Talk Radio Lets ‘Ivan’ and ‘Joe’ Air Their Hang-ups

--The gap separating Soviets and Americans was narrowed a bit when, for a couple of hours, the two cultures were truly tuned in on each others’ wavelengths. In a program sponsored by Stoner Broadcasting in New York, Soviet and U.S. radio listeners were able to call a talk show and pepper each other with questions over the air. With the help of translators, the question-and-answer dialogue reached the ears of listeners to three stations in western New York and an audience estimated at 200 million in the Soviet Union, where phone lines were jammed with calls. “We had so many calls on hold, we couldn’t answer all the calls. We had people waiting for 10 minutes,” said Gennadi Gasparian of the participating Gostel Radio. Topics of discussion were limited to social problems, family matters, careers and education. The Soviets generally asked about the kinds of government assistance available in the United States, and the Americans were curious about the individual freedom in the Soviet Union, but sometimes, the dialogue was just chatty. Asked about country music in the Soviet Union, a caller named Cyril told his American questioner, Joe: “There are a lot of people who like U.S. country music, and I’m one of them.” His favorite artist? “Johnny Cash.”

--The Count of Paris, apparently angry over his son’s marital practices, has selected his grandson as the successor to the non-existent French throne. Henri d’Orleans, 79, conferred the honor and title of Duke of Vendome on Prince Jean, 22, in a medieval ceremony at the chateau of Amboise in the Loire River Valley. Many of the guests wore 15th Century costumes for the ritual, which hasn’t had a throne to fill since the absolute monarchy ended with the beheading of King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette, during the French Revolution. There was no mention of the count’s son, Henri of Clermont, who traditionally would be the successor to the throne. He reportedly angered his father more than two years ago, when he remarried without receiving annulment of his first marriage from the Roman Catholic Church.

--The Miami Herald once again played a role in the life of Donna Rice, this time in the form of a classified advertisement the part-time model took out to announce her garage sale. Rice, who last May 3 was reported in the Herald to have spent the weekend with then-presidential aspirant Gary Hart--an incident that consequently ended Hart’s campaign--sold off a white leather couch with a $788 price tag, a color TV set, a wicker dining room set, bedroom furniture and closets full of clothes in sizes 5 to 7. Rice, 29, is leaving Miami, but wouldn’t say to where she is moving.