In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

For this week's Newswrarp, Todd Stacy, Host of Alabama Public Television's Capitol Journal, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson of In Focus about Alabama's efforts to boost the workforce. He also discusses Congresswoman Terri Sewell's commitment to supporting Alabama's capital city, despite the new Congressional district lines.Stacy's Wildcard is a heartwarming tribute to a special dog.

Carol Connare, Editor of The Old Farmer's Almanac, joins The Storyline book series  and talks with Carolyn Hutcheson of In Focus about the popular publication's founding in 1792 by Robert Thomas. She will visit again each season with the Almanac's Deep South weather predictions and share more articles and oddities from the Almanac.

Approximately fourteen Rosenwald Schools remain in Alabama from the early twentieth century and the era of segregation. Gorham Bird, Assistant Professor of Architecture at Auburn University, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson of In Focus about efforts to partner with communities to secure grants to stabilize and preserve the structures. The Alabama Department of Archives and History is featuring an exhibit, "History Lives On: Preserving Alabama's Rosenwald Schools," which can be viewed through May 2024.

Today is Halloween, so River Region artist Lisa Harrison visits the studio to talk with In Focus host Carolyn Hutcheson about her fiber art portraits of black cats, dogs, plants and houses.  The various textures make her portraits uncannily realistic. 

Todd Stacy, host of Capitol Journal on Alabama Public Television, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson of The Newswrap from In Focus about the new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, beforesharing a beast of a Wildcard.

The American Chestnut Tree is functionally extinct, according to independent scholar Donald Davis, author of the book, "The American Chestnut, An Environmental History."  He talks with Carolyn Hutcheson of In Focus on The Storyline book series about what wiped out the gigantic Eastern Forest trees that witnessed the unfolding of American history.  In a future visit with Donald Davis, he will discuss the efforts to bring back the American Chestnut.

Acclaimed theatre organist Ron Carter talks with In Focus host Carolyn Hutcheson about the 1925 Lon Chaney silent film classic, "Phantom of the Opera." which will be presented Sat., Oct. 28, at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Ga. at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.Carter talks about the film as an early horror movie, accompanied by a musical score that may have been lost to time, since there were no recordings.

Joining In Focus on location were Martin McCaffery, Director of the historic Capri Theatre in Montgomery, and John Martello, New York actor, director, and producer, who moved to Montgomery and now hosts a popular classic film series at the Capri.  The guests talk with Carolyn Hutcheson about the class and update the listeners on restoration projects at the longest continuously operating movie theater in Alabama.

Alabama Public Television's Randy Scott, Reporter and Executvie Producer, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson for The Newswrap on In Focus about the Israeli - Palestinian war caused by the Hamas attack, and its concern among Alabamians. Capitol Journal host Todd Stacy is out of town today. The APT program is now available on YouTube.

Alabama native Patricia Foster returns to her home state next week for speaking engagements in Auburn.  She talks with Carolyn Hutcheson of In Focus about her parents' mining/sharecropping roots in the Depression, which influenced her views of class, race, and what she terms the Southern caste system.  Professor Emerita Foster teaches in the University of Iowa MFA program, and her book is "Written in the Sky, Lessons of a Southern Daughter."