Topic: Children and Parenting

Journalist Katherine Zoepf (zohf) covered the Middle East for The New York Times between 2004 and 2010. And she says the reality is much more nuanced than the views of the region commonly held in the US. Illinois Public Media’s Amanda Honigfort talked with Zoepf about the stories shared in her recent book "Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of the Young Women Who are Transforming the Arab World."

Paula Poundstone talks about being a stand-up comedian, Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!, parenting, cats and more. She will perform at the Virginia Theater November 7th.

Conventional wisdom says there’s never been a better time to be a woman. For the first time in U.S. History, women make up half of the educated labor force and are earning the majority of advanced degrees. Not so fast. Caryl Rivers says if you look more closely, women now must fight what she dubs the “New Soft War on Women.” That’s the title of a new book she wrote with Rosalind Barnett, just out in paperback. 

Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. David Hoffman has looked into this phenomenon and questions of food safety in three documentaries for Frontline. 

Alan Guebert has written a syndicated newspaper column about agriculture for about 20 years. Several of those columns have recounted what life was like on the “Southern Illinois dairy farm of his youth” – near St. Louis – and the beloved great uncle who came to “help.” At his daughter’s suggestion, the two of them have gathered those stories into a book, The Land of Milk And Uncle Honey. 

World-renowned educator Sir Ken Robinson says education should be about helping children and young people understand the talents that lie within them, and about helping them become fulfilled individuals and compassionate productive citizens. He says this can be achieved if education becomes more personalized rather than standardized.

The American Dream is in trouble, inequality is growing, and the biggest divide is in education. So says Robert Putnam and he believes he has the research to prove it. Illinois Public Media’s Scott Cameron spoke to him recently and they discussed what is causing this problem and how we can fix it. 

Ken Paulson speaks about issues ranging from the importance of the First Amendment and its future, to the Steven Salaita case, to the future of journalism in the digital age.