Special Program

The years of the Civil Rights Movement are counted among the most volatile, yet vibrant, in American history. In our Black History month special, Memories of the Movement, The Tavis Smiley Show celebrates the courage, conviction and commitment of the everyday people who made extraordinary contributions to American social progress. The program holds poignant, humorous, unheard or little known stories from a number of well-known civil rights icons including stories from Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, Danny Glover, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Dr. Raye Richardson, activist Yuri Kochiyama, Congressman John Lewis, Dorothy Tillman, Rev.

Since the time of Aristotle, blind seers have been regarded as bearers of special insight. Host David Marash brings us the stories, music and this insight from the blind gospel tradition that transformed American song and gave it soul.

BOB MARLEY - LIVE FOREVER is a free one-hour program with live music from and stories about his last concert.  Songs recorded live at Pittsburgh's Stanley Theater in Sep 1980 include "Exodus," "Could You Be Loved," "Redemption Song," "No Woman, No Cry," "Jamming" and more.  Rita, Damien and Rohan Marley are interviewed, as well as Marcia Griffiths, biographer Vivien Goldman, and Doug Gebhard - a former journalist who covered the 1980 Pittsburgh show and is now a priest. These interviews discuss the concert, Marley's philosophies and influential moments from his life. 

More information can be found here.

Langston Hughes, an enduring icon of the Harlem Renaissance, is best-known for his written work, which wedded his fierce dedication to social justice with his belief in the transformative power of the word. But he was a music lover, too, and some of the works he was most proud of were collaborations with composers and musicians.  Hosted by Terrance McKnight, WQXR host and former Morehouse professor of music, I, Too, Sing Americawill dive into the songs, cantatas, musicals and librettos that flowed from Hughes’ pen. As he did with his poetry, Hughes used music to denounce war, combat segregation and restore human dignity in the face of Jim Crow.

Zydeco Nation is an hour-long, music-rich documentary that tells the story about an epic chapter in modern American history. Starting during World War II, French-speaking Louisiana Creoles began moving across the country to Northern California in search of both jobs and freedom.

They were part of the Great Migration: the movement of six million African Americans from the Jim Crow South to the big cities of the West, North, and Midwest starting in 1915. The Creoles came from the rice and cane fields of South Louisiana and East Texas. They brought with them the musical soundtrack to their lives back home. Zydeco Nation tells the story of these migrants, the culture they built, and the music that made them famous.

Maya Angelou defines Black History, as it is embraced in our popular culture with an emphasis on the civil rights era and a poetic acknowledgement of late activist, Rosa Parks.

This one hour historical trek takes us from the 1950's thru the 1990's. Dr. Maya Angelou renders a poetic portrait of the day-to-day lives of African Americans during the civil rights era, when artists and activists, musicians and ministers joined hands with people from all walks of life to bring about a historic change in our culture. 

More Information is available here.

In their books, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner use the tools of economics to explore real-world behavior. As boring as that may sound, what they really do is tell stories — about cheating schoolteachers, self-dealing real-estate agents, and crack-selling mama's boys. Those Freakonomics stories — and plenty of new ones — are now coming to the radio, with Dubner as host. Just like the books, Freakonomics Radio explores “the hidden side of everything.” It will tell you things you always thought you knew but didn't, and things you never thought you wanted to know, but do.  Information is available at http://www.freakonomics.com/radio/

Is a 'No-Lose Lottery' the Answer to America's Savings Problem?

In their books, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner use the tools of economics to explore real-world behavior. As boring as that may sound, what they really do is tell stories — about cheating schoolteachers, self-dealing real-estate agents, and crack-selling mama's boys. Those Freakonomics stories — and plenty of new ones — are now coming to the radio, with Dubner as host. Just like the books, Freakonomics Radio explores “the hidden side of everything.” It will tell you things you always thought you knew but didn't, and things you never thought you wanted to know, but do.  Information is available at http://www.freakonomics.com/radio/

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