Tuesday      
September 29, 2009

Health Care Debate in Congress

Will the so-called public option make it into the Senate’s version of a health care reform bill? We speak with Mark Halperin of The Pageat Time magazine.

Accused Terrorist Zazi Pleads Not Guilty

Accused terrorist Najibullah Zazi was arraigned in a Brooklyn courtroom on charges he conspired to use weapons of mass destruction. We speak with Evan Perez, Wall Street Journal justice department correspondent, about the trail of evidence that the government says ties Zazi to the plot, and how much of that evidence was obtained through expanded surveillance powers granted under the Patriot Act.

Chicago School Violence

An-Janette L. Albert, center, mother of 16-year old Derrion Albert who was beaten to death earlier in the week, cries as she walks to Fenger High School  in Chicago, Sept. 28, 2009. A vigil for Derrion Albert was planned outside of  Fenger High School.(AP)

An-Janette L. Albert, center, mother of 16-year old Derrion Albert who was beaten to death earlier in the week, cries as she walks to Fenger High School in Chicago, Sept. 28, 2009. A vigil for Derrion Albert was planned outside of Fenger High School.(AP)

Police are searching for more suspects after charging four youths in the beating death of Derrion Albert, outside his Chicago high school. Albert was the third Chicago student killed outside a school this academic year. In addition, there have been five non-fatal shootings. We talk to Chicago Tribune reporter Kristen Mack about Derrion Albert’s death, and the violence plaguing the city’s public schools.

President Considers Path Forward in Afghanistan

President Barack Obama begins a series of meetings today to consider what to do about the troubled war in Afghanistan. The sessions come as U.S. commanders in Afghanistan are calling for thousands more troops, but public and congressional doubts about the mission are deepening. Washington Post correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran was in Afghanistan recently and joins us to talk about what the U-S military is doing there right now, and what he thinks the real options are for the future.

Violins at the Center in the Music of ‘Childsplay’

We feature the music of Childsplay, a collective of musicians who since 1986 have gotten together from time to time to record and tour their repertoire of ballads, reels, and jigs. Childsplay recently released its fifth CD “Waiting for the Dawn” and takes it name from Bob Childs, the man who has built all the instruments used by the group’s 14 fiddlers. Our guests are fiddle maker Bob Childs and Hanneke Cassel one of Childsplay’s fiddlers and a U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion.

Music from the show

  • Air, “Mike Mills”Tito Puente, “Little Sunflower”
  • Art Blakey, “C.O.R.E.”
  • Peter Jankovic, “Campero: Astor Piazzola”
  • Peter Dixon, “Nagog Woods”
  • Steve Earle, “Transcendental Blues”
  • Childsplay, “Compliments to Cameron Chisholm”
  • U2, “Mothers of the Disappeared” performed by Childsplay
  • Childsplay, “Waiting for the Dawn”
  • Childsplay, “Rattling Roaring Wille”
  • Childsplay, “I Am A Youth That’s Inclined to Ramble”
  • Childsplay, “Queen Maeve’s Slumber”
  • Mary DesRosiers

    Dear Robin et all…
    Thanks for honoring Bob Childs and Childsplay: a great treasure. Perhaps you recorded the program earlier in the season: too early to note the passing of one of the original Childsplay members, Kerry Elkin, who died on August 22, at 58, after a long battle with MS. He was a genius of a fiddler, a good friend, and will be greatly missed.
    Thanks again for all you do!
    Mary DesRosiers

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Friday, May 18, 2012
The Appian Road, in the Monti Aurunci area of Italy. (Robert Kaster/University of Chicago Press)

For many people, this time of year is an occasion for road trips — up and down the coasts, across the U.S., through Europe. For Robert Kaster, it was a time to venture along the most ancient roads of all time: the Appian Way in Italy.

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Friday, May 18, 2012
(Michael M. Phillips/Wall Street Journal)

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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Musician John Fullbright at Here & Now studios at WBUR in Boston. (Jesse Costa/Here & Now)

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