Hearing Voices - Radio Stories / All

Heat (extended mix) 7:30 Jeff Rice

The longer (and better) version of the NPR show focusing on the words, thoughts and sounds of desert residents: writer Charles Bowden, the Tohono O’odham poet Ofelia Zepeda, and ambient composer Steve Roach, , whose composition "Slow Heat" scores the piece. (Image by Andy McIntire, from Steve Roach’s Slow Heat cover art.)

Broadcast: Jul 9 2007 on HV PODCAST; Mar 1 2002 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: Environment

Macau Fireworks 5:09 Jake Warga

Every year Macau, China hosts an international Fireworks competition. We spend a night watching the American team compete.

Broadcast: Jul 4 2007 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: International

The Pledge of Allegiance 5:14 Barrett Golding

For Independence Day:People with different regional, ethnic, and national accents recite and reflect upon the single, century-old sentence: ""The Pledge of Allegiance." [transcript]

Broadcast: Jul 2 2007 on HV PODCAST; Jul 4 2005 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Public Affairs, Historical, Cultural, Acoustic, Justice

Desert Air 54:00 Ben Adair, Scott Carrier & [Hearing Voices]

A hot and dry Summer special with audio from the arid regions, hosted by Ben Adair of Weekend America: Scott Carrier finds the basins near Nevada's "Battle Mountain" beautiful, lonely, dreary, and full of sagebrush, solace and stories. Host Ben Adair heads down to the ghost towns, Opera Houses, century-old abandoned mines, and billion-year old boulders along Death Valley's "Mojave Road." The band Faust dials in "Long Distance Calls in the Desert." Coyotes, owls, frogs and songbirds are part of Bernie Krause's Desert Solitudes. And the Quiet American records warning signs outside a Nevada Test Site rattling in the wind under the "Desert Sun." (Photo gallery…)

Broadcast: Jul 1 2007 on HV SpecialSeries: Hearing Voices- Specials Subjects: Specials, Environment

Otha Turner’s Picnic 14:36 Ben Adair

Mississippi moonshine, barbecued goat and the last of the old-time Fife & Drum picnics [transcript]

Broadcast: Jun 25 2007 on HV PODCAST; Sep 1 2001 on PRI/MPR Savvy Traveler Subjects: Travel, Historical, Americana, African American

Sun shining directly thru concrete Sun Tunnels

Sun Tunnels in the Utah Desert 5:08 Scott Carrier

The summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and the official beginning of summer, is makred by an obscure art installation called the Sun Tunnels in a very remote part of the Utah desert. Concrete drain pipes -- are aligned to channel the sun's rays at precise celestial moments. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jun 20 2007 on PRX Nature Stories Podcast; Jun 21 2006 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Environment, Art

Seismic Communication 6:22 Jeff Rice

Seismic communications are the sound signals animals send each other by making things vibrate -- the ground, twigs or leaves. Elephants do it, 200K species of insects do it, and right now your lawn is a seismic symphony.

Broadcast: Jun 20 2007 on NPR Day to DaySeries: Western Soundscape Subjects: Science, Environment

My Father’s Music 6:48 Rebecca Flowers

A Father’s Day ditty: Going in and out of cool, in syncopated time. A daughter and dad’s ever-changing relationship moves to the beat of a jazz standard. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jun 18 2007 on HV PODCAST; Jun 18 2004 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: Family, Music, Jazz

Father Figures 54:00 Jay Allison, Scott Carrier, Viki Merrick, Sound Portraits & [Hearing Voices]

For Father's Day, hosted by Jay Allison, stories of paternal praise, pride, disappointment and love: Scott Carrier gives his son Milo a "Ski Lesson." From Animals and Other Stories, we hear "Reflections of Fathers," aka, Bugs & Dads. Comic strip artist Lynda Barry wishes her divorced dad a "Happy Father's Day." A doctor tells his daughter about her granddad in "Story Corps- Dr. William Weaver." Jay Allison describes his daughter's questions about his love life as "Grilling Me Softly". Dan Robb's family remembers the day "Dad's Moving Out," from Life Stories. "Doc Merrick" and daughter Viki go through some girl problems. David Greenberger tells David Cobb's story "Because of Dad." Deirdre Sullivan's father advises "Always Go to the Funeral," a This I Believe essay. And from producer by Viki Merrick, Dave Masch wants to be "A Better Father" (

Broadcast: Jun 17 2007 on HV SpecialSeries: Hearing Voices- Specials Subjects: Spoken Word, Holidays, Family

Moth Music 3:31 Jeff Rice

The eerily beautiful music of moth wings. A tale of bat-detectors, beehive destruction and the intersection of insect and synthesizer. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jun 11 2007 on HV PODCAST; Sep 7 2004 on NPR Day to DaySeries: Western Soundscape Subjects: Technology, Science, Music, Environment