KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

Long before fans got excited about Joe Mauer, they admired Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio . In this edition of The Lounge, we head out to the ballpark for a variety of baseball stories and songs. And one cool essay on something called "Spring Skiing" by the remarkable Scott Carrier. We begin with a trip to a minor league park in Sacramento, followed by the song "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio" and a collage of interviews with Chicago Cub fans. And then we have a three-piece tribute to Jackie Robinson. So sharpen those spikes, put relish on your hot dog and tune in.

Monologist Ruth Draper meticulously studied the people around her. She then spun these observations into rich, droll, poignant one-person sketches, which she presented at parties. She went on to travel throughout the United States and Europe performing on Broadway and at the invitation of royalty. In the mid-50's, when she was 70 years old, she finally reluctantly, submitted herself to be captured on tape. We will hear two of those very few recordings. A German Governess with a Class of Children An early work of Draper's, and one she continued to perform until the end of her career. Draper claims only two of her characters were based on real people, and this was not one of them. That said—she was indeed educated by a German governess. Doctors and Diets Four women are lunching at a chic midtown restaurant. All are on diets. While Draper portrays only one of them, we are convincingly transported right into their midst. Cures are hyperactively discussed, physicians cheerily laude...

Chelsea Merz, a reviewer on Public Radio Exchange, describes "Hollow Valley" this way: " Missing toes, internal hemorrhaging, black lung, eating flour and sugar for dinner: the life of West Virginian miners. This sounds straight out of Steinbeck, and like Steinbeck Helen Borten explores the economic problems of rural labor, the political power of the bullying coal industry." This documentary, produced by reporter Helen Borten, explores the implications of coal mining in West Virginia.