There’s a punch-to-the-gut moment in the provocative new film, Join or Die, where we hear professor and bestselling author Dr. Robert Putnam say, “Your chances of dying over the next year are cut in half by joining a group.”
But let’s dial it back a few years when Putnam conducted a bit of social science research based on a simple observation: once upon a time, we went to more dinner parties, visited neighbors more often, joined the PTA or Rotary or even saw our families more often. That was the foundation of his bestseller, “Bowling Alone,” heralded by the The Boston Globe as “a Mountainous, momentous work,” and by The Economist as a “prodigious achievement.”
Now, several years later, two of Putnam’s students, now award-winning filmmakers, have produced Join or Die, a fast-moving, entertaining documentary that will be coming to The Flicks in a one-and-done screening on Thursday, August 9.
Sakena Lesmeister, project manager at J.R. Simplot Company and proud member of Rotary District 5400 in Boise visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about why her group is sponsoring the screening, and why the post-screening conversation will be even more important than the film itself.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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