For AM-1690 in Atlanta, David’s assignment is to simply interview anyone he wants about anything.

Shaila Dewan – Race & Recession

Shaila Dewan, National Correspondent for The New York Times based in Atlanta, talks about an article she authored based on Henry County, Georgia. The article takes a close look at the racial divide with regard to effects of the recession, and Dewan discusses the interesting case of Henry County.

Original Air Date: 12/4/09

[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/CWDL-Shaila_Dewan_Race_and_Recession.mp3]

AJ Jacobs – Living Biblically

Esquire editor AJ Jacobs talks about his new book Living Biblically. His quest to live according to a literal interpretation of the Bible, a sort of real-life experiment, results in this hilarious, bizarre and revealing account. From the trials and tribulations of a Bible-worthy beard to the stoning of people, Jacobs’ story refuses to pick and choose religious rules, but rather follows the Bible’s instructions for a religious life word for word.

Original Air Date: 11/27/09

Part 1

Part

AJ Jacobs – The Guinea Pig Diaries

Esquire Magazine editor AJ Jacobs has made a career out of what he euphemistically calls self-improvement experiments. In the past, Jacobs has subjected himself to reading the entirety of the Encyclopedia Britannica, living for one year according to the explicit letter of biblical law, and also outsourcing the entirety of his life to sub-contractors India. His most recent book is called The Guinea Pig Diaries.

Original Air Date: 11/17/09

[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/CWDL-AJ_Jacobs_My_Life_as_a_Guinea_Pig.mp3]

Susie Essman – What Would Susie Say?

Actress, comedian, and now author of What Would Susie Say? Susie Essman talks to David Lewis about the characters she’s played, the experiences she’s had, and the things she and her famous fictional role Susie Greene have in common.

Original Air Date: 11/12/09

Part 1[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/CWDL_-_Susie_Essman_-_Part_1_Compressed.mp3]
Part 2[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/CWDL_-_Susie_Essman_-_Part_2_Compressed.mp3]

David Alan Grier

Comedian David Alan Grier talks about Barack Like Me: The Chocolate Covered Truth, his new book that uses the election of President Obama as jumping off point for his own discursive musings of his life and the African American experience.

Original Air Date: 11/2/09

[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/David-Alan-Grier-Chocolate-Covered-Truth-Compressed.mp3]

Michael Gray – Blind Willie McTell

Author Michael Gray talks about his new biography of the Georgia-born blues legend, Blind Willie McTell, who had his first recordings for Victor Records in 1927 right here in Atlanta. The book is titled, Hand Me My Travelin’ Shoes – In Search of Blind Willie McTell.

Original Air Date: 10/27/09

Part 1[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/CWDL-Michael_Gray_Blind_Willie_McTell_Part_1.mp3]
Part 2[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/CWDL-Michael_Gray_Blind_Willie_McTell_Part_2.mp3]

Kevin Pappas – Godfather of Night

David speaks with one-time drug kingpin Kevin Pappas talks about his book Godfather of Night: A Greek Mafia Father, a Drug Runner Son, and an Unexpected Shot at Redemption. Pappas, born Kevin Cunningham, was just another kid from the wrong side of the tracks in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Then, he learned as a teenager, that the father who had mistreated him for years wasn’t his father at all. He found that he was born to the mistress of a Greek gangster, Lukie Pappas, head of the biggest Greek crime family in the southeast, and felt that the only way to connect with his real father was to become his fiercest rival.

Original Air Date: 9/30/09

Part 1[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/CWDL-Kevin_Pappas_Godfather_of_Night_Part_1.mp3]
Part 2[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/CWDL-Kevin_Pappas_Godfather_of_Night_Part_2.mp3]

Kerry Cullinan – South Africa’s AIDS Epidemic

The World Cup is intended to establish South Africa on the world’s stage. And yet, for all its ambitions, South Africa (along with much of sub-Saharan Africa) continues to struggle with a truly horrific public health crisis. South African public health expert Kerry Cullinan talks about the ongoing AIDS epidemic in South Africa – what can be done to improve the situation as well as what might have been done to lessen the extraordinary severity of the problem.

Original Air Date: 9/18/09

[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/CWDL-Kerry_Cullinan_AIDS_in_South_Africa.mp3]

Judy Shepard – Matthew Shepard’s Mother

Judy Shepard is the mother of Mathew Shepard, the young, gay man who was tortured and murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998 and became an overnight martyr and standard-bearer for gay rights activists. His case brought immediate and national attention to the issue of hate crimes. Judy Shepard has written a book about her son, The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed.

Original Air Date: 9/15/09

[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/CWDL-Judy_Shepard_The_Meaning_of_Matthew.mp3]

Kurt Andersen – Reset

Kurt Andersen has been a Time Magazine writer, the co-founder of Spy, the editor of New York, a writer at The New Yorker and the host of “Studio 360”. He’s also a successful novelist. In this interview he talks about his new work of non-fiction, Reset, which looks at the possibility of the United States approaching its future in a new way.

Original Air Date: 9/8/09

Part 1[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/CWDL-Kurt_Andersen_Reset_Part_1.mp3]
Part 2[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/CWDL-Kurt_Andersen_Reset_Part_2.mp3]