Some have called World War II, America’s “just” war. But because wars involve people as well as nations, there are always acts of injustice along the way. There’s the issue of what is euphemistically referred to as “Collateral Damage,” the inflicting of death and suffering inflicted upon the innocent. “A Thousand Cranes” is the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl from Hiroshima who survived the blast of the atomic bomb, only to die a decade later of Leukemia caused by radiation. Today we speak with three BYU faculty members about the life and legacy of Sadako, what happened to the city where she lived, and what is now recognized as an American injustice immediately following Pearl Harbor.—Original airdate: 2/8/2010 11:00 AM
We talk about the "music of poetry"; the concept isn't really new. But today we're Thinking Aloud with an interpreter of poetry who has used his interdisciplinary expertise-expertise in language and literature as well as musical know-how and ability-to take poetic interpretation in a fully musical direction.—Original airdate: 2/26/2009 11:00 AM
It would be hard to find a living soul today who doesn’t recognize the melodies from Bizet’s "Carmen." But extremely few of those souls know the original tale by Merimee. On today's show we talk with one person who does: Corry Cropper, a faculty member at Brigham Young University, in the Department of French and Italian.—Original airdate: 2/4/2010 11:00 AM
Today we'll be talking about dreams, nightmares, premonitions, and visions ... from a Renaissance perspective. Carole Levin is a scholar intimately acquainted with Tudor England: the era of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth. We'll be walking through the partition between day and night, between the real and the fantastical, the mundane and the ethereal. Come along with us, if only just to know what a society in former times made of their dreams.—Original airdate: 10/22/2009 11:00 AM
Moliere’s most famous play, Tartuffe, created a big stir when it appeared in 1664—so much so, that King Louis the 14th banned performances of it. Apparently people who move in high places can be a bit tetchy about the behavior called hypocrisy. We’ll be much more liberally minded toward the play than was the French monarch, as we discuss it on Great Works Monday.—Original airdate: 2/1/2010 11:00 AM
Death is not easy to talk about. But in mortality, it's something we all face?with family, with friends, and eventually, ourselves. The Dean of BYU's College of Nursing joins us to discuss death and bereavement on today's Thinking Aloud.—Original airdate: 9/10/2009 11:00 AM
On today's Thinking Aloud we talk with Scott Holden, Jaren Hinckley, and Diane Thueson Reich. Holden is a Horowitz prize-winning department chair of piano and organ studies at BYU. Hinckley holds a Masters Degree in Clarinet Performance. Reich is a soprano and a Professor of Voice.—Original airdate: 1/28/2010 11:00 AM
The debate is as old as debate itself, but the context and tone have changed dramatically. The ongoing feud is likely to see no end, so long as people continue to have disparate opinions about the existence or non-existence of God. A literary scholar assesses the recent salvos and considers what they might mean for our culture.—Original airdate: 10/1/2009 11:00 AM
For a quarter of a century, historian Howard Dodson has been at the helm of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, housed at the New York Public Library. His personal story is interwoven with the purposes of the Schomburg Center. His work exemplifies the value of the study history. On today's Thinking Aloud we get to know Howard Dodson.
—Original airdate: 1/25/2010 11:00 AM