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NPR reporter Michael Goldfarb came to Northern Iraq two days before war began there in 2002 with an assignment "to tell the story of the war through the eyes of the Iraqi people". The man he chose was his interpreter, Ahmad Shawkat, a Kurdish professor and writer who survived Saddam Hussein's torture chambers and years in exile from his hometown of Mosul. The two struck up a friendship and six month's after Goldfarb's documentary was finished, Ahmad Shawkat was murdered for his criticism of Islamic intolerance and violence. Today on the Exchange we look back at the Iraq war through the lens of one Iraqi Kurd, Ahmad Shawkat, and the reporter who knew him so well. Laura's guest is Michael Goldfarb, former NPR reporter and author of "Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace: Surviving Under Saddam, Dying in the New Iraq.

This week marks the 99th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the best known composers of the Soviet era. Shostakovich's repertoire includes 15 symphonies, 15 string quartets and many other works from chamber pieces to operas. But it was the composer's relationship with his country's communist government and its leader Joseph Stalin that inspired his music the most and that people still discuss and debate today. Sometimes Shostakovich's music seems to praise his country, sometimes even lifting up Stalin and yet other times his music speaks out loudly to the persecution of his home people and the social injustices he saw around him. Today we look at the life and the music of Dmitri Shostakovich and explore the love/hate relationship music has historically had with the world's politics. Laura's guest is Harlow Robinson, Professor at Northeastern University in Boston, author of two books on Sergei Prokofiev and a regular contributor for the Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts and lecturer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Shostakovich Playlist

Symphony No. 1 in F. minor - performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy

Polka from The Age of Gold, Op 22, - performed by Andre Kostelanetz and his Orchestra

Piano concerto No. 1, for piano, trumpet & strings, in C minor, Op. 35 - performed by Dmitri Shostakovich

Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk - performed by Mstislav Rostropovich, Dimiter Petrov, Nicolai Gedda and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Galina Vishnevskaya.

Symphony No. 5 in D minor Op. 47 from the CD “Shostakovich: Symphony Nos. 5 & 9 - performed by the New York Philharmonic and conducted by Leonard Bernstein

Symphony No. 7 in C major Op. 60“The Leningrad Symphony”– perfomred by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, condouctor

Quartet No. 8 - Performed by the Manhattan String Quartet from the CD “Shostakovich String Quartets 3 and 8 – Manhattan String Quartet

Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor Op. 113 “Babi Yar” - From the CD “Shostakovich: Symphony No13, Op113; Yevtushenko: Babi Yar [Recitation] performed by the New York Philharmonic and the Men of the New York Choral Artists, conducted by Kurt Masur

Excerpt “The Ghost” from the film score of “Hamlet” - composed by Dmitri Shostakovich

Although a Philadelphia native, Maxine Kumin has spent most of her life in New England and since 1976, on a horse farm in Warner, New Hampshire. Many of Kumin's essays and poems reflect on New Hampshire's ever-changing landscape... rugged mountains and seashores, lakes and farmlands… the vibrancy of autumn colors and the nuances of mud season. She also writes about our relation to our land… tapping maple syrup, foraging for mushrooms and the animals who share our land with us, from black flies to black bears. Today in our final installment of our series Granite State Stories we explore our relationship to our land though the words of Maxine Kumin, and through the pages of her newest book of poetry and an older book of essays. Laura's guests are Maxine Kumin and TBA.

We'll look at the often complicated relationships between colleges and prep schools and the communities that play host to them. Each offers the other many benefits...and points of contention, be they financial, social, even political. Laura's guest is Blake Gumprecht, Assistant Geography Professor at University of New Hampshire, in Durham, who is writing a book on the American college town. We'll also hear from Tim Keefe, Plymouth State University Dean of Students and Head of the Campus Community Council; Congresswoman Mary Cooney, a Democrat from Plymouth; Julia Griffin, Hanover Town Manager and Jennifer Murray, Vice President for University Communications and Marketing at the University of New Hampshire.

After a long and somewhat public battle in the New Hampshire State House, Senator Tom Eaton was forced out of the Senate Presidency and Senator Ted Gatsas voted in. We’ll look back at what happened, what’s next and how this may affect state Republican, state Democrats and State politics in general. Laura's guests are Josh Rogers, New Hampshire Public Radio's State House reporter. Norma Love, State House Reporter for the New Hampshire Associated Press. New Hampshire Senate President Ted Gatsas, a Republican from Manchester. Senator Bob Odell, a Republican from Lempster and Senator Peter Burling, a Democrat from Cornish.