Quebec: A History of Unrest
Egypt Votes, Generals Remain?
Poetry of the Taliban
Joey Ramone's Brother on Posthumous Joey Record
Temple Grandin, Autism and Work
SETI Searches For Money
The Reaganomics of Reagan's Blood

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For over 35 years, the leader of SETI - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence -  has been Jill Tarter. She's the astronomer who served as the inspiration for Jodie Foster's character in the movie "Contact." But SETI's research costs money - and in these tough economic times, that money can be hard to come by. Jill Tarter announced this week that she'll be leaving her research role with SETI to concentrate on fund-raising.

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The Arab Spring sent Egyptians to the polls this week in the nation's first-ever presidential election.  Two days of voting and millions of ballots cast, and the entire country waits to see just how much an impact the revolution will have on Egypt's government.  

 

 As of Friday morning, it looked like former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq - a man who served under Mubarak - and Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi would be heading for a runoff vote in June.

Omar Ashour voted in this election.  He's the director of Middle East Studies at the University of Exeter.

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The 100th day of Quebec's student strike passed this week with over 250,000 people marching in the streets of Montreal.  What started as a movement against tuition hikes has swelled to be about much more.

Some believe this kind of social uprising can only happen in Quebec. 

William Johnson is a veteran journalist, author and member of the Order of Canada.  Here he is with a Day 6 commentary.

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"...Ya Know?" is the new solo album by Joey Ramone, created from unreleased home recordings and demos recorded before his death in 2001 after a long battle with lymphoma. Jim Brown spoke to Joey's younger brother,  Mickey Leigh, about growing up with Joey and co-producing the new album. Mickey is the author of the memoir, "I Slept With Joey Ramone", and the leader of bands including The Rattlers and Stop.

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This week a vial containing Ronald Reagan's blood was donated to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.  Initially, it was to have been sold through a British auction house.  Public outcry lead to that idea being called off.  

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According to a recent study, one in three people with autism have had no paid job experience seven years after leaving high school. And with reports that autism diagnoses are on the rise, Temple Grandin is concerned. She's a best-selling author, professor at Colorado State University, and was the subject of the HBO movie Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes.  Grandin wants to help inspire kids with the condition to get out and get working, so she's edited a new book called Different: Not Less. It's a collection of essays written by people on the autism spectrum who are employed and living full lives.

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When you think about the Taliban, poetry is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. But last week a collection of Taliban poems was released in the U.K. Felix Kuehn is one of the editors of the collection and he spoke with guest host Jim Brown about the book and the controversy it's ignited.

You'll also hear from David Rohde, an American journalist who was kidnapped and held captive by the Taliban for seven months, and heard their poetry first hand.

 

A much longer edition of our interview with Felix Kuehn can be heard HERE.

 

Web bonus:  Hear more of David Rohde's story HERE.

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