Somehow our NPR: Hearing Voices Podcast, which debuted last week, has hit #42 on iTunes® Top Podcasts. Right over the NBC Nightly News. Not far from Ask a Ninja and NPR Story of the Day. ‘Course the commanding Oprah and Ira hours hold the #1 and #2 spots, many rows above us, but ‘least we’re on the same list.
Archive for April, 2008
I love it while traveling when an HV story comes on the radio. That happened a slew of times this past week (Mtn Gorrillas of Rwanda, Passover poem, Peace Rabbi). The first one I caught crossing the NV desert on NPR Day to Day. It’s another from Jack Chance, international man of trad music mystery…
The Kingdom of Nepal became a democracy this week, holding it’s first elections for representatives who will write the new constitution and are likely to abolish the monarchy. Chance speaks with a young musician in Kathmandu, Rubin Gandharba, whose songs (played on the Nepali sarangi) became a rallying cry for the Nepali Democracy Movement. The call Ruben the “Nepali Bob Dylan” (2:57 mp3):
A day-in-the-life of Rabbi Arik Ascherman with Rabbis for Human Rights in Jerusalem. He interacts with Arabs and Jews, and intercedes when he can during Palestinian home demolitions. He looks for common ground amongst the the rubble and rocks, the M-16s and tanks, and the two religions that started as one. (Photos by Jake Warga.)
Aired on PRI The World; by producer Jake Warga, “Rabbi for Human Rights, Israel” (6:57 mp3):
The traditional, 1000-year-old song Dayenu is a part of the Jewish Passover (April 19-27 2008). This piece is an audio essay, a poem of sorts, on the song, the holy day, and what, if anything, the tales of Egyptian first-borns and parted Red Seas have to do with us today. Original music by Frank London, founder of the Klezmatics. Aired on APM Weekend America; by producer Judith Sloan of Crossing the BLVD, “Dayenu (for Passover)” (6:15 mp3):
NPR has started hosting our HV series podcast (iTunes subscription). And right now it’s being featured on both the front of NPR Podcasts page and the iTunes Podcast Directory
Hearing Voices from NPR®:
008 About Aging— I Thought You’d Never Ask
Host— David Greenberger of Duplex Planet
Airdates— 4/23/2008 - 4/30/2008
Host David Greenberger of Duplex Planet presents glorious moments and observations from people in the last years of their lives: Dave Alvin discusses the song he wrote about his dying father, “Man in the Bed,” from the Western Folklife Center’s What’s in a Song? series. Comedians Bob & Ray are “The Whirleys”. From StoryCorps comes a remembrance from Richard Craig of his days as a dance host on cruise ships. In Sound Portraits “The Ground We Live On” journalist Adrian Nicole LeBlanc faces mortality in recordings she made during her father’s last months alive. And host David Greenberger shares some stories told him over the years by the elderly, including “Growing Old in East L.A.”
About Aging (53:00 mp3):
Been outta touch for a week — I was off snortin’ methanol and splittin’ eardrums. Drove down to the Long Beach Grand Prix, an ocean-side street race with open-wheel drivers from around the globe. Two-hundred thousand fans around a two mile course of Fast & Loud in downtown LB — by fast I mean 186mph avg and 200+ on the straightaways; and loud, well, the punk bands we heard one night at an LB club were whispers compared to those race engines. When they go by, you’re ears sizzle. Haven’t heard much yet of the hours of recordings we captured, but, for now, here’s a half-minute taste of the “LB Grand Prix- Champ Cars 1″ (0:31 mp3):
When the Tecate® Girls saw my co-recordist, Joe Skyward, they insisted he squeeze into this picture with them — something these ladies will treasure forever:
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