WFDU-FM Presents a New Public Radio Documentary Examining India’s Rise as an Emerging Superpower
Teaneck, N.J. (June 12, 2009) — WFDU-FM (89.1), the global voice of Fairleigh Dickinson University, will broadcast a major new public radio documentary, “India Rising,” at 6 a.m. on Sunday, June 28.Mark Twain called India a place of “splendor and rags … palaces and hovels … famine and pestilence.” A century later in this one-hour documentary, David Brown and an award-winning team of reporters follow in Twain’s footsteps. They find Twain’s land of “fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty” now faces enormous challenges in its quest for superpower status.
Another story looks at the tension between the urban economic boom and the underdeveloped rural areas of modern-day India. It profiles India’s highly educated workforce while revealing, as one observer says, that “India can send rockets to the moon but can’t send tractors to the farm.”
Another segment starts with the recent hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” and then places the movie in the context of real lives in India with a visit to Asia’s largest slum, the sprawling Dharavi neighborhood of Mumbai.
Near the end of the program, Brown provides a stunning first-person essay about India through American eyes after he finds leftover rupees in his billfold.
Listen for “India Rising” on WFDU-FM (89.1) at 6 a.m. on Sunday, June 28. For those who prefer streaming on the Web, go to www.wfdu.fm
“India Rising” is produced by Simon Marks of Feature Story News, and Keith Porter and Kristin McHugh of the Stanley Foundation. The program is presented in association with KQED, San Francisco and KUT, Austin.
For more information and mp3 files of the full program and segments, go to http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/radio.cfm
