The Sunday Magazine

Upper v. lower; Jihadi Town; Listener mail; The untold story of psychiatry; Reciting poetry

UPPER CASE v. lower case - Michael's essay: Up until the appearance a few years ago of the Lowercase Brewery in Seattle, the most talked about initialization in the arts was that of Edward Estlin Cummings. The man wrote more than 2,900 poems, but he is best known today for his lower case initials. He is universally known as Lowercase e Lowercase e Lowercase c cummings. But that was his publisher's idea. Jihadi Town: Karin Wells's documentary takes us to the Danish city of Aarhus, where returning jihadis are enrolled in treatment programs rather than sent to jail. Listener mail: Listeners react to the letter read on the program of April 19, by grade 12 high school student Heather Mitchell from Ottawa. Heather says students do not receive sufficient exposure in school to the grave issues confronting this country and the world. Shrinks - The Untold Story of Psychiatry: Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, past president of the American Psychiatric Association, is one of the most influential voices in psychiatry. He talks with Michael about the inexact science of his profession, about the pros and cons of psychotropic drugs and much more. Listener mail: Listeners respond to Robert Harris's guided tour of The Great American Songbook. They send their own favourites, and review Robert and Michael's karaoke performance of Frank Sinatra's "Learnin' the Blues." Reciting poetry: Memorizing and reciting poetry used to be something we all learned to do at school. It has largely fallen out of fashion, but an organization called "Poetry in Voice" is trying to reverse the trend with an annual poetry recital competition.

The case of UPPER v. lower - Michael's essay: (00:00:25) 

Here's an excerpt: "Up until the appearance a few years ago of the Lowercase Brewery in Seattle, the most talked about initialization in the arts was that of Edward Estin Cummings. The man wrote more than 2,900 poems, but he is best known today for his lower case initials. He is universally known as Lowercase e Lowercase e Lowercase c cummings. But that was his publisher's idea."

Documentary - Jihadi Town: (00:04:10) Karin Wells takes us to Aarhus, a city in Denmark that is home to a radical mosque. More than 30 young men and women have left Aarhus to fight for ISIS in Syria. Recruits who return home are met with a radical approach: instead of sending them to jail, the authorities enroll them in rehabilitation programs.

Listener mail - Heather Mitchell: (00:33:54) Listeners react to the letter read on the program of April 19, by grade 12 high school student Heather Mitchell from Ottawa. Heather says students do not receive sufficient exposure in school to the grave issues confronting this country and the world.

The art and science of psychiatry: (00:39:24) Psychiatry has progressed from an era of charlatans, to the belief that people with mental illness can live productive lives and even be cured. But psychiatrists are still mystified by basic questions: What is mental illness? What causes it?  And how can it be treated?  Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman is past president of the American Psychiatric Association. His new book is called Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry

Listener mail - The Great American Songbook: (01:06:36) Listeners respond to Robert Harris's guided tour of The Great American Songbook. They send their own favourites, and review Robert and Michael's karaoke performance of Frank Sinatra's "Learnin' the Blues."

Reciting poetry: (01:16:19) Memorizing and reciting poetry used to be something all Canadians learned to do at school. Today it has largely fallen out of fashion, but an organization called "Poetry in Voice" is trying to reverse the trend, with an annual poetry recital competition. Over 40,000 students took part this year.  We hear three prize-winners recite poems by Lorna Crozier, Ken Babstock and Marianne Moore.