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from Wisconsin Public Radio
April 21, 1996 Programs
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1100 - 1159 Hour #1 Militia Movement
1200 - 1259 Hour #2 Sea Stories (repeat of 95-07-09-B)
1300 - 1359 Hour #3 Humor
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 1:Militia Movement
SEGMENT 1:
Civil rights lawyer Morris Dees warned the US Attorney genera
about the militia movement six months before the federal building was bombed
in Oklahoma City. Dees' Southern Poverty Law Center has been tracking hate
groups for years, but in the past few years he's noticed something new --
private armies burgeoning. In a new book "The Gathering Storm" Dees writes
about hate grup tactics. In this segment he tells Judith Strasser about
the Patriot Movement. Sociologist William Gibson thinks the militia movement is a
relatively modern idea, and he tells Steve Paulson that it grew out of the
Vietnam War.
SEGMENT 2:
The modern militia movement is often, but not always, based
in right-wing philosophy. That wasn't always true -- just remember John Brown
and the troops he led against the federal army at Harper's Ferry. Novelist
Bruce Olds has tried to imagine one of history's most forbidding -
and fascinating characters. He tells Steve Paulson about his fictional
John Brown.
SEGMENT 3:
Philip Caputo has experience war first-hand, first as a
foot soldier in Vietnam and later as a correspondent. His new novel,
"Equation for Evil", looks at racially-motivated killings closer to home.
He tells Jim Fleming how his fictional story grew out of the real shooting of a
school bus in Stockton, California.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
04-21-A.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 2:Sea Stories
SEGMENT 1:
Bob Ballard is Director of the Center for Marine Exploration at
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. His most recent book
(written with Malcolm McConnell) is "Exploration: My Quest for
Adventure and Discovery under the Sea." He tells Steve Paulson
about some of his undersea adventures, especiallt the 1985
discovery of the wreck of the Titanic.
SEGMENT 2:
Richard Ellis is a writer and marine painter. His latest book
is "Monsters of the Deep." He tells Margaret Andreasen about
the strange creatures that live in the depths of the sea -- and
the human mind. Also, Roger Payne tells Steve Paulson some
amazing things about whales. Payne is President of the Whale
Conservation Institute in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and the
author of "Among Whales."
SEGMENT 3:
Author of the best sea stories ever, Patrick O'Brien tells Jim
Fleming that his novels use the adventure story as a vehicle to
comment on the human condition, and he also recalls how he
learned to sail. Patrick O'Brien has published seventeen
novels in his series, starting with "Master and Commander."
The latest is "The Commodore."
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
95-07-09-B.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN: HOUR 3: Humor
SEGMENT 1
Barry Sanders once dreamed of being a stand-up comic; he turned
out to be a professor, instead. But he never lost in interest
in it--he's the author of a new book on the subject--Sudden
Glory: Laughter as Subversive History. Sander's told Jim
Fleming about the evolution of laughter -- Neanderthals,
Ancient Greeks and Lenny Bruce.
SEGMENT 2:
Robert Provine, a psychologist at University of Baltimore,
Maryland County, studies everyday laughter, eavesdropping in
shopping mall, restaurants and office building. He told Judith
Stasser that what people laugh at isn't funny. The greatest
laugh hits he's overheard are one-liners like "Gotta go now" or
"Look there's Andre!"--not exactly great punchlines.
SEGMENT 3:
Mel Watkins traces the history of African-American humor in his
book On the Real Side, from slavery to Richard Pryor. He told
Steve Paulson that laughter was key to African-American
survival. Also excerpts from some of the great comic voices--
Moms Mabely, Bill Cosby, Flip Wilson and more.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
04-21-C.
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Last modified: Thursday April 4, 1996