Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - March 18, 2013

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Mar. 18

4:00 - St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography
Ireland's patron saint has long been shrouded in legend: he drove the snakes out of Ireland; he triumphed over Druids and their supernatural powers; he used a shamrock to explain the Christian mystery of the Trinity. But his true story is more fascinating than the myths. We have no surviving image of Patrick, but we do have two remarkable letters that he wrote about himself and his beliefs -- letters that tell us more about the heart and soul of this man than we know about almost any of his contemporaries. Philip Freeman is here to tell the story of the historic Patrick and his world.

4:20 - The Irish American Chronicle
The phrase Irish-American brings scores of images to mind: the color green, a Saint Patrick's Day parade, Notre Dame, potatoes, a fisherman's sweater, a boisterous drunk, the Catholic Church, and names that start with "O" or "Mc.” Probably farther down the list would be James Hoban, the man who designed the White House, President Andrew Jackson, Henry Ford, William Randolph Hearst, Henry James, Davy Crockett, Princess Grace, Georgia O'Keeffe, Sam Snead, Bill Bradley, and labor leaders like Mother Jones and George Meany, who championed the rights of working men and women. Following yesterday’s St. Patrick’s Day, Thomas Fleming is here to look at the Irish American experience.

4:40 – Brain explosion: big neuroscience teams up with Obama
In the recent State of the Union address, President Obama has said he will commit the United States to a ten-year project to build a comprehensive map of the activity of the brain. He believes that the proposed Brain Activity Map is an economic gold mine, arguing that the Human Genome Project, for example, produced $141 in economic activity for every $1 invested. Our guest, Denyse O’Leary, has many reservations. She says it may not even turn out to advance the cause of science or help society and is fraught with moral peril. She makes her case.

5:00 – The Transformation of the American Democratic Republic PART 2
Two weeks ago Stephen Krason joined us to consider whether the Founding Fathers’ vision of the American democratic republic has been transformed and if so, in what ways. We made it only about half-way through his very important book so Stephen joins us again today. We look to the basic principles of the Founding Fathers, we discuss changes that resulted from evolving contemporary attitudes about and approaches to government, and we consider how contemporary law and public policy might be reshaped in accordance with the religious principles and cultural norms of the eighteenth century and earlier.