A Four Part Series from TTBOOK!

Public Radio International

Wisconsin Public Radio

GOD IS BACK

Program 09-07-19-A

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Religion was supposed to be dying. But God is making a comeback in countries around the world, from Russia to China to Turkey. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll get the story behind this global revival of faith. And tell you the remarkable saga of a group of Christian and Muslim women in Liberia who banded together to bring down their corrupt and violent President.

SEGMENT 1:

NPR religion reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty is a practicing Christian who interviewed mystics, skeptics and a wide range of scientists to see if her faith could really stand up to the latest scientific research. Her book is "Fingerprints of God." She talks with Steve Paulson about what she learned.

SEGMENT 2:

Adrian Wooldridge is the Washington bureau chief for the Economist Magazine and co-author (with John Micklewait)of "God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith is Changing the World." Wooldridge tells Jim Fleming that unexpectedly, religious faith has not only survived into the modern era, it's thriving. Also, film-maker Gini Reticker tells Anne Strainchamps about her documentary, "Pray the Devil Back to Hell," which tells how a group of Christian and Muslim women used the power of prayer to end the civil war in Liberia and end the brutal regime of Charles Taylor.

SEGMENT 3:

Robert Wright's new book is "The Evolution of God." Wright tells Steve Paulson that the history of monotheism was shaped by the political events of the turbulent ancient Middle East and that Jesus was not a prophet of peace but a typical Jewish apocalyptic preacher obsessed with the approaching End Times. Nevertheless, Wright says, humanity is striving towards moral truth. http://www.salon.com/env/atoms_eden/2009/06/24/evolution_of_god/index.html

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 09-07-19-A.

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Books & CDs:

Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Fingerprints of God (Riverhead)
Adrian Wooldridge, John Micklethwait, God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith is Changing the World (Penguin)
Robert Wright, The Evolution of God (Little Brown)

Websites:

• Steve's Interview with Robert Wright on Salon.com:
  http://www.salon.com/env/atoms_eden/2009/06/24/evolution_of_god/index.html
• Pray the Devil Back to Hell Documentary website:
  http://www.praythedevilbacktohell.com/v3/

Music:

• After Hagerty:
  John Coltrane w/ “Wise One”
  On “Spiritual” CD
  Impulse Records
  
• After Wooldridge:
  Della Daniels and Ester Mae Smith w/ “Jesus Builds a Fence Around Me”
  On “Como Now” CD
  Daptone Records
  
• After Retiker:
  John Coltrane w/ “Ogunde”
  On “Spiritual”
  
• After Wright:
  John Coltrane w/ “Dear Lord”
  On “Spiritual”

Distribution dates: week of 07/19/2009 - hour 1 click HERE for timings and cues

Listen!

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

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