Hearing Voices - Radio Stories / Cultural

Sour Toe Cocktail 3:00 Jake Warga

Dawson City, deep in Canada's Yukon Territory, has a hotel bar with a house specialty, the a Sour Toe Cocktail. The drink's has an extra special ingredient: a real severed human toe. If it touches your lips, congrats, you're on a long, odd, proud list of thousands in the Sour Toe Cocktail Club.

Broadcast: Sep 5 2008 on PRI/WGBH/BBC The World Subjects: Travel, Cultural

City X (Attention Shoppers) Jonathan Mitchell

For the year’s busiest shopping day, an audio portrait of today’s American commons: the shopping mall. The producer returns to his hometown for a deep-mall experience. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jul 1 2008 on WNYC Radio Lab; Jan 11 2005 on NPR Living on Earth Subjects: Business, Holidays, Cultural

Woman with crystal ball and painted face

Rainbow Family 10:42 Barrett Golding

The Gathering of the Tribes: the annual migration of The Rainbow Family of Living Light. Each year, twenty thousand people camp for a week in a the national forest. They come together first week of July; the Fourth of July is their day of prayer, a prayer for peace. Also see: Rainbow Family web presentation, audio collage, and Chad Harder photos. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jun 28 2008 on APM Weekend America; Jul 1 2002 on PRI/MPR Savvy Traveler Subjects: Politics, Cultural, Historical Anniversaries, Environment

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

Papua New Guinea- Goroka 3:00 Skye Rohde

A day at the annual cultural show in Goroka, in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. This is the social event of the year, a swirl of colors and costumes, traditional songs and dances.
[transcript]

Broadcast: Mar 12 2007 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: International, World, Cultural

HearVox News [Hearing Voices]

We've got a blog, with vids, music, links, mp3s, radio news and HV inside info.

Broadcast: Mar 1 2007 on HV WebworkSeries: Hearing Voices- News Subjects: Media, Cultural, News

Mojave Road 14:59 Ben Adair

"People who spend time in the Mojave start thinking differently about space. Huge stretches of land without a house, a telephone pole, or high-tension wire." The desert is vast in space, and time, ghost towns, some with Opera Houses still standing, century-old abandoned mines, billion-year old boulders in Death Valley. "One hundred human empires will rise and fall in the time it takes Death Valley to notice our passing." The place is perfect for the drifters and artists now living there. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jan 3 2007 on PRX Nature Stories Podcast; Mar 4 2005 on WNYC Radio Lab; Mar 26 2004 on PRI/MPR Savvy Traveler Subjects: Environment, Travel, Cultural

A Flock of Cellphones 3:36 Larry Massett

"Can you hear me now?" Cellphones have nurtured humanity’s obsession with telling each other where they are and where they’ll be and "Where are you?" A dynamic, constantly updated reporting of location, location, ever-changing location. Maybe it’s just human nature. Or maybe (quack) it’s just (tweet) nature. [transcript]

Broadcast: Nov 9 2004 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: Technology, Cultural

Poetry Combine 7:37 Andrei Codrescu & Larry Massett

A trio of poetry students from Louisiana State University are introduced to the poets on the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans, with the assignment to write poems about the people they met. The combine encounters a hot dog vendor, a stripper and a club owner. [transcript]

Broadcast: Aug 9 2004 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: Cultural, Literature

Ghost Hunters in the Thick of Night 3:48 Jake Warga

Another tall tale from AGHOST- Amateur Ghost Hunters of Seattle Tacoma. Strange noises in old houses, cold spots, loud bumps, and disembodied whispers at night? What haunts this family, and who is the baby’s imaginary friend? [transcript]

Broadcast: Jul 14 2004 on NPR All Things ConsideredSeries: Ghost Hunters Subjects: Cultural, Technology