Rapper Xuman is the host of Journal Rappe – a weekly news program in Senegal that is rapped in Wolof, French, and English. Journal Rappe is not a gimmick. It’s serious, hard-hitting news – just rapped.
Charles Monroe-Kane sat down with Xuman in our studios in Madison to discuss the future of hip hop. They were joined by Toni Blackman. She’s Hip Hop Ambassador to the US State Department. Wait, raise your hand if you knew that the US State Department even had a Hip Hop Ambassador?
Author, music journalist and cultural critic Greil Marcus talks with Steve Paulson about the ballad tradition in American music.
Gay Talese writes literary journalism. He's a master of in-depth profiles, telling his story through detailed scenes.
Poet Gillian Ferguson lives in Edinburgh. Her volume “Baby: Poems on Pregnancy, Birth and Babies” explores her experience of being pregnant and giving birth.
Hannah Palin lives in Seattle and works as a film archivist. Her mother is retired and lives in Washington, D.C.
Brian Turner was an average young American who volunteered for military service in Iraq. At night he wrote poetry by flashlight. When his tour ended, he collected his poems into a book called "Here, Bullet." This one is called "A Night in Blue."
George Packer is a staff writer for the New Yorker and author of “The Assassins’ Gate.” He’s just back from his fifth trip to Iraq...
Greg Kot, rock critic for the Chicago Tribune and a regular contributor to Rolling Stone, talks about Tom Waits’ album “Nighthawks at the Diner.”
