August 2000

Seeger's Banjo -- Commentator Bill Harley reflects on the fact that Pete Seeger once accidentally left his banjo on top of a car. It was lost but later returned. Harley himself has left a guitar in many places, and sympathizes with Pete.

August -- Commentator Carol Wasserman grieves the end of summer. Although she's an adult, she still feels as if she will have to go back to school in the fall. She wonders why all the "shrinks" take this time of year off to vacation, when August is when they are needed most to deal with this leftover feeling from childhood.

Venice -- Commentator Andrei Codrescu ruminates on pigeons, old women, gondolas, and the quest for romance by young women visiting Venice.

Heavy Traffic -- Commentator Amy Dickinson heads for her hometown in New York state every summer. She sent us this audio postcard about this year's vacation -- and how her quiet getaway has changed.

A Woodchuck's Ten Days In Paradise -- A woodchuck spent ten ecstatic days in Commentator David Budbill's garden before Budbill shot it, to preserve his vegetables. Budbill grieves for the woodchuck and for himself.

Predictions -- Commentator David Weinberger says making predictions is a waste of time, especially when it comes to trying to guess the future of technology.

Bible Study -- Commentator and psychiatrist Elissa Ely says a Bible study group among patients at the hospital where she works provides some interesting theological insights.

Cultural Defense For Murder -- An Indian immigrant allegedly murdered her children to spare them the shame of divorce. The court is weighing whether holding different cultural beliefs mitigates the crime. Commentator Lis Wiehl feels she deserves compassion, but that excusing the murder could open the floodgates for other immigrants to use a similar defense.

Summers Lost -- High School student Melanie Thomasson says when she hears the kids she used to baby-sit playing baseball outside on a summer night, she realizes she's lost her summers to obligations and activities.

Pain Relief Promotion Act -- The Pain Relief Promotion Act would establish that the alleviation of suffering is a "legitimate medical purpose" for potent drugs. The bill also would reassert a federal ban on dispensing drugs for doctor-assisted suicide. Commentator Joe Loconte likes the bill, and tells us why.

White Cross -- Commentator Dick George came home to find a white cross out in front of his family's rural home, memorializing the scene of a fatal car crash. He says it's been difficult for some people in the community to move forward with the constant reminder and impromptu memorial out front.

Belarus Commentary -- Commentator Jeffrey Tayler was in the Belarusian town of Polatsk. He opted to spend the evening at the restaurant in his hotel. As he writes in his journal, he was pulled into the drunken conversation of two young women. The women mistake him for a Pole, and take offense at his unwillingness to share their bottle of vodka with him.

Mary, Mary -- Gay civil rights activist Candace Gingrich talks about Mary Cheney -- the openly gay daughter of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Dick Cheney. Ms. Gingrich says that Mary is now in a difficult position because her father supports a GOP platform that is hostile to homosexuals. Candace also talks about her experience having a brother -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich -- who is opposed to equal rights for homosexuals.

Classified Ads -- Desiree Cooper is a writer, and she's been researching her family history for some short stories. There isn't much to go on, so she's been reading the classified ads from the 1700s - ads about runaway slaves - and she wonders if the man who ran away in a blue suit carrying his fiddle or the pregnant woman described could be her family.

Internet Bargains -- Commentator Adriana Trigiani loves to shop on the Internet, and she especially loves a bargain.

Lieberman -- Commentator Jim Sleeper says news that Senator Joe Lieberman will be the first Jew on a major national ticket says volumes about past mistakes of the Democratic party. He says Lieberman is a return to the party's center. Had the party kept Lieberman's kind of balance of faith and political pragmatism, of family values and social justice, says Sleeper, a lot of its faithful wouldn't have left to become neo-conservatives.

Eloquent Letters -- Commentator Reynolds Price muses on the reasons why the vivid ease and eloquence of letter writing has all but died out. He bemoans the loss of an irreplaceable source of history, expression and human encounter. He cites the lasting gift of a vivid letter from his grade school teacher about her first migraine.

Swimmers -- Commentator Carol Wasserman contemplates the realities of aging while floating like "a bed of kelp" off the beach in Massachusetts.

Jews and American Politics -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr takes a look at Al Gore's unorthodox choice for a running mate, orthodox Jew Jospeh Lieberman.

Romania - Dictator -- In a recent visit to his homeland, Commentator Andrei Codrescu stopped at the grave of former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceacescu. He remarks on the ironic symbolism at the site.


Return to the Commentaries main page.