books
GRITtv: James Baldwin: Still So Much To Teach Us
"The paradox of education is precisely this -- that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated." James Baldwin wrote that in 1963, but as we watch teachers and their students leading pro-labor protests in Wisconsin and around the country, it remains truer than ever. Baldwin died in 1987, but his novels and essays--and his activism--live on. This week at NYU, a conference examining Baldwin's work and influence in today's globalized world is meeting, and Laura sat down with two of the speakers, Hortense Spillers and Darryl Pinckney, to discuss why Baldwin's work still feels so vital, so important.
GRITtv: February 18, 2011
"The paradox of education is precisely this -- that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated." James Baldwin wrote that in 1963, but as we watch teachers and their students leading pro-labor protests in Wisconsin and around the country, it remains truer than ever. Baldwin died in 1987, but his novels and essays--and his activism--live on. This week at NYU, a conference examining Baldwin's work and influence in today's globalized world is meeting, and Laura sat down with two of the speakers, Hortense Spillers and Darryl Pinckney, to discuss why Baldwin's work still feels so vital, so important. In a time of global crisis we don't want to be messing with our food supply. So how has it that the very technology designed for big crops threaten the bees required by the ecosystem? Some are taking action: Queen of the Sun introduces a few of the lesser-known heroes of the 21st century--the beekeepers. Want to keep bees of your own? Spring is the best time to start! And good news for our New York City viewers: the city lifted its ban on beekeeping last year. Got a Got Doc? We'd love to hear from you. Pitch it to us on our Facebook page. Next up, to Queens, New York, to visit artist Alice Mizrachi. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, Mizrachi's shown her work around the world, and yet her favorite canvas is New York's walls. Mizrachi's built a global network of women artists as co-director of the Younity Arts Collective, and now she's working with young people. This piece was produced by Rebecca McDonald, and special thanks to Noisemaker Media for the music. If you are in the New York area, please join Alice Mizrachi in a stencil making workshop in collaboration with Materials for the Arts on Thursday February 24, 2011 from 7-9pm. This event is free, and open to the public. More info here. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Books with Grit: Responding to National Book Awards
The National Book Awards were announced this week; Colum McCann was honored for his fiction work "Let the Great World Spin: A Novel," and T.J. Stiles' biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt won the nonfiction prize. Dave Eggers, author of Laura's book of the year, Zeitoun, received this year's Literarian Award. Jeannie Vanasco of Lapham's Quarterly, Julian Brookes of the Progressive Book Club and Sir Harold Evans, of The Week magazine and former president and publisher of Random House trade group, talk about the books that they think deserve more recognition. Which books impressed you this year? Leave them in comments or email to grittv@grittv.org and maybe we'll discuss them on the air.
GRITtv: Nov. 19, 2009
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was recently stripped of his federal authority to make immigration arrests after repeated complaints that he abuses power and uses racial profiling to target Latinos in his Arizona community. Salvador Reza, U.S. Air Force veteran, community organizer and renowned immigrants rights activist, joins Laura for an exclusive interview on Arpaio's ongoing abuses. Dennis Gilman brings us video footage from an Arpaio raid and from protests in Arizona, where white supremacist groups showed up to support Arpaio's policies. The National Book Awards were announced this week; Colum McCann was honored for his fiction work "Let the Great World Spin: A Novel," and T.J. Stiles' biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt won the nonfiction prize.
