Rachel Carson Centennial

http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2007/06/kennedy_0602.mp3

June 2, 2007
May 27, 2007 is the centennial of Rachel Carson’s birth. Her book, Silent Spring, transformed our nation and its understanding of the dangers of pesticide use. In response to the issues she raised, President Kennedy appointed a special Science Advisory committee that subsequently affirmed her findings. Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, delivers opening remarks. Professor E.O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist; and Roland Clement, former Vice President of the Audubon Society and Carson’s defender during the 1950s and 1960s, discuss Carson’s life and legacy. Annick Smith, nature writer and co-producer of A River Runs Through It, moderates.

Darfur: Not On Our Watch

http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2007/05/kennedy_0504.mp3

May 4, 2007
Actor/Activist Don Cheadle( Hotel Rwanda, Traffic, Crash ) and John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group, discuss their book, Not On Our Watch, about the genocide in Darfur and individuals who have raised awareness to stop the suffering. Liz Walker, host of Sunday with Liz Walker, moderates.

Challenges in Iraq

http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2007/04/kennedy_0417.mp3

April 17, 2007
March 2007 marked the fourth anniversary of the U.S. military intervention in Iraq. Ali Allawi, former Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance in the Iraqi Transitional Government; Ambassador Barbara Bodine, who has spent most of her career in the Middle East, most recently as a coordinator for post-conflict reconstruction in Iraq; and, Ambassador Peter Galbraith, author of The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End discuss the situation in Iraq today. Boston Globe reporter Kevin Cullen moderates.

Faith and Politics

http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2007/03/kennedy_0318.mp3

March 18, 2007
Former Lt. Governor of Maryland and eldest daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, discusses her new book Failing America’s Faithful: How Today’s Churches are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way with Harvard Professor Michael Sandel. John Seigenthaler, founder of the First Amendment Center, moderates.

Reflections on the 20th Century

http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2007/03/kennedy_0312.mp3

March 12, 2007
Born on May 29, 1917, John F. Kennedy would have turned 90 years old this spring. NPR Senior News Analyst, Daniel Schorr, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, and historian Jill Ker Conway look back at the 20th century and reflect on the changes that have shaped and changed our nation and the world since President Kennedy’s death. Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, moderates.

The UN in the Era of American World Power

http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2007/02/kennedy_0225.mp3

February 25, 2007
James Traub discusses his new book The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power with Gillian Sorensen, Senior Adviser at the United Nations Foundation and Iqbal Riza, former Chief of Staff to Secretary General Kofi Annan. Nancy Soderberg, who served in President Clinton’s National Security Council and was an Alternate Representative to the United Nations, moderates.

Presidential Speechwriters

http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2007/02/kennedy_0219.mp3

February 19, 2007
Theodore Sorensen, Special Counsel and speechwriter for President Kennedy, Ray Price, speechwriter for President Nixon, Ted Widmer, foreign policy speechwriter for President Clinton, and Chriss Winston, Director of the Office of Speechwriting for President George H.W. Bush, discuss the art of capturing the president’s voice, communicating his ideas, and inspiring the public. They share memories of the presidents with whom they worked and clips from their favorite speeches. Linda Wertheimer, NPR’s National Senior Correspondent, moderates.

A Tribute to August Wilson

http://audio.wbur.org/storage/2007/01/kennedy_0115.mp3

January 15, 2007
Charles Dutton, the actor twice nominated for a Tony Award for his performances in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson; and Dwight Andrews, the musical director for several of Wilson’s Broadway productions, pay tribute to the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who passed away in October 2005 Wilson’s cycle of ten prize-winning plays chronicles the lives of African Americans throughout the 20th century. Elvis Mitchell, entertainment critic for NPR’s Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, will moderates.

A tribute to Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm

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January 16, 2006
Cokie Roberts, Ann Richards and Congresswoman Barbara Lee will share their memories of these two remarkable women. Callie Crossley of WGBH’s Beat the Press, will moderate. Barbara Jordan, who died ten years ago, was elected to the Texas Senate in 1966 and was the first African-American woman from a Southern state to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Shirley Chisholm, who passed away a year ago, was the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress and the first African-American to run as a democratic presidential candidate in 1972.

Richard Reeves on Presidents Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan

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February 20, 2006
Richard Reeves, the biographer of Presidents Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan will discuss their legacies.

Vietnam and the Presidency: Inside the White House

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Saturday March 11, 2006
Panel: General Alexander Haig commanded a battalion in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967; he was Military Assistant to President Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, eventually becoming Nixon’s White House Chief of Staff. He was Secretary of State from 1981 to 1982 under President Reagan. Henry Kissinger served as Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977. He was President Nixon’s National Security Advisor from 1969 to 1973. He was a co-recipient of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating a ceasefire between South and North Vietnam. Theodore Sorensen was Special Counsel to President Kennedy from 1961 to 1963. He is Senior Counsel for the New York City law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Jack Valenti was Special Assistant to President Johnson from 1963 to 1966. He was president of the Motion Picture Association from 1966 to 2004 (Moderator: Brian Williams.)

Vietnam and the Presidency: The Media

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Saturday March 11, 2006
Panel: Steve Bell, news correspondent for ABC News from 1967-1986, reported from Vietnam and Indo-China in the early 1970s. Frances Fitzgerald, non-fiction author and journalist, received both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for Fire In the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. Dan Rather, CBS News anchorman from 1981 to 2005 and 60 Minutes II correspondent, covered Vietnam for CBS News in the mid 1960s.

Frank McCourt

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Monday, April 10, 2006
Frank McCourt, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela’s Ashes, discusses his Irish heritage. This forum is one of several that is in conjunction with our new exhibit, “A Journey Home – John F. Kennedy and Ireland.” Kevin Cullen of The Boston Globe moderates.

The Irish Tenors in the Kennedy Administration

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Monday, May 1, 2006
Charles Daly, Richard Donahue, and Jack McNally, all members of President Kennedy’s White House staff, will share stories of working in the Kennedy White House. Political commentator and humorist Dick Flavin moderates.

Singing for Justice: Arlo Guthrie

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Monday, May 15, 2006
Arlo Guthrie looks back at the cultural impact of protest music that began during President Kennedy’s administration and continues in America today. Dick Pleasants, host of The Morning Express at WUMB, will moderates.

Robert Dallek: J.F.K. in His Own Words

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Sunday, June 11, 2006
Acclaimed biographer Robert Dallek plays and comments on excerpts from some of President Kennedy’s most memorable speeches, press conferences and debates. Boston University historian Bruce Schulman moderates.

The Pentagon and the Presidency: James Carroll

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Monday, June 12, 2006
James Carroll discusses his new book House of War in which he argues the Pentagon has, since its founding, operated beyond the control of any force in government including the President himself. Sarah Sewall , Director of the Program on National Security and Human Rights at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and Retired Colonel Douglas Macgregor, author of Breaking the Phalanx and Transformation Under Fire, joins him. NPR National Security Correspondent Tom Gjelten moderates.

Brokering Peace: Senator George Mitchell

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Monday, September 18, 2006.
Senator George Mitchell, who served as Chairman of the Peace Negotiations in Northern Ireland that led to the historic Good Friday Peace Agreement, analyzes the primary issues involved in resolving the conflicts in Northern Ireland and the Middle East. Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe moderates.