To the Best of Our Knowledge

PROMO       11/25/2007   "East Meets West: Culture in the
                         Crossroads" 
*Imagine growing up in Pakistan. Islam is a way of life. You get up
every morning at 4:30 to pray. Then when you're 18, you move to the
American Midwest, Iowa, to attend college. That's the story Kumail
("Koo-mail, "mail" as in "e-mail") Nanjiani tells in his one-man show,
"Unpronounceable." Also, India-born, Oscar-nominated film-maker Mira
Nair ("Nyre").

PROGRAM RUNDOWN:   "EAST MEETS WEST: Hour 4, Culture in the Crossroads"

0:00 - 16:35        SEGMENT 1: (16:36)
            Kumail Nanjiani is a Pakistani standup comedian living in
            Chicago and performing a one-man show called
            "Unpronounceable."  He talks with Steve Paulson about his
            culture shock upon moving to America and how he came to
            lose his faith in the Koran. And we hear clip from his
            show. Also, Rachel DeWoskin wrote a book called "Foreign
            Babes in Beijing" about her role in a wildy popular
            Chinese TV soap opera.  She tells Jim Fleming what she
            was doing in Beijing, and what it was like to play a
            foreign stereotype.  
                    
            Segment One Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

16:36 - 17:05  LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

17:06 - 36:31       SEGMENT 2: (19:27)
            Acrassicauda means Black Scorpion and is the name of an
            Iraqi heavy metal band.  Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi of
            Vice Magazine and VBS.TV befriended them and eventually
            went to Iraq to see how they were doing. They filmed
            their adventures for a documentary called "Heavy Metal in
            Baghdad." We hear excerpts and they tell Jim Fleming
            about the trip. And we hear lots of music. Also, David
            Kalat, author of "J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The
            Ring, The Grudge and Beyond" tells Steve Paulson what
            these Japanese gore-fests have in common. 
                    
            Segment Two Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

36:32 - 37:01       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

37:02 - 53:00       SEGMENT 3: (15:57)
            Anne Allison is the author of "Millennial Monsters:
            Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination."  She talks to
            Anne Strainchamps about the universal appeal of Japanese
            pop culture. Also, Indian film-maker Mira Nair talks with
            Jim Fleming about being a woman director, and combining
            stories from East and West. Nair's latest film (from
which we hear a clip) is "The Namesake."     
            
Segment Three Outcue: PRI Audio Logo
            For a copy of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for
program number 11-25-A.

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