TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE


PROMO FOR 6/7/2009  "How We Learn"
*Ben Franklin, Henry Ford, Abigail Adams, Elvis Presley. Know what they
have in common? They're all on Daniel Wolff's list of great Americans.
Hi, I'm Jim Fleming. Next time, on To the Best of Our Knowledge, Wolff
explains the unique ways those people learned what they had to know.
We'll also take a hard look at IQ and its relationship to race and
class, and consider why dyslexia can be a gift.


PROGRAM RUNDOWN:  "How We Learn"


0:00 - 20:44        SEGMENT 1: (20:45)
            Daniel Wolff is the author of "How Lincoln Learned to
            Read: 12 Great Americans and the Education That Made
            Them."  He tells Anne Strainchamps that most Americans
            learn what they really need to know outside of school and
            that as a society, we believe contradictory things about
            the value of public education. Also, Richard Nisbett is
            an IQ expert. His latest book is "Intelligence and How to
            Get It."  He tells Steve Paulson that parenting styles
            have an enormous impact on the IQ of children and so does
            simply telling middle-school children that influencing
            their IQ is within their control. 
                    
            Segment One Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

20:45 - 21:14  LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

21:15 - 39:57       SEGMENT 2: (18:44)
            Maryanne Wolf runs the Center for Reading and Language
            Research at Tufts University, and is the author of
            "Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the
            Reading Brain."  Wolf tells Anne Strainchamps that she
            thinks the dyslexia brain ought to be considered a gift
            that characterized some of history's leading figures. 
            Also, Rick Riordan is the author of the wildly popular
            series of children's books featuring Percy Jackson - the
            dyslexic son of the god Poseidon.  We hear clips from two
            of Percy's adventures, and Rick Riordan tells Anne
            Strainchamps that he created the character to help his
            own dyslexic son learn to love stories and reading. 
                    
            Segment Two Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

39:58 - 40:27       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

40:28 - 53:00       SEGMENT 3: (12:32)
            Lewis Buzbee has spent his life besotted with books. 
            He's sold them, and now he writes them. His memoir is
            "The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A memoir, A history" and
            he's also the author of a novel called "Steinbeck's
            Ghost" for younger readers.  Buzbee talks with Jim
            Fleming about the tactile pleasures of book shopping and
            why people still love going to the bookshop, despite the
            convenience of on-line shopping.
                    
            Segment Three Outcue: PRI Audio Logo


For a copy of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
6-7-B.

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