Commonsense Solutions, Love Letters from Mt. Rushmore

Commonsense Solutions to America’s Economic Challenges Guest: James M. Stone, PhD, Founder and CEO of Plymouth Rock, Author of “5 Easy Theses: Commonsense Solutions to America’s Greatest Economic Challenges” It’s clear during this election cycle that many, many Americans are unhappy with the inability of our government to solve problems like stagnant wages, our growing national debt, the unsustainable future of Social Security, and the unreasonably high cost of health insurance.  A big reason Congress can’t get anything done is partisan politics. Let’s set aside our partisan leanings and preconceived notions. If we really want to be healthier and more financially secure as individuals and as nation, what can we do?  Love Letters from Mt. Rushmore Guest: Richard Cerasani, Author, "Love Letters from Mount Rushmore: The Story of a Marriage, a Monument and a Moment in History" Seventy-five years ago this month, work officially stopped on Mount Rushmore. The quirky sculptor who dreamed it up and convinced Congress to fund it had died. The carvings of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln in the granite face of a South Dakota mountain weren’t finished, but the money ran out, so they’d have to suffice. Among the last workmen to leave the site was an aspiring sculptor named Art Cerasani. Desperate for work at the height of the Great Depression, he’d left his new wife and young sons in New York and trekked to South Dakota to help with the ultimate sculpting project. The work wasn’t all he hoped for and the separation from his family was grueling.  Decades later, Cerasani’s son, Richard, accidentally discovered a trove of letters between the young sculptor and his wife during the time he spent at Mount Rushmore.