Program Points on the Web
Welcome to WRVO's Program Points I'm your host, Fred Vigeant. I'm the Program Director for WRVO.  I'm here to point out a few highlights you can hear on-air as well as some highlights you should know about that you can find online.  Let me know your thoughts on programming.  Send me an email to fred@wrvo.fm

NPR's Story of the Day: The Congo River Beginning Monday on Morning Edition, a week-long series on the legacy and culture of the Congo River from NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton (picture right, photo credit: Jacques Coughlin.)  Here is the series in detail: Part One - Monday Early explorers David Livingston and Henry Morton Stanley searched for the source of the Congo River, which begins near the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Stanley set up a historic and remote Belgian colonial outpost in present-day Kisangani in the then-undeveloped (Belgian) Congo Free State. In Kisangani, Ofeibea Quist-Arcton speaks with some of the ancestors of the Wagenia fishing community with whom Stanley signed agreements. Part Two - Tuesday The size of Western Europe, Congo has barely 300 miles of paved road to its name. Yet in central Congo sits the equatorial town of Mbandaka, the most important transit point along the powerful Congo River. Mbandaka is where the local inhabitants board barges to take them and their goods up and down the river, providing for communities that have little other access to the outside world. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton has the story. Part Three - Wednesday The mighty Congo River delivers the lion's share of goods to the Congo interior, and the main means of transporting goods on the river is by barge. Life aboard those barges is colorful, crowded and cacophonous. Humans are cheek-by-jowl with a menagerie, including monkeys, goats, eagles and turtles -- some are pets, some are dinner. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton boards a barge to ride down the river. Part Four - Thursday The experience of living on a barge on the Congo River is one of security and immigration checkpoints, river bathing, and daily commerce. Women, men and children from river communities travel via dugout canoes with provisions to sell to boat residents. Sometimes an entire morning can be taken up with trading and bartering sculpted wooden items, charcoal, fuel, and foods like pineapples, plantain, breads and freshly caught fish. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports on a day-in-the-life of a barge. Part Five - Friday With the Congo capital of Kinshasa in sight, barge passengers are ready to reach terra firma. Yet rituals precede the barge's arrival at its final destination, as temporary barge-wives who cook and look after the barge crew receive their due - the kabola - before the men return to their families. In the final piece of the series, NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton explains the tradition and assesses the legacy and significance of the river, 50 years after Congo's turbulent independence.

The Human Edge As scientists piece together the best picture yet of how evolution created modern humans, NPR highlights key attributes that gave us the competitive advantage over other species and explores how we acquired these characteristics, skills and abilities. This series airs weekly on Morning Edition, with occasional pieces on All Things Considered. Here are selected stories ahead in the series: Guts, Teeth And Fire Morning Edition, Mon., Aug. 2 What were the big changes that propelled us to become the dominant species on the planet? Our feet, our hands, our teeth, our shoulders -- even our gut -- changed over time and led to the evolution of modern humans. Chris Joyce reports. Throwing All Things Considered, Mon., Aug. 2 Walking on two legs set our ancient ancestors on the path to becoming human, but our hands and shoulders changed dramatically as well. Christopher Joyce discovers that gaining the ability to aim and throw objects gave our forbearers a big evolutionary advantage. Three Pounds Of Jelly Morning Edition, Mon., Aug. 9 Jon Hamilton explains how our three pounds of cranial jelly is different from our primate relatives. From Beads To Books All Things Considered, Mon., Aug. 9 Alix Spiegel explores how the emergence of symbolic thinking - in which internal images represent objects, persons, and events that are not present - underpins everything from self consciousness and language, to art and government. Talking Morning Edition, Mon., Aug. 16 John Hamilton looks at some of the theories about how and why humans acquired a language setting them apart from every other creature. Playing Fair All Things Considered, Mon., Aug. 16 Joe Palca examines whether the ability to play fair does carry an evolutionary benefit, and where the human sense of fairness might have come from. Researchers in Atlanta have concluded that this sense is not unique - chimpanzees and monkeys also seem to know when they're being treated unfairly, and when it happens, like humans, they get annoyed. Crime in the City Morning Edition's series on crime novelists and the cities that inspire them returns this summer in four parts, beginning Monday August 9th. Trenton, New Jersey Mon., Aug. 9 Take a tour around Trenton with Janet Evanovich, author of the Stephanie Plum crime series, for some of the Garden State's finer qualities -- great Italian food, vibrant ethnic neighborhoods and some "interesting" personalities. Evanovich shows NPR's Pam Fessler the Trenton that inspired her. Sun Valley, Idaho Tues., Aug. 10 Suspense novelist Ridley Pearson showcases Sun Valley, as navigated by his character Sheriff Walt Fleming. Linda Wertheimer reports. Los Angeles Thurs., Aug. 12 Naomi Hirahara, author of the mystery series featuring Japanese-American gardener-turned-sleuth Mas Arai, takes Karen Grigsby Bates on a tour through an inelegant part of downtown L.A. San Francisco Fri., Aug. 13 Mystery author Marcia Muller has penned nearly 30 books detailing the work of private detective Sharon McCone in San Francisco. Mandalit del Barco reports.