Featured Programs, Southeast Missouri State University

Documentary Specials

Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m.

Black History Month Specials 2012
Sunday, February 5: Maya Angelou Black History Month Special Maya Angelou defines Black History, as it is embraced in our popular culture with an emphasis on the civil rights era and a poetic acknowledgement of late activist, Rosa Parks. This one hour historical trek takes us from the 1950’s thru the 1990’s. Dr. Maya Angelou renders a poetic portrait of the day-to-day lives of African Americans during the civil rights era, when artists and activists, musicians and ministers joined hands with people from all walks of life to bring about a historic change in our culture. Sunday, February 12: Heavenly Sight: Of Vision Lost and Found Despite disability, poverty, isolation and prejudice, a surprising number of blind African American musicians who came from the gospel tradition influenced not just gospel music, but blues, bluegrass, and American vernacular music up to and beyond rock and roll. Sunday, February 19: Memories of the Movement - hour 1 The years of the Civil Rights Movement are counted among the most volatile, yet vibrant, in American history. In our Black History month special, The Tavis Smiley Show celebrates the courage, conviction and commitment of the everyday people who made extraordinary contributions to American social progress. Memories of the Movement features poignant, humorous, unheard or little known stories from a number of well-known civil rights icons. The program features stories from Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, Danny Glover, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Dr. Raye Richardson, activist Yuri Kochiyama, Congressman John Lewis, Dorothy Tillman, Rev. Robert Graetz, Harry Belafonte, Andrew Young, Elizabeth Eckford and Jefferson Thomas of the Little Rock Nine, and comedian Dick Gregory. Sunday, February 26: Memories of the Movement - hour2 On this program, we hear from the legendary actress Ruby Dee, Clarence Jones, Xernona Clayton, Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rev. Amos Brown, journalist Earl Caldwell, Marian Wright Edelman, Taylor Rogers, and Rev. C.T. Vivian.

Sunday, March 4: America Abroad - America and the Middle East: What Lies Ahead?

Today, the Middle East is at a crossroads. And so is American policy in the region. Last December, after 9 years of war, US troops left Iraq - probably for good. The war in Afghanistan is winding down too - as American soldiers begin to transfer authority to Afghan forces. And as the Arab revolutions rippled across the region over the past year, toppling the old order, America largely looked on from the sidelines. On top of it all, in light of the financial crisis, Americans are increasingly focused inward – on jobs and the economy. So what will the future of American policy in the Middle East look like?

Sunday, March 11: Burn: An Energy Journal - Particles: Nuclear Power After Fukushima

It is the fundamental issue of our time: Energy; where we get it; how we use it; what happens then. It powers our homes and our economy; it creates troubled alliances and disturbing divisions; it empowers and impoverishes; it enables almost all that we do and now threatens all that we have become.

The Peabody-award winning SoundVision Productions presents BURN: An Energy Journal, a broadcast and digital project hosted by one of public radio’s most trusted journalists and master storytellers, Alex Chadwick. Alex will explore our energy future through the intimate stories of visionaries of research, maverick inventors, industry insiders and concerned citizens.