The Doctor's Dilemma (Part One)

August 27, 2010

MP3 Audio: The Doctor's Dilemma (Part One)

George Bernard Shaw was one of the greatest and most controversial playwrights of the twentieth century. Shaw was never shy on social issues, and over the course of more than sixty plays, he advocated for human rights, women's suffrage, socialized medicine, and the betterment of the working class.

But if Shaw's plays could be didactic, they were also wickedly funny, and his well-aimed satire continues to resonate in the present day, including our story this week, The Doctor's Dilemma. Written in 1906, the play raises a question that's relevant in any era: In a society where proper medical care is a privilege, not a right, how do we decide who deserves treatment and who does not?

Part One of Two.

The Doctor's Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw. Starring Roy Dotrice, Paxton Whitehead, Martin Jarvis, and Simon Templeman, with Jane Carr, Gregory Cooke, Kenneth Danziger, Jennifer Dundas Lowe, and Douglas Weston. Directed by Rosalind Ayres.

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The Doctor's Dilemma (Part Two)

August 27, 2010

MP3 Audio: The Doctor's Dilemma (Part Two)

George Bernard Shaw was one of the greatest and most controversial playwrights of the twentieth century. Shaw was never shy on social issues, and over the course of more than sixty plays, he advocated for human rights, women's suffrage, socialized medicine, and the betterment of the working class.

But if Shaw's plays could be didactic, they were also wickedly funny, and his well-aimed satire continues to resonate in the present day, including our story this week, The Doctor's Dilemma. Written in 1906, the play raises a question that's relevant in any era: In a society where proper medical care is a privilege, not a right, how do we decide who deserves treatment and who does not?

Part Two of Two.

This hour includes a conversation with Dr. Neil Wenger, the Director of the Healthcare Ethics Center at UCLA. Dr. Wenger has also conducted research on aging and end-of-life care for the RAND Corporation, where he is the Director of the "Assessing Care of Vulnerable Elders" Project.

The Doctor's Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw. Starring Roy Dotrice, Paxton Whitehead, Martin Jarvis, and Simon Templeman, with Jane Carr, Gregory Cooke, Kenneth Danziger, Jennifer Dundas Lowe, and Douglas Weston. Directed by Rosalind Ayres.

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The Doctor's Dilemma Web Bonus: Dr. Neil Wenger

August 27, 2010

MP3 Audio: The Doctor's Dilemma Web Bonus: Dr. Neil Wenger

Dr. Neil Wenger is the Director of the Healthcare Ethics Center at the University of California-Los Angeles. In addition to his work at UCLA, Dr. Wenger has also conducted research on aging and end-of-life care for the RAND Corporation, where he is the Director of the "Assessing Care of Vulnerable Elders" Project.

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Atomic Bombers (Part One)

August 20, 2010

MP3 Audio: Atomic Bombers (Part One)

With the deployment of the Atomic Bomb in 1945, a palpable sense of national triumph and apocalyptic dread set into the American collective psyche. Arguably no one felt the burden of the Atomic Age more than many of the scientists responsible for designing and building the Bomb itself. In our story this week, we'll hear from those at the very heart of the Manhattan Project, including Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Richard Feynman, as they wrestle with the age-old conundrum of waging war to bring peace.

Part One of Two.

Atomic Bombers by Russell Vandenbroucke. Starring Jon Matthews as Richard Feynman, with Larry Cox, Jeannie Elias, Robin Gammell, Philip Mershon, Danny Mora, Wolf Muser, Lisa Jane Persky, Judy Scheer, Tom Virtue, and Ron West. Directed by Valerie Landsburg.

This hour includes a conversation with Manhattan Project physicist Dr. Robert F. Christy and a featurette on "Atomic Platters" (music from and inspired by the Atomic Age) featuring producer Bill Geerhart of Bear Family Records.

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Atomic Bombers (Part Two)

August 20, 2010

MP3 Audio: Atomic Bombers (Part Two)

With the deployment of the Atomic Bomb in 1945, a palpable sense of national triumph and apocalyptic dread set into the American collective psyche. Arguably no one felt the burden of the Atomic Age more than many of the scientists responsible for designing and building the Bomb itself. In our story this week, we'll hear from those at the very heart of the Manhattan Project, including Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Richard Feynman, as they wrestle with the age-old conundrum of waging war to bring peace.

Part Two of Two.

Atomic Bombers by Russell Vandenbroucke. Starring Jon Matthews as Richard Feynman, with Larry Cox, Jeannie Elias, Robin Gammell, Philip Mershon, Danny Mora, Wolf Muser, Lisa Jane Persky, Judy Scheer, Tom Virtue, and Ron West. Directed by Valerie Landsburg.

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Atomic Bombers Web Bonus: Atomic Platters with Bill Geerhart

August 20, 2010

MP3 Audio: Atomic Bombers Web Bonus: "Atomic Platters" with Bill Geerhart

In 1951, President Harry Truman established CONELRAD, the earliest incarnation of the Emergency Broadcast System, designed to provide crucial civil defense information by radio or television in the event of an enemy attack. Civil-defense radio spots were also recorded by celebrities from Groucho Marx to Johnny Cash, promoting the American government's emergency preparedness program.

Then, nearly fifty years later, a Los Angeles-based producer and curator named Bill Geerhart began collecting these and other artifacts of the Atomic Age on his Web site, CONELRAD.com. He has since collected over one hundred songs, announcements, and short films into a box set called Atomic Platters: Cold War Music from the Golden Age of Homeland Security.

We asked Bill Geerhart to take us on a guided tour through the strange sonic landscape of postwar civil defense and emergency preparedness.

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Atomic Bombers Web Bonus: Dr. Robert F. Christy

August 20, 2010

MP3 Audio: Atomic Bombers Web Bonus: Dr. Robert F. Christy

Dr. Robert F. Christy is a Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology and one of the earliest members of the Manhattan Project. Dr. Christy was recruited by Enrico Fermi to join Robert Oppenheimer's team at Los Alamos. There, Dr. Christy pioneered the plutonium implosion device used in the world-famous "Trinity test" in 1945. The following year, Dr. Christy joined the faculty of Caltech, where he has since gone on to a distinguished career in astrophysics. He joined us to discuss his tenure on the Manhattan Project.

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Chavez Ravine (Part One)

August 13, 2010

MP3 Audio: Chavez Ravine (Part One)

Before Dodger Stadium was built, the hillside area known as Chavez Ravine was the site of a vibrant Mexican-American community that fought the city of Los Angeles and powerful developers to preserve its land and identity. Their struggles come to life courtesy of the performance group Culture Clash in our story this week: Chavez Ravine.

Written and performed by Culture Clash: Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza. With guest star Zilah Mendoza.

This hour includes a conversation with Richard Montoya.

Part One of Two

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Chavez Ravine (Part Two)

August 13, 2010

MP3 Audio: Chavez Ravine (Part Two)

Before Dodger Stadium was built, the hillside area known as Chavez Ravine was the site of a vibrant Mexican-American community that fought the city of Los Angeles and powerful developers to preserve its land and identity. Their struggles come to life courtesy of the performance group Culture Clash in our story this week: Chavez Ravine.

Written and performed by Culture Clash: Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza. With guest star Zilah Mendoza.

This hour includes a look at the history of the Dodgers' exodus from Brooklyn with baseball historian Curt Smith, and a special presentation of excerpts from Bordertown by Culture Clash, a freewheeling look at life on the Tijuana/San Diego border.

Part Two of two.

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Chavez Ravine Web Bonus: Curt Smith and Brooklyn's Ebbets Field

August 13, 2010

MP3 Audio: Chavez Ravine Web Bonus: Curt Smith and Brooklyn's Ebbets Field

The political machinations that gutted the Chavez Ravine neighborhood and ultimately brought a baseball stadium to that Los Angeles hillside profoundly affected another neighborhood, one that was thousands of miles away, in a teeming city filled with passionate baseball fans.

Here to give us perspective on the story of Brooklyn’s passion for baseball is the historian and author Curt Smith, a former Presidential speechwriter who has written extensively on the history of the game. Smith is a senior lecturer of English at the University of Rochester, and is the author of Storied Stadiums and Voices of the Game among many other books about baseball and popular culture.

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