Today marks the United Nation's first World Oceans Day, yet the seas around us are in trouble. This past weekend, five beaches in South Florida and two in Connecticut were closed due to bacteria in the water, Jacksonport State Park’s swimming beach in Arkansas had high rates of E. Coli, and sewage concerns closed New York City’s famous Coney Island Beach. David Helvarg, President of the Blue Frontier Campaign, award-winning journalist and author of Rescue Warriors: The U.S. Coast Guard, America's Forgotten Heroes joins Sarah Chasis, senior attorney and director of the Ocean Initiative at the Natural Resources Defense Council and Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action to discuss the state of the world's waters. Then, Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid has been touring the country with Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, an audio-visual tour of the Antarctic continent, dubbed “hip-hop’s response to environmental change.” For Rick Steves, popular PBS travel host and author of more than thirty guidebooks, traveling has become a way of life. Recently back from Iran, he shares what traveling has meant to him and encourages Americans to grab that passport and step outside of their 'comfort zone'. His latest book, Travel as Political Act is just out from Nation Books. Finally on today's show, Palestinian-American poet Suheir Hammad speaks at the 2009 Palestine Festival of Literature and a video from Earth Celebrations Hudson River Pageant, which aims to "foster ecological awareness through the arts".
