Truth to Power | Irene Sankoff and David Hein | Come From Away | 12-5-25

This week on Truth to Power, we are thrilled to share a community conversation with two brilliant artistic minds who were awarded the 2025 Spalding Prize for the Promotion of Peace and Justice in Literature on November 11th at the Brown Hotel's 16th Floor Gallery. This year's winners are Irene Sankoff and David Hein, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics for the award-winning Broadway musical Come From Away. This remarkable, moving, and award-winning comedy is based on true events in the Newfoundland town Gander. Immediately after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, dozens of commercial aircraft with approximately 7,000 passengers aboard were ordered to land at Gander International Airport. The airport’s impressive name belies the fact that Gander was and is a small town in Newfoundland; nonetheless, Gander residents scrambled to feed, shelter, and, most importantly, welcome thousands of passengers, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religious or sexual preference, or nationality. The compassion and kindness of the citizens of Gander and their generosity toward stranded passengers created enduring friendships and connections among people who were recently complete strangers. Come From Away highlights the many occasions for human compassion even in the midst of a global tragedy. After the play’s immense success, Sankoff and Hein wrote the screenplay providing international access to the staged performance of Come From Away. Irene Sankoff is a Canadian Tony- and Olivier-nominated, Grammy-nominated writer for theatre, film, and television. A writer and actor, Sankoff has received a Meritorious Service Cross of Canada. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild, and ASCAP. David Hein is an Olivier Award-winning, Tony- and Grammy-nominated writer. He and Irene Sankoff created My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding based on his mother's true story, earning Best Musical awards across America. The Spalding Prize is awarded by the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. Learn more at https://www.goodriverreview.com/spalding-prize On Truth to Power each week, we gather people from around the community to discuss the state of the world, the nation, the state, and the city! It's a community conversation like you won't hear anywhere else! Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 4pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://forwardradio.org