Every week, KQED airs some of the best programs from independent radio producers and public radio networks around the world.

Radio Daily Schedule

OVERNIGHT

12:00 am

News & Notes
Farai Chideya
Unemployed and Struggling -- Host Farai Chideya checks in with James Smith, an unemployed Southern California veteran who is considering going overseas to find work. The program first spoke with James in December of last year.

2:00 am

It's Your World (formerly World Affairs Council)
Microfinance Solutions for Today's Economy -- As we seek to rescue, repair and sensibly regulate our financial industry, what can we learn from financial services designed for the poor? Why are microfinance, micro-insurance and other approaches more resilient, more reliable and more stable? The grandfather of microfinance, Muhammad Yunus joins the program to discuss how these strategies may be applied to the United States in this time of financial crisis. Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

3:00 am

Morning Edition
Mr. Burris Goes to Washington -- Roland Burris is ready for the Senate seat Governor Blagojevich appointed him to fill. But the Senate isn't quite ready for Burris. Burris says you can call him what you like -- but claims he's the Senator and will be seated. The program takes a close look at Mr. Burris' rocky road to Washington.

MORNING

9:00 am

Forum
Michael Krasny
BART Police Shooting -- Early New Years Day, a BART policeman shot and killed a 22 year-old Hayward man. A video of the incident reveals that the slain man was lying face down when he was shot in the back. The shooting has prompted community outrage and a planned $25 million lawsuit by the Hayward man's family. We discuss the incident and the role of BART police. And at 9:30am: The Crisis in the Congo -- Over the past 10 years, the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed more than 5.4 million lives and continues to take an estimated 45,000 lives every month. Rape is routinely used as a weapon of war. In the second half hour, we examine the human rights situation in the Congo with guests including Robin Wright Penn, actor and activist working to create awareness of the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and John Prendergast, former director of African Affairs at the National Security Council and co-chair of The Enough Project, an organization working to end genocide and crimes against humanity in Africa. Wright Penn and Prendergast will appear in conversation at a screening of the documentary "The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo" at the Rafael Theater in San Rafael on Saturday, January 10.

10:00 am

Forum
Michael Krasny
Al' America -- San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Jonathan Curiel joins us to discuss his new book, "Al' America: Travels Through America's Arab and Islamic Roots."

11:00 am

Talk of the Nation
Neal Conan
America's Influence on Israel -- The United States is the one country that holds real sway with Israel. The U.S. provides some $3 billion a year in military aide, plus considerable diplomatic and political support. How should the U.S. best exercise and direct its influence on Israel?

AFTERNOON

12:00 pm

Talk of the Nation
Neal Conan
Blue Note Records -- Blue Note Records has been connecting jazz fans with the music for 70 years. The program looks back on some of those years, and hears the music of legendary Blue Note artists such as Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock.

1:00 pm

Fresh Air
Terry Gross
James Fallows - China and the U.S. Economy -- Why has China invested about $2 trillion in U.S. treasury notes and other holdings, and what would it mean for our economy if China decided to sell? The program talks with China-based journalist James Fallows. He's the national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, and author of the new book "Postcards from Tomorrow Square."

2:00 pm

World
Living Among the Ruins -- Real estate developers in the Middle East can't break ground without hitting ancient ruins. One Beirut developer dug up a Roman bathhouse - and decided to build his new high-rise around it. The program reports on new ways to preserve antiquities, and gets the latest news from Gaza.

4:00 pm

Marketplace
Kai Ryssdal
A Sticky Situation for New Infrastructure Spending -- Obama's road to economic recovery might just be paved with asphalt. That is, if there's enough of it to go around. As the program reports, a shortage of the sticky material could bog down the president-elect's investment in infrastructure.

4:30 pm

All Things Considered
Terror in Gaza -- Violence continued in the Gaza Strip today as reports surfaced of an Israeli strike on a school that killed more than 30 people. The program talks with Ahmed Abu Hamda, a Gaza resident and a news producer for many news networks, including NPR. He says the situation is getting worse in the territory with supplies running low and panicked residents.

EVENING

6:30 pm

Marketplace
Kai Ryssdal
A Sticky Situation for New Infrastructure Spending -- Obama's road to economic recovery might just be paved with asphalt. That is, if there's enough of it to go around. As the program reports, a shortage of the sticky material could bog down the president-elect's investment in infrastructure.

7:00 pm

Fresh Air
Terry Gross
James Fallows - China and the U.S. Economy -- Why has China invested about $2 trillion in U.S. treasury notes and other holdings, and what would it mean for our economy if China decided to sell? The program talks with China-based journalist James Fallows. He's the national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, and author of the new book "Postcards from Tomorrow Square."

8:00 pm

City Arts & Lectures
Toni Morrison -- Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, editor and professor, Toni Morrison is best known for her richly detailed and epic novels. In her last nine novels, including "Beloved," "Paradise" and "Song of Solomon," she has focused on the particular joys and sorrows in the lives of African-American women. As both a writer and editor -- Morrison was at Random House for 18 years -- she has made it her mission to elevate African-American voices into American literature. In 1993, Morrison became the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her newest novel, "A Mercy" revisits some of her most familiar themes, revealing what lies beneath the surface of slavery and exploring how acts of mercy often have unforeseen consequences. Morrison appeared in conversation with KQED's Michael Krasny on November 21, 2008.

11:00 pm

All Things Considered
Homegrown Music: Experimental Music in D.C. -- In a city filled to the brim with politicians, lobbyists and lawyers, a thriving experimental music scene bubbles, burps, beeps and squeals just out of sight and brings together electronic, classical, jazz and rock musicians and composers. The scene is bound together not only by the excitement of experimentation, but by the lack of a sense of competitiveness and the cold realization that no one is going to make money off of this music.