As 2002 comes to a close, we've asked the WNYC staff to put on their critical thinking caps and consider some of the bright spots of the past year in the world of entertainment and the arts. They've selected five things that particularly captured their interest in 2002 - books, films, CDs, DVDs, videos, and other cultural experiences. Not surprisingly, the results are wildly diverse. We hope the following provides an interesting glimpse at some of the creative trends that defined the year - or at least, sparks some good water-cooler conversation.
Click on photos for background on the individual staff members.
More about the Five Favorites of 2002
|
 Kurt
Andersen
Host, Studio 360 |
| Theater |
Hairspray by John Waters
Mark O'Donnell, Thomas Meehan, Jack O'Brien, Marc Shaiman, and Scott Wittman
|
| | CD |
Happiness, by Fridge
|
| Film |
Spirited Away, directed by
Hayao Miyazaki |
| Book |
Atonement, by Ian
McEwan |
| Book
|
American Studies,
by Louis Menand |
|
 Oscar
Brand
Host, Folksong Festival |
|
Television
|
West Wing, NBC (The Decision To Run For Re-Election)
|
| |
Radio
|
NPR's Daniel Schor, Bush's
Speech To The U.N. |
|
Film
|
Analyze That
|
|
CD
|
Legacy, by Doc Watson (High Windy Audio) |
|
Book
|
Ben Franklin,
by Edmund S. Morgan |
|
 Amy
Eddings
Reporter, WNYC News; Contributor, National
Public Radio |
|
Theater
|
Hairspray
|
| |
Television
|
Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO
|
|
Book
|
Pope John XXIII:
A Penguin Life (Penguin Lives) by Thomas Cahi
|
|
CD
|
All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2
|
|
Film
|
Lord of the Rings
|
|
 Sara
Fishko
Host, The Fishko Files |
|
Book
|
Arnold Schoenberg's Journey,
by Allen Shawn |
| |
CD
|
Heifetz Rediscovered (RCA)
|
|
Book
|
Secrets, A Memoir of Vietnam
and the Pentagon Papers, by Daniel Ellsberg |
|
Book
|
Cut To The Chase,
by Sam O'Steen's as told to Bobbi O'Steen |
|
Film
|
Standing in the Shadow of Motown
|
|
|
 Hester
Furman
Music Director
|
| CD |
Strauss, Four Last Songs
(plus other songs); Soile Isokoski, soprano; Berlin Radio Sym Orch; Marek
Janowski (Ondine) |
| | CD |
Debussy, Pelleas et Melisande; Anne Sofie von Otter; Wolfgang Holzmair; Laurent Naouri; Orchestre National de France; Bernard Haitink (Naive) |
| CD |
Farnace (Antonio Vivaldi,
1727 complete; Franceso Corselli, 1739 fragments) Furio Zanasi, Adriana
Fernandez, Sara Mingardo; Coro del Teatro de la Zarzuela; Le Concert des
Nations; Jordi Savall (Alia Vox) |
| CD |
Schoenberg, Gurrelieder;
Karita Mattila, Thomas Moser, Anne Sofie von Otter, Philip Langridge, Thomas
Quasthoff, Berlin Philharmonic; Simon Rattle (EMI) |
| CD |
John Adams, Naïve and Sentimental
Music; Los Angeles Philharmonic Esa-Pekka Salonen (Nonesuch) |
|
|
 David
Garland
Host, Evening Music, Spinning on Air
|
| CD |
Finally We Are No One, Múm
(Fat Cat Records) |
| | CD |
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco
(Nonesuch) |
| CD |
The Golden State, Mia Doi
Todd (Columbia) |
| CD |
Reed Song, Will Holshouser
Trio (Clean Feed Records) |
| CD |
Faux-Jumeaux, Pierre-Yves
Macé (Tzadik Records) |
|
 Margaret
Juntwait
Host, Evening Music |
| CD |
Anne Sophie von Otter sings
Offenbach (Deutsche Grammophon) |
| | CD |
Richard Strauss Orchestral
Songs, Soile Isokoski (Ondine) |
| CD |
The Noel Coward Songbook,
Ian Bostridge (EMI) |
| CD |
The Gents, The Gentlemen
of the Chapel Royal (Channel Classics) |
| CD |
La Belle Marie: Songs to
the Virgin from 13th-century France, Anonymous 4 (Harmonia Mundi) |
|
|
Judith Kampfner
Cultural Reporter, WNYC News
|
| CD |
Turn the Heat Up, by Shemekia
Copeland (Alligator Records) |
| | CD |
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco
(Nonesuch) |
| Book |
The Bulgari Connection,
by Fay Weldon |
| Film |
The Quiet American |
| Book |
The Corrections, by
Jonathan Franzen |
|
|
 Brian
Lehrer
Host, The Brian Lehrer Show
|
| Book |
Empire City: New York
Through The Centuries, ed. by Kenneth Jackson and David Dunbar |
| | CD |
The Rising, by Bruce Springsteen |
| Live Performance |
Quartet for the End of Time,
by Olivier Messiaen, performed by Myung-Whun Chung, Paul Meyer,
Renaud Capuçon, Jian Wang at Weill Recital Hall, Nov. 23, 2002 |
| Op-Ed Piece |
The Cornification of America,
by Michael Pollen, New York Times, July 19, 2002 |
| Study Guide |
The New York State Fourth
Grade Reading and Math Prep Tests |
|
|
 Leonard
Lopate
Host, The Leonard Lopate Show
|
| Art Exhibit |
The Prints of Vija Celminsat
the Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| | Food Store |
DiPalo's Fine Foods (Italian
imports and a great selection of cheeses). They've moved recently to a larger
location at 200 Grand St. (at Mott St.) |
| Theater |
The Exonerated, 45 Bleecker
Theatre (near Lafayette St.) |
| CD |
Any record on which Ben Webster
played ballads |
| Book |
Hateship, Friendship,
Courtship, Loveship, Marriage short stories by Alice Munro (Vintage
paperback) |
|
|
 Brendan
McDonald
Host, Evening News
|
| Film |
Frailty, dir. Bill Paxton |
| | CD |
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco
(Nonesuch) |
| Book |
What Just Happened?,
by Art Linson |
| Theater |
TopDog/UnderDog, Susan-Lori Parks |
| Television |
Contest Searchlight, Comedy Central |
|
|
Kerry Nolan
Host, Weekend Edition Saturday and Sunday; Contributor,
National Public Radio
|
| CD |
The Rising, Bruce Springsteen |
| | Book |
The Case Against Lawyers,
by Catherine Crier |
| Book |
Nigella Bites, by
Nigella Lawson |
| Book |
Here Is New York, A Democracy
of Pictures |
| Live Performance |
Mission of Burma at Irving Plaza, January 2002 |
|
|
Dean Olsher
Host, The Next Big Thing
|
| Live Performance |
Tom Waits/Robert Wilson, Woyzeck
(Brooklyn Academy of Music) |
| | Live Performance |
Mahler Symphony #9; Boston
Philharmonic/ Benjamin Zander, conductor (Carnegie Hall) |
| CD |
Modernistic, Jason Moran
(Blue Note) |
| DVD |
Eat Drink Man Woman, by Ang
Lee (MGM/UA DVD) |
| Book |
Mapping Human History:
Discovering the Past Through Our Genes, by Steve Olson |
|
|
George Preston
Host, Overnight Music
|
| Live Performance |
Angeles Blancas Gulin's New York debut in Opera Orchestra New York's production of Marino Falliero |
| | Theater |
Metamorphoses on Broadway |
| Radio |
Soundcheck, WNYC |
| Film |
Frida |
|
|
|
John Schaefer
Host, Soundcheck, New Sounds, New Sounds Live
|
| CD |
Heathen, David Bowie (Sony) |
| | CD |
Arnold Schoenberg/Gurrelieder
(Simon Rattle/Berlin Philharmonic, et al.) (EMI) |
| Live performance/CD |
Osvaldo Golijov's Pasion
Segun San Marco (Hanssler Classics) |
| Live Performance/CD |
Tribute to Jerry Garcia featuring
Jorma Kaukonen |
| Book |
Catch Them Being Good,
by Tony Di Cicco (coach of the US Women's Soccer team) |
|
|
Jonathan Schwartz
Host, The Saturday Show and The Sunday Show
|
| Book |
Atonement, by Ian McEwan |
| | Film |
Talk To Her by Pedro Almodovar |
| CD |
Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim
(Nonesuch) |
| Theater |
Frankie and Johnny, by Terrence
McNally |
| Book |
The Corrections, by
Jonathan Franzen |
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