On the 29th January 1942 the first ever
Desert Island Discs was broadcast. Surpassed only by the
Grand Ole Opry it is the second longest running radio show in history. Beautiful in its simplicity - each castaway is asked to choose eight pieces of music, a book and a luxury item for their imaginary stay on the desert island. For those who have not come across it before aquaint yourself with its iconic theme tune 'By the Sleepy Lagoon'
here. Then for newcomers and old hands aquaint yourself with the wonderful new
BBC website with searchable archives of 2852 episodes detailing castaways choices, and
now with more than 500 episodes available for free download.
posted by numberstation
on May 3, 2011 -
23 comments
19th-century newspaper ads for patented stomach cures and digestive aids [...] foregrounded mince pie as the K2 of digestive summits. But for every published warning on the dangers of mince, the newspapers published a poem, essay, or editorial praising it as a great symbol of American cultural heritage or a nostalgic reminder of mother love and better times bygone—or even, as the State of Columbia, South Carolina, asserted in 1901, a beneficial Darwinian instrument that had "thinned out the weak ones" among the pioneering generations.
So wrote Cliff Doerksen in his wonderful, James Beard award-winning article
Mince Pie: The Real American Pie. Doerksen not only gives the history of this once most American of foods, he also makes two mince pies from 19th Century recipes to see if they are indeed all that. This is but one of many great articles Doerksen wrote for The Chicago Reader in recent years (links to a selection below the cut). Sadly, Cliff Doerksen
passed at the age of 47 just before Christmas.
[more inside]
posted by Kattullus
on Dec 29, 2010 -
73 comments
MAN is one of a number of animals that make things, but man is the only one that depends for its very survival on the things he has made. That
simple observation is the
starting point for an
ambitious history programme that the BBC will
begin broadcasting on January 18th in which it aims to tell a history of the world through 100 objects in the British Museum (BM). A
joint venture four years in the making between the BM and the BBC, the series features 100 15-minute radio broadcasts, a separate 13 episodes in which
children visit the museum at night and try to unlock its mysteries, a BBC World Service package of tailored omnibus editions for broadcasting around the world and an
interactive digital programme involving 350 museums in Britain which will be available free over the internet. The presenter is
Neil MacGregor, the BM’s director, who has moved from the study of art to the contemplation of things. “Objects take you into the thought world of the past,” he says. “When you think about the skills required to make something you begin to think about the brain that made it.”
via The Economist [more inside]
posted by infini
on Dec 30, 2009 -
36 comments
The Tone Generation is a radio series by Ian Helliwell 'looking at different themes or composers in the era of analogue tape and early synthesizer technology'. The original globe-trotting series:
Great Britain,
France,
Germany,
Italy,
Holland,
Scandinavia,
Eastern Europe,
USA,
Canada,
Rest of World. Bonus programmes:
Expo 58,
The RCA Synthesizer.
All links are to MP3 files, except the first one. Alternatively, you can slurp down the lot in one go by subscribing to the podcast feed.
posted by jack_mo
on Nov 21, 2008 -
4 comments
Voices and Music of World War I and
Voices of World War II: Experiences From the Front and at Home both feature spoken word, sheet music and songs galore (all audio RealPlayer). The Great War site has plenty of stuff, but the core is the collection of songs,
anti-war,
patriotic,
France-themed,
Kaiser-knocking and so forth. The WWII site also has a whole bunch of music, demonstrating the changing mood of the US, from
conflicted feelings about the start of the war to
conflicted feelings about the atomic bomb. Among the artists are Nat King Cole, Leadbelly, Benny Goodman and Fats Waller. But in addition the wonderful songs there are newscasts, speeches, propaganda and other radio broadcasting of all kinds.
posted by Kattullus
on Oct 17, 2008 -
10 comments
Jean Shepherd has been mentioned
before but WFMU's
Beware of the Blog has finally dug out an mp3 of Shepherd himself telling
the story of "I, Libertine" (mp3 link) (
wiki).
I, Libertine was a literary hoax that began as a practical joke. Shepherd asked his listeners ("the Night People") to go into bookstores and ask for a book that didn't exist. Fueled by bewildered bookstore owners and distributors, I, Libertine eventually did end up as a genuine bestseller, proving his point that the process of choosing bestsellers was flawed.
posted by krautland
on Jun 29, 2008 -
11 comments
Phil Schaap has hosted a jazz program for the past twenty-seven years on
WKCR, Columbia University’s radio station with unapologetic passion and a depth of familiarity that comes, in part, from the personal relationships he had with the musicians themselves.
posted by semmi
on May 12, 2008 -
27 comments
So You Think You Hate Country Music? Then listen to this. The roots of American country music may surprise you. In this series of NPR programs, trace the gradual development of real country music through the first half of the 20th century. Learn how a woman's instrument of the late 1800s, the parlor guitar, became the the central symbol of country and rock; see how African-American musical forms like gospel and blues meshed with the development of country and early rock and influenced the traditional forms in turn; listen to German-Mexican hybrids of accordian style; find out why women had so many honky-tonk torch songs to sing in the late 40s. The series contains hours of content (narrative, interviews, music tracks), and a multitude of excellent links for deeper digging.
posted by Miko
on Feb 2, 2006 -
111 comments
Alan Cross is a name that is known in Toronto. He's the guy from 102.1 Edge who has the best rock'n'roll show in the business, called The Ongoing History of New Music. His knowledge is so encyclopedic it's creepy. He's personable. He's interesting. He's current. He's uber-cool. And you can either
podcast his shows or read them yourself. I'm no rock newbie, but I'm currently enjoying
Building A Record Library: Part I.
The History of Selling Out is interesting enough to provoke the question, did REM, Husker Du and Sonic Youth
really do it for the bling bling? Speaking of Husker Du, are they possibly the fathers of
Emo? Do yourself a favour: give him a listen and a read.
note: the site's a bit rough on the browser
posted by ashbury
on Apr 27, 2005 -
28 comments
TTT TTT TTT CQ DE NMO NMO STRY OF USCG RM2 HERMAN, J. DTY OP NMO 500KHZ, FRMR INTL CW CALL AND DISTRESS FREQ.
US CW WATCH ENDED 12-July 1999 WHEN KFS KPH
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posted by eriko
on Apr 24, 2005 -
18 comments
The recent post that revived the rude ‘
Rainbow’ kids show sketch reminded me of the our (that is, British) obsession with comic
double entendre - the ability to accept the filthiest things as long as there is a parallel innocuous interpretation. I think it is something to do our love for wordplay and subtext, our innate hypocrisy and the belief that sex is, in fact, rather naughty. Perhaps the prime example are the
Julian and Sandy sketches that ran on the BBC Radio show
‘Beyond Our Ken’ from 1964-69. Over Sunday lunch, millions (there was ONLY the BBC in those days) listened to two very camp characters saying outrageous things in
Polari (underground gay slang). A much earlier prime example is the
great dirty joke (it’s the one in blue at the bottom of the page) that got comedian Max Miller (died in 1963) banned from the BBC for 5 years. A more recent case of innuendo is, of course,
Mrs. Slocombe’s pussy. Of course the
double entendre can also be
unintentional.
posted by rolo
on Feb 27, 2004 -
8 comments
Quanto putas mihi stare hoc conclave ? That's "How many prostitutes does it take to change a lightbulb?" in Latin. No, actually it's "How much do you think I paid for this apartment?". Here's hoping, in the wake of the BBC's superb
The Roman Way series, written and presented by David Aaranovich, that good old Latin is on its way back, albeit in an Internet, soundbitey way. Those intending to smuggle some into MetaFilter should definitely start
here. The owner, for instance, might find
Ne ponatur in mea vicinitate useful - "Not in my backyard". And
Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione - "I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult" should prove popular in the God threads.
Vale!
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Feb 3, 2003 -
26 comments
