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American Public Media Listings for the Week of 11/30/2009

A Prairie Home Companion

This Week:
This week on A Prairie Home Companion, we're up after dark and not slowing down in the second weekend of our annual stint at The Town Hall. Join us as we get our blood pumping to the Bluegrass movements of the Punch Brothers, while Heather Masse's smooth stylings stimulate like a hot cup of street cart coffee. Keeping the pace are The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band and The Royal Academy of Radio Actors: Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and sound effects man Mr. Fred Newman. None of the big city excitement can compare to the News From Lake Wobegon — with winter just setting in and Christmas around the corner, things can get a little unpredictable. Tune in Saturday and be a part of the raucous live broadcast from The Town Hall in New York City.

American Routes

This Week:
Earl Scruggs' legendary banjo playing, aptly named "Scruggs Style," has left its mark on American pop culture and inspired generations of banjo players. In the late 1960s, Scruggs, along with his sons, bravely crossed musical boundaries but his musical journey really started back at the beginnings of bluegrass, playing with Bill Monroe and later, Lester Flatt. We'll talk to Earl and his sons, Randy and Gary, about performing on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium and why he doesn't need to crack jokes about the banjo. New Hampshire-born folk singer songwriter Tom Rush may have gone to Harvard and studied with a ballad scholar, but he still knows how to sing the blues. We'll visit with Rush to learn more about Boston's folk scene in the 1960s, his time as a radio DJ and his inspired approach to songwriting.

Marketplace Money

This Week:
This week on Marketplace Money, Bank of America is just one of many private financial institutions stopping its federal student loan program. Marketplace’s Bob Moon looks at what programs the government is creating to step in for college lending. Youtube has all kinds of home grown videos, from cute puppies to Obama Girl. But as Marketplace’s Rico Gagliano reports it also has scammers looking to lure people into financial schemes. Reporter Ashley Milne Tyte looks into why women tend to fair worse than men in negotiating, from getting a raise to keeping a job. And on the anniversary of Bernie Madoff getting put behind bars, Tess talks to David McPherson, president of financial planning firm Four Ponds Financial, about how to spot investment fraud. Plus MSN financial guru Liz Weston answers your questions in “Getting Personal.”

Pipedreams

This Week:
Advent Expressions: A spirit of intimate reflection and anticipation is inherent in music for the weeks before Christmas.

Saint Paul Sunday

This Week:
Twenty-six year-old pianist and rising star Jonathan Biss brings his artistry and his insight to the studio this week. On the program are sonatas by Beethoven and Mozart, along with selections from Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze. In this work the composer brings to life the two opposing personalities that often appear in his music. Schumann even gave them names: the fiery and passionate Florestan, and Eusebius, the dreamy and instrospective character. Jonathan Biss gets in touch with both sides of Schumann's musical personality, and we get to hear firsthand why he's one of the most sought-after pianists performing today.

Sound Opinions

This Week:
Dhani Harrison visits the show with his band Thenewno2. Harrison, the son of the late Beatle George, talks to Jim and Greg about his musical upbringing, the perils of celebrity and even The Prisoner.

Speaking of Faith

This Week:
The Spiritual Audacity of Abraham Joshua Heschel: Abraham Joshua Heschel insisted that the opposite of good is not evil, it is indifference. Born into an esteemed Hasidic family in Poland in 1907, he was a mystic who wrote transcendent, poetic words about God. At the same time, he marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and organized religious leadership against the war in Vietnam, embodying the social activism of the biblical prophets he studied. We explore Heschel's teachings and his prophetic legacy — his "spiritual audacity" — for people in our time.

The Splendid Table

This Week:
This week it's a look at the Russian tradition of zakuski with Diana Henry, author of Roast Figs, Sugar Snow, Winter Food to Warm the Soul. Iconoclast chef David Chang of Momofuku fame joins us with the method behind the madness of his inspired fusion cuisine, Jane and Michael Stern are eating sweets at Salt Lake City's – The Lamb, and Food and Wine Magazine's Ray Isle joins us with his short list of the bottles every wine lover should taste.

SymphonyCast

This Week:
Leonard Slatkin has made a career out of finding treasures of repertoire that few others are playing but which everyone would profit by hearing. His partner here is the fabulous Hilary Hahn, who'll play Glazunov's powerful Violin Concerto.