KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

Sound and the Sea is a documentary exploring the name and place that is the body of water that runs from south of Seattle to north of Vancouver and out to the Pacific Ocean, currently known by a number of names depending on where you are (including Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia and Juan de Fuca Strait). Its companion piece, Ode to the Salish Sea , is a composed documentary honoring that same body of water. In the past few years a new name, the Salish Sea, has gained increasingly common usage, used in publications by area residents, marine biologists, First Nations/Native Americans, and even Parks Canada, the Government of Canada's national park department. This informal use of a name that honours the area’s original inhabitants, the Coast Salish nations, has developed into a movement to officially add the name to the waters (without doing away with their current names). A note from producer Paolo Pietropaolo: "I gathered materials for the documentary by making f...

Shortcut to the North Pole by Peter Bochan   Shortcuts is a theme-oriented audio extravaganza with no narration that has been airing on numerous public radio stations for over forty years. It's a splice-of-life montage which mixes music, film dialogue, press conferences , news, commercials, sound effects, and other sources. This holiday installment was produced in 1975 and features Gene Autry, Bing Crosby, The Chipmunks , Howdy Doody, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Laurel and Hardy, Martin Mull , The Firesign Theatre, Otis Redding, Elvis Presley, The Who, The Boss, George Bernard Shaw, among many more.

The Story of Star Wars from Superscope Roscoe Lee Browne brilliantly narrates an abridged, tighter version of the events depicted within A New Hope. Many listeners feel this condensed retelling rivals (and may even best) the silver screen's theatrical release -- including me. The script was faithfully adapted by E. Jack Kaplan with  Cheryl Gard and uses dialog, music, and sound effects from the original film. George Lucas himself is said to have overseen t he project with the aid of  Alan Livingston (the children's record pioneer who created Bozo the Clown, Rusty in Orchestraville , and signed both the Beatles and Sinatra to Capitol.) We will be playing the 1977 album in it's entirety over two weeks. Side A, which takes us up to the Millennium Falcon's arrival at the Death Star , will air on December 9th. "A dark presence enters the ship. The ominous commander of the Imperial forces, Darth Vader, tall, and threatening in his black helmet, flowing black cap...

Trapped on the Wrong Side of History by Richard Paul  In 1939, Mary Kimoto Tomita , an independent-minded farm girl from outside Modesto, CA took a long trip to Japan to learn the language and culture of her ancestors. However, on December 5th, 1941, during her seemingly routine voyage back home, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and her ship reversed course. She was now stranded in the middle of a bloody war between the country of her birth and the country of her heritage. Trapped in Japan for the duration of World War II, Mary would experience deprivation, danger, and cultural collision. This story -- told through Mary’s personal reminiscences and letters from the time -- is a rare account of an unexplored side of WWII history.

Mind Over Marketing by Michele Ernsting From the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, we are bombarded by advertisements carefully designed to seduce our senses. This 24-hour marketing culture permeates all areas of our lives. But is there a way to protect ourselves from this onslaught ? This program offers some unusual solutions from three very different experts:  Theo Poiesz is a professor of marketing at university of Tilberg in the Netherlands,  Dr. Susan Blackmore is the author of “ Consciousness, an Introduction ” and Patricia Ramaer who is a modern day shaman that teaches meditation.

Revolution and War   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening In  Paris  1789, politics moves out of the palaces and into the streets... as the  hushed voice  of court diplomacy gives way to the  angry howls  of the crowd.  Professor David Hendy of the University of Sussex  introduces the noises of  revolutionary Paris , before traveling to the USA to explain how an ' acoustic shadow ' helped the Confederate forces launch a surprise attack during the American Civil War. Plus, the  eerie sound of the ' rebel yell .' The Conquering Engines   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening Henry David Thoreau is one of his history’s  great listeners . His classic work ‘ Walden ’ is dense with descriptions of the  natural sounds  he discovered when he swapped his Concord home for a simple cabin in the woods. But his peace was disturbed by a  penetrating noise  that presaged the age to come...

Messages from a Forgotten Troopship  by Kelley Libby and Allison Quantz In the 1960s, it took almost three weeks to cross the sea from America to Vietnam . Three weeks for young men in crowded cabins, with salt water showers and absolutely nothing to do but think: about home, about the war, and about what’s next . For some, it was a roundtrip journey; others never made it home. We'll hear three stories from and about soldiers who all traveled on a single troopship, the General Nelson M. Walker . Through found tape and contemporary interviews, we recreate the troopship and capture the moments outside of combat - three weeks there, and for the lucky ones, three weeks back. Produced with help from the  Vietnam Graffiti Project for With Good Reason .

Bikini Kill. Sleater-Kinney. We celebrate the Riot Grrrrl movement with stories featuring Kathleen Hanna, critic Greil Marcus' celebration of Bikini Kill and one gay boy's personal tale of how Riot Grrrls saved his life. Oh, and guess what else? We've got tickets to the upcoming Sound Unseen festival feature Revolution, Riot Grrrl Style . It screens Nov. 15 at Bryant Lake Bowl.

The Hand of Fate from Tales of the Frightened Boris Karloff recites us a spooky tale from mystery writer Michael Avallone . Recorded in 1963. A Cold Freezin' Night by Katie Mingle Was it just a dream? The story of a chance meeting with "the enigmatic man." Why We Tell Ghost Stories by Michael Kraskin David Terry of UNC- Chapel Hill describes the narrative structure of ghost stories and why we are drawn to them. True Vampires by Eric Molinsky Twilight, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries – there seems to be no end to the vampire craze . But the existence of real vampires isn’t so glamorous . Actual vampires are nothing like the ones we see depicted in movies like Dracula. In fact, most of them are just trying to get by. Melaina Hates Clowns from Columbia College Radio Some scary things are fun, others can be kinda disturbing, and then there's terrifying clowns . For student producer Melaina de la Cruz, facing her coulrophobia  was one of the hardest,...

Night Frights from Vox Humana It’s the middle of the night. You wake up with a start. There’s a presence in the room -- watching you. You sense that it is evil . But you are paralyzed and powerless. It’s your worst nightmare. Is there help? Producer Michele Ernsting explores the strange and surprisingly common condition of sleep paralysis with Dr. Al Cheyne , a leading expert on the subject and several victims of “night frights."  KFAI will be broadcasting this double dose of the Listening Lounge in lieu of Art Matters  this evening. Night Frights will air at 7pm. Painting:  The Nightmare  ( 1781) by Henry Fuseli.

Murder Is a Lonely Business from Murder at Midnight A study of crime by a difficult duet written by William Norwood. Originally broadcast December 16th, 1946 on the Mutual Network . This episode stars Helen Shields, Wendell Holmes , & Carl Emery. It was directed by Anton M. Leder, hosted by Raymond Morgan, and features the effective creepy organ stylings of Charles Paul . "Midnight, the witching hour when the night is darkest, our fears the strongest, and our strength at its lowest ebb. Midnight, when the graves gape open and death strikes."

Birds of a Feather from Israel Story Every summer tourists flock to the beautiful beaches of Eilat, Israel . But a new kind of tourist has made its way down south: crows . This invasive species wreaks havoc during the summer months. During June alone, the municipality hotline received over 60 calls reporting crow attacks . The city needed to do something - that's where Yoram comes in, Eilat's first hit man for crows. Do Crows Mourn Their Dead? from Here Be Monsters When a bird dies, crows swarm, squawk loudly and gather as many feathered friends as they can to come and see the dead body. Much of what we know about "crow funerals" comes from the work of John Marzluff , a biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. He and grad student Kaeli Swift are trying to get to the bottom of these strange phenomena . Producer Jeff Emtman examines the strange behaviors of crows and how they might be able to teach humanity about the origins of funerals and e...

Master and Servant   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening Grand town houses in the eighteenth century seemed to promise privacy. But in fact they offered anything but – the family home often included not just parents and children, but also elderly relatives, unmarried sisters, paying lodgers, and the nosiest neighbors of the lot… the servants . Professor   David Hendy of the University of Sussex  eavesdrops on the whispers, gossip and scandal of the eighteenth century house, and tells the salacious tale of John Burt, a navy captain from Canterbury, who took his young wife Harriet to court for impropriety - on the evidence of his cook.   Slavery and Rebellion  from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening Many slaves would have heard the  sounds  of home for the last time as they waited at Ghana’s  Gate of No Return  for a  ship  to the new world. Far away on the Carolina plantations they were expected ...

The first episode of our  Pledge Drive  brought the triumphant return of crack reporter, Mr. Todd Melby! He played for us some of his most recent pieces from his acclaimed  Black Gold Boom  series. In our coming show, we will spin a few short favorite docs that we've aired over the past year. Tune in, enjoy the show, and please make a donation -- b ig or small, each pledge is extremely important to us. You can contribute online right  here  or y ou can give us a call at  612-375-9030   and show your endorsement of truly public, listener-supported, independent community radio!

Fear on the Inside: A Story of Domestic Violence from Long Haul Productions According to the CDC one out of three American women will experience some form of domestic abuse at some point in their life. Dan Collison has one such story in Chicago. He brings us a woman's audio diary recorded over one week in 1994 as she attempted to escape a physically and emotionally abusive marriage . The document begins three days after her estranged husband has threatened to kill her and their baby at gunpoint.

Work in Progress by Zak Rosen Detroit is in the midst of an economic and cultural revolution, “as awesome as the transition from Hunting and Gathering was to Agriculture 11,000 years ago and from Agriculture to Industry a few hundred years ago," says Grace Lee Boggs . We'll explores how in Detroit's underclass, out of creativity, necessity, and compassion, a new idea of Work is emerging.  Entrepreneur by Jesse Dukes Adam Johns is a self-styled entrepreneur . These days, that means digging for bloodworms at thirty cents a worm, or anything else to make a quick buck. Adam is frustrated by his circumstances and worried that he might not even be able to dig worms anymore. Even so, he still manages to laugh at life sometimes.

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 ...

The Wanderings of an Icon from Vox Humana The Volga Boatmen, who worked as human beasts of burden hauling barges along Russia's rivers, eventually became folk icons, portrayed in literature, music and painting as heroic symbols of the Russian soul . This program traces the story of the Volga Boatmen in art, starting with Ilya Repin's painting of the Barge-Haulers in the Russian Museum in Saint-Petersburg. An interview with art historian David Jackson of Leeds University explains how Repin hit upon the subject and went to the village of Shiryayevo to sketch the men at their work. We also look at the theme in Russian literature and at the large number of musical compositions inspired by the Song of the Volga Boatmen , from Balakirev, Glazunov and Tchaikovsky to Chaliapin, Stravinsky and even Glenn Miller . The motif of the Volga Boatmen illustrates how generations of artists have created a Russian folk icon out of an unlikely subject.

Road Dogs   by Elias Schutzman Have you ever heard of a "Road Dog?" It's what they call long-haul truckers. It's also what they call touring musicians. The difference is that when a trucker gets home, he takes a nap; but when a musician returns, he goes back to his day-job.  Elias Schutzman  is a road-dog of the latter variety; working as a waiter and sometimes radio producer. Tonight, he  brings us a profile of pieman and fellow touring musician , Lazlo Lee . Eyes In South America   by Elias Schutzman This March, the  Baltimore  rock band  The Flying Eyes  took off on a two week tour through Brazil and Argentina. The band had toured extensively in the States and Europe before - but this was their very first time playing in South America. Drummer Elias Schutzman brought along a portable recorder and chronicled the experience for us in this audio-postcard.

Deadly Force: Police Shootings in Black and White  from Making Contact  Why are so many of those killed by police young people of color? A recent ProPublica investigation found that a young black male is at twenty one times greater risk of being shot dead by police than his white counterparts. We’ll hear from one of the reporters who analyzed the data on police killings to come up with that startling conclusion , as well as stories of family and community members who say the justice system itself needs to be put on trial. This documentary also features audio segments from the film Arresting Power .

Carnival   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening Feast  days  in Medieval Europe were noisy affairs – the streets filled with processions, animal baiting, games and mystery plays. Professor  David Hendy of the University of Sussex  tells the story of a Somerset town where a ‘ church ale ’ got out of hand and the party went on for eight weeks. Then, as now, being  raucous in the streets  was a way for the dispossessed to literally  make themselves heard  – and revelry could easily tip into revolt. Restraint   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries brought a new emphasis on  self-discipline  in every day life – and with it a revulsion against  noise  of every kind. City authorities banned singing and feasting from public squares and tore down  maypoles , while town-dwellers raised  petitions against noisy neighbors . Spitting, snorting ...

The Deadly Debt Matter from Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar  This week we bring you a classic radio drama from "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar!"  Johnny was a smart enough  insurance investigator but, at making out his expense account, he was a genius. A fella who could pad said expense account with the very best of them. It is hard to believe this premise made for great radio - but apparently it did. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar had a stunning stretch; airing for over 12 years on the CBS Radio network. There were 811 episodes created, of which a remarkable 720 still exist. In our program, Johnny Dollar is played by Bob Bailey  and co-stars Sam Edwards and Virginia Gregg. It was written, directed, and produced by Jack Johnstone of Buck Rogers and The Adventures of Superman fame. The Deadly Debt Matter was originally broadcast on August 28th, 1960. 

The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans from The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes We open to a smothering fog and the great detective lamenting the current lack of crime in London. But happily the game is soon afoot! In a very rare appearance, Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, begs help with a dire case that threatens the very security of England. It is the mysterious death - an apparent suicide - of government employee Cadogan West. His body found in the dark tunnels of the Underground and alarmingly in possession of stolen top secret documents, of which three essential pages are missing!  This production stars the  quintessential acting team of  Basil Rathbone with Nigel Bruce  and is based on the short story by  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  first  published  in 1908; later appearing in  Doyle's 1917 book " His Last Bow ." Program originally broadcast November 6th, 1939.

Vulnerable Adult by Amy Salloway Very special guest host Kevin Allison  brings us a true tale boldly told at RISK! Live's last appearance here in the Twin Cities. Local performer  Amy Salloway  tells us about the time she was asked to write a stage musical regarding traumatic brain injuries. Along the way she reveals her own struggles with failure and self-loathing. This was recorded at the Brave New Workshop on  December 4, 2014.  RISK! is a podcast  where folks share their most personal experiences - intimate moments from their lives which they thought they'd never dare to share - often hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking.  RISK! LIVE returns to Minneapolis this Friday night at 7:30. You can find out more information & get your tickets here . The theme for the evening is Shock .

Tuning the Body  from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening In the  Middle Ages  sound played a key role in the battle between Good and  Evil . There were horrible sins of the tongue - idle words, boasting, flattery, lying, and blaspheming – as well as sins of the ear:  eavesdropping  and the seduction of devilish words. The ears were the gateway not just to the body, but also the soul.  Professor David Hendy  of the University of Sussex considers the importance of  noise  to Medieval morality. Heavenly Sounds   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening Worshippers in the Middle Ages would have been struck not just by the visual spectacle of  great churches  and  grand cathedrals , but also their sound. Medieval churches in the west had very different acoustics to the low-roofed, wattle and daub homes where most of their congregation lived.  David  explores how preachers and singers cre...

Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue from Joyride Media In 1977 Pacific Ocean Blue became the first solo LP to be released by a member of the legendary Beach Boys. Dennis , the band's surfer, drummer and free spirit, emerged from the shadow of his older brother, pop genius Brian Wilson , and shocked everyone with a sound and style unlike any other. Today, it stands as cult-classic. Throughout this one-hour special, Dennis Wilson's friends and family recall how he developed his musical voice - one that was full of surprises, but also one that reflected Wilson's dark, moody, hard and fast lifestyle .  Plans for an even grander follow-up album, Bambu, were left unfinished at the time of his drowning death in 1983, but many songs from those last sessions were filled with a hopefulness that belied his tragic decline.

Inside the Adoption Circle from Transom Adoption reveals some profound but basic aspects of the human story. It’s an act of caring, love and bravery. An emphatic and ancient statement about human nature, it is also rife with questions about identity. Producers Viki Merrick and Samantha Broun wanted to get to the personal stories that live inside those questions. They recorded first-person voices from all sides of adoption. Stories about living with questions and searching for answers. In this special hour-long episode we hear from birth families, adoptees , and adoptive families including  instances of   both open adoption and international adoption.

Bringing My Father Home by Will Coley Will stumbled on an article in the New York Times about the upcoming anniversary of the Southern Flight 242 accident . It was on that flight, when Will was seven years old, his father died in a commercial plane crash . He already knew of course, it’s a fact he simply grew up knowing, but Will had always been reluctant to learn the details about the disaster that took his father away from him. 15 years later he was finally ready to visit the crash site. Will also chose this pilgrimage as his first ever  radio project . It was a big, difficult journey and took far longer than he'd expected, in part because it was so deeply personal . Tonight, we hear the results of his search.

The Ecstatic Underground  from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening The sound-world of the first Christians was filled with the subdued voices, measured singing and solemn prayers that would later  echo  through the medieval churches and cathedrals of Western Europe. Early Christians needed to be quiet to avoid persecution - but they often weren't.  David Hendy  explores the  ecstatic sounds  of the underground in ancient Rome. The Bells   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening In the Middle Ages the peal of the  church bell  was one of the most dominant features of the soundscape. Every time it rang out, religion’s hold over the  secular world  was signaled loud and clear. Professor Hendy of the  University of Sussex  visits one of the oldest church bells in the UK and explains that the sound’s power lay in ancient, pagan associations. Inscriptions written on  bells  were understood t...

As a brain scientist, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is an expert on strokes – especially her own. In “Split Brain,” she gives a fascinating and terrifying personal account of her own life-altering stroke. When it struck, she knew exactly what was happening, and watched as one function after another shut down. In this production with “Love + Radio,” she shares the experience in vivid detail.

The Noisy, Everyday World of Ancient Rome   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening As the Roman empire grew,  the city sucked  in exotic goods, tastes, smells, and, --of course--  sounds  from all around the world. In mindbogglingly narrow street-ways you'd find b ellowing animals, street-hawkers, the babble of a  dozen languages ; some inhabitants loved this  sensory over-load , but others ran from it.  What would we have heard had visited the city in its heyday? And  here could Romans go to get some peace? The Roaring Crowd   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening Professor David Hendy   of the University of Sussex  travels from  the  barrage of sound  that was  the  London Olympics  to the ruins of the  Roman Colosseum . He will explain to us the  visceral impact and  power of the collective crowd: how it  showed approval ... and what ...

Prison and Pregnancy by Audrey Quinn The United States incarcerates six times as many women as it did thirty years ago. Many of these women are already mothers , and four percent of incarcerated women enter prison pregnant. What happens to the babies born in the correctional system? What happens to the children left behind, as their mothers serve out their sentences ? Visiting a Prison Nursery by Shannon Heffernan What happens when a women gives birth behind bars ? Usually those babies are sent home with family members or put into foster care. But some prisons are trying an alternative: prison nurseries. Reporter Shannon Heffernan spent six months visiting a prison nursery in Decatur, Illinois, to find out how the experiment in keeping families together, at least for the infancy stage, is working .

Foster Care Teen Talks With Her Biological Mom from Curie Youth Radio As a ward of the state, Shantaye has lived in 17 places in the last 14 years. She's been removed from her mother's care twice. Now a senior in high school , she feels ready to have an adult conversation with her biological mother . And wants to know what exactly was her mother was thinking while Shantaye was bouncing around?  She's Just Like Me from Outfront  When Leah was just a baby , her mother Marilyn died of cancer. Her father eventually remarried and Leah has never really asked her family about Marilyn, because she didn't want to bring up painful memories . But she's always felt that something was missing. Now, over thirty years later, she seeks out her mother's best friend to find out about the mother she never knew. Sean Lennon interviews Yoko Ono from StoryCorps Often, the pair are asked about Sean 's famous father , but in this conversation , Sean had a chance to ask ...

Epic Tales   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening In 1933, a young classics scholar called  Milman Parry  made a journey through the hill villages of the Balkans to record poets and singers. He captured an oral tradition that's all but died out - peasant performers who recited  epic tales  over days from memory without any form of prompt.  We'll learn how these ancient tales were  remembered  and passed down, and travel to the ancient  Theatre of Epidaurus  in Greece. Featuring archive extracts of traditional stories from the Balkans, Kyrgyzstan, West Africa, and India. Persuasion   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening From  Cicero  to  Martin Luther King, Jr. , over the centuries,  great orators  have changed our minds,  given us hope , and sent us to the barricades. Professor  David Hendy  of the University of Sussex  reveals their rhetorical tricks, a...

Voices of the Stringtown Poetry Workshop from Abby Wendle In the late 1970's, Mary McAnally led a poetry workshop for the inmates at Stringtown Prison in Oklahoma . She taught at the prison twice a week for three years, helping many of the prisoners get published in literary journals across the country. In this segment, we hear McAnally discuss the movement to rehabilitate prisoners. We also hear two of the prisoner poets, Milton Gracen and William "Indian Bill" Hogner, read and discuss their poetry. Warrior Poets by Samara Breger Clearly there is a need to increase understanding between cops and the communities they serve. And so t he Portland Police Department recently faced down a daunting task: writing poetry. Local performance artist Marty Pottenger wished to harness the transformative power of poetry to bring officers more in touch with their emotions, improve moral, and change preconceived notions about them. It should also make them better at their jo...