Brooke Kroeger – When People Can’t Be Who They Are

Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are

“Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are,” was written by Brooke Kroeger, an Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University. Her book reveals why many ‘passers’ today are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass is an attempt to bypass injustice and to be more truly themselves.

Brooke Kroeger recommends “Middlesex,” Jeffrey Eugendies, “Amerca’s Women,” by Gail Collings & “They Marched Intro Sunlight,” by David Marinis.

Originally Broadcast: February 17, 2004

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Robert Benton – The Human Stain

Director of, The Human Stain

Robert Benton is the director of “The Human Stain,” which is based on the third novel of Philip Roth’s trilogy describing the turmoil of post-WWII America. It exposes the life of Coleman Silk, a Professor of Classics at a small New England College, an eminent Jewish intellectual and a devoted husband. Roth describes Silk as “ensnared by a history he hadn’t quite counted on.”

Originally Broadcast: November 1, 2003

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Alexandra Fuller – Growing up White in Africa

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood

Our guest in this program lived in Rhodesia, Malawi and Zambia from 1972 to 1990. Her father joined up on the side of the white government in the Rhodesian civil war, and was often away fighting against the guerilla factions. Her mother dove into their African life and its rugged farm work. Resilient and self-sufficient she taught her children to have strong wills and opinions, and to embrace life whole-heartedly, despite and because of difficult circumstances. Alexandra Fuller is the author of “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, an African Childhood.”

Alexandra Fuller recommends “Echoing Silences,” by Alexander Canigone.

Originally Broadcast: September 2, 2003

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Randall Kennedy – Black and White

Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity, and Adoption

“Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity, and Adoption,” is a book written by Randall Kennedy, a Harvard University Law School Professor. He takes an in-depth look at the issue of black and white relationships set against the ever-changing social mores and laws of this country.

Randall Kennedy recommends “The Biography of Walter White,” by Robert Janken.

Originally Broadcast: April 15, 2003

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Randall Kennedy – Can You Say This Word?

Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word

Few words in the English language have caused so much pain, hurt and emotion as the N-word. It is arguably the most consequential social insult in American history. The long history of the pejorative use of the N-word has given it an unusual power that extends to the judicial system, literature and social settings.

Randall Kennedy, a professor of Law at Harvard University Law School, is the author of “Nigger-the Strange Career of a Troublesome Word.”  His book chronicles the history of this word, in an effort to diffuse and neutralize it.

At the end of his book he writes, “There is much to be gained by allowing people all backgrounds to yank the N-word away from white supremacists to subvert its ugliest denotation, and to convert the N-work from a negative into a positive appellation.”

I spoke with Professor Randall Kennedy in the winter of 2002 while he was in California and asked him to begin our conversation by explaining this conclusion.

The book Randall Kennedy recommends in “The Negro in the American Revolution,” by Benjamin Quarles, written in 1961.

Originally Broadcast: March 19, 2002

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Lynda Koolish, Ph.D. – African American Writers

African American Writers: Portraits and Visions

The voice of a writer can be heard in words, and sometimes seen in the writer’s face. It is unusual to find both in a book in which the creator is both the author and the photographer. Lynda Koolish, our guest on this archive edition of Radio Curious, is a professor of African American literature at San Diego State University and an accomplished photographer. She is the author of a book entitled “African American Writers: Portraits and Visions” in which she reveals the visage of 59 African American writers along with a thumbnail biography and summation of each writer’s vision.

Lynda Koolish, Ph.D. recommends “Dien Cai Dau” and “Neon Vernacular” by Yusef Komunyakaa.

Originally Broadcast: February 19, 2002

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Annie Barnes – Racism in America

Everyday Racism: A Book For All Americans

Racism has too long been a part of the American experience. The Civil War and the Constitutional amendments that followed, the Supreme Court decisions ordering the desegregation of schools, and the Civil Rights movements did not end racism in America. Annie S. Barnes, holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University of Virginia and is a retired Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Norfolk State University in Virginia. She is the author of “Everyday Racism, A Book for All Americans,” a book based on the racist experiences suffered by 146 black college students. Professor Barnes describes effects of racism on black people and what black people and white people can do to combat it.

Annie Barnes recommends “Driving While Black,” by Kenneth Meeks.

Originally Broadcast: February 27, 2001

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Jane Dymond – A Juror Speaks

The Eugene “Bear” Lincoln murder trial ended in the fall of 1997 in Ukiah, California, with an acquittal of the defendant, Mr. Lincoln, on charges of first degree and second-degree murder, and with the jury divided ten to two, on acquittal from manslaughter charges. Apart from the divisive nature of this criminal trial, it also carried a particularly extraordinary aspect. Seven of the twelve jurors chose to come forward and talk about their responses to what they heard and saw in the courtroom. Jane Dymond was a member of the Lincoln trial jury. She attended every session of the trial, and every aspect of the jury’s deliberation. She is our guest in this edition of Radio Curious.

Jane Dymond recommends “Independent People,” by Haldor Locksmith.

Originally Broadcast: October 10, 1997

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Scott Spears – An Experiment in Successful Community Mediation

Stockton, CA, has been called the most diverse community in the world. Fourteen distinct and primary languages are spoken in the Stockton area elementary schools. This enormous cultural diversity has, in the past, resulted in automatic rifle fire at a Stockton elementary school. Scott Spears, a young man who grew up in Ukiah, currently works at the Stockton mediation justify as a trainer and program developer in the schools and as a mediator in the Stockton community.

Originally Broadcast: April 16, 1997

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Linda Kremer – The Legal Defense of Jailed Cambodians

Attorney Linda Kremer, a Public Defender in Marin County, California, worked for thirteen months in Phnom Phen, Cambodia, in 1996 and 1997 as Director of the Cambodian Defenders’ Project. The Cambodian Defenders’ Project recruits and trains Khmer men and women to serve as Public Defenders in the criminal courts of Cambodia. Cambodian law requires that no person be detained in excess of 48 hours without being charged with a crime or be held without trial from longer than six months. In practice, these rights are rarely honored. Without legal defense, those is prison are powerless to request compliance. Other programs you may enjoy are with Daniel Ellsberg discussing the Pentagon Papers and Vietman, and with Wayne Knight, a Mendocino County artist who was also associated with the Cambodian Defenders Project. They both may be found on this website.

Linda Kremer recommends “Spontaneous Healing” & “Natural Healing,” both by Andrew While.

Originally Broadcast: March 26, 1997

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