11:00 am - Noon  Monday - Friday Up to Date is KCUR's award-winning one-hour daily public affairs / talk show featuring newsmakers of the Kansas City community.  Host  Steve Kraske, a political correspondent for The Kansas City Star brings pressing issues, both local and national, to the table including politics, economics, planning and design, history, and entertainment - topics that have an impact on the lives of the Greater Kansas City region. Up to Date's creative team includes senior producer Stephen Steigman, associate producer Danie Alexander, and intern Alexia Lang. Please Note: if you want to contribute to the program during the 11 a.m. to Noon hour, please read the "Become a Part of the Conversation" section below.  Email sent to the above address during the show will not be read.) NEW! Download the FREE Up to Date theme ringtone here. Click on a day to see the full program description, guests, and more. Monday: The Healing Power of Food Better Access to Treatment for Veterans with PTSD Tuesday: Kansas and Missouri Primary Races Wednesday: Johnson County Commission Chair candidate debate Thursday: The "TechSperts" talk Natural User Interfaces Weekend To-Do List Friday: Best Pop/Rock/Indie Music of 2010 - So Far Did you Miss a Broadcast?    Up to Date is Podcasting.  You can also find older shows in our audio archive. Looking for programs from last week - or even two, three, or four weeks ago?  You can find information about guests, their writings, and links to additional resources mentioned during the broadcast on the the Previously on Up to Date section of our website. Tweet tweet!  Go inside the minds of Up to Date's producers and host on Twitter!  You'll find us at www.twitter.com/KCURUptoDate Become a Part of the Conversation: You can become part of the conversation during the show by calling in at 816 235 2888, email us during the program at uptodate@kcur.org, or on occasion by joining the online conversation.  Interested in knowing what constitutes a "good call"?  Check out former NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin's column on "How to Get on Talk of the Nation" - we use similar guidelines for Up to Date.  You can also check out our Tips for Callers.

This Week on Up to Date

Monday July 26, 2010  Listen  Podcast When tragedy strikes, it can destroy lives and relationships. In some cases, it brings those involved closer together. But, in most situations, it does a combination of the two. Journalists and food lovers Paula Butturini and John Tagliabue met in Italy, fell in love and, four years later, married in Rome.  But soon after the wedding, while reporting for the New York Times on the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, John was struck and nearly killed by sniper fire. He would recover from his injuries in less than a year, but the psychological consequences of the incident would linger long after his physical wounds had healed. As John began his plummet into a deep, enduring depression, it brought an abrupt end to the life Paula and John had known together, and the beginning of a new phase of life neither had planned for. Today, Steve Kraske talks with Paula Butturini about her new book, Keeping the Feast: One Couple's Story of Love, Food and Healing in Italy. They discuss the story of the staggering events that plunged the author's brand-new marriage into crisis, and the unexpected fortitude they derived from the simple daily rituals of food and fellowship. Paula Butturini is in Kansas City today for an event hosted by Rainy Day Books. She speaks this evening at 6:30 at Jasper's Ristorante. Dinner and a copy of Keeping the Feast are included. To inquire about tickets and to RSVP, call Rainy Day Books in Fairway at 913 384 3126. Additional Information: To listen to NPR's interview with Paula Butturini featured on Morning Edition, click here. For more information about Paula Butturini and Keeping the Feast, click here. Paula Butturini was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, grew up along Long Island Sound, got her B.A. from Wellesley College and has spent most of her adult life in Europe, working and freelancing for numerous U.S. newspapers and the old United Press International in London, Madrid, Rome, Warsaw and Paris. Her first book, Keeping the Feast, was published by Riverhead/Penguin on Feb. 18, 2010. When describing herself, Butturini says: "I grew up in the Fifties, in an Italian-American home, back when Italian restaurants seemed to serve the same, heavy, oregano-laden red sauce with every dish on the menu. My father, whose family came from Northern Italy - the home of polenta, risotto, and various brown sauces - couldn't get the red stuff down, so we rarely ate Italian food out, unless it was cooked by one of my mother's countless relatives. Our lives didn't revolve solely around food, but preparing vegetables from my grandparents' gardens, making wine from my grandfather's Concord grapes, talking about food, making homemade pasta, reading about food, thinking about food, preparing meals, and eating together as a family day after day, meal after meal, burned a lot of my family's energy decades before anybody had invented the word 'foodie.' "Cooking, for me, was never about fancy ingredients or rich, complicated recipes; it was never a race or contest, never about making impressions or scoring points. Food was always elemental, about hunger and nourishment, love and support. Sharing food remains one of the most fundamental and primordial rituals of the human community, and though our family never talked about it as such, those shared meals, full of talk and laughter, bound us together as a family, gave us strength. We always ate together, around a family table. We still do." Also today, a look at a new rule adopted by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs that should make it easier for veterans to receive benefits and medical care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The new rule will require less evidence from a non-combat veteran that the trauma they experienced was related to hostile military activity. The claim can now be accepted based on fear of military or terrorist activity, if the veteran was deployed in a war zone. Steve Kraske talks with Dr. Doug Ambrose, medical director of Impatient Psychiatry at the Kansas City VA Medical Center, and Dr. Thomas Demark, Staff Psychiatrist at the Kansas City VA Medical Center. They will examine what PTSD is, the change in criteria for receiving benefits and where veterans can go for help. Additional Information: The VA's toll free benefits number is 1-800-827-1000. The national Suicide Prevention hotline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). For general information about veteran benefits, contact the Kansas City VA Medical Center at 816-861-4700. To hear an NPR story featured on Morning Edition about the change in the rules that allow for veterans to have easier access to benefits, click here. To hear an NPR story featured on All Things Considered that examines a veteran's journey to coming to terms with PTSD and his thoughts about the stigma attached to PTSD, click here.   Tuesday July 27, 2010  Listen  Podcast Kansas and Missouri residents face a number of ballot issues and primary races next Tuesday, August 3.  Some of the races have received prominent coverage: other competitions and ballot questions might stump voters in the polling booth. Today, Steve Kraske talks with fellow political experts about some of the top races in Kansas and Missouri, including the battle between Republican U.S. Representatives Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt for their party's nomination for U.S. Senator from Kansas, the Sunflower State's 3rd Congressional district Republican primary, the open seats for Jackson County (MO) Legislature, and the Republicans vying to compete against longtime Democratic U.S. Representative Ike Skelton in Missouri's 4th Congressional district. Additional Information:  For information about all Midwest races, click here. Kansas 3rd Congressional District: Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore is retiring. The Republican race for Moore's soon-to-be vacated 3rd District seat offers nine candidates, while only two Democrats are in the running. Republicans vying for the position in the primaries include: Kevin Yoder, Craig McPherson, Dan Gilyeat, Dave King, Garry R. Klotz, Patricia Lightner, Jerry M. Malone, John Rysavy and Jean Ann Uvodich. Democrats running include Stephene Moore and Thomas Scherer. Kansas Senate Race: Republican U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback is stepping away to pursue the governor's office, leaving his high-profile office wide open. The three candidates vying for the Republican nomination including Jerry Moran, a seven-term congressman from western Kansas, Congressman Todd Tiahrt and Tom Little. Moran and Tiahrt are leading the race. In the Democratic primary, voters can choose from Charles Schollenberge, political activist and former journalist and Congressional staffer; Lisa Johnston, who has had a career in teaching and then administration at area universities; Robert A. Conroy of Shawnee, who has not mounted a campaign; Kansas Senator David Haley, of Wyandotte County; and Patrick Wiesner of Lawrence, a lawyer, certified public accountant and major in the U.S. Army Reserve. Missouri's 4th Congressional District: At 78, Democrat Ike Skelton is seeking an 18th term in Congress in Missouri's 4th Congressional District. But he has 12 contenders hoping to take his seat. Democrats: Leonard Steinman and Congressman Ike Skelton. Republicans: James Scholz, Arthur Madden, Vicky Hartzler, Roy Viessman, Brian Riley, Missouri Senator Bill Stouffer, Brian Clark, Eric James McElroy and Jeff Parnell. Libertarian: Jason Michael Braun and Thomas Holbrook. Jackson County Legislature Primaries: Jackson County Legislature 1st District At Large Democratic Primary candidates: Theresa Garza Ruiz and Ray Salva. Jackson County Legislature 1st District Democratic Primary candidates: Scott Burnett. Jackson County Legislature 2nd District At Large Democratic Primary candidates: Patricia Flucas, Henry Rizzo and Crystal Williams. Jackson County Legislature 2nd District Democratic Primary candidates: James Tindall. Jackson County Legislature 3rd District At Large Democratic Primary candidates: Fred Arbanas and Terry Riley. Jackson County Legislature 3rd District Democratic Primary candidates: Curt Dougherty and Dennis Waits. Jackson County Legislature 4th District Democratic Primary candidates: Dan Tarwater. Jackson County Legislature 5th District Republican Primary candidates: Patricia Bottcher, Gregory Grounds and Jay Still. Jackson County Legislature 6th District Democratic Primary candidates: Syed Asif and Greg Walters. Jackson County Legislature 6th District Republican Primary candidates: Joseph Spallo and Bob Spence. Wednesday July 28, 2010  Listen  Podcast Four candidates are running for the Johnson County Commission Chair position. Candidates include incumbent Chair Annabeth Surbaugh, current 4th District Commissioner Ed Eilert, former 2nd District Commissioner John Segale and former 6th District Commissioner John Toplikar. Only two will advance past the primaries on Aug. 3, vying for the seat in the November general election. Today, Steve Kraske moderates a candidate debate with the primaries less than a week away. Additional Information: For more information about Johnson County elections and candidates, click here. On Jan. 13, 2003, Annabeth Surbaugh was inducted as the first popularly elected Chairman of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, a new office created under the auspices of the Home Rule Charter for Johnson County Government. Born to middle-class parents in St. Louis, Surbaugh attended the University of Missouri-Columbia where she earned her bachelor's degree in retailing. After college, she joined The Jones Store, Co., where she worked as a management trainee in Ladies Ready-To-Wear. She left the Jones Store to join Harzfelds and, later, Macy's Department Store as a buyer for Ladies Better Ready-To-Wear. Surbaugh has been a resident on Overland Park since 1968. She formerly owned and operated an interior design firm, Yours, And Then Some, and sits on numerous local and regional governing and advisory boards, particularly those with a focus on human services, in addition to her service as an elected official. In 1995, serving in her first year as the rotating Chairman prior to the adoption of the Home Rule Charter, Surbaugh led a landmark initiative to establish the Citizens' Visioning Committee, a 25-member advisory panel that worked over the course of two years to develop a 20-year projected future vision for the Johnson County community and the role that County Government would play in that vision.  Ed Eilert was the Mayor of Overland Park from 1981 through 2005. He was named by the Johnson County Community College Foundation as the Johnson Countian of the year in 2005. As mayor, he was instrumental in bringing Sprint's corporate headquarters to Overland Park and he also was behind the construction of the Fire Training Center, which is used by many other city and county fire departments in the metropolitan area. Eilert also helped bring the KU Edwards Campus to Overland Park and worked with JCCC to create a training program for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway employees on the college campus. Eilert's other civil affiliations include his service to the Kansas and Missouri Metropolitan Cultural District [Bi-State Commission], board membership with Services for Seniors and Advocates for Citizens with Retardation, his efforts as a member of the council of advisors for the Emporia State University school of business, and membership on the advisory council for United Community Services and Temporary Lodging for Children. Eilert is also a charter member of the South Overland Park Rotary Club [of which he is a Paul Harris fellow], the Overland Park Historical Society, the Overland Park Arboretum and Friends of Johnson County Developmental Supports. John Segale has served in public office in two capacities, as a three-term Shawnee City Council member and as a one-term 2nd District county commissioner. He graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School and received a bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas. He is a senior manager with Cerner Corp. and has served with several community groups and organizations as well as several political committees and boards. Segale is the co-founder of the Kansas City Rowing Club. He has also server on the Old Shawnee Days Committee and Shawnee City Council. He was a member of the Shawnee Rotary Club from 1997-2009. John Toplikar is a lifelong Olathe resident, married to Dianne Toplikar. They have a son, John Paul. John has served on the Johnson County Commission since 2003. He served in Kansas House of Representatives for the 15th District from 1993-2003. He was an Olathe City Councilman from 1989-1991. Thursday July 29, 2010 A whole field of technological research has developed around the idea of "natural user interfaces," which try to let people communicate with machines in the same ways they would interact with other people and with the real world. This has led to the development of technology that allows people to control the system with body gestures and by talking instead of clicking buttons or messing with joysticks. In this new world, there are options aplenty. Instead of sliding a mouse across your desk, you could just point at whatever you'd like to select. Instead of pecking away at a keyboard, you could just say what you're thinking. And instead of glaring at a big screen all day, why not just project that information on the surface of your contact lenses? It's not science fiction. It's the future of technology. Today, Steve Kraske talks with our "Techsperts", Dustin Jacobsen and Justin Parlette, about natural user interfaces, the new iPhone4 and other developments in technology. Additional Information: Dustin Jacobsen, vice president of Social Media and Technology at Barkley, leads the agency on interactive, mobile, social and emerging technology projects. He works with a variety of clients including Sonic Drive-In, Build-A-Bear Workshop, 24 Hour Fitness and Blue Bunny Ice Cream. Barkley is one of the top-ten independent advertising agencies in the US. Before Barkley, Jacobsen worked at several start-up technology and marketing companies, leading cross-functional business, software engineering and marketing teams. Jacobsen holds a BS from Iowa State University and an MBA, magna cum laude, from Baker University. He blogs about all things marketing and technology at http://shakegently.com and is on Twitter at @dustinj. Justin Parlette, support systems administrator at University of Missouri - Kansas City, is an Apple Certified Technician who helps increase the efficiency of the various operating systems/platforms found on the UMKC campus, along with providing support and advice to end users - with an emphasis on Apple technology. Prior to working with UMKC, Parlette was a senior technician with Apple in the Kansas City area. He also provides at-home Apple support and configuration through jpar Consulting. Parlette is a founding partner of Happy Underground Productions, set to release DEAD WAIT this summer, which Parlette  wrote, produced, and directed along with his production partner, Eric Havans. He's blogged about the production and will release episodes at www.dead-wait.com. Parlette is also set to launch a film and photography blog at www.jparsawit.com this summer, and can be found unabashedly microblogging on Twitter at @jpar0. Looking for something fun and unique to do this weekend? Later on today's program Brian McTavish, of KC Confidential, offers five fun and unique things to do in Kansas City this weekend. It's what we call Up to Date's Weekend To-Do List. Additional Information: Brian McTavish follows popular culture in the belief that the search for significance can lead anywhere.  Brian explains, "I've written articles and reviews..., reviewed hundreds of concerts, films and plays. And the thing is, these high arts all sprang from the pop culture of their day.  Don't forget, Shakespeare was once Spielberg." Brian is a contributor to the online magazine KC Confidential. Friday July 30, 2010 Looking for some new tunes to accompany you on your summer break?  Look no further.... Up to Date to the rescue! Today, Kansas City Star music critic Tim Finn, KCUR morning announcer, music coordinator and The Mailbox host Michael Byars and Laura Lorson, commentator for All Things Considered and producer for Kansas Public Radio, join Steve Kraske with their favorite albums of 2010 - so far. Cynthia Haines' and Steve Walker's Three to See Favorite Art, Independent and Foreign Films of the Week:     Cynthia: The Girl Who Played With Fire            Winter's Bone Micmacs                   Steve: Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work I Am Love Winter's Bone Looking for older programs?  Check the Previously on Up to Date section of our website.

Up to Date's Art, Independent & Foreign Film List

Films Reviewed on July 16, 2010 with critics Cynthia Haines & Steve Walker Films Showing on Area Screens DVDs / Pay-Per-View  Opening Today: Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky Cyrus Best Worst Movie Currently Showing: Behind the Burly Q I Am Love Micmacs Winter's Bone Secrets in Their Eyes Coming Soon: Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work The Kids Are Alright The Girl Who Played With Fire Return to El Salvador Metropolis DVD: Disgrace Storm Troubled Water Gentleman Broncos Answer Man Lion's Den Afghan Star The Damned United Brothers Red Cliff Up in the Air Precious Broken Embrases An Education A Single Man Girl With Dragon Tattoo Me and Orson Welles North Face Messenger Area Art/Independent/Foreign Film Video Outlets: SRO Video (Gregory & Oak, KCMO) Hollywood at Home Magazines & Movies (9063 Metcalf, OPKS) Liberty Hall (Mass. Downtown Lawrence) Video Mania (208 Westport Road, KCMO) ...and Area Libraries. Online Video Retailers: Kino.com Criterionco.com facets.org Area Art/Independent/Foreign Cinema Theaters: Glenwood Fine Arts, Rio Theatre in Overland Park, KS Tivoli Cinemas in Manor Square in Westport Screenland Crossroads Theatre in Kansas City's Crossroads District Screenland Crown Center Liberty Hall (Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence, KS)

Up to Date's DVD Gurus

Up to Date's DVD Gurus are feeling athletic this month. Well, at least they are in the mood for sports-themed movies. DVD Gurus Jason Heck and Mitch Brian have some favorite sports flicks they think we should all watch or re-watch this summer. Their picks are sure to keep you relaxed, entertained and away from the scorching summer heat. Jason's Picks: Kingpin Downhill Racer Slap Shot  Leatherheads Mitch's Picks: Caddyshack Rocky Tyson