Left On Red

Co-hosts Jennifer and Drew share what they've been reading through their earbuds this year, from World War II nonfiction to a book of break-up letters to books. Also, they have an exciting update to share related to this summer's reading series with Ruby.

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Left on Red is presented by Bevill State Community College. Visit BSCC.edu for more information.

Jennifer and Drew have drawn up a progress report for the Biden administration. Instead of reading, writing and arithmetic, the topics of conversation are the COVID surge, the Afghanistan withdrawal and a rollback of abortion access in Texas. Is President Biden performing up to his potential or does he need to be looking for some extra credit?

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Left on Red is presented by Bevill State Community College. For more information, visit bscc.edu

Former First Lady Laura Bush is not only the wife of former President George W. Bush but also the mother of two women who are pretty amazing in their own life and a lifelong booklover. In 2001 she helped found the National Book Festival and in 2021 her foundation awarded more than $1 million to 205 school libraries in 43 states, including our own Ruby’s library here in Walker County.

This week’s amazing woman is photographer Dorothea Lange, who overcame polio as a child and was a pioneer in the field of photojournalism. Lange is best known for her work documenting the world-weary faces of Americans trying to survive in the Great Depression. Less frequently discussed are her photos documenting the wartime internment of Japanese Americans.

In just three years, Greta Thunberg has become one of the most famous and outspoken environmental activists. From the start, Thunberg has shown no fear in confronting world leaders about their insufficient actions to address climate change. Her actions have inspired other youth to push for less rhetoric and more response from their political representatives.

Ruby Bridges will be forever seared in the American imagination as a young girl being escorted to school by federal marshals. Though Brown v. Board of Education was decided before Bridges was even born, many schools were still not integrated by the time that she was ready to start her education. One marshal said of Bridges on her first day of school, “She never cried. She didn’t whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier.”

Ruby’s first amazing woman is Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani woman who started writing about life under Taliban occupation as a seventh grader and was the target of an assassination attempt at age 15. Malala, who has become the symbol of the right that all young girls of the world should have to an education, is the youngest person to win a Nobel Prize.

Your mama probably told you not to talk politics or religion in polite company, but we're ignoring that advice by inviting the Rev. C.J. Cobb to the podcast table. Cobb, pastor of First Christian Church of Jasper, shares stories from his career in the aerospace industry (16:12), gives some history of the Christian Church (also known as the Disciples of Christ) (25:30) and explains what was at the heart of the church's 2019 decision to advertise itself as an open and affirming congregation (30:19).

Jennifer and Drew take a break from the usual format to share their reflections on the 10-year anniversary of the April 27, 2011, tornadoes. They discuss what they experienced that day (0:35), where the city was in its recovery when Drew became mayor in 2012 (12:37), the two-year struggle to get downtown demolished (15:54) and the ongoing struggle to get it built back (29:03). Drew also talks for the first time on the podcast about how it felt to pass the torch to a new administration in November  (41:49).