The River Is Wide

Series produced by Susan J. Cook

Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
Image by: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets" 
It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day... 

The River Is Wide is one listener's complement to public radio as media that has always made room for thoughtful discourse about human decency and prevention of harm. Written by a psychologist and political activist, The River Is Wide presents Citizen's Guides, The Dept of Poetic Justice (with lyrics for the Great American Wrongbook", The Indifference Diaries, sonnets when no other format seems appropriate, an ode here and there In the Department of Poetic Justice, Sixty-second Moral Inquiries and brief commentaries. Public radio can be a muse and PRX has become the pen and paper, yes, for many letter-to-the-editor writers, including this one.The series began after a local editor refused to publish a letter he called "uncivil" which criticized a political candidate for a failure to acknowledge human rights violations by the Chinese in his appeal to bring Chinese business to Maine. At a public forum, the Candidate for Governor was asked why he ignored this Chinese indifference to human rights. He replied, "What? Bring it on," he sneered. The censorship of "The humble Farmer" by Maine Public broadcasting for speaking against the Iraq War also influenced the creation of this series. We hope there will never come a day when the public conscience (and mine) ignore a flagrant omission of concern for human rights. Speaking truth to power about those omissions is the task of The River Is Wide series.

The series began rowing when a local editor refused to publish a letter criticizing a political candidate for a failure to acknowledge human rights violations by the Chinese government calling it "uncivil". When the former Candidate for Governor (who in 2022 was convicted as a child pornographer) at a public forum was asked why he ignored the human rights violations, he replied, "What? Bring it on," he sneered. Another inspiration has been the censorship of "The humble Farmer" by Maine Public broadcasting for speaking against the Iraq War. Citizen's Guides, The Indifference Diaries, sonnets and odes In the Department of Poetic Justice, and Sixty Second Moral Inquiries speak to issues that the public conscience (and mine) won't let us ignore and speak truth to power (everyone else's) especially surrounding freedom of speech in the media, injustice and harm. Hide full description

The series began rowing when a local editor refused to publish a letter criticizing a political candidate for a failure to acknowledge human rights violations by the Chinese government calling it "uncivil". When the former Candidate for Governor (who in 2022 was convicted as a child pornographer) at a public forum was asked why he ignored the human rights violations, he replied, "What? Bring it on," he sneered. Another inspiration has been the censorship of "The humble Farmer" by Maine Public broadcasting for speaking against the Iraq War. Citizen's Guides, The Indifference Diaries, sonnets and odes In the Department of Poetic Justice, and Sixty Second Moral Inquiries speak to issues that the public conscience (and mine) won't let us ignore and speak truth to power (everyone else's)... Show full description


318 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Three Poems for These Times
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: "When loss and innocence...", Credit: Susan Cook
Three poems of loss, courage and resilience for these times.

  • Added: Nov 08, 2023
  • Length: 03:06
Why Women Don't Tell, Part 3: The Cultural Anomie that Keeps Violence Toward Women Hidden in Broad Daylight
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Piece image
The arrest of a Fifth Avenue architect as the alleged serial murderer of several women brings up the question of whether anyone over that long peri...

Bought by RadioFreePalmer


  • Added: Jul 21, 2023
  • Length: 08:36
  • Purchases: 1
Sonnet for Looking for China
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: Forget-me-knots in bloom..., Credit: Susan Cook
From the Spring 2023 Maine Arts Journal. A poem on the intricacies of grieving.

  • Added: May 18, 2023
  • Length: :59
An American Sonnet for The Woman Who Is a Journalist
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: From a buddhist center "...the cellular call, compassion..., Credit: Susan Cook
During National Poetry Month, an American Sonnet to bring us to know better the women journalists of Ukraine.

Bought by RadioFreePalmer


  • Added: Apr 06, 2023
  • Length: 01:17
  • Purchases: 1
A Sonnet for the Quantum Mechanics of Poetry
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: "...to a wider grasp...", Credit: Susan J Cook
Poetry best helps us grasp the Quantum Mechanics topic of the latest Nobel Prize in Physics.

  • Added: Dec 09, 2023
  • Length: 01:03
Shaming and Humiliating By Choice: Roe v. Wade and Denying Consequence
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: At the 1996 Dem National Convention, at the beginning of the Platform debate, women protested for the right to choose..., Credit: New York Times, August 28, 1996
As 6 Supreme Court Justices end Roe v. Wade, shaming and humiliating Pro-Choice advocates becomes the anti-choice strategy.

  • Added: May 21, 2022
  • Length: 06:13
Tell Me How Many Black Seabirds
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Piece image
In these times, a poem for the places we find resilience.

  • Added: Mar 11, 2022
  • Length: 01:02
Auld Lang Syne Repurposing the Bottom Line To Hear For Whom The Bell Tolls!
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: It is so hard to write you this sonnet/because I long for you in another way/ I want to make it like ''Shall I compare thee to a summer day?:"But then there was that summer day..., Credit: Susan Cook "Prologue to "Breathing: American Sonnets"
This year, even with its dashed hopes and fear of "deja vu all over again" an abundance of good prevailed.

  • Added: Dec 30, 2021
  • Length: 03:45
Finding Moral Ground: The Limits of Logic and the Abstraction of Deitys in These Times
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: ...finding moral ground..., Credit: Susan J. Cook
Moral Development thinkers of the 1960's and 70's helped make sense of those polarized times. The "moral" twist of these times is often reduced to ...

  • Added: Aug 05, 2019
  • Length: 07:35
A Citizen's Guide to Political Gamesmanship and Environmental Contamination
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: Gravel pits fall under Maine mining regulations
Winning is the short view of Political gamesmanship.Fake news creation is part and parcel of it. Environmental contamination is the long view when ...

  • Added: Feb 10, 2014
  • Length: 07:50
A Congressional Guide to The Problem of Pretending To Be Someone That You Are Not
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: Who is it- really?, Credit: Susan Cook
Thank Former Congressman Weiner for reminding us of what civilization loses when we pretend to be someone that we are not- online or in life.

  • Added: Jun 20, 2011
  • Length: 01:36
The Cavalier and Their Ponies: An Historical Allegory on Public Radio Managment
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: The Ponies would act fast when funding was cut. , Credit: Susan Cook
Long ago, The Cavalier, horsemen who helped Charles I fight off The Roundheads, created "Dos and Don'ts" for choosing the Ponies to stand by them ...

  • Added: May 17, 2011
  • Length: 01:36
The Birth of Managed Care: An Historical Allegory
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Piece image
The birth of managed care was surrounded by sounds called Click and Clack coming from an AM car radio.

  • Added: Apr 27, 2011
  • Length: 01:00
The Joy of Derequiring: A New Word for New Health Care Policy
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: Derequired?, Credit: Susan Cook
We need a new word for those who think "required" health care coverage is pesky and unconstitutional.

  • Added: Apr 21, 2011
  • Length: :57
Managed Car:210 Seconds on How To Triple Car Insurance Premiums
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Piece image
Think Managed Care has changed health care? Wait until your car insurance company switches to Managed Car!

Bought by WEZU


  • Added: Apr 09, 2011
  • Length: 04:16
  • Purchases: 1
Behind the Counter: What Labor Really Looks Like
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Piece image
See what Labor looks like and does at your local convenience store.

  • Added: Apr 02, 2011
  • Length: :57
75 seconds on When The Wind Blew:Reading the Constitution With The Representative From Tennessee
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Piece image
How NPR Lost Funding

  • Added: Mar 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:00
My We-Contained Democrat
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Piece image
If we live in a we-contained world, shouldn't we all be Democrats?

  • Added: Mar 10, 2011
  • Length: :59
And Always From Behind: Where Women Are Now
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: Keep your hands off my character, Credit: Susan Cook
International Women's Day is a time for women to acknowledge how women are discredited by others. And yes women too discredit women. All of this c...

  • Added: Mar 09, 2011
  • Length: 04:00
Bringing The Truck To Yoga
From: Susan J. Cook
Series: The River Is Wide
Caption: And if yoga can't help?
I am trying to care for the health of someone special by bringing him to my yoga class and his insurance is required!!..

  • Added: Feb 23, 2011
  • Length: 01:00

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