HV059- War Memorial

Hearing Voices from NPR®
059 War Memorial: Return to Vietnam
Host: Alex Chadwick of Interviews 50 Cents
Airs week of: 2011-05-25 (Originally: 2009-05-20)

“War Memorial” (52:00 mp3):

For Memorial Day, two stories recorded in Vietnam, one after the war, and one during:

In 1966, a young Lance Corporal carried a reel-to reel tape recorder with him into Vietnam. He made tapes of his friends, of life in fighting holes, of combat; and he continued to record until, two months later, when he was killed in action. Friend and fellow marine, Tim Duffie, remembers him in “The Vietnam Tapes of Michael A. Baronowski,” produced by Jay Allison and Christina Egloff for Lost & Found Sound. NPR: story | response | credits/links; American RadioWorks: transcript; Lance Cpl Baronowski: Memorial.

Host Alex Chadwick first went to Southeast Asia was as a soldier in the Sixties. Two decades later, he made a “Return to Vietnam” as a journalist, on the anniversary of the Tet offensive, to find what had and hadn’t changed since the war (producer: Art Silverman, engineer: Flawn Williams).

HV114- Psychological

Hearing Voices from NPR®
114 Psychological: States Of Mental Health
Host: Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2011-04-20

“Psychological” (52:00 mp3):

Three Diagnoses– Depression, Amnesia, Mental Breakdown (image: Rorschach test Card VI):

12-year-old Cameron Ledoux’s father doesn’t work, because of his deep depression. Cameron dialogs with his dad about the condition. Produced at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies; broadcast by All In The Mind; podcast on Saltcast, with thie follow-up, “Sit With Me Again.” (Music: “Leaves Falling” by Lullatone from We Will Rock You… To Sleep: An Introduction to Lullatone).

A quest for amnesia victims — it happens a lot more in movies, books and TV shows than real life. An attempt to find someone who has really had amnesia, to give someone amnesia, and to get it. Aired on This American Life “Get Over It!” and “The Friendly Man.”

A sonic journey documenting one woman’s loss of reality and descent into mental breakdown; a first-person account, with the voices of her friends who witnessed her collapse. Available as an audiobook: “Breakdown and Back.”

A cover of the Tears for Fears song, arranged for the Donnie Darko by composer & pianist Michael Andrews, sung by Gary Jules (video by filmmaker Michel Gondry).

HV108- Making Music

Hearing Voices from NPR®
108 Making Music: For a Living, For a Life
Host: Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2011-01-19

“Making Music” (52:00 mp3):

Making music, for a living, for a life:

The Maddox Bros. & Rose were America’s Most Colorful Hillbilly Band. In the 1930s, 40s & 50s, the four brothers and sister/singer Rose paraded thru America in their colorful Cadillacs and cowboy outfits. “Their costumes make Liberace look like a plucked chicken,” said Tennisee Ernie Ford.

Born to sharecroppers in Boaz, Alabama, they rode the rails and hitch hiked to California in 1933, where they formed the band. Their sound was both old-timey and western swing; their rhythms helped plant the roots of rockabilly. Ginna Allison’s sound-portrait features interviews with Rose Maddox, Tennesse Ernie Ford, Cliffie Stone, and her co-prodcuer on this piece, TJ Meekins of KVMR-Nevada City CA. (Images: Maddox Bros. & Rose: Myspace, Rockin’ County Style)

A preacher’s son, met in a North Carolina thrift shop, comes over the house to play guitar, and talk Jesus, G chords, and Gilligan’s Island. Carmen’s grandmother would not approve. Produced by Jay Allison for This American Life (PRX).

More…

HV100- Stories of Transformation

Hearing Voices from NPR®
100 Stories of Transformation: Character and Change
Host: Jay Allison of Transom
Airs week of: 2010-09-29

“Stories of Transformation” (52:00 mp3):

Two audio diaries of people documenting their own personal transformation, a Transom Radio special:

Miles has the wrong body. He was born a woman, Megan. After 15 years of serious depression and confusion about his place in the world, at age 28, he decided to make a change. He chose the name Miles and began his slow, difficult transition into manhood. All along the way, he carried an audio recorder with him. This is his story. Produced for Transom (available at PRX); edited by Jay Allison.

For most of his high school career, Louis robbed people: for money, and for thrills. He never got caught. Then, in his senior year, he decided to stop. Louis talks to friends and family, and to himself, about why he was a criminal, and why he needs to change. Produced for Transom (also at PRX) and the 826NYC writing center.

Finding Miles

Last night on NPR ATC, “Becoming Miles: The Journey Of Changing Sexes:”

Megan Taylor grew up feeling she was living in the wrong body. In her 20s, she decided to do something about it. First, she changed her name to Miles. Miles began taking testosterone, scheduled a double mastectomy — part of sex reassignment surgery — and began changing his body into one that felt right. The hardest part was telling his parents. Through it all, he kept an audio diary.

“Becoming Miles” (13:00 mp3):

Produced by Sarah Reynolds, with Jay Allison and Transom.org, which has the full version of this piece (airing this month on an HV episode.)

The Moth

Producer Jay Allison on the new pubradio series PRX » The Moth, stories told unscripted and live before an audience:

HV051- Dog Tales

Hearing Voices from NPR®
051 Dog Tales: Barks, Bites, Best Friends
Host: Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2010-04-07 (Originally: 2009-02-18)

“Dog Tales” (52:00 mp3):

A canine compilation — the dogs have their day:

The producer plays frisbee with a sightless German shepherd.

This commentator can’t connect with his family’s canine, off his collection of Stories off the Shallow End.

A musician mixes a multi-bark audio art composition.

In 1984 people told producer about their dogs and their dog’s dreams, produced with Christina Eggloff for their series Animals and Other Stories, with funds from the New York State Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

More…

HV021- Tony Schwartz

Hearing Voices from NPR®
021 Tony Schwartz: Documenting Life in Sound
Host: Barrett Golding & Kitchen Sisters of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2009-10-07 (Originally: 2008-07-23)

“Tony Schwartz” (52:00 mp3):

Tony Schwartz, media pioneer, audio documentarian, and the most famous radio person you probably never heard of, died June 2008. We hear:

The Kitchen Sisters‘ Lost & Found Sound-portrait, “Tony Schwartz, 30,000 Recordings Later.”

And the Tony Schwartz-inspired verite documentary of the town he lived in and loved, “New York City: 24 Hours in Public Places” (thanks to Transom.org).