What we do for a living: Mohawk ironworkers on the Twin Towers; a Radio Dairy from a scissors sharpener; exercises for existential overworked, undervalued employees; percussive postal clerks in Ghana; a man with 800 jobs; and what happens when there is no work... anywhere: the 1940 Great Depression "Voices from the Dust Bowl."
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The final part of this two-hour special: A century ago the six Crow Reservation Districts came together for a cultural gathering with other Great Plains tribes. The Crow Fair honors that tradition with a "giant family reunion under the Big Sky." Every August is now Crow Fair in southeastern Montana, with a parade, a Pow Wow, and a rodeo. In 1977 a team of NPR producers and recordists spent a week collecting sounds and interviewing people at this annual event with the Crow people: the Apsaalooke Natio
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A century ago the six Crow Reservation Districts came together for a cultural gathering with other Great Plains. The Crow Fair honor that tradition with a "giant family reunion under the Big Sky." Every third weekend of August is now the Crow Fair in southeastern Montana, with a parade, a Pow Wow, and a rodeo. In 1977 a team of NPR producers and recordists spent several days collecting sounds and interviewing people at this annual event. This early ambient sound-portrait breathes with the arts and activities of the Crow people: the Apsaalooke Nation. Part one of two.
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First-person voices from all sides of adoption. Stories about living with questions and searching for answers. We hear from birth families (mothers, siblings and a father), adoptees (both kids and adults), and various adoptive families including open adoption and international adoption (China). Producers for Transom.org by Samantha Broun and Viki Merrick with help from Jay Allison.
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A Transom.org tribute to the great broadcaster and author Studs Terkel (1912-2008): For many years, Transom.org editor, Sydney Lewis, worked side by side with Studs on his radio show and his books. For this remembrance, a blend of documentary and reminiscence, she brings together a crew of Stud's co-workers. They share great stories and wonderful previously-unheard tape of Studs himself.
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Host Josh Darsa of NPR spends nine days with rodeo riders in a rural Wyoming town: Cheyenne Frontier Days is "The Daddy of 'em All." This classic 1980 radio doc from the NPR archives also presents the history of the "Cowboy," underscored by the wild-west symphonies of Aaron Copland.
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Part two of this two-hour tribute to Jean Shepherd, "A Voice in the Night." Marshall McLuhan called him "the first radio novelist." From 1956-1977 Shep spun his late night stories over WOR radio, New York City. PBS gave him a TV series, "Jean Shepherd's America." In 1983 he co-wrote and narrated the film version of his "A Christmas Story." He inspired a new generation of spoken narrative artists who tap into the American psyche. Among them was Harry Shearer, who hosts this two part tribute, from KCRW and NPR.
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Jean Shepherd used words like a jazz musician uses notes, winding around a theme, playing with variations, sending fresh self-reflective storylines out into the night. Marshall McLuhan called Shepherd "the first radio novelist." From 1956-1977 Shep spun his late night stories over WOR radio, New York City. PBS gave him a TV series, "Jean Shepherd's America." In 1983 he co-wrote and narrated the film version of his "A Christmas Story." He inspired a new generation of spoken narrative artists who tap into the American psyche. Among them was Harry Shearer, who hosts this two-part tribute.
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Tibet and Nepal: Walking a circuit alongside pilgrims, yaks and yogis, host Scott Carrier treks one of the world's most venerated -- and least visited -- holy sites, "Mount Kailash: Cricling the Center of Creation." And we climb to the Nepalese town of "Siklis," going up a mountain and back in time, produced by Larry Massett, narrated by Joe Frank.
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Musician Calvin Johnson (Beat Happening, K Records) hosts train tales: An existential interaction with an automated Amtrak voice. The Kronos Quartet plays Steve Reich's "Different Trains." Singer Jules Shear recalls an on-board performance. A Sound Portrait of a Pullman Porter. A track-hopping hobo named Short Stop. Circus performer Little Jack Horton and poet Charles Bukowski stolen engine car. Segregated train-travel from StoryCorps. The world's largest model railroad. And Calvin's Great Aunt Grace's 1891 train trip.
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