you never know

Well we’ve set up virtual shop at that giant open cyber-flea market known as:
MYSPACE!!!
Tom sent me his personal congratulations just the other day.

If you also partake of myspace, please do befriend:

http://www.myspace.com/youneverknowradio

In anticipation of my upcoming podcast “lost,” here is a promo I made- a dramatic introduction to radio like you’ve never heard it before!

I entered the promo in the Public Radio Talent Quest, where you can listen to it and vote for your next “Public Radio American Idol”:

Public Radio Talent Quest Entry

or you can hear it right here:

Lost_Promo.mp3

I recently had the opportunity to attend a gallery opening for “Kawthoolei: The Karen People of Burma,” an exhibit of beautiful black and white photographs by Swedish photographer Kristofer Dan-Bergman.

The photographs were taken in the Mai-La refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border and evoke the dignity in the faces and lives of the Karen people. The Karen, one of Burma’s largest ethnic minority groups, have been fighting for autonomy under a brutal Burma military dictatorship for decades.

The exhibit was a benefit for Outer Voices, a radio and internet documentary project that shares stories from grassroots women activists working in their communities in South East Asia and the Pacific Islands. “Kawthoolei” is their documentary on the Karen and it is one of a continuing series. Listen to Kawthoolei and check out this amazing project at: www.outervoices.org.

The piece I produced about the exhibit aired on the WBAI Arts Magazine.
Listen to it here.

Kawthoolei_Exhibit.mp3

In the spirit of dirty politics everywhere this election season (did it seem even worse than usual this year?), a brief, humorous glimpse into the New Jersey Senate race and all its media antics.
Aired nationally on Pacifica’s election show, Informed Dissent, November 4, 2006.
(Full disclosure: I voted for Menendez (grudgingly))

NJ_Senate_Race.mp3

A virtual verbal boxing match between Literature’s Leading Man of Men and feisty feminist flapper Zelda Fitzgerald. Made for the 99 Ways to Tell A Radio Story 2006 ShortDocs radio experiment.

Zelda_vs_Ernest.mp3

On August 6th, 1945 at approximately 8:15 am, the atomic bomb ‘little boy’ exploded over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Koji Kobayashi managed to survive the bomb and years later battle radiation linked illnesses. A former journalist, now active in the peace movement, Koji spoke about his recollections of that day and his enduring belief in world peace.

Hiroshima.mp3

For additional stories, click on each image in this post.

In commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Spanish Civil War, and in memory of Cesar Augusto Cortes, I am presenting this StoryCorps interview. The Spanish Civil War is often called the testing ground for World War II, setting the stage for the twentieth century’s civilian horrors of war. It was also a war where powerful ideaologies-in all their complexity- fought to determine the future of a nation, and maybe even the world. International volunteers flooded in to join the struggle against the facist powers of Italy and Germany that supported Franco’s Nationalists. The war in Spain held a special resonance for journalists and writers like Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, John Dos Passos, and Langston Hughes.

My father grew up in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, and eventually left the Franco dictatorship to find success as a doctor in the United States. We talked about the war, living under Facism, and how these experiences affected his political beliefs. I remember looking at the title, in Spanish, of one of his books: “Los Ninos de La Guerra, Ya Somos Viejos” (The Children of the War, Already We Are Old). It is the stories of my father, and those of his generation, that we must remember.

Cesar_Cortes.mp3

A news story about The New York State Court of Appeals ruling on Hernandez v. Robles. The case was filed by Lambda Legal on behalf of five same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses in New York City, including Donna Freeman-Tweed and her partner, Lauren Abrams, pictured below. They give their reactions to this ruling at a press conference held by Lambda Legal today.

Donna Freeman-Tweed and her partner, Lauren Abrams

Gay_Marriage_LAMBDA.mp3

For fifty-two days, members of the Six Nations reserve in Ontario, Canada occupied a subdivision known as the Douglas Creek Estates, in an attempt to reclaim the land as indigenous territory. Here, the story of the an early moring raid by police and how Six Nation demonstrators were able to regain control of the site.
Six_Nations_Protest.mp3

Lady Presidential Candidates

In celebration of International Women’s Day, artist Christy Gast narrates the lives and words of the first ten women to run for President of the United States. The roster includes everyone from eccentric Victoria Woodhull, a clairvoyant who advocated for free love in 1872, to Margaret Wright, who represented the Peace and Freedom Party in 1976. Representing both major parties and a slew of independent ones, these women passed important legislation and opened the doors for women in politics. Leading to the important question, will we ever see a woman in the White House?

Lady_Presidents.mp3

Christy Gast is an artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her project, Limited Edition Ladies Presidential Candidates Collectible Plates can be seen at the City Reliquary Museum in Brooklyn, NY.