Fresh Air
with Mary Ito

0700 Mark Wigmore's On The Doc column featured a new documentary about a rapper-turned reggae musician. The film is called Snoop Reincarnated and it focuses on Snoop Dog,,,who is now known as Snoop Lion.
Listen (runs 4:28)
Learn more about Mark at his CBC Music webpage.

0730 She was an anomaly. She was a woman journalist---with a column AND a byline---in late 19th century Toronto. She was also a mystery woman...because no one knew her real name. Author Christine Welldon has explored the life and impact of "Vic Steinberg" with a new book for younger readers. She shared her findings with guest host Karen Gordon.,
Listen (runs 8:47)
Reporter In Disguise: The Intrepid Vic Steinberg is published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside. There's more info on Christine's website.

0800 Gardeners are always looking for the latest trend. That's GOOD if you do your research in advance. But too many gardeners are "cultivating" the latest craze without considering all the implications...and some are regretting it. Fresh Air's favourite gardener---Marjorie Harris---joined Karen to explain.
Listen (runs 10:52)
There's plenty of gardening advice at Marjorie's website.

0830 Award-winning (for her previous book "Locavore") author Sarah Elton is back with a new book. It's called Consumed: Food For A Finite Planet and it looks at our ability to continue to feed ourselves in the decades to come. Sarah elaborated when she sat down with Karen.
Listen (runs 12:45)
Learn more about the author at Sarah's website and the book at the
HarperCollins website.

0700 CBC Radio's The Debaters is coming to Kitchener-Waterloo and Burlington. Host Steve Patterson and a bunch of comedians will be at the University of Waterloo Theatre Centre on Monday, May 27th at 7:30 pm. And on May 29th, the show will be in Burlington at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. For ticket info, visit The Debaters' website.

0730 The latest Star Trek movie has just opened to good reviews. Toronto Star columnist Rob Salem is a Star Trek enthusiast (but don't call him a Trekkie!). He sat down with guest host Karen Gordon to talk about the enduring appeal of Gene Roddenberry's creation.
Listen (runs 12:19)
There's more about Mr. Salem atRob's Toronto Star website.
And you can follow Rob on Twitter: @robsalem

0800 He's the King of the Q. That's "Barbeque"...and his name is Ted Reader. Ted's latest book is called ""Gastro Grilling: Fired-up Recipes to Grill Great Everyday Meals". He joined Karen to whet her appetite. .
Listen (runs 10:07)
Gastro Grilling: Fired-up Recipes to Grill Great Everyday Meals is published by Penguin.
Learn more at Ted's website.

0830 Justin Hines is no quitter. He's a musician who suddenly found that an existing medical condition was making it increasingly difficult to sing. But he didn't give in---he fought back and he has a gritty new album to show for his efforts. Justin joined Karen Gordon to talk about How We Fly and the challenges that he faced in making it.
Listen (runs 8:51)
NOTE: Music clearance restrictions prohibit inclusion of music originally contained in this item.
Justin will officially launch How We Fly on Wednesday, May 22nd at Hugh's Room in Toronto. Full details are available on Justin's website.

0730 Melody Johnson's one-woman play Miss Caledonia is drawn from the experiences of her mother who entered various pageants while a teenager in rural Ontario in the 1950s. Melody talked about what she learned about her mother while researching the play when she sat down with Karen Gordon.
Listen (runs 12:18)
Melody will perform Miss Caledonia at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa from May 14 to 25. The details are at the NAC website.
For more Ontario dates for Miss Caledonia in 2013, visit Melody's manager,
The Collection Agency website.

0800 There are road trips and, then, there are ROAD trips. Mark Richardson took one of the latter in the summer of 2012. He's turned it into a book called Canada's Road: A Journey on the Trans-Canada Highway from St. John's to Victoria. Mark came by to tell Karen why he spent 6 weeks behind the steering wheel.
Listen (runs 10:31)
Canada's Road: A Journey on the Trans-Canada Highway from St. John's to Victoria is published by Dundurn.
All the info you'll ever need about the book is on Mark's website.

0830 First...it was a book. Then came the film adaptations...the most famous starring starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. However, it's worth remembering that F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" isn't alone in evoking that heady period that was the United States in the early 1920s. Fresh Air's book panel---Becky Toyne and Erin Balser---joined Karen to offer a guide to OTHER books that reflect that era.
Listen (runs 10:09)
Becky and Erin's recommendations:

Above All Things by Tanis Rideout (2012)
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (2011)
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald (2013)
Beautiful Fools: The Last Affair of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald (2013)

There's always good "reading" at the CBC Books website.
For more on Becky's literary activities, visit her website

0700 Guest host Karen Gordon played an excerpt from The Debaters which airs later today on CBC Radio One. You can hear the show just after the one o'clock news. And you can SEE and hear The Debaters when the show comes to Toronto on May the 25th. It's part of the first CBC Music Festival and host Steve Patterson and his guest comedians will appear on stage between (approximately) 4 and 4:30 p.m. Learn more about the Festival and how to buy tickets by visiting the CBC Music website.

0730 Mother's Day is tomorrow (May 12). And the film world has presented mothers in many ways through the years. Thom Ernst from Saturday Night At the Movies dropped by to talk about some of those portrayals and to share his Top 5 movies about moms with Karen.
Listen (runs 14:11)

Thom's Mom Movies:
1. Mildred Pierce (1945)
2. What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993)
3. Imitation of Life (1959)
4. Mother (1996)
5. Psycho (1960)
If you're a film fan, pay a visit to Thom's new website.

0800 Feeling tired? We all experience weariness. But when does tiredness become fatigue...and a cause for concern? Dr. Mike Evans joined Karen to explain. You'll find that conversation at Dr. Mike's Your Health column.

0830 Jadea Kelly has a new album---her second. It's a big musical step forward from her 2010 debut. Jadea joined Karen to play some of the songs on "Clover" and talk about her reasons for writing them.
Listen (runs 6:61)
NOTE: Music clearance restrictions prohibit inclusion of music originally contained in this item.
Jadea will launch "Clover" with a concert at The Great Hall in Toronto on May 22. All the details are on Jadea's website.