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Wisconsin Public Radio

Program 05-02-06-A

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Forty years ago Tom Wolfe pioneered a snappy, "you are there" kind of reporting - what he called "the new journalism." Now he writes novels, but Wolfe says he's still a reporter at hear, tackling tough issues like class and social status. He says most American ficiton is self-indulgen - cut off from the real world. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll talk with Tom Wolfe about what makes a good novel, and why he loves to write about humiliation.

SEGMENT 1:

Michael Zweig is an economist at SUNY-Stony Brook. He tells Steve Paulson that a lot of Americans who think they're middle class are actually working class and that Americans need to squarely face up to class issues and what they mean for things like health care. Also, Michelle Kennedy tells Anne Strainchamps how she ended up homeless and how she managed to support herself and her three children. Kennedy is the author of "Without A Net."

SEGMENT 2:

Music historian Michael Streissguth talks with Jim Fleming about Johnny Cash and the remarkable recording he made in 1968 at Folsom prison. And we hear several musical examples. Streissguth is the author of "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison."

SEGMENT 3:

Tom Wolfe's latest novel is called "I Am Charlotte Simmons." He talks about it with Steve Paulson, and explains why he's so fascinated by the connection between sex and social status. Excerpts from the book are read by Dylan Baker.

Cassette copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 05-02-06-A.

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Books:

• Michelle Kennedy, Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (with Kids) in America: My Story (Viking)
  
• Michael Streissguth, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: the Making of a Masterpiece (DaCapo)
  
• Tom Wolfe, I Am Charlotte Simmons (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Music:

• After Return:
  "Puttin' on the Ritz"
  Ella Fitzgerald: Irving Berlin Songbook
  Verve
• After Zweig:
  "Time After Time"
  on "Ben Webster and Associates"
  Verve
• All Johnny Cash music from "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison"
  --"Busted"
  --"Folsom Prison Blues"
  --"Dark as a Dungeon"
  --"Give My Love to Rose"
  --"Jackson"
  --"Graystone Chapel"
  --"Send Picture of Mother"

• After Wolfe:
  Gabin w/ "Sweet Sadness"
  on Putumayo Presents Euro Lounge

Distribution dates:

week of 04/02/2006 - hour 2 week of 02/06/2005 - hour 1

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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