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Playlist: Bob Carlson's Portfolio

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Another Lousy Day

From Long Haul Productions | Part of the Homeplace Series series | 17:36

A critically-acclaimed story detailing one man's quest to find the author of two diaries from 1960 and 1961 that he found in a thrift store.

Lousyphoto_small A few years ago, Chicago writer David Kodeski found two diaries from 1960 and 1961 in a resale shop. The diaries' author, a single, working woman who lived on the Chicago's South Side, wrote meticulously about her everyday life: how she flirted with her co-workers, fought with her Dad, shopped for things she didn't need, and searched for happiness as she worried about her weight and hairdo: November 9 "Another lousy day. I wore my blue suit with the pleated skirt and looked sharp. Mike looked but ignored me again and I'm getting so disgusted. I don't care anymore. Besides my other admirer has been around. He came first thing in the morning, unfortunately when Zoya and I were having an argument. But, he talked to me for quite a while --this time we discussed house plants etc. He sure is nice but I wish he was a little older. At last break when I went into the cafeteria he asked me to sit at his table which was filled with fellows and he held out and pushed in my chair. Ate like a pig when I got home." Kodeski bought the diaries, took them home, and began to read. The result: a one-man show called "Another Lousy Day," detailing his quest to find the diary's author. He and producers Elizabeth Meister and Dan Collison, in association with Chicago Public Radio, adapted the show to radio. Diana Slickman reads the diary entries. First broadcast on Chicago Public Radio and on All Things Considered in 2003.

Lost in the Mail

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 14:06

It's a dreamlike visit to the U.S. Postal Service mail recovery center. Producer Samara Freemark finds her way there after she loses a package in the mail. She meets many of the regulars, and arouses the suspicions of the authorities.

Playing
Lost in the Mail
From
KCRW

Unfictional320x350_small It's a dreamlike visit to the U.S. Postal Service mail recovery center. Producer Samara Freemark finds her way there after she loses a package in the mail. She meets many of the regulars, and arouses the suspicions of the authorities.

Lost in the Mail

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 14:06

It's a dreamlike visit to the U.S. Postal Service mail recovery center. Producer Samara Freemark finds her way there after she loses a package in the mail. She meets many of the regulars, and arouses the suspicions of the authorities.

Playing
Lost in the Mail
From
KCRW

Unfictional320x350_small It's a dreamlike visit to the U.S. Postal Service mail recovery center. Producer Samara Freemark finds her way there after she loses a package in the mail. She meets many of the regulars, and arouses the suspicions of the authorities.

Don't Hate the Player

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 15:24

A charity basketball game pitting a team of little people against a team of law enforcement officers goes very wrong.

Unfictional320x350_small Shane Conrad is a actor, writer and producer. (He's also the son of famed actor Robert Conrad.) One day Shane comes up with what he thinks is a great idea: make a cop show featuring a monkey and a little person. Instead, he somehow ends up putting on a no-holds-barred basketball grudge match, pitting a team of police officers against the defending national dwarf basketball champions. Nothing goes as planned.

Taking Mom to the Movies

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 10:49

After his mother has a massive stroke, writer Dave White describes the quick thinking and problem solving necessary for a simple trip to the movies.

Davewhite_small Writer Dave White has a story about caring for his mother after a massive stroke. A simple trip to the movies turns into a complicated mission featuring an improvised clean up operation, and the fine art of comforting a crying person.

The Seance

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 19:06

On a summer night in the early 1990s a small group of friends gather for a dinner party in Los Angeles. Just for fun, someone suggests having a séance with a homemade Ouija board.

By the end of the evening, perceptions of reality have been altered, relationships have been damaged, and the guests are forever changed.
Three people who were there tell the shocking, funny, and hauntingly tragic story of The Séance.

Playing
The Seance
From
KCRW

Unfictional320x350_small On a summer night in the early 1990s a small group of friends gather for a dinner party in Los Angeles. Just for fun, someone suggests having a séance with a homemade Ouija board. By the end of the evening, perceptions of reality have been altered, relationships have been damaged, and the guests are forever changed. Three people who were there tell the shocking, funny, and hauntingly tragic story of The Séance.

UnFictional: Family Justice

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 28:30

On this episode... two stories about crime hitting close to home. A man's evil plan takes an ironic turn and a Brooklyn dad hits the streets and launches an investigation into the case of his kid's stolen yorkie dog.

Un-fictional_small Comic Jackie Kashian brings us the story of her Uncle. He was always the black sheep of the family, probably even more than anyone realized. When he hatches murderous plot to get out of debt, he's only foiled by his own stupidity, and the gavel of family justice falls hard.

Then... Ed Herbstman, a former New York City police officer now living in Brooklyn, goes back into "cop mode" to track down "Sumo," his kid's little dog. Ed and his wife Melanie Hoopes tell the charming and hilarious story of four days spent chasing down leads and anonymous tips, running stakeouts and grilling witnesses. Produced by Wendy Dorr and Bob Carlson. 

Ministry of Presence

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 25:02

Memories of the death house, from a man who sat with 95 condemned men on their last day on earth.

Playing
Ministry of Presence
From
KCRW

Unfictional320x350_small The death penalty is an emotional and political issue, pitting the rights of victims of violent crime against those accused of committing violent crime, but most of us, thankfully, will never actually set foot in an execution chamber. This is the story of Carroll Picket, who observed 95 executions as a minister at the Walls Prison unit in Huntsville, Texas. Then, after each one he would tape record his thoughts about sitting with a condemned man on his last day.

UnFictional: Skating in the Darkness

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 28:30

Learning to navigate through the dark. Much like a radio listener, a blind person has to rely a lot on their sense of hearing. But once you learn to hear with your whole body, you can talk a walk down to the beach or maybe play some baseball.

Un-fictional_small The last thing you might expect a blind person to do is…play baseball. Producer Ryan Scammellspent an afternoon watching "beep baseball," a version of the game created for the vision impaired. The ball beeps, the bases buzz. It's a game about trust, faith, and overcoming all obstacles. Watching a blind man hit a ball out of the air makes you think anything is possible. Ryan Scammell is an independent producer living in Brooklyn.

Also, audio producer Sarah Yahm knows a woman named Gail, in Santa Cruz, California, who lost her eyesight as a teenager.  She's worked out ways of compensating by hearing the world around her in ways that most of us don't.  Gail's kind of "re-wired" her hearing, turning it into a visual tool -- almost like sonar. Sarah remembered Gail when she was looking for a way to help her own mother, a fiercely independent woman who's adjusting to near-blindness, following a biking accident. 

UnFictional: Unwanted

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 28:30

Stories of the unwanted: a teenager, unwanted by those closest to him, visits his troubled past. Plus, the people who take your burdensome possessions and blow them up.

Un-fictional_small

Lou Amdur's mom died when he was a kid. After his dad re-married, life at home took a hard turn for the worse. Eventually, the state intervened and he ended up bouncing between foster families. But one winter night in the 1970s, after a friend slipped him LSD, Lou, then a teenager, made a journey through the freezing Minnesota darkness, back to the family home he was pulled from. Today Lou lives in Los Angeles, his drugs of choice these days are Muscadet and oysters. Produced by Bob Carlson and Margy Rochlin.

 

Then...it's just part of being human; we have trouble letting go of objects that hold memories of people, places, times gone by. We feel that low-grade dread: that getting rid of that T-shirt, that stuffed cuddly, might deny us access to some essential part of ourselves. There's an LA-based company that specializes in separating people from those objects and making sure they stay separated. Producer Kerstin Zilm spent some time with D3 ("Deliver, Document, Destroy"). Co-produced by Jacob Conrad. 

 

When Elvis Met Nixon

From KCRW | Part of the UnFictional series | 16:15

The story of Elvis Presley's visit to the Nixon White House in 1970, told by a man who was there, Elvis' confidante Jerry Schilling.

Playing
When Elvis Met Nixon
From
KCRW

006_6_small It's December, 1970, days before Christmas. 28 year-old Jerry Schilling is just embarking on a new career as an editor in TV. His previous occupation -- bodyguard, stand-in and best friend to Elvis Presley — goes back to when he was just a kid. Now Jerry's moving to part-time with the "Memphis Mafia" entourage. He's got himself a little apartment in Culver City and he's following his dream. In the middle of the night the phone rings. It's The King, asking for his help. Somehow that turns into a cross-country odyssey, ending with Elvis and Jerry in the Oval Office, face to face with President Richard Nixon.

UnFictional: The Mark of a Man

From KCRW | 28:30

While one guy tries make his mark as a man, another tries to erase the mark that represents a life of mistakes and regret, most of it spent in prison.

Un-fictional_small While looking for ideas on Craigslist, radio producer Emily Hsiao finds a post from a man looking to remove a Swastika tattoo from his arm. Needing to find out the story behind the ad, she meets a man named Bruce. While the two of them sit in his truck, he looks back on a life spent in and out of prison, and he talks about the tattoo that represents his old life.

Then... For his whole life, Dave Ross always ran away from a fight. When he gets a job doing gags and sketches for a rock and roll radio station during the 2004 presidential election, he finds himself doing a live on-air stunt that has him boxing a muscle-bound former prison gangster, while wearing a John Kerry mask.