HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today …
We play some hip-hop music …
answer a question about pizza …
and, tell about the new popularity of one of America’s firstpresidents.
John Adams
HOST:
A recent book by American history writer David McCullough hasrenewed interest in America’s second president, John Adams. ShepO’Neal tells us more.
ANNCR:
Very few people in history have left a record as clear as JohnAdams. He carried a small book with him every day in which he wroteabout his experiences. He also wrote thousands of letters to hisfamily members and friends.
History experts say John Adams has not been remembered as widelyas President Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the famous AmericanDeclaration of Independence. Yet the experts say it was John Adamswho was greatly responsible for the approval of the Declaration ofIndependence. It was also John Adams who worked to have GeorgeWashington lead the army. And it was John Adams who demanded a fairlegal system for the new country.
He made sure that all court systems of the United States areseparate from other parts of the government.
David McCullough’s new book describes John Adams’ personal andpolitical life. It tells of the events that took place around him.It tells of the thousands of kilometers he traveled and the dangershe faced.
Mister McCullough’s book is also a love story. Abigail Adams wasthe second president’s wife and friend. She was also a politicaladvisor to whom he always listened. During their long marriage theywrote thousands of letters to each other about their ideas andfeelings.
Recently, Mister McCullough appeared before Congress to supportlegislation to build a memorial to John Adams in Washington. MisterMcCullough said no one except George Washington was more importantin winning our independence and establishing our government thanJohn Adams. He never failed to answer the call to serve his country.
Congress is now preparing the legislation needed to provide landin Washington for a memorial to John Adams. The memorial will bebuilt with money given by private citizens.
Pizza
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Burma. Aye Ayethweasks how to prepare the Italian food known as pizza.
Pizza has a bread-like crust that is covered with tomato sauce,cheese and vegetables or meat. History experts say the idea of usingbread to hold other foods began with the Greeks. They ate flatbreads baked with oil, garlic and onions. The Romans also made asimilar food. By the eighteenth century, the word “pizza” haddeveloped from the Latin word “picea.”
Experts say Raffaele Esposito of Naples, Italy baked the firstmodern pizza in Eighteen-Eighty-Nine. The stories say he baked pizzaespecially for the visit of the Italian King and Queen. He made hispizza in the colors of the Italian flag – green herbs, whitemozzarella cheese and red tomatoes. The popularity of the food soonspread to Northern Italy and Europe.
People from Italy brought pizza to the United States in the lasthalf of the nineteenth century. Gennaro Lombardi opened the firstAmerican pizza shop in New York City in Nineteen-Oh-Five. But it wasnot until after World War Two that pizza became popular in America.That was when American soldiers demanded pizza they had eaten inItaly.
Experts say the best pizza in the world is still made in Naples.Today, people all over the world make and love pizza. Why? Becauseit is fun to eat and tastes great.
Pizza makers mix flour, yeast, salt and water for the crust. Theyform it into a large circular pie. They put tomato sauce and cheeseon the crust. They may add onions, mushrooms, peppers or meat. Thenthey bake it in an extremely hot oven.
Many Americans do not make their own pizza. They go to a pizzarestaurant. Or they send out for it. This means they telephone alocal pizza shop, order their favorite kind of pizza and wait for astore worker to bring it to their house.
All this talk about pizza has made me hungry. Maybe I will sendout for some pizza for lunch!
Hip Hop Music Conference
((BRIDGE: I JUST WANNA LOVE YOU, instrumental))
HOST:
The first yearly conference on hip-hop music took place in NewYork City last month. More than three-hundred rap music artists,producers, reporters, politicians, and spiritual leaders gatheredfor three days of discussions. They talked about the influence ofhip-hop music on America’s young people and its future. ShirleyGriffith tells us about hip-hop.
ANNCR:
Hip-hop music is also known as rap. It began about thirty yearsago in the streets of New York City. Since then, the music hasbecome a two-thousand-million dollar cultural force. Its popularityhas spread beyond the black youth culture that created it. Now,seventy-five percent of hip-hop records are bought by white people.And the worldwide market continues to expand. Here is popular rapartist Eminem with the song, “The Real Slim Shady.”
((CUT 1: THE REAL SLIM SHADY))
Political leaders, religious leaders and even some fans havedenounced rap music for using bad words and describing violent actsin songs. Rap singers have been criticized for spreading messages ofhate against women and homosexuals in some of their songs.
The main idea of the hip-hop conference was “taking backresponsibility.” The rap industry is fighting to prevent thegovernment from establishing laws to control hip-hop music.
The people at the meeting agreed on a plan of action. Theypromised to create coalitions among people in the music industry andsocial organizations.
They agreed to establish more programs to help young people. Theypromised to protect young people from adult material in their songs.They also agreed to work to protect rap music from what theyconsider attacks on freedom of speech.
We leave you now with another popular rap song. Doctor Dre andSnoop Dogg perform “The Next Episode.”
((CUT 2: THE NEXT EPISODE ))
HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And Ihope you will join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC-VOA’sradio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by Cynthia Kirk, NancySteinbach and Paul Thompson. Our studio engineer was Paula Hickey.And our producer was Caty Weaver.