Professor Kristen Leslie – “Strident Evanglical Themes at the U.S. Air Force Academy”

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The series on evangelical Christianity at the United States Air Force Academy, continues with Kristen Leslie, a professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at the Yale University Divinity School. Professor Leslie was invited to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado to meet with the Academy chaplains and provide training in the counseling of female cadets who were victims of sexual assaults that had occurred at the Academy. In the course of her visits in 2004 and 2005, Professor Leslie and the group of graduate students from the Yale Divinity School who accompanied her, observed what she called “strident evangelical themes” at the Academy. Professor Leslie testified before the Subcommittee on Military Personnel of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Armed Services on June 28, 2005, at the Congressional hearing entitled “Religious Climate at the U.S. Air Force Academy,” and reported her observations of her visit that included: The hanging of a banner containing an overtly Christian message by the football coach in the team locker room; the Air Force Academy commandant leading a “challenge and response” cheer about Jesus in front of a group of cadets of mixed faith; distribution of flyers advertising religious events in the cadet dining hall and over the public address system; failure of the Air Force Academy to consider the religious practices of cadets of minority faiths when setting the cadet schedule; and public expressions of faith by senior staff and faculty members, in some cases in inappropriate venues such as classrooms. Interviews with MeLinda Morton, the Air Force Academy Chaplain who resigned the end of July 2005, and Attorney Mikey Wienstein, a 1977 graduate of the Air Force Academy, both of whom are outspoken critics of the inaction on the part of the Air Force Academy leadership may be found here on the Radio Curious website. The Harvard University Committee on the Study of Religion has a detailed report, with abundant links to other articles on this issue that may be found at www.pluralism.org. And information about Professor Leslie’s testimony before Congress may be found at www.yale.edu/divinity/press. This interview with Kristen Leslie speaking from her office at Yale University about these issues was recorded on August 26, 2005.

Professor Kristen Leslie recommends “Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader,” by Ann Fadiman.

Originally Broadcast: August 30, 2005

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Ellsberg, Daniel: “The Pentagon Papers”

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Few moments in American history have held the tension of the early 1970s. The nation was fundamentally divided between the jaded counter-culture and Nixon’s ‘silent majority,’ a rupture particularly connected to the still-escalating Vietnam War. The release to the public of the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971 focused national attention on US foreign policy and on our right as individual citizens to freedom of the press.

Daniel Ellsberg recommends “Our War,” by David Harris.

Originally Broadcast: March 19, 1997

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Davis, Kenneth C. – “Independence, Where Does It Come From?”

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Don’t Know Much About History, Everything you Need to Know About American History But Never Learned

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” These words may sound radical today, but in fact come from the Declaration of Independence drafted in 1776. In this edition of Radio Curious, broadcast during Independence Week of 2005 we talk with Kenneth C. Davis, author of “Don’t Know Much about History,” and review some of the issues of 1776 from our perspective now. This interview was recorded on July 2, 2005 with Kenneth C. Davis from his home in southern Vermont. He began by commenting on the role religion played the declaration of the Independence.

Kenneth C. Davis recommends “Diane Arbus, A Biography” by Patricia Bosworth.

Originally Broadcast: July 5, 2005

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Fred Watson– “What a Telescope Reveals”

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Stargazer, the Life and Times of the Telescope

The history of the telescope is a rich story of human ingenuity and perseverance involving some of the most colorful figures in the scientific world. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Dr. Fred Watson, the Astronomer-in-Charge of the Anglo-Australian Observatory at Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Watson’s book, “Stargazer, the Life and Times of the Telescope,” reveals the science and technology behind the telescope and its impact in unveiling the mysteries of the universe, and concludes with a fictional epilogue in the year 2108. This epilogue looks back 48 years at the object, one kilometer in diameter, that had a 99.9% probability of impacting the earth in April 2060 and how it was diverted. Dr. Watson was in his office in New South Wales, Austrailia, when this interview was recorded and begins by explaining the importance of the epilogue.

www.aao.gov.au/local/www/fgw

Fred Watson recommends “The Transit of Venus,” by Peter Autin.

Originally Broadcast: July 19, 2005

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Sam Totten – “Genocide in Darfur”

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Genocide is the intent to exterminate in whole or in part a specific group of people often based on nationality, ethnicity, race or religion. For the past two years, in the Darfur region of the nation of Sudan, located in north central Africa and populated primarily by black Africans, the Sudanese government has been committing racial genocide. Reports are that as many as 400,000 black African civilians have been murdered by the Sudanese government together with Arab rebel groups in Darfur. Professor Sam Totten, a scholar in Genocide Studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, visited the Darfur area in the fall of 2004 and has been examining this present day massacre that most of the world has chosen to ignore. I spoke with Professor Totten from his home in Arkansas and asked him to explain the reasons behind the genocide.

www.savedarfur.org

Sam Totten recommends “Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda,” by Romeo Dallaire.

Originally Broadcast: June 7, 2005

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