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"The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America" by Jonathan Kozol Length: 10 hours and 11 min. ISBN: 1-4159-2415-5 New York Times Best Seller Listen to an excerpt with:     Windows Media Player     Real Player

Over the past several years, Jonathan Kozol has visited nearly 60 public schools. Virtually everywhere, he finds that conditions have grown worse for inner-city children in the 15 years since federal courts began dismantling the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. First, a state of nearly absolute apartheid now prevails in thousands of our schools. The segregation of black children has reverted to a level that the nation has not seen since 1968. Few of the students in these schools know white children any longer. Second, a protomilitary form of discipline has now emerged, modeled on stick-and-carrot methods of behavioral control traditionally used in prisons but targeted exclusively at black and Hispanic children. And third, as high-stakes testing takes on pathological and punitive dimensions, liberal education in our inner-city schools has been increasingly replaced by culturally barren and robotic methods of instruction that would be rejected out of hand by schools that serve the mainstream of society.

Filled with the passionate voices of children and their teachers and some of the most revered and trusted leaders in the black community, The Shame of the Nation is a triumph of firsthand reporting that pays tribute to those undefeated educators who persist against the odds, but directly challenges the chilling practices now being forced upon our urban systems by the Bush administration. In their place, Kozol offers a humane, dramatic challenge to our nation to fulfill at last the promise made some 50 years ago to all our youngest citizens.

Tags: the shame of the nation: the restoration of apartheid schooling in america, jonathan kozol, news, nonfiction, the restoration of apartheid schooling in america, brown v. board of education, public schools, bush, education, segregation

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"A Man Without a Country" by Kurt Vonnegut Length: 2 hours and 24 min. ISBN: New York Times Best Seller Listen to an excerpt with:     Windows Media Player     Real Player

One of the greatest minds in American writing, Kurt Vonnegut has left an indelible impression on literature with such inventive novels as Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions. Now this iconic figure shares his often hilarious and always insightful reflections on America, art, politics and life in general. No matter the subject, Vonnegut will have you considering perspectives you may never have regarded. On the creative process: “If you want to really hurt your parents…the least you can do is go into the arts. I’m not kidding.” On politics: “No, I am not going to run for President, although I do know that a sentence, if it is to be complete, must have both a subject and a verb.” On nature: “Evolution is so creative. That’s how we got giraffes.” On modern cultural attitudes: “Do you think Arabs are dumb? They gave us our numbers. Try doing long division with Roman numerals.” And on the fate of humankind: “The good Earth, we could have saved it, but we were too damn cheap and lazy.” A Man Without a Country showcases Vonnegut at his wittiest, most acerbic, and most concerned. Beyond the humor and biting satire is an appeal to all readers to give careful thought to the world around them and the people they share it with.

Tags: a man without a country, kurt vonnegut, biographies and memoirs, news, nonfiction, slaughterhouse-five, breakfast of champions, cat’s cradle, politics, nature, art, culture

Growing up in the UK, I’ve loved the BBC for a long time. The beeb not only produces excellent TV programs, it also runs a number of radio stations. Each one is “tuned” (pun intended :-) to different audiences covering music, sports, and most importantly from my perspective: talk radio.

Radio 4 is the station I’m referring to. While I lived in Europe, it was an outstanding source of dramas, stories, current affairs programs, etc. During cricket season it sucked (and still sucks to this day): there’s nothing as disappointing as missing all your favorite shows because of an 8 hour test match!

But I digress… Radio 4’s been available online for a few years now. But even though you can timeshift most shows, what was really missing was a podcast feed. Fortunately, in May of 2005 the BBC provided one.

Which brings me to From Our Own Correspondent. If you’re interested in an alternative look at the news, covering large and small events, narrated by BBC correspondents all over the world, you’ll love this program. It’s a 30min show produced once or twice a week, not a huge time commitment. I highly recommend giving it a try.

How? Just point your podcast client here and let technology do the rest. (And check out the BBC’s other podcasts too!)

Tags: from our own correspondent, bbc, podcast, news, foreign correspondent, international

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"Longitudes And Attitudes" by Thomas L. Friedman Length: 5 hours and 40 min. ISBN: Listen to an excerpt with:     Windows Media Player     Real Player

Longitudes and Attitudes is both a collection of Thomas Friedman’s columns from the New York Times, where he is foreign correspondent, and a re-print of parts of his diary. Friedman addresses the impact of 9/11 on the United States’ outlook on the world, how it has dealt with terrorism, and how the world views the U.S.

A short 5-CD listen and read by the author (almost always a plus in my book), I found this book in parts boring and interesting. Boring because I really didn’t find it that insightful to hear Friedman reading his old columns. For anyone paying attention to the media in the aftermath of that terrible day (and how could you not pay attention?), the columns won’t be anything new.

The second part of the book contains excerpts from his diary and this is interesting. Friedman discusses the clash of values between Islamic and Western societies, how each views the other, how each treats human rights, etc. He does so not in an abstract sense but through conversations with the people he meets, from heads of state to a passenger seated beside him on a plane trip. It brings these issues vividly to life.

The good thing about an audio book is that it’s easy to skip ahead. I’d recommend borrowing this one from the library and skipping what you don’t find interesting. There are some nuggets here too.

Tags: longitudes and attitudes, thomas friedman, news, current affairs, terrorism, globalization, audiobook, nonfiction, islamic society, western society

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