NPR, Radio West

I know that Kerry Jackson of Radio From Hell fame has a man crush on Doug Fabrizio from KUER's Radio West. And really, why wouldn't you?

I have listened to Radio West on and off throughout the years and love his topics of discussion. My favorites are when he discusses books with their authors. One that has always stuck with me is his interview with Ken Silverstein, the author of The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor.  I listened to this interview back in 2004 and was fascinated. Of course, this was when I listened to his rebroadcast interviews at 7pm driving home from Simmons because that's when I was lucky to get off of work that early... but I digress. His show is great. He makes you want to buy the book. So, of course I added it to my 100+ item Amazon.com wish list. And, I still haven't read it, but I will. One day.

(I also was listening to Doug the day he interviewed Nancy Workman and she walked out. It was awesome. Here was the exchange. And reading it here really doesn't do it justice:
Workman: "Oh my goodness. Hey, if you're gonna talk like that..."
Fabrizio: "Talk like what?"
Workman: "See you later, Doug. Thank you very much.")

Anyway, the reason I am writing this post? I was listening to Radio West on Friday night (October 22) as I was driving home, yes 7pm, and heard this wonderful, amazing interview. Doug was out of the office, so Jennifer Napier Pearce was filling in. The interviewee was Reza Aslan, a scholar with crazy credentials. He is a Muslim, born in Tehran, and well spoken with an amazing view on religion, humanism, and our world. I was so impressed with his interview. Ms. Pearce played a clip of former Pres. Bush talking after the September 11 attacks and obviously wanted him to say something degrading about Pres. Bush, but instead of doing that, he spoke with common sense. (Quite honestly, the clip was sort of out of context of the discussion they were having and I think she wanted to incite reaction from him - thanks NPR! - and he didn't feed into it at all.) Please listen to this interview (yes, it's an hour long) here.

Radio West Interview with Reza Aslan

What impressed, excited, heartened me the most? Mr. Aslan's contention is that the phrase "The War on Terror" feeds into Al Queda and what they view as their mission. By calling the war in Iraq and Afghanistan a war on terror turns Al Queda members into soldiers and thus justifies their cause. This is the problem with "The War on Terror." He says it so much more eloquently than I do here and makes the case that Al Queda does not represent the Muslim world, which so many of us try to point out, but are drowned out by the loud far-right wing members of our society.

Why am I so passionate about this? My little sister was just married two weeks ago. She married a Muslim man. But, it's not how I identify him first. He's funny, he loves the Lakers (boo!), he's from Afghanistan, he's taller than me and he is madly in love with my sister and will take care of her for the rest of her life. He makes her laugh. A lot. And, yes he is Muslim and doesn't eat pork and misses out on eating my grandpa's sausage, but who cares. He is a good man. We love him. His family is a good family. His mom makes really good rice too if you want the recipe.

Noelle and my brother-in-law Gharzai

So, if you want to hear Mr. Aslan speak, he will be at the Salt Lake City Library tomorrow night, October 25 at 7pm. It's free. Here's the info. And, he has also written a couple of books. So, I have added another to my 100+ item Amazon.com wish list. And I will read that one too.