The Greatest Generation: Tom Brokaw

The instant classic and runaway bestseller that changed the way we saw World War II and an entire generation of Americans, from the beloved journalist whose own iconic career has lasted more than fifty years.

In this magnificent testament to a nation and her people, Tom Brokaw brings to life the extraordinary stories of a generation that gave new meaning to courage, sacrifice, and honor.

From military heroes to community leaders to ordinary citizens, he profiles men and women who served their country with valor, then came home and transformed it: Senator Daniel Inouye, decorated at the front, fighting prejudice at home; Martha Settle Putney, one of the first black women to serve in the newly formed WACs; Charles Van Gorder, a doctor who set up a MASH-like medical facility in the middle of battle, then opened a small clinic in his hometown; Navy pilot and future president George H. W. Bush, assigned to read the mail of the enlisted men under him, who says that in doing so he “learned about life”; and many other laudable Americans.

To this generation that gave so much and asked so little, Brokaw offers eloquent tribute in true stories of everyday heroes in extraordinary times.

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Journalist: As U.S. Retreats From World Stage, China Moves To Fill The Void : NPR

January 3, 20182:37 PM ET  Heard on

Fresh Air 

New Yorker journalist Evan Osnos says Chinese leaders think of President Trump as a “paper tiger” who makes promises he can’t deliver and who can be “managed” with flattery.

TERRY GROSS, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I’m Terry Gross. Under the banners of America First and Make America Great Again, President Trump has been reducing commitments abroad and withdrawing from treaties. Meanwhile, China is doing the opposite, trying to fill the gaps, expanding its power and playing a larger role on the global stage. How and why it’s doing that and what that means for the U.S. is the subject of an article in The New Yorker called “Making China Great Again: How Beijing Learned To Use Trump To Its Advantage.” It’s by my guest, Evan Osnos.

President Trump has been leaning on China to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear program. But the fragile relationship between China, the U.S. and North Korea became more complicated yesterday after President Trump sent out a provocative tweet that he has a bigger nuclear button on his desk than Kim Jong Un does. On New Year’s Day, North Korea reached out to South Korea, and now they’ve agreed to begin talks and open a hotline. I’ll ask Evan Osnos about that a little later. He reported from North Korea last year. Osnos lived in China from 2005 to 2013 where he first reported for The Chicago Tribune, then for The New Yorker. He went to China at the end of last year to report his new article.

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Winter Storm Could Bring Snow And Sleet To U.S. East Coast | WBUR News

If you live anywhere along the U.S. East Coast, brace yourself for what is about to come: a nor’easter that forecasters are calling a “bomb cyclone.”

How much the storm affects the coast is contingent on a number of factors, most notably how far out to sea it track.

As Jason Samenow of The Washington Post‘s Capital Weather Gang reports, “A monster storm will hammer coastal locations from Georgia to Maine with ice and snow. By Thursday, the exploding storm will, in many ways, resemble a winter hurricane, battering easternmost New England with potentially damaging winds in addition to blinding snow.”

The Weather Channel is predicting freezing rain, sleet and snow in the Southeast and snow and gusty winds for the Northeast.

“Winter storm watches and warnings have been issued as far south as parts of north Florida, coastal Georgia, and the low country of South Carolina, including the cities of Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C.,” the Weather Channel reports.

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What the Trump-Bannon rift tells us about the Russia investigations

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Men Resist Green Behavior as Unmanly – Scientific American

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/men-resist-green-behavior-as-unmanly/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-review&utm_content=link&utm_term=2018-01-03_featured-this-week

The History of the Erie Canal documentary

Making China Great Again | The New Yorker

As Donald Trump surrenders America’s global commitments, Xi Jinping is learning to pick up the pieces.By Evan Osnos

Audio: Listen to this story. To hear more feature stories, download the Audm app for your iPhone.

When the Chinese action movie “Wolf Warrior II” arrived in theatres, in July, it looked like a standard shoot-’em-up, with a lonesome hero and frequent explosions. Within two weeks, however, “Wolf Warrior II” had become the highest-grossing Chinese movie of all time. Some crowds gave it standing ovations; others sang the national anthem. In October, China selected it as its official entry in the foreign-language category of the Academy Awards.

The hero, Leng Feng, played by the action star Wu Jing (who also directed the film), is a veteran of the “wolf warriors,” special forces of the People’s Liberation Army. In retirement, he works as a guard in a fictional African country, on the frontier of China’s ventures abroad. A rebel army, backed by Western mercenaries, attempts to seize power, and the country is engulfed in civil war. Leng shepherds civilians to the gates of the Chinese Embassy, where the Ambassador wades into the battle and declares, “Stand down! We are Chinese! China and Africa are friends.” The rebels hold their fire, and survivors are spirited to safety aboard a Chinese battleship.

Leng rescues an American doctor, who tells him that the Marines will come to their aid. “But where are they now?” he asks her. She calls the American consulate and gets a recorded message: “Unfortunately, we are closed.” In the final battle, a villain, played by the American actor Frank Grillo, tells Leng, “People like you will always be inferior to people like me. Get used to it.” Leng beats the villain to death and replies, “That was fucking history.” The film closes with the image of a Chinese passport and the words “Don’t give up if you run into danger abroad. Please remember, a strong motherland will always have your back!”

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