KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

A Life Sentence: Victims, Offenders, Justice, and My Mother by Samantha Broun This is a story about a terrible crime and everything that followed. It’s an intensely personal documentary , but it extends into public life and into the heart of our political and correctional systems. Some stories take a long time. This one is an hour long and took two and a half years to produce, after twenty years of living with it. In 1994, producer Samantha Broun 's 55 year old mother was the victim of a violent crime . On the evening of September 21st a stranger came into her backyard and attacked her. Five hours later, he left her lying on her bed. Hands and feet bound with tape. Alive. We now know the stranger was a serial killer  and Samantha's mother was his only surviving victim.

Message in a Bottle by Megan Williams We are introduced to the music and lives of two lost composers: Viktor Ullmann and Gideon Klein . Both men were imprisoned in Terezin , a "model ghetto" created by the Nazis. This is where many of Europe's greatest artists, musicians , and writers were held, and expected to continue to create and perform during the Holocaust. Now, more than 70 years later, some of Ullmann and Klein's music is being re-discovered in attics, under beds, and hidden in libraries around the world.

Shell Shock   from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening The rumble of artillery bombardment in Northern France could be heard  as far away as  Kent during the First World War. Up close in the trenches soldiers experienced a  sonic onslaught  that continued night and day: howling shells, the machine gun’s rattle, and the screams of injured men.  Professor Hendy  of the University of Sussex visits Flanders to relay  echoes  from the Front.  Radio Everywhere  from Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening Radio seemed like  magic  to begin with... then the Nazis exploited its  darker powers .  In the early days, listening to  radio  was an uncanny,  miraculous  experience. Amazingly, voices arrived out of thin air from hundreds of miles away. In time, the  radio  became a trusted part of family life - and by the 1930s and 40s, it was the perfect medium for  propag...

Maria, Lena and Me by Karla Murthy Maria Yudina was perhaps the greatest, most provocative Russian musician of the 20th century, though she was hidden behind the iron curtain from the Western world. Not only was her interpretation of classical music highly unorthodox, she performed fearlessly and lived as a maverick and eccentric rebel in all aspects of her life. Yudina became  a symbol of freedom during the most repressive years of the Soviet regime.   Ironically, d espite constantly challenging government authorities,  she is now most famously known as Stalin’s favorite pianist. In this radio documentary , you’ll hear record ings  of her as well as the legendary stories that have elevated Yudina to mythic status.

Happy Birthday, Ted!  Seuss stories read by Marvin Miller Today is the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel , author and illustrator of such beloved children’s books as “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” was born  in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904.  To celebrate the 112th birthday of the good " doctor ,"  we'll air a selection of his  dramatized stories including  Gertrude McFuzz, The Sneeches, Horton Hatches the Egg, and more. These tales are read by the famed Marvin Miller with accompaniment by Marty Gold and His Orchestra - each  is from a series of LPs  released on  Camden Records  in the late 60s. So, gather the family around the wireless for these timeless classics and enjoy yourselves. If you never did - you should! These things are fun and fun is good!