KGOU Sunday Radio Matinee

Public radio has many great programs that produce just a few episodes a year: Intelligence Squared U.S., America Abroad, and KGOU's student-produced show Assignment: Radio. This is where you'll find these and other limited-run programs. 

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Sunday Radio Matinee

America Abroad: Global Water Scarcity

California, Africa and South Asia are all facing severe water issues.  As a result many are turning to groundwater as a solution, thus depleting this last dependable source of clean water.  On this edition of America Abroad, we'll hear how a village in sub-Saharan Africa has figured out how to regulate groundwater, how California farmers are pumping billions of gallons of groundwater to combat their drought, and how despite plenty of rain in the Punjab region of India groundwater is being squandered.

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Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sunday Radio Matinee

Intelligence Squared U.S. - "Death Is Not Final"

If consciousness is just the workings of neurons and synapses, how do we explain the phenomenon of near-death experience? By some accounts, about 3% of the U.S. population has had one: an out-of-body experience often characterized by remarkable visions and feelings of peace and joy, all while the physical body is close to death. To skeptics, there are more plausible, natural explanations, like oxygen deprivation. Is the prospect of an existence after death “real” and provable by science, or a construct of wishful thinking about our own mortality?

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Sunday, July 13, 2014

Sunday Radio Matinee

The Really Big Questions: "What Is A Good Death?"

Most people hope to die quickly, or go quietly at home, surrounded by family. But most of us won’t die that way. More often, we die in intensive care. Perhaps fear keeps us from the good death we wish for. In this program, we hear from people seeking to bring engagement with death back into our culture, through death salons, green funerals, and meaningful end-of-life care.

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Sunday, July 6, 2014

Sunday Radio Matinee

The Capitol Steps - July 4th Edition Of Politics Takes A Holiday

The Capitol Steps put the "mock" in democracy, lampooning timely issues with show tunes!

In this special there's John Kerry singing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Crimea?" and Hillary Clinton admonishing Joe Biden to "Let It Go" when it comes to running for President. It's a show so clogged with jokes that Chris Christie threatened to shut it down!

There's plenty of material to go around, so why not sit back, relax and forget you voted for any of these characters!

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Sunday, June 29, 2014

Sunday Radio Matinee

America Abroad: The Power Of Art In A Changing Mid​dle East

Film, music and art are often the best ways to capture the will and the mood of the people in times of turmoil. Art sometimes has the power to move millions where politics fails. So in this program we attempt to identify some prominent artistic voices in the Middle East, North Africa and in South Asia and evaluate their take on liberal ideals, on sectarian violence, on terrorism and how they're being received by audiences in both the Arab and Muslim communities and in the West. 

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Sunday, June 22, 2014

Sunday Radio Matinee

IQ2: Millennials Don't Stand A Chance

Millennials—growing up with revolutionary technology and entering adulthood in a time of recession—have recently been much maligned. Are their critics right? Is this generation uniquely coddled, narcissistic, and lazy? Or have we let conventional wisdom blind us to their openness to change and innovation, and optimism in the face of uncertainty, which, in any generation, are qualities to be admired?

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Sunday, June 15, 2014

Sunday Radio Matinee

The Really Big Questions: "Why Does Music Move Us?"

Music can make us run faster, learn better, buy more, recover from surgery sooner, even live longer. Music can move us to new spiritual heights or steel our hearts for battle. If music is a human universal, why do people from different cultures experience the same music differently? Join writer, broadcaster and composer Dean Olsher for The Really Big Questions. 

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Sunday, June 8, 2014 – 1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

IQ2 “More Clicks, Fewer Bricks: The Lecture Hall Is Obsolete”

Is the college of the future online? With the popularity of MOOCs (massive open online courses) and the availability of online degree programs at a fraction of their on-campus price, we are experiencing an exciting experiment in higher education. Does the traditional classroom stand a chance? Will online education be the great equalizer, or is a campus-based college experience still necessary? Join Intelligence Squared U.S. host John Donvan for the debate. 

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Sunday, June 1, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

America Abroad: The Consequences Of Shrinking America’s Military

As America draws down troops from Afghanistan, cuts back on military spending and the size of its military, many worry that America’s leadership in the world and ability to protect its allies is eroding. On this edition of America Abroad we travel to Estonia, Japan, and Saudi Arabia to speak with US allies as well as officials and experts in Washington to understand how America’s defense cuts are perceived around the world. 

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Sunday, May 25, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee: 

The Silent Generation: From Saipan to Tokyo

Eugene "Bud" Clark, a pint-sized scrapper from Macon, GA, mowed down Banzai warriors, watched mass suicide on Saipan, and was severely wounded on Iwo Jima. Howard Terry was traumatized by his accidental killing of an Okinawan boy, returned home angry, belligerent and unable to hold a job. Anthony Daddato lost his best friend to friendly fire, contracted dengue fever, malaria and tuberculosis, and spent three embittered years in hospitals before a feisty nun's advice changed his outlook. Giles McCoy went down with the Indianapolis in one of the worst naval disasters in history. These are just a few of the voices in "The Silent Generation", a one-hour documentary that follows more than a score of men through the definitive year of their lives. Their memories are not for the faint-hearted. Producer/Narrator Borten knits their stories into a chronological whole, adding archival newscasts, live reports from the battlefield, and little-known historical details that, together with these unforgettable stories, bring a momentous, searingly brutal chapter in history to life.

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Sunday, May 18, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Intelligence Squared U.S. - Does Affirmative Action On Campus Do More Harm Than Good? 

Affirmative action, when used as a factor in college admissions, is meant to foster diversity and provide equal opportunities in education for underrepresented minorities. But is it achieving its stated goals and helping the population it was created to support? Its critics point to students struggling to keep up in schools mismatched to their abilities. Is it time to overhaul or abolish affirmative action? The debaters are Gail Heriot, Randall Kennedy, Richard Sander, and Theodore Shaw.

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Sunday, May 11, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Assignment: Radio - 'The End' / This Land Radio

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Sunday, May 4, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

The Really Big Questions – “Why Do We Share?”

Are humans basically selfish, or basically giving? There’s a widespread assumption that you have to offer people incentives to do good deeds and threaten punishment to stop them from doing evil deeds. But the way people act in the real world contradicts that idea. Humans may actually have been shaped by evolution to care about each other, to share, and to cooperate. In this program, host Dean Olsher introduces compelling stories and evidence from a fascinating cast of characters:

• Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton talks about his experiments showing that it makes people happier to give money away than to spend it on themselves.
• Elders of the Maasai tribe in Kenya explain their system of sharing with tribe members in need, with no expectation of tit for tat.
• Evolutionary biologist Athena Aktipis talks about cooperation among humans and among cancer cells.
• UC Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner says people who have less tend to give more.
• Primatologist Frans de Waal, who studies generosity and altruism in other primates, argues that humans are driven by biology, not culture, to be altruistic.

The Really Big Questions (TRBQ) is a scintillating exploration of human nature guided by five enduring questions. 

“…our show lives at the intersection of the sciences and the humanities. We’re dedicated to the proposition that humanity’s future depends on getting both world views to play nice with each other. I hope you’ll give it a listen.”

–Dean Olsher

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Sunday, April 27, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Assignment: Radio - The 'Sound Rich' Episode

This week Madeline, Molly and Hayley explore telling stories with sound, in a series of "sound rich" stories. Soothing music, loud clanking of scrap metal, and the hypnotic sounds of a treadmill await you in this episode of Assignment: Radio.

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Sunday, April 20, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Intelligence Squared U.S. - Is Russia A Marginal Power?

In the past year, Russia has been a decisive player in several events on the international stage — often to the chagrin of the Obama administration. It gave asylum to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, blocked United Nations efforts to impose sanctions against the Syrian government and sent troops into Ukraine.

Two teams of journalists and analysts faced last month to debate the motion "Russia is a marginal power." One side argued that the country is squandering its full potential and its relationship with other world powers under Putin. The other side argued that, even if Russia isn't the most well-liked country in the world, it still has significant economic, political and military might that can't be ignored.

The debate from Intelligence-Squared U.S. took place Oxford-style, with the audience voting on which team swayed them the most. In these events, the team that sways the most people by the end of the debate is declared the winner. 

Find out which side swayed the audience this Sunday on KGOU's Sunday Radio Matinee. 

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Sunday, April 13, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Assignment: Radio – The One-On-One Interview

It’s the latest episode of the Spring 2014 season for Assignment: Radio. This week we explore people's passions with a series of one-on-one interviews. 

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Sunday, April 6, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

The Really Big Questions: What Is This Thing Called Love?

Romantic love was invented by troubadours during the Middle Ages. You might have heard that before.  Until recently, that view was widely held by anthropologists, sociologists, and historians: Love is a western cultural construct. 

Now, most researchers believe love is a cultural universal. Literature, music, and artifacts from everywhere and every time show humans falling in love. But why do we fall in love? Why does love cause us transcendent joy? Why is it devastating when our relationships fall apart?

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Sunday, March 30, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Assignment: Radio – Story #2

Assignment: Radio is KGOU's student-produced public affairs program focusing on issues and events on the University of Oklahoma campus.

Each semester since Fall 2004, the staff of KGOU has helped a small group of University of Oklahoma students produce programs on topics ranging from OU's connection with Iraq to the university's alcoholic beverage policy to an entire show taking a behind-the-scenes look at OU football game day.

This week our Spring 2014 student reporters show off their research skills on stories that explore online learning and shopping local.

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Sunday, March 23, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

IQ2: “Snowden Was Justified”

Has Edward Snowden done the U.S. a great service? There is no doubt that his release of highly classified stolen documents has sparked an important public debate, even forcing what could be a major presidential overhaul of the NSA’s surveillance programs. But have his actions—which include the downloading of an estimated 1.7 million files –tipped off our enemies and endangered national security? Is Snowden a whistleblower, or is he a criminal? Intelligence Squared US puts these questions to their debate panel and audience on this week's installment of KGOU's Sunday Radio Matinee. 

Arguing For the motion:
Ben Wizner, Legal adviser to Edward Snowden & Attorney, ACLU

Daniel Ellsberg, Fmr. U.S. Military Analyst & Pentagon Papers Whistleblower

Arguing Against The Motion:
Andrew C. McCarthy, Former Federal Prosecutor & Contributing Editor, National Review 

Ambassador R. James Woolsey, Former Director, CIA & Chairman, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

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Sunday, March 16, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

America Abroad: Women's Rights After The Arab Spring 

The revolutions of the Arab Spring promised greater freedoms for the people of the Middle East. But while some freedoms have been gained, stability has been lost. In many cases, it's become more dangerous, especially for women. On this episode of America Abroad we visit Egypt where under the newly adopted constitution, women are supposed to have equality in "all civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights”.  We hear from Turkey where women are feeling the effects of newly empowered religious conservative parties as well as from women in Kuwait about their day to day lives.

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Sunday, March 9, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Assignment: Radio - Story #1 "Events"

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Sunday, March 2, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Assignment: Radio's "Best of 2013" + The Plan: New Orleans

Join us this week as recall the best works from last year's Assignment Radio student reporters. 

The hour concludes with The Plan's tribute to New Orleans - the epicenter of Mardi Gras/Carnival-related celebrations this weekend.

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Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

IQ2: Obamacare Is Now Beyond Rescue

With the disastrous launch of the HealthCare.gov website, critics of the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” were given more fuel for the fire. Is this political hot potato's inevitability once again at stake? And is the medical community really on board with the law, or resisting (rewriting?) it from the sidelines? Intelligence Squared's John Donvan moderates this timely debate. 

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Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Story of the Century: Lincoln's Assassination

On the day before President’s Day, this week’s Sunday Radio Matinee feature is a timely broadcast which takes listeners back in time to 1865 to re-live the biggest news event of the 19th Century - Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The Newseum's Patty Rhule takes host Sam Litzinger on a tour through the Manhunt exhibit and explains the roles of the telegraph and photography in capturing this most riveting story. Plus, find out why the ghost of John Wilkes Booth is rumored to call the Newseum home.

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Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Say It Plain: A Century of African American Oratory

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech is often broadcast to mark Black History Month. King was a remarkable orator, and the speech certainly marked a turning point in American history.

Nevertheless, King was hardly alone. He was nurtured in a centuries-old African American tradition of spoken narrative and oral persuasion. Like black speakers before and after him, King testified to how America betrayed its founding ideals through slavery, segregation and racial bigotry. King and scores of other black orators sounded the charge against Jim Crow and stung the moral conscience of America. Many powered their messages with relentless optimism that one day change would come. They reminded Americans of how good they could be. Others offered a different version of utopia: conflict and a separate nation free of whites.

Say It Plain: A Century of African American Oratory highlights a selection of landmark sermons, speeches and broadcasts by African American orators over the past century. From Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey, to Fannie Lou Hamer and Malcolm X, to Shirley Chisholm and Julian Bond, you will hear the stirring words of African American figures as they call for action on civil rights and the unmet promise of democracy. 

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Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

State Of The Re-Union: Reconciliation Way

Tulsa, Oklahoma sits at a crossroads of American identities. In a special episode of State Of The Re-Union with Al Letson, we travel to the middle of Middle America to see what happens when these identities collide. We explore one of the country’s deadliest race riots, a story that has been mostly suppressed for 90 years; visit a lovingly-crafted museum dedicated to spreading poetry to rural Oklahoma; and—in two special stories produced by This Land Press—visit a couple of churches, one struggling mightily to integrate and the other building a shrine for undocumented immigrants in a state with some of the harshest immigration laws.

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Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Civil Rights in America: Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall and Beyond

Hosted by Charles Dutton, this one-hour special examines the relevance and meaning of civil rights in the 21st century and the relationship between the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of women, other people of color, and the LGBT community to expand our traditional definitions of equality. Civil Rights In America… features first-person narratives culled from hundreds of hours of never-before-broadcast video and audio footage to provide a rich, detailed history of the nation during an important and tumultuous period.

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Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee:

America Abroad: Syria and the Responsibility to Protect

At the start of a new year, Syria remains in the grip of violent political upheaval, with no clear resolution in sight. Rivalries among rebel militias and reports of a growing al Qaeda presence only strengthen the hand of the dictator, President Bashir al Assad. Any political leverage gained by regime opponents in two years of fighting, are being squandered. Hopes for Geneva peace talks planned for late January are fading, even as the death toll pushes past 100,000 and refugees now number in the millions. At the start of a new year, the question of whether or how the US should intervene is even more urgent.

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Sunday, Jan. 13, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee

Intelligence Squared: “Don’t Eat Anything With A Face”

According to a 2009 poll, around 1% of American adults reported eating no animal products. In 2011 that number rose to 2.5%--more than double, but still dwarfed by the 48% who reported eating meat, fish or poultry at all of their meals. In this country, most of us are blessed with an abundance of food and food choices. So taking into account our health, the environment and ethical concerns, which diet is best? Are we or aren't we meant to be carnivores? John Donvan hosts this latest debate from Intelligence Squared US.

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Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee: Teenage Diaries Revisited

More than 16 years ago, Joe Richman of Radio Diaries gave a group of young people tape recorders to report on their own lives for the NPR series, Teenage Diaries.

Since that time, many listeners have asked, "Where are they now?"

In this one-hour special, some of those diarists return to chronicle their grown-up lives in Teenage Diaries Revisited.

Joe Richman checked back in with...

Josh, still struggling with Tourette's as an adult.

Melissa, who was a teen mom and is now the mom of a teenager.

& Juan, a Mexican immigrant who is now a father and husband, but still undocumented.

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Sunday, Dec. 29, 2013 ~ 12 p.m.
Sunday Radio Matinee
Capitol Steps – New Year’s
Help roast 2013 to a crisp with the Capitol Steps and our annual year-in-review awards ceremony. It's all in the hour-long special, "Politics Takes a Holiday!" This year will feature all-new awards, such as:

• "Best Moment in Senator Ted Cruz's 21-hour Filibuster"
• "Most 'icky' Tweet from Carlos Danger"
• "Best Thigh-Reducing Exercises to do While Waiting for Healthcare.gov" and, of course
• "Best Reason to Spy On the American Public — Because You Can!"

It's been a great year for job creation...although of course many of the jobs created were for comedians! So, go ahead, tweet it on Twitter (but please, please don't attach any photos!!!) Here's a preview.

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Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

This Land Radio: Fork in the Road (Episode 10)

On this final (as in no more) episode of This Land Radio, we go left or we go right. John Hood stands at the vertex and sells us a Coors. Pantoja buys a one way ticket. Sarah says yes to rattlesnake. Ed Gungor gets derailed. And JD McPherson jumps, wiggles, and hopes it will be okay.

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Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013 ~ Noon-1 p.m.

Sunday Radio Matinee: The Mandela Tapes

In this timely program from the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC), you'll hear Nelson Mandela as you've never heard him before. It’s a program that draws on 50 hours of recorded conversations with Mandela, held for many years in Johannesburg by archivists at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.

The man chosen to record Mandela's life story was Rick Stengel, a young reporter working in South Africa for Rolling Stone magazine. From 1992 to 1996, Stengel shadowed Mandela, using his small cassette machine to record the stories which would help in the writing of Mandela's autobiography, 'Long Walk to Freedom'. 

The two other key voices in the documentary are the current managing editor of Time Magazine Rick Stengel and freelance radio producer Robin Benger.

IDEAS on CBC Radio was the first radio program anywhere in the world to be given full access to these remarkable recordings. This documentary originally aired on the CBC in May of this year.