'America's Report Card'
08/07/2006
Today on The Beat, teacher and novelist James McNally offers a humorous take on standardized testing and America's Kafka-esque education system. We also hear readings from regional poets and get book reviews from Nancy Pearl.Today's Featured Music Selection:
At 2:05 p.m. - 'America's Report Card'
Charlie Wolf leads a fairy-tale graduate student life, with just enough money and clout to keep him in books, vodka, a threadbare apartment, and a beautiful, intellectual girlfriend. But the bohemian dream starts to crumble when Charlie takes a job scoring standardized tests and finds himself surrounded by people who are either plodding blindly along or caught up in wild conspiracy theories. Today, novelist John McNally tells us how his own experience as a teacher gave him perspective on the country's Kafka-esque education system. John McNally talks with Dave Beck about his new novel, America's Report Card.
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At 2:30 p.m. - Poet Populist 'Voters' Guide', part 1 of 3
Seven Seattle-area poets have been nominated by various literary organizations to be the "Poet Populist" for 2006-2007. The program was created by Nick Licata of the Seattle City Council, and is co-sponsored by the Seattle Public Library and Bumbershoot. Voting is done online and concludes August 21st. To help you cast your vote, KUOW's literary producer Elizabeth Austen has prepared a Voters' Guide, complete with clips of each poet reading his or her own work before a live audience at the Seattle Public Library on July 16th. Today we'll hear from nominees John Burgess and Barbara Petite. On August 14th we'll hear from nominees Crysta Casey, Joannie Kervran Stangeland and Jourdan Imani Keith. The Voters' Guide will conclude on August 21st with Lyn Coffin and Anna Maria Hong. Information about the Poet Populist program, including links to the voting page, is at www.seattlepoetpopulist.org.
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At 2:50 p.m. - Nancy Pearl Book Reviews
Our weekly visit with Public Radio librarian and author of More Book Lust, Nancy Pearl.
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