On Demand
The Next Big Thing Archive
September 2002
Underground
Sunday, September 29, 2002
The Next Big Thing unveils our new Department of Transportation, a series featuring stories, music, urban myths and truths about the New York Subway. We begin the series with an investigation of controversial social psychologist Stanley Milgram’s little known “Subway Experiment.” Also, a whirlwind of rhythmic brass with Romani flourishes from the Boban Markovic Orkestar, straight out of Serbia, and the latest collection of story-worthy noises for this month’s Five Sounds in Search of an Author contest.
Alamo: A Radio Play
Sunday, September 22, 2002
It’s the world premiere of a new radio play by Rick Moody, about the characters, stories and theories that seem to gather at the base of a big, black cube in downtown Manhattan. Featuring, among others, Ethan Hawke, Miranda July and Larry Pine, this is no ordinary radio drama. It incorporates all kinds of sounds and voices - cell phone calls, answering machine messages, and the music and noise you find on city streets – a kind of cinema for your ears only.
Voices from Here and There
Sunday, September 15, 2002
We are visited by all kinds of unusual voices – from sound artist Miranda July, who makes up strange dialogues for ordinary people, to Jonathan Katz, who steals the show - literally. Also, the voices of women throughout China who, in the 1990s, dared to call and write daily talk show host Xinran and share their stories. And last but not least, the voices of...dogs?
A View from the Side
Sunday, September 08, 2002
The Next Big Thing travels along the edges of September 11th, where things are a little quieter. We make stops at an open marketplace in Brazil - to listen to reports of the attack in medieval verse form - and then visit the collective unconscious in Meg Wolitzer’s radio play “My Nightmares.” Jazz musician Matt Glaser invites us to consider the human race from the perspective of the little green men in space who discover the phonograph record aboard Voyager 1 with music from all corners of the earth. From the most far-reaching to the most intimate of perspectives, it’s all here, in this special edition of The Next Big Thing.
New York Labor Days
Sunday, September 01, 2002
The Next Big Thing is work. And not just any work, but work in professions that are fast disappearing. Meet Frank Sabatino, one of the last commercial fishermen in New York City, and Charlie Zimmerman, who makes his living up on the roof, constructing water towers. We’ve also got a cow bell maker, a bra saleswoman, a lighthouse keeper and more – all voices from our New York Works series, produced by Emily Botein and by Joe Richman of Radio Diaries.