dave eggers
"Democracy Now!": The Story of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and a Man Named Zeitoun
Today, a personal story of a national tragedy. Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-born New Orleans building contractor, stayed in the city while his wife and children left to Baton Rouge. He paddled the flooded streets in his canoe and helped rescue many of his stranded neighbors. Days later, armed police and National Guardsmen arrested him and accused him of being a terrorist. He was held for nearly a month, most of which he was not allowed to call his wife, Kathy. Today, in a rare broadcast interview, Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun join us to tell their story, along with the man who chronicles it in the book Zeitoun, Dave Eggers. "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.
Email this pageGRITtv: 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.
