and Dennis M. LaRochelle, Jolly Roger with an Uzi: The Rise and Threat of Modern Piracy (Naval Institute Press)
• Sara Lorimer, Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas (Chronicle Books)
• Richard Zacks, The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd (Hyperion)

Music:

• -- "Yo, Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" from the box set, "The Music of Disney - A Legacy in Song" (Walt Disney Records)
• -- "Captain Kidd"/The Makem Brothers from the CD, "Stand Together" (Red Biddy Records)
• -- "Men"/Martin Mull from the box set, "The American Comedy Box" (Rhino)
• -- "The 10 Attacks of Dagger"/Drums & Tuba from the CD, "Vinyl Killer" (Righteous Babe)
• -- "Blood Red Roses"/Dave Webber from the CD, "Shanties & Songs of the Sea" (ARC Music)
• -- "Peter's Shuffle"/Griveous Angels from the CD, "One Job Town" (Stony Plain)
• -- "Free And Easy"/Shaun Davey & Rita Connolly from the album, "Granuaile" (Tara)
• -- "Women & Men"/They Might Be Giants from the CD, "Flood" (Elektra)
• -- "Computerlove"/Kraftwerk from the CD, "The Mix" (Elektra)
  

Distribution dates:

• week of 08/18/2002 - hour 1