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May Programs

May 30, 2020

Little Richard: Rock 'n' Roll's Wild Child - An Appreciation

A celebration of the whirlwind of  early music produced by Richard Penniman, better known as Little Richard, who passed away Saturday, May 9, 2020 at the age of 87. 

In the 1950's and early 1960's, Little Richard threw down the definition of rock ‘n’ roll with a dizzying parade of landmark recordings that have forever been the measuring stick for performers to come later who really wanted to rock.   

Music documentarian Paul Ingles hosts the program, that includes top music writers commenting on the power of Little Richard's impact on a style of music that will never die.  Featured commentators are Anthony DeCurtis (Rolling Stone), Ann Powers (NPR Music), Ashley Kahn (NY Music Writer), and David Kirby (Little Richard Biographer).

May 24, 2020

"Country Music: A Film By Ken Burns" Radio Companion

The filmmakers behind "Country Music: A Film By Ken Burns" offer an inside view of how they created the documentary series and share highlights from what they discovered along the way.

For 8 years, a group of filmmakers and historians aimed their focus on country music. They discovered all they could about the artists, the traditions, and especially the songs. 

After gathering 101 interviews and thousands of pictures, they put together the PBS documentary "Country Music: A Film By Ken Burns."

In this special hosted by Jessie Scott, we'll hear a lot of the songs and talk with writer and producer Dayton Duncan, producer Julie Dunfey and director Ken Burns.

May 17, 2020

Intelligence Squared U.S.
Is the Defense Production Act Being Underutilized?

As health professionals and leaders around the nation rush to procure the supplies Americans need to combat coronavirus, we ask: Is the Defense Production Act being underutilized?  This little-known law, which dates back to the Korean War, gives the president vast authority to compel private companies to act in the interest of national defense. While President Trump has invoked the act in recent weeks, many are calling on his administration to use its powers much more broadly. They argue that the federal government must intervene in private industry to ensure life-saving supplies – like personal protective equipment and ventilators – are produced and distributed effectively. But others say that companies like GM and Ford will meet America’s needs without unnecessary and inefficient government overreach.

May 9, 2020

2020 Re:sound Specials from Third Coast
 

The Family Ties Show
This hour, stories about family ties, love and loss.

The Birth of Solomon
by Leila Day for The Stoop.
He was the perfect little brown baby. His name was Solomon. Thick curly hair, chubby legs and eyes closed with dark black lashes. Solomon's story is one that affects thousands of Black families whose babies are twice as likely to die before reaching the age of one, and Black mothers are up to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes. This story goes deep behind the statistic.

The Being Sound
by Stephanie Rowden for ShortCuts from BBC Radio 4.
Over the years, Stephanie Rowden has been chasing after her son's voice. The timbre and cadence always about to slip away, and into something new. She uses the microphone as a kind of butterfly net. If you're lucky, you catch a tiny miracle or two. Or perhaps one big riddle.

Give His Voice Back to Him
by Audrey McGlinchy for KUT.
In 2016, a black teenager was killed by an Austin Police officer. His name was David Joseph. He was 17 years old. A few months later, his cousin Vanessa Bissereth decided to do something about it.

Re:sound is a remix of documentaries handpicked by the Third Coast International Audio Festival.

May 2, 2020

May 4th Voices: Kent State 1970

The 67 shots that rang out at Kent State amid a May 4,1970 Vietnam War protest, killing four students and wounding nine, reverberate nearly 50 years later. Many historians see the shootings as the moment America turned, finally and forcefully, against the war.

The radio play May 4th Voices features first-person narratives and reactions to events leading up to, during, and after the tragic shooting.  Author David Hassler, using the Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories project's over 1200 pages of transcripts, assembled accounts from townspeople, students, protesters, faculty, National Guardsmen, and others to provide diverse viewpoints from those most intimately affected at Kent State and the surrounding community.

Twenty-two professional actors, including Tina Fey, Jeff Richmond, Ron West, Steve Byrne, and more, all with a connection to Kent either through their degrees, as faculty, or other association, have come together under the direction of Joe Gunderman, national voice artist and WKSU’s senior producer, to bring these eyewitness accounts to life.

Brian is a Spokane native who has been interested in sound technology ever since playing with a reel-to-reel deck as a kid. He learned radio broadcasting on KSFC, before it was part of Spokane Public Radio but still was part of the broadcasting program at Spokane Falls Community College. Brian also studied radio at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon, where he featured new age and fusion jazz on his own show. He admits that at heart he is a news junkie, which fits in well with his work Saturday mornings as regional host for NPR's Morning Edition.
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