I’ve been enjoying the summer repeats on CBC radio, and particularly the radio documentaries on Crossing Boundaries. One excellent program I heard – that might possibly get me to change my will – was A Life of Ashes, from Radio Netherlands, by Australian-Indian Dheera Sujan (you can read the story here). It’s about the plight of widows in India, a condition that has improved but still exists, particularly that of the rural poor. It made me wonder what widowhood’s social and economic hardships must have added to the appalling suffering of the widows of the farmers who’ve committed suicide, the extra legacy of the Green Revolution and agricultural subsidies. I’d seen the film Water, by Deepa Mehta, which the radio documentary mentions, and recommend that as well.
Meanwhile, Q – also on CBC – has had some good repeats of foodie interviews, including one with Alissa Hamilton, the author of Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice; one with Mark Bittman making good points about bad food; and one with Novella Carpenter about urban farming.
