Dialogue with Marcia Franklin

Marcia Franklin talks with Idaho filmmaker Michael Hoffman, whose movie The Last Station has been nominated for two Academy Awards. Based on a novel by Jay Parini of the same name, The Last Station chronicles the final year in the life of Russian writer and philosopher Leo Tolstoy, who was locked in a battle with his wife Sophia about the rights to his works. Tolstoy is surrounded by acolytes who want him to leave the copyrights to his major novels such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina to the Russian people, while Sophia wants the Tolstoy family to keep the rights.

Hoffman, who wrote and directed the script, shuttled for years between Boise and Germany, where the film was financed and made. He talks with Franklin about why he was attracted to the story, the process of making the film, and what it was like to direct Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer, who play the Tolstoys. Both are nominated for Academy Awards.

Originally aired: 03/04/2010

Journalist Jere Van Dyk talks with Marcia Franklin about the 45 days he spent as a captive of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2008. An experienced international reporter who had traveled to Afghanistan many times since the 1970s, Van Dyk was captured trying to find some of his original Mujahideen contacts from the 1980s. His account of his experience and eventual release is detailed in his book, Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban.

Franklin and Van Dyk talk about the conditions of his captivity, his views on the differences between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, his thoughts on our military presence in Afghanistan, and what has drawn him to that country for so many years, despite the danger.

Originally aired: 04/28/2011

Marcia Franklin talks with author Patricia Nelson Limerick about her books about the American West. Limerick shares her views that the West has been overly romanticized and that history has ignored the contributions of women and people of color in settling the West.

Originally aired: 04/17/1997

Ernest Hemingway spent the last years of his life in Ketchum, where he died in 1961. To commemorate his life and writing on the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Idaho Humanities Council in 1999 invited several noted Hemingway scholars to Sun Valley to work with Idaho teachers. Marcia Franklin talks with four scholars about Hemingway; the discussion includes his style, his personal life and the influence of Idaho on his work.

Originally aired: 12/23/1999

Director Michael Hoffman and author Ethan Canin join Marcia Franklin for a conversation about Hoffman's film "The Emperor's Club." The movie is based on Canin's short story, "The Palace Thief."

Hoffman, an Idaho native, shares the reasons he wanted to direct "The Emperor's Club," his thoughts on the film's themes, and his experiences working with Canin. Hoffman won Academy Awards for best costume design and best art direction for his 1996 film "Restoration." Canin is an author who teaches at the prestigious Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Originally aired: 11/24/2002

Marcia Franklin talks with Idaho filmmaker Michael Hoffman about the inspiration for his movies, including Promised Land, One Fine Day, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and Restoration, which won two Academy Awards. The two also discuss his work with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, which he co-founded, and how growing up in Idaho and going to Boise State University influenced his work.

Originally aired: 03/11/1999

Marcia Franklin talks with maritime writer and historian Nathaniel Philbrick, the speaker at the 2013 Idaho Humanities Council Distinguished Humanities Lecture. Philbrick is the author of numerous books, including most recently "Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution," which looks at the deadliest battle of the American Revolution and how it influenced the birth of our country.

A sailor, Philbrick is also known for his book, "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex," which introduced readers to the true story behind Herman Melville's Moby Dick. It won the National Book Award in 2001, and was the basis for an American Experience documentary on PBS in 2011.

Originally aired: 10/18/2013

Marcia Franklin continues her conversation with Ken and Betty Rodgers about their documentary, "Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor," which chronicles the experiences of the member of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines in the Siege of Khe Sanh in Vietnam. She focuses on how the couple produced the film. She also talks with Steve Wiese, a veteran of Khe Sanh who is in the documentary.

Marcia Franklin talks with Ken and Betty Rodgers, residents of Eagle, ID, who have produced a documentary called "Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor," about the 1968 siege of Khe Sanh in Vietnam.

Ken Rodgers is a former Marine Lance Corporal and a veteran of Khe Sanh. He and his wife Betty are joined by Steve Wiese, a former Marine Corporal who is also a veteran of Khe Sanh and lives in California.

Both Rodgers and Wiese were members of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, which fought at Khe Sanh in what would become the longest siege of the Vietnam War, and which would end in a stalemate. In the film Bravo!, Rodgers, Wiese and 13 other former Marines describe their experiences in combat and how those experiences have continued to affect their lives.

Franklin asks the Rodgers' about why they wanted to produce the documentary and what they hope viewers will learn from it. Franklin also talks with Wiese about his experiences at Khe Sanh, and what has helped him overcome the traumas he experienced.

Originally aired: 11/08/2013

Michael Kirk, senior producer of "Frontline," got his start at KUID-TV in Moscow. Since then, he has produced over 100 television programs, including "The Man Who Knew," "The Killer at Thurston High," and "Waco: The Inside Story." His programs have won many national awards, including the Peabody and the duPont Columbia. Michael Kirk talks with Marcia Franklin about his filmmaking philosophy, his most challenging programs and his current projects.

Originally aired: 01/29/2004