Listen to Cecilia's interview with...
AMY STEWART, author of "Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities."
Visit the WGVU website to browse recently archived shows, to listen to or download!
Because Open Mind is not just about interviews with authors, but also about the way in which we all engage with the important and provocative ideas discussed, we would like to invite all our listeners to join in the conversation. Visit the Open Mind Blog to browse a selection of past interview topics, along with Cecilia's essays and reflections on the topics. We welcome your thoughts and responses!*NEW ON THE OPEN MIND BLOG: Calin Skidmore's write-up on "LINES: The Lived Experience of Race." Playing through October 9, 2010 at Actor's Theatre in Grand Rapids, MI.
Stop by and share your thoughts!
An example of the kinds of subjects you will find discussed on the Open Mind Blog: www.openmindgr.wordpress.com
VINCENT CANNATO, author of "American Passage: The History of Ellis Island."
Using a variety of primary sources, Cannato (The Ungovernable City) describes Ellis Island as a place
and as an experience for the approximately 12 million immigrants who passed through it from 1892 to 1924. This measured book helps to place in perspective discussions—sure to matter to genealogists and those engaged in political discourse—of Ellis Island and the idea of immigration as a privilege rather than a right. Essential reading.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress
HENRY CHALFANT, co-author of "Subway Art: 25th Anniversary Edition."
"During the 1970s and 80s photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant captured the environment and the imagination of a generation by documenting the burgeoning New York City graffiti movement. Now, 25 years and more than a half a million copies later, their bestselling book Subway Art is available in a large-scale deluxe format heightening the visual impact of their classic images. With 70 additional photographs and a fresh introduction and afterword this collector's edition illustrates the passion creativity and resourcefulness of unlikely kids inventing an art form destined to spread worldwide and spawn the present-day street art movement."
*Watch a short video of Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper discussing their collaboration on "Subway Art" here!
DEBORAH BERKE, New York architect and subject of the pictorial anthology, "Deborah Berke."
Commentary and essays by Tracy Myers.
Deborah Berke has been designing buildings for over 25 years. From her orginal philosophy of architecture of the "everyday," to her more recent movement into architecture of the "here and now," Berke has made a career of developing structures that reflect a vision of what it means to create space in the world.
**This interview also featured discussion of Toby Israel's design psychology and the effects of an individual's sense of "home" on the ways in which they construct their environments.
BETSY GREER, author of "Knitting for Good: A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, and Political Change Stitch by Stitch."**
**Award-winning interview: Gracie Allen 2009!
Betsy Greer, creator of Craftivism.com, has written the handbook for this new culture of knitters. By highlighting the subversive, revolutionary, and political aspects of knitting, Greer shows readers that knitting can be a profound way to:
