Yesterday's Program...and Who Knew?

Thanks to those who commented on our Sept. 11 program. I can tell you we were aiming for something rich but not heavy handed, if that makes sense. I just had it in my mind that many of you listen to us as you are headed to or from work, or maybe on your lunch break or while you're doing paperwork. And I was thinking, you may have started the day thinking about those towers coming down or the plane heading into the Pentagon, and how the day is already fraught with sadness. We thought you might want something meaty, but without having to live the day all over again. So, our aim was to give you some meat -- to give you perspectives on the information and analysis about the situation in Iraq, and to offer some reflections on Sept. 11, but to talk about it in a way that didn't, well, drag us all back down to the saddest possible place. So, to the degree that we succeeded, thanks for letting us know. To the degree we didn't, we're always trying to do better.

Today, more on Iraq, from an Iraqi perspective. We first Met Mishkat Al Moumin earlier this year when we (not the royal "we"...that would be producer Marie and I -- the merry band of two, which we were back then. 'Course she's Miss Big Cheese now) attended a conference on women in national security issues. Al Moumin served in the provisional Iraqi government until a second assassination attempt encouraged her to come to the U.S. She's now a professor at George Mason University. What intrigued me about her point of view is her insistence that basic infrastructure is absolutely fundamental to improving the security situation in Iraq. We thought her perspective is one you'd want to hear.

...And then, yes,we switched gears. To, you know, Diddy and the big break-up. We talked about it in our monthly visit with the magazine editors. I'm tempted to be ashamed, but I'm not! I'm really not! We talked about why we (readers) are so fascinated with celebrities' personal business The editors say, well...I'll let them tell you. All I will say, in my defense, is that we also talked about powerful women, some important health stories, and the ongoing tragedy of the murders in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. So it wasn't all fluff.

Finally -- and I thought this was a real treat -- the inside story of the designer behind the dress that Jacqueline Bouvier wore to her wedding to JFK. Today would have been their 54th wedding anniversary. And I did not know, until I met the author of a book about African American dressmaker, that the designer of the dress was African-American. Her name was Ann Cole Lowe, and while her story is not quite a Greek tragedy, it comes pretty close.

Who knew?

Thanks to Rosemary E. Reed Miller, author of the book, Threads of Time, the Fabric of History, we now know.

Michel Martin

8:26 PM ET | 09-12-2007 | permalink

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8:26 PM ET | 09-12-2007 | permalink