From the book table: An Extraordinary History of Objects
Posted at 2:18 PM on December 6, 2012
by Maddy Mahon
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Books
Tis the season for holiday gifts - and plenty of hard-bound goods have been arriving on the Daily Circuit book table as we get into the wintery days.
My favorite new discovery from the table this week is Stephanie LaCava's new book, An Extraordinary Theory of Objects (just released this Wednesday), which is truly a lovely book in every sense.
LaCava, who began her career as a fashion writer at Vogue, certainly created a beautiful little package with her book.
The narrative follows LaCava's unhappy childhood in France and the solace she takes in strange and pretty objects. Does it sound like a brief concept? It is. And the book itself comes in at only 177 pages. But it's charm is in the power of these little objects to help LaCava overcome her family's move to a strange new country, and the bout of extreme adolescent depression that follows.
Surrounding herself with tiny stones, figurines and garden oddities, LaCava describes the kind of comfort many of us find in having something weighty to hold on to. As she writes "Collecting information and talismans is a way of exercising magical control," which when you're a teenager, means more than anything.
Between the connected essays recounting her childhood and later life, the pages are dominated with beautiful black and white drawings of the items LaCava collects and - arguably more interesting - the little objects that she remembers encountering during the darker times in her life: her father's moustache, an old cardigan, a Dodo diorama from the Natural History Museum in Paris. With each drawing, LaCava includes a footnote to give the object its importance, although it is not simply an explanation. While the narrative of her essays is matter-of-fact and straight forward, these footnotes allow her to veer off on funny, wandering tangents full of bizarre historical facts. As the footnote to a glass eye she saw at a flea market recounts - "Elaborate hollow glass eyes began in Germany's Black Forest in 1832 when Ludwig Müller-Uri's young son lost his eye in an accident. Luckily, Müller-Uri happened to be a talented glassblower known for making realistic doll eyes by twisting strands of colored melted sand."
Admittedly, the first 20 pages left me a little adrift, unsure if I trusted the narrator's complaints (wouldn't we all actually love a childhood in France?), and self-diagnosed quirks. But as a person who also compulsively collects little things as I go about my day (I may or may not currently have two rocks in my wallet), I was moved forward by a desire to find more of LaCava's objects on the coming pages, and the strange histories of the pieces that come to serve as a quirky lens into LaCava's family and vision of herself. LaCava's memoir truly opens up in a tender way by the end of the story.
We all naturally like to collect the pretty things that we interact with, but often we don't stop to think about the role our collection of little things can play in our idea of self - and our past. An item doesn't have to live behind glass to serve as history, and reading LaCava's little book will make you think back on the things that stuck out in your childhood, and consider why they mattered.
-- Maddy Mahon, assistant producer
The link between child prodigies and autism
Posted at 2:11 PM on December 3, 2012
by Stephanie Curtis
(16 Comments)
Why can some kids play a Beethoven sonata at age three or compete against adults in chess while still in the first grade? A 2012 study in the journal Intelligence found that it isn't only genius that makes one a prodigy:
While each of the prodigies demonstrated an at least moderately elevated level of intelligence, the prodigies' full scale IQ scores were not consistently on the extreme end of the spectrum.Whatwas consistently extraordinary, however,was the child prodigies' working memory scores--a category in which every prodigy tested in the 99th percentile. Additional results suggest a previously unknown connection between child prodigies and autism. The prodigies' family histories yielded an unlikely number of autistic relatives.
Kerri is talking to Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree, about child prodigies tomorrow morning.
If you have child with extraordinary gifts in your family, what is it like to nurture that talent? Does it sometimes feel like a burden?
And if you have a child with autism, does he or she display any unusual talents?
Watch Nico Muhly, one of the subjects of Solomon's book, talk about being a prodigy:
Best 2012 books for teens
Posted at 8:53 AM on December 3, 2012
by Stephanie Curtis
(57 Comments)
Year-end top books of 2012 lists are out. Here's the New York Times top young adult novels:
BITTERBLUE. By Kristin Cashore. (Dial, $19.99.) The companion to "Graceling" and "Fire," this beautiful, haunting and thrilling high fantasy about a young queen and her troubled kingdom stands on its own.CODE NAME VERITY. By Elizabeth Wein. (Hyperion, $16.99.) This tale of a spy and a fighter pilot during World War II is at heart a story about female friendship.
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. By John Green. (Dutton, $17.99.) An improbable but predictably wrenching love story about two teenage cancer patients, written in Green's signature tone, humorous yet heart-filled.
JEPP, WHO DEFIED THE STARS. By Katherine Marsh. (Hyperion, $16.99.) A dwarf at court in 16th-century Denmark is the surprising hero in this novel, which also features the real-life astronomer Tycho Brahe, an eccentric Danish nobleman.
NEVER FALL DOWN. By Patricia McCormick. (Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins, $17.99.) This novelized memoir tells the tragic but inspiring life story of Arn Chorn-Pond, a boy who was 9 years old when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia.
SON. By Lois Lowry. (Houghton Mifflin, $17.99.) In the conclusion to the dystopian "Giver" quartet, Lowry returns to the story of a mother searching for her lost son. "A quiet, sorrowful, deeply moving exploration of the powers of empathy and the obligations of love," our reviewer said.
What are your favorite novels for teens? What did you read and re-read as a kid?
We're talking about young adult books at 10:20.
-- Stephanie Curtis, social media host
A new movement to divest from fossil fuels
Posted at 8:59 AM on November 30, 2012
by Stephanie Curtis
(11 Comments)
Are you old enough to remember the movement to get colleges and universities to divest from South Africa? Bill McKibben's group, 350.org, launched a similar effort to get schools to dump their investments in fossil fuels companies.
200 publicly-traded companies hold the vast majority of the world's proven coal, oil and gas reserves. Those are the companies we're asking our institutions to divest from. Our demands to these companies are simple, because they reflect the stark truth of climate science:They need immediately to stop exploring for new hydrocarbons.
They need to stop lobbying in Washington and state capitols across the country to preserve their special breaks.
Most importantly, they need to pledge to keep 80% of their current reserves underground forever.
Would the fight against climate change benefit from a divestment movement?
Here's another artifact from anti-apartheid movement, Artists United Against Apartheid, featuring Bono, Joey Ramone, Ruben Blades, Run DMC, and Bob Dylan:
--Stephanie Curtis, social media host
The looming crisis in Iran
Posted at 6:36 AM on November 30, 2012
by Stephanie Curtis
(5 Comments)
Filed under: News & Trends
President Obama's top foreign policy intiatives for his second term include the continued combat mission in Afghanistan, the crisis in Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and economic development in Asia.
But the Christian Science Monitor says it is Iran that could take over all the State Department's attention and "lead to a new paroxysm of tensions and renewed speculation over the dire global consequences of another Middle East war."
There could be chance to negotiate since Iran's economy has been crippled by ongoing sanctions, according to CNN:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is weakened as a political force as his second and final term comes to an end, but it remains unclear if Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will seize the opportunity for a deal.
The Navy Times says "tweaks" to Obama's Iranian policy could come before inauguration:
Officials say the administration is likely to adjust its two-track approach to Iran -- which offers Tehran rewards for coming clean on its nuclear program and harsher penalties for continued defiance -- in the coming weeks. Details are still being debated. In the end, however, Obama may have to resort to a military strategy if Iran continues to enrich uranium at higher levels and nears production of weapons-grade material -- a possible scenario he acknowledges.
Meanwhile, the Senate has voted for new sanctions on Iran that Foreign Policy says "would impose crippling sanctions on the Iranian economy, with an eye toward preventing a catastrophic consequence for the world oil markets."
Iranian soldiers take part in celebrations marking the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution at Tehran's Azadi Square (Freedom Square) on February 11, 2012. ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)
Kerri will discuss the threat of war with Iran, drones, and the controversy over Susan Rice with her Friday Roundtable panelists.
Video: Can computers cure PTSD?
Posted at 9:01 AM on November 29, 2012
by Stephanie Curtis
(0 Comments)
Can exposing military veterans to a computer simulation of a battlefield stave off post-traumatic stress disorder? Watch this BBC demonstration of the system:
We'll take an in-depth look at using virtual reality to help vets adjust to the home front after war.
-Stephanie Curtis, social media host
2012's notable books
Posted at 2:03 PM on November 28, 2012
by Maddy Mahon
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Books
As we draw near the end of the year, the inevitable "best of" lists begin to arrive on every news site.
Yesterday, The New York Times released its annual 100 Notable Books list. Here on The Daily Circuit, we were excited to see that a number of amazing authors Kerri and Tom interviewed over the past year were represented.
Over the next two months we'll re-air some of our interviews with authors on the lists - and we'll speak with some of the authors we missed earlier in the year.
I was thrilled to see Manbooker Prize winner Hilary Mantel on the list for her latest novel, "Bring Up the Bodies," a wonderfully engaging look at Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. After finishing "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" I've spent the past weeks trying to get my hands on all of Mantel's books, which are shockingly different from one to the next. Most recently, I finished her memoir, "Giving Up the Ghost," which, although it was published in 2004, was absolutely one of the best books I've read all year. The story follows her from a bizarre impoverished childhood in small town England to a life abroad and a mysterious disease that plagues Mantel for decades - claiming both her marriage and her body. It's the only memoir I've read that spends the majority of its time on the author's elementary school years and Mantel's attention to detail is perfect.
I was disappointed that Gillian Flynn's fun page-turning thriller "Gone Girl" hadn't made the list, as well as Megan Mayhew Bergman's "Birds of a Lesser Paradise," a collection of stories about the often-tumultuous relationship between people and nature.
So - what do you think of this year's selections? Tell us what books you wish would have made it on the list. What gems did The New York Times look over this year? And what made the list but didn't deserve to?
When does an immigrant feel truly American?
Posted at 11:49 AM on November 28, 2012
by Stephanie Curtis
(31 Comments)
Filed under: News & Trends
Last year, 694,193 people became new Americans.
How has their experience been different than earlier immigrants?
Louis Mendoza, chairman of the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota, wrote in The New York Times that technology has changed the melting pot:
Leaving home is not what it once was. Staying connected to one's community of origin is easier. In the past, we expected assimilation of every immigrant, and this was reinforced by our social institutions, be it through teachers, religious leaders, or politicians. We now know that one can truly live bilingually, biculturally and transnationally.
Michael Jones-Correa, also in The New York Times, is more skeptical about a new-found acceptance of a bilingual world. Immigrants - even if they are full citizens - don't always feel embraced by natives.
If immigrants are grudgingly only tolerated as residents, they are very unlikely to feel they are full members of society. This may result in their pulling back from social and political engagement, or it could fuel the opposite reaction, with immigrants pressing their demands when threatened, as many did in the 2006 marches in the United States for immigrants' rights.
Tomorrow, we're going to talk about the 18 million Americans who were born in another country and became naturalized citizens.
We want to hear from both sides of the immigrant experience. If you're a naturalized citizen, do you feel fully American? And if you are a native, when do you consider someone fully American?
89.3 The Current DJ Mark Wheat becomes a naturalized American citizen (MPR / Nate Ryan)
--Stephanie Curtis,social media host
Op-Ed of the Day: A call for a scientific statesman
Posted at 9:43 AM on November 28, 2012
by Stephanie Curtis
(3 Comments)
How old do you think the Earth is?
It's a simple question that GQ asked Senator Marco Rubio, who is often mentioned as a contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Rubio gave the magazine a convoluted and controversial answer.
I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.
Critics have called the remarks cowardly, doctrinaire, confused and error-riddled. Other have said he sounds like Obama.
Rather than bash Rubio for his hedging, Nicolas Wade in the New York Times lays part of the blame for his evasiveness at the feet of the those who believe in evolution. Wade calls for "a scientific statesman." Since, "like those electrons that can be waves or particles, evolution is both a theory and a fact," why not admit that and discuss it as such?
Evolutionary biologists are furiously debating whether or not natural selection can operate on groups of individuals, as Darwin thought was likely but most modern evolutionists doubt. So which version of evolution is the true one?
By allowing that evolution is a theory, scientists would hand fundamentalists the fig leaf they need to insist, at least among themselves, that the majestic words of the first chapter of Genesis are literal, not metaphorical, truths. They in return should make no objection to the teaching of evolution in science classes as a theory, which indeed it is.
Nicolas Wade will join us tomorrow to talk about how scientists could be better ambassadors to the evangelical community.
--Stephanie Curtis, social media host
Poll: Should Minnesota legalize marijuana use?
Posted at 9:15 AM on November 28, 2012
by Stephanie Curtis
(48 Comments)
Filed under: Politics & Government
We're talking about legalizing pot at 10:20. Kerri would like to hear from people who use marijuana: What are the benefits and dangers?
--Stephanie Curtis, social media host
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Friday In Depth: December 21, 2012
-
9:06 a.m.
Friday Roundtable: Newtown school shooting -
10:06 a.m.
NRA: Every school needs an armed police officer -
11:25 a.m.
Holiday music for those weary of holiday music
The Team
Kerri Miller, Host
Kerri Miller joined MPR News in June 2004 as host of MPR's News' Midmorning and Talking Volumes. Before that she was an award-winning television reporter for KARE 11. She has been a radio and television news reporter since 1981.
Tom Weber
Tom Weber has reported on K12 education and served as a general assignment reporter since joining MPR News in 2008. He was a news anchor and reporter for KWMU in St. Louis for more than five years. His reporting has aired on national radio programs, including "Morning Edition" and "Marketplace."
Stephanie Curtis, Social media host
Stephanie Curtis has produced events, daily news shows, documentaries, conferences and call-ins for MPR News. She also was among the pioneering producers who launched The Current. You can hear her discuss movies every Thursday on The Cube Critics.
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