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Jonathan Kozol on Educational Inequality.

Author and Educator and activist Jonathan Kozol. In 1967 he wrote about teaching fourth graders in a poor black Boston public school in the book, "Death at an Early Age." Since then he's written three other books about schools and teaching, as well as a book on adult illiteracy, "Illiterate America," and on the homeless, "Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America." For his new book, "Savage Inequalities," (Crown Publishers) he visited rich and poor schools across the country, where he found schools in worse shape than when he was teaching in the 60s. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

21:42
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Other segments from the episode on September 17, 1991

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, September 17, 1991: Interview with Jonathan Kozol; Interview with Raymond Sokolov; Commentary on accents and prejudice.
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16:01

"Why We Eat What We Eat."

Editor and columnist Raymond Sokolov. His new book is "Why We Eat What We Eat: How the Encounter Between the New World and the Old Changed the Way Everyone on the Planet Eats." (published by Summit Books) His premise is that Christopher Columbus initiated a worldwide culinary revolution when he discovered the New World. Sokolov is the editor of the Leisure & Arts page of "The Wall Street Journal," a columnist for "Natural History" magazine, and a contributor to "Food and Wine" magazine. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane).

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27:29

Homeless Families and "Welfare Hotels."

Author Jonathan Kozol. His new book, Rachel and Her Children, is about The Martinique Hotel, one of the largest welfare hotels in New York City. Kozol spent two years interviewing the families who lived there. Kozol's previous work has focused on inner city education and illiteracy.

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15:44

The Keys to the Future of Public Education.

Edward Fiske, the education correspondent for the New York Times. Fiske's new book is called "Smart Schools, Smart Kids: Why Do Some Schools Work?" In it, Fiske looks at the decline of the American school system, and he examines some of the grass-roots programs that are reversing that trend. (It's published by Simon and Schuster). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

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