The State of Things

In 1970, Ariel Dorfman went to work for Chilean President Salvador Allende. Allende's government was to usher in a new era of equality in Chile. But in 1973, the government was overthrown, Allende died and Dorfman went into exile. Dorfman's new memoir “Feeding on Dreams: Confessions of an Unrepentant Exile” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/2011), follows him from the time he left Chile and chronicles his attempts to return to his homeland. Host Frank Stasio speaks with Dorfman about the book.

Construction on a new housing facility for homeless veterans in Raleigh is underway. Almost 600 vets are eking out an existence in Wake County alone, and the new complex – built by CASA, a community housing nonprofit – will only house 10, but it’s a start. Others around the state are trying to deal with the problem as well, including the Durham VA, and Barbara Marshall, a veteran helping homeless female vets in Fayetteville.

Doug Glanville’s passion for baseball came early in life. As soon as he could walk, he was encouraged to play. The early start paid off; Glanville was signed to the Chicago Cubs in 1996. His passion for writing came later. Inspired by media coverage of the steroid scandal that rocked baseball in the late 1990s, Glanville decided to become a voice for baseball players, occasionally contributing columns to the New York Times. He’s since retired from the sport, but he continues to write and in 2010, he authored a memoir called “The Game from Where I Stand” (Times Books). Glanville now lives in Raleigh and works as a baseball analyst for ESPN. He joins host Frank Stasio to talk playoffs, performance enhancing drugs and the power of the pen.

In 2003, Vamsi Tadepalli was looking to form a band. He knew a lot of great musicians from his time as a music major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but he wanted to play really crowd-pleasing stuff - songs that would make audiences jump to their feet and dance. Tadepalli found his groove in the music of pop icon Michael Jackson. That next year, he founded Who’s Bad?, a tribute band that puts a funky, jazzy spin on Jackson’s hits. The group quickly grew in popularity with college crowds and eventually began traveling all over the world to perform, selling out venues in China the UK. Tonight, Who’s Bad? returns to their hometown to play at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro.

In his new novel, "Nightwoods" (Random House/2011), acclaimed writer Charles Frazier returns to the familiar setting of North Carolina's Appalachian mountains. This time, the action takes place in the 20th century, instead of the 19th, but some familiar themes run through all of Frazier's works. As in "Cold Mountain" and "Thirteen Moons," characters are defined in part by their relationship to the land and their quest for peace in the face of violence.

Architects view the world through a much different lens than most of us. What we see as the squares and rectangles of ordinary buildings, they see as proportion used artfully and skillful design conforming to the needs of modern life. The Triangle chapter of the American Institute of Architects hopes to share this passion for design with its second tour of well-designed residences this weekend.

When film crews were in Durham a couple of years ago making the movie "Main Street," crowds turned out to glimpse stars including Colin Firth, Orlando Bloom, Ellen Burstyn and Patricia Clarkson. The movie gets its local premiere tomorrow night at Durham's Carolina Theatre. Host Frank Stasio talks with Yvette Bickoff, one of the film's producers, and Reyn Bowman, former head of the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau, about the role the Bull City plays in "Main Street" and Durham's long show-biz career.

The life of indie musician Alina Simone has been anything but ordinary. After releasing an album sung entirely in Russian and attending a male strip show in Siberia, she is now breaking new territory as an author. Simone’s debut book, “You Must Go and Win,” is a collection of essays that chronicles her bizarre adventures through the music world. She’s also released a new CD called “Make Your Own Danger,” which was influenced by her time in North Carolina.

Nearly 55 million Americans live in communities that are governed by homeowners associations, or HOAs. In exchange for dues, residents have access to neighborhood amenities like pools, parks and club houses. But more and more, HOAs are responsible for providing services and maintenance once offered by city and municipal governments – like trash pick-up and sewage system repairs.

A complicated terrorism trial began unfolding in federal court in New Bern last week. Facing charges are Omar Hassan, 24, Ziyad Yaghi, 23, and Hysen Sherifi, 27. The three men are accused of belonging to a home-grown terrorist network, a web that stretches from the rural Wake County hamlet of Willow Spring to the Middle East. At the center of this web is a man named Daniel Boyd. Boyd pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to “murder, kidnap, injure or maim” people overseas. The charges carry a possible life sentence.