Friday, October 3 – Friday, October 10

Gaye Theresa Johnson, associate professor of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, joins us to discuss her new book, “Spaces of Conflict, Sounds of Solidarity: Music, Race, and Spatial Entitlement in Los Angeles”, an examination of how African Americans and Chicanos have traditionally sought methods to challenge institutional repression and forge solidarity.

In this week’s installment of “Five Things You Should Know About… ”, Claes Bell, an analyst at Bankrate.com, shares advice on avoiding rising ATM fees.

Pioneering jazz keyboardist George Duke, who died in August 2013, continues to be widely mourned and widely celebrated. His close friend, Al Jarreau, offers his own tribute with a new CD, “My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke”, and joins us to share his memories.

Pro-democracy demonstrators continued to protest proposed voting reforms in Hong Kong this week. Elizabeth Economy, C.V. Starr senior fellow and director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, provides her analysis of the unfolding events.

The Center for American Progress is offering an online, interactive map that breaks down poverty data by Congressional district in an attempt to make lawmakers more responsive. The Center also recently published a list of 10 solutions for cutting poverty and growing the middle class. Melissa Boteach, the Center’s Vice President of Half in Ten and the Poverty and Prosperity Program, outlines these proposed solutions.

Journalist Ramita Navai went undercover into the streets of Tehran to find out how ordinary people cope with life under strict rule. In her new book, “City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death, and the Search for Truth in Tehran”, she paints a complex picture of everyday Iranians forced to lie about their lives in order to realize their true selves. Navai joins us to share these stories.

Sports commentator George Johnson marks the start of the Major League Baseball playoffs with a look at the accomplishments of noteworthy African American players.

The Music Maker Relief Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Southern music and supporting struggling artists, is marking its 20th anniversary this fall with a double-CD set of traditional music, an exhibit at the New York Public Library and a new book. Foundation founder  Tim Duffy joins us.