It's impossible to encapsulate the contribution of Pete to our culture over the past seven decades, but this show does a wonderful job trying. It mixes Pete's interview with comments by the biographer, songs by Pete sung by the man himself and by others who had "hits" and includes Springsteen's version of "Hold On" from the Seeger Sessions. Without sentimentalizing, the show pays well-earned tribute to a central figure in the American folk music.

Pete's centrality to the promotion and propagation of folk music has been claimed by many, in long academic diatribes and show magazine articles. This show shows and tells the story as well as it can be done in an hour. It includes many of the standards and some of the more obscure details from this adventure. I'll be using this show in my college course "20th Century American Folk Music."

Birthday Celebrations, especially celebrity and celebrity icon anniversaries, too often only celebrate longevity.

Rarely are these celebrations for an American Institution, an American Folk Music and Protest Song Institution, a advocate for American labor, earth-care and the environment (we used to call it “fighting against pollution), an American Way of life and the banjo.

Those are just a few reasons for celebrating the 90th birthday of Pete Seeger on May 3, or all throughout the month of May.

Rita Houston hosts and introduces the Pete Seeger biography and his living legacy by way of a well written narrative, excerpts from Seeger’s most recent interview and contributions from author Alec Wilkinson (he has a new Seeger Biography).

With production from Media Mechanics, this is magnificently smooth in its craft, construction and flow. It will leave your listeners historically and musically refreshed – and like Pete Seeger at 90 years old, optimistic.