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Playlist: Picks

Compiled By: Erika Lantz

 Credit:

Homepage staff picks. beta.prx.org

The Symphony of Sirens, Revisited

From Charles Maynes | 13:44

A man steps onto a roof in Moscow with two flags and a plan.

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In November of 1923, a Soviet composer named Arseny Avraamov stepped onto a Moscow rooftop clutching two oversized flags.  They may as well have been magicians’ wands. For his plan was audacious enough: to conduct an orchestra comprised of the city itself.  Enthralled with the Russian Revolution's break from the past, Avraamov envisioned  a «music of the future» made from a strange choice of choirs: factory sirens, barge foghorns, soldiers' footsteps,  artillery fire, workers songs, steam whistles, and proletarian shouts.   Together, it was music.  Every city had it.  Only how to arrange?  'The Symphony of Sirens' was his answer.  

2.5 attempts were made – in Baku, Moscow, and (.5) Nizhny Novgorod.  Yet no recordings exist – making the performances all the more the stuff of legend.

Equal parts detective story and R. Murray Schaeffer's sound treatise 'The Tuning of the World',  this radio feature revisits Avraamov's famed magnum opus by mining for details about Avraamov.  What did he hear?  And are there traces still to be heard today?  Using flights of audio fancy and real world reporting, Moscow-based producer Charles Maynes introduces listeners to both the sirens that were, and the symphony that has become.  


Messages From a Forgotten Troopship (Half Hour Version)

From With Good Reason | Part of the With Good Reason: Weekly Half Hour Long Episodes series | 26:24

Three moving stories that take you inside the ships that carried soldiers to Vietnam. I highly suggest you listen.

Bunks_small In the 1960s, it took almost three weeks to cross the sea from America to Vietnam. Three weeks for young men in crowded cabins, with salt water showers and absolutely nothing to do but think: about home, about the war, and about what’s next. For some, it was a roundtrip journey; others never made it home. This documentary shares three stories from and about soldiers who travelled on a single troopship, the General Nelson M. Walker. Through found tape and contemporary interviews, we recreate the troopship and capture the moments outside of combat—three weeks there, and for the lucky ones, three weeks back. Our first story: tanning oil, hillbilly radio, and a typhoon, or—what soldiers write Mom about. Second: a love letter from Vietnam, recorded on reel-to-reel tape. And third: going home again—reflections from a veteran, just months before he died. We’re calling these: Messages From a Forgotten Troopship.

Hawai'i: The Legacy of Sugar

From Al Letson | Part of the State of the Re:Union: Season Four series | 53:52

Even a paradise has something below the surface, hidden from view.

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State of the Re:Union
Hawai'i: the Legacy of Sugar 


Host: Al Letson
Producer: Tina Antolini

Episode Description: For many Americans, Hawai'i is a tropical playground, the place of surf, sun and dream vacations. Behind the tourist façade, though, is one of the most unique multicultural states in the nation. So much of how Hawai'i is now comes back to one game-changing element: sugar. For decades, long before it was a tourist’s paradise, what Hawai'i did was grow sugar. It was not only an economic driver, but the force that remade the place. The sugar plantations were one of the top things that made Hawai'i attractive to outsiders, eventually leading to the islands' seizure as a U.S. territory. The plantations brought immigrants from all over Asia and beyond together as laborers, which necessitated the evolution of a shared language that is still the primary medium for casual conversation today, and whose legacy is still being wrangled over. Perhaps most of all, the plantations changed the way that land in Hawai'i was used and treated. They disturbed the ahapua'a—the Hawaiian word for what is basically the watershed, a way of understanding the interconnectedness of the mountain and ocean ecology, and the water that cycles between them. These days nearly all the sugar-growing operations in Hawai'i have folded, but the rippling impact of what they were is still being felt today—in both negative and, perhaps counterintuitively, positive ways. In this episode of SOTRU, we tell an hour of stories that explore the way contemporary Hawai'i is still navigating the legacy of the sugar plantations now in the 21st century.  


BILLBOARD (:59)
Incue: From PRX and WJCT
Outcue: But first, this news.


News Hole 1:00-6:00

SEGMENT A (12:29)
Incue: From WJCT in Jacksonville, Florida...
Outcue: That's ahead on State of the Re:Union.

For all the fame of its beaches, Hawai'i’s sugar plantations were where a lot of the state’s fate was decided. In the open of this segment, host Al Letson takes us from the beach to a consideration of the state’s history via the story of one Hawaiian. 

A. STILL SOVEREIGN TODAY? (Part 1)
Keanu Sai grew up with one version of Hawaiian history, as a student at the famed Kamehameha High School for children of Native Hawaiian heritage. After graduating, he became an army captain, and served for years, some of it overseas. When he joined the National Guard back in Hawai'i, he started researching his genealogy, at the prompting of his grandmother. He found his family line going back to the 1300s. But, looking at those documents, he started to notice something: a version of the history of the Hawaiian state that was very different from what he’d learned in school.

B. A LAND IN WHICH SUGAR BECAME KING
Before we dive into what Keanu discovered, we take a detour into Hawaiian history to understand what his revelation means. The story of how Hawai'i became such a huge sugar producer, and how the growth of those plantations impacted nearly every aspect of life on the islands is one of royalty facing off with wealthy businessmen, of back room deals and manifest destiny aspirations, and of the legal purchase of more than two thirds of the land in the state by foreigners. It starts out in the 1800s, an era in which Hawai'i’s king was trying to figure out how to handle the western world. Westerners had been showing up on the islands’ shores since 1778, when Captain Cook landed on Kaua'i and promptly named the archipelago the Sandwich Islands. Western sailors brought with them diseases that killed off a huge percentage of the Native Hawaiian population. By the time missionaries from New England arrived, Hawaiian society was in chaos. The missionaries’ solution was not just converting the “heathens” to Christianity, but introducing sugar production as a way of utilizing land and employing natives. The first sugar plantation was started in 1835 on Kaua'i by a Bostonian named William Hooper. He had a premonition of what it would become; on the first anniversary of his plantation, he wrote in his diary that for-profit agriculture would “serve as the entering wedge” that would “upset the whole system” of Hawai'i.

As the first sugar plantations became successful, western businessmen—some former missionaries—began clamoring for the right to purchase property. Up until this point, there hadn’t really been what you could call private property in Hawai'i. Traditionally, the king divided his land into sections to be managed by chiefs, and a lot of the commoners were farm tenants or fishermen who worked under them. So, when the businessmen convinced the King to come up with deeds to land, this was a totally foreign system to most Hawaiians. Commoners and chiefs were allotted land under what was called the Great Mahele, or the land division of 1848. But they had to petition the Land Commission to get the deeds to the land. Surprise, surprise: almost none did. Out of the more than a million and  a half acres of land Kauikeaouli was divvying out, only about 28,000 went to commoners.

So, suddenly, you’ve got the white foreigners-- the haoles-- controlling the majority of the land. Then came the U.S. Civil War, and suddenly Louisiana’s canefields weren’t accessible to the Northern United States. Hawaiian sugar plantations stepped in to fill the breach. By the late 1800s, non-Hawaiians controlled 96 percent of the sugar industry, but they still had to turn to the king for treaties that allowed the flow of their sugar to the U.S. So, first they organized a coup d’etat in 1887 against the king, which took away his sovereign powers and restricted the civil rights of Native Hawaiians. Then, a group of white plantation-owning businessmen conspired with the U.S. minister assigned to the kingdom of Hawai'i, John L. Stevens, to overthrow the indigenous government entirely. This wasn’t just about sugar—it was also about the strategic military presence having a base in Pearl Harbor in Hawai'i might provide the U.S. And so on January 16th, 1893, the sugar businessmen took over government buildings, and Stevens ordered U.S. Marines onto Hawaiian soil to protect them. Queen Lili'uokalani was imprisoned in the palace. After a brief period as a republic, Hawai'i was annexed as a territory of the United States—but how that happened is still reverberating in Hawai'i today.  

C. STILL SOVEREIGN TODAY?  (Part 2)
Here is where we return to Keanu Sai and the discovery that rocked his world. What he found looking at those primary source documents was that then-President McKinley had used an unusual method to annex Hawai'i as part of the U.S. Congress had refused to pass the usual “treaty of annexation” because of the conditions under which Hawai'i was striped of its monarchy. Instead, they annexed Hawai'i through a joint resolution. As Keanu studied the documents, he came to the conclusion that what the U.S. did was illegal. “A joint resolution is a congressional action—it’s limited to the United States,” he says. “It has no force beyond its borders. They passed a law annexing Hawai'i! Even Congressmen were saying on the record “we can’t pass a law annexing a foreign country!” That meant that the U.S. was illegally occupying the sovereign nation of Hawai'i. Still is today. Keanu retired from the army and went back to school, getting his doctorate in political science and doing his thesis on Hawaiian sovereignty. He’s been working on changing minds ever since, both within Hawai'i and internationally. Trying to convince the international community that Hawai'i is an occupied sovereign nation sounds crazy, but Keanu and his allies have been gaining ground. Perhaps the craziest thing actually is this: his is only one of MANY efforts to reclaim Hawaiian sovereignty. Different groups have different end goals: some want complete independence from the U.S., others a state-within-a-state for Native Hawaiians. It’s left the island community trying to sort out which interpretation of its history—and present—it should believe, and with many residents working to find a solution. 


SEGMENT B (18:59)
Incue: You're listening to State of the Re:Union...
Outcue: P-R-X-dot-O-R-G

From the stories of coups and land loss, you could think that the legacy of the sugar plantations in Hawai'i is all dark. But there are some aspects of Hawaiian life that connect back to sugar that are… celebrated. The stories in this segment examine some of those. 

A. SUGAR BRINGS THE WORLD TO HAWAI'I
Back even before Hawai'i became a U.S. territory, the growth of the sugar plantations meant a lot of workers were needed. The population of Native Hawaiians, decimated by western diseases, just wasn’t large enough to handle the demand. So, thousands of laborers came to Hawai'i to work from all over Asia and beyond: China, Portugal, Japan, Korea, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, the Philippines and other countries. On the plantations, worker housing was usually grouped by ethnicity, so immigrants maintained their native language and food culture. We begin this segment with a visit to Hawai'i’s Plantation Village, a living museum that tells the story of how the place came to be so diverse. 


B. HAWAI'I IS A PLATE LUNCH
Want a quick representation the diversity the sugar plantations provided Hawai'i? Go to just about any casual restaurant and order the plate lunch. Here’s what you’ll get: two scoops of rice, macaroni salad, and then your choice of meats, ranging from Japanese style tonkatsu, Hawaiian lu’au pork, Korean kal-bi ribs, or Filipino chicken adobo. It’s like an edible mini-Hawai'i on a plate. And it stems back to how lunch worked on the sugar plantations. "It's a combination of the bento — which is Japanese — and plantation laborers taking their lunches to work in these metal tins," local food writer Kaui Philpotts says. The tins were called kau kau tins, and workers would layer their lunch in them: rice on the bottom and entrée on top. Workers started swapping entrees, getting together at lunch time and putting the top part of their entrée in the center of the group to share. The meal went from those tins to lunch wagons in the 1930s, and they’re one of the islands’ most iconic dishes today. 

But as the sugar plantations have closed in recent decades and plantation life has started to fade in people’s memories, the plate lunch has assumed a new significance. It’s become evocative of an era in which newcomers were figuring out how to get along; when they were first mixing socially, as well as on the plate. As Arnold Hiura, who grew up on a plantation on the Big Island, says, “some of people's positive values that we treasure… humility, generosity, tolerance… I think it's reflected in the food. You exercise it, every time you eat.” 

C. PIDGIN PRIDE
Wherever you are  in Hawai'i, if you eavesdrop on a few conversations, chances are you’ll hear people talking in something that sounds kinda like English—but not quite. 

“My faddah nevah got for see da book. He passed away couple few months before da ting came out. I figured ah, I jus show em bumbye.”
“I tryin fo tink.”
“In da real world get planny Pidgin prejudice, ah.”

This isn’t just local slang. It’s a whole language that contains a story of the history of this place, and is still now the source of fight for how that history should be interpreted and communicated. 

First, some time travel: back in the days of ethnic segregation on the island, kids learned their parents’ language, but, once they went to school, they started to pick up English. On the playground, the languages began to meld: some English, some Hawaiian, some of the native languages from the immigrant workers. By the turn of the 20th century, this language—formally known as Hawaiian Creole, but more commonly called Pidgin—was what children used as their first language. By the 1920s, it was the language of the majority of Hawai'i. But as far as the establishment was concerned? It was bad English, improper English, broken English. Students were segregated into different forms of education by language tests, with the better English speakers having their own classes. This is not in the distant past-- the last graduating class of the English Standard schools was in the 1960s. 

But there has been a whole movement of people over the last decades working to revise that story about Pidgin. A group of linguists has been working since the 1970s to have writing in Pidgin published and acknowledged. When the Hawai'i State Board of Education tried to ban Hawaiian Creole in school the 1980s, they fought back. 

They formed a group called Da Pidgin Coup that’s put out position papers correcting misperceptions about the language, and still works on coming up with new ways for breeding respect for Pidgin in Hawai'i today. All of that has inspired younger Hawaiian over the years, including poet Lee Tonouchi. Lee grew up speaking Pidgin, but was taught to be ashamed of it. He had a revelation in college when he encountered a poem in Pidgin by one of the language’s advocates. He’s since made speaking and writing in Pidgin the focus of his career. But even those who don’t take as bold as a stance as Lee reveal a relationship with the language that’s evolving. Jeff Moniz, who was a public school teacher in Hawai'i for years and now teaches at the University of Hawai'i’s School for Secondary Education, says he uses both English and Pidgin in the classroom. For Jeff, Pidgin is a way of connecting with his students on a more familiar level. He says it’s become a kind of local code. In a place that has so many tourists, Pidgin has become a shorthand for saying “hey—I’m from here.”


D. Dear Honolulu
Darrell Lum, founder and editor of Bamboo Ridge Press, a publishing house that puts out work in Pidgin, contributes his letter to the city of Honolulu. 


SEGMENT C (18:59)
Incue: You're listening to State of the Re:Union
Outcue: to bring them back together. (music tail)


Perhaps the most dramatic change Hawai'i experienced because of the sugar plantations was in the management of the land. Not only were hundreds of thousands of acres devoted to the production of sugar cane, but dry land was turned green. Traditional agriculture shrank. Sugar transformed the landscape. These last two stories are about efforts Hawaiians are making now to wrest back that land.

A. REVIVING BROTHER TARO
In the Waihole Valley, on the rural west side of Oahu, the highway is dotted with handmade signs decrying development. Though sugar wasn’t grown on this side of the island, the Waihole Valley’s battle against development is tied in with the history of sugar plantations too. And that’s because of one thing: water. Sugar cane is a thirsty plant, with a hundred acres demanding a million gallons of water a day. And so plantation owners bought the rights to build irrigation ditches and even complicated networks of pipes that would bring water from the wet side of the island to the dry side (several Hawaiian islands have rainy and dry sides, a result of the weather created by the islands’ unusual topography). And that disrupted the way water had traditionally been used by Native Hawaiians. Their understanding for how to grow things here was knit into a very sophisticated understanding of their local ecology. They thought about the land in terms of Ahapua'a or watersheds, in which the flow of water--from the rain that lands on the mountains and feeds mountain streams which eventually run down to the shore—connects all things. Dating back to ancient times, people had the right to use the water that flowed through the area in which they lived, as long as it wasn’t to the detriment of those downstream, from other farmers to fishermen. The crop that was the most important of all was taro, a starchy tuber. Taro was traditionally grown using an early form of irrigation, with Native Hawaiian farmers diverting water off streams and then back into them, to keep the ocean ecosystem receiving water.  All of that changed with the sugar plantations. 

Then, in the later 20th century, the sugar plantations started folding. This was happening just as local agriculture was seeing a new burst of energy. Some of the new taro farmers were brothers John, Charlie and Paul Reppun on the windward side of Oahu. They’d watched Hawai'i changing as they grew up. It was being developed. As the sugar plantations started to fail, former agriculture land became golf courses, resorts.

“My brothers and I kind of ran away from the world, to get into farming, hair down to our waists,” John Reppun says. “We didn’t know anything about taro growing up. We would eat poi (pounded taro) at special occasions. As we got interested in agriculture and growing taro, we quickly ran into problems with water. So we went looking for advice, talking to older Hawaiian taro farmers. They were having water problems as well, even as they were teaching us.” What Charlie found was that their water was being diverted to the other side of the mountain to what used to be a sugar plantation, and now was just being used to pipe in a water supply for development on the Honolulu side. Charlie Reppun was one of the first rabble rousers to challenge that water use, a battle he won. Water rights battles are still being fought on Maui and Kaua'i today.

B. THE FEAR THAT SEEDS COULD BE THE NEW SUGAR
When the sugar plantations started closing, not all of them were turned into developments. Many have been devoted to what some are calling Hawai'i’s newest cash crop: genetically-modified seeds. As far as the agribusiness companies go, this is a win-win: a ready workforce with knowledge of agriculture plus an endless growing season. A seed company like Monstanto or Syngenta can grow three or more crops of corn each year in Hawai'i. That makes it a prime location for seed research, experimentation with genetic modification of crops. And that’s led to agricultural practices that have prompted one of the biggest controversies in Hawai'i in years. 

On the island of Kaua'i, much of what once was planted in sugar is now planted in corn. When some locals, like Native Hawaiian Malia Chun, started to learn what was being grown on the fields next door, they got concerned. Malia found just the idea of GMOs disturbing because of the traditional Hawaiian understanding of the natural world, and humans relationship to it. But she got more worried when she found out about the pesticides being sprayed on the cornfields. She and her two young daughters started having health issues she thought might be connected to the pesticides. But she didn’t know what they were. Kaua'i County Councilman Gary Hooser introduced legislation that was aimed at getting seed companies to divulge which pesticides they’re using, and would establish buffer zones around schools and other public areas. The seeds companies said they were complying with all state and federal laws regarding the use of pesticides and GMO crops, which don’t require them to make public the kinds of chemicals they’re using.  Companies like Syngenta fought the bill hard. It divided the island’s community, with agricultural workers testifying against the bill, worried it would mean the loss of much-needed jobs.  Other Kaua'i residents testified about a range of health problems they thought could be connected to seed companies’ pesticide use, and just concern about genetically-modified plants in general. After months of debate, the county council voted in October 2013 in favor of the bill, even overriding Kaua'i mayor’s veto to make it law. But that doesn’t mean the war is over; the biotech companies are now challenging the newly passed law in court. And Kaua'i residents are still trying to sort out what this means for them, and the future of their island, which has now seen the era of sugar pass into the era of seeds. 

C. Hawai'i’s Aloha: A Final Monologue
Host Al Letson wraps up the show with a consideration of the meaning of the Hawaiian word Aloha, how it relates to the legacy of the sugar plantations, and what the next chapter of that legacy might be. 

Promo Transcript:
In Hawai'i, land that was once planted with sugar, is now being devoted to a new kind of agriculture. One that has some of the locals worried."The first thing I wanted to do was like run out and tell all my neighbors. Oh my God do you know what is happening? Do you know what's happening around us?" Stories of the legacy of sugar in Hawai'i. That's on the next State of the Re:Union.

Hawai'i: The Legacy of Sugar is available on PRX without charge to all public radio stations, and may be aired an unlimited number of times prior to January 31, 2017. The program may be streamed live on station websites but not archived. Excerpting is permitted for promotional purposes only. 

State of the Re:Union is presented by WJCT and distributed by PRX.  Major funding for the State of the Re:Union comes from CPB, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Delores Barr Weaver Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

Thanks for your consideration of State of the Re:Union with Al Letson. 

 

Opera in the Coalfields

From With Good Reason | 06:31

Ever heard opera compared to country music before? Neither had I.

Tenderland_medium_small One of America’s greatest composers was Aaron Copland, who wrote among other things, an opera called The Tender Land, which premiered at the New York City Opera in 1954. More recently it was performed in a more unlikely place. Producer Kelley Libby found Copland’s influence in the coalfields of Appalachia.

ROOTS

From Sara Brooke Curtis | 04:39

Sara's exploring her lineage, one eccentric elder at a time.

Playing
ROOTS
From
Sara Brooke Curtis

5580_51ae6cc622a7a9 Exploring my lineage one eccentric elder at a time.

#76 - Love Is A Battlefield

From HowSound | 22:18

NPR reporter Alix Spiegel shares brilliant interviewing advice. "Make your mind like water," she says.

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Alix Spiegel's stories about human behavior on NPR stand out from the pack. Why? Well, they're stories not reports.

The difference is this. A report moves along from one idea to the next: Something new happened. And, this person or group sees things this way. This other person or group sees things that way. Often a third point of view comes, typically an expert. And so on. That's an over simplification but it's not far off.

A story, on the other hand, has characters who move through a sequence of events. This happened. Then this happened. Then this happened.... Eventually, they run into trouble and attempt to work their way out of the predicament -- sometimes successfully, other times not.

Alix says producing a story as a sequence of events requires a significant amount of planning. In other words, the story doesn't just unfold in front of a microphone magically (though there are exceptions). Instead, a producer needs to diligently prepare. They have to think everything through and craft a series of questions that will prompt specific answers from an interviewee -- answers that, later, will allow a reporter to fashion a narrative not a report.

Alix, by the way, is a science reporter for NPR. Her stories focus on human relations. Prior to working at the network, she was a staff producer at This American Life. And the piece featured on HowSound today -- Love Is A Battle Field -- was produced while she was at TAL. Her tips on preparing and conducting interviews will, without a doubt, help you with your next interview. So, listen closely. Take notes.

Ciao,

Rob

PS - Alix and producer Lu Lu Miller are launching a new program about human behavior for NPR. It's called The Intangibles. Listen for it this October.

Talk of the Town

From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 11:29

If you grow up on an island, it's not easy to overcome a past that haunts you.

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In 2006, The Bangor Daily News reported abuse of prescription painkillers was on the rise in Maine. Medications like Vicodin and Oxycontin were steadily becoming the drug of choice for young people. One of those people was Becky Guptill, a young woman from an island called Vinalhaven, off the coast of Maine.

Becky’s addiction led her to do some things she would later regret—things she might always be remembered for in Vinalhaven. This is a story about finding forgiveness and acceptance in a small town.

Life of the Law #34 - Necessity Defense

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 21:04

Cannibals and cannabis, Vietnam and prison. Lots of interesting nuggets in this criminal justice story.

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In 1992, Harry Jack Spakes was serving out a burglary sentence in a prison near Amarillo, Texas. He did his time in a large dormitory with inmates who’d been convicted on similar charges. He’d perhaps made some bad choices in his life, but he was about to be faced with a series of impossible choices.

“On a Friday night, two officers came in cussing and turned the light on, and told me to—excuse me—‘Pack my shit.’ And this worried me.  Move me where? What? I haven’t done anything,” Spakes says.

He was transferred to a four-man, maximum security dorm. No explanation was given. His new cellmates were still in their late teens, all convicted of capital murder.

“One was in there for chopping up his girlfriend with a hatchet. Another one was in there for shooting a convenient store clerk for like, three or four dollars.  And the other one was there for burglarizing and killing a man and woman in their trailer and setting their trailer on fire,” he says.

Spakes had reason to believe he was being set up, being placed with men like this. At his previous prison, he’d filed a grievance that got a corrections officer demoted. Jack heard through the inmate grapevine that the officer was looking for revenge.

This scared Spakes. “When an officer makes a threat like that, you know it is viable. You know it can be done. Once a threat is made, you have to listen to it.”

Spakes believed this threat was now in action. But he tried to lie low and get along with his new cellmates. Then after a couple of weeks, his cellmates told him they planned to escape. They’d made a knife from a tin can top. Spakes says they wanted to hold it to a female officer’s throat, steal her keys, and escape out the back door of the prison. And if Spakes didn’t come with them, they’d kill him.

“They couldn’t leave me behind, because they were afraid that I would tell the control center that they were escaping,” he says.

And now that he knew of the plan, his cellies were watching him. “They were always there. You know, it’s never dark, you’re never alone, it’s never quiet,” Spakes says.

His choice was to break the law and bust out with these violent men, or ask a prison system he didn’t trust to protect him.

Spakes chose to escape. But he figured he could convince his cellmates to try something less dangerous and thus save both his life and the guard’s. He had once worked in construction, so he came up with a plan to get out through the prison’s ventilation system. He knew the boiler room door to the outside, by law, had to remain unlocked to prevent people from getting trapped inside.

“It worked just like that. And soon as we opened the door into the alley, closed the door, they took off, running across the street and I went in a different direction. I didn’t want to have anything to do with them.”

Here Spakes had another choice. He knew under the law, that he should turn himself in. But he was afraid to do that in this jurisdiction. He just wanted to get somewhere he felt safe.

“I wanted to contact my attorney first and I thought if I call my attorney, come get me, then we’ll take care of this,” he says

He decided to walk to the neighboring county. He walked for hours in the cold until he reached a church. “So I went inside and got a drink, and this gentlemen came out and said, ‘What did I need?’ and I said ‘I would like to make a phone call and call my attorney.’ And he said, ‘All right Jack, we know who you are.’”

The man happened to be an off-duty police officer. He brought Spakes back to prison. Now he faced escape charges—a serious felony. “Well, the jury came back and gave me 60 years. I didn’t think that I really should really get that,” Spakes says. “I felt that I was justified in committing an escape because it was the lesser of two evils. Should I die? Should I let them kill somebody?”

Spakes spent day after day in the prison’s law library. Surely the law had something to offer him. And it did – a little. Spakes came across something called “the defense of necessity.”

“In other words, I did this but I’m not guilty,” says Spakes.

The necessity defense is one of the biggest longshots in the law books. Under it, a defendant basically tells a judge: “Yes, I broke the law. I admit it. But I had no choice. And you should be merciful.”

“Why does the defense of necessity exist? It exists because there needs to be a place in the law to deal with extreme and rare situations where there are really no other defenses available to be considered,” says Joshua Dressler, a professor of law at Ohio State University. He wrote about necessity in a casebook used by hundreds of law schools. “The necessity defense is saying that people should be entitled to cause harm if it’s to prevent a greater harm and that the law is on your side.”

Dressler says necessity is not a popular defense in the U.S. because it almost never succeeds. To understand why, you actually have to go back to a case that happened in England more than a hundred years ago:Regina versus Dudley and Stephens.

Jim Brown is a local historian in Southampton, U.K.  He brought me to the memorial stone of the victim of the case. The stone is made of granite, laid down flat, with big, bold print etched onto its surface. A bouquet of fresh flowers lies in front. He reads out the etching: “Richard Parker was killed and eaten by Tom Dudley and Edwin Stephens to prevent starvation. Regina versus Dudley and Stephens, 1884, established the precedent that necessity is no defense against a charge of murder. Concerning survival, cannibalism, following the shipwreck, the case overturned the folklore of the Custom of the Sea.”

The dinghy used by the four seamen after a storm wrecked their boat, The Mignonette Copyright:  130 years old (taken at a charity event to raise funds for the accused)

The dinghy used by the four seamen after a storm wrecked their boat, The Mignonette
Copyright: 130 years old (taken at a charity event to raise funds for the accused)

The case goes back to a journey by a British yacht on its way to Australia. After nearly two months at sea, things took a turn for the worse with a tropical storm. The ship’s stern was damaged, and it  started to sink. The crew managed to get the ship’s 13-foot dinghy over the side, but then were stranded at sea in this vessel.

“They had no water except for the rains that came, and they had nothing to eat except a couple of tins of turnips,” says Dressler. “So basically, after three weeks, they were starving…and they didn’t have any reason to think they were going to be rescued anytime soon.”

The 17-year-old cabin boy, Richard Parker, had been weakened by drinking sea water. The other three “discussed the idea of that maybe one of the men should be sacrificed, and then the others could eat the remains of that person in order to survive long enough to be rescued,” Dressler relates.

And so, Jim Brown says, the captain and one other crew member killed Richard Parker: “They cut his throat, drank his blood, any moisture they could get and they ate his liver and his heart, while it was still hot, cut it into strips. And that continued for the next five days. Then they were rescued by a passing boat.

After the rescue, Dudley was convinced that others would accept what happened. Cannibalism by stranded sailors is harsh, but not unheard of. “And so when they returned to land, he was very up front up about, explained what had happened and so was very surprised when he and Stephens were charged with murder,” Dressler says.

They went on trial in December 1884. The publicity was huge on both sides of the Atlantic. In the end, the presiding judge, Lord Coleridge, ruled that the sanctity of life trumped all other concerns for survival. Dudley and Stephens were convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

“That decision basically suggests that there is no defense of necessity when a person kills an innocent individual, even if it saves five lives or one hundred lives, it won’t matter,” Dressler says

Although they lost on paper, Dressler says public support for the sailors remained so high that their death sentences were eventually commuted to just six months imprisonment. Even the family of the victim, Richard Parker, sided with his killers.

The memorial to Richard Parker in Southampton, England (a recreation of the original). Etched into its surface is: “Lord lay not this sin to their charge”, suggesting the family forgave both Dudley and Stephens for murdering Parker. Photo credit: Cheryl Brumley, 2014

The memorial to Richard Parker in Southampton, England (a recreation of the original). Etched into its surface is: “Lord lay not this sin to their charge”, suggesting the family forgave both Dudley and Stephens for murdering Parker.
Photo credit: Cheryl Brumley, 2014

Historian Jim Brown is a distant relative of Parker’s by marriage. He says the family struggled with the wording of the memorial: “’Lord, lay not this sin to their charge’ was put there at request of Richard’s older brother, because they had a lot of sympathy for those who ate him and killed him actually because it was almost the law of the sea, out of necessity,” says Brown. “They saw the logic in it, he was dying anyway and in his death, he could save others. So they felt it was justified, it was simple as that really,” he adds.

Still, the judge felt otherwise. And it’s his verdict lives on in the United States today. As a result, Dressler says, it would be almost impossible to argue here that you had to murder an innocent person. But necessity does come up from time to time in other cases.

Call it the Hail Mary Defense. That’s the position Gerald Uelman says he found himself in. Uelman served as pro-bono counsel in the 1990s for a group of marijuana cultivators, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Collective . The group had grown and distributed medical marijuana legally in California until the federal government ordered them to stop. They refused on the grounds of “medical necessity,”arguing that marijuana made life bearable for clients with chronic conditions like AIDs, glaucoma, and cancer.

Gerry Uelman is no stranger to tough cases. He was a member of OJ Simpson’s so-called Dream Team. But he says arguing necessity before the Supreme Court? That was tough. “The result was pre-ordained. There’s no way that they were going to permit this regardless of what arguments we made,” he says.

Still, it kept the cause alive a little bit longer. And maybe that’s why necessity was also popular argument on the part some Vietnam War protesters charged with trespassing and other crimes.

“They would argue that…I’m trying to do stop a war…therefore I’m doing the lesser of two harms by trespassing, non-violently on property in order to prevent violence in Vietnam,” Dressler says. “And usually when those kind of cases occurred, judges wouldn’t even permit the jury to consider the defense of necessity.”

So cannibals, cannabis-growers, and activists all tried and failed with the necessity defense. But there is one place—at least in US law—where it sometimes works: prison escapes. Back in Texas, inmate Jack Spakes was serving an extra 60 years on his sentence for escape. But the necessity argument gave him hope. He’d run across a case from the 1970s, “The People v. Lovercamp ,” which set out five conditions for necessity to escape.

So Spakes worked up an argument with his attorney. In court, though, the judges weren’t sure whether he met the final condition: “The person immediately reports to the proper authorities when he has obtained a position of safety from the immediate threat.”

Spakes argued in return that the prison he escaped from was not a safe place. His case made it up to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court in the state, and a place necessarily known for taking an inmate’s side.

In the end, the judges made a surprising ruling in Spakes’s favor. They weren’t just thinking about Spakes’s situation; they were also reviewing how lower state courts had handled necessity. In the end, the judges held that Texas courts actually have no business denying the necessity defense: Not to Jack Spakes, nor anyone armed with a credible necessity argument who is brave enough to try it out on a judge or jury. The Court would leave that up to the satelegislature to decide whether the defense could or could not apply to a specific charge.

“I know of frankly no other state that takes that position. Whether other states will look to Texas, remains to be seen,” says Dressler.

“It’s a landmark decision in the state of Texas now. I feel proud that I was able to put the pieces together and make a complete picture of the puzzle,” Spakes says. He is now out of prison on parole.

But he still goes back to talk with inmates about getting an education. And once, he was approached by one of the former cellmates—apprehended the same day as he was—who’d forced him to choose between escape or death. “He started crying, and he came to me and hugged me. He said: ‘I am so glad I did the things you told me to do. I started studying the law. I’m going to start getting an education.’ I told him, ‘The more you learn the more you put in your head. They can’t take that away from you. Get off the weights. The weights won’t keep you out of prison. But knowledge is something that will never be taken away from you.’”

Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College was the scholarly advisor on this story.

Cheryl Brumley works at the London School of Economics, producing narrative podcasts for their award-winning academic blogs.   She is also a freelance radio reporter, producer and researcher, and worked at the BBC World Service/Global News division and for the weekly radio show, The Forum. Previous to working in radio, Cheryl worked in the British House of Lords and at an NGO in Amman, Jordan.

A Work of Art, For Your Mouth

From Meisa Salaita | Part of the Small Matters series | 05:23

Don't listen if you're not ready for your mouth to water.

Illustrations_6-square_prx_small You’ve probably heard of fusion restaurants that combine two different types of cuisine in their cooking. Well, this story’s about a restaurant that’s experimenting with a different type of fusion. It’s modernist cuisine, which combines science and art, and the result, is unlike anything Small Matters reporter Ari Daniel has ever experienced.

Contested

From Al Letson | Part of the State of the Re:Union: Season Four series | 53:53

A really compelling dive into race, gender and American sports culture.

Playing
Contested
From
Al Letson

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State of the Re:Union
Contested

Host: Al Letson
Producer: John Biewen

Episode Description: Host Al Letson and guest producer John Biewen (of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University) present a collection of stories from Durham, North Carolina. In this hour of SOTRU, we explore the role of sports in the lives of young people, and their families, as the kids pursue success in athletics and in life.

BILLBOARD (:59)
Incue: From PRX and WJCT
Outcue: But first, this news.

News Hole 1:00-6:00

SEGMENT A (12:29)
Incue: From WJCT in Jacksonville, Florida...
Outcue: That's ahead on State of the Re:Union.

A-1. Sports as Uniter and Divider
Durham is a sports crazy town in a sports crazy nation. The currency of everyday chatter is very often sports. We look at how sports can bring people together across lines of class and race, while also creating wedges between people based on athletic rivalry.

A-2. Giving One’s All
We meet the first of two families that we’ll get to know in this episode. La’Toya Taylor is raising five kids as a low-wage single mom. She and her kids share a love of football, and two of her sons play in a local rec football league.

SEGMENT B (18:59)
Incue: You're listening to State of the Re:Union...
Outcue: P-R-X-dot-O-R-G

B-1. Giving One’s All, Continued
Thomas Schmidt, a high school senior, is a dedicated lacrosse player, one of the best in North Carolina. His parents have spent enormous amounts of time – and money – to help him pursue his lacrosse dreams, including a Divison I college athletic scholarship. Their story is contrasted with that of La’Toya Taylor and her best friend, Andrea Farrior, for whom the cost of rec league football for their sons is a serious financial burden.

SEGMENT C (18:59)
Incue: Welcome back. You are listening
Outcue: to bring them back together. (music tail)

C-1. Where the Girls Are
Callie Scher is co-captain of her high school soccer team, and an impassioned sports fan. She’s noticed some troubling gaps between the reality on the fields and courts of youth sports, where girls have all but caught up to boys in rates of participation, and the world of sports as presented in the media.

C-2. Round-table at Devine’s
A discussion at a Durham sports bar with three people who are thoughtful about sports and their role in the lives of young people.  

Promo Transcript:
On the next State of the Re:Union, sports are a big deal to some kids, and many parents invest a lot on those athletic dreams. Whether they are well off, or struggling. "Why in the world am I spending this amount of money to do this set of things?""Even though we are single parents there is nothing in this world we would not do for our kids." In Durham, North Carolina, we tell stories of young people, sports and the American dream, on State of the Re:Union."

Contested is available on PRX without charge to all public radio stations, and may be aired an unlimited number of times prior to January 31, 2017. The program may be streamed live on station websites but not archived. Excerpting is permitted for promotional purposes only.

State of the Re:Union is presented by WJCT and distributed by PRX.  Major funding for the State of the Re:Union comes from CPB, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Delores Barr Weaver Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

Thanks for your consideration of State of the Re:Union with Al Letson. 

 

Rumble Strip Vermont: Private Eye

From Erica Heilman | Part of the Rumble Strip Vermont series | 12:11

Stark meditation, stunning writing.

10242010_eh_driving_small Radio production and private investigation have a lot in common. You ask questions, find out what happened, and try to figure out why. This is a show I made with Larry Massett for NPR’s Hearing Voices in 2011. None of the people you hear in this story were investigation clients of mine. They were all young men on furlough, putting their lives together after doing time in prison. Also, all of the case stories you hear have been fictionalized to protect the privacy of legal clients.

Warning: There are references to sex and violence in this story, and it may not be appropriate for children.

Clever Apes: First memories

From WBEZ | Part of the WBEZ's Clever Apes series | 08:22

Sorting through the messy intersection of identity, memory, and language.

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I’m sitting at a picnic table in our screened-in porch. It’s my third birthday party, and I’m opening presents. I unwrap a Tonka truck, and drop to the floor to start playing with it.

That’s been my earliest memory ever since I can, well, remember. But as the years wore on, something weird started happening. I started to feel less attached to the person in that memory. Now, I feel like I’m seeing the memory through someone else’s eyes, watching myself push that truck on the green astroturf carpet. I’m not even sure it’s a real memory anymore.

This has been on my mind because my own son recently had his third birthday. It got me wondering what his first memory will be, and more broadly, what is the nature of early memories? How reliable might they be, and how important to the construction of our identities?

On the latest installment of Clever Apes, we dig into what science has to say about early memory. Young kids actually have lots of memories that don’t make it into long-term storage. The phenomenon, called “childhood amnesia,” is not very well understood. But it seems to have something to do with the lens through which we see the world, and how it changes from early childhood (say, age three) to the more verbal period starting around age five or six. It’s tough to bridge that divide, and that may explain why I’m having a hard time connecting with my three-year old self.

And there’s another reason: memories are made from networks of neurons in our brains. That wiring gets used for lots of things, and so with each new memory, the networks change a little. When we remember something, we effectively rewrite it. That means that in some sense, each time we reflect on a memory, we’re putting a little more distance between ourselves and the actual event. Recent research suggests we’re even doing this in our sleep.

It’s enough to give a fellow a dose of existential distress. But there’s an upside too: A Chicago researcher has demonstrated ways that parents can reinforce and help solidify a child’s memories.If you listen to the show, you can hear me trying this out on my son, Ezra. I bribed him with M&Ms to get him to sit still.

Out of the Shadows: How mental illness affects intimacy

From WBEZ | Part of the Out of the Shadows series | 08:00

Shakena is a young college student basking in the thrill of a new boyfriend. She also suffers from depression.

Holdinghands_small A teenage girl describes how her mental illness effects her relationship.

Strangers (podcast): "Jenni Rowell: Life, Interrupted"

From Lea Thau | Part of the Strangers series | :00

At first, this is a story about what it's like to wake up each morning and see a stranger in the mirror. But it becomes so much more than that.

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Salt Lake City, UT: Updating Tradition

From Al Letson | Part of the State of the Re:Union: Season Four series | 53:53

The complicated relationship between LGBTQ activists and Mormons might surprise you.

Sotru_profile-pic_01_small

State of the Re:Union
Salt Lake City, UT: Updating Tradition

Host: Al Letson
Producer: Delaney Hall

Episode Description:  
When Mormon pioneers rolled into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, they brought with them a new theology, a short but intense history of persecution, and dreams of a new kind of society. 166 years later, Salt Lake City remains deeply influenced by Mormon culture, but defies easy categorization. With a large and politically active gay scene, one of the biggest Polynesian populations in the country, and a steady stream of new migrants, the city is full of vibrant contradiction—and sometimes conflict. From progressive Mormons working to heal the rift between the historically anti-gay church and the LGBT community, to young Shoshone computer programmers who’ve created the first-ever video game in their native language, to a pioneering podcast produced in a secure care facility for youth, we’ll explore how some of the city’s most entrenched institutions are being stretched and adapted to fit the modern moment.

BILLBOARD (:59)
Incue: From WJCT in Jacksonville, Florida
Outcue: But first, this news.

News Hole 1:00-6:00

SEGMENT A  (12:29)
Incue: From WJCT in Jacksonville, Florida.
Outcue: When SOTRU continues.

FOOTBALL HAKA
Utah has one of the biggest Polynesian populations in the country, and because of the traditionally large stature of Pacific Islanders, high school teams are full of players with names like Joe Tukuafu, Ula Tolutau, and Helaman Sagapolu. Coaches talk often about the “Polynesian pipeline” that has changed the face of football in the area.

Football traditions are becoming more Polynesian too, and now the haka – a traditional Polynesian war dance – is frequently performed before and after high school games. The East High Leopards have taken the practice to a whole new level, working with a native New Zealander of Maori descent to craft their own specialized haka, just for the team.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF – PART 1
The official doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) does not—and maybe never will—condone homosexuality, but a grassroots movement to reshape the relationship between the church and the LGBT community is underway in Salt Lake City. While progress is slow, the gulf between the two groups is narrowing. In the past year and a half, the LDS Church has supported anti-discrimination codes in Utah communities, has recognized that homosexuality is neither a sin nor a choice, and has released a website called mormonsandgays.org that—while still deeply problematic to many LGBT people—encourages compassion and kindness for gay Mormons.

In part 1 of this story, we’ll explore the recent history of LGBT/LDS relations in the city and unpack what galvanized each community to begin reaching out to the other. Troy Williams—an ex-Mormon, radio personality, political organizer, and the “gay mayor” of Salt Lake City—traces the roots of the recent LGBT movement to November 2008. Proposition 8, which legally defined marriage as between a man and a woman, had just passed in California, with significant financial and political support from the LDS Church.

Infuriated that the church had intervened, Williams and other organizers within the LGBT community in Salt Lake City rallied thousands of protesters. They circled the Salt Lake Temple, the spiritual and political headquarters of the church. They waved signs and chanted and held kiss-ins. And eventually the Church and prominent gay organizers began holding meetings to figure out how to bridge the divide between the two communities.

SEGMENT B (18:59)
Incue: I’m Al Letson and this is State of the Re:Union.
Outcue: P-R-X-dot-O-R-G


LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF – PART 2
The Proposition 8 controversy didn’t just activate members of the LGBT community. Within the church, some moderate and progressive Mormons were troubled too. Among them was a woman named Erika Munson. Straight, married, and a lifelong Mormon, she didn’t set out to become an activist. But after watching LGBT congregants leave the church in the face of hostility, she founded an organization called Mormons Building Bridges.

Mormons Building Bridges facilitates conversations between gay and straight Mormons, and organizes Mormon participation in Salt Lake City’s annual Gay Pride Parade. In one of their most ambitious projects yet, the organization has partnered with the OUTreach Resource Center, an organization for gay teens, to create a program called “Safe and Sound.” Together, they’re building a network of host homes, where homeless LGBT youth can find a safe place to stay.

The issue is of youth homelessness in the area is a serious one. It’s estimated that about half of the homeless youth in the state identify as LGBT and 40% come from Mormon backgrounds. With very few dedicated youth shelters in the state, these young people face difficult and dangerous conditions on the streets.

We’ll explore the genesis of the “Safe and Sound” program, and meet the first host family, whose own transgender son inspired them to get involved, and who have just taken in their first teen.

ENEE: THE FIRST SHOSHONE LANGUAGE VIDEO GAME
19 year old Devin Gardener is Shoshone, but he didn’t really feel Shoshone until recently. His great-great-grandmother gave up her native language and whitened her skin to avoid being teased at school, and Devin grew up with little knowledge of his Shoshone roots, and a deep love for Xbox and Playstation.

Then he got involved with the Shoshone Language Project at the University of Utah, which involves youth in its efforts to preserve and pass on Shoshone culture. There, he was able to blend his love of video games with his growing sense of Shoshone identity, in the creation of the first ever Shoshone language video game. In fact, it might be the first native language video game in the world.

The game is called “Enee,” meaning “scary” or “frightening,” and it blends Tim Burtonesque graphics with the kind of traditional Shoshone stories that game co-creator Cora-Joelle Ahweesho Burchett recalls her grandmother telling her as a kid on the Duckwater Reservation in Nevada. As players move through the game’s five levels, they encounter characters like the rock monster, a large, rough-skinned creature with a taste for eating children. Or the water babies, shape-shifters who eat children and then take on their form.

On the quest to escape the monsters, players must follow instructions in Shoshone and use Shoshone phrases to unlock doors and pick up tools. This encourages young people to learn and use the language, says Burchett, which is vital to its continuance. With only 2,000 to 5,000 living speakers, the language won’t survive unless young people begin to use it. 


SEGMENT C (18:59)
Incue: I'm Al Letson and this is State of the Re:Union
Outcue: to bring them back together. (music tail)

SENDING MESSAGES
“Sending Messages” is the country’s only podcast created and produced by incarcerated youth. Run by Spy Hop, a nonprofit youth media center in Salt Lake City, the program gives incarcerated youth a chance to tell their stories to thousands of listeners all over the world.

Many of the podcast themes are reflections of the daily problems these students face; topics of truth, regret, addiction and the loss of identity. They then write a story, poem, spoken word or interview around the subject.

We’ll visit the Decker Lake Youth Center to document as SpyHop radio instructor Adam Sherlock works with youth to develop their stories, poems, and songs, and learn more about the innovative ways the podcast is helping youth process their sometimes traumatic histories and share their creations beyond the walls of the institution.  

THE MORMON / JELL-O CONNECTION
While the title has occasionally slipped away to other Midwestern states, Utah consistently consumes the most Jell-O in the nation, and the jiggling dessert has become an icon of the Beehive state. Popular pins for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics featured a bowl of green Jell-O. In 2001, the state legislature went so far as to pass a "Resolution Urging Jell-O Recognition," which made the gelatinous dessert the Official Snack of Utah. Bill Cosby—longtime Jell-O spokesman—was there to testify in support of the bill. He said, "I'm proud, not because you are number one in consuming gelatin, but because you are the number one family state."

Because Mormons are the biggest cultural group in Utah, the religion has also become deeply linked with Jell-O. The "Mormon Corridor"—a phrase used to describe the Western states with large Mormon populations—has also been dubbed the "Jell-O Belt." And cookbooks like "The Essential Mormon Cookbook: Green Jell-O, Funeral Potatoes, and Other Secret Combinations" and "No Man Knows My Pastries" (which features a "Jell-O Matrix" aimed at helping readers match flavors and ingredients with appropriate party themes) help to reinforce the connection.

So how did this happen? How did Jell-O become not just the Official Snack of Utah, but the Official Dessert of the Latter-Day Saints? In a short piece, we'll explore what Jell-O represents in Mormon culture and how it came to be a fixture at ward potlucks and Church dinners across the state.

Promo Transcript:
Growing up Mormon, Erika Munson felt uncomfortable with the Church's stance on homosexuality. "It was often compared to addictions with pornography. It was considered a sexual sin." When she got older, she started speaking out. And something surprising happened. "Three or four people came up to me very quietly, saying I have a gay brother, thank you so much for what you did." Exploring the lives of LGBT Mormons, on the next State of the Re:Union.

Salt Lake City, UT: Updating Tradition is available on PRX without charge to all public radio stations, and may be aired an unlimited number of times prior to January 31, 2017. The program may be streamed live on station websites but not archived. Excerpting is permitted for promotional purposes only. 

State of the Re:Union is presented by WJCT and distributed by PRX.  Major funding for the State of the Re:Union comes from CPB, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Delores Barr Weaver Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

Thanks for your consideration of State of the Re:Union with Al Letson. 

 

Gut Feeling

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the CBC Radio's Outfront series | 13:20

Once you start listening to this, it's hard to stop.

Prxoutfrontplain_small Gut Feeling One summer day when he was a young commercial pilot, Norm Barry took his amphibious single engine plane up into the high country of British Columbia to pick up a family finishing their camping trip. Now, with permanent injuries to his body and the death of two members of that family on his mind, he wishes he'd obeyed a strong gut feeling about that flight. by Norm Barry Producer: Steve Wadhams broadcast on CBC Radio One's Outfront September 28/04 & June 27/05 Outfront Opening and Closing Theme available - (see Timing and Cues section for more details) SEE ADDITIONAL LICENSE TERMS

Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 07:07

Thought-provoking, eerie wisdom from the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Philipseymourhoffman_square_small "Learning how to die ... is learning how to live” - Philip Seymour Hoffman. What is happiness? Can we ever truly be happy? Or does the past always creep in and drag us down? Those are the questions the late Philip Seymour Hoffman pondered during a conversation recorded at the Rubin Museum of Art back in 2012. Hoffman spoke on stage that night with philosopher Simon Critchley. What you hear is thought-provoking and eerie considering Hoffman died of a drug overdose just over two years later. He was 46 and had three children.

Hard Boiled Eggs

From The Heart | Part of the Tender Moments series | 04:30

A love story.

Audio_smut_square_logo_600x600-white_on_grey_small Beta is intersex. Which means she doesn't fit squarely into either gender, in a biological sense. Most intersex babies are assigned a gender at birth and undergo surgery. She didn't find out until her 20s, which caused great confusion for her growing up. Cary's story is almost exactly the same---born intersex, assigned a gender that didn't really fit, found out much later in life. Cary and Beta were living 1000 miles apart when they met on Second Life. After a life time of being a very different type of different, they each found someone with whom they could truly relate.

While Audio Smut's "Tender Moments" are in full compliance with FCC regulations, they do openly engage with the topic of sexuality and gender.

James Brown Saves Boston

From Michael May | 09:16

The night after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, Boston was reeling and on the brink of mass riots.

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On April 5, 1968, the country was reeling from the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the night before. Riots had broken out in several cities, and many more were teetering on the edge of chaos.

In Boston, James Brown was scheduled to play to a sold-out crowd at the 14,000-seat Boston Gardens. It had the potential to be a flash point for rioting right in the heart of downtown Boston.

Music journalist Tom Vickers, 18-years-old at the time, was one of the few white people with a ticket to the concert that night. He grew up in Boston, and was a huge fan of R&B music. He was well aware how much tension there was between whites and blacks in the city.

For the most part, whites stayed in south Boston and blacks stayed in a neighborhood called Roxbury. "If you were black and found on the streets of Southie," he remembers, "you were lucky to make it home alive. And frankly, the inverse was true in Roxbury. If you were white and walking the streets there, you could feel the danger. It was palpable."

The tension had been escalating in the mid-60s as the city began to desegregate its public schools. The mayoral race in 1967 pitted a liberal reformer, Kevin White, against Louise Day Hicks, an opponent of desegregation. Hicks ran under the evasive slogan "You know where I stand." White won the race by less than 12,000 votes.

So Boston's race relations where already on a short fuse when the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot and killed on April 4. John "Jabo" Starks, the drummer in James Brown's band, was headed to Boston when he heard the news. "That was such a tragedy," says Starks. "It was sad, and it was shameful. It was like I was drained. You try to better yourself, and then this happens."

Riots broke out across the country, and some feared Boston would be next. Vickers remembers there was some rioting in Roxbury Friday night, but it was quickly stopped -- "yet there was ongoing fear that there would be massive rioting," he says. "Whites were worried that the African American community would spread to other neighborhoods in Boston and just tear up the place."

In fact, city leaders were terrified that the James Brown concert could bring the violence right into the heart of downtown. Mayor Kevin White and Boston's first black city council member, Thomas Atkins, debated whether to cancel the concert. In a forthcoming VH1 documentary about that night, White says: "His concert -- we thought it could bring as many as 20,000 black people, young people, into the city. It just had too much emotion in it. That would be a problem."

Council member Atkins had worse fears. "I said, 'Kevin, you are doing exactly the wrong thing,'" Atkins remembers. "If the black community hears that the city stopped James Brown from performing, all hell will break loose."

The city had only a few hours to find a compromise.

Meanwhile, Vickers went to a somber memorial for King that afternoon. After, he went to the Boston Gardens and asked a policeman if the show was still going to happen. "He said, 'Yeah, it's going to happen, but if I were you, I would turn in your tickets and get a refund,'" says Vickers. "And I said, 'Why would I want to do that?' And he said, 'It's going to be edgy here. You should return your tickets. Here's the good news, they are going to broadcast the entire show on WGBH.'"

The mayor held a press conference to encourage people to stay home and watch the concert. Vickers cashed in his tickets at the box office, as did thousands of others.

That night, around 9 p.m., Brown walked on stage at the Boston Gardens -- and the mayor was by his side. White addressed the crowd of around 2,000 and a row of television cameras. "I'm here tonight, like all of you, to listen to James," White told the crowd. "But I'm also here to ask for your all help. I'm here to ask you to stay with me as your mayor, and make Dr. King's dreams a reality in Boston.

"This is our city, and our future is in our hands -- today, tomorrow and the days that follow. So all I ask you tonight is this: is look each at other, and pledge that no matter what any other community might do, here in Boston, we will honor Dr. King's legacy in peace."

And with that, Brown, dressed in all black, grabs the microphone and takes over. Starks was on the drums. He said that as soon as he dug into the groove the intense sadness he was feeling lifted. "I love to play," he says, "because any problems are vented. I don't hear, see, think of anything, because I'm playing that music. It's a relief for me."

Vickers and his family crowded around the TV and watched in amazement. "James Brown always gave his all," he says. "But that night, there was an emotional edge to it. He seemed totally present, in the moment, and giving 110 percent."

Then, just as James Brown donned his golden cape, a young man jumped on stage. And in an instant, a white police officer rushed in and threw the man back into the audience. It looked like the beginning of a riot -- a riot that the entire city of Boston would witness on live television. The band stopped playing.

"They were just venting anger," says Jabo Starks. "They just wanted to be close to him, but I know when police started to throw them off stage, it became touchy."

Brown told the police officers to leave and shook hands with another teenager who had jumped on stage. Suddenly fans swarmed the singer. "It was almost at a point where something bad was going to happen," says Starks. "And he said 'Let me talk to them.' He had that power."

Within minutes, the Godfather of Soul cleared the stage with these words: "You're making me look bad... You're not being fair to yourself or your own race. I asked the police to step back, because I figured I could get some respect from my own people. It doesn't make sense. Now, are we together or we ain't? Hit the thing, man... one-two-three." And the band kicked back in.

That night, there was rioting in more than 100 U.S. cities. Dozens of people were killed. Huge areas of Newark, N.J., Detroit and Washington, D.C., went up in flames. But Boston remained quiet.

My Interview with OK Go

From Alaska Teen Media Institute | 07:02

A 16-year-old's pursuit of his idol makes for a delightfully fresh story.

Default-piece-image-0 Youth-producer, Andrew Aquino, tells the story of his first big interview. His mission in life being to meet, talk to, and hang with the band OK Go, Aquino finds away to check a couple of those boxes off his list...

The Defense

From Erica Heilman | Part of the Rumble Strip Vermont series | 59:19

If you've ever wondered what it's really like to defend an alleged criminal, hit play.

Playing
The Defense
From
Erica Heilman

20140603_rubinrichard_small In cases where a criminal defendant seems unjustly accused, the defense attorney is our hero. But if they seem guilty…or if it’s an especially violent crime, we look at these lawyers and wonder…how can they do that?

This is a show about the people who stand with the accused.

You’ll hear five perspectives on the art of criminal defense. You’ll hear about what drew these attorneys to criminal law, preparing for trial and cross examinations, and how this work colors their views on where they live.And you’ll hear some great stories.

HV044- Memory Book

From Hearing Voices | Part of the Hearing Voices series | 54:00

What are the "lynchpins" that structure the memory of your life?

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Host: Ceil Muller of KQED-FM

"Lynchpins" (10:19) Joe Frank

Lester Nafzger recites his litany of lynchpins, memories that lock his life together, excerpted from Joe Frank's hour Performer.

"Persistence of Memorex" (8:20) Ceil Muller

Host Ceil Muller takes us on a tour of her own memory palace, made with bits of unsued of tape recordings she's gathered over the years.

"Death in Venice" (26:30) Larry Massett

We roam the beach with retired folk in Venice, Florida, finding seashells, shark's teeth and distant memories; narrated by Joe Frank.

"Remember Me" (1:30 excerpt) The Moving Star Hall Singers

From the album Been in the Storm So Long: A Collection of Spirituals, Folk Tales and Children's Games from Johns Island, SC (Smithsonian Folkways).

Ping-Pong Diplomacy

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 11:14

You may know the story of how ping-pong was a breakthrough in relations with China in the 1970s -- but there's more to it than you think.

Backstory_logo_stacked_rgb_300x300_small Producer Bruce Wallace explains how ping-pong helped to thaw U.S.- China relations during the 1970s, while remaining a potent field for propaganda and espionage – with help from Nicholas Griffin, author of "Ping-Pong Diplomacy," and Judy Bochenski, a former player on the U.S. team.

The Extractor

From The Truth | 18:15

What would happen if we brought the sounds of the past back to life?

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Where@bouts - Episode 002 - Hugh Bob's Van

From Mad Genius | Part of the Where@bouts series | 03:45

Mad Genius remixed the hum and steel of a 15-passenger Chevy into a folk-rock ditty about life on the road.

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Where@bouts - Episode 002: Hugh Bob's Van

Mad Genius is back with another episode of "Where@bouts," the little radio art series about the sense of place. This time, our guests have moving coordinates.

Milwaukee's Hugh Bob and the Hustle has been roaming America's highways and rock clubs for nearly three years. Their 15-passenger Chevy van is their home away from home. They've played in it, slept in it, drank in it and stood by it after two break-ins. Found sound artists Mad Genius recently recorded the Hustle's van, remixing its hum and steel into a folk-rock ditty. Singer and guitarist Hugh Masterson was at the wheel.

Who is Mad Genius? We travel the globe like noise nomads. Help us find your Where@bouts. Send us a loving honk at mad.genius@live.com. Or visitwww.facebook.com/madmanor.

Paul Pena's Kargyraa Moan

From Jonathan Mitchell | 05:24

A blues singer bumps into Tuvan throat singing, and everything changes.

Pena_small UPDATE from www.paulpena.com: We're sad to report that Paul passed away Saturday October 1, 2005 in the early evening at his apartment in San Francisco. He'd been through a long battle with Pancreatitis and Diabetes. This is a huge loss for all of us. During the the past 8 years, Paul's health has been on the decline and his quality of life was greatly diminished by the nearly constant state of pain that he was in. We can take comfort in knowing that he's no longer suffering. October 2, 2005 San Francisco Please be aware of Paul's passing if this piece is aired on your station. HOST IN: Songwriter Paul Pena (PAY-nuh) wrote the 70s-rock classic "Jet Airliner" (made popular when it was recorded by the Steve Miller Band), and he's been singing the blues since he was a kid. But after an unexpected encounter with the throat-singing tradition of Tuva (TOO-vuh), the blind blues singer recharted his musical life. He studied, practiced, and then flew all the way to Central Asia to compete in a Tuvan throat singing competition. Pena's full-throated rumble did very well. In this piece, Pena tells the story of how he discovered Tuvan throat singing, and how he learned the technique. HOST OUT: The singer Paul Pena, performing in Tuva at the Khomei (KOH-may) Symposium and Contest a few years ago. He won in his division, and the film "Genghis Blues" chronicles Pena's visit to Tuva. Jonathan Mitchell produced our story. This piece orginally aired on Studio 360 in July, 2003.

The Gospel Ranger

From Radio Diaries | Part of the Audio History Project series | 14:42

"There Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down" was one of the last songs Johnny Cash recorded, but it was actually written by a 12-year-old boy.

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One of the last songs that Johnny Cash recorded before he died was calle, “There Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down).”

But that song is not a Johnny Cash original. “Ain’t No Grave” was actually written in 1934, by a 12-year-old boy named Claude Ely. Ely went on to become an itinerant Pentecostal preacher known to his followers as Brother Claude, the Gospel Ranger. Brother Claude was a fiery speaker and an electrifying singer. Outside the Appalachian mountains, his name was barely known. But his music helped influence some of the pioneers of rock & roll.

Meal Ticket: My Lunch with Marlon Brando

From Eric Winick | 10:00

There are some stories you just never forget.

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When a young doctor questioning his choice of profession has a chance encounter with cinema icon Marlon Brando, the ensuing conversation proves surprisingly profound -- not just for the doctor, but for Brando himself.  

Story by Wayne Peter Liebman, from the files of Yarn AudioWorks

Wayne Liebman is a physician, poet and playwright.  To read more about his work, click here.

NYC Student Tackles the Last Test Standing Between Her and a High School Diploma

From WNYC | Part of the WNYC's Educating on the Edge series | 07:15

After leaving the Congo, Danielle lived in a series of New York homeless shelters. Now all that stands between her and college is the U.S. history exam that she's failed three times.

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Danielle has failed the U.S. History exam three times. It is one of the five Regents required to earn a diploma in New York State. She said she felt frustrated by this obstacle. She overcame so much since coming to the United States. She left her mother in the Congo to join her father. He then left Danielle behind with her step-family to live in a series of homeless shelters. 

Despite all the tumult, Danielle made a home for herself. She was looking forward to college.

In many ways, Danielle's story is not unusual. The graduation requirements in New York State have proven challenging to English Language Learners, according to the most recent state data. The graduation rates for English Language Learners has dropped three years in a row, and is now just over 31 percent statewide.

In New York City, the ELL graduation rate fell to 32.3 percent in 2013 from 39.4 percent the previous year.

Yet Danielle's story is exceptional because of her particular experiences and her perseverance. She has taken the U.S. History exam three times this year without success. She has decided to go for a fourth and final attempt. She finds out the results later this week.

This story is part of American Graduate, a public media initiative addressing the dropout crisis, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  

Questions for Martin Luther King, Jr.

From David Green | 02:20

Third graders can be pretty wise interviewers.

Mlk_small After learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. - and about how to be good radio reporters and interviewers -  a class of Chicago-area third graders (and one visiting student from South Korea) wrote down the most important questions they would have asked Dr. King if they could have interviewed him. The resulting audio collage captures the curiosity, empathy, wisdom and innocence of eight and nine-year old children.

Third Grade Audio
"See" the world through third grade ears



China Rising

From Open Source | Part of the Open Source with Christopher Lydon series | 58:37

A fascinating conversation with The New Yorker's Evan Osnos about cultural and economic changes in China.

Playing
China Rising
From
Open Source

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GUEST LIST

China is in its own gilded age says The New Yorker writer Evan Osnos, into a second generation of ultra-modern tech, a still-developing country bristling with billionaires. On the eve of Chris’ trip to China, we’re wondering how a country with nearly a century of poverty, collectivism, and authoritarian rule adapts to its instant prosperity?

Biological Clock

From The Truth | 14:36

It's nothing like your grandpa's radio drama.

Icon2_small Adam and Allie want nothing more than to have a baby. But when they discover they are both infertile, they are given one last hope: an experiemental procedure that could change their lives forever.

Performed by Tami Sagher, Ed Herbstman, Louis Kornfeld, and Kerry Kastin.
Written by Ira Gamerman.
Produced and directed by Jonathan Mitchell.
The music under the credits is by Richard Walters.

Winner of the 2013 Gold Mark Time Award.

NSA Customer Service

From Whitney Jones | 03:13

Let's imagine the NSA has a super friendly service rep.

Whitney__5491_small Exploring the benefits of an extensive NSA surveillance program.

A Curly Bushwalk

From Timothy Nicastri | 03:10

Kids say the darndest things. Australian kids say the darndest things in the bush with an accent way cooler than you.

Copy_of_bushwalk_small A family stroll through the Australian bush.

Cry Me a River

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Fugitive Waves series | 33:19

They were trying to dam and flood the Stanislaus River. So Mark Dubois snuck to a hidden spot in the river canyon, chained himself to a rock, and waited as the water rose.

Pagan_photo_300_small Fugitive Waves: Episode 6: Cry Me a River: A story of three pioneering river activist and the damming of wild rivers in the west.  Mark Dubois, co-founder of Friends of the River, Earth Day and International Rivers Network, began as a river guide who opened up rafting trips to disabled people in the 1970's.  Dubois protested the damming and flooding of the Stanislaus  River by hiding himself in the river canyon and chaining himself to a rock as the water rose.  Katie Lee, born 1919, a former Hollywood starlet, ran the Colorado through Glen Canyon long before it was dammed and in 1955 was the 175th person to run the Grand Canyon.  An outspoken conservationist, singer and writer, she has spent her life fighting for rivers.  Ken Sleight, now 83 is a long time river and pack guide and activist in southern Utah who fought and damming of Glen Canyon and filling of Lake Powell.  An inspiration for Ed Abbey's, Monkey Wrench Gang, Sleight is currently working on the campaign to remove Glen Canyon dam.  

The 21st Speech

From Timothy Nicastri | 04:22

On two twin sisters' 21st birthday, their dad decides to fess up about something he's never had the guts to tell them before.

Twins_small Twin daughters can present many challenges to 'mixed-up' parents...

Counselors Without Borders

From With Good Reason | Part of the news features series | 02:38

After Cyclone Nargis in Burma, survivors are eager to tell their stories. And it seems to be helping them heal.

Haiti_trauma_small From the forest fires in California to child soldiers in Uganda, survivors of disasters are receiving a new kind of aid. Counselors Without Borders helps people talk after their trauma. Lilia Fuquen has the story.

Episode 8: Can't Rock This Boat

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 17:10

You should really listen to this important story about racism and criminal justice.

Criminal-itunes-compressed-700x700_small In March 1964, a 35-year-old African American woman named Johnnie Mae Chappell was walking along the side of the road in Jacksonville, Florida. Four white men were driving around listening to the race riots on the radio. They had a gun on the dashboard. As they passed Chappell, one of the men leaned out the car window and shot her to death. As the police investigated the crime, evidence began to mysteriously disappear, making it impossible to punish the men who admitted to committing the crime.

Ancient Melodies

From Richard Paul | 10:19

It's haunting to hear these sounds pieced together from clues. There's some funky stuff in there, like one song in 15/8 time with beats that aren't all the same length.

Greek_small There are only a handful of pieces of music remaining from ancient Greece.  And we do mean pieces; tiny scraps of papyrus and bits of stone with musical notes that are thousands of years old.  Come with John Franklin, professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Vermont to meet the people who bring this ancient music back from the dead.  Learn how they come to understand the slashes and squiggles that they see and translate them into music.  And find out what they do when they learn that he music they’re playing was torn in half a thousand years ago and the other half is gone forever.

Early Bloom

From Peter Frick-Wright | Part of the 30 Minutes West series | 15:54

Can plants communicate? David Rhoades thought so, but his paradigm-shifting discoveries were ahead of his time.

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When University of Washington researcher David Rhoades discovered that plants could communicate with each other, he was laughed out of science. But now, three decades later, science is reconsidering.

His discovery came on the heels of the book The Secret Life of Plants, which claimed plants were sentient, emotional creatures with the ability to communicate telepathically with humans. It was a huge bestseller and Rhoades' experiments sounded like they were straight from the book. His work was criticized, grant funding disappeared, and he eventually left science.

Today, however, Rhoades' experiments have been replicated, and his theories confirmed. Scientists have found evidence that plants not only communicate with each other but also acknowledge kin, respond to sound waves, and share resources through networks of underground fungi.

Richard Powers on Music

From Open Source | Part of the Open Source Shorts and Podcasts series | 12:57

"Music, just reaching into your rib cage and massaging your heart, is such a matter of envy for novelists who have to mediate everything with words that mean things.”

Screen_shot_2014-08-12_at_4 Listen to the full program here: http://radioopensource.org/richard-powers/

Oh Brother

From Annie McEwen | 12:14

Annie's brother is a serial liar. For this piece, she decided finally to confront him and ask why.

Playing
Oh Brother
From
Annie McEwen

Oh_brother This piece was produced as part of Transom.org's Story Workshop. (http://transom.org/workshop/story-workshop/) My brother had been lying for years about dropping out of school multiple times and finally I decided to confront him about it. 

Katrina Oral History Montage (clean)

From Sarah Yahm | 07:06

9 years ago, New Orleans residents were preparing for Hurricane Katrina, little knowing it would kill more than 1,800 people and displace more than a million. These are the voices of the people who were there.

Katrinaphoto_small This is an oral history montage produced with audio collected by Alive in Truth: The New Orleans Disaster Oral History and Memory Project. We hear the voices of a number of different Katrina evacuees as they describe the way they survived and their relationships with authorities and other people during the aftermath of the storm.

Fashion'Uji

From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 06:35

Somali high school senior Sahro Hassan is starting her own fashion line. Think cheetah print, sequins, and hijabs.

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For teenage girls in Lewiston's Somali community, dress is a form of self-expression--but how do you dress both modest and modern? Sahro Hassan, a high school senior, started her own fashion line to provide on-trend designs that respect Muslim modesty.

Health Care Hackers

From Rendered | Part of the Destination DIY series | 13:15

If you have a disease that’s poorly understood, the internet is a powerful tool.

Artworks-000083054633-u19aeq-t500x500_small This episode of Destination DIY explores the growing phenomenon of peer-to-peer health care. Producer Sarah Yahm profiles Jen Brea, who has myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.), a rare condition that is difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat because so little is known about the disease. M.E. has a range of symptoms and many sufferers can't get out of bed. Jen raised more than $200,000 on Kickstarter to empower other people with M.E. by making a documentary film about their experiences. But making a film from bed is a DIY challenge in and of itself.

Hot Chicken

From Jakob Lewis | Part of the Neighbors series | 04:28

One man shares his love for hot chicken over a fat beat.

Playing
Hot Chicken
From
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Hotchicken_small What happens when one man shares his love for hot chicken over a fat beat? From Nashville, TN Chance Perdue does just that.

A Rainbow of Noise

From marnie chesterton | 08:24

Have you ever heard a scientifically accurate sonic rainbow?

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Most people know white noise as the static on old analogue TVs, but there’s pink noise, and blue noise and black noise; enough to recreate a scientifically accurate audio rainbow. Marnie Chesterton tells some of the stories of the different kinds of noise: Meet Shelley, who uses pink noise to drown out the constant ringing in her head. Professor Trevor Cox, at the Acoustic Engineering group at Salford explains why engineers need to classify different frequencies this way, and (in the longer version) Cyrus Shahrad, electronic music producer, whose love of brown noise filters through into his work. 

The Theater of War

From Eric Winick | 08:31

War, death, and the stage.

Robards2_small From the files of Yarn AudioWorks.

Michael Pressman directed the NY and Los Angeles productions of the revival of Inge's Come Back Little Sheba starring S. Epatha Merkerson, as well as the L.A. productions of To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (six L.A. Drama Critics Award nominations), Days and Nights Within and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Film: To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, Peter Gallagher; Some Kind of Hero starring Richard Pryor; Those Lips, Those Eyes starring Frank Langella, Thomas Hulce, Herbert Berghoff; The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training; and Frankie and Johnny Are Married, which he also wrote. TV: his many film and episodic credits include “Shootdown” with Angela Lansbury, “Anne Tyler’s Saint Maybe” with Blythe Danner and Mary Louise Parker, “Law & Order” (where he first worked with Ms. Merkerson) and, as executive producer and director, “Picket Fences,” “Chicago Hope," and episodes of "In Treatment," "Damages," and "Weeds."

Holding

From Sara Brooke Curtis | 05:32

What are you holding?

Artworks-000079349029-yqaqzn-t120x120-1_small What are you holding?

Zero G, and I Feel Fine

From Hearing Voices | Part of the Wandering Jew stories series | 06:01

I've listened to this more times than I can count. Trust me. Hit play.

Nasa-240-gpn-2000-001040_small Transmissions are from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, with music by Jeff Artnsen of Racket Ship.

The Day Lou Reed Died

From Open Source | Part of the Open Source Shorts and Podcasts series | 02:33

I like this short poem about a man's intimate relationship with Lou Reed's songs, and how it feels to lose someone.

Nick-flynn_small Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Job in Suck City, reads a poem about the late guitarist and songwriter Lou Reed.

Vatican Floors: Watch your Step

From Jake Warga | 03:16

If you've been to the Vatican, how closely did you look at the floor?

140314_042-jake-warga-jakewarga_small “That’s something the versatile popes did a lot of: scavenging and re-purposing of material,” he adds. “Why pay for new works when you can pilfer it?”

Harold and Butch

From Sarah P. Reynolds | 05:54

Harold and his friend Butch can't live without each other. One of them is a ventriloquist.

H_btiny_small Every year, ventriloquists from all around the country convene in Fort Mitchell, KY for their annual convention (July 17 to 22 this year). Harold Crocker will be there with his pal, Butch. In fact, Harold has only missed one of these conventions in the last 30 years. Harold's had many jobs - police officer, custodian, natural gas company guy - but he's been a ventriloquist the longest. And even though he's 75 now and retired, he's not ready to give up the job he's loved the most.

Damsel, Distressed

From Eric Winick | 13:10

An NYC fairy tale.

Annie1_small A painting mishap tests the limits of one young writer's sanity when, newly-relocated to NYC, she becomes locked in her bathroom, with a tiny, 1' x 1' window her only means of communication with the outside world.

Story by Annie Lalla.

Presented by Yarn AudioWorks (http://www.yarnaudioworks.com).

Episode 1: Animal Instincts

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 18:35

I'm such a sucker for mysteries. This one's extra good.

Criminal_logos_final_wt_sq__1__small In 2001, a woman was found dead in a pool of her own blood. Her husband was convicted of her murder. But a curious neighbor had a different theory… one that brings new meaning to man vs. beast.

Strangers (podcast): "The Long Shadow"

From Lea Thau | Part of the Strangers series | :00

"You question, what is a person? If you scramble some brain cells, what happens to the person that was there before? What is a person's soul and where is the soul of my friend?"

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Tape Delay

From The Truth | 14:15

A man accidentally records a phone call, and then things get weird.

Playing
Tape Delay
From
The Truth

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A story about a man who makes an unexpected discovery when he accidentally records a phone call.

Ed Herbstman as Ben

Tami Sagher as Erica

Libby Geroge as Mom

Christian Paluck as the Bartender

Produced & directed by Jonathan Mitchell

Written by Jonathan Mitchell, Ed Herbstman, and Melanie Hoopes

Editors: Ira Glass, Peter Clowney, Kerrie Hillman, Lisa Pollack, and Jonathan Menjivar

Recorded at WNYC, Magnet Theater, and on location in New York City

Originally produced for This American Life

Hard to Say

From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 05:53

Ninety year old Ed Werler takes listeners on a sentimental journey exploring love and loss.

Edradio_small Ninety year old Ed Werler takes listeners on a sentimental journey exploring love and loss.

David Bowie on Stardust

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 06:16

“I find it extremely hard to write for me. I did find it much easier, having created the Ziggy, to then write for him, you see. Even though it’s me doing it!”

Davidbowiemugshot_square_small "AUDIENCE APPRECIATION IS ONLY GOING TO BE PERIODIC AT THE BEST OF TIMES. YOU WILL FALL IN AND OUT OF FAVOR CONTINUALLY." - David Bowie. How can you turn yourself into an alien rock star and then walk away from the spectacle--and fame-that you’ve created? Here's the logic according to David Bowie from a 1988 interview with Joe Smith. Joe’s book on music legends is called On The Record and his interviews now live at the Library of Congress.

Life of the Law #30 - Trouble with Profiling

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 12:47

Border Patrol agents are only allowed to stop a car if they have ‘reasonable suspicion’ that something illegal is going on. But does looking ‘Mexican’ count? The answer depends whom you ask, and where you are.

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This is a story about looking for something, without exactly looking for it.

A few years ago, Ismael Ramos and some friends were riding along a two-lane highway on the Olympic Peninsula. The peninsula is in Washington State, but right near the Canadian border.

It was the summer before Ramos’ senior year of high school, and his friend’s dad was driving them to rent tuxedos for a quinceañera party. A quinceañera is a kind of Latin American “Sweet 16” for 15-year old girls.

As they were driving, they passed a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle–a white SUV with a green stripe–stopped by the side of the highway.

Ramos remembered joking about it at first: “You know, truck full of Mexican kids, he is probably going to start following us.”

Then a little while later, they passed another Border Patrol vehicle. This time the car pulled a U-turn and started driving right behind them.

"We weren’t acting suspicious in any way, clearly we didn’t have anything with us,” Ramos said. “So I mean there was just no reason for them to pull us over.”

But the agent did pull them over. He came up to the car, and then another Border Patrol car drove up.

“[The agent] said turn off the truck and so the driver did,” Ramos said. “And then he reached in and tried to take the keys out of the ignition, and he couldn’t, so the driver took them out and handed them to him.”

Then, as Ramos remembers it, the agent started asking where they were born. He wanted to see IDs from everyone, even though one of the kids was only 13.

The agent didn’t say why he had stopped them, but Ramos thinks he knows.

“I’ve got black hair,” he said. “I’m kind of like a light brown skin tone, I’m not really brown-brown, but I mean you can tell that I am a Hispanic.”

Ramos was born in Washington State, and like everyone born in the United States, he is an American citizen. In fact, there was only one person in the car–the driver–who wasn’t born in the US, and he is a legal permanent resident. The whole scenario made Ramos angry.

“I am just as American as you are, I was born and raised here,” Ramos said. “And so, why should I be the only one that has to be questioned? Or why is my ethnicity the one that has to stick out compared to everybody else?”

Federal law enforcement agents–such as those from the FBI, the DEA, and Customs and Border Protection–are forbidden from using race or ethnicity as a reason to suspect a certain person might be breaking the law.

The guidelines, however, do include some exceptions for border and national security, and in “exceptional instances,” but it’s not clear what counts as ‘exceptional instances.’

Hipolito Acosta, a retired Department of Homeland Security official and former Border Patrol agent who is Mexican-American, said that as a teenager living on the Texas border, he was stopped and questioned by border agents. These days, he says, there’s much less profiling along the border.

Still, he said, it is hard to keep racial or ethnic appearance completely out of border enforcement. “Let’s be real,” he said. “When we have the entrants coming in from the Southern border, the great, great majority are of Latin descent, whether they are Mexicans or Central Americans. Is that going to be considered? Of course it is going to be considered.”

In fiscal 2013 (October 2012-September 2013), the U.S. Border Patrol caught more than 420,000 people coming into this country illegally. For years now, more than half the people caught coming in have been Mexican, and most of the rest were Central American.

And that raises the big question: if the Border Patrol’s job is to find and catch people coming into the country illegally, and most of the people who cross the border without papers are Latin American, should border agents be allowed to stop people because they look Latino?

In 1975, the Supreme Court said yes, as long as “Mexican appearance” isn’t the only reason for the stop. The case was USA v Brignoni-Ponce. Two years earlier, in March 1973, Felix Humberto Brignoni-Ponce had been driving two undocumented passengers along a highway north of San Diego. Brignoni-Ponce was Puerto Rican, and therefore a US citizen; one of his passengers was Mexican, the other Guatemalan. The Border Patrol stopped the car, and arrested Brignoni-Ponce for human smuggling.

Brignoni-Ponce fought the case, arguing that the stop was illegal; the Border Patrol agent admitted that the only reason he pulled over the car was because the people in it looked Mexican.

John Cleary, the federal public defender who represented Brignoni-Ponce before the Supreme Court, argued that that logic–pulling somebody over to investigate immigration status because they, or their passengers look Mexican–is just plain racist.

“Can they say that a person who appears to be of Mexican descent in the area of Southern California contiguous with the Republic of Mexico constitute some rational basis, reasonable suspicion that that person is an alien?” Cleary asked in his oral argument. “I would contend if such ever was the case that would be rank racism.”

Cleary also mocked the government’s assumptions that agents can recognize Mexican citizens by their grooming habits and other stereotypes. “You contest because they have coarse hands, that they wear coarse clothes, they have their haircut in a certain way,” he said. To hit home his point about the absurdity of it all, he added, “I’ve had my haircut once or twice in Tijuana.”

The deputy solicitor general Andrew Frey, who represented the U.S. government in the case, argued that agents should have broad discretion to question anyone they want in the border region, because they have the difficult job of securing the border.

“Suppose that a Border Patrol car is driving along the road and it sees a car drive by,” Frey said to the justices. “Six persons who appear to be Mexicans and I think that to ask the officer to ignore that fact would be to ignore the reasonableness requirement of the Fourth Amendment.”

The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable search and seizure. But it does let law enforcement agents stop a car, if they have a reasonable suspicion—that they can back up with specific facts–that something illegal is happening.

The Court voted unanimously in favor of Brignoni-Ponce. But in the its opinion, written by Justice Lewis Powell, the Court decided that Border Patrol agents may use “Mexican appearance” when they decide whom to pull over, as long as that isn’t the only factor.

“The likelihood that any given person of Mexican ancestry is an alien is high enough to make Mexican appearance a relevant factor, but, standing alone, it does not justify stopping all Mexican-Americans to ask if they are aliens,” Powell wrote.

Kevin Johnson, the dean of the UC Davis School of Law, has studied racial profiling extensively. He said the Supreme Court’s opinion looked like it limited the use of race in border stops, but instead it did the opposite.

“Some would say that it helped to institutionalize the consideration of race in immigration enforcement,” he said, “in a way that isn’t consistent with modern constitutional sensibilities.”

In any case, demographics, especially along the border, have changed dramatically since the Supreme Court decided Brignoni-Ponce. Latinos now make up more than
16 percent of the population, and the vast majority are in the US legally.

In fact, since 1975, lower courts have tried to find different ways to update the Supreme Court’s opinion. In 2000, for example, in a case called USA vs. Montero-Camargo, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that in areas like Southern California with large Latino populations, “Hispanic appearance is of little or no use in determining which particular individuals among the vast Hispanic populace should be stopped by law enforcement officials on the lookout for illegal aliens.” In other words, when there are a lot of Hispanic people around, it doesn’t make sense to stop people just because they look Hispanic.

The 9th Circuit Court also wrote that stops based on race or ethnicity, “send a clear message that those who are not white enjoy a lesser degree of constitutional protection – that they are in effect assumed to be potential criminals first and individuals second.”

But even that answer is not cut and dry. Six years later, a panel of judges from the same Circuit said that in parts of the jurisdiction with only a few Latinos, it is okay to use ethnic appearance as the basis for immigration stops.

On Patrol

I wanted to get a feel for how the Border Patrol does its job, so I took a ride with agent Peter Bidegain, the spokesman for the agency’s Tucson office.

We drove along the border fence and on back roads in Southern Arizona. Around this part of the border, agents mostly stop people walking through the desert, whom they suspect of having crossed the border illegally. But agents can also stop cars, as long as they have reason to suspect something criminal is going on, which usually means drug or human smuggling.

“The vehicle may be coming out of an area where you have historically had a lot of smuggling,” Bidegain said. “It may be coming out of an area where a vehicle normally isn’t in that area, the vehicle may be too clean for an area, it may be too dirty for an area, it is not one set thing, it is a whole set of circumstances that you articulate.”

That all may sound vague. But that’s because more and more, the U.S. Supreme Court has been granting law enforcement broad discretion in deciding what facts justify a stop.

In USA v. Arvizu in 2002, for example, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision to throw out a stop where a Border Patrol agent had relied on seemingly innocent factors to justify pulling over a car. (It turned out the driver was, in fact, smuggling marijuana.) Among the reasons the agent cited for making the stop was that the driver slowed down and didn’t make eye contact when he spotted the agent, and that the children in the backseat waved in an odd way. In its decision, the Supreme Court said that border agents could rely on factors–such as the children’s waving, for example–that wouldn’t be suspicious on their own, but that, taken together, could seem suspicious.

“Basically it gives [the agents] a green light to consider whatever they want to consider in making an immigration stop,” said Kevin Johnson of UC Davis School of Law. Because agents have so much room to decide when to make a stop, he said, it looks like agents aren’t using race as a reason to stop people. But really, he thinks it’s just harder to tell what is really motivating a stop.

“The court, by not creating any bright line rules, and by giving great discretion to the Border Patrol officers, has made it increasingly difficult to really make sure and eliminate racial bias from entering into immigration stops.”

All of which is little comfort to Latino citizens like Ismael Ramos, who is still puzzled about why–depending how the law is interpreted–Border Patrol agents can legally consider his ethnicity suspicious.

“I live in a border area, but it is the Canadian border, not the Mexican border,” Ramos said. “So don’t you think, you know, they should try to be looking for some Canadian illegal immigrants?”

Ramos was part of a lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project brought against Border Patrol, accusing them of making unfair stops in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Border Patrol denied they’d done anything wrong. But in 2013, as part of a settlement, the agency agreed to share data about its stops in the area. The agency also agreed to provide local agents with a refresher course on the Fourth Amendment.

Meanwhile, though, more and more local police forces across the country have begun doing immigration enforcement, which means more agencies need to figure out what’s legal patrolling and what’s illegal discrimination.

Professor Jon Gould, American University was an advising scholar on this story.

Can We Still Call It Wilderness?

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 10:43

I like this exploration of wilderness as a human concept. It's something I think about a lot. Does true "wilderness" even exist?

03421r_2_small Writer Emma Marris and historian Paul Sutter join the Guys as they discuss the Wilderness Act of 1964, and how American ideas of wilderness and how it should be used have changed - and what the future of the wild is in a world where nothing is completely unchanged by human activity.

Martin Woods on Challenges for Black Opera Singers

From WBEZ | Part of the Vocalo Presents series | 08:55

Martin Woods talks to Audra Wilson about the challenges and the rewards of being a Black Operatic Baritone from the West Side of Chicago, and taking “the road less traveled”.

Martin-woods_007_1_small Audra Wilson talks to Martin Woods, a young, black opera singer from the West Side of Chicago. He talks about the challenges and the rewards of taking “the road less traveled”. He also talks about the similarities between gospel music in the black church and opera.


Scared

From John Biewen | 03:00

A (very) short story of love and anxiety. A child grows to age 13 in three minutes while a father muses on parental fears.

Playing
Scared
From
John Biewen

Harper-john-small_small This essay/montage was produced for the Third Coast Audio Festival's 2008 Audio Challenge, Radio Ephemera.  The challenge was to produce a piece of no more than three minutes based on any two of five books selected from the Prelinger Library of San Francisco -- and to include the voice of a stranger.  "Scared" is based on the books, "Control of Mind and Body," and "The Stork Didn't Bring You!: The Facts of Life for Teenagers."  The stranger is the voicemail lady.  

Elvis Was Our Shabbos Goy

From Rob Sachs | 05:43

The story of the Fruchters, an orthodox Jewish family who lived above Elvis Presley’s family in a house in Memphis. They would often call on teenage Elvis Presley to be their Shabbos Goy - the gentile who would perform "work" that religious Jews did not do while on the Sabbath or day of rest. In return, the Fruchter’s may have unwittingly influenced Elvis’ music.

Elvis_small The story of the Fruchters, an orthodox Jewish family who lived above Elvis Presley’s family in a house in Memphis. They would often call on teenage Elvis Presley to be their Shabbos Goy - the gentile who would perform "work" that religious Jews did not do while on the Sabbath or day of rest. In return, the Fruchter’s may have unwittingly influenced Elvis’ music.

Inner Circle

From WeKnewJFK.org | Part of the We Knew JFK Companion Pieces series | 03:25

Recollections of Laura Knebel, a journalist, on JFK's web of close friendships and why there were no women in his inner circle.

Inner_circle_small This is one of five short segments that are standalone companion pieces to the hour-long documentary, We Knew JFK: Unheard Stories from the Kennedy Archives. As with the hour, the segments are narrated by renowned journalist Robert MacNeil, who covered Kennedy for NBC News, and was in the motorcade in Dallas.   The companion pieces are also mined from the same rich vein of first person recordings — the extraordinary Oral History collection housed at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

Like the hour We Knew JFK, these pieces are not about JFK's death but about his life — personal recollections of Jack Kennedy from people who knew him intimately.  The segments are free-standing and available individually, but designed to be stripped across the week, ideally Nov 18-22, when interest in JFK will peak, as the country and the world remember him on the 50th anniversary of his assassination in Dallas in 1963.

StoryCorps: Sandra Sowder and Marcia Sutton

From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 02:10

Marcia Sutton was the preacher's wife in an Alabama town. Then she fell in love with Sandra, and her world turned upside down.

Sutton1_small

Sandra Sowder (L) and Marcia Sutton (R) met in a small town outside of Huntsville, Alabama.

Over time, they fell in love. When they made their relationship public, their worlds turned upside down.

The couple sat down together at StoryCorps to talk about what happened next.

The State We're In 2012, Story of the Week, part 14

From Radio Netherlands Worldwide | Part of the The State We're In 2012, Story of the Week series | 05:00

DREAMS OF A BETTER LIFE: There’s a video on the internet that went viral earlier this week. It shows an Ethiopian domestic worker being abused on the streets of Beirut.

Tswi_logo_small

THE STATE WE’RE IN, STORY OF THE WEEK

DATE:             6 April 2012

HOST:            Jonathan Groubert

TAGS: Ethiopian maids, Lebanon, domestic worker abuse

DESCRIPTION: DREAMS OF A BETTER LIFE: There’s a video on the internet that went viral earlier this week. It shows an Ethiopian domestic worker being abused on the streets of Beirut. Meseret Abebe [not her real name] knows exactly what it’s like to be in that position. She left Ethiopia at age 10 to go to Lebanon, hoping to open her own business some day.  But once there, her employer refused to pay her and beat her.  She’s now back in Ethiopia, and still hopes that working abroad will make her dream come true.

TSWI, STORY OF THE WEEK, 6 April 2012

IN: [music] I’m Jonathan Groubert...

RUNS: 5:00

OUT: ... that’s t.s.w.i.-dot-org.

SUGGESTED OUTRO/EXTRO:

You can hear the full version of this story on The State We’re In from Radio Netherlands Worldwide at [TIME] right here on [STATION].

 

 

Above the Law

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 10:46

A look at the history of mistrust between police and the communities they serve.

Police-blurb-photo-300x239_small Producer Nina Earnest explores how the professionalization of the Los Angeles Police Department -intended to free the police from municipal corruption - ended up putting the department above the law.

Why the Shofar Matters on the Jewish High Holy Days

From Interfaith Voices | 01:56

A 2 minute portrait of the shofar, a sacred instrument made from a ram's horn. It's an essential part of services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

This piece is short and sweet, and includes a nice demonstration of the blowing of the shofar.

Web_shofar_small INTRO: The sound that defines Rosh Hashanah [note- also Yom Kippur, Oct. 7] is the wail of the shofar.  Virgina Rabbi Jack Moline explains why it’s such an important part of the Jewish high holy days.

OUTRO: Jack Moline is the head rabbi at the Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia. He spoke to Laura Kwerel, the producer of Interfaith Voices radio show.  This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Wednesday, Sept. 28. OR This year, Yom Kippur begins at sundown Friday, Oct. 7.

**Note- this is part of a larger series on religious sounds, the Soundscapes of Faith, which I'll upload soon. The series won 2 awards in 2009; more here: http://interfaithradio.org/soundscapes

Nine People, One Bedroom: A Teen's Take on Life In Poverty

From WNYC | Part of the WNYC's Educating on the Edge series | 07:43

This kid has a really compelling perspective.

Jairogomez_small

When Jairo started 10th grade, his mom asked him to stay home from school to watch his younger siblings while she went to work. He failed all of his classes that year.

“I did wrong in making you stay, but I didn't have an option,” his mom said. “At the time I sacrificed you. It was either good grades for you and you’d go to school, or we were going to suffer and lack necessities...it’s a balance.”

Jairo learned that the odds would be stacked against him if he didn't start focusing on his education.

LISTEN to Jairo's intimate first-person account of the very real choices about education and work that kids growing up in poverty have to make every day.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

How Jairo’s family has changed:

There are nine of us in my family and we live in a one-bedroom apartment. I share a bunk bed with my sister Judy. I used to think of my family as middle class – we’d go out to eat a lot and I could ask for clothes sometimes. But after my parents split up, my mom had four more kids and that all stopped.

How Jairo calculated his socioeconomic status:

I asked my mom to do the math, and she said right now my family makes $30,000 a year – according to the federal government we’re $15,000 below the poverty line. That kind of scares me. 

Jairo reflects on class difference:

It gets me mad that my mom works so hard. And there are people out there who are just born into it, they make money like nothing, they don’t have to clean houses, wake up early, drain themselves.

Jairo on his future:

I know I should be thinking about going to college when I graduate if I don’t want that life. But I’d have to stay at home to afford it. Nine of us in a one bedroom apartment, no privacy, one bathroom, and toys everywhere—I don’t know if I can make myself do it.

 

The series is part of American Graduate, a public media initiative addressing the dropout crisis, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Michael Jackson on Godliness

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 07:28

For this interview, Michael Jackson stipulated that John Pidgeon ask questions to 13-year old Janet Jackson, who sat next to Michael. Then she'd relay them to her brother before he'd answer.

Michael_jackson_square_small "My singing… I’ll just say it simple as possible: it’s just godly." - Michael Jackson at 21. We uncovered a rare interview MJ gave in 1980 before he became a global star with the release of Thriller. It's something to hear his voice. And he had an interesting requirement for the interview: the interviewer, John Pidgeon, had to first ask his questions to Michael’s sister, 13-year old Janet Jackson who was seated next to Michael. Then she would relay the question to her brother before he would answer. Here's the tape.

American Justice

From Al Letson | Part of the State of the Re:Union: Season Five series | 53:53

The rate of deadly shootings by Albuquerque Police is higher than that of NYC — a city 14 times bigger. The heart-wrenching story of how victims' families spoke out starts at 6:40.

Sotru_profile-pic_01_small State of the Re:Union
American Justice

Host: Al Letson
Producer: Delaney Hall

DESCRIPTION:
The United States has the world’s largest prison population. In 2012, there were 2.3 million people in American prisons or jails – and even more under some kind of “correctional supervision.” In fact, if you added up all the people in America in prison, on probation, or on parole, it’d total about 6 million – just a little smaller than the population of New York City. The system is vast, but how well is it working? In this episode of State of the Re:Union, we explore how a few communities across the country have responded creatively to problems with police, courts, and prisons. And we’ll look into how these institutions, when challenged, adapt and change.

BILLBOARD (:59)
Incue: From PRX and WJCT
Outcue: But first, this news.

News Hole: 1:00-6:00

SEGMENT A (12:29)
Incue: From WJCT in Jacksonville, Florida
Outcue: When State of the Re:Union continues.

BED SHEETS, HAIR GEL, AND AN EPIC PRISON MURAL
Jesse Krimes had just graduated from art school and been awarded a prestigious fellowship when the federal government indicted him for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He faced a five-year sentence.

To cope with the isolation and shock of being locked up, Jesse continued making his art. He experimented with materials, figuring out how to transfer images of offenders that he clipped from newspapers onto bars of soap. Other inmates commissioned him to paint portraits they could send to loved ones, paying him with postage stamps or bags of coffee.?
Gradually, he came to be known as the prison’s resident artist, which allowed him to make friends with other inmates across racial lines and kept him out of trouble in an environment charged with gang violence. Other inmates called him “the independent”, he says. They wanted to learn from him and they petitioned guards to let him teach a still-life class.
With a spare room converted to a studio for his teaching, Jesse began working on a bigger project – his prison opus. He procured sheets from a friend who worked in the laundry room and began creating an enormous 39-panel mural, transferring images clipped from the New York Times onto the sheets using hair gel and a spoon. He created surreal, collaged landscapes where images of supermodels floated next to images of chaos in Syria. Naked ballerinas cavorted through the sky. Panel by panel, he secretly shipped his masterwork out to his girlfriend. It took three years to make, and Jesse describes it as a meditation on heaven, hell, sin, redemption, celebrity worship, and deprivation. He didn’t see it assembled in its full glory until he’d served his entire sentence and been released.

THE LOST LOVED ONES CLUB – PART 1

When Stephen and Renetta’s son Christopher was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the family was in shock. But in a lot of ways, Christopher was fortunate. He got good treatment and responded well to medication. He was able to hold down a part-time job.

Still, it could be tough. Christopher sometimes experienced delusions, and he had some run-ins with the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). Stephen and Renetta informed the APD about Christopher’s illness, and asked them to notify the family if they ever needed to speak with him. The APD seemed receptive. They assigned Christopher an officer from the Crisis Intervention Team, an APD unit specially trained to handle encounters with the mentally ill. But none of that mattered on April 12, 2011, when two officers showed up at the Torres’ house to serve Christopher a warrant for a road rage incident that had happened a couple of months before. The family says they weren’t informed and Christopher’s CIT officer wasn’t notified.

The encounter quickly turned violent. The officers claimed that Christopher grabbed one of their guns, that they’d felt threatened, and shot him three times. An eye-witness claimed that Christopher didn’t resist, never grabbed the gun, and was killed in an encounter that escalated rapidly and needlessly. The Torres’ lost their son.

As the Torres family began asking questions about what happened, they discovered a group of other families who’d lost loved ones (many of them mentally ill) in police shootings.

The families banded together to document what they saw as a broken and irresponsible department. Their research helped inspire the Department of Justice to begin an investigation into the APD, which has inspired a wave of reforms.

SEGMENT B (18:59)
Incue: You’re listening to State of the Re:Union. I’m Al Letson.
Outcue: to make public radio more public. PRX-dot-O-R-G

THE LOST LOVED ONES CLUB – PART 2
Conclusion of story from previous segment.

THE EXPUNGERS
As we’ve heard, run-ins with law enforcement can lead to serious consequences. And that can be true even for misdemeanors like fighting or shoplifting. Some folks believe that once you turn 18, your juvenile record magically disappears – or at least that it’s sealed, and impossible to find in a public search. But that’s not always the case. And a record – even for petty crimes – can cause problems for young people as they transition into the adult world. We explore one youth-led initiative to change that.

SEGMENT C (18:59)
Incue: You're listening to State of the Re:Union
Outcue: ...to bring them back together. (music tail)

A TRIBAL COURT PREPARES FOR AN HISTORIC PROSECUTION
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe, located south of Tucson, AZ, is gearing up for an historic trial. For almost four decades, a Supreme Court ruling has kept tribes across the country from prosecuting non-Indian defendants. But in a hard-won provision of the 2013 Violence Against Women Act, tribal courts will now have jurisdiction to try non-Indians in some domestic abuse cases. Most eligible tribes won’t start trying defendants until March 2015, but three tribes, including the Pascua Yaqui, have been selected to carry out pilot projects that are currently underway. We explore the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s journey in implementing the new law.

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AT SAN QUENTIN
For the past ten years, the Insight Prison Project has been working with groups of inmates inside San Quentin prison, trying to help them understand the crimes they’ve committed and how they can take responsibility for them. IPP works in the “restorative justice” framework, trying to move prisoners beyond punishment and towards accountability and healing.
What does that look like? In IPP’s case, it looks like a group of 12-14 inmates, sitting in a circle, taking a deep look at their own histories. It means creating timelines of their lives, acknowledging abuse or trauma they may have experienced growing up, writing letters to people they have unfinished business with, and doing exercises to build empathy.
All of this work builds towards a difficult and sometimes transformative culmination: the inmates meet with a panel of surrogate victims, people who’ve survived crimes much like the ones the inmates have perpetrated. They sit in front of each other, and everyone shares their stories.

PROGRAM OUT @ 59:00

Promo Transcript: Once a week at San Quentin State Prison, a group of inmates come together to reckon with their crimes. "On August 29th, 1984 I murdered Larry Gains. Larry please forgive me for taking you away from your family, your friends, and your community. Ahhh, I can't believe my eyes watered up like that, man." American justice. On the next State of the Re:Union.

American Justice is available on PRX without charge to all public radio stations, and may be aired an unlimited number of times prior to January 31, 2017. The program may be streamed live on station websites but not archived. Excerpting is permitted for promotional purposes only. 

State of the Re:Union is presented by WJCT and distributed by PRX.  Major funding for the State of the Re:Union comes from CPB, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Delores Barr Weaver Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

Thanks for your consideration of State of the Re:Union with Al Letson. 

 

Sacred Music from the Navel of the World

From Zak Rosen | 05:34

A Palestinian violin master, an Israeli woman singing Bedouin songs, two Brothers from Tehran improvising age old Sufi music. These are just a few of the many acts who appeared at the recent Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival.

Img_4199_small A Palestinian violin master, an Israeli woman singing Bedouin songs, two Brothers from Tehran improvising age old Sufi music. These are just a few of the many acts who appeared at the recent Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival.

51: Zappa Dummy

From Everything Sounds | Part of the Everything Sounds series | 17:11

Frank Zappa, a fan and his Frank Zappa dummy. This is fun.

Zappa_small NPR's Protojournalist published a list of 6 odd college courses in America. On the list is a course on the music of Frank Zappa. The course was developed by Andy Hollinden at Indiana University. Holliden's interest in Zappa first manifested itself while he was in high school. Beyond listening to the music and poring over linear notes, Andy constructed a dummy of Frank Zappa that would later provide him with more insight and memories than he had ever imagined.

After The Train

From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 07:41

The story of the aftermath of a miraculous escape from death that left two teenage girls scarred for the rest of their lives.

Railroadgirls_copy_small Being a teenager is hard enough.

But imagine making a mistake, a bad decision, that you remember everyday for the rest of your life.

Suzi Piker brings us the story from Lebanon, Maine.

Alex Chadwick in Big Bend: The Roadrunner

From BirdNote | Part of the BirdNote Special: Alex Chadwick in Big Bend series | 03:36

Among our national parks, Big Bend, in Southwest Texas, is one of the least visited. It is enormous, a vast blend of desert, mountain, river, and tranquility. It is remote, for people, at least, though many creatures thrive there, including 450 species of birds. Here is BirdNote contributor Alex Chadwick.

Grro_andy_morffew_500px_small AC: We’re on a dirt and gravel road in a place called Dug Out Wells. I’m looking for birds with a guide.

MF: I’m Mark Flippo, I live in Terlingua, Texas. I'm a retired park ranger. Let’s go birding.

MF: Did you hear that? Mnn. Mnn. Mnn. That's the roadrunner.

AC: He stays busy finding birds, though not very successfully at the moment. And in place of birds, he offers a bird story.

MF: Roadrunners. I’ll tell you a roadrunner story.

AC: This is a bird I know only through the cartoon, though I do see them on the local roads, and they are runners….small, light, very alert, and quick. In the cartoon, the roadrunner is potential prey for a hungry coyote. But in life, the bird is an excellent predator.

MF: They eat lizards, snakes, other birds, birds' nests, Cheetos, small children, cats, dogs, everything.

AC: And they don’t care who’s watching… a Big Bend true tale.

MF: A number of years ago, I was leading a birding program for the public. I had a bunch of people. It wasn’t really birding; it was more like a rodeo. There was, like, 50 people, you know?

AC: Fifty. That's a lot of people to take birding. Two can be a lot.

MF: We’re right down there at Rio Grande Village, and there were a bunch of sparrows that were in there…five, six different species.

AC: The 50 people circled the sparrows; everyone got out binoculars.

MF: And there was one odd sparrow in there. And I looked at it, and I was so surprised, "Wow! That’s a Baird’s Sparrow!" A Baird’s sparrow is a very rare, declining species.

AC: Uh-oh…I don’t like where this is going.

MF: And I'm, like, "Wow, this is great!" And I’m expounding on this Baird’s Sparrow mixed in with the Chipping Sparrows and all the other sparrows. And everybody’s watching this very rare sparrow. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I see movement on the ground, and here comes the roadrunner. And then, it goes into the crouch. And, you know when a roadrunner’s hunting, because they get low. Tail straight out, and they just make a bee-line.

AC: No, no, no, no.

MF: And all the other sparrows jump……when this roadrunner comes in. Except the Baird’s. The Baird’s has its head down, gettin’ a piece of seed, or something. I don’t know. And it was ... [snap of fingers] – that fast. The roadrunner… snags this Baird’s Sparrow. There’s, like, 100 sparrows in there. And it picks the one, the rarest sparrow.
And, I see a guy; he’s got his camera; he’s in the group. And, I say, "Photograph that, quick, quick!" because back then, it was a review species in Texas.

AC: Meaning, it's rare, and if you see one, you’re supposed to get a picture.

MF: So, he snaps a picture.

AC: Yes. Of a roadrunner going home with a Baird’s Sparrow sandwich.

MF: And, its wings are spread, and it’s gone. It’s dead; it’s gonna be eaten.

AC: But…is this now-deceased rarity to end as just another road kill in the roadrunner story? Or, might it achieve…more?

The Texas Bird Records Committee certified that the bird in the photo – the dead one – was a Baird’s Sparrow, and added that this was the first time the committee had ever certified a photo of a rare bird that was being eaten.

MF: So, the roadrunner helped in that respect.

AC: Mark Flippo finds birds - and stories - in Big Bend National Park, in Southwest Texas.

For BirdNote, this is Alex Chadwick.

I Ain't Leavin My Road Dog (New Version)

From clay scott | Part of the Mountain West Voices series | 06:48

(THIS PIECE WAS REMIXED AND REPUBLISHED AS PART OF PRX'S SECOND EAR PROGRAM.)
This week on Mountain West Voices: A story about a homeless Montana man, about grief and kindness, rootlessness and companionship, and about what happens when we put ourselves in situations we can neither predict nor control.

Img_6125_small This piece was remixed as part of PRX's Second Ear program.  Hear the original version here, and learn more here.

Maria, Lena and Me

From Karla Murthy | 22:48

Though she lived under the control of the Soviet Union, pianist Maria Yudina was an eccentric rebel. She rejected orthodox musical interpretations and did crazy things on stage like read banned poetry. For many, Yudina came to symbolize someone who was "free."

Maria_yudina3_small I used to study classical piano years ago which is how I met my Russian friend and pianist, Lena Lisitsian. One day, I was talking with her about music, and she told me this fascinating story about a strange Russian pianist named Maria Yudina (1899-1970).  Yudina is considered to be one of the greatest 20th century pianists, but has been hidden behind the iron curtain from much of the Western world.  Living under the tight control of the Soviet regime, Yudina was an eccentric figure (a bit of a cat lady) who was kind of a rebel in all aspects of her life.  Not only was her interpretation of classical music highly unorthodox,  she also did crazy things from the stage, like reading banned poetry. She constantly challenged government authority, but ironically, is most famously known as Stalin’s favorite pianist. For many living in the Soviet Union, Yudina came to symbolize someone who was "free," a maverick who lived her life with no fear.  In this radio documentary, you’ll hear her unusual interpretations of music and the legendary stories about Yudina that have elevated her to mythic status.

Bette Davis on The Sexes

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 07:13

"The real female should be partly male. And the real male should be partly female.
So if you ever run into that in either sex, you run into something very, very fine, I think." —Bette Davis

Bette_davis_square_small ""I think men have got to change an awful lot. They still prefer the little woman." - Bette Davis, 1963. Interview by Shirley Eder. Bette Davis was never afraid to speak her mind. The remarkable thing is she did this in an era when outspoken women were not the norm in Hollywood or popular culture for that matter. So we were excited to come across an interview she did in 1963 that hadn’t been heard for decades. Davis was in her mid-50s and on the tail end of a legendary movie career. And as we had hoped, she still had something to say. It’s timeless.

The Devil's Violin

From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 06:28

Ever heard a violin's first breath?

Guarnieri_lg7_small Imagine a fiddle, or any instrument for that matter, before its ever been played - when it's just a piece of wood.

There's a moment when an instrument comes to life.

Producer Suzi Piker brings us the story of the birth of the "Devil's Violin".

Life of the Law #40 - Abuse, Abduction and International Law

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 20:21

What happens when one parent takes a child across international borders without the other parent’s permission? In 1980, the United States and international partners created a treaty that lays out the rules for what federal officials are supposed to do in such cases. Judges are instructed to send children back to their home countries – with very few exceptions. Lawmakers imagined the treaty would usually help left-behind mothers, trying to get their children back from abductor-fathers. Today, more than a quarter of a century after the U.S. implemented the treaty, the standard profiles of abductor and left-behind-parent have shifted dramatically. The majority of the taking parents – the abductors – are women. And most of those women are victims of domestic violence, fleeing their abusers with their children.

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After four years of medical school, and another four in residency, Jane Smith finally took her first job as an obstetrician/gynecologist at a hospital in Chicago. She remembers that moment as her first taste of freedom after many years of grueling work.

“It was a time in my life where, for the first time, I didn’t have the commitment of school and training and my board examination was just behind me, and wow, all of a sudden I could do things like have a vacation,” she says.

It was then that she met him. He was in town on business; a friend introduced them. He worked in Europe and, after a few months, she would fly to meet him for romantic weekends in Paris and at his home in what was then East Berlin. The Soviet Union was just starting to crumble, and the changes in world affairs lent an air of magic to the relationship.

“This was a time when the Wall was coming down,” Smith recalls, “and that area was full of promise and wonder and some of it was scary but some of it was so cool.”

They married two years later and Smith, who asked us to use her maiden name for this story, left a job she loved – and a city she’d come to call home – to join her new husband in East Berlin.

She soon discovered a disturbing side to her new partner’s personality.

According to Smith, the revelations began slowly. Looking back, she recalls “a couple of sort of watershed moments”: demeaning comments about her appearance, facts she thought she knew about her husband that turned out to be lies. She remembers discussions that began, “I said I owned the business” or “I said I didn’t have other girlfriends” that would end with “You know, that’s just stuff people say. You know, Jane, that’s just what people do, that wasn’t real.”

Soon there were other women. Smith lost contact with her family and friends in the United States. And, eventually, violence: bruises on her face and body she had to hide from inquiring co-workers at the hospital where she worked.

Still, their relationship continued. They had a baby, a son. She became pregnant with her second son a few years later.

When she returned from the hospital with their three-day-old baby in tow she found her husband in bed with another woman. He became enraged.

Smith remembers him throwing her against the door, her face hitting the doorjamb, her teeth breaking. All of that, she says, had happened before. But this time, as Smith explains, was different.

“That day was the first time when I had one kid in each arm: I had my three-day-old and I had my three-year-old and I was standing there and literally my face hit the doorjamb because I didn’t want the kids to hit it.”

She remembers thinking, “This is it. I’m maxed out. My arms are full, my face is messed up — this is done.”

Smith drove away with little apart from her two children and their car seats. She stayed in a small town in West Berlin and eventually made her way to Copenhagen, where she had spent a semester in college. She then traveled to Washington, near Seattle, to stay with her parents.

Six weeks later, after finding a job at a hospital in Seattle and daycare for her sons, a package landed on her doorstep from the U.S. State Department. Smith discovered that her husband was accusing her of child abduction, of kidnapping their two sons across international lines. He had filed what’s called a Hague Convention application.

“I started reading, what is the Hague Convention?” Jane recalls. “I realized, oh wow, okay, I needed to find an attorney. Not just a divorce attorney.”

An International Treaty with Unintended Consequences

In 1980, the U.S. and a number of international partners developed and signed on to the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction . The treaty lays out the rules for what federal officials are supposed to do when one parent takes a child away across international borders without the other parent’s permission.

Every country that signs on to the Hague Convention must create its own legislation to implement the treaty, to determine how the cases are going to be handled, by whom and where. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American legislation, known as the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, in 1988.

Now a Senator, Benjamin Cardin was a House Representative as Congress debated the legislation. He spoke on the House floor in favor of the law, noting its purpose: “to remove any reward for kidnapping or taking a child to another country.”

He continued: “It does not seek to settle the dispute about legal, custodial rights, and I think that’s very important…to emphasize that point. The purpose of the Convention is not to settle disputes, but to return to the status quo, to remove the incentive to abduct a child.”

Lawmakers created the Hague Convention and the U.S. implementing legislation with the belief that abduction hurts children, that uprooting a child from his or her home can have devastating, long-lasting consequences. With that in mind, in Hague Convention cases, judges are instructed to send the child back to their home country, to the parent left behind, with very few exceptions.

Sudha Shetty, an assistant dean at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, notes that the 1988 debate over the U.S. law centered on a specific type of familial abduction: the father-as-kidnapper.

“Historically there have been many cases where children have been taken across international borders, generally by a father on vacation, and they were not being brought back,” she says.

According to the U.S. Census , when the Hague Convention was created in 1980, judges in divorce proceedings awarded custody to mothers 89 percent of the time. In 1990, mothers still received custody more than 80 percent of the time.

When Congress considered the Hague Convention and the implementing legislation, most of the testimony lawmakers heard was from left-behind mothers. As Law Professor Merle Weiner noted in a 2000 article about the Hague Convention, a number of Senators urged their colleagues to pass the implementing legislation with stories about left-behind mothers in their constituency, women who were trying to get their children back from husbands who had kidnapped them across international lines.

Today, more than a quarter of a century after the U.S. signed on to the Hague Convention, the standard profiles of abductor and left-behind-parent have shifted dramatically.

In 2010, Shetty consulted on a study co-authored by her husband, Jeffrey Edleson, Dean of the School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley. They examined Hague Convention cases in U.S. courts and discovered that more than 60 percent of the taking parents – the abductors – were women.

They also learned that most of those women were victims of domestic violence.

Smith was one of those women.

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Inside the Courtroom

In the United States, Hague Convention cases can be heard in almost any court, from federal court to family court. The judge decides whether to return the children to their home country for further custody proceedings (the default in most cases), or whether the children should stay and have custody decided in the new jurisdiction.

Smith’s case was assigned to Judge Larry Jordan, of Washington State King County Superior Court. Much to her surprise, her soon-to-be-ex-husband traveled to Seattle for the court proceedings.

According to Smith, he arrived with two police officers in tow. “The police officers had been brought in the room because he requested them — because he was afraid of my parents, is what was told to the court, that my parents would be angry at him, which was silly because they’re elderly,” she recalls.
Many legal proceedings hinge on credibility: whom should the judge believe? This is particularly true of cases involving families, such as divorce and custody proceedings, and Smith’s case was no exception. She recalls feeling humiliated as her husband’s attorney questioned her credibility “as a mom, my credibility as a doctor, as a daughter.”

Credibility aside, Hague cases differ from more routine custody cases in at least one respect: while routine cases assign custody on the basis of the child’s best interest, Hague cases presume from the outset that the child should be sent back, subject to very few exceptions. One key exception is if returning the child would put him or her at “grave risk of physical or psychological harm.”

Edleson, who co-authored the study with Shetty, has spent his career studying the psychological impact of domestic violence on children. He says that while the effects are severe and often long-lasting, they are not always understood by judges.

“The surprising finding for us is, if there was evidence that the child was directly abused, generally American judges would not send the children back,” he says. “But if the children were not abused – but their mothers were abused – in eight out of 10 cases, the kids were sent back to the abusive father.”

Since Hague cases can be heard in almost any court, not all judges assigned to Hague proceedings have heard cases involving charges of domestic violence. Shetty notes that the U.S. court system includes over 31,000 judges, and judges often rotate from one type of court to another.

“A judge might have taken training on understanding domestic violence issues…and its impact on children [and] on custody,” she says. The problem, Shetty explains, is “that judge might be moved off the court, so then we have a totally new judge on the bench.”

When Smith’s Hague Convention case landed on his desk, Judge Larry Jordan had never heard one before. Now retired from the King County Superior Court, Judge Jordan says that even though he and Smith have not spoken since the trial in 1998, he remembers the case well.

“Unfortunately, as time went on, she found that she was involved in a situation of domestic violence – that was her testimony,” he explains. “And as most people know, or should know, domestic violence is a cycle. It starts with control, and ends with some act of violence. And then there’s a honeymoon period, and then the cycle starts again.”

Unlike many of the judges in Shetty and Edleson’s study, Judge Jordan had made an effort to understand the complexities of cases involving domestic violence.

“I felt that, as a judge, I learned a lot about domestic violence. I went to seminars, I’ve had cases,” he says.

He later notes, “So when I heard the testimony, I saw the witnesses, the credibility decision was not that difficult.”

Judge Jordan eventually ruled in Smith’s favor: her children would stay in with her in the United States. But when Smith’s Hague Convention case landed on his desk, Judge Jordan had never heard one before. While he believes he made the right decision in Smith’s case, Judge Jordan says Hague Convention cases are particularly tough for judges.

“In law school, in my day, you didn’t take international law,” he says. “In addition, you don’t see very many [Hague cases]: not only don’t you have the education, but you don’t have the experience.”

Many judges are in the same situation, which is why some countries, like England and Australia, have judges and attorneys dedicated to hearing and litigating Hague Convention cases.

Given that the U.S. has more international abductions than any other signatory to the Hague Convention, that system is one that American courts may want to consider.

Today, 93 countries – about half of all nations – have signed on to the treaty. One of the most recent countries to adopt the Hague Convention is Japan , where Shetty and Edleson spent a lot of time, helping Japanese lawmakers craft their Hague Convention implementation law. Thanks in part to Shetty and Edleson’s efforts, the Japanese law specifically instructs judges to consider the psychological risk children face if one parent is subjected to violence by the other. The American legislation still has no such exception.

Settled and Safe

Today, Smith lives outside of Seattle. Both of her sons have thrived since they moved to the U.S.: her older son is now in college; her younger son is in high school.

Smith says that her experience has driven her professional success. She co-authored a federal grant-sponsored study about the long-term effects of domestic violence, and she’s traveled around the world with the U.S. State Department, speaking about the impact of violence against women.

“I’m 16 years not married and I’m fine with that,” she says. “I’ve become comfortable in my own skin living in a community where I think I’m the only single parent that shows up on the lacrosse team list, or the soccer team list, or for my son that’s now in college, his fraternity list.”

While remaining single has its challenges, Smith says, she takes pride in her sons, and in her professional success.

In the years since the trial, Smith says she has seen her ex-husband just once. She flew to Berlin last summer and met him in a very public place, for dinner. “There were no promises made that night, but neither one of us was angry,” she says.

She’s since spoken with him on Skype, and watched his face grow red as anger took over – an expression she remembered well. She feels safe now, though. At least with Skype, she says, “I can always hit the button and turn it off.”

Rene Marie: in her own words

From David Schulman | Part of the Musicians in their own words series | 03:52

I'm obsessed.

Renemarie_small Rene Marie didn't perform at all for more than 20 years -- unless you count singing to her sons as they were growing up. When her boys were toddlers, she used to sing them lullabies and Ella Fitzgerald songs. After they went off to college, her sons convinced her to start singing in public. Now a rising star in the jazz world. Rene Marie thrives on reinventing jazz standards. She also has given her own twist to tunes by Enya, the Beatles, and even Maurice Ravel. In this feature, Rene Marie shows how she came up with her radical reinterpretation of the Beatles' 'Blackbird'. She also demonstrates her startling talent for imitating earlier singers -- a talent she realized she needed to move beyond in order to assert her own voice as a musician. As in all the pieces in David Schulman's CPB-supported Musicians in their own words series, the story is told through a mix of the performer's voice and music. There is no reporter's voice heard, allowing the feature to be seamlessly incorporated into station news, talk, or music programming. Scripts for intro and outro are attached, and may be edited at will. This feature works especially well when pegged to local performances. Rene Marie's tour schedule includes these dates: 11/5 & 6 The Jazz Factory Louisville, KY This piece has aired on stations including WBUR, WAMU and KUOW.

Reclaimed Soul: Women Behind Megastars

From WBEZ | Part of the Vocalo Presents series | 13:30

This week, Ayana Contreras brings us vintage music from women whose careers were overshadowed by their associations with megastars. From the ex-wife of a jazz icon, to the partner of a glam rock god, these ladies gave us adventurous music that stood alone.

Betty-davis-they-say-im-di_small This week, Ayana Contreras brings us vintage music from women whose careers were overshadowed by their associations with megastars. From the ex-wife of a jazz icon, to the partner of a glam rock god, these ladies gave us adventurous music that stood alone.

Reclaimed Soul featured an all-vinyl soundtrack.

StoryCorps: Michelle Dynes and Anne Purfield

From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 02:09

Epidemiologists Anne and Michelle went to Sierra Leone to respond to the Ebola outbreak. This is what they saw.

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Anne Purfield (L) and Michelle Dynes (R) are epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

They both volunteered to spend several weeks in Sierra Leone, responding to the Ebola outbreak there.

When they returned to the U.S., they came to StoryCorps to talk about what they saw.

What could collapse the Golden Gate Bridge?

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 07:31

Throughout film history, the Golden Gate Bridge has been leveled in earthquakes, ripped apart by apes, melted, and even bitten in half by a mega-shark.

But how would the iconic span fare in more realistic disaster scenarios? We're going to take a close look at three very real situations – overcrowding, a tsunami, and an earthquake – and find out if those disasters could bring down the Golden Gate Bridge.

Photo_5_small Throughout film history, the Golden Gate Bridge has been leveled in earthquakes, ripped apart by apes, melted, and even bitten in half by a mega-shark. But how would the iconic span fare in more realistic disaster scenarios? We're going to take a close look at three very real situations – overcrowding, a tsunami, and an earthquake – and find out if those disasters could bring down the Golden Gate Bridge.

Off-Ramp Presents: The Flesh Eaters remember "A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die"

From KPCC | 07:01

Punk supergroup The Flesh Eaters iconic 1981 album, "A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die," has been reissued.

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INTRO: In 1977, singer Chris Desjardins (DAY-zhar-den), who was working for Slash magazine at the time, formed a group called The Flesh Eaters. It was a punk supergroup, with a rotating membership. In 1981, The Flesh Eaters made an album called "A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die," which has finally been re-issued on CD and LP, 33 years after it first appeared. As Off-Ramp contributor Chris Greenspon reports, the album is a whacked mix R&B, jazz, rockabilly, and African chants, pulled through the caustic strainer of 1980s L.A. punk.

BACK ANNC: Off-Ramp is a production of Southern California Public Radio, online at scpr.org/offramp.

 

Episode 1: From India with Love

From Mother | Part of the MOTHER: A PODCAST series | 04:23

My Indian mother-in-law and I didn't have an exact recipe to follow as we forged our relationship. At times it seemed like we might never understand each other, but we kept cooking together.

Mother_final_small My Indian mother-in-law and I didn't have an exact recipe to follow as we forged our relationship. At times it seemed like we might never understand each other, but we kept cooking together.

Hear more "uncommon stories about mothering" on MOTHER: A PODCAST: https://soundcloud.com/mother-the-podcast 

Stiff Peaks

From Jeffrey Letterly | 03:01

The first step in making cookies is to purchase a metal bike jingle bell in a western mountain town.

Stiffpeaks_small "Stiff Peaks" is a surreal story about cookies, mountains, and riding a bike. Who ever thought that these three elements were so closely linked? Selected as an official ShortDoc of the 2007 Third Coast International Audio Festival.

Shoe Corner

From Dennis Funk | 04:38

You're driving down a long flat road in rural Indiana. And then, suddenly, you come across hundreds of shoes just lying in the middle of an intersection. A mountain of trainers, boots, sandals. The backstory is a mystery that Dennis Funk is determined to solve.

Playing
Shoe Corner
From
Dennis Funk

Shoe_corner__square__small At a rurual intersection in St John, Indiana, passersby roll down their windows and cast out hundreds of pairs of shoes each year. But no one knows exactly why they do it or even how long the tradition has existed. 

Everyone Is Beautiful

From One Hello World | Part of the One Hello World series | 01:43

I realized the other day that I don’t think there is a single ugly person in this world. I think everyone is so beautiful. Then I realized that if there are no ugly people in this world, that means I must be beautiful. It’s an amazing feeling.

One-hello-world_small I realized the other day that I don’t think there is a single ugly person in this world. I think everyone is so beautiful. Then I realized that if there are no ugly people in this world, that means I must be beautiful.

// It’s an amazing feeling. I like that frame of mind. We’re all beautiful! Thanks for calling.

Learning to appreciate the city pigeon

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 08:03

I had no idea how little I knew about pigeons.

S0077112_small So what? I’m a little obsessed with pigeons. I’m not sure when it started exactly, but at some point I realized I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them. Thing is – I don’t know that much about pigeons. And when I asked my colleagues, they didn’t know much either.

Halloween Special: Studs Terkel talks with witch Sybil Leek about myths and realities of witches

From The WFMT Radio Network | 07:22

"The witch is the stranger, because it is really very much easier to be in the herd than grazing alone on the other side of the fence." —witch, astrologer and psychic Sybil Leek, 1966

Leek_small For stations airing this program please announce that it comes from:
The Studs Terkel Radio Archive a collection of more than 5,000 interviews being curated by the WFMT Radio Network and the Chicago History Museum – www.studsterkel.org

The Witches' Hammer

From Hold That Thought | 29:33

How magic and law shaped the witch trials of early modern Europe

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In 1487, when witch trials were just starting to take root in Europe, a Dominican priest published the Malleus Maleficarum , or The Witches' Hammer , a treatise on the prosecution of witches in a court of law. This text would be used over the next three centuries as the authority on the trial and torture of witches, laying out why women in particular were so susceptible to witchcraft. By the end of the witch craze in the 1720s, an estimated 80,000 had been tried and executed. In this extended episode from Hold That Thought , Gerhild Williams, a professor of comparative literature, breaks down the witch trial phenomenon into three parts: (1) defining the witch and the roots of these beliefs, (2) how the political landscape evolved and the contents of The Witches' Hammer , and (3) how and why the witch craze took hold and what we can learn from it today.

Record Bin Roulette - Halloween

From John Kessler | 03:52

Weekly 4 minute thrill ride through pop music oddities, rarities and classics. This time we get all spooky for Halloween with Fats Waller, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Warren Zevon and Lady Gaga.

Pickett_small Weekly 4 minute thrill ride through pop music oddities, rarities and classics. This time we get all spooky for Halloween with Fats Waller, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Warren Zevon and Lady Gaga.

Cemetery Expedition

From Jake Warga | 04:04

Time for a ghost hunt.

Ir01_small Commentary: Halloween? Going on a Cemetery Expedition with a group of GHOST HUNTERS. Aired ATC 5-17-04

Everyday Carry - Short Version

From Erica Kramer | 05:12

George Rebello has been making knives in his workshop in New Bedford for fifteen years. Normally it takes him two weeks to make a custom creation. The knife he is working on now--the knife he is obsessed with--has taken two years and counting. It's a memorial to his fiancé whose ashes are mixed into the steel of the blade.

Helen_s_knife_small George Rebello has been making knives in his workshop in New Bedford for fifteen years. Normally it takes him two weeks to make a custom creation. The knife he is working on now--the knife he is obsessed with--has taken two years and counting. It's a memorial to his fiancé whose ashes are mixed into the steel of the blade.

Birth Photographer Lives for the Moment

From Rebecca Sheir | 06:23

Photographing childbirth isn't always easy or convenient, but Emily Goodstein says it's a deeply rewarding job.

Emily_goodstein1_small Emily Goodstein captures what, for many women, is the most transformational moment of their lives: giving birth to a child. As a birth photographer, she's part of what the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers calls a growing movement; the IABP now has more than 860 member in 24 countries.

Rebecca Sheir accompanies Goodstein on an early-morning photo shoot in Annandale, and learns not only what goes in to the act of documenting the arrival of a brand new human being... but why an expectant mother would choose to have this moment forever caught on film.

Naomi's World

From The Truth | 10:12

A trip to the MOMA takes a surreal turn.

Playing
Naomi's World
From
The Truth

Christinas_world_small

Naomi is an outcast high school student whose art class is on a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art. When she secretly separates from her class, she meets a man with an inriguing past.

Performed by Isabel Frohnhofer, Tom Ligon, Elana Fishbein, Imran Chowdhury, Laura Parker, Philipp Goedicke, Dennis Pacheco, Blanche Ames, Ron Palais, Willy Appelman, Andrew Yurman-Glaser, and Phoebe Tyers.

Written by Elana Fishbein

Produced and directed by Jonathan Mitchell

Associate Producer: Kerry Kastin

 

All of the art in this story was on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in November 2013.

 

Echoes of the Call

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 06:24

It's wild to hear how an old blues song mimics the Islamic call to prayer, brought to America by Muslim slaves so long ago.

03024v_2_small Sylviane Diouf of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture talks with Ed Ayers about some of the overlooked legacies of enslaved Muslims in America, including the influence of Islamic music on the early blues. A segment from our show Islam & America.

Silence

From Conor Gillies | Part of the Stylus series | 59:00

Sit back and sink into this beautiful reflection on sound and silence.

Playing
Silence
From
Conor Gillies

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"Silence" includes the voices of:

Kay Larson
, an art critic, Zen Buddhist practitioner, and author of Where The Heart Beats.

Pico Iyer, an essayist, novelist, and travel author who has written for Time, Harper's, and the New York Times.

Christopher Ricks
, a literary critic, professor at Boston University, and author of several books including Dylan's Visions of Sin.

James H. Johnson, professor of history at Boston University and author of several books including Listening in Paris.

Damian Carr, abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey, a Trappist monestary in Spencer, Mass.

Steven Cooper, clinical associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and speaker at Off the Couch, a film-studies series at Coolidge Corner Theater in Boston, Mass. 

Bob Celmer, head of the acoustics program at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Conn.

Cecil McBee
, jazz bassist and professor at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Mass. 

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold
, abbot of the Zen Center of New York City in Brooklyn, New York.

Produced by Zack Ezor, Conor Gillies, and Andrea Shea. The episode includes Brian Calvert's piece The Rest is Silence, originally made for KCRW's Independent Producer Project. Editing help from Sean Cole, Katherine Gorman, and Erika Lantz.

Our engineers are Mike Garth, Marquis Neal, James Trout, and Paul Vaitkus. Our intro music is by Ryoji Ikeda and our outro music is by Laurel Halo. Artwork by Robert Beatty. Our executive producers are Conor Gillies and Zack Ezor and our supervising editor is Lisa Tobin. Presented by Qainat Khan.  

Stylus is on Twitter and iTunes.

Rock Lottery

From Erica Heilman | Part of the Rumble Strip Vermont series | 03:25

I say it's never too late to join a band.

Rock_lottery_small When my son was four I joined a temporary rock band. It was humiliating and terrible and I was middle aged and didn't know what to do with my arms. I wanted to quit. This is a commentary about why I didn't quit, and why it's important to risk failure as an example for our kids.

#86 - Strangers

From HowSound | 21:01

Playing
#86 - Strangers
From
HowSound

Howsound_social_small Lea Thau, host of the "Strangers" podcast on podcasting, journalism, and turning the mic toward herself.

Rare male midwife warns his profession is at risk in France

From Sarah Elzas | Part of the Wo/men's work series | 04:10

Midwife Nicolas Dutriaux says the gender balance of his profession has lead to its marginalization.

Midwife_small Midwives care for women during pregnancy and birth, and in France they can also prescribe birth control and provide gynecologiclal health care. French midwives train for five years, and are present at each hospital birth. But they do not have the same status as obstetricians or gynecologists. One of the rare men in this field says the gender inbalance of his profession has lead to its marginalisation.

Welcome to The Heart

From The Heart | 06:07

A radio show is born. Again.

10614281_993390894022078_2995659543804208405_n_small We all go through phases and have an identity crisis or three. Audio Smut started as an hour long broadcast radio show at CKUT in Montreal, and has transformed into a delicately crafted podcast now part of PRX’s Radiotopia network. We cordially welcome you to The Heart.

Maya Angelou on Con Men

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 06:42

"The only way you can be a mark is if you want something for nothing. If you’re greedy, you’re set up." - Maya Angelou, as told to Studs Terkel in 1970.

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The year was 1970. Maya Angelou had just released I know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She was in Chicago to sit down with the legendary storyteller and interviewer Studs Terkel. There is so much to hear in this intimate conversation from the Studs Terkely Radio Archive. As hoped she touches on the raw, emotional stories that drive this book about her upbrining. But then she also talked about con men and looking for marked cards. We couldn’t resist. 


Venus DeMars

From KFAI Minneapolis | Part of the 10,000 Fresh Voices series | 05:55

Venus DeMars is a trans multidisciplinary artist who has been on the Minneapolis scene since the 1980s. Lead singer/guitarist for the All the Pretty Horses, the band combines punk, goth and glam to create a unique sound. In 2003, filmmaker Emily Goldberg produced a documentary, “Venus of Mars,” about Venus and her wife Lynette. KFAI's Dixie Treichel has more on this eclectic artist.

Venus_tonynelson_small Venus DeMars is a trans multidisciplinary artist who has been on the Minneapolis scene since the 1980s. Lead singer/guitarist for the All the Pretty Horses, the band combines punk, goth and glam to create a unique sound. In 2003, filmmaker Emily Goldberg produced a documentary, “Venus of Mars,” about Venus and her wife Lynette. KFAI's Dixie Treichel has more on this eclectic artist. 

Adaptation, Survival, Gratitude: a Lumbee Thanksgiving (Gravy Ep. 1)

From Southern Foodways Alliance | Part of the Gravy Podcast series | 24:21

For Thanksgiving, a Native American story… but not the one you’re imagining. No Pilgrims here. For the Lumbee Indians in North Carolina, the holiday meal involves cornbread, collards and a whole lot of pork. The Lumbee food story is a portal to a hybrid Southern-Native history that’s rarely glimpsed outside the tribe.

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At this point, most of us know the Thanksgiving story about the Pilgrims and the Indians happily indulging in a joint feast is a vast oversimplification of what actually happened. 

But how many of us still have an idea of Native people that’s stuck in the past? “People didn’t believe that I was Native because I was from North Carolina,” Lumbee Indian Malinda Maynor Lowery says. “The only thing they learned about Indians in school, maybe, was that we were removed from the Southeast.”

In this first episode of Gravy, meet a tribe of Indians who are very much still in the Southeast– and whose food reflects a distinct hybrid of Southern and Native history. The Lumbee’s story is one that spans centuries, and includes new windows into periods you may think you know– like the Jim Crow era. Plus something you’ll be eager to eat: the collard sandwich.

Radio Retrospective: The March of Time

From Katy Sewall | Part of the Radio Retrospective series | 05:20

Want people to experience the news? Just re-create it! That's how 1940s radio-makers worked. Orson Welles played Sigmund Freud. Henry Luce called it "fakery in allegiance to the truth."

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The 1940s pre-movie newsreel "The March of Time" reenacted news events using actors. Henry Luce called it "fakery in allegiance to the truth." The show imitated President Roosevelt so well he asked that they stop portraying him. You might think these techniques are outlawed today but a closer look reveals they are alive and well. 

The show also is the reason President Franklin Roosevelt is on the dimes in your pocket. Find out why. 

Life of the Law #42 – In The Name Of The Father

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 23:08

When the courts get it wrong.

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Clarence Norris Jr.’s father was always a great mystery. His mother talked about him sometimes and Norris thought about his father a lot.

“Growing up as a kid, when things are bad, you feel ‘why did my father leave me’ why isn’t he here’?” Norris says. “Because it was always darkness to me mentally as far as knowing anything about him.”

Norris and I meet at a mall in Macon, Georgia, where he lives, and sit awkwardly in rocking chairs, sipping lemonade. Norris is kind, but guarded, he says he doesn’t trust people easily.

The past few years have brought Norris face to face with the difficult story of his father.

It started a few years back, when Norris was visiting family in his mom’s hometown. There, Norris met a cousin, who told him, “your father had a history, I am sure you don’t know about.”

He told Norris that his father was one of the nine Scottsboro Boys, wrongly convicted of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. A few months later, a relative sent Norris a PBS documentary about the Scottsboro Boys. It was the first time Norris saw a picture of his father or heard his voice.

“And that was moment, that was a moment,” says Norris, quietly. “Cause I had never seen him. So, the documentary discussed…all of what happened.”

The courthouse in Scottsboro, Alabama where the first trials of the Scottsboro Boys were held. Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

The courthouse in Scottsboro, Alabama where the first trials of the Scottsboro Boys were held.
Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

What happened is one of the biggest trials of the century. The case sparked protests from New York to Havana and Berlin. It resulted in two Supreme Court rulings, dozens of books, a musical, and still echoes through the justice system.

It was 1931. The U.S. was in the midst of the Great Depression, and black and white, young and old were traveling the country looking for work. On one such train traveling through North Alabama, a group of black and white men got into a fight.

“The train was stopped at Paint Rock and that’s when the case began,” explains Dan Carter, a retired professor of History from the University of South Carolina. Carter wrote a history of the trials calledScottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South  that has become the book about the Scottsboro Boys.

“It turned out that there were two white women who were dressed as men, but were traveling on the train,” Carter continues. “But one in particular, the older one was terrified they were going to be arrested, for crossing the stateliness for illicit purposes.”

The older woman’s name was Victoria Price and she had worked off and on as a prostitute. Price and her friend, Ruby Bates, worried they would be arrested and charged with vagrancy for riding the train with men.

Drawings of all nine defendants at the Scottsboro Museum and Cultural Center in Scottsboro, AL. During the pardoning, a local schoolboy lit each candle.  Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

Drawings of all nine defendants at the Scottsboro Museum and Cultural Center in Scottsboro, AL. During the pardoning, a local schoolboy lit each candle.
Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

“So she knew she would be protected if she accused the young men of raping her,” explains Carter. So, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates accused the nine black teenagers of raping them.

All nine men were immediately arrested. Clarence Norris was the oldest at 19. The youngest, Roy Wright, was only 13. The men were taken to jail in Scottsboro, Alabama.

“A lynch mob surrounded the jail, but thanks to the local sheriff who called for the national guard, he managed to protect them,” Carter says.

The sheriff was a man named M.L. Wann. His grandsons, Billy Wann, says from the stories he has heard his grandfather was an righteous man. “He always wore overalls, and he kept his teeth in his pocket, and when he was going to go talk to someone he would put his teeth in and talk.”

Wann never knew his grandfather, but his father, who was a teenager at the time, told him the story of that day.

“This mob at formed and they had telephone poles that they were going to use as battering rams to break down the doors of the jailhouse,” Wann says. But his grandfather went outside and told the mob that he would kill the person who tried to enter the jail. “Then took off his gun belt and gave it to one of his deputies and he walked out through the crowd,” Wann recounts. “The crowd parted. No one ever touched him, and he went across the street to the courthouse and he called the National Guard. And had he not done that more than likely all of those 9 boys would have been lynched.”

In fact, that had happened only a few months prior in Indiana. Three young black men had been accused of robbery, murder and rape. A mob broke into the local jail and two of the men were lynched.

The first trial in Scottsboro lasted only three days, and the jury returned with a guilty verdict after less than two hours. Eight of the defendants were sentenced to death. Only the youngest, Roy Wright, was spared. Since he was 13, the court only sentenced him to life in prison.

After the first trial, the Scottsboro Boys case was taken over by lawyers from the International Labor Defense, the legal wing of the communist party. They appealed the sentences, and for years the trials bounced back and forth between Alabama and the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The U.S. Supreme Court called Powell v. Alabama reversed the trial verdict on the grounds that they had not had adequate counsel,” says Carter. “And that was something new.”

The trials kept going, and in 1935 the second Supreme Court decision – Norris v. Alabama – ruled that the defendants had not been judged by a jury of peers, because there were no black men on the jury.

The Scottsboro Boys’ cases was tried repeatedly, and the state of Alabama always found the defendants guilty.

The trials ended in 1937, when a bizarre political compromise was reached. Alabama released four of the Scottsboro Boys. Five were sent to jail, including Norris’ father, Clarence Norris Sr.

Norris Jr. says that he read a book his father wrote called The Man from Scottsboro, in which his father described his time in prison.

“He said his cell was right close to the death row chamber and he heard men being executed – he could hear them,” says Norris Jr. “And that’s powerful, I don’t know what that does to a person. To hear someone being put to death and knowing that that has been your sentence handed down to you, that eventually your turn is going to come to be in that chair, for something that you didn’t do.”

Norris spent 15 years in prison. Twice his head was shaved in preparation for his execution.

But the lawyers kept appealing the convictions, and Norris was finally granted parole in 1946. He immediately left Alabama for New York City, violating his parole. Eventually, the rest the Scottsboro Boys were paroled or escaped from jail and disappeared. Like Norris, some changed their names and went into hiding, in an attempt to escape the infamy of the case.

Memorabilia collected by Shelia Washington on display at the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center.  Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

Memorabilia collected by Shelia Washington on display at the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center.
Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

“Even though they were out of prison, their lives were and their future was still in jeopardy because of the fact that they had broken their parole,” explains Carter.

In New York, Norris got married and had two daughters. But sometime in the early 70s, he traveled back down to Georgia where he met Clarence Norris Jr.’s mother.

“The way she explained it to me, she was at her home at that time sitting on her porch,  and this man walks down the street and she caught his eye. And he came over, and they started to talk. It went from there, and they got married. She just told me that one day, he told her he was going to take care of his mother, and he never returned,” says Norris Jr. “And she was pregnant with me.”

His mother sent her brothers to try and find him, but Norris had disappeared. Norris Jr. thinks maybe he went back to live with his family in New York, or maybe being near the Alabama state-line spooked him.

For 30 years, Norris had lived as a fugitive. Then finally, in 1976, Alabama Governor George Wallace granted Norris a pardon. There is a YouTube video of the ceremony that Norris Jr. has watched several times. In the news clip, the camera zooms in on Norris. The years have collected in bags under his eyes, and as he speaks, his eyes fill with tears

“I have no hate versus any creed or color. I like all people.,” Norris says. “And I’d like to think all people convicted of a crime which they didn’t commit should be free. I wish these other eight boys were around.”

Norris is the only Scottsboro Boy to receive a pardon from the state of Alabama in his lifetime.

While down South, Norris visited Dan Carter’s history class at Emory University in Atlanta. Carter remembers that one of the students asked Norris, “What was the worst thing about being in prison for so long, for a crime you didn’t commit?”

“And I thought he was going to talk about the nightmarish conditions, being in a cell, just down the hall from where all the executions took place, and he was under sentence of death twice,” remembers Cater. “But he said the worst thing about being in prison for that long is that you learn to trust no one, you trust no one, because anyone will betray you.”

Clarence Norris Sr. died in 1989. And today, everyone who was apart of the trial is gone, but still the story of the Scottsboro Boys bleeds into the lives of sons, daughters, grandson and neighbors.

Clarence Norris Sr. in his prison uniform at Kilby prison in Alabama.  Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

Clarence Norris Sr. in his prison uniform at Kilby prison in Alabama.
Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

“This is a picture of Scottsboro 1931 when the trail happened,” Shelia Washington has been collecting pictures and memorabilia about the case for years. Washington is the founder of the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center. She points to a black and white photo of a mob of people and pick ups packed in front of the Scottsboro courthouse and explains that in 1931, only about 1,500 people lived in Scottsboro, but on the day of the trial nearly 10,000 people from all over Alabama and neighboring states showed up at the courthouse to witness the trial.

As a young black woman growing up in Scottsboro, Washington likes to tell the story about when she was a teenager and found an autobiography of one of the Scottsboro Boys under her parents bed. Her father snatched the book away, saying “that story is too hurtful.”

Eventually, Washington read the autobiography, and the convictions of nine innocent teenagers haunted her. But, all nine were dead. Their families lost to history. So, Washington decided she would take up the fight to clear their names. Washington called lawyers and state senators. It took years. But finally, in November of 2013, the governor of Alabama exonerated all 9 men — erasing their conviction from history. And signed the “Scottsboro Boys Act.”

“If you can find out that someone in your family members or someone has died and they were innocent, they can be forgiven,” explains Washington, “and given a posthumous pardon.”

Washington is already working on the case of another man, she thinks can receive a posthumous pardon under the Scottsboro Boys Act.

According to Dan Carter, in the Jim Crow South of the 1920s and 30s, there are likely thousands of cases where black men and women were accused and convicted of crimes they did not commit.

“Essentially, if you were black and you were accused of a crime and rape was the fundamental one, and you were accused by a white person, you were convicted,” explains Carter. “I mean there just wasn’t any way around it.”

However, Carter and others admit that proving these cases will be hard. Alabama has the third highest incarceration rate in the nation, and there is a two-year backlog for pardons already. So, the new law makes getting a posthumous pardon difficult. The conviction has to be at least 80 years old. And requires massive evidence – affidavits and proof of innocence. Many cases are just too old and forgotten.

“A posthumous pardon causes people to think about the next case,” says John Miller, a lawyer and professor at the University of Alabama, who helped write the Scottsboro Boys Act.

Miller was not pleased by all the loopholes, but he says, the Act isn’t simply a symbolic, feel-good moment for Alabama.

“Are we going to better by the next group of people that are brought up on charges when the evidence looks a little thin and when they come from a background that is not like that of the people sitting in the jury box or the prosecution sitting across the courtroom,” questions Miller.

Clarence Norris Jr. was the only family member of the Scottsboro Boys to attend the pardoning. Norris feels responsible for his father’s memory and a lack of resolution. While learning about the case, Norris discovered that in the 1982, his father had petitioned the state of Alabama for reparations — 10,000 dollars in compensation for wrongful incarceration.

“When I found that [my father] had tried and failed, I felt like this is something that I need to finish for him,” Norris explains. “Even though he is not here to benefit from it. I feel like [the state of Alabama] still owes him.”

In Alabama, a wrongful conviction can be awarded $50,000 for every year of prison. So Norris and his sisters hired a lawyer and filed a case against the state of Alabama for $750,000 in reparations. They are the only family of all nine Scottsboro Boys who can be found.

States across the U.S. address reparations differently. Alabama is one of only 17 states that have mandated a fixed amount per year of wrongful incarceration. But, in Alabama, the process of petitioning for reparations is strict. Only two people have ever received compensation.  According to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office the statute of limitations for reparations for Clarence Norris, has passed. Even the language of the very Scottsboro Boys Act says that a posthumous pardon cannot be used as evidence that the state owes anyone reparations.

A registry of the prisoners in jail in Scottsboro, AL in 1931. Clarence Norris’ name is at the top, under the charge of ‘rape.’ Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

A registry of the prisoners in jail in Scottsboro, AL in 1931. Clarence Norris’ name is at the top, under the charge of ‘rape.’
Photo Credit: Ashley Cleek

“Are these families owed in a moral sense, some kind of compensation? I would say absolutely.” Miller continues, “Is it going to be hard for them to achieve that with the legal system before them as it is right now? Yes, it will be very, very difficult.”

Alabama is comfortable with addressing its past. There are museums and monuments to the horrors of Jim Crow and struggle of the Civil Rights movement. But when it comes to reparations, Alabama is wary. And according to Osagie Obasogie, a professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings, reparations are a crucial step in addressing a dark past.

“It’s easy to say I am sorry. It’s a little more difficult when you say, let me dig into my pockets, and provide financial compensation for my wrongdoing,” says Obasogie. “Money talks, and money forces a series of conversations that quite frankly the public needs to have about who was harmed, who perpetrated that harm, and the importance of not going back down that path.”

For states there are practical arguments against reparations, chiefly, money. Alabama, state lawmakers say, is a poor state and simply does not have the money to pay families or victims of injustice.

State senator Arthur Orr, championed the Scottsboro Boys Act through the state Legislature. Orr says that if the Scottsboro Boys were alive, they should receive reparations. But he questions whether the families of victims deserve compensation.

“What you do for one, you have to consider doing for others, and then you consider the others out there,” says Orr. “You could get into wives, and of course children and others that all bring claims and where does it end? And how can you get past that individual that was wrongfully incarcerated?”

It’s a difficult question. A posthumous pardon does nothing for a dead man. It’s for the living — the state and the family. In fact, professor Obasogie says, it’s the same with reparations.

“Reparations is not simply about the victim receiving money, but having the state being held accountable by providing money to the individual or their families as a symbolic sign that a wrong has been done,” argues Obasogie. “And the symbolic importance of that cannot be overstated, because it does create a precedent to ensure that similar mistakes are not made again.”

It’s been 83 years since the Scottsboro Boys were first convicted of rape and sentenced to death, and the effects of their cases have fanned out like waves, injustices piggy back on injustices up to the present day and cases like the Central Park Five and Trayvon Martin.

“There is still at least a similar treatment of young, black men, in that they are automatically suspect that the very presence of their bodies somehow brings about a kind of suspicion, and I think the echoes of that are still apparent in present day as well,” Miller explains. “There is an extent to which dealing with these issues historically, is an attempt to continue a conversation about them in the present day.”

This is a conversation that Clarence Norris Jr. very much wants to have. For his whole life, Norris has carried his father’s name, not knowing what it meant, or who his father was. Now, as he learns more, the past creeps into the present, and some of the weight his father carried, becomes his own.

Life of the Law‘s Scholarly Advisor on this story was Osagie Obasagie, Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings.

Ashley Cleek is a radio reporter and producer living in Birmingham, Alabama. Ashley has reported stories in Turkey, Ukraine, India, and Russia for American, German and British radio. Her stories have appeared on The World and Marketplace and on websites such as PBS’s The Tehran  Bureau, Global Post, and the Atlantic.

Thanks to Lazarus Data Recovery in San Francisco for their audio assistance.

Remembering Robin Williams' visit to KALW

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 04:22

In August 2014, we lost a man who inspired laughter in the Bay Area and all around the world – Robin Williams. Robin Williams was a local, and actually visited us at KALW in the late 80's. We’d like to take a moment to remember him. What you’re about to hear is an original recording he made in our studios many years back – an archival tape of a dizzying improv session, brought to you by KALW’s former program director, Julia Hutton.

Robinw_small In August 2014, we lost a man who inspired laughter in the Bay Area and all around the world – Robin Williams. Robin Williams was a local, and actually visited us at KALW in the late 80's. We’d like to take a moment to remember him. What you’re about to hear is an original recording he made in our studios many years back – an archival tape of a dizzying improv session, brought to you by KALW’s former program director, Julia Hutton.

Busman's Holiday

From Radio Diaries | 17:37

The story of William Cimillo, a New York City bus driver who snapped one day in 1947, left his regular route in the Bronx, and drove his municipal bus down to Florida.

Cimillo_portrait_film_small The story of William Cimillo, a New York City bus driver who snapped one day in 1947, left his regular route in the Bronx, and drove his municipal bus down to Florida. This story originally aired on This American Life. 

Klezmer Funk Hip-Hop? Abraham Inc.

From Michael May | 05:30

I'm kind of in love with Abraham Inc. now.

Abrahaminc_small The klezmer-funk-hip-hop group Abraham Inc. will have their debut performance at the Apollo tonight. Reporter Michael May has the story behind this unlikely fusion of music genres.

#88 - Tandem

From HowSound | 16:27

How a story about a skydiving accident nearly drove Anna Rose MacArthur away from radio, and what brought her back.

Playing
#88 - Tandem
From
HowSound

Howsound_social_small On this HowSound, how a story about a skydiving accident nearly drove Anna Rose MacArthur away from radio and what brought her back.

Rodney King on Forgiveness and Being a Negro

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 06:48

"I get chills up and down my body today at the age of 47 just knowing that I have survived all these years as a black man." —Rodney King

Rodneyking_square_small "I have been challenged to fight for saying 'can't we all get along.' I’ve had people say I want to kick your ass for saying that." - Rodney King Interview by Bobbi Booker April 16, 2012. Interview by phone from King's home in Southern California just a few weeks before he died. King had just released his memoirs Related article appeared in the Philadelphia Tribune

Howard Levy: Reinventing the Harmonica

From David Schulman | Part of the Musicians in their own words series | 07:22

It's the only instrument you can play while you drive, so Levy composes in the car. "They say music is the universal language, but it has a lot of dialects," he says.

Funnypic_small Howard Levy's house in Evanston, Illinois is filled with musical instruments. Ocarinas. Percussion. And, especially, HARMONICAS. When he was a teenager, Levy took a dimestore harmonica and figured out how to play a full chromatic scale. His harmonica virtuosity has since landed him gigs with everyone from Tito Puente to Garrison Keillor to Bela Fleck. Independent producer David Schulman went to Evanston to talk with Levy for his series "Musicians in their own words." Levy offered to drive David to his house. But the interview didn't go as planned. Once they got into Levy's car, he turned the key ... and picked up a harmonica ...

Technology Brings Long-Silent Voices Of 20th Century Poets Back To Life

From Curt Nickisch | 06:24

A innovative technology to preserve endangered sound recordings without playing them (which would further damage them) is bringing the voices of poets back to life.

Disc-grooves-296x300_small A long-silent national cultural heritage housed at Harvard has been brought back to life.  Archivists at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Mass. are using a technology inspired by a public radio story about vintage wax cylinders and records too fragile or damaged to play back.  Without touching the artifacts, their high-definition imaging machine takes microscopic 3-D pictures of the surface of these endangered recordings.  Software stitches the images together and converts them into digital audio files.  Researchers are digging into the nearly century-old, never-before-heard recordings of T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost and others who gave readings at Harvard’s legendary Woodberry Poetry Room.  The technology is now being offered to museums and collections across the country with aging audio recordings.

'Reel' Indians

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 07:11

Producer Kelly Jones and scholar Barbara Meek talk through Hollywood Indian English - a grammatical stereotype that often endures in today's media in this excerpt from our episode "Imagined Nations: Depictions of American Indians."

American-indian-272x300_small Producer Kelly Jones and scholar Barbara Meek talk through Hollywood Indian English - a grammatical stereotype that often endures in today's media in this excerpt from our episode "Imagined Nations: Depictions of American Indians."

Episode 12: Break The Internet

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 16:26

In 1999, most of America’s tech hysteria centered around Y2K. But at that same time, a teenager in Canada was messing around in chat rooms, meeting hackers, and learning tricks. At 15, he decided to put his knowledge to the test.

Criminal_itunes_logo_1400_small In 1999, most of America’s tech hysteria centered around Y2K. But at that same time, a teenager in Canada was messing around in chat rooms, meeting hackers, and learning tricks. At 15, he decided to put his knowledge to the test. To push up against the Internet’s limits, and in some places, break them. He managed to pull off something no one had ever seen before.

(Over)rulers

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 09:22

Legal scholar Bruce Ackerman talks about how presidents from Lincoln to Obama have used their military powers. This segment is from the BackStory episode "Tyrannophobia: Uses & Abuses of Executive Power."

Tumblr_na7b2b3jzp1qg51xvo2_500_small Legal scholar Bruce Ackerman talks about how presidents from Lincoln to Obama have used their military powers. This segment is from the BackStory episode "Tyrannophobia: Uses & Abuses of Executive Power."

Ferguson is Everywhere

From Open Source | Part of the Open Source with Christopher Lydon series | 58:37

The protests carry on and for now, as the protestors say, Ferguson is everywhere — not just in the news, but in our institutions, our interactions, and our ideas. We know Ferguson when we see it: another killing, another lost life, another city inflamed. But what does justice look like, and when will we — all of us — be satisfied?

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Ferguson is Everywhere

We’re all caught in the floodlights of Ferguson, Missouri, still reeling from the death of Michael Brown and the non-indictment of Darren Wilson, the man who shot him. We seem to be seeing American society down to every fragile, moving part.

There were signs this summer, from the chief of police and the top highway cop, that the signs in might point to progress. But in the end Brown’s family and their supporters were met by a prosecutor, with deep ties to the policeplaying defenseon live television, and a president preaching restraint to a world that didn’t, and doesn’t, seem to be listening.

Since then we’ve watched a new outbreak of anger around the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by Cleveland police and the non-indictment, too, of the police officer who choked Eric Garner to death on Staten Island this summer.

In all this it was the comedian Chris Rock who broke through, in interview with Frank Rich in New York magazine:

When we talk about race relations in America or racial progress, it’s all nonsense. There are no race relations. White people were crazy. Now they’re not as crazy. To say that black people have made progress would be to say they deserve what happened to them before… To say Obama is progress is saying that he’s the first black person that is qualified to be president. That’s not black progress. That’s white progress…

There have been smart, educated, beautiful, polite black children for hundreds of years. The advantage that my children have is that my children are encountering the nicest white people that America has ever produced. Let’s hope America keeps producing nicer white people.

It’s about white people adjusting to a new reality?

Owning their actions. Not even their actions. The actions of your dad. Yeah, it’s unfair that you can get judged by something you didn’t do, but it’s also unfair that you can inherit money that you didn’t work for.

So if the story began in Ferguson, its roots in racism and its structures are national and historical. Michael Brown embodies a generation of young black men who are living poorer lives, nearer to violence and crime,  with an exaggerated danger of wrongful death by cop, “wasted“, in many ways, by the country they call home.

 

The protests carry on and for now, as the protestors say, Ferguson is everywhere — not just in the news, but in our institutions, our interactions, and our ideas. We know Ferguson when we see it: another killing, another lost life, another city inflamed. But what does justice look like, and when will we — all of us — be satisfied?

55: Restaurant Sound Design

From Everything Sounds | Part of the Everything Sounds series | 17:10

Finally someone did a story about how to fix my pet peeve. And it's fascinating.

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In the 2013 Zagat Dining Trends Survey, diners shared information about their tipping habits, favorite cuisines, and even their top complaints about restaurants. Not surprisingly, high prices, poor service, and crowded restaurants were some of the biggest gripes, but the number one complaint was noise. How much of the sound is there by design and how can restaurant owners use sound to make dining out a more pleasant (and less noisy) experience?

Clark Wolf has consulted to restaurants, hotels, and just about every type of venue where people gather to enjoy food. Part of his job is to think about the ways in which sound can be used to enhance dining experiences. Learn more about the best and the worst of sound and music in restaurants with Clark Wolf on this episode of Everything Sounds.

Ruby Dee in Conversation with Studs Terkel

From The WFMT Radio Network | 07:03

112165-004-0ba78455_small For stations airing this program please announce that it comes from:

The Studs Terkel Radio Archive a collection of more than 5,000 interviews being curated by the WFMT Radio Network and the Chicago History Museum – www.studsterkel.org

Will You Go To Prom With Me?

From Curie Youth Radio | 03:14

When the day's approaching and you have to ask someone...Man, I STILL find this hard.

16857_small Phil attempts to ask someone -- anyone -- to Prom. At Curie Youth Radio, a workshop at Curie High School on Chicago's Southwest Side, students write, record, and produce their own pieces about everything from snowball fights to gang warfare. We work with ProTools, and we collect our sound from our high school hallways, our families' kitchen tables, and anywhere else the train takes us.

Robin Williams on Masks

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 06:46

Robin Williams gets asked, "In the year 2020, you'll be 70 years old. Now what will the world be like then?"

Robin_williams_square_small We present a special episode featuring Robin Williams. In 1991 he spoke with Lawrence Grobel on two occasions in connection with a profile that appeared in Playboy. Here we shine a light on the Robin Williams that so many of us knew: a man who could both touch your heart and make your cheeks hurt from laughter.

Seeing and Illustrating Music

From Conor Gillies | Part of the Stylus series | 59:01

Where does the ear meet the eye?

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This hour of Stylus explores the variegated world of sound, music, and the visual arts—from the synesthetic concert experience that would spark Wassily Kandinsky’s career as a painter, to the digital waveform and its cultural origins, to the musical images of the human mind, in which impressions of sound form a kind of palimpsest.

"Seeing and Illustrating Music" includes the voices of:

Cretien van Campen, research scientist and founder of Synesthetics Netherlands.

Ben Street, art historian, lecturer, and freelance writer.

Sherry Turner DeCarava, art historian and co-founder of the The Roy and Sherry DeCarava Archives.

Chia-Jung Tsay, social psychologist and professor of organizational behavior at University College London.

Richard Brody, columnist for The New Yorker.

Christian Wolff, composer.

Ryan Vigil, lecturer in music theory and musicology at University of New Hampshire.

Robert Simpson, director of the Houston Chamber Choir.

Jonathan Sterne, sound media historian, professor at McGill University, and author of several books, including The Audible Past.

Carlene Stevens, curator at the National Museum of American History.

Patrick Feaster, sound media historian at Indiana University, cofounder of First Sounds and author of Pictures of Sound.

Karen Topp, senior lecturer in physics at Bowdoin College.

Eric Wahlforss, cofounder and CTO of SoundCloud.

Nicholson Baker, writer and author of several non-fiction and fiction books, including The Traveling Sprinkler.

Berthold Hoeckner, professor of music at the University of Chicago.

Petr Janata, cognitive neuroscientist and professor of psychology at UCDavis.

Produced by Zack Ezor, Conor Gillies, Qainat Khan, and Dan Mauzy. Special thanks to Deanna Archetto and Tom Richards for providing audio from the Daphne Oram Collection at Goldsmiths, University of London. Thanks to Katherine Gorman and Erika Lantz for helping to edit the hour.  

Our engineers are Mike Garth, Marquis Neal, James Trout, and Paul Vaitkus. Our intro music is by Ryoji Ikeda and our outro music is by Laurel Halo. Artwork by Robert Beatty.

Our executive producers are Conor Gillies and Zack Ezor and our supervising editor is Lisa Tobin. Presented by Qainat Khan.  


Stylus is on Twitter and iTunes.

Let's Get Intimate

From Sara Brooke Curtis | 05:16

A personal essay exploring all kinds of intimacy.

Img_1444_small A personal essay exploring all kinds of intimacy.

#89 - Here I Am and Here Be Danger

From HowSound | 27:16

With all the focus on straightforward and uncomplicated storytelling, radio stories can become predictable and start to sound dull.

Fortunately, there are producers like Annie McEwen. She brings a poet’s sensibility and a musician’s ear to her storytelling. You can hear it in her story “Here I Am and Here Be Danger.” She won “Best New Producer” at the Third Coast International Audio Festival this year for the story and rightfully so.

Howsound_social_small

With all the focus on straightforward and uncomplicated storytelling, radio stories can become predictable and start to sound dull.

Fortunately, there are producers like Annie McEwen. She brings a poet’s sensibility and a musician’s ear to her storytelling. You can hear it in her story “Here I Am and Here Be Danger.” She won “Best New Producer” at the Third Coast International Audio Festival this year for the story and rightfully so.

Chanukah, 1992

From Dennis Funk | 01:17

Happy Chanukah!

Chanukah__1992_small A night of recollections, moments and new memories mixed from a cassette labelled 'Chanukah, 1992'. 

The Story Behind the Grinch

From Tina Antolini | 05:58

For decades, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" has been as much of a holiday fixture as eggnog and candy canes... Here's the story behind the Dr. Seuss classic, from a man who's made all things Grinchly a big part of his life.

Ho_small For decades, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" has been as much of a holiday fixture as eggnog and candy canes... Tina Antolini brings us the story of the Dr. Seuss classic, from a Massachusetts man who's become more than a little obsessed with the character. [feel free to write your own lead...]

Buy Nothing Day

From Erica Heilman | Part of the Rumble Strip Vermont series | 06:30

Who says you can't make up your own holiday?

5874990521_2c18ed1441_o_small Here's a commentary about Buy Nothing Day, an annual day of protest against buying...stuff.

Jessamyn West is a blogger, librarian, and technology maven. She lives in Randolph, Vermont.

I Don't Know

From Andy Mills | 04:11

A child's Christmas thoughts spring into song.

Playing
I Don't Know
From
Andy Mills

Winterformusic_small This piece was produced by Andy Mills in collaboration with the musicians Matt and Jacob Boll, Corey and Cobey Bienert and Enoch Kim.

We were looking for new ways to play with sound and story.

The album that we released can be downloaded for free here:

http://dogsontour.co.cc/?p=676

Wayne Coyne on Living with Death

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 05:50

"I’m pouring my guts out so they can feel like your guts at the same time" - Wayne Coyne, as told to Jennifer Van Evra by phone in 2002. The Flaming Lips frontman has surprisingly inspiring and heartfelt conversation about death, being at his dying father's bedside, and an armed robbery at Long John Silvers.

Wayne_coyne_square_small "I’m pouring my guts out so they can feel like your guts at the same time" - Wayne Coyne, as told to Jennifer Van Evra by phone in 2002. The Flaming Lips frontman has surprisingly inspiring and heartfelt conversation about death, being at his dying father's bedside, and an armed robbery at Long John Silvers.

Howard Smith interviews Joe Cocker 11/21/1969

From Ezra Bookstein | Part of the The Smith Tapes series | 03:38

Joe Cocker has died at age 70. This interview feels extra fitting during the holiday season.

Tst It’s November 21st , 1969. After a long summer of playing music festivals around the States, Joe Cocker topped it off with his iconic performance at Woodstock. He’s been touring with long-time cohorts, the Grease Band, but this collaboration will soon be coming to an end. In 2 months, Cocker will return to the US with a new backing band led by Leon Russell. The legendary Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour will play 48 cities in 59 days and the live album from it will be one of Cocker’s best.

The San Francisco Bookstore Survival Guide

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 06:07

So you want to open a bookstore? Excellent news. Here's your guide to survival.

Green_apple_books_small So you want to open a bookstore? Excellent news. Here's your guide to survival.

Episode 13: The Big Sleep

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 16:08

Raymond Chandler is often called the greatest American crime novelist. But something very important to Chandler had gotten lost. No one noticed until a pair of Chandler's biggest fans, newlyweds in their seventies, got on the case.

Screen_shot_2014-02-01_at_9 Raymond Chandler is often called the greatest American crime novelist, famous for murder mysteries like The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely. He’s the subject of several biographies, and his correspondence and manuscripts are archived at Oxford. But something very, very important to Chandler had gotten lost. No one noticed until a pair of Chandler’s biggest fans, newlyweds in their seventies, got on the case.

Anarchism and Dissent in Medieval Islam

From Hold That Thought | Part of the Religion & Politics series | 09:29

Professor Hayrettin Yucesoy explores the turbulent political and religious climate of the medieval Islamic world.

Abbasid_caliphate_most_extant_small Hayrettin Yücesoy, professor of Islamic and Arabic studies, takes us back to the political and theological debates of 9th-century Baghdad. Scholars later claimed that in the medieval Islamic world, religion and politics fit neatly together. However, as Yücesoy explains, the historical reality was much more complicated. Religious scholars, political leaders, and even elite anarchists all had competing ideas about the relationship between Muslim faith and politics.

Red, White, Blue & Orange

From Benjamen Walker | Part of the Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything series | 37:34

A torture expert records an imaginary criterion commentary track for the torture scenes in Zero Dark Thirty. We learn about Umarov Muhibullah, one of the first innocent men to be released from Guantanamo. And your host ponders why Guantanamo is still open.

Screen_shot_2014-12-31_at_4 A torture expert records an imaginary criterion commentary track for the torture scenes in Zero Dark Thirty. We learn about Umarov Muhibullah, one of the first innocent men to be released from Guantanamo. And your host ponders why Guantanamo is still open.

Life of the Law #47: An Hour From Life of the Law

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 53:00

Hosted by Al Letson, this is a special hour from Life of the Law. We look back over some of our favorite stories from the year: the ones that
left us hopeful.

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The Right to Beg

Don-Sign-2

Listen to the original piece here.

Since this story aired, the ACLU has filed a petition with the US Supreme Court on behalf of two homeless Massachusetts residents who solicit donations on the street. The Court is considering whether to take the case.

In the Name of the Father

lotl42_4

Listen to the original piece here.

Reporter Ashley Cleek recently contacted Clarence Norris Jr’s. attorney, George Hartline. He said the state is still silent on reparations. Meanwhile, a 14-year-old in South Carolina who was accused of murder in 1944 and executed was exonerated in mid-December 2014.

Release Day

Ep-25.Curtis.Field_

Listen to the original piece here.

It’s been two years since voters passed Proposition 36, and under the new law, California courts have released nearly 2,000 prisoners and denied 166 petitions. Nearly 800 are still waiting to have their cases heard. Curtis is doing well. He’s working as a landscaper and has nearly completed his bachelor’s degree in social psychology at San Francisco State University.

How to Endure Winter

From Suzanne Pekow | 04:46

I needed this today.

Img_2241_small I decided to go on a little quest to try to find people who could teach me how to not just endure, but enjoy bein active outside in the winter. Minnesota can get downright nasty for several months of the year, and I wanted to know how to avoid the urge to hibernate during the entire season. I met up with some very cheerful outdoor enthusiasts and a specialist on "non-exercise activity thermogenesis" (NEAT) at the Mayo Clinic, who all teach me that the key to being active in the winter is to ... be active in the winter.

Rediscovering Cuba

From Open Source | Part of the Open Source with Christopher Lydon series | 58:37

Starting last month, the American freeze-out of Communist Cuba, which long outlasted the Cold War, began to come to an end. It may have been a small thrill in a bleak political year, but take it as proof that everything — even chilly international grudges — come to an end.

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Starting last month, the American freeze-out of Communist Cuba, which long outlasted the Cold War, began to come to an end. It may have been a small thrill in a bleak political year, but take it as proof that everything — even chilly international grudges — come to an end.

It’s the perfect kickoff to 2015. We’re rediscovering Cuba — and not for the first time.

There’s always been a special magic to the island: it was Christopher Columbus’s second stop in his West Indies; he called it “the most beautiful land human eyes have ever seen,” then set about the campaign of violence and subjugation told by Bartolomeo de las Casas. Late in his life, Thomas Jefferson wrote to President Monroe with dreams of an incorporated Cuba. He’d settle, he concluded, for peaceful independence over violent conquest, saying a lot about Cuban-American relations and where they have ended up two centuries later:

I candidly confess, that I have ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States. The control which, with Florida Point, this island would give us over the Gulf of Mexico, and the countries and isthmus bordering on it, as well as all those whose waters flow into it, would fill up the measure of our political well-being. Yet, as I am sensible that this can never be obtained, even with her own consent, but by war; and its independence, which is our second interest, (and especially its independence of England,) can be secured without it, I have no hesitation in abandoning my first wish to future chances, and accepting its independence, with peace and the friendship of England, rather than its association, at the expense of war and her enmity.

You remember Batista’s Cuba as the Godfather set-piece, playground for Meyer Lansky and Frank Sinatra. But did you know about John Kennedy’s last-minute order for 1,000 Petit Upmann cigars, fulfilled by Pierre Salinger before the embargo took hold in 1962? (Salinger returned from cigar stores everywhere, with 1,200.)

Backspace to the Future (The Dislike Club, part 1)

From Benjamen Walker | Part of the Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything series | 21:23

This is the true origin story of the tilde.club. Yours truly also started a new thing it is called dislike.club. We also check in with Librarian and community manager Jessamyn West for advice on how to start an online community that doesn’t suck.

Screen_shot_2014-12-31_at_8 Paul Ford is a technologist and a writer, sometimes these two things blur. For example, he’s currently working on a book about webpages, but he’s also building a content management system for webpages –  because you know it could help with the writing.  (yeah his book is late) Its not like he’s trying to procrastinate, this is just what life is like when you are Paul Ford.  A couple of Monday night’s ago he was sitting on his couch drinking some rye whisky and chatting with his friends on twitter  and he accidentally a brand new webpage community.  This is the true origin story of his tilde.club. Yours truly also started a new thing it is called dislike.club. We also check in with Librarian and community manager Jessamyn West for advice on how to start an online community that doesn’t suck.

Robotic seals comfort dementia patients but raise ethical concerns

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 08:27

At the Livermore Veteran’s Hospital, there are a few animals residents can see: wild turkeys that run around the grounds, rattlesnakes that hide out in the dry grass, and therapy dogs that make weekly visits. But there’s one animal in particular that Bryce Lee is always happy to see: a baby harp seal.

Paro_small At the Livermore Veteran’s Hospital, there are a few animals residents can see: wild turkeys that run around the grounds, rattlesnakes that hide out in the dry grass, and therapy dogs that make weekly visits. But there’s one animal in particular that Bryce Lee is always happy to see: a baby harp seal.

Interrogators Without Pliers

From Matt Thompson | 27:31

Why torture doesn't work. How to trick the enemy into revealing secrets. Lessons from the Master Interrogator of the Luftwaffe. The British Police use of empathy as a weapon. With Ali Soufan, ex FBI special agent and interrogator.

Hanns_scharff_small

 The Chinese strategist and philospher Sun Tzu wrote in 'The Art of War' that 'If you know others and know yourself you will win a hundred battles.'  Which is obviously good advice but finding out about the 'other' is not straightforward.  What if they don't want to talk and share their secrets with you? 

Much of the debate about the interrogation of suspects in America's War on Terror has been about whether the methods used, such as waterboarding, could be described as torture.  In this programme Julian Putkowski sets aside all moral questions and instead thinks about efficiency.  What is the most effective way to extract high quality information out of the enemy, the other.

If we are civil to our captives might we get them to cooperate?  What if we could get as much – or even more – information in exchange for a lot less pain?

Julian's unlikey role model is the Master Interrogator of the Luftwaffe Hanns Scharff. He gently extracted information from downed US fighter pilots by being friendly and never appearing to show interest when a new piece of the mosaic fell into place. Scharff summed it up as  'a display of information and persuasion appealing to common sense'.

We do not know for sure where the Scharff technique came from originally.   But it may have been from a colourful German fighter ace, Franz von Werra.  He had been downed and captured by the British and interrogated by the RAF. He had been expecting rough handling but found his captors were rather genial chaps and harsh treatment was the exception to the rule. He later escaped and made it back to Germany. One of his first trips was to Dulag Luft where he sat in on interrogations.  He was horrified at how superficial, even farcical the interrogations were. He said: 'I would rather be interrogated by half a dozen German inquisitors than 1 RAF expert.'  His recommendations were personally approved by Hermann Goering.

Julian interviews: Dr Gavin Oxburgh, at the University of Teeside, UK who is  an international expert on police questioning.

Ali Soufan, an FBI special agent and author of 'The Black Banners.'

Claudius Scharff, Hanns son, who tells us about trips to the zoo and shows us a fascinating 'visitor's book' Hanns got the POW's to sign.

 

 

 

 

Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Sour: The Emotional Life of Eating (Gravy Ep. 5)

From Southern Foodways Alliance | Part of the Gravy Podcast series | 23:18

Many of the stories we hear and tell about food are positive—food’s power to nourish, to comfort, to bring people together. But it also has the potential to cause shame, fear, disgust and a whole host of other uncomfortable emotions. Today on Gravy: personal stories around food that aren’t so sweet.

Nikiko_masumoto_small

Many of the stories we hear and tell about food are positive—food’s power to nourish, to comfort, to bring people together. But it also has the potential to cause shame, fear, disgust and a whole host of other uncomfortable emotions. Today on Gravy: personal stories around food that aren’t so sweet.

These are the kinds of stories Francis Lam wanted to explore for a presentation he gave at the Southern Foodways Alliance’s annual Symposium a few months ago. Francis is an editor at large at Clarkson Potter Publishers and a New York Times Magazine columnist. He’s also someone who’s spent a lot of time eating in the South and writing about it. Francis was curious about the food stories that often go untold because they deal with topics we’d prefer not to talk about.

So, he asked a handful of people: tell me about a time when you felt tension in your emotional life of eating.

Get Off Your Cell Phone…Dad!

From Youth Radio | 06:21

Enough complaining about "kids these days." I like this story because Maya sits her dad down and shows him just how wrong his assumptions are.

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According to the Pew Research Center on Technology and American Life, 91 percent of adults report owning a mobile phone compared to just 78 percent of teens. Not only that, the cell phones warming the pockets of adults are smarter and more high tech than the ones owned by teenagers like me.

What does it mean for all these mature people flush with technology? Well, according to a lot of young people I spoke with, teens are no longer the most “phone addicted” people in the house. Parents are.

When I interviewed my father, Jose Escobar, for this story, we were just seconds into the conversation when his cell phone vibrated with a message. So does he think he’s addicted?, I asked.

“No,” he answered without pause.

But, when I ask him if he thinks I’m addicted, “Yea definitely,” he shot back. “You need to text less and you’re constantly reading what’s on Facebook. You need to take a break.

I think he needs to take a break. Whenever my dad comes to pick me up from school, my sister and I sit in the car for five minutes before he starts the engine, because his eyes are glued to his phone. Just like they were during my interview with him.

“See, you’re even holding your phone now,” I said to him as we talked.

“Yea,” admitted my dad. “I guess it’s just a habit.”

Scott Campbell is a communications professor at the University of Michigan. He studies the way mobile devices affect people. Habit, says Campbell, is not about how much a person uses their cell phone, it’s about intentionality.

“Habit means that you’re not thinking about what you’re doing. That it’s an automatic kind of reaction,” said Campbell. “I think people use mobile technology in a more reflexive way, and I think this is still one of the reasons why people are still texting and driving when they know it is so dangerous.”

Texting while driving. That’s what teens do right? Well, a 2012 survey, found that adults admit to texting and driving even more than teens.

Jayme Burke is the parent of two boys. When Burke was a kid, she used to argue with her dad to get him to quit smoking, but now Burke says that her kids are on her to give up a different bad habit.

“My younger son will actually say to me, ‘Mom I don’t want you to end up dead,’ because he sees all the ads where they’ll show their very last text and then they’ll show the car crunched and the person dead,” said Burke. 

She says her son’s pleas make her think about how and when she uses her cell phone, but that sometimes, the gravitational pull of her device gets the best of her.

Work emails are big part of Burke’s usage. Texting too. Sometimes, she admits, her kids compete for her attention.

“They’ll say look at me in the eye,” said Burke. “Then sometimes I’ll try to text and look at them, or text and take a break and look at them while I’m texting. It’s really awful, actually.”

The only way I could think to convince my own father that he uses the phone more than he thinks he does was to sit him down and take a cold, hard look at the numbers. To find out who was really addicted, I took the average from three months of phone records. It turns out my dad talks twice as much as I do, but I text way more.

The tiebreakerData. He used more than me.

When I confronted him about the fact that he was on his phone more than me, he was surprised.

“Wow, I wonder why,” he said. Then he got it.

“Oh yeah, because I was watching boxing. Boxing on my phone. That’s probably why I used more.”

And with that, I became the undisputed champion of cellphone self-control.

Broken Notes

From KUOW's RadioActive Youth Media | Part of the RadioActive: Fall 2012 series | 03:41

Kamna Shastri gives us a peek into the world of a man who cares for broken–down pianos.

120223-kamna_small Kamna Shastri gives us a peek into the world of a man who cares for broken–down pianos.

Why are there anti-Muslim ads on our public buses?

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 09:04

Earlier this fall San Francisco Muni buses displayed an ad that may have upset you. Or angered you. Or made you feel threatened. The Muni ad was part of an anti-Islam campaign calling itself the American Freedom Defense Initiative, or AFDI.

Islamophobia_small Earlier this fall San Francisco Muni buses displayed an ad that may have upset you. Or angered you. Or made you feel threatened. The Muni ad was part of an anti-Islam campaign calling itself the American Freedom Defense Initiative, or AFDI.

Listen to a Concert Cellist Play a Duet With Her Brain

From Lauren Ober | Part of the Radio Amuse-Bouche: A Social Audio Experiment series | 01:39

Just...spellbinding.

Cellistpic_small Ever wonder what your brainwaves sound like? Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist Katinka Kleijn did so, along with composer Daniel Dehaan and sound engineer Ryan Ingebritsen, she figured out how to translate her brain's electrical signals into sound. The result is Intelligence in the Human-Machine, a duet for cello and brainwaves. While playing the piece, Kleijn wears an EEG headset that tracks her brainwaves. Those raw recordings are then interpreted into sound in real time. Listen as Kleijn explains what it's like to partner with her own neurons for a performance.

Collaborating with the Mystery

From Mary Quintas | 07:41

Bud Brown is known for singing Iris DeMent's "Let the Mystery Be". A few years ago, his relationship to the song changed: Bud's wife became terminally ill, and she asked him to sing it at her memorial service.

Bud_brown_photo_small Bud Brown is a member of the All Worn Out Jug Band on Cape Cod, MA.  One of his signature songs is Iris DeMent's "Let the Mystery Be".  When Bud's wife became terminally ill, she asked him to sing the song at her memorial service.  Since then, he's been called upon to sing it at other funerals for friends and loved ones.  Bud describes singing the song as "a duty and a gift, a joy and a heartbreaker."  He talks about helping people who are "facing the mystery" - and what it's like to face the mystery himself.

Looking for Love

From Angela Regas | 06:50

In August of 2009 I was 29 years old, single, and living in Iowa City. I wasn’t going to be 29 much longer, and I decided I didn’t want to be single much longer, either. So I went looking online, not for love, but something a little more mundane, something between U-Hauls and one night stands. So far I’ve found a Latin lover, a cougar-seeking piece of “hot chocolate,” and a Satanist named Dan. And you know? He just might be the one.

3049713687_a56eec1bb6_small In August of 2009 I was 29 years old, single, and living in Iowa City.  I wasn’t going to be 29 much longer, and I decided I didn’t want to be single much longer, either.  So I went looking online, not for love, but something a little more mundane, something between U-Hauls and one night stands.  So far I’ve found a Latin lover, a cougar-seeking piece of “hot chocolate,” and a Satanist named Dan.  And you know?  He just might be the one.

Wintry Mix

From Jake Harper | 04:48

The sounds of a quiet snow day.

Playing
Wintry Mix
From
Jake Harper

P1050685_small The sounds of a Wisconsin winter.

Elliott Smith on Freaks

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 06:14

"A lot of people are kind of depressed. I'm happy some of the time, and some of the time I'm not." - Elliott Smith, as told to Barney Hoskyns in 1998.

Elliott_smith_square_small So we came across a really special tape for this week’s show: Elliott Smith interviewed in 1998 by Barney Hoskyns. It’s now been more than a decade since Elliott Smith died in 2003. He was only 34. It’s a little eerie hearing him now but it’s also kind of soothing to hear comfort and discomfort at the same time. Kind of like his music it seems. Here’s what we heard on the tape that comes from Rock's Backpages. 

Malik's MLK Poem.

From Generation Justice Admin | 01:08

Malik Barrios, an 14 year old from Data High School and is a member of the New Mexico Youth Alliance. He was one of the speakers at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade. He recites a poem by Langston Hughes titled, "Democracy".

9593989384_7eee15d488_o_small Malik Barrios, an 14 year old from Data High School and is a member of the New Mexico Youth Alliance. He was one of the speakers at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade. He recites a poem by Langston Hughes titled, "Democracy".

Life of the Law #48: Boiled Angel

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 16:05

Freedom of speech is a right guaranteed in the first amendment of the constitution. One exception to the rule is obscenity. But determining what is obscene is difficult – especially for those making it.

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Today, Mike Diana lives New York City, but he grew up in Florida — a place he can’t go back to.

To understand why, we have to go back to 1991, “It was after the Gainsville student murders happened,” says Diana.

The murders were brutal. Some of the victims had been raped, some mutilated and posed in sexual positions. One was decapitated. The crimes received tremendous media attention and they would later inspire the film Scream.

Still, by the following year the police had few good leads. One day, a few detectives showed up at Diana’s door. Turned out he was a suspect in the murders and the detectives were asking questions about a comic book he’d drawn called “Boiled Angel.”

“The copy of number 6 that I sent someone in California. They sent it back to the Florida authorities in the mail,” says Diana “thinking I was a serial killer.”

Boiled Angel 1

The cover of “Boiled Angel #6” depicts a naked man kneeling over a dead woman. The man is ejaculating and holding a bloody knife. The woman has a screwdriver sticking out of her eye and is also naked, her stomach sliced open and the man is pulling a baby out of it.

“I did a lot of baby mutilation, anti-religious material,” says Diana.

The imagery is very graphic, but Diana isn’t a murderer. The police took a blood sample from him and he was cleared of the crime. But Diana wasn’t off the hook. In 1993 he was charged with a different crime: publication, distribution, and advertising obscenity.

“That morning it came out in the paper,” says Diana. “My father said, you know you’re facing three years in prison. Each count has a year in jail, a thousand dollar fine. I went to court to plead not guilty and there was a mob of TV and newspaper reporters.”

There were also protest groups — one called Citizens Opposing Pornography.

“As I was walking into the courtroom they were saying how can you print this kind of material and don’t you care about the children?” says Diana.

The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” So while you might think you should be able to draw whatever you want, that’s not always the case.

What we’re allowed to draw or not, were determined by a 1973 Supreme Court Case. An adult-bookstore owner named Marvin Miller had been sending out called Illustrated History of Pornography, Sex Orgies Illustrated and Man Slash Woman. The people who received the ads claimed they were obscene and complained to police.

Obscenity laws have a long legal history that dates back hundreds of years in the English speaking world. They were designed to regulate writings and images that included extreme violence and sexuality, but lacked artistic value. In the US, the law evolved to include only sexuality, not violence. However, determining, what is a, extreme and b, what lacks artistic value is difficult. However, the United States does have a definition. It comes from Mr. Miller’s case.

The Supreme Court decided his ads were obscene and therefore were not protected by the First Amendment. The justices also pointed out a problem with the existing obscenity law.

A transcript from the case reads:

“Obviously, one local area will accept material that another local area will not. A national standard could very likely prevent a local community that had liberal attitudes and would accept material from receiving that material because of the restrictive influence of a conservative community some 2500 miles away. And the opposite is also true.”

This is – quite literally – a huge problem. How do you decide what’s obscene when there are so many people spread across a huge country. The court ruled it wasn’t possible to create a a single definition of obscenity.

Instead, the court  created “The Miller Test”, a three pronged obscenity test to decide what obscenity is. In order for something to be obscene it has to satisfy all three requirements:

  1. Whether “the average person, applying contemporary community standards”, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest,
  2. Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law,
  3. Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

In 1993, when Mike Diana went to court, he faced The Miller Test. And right away, there’s a problem – “Boiled Angel” depicts sex, and yes, it can be considered offensive. But, then again, that was the point. Diana argued that his comic books had value. They were art, designed to make people think about the awful things happening in the world every day so not lacking in serious value.

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“A big influence for me was watching the TV News. I seemed obsessed with watching the nightly news in Florida,” says Diana. “Lots of reports about priests molesting children. Strange murders… I felt like I wanted to open society’s eyes about what was going on around them. It seemed like people were so desensitized about their surroundings that they didn’t really care about what these crimes were.”

But this raises a new a problem.  Art often pushes boundaries – can those boundaries be pushed too far?

“The difficulty is, it’s never been easy to define,” says Bob Corn Revere, a first amendment lawyer on retainer for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund which set up Diana’s defense.

“Obscenity is the only crime that I’m aware of where you don’t know you’ve committed it until the jury tells you you have,” he says. “If you break into a hardware store – you know you’ve committed a crime. But if you produce a work of art or you produce a comic book or something else. You don’t know what’s obscene until someone forces a jury to read it against their will.”

To add on to this confusion, consider that an artist’s idea of what is obscene is often different from a jury’s. This has been a problem for performers and artists for a long time. Look no further than comedian Lenny Bruce.

 

“Prosecutors went after Lenny Bruce in part because his work was very challenging,” says Corn Rever. “It included social commentary. It included criticism of religion.”

Bruce was charged with obscenity multiple times in California, New York and Illinois. (Bruce was convicted once and posthumously pardoned)

“It’s almost impossible to imagine today,” says Corn Revere. “It’s almost impossible to imagine in today’s world. This happened at a time when society was going through a lot of change. At the same time, the courts were going through a lot of change. The Supreme Court was struggling with how to define obscenity. And this is the kind of thing that received obscenity prosecution. Just as steamy novels were the subjects of obscenity prosecutions.”

The biggest problem for Diana was the third criteria of the Miller Test — the community standard. It didn’t matter if some people in other parts of the country thought Boiled Angel was art — his jury in Largo didn’t.

“Pinellas County has its own identity,” said Stuart Baggish, head prosecutor for the State of Florida, “it doesn’t have to accept what is acceptable in the bath houses of San Francisco. It doesn’t have to accept what is acceptable on crack alleys in New York. This is Pinellas County.”

“If we suppress obscenity, it’s because we as a community, don’t want people behaving like that in public,” says Robert Post, dean of the Yale Law School. The Miller Test, he says, forces a community to draw a line between art and obscenity.

“What sort of things do you want to study, and what sort of things do you want to burn in the street?”

That line changes as time goes on.

Take the photographs of Robert Maplethorpe. They’re black and white polaroids that depict bondage, BDSM, and nude children. Today, they’re considered high art, but though he wasn’t convicted, when the director of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati displayed the same photos in 1990, he was prosecuted for obscenity.

“When you ask a question like is the Mapplethorpe obscene the presupposition is that there’s a definition of obscenity that is real,” says Post. “What I’m suggesting is it’s always a sociological marker of what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable.”

Which is what the prosecution was trying to prove in Mike Diana’s case — that at that time, and in that place Boiled Angel was not art.

Consider Diana’s comic “Baby Fuck Dog Food”.

“Which was based on a true story,” says Diana. “A newspaper article about a family who ended up killing their baby and feeding the remains to the dog to get rid of the body.”

The prosecution brought in an art expert from Eckerd College in nearby Saint Petersburg, Florida.

“The art expert had made large blowups of the comic on poster board and was pointing out different things,” says Diana.  “He pointed out the lines. He said wow, do you see the way he drew these lines. It shows the power, the power in this drawing. And every time it was called a drawing, the prosecutor would say, but this is not considered art, right? And the art expert would say. No absolutely not.”

boiled#8cover

At the end of the trial, Diana was found guilty and was sentenced to 3 years’ probation and a 3,000 dollar fine. He was ordered to stay away from minors and had to get a psychiatric evaluation at his own expense, as well as any treatment necessary and three years community service at eight hours a week.

“I was ordered not to draw anything that could be considered obscene. Even for my own personal use,” says Diana. “And police were allowed to come to my house to make searches. Surprise searches to look for artwork.”

Diana appealed the case, but he also left Largo for New York City where he still lives now.

Diana’s trial took place in 1994, but things are different today

Says Robert Post, “The amount of obscenity on the internet is staggering.”

There’s a ton of porn out there on the internet. It’s impossible to say how much, but estimates say anywhere from 4 to 37 percent of the entire Internet is porn. Today, the makers and distributors of it are rarely prosecuted for obscenity. Even before the Internet, prosecutions of obscenity were becoming less common. Post attributes  our softening stance to our evolving views on sexuality.

But the obscenity law still survives. In 2005, then attorney general Alberto Gonzales set up an obscenity-prosecution task force. About 360 people were charged with obscenity during the Bush administration.

“No one quite understands why it survives as an exception to general freedom of speech,” says Post. “The one answer must be that the Justices of the United States Supreme Court believe that unless the law sets a floor of how you can behave in public we will corrupt ourselves as a society and lose any sense of decency.”

It would be nice if the obscenity law was clearer, but, then again, it seems hard to imagine what one obscenity law might look like – just one law that weaves together cultures and sexual norms – for all of us. One that draws a line that clearly says, you can say (or draw) this, but not that, and one that everybody in the country would agree on.

Until we have such a law, artists like Mike Diana are prone to getting caught on the wrong side of the line. When he left Florida and moved to New York, Diana violated his parole. If he goes back, he’ll be arrested.

“I hope to someday be able to go to Florida freely,” says Diana, “to get the probation and all that taken care of and out of the way. And I’ll feel better about it then.”

Now, Diana lives as a cultural exile. Though his work is shown in spots as far-flung and sophisticated as New York and London, it’s still not considered art. Diana’s work is also shown in Miami, but nearby, in Largo, it’s not considered art, instead, it’s seen as obscene. Somewhere between Largo and Miami, Diana’s work becomes art. It’s just not clear where that place is.

 –

Editor: Sally Herships

Audio Production: Kaitlin Prest

Touch Of Grey: Lecturing to retired Deadheads

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 07:44

Peter Richardson, a lecturer at San Francisco State, was teaching a course on the Grateful Dead at a school for adults over 50. A cultural history class where the students were likely part of both the culture and the history? Fascinating, right? But would I leave the class a "Deadhead?"

Pic01_small Peter Richardson, a lecturer at San Francisco State, was teaching a course on the Grateful Dead at a school for adults over 50. A cultural history class where the students were likely part of both the culture and the history? Fascinating, right? But would I leave the class a "Deadhead?"

Body of Water

From Veronica Simmonds | 06:14

I'm dreaming of a warm summer swim today.

Body_of_water_small Throughout the summer of 2014 Veronica Simmonds and Katie Mckay (part & parcel) gathered sounds, sights, and sentiments from the lakes of Halifax, Nova Scotia. They then wove all this into a watery parralax experience that you can immerse yourself in at http://bodyofwater.ca/

If you are intrigued by what you hear you should really visit the full site where you are invited to take a swim through your screen. Turn on your sound, slow down your day, and scroll into the lake, from your head down to your toes.
 

A Prohibition

From Terin Mayer | 04:27

"Time and time and time again, we've had genocide performed on us, and we're still here, we're still living, we're still strong. When I say I'm a black man, I mean I'm immortal. I identify myself with that immortality that is blackness."

Playing
A Prohibition
From
Terin Mayer

Terinandkayeen_small Originally curated for a temporary museum installation at Carleton College, "A Prohibition" is a poetic contemplation of campus race relations. What do you mean when you say the word "black"? Why can't you say the word "nigger"? Three African American students navigate the language of identity.

Death Qualified

From Alison Freeland | 15:51

A woman describes being on a death penalty jury in North Carolina.

200206 The case concerned a 17-year-old boy with a gun, and a 16-year-old victim. His guilt wasn't in question, but his punishment was. (Featured on Transom).

Episode 15: He's Neutral

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 16:16

Dan Stevenson has lived in Oakland’s Eastlake neighborhood for 40 years. He says crime has been an issue for as long as he can remember, but he isn’t one to call the police on drug dealers or sex workers. He’s a pretty “live and let live” kind of guy. Or he was. Before he finally got fed up and took matters into his own hands.

Criminal_podcast_logo_medium_small Dan Stevenson has lived in Oakland’s Eastlake neighborhood for 40 years. He says crime has been an issue for as long as he can remember, but he isn’t one to call the police on drug dealers or sex workers. He’s a pretty “live and let live” kind of guy. Or he was. Before he finally got fed up and took matters into his own hands.

The Jemima Code (Gravy Ep. 6)

From Southern Foodways Alliance | Part of the Gravy Podcast series | 22:28

There’s a whole lot more than recipes in Toni Tipton Martin’s cookbook collection… It contains a surprising culinary history of African Americans in the United States.

Toni_tipton_martin_making_hot_rolls_small

Toni Tipton Martin was just starting out as a reporter back in the 1980’s, when she noticed something that struck her as odd about the cookbook section of the newspaper she was working for. There were no cookbooks by black people. “That just didn’t jive with my experience,” she says, having grown up in an African American household of skilled cooks. “It didn’t make sense that African Americans didn’t make any contribution at all.” Little did Toni know that that observation would set her on a multi-decade journey of research and discovery.

In this episode of Gravy, we tell the story of the world of black cookbooks that Toni eventually uncovered, and what they tell us about culinary history in the United States.

Groundhog and Mirror

From Ronan Kelly | 11:28

Jane O'Connor's mother loved the movie Groundhog day. Now that she has Alzheimer's, it seems to reflect her life.

Jane_oconnor_0004582c-133_small Jane O'Connor is a young woman from Dublin whose mother was a big fan of the film Groundhog day. The irony of her beloved film choice was that when diagnosed with Alzheimers, everyday became Groundhog day. This is an intimate tale of love and sorrow, of a daughters final years with her mother

Love treatise

From Alaska Teen Media Institute | 08:37

Cooper Galvin, a high school senior, goes on a quest to find out what love is.

3033_small Cooper Galvin, a high school senior in Anchorage, Alaska goes on a quest to find out what love is. He talks with a group of seventh grade girls, some senior boys and a favorite teacher, who specializes in romantic poetry.

LISTEN: ‘Thirsty’ Might Not Mean What You Think It Does

From WUNC | Part of the WUNC Youth Radio series | 02:41

Teens in North Carolina are using the term "thirsty" these days, and they don't mean that they need a drink. The term refers to a specific behavior - one that occurs in social media, or in person. Teen reporter Morgan Manson explains.

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When Mariah Carey released the song 'Thirsty' many teens had already been using the term for some time. Thirst is like a yearning for someone. If you leave one too many hearts under someone’s Instagram picture, or blow up your crush’s inbox with 20 messages, that's thirsty.

Staying in the Gray

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 08:01

Many spaces are designated for either men or women: bathrooms, clothing stores, hair salons. But some people don’t subscribe to being a man or a woman. This is true for Clem Breslin, who identifies as being genderqueer.

There isn’t one way to define being genderqueer. It’s specific to each person and shows up in a lot of ways: from the way Breslin dresses to the pronouns Breslin prefers.

Playing
Staying in the Gray
From
KALW

Clemandhannah_small Many spaces are designated for either men or women: bathrooms, clothing stores, hair salons. But some people don’t subscribe to being a man or a woman. This is true for Clem Breslin, who identifies as being genderqueer. There isn’t one way to define being genderqueer. It’s specific to each person and shows up in a lot of ways: from the way Breslin dresses to the pronouns Breslin prefers.

As Luckies Would Have It...

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 11:13

This story about cigarette marketing schemes is blowing mind.

Dorthea_lange_small On this episode, the Guys tackle the history of advertising in the United States. When did the industry come into being? What makes a great commercial jingle? And how do you sell America on the idea of lunar exploration? We have stories that answer these questions and more. Plus, a special treat -- ads for BackStory in bygone styles, suggested by our faithful listeners.

The Power of African-American Art

From Al Letson | Part of the State of the Re:Union: Season Five series | 53:52

State of the Re:Union has made it an annual tradition to commemorate Black History Month with a special episode exploring lesser known corners of African-American history. This year, State of the Re:Union recognizes Black History Month through the lens of African-American art, the role it has played in social movements and everyday life, and why it matters both to the black community and the United States as a whole. From a poem celebrating Nina Simone and her powerful voice for social change, to the story of the surprising event that sparked the hip-hop cultural revolution, to unsung heroes of the culinary arts, SOTRU provides a rich hour of art as a window into African-American history, and how communities have been transformed by it.

Sotru_profile-pic_01_small State of the Re:Union
The Power of African-American Art

Host: Al Letson
Producers: Al Letson, Tina Antolini, Delaney Hall

Description:
State of the Re:Union has made it an annual tradition to commemorate Black History Month with a special episode exploring lesser known corners of African-American history. This year, State of the Re:Union recognizes Black History Month through the lens of African-American art, the role it has played in social movements and everyday life, and why it matters both to the black community and the United States as a whole. From a poem celebrating Nina Simone and her powerful voice for social change, to the story of the surprising event that sparked the hip-hop cultural revolution, to unsung heroes of the culinary arts, SOTRU provides a rich hour of art as a window into African-American history, and how communities have been transformed by it.

Billboard (:59)
Incue: From PRX and WJCT
Outcue: But first, this news.

News Hole: 1:00-6:00

SEGMENT A (12:29)
Incue: From WJCT in Jacksonville, Florida…
Outcue: When State of the Re:Union returns.

From the spirituals that slaves sung to the writings of poet Claude McKay to Public Enemy’s fierce rhymes, SOTRU looks at how African-American art has been used to speak out against injustice. Professor Farah Jasmine Griffin walks us through a timeline of African-American art that has been used to call attention to social issues and protests.


SEGMENT B  (18:59)
Incue: From WJCT in Jacksonville…
Outcue: P-R-X-dot-O-R-G

A. Blackout
Back in the summer of 1977, two young DJs named Disco Wiz and Grandmaster Casanova Fly were spinning records for a growing crowd on a busy street corner in the Bronx.

Around 9:30pm that night – July 13th – the city experienced a massive blackout, with power failing in all five boroughs. Looting, arson, and rioting happened across the city, but Disco Wiz and Grandmaster Casanova Fly have their own theories about how the blackout influenced the creative life of the Bronx and the birth of hip hop.

B. Love Letter to U Street
Hip hop and the Bronx. New Orleans and jazz. Detroit and house music. Art and place have always been linked in the history of black culture.

In Washington D.C., a neighborhood called the U Street Corridor used to be the center of black music, theater, and dance in the city. Everybody from James Brown to Pearl Bailey to Redd Foxx to Duke Ellington used to perform there. But then Dr. Martin Luther King was shot, and the neighborhood burned in the riots that followed his death.

D.C. poet Patrick Washington tells the story of U Street, its slow rebirth, and how it’s changed because of gentrification in the past few years.


SEGMENT C (18:59)
Incue: You're listening to State of the Re:Union
Outcue: ... to bring them back together. (music tail)


A. The Jemima Code
When Toni Tipton Martin was reporting for the L.A. Times, years ago, she noticed something about the cookbook section of the paper. There were no cookbooks by black people. “That just didn’t jive with my experience,” says Martin, who is African American herself. “It didn’t make sense to me that African Americans didn’t give any contribution at all.” So, Toni began on a search to find the voices of the African American cooks who were absent from the bookstore shelves and cookbook reviews. Every new city or town she went to, she’d visit an antiquarian bookstore, scour the shelves. And the books began to surface: usually self-published or community cookbooks, often women, but black cooks from every walk of life, from servants in 19th century homes, to the owners of Southern restaurants. She decided to launch a project she called The Jemima Code, because, at its heart, its mission was to take the image of Aunt Jemima, of black cook as unsophisticated laborer, and turn that stereotype on its head.  And what a vision of African-American culinary artistry the Jemima Code provides. Starting in 1827, and following the social arc of black history, she has the voices of cooks from just after the Civil War’s freedom, from the Harlem Renaissance, the emerging black middle class who were caterers in the early 20th century, from political dissidents in the 1960s. In this piece, Toni tells the story of the Jemima Code, and we met two of the chefs it documents, both of whom deserve more mainstream recognition for their work in the culinary arts than they’ve gotten.

B. Al’s Experience of the Arts
In this final segment of the episode, host Al Letson reflects on the importance of African-American art in his life, and in his development as an artist, himself.

PROGRAM OUT @ 59:00

Promo Transcript:  On the next State of the Re:Union Toni Tipton-Martin writes about food, and when she began researching old cookbooks written by African Americans, it upended all of the stereotypes.
“This mammie character that was flipping pancakes and taking care of the children was not the woman that was on the pages of these books.” African Americans in the culinary arts, that’s on the next State of the Re:Union.

The Power of African-American Art is available on PRX without charge to all public radio stations, and may be aired an unlimited number of times prior to January 31, 2017. The program may be streamed live on station websites but not archived. Excerpting is permitted for promotional purposes only. 

State of the Re:Union is presented by WJCT and distributed by PRX.  Major funding for the State of the Re:Union comes from CPB, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Delores Barr Weaver Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

Thanks for your consideration of State of the Re:Union with Al Letson. 

 

Fatima Learns to Drive

From Sarah Bromer | 04:42

Fatima Alsamawi, a recent immigrant to the United States from Iraq, experiences the sweet freedom of driving for the first time.

Fatima_and_rana_celebrate_small Americans famously love to drive.  But in some countries, it's a form of freedom and indpencedence that doesn't come easily, especially for women. Producer Sarah Bromer accompanies Fatima Alsamawi--a recent immigrant from Iraq--as she takes the Arizona Driver's Permit Test and then attempts to drive for the first time.

Josh's Diary, Part 2: First Kiss

From Radio Diaries | Part of the Teenage Diaries series | 18:11

In Josh's second diary, he packs his tape recorder for his first summer away from home. "What I have here is an envelope on which this girl Nicole wrote down instructions on how to kiss. It says: 'pucker lips, slowly open mouth, slowly slide tongue in, repeat steps 1, 2, and 3.' She made that list for me because I made out with her and she said I was doing it wrong. So I guess that's the main thing I learned this summer."

This story is part of the Teenage Diaries series produced by Radio Diaries for NPR.

Td_josh_002_l_small In Josh's second diary, he packs his tape recorder for his first summer away from home. "What I have here is an envelope on which this girl Nicole wrote down instructions on how to kiss. It says: 'pucker lips, slowly open mouth, slowly slide tongue in, repeat steps 1, 2, and 3.' She made that list for me because I made out with her and she said I was doing it wrong. So I guess that's the main thing I learned this summer."

This story is part of the Teenage Diaries series produced by Radio Diaries for NPR. Since 1996, Executive Producer Joe Richman has been giving tape recorders to young people around the country to document their lives. 

Lovesick and Locked Up

From Blunt Youth Radio Project | Part of the Incarcerated Youth Speak Out series | 09:19

Matt and Cassie are addicted to drugs, alcohol - and each other.

Lcydcfenceedit_small Matt's an alcholic, Cassie's addicted to crack. Now they're both locked up at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, ME. Their relationship's like a yo-yo, and counselor, Deb, tries to explain how difficult it is for two addicts to sustain a healthy relationship. *Note that the final 4+ minutes of this piece is music which may be faded as desired.

Young Love

From WHJE | 03:17

Kids explain how they feel about love.

Playing
Young Love
From
WHJE

Byamphoto4_small

From the beginning of our life to the end of it, love is always surrounding us. Whether we’re the one loving or being loved, it’s a feeling that’s difficult to describe. I wanted to get a better understanding of what love is not from the dictionary, but from children. In this piece, kids, between the ages of 5 and 7, explain how they feel about love. They describe what it means to them, the best and worst things about it, and how people express their love for one another. Listen to hear how something that seems so complex be explained in the simplest of words.

What Twilight Didn't Teach Me About Love

From Philly Youth Radio | Part of the At the Heart, From the Heart series | 04:23

Many songs, books, and movies focus on love and romance, but what happens when they become one’s only source for learning? Philly Youth Radio’s Jaya Montague used to love romantic movies, especially Twilight. But recently, she decided that she needed to find better sources if she wanted to end up with her own fairy tale. Here is her quest to find answers.

Screen_shot_2013-02-12_at_12 Many songs, books, and movies focus on love and romance, but what happens when they become one’s only source for learning? Philly Youth Radio’s Jaya Montague can tell you. She’s a junior at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts and she used to love romantic movies, especially Twilight. But recently, Jaya decided that she needed to find better sources if she wanted to end up with her own fairy tale.

Here I Am and Here Be Danger (Censored)

From Annie McEwen | 11:45

An experiment in heartbreak, this piece was selected for PRX's first ever Second Ear.

Danger_small Here I Am and Here Be Danger was funded by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. 

"A Mathematical Valentine"

From Joe Bevilacqua | Part of the Joe Bevilacqua Valentine Programming series | 04:38

Definitely timely and a breath of fresh air for the upcoming Valentines Day. - Joel Brussell, PRX

Valentine_small A perfect piece for Valentine's Day! In this charming short profile, producer Joe Bevilacqua tracks down his former mathematics professor Ron Reummler to hear how math can explain lost love.

A REVIEW of A Mathematical Valentine: **** Earnest, Edgy I like the feel of this piece particularly the idea that a math teacher is making an effort to console us in the world of endless emotion. Definitely timely and a breath of fresh air for the upcoming Valentines Day. (Producer) Joel Brussell New Buffalo, MI January 17, 2007 More "Joe Bev" Valentine's specials can be found at: http://www.prx.org/series/23013

StoryCorps: Yusor Abu-Salha and Mussarut Jabeen

From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 02:23

Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, was killed last week along with her husband and sister in Chapel Hill. She recorded a StoryCorps interview last summer. "Growing up in America has been such a blessing," Abu-Salha said. She later added, "We're all one, one culture."

Abusalha_small

In May 2014, Yusor Abu-Salha (R)–one of the victims of Tuesday’s shooting in Chapel Hill–recorded a StoryCorps interview with Mussarut Jabeen (L), who was her 3rd grade teacher.

In fact, all three of the victims–Yusor, her husband, Deah Barakat, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha–attended Jabeen’s school.

Mussarut Jabeen returned recently to talk about Yusor’s death.

Here's what Michigan is doing to reduce the rate of broken adoptions for foster care youth

From Michigan Radio | Part of the State of Opportunity series | 03:46

The goal for children in foster care is to find them permanent homes. For some, that might mean adoption. But the road to adoption can be bumpy, and for some children their dreams of a permanent family are dashed before the papers are even signed. With State of Opportunity, Michigan Radio’s Jennifer Guerra reports.

Candicesponaas1_small Support for State of Opportunity comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where children come first.

Barbara's Story

From Long Haul Productions | Part of the American Worker Series series | 18:47

Profile of an illegal immigrant, working as a cleaner, trying to make her way in America.

Barbara_small Profile of an illegal immigrant, working as a cleaner, trying to make her way in America. FIrst aired on Chicago Public Radio's Chicago Matters Immigration Series and NPR's All Things Considered-Weekend in 1995.

The Color of Science

From Meisa Salaita | Part of the Small Matters series | 05:30

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And discussions about expanding educational and career opportunities in STEM fields often go hand in hand with encouraging women and people of color to find and fill those roles. But doing so can be hard. Reporter Ari Daniel has a profile of one man working hard to make it happen.

Dimandja_square_prx_small STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And discussions about expanding educational and career opportunities in STEM fields often go hand in hand with encouraging women and people of color to find and fill those roles. But doing so can be hard. Reporter Ari Daniel has a profile of one man working hard to make it happen.

The Green Street Mortuary Band

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Fugitive Waves series | 15:44

Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote a poem about them. Amy Tan’s mother was serenaded by them as she lay in state. Jessica Mitford’s memorial procession was led by them. And more than 300 Chinese families a year hire the Green Street Mortuary Band to give their loved ones a proper and musical send-off through the streets of Chinatown.The band traces its roots back to 1911 and the Cathay Chinese Boys Band, the first marching group in Chinatown.
The Green Street Mortuary Band, made up of mostly Italians playing Christian hymns and dirges, accompanies traditional Chinese funeral processions through the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Tubas, gongs, firecrackers and spirit money tossed in the air, ward off evil spirits and carry on a tradition that dates back to 1911.

Green-st-tn_small Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote a poem about them. Amy Tan’s mother was serenaded by them as she lay in state. Jessica Mitford’s memorial procession was led by them. And more than 300 Chinese families a year hire the Green Street Mortuary Band to give their loved ones a proper and musical send-off through the streets of Chinatown.The band traces its roots back to 1911 and the Cathay Chinese Boys Band, the first marching group in Chinatown. The Green Street Mortuary Band, made up of mostly Italians playing Christian hymns and dirges, accompanies traditional Chinese funeral processions through the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Tubas, gongs, firecrackers and spirit money tossed in the air, ward off evil spirits and carry on a tradition that dates back to 1911.

The Tropes of Fiction

From KALW | Part of the Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata series | 06:00

"Food is the safest ethnic identifier. Foreign but digestible. ...The Chutney in its title is just marketing shorthand for 'There is something Indian about this film.' The dream is that one day these badges of identity will become unnecessary."

Mango_chutney_jar_small

A funny blog on the site Publishing Perspectives came up with a checklist for the must have ingredients of a bad South Asian diasporan novel. Arranged Marriage. Multiple generations. A wise grandmother. Fabrics. 

Sandip Roy discovers that it's not so easy to stay away from those tired old tropes.

Sandip Roy's first novel, Don't Let Him Know" is available now. 

StoryCorps: Noah McQueen and Barack Obama

From StoryCorps | 03:26

Just a few years ago, 18-year-old Noah McQueen was struggling in school, had been arrested multiple times, and spent time in juvenile detention. But today he is a mentee at the White House and part of My Brother’s Keeper, a White House initiative for young men of color.

Obamamcqueen_small Just a few years ago, 18-year-old Noah McQueen was struggling in school, had been arrested multiple times, and spent time in juvenile detention. But today he is a mentee at the White House and part of My Brother’s Keeper, a White House initiative for young men of color.

Noah recently had the chance to record a StoryCorps interview with President Barack Obama, who wanted to know more about Noah’s life.

This is the second time a sitting President has recorded with StoryCorps. Listen to a conversation with President George W. Bush here.

Mothering Decisions

From With Good Reason | Part of the news features series | 03:42

Some critics of popular culture say there aren’t enough accurate portrayals of abortion decisions. But one scholar says, in some recent mother-daughter memoirs, reproductive decision-making gets a fair treatment. Kelley Libby reports.

Strayed1-690x450_small Some critics of popular culture say there aren’t enough accurate portrayals of abortion decisions. But one scholar says, in some recent mother-daughter memoirs, reproductive decision-making gets a fair treatment. Kelley Libby reports.

A Copious Punishment

From Victoria Davis | Part of the Humanities Minutes series | 02:47

This episode will have you quoting Bart Simpson’s chalkboard lines.

Simpsons_chalkboard_small This episode will have you quoting Bart Simpson’s chalkboard lines.

Claudette Colvin - A Teenage "Rosa Parks"

From Radio Diaries | Part of the Audio History Project series | 09:19

There are so many important, untold stories of the civil rights movement. This is one of them.

Colvinwithglasses_small

What makes a hero? Why do we remember some stories and not others?

Consider Claudette Colvin. She was a 15-year-old girl in the segregated city of Montgomery, Alabama. On March 2, 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger.

Nine months later, Rosa Parks did the exact same thing. Parks, of course, became a powerful symbol of the civil rights movement. But Claudette Colvin has largely been left out of the history books.

Radio Retrospective: The Woman Behind "Let's Pretend"

From Katy Sewall | Part of the Radio Retrospective series | 06:37

There weren’t a lot of female directors during the Golden Age of Radio. Nila Mack was one of the few who earned herself an office on the 14th floor of CBS beside Edward R. Murrow.

Nila_mack_small

There weren’t a lot of female directors during the Golden Age of Radio.  Nila Mack was one of the few who earned herself an office on the 14th floor of CBS beside Edward R. Murrow.  

05 Alessandra: Lips

From The Mortified Podcast | 15:19

The high school diaries of a late bloomer determined to land her first boyfriend.

Tmp_5_rizzotti_alessandra__soundcloud_small The high school diaries of a late bloomer determined to land her first boyfriend.

The PDX Carpet Love Story

From Rendered | Part of the Rendered series | 14:07

The first official episode of Rendered (formerly Destination DIY) documents the unprecedented love Portlanders have for their airport carpet.

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This episode of Rendered (formerly Destination DIY)  is a collaboration with our friends at the podcast 99% Invisible.

When Portlanders land at PDX, the Portland airport, they often snap a picture of their feet. It's not about the feet. It's about what's underneath them — the beloved PDX carpet. How beloved is this carpet? Well, at least one person loves it so much she got a PDX carpet-inspired tattoo.

Bruce Springsteen's Theologies

From New Hampshire Public Radio | Part of the The Uncommon Core series | 04:51

The Uncommon Core is a series that examines unusual college courses being taught in schools across the country. In this episode, a professor of Jewish Studies takes a critical look at religious themes in Bruce Springsteen's music.

Springsteen_m_small The Uncommon Core is a series that examines unusual college courses being taught in schools across the country. In this episode, a professor of Jewish Studies takes a critical look at religious themes in Bruce Springsteen's music.

The Mysterious James Tiptree

From Eric Molinsky | Part of the Imaginary Worlds series | 23:44

Alice Sheldon served in the OSS and the CIA. And then she went deep undercover posing as a male science fiction writer. It wasn't an assignment, it was a form of liberation.

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James Tiptree Jr. wouldn't talk on the phone or appear in person. He developed friendships with contemporaries like Ursula Le Guin and Philip K. Dick purely through letters, and he became a mentor to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro when she was an up-in-coming writer. But James Tiptree Jr. didn't really exist. He was the pen name of Alice Sheldon. Biographer Julie Phillips says Sheldon's real life story was even more surreal than her alter ego. With readings by Erik Bergmann.


Episode 7: A Rainbow of Noise

From PRX | Part of the Transistor series | 10:36

Everybody knows about white noise — that sound that comes out of your TV when it’s not working quite right. But there are many other colors of noise, too: pink, brown, blue, and purple. Marnie Chesterton brings us this story on the colorful science of sound.

Screen_shot_2014-08-26_at_12 We meet Shelley, who uses pink noise to drown out the constant ringing in her head (tinnitus); Professor Trevor Cox at the Acoustic Engineering group at Salford explains why engineers need to classify different frequencies this way; and Cyrus Shahrad, electronic music producer, whose love of brown noise filters through into his work.

The Allusionist 5: Latin Lives!

From The Allusionist | Part of the The Allusionist series | 12:12

The Latin nerd in me is *loving* this.

Latin_lives_logo_small Every week since September 1989, a radio station in Finland has broadcast a weekly news bulletin...in Latin.

WHY?

Let's find out!

Visit theallusionist.org/latin to find out more about this episode. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org.

Meet Naton Brown. She beat brain cancer. She defied schoolyard bullies. Next up: graduation.

From Michigan Radio | Part of the State of Opportunity series | 03:33

Here's the story of a young woman who overcame an extraordinary challenge. Her name is Naton Brown. State of Opportunity’s Dustin Dwyer learns more.

Screenshot952014-08-11-11-22-46_small Support for State of Opportunity comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where children come first.

Cardinal Accents Feature

From With Good Reason | Part of the news features series | 03:52

What now? City birds have accents?

Northern_cardinal_male-27527-3_small Birds are making adjustments to live with increasing levels of human-generated noise.  One Virginia scholar says that some city-dwelling birds are actually changing their accents so they can be heard over the traffic.  Lilia Fuquen reports.

Episode 17: Final Exit

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 23:46

A new Criminal episode from their recent live show.

Criminal_logos_final_wt_sq__1__small No one disputes that it’s against the law to take another person’s life, but is it against the law to sit with someone and watch while they commit suicide? We meet an elderly woman who sneaks around the country as an “exit guide.”

Buckminster Fuller on The Geodesic Life

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 07:24

"I must reorganize the environment of man by which then greater numbers of men can prosper"
- Buckminster Fuller as told to Studs Terkel during interviews recorded in 1965 & 1970

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Episode 1: The Experimenters Series: Icons of science, innovation and technology on what spurred their creativity.

Bucky Fuller explains how the loss of his first daughter inspired him to re-imagine how he approached the world 
Series made possible by support from The Sloan Foundation

"And I Walked..." Stories from the Border

From Ann Heppermann | 06:03

"And I walked" combines voices of border crossers, U.S. Border Patrol, and the haunting words of author Charles Bowden to highlight the plight of those who risk their lives in search of the American dream.

Andiwalked_small Much of the Sonoran desert between Tucson and Mexico is a haunting wasteland of discarded shoes, shirts and empty plastic water jugs. People leave one place for another in search of a dream. Some lose. They die from dehydration. "And I walked..." is a soundscape of how the thirst for the American dream translates into a literal thirst for the scores of illegal immigrants who risk their lives as they cross the desert from Mexico into the United States in search of better-paying jobs.

Life of the Law #52: Birth Rights

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 14:17

I love it when Life of the Law opens my eyes to something I didn't even know was an issue. It turns out laws regulating midwives are both complicated and fascinating.

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A midwife cares for a pregnant woman before, during, and after they give birth. By developing relationships with their clients, midwives say they can help each women determine how and where they want to give birth, whether in a hospital, a birthing center or in their own home.

Valerie Runes once worked as a midwife in Chicago. Today, Runes is an attorney who specializes in family law. She says she often receives calls from midwives worried they might be in trouble with the law because they don’t know if what they’re doing is legal, or not.

Some of the questions Runes says she hears from midwives range from, “They want my records. What should I do?” to “What’s the law in my state? I don’t know,” to “What do I do next? Should I hide all of my equipment and my records?”

According to Certified Professional Midwives Now, a national organization advocating for more licensing of midwives,there are twenty-six states in the US that license and regulate midwives. Many other states don’t have licensing programs for midwives, and without licensing and the regulations overseeing the licensing, midwifery can be illegal.

In some states, a midwife can be licensed to work as a nurse. But midwifery advocates see this gap in the licensing and regulation of midwives as a problem. Many midwives, they say, want to focus their practice solely on pregnancy and birth, and a requirement that all midwives become licensed nurses would require education and training irrelevant to their practice.

In states where the work of midwives is prohibited, some midwives work “underground,” risking prosecution if they are reported to the authorities.

For more 20 years, Runes says she worked as a midwife in Illinois where midwifery was and still is not allowed, “I attended around eleven hundred births during that time,” she says. “I was also aware all of the time that it was illegal.”

When she began her work as a midwife, Runes says she was apprenticing under Karen McDonald, another midwife in Chicago. Then one day, Runes says, she got a call from McDonald, “She called and told me, ‘You know I just got a visit from the Huffman State Police and I was arrested for practicing medicine without a license. You probably should not come today for pre-natal appointments.’”

Runes says McDonald agreed to a plea bargain and to avoid going to trial and possibly to jail, she said she would never practice midwifery again. Runes took over her practice and says she wasn’t afraid. She thought if she and the other midwives who were practicing undercover were cautious enough, the state wouldn’t bother to come after them, “That’s not going to happen to me. That’s never going to happen to you. That’s never going to happen to this other midwife because we are all very careful.”

But fourteen years later, Runes discovered that even with her cautiousness, the state of Illinois did in fact care about non-nurse midwifery practices. So much the state hired a private investigator to pose as a pregnant woman who was interested in homebirth. The woman called herself Susy Smith. “We (the midwives) got a lot of phone calls,” Runes says. “I got a phone call. Other midwives got a phone call. Hi, I’m Susy Smith. I’m looking for a midwife. Can you help me?”

The woman representing herself as Susy Smith was working undercover for the State of Illinois. She contacted midwives throughout the state and asked them questions about the types of equipment they were using and made inquiries about their work. Smith also asked the midwives she contacted to send her pamphlets about their midwifery practices.

“A couple of months later I did get a cease and desist order,” Runes says, “and it didn’t come as a huge surprise.  I looked at it and responded to it and sent a letter back to the department of regulations telling them I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.”

For midwives like Runes who’ve committed to practicing midwifery in states like Illinois where there is no regulation or licensing program, it’s a bit of a catch 22. The state can prosecute midwives for practicing without a license, but doesn’t provide an avenue for midwives to successfully secure a license.

Runes continued to practice even though she says, “there’s still no law that prohibits direct entry midwifery.” Direct Entry Midwives may be educated through self study, apprenticeship or at an independent school or college, not at a nursing school, and they practice midwifery exclusively in non-hospital settings such as at home or birth center.

Throughout the US there are many who are advocating for midwives to be licensed and regulated in an additional twenty-two states. Renee Cramer is an Associate Professor of Law, Politics, and Society at Drake University.  Cramer says part of the problem of regulating midwifery is there isn’t just one type of midwifery. There are nurse midwives, direct-entry midwives, and certified professional midwives, and each designation has a different training and certification. While that can be confusing for lawmakers to negotiate, Cramer says the bigger problem is that in most states, midwife regulation just isn’t a top priority, “These are very small scale politics. There’s not a huge population of midwives and midwife-seeking families. So, state legislators are fighting battles over school funding and technology and redistricting. Those things seem much more immediate. They have dollar signs attached. “

And Cramer adds, midwives aren’t only fighting legislators. They may also be fighting controversy among themselves. “In any instance where there are small scale politics, of course we are going to see a personality conflict.”

Midwives are not only divided over what type of regulation they want. Cramer says they are also in disagreement about whether or not regulation is necessary in the first place. “There are midwives and there are midwifery advocates,” Cramer says, “who believe that we don’t need government regulation of their profession because their professional credential and/or the professional community can do that for them.”

Runes says it would be too difficult for the community of midwives to regulate their own profession and says its important a third party regulate midwives. “Midwifes are afraid of being seen as being judgmental,” Runes says. “ f I tell her that she shouldn’t be inducing labor with Pitocin at home, well then I’m being judgmental. Maybe that’s okay with her. Maybe that’s okay with her client. There’s more to accountability than just being accountable to the client.”

Runes says it can also be tough to  know what to do when things go wrong. “What do families do who have an issue with a midwife?” asks Runes. “We don’t do anything at this point. And there is no way to discipline a midwife in a state where she is not licensed.”

If a woman using a midwife for her birth experience has a bad outcome in a state without licensing or regulation of midwives, the state also doesn’t have a mechanism or system for assessing what happened, and there is no way for holding the midwife accountable.

Bambi Chapman lives in Massillon, Ohio. She has six children. Her first four children were born in a hospital. When she was going to give birth to her fifth and sixth children, she decided to use a midwife, “I thought it sounded absolutely amazing” Chapman says. “I was enamored with it. So by the time I had number 5, I had the guts to say, okay I’m going to go ahead and do this.”

That birth went well and Chapman assumed that the sixth birth, with her daughter Mary Beth, would go just as seamlessly. When Chapman started going into labor, she says she called her midwife and kept her updated, throughout the day. “You know, I knew I was in labor, it wasn’t a huge deal.  And I stayed up all night, laboring as well. Still kept her (the midwife) posted.”

Finally, it was time for the midwife to deliver Mary Beth. Chapman recalls, “At 4:10 in the morning, I had called her and said this baby is coming. You need to get over here.” But the midwife didn’t arrive right away. Chapman started to push so her husband called the paramedics.

“He (Chapman’s husband) called an ambulance,” Chapman says recalling the early morning birth of her daughter, “hung up the phone, delivered our baby and in walks the medics.” The medics didn’t have any training in births, so Chapman says they sat and waited for the midwife. Chapman recalls she, “just sat in the tub and made small talk with the guys.”

Chapman says the midwife came a little later and did a newborn exam. Chapman says she brought up a few concerns she had about Mary Beth such as floppiness, jaundice, and a lack of a rooting (breast feeding) reflex. But, she sayas, her midwife said everything looked normal and there wasn’t any need for a hospital transfer. Chapman didn’t argue. Everyone left and she lay down for a nap.

“Then an hour later,” Chapman says, “my husband woke me up. He had her in his arms and said I think she stopped breathing and I took her from him. And she was lifeless. There was no heartbeat, no breath, no anything.”

Chapman rushed Mary Beth to the hospital but it was too late. “I don’t remember a whole lot of the things that were said to me besides that they had given her the second shot of Epinephrine,” she says, “but she wasn’t responding. And I knew there wasn’t much more they could do. Shortly after is whenever they pronounced her.”

Chapman says she tried to bring a wrongful death suit against her midwife but no lawyer would touch her case and now firmly believes that had she been in a hospital Mary Beth would have lived.

Rene Cramer says things are much more likely to go wrong when birth professionals don’t get along with each other. Doctors may refuse to look at the patient records. In some cases, hospital staff may ask security to escort the midwife out of the hospital. Doctors may also threaten to report the midwife to the state.

Valerie Runes says this breakdown between birth professionals can have terrible consequences, “There are certainly midwives who drop off their clients at the ER and wish them good luck. You can’t do that. But there are people who do that because they are afraid. They are afraid of prosecution.”

There are states where hospitals and midwives co-exist and even work together. The state of Florida has been licensing midwives since 1992, and has clear rules and expectations for all midwives. It requires midwives and hospitals to consult with one another before a birth and requires each midwife to submit a back-up plan.

Jennie Joseph is a Certified Professional Midwife in Winter Garden, Florida, and she says, “I was one of the first midwives in Florida to become licensed in 1994.”  Joseph runs a birthing center for low-income women called The Birth Place. A recent scientific study found that women with limited or low income are at higher risk for pre-maturity and poor pregnancy outcomes. Joseph says, by taking every patient who comes to her for prenatal care and enabling them to make their own decisions about their births, she’s been able to turn statistics around. Ninety-five percent of babies born at her birth center have been born at full term.

“We feel part of something productive, something positive,” Joseph says.  “We don’t go home all frustrated and angst ridden because we had a bad day. We love this work. We are happy. The patients and the clients—they are happy.  The community knows what we are doing and supports us. We have this overall bubble of joy over here.”

Joseph isn’t a traditional midwife in the sense that she prioritizes homebirths or natural care. Instead, she says she has created a model of midwifery that empowers her patients. If a patient wants prenatal care at the center and then wants to give birth at the hospital, she arranges for that to happen.

“They (the hospitals) were very happy,” Joseph says, “and were able to take those women and deliver them and then duly return them to me after they were done.”

The women who have limited income who come to the center usually wouldn’t be able to afford the options of care they provide. But since midwifery is legal in Florida, it is mostly covered under Medicaid.

So while midwives in Florida have their work covered by the state, midwives in many other states are unable to get insurance coverage while midwives in their state are still working on becoming licensed and regulated.

In some states, midwives may be gaining some ground. Midwifery legislation is pending in fourteen states, but even if these states pass the legislation, the battle for midwives may not be over.

“You can have legal status for midwives,” Cramer says, “but no one will access them unless they are considered at least a tiny bit mainstream.”

Legalizing midwifery is a step toward legitimizing and mainstreaming midwifery, but it may not be enough. Midwives may have to do more to change our cultural perceptions of what midwifery is. They have to prove that home birth is indeed a legitimate, safe, and empowering option for women to take.  That’s a challenge for all midwives no matter what state they’re in and regardless of whether their practice is legal or not.


Special thanks to Ann Heppermann for editing this story and to Pat Walters for his senior editing. Kaitlin Prest designed the sound and produced the story.

Simone Seiver is Post Production Editor. Phillip Wilt is our Web Manager.

Choose Your Own Adventure

From Rendered | Part of the Rendered series | 16:16

I devoured Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid! Fun to look back at this original interactive media and its surprising life lessons.

Journey_under_the_sea_small This episode of Rendered (formerly Destination DIY) delves into the history of the beloved Choose Your Own Adventure series and looks at what kind of interactive books kids are into these days. Among the voices you'll hear are Edward Packard, who wrote the very first Choose Your Own Adventure book and Jason Shiga, a die-hard CYOA fan and the cartoonist behind "Meanwhile," an interactive graphic novel for kids.
 

Episode 8: Totally Cerebral: Think Pop Culture Gets Amnesia Right? Forgetaboutit!

From PRX | Part of the Transistor series | 36:43

Many depictions of amnesia in TV, movies, and cartoons are just plain wrong -- some laughably so. Host Dr. Wendy Suzuki talks with Prof. Neal Cohen, a Neuroscientist from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For 20 years, Neal has used bad examples of amnesia that abound as well as the rare accurate depictions as a powerful tool in his popular course about amnesia in pop culture. Neal entertains and educates with examples from Futurama, Memento, and 50 First Dates, and more, and we'll hear some of those clips.

Shutterstock_228693202_small Many depictions of amnesia in TV, movies, and cartoons are just plain wrong -- some laughably so. Host Dr. Wendy Suzuki talks with Prof. Neal Cohen, a Neuroscientist from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For 20 years, Neal has used bad examples of amnesia that abound as well as the rare accurate depictions as a powerful tool in his popular course about amnesia in pop culture. Neal entertains and educates with examples from Futurama, Memento, and 50 First Dates, and more, and we'll hear some of those clips.

All You Need is a (Separation Barrier)

From Third Coast International Audio Festival | Part of the 2010 Third Coast ShortDocs: Book Odds series | 03:01

From Baghdad to Western Sahara, an alphabetic listing of the world’s prominent separation barriers builds a wall of its own.

Bo_smalllogo_small From Baghdad to Western Sahara, an alphabetic listing of the world’s prominent separation barriers builds a wall of its own.

All You Need is a (Separation Barrier) was produced by Niall Farrell for the 2010 Third Coast ShortDocs Challenge: Book Odds, which invited anyone and everyone to produce short audio works inspired by sound samples and song titles ("A Cold Freezing Night", "All You Need is a Wall," "Chain of Missing Links," and "I Didn't Know That") from critically-acclaimed musical duo, The Books. 

100%

From Zach Hirsch | 09:12

Two survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing confront their psychological bruises.

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Dari_and_jerry_small On April 15th, 2013, two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon - just after Dari Whitehouse crossed the finish line. Her son, Jerry Peckham, was waiting for her in the crowd. Now, a little over a month after the attack, both are still haunted by what they experienced that day - but they feel like the rest of the world is already moving on. Some people in Jerry's life are even pressuring him to recover faster. 

This piece was produced at the Spring 2013 Transom Story Workshop. 

Island of Immortals

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 09:21

Chinese immigrants held on San Francisco's Angel Island in the early 20th century carved poetry deep into the walls that confined them. Judy Yung walks us through that story, and some of the poetry her work has helped to recover. This piece comes from the BackStory episode 'Island Hopping.'

Taylor Chinese immigrants held on San Francisco's Angel Island in the early 20th century carved poetry deep into the walls that confined them. Judy Yung walks us through that story, and some of the poetry her work has helped to recover. This piece comes from the BackStory episode 'Island Hopping.'

The Spiritual Edge: The key to happiness? It's in the science

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents - The Spiritual Edge series | 08:48

U.C. Berkeley is known for its world-class scientists, in disciplines like physics, chemistry or biology. But just a few blocks away from campus, you’ll find the school’s Greater Good Science Center, where one scientist focuses on something different - the science of Happiness.

Emiliana_simon-thomas_0_small U.C. Berkeley is known for its world-class scientists, in disciplines like physics, chemistry or biology. But just a few blocks away from campus, you’ll find the school’s Greater Good Science Center, where one scientist focuses on something different - the science of Happiness.

#96 - Death, Sex, and Money

From HowSound | 57:20

What stands out about WNYC’s podcast Death, Sex, and Money are the guests. The program has featured its share of celebrities — Dan Savage, Margaret Cho, and Ellen Burstyn to name a few. But, most of the time, the interviewees are not famous. They aren’t newsmakers. They aren’t politicians or PhDs. They haven’t just published a book. Nothing they’ve said has gone viral. They’re just… well, I never know quite how to say it, but, they’re ‘regular people’ living their lives out of the spotlight. And that’s refreshing. So refreshing.

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What stands out about WNYC’s podcast Death, Sex, and Money are the guests. The program has featured its share of celebrities — Dan Savage, Margaret Cho, and Ellen Burstyn to name a few. But, most of the time, the interviewees are not famous. They aren’t newsmakers. They aren’t politicians or PhDs. They haven’t just published a book. Nothing they’ve said has gone viral. They’re just… well, I never know quite how to say it, but, they’re ‘regular people’ living their lives out of the spotlight. And that’s refreshing. So refreshing.

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And then there’s the tone of the program. Death, Sex, and Money is a “safe place,” as Anna Sale, the host of the show put it. Guests are remarkably candid about “the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation,” to quote WNYC’s description of the show. So candid, in fact, that you can’t help but look at your radio (or phone) and think “Did they just say that? On mic?!”

How Anna’s approach to interviewing creates that “safe space” and such an ear-catching program is the topic of this edition of HowSound. We chatted for a couple of hours at a public event sponsored by Rob Boynton , the Director of NYU’s Literary Reportage concentration .

Free the Internet (in India)

From KALW | 06:00

The Internet just became freer in India thanks to a young woman who decided to do something about it instead of just complaining.

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The Internet just became freer in India thanks to a young woman who decided to do something about it instead of just complaining.

Section 66A of the IT Act was declared unconstitutional.

Safeway Cindy

From Claudia Cragg | 06:19

The tale of an unsung hometown celebrity

Checkoutlady_small How much do you know about your neighborhood grocery store clerk? There's a woman who's been the most popular checker at the Evergreen, Colorado Safeway for years, though most folks don't even know her name. Although she says her work is boring, she finds ways to make the most of it. And customers appreciate the difference. Independent producer Claudia Cragg introduces us to this hometown celebrity, as part of Weekend America's fall story contest.

The Emergence of Joni Mitchell

From Paul Ingles | 01:58:58

UPDATED! Two-hour exploration of the seminal work of heralded songwriter Joni Mitchell. Over 50 Mitchell songs are featured in the recommended two-hour version. Special guests include music writers Ann Powers, Anthony DeCurtis, Paul Zollo, Lydia Hutchinson and Holly George-Warren. Also featured are musicians Shawn Colvin, Lucy Kaplansky and others. The 2-hour version is updated to include Joni's surprise appearance at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival.

Jonimitchellbybaronwolmansmall_small "The Emergence of Joni Mitchell," is a two-hour examination of one of the most heralded songwriters of her time. In this third installment of his series on the seminal work of important figures in popular music, Ingles and his guests explore how Joni Mitchell crafted her artistry and connected with audiences over four decades. Mitchell put the experience of being a woman and being human on artful display through her blatantly honest and confessional lyrics, innovative open guitar tunings and jazz-inflected vocals. The program focuses on Mitchell's key releases to illuminate the musicianship of the woman "Rolling Stone" called "one of rock's most daring and uncompromising innovators." By mixing Mitchell's music from these pivotal moments with informed commentary from musicians, fans, music critics and archival interviews with Mitchell herself, "The Emergence of Joni Mitchell" articulates what music lovers have found so compelling about this thoughtful and innovative writer and performer.  Over 50 Mitchell songs are featured.  Special guests include music writers Ann Powers, Anthony DeCurtis, Paul Zollo, Lydia Hutchinson and Holly George-Warren. Also featured are musicians Shawn Colvin, Lucy Kaplansky and others.

The two hour version is adaptable to a newscast necessary clock.  

09 Steve: Gringo Of The Year

From The Mortified Podcast | 21:23

The journals of an American teen who tries to shed his preppy background by volunteering in the remote villages of Mexico.

09_sacks_steve_thumbnail_small The journals of an American teen who tries to shed his preppy background by volunteering in the remote villages of Mexico.  The Mortified Podcast is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

#54 - 100%

From HowSound | 22:34

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty today. In this episode, Rob plays a story of a Boston Marathon bombing victim and looks at how to interview people who have been traumatized.

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Zach Hirsch jumped right in the deep end when he was a student at the Transom Story Workshop last spring. Even seasoned journalists might have had difficulty with Zach's task: interviewing people who have been traumatized.

Zach's story, "100%", details the emotional and psychological challenges faced by two victims of the Boston Marathon bombing -- Dari Whitehouse and Jerry Peckham, a mother and son. Interviewing anyone can be a challenge for a new producer never mind traumatized people. Zach's delicate approach offers insight into how to reach out and chat with individuals who've experienced disturbing events.

Bruce Shapiro also joins us on this HowSound. Bruce is the Executive Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at the Columbia School of Journalism. "We expect the Boston Marathon to be a safe place," Bruce says. "And when it’s not, the social contract is ripped up, violated. A reporter who goes in and does an interview that in some sense violates a sense of what’s right a second time is going to be on the receiving end of a lot of distress,... anger and betrayal because people who have been traumatized have already been betrayed by the world once."

There's another side to this story: the impact of trauma reporting on journalists. I didn't touch upon that subject in this episode but I encourage you to listen to Diary of a Bad Year: A War Correspondents Dilemma by Kelly McEvers with Jay Allison. Kelly's is heartfelt, honest, and direct. The story of her struggles reporting from the Middle East are required listening.

Best, Rob

PS - I think it's important for me to say that, as Zach's instructor (and a citizen), I'm very thankful for Dari and Jerry's willingness to be interviewed, especially by a student. They didn't have to share their story. I'm grateful they did.

For one teen, Ferguson made anxiety around police more severe

From Anne Hoffman | Part of the Generation Voice series | 02:43

Since last August, the cultural conversation has centered on #blacklivesmatter, Ferguson and the death of Eric Garner. But it’s less common to hear about how these events impact the emotional worlds of teens, particularly young men of color. Mikyhial Clarke loves collecting sneakers and listening to old school hip hop, but he struggles with anxiety. Ever since Michael Brown died last summer, Mikyhial says his fears around police have reached a fever pitch.

Screen_shot_2015-04-08_at_2 Since last August, the cultural conversation has centered on #blacklivesmatter, Ferguson and the death of Eric Garner. But it’s less common to hear about how these events impact the emotional worlds of teens, particularly young men of color. Mikyhial Clarke loves collecting sneakers and listening to old school hip hop, but he struggles with anxiety. Ever since Michael Brown died last summer, Mikyhial says his fears around police have reached a fever pitch.

When Words Matter: A National Poetry Month Special

From Al Letson | Part of the State of the Re:Union: Season Four series | 53:53

In this National Poetry Month special, SOTRU explores all facets of poetry and its influence in host Al Letson's life. We talk to poets from all over the country about the craft, the lifestyle, the resurgence of poems, and of course, hear some incredible poetry.

Poetry-month-logo_01_small State of the Re:Union
When Words Matter: A National Poetry Month Special

Host: Al Letson
Producer: Al Letson

Episode Description: In this National Poetry Month special, SOTRU explores all facets of poetry and its influence in host Al Letson's life. We talk to poets from all over the country about the craft, the lifestyle, the resurgence of poems, and of course, hear some incredible poetry.

BILLBOARD (:59)
Incue: From PRX and WJCT
Outcue: But first, this news.

News Hole 1:00-6:00

SEGMENT A (12:29)
Incue: From WJCT in Jacksonville, Florida...
Outcue: on State of the Re:Union's poetry special.

Poetry Can Change the World
Al kicks off the episode with a personal story, about being at a large poetry gathering in a small Southern town, Americus, Georgia.  Americus wasn't exactly ready for a big group of diverse poets.  In between the friction between Letson and a sheriff, both of them learn the power of words.

Stand Up and Stand Strong
We hear a poem by slam poet and Kevin  Burke. In "Day Two," Kevin reflects on his time working as a substitute teacher and wanting the kids to stand up for something important.

SEGMENT B (18:59)
Incue: I'm Al Letson and you are listening to
Outcue: P-R-X-dot-O-R-G.

A Southern Griot and His Craft
Performance poet and author Ayodele Heath performs "Things My Father Gave Me (Which I Never Asked For)," a poem about all the things an African-American father passes down to his son. Then, Al interviews Ayodele about the craft of writing and how he got into poetry.

Two Short Poems from Derrick Brown
Two short poems, "Debbie" and "Eating the Whole," from poet and publisher Derrick Brown, a traveling poet as well as the publisher of Write Bloody Publishing.

The Year of No Mistakes
Writer, performer and historian Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz's new book "The Year of No Mistakes" chronicles the aftermath of the breakup of her long-term relationship. In this piece Cristin talks about her roots, falling in love with slam poetry and her new home New York City, she meets a fellow poet and begins a fourteen year romance.  Years later an amazing opportunity opens up for her to follow her dream to be a professional writer. But as we learn, those opportunities come at a cost.

SEGMENT C (18:59)
Incue: I'm Al Letson and you are listening to
Outcue: ...to bring them back together.

Self Centered
Asian American spoken word poet Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai reflects on what life would be like if she ruled the world.

Youth Speaks - The Next Generation Speaks for Itself
Youth Speaks is an organization that helps teens find their voices. The group engages them in writing poetry, then empowers them to become leaders and activists in their own communities. Through this piece, Founder and Executive Director James Kass, tells us how Youth Speaks got started, the poets they've worked with, and the reach of the organization. We'll also hear some teens performing their poetry.

Close and Montage
Al wraps up the episode with a personal story about what poetry means to him. Then, we finish things up with excerpts of poems from poets from across the country.

When Words Matter is available on PRX without charge to all public radio stations, and may be aired an unlimited number of times prior to January 31, 2017. The program may be streamed live on station websites but not archived. Excerpting is permitted for promotional purposes only. 

State of the Re:Union is presented by WJCT and distributed by PRX.  Major funding for the State of the Re:Union comes from CPB, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Delores Barr Weaver Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

Thanks for your consideration of State of the Re:Union with Al Letson. 

 

Allusionist 8: Crosswords

From The Allusionist | Part of the The Allusionist series | 16:28

Cryptic crosswords: delightful brain exercise, or the infernal taunting of the incomprehensible?

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Cryptic crosswords: delightful brain exercise, or the infernal taunting of the incomprehensible? Either way, crossword setter John Feetenby explains how they're made and how to solve them.

Visit theallusionist.org/crosswords to find out more about this episode. Tweet @allusionistshow , and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow . Also please give us your thoughts about podcasts at surveynerds.com/allusionist .

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org.

Life of the Law #54: Bad Gig

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 14:51

Exotic dancers, on-call drivers and writers might have a different name for what they do -- freelancing, part-time work and independent contracting -- but it all means the same thing. Work that doesn’t start at 9 and end at 5. And sure, it has its perks but do 1099 workers have protections?

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In 2011, Joseph Otis was ready for a new job. He’d been selling insurance for a while, which meant he had to drive a lot around Atlanta, where he lived, and he spent a ton of money on gas. Then a friend told him she’d found a job that let her work from home. The idea appealed to him, so he started looking around for companies that would let him do that. Before long, he discovered Arise Virtual Solutions.

Arise offers outsourced call center services to big companies like Disney, Carnival Cruises, and AT&T. So when you call about your phone bill, for example, you might be talking to one of more than 10,000 people working from home, through Arise.

The company promised Otis flexible work hours; they talked about him like he’d be an entrepreneur, building a business by working when and how he wanted.

“I really believed they were a trustworthy company,” Otis says.

Arise hired Otis as an independent contractor. He didn’t work directly for the company. In fact, Arise wouldn’t even contract with him directly — he had to form a business in order to get paid. So on paper, Otis ran a business called Ready Plan that provided telephone customer service, and Ready Plan signed a contract with Arise to provide that service to Arise’s clients.

Before he could start, though, he had to get a few things. He estimates he spent close to $1500 on equipment Arise required to use their system, things like computer monitors, high-speed internet, and special headsets. Arise also required him to complete company-specific training. The schedule was intense: four hours a day of online class, followed by four hours of homework, five days a week, for two and a half months. Otis says he paid about $275 for the training, and he didn’t get paid for the time. He was living off of his savings.

Finally, he started working for a client: AT&T. His phone started ringing. And the work was not what he’d expected.

“It was pretty discouraging,” he says. “You realize that the training didn’t prepare you to actually perform on the phone. And I felt kind of like I had been duped.”

AT&T had a handbook for how customer service providers were supposed to handle their calls, but Otis says a lot of what was in there hadn’t been part of the training — he was supposed to learn it on the job. So when a person called, he’d be sitting there at home, leafing frantically through the book, looking for ways to stall.

“This would be a typical script for me,” he says, putting on his customer service voice. “’I apologize for the wait, I appreciate your patience, thank you so much for understanding.’”

Otis says the whole situation was even more stressful because Arise had a rule: calls couldn’t last longer than ten minutes. They also couldn’t be shorter than three minutes. “So you’d be in danger of getting terminated because people hung up on you because you didn’t know what you were doing,” he says.

He left Arise in 2014. Looking back, Otis says he thinks people were set up to fail — the company would charge them for training, make their work impossible to do, fire them — and then hire more people, and collect more money for training.

“I feel that they’re hurting individuals, hurting the economy, taking advantage of thousands of people a month,” he says. “And I would like to stop that.”

So he got in touch with someone he thought could help: lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan. And this was familiar territory.

“It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book to try to deny that you are the employer of your workers and thereby save a huge amount on labor costs,” she says.

Under federal law, employees are entitled to things like minimum wage, unemployment, workers compensation, and Social Security. Independent contractors don’t get any of that, so they’re a lot cheaper. It’s very common for employers to misclassify the people who work for them — Liss-Riordan actually says it is rampant. She’s represented cable installers, truck drivers, FedEx deliverymen, housecleaners, cab drivers, and strippers. And after she heard Joseph Otis’ story, she agreed to represent him too.

Contractor or employee?

Courts decide misclassification cases based on something called the economic realities test. Boiled down, it means that just because you sign something saying you’re an independent contractor doesn’t mean you actually are one. The test includes questions like: how much control do you have over how you do your work? Do you need extensive training, or do you come in already knowing how to perform the service the company wants? How possible is it for you to take on other clients, or work additional jobs? Courts weigh these factors differently, and no one necessarily outweighs the others.

Liss-Riordan says Arise fails every test. For example, she says, the businesses workers form, like Otis’ Ready Plan, are really just technicalities – she describes them as “pass-throughs” that allow people to get paid. Then there’s the fact that Otis wasn’t providing call service to any other companies except Arise – he says he couldn’t, because of the way the scheduling worked.

“Even though people are working from home, the company has very detailed control over their work,” says Liss-Riordan. Workers can’t choose their own hours — they have to select from hours Arise makes available, and they can only make those choices at very specific times. Furthermore, she says, “the company records their calls, supervisors listen in on their calls and grade them, if their grades aren’t high enough they can be fired.

Liss-Riordan also points to the fact that workers have to be at their phones the whole time they’re scheduled, even if no calls are coming in. Otis says even going to the bathroom put him at risk of termination.

Arise declined to comment for this story. In court documents, the company argues that everyone it worked with, including Joseph Otis, was a totally independent business owner, and that Arise did not control their work.

The gray area

Not everyone who’s a contractor feels like they’re being exploited. Harry Campbell drives for both the car service company Uber and its competitor Lyft, and he runs a blog and podcast called The Rideshare Guy.

“’The Ride Hail Guy’” or ‘The Glorified Taxi Guy’ just didn’t have the same cachet,” he says, laughing.

He used to have a day job as an engineer, but when we talked he’d just quit, to focus on the rideshare stuff.

Campbell’s fellow drivers are suing both Uber and Lyft right now – Shannon Liss-Riordan is the lawyer in the Uber case. Campbell’s not part of the suit, but he says he gets where his fellow drivers are coming from.

“I think it’s kind of a double-edged sword,” he says of the freelance work. “The biggest problem is that you’re basically at the mercy of these companies.”

But Campbell says the work still has its perks. And he worries making drivers employees would make that work a lot less appealing.

“If I wanted to go drive right now, I could how I could turn my app on and I could do one ride in and be done for the day, or I could go drive 12 hours right now if I wanted,” he says. “I could take a month off or I can work a month straight. There aren’t many jobs that allow you to do that.”

Dan Lavoie, Director of Strategy for the Freelancers Union in New York, says there are more and more people like Campbell. “It really wasn’t that long ago that a lot of people would see work as an on-off switch,” he says. “That you either had a job or you didn’t.” But it’s not that way anymore.

“It’s not an on-off switch, it’s a dimmer switch,” he says. “And you’re moving back and forth between you know sort of traditional nine to five work with freelance work, sometimes doing both at the same time. You might be crafting on Etsy and renting your spare room on Air BnB and designing websites for some friends and singing in a band all at the same time, and using all those different streams of income to make the life that you really want.”

Lavoie says around 14 million people work this way. And so far, labor law isn’t keeping up.

A third category?

“It seems to cry out for the law to create a new category which would give these people some protections,” says Wilma Liebman, former chair of the National Labor Relations Board. “Particularly the protections of minimum wage and overtime, and some protections under labor laws.”

Liebman says she saw a lot of clear-cut misclassification cases during her time on the board, where companies claimed workers were independent while controlling everything they did. But she also saw an increasing number of cases that didn’t quite fit that mold.

“The rigidity of these classifications is becoming more obvious to some people,” she says. “So people are talking about a third category.”

This, she says, would be something between employee and independent contractor, a designation that would acknowledge situations like Harry Campbell’s, for example, and build in protections for people like him. One term for this could be “dependent contractor” — Liebman suggested that in a case she heard where independent newspaper carriers worked primarily for one company. There are similar categories in some European countries; for example, Germany has something called an “employee-like person.”

What happens next

Joseph Otis had his arbitration hearing in March. Liss-Riordan has already won a separate case against Arise, and gotten her client more than $11,000. She’ll get a ruling in Otis’ case later this spring. In most situations like this she’d file a class action lawsuit, and try to get a lot of people in Otis’ situation to sign on. She can’t do that, though, because Arise has its contractors sign an arbitration clause, which means any disputes have to be settled out of court. So she’s bringing the cases one by one — she’s got 50 lined up for this year. She also says the National Labor Relations Board has been in touch. Arise is on their radar now too.

Meanwhile, the idea that we might need to think more broadly about employment is starting to make its way into the courts. The judge hearing the Lyft driver lawsuit recently decided that the case should go to trial. In deciding whether the drivers are employees or contractors, he said the jury “will be handed a square peg and asked to choose between two round holes.”

Michael Lewis's Age of Money

From Open Source | Part of the Open Source Shorts and Podcasts series | 23:41

Michael Lewis, the great tale-spinner in the Second Gilded Age in America, says that, after the latest financial crisis, "dissatisfaction is homeless." His new book is Flash Boys.

Screen_shot_2015-04-06_at_3 Michael Lewis, the great tale-spinner in the Second Gilded Age in America, says that, after the latest financial crisis, "dissatisfaction is homeless." His new book is Flash Boys.

Bergen-Belsen

From Sound Portraits | 03:49

In 1945, the BBC broadcasted one reporter's description and field recording of a Shabbat service conducted on the grounds of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in the days following its liberation.

Bergenbelsen1_small On April 15, 1945, British forces liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany. Sixty-thousand prisoners were living in the camp when the troops arrived, most of them seriously ill. Thousands more lay dead and unburied on the camp grounds. BBC reporter Patrick Gordon Walker was among the press corps that entered Bergen-Belsen with the British troops that day. Over the next few weeks, he documented what he saw, recording the first Sabbath ceremony openly conducted on German soil since the beginning of the war, interviewing survivors, and speaking to British Tommies about what they had witnessed at liberation. One of the people who heard Walker's radio dispatches was soon-to-be-legendary folk-music producer Moe Asch. An engineer at the time at New York radio station WEVD, Asch recorded the shortwave broadcast onto an acetate disc. Decades later, the record was re-discovered at the Smithsonian Institution by historian Henry Sapoznik. Recorded in Near Celle, Germany. Premiered April 20, 2002, on Weekend Edition Saturday.

New York After Rent (I of III)

From Benjamen Walker | Part of the Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything series | 25:11

The financial crisis of September 2008 overshadows one of the most important events in recent New York History: the arrival of Airbnb. And while your host wasn’t paying attention back then either, today he is fed up with the commodification of every square inch of the city. But what if the Airbnb economy is also changing the way New York City dreams and makes art? Can it be stopped?

Rent1_small The financial crisis of September 2008 overshadows one of the most important events in recent New York History: the arrival of Airbnb. And while your host wasn’t paying attention back then either, today he is fed up with the commodification of every square inch of the city. But what if the Airbnb economy is also changing the way New York City dreams and makes art? Can it be stopped? Housing Activist Murray Cox gives us a tour of his insideairbnb project, SociologistRichard Ocejo takes us on a jaunt through Hell Square, and legendary performance artist Penny Arcade shows us around “the big cupcake”.

Episode 18: 695BGK

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 21:41

Unlike so many recent victims in the news, this unarmed black man shot by police lived to tell his story.

Criminal_podcast_logo_medium_small Police officer John Edwards was patrolling a quiet neighborhood in Bellaire, Texas when he saw an SUV driven by two young African-American men. It was just before 2am on December 31, 2008. Edwards followed the SUV and ran the license plate number. His computer indicated that the SUV was stolen, and Edwards drew his gun and told the two men to get down on the ground. It wasn’t until later that he realized he’d typed the wrong license plate number into his computer. He was off by one digit. By the time he realized his mistake, one of the men had already been shot in the chest at close range.

Episode 12: Totally Cerebral: What's That Smell?

From PRX | Part of the Transistor series | 32:25

Scents and tastes are powerfully evocative -- one whiff of perfume or cooking aromas can transport you back to a particular moment, a particular place, a particular person. Dr. Wendy Suzuki speaks with neuroscientist Howard Eichenbaum, an expert on olfactory memory, and together with chemist Kent Kirshenbaum, sits down to a meal with Chef Anita Lo to hear how she plays with our senses and our memories in her delicious creations.

Shutterstock_222157468_small Scents and tastes are powerfully evocative -- one whiff of perfume or cooking aromas can transport you back to a particular moment, a particular place, a particular person. Dr. Wendy Suzuki speaks with neuroscientist Howard Eichenbaum, an expert on olfactory memory, and together with chemist Kent Kirshenbaum, sits down to a meal with Chef Anita Lo to hear how she plays with our senses and our memories in her delicious creations.

Life of the Law #55: Marijuana Rules

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 23:27

Recreational pot has earned the state of Colorado $53 million dollars in tax revenue. All on a drug that, according to federal law is still illegal. How does a marijuana business navigate all the uncertainty? Find out this week, on Life of the Law.

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So you want to make some money selling legal marijuana? Well, I don’t blame you. Nearly half the country now has some form of legal medical marijuana and four states have legalized recreational use of marijuana, as well.

There’s a lot of money to be made.

But hold on, weed is still illegal at the federal level and federal laws take precedence. In fact, setting up a marijuana business is a minefield of legal contradictions and complications, so it’s good you’ve come here for advice. I’m no lawyer, but I have been looking into the legalities of cannabis for weeks now and can help you keep your business as legal as possible.

Basically, you are looking at five major legal issues: old school police, crazy taxes, banking, product regulations, and politics. Cause I mean, Obama grew up on Maui Wowie but the next president might be a major buzzkill.

So, OK. Point number one. How are you going to deal with the courts and the fuzz? Even in states where marijuana is legal under state law, these guys are not on your side.

Take California. A lot of people think California is THE place to set up shop since it was the first to see the green light on medical marijuana, way back in 1996. These days you just go see “Doctor Green” on the Venice boardwalk, tell him about your occasional insomnia, and he writes a recommendation for some locally grown, relaxed-to-the-max, Cali Kush.

Los Angeles is pretty chill. But in other parts of the state, it’s not that cool. For instance, there are like a hundred pot shops in San Diego, but the city won’t license most of them. And the feds keep knocking down doors.

I mean, take my man Winston Ludlam. He works hard growing his crop to ease the suffering of countless cancer patients and anyone with a medical marijuana card. He supplies a couple different collectives. But then, last fall, the cops stumbled upon a car full of guys getting ready to rob Winston’s growing operation. His defense attorney, Mike McCabe said they were minutes away from a home invasion robbery.

“They were getting ready to go in with guns and steal the money and the pot,” he said.

Now this looks bad for Winston, because not only did he almost get robbed, now it looks like maybe he’s got ties to some black market dudes.

“If they know about it,” McCabe said, “they must be selling it out the back door.”

Thing is, in December, Congress passed a spending bill that prohibits law enforcement from using federal money to go after medical pot. Congress basically said, “Stop raiding the medical marijuana industry.” And it was not a request.

Now, the spending bill took effect January 1st, and the DEA didn’t get a warrant to search Winston’s operation until January 2nd, so he shouldn’t have been raided. But the DEA found a loophole. State cops and courts aren’t affected by the new rule. They can’t prosecute people for medical marijuana. It’s not against state law. The feds can prosecute medical marijuana, but are barred from spending money on the raid.

So they got a state cop to make an arrest and then took it from there.

Pretty sneaky.

“Our position is that the agent had no right to act as an agent of the state of California,” McCabe said. “He was violating the directive of congress by acting as he did.”

Bottom line: I don’t recommend setting up shop in San Diego. But you’ve got to be careful everywhere. Even in Colorado, half the counties made it illegal to open a shop. So that’s a major bummer! But it’s all cool as long as you know the locals are mellow.

The second legal issue you’re going to have to deal with is taxes. And this is no joke. Make a mistake and it will wipe out your profit. Might even land you in jail.

Remember. Washington State got a lot of squares to vote for this based on the taxes. They said it would make the state budget fat as a Peter Tosh birthday joint.

But that means the man gets a hit off every bud you sell. And you can learn a lot from how that’s affected the business there. A few weeks ago, I went to meet LeRoy Ellis who works in this sweet little shop called Main Street Marijuana, in Vancouver, Washington. It’s in an old jewelry store. They’ve got more than 50 strains on display under the glass, plus edibles and oils. The store was packed. You got the sense they’d only let three or four more people in the door.

But even selling a lot of product, profit can be hard to come by. Main Street Marijuana buys a gram of cannabis for $10 and sells it for $22—a standard mark-up. Except the business loses two dollars to sales tax, and five dollars to Washington State’s 25% excise tax. (That’s a tax the state put on marijuana because it’s considered a vice.) And that tax is taken out at every step of the supply chain — grower to processor to seller.

“You’re left with a $1.04,” says Ramsey Hamide, the store’s owner. He says taxes are the number one issue affecting his business, which is only now beginning to stabilize. So far, recreational marijuana has been better for the states than for the growers and sellers.

And as a business owner, you also have to deal with the IRS, which comes with it’s own set of problems.

The IRS doesn’t actually care how you make your money, so long as you file taxes on whatever you made. Don’t do it, and that’s tax evasion. Which is how they took down Al Capone! So you have to file taxes.

Legitimate businesses can deduct almost everything they spend money on, including state taxes. But marijuana businesses can’t. Section 280 E of the IRS tax code states that schedule I drugs aren’t deductible as a business expense.

“That was added to the tax code decades ago to address perceived abuses by drug dealers,” said lawyer Matt Goldberg. “Like Miami Vice style, boats and cars and travel and excess in the lives and businesses of big time drug dealers who were trying to take those things as deductions.”

So when the excise tax pumps up the price of Ramsey’s product, it also turns up the volume on his taxable income. Normal businesses could deduct all of those taxes, but until federal law gets changed, marijuana taxes are going to be high as an osprey in an updraft.

  1. Stay with me. Only a couple more legal hurdles. But this one hits you where it hurts. Banking.

You’re going to have to stash all that dough you’re making, but at some point duffle bags full of greenbacks get impractical and might get “lost.” But walk into a Wells Fargo wearing a marijuana logo and you’re going to get the stink eye.

“It’s in a sense illegal for any nationally chartered bank to provide banking to the marijuana industry,” said Ohio State law professor Doug Berman. “Technically they would be providing banking to illegal drug dealers.”

Banks aren’t willing to risk federal drug charges, so pot shops can’t get loans, and have to pay their employees and their bills in cash.

So, what’s your best bet for stashing this other kind of green?

A local bank. If there is one. I mean, a week ago Oregon had exactly one bank offering checking accounts to cannabis companies—a tiny outfit called M Bank. But then it said compliance with government regulations was going to be way too hard.

So now, in Oregon your options are burying the money in the backyard or using it to insulate your walls.

There is one other option. Quietly set up some account with a bland-sounding name like Mary Jane’s Chocolates and keep a very low profile. If the bank finds out, they will close your accounts, even though the Obama administration has been writing memos since 2009 basically telling the Department of Justice to look the other way.

It doesn’t matter. Banks won’t touch this industry until the law changes.

On to legal issue number four. Regulation.

You might remember this. Last year New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd ate a weed candy bar while covering the Colorado pot economy. They found her three months later in a homemade teepee, sculpting Cinderella’s castle out of marshmallow fluff. At least that’s what I heard.

She pointed out that Colorado is littered with Ganja gummy bears and kids can’t tell the difference. And I see her point there, because states aren’t used to watching this stuff. Usually the FDA handles that. But the FDA is part of the federal government, so they can’t exactly tell businesses how to make their illegal drugs safe for consumption.

So that means there’s going to be lots of unpredictable legal changes to the economics of selling pot.

“The law is itself is so much in flux that it’s quite possible that the industry could get revved up around one product that could become illegal,” Berman said.

When it comes to product regulations, each state is its own testing ground, trying to find the sweet spot between legality and total prohibition.

So think carefully before you market those psychedelic starbursts.

This is all pretty stressful, I know. Don’t worry. There’s only one legal issue left: the politics of pot. Because the next president probably won’t have grown up hot-boxing a Volkswagen like Obama did.

But even a choirboy candidate like Mike Huckabee might think twice before cracking down.

“There’s a sense that if you want to have a chance to both encourage younger voters to come to the polls and get them on your side it may be dangerous to oppose marijuana reform,” Berman said.

Not only that, but Republicans generally champion the idea that states should have more power to self-govern. Come down against marijuana and you’re suddenly a hypocrite.

So why are the feds doing it? Why hasn’t the government lifted criminal penalties, simplified taxes and banking, and helped states regulate products? One thought is that all this constant shifting and backtracking helps keep businesses smaller.

“You’re not going to get the tobacco industry coming in and commercializing this,” Berman said. “You’re not going to get alcohol industry taking a chance while there’s still all this legal uncertainty.”

Whenever a new marijuana business opens, the trick, for a while, is figuring out how to keep the product ON the shelves. Flooding the country with pot all at once would be like Reefer Madness, 2015. In an interview with CNN Obama said that if companies with huge marketing budgets and distribution networks got into this industry, levels of abuse would increase as well.

So these taxes, banking problems, and contradictory regulations are like the government’s way of saying: chill out, dudes. Let’s build things up without everyone getting all paranoid and stressed.

The stoner-in-chief is doing his best to keep fellow tokers out of jail, but this isn’t going to happen all at once. So if you still want to get into the business, just remember: keep it mellow, don’t boggart the joint. There’s plenty to go around. Something tells me you’ve got this.

The Man who Named 'Earth Day'

From Reid Frazier | 06:30

Who came up with the name 'Earth Day'? It turns out, a legendary Madison Avenue ad man named Julian Koenig. He was responsible for some of the most famous ads of all time, and helped give the environmental movement and enduring brand.

Koenig Who came up with the name 'Earth Day'? It turns out, a legendary Madison Avenue ad man named Julian Koenig. He was responsible for some of the most famous ads of all time, and helped give the environmental movement and enduring brand.

First

From The Heart | Part of the The Heart: Season One series | 31:36

The first time is a threshold. On one side is the world as you know it, and on the other side is the unknown.

Playing
First
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The Heart

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When we do something for the first time, we enter into a world with new rules. It’s the creation of a new path, a new possibility. We meet this threshold with no knowledge of what will happen, how we or the world will react.


Once the rules of the game change, once we do something that we’ve never done before, the question of how to navigate the new world is what comes next. What do we do after the first kiss? Will it give way to the first holding of hands, the first public display of affection, the first sex, the first week sleeping in someone else’s bed every night? Or will it be the first, but also — the last?


This is a story featuring Drew Denny, a singer, songwriter, filmmaker and artist. You can check out her first feature film here.

How much will it take to change fraternity culture?

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 07:10

Here in the Bay Area, fraternities based at UC Berkeley have had their share of problems. According to the University of California Police Department, the majority of reported sexual assaults on campus since October of last year occurred at fraternity houses. At one of them, five people were allegedly drugged and assaulted -- all in the same weekend.

UC Berkeley has been under federal investigation in the past year, and it’s been working to address sexual assault issues with new mandatory workshops for students. Now, many of the school’s fraternities say they’re doing the same.

3637758402_0246a4099d_o_small Here in the Bay Area, fraternities based at UC Berkeley have had their share of problems. According to the University of California Police Department, the majority of reported sexual assaults on campus since October of last year occurred at fraternity houses. At one of them, five people were allegedly drugged and assaulted -- all in the same weekend. UC Berkeley has been under federal investigation in the past year, and it’s been working to address sexual assault issues with new mandatory workshops for students. Now, many of the school’s fraternities say they’re doing the same.

In Kentucky, a Prairie Made by Coal

From Reid Frazier | 06:18

More than a million acres of strip-mined land—an area the size of Rhode Island—are now deforested in Appalachia.

Angel More than a million acres of strip-mined land—an area the size of Rhode Island—are now deforested in Appalachia.

Nepal's Lost Inheritance

From KALW | Part of the Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata series | 06:00

The world will need to remember that Nepal is not just a home for temples and palaces and Everest expeditions. It is a country that millions call home and those thousands dead and those houses destroyed are also part of its lost inheritance.

Nepal_comparison_small

The world will need to remember that Nepal is not just a home for temples and palaces and Everest expeditions. It is a country that millions call home and those thousands dead and those houses destroyed are also part of its lost inheritance.

Etsy Goes From DIY to IPO

From Rendered | 28:50

Online crafty marketplace Etsy went public in April 2015. What does that mean for the makers who sell their goods on the site?

Etsy_stitch_small This episode of Rendered (formerly Destination DIY) asks what it means for a company at the heart of the maker movement to go public. You'll hear from three Etsy sellers with different perspectives on the company along with a Wall Street Journal reporter who can speak to the IPO's financial impact for Etsy and its investors. Etsy also has a voice in this episode. 

Episode 19: Mother's Little Helper

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 19:28

71-year-old Sandie Alger has spent years in and out of prison. Prison, she says, is where you move “up the criminal ladder, just like the corporate ladder.”

Criminal_podcast_logo_medium_small Sandie Alger is a 71-year-old woman with a very long rap sheet. She was in and out of prison throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and upped her game each time she got out. Prison, she says, is where you move “up the criminal ladder, just like the corporate ladder.”

Allusionist 9: The Space Between

From The Allusionist | Part of the The Allusionist series | 10:21

Forget words for a moment; look at the spaces between the words.

Space_between_logo_small_small Though this is a show about words, forget the words for a moment; look at the spaces between the words. Without the spaces, the words would be nigh incomprehensible. And yet, they're a relatively recent linguistic innovation. Dr Kate Wiles explains how English got its spaces.

Visit theallusionist.org/spaces to find out more about this episode. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow. Also please give us your thoughts about podcasts at surveynerds.com/allusionist.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org.

Dolly Parton on Getting Dirty

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 06:38

"Mama just always said, ‘you be what you are and you don’t have to worry about nothing.’" - Dolly Parton in a previously unheard interview from 1978.

Dolly_parton_square_small We've been looking forward to releasing this episode that comes from a previously unheard interview Larry Grobel recorded for a profile that ran in PlayboyWhere to begin? Dolly was in her early 30s, rocketing to fame. What we loved hearing were her stories about growing up with 11 siblings in Tennessee. They slept four to the bed. The little ones often peed on her at night. In the summertime everybody bathed in the river. Sweet, sweet stuff. Dolly's mama gave her the confidence to embrace who she was; a little girl who loved tight clothes, teased hair and making her own makeup. It's quintessential Dolly. Enjoy

Representing Dark Matter

From Sarah Lilley | 05:53

“Dark matter” has been in the news again lately as scientists have begun mapping what they believe is its prevalence across the universe. But, um, what is it exactly? Producer Sarah Lilley gathered two folks — an astrophysicist and an artist — who are grappling with dark matter from their own perspectives (and learning a thing or two from each other).

Benchamma_small “Dark matter” has been in the news again lately as scientists have begun mapping what they believe is its prevalence across the universe. But, um, what is it exactly? Producer Sarah Lilley gathered two folks — an astrophysicist and an artist — who are grappling with dark matter from their own perspectives (and learning a thing or two from each other).

Hidden World Of Girls: My Mother

From Samuel Robinson | 04:54

A selection of mother related messages from callers to the Kitchen Sisters' NPR phone-line.

For Mother's Day 2011

My_mother_small A selection of mother related messages from callers to the Kitchen Sisters' NPR phone-line. For Mother's Day 2011

Curbside Searches

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 07:29

Super interesting. Can people expect privacy when it comes to their trash? What about trashed emails?

3c20875r_small Legal scholar David Sklansky discusses California v. Greenwood, a landmark Supreme Court case that decided whether Americans throw out their expectation of privacy along with their garbage. This story comes from the BackStory episode 'Another Man's Treasure: A History of Trash.'

Bilateral Relations

From KALW | Part of the Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata series | 06:00

In the last decade Bollywood has snuck into America. Bollywood aerobics. Bollywood theme parties. It even snuck into the Oscars via Slumdog Millionaire.
But nothing prepared me for the oddest couple of all - Bollywood and geopolitics.

Playing
Bilateral Relations
From
KALW

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In the last decade Bollywood has snuck into America. Bollywood aerobics. Bollywood theme parties. It even snuck into the Oscars via Slumdog Millionaire.

But nothing prepared me for the oddest couple of all - Bollywood and geopolitics.

You're being watched: Surveillance in Oakland

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 09:27

Surveillance and privacy issues have been in the news a lot in the past few years. Perhaps the biggest news was made by by Edward Snowden, who leaked information about the NSA’s massive collection of American citizens' cell phone data. But the privacy debate has also hit closer to home. You may remember last spring, when the Oakland City Council debated a controversial surveillance hub called the Domain Awareness Center, or DAC.

Entire_heat_map_small Surveillance and privacy issues have been in the news a lot in the past few years. Perhaps the biggest news was made by by Edward Snowden, who leaked information about the NSA’s massive collection of American citizens' cell phone data. But the privacy debate has also hit closer to home. You may remember last spring, when the Oakland City Council debated a controversial surveillance hub called the Domain Awareness Center, or DAC.

New York After Rent (Part II of III)

From Benjamen Walker | Part of the Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything series | 27:56

A journey from Avenue B to Bushwick: Kathy Kirkpatrick tells us about the final days of her Life Cafe in the East Village and essayist Tim Kreider tells us about his exile in Bushwick. Plus your host tries to make sense of the first time he got a glimpse of the new New York at a party in late September 2008.

Screen-shot-2015-04-22-at-12 Our series continues with a journey from Avenue B to Bushwick: Kathy Kirkpatrick tells us about the final days of her Life Cafe in the East Village and essayist Tim Kreider tells us about his exile in Bushwick. Plus your host tries to make sense of the first time he got a glimpse of the new New York at a party in late September 2008.

E01 / Your Pet Hates Your Music

From Sarah Hoyles | Part of the Pet Sounds series | 13:41

Finally! Tackling a question I've always wondered about: does your dog love or hate it when you leave music on for him?

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You leave the radio on for your pet, before you leave the apartment. Do the cat and dog wish you hadn't?

We find out from Charles Snowdon , a professor of Psychology and Zoology at University of Wisconsin–Madison, with help from Veterinarian, Dr. Elaine Degrandpre ; all during a visit with musician, Amy van Keeken and her dogs, Nabby and Daisy.

Minimum wage activists fast for better pay

From George Lavender | 04:56

In downtown Los Angeles, activists have gone without food for two weeks. The women are campaigning for a raise in the minimum wage. Today L-A Mayor Eric Garcetti met with the group to hear their concerns. The fast's fifteenth and final day is tomorrow -- and the number fifteen is important -- the group says $15 per hour is the minimum amount every worker in the city should be earning. From KCRW’s Independent Producer Project, George Lavender went downtown to talk to some of the women participating in the fast.

Fullsizerender__7__small In downtown Los Angeles, activists have gone without food for two weeks. The women are campaigning for a raise in the minimum wage. Today L-A Mayor Eric Garcetti met with the group to hear their concerns. The fast's fifteenth and final day is tomorrow -- and the number fifteen is important -- the group says $15 per hour is the minimum amount every worker in the city should be earning. From KCRW’s Independent Producer Project, George Lavender went downtown to talk to some of the women participating in the fast.

Sara Walls

From Stories from Deep in the Heart, a project of Texas Folklife | Part of the McCallum HS 2014-15 Dancer Profiles series | 01:09

"It's like you're more than human. You're like art and emotion and feelings all wrapped into this thing that people watch and gather information and emotions from, and it tells a story."

Geographies_small On April 10, 2015, dance majors in AISD's dedicated fine arts academy high school performed in their spring concert, Geographies of the Body. This event featured dancer audio profiles created by McCallum Fine Arts Academy students in Kenneth Rogers' class as a part of Stories from Deep in the Heart, a project of Texas Folklife and McCallum Fine Arts Academy.

Reptiles in the House

From Stories from Deep in the Heart, a project of Texas Folklife | Part of the Grisham Middle School 2014-15 series | 04:42

This middle schooler is growing up with 150 reptiles in her house. Really.

Biggies-reptiles-peel-2_small A family in Texas deals with, and raises, all sorts of reptilian creatures. Produced by students at Grisham Middle School for Stories from Deep in the Heart.

Episode 15: Science's Blind Spots

From PRX | Part of the Transistor series | 16:02

"Science doesn't correct itself because scientists are smarter or purer than other people. To correct cultural bias in science, we need to change culture first."

Shutterstock_107765885_small One of the things we assign to science is that there are true, absolute facts. But scientists are human and, it turns out, as prone to blind spots in their thinking as the rest of us, especially when cultural assumptions and biases get in the way. Biologist Christina Agapakis explores ways these blind spots, especially around gender and sexism, have affected research and women’s careers in science. She talks with one of her heroes, anthropologist Emily Martin, and Emily's husband, biophysicist Richard Cone, about Emily's 1991 article "The Egg & The Sperm." She also talks with anthropologist Kate Clancy, who has spent a lot of time thinking and writing about the ways women’s careers in science are different from men’s.

From Bullets to Balance Sheets

From Radio Diaries | 08:25

As a teenager, Kamari Ridgle was a drug dealer and drive-by shooter until a near-death experience led him to his true love…accounting.

Kamari_t_small As a teenager, Kamari Ridgle was a drug dealer and drive-by shooter until a near-death experience led him to his true love…accounting.

A Migration Reversed (Gravy Ep. 13)

From Southern Foodways Alliance | Part of the Gravy Podcast series | 23:49

Once you’ve left home in search of a better life, what might make you return? During the Great Migration, six million African Americans left the South for the North. Farmer Donnie “Pen” Travis was one of them. But that was just the start of his journey.

Photo_1_small Once you’ve left home in search of a better life, what might make you return? During the Great Migration, six million African Americans left the South for the North. Donnie “Pen” Travis was one of them. But that was just the start of his journey.

In this episode of Gravy, Eve Abrams brings us the story of one man’s migration, and how farming prompted both his depature… and his return. 

The Rough Draft Diaries Ep 3, Philosopher's Encouragement

From Haley Taylor | Part of the The Rough Draft Diaries series | 04:05

In her new podcast, Haley Taylor reflects on the uncertainty she feels as a recent college grad.

Tumblr_mboju1omkg1qe0lqqo1_500_small Encouragement seems to reveal itself in the oddest of places. In this episode of The Rough Draft Diaries, Haley is comforted by the writings of an old friend, Søren Kierkegaard.

Mosque in a Synagogue: Muslims and Jews Unite

From Rebecca Sheir | 05:19

At this Northern Virginia synagogue, Jews and Muslims are sharing much more than just space.

Large_muslims-pray-at-synagogue-091409_small If you enter a typical Reform Jewish synagogue on a Friday or Saturday, you may hear the sounds of an evening Shabbat service, or perhaps a bar or bat mitzvah. But at Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation, every Friday you'll hear Muslim prayers emanating from the temple's multi-purpose room.

The All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) conducts Friday prayers and Ramadan meals at NVHC. As members of the respective communities tell Rebecca Sheir, uniting Muslims and Jews is part of what it means to be a Muslim, a Jew, and a member of the human race.

LIVE LAW 1: Stupid Motions

From LIVE LAW | 17:08

Calvin Duncan spent over 28 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. In prison, he taught himself the law. He became a jailhouse lawyer and helped a lot of people win their freedom.

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While in the Louisiana State Penitentiary (“Angola”), Calvin Duncan co-founded the Innocence Project New Orleans. In the book, In the Place of Justice, Wilbert Rideau referred to Calvin as the greatest legal mind at Angola.

Since he was released in 2011, Calvin has continued to work helping incarcerated people. He is the Education Coordinator for the Louisiana Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and in 2013 he was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship to help inmates overcome the procedural bars in accessing the court. 

He is the Program Director of the Light of Justice Program, which helps incarcerated individuals gain access to the courts; and he is the co-founder of the Rising Foundation, a community development corporation that helps individuals being released from prison to gain employment, housing, and to start their own businesses. 

He is currently a finalist for an Echoing Green fellowship

16 Brooke: I Was A Teenage Witch

From The Mortified Podcast | 17:08

The diaries of a teenager on a quest to become an empowered witch.

16_brooke_thumbnail_prx_small The diaries of a teenager on a quest to become an empowered witch.  To learn more about Mortified visit getmortified.com. The Mortified Podcast is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

The Lost Pardner

From The Heart | Part of the Season One series | 08:07

Cowboys, queers and transfolk of the old West. And a poem.

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Badger Clark is remembered for shaping the poetry of the Old West with striking impressions of the cowboy life. But his poem "The Lost Pardner," about the intimate love between two cowboys, has a special kind of beauty. It points to the often forgotten queerness of frontier life, where there was plenty of space to be alone and plenty of cowboys to be alone with.


Badger Clark wasn’t the only one out there. Queer fur trappers, stagecoach drivers, European explorers; and poets, like Clark, made their way out West looking for the freedom of a new context. And for many of them, that’s what they found.

A Quick Reno-vation

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 07:14

Once upon a time, Reno was America's quickie divorce capital. The history of divorce is fascinating...and funny.

Resta The Guys talk with historian Mella Harmon and guest Barbara Davis about Reno, Nev.'s boom years as America’s quickie divorce capital. This story comes from the BackStory episode "Speed Through Time: The Changing Pace of America."

Ray Bradbury on Madmen

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 05:55

A few years ago Lisa Potts was looking behind her dresser when she saw a cassette tape. She’d forgotten about the tape--a recording of an interview she did with Ray Bradbury back when she was a journalist in college. That was in 1972. Lisa and friend were driving Bradbury from his home in west LA to come speak at their school--Chapman College in Orange County. The tape recorder was on as they rolled along the freeway. Here’s what it was like to be in a car with Ray Bradbury.

Ray_bradbury_square_yellow_small A few years ago Lisa Potts was looking behind her dresser when she saw a cassette tape. She’d forgotten about the tape--a recording of an interview she did with Ray Bradbury back when she was a journalist in college. That was in 1972. Lisa and friend were driving Bradbury from his home in west LA to come speak at their school--Chapman College in Orange County. The tape recorder was on as they rolled along the freeway. Here’s what it was like to be in a car with Ray Bradbury.

Smoke it Out

From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 07:03

Melanie Maloney suffers from chronic pain, and is now trying marijuana for pain relief.

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Melanie Maloney has suffered from chronic pain for as long as she can remember. She has tried every pain medication to find relief, but nothing has helped so far. Now, she’s trying something new - medical marijuana.

#1 Elizabeth Gilbert

From How To Be Amazing | Part of the How To Be Amazing series | 57:45

Check out PRX's newest show.

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The best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love (among many other great works) Elizabeth Gilbert

talks to Michael about creative process - her own and others who have inspired her in this interview that covers some big topics, peppered with lots of laughs and that unmistakable Gilbert charm.

#1 Welcome to Millennial

From Megan Tan | Part of the Millennial series | 09:56

The day you graduate college is suppose full of smiles, family pictures, and a sense of accomplishment. But what happens after that day when you pack up all of your stuff and leave college behind?

Mtan_millennial_small The day you graduate college is suppose full of smiles, family pictures, and a sense of accomplishment. But what happens after that day when you pack up all of your stuff and leave college behind?

Allusionist 12: Pride

From The Allusionist | Part of the The Allusionist series | 14:08

In 1970, "Gay Pride" was almost called "Gay Power." Here's the story behind the name — from the guy who thought it up.

Pride_small_small "The poison is shame. The antidote is pride."

It’s June, the President of the USA has officially designated it LGBT Pride Month, and there’ll be Pride events around the world. But how did the word ‘pride’ came to be the banner word for demonstrations and celebrations of LGBT rights and culture?

There's more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/pride. Tweet @allusionistshow, and convene at facebook.com/allusionistshow.

This episode was produced by me and Eleanor McDowall of Falling Tree, with help from Peregrine Andrews. The music is by Martin Austwick.

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia.fm for PRX.org.

John Coltrane on Giant Steps

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 05:48

"I want to be the force which is truly for good." - John Coltrane in one of his final interviews. In the fall of 1966, John Coltrane was living on Long Island. He had a modest house on a quiet, tree-lined street with his wife Alice, and their children. One afternoon, Frank Kofsky took the train out to interview Coltrane. Coltrane picked him up at the station. They drove around town. They stopped to talk. Here’s the tape from the Pacifica Radio Archives.

John_coltrane_square_small "I want to be the force which is truly for good." - John Coltrane in one of his final interviews. In the fall of 1966, John Coltrane was living on Long Island. He had a modest house on a quiet, tree-lined street with his wife Alice, and their children. One afternoon, Frank Kofsky took the train out to interview Coltrane. Coltrane picked him up at the station. They drove around town. They stopped to talk. Here’s the tape from the Pacifica Radio Archives.

Episode 17: Finding the Elusive Digital Stradivarius

From PRX | Part of the Transistor series | 09:09

In music, everything seems to have another digital life. Pianists can play with different voicings on an electric keyboard. Guitarists can filter their instrument’s signal through a pedal or amp to create various effects. Why shouldn’t violinists be able to digitally harness the sound of a Stradivarius too? For starters, it takes an incredible feat of engineering to capture the authentic sound of a violin. David Schulman takes us to visit a top violinmaker who has been working with a physicist and two engineers to create a prototype digital violin.

Violin_shutterstock_small The Elusive Digital Stradavarius was originally produced and aired as part of PRX's STEM Story Project.  Original is available here.

Whitman at War

From Open Source | Part of the Open Source with Christopher Lydon series | 58:37

The best of American poets and the worst of American wars met head-on 150 years ago this summer in Walt Whitman’s Drum-Taps, his reflections on nursing the wounded and dying soldiers of Union and Confederacy. This is not the Whitman who celebrated himself and working people in Leaves of Grass ten years earlier, though he is more than ever “the poet of the body and of the soul.” This is Whitman in his mid-forties, crossing like Dante into a mass-murdering inferno of screaming pain, and finding also in the despair an astonishing measure of beauty and love.

Screen_shot_2015-06-07_at_9

The best of American poets and the worst of American wars met head-on 150 years ago this summer in Walt Whitman’sDrum-Taps, his reflections on nursing the wounded and dying soldiers of Union and Confederacy. This is not the Whitman who celebrated himself and working people in Leaves of Grass ten years earlier, though he is more than ever “the poet of the body and of the soul.” This is Whitman in his mid-forties, crossing like Dante into a mass-murdering inferno of screaming pain, and finding also in the despair an astonishing measure of beauty and love.

The audacious young composer Matt Aucoin, at 25, three years out of Harvard, sets his new Whitman opera in the battlefield hospital where Whitman served as a nurse. Aucoin hears Whitman in a mid-life crisis. He’s gone South in a hurry to find his brother, who’s been wounded at Fredericksburg, Virginia. But Whitman is crossing, with a purpose, not just into a war zone but into an oozing “bloody, black and blue” pit of amputation and agony after battle: 18,000 men had been killed or wounded in the Confederate victory over three days at Fredericksburg. In this setting, Whitman took on his last big mission in poetry: to see and describe what no one, back to Homer, had described before. That is, the comradeship, kindness, generosity, the “adhesiveness”—inescapably the love—that surfaces among men at war.

Lisa New, who teaches American poetry at Harvard, is going to remind us of the Whitman who wandered Brooklyn leading up to the Civil War. And throughout the hour, Ben Evett—actor and artistic director at the newly revived Poets’ Theatre—summons the Whitman of key poems like “The Wound-Dresser.” Here’s an excerpt:

Bearing the bandages, water and sponge,
Straight and swift to my wounded I go,
Where they lie on the ground after the battle brought in,
Where their priceless blood reddens the grass, the ground,
Or to the rows of the hospital tent, or under the roof’d hospital,
To the long rows of cots up and down each side I return,
To each and all one after another I draw near, not one do I miss,
An attendant follows holding a tray, he carries a refuse pail,
Soon to be fill’d with clotted rags and blood, emptied, and fill’d again.
I onward go, I stop,
With hinged knees and steady hand to dress wounds,
I am firm with each, the pangs are sharp yet unavoidable,
One turns to me his appealing eyes—poor boy! I never knew you,
Yet I think I could not refuse this moment to die for you, if that would save you.
The literary critic Harold Bloom chimes in with his ranking of Whitman: great American or greatest American? And finally Lawrence Kramer, the musician and cultural musicologist at Fordham University who edited the 150th anniversary edition of Drum-Taps from the New York Review of Books, will examine the sonic dimension of Whitman’s words.

Route Cause

From BackStory with the American History Guys | 10:26

Host Ed Ayers talks to historian Christopher Jones about the 1870s skirmish between John D. Rockefeller and the upstart competitors who built the country’s first long-distance oil pipeline.

Backst1__156_imag89012590_small Host Ed Ayers talks to historian Christopher Jones about the 1870s skirmish between John D. Rockefeller and the upstart competitors who built the country’s first long-distance oil pipeline.

Cats on Boats

From Erica Heilman | Part of the Rumble Strip Vermont series | 07:24

So you're on a date with Catwoman...

Screenshot_2015-06-11_08

Here’s a story from Otto Trautz of Cabot, Vermont. It takes place in 1966 and starts with a phone call and a very compelling proposition.

This story was originally told at extempo, central Vermont’s live storytelling event produced by the wondrous Jen Dole. You can find more stories at: www.extempoVT.com .

#101 - Radio Luck and the Gift of Character Change

From HowSound | 22:32

I’ll make a bet with you. I bet you’ll say “Wait, what??!” at least five times when you listen to Hillary Frank’s story “Real Teens, Fake Babies.” The story is that good, that surprising.

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I’ll make a bet with you. I bet you’ll say “Wait, what??!” at least five times when you listen to Hillary Frank’s story “Real Teens, Fake Babies.” The story is that good, that surprising.

“Real Teens, Fake Babies” was produced for Hillary’s podcast The Longest, Shortest Time . It also aired on This American Life .

For the story, Hillary followed two teens — Rachel and Paige — in Baby Think It Over, a sex-education/parenting program for high school students who are given robot babies for 48 hours. The babies are remarkably lifelike and so is the experience of taking care of them.

The characters, the scenes, the plot twists in the story are remarkable. Actually, now that I think about it, I bet you’ll say “Wait, what??!” at least seven times. And, I bet you’ll say “No way!” when the characters change in the story; they shift their point of view, significantly.

In fact, Hillary says the character change in the story is the centerpiece. She structured the story around that moment.

I don’t feature the entirety of “Real Teens, Fake Babies” in HowSound. So, to get the full effect of all the “Wait, what!??” moments, I suggest you take a listen and subscribe to The Longest Shortest Time while you’re at it.

High-School Students Should Study Earth Science. Here's Why.

From Hold That Thought | Part of the Into the Earth series | 11:06

What students learn before college - and what they don't - has drastic consequences for our planet.

1 Ever wonder why some subjects are taught in high school while others are not, or why students spend so much time memorizing facts? According to geophysicist Michael Wysession , science curricula in the US are based on standards that are more than 120 years old, and being stuck in the past has had serious consequences. Wysession, the Earth and space science writing team leader for the Next Generation Science Standards , believes in a new approach to science education.

Mending the Gender Gap in Energy

From Lana Straub | 03:31

Women leaders in the oil and gas industry are using networking to mend the gender gap in the profession.

Wen_meeting_small Of the 132,000 American oil and gas workers in 2013, 33,000 of them were women. That’s only 25 %, and the situation is even more skewed in executive offices. With those numbers in mind, we take a look at women leaders in the energy sector.

Fried Chicken: A Complicated Comfort Food (Gravy Ep. 16)

From Southern Foodways Alliance | Part of the Gravy Podcast series | 25:51

Fried chicken has both been the vehicle for the economic empowerment of a whole group of people—and the accessory to an ugly racial stereotype. How can something so delicious be both?

Gvillewaitercarriers3_small

It’s easy to love fried chicken. The light crunch of a crisped wing or leg, followed by the moist meat of the interior; it’s understandably beloved. But there is more going on with this comfort food than you might think.

Fried chicken has both been the vehicle for the economic empowerment of a whole group of people—and the accessory to an ugly racial stereotype. How can something so delicious be both? In this episode of Gravy, Lauren Ober goes from a Virginia Fried Chicken Festival to a soul food restaurant in Harlem to find out. 

 

Gunther Schuller: A Life in Pursuit of Music & Beauty, Part I

From Open Source | Part of the Open Source with Christopher Lydon series | 36:26

Gunther Schuller—composer, conductor, educator and more—has died at age 89. He talked with Radio Open Source last winter.

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Gunther Schuller is a composer, conductor, horn virtuoso, jazz historian and critic who had the nerve and the authority years ago to decree that “all musics are created equal.”  He’s walked that walk through a 70 year career between Beethoven and Bill Evans, Igor Stravinsky and Charlie Parker. And he’s talking the talk with us the same way – old, new, jazz and classical music, back and forth intimately and equally because, as he says, “well, they’re equal.”  Above a certain level where genius “changes the language of music,” it’s all democracy.  ”No matter what its label, if something is perfect, well then, it’s perfect.”

Gunther Schuller got started late, at age 11, without teachers but with any uncanny gift for reading music.  He learned by studying scores, listening to records, and then feeling “the vibrations on the floor of the pit” with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestera.  He made it to the Met in the 40s as a teenager on the French horn, the same horn he played with Miles Davis’s “Birth of the Cool” nonet in the 50s.  He revived the New England Conservatory in the 60s and 70s and, inside it, revived the ragtime jazz that became the soundtrack of the Robert Redford and Paul Newman blockbuster movie, The Sting.  In his 89th year, Gunther Schuller has a dozen or more commissions for new pieces in his own a-tonal mode.  And he’s assembling a second volume of autobiography.  The first volume, A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty, runs 600 pages through the 1950s in the New York of his boyhood, what he remembers as, day and night, a “cultural paradise for all the world.”

MUSIC IN THIS SHOW:

Thelonius Monk – Misterioso

Count Basie & His Orchestra – Broadway

Thelonius Monk with John Coltrane

Frederick Delius – Sea Drift

Alexander Scriabin - Piano Concerto in F sharp minor Op. 20

Alban Berg – Violin Concerto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216

Johnny Hodges – Funky Blues

Charlie Parker – Parker’s Mood

Duke Ellington – Rockin’ in Rhythm

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra – Things Ain’t What They Used to Be

Bille Holiday – Fine and Mellow from The Sound of Jazz

Erroll Garner – Lover

Milton Babbitt – All Set

Bill Evans – Some Other Time

 

Despair, Inherited

From Catarina Martins | 11:10

In this case, mental illness brought a father and daughter together rather than pulling them apart.

Tenleyjeff2_small In most families, mental health can be a taboo topic. But not in the House family. Jeff and Tenley’s relationship is not your usual father and daughter relationship. Depression has brought them closer together. This story was produced with Transom.org at the Transom Story Workshop (spring 2015).

EEL PIE ISLAND

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Fugitive Waves series | 30:50

The Kitchen Sisters take us to a little-known, hidden corner of London — to Eel Pie Island, a tiny slice of land in the middle of the Thames. Now a small bohemian community of artists, inventors, river gypsies and boat builders, on the edge of Twickenham, Eel Pie Island has a flamboyant history that stretches from Henry VIII to The Rolling Stones.

Eel Pie Island is produced by The Kitchen Sisters with Nathan Dalton, mixed by Jim McKee / The Hidden World of Kate McGarrigle, produced by the Kitchen Sisters

Ks_fugitivewavessm_small The Kitchen Sisters take us to a little-known, hidden corner of London — to Eel Pie Island, a tiny slice of land in the middle of the Thames. Now a small bohemian community of artists, inventors, river gypsies and boat builders, on the edge of Twickenham, Eel Pie Island has a flamboyant history that stretches from Henry VIII to The Rolling Stones. Eel Pie Island is produced by The Kitchen Sisters with Nathan Dalton, mixed by Jim McKee / The Hidden World of Kate McGarrigle, produced by the Kitchen Sisters

Holding Your Breath

From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 06:54

Micheal Geary has cancer. It could be getting worse. What do you tell the kids?

Mikeinhelmet_small Michael Geary has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment since the summer. A CAT Scan will tell him if he has beaten his lymphoma -- and what he will tell his kids.

Can You Help Me Find My Mom?

From The Truth | 09:04

This story is heart-stopping when it starts and heartbreaking by the end.

Icon_small A girl is lost and can't find her mom. Why won't anyone help her?

Bee Herbstman as MAGGIE
Melanie Hoopes as ROSE
Ed Herbstman as EDDIE
Evan Sudarsky Abadi as BODEGA CLERK
Gregory C. Jones as OFFICER
Blanche Ames as MAGGIE

Written by Diana McCorry, and produced by Jonathan Mitchell.

Distance

From Nate DiMeo | Part of the the memory palace series | 03:11

The incredible story of how the death of his wife inspired painter S.F.B. Morse to invent the telegraph.

Playing
Distance
From
Nate DiMeo

Distance_art_small The incredible story of how the death of his wife inspired painter S.F.B. Morse to invent the telegraph.

Picking Up the Pieces

From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 07:34

A story of a same-sex marriage undeterred by a hate crime.

Default-piece-image-0 In the summer of 2006, Linda Boutaugh and Keri Fuchs were victims of a violent hate crime. Their home was destroyed, but their relationship survived.

Episode 19: Where Math and Mime Meet

From PRX | Part of the Transistor series | 12:28

Some things can be better left unsaid. Who would have thought that math could be one of them?

Mm02_medium_small Some things can be better left unsaid. Who would have thought that math could be one of them?

Kashish (Mumbai LGBT Film Fest)

From KALW | Part of the Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata series | 06:00

In India the Supreme Court did not realize that when it recriminalized gay sex, society had come a long way. Like toothpaste it just cannot be pushed back into the tube.
The Mumbai LGBT Film Festival is a symbol of how far society has come.

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In India the Supreme Court did not realize that when it recriminalized gay sex,  society had come a long way. Like toothpaste it just cannot be pushed back into the tube.

The Mumbai LGBT Film Festival is a symbol of how far society has come.

Life of the Law Episode #59: The Trauma Room

From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 24:26

A haunting story of solitary confinement.

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When I met Deborah, she had just come home from a prison in upstate New York. Deborah, which is not her real name, had cycled in and out of prison for nearly 30 years, mostly for shoplifting– stealing expensive clothes, bagging up coats, and sunglasses.

Deborah was one of a dozen women I spoke with a for a qualitative research study on how women react to solitary confinement. I found that women respond in some unique ways. Specifically, women in prison are often survivors of sexual violence, and solitary confinement can exacerbate that trauma.

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The first time Deborah went to solitary, she was being escorted to a disciplinary hearing for wearing the wrong shoes.  She told me that “on the way walking to the room, in the handcuffs, [a female officer] kept lifting my arms up. She was hurting my back, so was going like this, trying to pull my back in.”  This pissed off the officer. “They thought I was being aggressive but I wasn’t! And they found me guilty of disobeying a direct order.”

Deborah was put in the Special Housing Unit, or the SHU, which is one form of solitary confinement. She was sentenced to 60 days. The accommodations in solitary were pretty bare: “You go in the room,and it’s empty with just a bed, a thin mattress, a pillow that’s flat. You get 2 pants, 2 shirts, and underwear.”

And for the first few days in there, the things that bothered Deborah were mostly physical. She told me that, “You only get to shower every other day. Weekends not at all. First of all you don’t get no deodorant, no lotion.” Without lotion, Deborah would take her butter from her breakfast tray to use as moisturizer.

And once a month, women like Deborah need something “When you get your menstruation, and you need sanitary that’s where the problem comes in,” Deborah told Brown. “Everyday at 4 o’clock, the officer comes first, she’s says, oh, we don’t have sanitary. I’ll give you extra tissue. And you can go three days without sanitary using tissue.”

Deborah says these first couple of weeks were hard but bearable. But after a while your mind starts to twitch from lack of stimulation. Every woman I spoke to said that after about 2 weeks in solitary they started to feel like they were losing it.  And at that point, Deborah was in a pretty dark place. Wrecked by suicidal thoughts, Deborah told me that “you just sit there thinking about your life, and if you’re thinking about your life, you’re crying.”

Deborah got so paranoid she didn’t leave her cell for her recreation time or to go take a shower. It got to the point where everything she heard outside her cell became terrifying. Every time she heard footsteps outside her door, she immediately thought someone was coming for her. “Oh my goodness,” she recalls. “What are they doing? Why they coming this way?”

She wasn’t just afraid of the guards—Deborah was having flashbacks. The thing is, this was not the first time she’d been locked in a small room for a long time.

It all started when she was 13, she snuck out of her grandmother’s house to go to a party.  “And this guy that I danced with,” she told me, “he’s like, come with me? He said he was gonna go to his house. But when we went in, it was all these guys down there. They just did what they wanted to. Oh and I was crying. I just laid there and cried.”

Deborah didn’t tell anyone she’d been raped. But he didn’t leave her alone. He’d come to her grandmother’s house, her school. “I was really afraid of him, so I would go, I would go,” she said. “And one day he came to my grandmother’s house, and I left and never came back home.”

Deborah says that she was worried he was planning to do the same thing to her sister. “My sister’s so pretty,” she told me. “And I didn’t want them to do that to her. “

As for her grandmother, she just let her go. Deborah told me that everyone, including her grandmother, just thought she was staying at her boyfriend’s house.

He used to lock me in the apt, I would have to stay in the house, don’t let her leave. And this went on for 5 years. And throughout the 5 years if I would try to leave, I would get beat.

It was during this time that Deborah says she started stealing. “When I would steal, it was like I was invisible,” she remembered. “So it’s great to be invisible isn’t it? When that happened to you, and you think you so ugly that you don’t look in the mirror.” She’d steal expensive clothing, jewelry, and coats. “Because if I had the finest thing on, then that covered up everything,” she told me.

Out of the twelve women I talked to, nine of them had a story like Deborah’s. It’s difficult to independently verify these stories, but the research supports this. It’s estimated that 80% of women in prison have a history of physical or sexual abuse. And a report in the journal Criminal Behavior and Mental Illness found that women in prison have at least 3 times as much PTSD as men in prison.

These traumas come roaring back in solitary. There’s no stimulation or human interaction, so your senses become heightened. Normal benign sounds, like footsteps down the hall, become louder and more intense. Remember how Deborah told me that she felt like heard everything outside her cell, only louder?

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This happens all the time to people deprived of stimulation. But if you have PTSD, these little sounds can become traumatizing. The adrenaline starts pumping. Each little sound can trigger the same physiologic reaction of the original trauma.

When Deborah remembers being afraid in solitary of footsteps, it was him she was thinking about. “If someone’s walking, it’s him! Like himcoming, you know.” She was back in that room, waiting for him to come home and to beat her.

Deborah relived her trauma throughout the entire two months she spent in solitary. You’d think she’d be thrilled to finally get out. But she says the time in there changed her.

Before solitary, Deborah told me, “I used to love going around, women come to me with their problems. I worked with the chaplain.”  But when she got out, she didn’t know how to be around people. “I didn’t want nobody. I didn’t want the chaplain.”

It was so difficult to be back around people that Deborah wanted to go back to solitary. “I walked off my unit and went to another unit. Knowing that I can go back to SHU,” she told me, “And I was mad, because I only got 15 days. I just wanted to stay away.”

Since then, Deborah cycled in and out of prison 3 more times. It’s hard to say whether solitary kept her in that cycle of trauma and crime, but it clearly didn’t help either. Deborah was released last year, again. She’s back in Brooklyn now.

 

Thanks to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Correctional Association of New York for supporting this reporting.

Episode 22: Ex Libris

From Criminal | Part of the Criminal series | 21:34

Hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of rare books have been disappearing across America since the late 90s, and haven’t resurfaced in the marketplace. They’ve just vanished, never to be seen again. But unlike most thieves, this thief is motivated by something more abstract and romantic than money, which makes him extremely difficult to catch.

Criminal_podcast_logo_medium_small Hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of rare books have been disappearing across America since the late 90s, and haven’t resurfaced in the marketplace. They’ve just vanished, never to be seen again. But unlike most thieves, this thief is motivated by something more abstract and romantic than money, which makes him extremely difficult to catch.

#103 - A Mom, a Transgender Daughter, and a Podcast

From HowSound | 20:58

If my daughter told me she was a boy, I don’t think I’d pick up a microphone and start recording. Of course, maybe my inclination to record would eventually get the better of me and I’d talk to my daughter on tape, but I certainly don’t think I’d make our chats public.

That said, I sure am glad Marlo Mack (not her real name) did.

Howsound_social_small f my daughter told me she was a boy, I don’t think I’d pick up a microphone and start recording. Of course, maybe my inclination to record would eventually get the better of me and I’d talk to my daughter on tape, but I certainly don’t think I’d make our chats public.

That said, I sure am glad Marlo Mack (not her real name) did.

Marlo is the producer of the podcast How to Be a Girl . Not too long after her then-son said things like “Mama, I’m a girl,” Marlo started recording. In due course, she started a blog . And then she turned the recordings into a podcast — first-person essays about motherhood and, as the tagline of her podcast puts it, “daily life with my transgender daughter.” (By the way, the podcast was featured on Transom about a year ago.)

The podcast is a touching look at motherhood, childhood, and gender. But, it’s more than that. I think Marlo is tackling one of the great mysteries of life: Who are we? And how do we become who we are? In that way, How To Be A Girl is not just for parents or parents of transgender children, it’s for everybody.

On this edition of HowSound, I feature the entire first episode of How to Be a Girl . Marlo talks about the impulse to pick up a microphone and some of the pitfalls of telling stories not everyone is ready to hear.

How to Be a Girl recently joined The Heard , a podcast network. And, Marlo says, season two of How to Be a Girl will start very soon. In the meantime, be sure to listen to all the episodes of season one. You won’t be disappointed!

LIVE LAW 4: Soundtrack to History

From LIVE LAW | 08:32

"She called us on the phone and said, 'You will not be allowed to return to the Y.'"

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Sandra Patton-Imani is an Associate Professor of American Studies at Drake University, where she teaches Women’s Studies, Anthropology, and Sociology. She earned her MA and PhD in American Studies with a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is a former postdoctoral fellow at the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School. She earned a B.A. in Radio/TV/ Film and American Studies at California State University, Fullerton. She is the author of BirthMarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America, as well as numerous scholarly articles on adoption, race, gender, and family. She is currently completing Sophie Has Five Mothers: Lesbian-Headed Families and the Rights of Citizenship, currently under review with New York University Press, based on in-depth interviews conducted with a racially and ethnically diverse group of over 100 lesbian mothers living in a range of states with conflicting laws regarding marriage, adoption, and other family policies. She is collaboratively editing (with Melanie Patton-Imani) a documentary based on this research, Red Light, Green Light: Family Values, Family Pride.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

From KALW | Part of the Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata series | 06:00

After the historic ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage, Sandip Roy reflects on... his Facebook feed.

Usa_today_whitehouse_small After the historic ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage, Sandip Roy reflects on... his Facebook feed.

Joni Mitchell on Illusions

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 07:14

"I was young for my age. Not as naïve as they expected. I don’t know why I seem to bring that out in people." - Joni Mitchell as told to Joe Smith in this previously unheard interview from 1986. Enjoy a wonderful break as Joni looks back at her career with a wonderful mix of optimism, fortitude and a tinge of disappointment.

Joni_mitchell__e0d6c6_small "I was young for my age. Not as naïve as they expected. I don’t know why I seem to bring that out in people." - Joni Mitchell as told to Joe Smith in this previously unheard interview from 1986. Enjoy a wonderful break as Joni looks back at her career with a wonderful mix of optimism, fortitude and a tinge of disappointment.

Amina on Ramadan: Being Muslim in America

From Katy Sewall | Part of the Amina on Ramadan (2015) series | 05:30

Amina Al-Sadi is a 25-year-old American Muslim currently observing the holy month of Ramadan. Amina explains why its a tough time to be Muslim in America right now. A timely, intimate look at how it feels to wear a headscarf and the assumptions people make because of it.

Dscf0521_small Amina Al-Sadi is a 25-year-old American Muslim currently observing the holy month of Ramadan. Amina explains why its a tough time to be Muslim in America right now.  A timely, intimate look at how it feels to wear a headscarf and the assumptions people make because of it. To her, Ramadan feels more important than ever this year.

This piece is Part 2 of a three part series - but it can also stand alone.

Episode 20: Last of the Iron Lungs

From PRX | Part of the Transistor series | 08:31

As storms raged through Oklahoma in 2013, Martha Lillard waited them out from inside her iron lung. She is one of just dozens of polio survivors who still rely on their decades-old machines.

Dsc05880_medium_square_small As storms raged through Oklahoma in 2013, Martha Lillard waited them out from inside her iron lung. She is one of just dozens of polio survivors who still rely on their decades-old machines.

LIVE LAW 5: One Confederate Flag

From LIVE LAW | 11:48

In the summer of 1970, when she was 21, Patrice Gaines spent several weeks in jail facing charges for possession of heroin. She was a drug abuser speeding toward addiction. After her short stint in jail, her criminal record made finding a job difficult and loving herself nearly impossible.

1f47e40a-a155-407b-bd16-9e31936a8649_small Today, Patrice is a veteran journalist. She left full-time journalism in 2001 after working as a reporter for 16 years at the Washington Post. She freelances, writing for national magazines—in print and online—and occasionally writing commentary for radio. Patrice also returns monthly to the jail where she was held to teach an all-day workshop for women through her non-profit, The Brown Angel Center, founded by Patrice and her good friend Gaile Dry-Burton. The mission of the Brown Angel Center is to assist women as they transition from jail or prison back to the community. Learn more about Patrice at patricegaines.com

The Memories of Shirley Nisbet

From Catarina Martins | 04:26

Shirley Nisbet is a painter in Falmouth who grew up in England during World War II. She paints large paintings filled with bright colors influenced by her memories. Even though she has some painful memories, she prefers to leave those out of her paintings. This story was produced with Transom.org at the Transom Story Workshop (spring 2015).

Catarina_martins Shirley Nisbet is a painter in Falmouth who grew up in England during World War II. She paints large paintings filled with bright colors influenced by her memories. Even though she has some painful memories, she prefers to leave those out of her paintings. This story was produced with Transom.org at the Transom Story Workshop (spring 2015).

Dustin Hoffman on Duplicity and Famosity

From Blank on Blank | Part of the Blank on Blank series | 09:31

"I carried a knife taped to my leg. I never used it but it was there." - Dustin Hoffman, 1971, from the Pacifica Radio Archives. Listening to this interview tape, we were drawn to the struggles that pop up between different generations and the internal questions one confronts as he or she gets older. This is Dustin Hoffman unguarded and unrushed, in a rarely heard interview by Milton Freeman.

Dustin_hoffman_square_small "I carried a knife taped to my leg. I never used it but it was there." - Dustin Hoffman, 1971, from the Pacifica Radio Archives. Listening to this interview tape, we were drawn to the struggles that pop up between different generations and the internal questions one confronts as he or she gets older. This is Dustin Hoffman unguarded and unrushed, in a rarely heard interview by Milton Freeman.

Children's book aims to kickstart diversity in the mostly white world of kid lit

From KALW | Part of the Crosscurrents series | 08:14

Think about some of the classics of children’s literature. There’s Where the Wild Things Are...Goodnight Moon...and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Those are just a few books that have shaped the lives of many Americans. What do all these books have in common? They’re all about white people. And what do most children’s books have in common? They’re almost all about white people. Actually, just 10% of children's books published in the last 21 years are about people of color. But a Berkeley-based children’s book company called Crayon Crunch wants to help change that. They’re publishing a book where parents and children can pick what the main character looks like. But what do kids think of having characters who look like them? And can one book really change the diversity problems in an entire publishing industry?

Crayoncrunch3_0_small Think about some of the classics of children’s literature. There’s Where the Wild Things Are...Goodnight Moon...and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Those are just a few books that have shaped the lives of many Americans. What do all these books have in common? They’re all about white people. And what do most children’s books have in common? They’re almost all about white people. Actually, just 10% of children's books published in the last 21 years are about people of color. But a Berkeley-based children’s book company called Crayon Crunch wants to help change that. They’re publishing a book where parents and children can pick what the main character looks like. But what do kids think of having characters who look like them? And can one book really change the diversity problems in an entire publishing industry?

Using the Power of Music To Rewire The Brain

From Rebecca Sheir | 09:32

Three years after a stroke robbed him of speech, a Virginia man is regaining his ability to sing and speak, thanks to revolutionary music therapy.

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We often think of music as entertainment and/or art. But for people with certain language or cognitive difficulties, it can be far more than that.

It can actually be a tool that rewires the brain… helping treat such conditions as Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, traumatic brain injuries, and strokes. 

Rebecca Sheir takes us to Norfolk, Virginia, to one of the only facilities in the country dedicated to bringing music and medicine… together.

Laugh It Up, Fuzzball

From BackStory with the American History Guys | Part of the BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites series | 14:02

I find this story absolutely fascinating—a single, bizarre recording of laughter blows up in popularity in the 1920s, but the sound may have dark origins.

James Producer Bruce Wallace has the story of a peculiar craze in the 1920s, when recordings of people laughing broke the charts. This piece comes from the BackStory episode "The Pursuit: A History of Happiness." http://bit.ly/1CMr2S4

The Unmaking of a Typewriter

From The Kitchen Sisters | 05:29

Jeremy Mayer is a sculptor who disassembles typewriters and reassembles them into full-scale, anatomically correct human figures. He does not solder, weld or glue and only uses parts that come from typewriters. He lives and works in west Oakland.

Jeremymayertypewriter_small Jeremy Mayer is a sculptor who disassembles typewriters and reassembles them into full-scale, anatomically correct human figures. He does not solder, weld or glue and only uses parts that come from typewriters. He lives and works in west Oakland.