The Sunday Edition for November 24, 2019
Listen to this week's episode of The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright
Michael's Essay on two Canadians held in Chinese prison: "In less than four weeks it will be a full year since Chinese authorities arrested two Canadians and threw them in jail. On December 18 last year, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested on charges of 'endangering state security.' A full year, and it is as though they have ceased to exist. Or have been transported to some remote island beyond the reach of humans."
A Canadian labour legend takes stock of the past, present and future of unions: Leo Gerard cut his teeth in the labour movement as a boy in his native Sudbury, where his father belonged to the mine workers union. He went on to become the international president of the United Steelworkers. Recently retired, he joins Michael Enright to talk about his life in the labour movement and the future of that movement in an age of globalized trade, a collapsing manufacturing sector and precarious employment.
Letters to a Young Poet: It's practically a rite of passage: Trying one's hand at poetry to say something deeply personal, reveal a truth, or capture a moment -- the darker the better. Sarah Prospero remembers those days well, and she remembers the words and wordsmiths who inspired her, from singer-songwriter Janis Ian to the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Now a teacher, she's trying to pass those inspirations to her young charges. Her essay is called "Letters to a Young Poet."
Probing the mystery of musical prodigies: From Mozart to Glenn Gould, there's always been an aura of mystique -- something almost supernatural -- about the musical prodigy. Dr. Isabelle Peretz is an internationally-renowned, cognitive neuro-psychologist at BRAMS -- an inter-university research lab in Montreal that looks at the brain, music and sound. She and her team conduct groundbreaking research on the nature of prodigy. David Gutnick's documentary is called "Three Legs Make Us Successful."
Veteran editors say it's perception, not reality, that more errors are being published: Even though newspapers, magazines and publishers have laid off editors, veteran freelance book editor Greg Ioannou says this is a "golden age" for his craft. And long-time newspaper editor Patti Tasko maintains that while the way stories get to print is vastly different now, editors are trained and experienced as never before. They talk about the changing landscape of editing in these turbulent times for the printed word.
The soundtracks of political dissent: Political protests have seized the streets of major cities around the world. Hong Kong, Beirut, Baghdad, Tehran and Santiago, Chile, to name just a few. And these political movements have soundtracks. Music scholar Katia Chornik, a classically trained violinist whose parents did time as political prisoners in Chile, discusses the songs that have inspired Chileans from the days of the Pinochet dictatorship to the protests that roil the country today.
Canada's piano superstar on her main man -- J. S. Bach: Ottawa's Angela Hewitt followed in the footsteps of another great Canadian musician, Glenn Gould, as one of the world's foremost performers of Johann Sebastian Bach's music for the piano. She has just become the first woman to win the Bach Medal, and she'll speak with Michael about the award and the genius of Bach.
Mail: Horse rescue
Music this week by: Jan Dismas Zelenka, Julia Kent, W.A Mozart, J.S Bach, Janis Ian, Garnet Rogers, Jason Wilson, Joey Wright.