With the countdown to Christmas now measured in hours instead of days, the online holiday deals you may have shrugged off a few weeks ago are now looking downright clickable. On today’s show we’ll discuss why those offers are often too-good-to-be-true.
Plus, a literary wrap up of 2014. We’ll venture off the best-seller list for a sampling of the best overlooked books of the year.
And a glimpse of pre-revolutionary Cuba through the story of Julian Lobo, a sugar trader and financier, considered to be Cuba’s last tycoon.
Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.
Online Buyers Beware
- Farhad Manjoo writes about technology for The New York Times and he has a warning for online shoppers who might fall prey to last minute too-good-to-be-true offers. You can read his article and find the sites that help shoppers research deals here: "Online Deals for Holiday Shoppers: Buyer Beware."
WOM12222014A.mp3
Online Buyers Beware
Overlooked Books of 2014
- Michele Filgate joins us to talk about the most overlooked books of the past year. You can find her full list of suggestions at this link: The Best Overlooked Books of 2014
WOM12222014B.mp3
Overlooked Books of 2014
Cuba's Last Tycoon
- To help better understand the history of US/Cuba relations, we reached into the archives for a conversation with John Paul Rathbone. His book, The Sugar King Of Havana: The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon reveals an economy built on sugar, which supported a glamorous and decadent society of elites in Cuba.
WOM12222014C.mp3
Cuba's Last Tycoon: Parts 1 & 2
Cold War Veterans
- It's commonly said that the cold war was waged in back room deals, rather than on the battlefield. That isn’t true for the many servicemen who risked their lives in spy planes or on nuclear submarines. Producer Eric Molinsky reports that many of these retired servicemen are facing a new battle: they want to be classified as “cold war veterans,” but they’re facing a tough fight.
- You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
