Public Radio Exchange

Hi friend of PRX,

If there really IS a health care vote on Friday, maybe the distortions and overheated rhetoric will end.

Both sides need to lighten up the metaphors. Radiolab has some context about deception. And it is never too late to be reminded of the troubling facts of primary medical care.

Do no harm!
-John

What Should Children Learn? 
A look at a past conflict

The Great Textbook War
Trey Kay | 00:58:59

The Texas Board of Education has given preliminary approval for major changes to history and economic textbooks used in public schools, adding more conservative and Christian points of view. Because of the size of Texas to the schoolbook market, what happens in the Lone Star State can affect schoolbooks used nationwide.

This sort of debate isn’t new. “The Great Textbook War” takes us back to West Virginia in 1974, where the battle over schoolbook content ripped a community apart.

It’s Time to Rhyme 
April is Poetry Month

What is Poetry?
Hearing Voices | 00:03:36
Carl Sandburg on poetry, updated.

Happiness by Jane Kenyon
Curtis Fox | Part of the Poetry Off the Shelf series | 00:01:35
Actress Mary Testa reads Jane Kenyon’s poem, “Happiness.”

Responsibility in Metaphor by Tony Hoagland
Curtis Fox | Part of the Poetry Off the Shelf series | 00:01:57
Tony Hoagland, who has taught at the University of Houston and in the Warren Wilson MFA program, reads his poem “Responsibility in Metaphor,” an exuberant and sensual lesson in the use of metaphor.

More verses for Poetry Month

Global Guru Radio 
New series

Global Guru Radio from Rachel Louise Snyder is a new series that seeks to celebrate culture by asking one engaging question each week. Pieces are approx. 00:02:45.

Holland’s Peculiar Curses
Travel to Holland to learn how to insult someone in Dutch. A surprising look at a secular society.

Tanzania’s Barbershops
Explore why there are so many barbershops — sometimes a dozen in a single block — in Tanzania.

Full series

Plan Ahead 

• The Moth Radio Hour
  Grab the first five specials. More coming this year!

• State of the Re:Union from PRX and NPR — Air window opens May 1
  Talent Quest winner Al Letson is launching his new season exploring how our communities stumble and then put themselves back together. He’ll be visiting towns in the Northwest, New Orleans and elsewhere and telling stories in his electric style. Look for audio previews this week on PRX.
• Date-pegged playlists from PRX Editors
  • Women’s History Month – March
  • St. Patrick’s Day
  • Passover
  • Poetry Month – April

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