December 2001

2001 & 1943-- Commentator and Poet Andrei Codrescu was going to reflect on 2001 until he started reading an account of Second World War survival. He relates lessons he learned from the diary of 1943 Hungarian by Tivadar Soros, father of George Soros, the financier and philanthropist. The elder Soros opines that nationhood stands in the way of controlling evil. Codrescu says the lesson is that governments could have moved quicker to stop Hitler and the U.S. should be prepared to take more actions as it did this year against enemies. (2:45)

Guy Lombardo-- Commentator and trombonist Mal Sharpe remembers a man who was known as "Mister New Year's Eve." Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians were featured year-after-year on New Year's Eve TV and radio broadcasts from the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan playing Auld Lang Syne and other songs. Lombardo provided inspiration for other performers such as Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman, playing very straight-forward versions of songs in a sweet style. (8:00)

New Year-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr looks to the new year with a new sense of vulnerability. (2:30)

Harrison-- When Alice Rhein told her three-year-old son that something bad had happened on Sept. 11, his first reaction was that George Harrison must have died. Turns out that this toddler of the Teletubbies generation held quite a torch for the Beatles. But when Harrison did die, two months later -- Nick Rhein found a strange comfort in the situation. (3:15)

The Tree Man-- Commentator Elissa Ely has a tree she wants pruned but, thanks to her tree man, she develops a more meaningful relationship with the old oak. (3:00)

Kwanzaa-- Robert Franklin was suspicious of Kwanzaa for many years. He thought that someone couldn't just make up a holiday and have it be meaningful. But he's grown to understand that newly created ritual -- whether it's Kwanzaa or the lighting of candles for people who died on Sept. 11 -- can be meaningful. (3:30)

'Time' Person of the Year-- Jake Tapper says that when Time magazine named Rudy Guiliani their "person of the year," it was the biggest cop-out of the year. It should have been Osama bin Laden. (3:15)

Suicide-- News analyst Daniel Schorr says the case of suspected airline "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid is just another piece of evidence that this has become the year of the suicide bomber. He says Reid illustrates one of the biggest problems posed by the war on terrorism -- the difficulty of dealing with extremists who are willing to give up their lives for a cause. (2:30)

A Mexican Christmas-- Tish Hinojosa is a singer/songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. She talks about her memories of Christmas in a Mexican-American household -- the smells, the sights and, most importantly, the sounds. And she plays songs that take her, and many other Mexican Americans, back to their childhood: Arbolito, A La Nanita Nana, and Las Mananitas. Visit the Web site Tish Hinojosa for more information on the artist. (11:00)

First Christmas-- We have gathered the stories from five people who talk about a "first" Christmas. Father Morgan Silbaugh tells of his first sermon. Ann Howard remembers her first sober Christmas. Jenny Spinner tells of her first vegetarian Christmas. Michael Alvear tells of his first Christmas in the United States. And Clea Simon's shares the first Christmas after her father died. (12:30)

Kashmir-- Fighting between India and Pakistan continues over the contested region of Kashmir. Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr sees the dispute not just between India and Pakistan, but between nuclear armed nations. (2:45)

Aesop-- Commentator Andrei Codrescu offers a broad view of stories and how they relate to other matters of human discourse. Take Aesop, for example. He saved his life with a fable. (3:15)

Living With Parents-- At age 41, Commentator Mary Jo Pehl has moved back in with her folks in the Twin Cities. (4:00)

The Next Stage in War on Terror-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that, with al Qaeda on the run in Afghanistan and an interim government taking power Saturday, the United States is impatiently looking to the next stage in the war on terrorism. (3:00)

Holiday Stress-- Commentator Heather Havrilesky has developed a short survey to find out if you're suffering from holiday stress -- and what you can do about it. (3:45)

Profiling at Airports-- Commentator Guillermo Gomez Pena has had a series of nasty incidents at airports since Sept. 11. Besides looking Arab, his intense look as a performance artist makes him a candidate for profiling. (4:30)

NFL Replay-- Commentator Scott Huler says fans at the Cleveland Browns football game over the weekend were out of line when they threw bottles onto the field in opposition to a referee decision. Then again, he says, the refs let a "genie out of the bottle" when they decided to review an earlier play. (3:00)

Flags-- Everybody's flying the red, white and blue, it seems, except commentator Kathy Wilson. She says that people are profiling for patriotism -- and she doesn't like it. (3:30)

Iraq-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says the specter of Iraq and the fallout over the U.S. pullout from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty are complicating the administration's plans for the next phase of the war on terrorism. (3:00)

Jewish Yule-- Commentator Ralph Schoenstein says though his family was Jewish, he grew up celebrating a secular Christmas with a tree and carols. He jokes about the odd coloration of his spiritual upbringing. (2:15)

No Caption Needed-- Commentator Michael Ivey contemplates the meaning of an ordinary scene at a restaurant, and decides it is a gift -- the sort of moment of which we should all be aware. (2:15)

ABM Treaty-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr takes a look at the timing and motivations of President Bush's decision to abrogate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. (3:00)

Ramadan-- Commentator Robert Franklin says Ramadan has risen high in the American consciousness this year, and it presents an opportunity to see a faith tradition of sacrifice and piety that has not been commercialized. (3:15)

Rare Bird Alert-- This past weekend, bird watchers gathered at a park in New York City to get a look at two hummingbirds who should have been spending their days much further south. The Calliope hummingbird has never before been seen in New York. As soon as they were spotted, word went out via "rare bird alerts" to bird watchers throughout the region. Commentator Brad Klein was one of those, and he sent this essay. (3:00)

The Easy Writer's Life-- Commentator Heather Havrilesky, a Los Angeles writer, says she's worried that writers are becoming too soft. (3:00)

Fighting Insomnia-- Commentator and poet Andrei Codrescu embarks on a trip through his sleeplessness, and images appear and recede. (2:45)

Ramadan-- When she was 14, commentator Susanne Pari wanted to do the Ramadan fast with her father for the first time. She lasted only four days. She is no longer Muslim, but she looks back on that one fast as the time when she first got to know her father. (4:15)

The Latest Bin Laden Tape-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that Bush administration officials reacted in knee-jerk fashion to requests they release the latest video of Osama bin Laden, claiming its broadcast may compromise "sources and methods" of intelligence gathering. (3:00)

Friendly Fire-- Commentator Amy Dickinson has a friend, Helen Hagerty, whose father -- a U.S. pilot - was accidentally killed by fellow U.S. planes over a Chinese island in 1965. The Navy refused to admit it was a case of "friendly fire" for many years. (3:00)

Enron - Bush-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr comments on the cozy relationship between Enron and the Bush administration. (3:00)

Space Camp-- Commentator Desiree Cooper chaperoned her daughter's class to a week-long field trip to Space Camp in Florida. Desiree loved it -- and her daughter was embarrassed. (3:00)

Wrecking Ball-- Commentator Donald McCaig tells a story about the day he drove to a wrecking yard where they mistook his car for junk. (3:30)

The Next Front?-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr sees the possibility of the war against terrorism widening to include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (3:00)


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