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Playlist: Peabody Award Winners

Compiled By: PRX Editors

 Credit: <a href="http://www.peabody.uga.edu/">Peabody Awards</a>
Image by: Peabody Awards 
Curated Playlist

The annual Peabody Awards honor "the most outstanding achievements in electronic media, including radio, television and cable."

The Great Textbook War

From Trey Kay | 58:59

In 1974, Kanawha County was the first battleground in the American culture wars. Controversy erupted over newly-adopted school textbooks. School buildings were hit by dynamite and Molotov cocktails, buses were riddled with bullets and surrounding coal mines were shut down by protesting miners. Textbook supporters thought they would introduce students to new ideas about multiculturalism. Opponents felt the books undermined traditional American values. The controversy extended well beyond the Kanawha Valley. The newly-formed Heritage Foundation found a cause to rally an emerging Christian conservative movement. This documentary tells the story of that local confrontation and the effect that it had on the future of American politics.

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In 1974, Kanawha County was the first battleground in the American culture wars. Controversy erupted over newly-adopted school textbooks. School buildings were hit by dynamite and Molotov cocktails, buses were riddled with bullets and surrounding coal mines were shut down by protesting miners. Textbook supporters thought they would introduce students to new ideas about multiculturalism. Opponents felt the books undermined traditional American values. The controversy extended well beyond the Kanawha Valley. The newly-formed Heritage Foundation found a cause to rally an emerging Christian conservative movement. This documentary tells the story of that local confrontation and the effect that it had on the future of American politics.

 

The Documentary                                                                                                                        More than 40 interviews and archival sound of school board meetings, public debates and news reports bring the story of the Kanawha County textbook wars to life. School board member Alice Moore, who led the opposition to the books, describes what she found objectionable, and more broadly, how she felt traditional family values were under attack. Superintendent Kenneth Underwood recalls that a reasonable conclusion felt impossible after the debate was hijacked by a mob of angry fundamentalist Christians. Reverend Henry Thaxton remembers feeling dismissed and disregarded by an arrogant governing class. English teacher Mildred Holt was excited to teach the works of African American writers, but when the KKK began to protest the books, she felt sure the protest was racially based. Their memories describe the charged political environment of 1974, and show how messy and destructive cultural confrontations can be, particularly in a narrow river valley where there is not much room for retreat.

Host Trey Kay was a 7th grader during the textbook protests. He rode the bus into junior high past a crowd of mothers holding picket signs. Telling the story as both the chronicler and a witness, the documentary has the personal tone of a first-person account. Combined with   exclusive interviews and archival sound of national news coverage, the documentary guides the listener through the tumultuous protests that tore this community apart while setting a new course for conservative religious politics.

 

 

Praise for Documentary

Trey Kay has produced a riveting, surprising and scrupulously fair-minded documentary about a little-known but extremely important early battle in what we now call "the culture wars." I can't imagine a better, faster way to acquire a solid, visceral understanding of the roots and long-simmering ferocity of today's angry populist right than listening to The Great Textbook War.

-Kurt Andersen, host of PRI’s Studio 360

 

Although I've written repeatedly about the famous 1974 Kanawha County fundamentalist uprising against "godless" textbooks, Trey Kay's public radio documentary nonetheless opened my ears to details and incidents I didn't know. Now I understand the mentality of the protesters better. It's a superb program and a valuable addition to West Virginia history.

-Jim Haught, editor of the Charleston Gazette, West Virginia’s largest newspaper

 

This program highlights a moment in history when our society had to face some very difficult decisions.  It’s an evocative hour of radio told from a unique perspective that brings you close to this story in an unexpected way.  I was riveted. 

- Abby Goldstein, Program Director, New Hampshire Public Radio

 

I really liked this program!  It was well produced, very interesting, had great tape from the time, a good flow and timely with the link to today’s Tea Party activism.  It hooked me in quickly and told a good story.

- Jacqueline Cincotta, Assistant Program Director, WNYC, New York City

 

 

The Radio Broadcast

The Great Textbook War premiered on West Virginia Public Radio in October 2009 and has had two encore broadcasts.  In addition, New York public radio WNYC will air the documentary this spring, PRI’s Studio 360 has requested a follow-up segment for their program and APM’s American RadioWorks for inclusion in their fall 2010 season.  

Sample Scenes

The Spark                                                                                                                                 

The textbook selection committee introduces a series of new language arts books at the Kanawha County board of education meeting on April 11, 1974. School board member Alice Moore, who has been concerned that liberal teaching methods are watering down the education system, objects to the introduction of the teaching of non-standard English. In particular, she speaks against the teaching of “dialectology,” a method that the book selection committee hoped would diminish the elitism of English classes and encourage an appreciation of language. Alice feared that incorrect grammar would affirm the practice of “ghetto English.” Since the board faced a deadline to adopt the books or lose state funding, Alice moves to accept the books and later delete materials that the board considered unsuitable. 

After the motion passed, Alice’s husband (who had been reviewing the books during the meeting) presents her with a book and says “Look at what you’ve adopted.” She reads a quote from The Autobiography of Malcolm X: “All praise is due to Allah that I moved to Boston when I did. If I hadn't, I'd probably still be a brainwashed black Christian.” Alice, a life-long Christian, finds this passage highly offensive. She notifies the superintendent that she wants all of the books sent to her home so she can begin a personal review of other material.  After her initial review, she objected to passages by Sigmund Freud, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Eldridge Cleaver and others as inappropriate material for children’s textbooks.

The Violence                                                                                                                              After the school board’s adoption of the books, many local fundamentalist preachers organize a protest campaign. Reverend Marvin Horan calls on parents to boycott the school system until the books were removed.  He opens an “Anti-Textbook Headquarters” in the coal mining community where he lives.  At this office, he and his followers develop a plan to get the books out of the schools. One strategy is to have concerned mothers set up picket lines in front of schools. Since many parents adhered to the coal miner union tradition of never crossing a picket line, families are reluctant to send their children into schools.  Many schools  operate at half (and less than half) capacity. 

Coal miner Butch Wills goes to the protest office every night after supper.  “It was a good place to loaf.  I mean, it was what was going on up here.  There was all the national news media ABC, NBC, CBS.” He says that in those meetings Rev. Horan always said, “Whatever we do, no violence.” 

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Rich says that in that office, Horan and some of his followers planned and executed dynamite bombings of two schools to discourage parents from bringing their children to school. The bombs exploded when schools were empty and no one was injured. Rich says he grew concerned that things could escalate when he heard of a plot to wire blasting caps into the gas tanks of cars of parents driving their kids to school. He moved to arrest and indict those involved. Rev. Marvin Horan was ultimately convicted of conspiring violence and sentenced to federal prison.

The Production Team                                                                                                  

Trey Kay (host, producer and reporter) has produced segments for This American LifeMarketplaceWeekend AmericaDay to DayMorning Edition and Studio 360. In 2005, he shared in a Peabody Award for 360’s “American Icons: Moby Dick” show. He was also an associate producer for “News Wars: Secrets, Sources and Spin,” a two-hour report for PBS Frontline. He is a native of Charleston, where he was a junior high school student in 1974. 

Deborah George (editor) has been an NPR editor for over fifteen years. Deb’s work has received numerous awards, including the DuPont-Columbia Gold and Silver Batons, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Casey Award for reporting on children.

Mind the Gap: Why Good Schools are Failing Black Students (54:00 and 59:00)

From Nancy Solomon | 59:01

Nationwide, suburban schools are doing a good job educating white students, but those schools are not getting the same results with black and Latino students. This documentary tells the story of a suburban high school with lots of resources and a diverse student body that is struggling to close the minority achievement gap.

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Award-winning NPR Reporter Nancy Solomon
takes you inside a school to hear a discussion on race in the classroom.  Listen as students try to explain what went wrong with their education. Join her at the kitchen table with black middle-class parents who thought that a move to the suburbs would ensure school success. Find out how the school's best teachers motivate their students. Be a fly on the wall in the busy dean's office where where kids with discipline problems land.

Two versions are available. The 54-minute version has a music-filled news hole and one-minute music breaks at :19 and :39 for station cutaways. The 59-minute version has additional content to cover the news hole (not music), and the same station breaks at :19 and 39.  The promos have 6-sec music tails for station tag.

A digital media package is available free to all stations that includes a call to action, audio slideshows and links for more information. To preview or to link to: www.nancycsolomon.com

Funded by the Spencer Fellowship in Education Reporting and free to all stations.

Trafficked (Series)

Produced by Youth Radio

The Peabody Award winning investigation into child prostitution in Oakland, CA.

Most recent piece in this series:

Youth Radio Investigates: Trafficked Part II

From Youth Radio | Part of the Trafficked series | 07:15

Traff_prx_square_small In the second half of our series Trafficked, we’ll hear how city police and community groups are fighting to save kids from the streets. According to the Oakland Attorney’s office, a mid-level pimp trafficking just four girls can make more than 500 thousand dollars a year marketing those girls on the street and online. Police say there are criminal networks that are moving into sexual exploitation of minors. The money is as good as selling drugs and safer. That’s because few are prosecuted and prison sentences are relatively short. Youth Radio’s Denise Tejada and Brett Myers have the story. 

HV013- Crossing Borders

From Hearing Voices | Part of the Hearing Voices series | 54:00

A Tale of Two Countries: In "Sasabe," a Sonora, Mexico border town, Scott Carrier talks to immigrants on their hazardous, illegal desert crossing, and to the border patrol waiting for them in Sasabe, Arizona. Luis Alberto Urrea reads from "The Devil"s Highway," his book about death in the desert. Guillermo Gomez-Pena imagines "Maquiladoras of the Future," fantasy border factories. "And I walked..." by Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler, is a sound-portrait of Mexicans who risk their lives to find better-paying jobs in the United States.

http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/details.php?id=1452

Cinco150_small This is an episode in the series Hearing Voices from NPR now being offered as a standalone special.

Host: Marcos Martinez (fmr) of KUNM-Alberquerque

Summary: A Tale of Two Countries: In "Sasabe," a Sonora, Mexico border town, Scott Carrier talks to immigrants on their hazardous, illegal desert crossing, and to the border patrol waiting for them in Sasabe, Arizona. Luis Alberto Urrea reads from "The Devil"s Highway," his book about death in the desert. Guillermo Gomez-Pena imagines "Maquiladoras of the Future," fantasy border factories. "And I walked...", by Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler, is a sound-portrait of Mexicans who risk their lives to find better-paying jobs in the United States.

Listener info and links:
HearingVoices.com/news/2008/05/hv013-crossing-borders/

0:15 On-Air Promo Text: This week on Hearing Voices: "Crossing Borders," a tale of two countries. Stories of coming from Mexico to the U.S., hosted by Marcos Martinez of KUMN-Alberquerque. That's Hearing Voices: "Crossing Borders," AIRTIME on STATION.


Mei Mei, A Daughter's Song

From Dmae Lo Roberts | 26:35

Winner of the Peabody award, MEI MEI, A DAUGHTER'S SONG is the personal story of cross-cultural and cross-generational conflict produced by Dmae Roberts.

Meicover1_small "Mei Mei" is a 25 minute documentary that chronicles Dmae and her mother, Chu-Yin, as they travel to Taiwan together. Mei Mei is Chinese for "little sister" -- a term of endearment for any younger girl. First produced in 1989, Mei Mei was highly personal and groundbreaking for its time--interweaving interviews and dramatizations to tell the story of a conflicted daughter and her mother who suffered abuse, starvation and the horrors of World War Two. MEI MEI has been broadcast on NPR, the BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Crossing East - Asian American History series (Series)

Produced by Dmae Lo Roberts

Peabody award-winning series of eight news-friendly one-hour documentaries on the many waves of Asian immigration. Hosted by George Takei and Margaret Cho.

Most recent piece in this series:

Crossing East: Relations

From Dmae Lo Roberts | Part of the Crossing East - Asian American History series series | 58:28

Ellenchoy-lockdown-brooke_anderson_photography_small Crossing East: Relations focuses on historic and contemporary relationships and conflicts between Asian Americans and African Americans leading up to Asians4BlackLives support for Black Lives Matter. The documentary examines  stereotypes fostered by the myth of the “model minority” as a way to suggest one racial group is more successful and should be modeled by other racial groups. This stereotype has been used as racial wedge between communities of color.  As part of a 10th anniversary celebration of the Peabody-winning radio series Crossing East, which aired on 230 public radio stations around the country we’ve been producing this documentary as well gathering more than 100 hours of oral history recordings for the Crossing East Archive.


Interviews recorded by Crossing East producer Robynn Takayama in the Bay Area include:

Interviews recorded by Crossing East Executive producer Dmae Roberts and Alan Montecillo in Portland in collaboration with APANO’s Kara Carmosino. These include:

The Wire (Series)

Produced by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The impact of electricity on music.

Most recent piece in this series:

The Wire Episode 8: The Digital Democracy of Sound

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:55

Thewire8_small Digital technology has changed how we find, how we make and how we listen to music. Sometimes it's easier to get a hold of your favourite track than it is to get a good cup of coffee. Sounds are sampled, mmixed, and shared on a scale that eclipses our wildest dreams from even a decade ago. This has created wonderful and terrible consequences, opening the door to pirates but also to a new world of music - the fourth world, where anything is possible.

The Moth Radio Hour (Series)

Produced by The Moth

The Moth Radio Hour won a 2010 Peabody.

The Moth Radio Hour is a weekly series featuring true stories told live on stage without scripts, notes, props, or accompaniment.

Most recent piece in this series:

2011: Heroes, Icons & Superstars, 3/19/2024

From The Moth | Part of the The Moth Radio Hour series | 53:59

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Valerie Walker has a chance encounter with a life long idol.

Songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman makes music with a country music icon.

Danny Artese gets not only a signature but a mentor when he attends a book signing.

Elyse McInerney learns her hero may be a lot closer to her than she realized.

Bassist Christian McBride gets a chance to play with a Jazz legend.