Summary: Raised with parental expectations that she become a Christian missionary, the teenaged Jeanette Winterson embarked instead upon a defiant journey of self-discovery-sparked by the books she smuggled into her bedroom. In this conversation with Bill Moyers, the author of Sexing the Cherry, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and Lighthousekeeping talks about Weight, her new version of the story of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: In the Martin Amis novel London Fields, a cynical and disjointed society hurtles toward doomsday; in Amis's follow-up book, Time's Arrow, the narrative follows an absurdly reversed course-backward from the Holocaust to purity and innocence. Bill Moyers talks with Martin Amis about humanity's present condition and the ongoing conflict between fundamentalism and secular values.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: In works such as Someone to Run With and Death as a Way of Life, David Grossman has movingly depicted the realities of living in the Holy Land. Bill Moyers converses with Grossman about his most recent work, The Lion's Honey-a retelling of the Biblical story of Samson with parallels to today's Middle East conflicts and the mind-set of those who inflict violence in the name of faith.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: One of North America's most prominent practitioners of Buddhist monasticism, Ani Pema Chodron has written extensively on Buddhist principles in the context of everyday living. Bill Moyers talks with the author of When Things Fall Apart, The Places That Scare You, and No Time to Lose about ideas and teachings that have special significance for western Buddhists-and will resonate with...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Writer, actor, and rapper Will Power brings unique characters and thought-provoking scenarios to life in his vividly staged performances-including The Seven, his hip-hop adaptation of Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes. Bill Moyers interviews Power about his creative process, focusing on his ability to "flip" an ancient Greek drama into a highly charged, completely contemporary work-one that has...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Does science have a monopoly on reason? Not at all, says philosopher and novelist Colin McGinn-reason is the foundation of morality as well. Bill Moyers talks with the author of The Mysterious Flame: Conscious Minds in a Material World and Ethics, Evil, and Fiction about his adoption of atheism, his views on the practicalities of religious tolerance, and his belief that rational scrutiny and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Can spirituality, compassion, and emotional honesty survive in the face of oppression and religious fundamentalism? Canadian author Margaret Atwood, author of such classics as The Handmaid's Tale, The Edible Woman, and The Blind Assassin, speaks to Bill Moyers about agnosticism, the hunger for meaning, and the distinction between belief and knowledge.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: During her spiritually charged Catholic childhood, Mary Gordon became fixated on the idea of martyrdom-and vestiges of that obsession remain in her life and work. Bill Moyers talks with the author of Final Payments, The Company of Women, and Pearl about the concept of martyrdom and its connection to rage and despair. Gordon also explores the negative implications of what she sees as two...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: An atmospheric physicist and a leading expert on global warming, Sir John Houghton speaks as a scientist and evangelical Christian. The author of Does God Play Dice? A Look at the Story of the Universe and The Search for God: Can Science Help? talks with Bill Moyers, explaining his belief that science and religion, rather than dividing society, can both work towards improving the human condition.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Anne Provoost's interpretive novel In the Shadow of the Ark tells the story of a young woman excluded from Noah's vessel. The Rose and the Swine is Provoost's reshaping of an equally archetypal story, Beauty and the Beast. Provoost talks with Bill Moyers about finding new truths in ancient narratives, and the ways that myth and storytelling offer life-changing insight into basic human experiences.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Richard Rodriguez-the author of Hunger of Memory and Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father-has expressed provocative views on diversity and its relationship to identity. Bill Moyers talks with Rodriguez about spirituality, mortality, and growing up among mixed influences-including a Catholic family and community often at odds with Protestant-dominated mainstream America.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Painfully familiar with the clash of personal and religious expression, Salman Rushdie can now be seen as a literary sentinel regarding the rise of Islamic extremism. In this program, Bill Moyers talks with the author of Shame, The Satanic Verses, and Shalimar the Clown about the impact of 9/11, about tension between moderate and radical Islam, and about the need to hold the line on...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006