Live-From New Orleans this weekend!

ON THE RADIO!

I’ll be taking the “˜Common Sense“ radio show on the road in the next few weeks, visiting some of our network stations, and enjoying an extended summer vacation as I travel.  A good chance to also renew old friendships and visit far off family members.  It’s New Orleans this weekend for a round of activities.  I’ll be joining a number of Louisiana politicos in roasting former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards at the famous Monteleone Hotel in the French Quarter Saturday night.  Then live from Clear Channel’s WRNO in the Crescent City, the “Common Sense“ show will air at its usual time from 9:00  am until 10:00 am central time.  The following weekend, August 7^th, we will be live from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

If you were not able to catch last weekend’s show, you missed a first rate discussion of why so many people are drifting away from the more traditional denominational religions, and finding other ways to explore their religious beliefs.  Author Tim O’Donnell was my interesting guest.  Since the time Tim says he was a nuisance to the nuns, he has been asking questions about religion and Catholicism. After sixteen years of formal Catholic education followed by a successful business career, at age forty he sold his companies, built a log home in the woods and resumed his inquiry into the religion of his birth. Being a former daily newspaper publisher, O’Donnell unabashedly and unflinchingly dove headfirst into the taboo questions of Christianity, not as a theologian but as an investigative reporter. His bold probe has generated a straightforward and at times controversial exploration into questions many Christians carry from Catechism into adulthood. You might want to take a look at the video of Tim’s thoughts below.  And you will find his website full of information on his concepts and his new book by Clicking Here.

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And get ready for this week’s lively program.  Since the country seems to be on the brink of a financial meltdown, we will take a look at how this national financial disaster began.  I have written repeatedly how the financial and insurance regulators dropped the ball causing the recent financial crisis.  New York Times writer Joshua Rosner has a new book out, Reckless Endangerment, that agrees.  We will try to figure out just what went wrong and where the blame should lie.  You can get full information about Rosner’s book by Clicking Here.

f you read this column regularly, you know what a big country music fan I am.  “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music” is an inspirational collection of more than 100 of your favorite country songs. Author Randy Rudder will join me in discussing his new book.  While many fans may focus on the artist singing the song, I think the meat and potatoes to any successful tune is the songwriter behind that creation. In this book, the story comes straight from the songwriter’s mouth in enjoyable bites of information. We hear from Jimmy Webb who talks about the Glen Campbell hits, “Wichita Lineman” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” Tom T. Hall dishes about his musings for “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” Bobby Braddock reveals the history behind Tammy Wynette’s “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” and Alex Harvey tells about the person in his life who inspired “Delta Dawn.” You can read all about this fun book by Clicking Here.

So our program is jammed packed this weekend from New Orleans.  Be sure and tune in.