Sunday Specials
**********Sunday Specials air Sunday at 8pm***************
Sunday April 28th, 2013 at 8pm: Louder Than A Bomb 2013
Over the past 13 years, Louder than a Bomb, Chicago’s youth poetry competition, has grown from humble roots in the basement of a Division Street theater to selling out the Cadillac Palace Theater. In this hour, we explore the lasting effects of the program on the students and teachers who are a part of it. How has this spoken word program changed their trajectories?
Hosted by Kevin Coval, Produced by Bill Healy
http://www.wbez.org/series/louder-bomb
Sunday May 5th, 2013 at 8pm: State of the Re:Union
Dropouts to Graduates: The Story of the Care Center - An American Graduate Special
Say you meet a teenager. She's 16 and she's dropped our of school. Now, she's pregnant, due in a few months. She's on her own, as her boyfriend disappeared when news of the baby came out. She doesn't have a job, and is hoping her mom won't kick her out of the house. What would your expectations for her be? If you're in Holyoke, Massachusets, the answer to those questions might be very different from the predictable one of hopelessness and dim futures. That's because Holyoke is home to the Care Center, an alternative school for pregnant and parenting teens who've dropped out of high school.
Sunday May 12th, 2013 at 8pm: State of the Re:Union
Back to Basics - An American Graduate Special
In this American Graduate special, State of the Re:Union takes a special look at school, community, and the drop out crisis in this country. With reporting from both urban and rural schools, and interviews with education experts, SOTRU goes "back to the basics," looking at strategies that get to the heart of what makes students want to learn.
Sunday May 19th, 2013 at 8pm: State of the Re:Union
Summer in Sanctuary - An American Graduate Special
This episode combines radio drama and documentary to explore America's dropout epidemic through the intimate story of one man's attempt to make a difference in the lives of a group of high-risk kids. Based on the off-broadway show by SOTRU host Al Letson, this show chronicles Letson's journey teaching at the summer camp of a community center in an economically challenged neighborhood. Told through monologue, poetry, and sound-rich reporting, this episode challenges perceptions about race, class and education, to reveal unseen challenges facing students in communities across the country.
Sunday May 26th, 2013 at 8pm: State of the Re:Union
Coming Home: Stories of Veterans Returning Home from War
More than two million veterans have come home so far from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. For returning veterans, reintegrating into society can be a challenge. How do you find your place, when you've changed adn the people you love don't recognize you? When that old life is gone and you have to start a new one from scratch. In this hour State of the Re:Union explores reintegration and asks the question: how do you come back home from war?
Sunday June 2nd, 2013 at 8pm: State of the Re:Union
Pike County Ohio - As Black as We Wish to Be
In this episode Al Letson and guest producer Lu Olkowski visit a tiny town in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio where, for a century, residents have shared the common bond of identifying as African-American despite the fact that they look white. Racial lines have been blurred to invisibility, and people inside the same family can vehemently disagree about whether they are black or white. It can be tense and confusing. As a result everyone is choosing: Am I black? Am I mixed race? Or, am I white? Adding to the confusion, there is a movement afoot to recognize their Native-American heritage.