WAMU 88.5 : Community

About WAMU 88.5's Community Minute

September 4, 2011

WAMU 88.5's Community Minute is a community service, designed to help the station better engage with our listeners and the local organizations that help improve the quality of their lives.

The daily broadcast provides information about community organizations working to improve lives in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. During each month, we will feature two topics in Washington and one in the Ocean City area, and provide local resources for learning more. Online, we'll give more information about both the topics and the groups we mention on-air. Check back often to find out about the organizations working hard to help our community!

Arts & Culture

NPR

The Fat Lady Sings For New York City Opera

The New York City Opera will close its doors this month after 70 years of production. Guest host Celeste Headlee talks to composer Anthony Davis whose work X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X premiered at the opera almost 30 years ago.

Food

NPR

Labor-Starved Pear Farmers Buckle Under Bumper Crop

The majority of the nation's pears grow in the Pacific Northwest, and this year's harvest is predicted to be one of the largest in history. But farmers are facing a shortfall that's been plaguing many agricultural industries: not enough workers to pick the fruit.

Politics

NPR

Has The US Forgotten Egypt?

Political unrest in Egypt might seem low on the list of concerns for the U.S. government. But one commentator says the situation there needs to be dealt with swiftly. Guest host Celeste Headlee speaks with Shadi Hamid, of the Brookings Doha Center, about the risks of forgetting Egypt.

Technology

NPR

Wanted: A New Generation Of High-Tech Aviation Workers

Millions of U.S. factory jobs have been lost in the past decade. Now, in North Carolina, high school students are being encouraged to think about taking manufacturing jobs. But this isn't the furniture-making or textile labor of generations past — it's a new kind of highly technical work in aviation.