In this week that marks the 75 th anniversary of the devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, I talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Twomey. His new book “ Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The 12 Days to the Attack ” is an eye-opening look at the mistakes, misconceptions and miscommunications that prevented U.S. forces from recognizing that the American fleet harbored at Pearl Harbor would be the target of a massive Japanese attack.

On this week’s show we tell the fascinating story of how bluegrass music – born in the hills and hollers of the North Georgia mountains and Tennessee, and in rural communities in South Carolina and West Virginia more than 200 years ago – has crossed the Pacific Ocean and been enthusiastically embraced by a large fan base in Japan. Our guest is Denis Gainty , an associate professor of history at Georgia State University. He’s now researching and writing a book about Japanese bluegrass.

On today’s "Two Way Street" we present songs and stories about Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays. Think of it as a playlist for the Thanksgiving weekend. Here are the songs we play on the show:

On this edition of “Two Way Street,” we present our annual Thanksgiving cooking show. Every year we gather some of the finest chefs in the South in our studios to talk about their own Thanksgiving holiday memories, and to share with us recipes and tips for creating an outstanding holiday dinner. This year we have an exceptional group of chefs.

If I could say only one thing about my conversation with author Lee Smith for this edition of “Two Way Street” it would be this: Listen to her voice .

On this edition of "Two Way Street," we devote our show to the Bard of Avon – William Shakespeare. There’s really never a bad time to talk about Shakespeare, but our show is pegged to the opening of the new exhibition “ First Folio: The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare ” at the William Carlos Museum at Emory University. The centerpiece is a book that is some 500 years old – a rare and precious First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays. We talk with Emory University Shakespeare scholar Dr. Sheila Cavanagh,

On this edition of “Two Way Street,” we pay tribute to the legendary radio broadcaster and writer of oral histories, Studs Terkel. He was one of the great chroniclers of 20 th century American life. He died eight years ago on October 30, 2008.

On this edition of the show we talk to the celebrated chef Asha Gomez. She grew up on the southern tip of India in Kerala, where the flavor profiles and foods they eat are dramatically different from the rest of the country. When Asha moved to Atlanta she began thinking of ways in which she could incorporate the recipes she’d brought with her from Kerala into the cooking she learned to love here in the American South.

On this edition of “Two Way Street,” we talk with author and historical archivist Kaye Lanning Minchew about her new book “ A President in our Midst: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Georgia .”

We’re going to talk about families on this edition of “Two Way Street.” Most of us have them, and for better or worse, our families probably have had a greater influence on how we turned out than many other forces in our lives.