
##220859 @!DANIEL-ZWERDLING- : For novelist Isabel Allende , all of life is a feast . And in her new book , Allende says the older she gets , the more her appetite expands , as she explains in this excerpt from " Aphrodite . " ISABEL ALLENDE , AUTHOR , " APHRODITE : A MEMOIR OF THE SENSES " : " The 50th year of our life is like the last hour of dusk when the sun has set and one turns naturally toward reflection . In my case , however , dusk incites me to sin . And perhaps for that reason , in my 50th year , I find myself reflecting on my relationship with food and eroticism . " ZWERDLING : Allende 's books , like her acclaimed " House of Spirits , " are passionate and magical . And in " Aphrodite , " Allende becomes personal . She explores the senses and desires , and most important , love in her own life . Allende says she fell in love with her husband because of food . He came up to her at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out . They began to dance . And hew as so tall , Allende says , that her nose was buried most of the evening in his chest , which smelled of roast chicken and garlic @!ALLENDE I fell in love with my husband because of his smell . He -- he 's very allergic . He ca n't use anything that has an artificial scent . So I could really smell him . And I love his pheromones @!ZWERDLING And it was striking that you write in the book that you remember all the men that have passed through your life @!ALLENDE There are not that many ... LAUGHTER ... unfortunately @!ZWERDLING Well , I 'm quoting you -- " all the men " -- whether it 's two or three , by their odors . Tell us , now remember ... ALLENDE : By their smell . And the -- some I do remember by the tone of their murmuring voices , some by their touch , but mostly by their smell . I seem to be very , very aware of smells . And I 'm very attracted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show , will you share us a vivid memory ... LAUGHTER ... of a man , a moment ? ALLENDE : I had a lover when I was younger . And I remember our clandestine meetings in a motel . And we always took with us a bottle of German white wine and proscutto ( ph ) and cheese and a baguette . And I remember him always related to the smells of that wine and that cheese and that ham . So in a way , every time I eat that , the memory of that lover comes back to me . And in a way , it often happens that a smell brings back a memory that is -- that is so powerful that it is as if I 'm dreaming it or living it again @!ZWERDLING I should say that this book is most definitely not about sex itself @!ALLENDE No , it 's not -- and it 's not pornography . But it 's about the senses . It 's about memory and stories and the crazy things that people do to stimulate desire . It 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mysteries of sensual passion and love -- right , and sometimes the pain of passion ? Would you -- would you read , please , on page 129 ? ALLENDE : Creatures of the sea ? ZWERDLING : This extraordinary ... ALLENDE : Oh ... ZWERDLING : ... this extraordinary memory , this sensual food memory of yours @!ALLENDE Yeah . This is an experience I had in Belgium . " I remember the kitchen of a convent in Brussels where I witnessed with reverence the mysterious coming of yeast , flour and water . A nun , not wearing her habit , with the shoulders of a stevedore and delicate hands of a ballerina , arranged the dough in round and rectangular loaf pans , covered them with white cloth washed a thousand times and then washed again , and left them to rise beside a window on a large medieval wood table . " As she worked at the far end of the kitchen , the simple daily miracle of flour and poetry ensued . The content of the pans took on life , and a slow and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were discreet sheets covering the nakedness of the unbaked bread . " The raw dough swells with discrete size , moves softly , posed like a woman 's body in the surrender of love . The acid odor of the fermenting dough blended with intense and vigorous breath of newly baked loaves . " And I , sitting on a penitence bench in a dark corner of that vast stone room , immersed in the warmth and fragrance of that mysterious process wept without knowing why . " ZWERDLING : So why do n't you write for a living ? ALLENDE : I do . LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : That was a joke . LAUGHTER ALLENDE : It 's hard to make a living writing , let me tell you @!ZWERDLING And you make a fleeting reference in the book -- I do n't want to dwell on this much . But I do just want to bring up -- you make this fleeting reference that in some ways , your own decision to write this book , to surrender , you know , yourself to your senses and plunge into your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tragedy @!ALLENDE Grief . I think that this book is like a healthy reaction to a long time of mourning . My only daughter Paula fell in a coal mine in 1992 . And after a year , she died in my arms . And it was a very tragic time in my life . I wrote a book after that called " Paula . " It 's a memoir . And after I finished the book and the book was published , I realized that I had fallen in a sort of dark place where I was empty and sad and depressed and could not write anymore . And for a long time , for a time that to me was like a century , I could n't write anything . And then slowly , the life force took over . And here I am , back in my body , back in the world , back in life . And this book is exactly the opposite of the other book . The other book is about the -- it 's about the spirit . It 's about the life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . And this is about carnal pleasure and love , but from a very sexual point of view @!ZWERDLING One of the things I love about it is that it was the product of a family collaboration . LAUGHTER You did all this research , buying all these ancient love manuals , you know , ancient erotic paintings , and you enlisted ... ALLENDE : My mother . LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : How old is she ? ALLENDE : My mother is 76 . LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : You enlisted your 76-year-old mother to sit and pour through this erotic literature with you coming up with erotic recipes @!ALLENDE My mother is a great cook . And she has a sense of humor . I called ( Unintelligible ) and said , " Mother , I 'm writing this book , and I need you to come up with some aphrodisiac recipes . " " Aphro-what ? " she said . LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : She was being coy . LAUGHTER ALLENDE : So I explained that I needed erotic food , recipes that would be small amounts just for couples , except of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be easy , because if you 're going to spend the afternoon cooking , you wo n't have any energy left for lovemaking in the evening @!ZWERDLING OK , so now we come to the self-help part of this interview ... ALLENDE : It 's not a self-help book @!ZWERDLING ... where you are going to advise our listeners on how to solve their sexual problems @!ALLENDE Oh , no . LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : I say this teasingly because you told me -- I hope you do n't mind my mentioning this -- that just before we came in here to record this , you told me that at some of the TV interviews you 've been doing , people are treating you like a sex therapist @!ALLENDE Yes , as if I was some sort of expert in this thing . And I 'm not . For me , this is just a conversation with a reader in a sort of playful and ironic way in the kitchen . I 'm no expert at all . LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : Anyway , so help us in your own humorous and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meal for our loved ones @!ALLENDE I do n't think it matters what you cook , but how you cook . Let 's say that you cook with slinky lingerie . You ... LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : You 're not talking to me personally @!ALLENDE ... yes , to you . LAUGHTER Would n't that be very erotic for the woman in your life ? For example , if you were naked with a little apron , and you were cooking something for her and telling her that this is aphrodisiac food ? It does n't matter if it is or it is n't because what works is the imagination . And then you create an atmosphere for her . You play music . And you light candles . And you tell her a story , you read a story for her @!ZWERDLING I guess for you -- for you , talking is a very important part ... ALLENDE : Oh , I think that the G-point is the in ear . And if you 're looking for it in any other place , you 're wasting our time @!ZWERDLING And if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ personal , how about you and your husband ? Give us your seductive meals @!ALLENDE I just tell him that I 'm cooking something aphrodisiac . We have a sort of sign language with food . If we have had a very awful fight , we have a soup of reconciliation @!ZWERDLING A soup of reconciliation ? ALLENDE : Yeah , and that is mushrooms and garlic . And it smells so strongly that if someone prepares that , the whole house smells of mushrooms and garlic . And the other person knows that we are ready to talk . And we do n't have to go through the process of humiliating ourselves by saying , " I 'm sorry . " The smell does it . LAUGHTER Then we have other signs . For example , if we put on the table all kinds of seafood and strawberries and chocolate , then we know that it 's an invitation , an invitation for lovemaking , of course @!ZWERDLING I would love it if you would end our chat with one very specific recipe . This is your aphrodisiac omelet recipe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Great in Russia , who made love with at least five of her officers until she was 70 years old . And it 's of course made of -- you need at least five eggs , it 's for two people , fresh from the nest of a virgin hen ; a half-cup of beluga caviar , if possible from the Baltic sea ; four fine but succulent slices of Norwegian smoked salmon ; fresh country butter ; chopped chives ; salt , pepper ; two tablespoons of sour cream ; and of course , toast . " Ever so delicately , you break the eggs into a fine porcelain bowl , porcelain for the reasons of elegance , nothing else , and beat lightly adding salt and pepper . You warm the butter in the omelet pan , sacred to every good cook . And as soon as the butter begins to turn the tint of warm Caribbean skin , you pour in the eggs . " Then the omelet is half-cooked on the bottom . Loosen it with infinite gentleness , whispering encouragingly , because if you are rough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chives and salmon and fold it over , exactly as you would close the book . " Serve your omelet on the most beautiful plates , already warmed in the oven . Spoon on the caviar . And beside the triumph , place the warm toast and sour cream . After a night of passion , this is the breakfast indicated for making love no-holds-barred the rest of the day . " ZWERDLING : Isabel Allende 's new book is called " Aphrodite . " Thanks a lot @!ALLENDE Thank you @!ZWERDLING And happy eating and loving . # 
##220860 @!DANIEL-ZWERDLING- : The evidence in our next story is still unclear . Scientists are still arguing about how to conduct the studies . But if some of the theories turn out to be true , it is cause for nationwide worrying . In 1991 , a group of environmentalists and scientists warned that their seemed to be manmade chemicals out their in the environment that are capable of mimicking natural hormones , and as a result , disrupting the body 's chemistry . And that raises the question : Might these common chemicals be capable of triggering cancers ? Nobody has the answer yet . But as NPR 's Richard Harris reports , federal officials are assuming the worst . And they are gearing up the treat the theory as a threat to humans and to wildlife . RICHARD HARRIS , NPR REPORTER : Environmental activists have been a driving force behind the hormone disrupter hypothesis . But the latest chapter of the story opens on main street , that is in Glen 's Dinette ( ph ) , on Main street in Babylon , New York . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counter stools . SOUNDBITE OF PEOPLE SPEAKING IN BACKGROUND UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN : Was that broiled flounder ? Fried flounder sandwiches , turkey burgers , and shrimp parmesan @!HARRIS Virginia Regnaughty ( ph ) and a colleague are at a booth by the window . Between bites of chili , Regnaughty talks about an issue that has galvanized the women here on the shores of Long Island , breast cancer . Back in 1991 , she and two friends decided it was time to do something about it . VIRGINIA REGNAUGHTY , RESIDENT OF LONG ISLAND , ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST : The three of us went to the Suffolk County Commissioner of Health to determine if we could put together a survey and find out why so many women in our community were getting breast cancer on Long Island . We had heard about so many . Several had died @!HARRIS That survey was a way to focus attention on the fact that that Long Island has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the nation . And having accomplished that , the activists started trying to track down its causes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cancer . Regnaughty also wondered whether ocean contaminants or electromagnetic fields or trace radiation from nuclear power plants could be responsible . And she 's also suspicious of chemicals , which are part of the culture here @!REGNAUGHTY And the ideal home was to have a little house , two children and a green lawn . And if you did n't have a green lawn , you were n't part of the Long Island scene . That 's how it started . And every year , every time , especially now , the beginning of spring , you 'll see these little yellow flags out , homeowners calling up their chemical companies " come over and spray my lawn , get rid of the chinch ( ph ) bugs , get rid of the crab grass . " Is this necessary ? This is absolutely ludicrous @!HARRIS Next came political action . At the urging of the Long Island activists , in 1993 , Senator Alphonse D'Amato of New York latched onto to this issue and convinced congress to order a massive study of breast cancer on Long Island @!REGNAUGHTY Every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sister , a daughter or a friend who knows about breast cancer , who has suffered from this disease . And it 's touched every life . And every time we go to Congress to lobby , we always get a positive response from them . We 're never sent away with " no , we ca n't help you this time . " There 's always something that 's been done @!HARRIS And D'Amato delivered again in 1996 . After a study suggested that DDT could be mimicking estrogen and increasing the risk of breast cancer , D'Amato pushed through legislation requiring the EPA to screen all synthetic chemicals to identify the ones that have estrogen-like properties . And with that , the hypotheses of hormone disruption suddenly gained the force of law . This legislation is turning to action at a small company in Uniondale , Long Island . Chris Waller ( ph ) is a scientist at OSI pharmaceuticals . CHRIS WALLER , SCIENTIST , OSI PHARMACEUTICALS , NEW YORK : This is our main offices out front -- basically lab space . The whole thing is set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right ? HARRIS : This company has a government contract to demonstrate that it 's practical to screen tens of thousands of chemicals for their hormone-disrupting potential . It 's a big task . But Waller has lots of help @!WALLER The robots live in the middle of the building . I 'll show you them @!HARRIS We enter a room containing four plexiglass cases , each about 20 feet long . Each one houses a mechanical arm , a robot that can handle as many as 576 miniature experiments all at the same time . The arm moves precisely as it shuffles around plastic plates full of experiments @!WALLER It 's going to change arms so it can grip the plate a different way . Would n't it be nice if you could change hands like that ? LAUGHTER HARRIS : Waller explains that his company mostly uses its robots to sort through chemical compounds in search of the few that could be useful as drugs @!WALLER This is the hard part for biological screening is just adding all the liquids , moving all the liquids around , right ? @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a drug plate full of compounds and solutions . And what this robot is doing now is just adding reagents to the screening plates , the testing plates . Then this robot will pick it up and move it back into the incubator . And it will sit there and do its little thing for a while , incubate . Then the robot will come back and pick it up . And put it into the detectors @!HARRIS Using these robots , OSI can study millions of chemicals in a single year . The company is planning to use them to screen thousands of chemicals , including the ones used on Long Island lawns , to see if they have the potential to disrupt hormone systems . Waller explains that the labs out front have genetically engineered cells so that when they come in contact with a hormone-like chemical , they light up like fireflies @!WALLER The more the cell glows if you will , the more light the cell emits , the more potential that compound has to be in estrogen @!HARRIS Reflecting its roots as a breast cancer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look explicitly for estrogen-like chemicals . But the EPA has expanded its scope to include chemicals that can mimic thyroid hormones and male hormones as well . And if this pilot project is successful , Waller says the robots will be able to screen all 75,000 chemicals on the EPA 's list in a year-and-a-half , all for just a few million dollars . But Waller says the robot test wo n't provide any definitive results @!WALLER This is just going to provide one little piece of the puzzle , information for one little piece of the puzzle that we would n't have had . It just threw a plate away . LAUGHTER HARRIS : And Waller says even a negative reading here does n't mean a chemical is safe . It just makes follow-up studies for that chemical a lower priority . The whole process promises to be long and complex . And testing wo n't answer the question people care about most of all , which is whether these chemicals are , in fact , hazardous . That depends not only on what they do in a test tube @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to them in real life . Scientists point to a few isolated examples of hormone disruption in the wild . But it 's not a widespread problem where you 'd expect it to be . That 's among the bald eagles of Wisconsin . Populations here feed exclusively on fish in the Great Lakes , which are contaminated with DDT and PCBs , chemicals that can cause mimic hormones . A few decades ago , these birds were barely able to reproduce . But Michael Myer ( ph ) at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says things are vastly better today . MICHAEL MYER , WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES : Of those that are showing elevated contaminant exposure , only a small proportion are still exhibiting reproductive problems . And that is only those eagles that are nesting along the Green Bay and Lake Michigan shoreline , where we had our historic highest levels of contaminants in the environment @!HARRIS And even there , Myer ca n't say whether the chemicals are disrupting hormone systems . That 's because these chemicals are also simply poisons capable of killing eagle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contaminant levels , hundreds or even thousands of times higher than typical human exposures . So from Myer 's perspective , the eagles are telling a reassuring story . In fact , Myer says , hormone disruption does n't seem to be a major problem for wildlife . He is as bit bemused to see that it 's such a big deal in Washington , DC . He says unlike past environmental alarms , the concern is not coming primarily from scientists in the field @!MYER The DDT situation was really different . You had field biologists across the country that had documented dramatic declines in all kinds of fish-eating wildlife . And they were hammering on policy people to make them realize that they had an issue . And , you know , it took even 10 years of that -- Rachel Carson ( ph ) and Joe Hickey ( ph ) here at the University of Wisconsin to finally get DDT banned . Whereas here , there 's really nothing that came from the field that really made this a top priority . So it 's kind of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ metaphorical dog is wagging vigorously . A White House advisory counsel declared hormone disruption one of the top five environmental issues in the nation . A survey of research in progress identified nearly 400 projects focused on hormone disruption . One study is at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland . JOHN FRENCH ( ph ) , SCIENTIST , PATUXENT WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER , MARYLAND : Careful , there is as predator wire here . It 's hot . So do n't ... HARRIS : Electric fence ... FRENCH : Yeah , right @!HARRIS John French is studying hormone-like PCBs to see how they affect the health of North America 's smallest falcon , the kestrel @!FRENCH These larger pens here are where we over winter the kestrels . And you can see in this pen here we have -- these are male kestrels @!HARRIS They are beautiful birds @!FRENCH Yeah . The males are neat . They 've got the slated blue wing covers and nice bright rusty tail and back @!HARRIS These jay-sized birds , dozens of them , were all born last year . Their parents have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over to the cages where the parents live . It 's breakfast time @!FRENCH You can see we wear gloves when we handle this food @!HARRIS Yes @!FRENCH PCBs are fat soluble so they come through your skin fairly easily . Here 's a cage that gets low-dose @!HARRIS French opens the cage and drops in two meatballs . The kestrels are wary of the human caretakers . But all the birds look quite healthy . French is primarily interested in how the offspring of these birds are faring since reproductive organs are particularly sensitive to hormones . He 's been looking at the organs that produce egg and sperm , the gonad @!FRENCH What we 've seen is -- I guess what I would characterize overall as a delay in the development of their gonads . It 's not what I would call a complete disruption of development . We do n't have , you know , missing gonads or anything that striking . But we do see cases , especially in the males , where the gonad looks more like a female than we would expect . But one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time they fledge , these animals seem to look fine @!HARRIS French is planning to breed the offspring this year to see whether their ability to reproduce has been affected by the PCBs . These days , research into hormone disruption pays a lot of the bills here at Patuxent . But French says he 's suspending judgment on whether this is in fact a major concern for wildlife . So far , the studies that raised the most concern come from laboratories . Fred Vonsol ( ph ) studies mice at the University of Missouri , Columbia . He 's been feeding them DES , a compound that 's a thousands times more potent that natural estrogen . And he says even tiny doses turn out to be of concerns . FRED VONSOL , SCIENTIST , UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI : What we did was not only gave the very high doses that were used in clinical studies , but we gave doses as much as 10 million times lower than that . And we even -- giving doses 10 million times lower than had been used in prior studies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cause a change in a fetal development @!HARRIS The change in fetal development at these low doses was very subtle , but still measurable . And that has Vonsol worried . He says women could be exposed to these extraordinarily low doses of estrogen-like compounds in their daily lives @!VONSOL At the very least , I think the public has to be made aware that there is a risk associated with the use , for instance , of plastics , as containers of food , because the plastic materials , such as polycarbonate , release estrogenic chemicals into the materials that are inside of the plastic @!HARRIS And Vonsol it 's not just plastic and industrial chemicals . Natural foods such as soy also contain estrogen-like compounds . In fact , the doses he 's studying are so small , he suggests that fetuses could be affected in women who naturally produce above average levels of estrogen . Now , it 's important to note that Vonsol 's experiments with extremely low dosages have n't been confirmed in other mouse studies . In fact , some researchers have looked for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( ph ) , a top scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency , says the link to human health is even less certain . LARRY RYDER , SCIENTIST , ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY : If you really stick to the rigorous criteria for establishing cause and effect , I do n't think that we really have any data in human populations which convincingly demonstrates a cause-and-effect relationship @!HARRIS Hormone disruption is still basically a hypothesis , an idea -- in this case , a scary idea -- waiting for solid information to prove it or disapprove it . Ryder says one reason to pay close attention is that there are some unexplained trends in human health related to hormones , not only breast cancer , but testicular cancer and possibly sperm production . And given the public concern , Ryder defends the government 's decision to pour research dollars into the field @!RYDER To me , this is the emphasis that should be placed when these kinds of environmental issues begin to emerge . You begin to frame what we know , what we do n't know . You begin to develop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knowledge gaps and then use that information to begin to drive policy . And I think that that 's pretty much where we are in this -- in this activity . And I think that 's a pretty appropriate response @!HARRIS A few answers are trickling in . For example , a study last fall followed up on the initial finding that DDT exposure increased the risk of breast cancer . That follow-up study shows DDT is n't , in fact , linked to breast cancer . So the study that helped put hormone disrupters on the political agenda turns out to have been a false alarm . Even so , there are plenty of other chemicals out there and plenty of other lingering questions and anxieties . Richard Harris , NPR News . # 
##220867 @!DANIEL-ZWERDLING- : And we can now announce this evening 's winner of the 124th Kentucky Derby -- Real Quiet -- who won by a lot . And presumably , a lot of people who won their bets are celebrating right now and the losers are soothing their wounds by drinking the traditional mint julep . Some say you 'll sip one the nation 's most wondrous mint juleps not at the Kentucky Derby , but here in Washington , DC , at the famed Willard Hotel 's Round Robin Bar , all wrapped in dark wood and paneling and heavy curtains . SOUNDBITE OF A CROWD IN BAR WAITRESS , THE WILLARD HOTEL , ROUND ROBIN BAR : Good afternoon . How are you doing ? PATRON , THE WILLARD HOTEL , ROUND ROBIN BAR : Could I get a couple of mint juleps please ? SOUNDBITE OF ICE CUBES BEING WHACKED ZWERDLING : We joined bartender Jim Hewes as he was whacking a bundle of ice cubes wrapped in a linen napkin . On Kentucky Derby day , he says , they make at least two to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our WEEKEND ALL THINGS CONSIDERED cooking segments , we 'll tell you how to get the recipe at the end of the show . JIM HEWES , BARTENDER , THE WILLARD HOTEL : Well , this is the initial stage of making America 's most elegant cocktail , the mint julep -- or the Southern-style mint julep as I -- as we term it . Take several handfuls of ice and using a blunt instrument , crack the ice so that it has the consistency of mountain snow , nice and dry and cold @!ZWERDLING Mint juleps are part of the Willard Hotel 's history . And the Willard itself is almost as much a part of America 's early political history as the White House , which is just around the corner . The term " lobbying " comes from the Willard , because in the 1800s , power brokers began hanging out in the hotel 's lobby , waiting for senators to walk by . Abraham Lincoln gave his first inaugural speech from a Willard Hotel balcony . And actually , Hewes says , one of Lincoln 's first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the nation 's capital , by way of the Willard @!HEWES Henry Clay , who spent close to 50 years in Washington , DC . He came here in 1808 as a junior senator from the State of Kentucky . He introduced this cocktail and the art of making this cocktail to Washingtonians @!ZWERDLING Gee , I feel sort of embarrassed now , because I should have done some history reading . Henry Clay -- we read about him in high school . He played a prominent role in -- something or other ... LAUGHTER HEWES : He was known , he was known as " the great compromiser " and he gained this reputation for his efforts , over close to a 30-year period in the early part of the 19th century , of trying to prevent a split or secession between the North and the South over the slavery issue @!ZWERDLING OK . So , I guess we should make a mint julep . Or , I guess you should make one @!HEWES OK . First thing I want to do is I 'm going to put a teaspoon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use a crystal goblet . SOUNDBITE OF MINT BEING TORN ZWERDLING : And there next to the crystal glass is a huge , beautiful bunch of mint @!HEWES What I 've done is I brought in some of my own mint from my garden , which it seems that the first week in May , this mint comes up and there 's no time of the year that it looks like this . It 's just absolutely gorgeous . As you can see , it 's a red-stemmed variety @!ZWERDLING Now this is not -- I do n't think I 've seen this mint before . It 's -- it has what 's almost -- what ? Burgundy ? SOUNDBITE OF LIQUID BEING POURED HEWES : It 's just so fragrant and aromatic . You just open a little -- you cut it and it just fills the air . Now , what I 'm going to do is place eight or 10 leaves in the bottom of the glass with the sugar . I 'm going to add a small measure of Makers Mark Bourbon ( ph ) . Now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bruise the mint leaves with the sugar and the bourbon mixture . SOUNDBITE OF LEAVES BEING MUDDLED ZWERDLING : Wait a minute . A muddler ? Basically you 're taking the end of knife , the handle of a knife ... HEWES : I like using this ... ZWERDLING : And you 're bruising the leaves ? What do you mean exactly ? HEWES : I 'm gently bruising them so it releases the essence or the esters that are in the leaf itself , that give it its mint taste and its orange taste @!ZWERDLING Now this is one of the topics of great debate among mint julep fans : do you bruise the leaves with a muddler as you 're doing , or do you grind them up or crush them ... HEWES : Grind them , crush them . I prefer , as the great senator did , to gently bruise the leaves . There 's a tendency sometimes to -- if your over masserate ( ph ) it that it -- it 'll leave a bitterness . Now the term " julep " is a Western European @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1100s from the Mideast , and " julep " in Arabic means flavored or sweet water @!ZWERDLING Is this required training for a bartender , studying world drinking history ? HEWES : I make this up as I go . LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : What 's the next step ? SOUNDBITE OF ICE BEING POURED HEWES : I 'm going to fill my glass a half to two thirds full of the crushed ice , and now I 'm going to take my bar spoon and gently agitate the drink . SOUNDBITE OF DRINK BEING AGITATED Again what this does is it releases and thoroughly mixes the elixir that I have in the glass -- the mint , the bourbon , the sugar , and then again the ice @!ZWERDLING Some of your guests at the bar here are looking thirstily at this drink . SOUNDBITE OF ICE AND BOURBON BEING POURED HEWES : Now , I 'm going to repack the glass full with more ice and I 'm going to add a measure of bourbon @!ZWERDLING Another measure of bourbon @!HEWES And an equal amount of spring water , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take a nice sprig of mint and place this in the glass . I take a lemon twist and lightly zest this over the top of the drink . And then , I take powdered sugar and lightly dust the cocktail @!ZWERDLING That is beautiful , really . It 's lovely @!ZWERDLING And I take two short straws and push the straws all the way down in the bottom of the glass , so that if one were to imbibe in this cocktail through the straws , you 'd have to put your face actually down into the drink , and you get the full essence of the drink @!ZWERDLING As I would like to do right now . I have never had a mint julep . Oh , I love that @!HEWES It 's a great cocktail @!ZWERDLING And it 's not at all sweet . I thought it was going to be ( Unintelligible ) a syrupy and ... HEWES : A light libation of extraordinary character that scintillates the tastebuds and transcends all else @!ZWERDLING Bartender Jim Hewes at the Willard Hotel here in Washington , DC . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Henry Clay 's mint julep . Call our listener hotline and the recording will give you the recipe . 202-408-5183 . I 'll repeat that number -- 202-408-5183 . Or , send us a computer e-mail to watc@npr.org , watc@npr.org . And for this evening , that 's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED . # 
##220868 @!DANIEL-ZWERDLING- : What makes the difference between all those teachers you ever had whose names you ca n't even remember now , and the one or two you 'll never forget ? This coming Tuesday is National Teacher Day , sponsored by the National Education Association . And it has gotten us musing about how a teacher can squelch a child 's spirit or ignite it . Which is why we turn now to the lovely new memoir by journalist Rosemary Bray . Bray grew up poor in the 1960s . Her family lived in the black ghetto on Chicago 's South Side . She grew up surviving on food stamps . But from the day she turned three years old , her parents decided it was time for her to read . Bray says her father kept telling her the only way to survive in the white 's world was to outthink them . Here 's Bray reading an excerpt . ROSEMARY BRAY , EDITOR , NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW , AUTHOR , " UNAFRAID OF THE DARK , " : I remember them sitting with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ temper because I did n't seem to be catching on . My mother told him that I would never learn anything if he kept yelling at me . Exasperated , he dared my mother to teach me herself . She said she would , and in fact she did . What I find most amazing is that neither one of them thought three was too early for me start reading . And when I consider that mama had only a fundamental knowledge of reading herself , I know teaching me was no small task . The first word we learned was " opportunity . " ZWERDLING : And Bray learned to love to read . She went on to become an editor of the New York Times Book Review . And she wrote a children 's book about Martin Luther King . And when she thinks about the turning point , Bray says , she thinks back to that autumn when she was 11 years old and her parents got a scholarship to send her to a private school @!BRAY I did n't realize in the midst of taking the test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white . No one had told me . And this was 1966 . So , all I knew about white people were that some of them were priests and nuns , like St. Ambrose where I went to school . And then , there were the white people I saw on television who were siccing dogs unto marchers and hosing people who were trying to register to vote . So , I go into the front hallway and there 's just a sea of white faces . And I tell my mother , " I ca n't go in there . These are white people . They 're gon na kill me . " ' Cause that 's all I know . And she 's like , " you got ta go . You 're gon na get an education in here . You better walk in there . " ZWERDLING : You write in you book -- and I 'm quoting you here -- " being black was not the worst of it . I realized that I was poor . " And what I could n't understand is how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was easy to separate them . When I was growing up , you know , we were not living in the kind of materialist culture that we live right now . And the neighborhood I lived in , we all had about the same things , you know ? Everybody had a pair of shoes , a coat , enough food to eat most of the time . And that was the world I lived in . I did n't know that people had lots of shoes , lots of clothes , lived in houses and not apartments , had their own room . I was 11 before I figured out that there really were people in the world who had more than one of something . It just seemed so overwhelming and such a gap between what I knew , that I was just stunned @!ZWERDLING And you started stealing @!BRAY I was stealing from classmates . They 'd leave their purses in the locker room . And you know , I sort of started it as a kind of random event . But then , it had all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I could buy candy and share it with my classmates , you know , in an attempt , I guess , to attract their attention and buy their friendship , because at that point , only one kid in the class ever talked to me really . So I was doing it also out of a great anger , because all of a sudden I was so clear that they had everything and I had nothing . And the school caught me , you know , which did n't take ' em long . LAUGHTER ZWERDLING : No . And what astonished me about the story most was not that you were stealing , it was what the school did -- what the teachers did when they discovered you were stealing @!BRAY I know . I still think of that with great wonder . They did two things . They wanted me to see the school psychologist every week . And the other thing they did was a very practical response . They gave me an allowance . They gave me $5 a week , which may not sound like a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fortune . It meant I could do the simple things that other kids in my class took for granted , like after school kids would go to this place called the Golden Cup and have Coke and fries . And my mother could never have sent me to do that . But , that allowance allowed me to . I 'll never forget it , because it really was the turning -- one of the turning points in my life at that school . A couple of teachers were the other @!ZWERDLING Which brings us to Mr. -- what is his name ? BRAY : Griffith ( ph ) . Delafield ( ph ) Griffith . He was my eight grade teacher . And he was tall and thin and everybody thought he was kinda nerdy . And I loved him , because it was so clear that he loved me . It was this positive regard , this unconditional sense that I could ask questions , I could question things I 'd been reading . And he would always talk to me with great respect . And he would always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this teacher 's conference we had in the lunchroom . And he was asking me about how I felt about school , and what happened when I read . And I was talking about how whenever I read , I could see all the people in my head . It was like a movie to me . And he was quiet for a minute . Then , he looked at me and he said , " do you know that you 're the kind of student that a teacher waits his whole life to teach ? " ZWERDLING : Well , he admired you greatly . The other students , obviously , disliked you . It came time for the spring play . And I guess this is what you would call the denouement in the first part of your memoir , right ? LAUGHTER BRAY : That 's right . It is @!ZWERDLING And the school puts on Alice in Wonderland . And the lead role of the Alice goes to ? BRAY : Me . LAUGHTER It was astounding . They 're two eight grade classes . And each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they list them all -- you know , everybody 's kind of milling around after recess -- and , I completely not interested , because I 'm figuring , " oh , they 'll just have me standing over in a corner somewhere doing something . " And then people start saying , " how did she get it ? " And I look at the list , and I 'm Alice . And I do n't believe it either , because I 'm like , " Alice in Wonderland ? Why would I be Alice in Wonderland ? " And so kids start saying , " well , we 'll have to get her a blond wig . " And Mr. Griffith said to everybody , " no , she 's not gon na wear a wig . She 's gon na be herself . " And that was such a stunning thing to have happen in 1968 , for an African-American child not to be put into some kind of costume and made to look like a blond , white girl really was phenomenal . The rehearsals were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the kids were teasing me and calling me the black plague . And that was the day I was gon na quit . And I kinda ran out crying . And some woman in the upper school , which is what they called high school at that point , saw me crying . And I told her . And she said , " you ca n't quit . " You know , " that 's why they 're doing this . They want you to quit . You ca n't . " But the most amazing thing was after all of that , doing the play , the curtain comes down , all these people break out into applause . I go outside , there 're all these parents surrounding my mother and me , and the kids are talking to me -- kids who never talked to me are talking to me . And in the middle of it , Mr. Griffith comes in with a big bouquet of flowers -- the first flowers I ever got in my life . And he comes over and he presents them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a leading lady to get a bouquet after her performance . And he kisses me on the cheek . I just -- I thought I was gon na die . LAUGHTER I really did . It was one of the best days of my life @!ZWERDLING And as you write in the memoir , it turned out that Mr. Griffith is the one who got you the role of the lead ... BRAY : He engineered everything . And I did n't know this until I was 30-some years old . I 'm sittin ' in the kitchen having tea with my mother . You know , I 'm remembering this . And she said , " oh , yeah Mr. Griffith said that would change your life . You know , that 's why he did it . " I said , " that 's why he did what ? " Then she tells me he called her weeks before and said , " look , you know , nobody talks to Rosemary . And Rosemary does n't talk to anybody else . And they do n't really know her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this play , I think they 'll get to know who she really is . And this is what we want to do . " And so , my mother knew all the time that this was gon na happen . Mr. Griffith helped me to understand who I could become if I kept trying . And people who have had their lives changed by teachers know what it is that teachers do . There 's always this point where you remember the person who helped you understand who you could be @!ZWERDLING Rosemary Bray 's new book is called " Unafraid of the Dark : A Memoir . " Thanks for joining us @!BRAY Thank you . # 
##220871 @!DANIEL-ZWERDLING- : An usual power couple has been propelling themselves toward lofty places in New York City . And a lot of New Yorkers are watching . If you could climb to the 12th floor of a ritzy 5th Avenue apartment building , you would find a nest . And you 'd see that two red-tailed hawks , a male and a female , have settled in . And if you could peer close enough , you 'd find babies in the nest . The nest has been there for four years now . And every year , thousands of people keep track from their perches by using binoculars . As NPR 's Margot Adler reports , the lives of the hawks outside the building are a lot more interesting than those inside . MARGOT ADLER , NPR REPORTER : The nest that is home to a fourth brood of baby hawks has been blessed by lucky accidents . It rests under an overhang protected from rain . Spikes placed to discourage pigeons provide a firm base to secure the nests . There are other reasons , says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ " Wall Street Journal " and has written a book on the hawks called " Red Tails in Love . " MARIE WINN , COLUMNIST , AUTHOR OF " RED TAILS IN LOVE " : It faces west . And our worst storms in noreasters @!ADLER We are sitting on a comfortable bench in front of Conservatory Pond in Central Park . The twigs of the nest are visible with the naked eye . But the best views are through a powerful spotting scope . Winn observes the mother hawk on the nest @!WINN She is a gorgeous bird . She 's looking down at them . Have a look @!ADLER Oh , my God , you can actually see every detail of the red- tail hawk . You can see her beak . You can see her breast and the spots on her breast . Her beady eyes . I saw -- I saw a baby . I just saw a baby -- wait . Ah , one has just popped out . They 're tiny and white . They 're so tiny and white . Take a look . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when looking at the this nest . Hawk experts did n't believe it at first . Supposedly only kestrels and paragon falcons nest on buildings . The male hawk was first seen back in 1991 , much lighter than most red-tail hawks and therefore distinctive . The hawk watchers call him " Pale Male . " Marie Winn locates him with ease on a window ledge several buildings away from the nest @!WINN Can you see a bird sitting there ? ADLER : He really is pale . He really is light colored @!WINN Yes . If he had looked like any other , we could never have been really sure that it was always the same red-tailed hawk @!ADLER Because of his markings , birders know that he and three different mates have made many attempts . Winn remembers back when Pale Male , an immature bird , did n't yet know what do do @!WINN He was a little inept . And on several occasions , we did see him try to do it at the wrong end . So this was comical but also fascinating . I mean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ birds of prey right in front of you ? ADLER : The hawk watcher followed Pale Male and his mates for years , hopeful each time , distraught when babies did n't hatch . When babies were born , excitement was extreme . On many weekends over the past few years , there might be five scopes on tripods by the pond . One birder put up a sign in five languages for tourists saying they were not voyeurs looking at the celebrities , although Mary Tyler Moore lives in the building with the hawk nest and Woody Allen lives in the next building and the hawks often perch on the antenna in his roof garden . Today , Regina Alvarez ( ph ) , who works for the Parks Department , stops to have a look . REGINA ALVAREZ , EMPLOYEE OF PARKS DEBARMENT , NEW YORK , CITY : I 've seen that nearby here once catch a pigeon and , you know , in mid- flight , feathers everywhere and ... MEDINA ( ph ) , POLICE OFFICER AND BIRD WATCHER , NEW YORK CITY : This morning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ MEDINA : Yeah , they caught a little sparrow . I think it was either a sparrow or like a robin or something . And she was feeding them @!ADLER That 's police officer Medina , who has stopped by on his rounds . Dasha Weiss ( ph ) , a middle-aged woman who says she is here often , says the hawks can change the most ordinary moment . One day , she looked up out of a bus window . DASHA WEISS , BIRD WATCHER , NEW YORK CITY : And he was just coming down 5th Avenue without flapping on his way home . And it was a calm day , so , obviously , one of them was on a thermal @!ADLER Some birders like Charles Kennedy ( ph ) have been watching the hawks since 1991 when Pale Male was first seen . CHARLES KENNEDY , BIRD WATCHER , NEW YORK CITY : I have a very real sense that he knows who I am , not because I do anything remarkable . It 's because I 'm here all the time . And he has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if he has such skills , then why would n't he recognize me in his background too , and dozens of others of us ? ADLER : While many of the regular hawk watchers take a peek at the hawks before and after work , Marie Winn says some of them are here more often @!WINN There are quite a number of people who have chosen to run their lives so that they could be free to be students of nature during the day . There are a number of retired people . And among the hawk watchers , for the last few years , there 's a homeless guy . I do n't know what his past is because one of the things about the regulars and about the hawk watchers and bird watchers , you do n't go around asking people , " What do you do ? " We 're all here engaged in a mutual occupation . We 're studying stuff @!ADLER You might start with birds . But then you want to know what they eat so you study insects . And then you want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hawks learn to fly , many of the regulars , says Winn , continue to observe their education . They move from the bench by the pond to a certain field @!WINN There 's even a particular tree in the middle there that we call " the killing tree . " And the parents bring pigeons and stuff and the kids run around on the ground there playing , you know , tussling with sticks . It 's just -- you ca n't believe it -- it 's like having a litter of puppies . And the parents are bringing them food . Then they start bringing them half-dead creatures and then finally we watch them making their first kill , usually a mouse @!ADLER Well , not quite like a litter of puppies . One birder told me he did n't watch the hawks because they killed small birds . But others are clearly awed at being so close to a predator . Charles Kennedy says its more than a simple fascination with a being of such grace and strength . It 's also ... KENNEDY : An immense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We dream of flying . We watch flying . We trying a broad jump like we are flying . And he has that power @!ADLER Power ? KENNEDY : Oh , the power of death , I guess @!ADLER The power to kill , the power of predation ... KENNEDY : Absolutely . The power of having a fistful of knives @!ADLER But Marie Winn thinks back to the birth of her own children , how obsesses she was over what stroller to buy and how much the baby should cry . At the time , she thought she was acting totally under her own control . Now she thinks she was n't so different from that mother hawk @!WINN We were sitting on our eggs during that pregnancy and then we were you know , brining in our rats and pigeons . To be truthful , I do n't know whether this is a good feeling or a bad feeling really , to feel less like your the master of your fate and more driven by instinct . It 's a slightly humbling feeling , so maybe that 's good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only about birds , but about ourselves . Marie Winn 's book is called " Red Tails in Love . " Margot Adler , NPR News , New York . # 
##220872 @!DANIEL-ZWERDLING- : Breaking the bonds of Mother Earth . It 's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED . I 'm Daniel Zwerdling . What happens when some of the most basic assumptions about life here on Earth do n't apply anymore ? What happens when the rules of gravity change ? Of course , that 's the world astronauts have been studying . And that 's the world they 'll have to master once they begin building and living in the international space station , which is scheduled to get underway later this year . Unfortunately , we ca n't join them way up there . So we decided to begin exploring a world without gravity by doing the next best thing . We joined NASA researchers on their weightless training plane , which takes off from an old military base near Houston . SOUNDBITE OF AIRCRAFT TAKING OFF ZWERDLING : On this particular morning , we 're following a NASA medical researcher named Mike Barratt as he prepares to board the plane out on the runway . MIKE BARRATT , FLIGHT SURGEON , NASA 'S KC-135 : If you notice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ V. And I 've heard it said : Never get on an airplane with that written on the nose @!ZWERDLING Who said it ? BARRATT : My mother @!ZWERDLING From the outside , the Weightless Wonder looks almost ordinary , basically like a white passenger plane without windows . But once you 're inside at 30,000 feet , it 's a different story . Every new astronaut has to go up in this plane to get a sense of what it feels like in space . And if you saw the acclaimed movie " Apollo 13 , " the actors did n't just appear to float thanks to special effects , they were really weightless . They shot the film aboard NASA 's plane over a period of a couple of weeks . In any case , we 're joining Physician Mike Barratt on the next training flight , which is scheduled to take off in a few minutes because he 's conducting experiments to figure out how to treat medical problems in space . Now think about this , Barratt says , when you get sick or injured here on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treat the problem . And everybody takes them for granted . But when you 're in a world without gravity , even the simplest procedure wo n't work anymore . So you have to revamp your mind set and learn a whole new set of rules @!BARRATT We 're used to taking , for instance , a bag of intravenous fluid and hanging it on a pole and letting it drip through a line into the patient 's vein . Well , of course , you ca n't do that there . There 's no gravity there to allow the fluid to drip down the line @!ZWERDLING Oh , see , I , yeah . I guess that seems obvious now . But it did n't before @!BARRATT Well , it will very soon as well . But we have to supply some pressure to push the fluid in to make up for the gravity . The other thing is we 're used to having fluid and air separate , the water at the bottom , the air at the top of a bag like that . That wo n't happen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ph ) of bubbles mixed in with your water . And we 'd like to avoid air going into the patient as much as possible , into the intravenous line @!ZWERDLING And I take it that that really is just the beginning of your medical problems in space , right ? BARRATT : Well , when you get into zero gravity , wherever you put something , it may not stay there . It has no incentive to stay where you put it , and that includes your patient @!ZWERDLING In other words ... BARRATT : And so ... ZWERDLING : ... another military jet taking off . SOUNDBITE OF JET TAKING OFF ZWERDLING : You mean in zero gravity , the patient goes floating off @!BARRATT Everything goes floating off @!ZWERDLING I guess we 'll talk more about that when we 're in zero gravity @!BARRATT OK . I hope so . I 'm looking forward to it @!ZWERDLING They call this 35-year-old plane the K-Bird . That 's the affectionate name , based on the fact that it 's a modified military cargo plane called a KC-135 . The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thick foam padding on the floors and ceilings and the walls @!BARRATT OK , thank you for flying zero G. ZWERDLING : Oh , I like how spongy the floor is @!BARRATT There 's a reason for that @!ZWERDLING The plane 's other nickname is the Vomit Comet . One of the main things that every NASA researcher talks about and worries about and plans for is the fact that when you go up in this NASA weightless plane , you stand a good chance of getting sick . And I mean , everybody stands a good chance of getting sick , from first-time flyers to veteran astronauts . This is not a particularly pleasant issue to talk about , but it 's important , because it affects how they conduct the research . We 'll hear a bit more about how NASA handles this problem later . In any case , as more than a dozen researchers board the plane now and get ready to take off , everybody makes sure they 've got a handful of white plastic sickness bags stuffed in the pockets of their green flight suits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PILOT : Strapped in and we 're secure . UNIDENTIFIED PERSON OVER RADIO COMMUNICATION : ( Unintelligible ) @!PILOT OK . SOUNDBITE OF PLANE ENGINE RUNNING ZWERDLING : As the K-Bird heads toward the training area , Barratt and the other researchers start setting up their workstations along the padded floor . It 's lined with elastic bungee cords so you can strap down your equipment and your body to prevent them from floating off when we hit weightlessness . The flight director , Bill Williams ( ph ) , stands in the middle of the plane looking rugged like an aging cowboy . He 's supervised roughly 15,000 of these flights . BILL WILLIAMS , FLIGHT DIRECTOR , K-BIRD PLANE : Right now we 're going to climb out to the airspace where we work . And we 're going out over the Gulf of Mexico and I guess about due south from Houston is where we fly . And about five or six minutes from now , the -- you 'll hear the motors come up to a higher pitch . And we 'll say , " OK , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point ... " ZWERDLING : And here 's what we 're about to do . When the plane gets up to about 30,000 feet , the pilot 's going to guide it through a series of maneuvers that essentially mimic a flying roller coaster . He 'll yank the nose up and climb at a steep angle , about 50 degrees , which will make everybody feel super-heavy @!WILLIAMS And as we rotate to that angle , you 'll pull about 1.8 Gs . So you 'll feel about almost twice your normal weight . And as -- and that will last about 30 seconds @!ZWERDLING The the pilot will push the nose down , cut way back on the engines . And we 'll plunge toward the Gulf of Mexico . And that 's when we 'll feel weightless . For the next 25 seconds or so , the plane will dive toward the Earth , accelerating faster and faster at exactly the same speed that it would go if you simply dropped it out of the sky . And thanks to the laws of physics , everybody in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as they call it . Then the pilot will yank the nose back up before the plane goes out of control . And the plane will do the roller coaster all over again , 40 times in fact , before this flight is through . We have a few minutes before the first weightless run . So we checked on some University of Colorado researchers hunched over a glass jar with a plant in it hooked up to an elaborate-looking machine . What are you gentlemen testing today ? UNIDENTIFIED RESEARCHER : We 're testing some precursor technology for aeroponic ... ZWERDLING : Ooh , ooh , let me interrupt you right there , plain English @!RESEARCHER Oh , I 'm sorry . Aeroponic plant growth , which means you 're growing plants in a mist instead of a soil , or a hydroponic solution @!ZWERDLING Oh , so people -- so astronauts could grow food in space @!RESEARCHER That 's correct . The idea is that you just mist the roots with the nutrient solution . You do n't have to launch all of that weight of the soil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to incur . We 're also at the end of the week , besides zero gravity , gon na be testing it in both lunar and Martian gravities so that eventually we get data on how to grow plants in that environment @!ZWERDLING Meanwhile , Flight Surgeon Mike Barratt is setting up his medical pack on the foam cushion floor in the middle of the plane , the same kind of pack that he and his colleagues have designed for the Space Shuttles and that they 're refining now for the upcoming space station . Back on Earth , a doctor or surgeon would lay out all their supplies on a nice , sterile table . But when there 's no gravity to hold them down , that could mean disaster . So Barratt 's kit looks like a doctor 's office attacked by Velcro . Every syringe , every scalpel -- everything -- is locked in place by a Velcro strap . On this particular flight , Barratt is going to run the first series of tests on a brand new method he 's hoping to use to treat eye @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the guinea pig @!BARRATT One of our problems , as I was mentioning earlier , is particulates that get stuck in the eye , because again , gravity is n't there to settle them to the ground . It 's a relatively common thing @!ZWERDLING In other words , somebody gets something caught in their eye . And it hurts a lot @!BARRATT Exactly @!ZWERDLING But obviously , you ca n't use those eye wash kits from the local pharmacy because the liquid will go floating off in zero gravity . So in the past , Barratt and his colleagues gave the astronauts a more elaborate system . If they got something in their eye , they put on special goggles connected to a bottle of water . Then they pumped the water into the goggles , swish it all around , suck it out . But Barratt says that takes too long in an emergency @!BARRATT What we 're testing today is a much more rapid response that we 've picked up from the cosmonauts who fly on the Mir station . They have demonstrated to some of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to one eye and allow surface tension to keep a large sphere of that essentially right on your eye @!ZWERDLING Really , so if you put the liquid right on your eye , it will just stay there like a patch ? BARRATT : That 's what should happen . And with that , you should be able to open your eye rapidly several times and allow the particles to diffuse off into the fish bowl , so to speak @!ZWERDLING That 's sort of nice that the -- you 're getting this idea from the Russians . I like that spirit of international sharing @!BARRATT We 're finding that those who have spent the most time in space have developed a lot of practical things , most of which are never written down anywhere but are immensely useful . You only find this by talking to them and talking to crew members and other crew members who interact with the Russians @!ZWERDLING I think we 're about to go into the first part of the roller coaster , yes ? BARRATT : OK , it will be about three to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of loops just relaxing , getting used to the zero gravity . We wo n't try to do any work for the first couple of loops or so . But in spite of it , if you start getting queasy , just remember we 're here to do a job . And hopefully , you 'll get only a little bit queasy . Hopefully if you have to toss cookies , that will be the end of it and we go on with our work because the main reason we do these flights is to get stuff done @!ZWERDLING So everybody gets into position . Some hunker down on the floor and loop the bungee cords around their legs . Barrett and I stay standing but grab a strap hanging near the ceiling . And suddenly , this crushing feeling , an enormous force pulling down . The plane 's climbing so we 're at two Gs now , twice the force of gravity , like one of those dreams where no matter how hard you try , you could hardly lift your limbs . And then , just as suddenly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ! Yoo ! Ho , ho ! Oh , my God ! Oh , how do I get down ? I 'm upside down . LAUGHTER Ohh ! Get me down here ! UNIDENTIFIED PERSON : Just a little bit of negative G here . ZWERDLING , SHOUTING : Whoa ! ZWERDLING : How do you describe this ? The moment the plane eases into weightlessness , the engines go eerily quiet . And in an instant , it 's total liberation . All forces fall away , all tension , and without my even thinking about it , my legs float up to the ceiling . So I 'm lying there in the middle of the air . And no matter how much I kick my legs , I ca n't get upright again . ZWERDLING , SHOUTING : I do n't want to work ! I just want to do this all day ! ZWERDLING : But Barratt 's already taken a water bottle out of his medical pack , and he 's yanking my legs down and strapping them to the floor because he 's in a hurry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . That 's one of the curious things about using this plane as a laboratory . You get only 25 seconds of weightlessness at a time , interrupted by periods of feeling super-heavy . So researchers have to design and conduct their zero-gravity tests in frustrating 20-second bursts . The trick for Barratt now is to squeeze a lot of water onto my eye in a hurry and get it stay there without squirting so fast that the water goes flying off in weightless drops @!BARRATT I 'm going to try to apply some water onto your eye and let the surface tension keep it there and catch it in a towel as we need to before we come out of the pull . So if you 're ready for that , we 'll go ahead and try it @!ZWERDLING So what should I do ? BARRATT : Just do n't move . And keep your eye closed until I tell you to open it @!ZWERDLING My eyes are closed @!BARRATT OK . Photographers , let 's get this on film @!ZWERDLING When you watch this experiment later on film , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he squirts onto my eye , almost half a cup 's worth , just sits there on my eyeball in a big , round quivering blob , like a sac of clear gel stuck to the eye . Except a few stray drops go floating off into the cabin like magic marbles . Then when the plane dives back into two Gs , the weightless spell is broken . And the water gushes down my face into a towel @!BARRATT That actually worked quite a bit better than I expected it would . Overall , the water stayed exactly where I put it @!ZWERDLING Why does that work ? BARRATT : Well , again , with no gravity , the prevailing force there is the surface tension @!ZWERDLING Remind us about surface tension . We learned that in school @!BARRATT Surface tension is the interaction of a fluid on a surface that tends to make it cling , make it cling to that surface . So it 's the same thing that makes your belly hurt when you belly flop into the water because you 're overcoming that surface tension to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again if you do n't mind getting a little bit wet @!ZWERDLING Whoa ! The microphone 's floating . Whoa , come back here . Come back here . Uh-oh . I think Mike is about to vomit . That 's a bad sign . And this is the part that NASA researchers keep warning about . Nobody understands yet exactly why so many people get sick on this weightless plane and why most astronauts get sick in space . They know it has something to do with the fact that when you 're weightless , your body 's complex system of keeping a sense of balance gets thrown all out of whack . Your feet do n't feel planted on the ground . You 're not sure what 's up and what 's down . The fluid in your inner ear sloshes around . And to make a long story short , Barratt and I both spent a lot of the rest of the flight hunched over our white bags , out of commission . Barratt says this is one of the little told stories of space flight @!BARRATT Well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for all our first-time flyers , about 60 to 70 percent of them get space motion sickness . So the nausea , the vomiting lasts between 24 and 72 hours . And we see that very commonly @!ZWERDLING And since there 's no way to predict who will get sick and who will feel fine from one flight to another , NASA researchers usually double up . That way if one person is incapacitated , the other can carry out the work . Fortunately , Barratt has enough good spells to test a couple of other procedures . For instance , think what happens if an astronaut has a heart attack up in space . Fortunately , it has n't happened yet . But what if it does ? You rush over to revive him or her . You start pumping the chest with CPR . And you both go flying weightless across the cabin . So Barratt and his colleagues have developed a space method @!BARRATT OK , we 'll have you lie down @!ZWERDLING You 're upside-down over me @!BARRATT Right . And I 'm going to go legs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weightless plunge again , I lie down as flat as possible , floating just above the floor . Barratt spins upside-down over me and braces his feet against the ceiling @!BARRATT And now I 'm right over you , and I 'm pushing on your chest that way @!ZWERDLING Whoa ! But if I were n't restrained , when you pushed me , I would go flying @!BARRATT That 's right . That 's why it 's very important for you to be strapped down as well @!ZWERDLING And now it 's time to land . We make our way to the seats shoved way in the back of the plane . And Barratt makes a surprising statement . He 's been studying medical problems and treatments up in space for eight years now . But he 's never actually been there @!BARRATT Well , I 've not been in space as of yet . I am a finalist for the astronaut corps this year . And I 'm awaiting word , along with 36 other brave souls , who are also finalists and went through the week-long process of interviews @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be -- if you 're picked , you 'll be up in space soon ? BARRATT : I 'm not sure soon is the word . But if I am picked , then I would eventually be able to fly . That 's correct @!ZWERDLING So what 's the first thing you 'll do in zero gravity in space ? BARRATT : It might be pulling out one of these little white bags here . LAUGHTER We 'll see . I think what most people do very quickly is look out the window at the Earth . Supposedly , it 's just a fabulous view . It 's breathtaking . And everybody I think who gets near a window has to pause and look @!ZWERDLING Mike Barratt , NASA physician , and possible astronaut , getting ready to land on the KC-135 , the weightless plane . Incidentally , Barratt called this weekend to report that his eye wash experiment was a great success . But first , he says , his colleagues scoffed when he told them he was going to try the Russian method . They said , " @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the watched the video , Barratt says , they became true believers . So NASA will use the system up in space . # 
##220873 @!DANIEL-ZWERDLING- : And now we end our Mother 's Day show with two totally different perspectives on women who give life -- to art . First , two acclaimed writers from two generations come together to muse on some of the bonds that link them to their own mothers and the uncertainties that pull them apart . Rosellen Brown in the author of four novels , including the acclaimed " Civil Wars . " And she reads an excerpt here from a letter she wrote to her mother who died recently after passing into the twilight of Azlheimer 's . ROSELLEN BROWN , WRITER : " When we were settling you into the nursing home where you live now , after another confrontation with your many incapacities , I said to you without much hope , two nurses standing at the foot of your bed introducing themselves , " Mom , while they 're here , do you have anything you want to ask them ? " " And you , gazing out the window not at a loss for words , said contemplatively smiling a little , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them if it would be possible for anyone to make a sky lovelier than that . " " " No , " I said , " I guess you ca n't . " " What a writer you would have been , mama , if you 'd wanted to or dared to -- or , like you stubborn daughter , needed to be one . " ZWERDLING : Brown 's letter is part of a new anthology of essays by alumni of Barnard College . It 's called " The Source of Spring : Mother 's Through the Eyes of Women Writers . " One of the youngest visions comes from Edwidge Danticat , not yet 30 years old . We asked both of them if they could remember the first time they realized that they were truly separate from their mothers , independent people with separate lives . Edwidge says how can she forget , she was born in Haiti . And her mother left her behind with relatives when she was 4 years old , so her mother could seek a better life as a seamstress in America . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when I was a child , she used to make us matching clothes . And my memory from very early was I remember when she had to come here being peeled off her body , because I thought that of course she 's going , I 'm going . And then people had to grab me off her , and we 're both kind of , you know , in tears . So that 's -- I remember that separation very , very early on @!BROWN I remember with -- I 'm not even sure what the emotion is . I 'm very moved to think about it . The first time my mother read one of my books . And I could see in her suddenly this astonishment that I could have done something like that . And I could see it was n't that she was pulling -- felt herself pulled away from me , but this feeling that I think so many parents have sometimes that their children have not exactly outstripped them , but have accomplished something that they could not have imagined @!ZWERDLING You wrote an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the fact that you thought your mother was a gifted writer . Her letters to the family , say , were you know incredibly articulate , yet she never had the chance to try to become a writer , as you have @!BROWN Right @!ZWERDLING Have you ever felt -- I do n't know if guilt is the word -- that you are this big success as a writer , and your mother who you think had a lot of talent , was not ? BROWN : Well , what I -- I really just -- I simply felt sorry that she had never credited herself with enough of her own talents to want to do anything with it . You know , it 's very hard to tell where ambition to do something in the world begins . She used to say , " Well , yes I -- you know , thank you for telling me I write well . I do n't really have any desire to do this thing , to make it more than what I 'm making it . " It 's me who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you could have done more . " DANTICAT : But I think in some ways that in your essay was on -- you say you should 've -- the mother should 've been the writer in the family . But I think in some ways -- and just speaking to my mother too , I feel like in a way she 's the storyteller and I 'm like sort of the person sponging off the stories . So I see my becoming a writer in some ways as my mother storytelling through me . When your becoming a writer , you know , that could have been her amazing contribution to literature was you @!ZWERDLING Edwidge Danticat , when you say you 're the teller of your mother 's stories , what do you mean ? DANTICAT : Well , I think -- my mother I think is a wonderful storyteller . You know , she carries a lot of stories with her . But we never tell them . There are things that are not to be talked about . And so she would n't talk about them . But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little bit more reckless . And the whole idea of exposure , you know sort of like you 're exposing things that maybe we should be whispering about together . And they could be small things , you know , but things that concern the , you know , family @!BROWN Well , I just wanted to add another generation to this conversation . It 's very interesting for me to think of myself as the mother of daughters as the writer . My children were terrified , I think , to read my writing , and did not hurry , did not rush to read my first couple of books when the were old enough to understand them . They put it off as long as they could , because I think that they were afraid to sort get into the mind of their mother , which I found a fascinating thing @!ZWERDLING Because why ? BROWN : There 's something scary -- well , it 's something scary about finding our what your mother as a person , as a woman , as a separate being is thinking @!ZWERDLING @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ? Is it that you might be thinking sexual thoughts that would , you know , frighten them ? BROWN : I suspect that 's part of it . I think probably sexual thoughts . But even -- maybe nothing even as specific as that . I think just the idea that your mother has so separate a mind from yours that -- you know , that she has a relation to the world in which she 's seeing things that you might not entirely comprehend or that you might not have seen , I think is really kind of threatening to a child at a certain age who feels that she knows her mother . And her mother is this person , you know , with whom she has a certain relationship . And I think they also , of course , were afraid that they might not like my writing , which would be embarrassing @!DANTICAT And I think also moms are like teachers . You know , you 're the mom . And from the daughter 's perspective , everything about your personality revolves around the daughter . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . And your behavior should always reflect , you know , your motherhood to me @!BROWN Exactly @!DANTICAT And so I think anything bigger than that , especially if it 's sort of inconsistent with that view , is frightening for the daughter @!ZWERDLING Edwidge Danticat , I 'm dying to ask now , does your mother read your writings ? I mean , Rosellen Brown said that it took a long time for her mother to read hers @!DANTICAT Every once in a while , I see , you know , my mother peeking into my book . But I 'm not sure and I 'm afraid to ask , you know ? I think there 's a part of it , too , that like Rosellen was saying you 're scared that the people you love the most wo n't like -- you know , like if -- I 'm afraid that maybe she does n't like it . But I think the fact that she has n't protested to anything in a loud voice is a good thing @!ZWERDLING If I went to your mothers and said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Edwidge Danticat , in your case I could do it . Rosellen , if I could go to heaven and ask your mother ... LAUGHTER ... I 'm wondering what would you like them -- what do you think they would say about each one of you and what would you like them to say about each one of you ? Rosellen Brown ? BROWN : I think that she would say that she was very , very proud of me and very pleased that I had taken what perhaps she finally got to understand was her own talent , but that I 'm not sure she ever entirely understood why I wanted to work so hard at doing this thing @!ZWERDLING Edwidge Danticat ? DANTICAT : I think my mother would say , because she has , that 's she 's proud of me , but that she thinks I should get married ... LAUGHTER ... and settle down . I think -- I think she 's proud of me , but worries also about me in a way that 's -- you know , we grew up during a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she understands very strongly the powers of words and how sometimes people might use what you say against you . So I know she worries about me in that way . But I think she 's proud , but also mildly concerned @!ZWERDLING Well just tell her that -- say , mom , writing books and hanging out at bookstores , that 's a great way to meet a husband . LAUGHTER Writer Edwidge Danticat and Rosellen Brown , two of the contributors to the book , " The Source of Spring : Mothers Through the Eyes of Women Writers . " # 
##220876 @!DANIEL-ZWERDLING- : And now we want to take you to a spot where you can stage your own summit , romantic perhaps , or just adventurous . Now that everybody 's planning their summer vacations , we 've decided in the coming weeks to scour the world for unusual tourist destinations , destinations with amazing views . And tonight 's stop is a hotel hidden beneath the sea off the coast of Key Largo , Florida . They call it the " Jules Undersea Lodge . " To check into your room , you have to put on scuba gear , swim out to the middle of a lagoon along Florida 's Atlantic coast , and then dive 30 feet straight down . The lodge was built originally as a marine research lab . But now less than $500 a night will buy a couple a room plus scuba instruction and food . We reached general manager Ron Peters up on land on the dock as he was preparing to head for the hotel . RON PETERS , GENERAL MANAGER , JULES UNDERSEA LODGE : Where I 'm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Key Largo , Florida . It 's rimmed with mangrove plants . So , you know , there 's a lot of vegetation around the area . It 's very tropical-looking @!ZWERDLING And are you standing on a dock , or ... PETERS : I 'm standing on a dock right now . Yes . I 'm looking down into the water , and I 'm seeing these huge parrot fish @!ZWERDLING Parrot fish . What color are those ? Sort of yellow and black , or something ? PETERS : Well , what we 've got are stoplight parrot fish . They 're red , yellow , green color , and they 've got a kind of a blue-white bill . And the one I 'm looking at right now looks to be probably two-and-a- half , three feet @!ZWERDLING That 's amazing that you 're seeing them , and you 're not even in the water yet @!PETERS No . The water right now is crystal-clear @!ZWERDLING OK , now , can you see down into the water , and can you see the hotel , the underwater hotel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a very short swim from where I am . The only thing that I can really make out distinctively from the hotel are bubbles . It 's a -- there 's a continuous air source , and the excess air escapes , and comes up to the surface , and so you see -- you have this patch of bubbles @!ZWERDLING Well , listen . Why do n't you dive down now ? Why do n't you hand the phone to one of your colleagues there standing on the dock ? And you can jump off . And we will call you once you 're 30 feet under water in your hotel @!PETERS OK . What I 'll do is go ahead . I 'm going to check my gear real quick , real quick here . And we have air , and we 're going to go ahead and walk to step right off of the edge of the dock here @!ZWERDLING You 're wearing aqualungs , I take it ? PETERS : Absolutely . OK . SOUNDBITE OF PETERS DIVING INTO THE WATER ZWERDLING : And about 15 minutes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lagoon , relishing his undersea view @!PETERS I 'm sitting right beside a huge porthole . This porthole is probably 45 inches in diameter . And I 'm looking right out at a fish , who is looking right back in at me @!ZWERDLING And wishing it could check into the hotel , probably . Now , explain this a little bit . The guests , they go into the water . They , you know , dive 30 feet down , you know , out in the lagoon , as you just did @!PETERS Right @!ZWERDLING And what do you do when you arrive at the hotel ? I mean , you 're dripping wet . You ... LAUGHTER PETERS : Well , the hotel 's about the size of , well , a little bit bigger than a two-bedroom bed-and-breakfast cottage , and it has three main areas . OK . The area that I 'm in is the salon area . That 's mainly the living spaces . The other area has two private bedrooms . And then the area that you enter is called the " wet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the guests come through a moon pool , which is about a five-by-seven-foot opening in the floor of the wet room . And they hop out , they get their wet gear off so we have showers , nice , hot freshwater showers and everything . And they get showered off and dried off in the wet room area . And then they can go into the different areas of the lodge itself @!ZWERDLING Now , I can imagine that going down to the hotel , you know , diving down into it must be an amazing experience . But maybe the novelty even there wears off after a few hours . So what sort of amenities do you have to make people , you know , entertained ? PETERS : Many people come here , and they just want the experience of sleeping under water overnight . But many more people come , and they participate in different training programs . We do underwater archaeology and , you know , different things like that @!ZWERDLING So you go looking at wrecks and stuff like that ? PETERS : Right . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Spanish galleon wreck . We have marine lab , which is another habitat we teach marine biology and oceanography out of @!ZWERDLING Now , what if after all this you just want to cuddle in your room with your honey and order room service ? PETERS : We can do that . We have -- we have a chef that dives down and prepares meals for you @!ZWERDLING Fish , I hope @!PETERS We do have sushi , which is kind of neat . You 're sitting here eating sushi and looking out the window and watching your dinner 's cousin swim by @!ZWERDLING Well , listen , before we go , tell us what 's the most amazing thing a guest has ever seen out their bedroom or salon window @!PETERS Well , we ... LAUGHTER We did have a couple one time who were kind of startled at a large pair of eyes and a really , really fuzzy-looking nose , pressed up against the glass . And it happened to be a manatee @!ZWERDLING Aww @!PETERS And I guess this one was kind of curious at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressed right up against the window @!ZWERDLING Hotel manager Ron Peters , speaking to us from his room at the Jules Undersea Lodge off Key Largo , Florida , in the Emerald Lagoon. # 