KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

Colonists  from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening The colonists liked to imagine that their new homeland was an empty wilderness -- but of course they weren't the first to live there.  Settlers arriving  in the 17th century decreed the songs and sounds of native American Indians to be bloodcurdling, barbaric, and wild . Professor  David Hendy of the University of Sussex   explores how f or many Native Americans sound itself was thought of as being alive. Shutting In  from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening In the eighteenth century, Edinburgh was one of most overcrowded cities in Europe. Narrow alleys separated looming tenement buildings, each housing multiple families. Individuals of very different classes and ways of life had to rub along in cramped conditions. We will squeeze in among them, to hear how a similar situation in Paris led to a surreal and brutal massacre of cats . 

Pay No Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain by Sarah Boothroyd A sound collage that mixes printing press rhythms and interview scraps that would usually be edited out of a journalistic radio segment , including material that draws attention to the technical and interpersonal machinations of reporting . It's a behind-the-scenes view of journalism, which is a process of editing and selecting, rather than transmitting a complete record to the public.  Do You Have a Minute for Equality? from The Truth A mysterious man offers the large donation a desperate street canvasser needs -- but it at a hefty price. The story was written by Chet Seigel , developed collaboratively by the Truth, with dialogue improvised by the actors. Performed by Chet Seigel , Tom Ligon ,  Melanie Hoopes  and directed by Jonathan Mitchell . Love Bombed from Bring Your Own Bring Your Own   is a live storytelling pop-up series that takes place in living rooms, backyards, and othe...

The Unusual Sound on Your Radio by Delaney Hall Resonance 104.4 FM is the world’s first radio art station, established by the London Musicians’ Collective. Its mission? To provide a radical alternative to the universal formula of mainstream broadcasting. You might tune in and hear Vietnamese pop music or machine noises or a man calling operators all over the world and trying to track down a phone number for the local zoo. Whatever you hear, station manager Richard Thomas hopes you'll be surprised. Or shocked. Or delighted . Or all three. The Sonic World of Nancy Scott by Sam Greenspan With the help of her mentor Alyce Ornella at   Spindle Works Co-Op , Nancy has begun to express her talents aurally.  There is an art to listening and sound artist  Nancy Scott 's ears are tuned to the sounds most of us  overlook .  Spindleworks is a non profit art center for adults with disabilities in Brunswick, Maine. While there Nancy spends her time there e...

Nick Drake died in 1974, a mostly unknown songwriter with three failed folk albums to his name. Fast forward to the present, and Drake is widely considered among the most important musicians of his era. In Three Records from Sundown, Charles Maynes retraces the roots of the Nick Drake legend through interviews with Drake’s producer Joe Boyd. To learn more about Nick Drake, check out stories from NPR  and The Guardian .