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October 1999 Shows
Monday 4th October
THE DESCENT OF MAN
According to tonight's guest, Pulitzer Prize winning author and noted
advocate of the feminist cause, Susan Faludi, the American male is in
crisis. Far from this being a man's world social forces have conspired
to displace males from the roles that they have traditionally filled leaving
many disappointed, bewildered and confused. In her new book Stiffed:
The Betrayal of the American Man, Faludi suggests that feminists should
put away their 'rap sheet of men's crimes and misdemeanors' and work with
men to lay the groundwork of a culture that affirms the needs of everyone.
Thus, the crisis facing modern American man and the end of the gender
wars discussed tonight on Extension 720.
Tuesday 5th October
SECRET HISTORY
NAC OUY KCARC SIHT EDOC? Not hard but how would you fare had it been encoded
by a Pentagon supercomputer rather than by my decidedly un-super gray
matter? Recent discussion of Internet privacy and security have brought
the issue of encryption to the fore, but the history of code making can
be traced back much farther than the present technological age. Simon
Singh best selling author of Fermat's
Enigma returns to Extension 720 to discuss his new work The
Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy From Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum
Cryptography, a compelling tour through the cloaked world of codes
and code breaking. As an added incentive to buy the book Simon is offering
$15000 of his own money to anyone who can break the code it contains.
Tune in tonight for an unscrambled transmission of the code makers and
breakers art tonight on Extension 720.
Wednesday 6th October
ITALIAN
COOKING
We have a special show on Italian cooking planned (Including Lynne Rossetto
Kasper host of NPR's The
Splendid Table and author of The Italian Country Table)
Thursday 7th October
VIOLENT BEGINNINGS
The recent tragedies in Columbine and Fort Worth have left most
of us asking the question that forms the title of Richard Rhodes' latest
book, Why They Kill. Rhodes, who won the Pulitzer Prize for The Making
of the Atomic Bomb, explores the discoveries of maverick criminologist
Dr
Lonnie Athens. Why They Kill is a fascinating and lucid account of
the Dr Athens theories of the causes of violent behavior and what can
be done to interrupt the process that creates murderers, thugs and rapists.
An important and timely discussion tonight on Extension 720
Friday 8th October
FIRE AND ICE ON THE MOUNTAIN
From the back of our guests book comes the following endorsement, "
My father's greatest living heroes were John Glenn and Jim Whittaker",
Robert F Kennedy Jr. Tonight Extension 720 is honored to welcome Jim Whittaker
the first American to scale Everest. Whittaker, who has spent most of
his life clambering up and down the world's most vertiginous spots, shakes
the ice from his boots and joins Milt to discuss the 'high-life' on the
occasion of the publication of his autobiography, A Life
on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond. So strap on your crampons
and shoulder the oxygen tank for some really top-drawer conversation.
(Late news: Whittaker will be joined by John MacLean author of Fire
On The Mountain also a tale of high altitude daring-do)
Monday 11th October
APOCALYPSE NOW?
According to one of tonight's guests, Professor
Bart Ehrman, Jesus, while not quite the Gallilean equivalent of the
doom mongers one sometimes observes scaring downtown tourists, certainly
heralded the apocalypse for his own generation. According to Ehrman Jesus
taught that the world would come to a screeching halt, that God would
intervene in the affairs of this planet, overthrow the forces evil in
a cosmic act of judgement and establish his utopian kingdom here on earth.
And this was to happen within Jesus' own generation. Tune in as our expert
panel considers the life and times of Jesus tonight on Extension 720
Tuesday 12th October
CHASTE OF CHICAGO?
If the word chastity summons images of crusader's wives and uncomfortable
looking iron bridal wear, think again. According to tonight's guests,
all of whom are active members of the abstinence education group Project
Reality, the best defense against unwanted pregnancy and sexual disease
is chastity. Find out why they are committed to replacing the 'do it if
it feels good' message of sex education with one that stresses the importance
of sexual abstinence until marriage, tonight on Extension 720
Wednesday 13th October
PUTTING SCHOOLS TO THE TEST
Paul Valas, The Chief Executive Officer of Chicago's public Schools, joins
Extension 720 to discuss the current state of education in the city. The
reform of education formed the centrepiece of the Daley campaign and was
one of the hottest topics of the last mayoral election. But the extent
of the progress made by a system once described as the worst in the country,
and the probity and effectiveness of the methods used have been questioned
by commentators within and outside of the public education system. Paul
Valas put to the test by Milt and some additional guests, tonight on Extension
720
Thursday 14th October
CHURCHILL'S AMERICA
Winston Churchill former Conservative Member of the UK Parliament and
eponymous grandson of the cigar toting British Prime Minister has produced
a new single volume edition his grandfather's, A
History of the English Speaking People. Churchill grandpere, to many
the paradigmatic Englishman, had a life-long enchantment with America
and his history wholeheartedly embraces America culture and achievement.
The new edition titled, 'The
Great Republic: A History of The United States', gathers together
the four volumes of The History and provides a new preface written by
the younger Winston Churchill. Members of the Churchill clan past and
present consider American history tonight on Extension 720
Friday 15th October
FAITHFUL TO FAITH
Recent Polls report that 96% of American believe in God. Why is this?
Why despite the rise of science, technology, and secular education are
people turning to religion in greater numbers than ever before? Why do
people believe in God at all? Michael Shermer, whose book, 'How
We Believe: the Search for God in an Age of Science' has recently
been published, thinks he has the answer to some of these questions. The
persistence of religion in a technological age explored tonight on Extension
720
Monday 18th
Tonight's show is still undergoing testing in the Extension 720 laboratory.
Tuesday 19th
THE OTHER GREAT RELIGIONS
One in every six human beings is a Hindu and hundreds of millions more
live in cultures molded by the ideas of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism,
yet our knowledge of these religions is often limited. We will attempt
to remedy the situation as our expert panel considers non-Semitic religions.
Joining us will be cultural anthropologist Stephen P Huyler author of
the beautifully illustrated new book Meeting
God: Elements of Hindu Devotion. If not quite radio Nirvana then at
least a welcome relief from conversational Samsara tonight on Extension
720.
Wednesday 20th October
MEDIA MOGULS
Through their dynastic control of the New York Times, the Ochses and Sulzbergers
have been the most powerful family in twentieth century America. Not only
have they owned the Times for more than a hundred years: but a family
member has always been at the paper's helm, a position that has given
them enormous influence and has been passed down as a birth-right through
four generations. With unprecedented access to family archives, tonight's
guests, authors Susan E. Tifft and Alex S. Jones, have produced in their
new book The
Trust, a comprehensive history of the media's first family. The life
and times of The Times tonight on Extension 720.
Thursday 21st
80's 720
Hot on the heels of our retrospective of the 70's we revisit some of Milts
great interviews from the 80's. We'll replay excepts from some of Extension
720's most memorable shows. Will it be J K Galbraith, Jimmy Carter, PJ
O'Rourke, Garison Keillor, Quentin Crisp, John Delorean or Henry Kissinger?
Tune in to hear all revealed in full retrospective glory tonight on Extension
720
Friday 22nd October
A NECESSARY EVIL
Pulitzer Prize winning author Garry Wills joins Extension 720 to discuss
his new book A
Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government.
Monday 25th October
DUTCH
Whether you believe that Ronald Reagan was the ultimate miscast actor
or the President that saved America from itself, tonight's show is sure
to be compelling radio as Extension 720 is joined by Edmund Morris author
of the long awaited and controversial biography of Reagan, "Dutch".
More than a simple narrative outline of the President, Morris' biography
is a detailed study of the man, his career and the legacy of his period
in office. A President's journey from westerns to The White House explored
tonight on Extension 720.
Tuesday 26th October
NO END TO BOOKS?
Bookstores with coffee shops, coffee shops with bookstores, record stores
with books, bookstores with records and internet retailers that sell everything
from CD' ROM's to samovars. As you wait for the foam to cool on your Mocha
Latte Chai Tea with Steamed Lowfat Milk in the Borders café, it
may have occurred to you that bookstores are rather different from the
libraries with price tags that were the norm only a few years ago. In
timely fashion Extension 720 considers the radical changes that have taken
place in the book industry with representatives of independent book stores
and the large chains. An 'I couldn't put it down' conversation tonight
on Extension 720.
Wednesday 27th October
THE VIOLIN
When Isaac Stern one of the world's greatest violinists visits your show
there is little to say other than we promise an evening of wonderful music
and insight into music. In the first half of the show we'll be playing
some his finest recordings and in the second half we will talk about the
music and the events that have shaped his life drawing from his new biography
'Isaac Stern: My First 79 Years'. Artistry of a high order, in words and
music, tonight on Extension 720
Thursday 28th October
MILLENNIUM
With typically modest ambition Extension 720 begins an evaluation of the
last thousand years of history. In the first of a three part series that
will cover the ideas, events and individuals that have shaped the last
millennium, tonight our expert panel considers the individuals who have
most significantly affected the course of history since the year 1000.
Sweet Home Chicago
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