Friday, January 31 – Friday, February 7

In a recent opinion piece in “The New York Times”, former hedge fund manager Sam Polk wrote that he made millions on Wall Street, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted more money. Polk shares how he walked away from Wall Street and started a nonprofit called Groceryships, which helps poor families struggling with obesity and food addiction.

The stock market fell into a slump last week after news surfaced that economic growth in China is slowing. The drop demonstrated that the global economy is deeply intertwined. Although the short-term news is concerning, there are regions where analysts forecast economic growth. Jonathan Tepperman, managing editor of “Foreign Affairs” magazine, tells us about the six hot international markets to watch.

Between high oil prices, never-ending airline fees, and identity fraud at your hotel, planning a trip can be murder on your wallet. But there are plenty of ways to travel without going broke. In this week’s installment of “Five Things You Should Know About…”, Susannah Snider, staff writer for “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance” magazine, shares her top five tips for saving on travel.

Pete Seeger, one of the pioneers of folk music, died this week at the age of 94. He penned iconic songs like “Turn, Turn, Turn” and “If I Had a Hammer”. But he may best be known for popularizing the old spiritual, “We Shall Overcome”—the song that went on to become a civil rights anthem. We revisit a 2012 conversation with Seeger from the “Smiley & West” radio show. 

During the last decade, there has been an epidemic of murder against women in Latin America simply because of their gender. The phenomenon is called “femicide”. Cristina Finch, managing director of Amnesty International USA’s Women’s Human Rights Program, tells us what’s being done about the murders of women and girls.

After her husband walked out on the family, Navy veteran Amy Treptow was left to support two children on just $15,000 a year that she earned as a contract teacher in Reedsburg, WI. She was able to get back on her feet with the help of government safety net services such as food stamps and Section 8 housing subsidies. Treptow shares her story, which won the “50th Anniversary of the War on Poverty Storyteller Contest” sponsored by the Half in Ten campaign.

In 1870, there were some 1,500 African American officeholders in the United States. Yet in less than 20 years, African Americans were almost entirely chased out of elected office. Douglas Egerton, a history professor at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY, looks at the subject in a new book, “The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America’s Most Progressive Era”.

Singer-songwriter Noel Gourdin’s music is a genre-bending style of R&B. The beat is contemporary, but the melodies span styles across decades. He made his first splash in 2008 with the single, “The River”, which topped the Urban Adult Contemporary radio charts for 15 straight weeks. He’s back and shares his new album, “City Heart, Southern Soul”.