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Wisconsin Public Radio

IN THE PRESENCE OF EVIL

Program 07-03-11-A

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What would you do if you found yourself in the presence of murderous evil? Would you sell out to survive, or would you resist and try to hang onto your values? For how long? Maybe you reject the whole concept of evil. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll meet some people who aren't so sure anymore, including Ishmael Beah. He became a killing machine for the Army in Sierra Leone. They gave him an AK47 and a steady diet of drugs and war movies, when he was only 12 years old.

SEGMENT 1:

Ishmael Beah was 12 when the army of Sierra Leone gave him an AK-47 and a lot of drugs and turned him into a killing machine. Beah's been rehabilitated and lives in the USA. He tells Anne Stranchamps about his life as a child soldier and his work helping other child victims. He's the author of "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier." Also, Elizabeth George, author of the Inspector Lynley mysteries, talks with Jim Fleming about the latest, in which Tommy Lynley never appears. It's called "With No-one As Witness" and tells the life story of the mixed race boy who's arrested for the fatal mugging of the Inspector's wife, which occurred in the previous novel in the series.

SEGMENT 2:

Actor and producer George Bartenieff put together and performs a one man play called "I Will Bear Witness" based on the diaries of Victor Klemperer, a Jew who survived the Third Reich. Bartenieff talks with Steve Paulson and performs excerpts from his play. Like Klemperer, Bartenieff was born in Germany to a mixed marriage. He tells Steve he has performed his piece all over the world with sometimes surprising reactions.

SEGMENT 3:

Martin Amis talks with Jim Fleming about his new novel, "House of Meetings" and the legacy of Stalin on Russia. Amis says the recent murder of a dissident in London sends a message to other dissidents and takes Russia back half a century. Amis also reads an excerpt from the new book.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 07-03-11-A.

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Books:

Martin Amis, House of Meetings: a novel (Knopf)
Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (FSG)
Elizabeth George, What Came Before He Shot Her: a novel (Harper Collins)

Websites:

• Elizabeth George
  http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com/
• Martin Amis
  http://www.martinamisweb.com/

Music:

• Benjamin Britten: Variations on A Theme by Frank Bridge, Op. 10 BBC Symph./Andrew Davis Teldec 9031-73126
• Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes: 4 Sea Interludes, Op. 33a BBC Symph./Andrew Davis Teldec 9031-73126
• Paul Hindemith: Der Damon, (The Demon) Op. 28 GewandhausOrch/Lothar Zagrosek London 444 182-2
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Das Kleine Serenade Op. 24 Korngold Orchestral Works 3 Northwest German Philharmonic/Werner Andreas Albert Classic Produktion Osnabruck 999 077-2
• John Barry: Sound Track to “From Russia With Love.” MGM/UA HomeVideo

Distribution dates: week of 02/10/2008 - hour 1 week of 03/11/2007 - hour 1

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

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