KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

Voices of a Lynching from Radio Diaries Poet and songwriter Abel Meeropol wrote the song Strange Fruit  after seeing a photograph of two black teenagers hanging from a tree. But a third boy escaped being lynched that fateful day, 80 years ago, in Marion, Indiana. James Cameron was believed to be the only African American to have survived a lynching. Decades later, a box of recordings was found in a basement. They contained the recollections of people who witnessed or took part in the events of that day. Tulsa's Slow Integration from This Land Press John W. Franklin is the grandson of an African American lawyer who survived the 1921  Tulsa race riot .  In this recording made for the series " Just Passing Through ," Franklin shares his grandfather’s memories of the race riot, his father’s memories of racism and his own memories of the beginnings of  racial healing  in Oklahoma. Picture a Box from The Memory Palace The incredible story of Henry ...

The Actress by Ruth Draper 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 - eventually leading to great fame and stardom. John Gielgud described her as "the greatest individual performer that America has ever given." In the mid-50's, when she was 70 years old, she finally reluctantly, submitted herself to be captured on tape . We will hear one of these brilliant recordings... On tour in Paris, a temperamental diva meets with a parade of callers . To some—the maid, her dog—she speaks French; while with others she employs heavily accented English. But when her impresario informs her that her favorite leading man will not be allowed to accompany her on an American tour, she displays her displeasure in a mellifluous Slavic-sounding tirade. Queens of Bollywood from Tablet Magazine Ruby Myers a.k.a.  Sulochana . Esther Abraham a.k.a. ...

The Music of Love by Dheera Sujan Where does timeless, brilliant, romantic music come from? In this program, pianist and astrologer  Gary Goldschneider discusses how the music inspired by great amorous passion - pieces such as the theme for Romeo and Juliet , or Wagner's Liebestod  - are perfect illustrations of Love's perfect partnership with death and suffering rather than long, happy marriages. Most of the great composers suffered when it came to their own love lives. So we wonder, can great art be created without that essential element of pain? Part of Vox Humana's series The Stars of Music.

The Search for Silence  from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening In the noisy modern world, silence has become an ever more desirable – and fashionable – state. We read books about it ; go on retreats to find it; and soundproof our living and working spaces in its name. But when we have it is it what we want ? In the final episode of the series, Professor David Hendy of the University of Sussex considers the modern quest for quiet and asks whether what really makes us humans happy is a little noise . Noise Retold by  Matthew Herbert  We will close our program with an epic sound-effect sound-scape.  Mr. Herbert ,  head of the New Radiophonic Workshop ,  retells the story of the Noise: A Human History by remixing the entire series using only the sounds themselves - sans narration. Matthew   is an e lectronic musician who is  perhaps most famous  for his controversial sound-art album ' One Pig. '