Up to Date

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, entertainment and social points of view - topics that have an impact on the lives of the Greater Kansas City region. Up to Date is produced by Stephen Steigman.  Contact Stephen NEW! Download the FREE Up to Date theme ringtone here. Click on a day to see the full program description, guests, and more. Monday: Hurricane Gustav Coverage from NPR's Day to Day Tuesday: Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do Wednesday: Voices from the Republican National Convention Thursday: Restaurant Health Inspections Friday: T. Boone Pickens on America's Energy Future Summer Harvest: What to Do With All of Those Veggies 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. Become a Part of the Conversation: You can become part of the conversation during the show by calling in at 816 235 2888 or by joining the online conversation.  Look for the "Join the Discussion" link on the right hand side of this page.  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. Up to Date is seeking interns for the Fall semester.  Click here for more information.

This Week on Up to Date

Monday September 1, 2008 Up to Date ceases from labor on Labor Day. Join us today at 11 a.m. for a special program celebrating the holiday in our place. Tuesday September 2, 2008 Download Listen Send To A Friend To download this audio file, right click and select 'Save Target As...' We all deal with it on a daily basis . . . traffic.  As drivers how many of us wish for more and better roads and for others to drive as well as we do? Tom Vanderbilt takes an in-depth look at the situation in Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us).  Today he joins Steve Kraske to reveal what he discovered on the road to learning the myths and facts surrounding how we conduct ourselves on the highways and byways. Can road rage be good for society?  Is the other lane actually moving faster and, most important, do we drive as well as we think we do?  Vanderbilt offers  surprising insights into how we define ourselves by what and how we drive and reveals what our driving says about how we interact with one another. Additional Information: You can read more about Tom Vanderbilt's book Traffic on his blog How We Drive Tom Vanderbilt writes on design, technology, science, and culture, among other subjects, for many publications, including Wired, Slate, The London Review of Books, Gourmet, The Wall Street Journal, Men’s Vogue, Artforum, The Wilson Quarterly, Travel and Leisure, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, Cabinet, Metropolis, and Popular Science.  He is contributing editor to the design magazines I.D. and Print, and contributing writer of the popular blog Design Observer. His most recent book is Traffic:  Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us),published by Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S., Penguin in the U.K. and territories, and a number of other publishers in other countries. He is also the author of two previous books: Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002), an offbeat architectural travelogue of the nation’s secret Cold War past; and The Sneaker Book (The New Press, 1998), a cultural history of the athletic shoe (republished in Italian and Swedish editions). His early writings for The Baffler have been collected in two anthologies, Commodify Your Dissent and Boob Jubilee (W.W. Norton, eds. Thomas Frank and Matthew Weiland), and he has also contributed essays to a number of books, including New York Stories: The Best of the City Section of the New York Times (New York University Press); Supercade: The Visual History of the Video Game Age (The MIT Press), Else/Where: Mapping (The University of Minnesota Press, 2006), Quonset Hut: Metal Living for a Modern Age (Princeton Architectural Press, 2005), and The World and the Wild (The University of Arizona Press). He has given lectures at colleges and business conferences, and has appeared on a wide variety of radio and television programs around the world, ranging from NPR’s Morning Edition to The Studs Terkel ShowBusiness Today, among others. Wednesday September 3, 2008 Download Listen Send To A Friend To download this audio file, right click and select 'Save Target As...' Democrats held center stage last week and now it's the Republicans' turn as they convene in St. Paul, Minnesota for their nominating convention.  Today Steve Kraske talks with participants and observers at the convention as the GOP nominates Arizona Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to the 2008 ticket. We'll begin our conversation with Kansas City Star reporter Dave Helling and KMBC Channel 9 political correspondent Micheal Mahoney. They'll tell us about last night's speeches by former Senator and presidential candidate Fred Thompson as well as former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman. We'll then welcoe U.S. Senator Kit Bond of Missouri, who will offer a view of events at the convention and the campaign ahead.  In our second half we'll talk with political consultants Jeff Roe and David Kensinger about what Republicans hope to get out of this year's convention, and what Congressional candidates stand to gain from the exposure. Finally we'll speak with some first-time delegates about their experience so far at this year's meeting.  Ryan Kriegshauer, an attorney from Overland Park, and Samantha Hill, a campaign worker from Holden, MO will tell us about what sessions they're attending, what speakers they're looking forward to hearing, and what they hope to gain from attending the convention in the Twin Cities. Thursday September 4, 2008 Download Listen Send To A Friend To download this audio file, right click and select 'Save Target As...' A recent study by the consumer advocacy group the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reviewed restaurant inspections reports conducted in twenty cities.  Among them was Kansas City, Missouri which the Center found to be among the five worst in violations.  Based on its findings the Center called on Kansas City to require a letter grade to be posted in eatery windows to alert potential restaurant patrons about the cleanliness and safety of an establishment.  The Kansas City Health Department does not agree, saying that letter grades "don't always represent a fair or accurate description of the results." Today Steve Kraske welcomes Sarah Klein from CSPI and, Burt Malone and Naser Jouhari from the Kansas City Health Department to discuss how CSPI arrived at its ratings, what the Health Department does in its inspections to ensure safe eating and, the pros and cons of assigning a letter rating that dining establishments would be required to publicly post. Additional Information: You'll find a link to Kansas City Missouri's food establishment inspection reports here. The Center for Science in the Public Interest's report on food safety can be found here. Sarah A. Klein, JD, MA is Staff Attorney with the Food Safety Program for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). She represents CSPI in the regulatory arena, commenting to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on issues relating to food safety programs, including risk-based inspection, imported food and irradiated food labeling, among others. She is also leading CSPI’s campaign for restaurant ratings, encouraging states and local governments to standardize and publicize restaurant inspection scores. Prior to joining CSPI, Ms. Klein was an Assistant Attorney General with the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General. In that capacity, she drafted consumer protection legislation that is now law in the District. She has also worked with U.S. PIRG on consumer protection issues, and the National Whistleblower Center on whistleblower law. Ms. Klein received her Bachelor’s degree from Boston University, her J.D. from George Washington University and her Master’s Degree in Public Communications from American University. Friday September 5, 2008 Download Listen Send To A Friend To download this audio file, right click and select 'Save Target As...' Known as the “Oracle of Oil” because of his uncanny ability to predict the direction of fuel prices, T. Boone Pickens built Mesa Petroleum, one of the largest independent oil companies in the United States, from a $2,500 investment. In the 1980s, Pickens became a household name when he executed a series of unsolicited buyout bids for undervalued oil companies, in the process reinventing the notion of shareholders’ rights. Even his failures were successful in that they forced risk-averse managers to reconsider the way they did business. When Pickens left Mesa at age sixty-eight after a spectacular downward spiral in the company’s profits, many counted him out. Far from packing it in, Pickens staged one of the most impressive comebacks in the industry, turning his investment fund’s remaining $3 million into $8 billion in profit in just a few years.   Now, at age 80, Pickens has set his sights on America’s dependency on foreign oil.  In his latest book, The First Billion is the Hardest, he not only recalls his life after leaving the company he founded, Mesa Petroleum, but also outlines the Pickens Plan to reduce that dependency with a renewable energy network.  Currently no less bold than he was decades ago when he single-handedly transformed America’s oil industry, Pickens is staking billions on the conviction that he knows what’s coming. T. Boone Pickens will discuss his book The First Billion is the Hardest on Monday September 8th at an 11:30 luncheon at the Downtown Marriott - Muehlebach Tower, 12th and Wyandotte St. in Kansas City, MO.  For tickets and more information, visit Rainy Day Books in Fairway or call 913 384 3126. Who would have thought that our region’s summer would have been mild in temperature and great for gardening? If you’re growing tomatoes, basil, or other vegetables, herbs and fruits , you’re probably faced with an abundant crop.   In the second portion of our program we'll discuss what to do with all of that summer produce, how to preserve a number of garden items, and some recipes that you can use to take advantage of the best produce the season has to offer.   Joining Steve Kraske are Tom Ruggieri of Fair Share Farms to let us know what you can expect to find at your farmer's market from now through until the first frost, Glenda Kinder from the University of Missouri Extension with advice on how to save your garden's bounty to enjoy later and Chef Ted Habiger from Room 39 with suggestions on how to prepare the fresh foods available now. More about Chef Ted Habiger and additional summer recipes can be found on our Culinary Expeditions page. Program topics and guests subject to change. Previously on Up to Date

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

Films Reviewed on August 15, 2008 with critics Steve Walker and Bob Butler Films Showing on Area Screens: DVDs / Pay Per View: New in Theaters: Bottle Shock Brick Lane Henry Poole is Here Vicky Cristina Barcelona Held over: American Teen The Wackness Brideshead Revisited Tell No One The Singing Revolution Coming soon: Edge of Heaven Hamlet 2 IOUSA The Last Mistress Man on Wire The Bank Job The Witnesses The Grand Quid Pro Quo Finding Amanda Area Art/Indpendent/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 Liberty Hall (Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence, KS)

Recent Music Picks from Tim Finn and Steve Wilson

The Star's Music Critic Tim Finn Kief's Downtown Music staffer Steve Wilson Frightened Rabbit "Head Rolls Off" from The Midnight Organ Fight Felice Brothers "It's a Wonderful Life" from The Felice Brothers Mikal Shapiro "Sadie" from The Crow, the Lark & The Loon Ray Davies "Working Man's Cafe" from Working Man's Cafe It's Over "Hallelujah" from That Girl Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds "Jesus of the Moon" from Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! Republic Tigers "Stinkin' Annie Down, Down, Down, Down" from Republic Tigers EP Jack Penate "Have I Been a Fool?" from Matinee The Wilders "Goodbye I've Seen It All" from Someone's Got to Pay Duffy "Mercy" from Rockferry k.d. lang "Jealous Dog" from Watershed Santogold "L.E.S. Artistes" from L.E.S. Artistes Drive-By Truckers "Self-Destructive Zones" from Brighter Than Creation's Dark  Raconteurs "Salute Your Solution" from Consolers Of The Lonely

Up to Date's Video Guys

On our August 1st, 2008 broadcast with video guru Jason Heck and film professor/screenwriter Mitch Brian talked about the best and worst movie remakes. Download Listen Send To A Friend To download this audio file, right click and select 'Save Target As...' Hollywood thought some films worth doing more than once and thus the remake was born.  Today Video Guru Jason Heck and film professor Mitch Brian return to discuss this approach to movie-making and its successes and failures.  Listen to selections from Scrooged, Heaven Can Wait and The Maltese Falcon and see if you know if they're the original or the remake. Among the other films they discuss with Steve Kraske are War of the Worlds, Sorcerer and The Thing