'On American Soil'

Megan Sukys/Dave Beck
05/10/2005

On American Soil is Seattle based journalist Jack Hamann's nonfiction account of the largest and longest army court-martial of World War II. On August 14th, 1944, an Italian prisoner of war named Guglielmo Olivotto was lynched at the base of the Magnolia Bluffs at Seattle’s Fort Lawton (now Discovery Park). Forty three U.S. Army soldiers — all of them African Americans — were charged with rioting and with the lynching murder of the P.O.W. Jack Hamann speaks with Dave Beck about the new book. Also in this hour, food writer Mark Bittman and music reviews with Gavin Borchert.



Today's Featured Music Selection: Old Blind Dogs
While the name might conjure up an image of a worn-out geezers, Old Blind Dogs is a quintet of vital young lads with a wonderful, infectious, Celtic musicality. Their name comes from an old-timey American song. Since 1990, the band has been on the cutting edge of Scotland's roots revival. We sample their new release on Green Linnet Records, full of ebullient "Caledonian groovery," Old Blind Dogs plays live.

Related Event:
Old Blind Dogs will be performing in Olympia on Friday, May 20th at the Capitol Theatre.

Related Links:

Old Blind Dogs

At 2:05pm - 'On American Soil'
On American Soil is Seattle based journalist Jack Hamann's nonfiction account of the largest and longest army court-martial of World War II. On August 14th, 1944, an Italian prisoner of war named Guglielmo Olivotto was lynched at the base of the Magnolia Bluffs at Seattle’s Fort Lawton (now Discovery Park). Forty three U.S. Army soldiers — all of them African Americans — were charged with rioting and with the lynching murder of the P.O.W. The army’s prosecutor was Leon Jaworski, later to gain fame as the Watergate special prosecutor. Jack Hamann speaks with Dave Beck about the new book.

Related Event:
Jack Hamman speaks about his book tonight at 7:30 in Town Hall Seattle

Related Links:

Jack Hamann

At 2:33pm - Mark Bittman
Food writer Mark Bittman is a minimalist, a proponent of good food made simple. In his latest project, Bittman goes mano a mano -- or cleaver to cleaver -- against some of this country's top chefs. It's all in good fun and it's all for a public television series, Bittman Takes on America's Chefs, which is also the name of his latest book. Mark Bittman speaks with Megan Sukys.


At 2:50pm - Music Reviews with Gavin Borchert
New classical music recordings reviewed regularly by composer and Seattle Weekly writer Gavin Borchert.

Title: Wing on Wing: Music of Esa-Pekka Salonen
Artist: Finnish Radio Symphony, Salonen, cond.
Label: Deutsche Grammophon B0003965-02

The acclaimed and innovative 46-year-old conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducts three of his own visceral and vivid works. The title track was written last year for the opening of Disney Hall; it includes two wordless sopranos and a taped recording of the voice of the hall's architect Frank Gehry. The brash Foreign Bodies (2001) and the more unsettling Insomnia (2002) are just as strikingly colored and energetic

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