The Next Big Thing

Big Ideas

Show #328

Friday, March 07, 2003

A chicken on the roof of every military humvee. Strings for each member of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. Solitary confinement. We consider these and other big, if not always good, ideas on this week’s show. Also, a trip back to the basement with a rock star has-been (or never-was). And a tour of the Museum of Celebrity Artifacts with unreliable narrator Alice Furlaud.

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Word Winner

Last week, The Next Big Thing held a “What’s Your Word” contest at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., in which lexicographer Erin McKean judged participants’ invented words. Meet the winner - John Metcalfe – and his word.

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A Chicken in Every…

The Marines have launched what’s been dubbed Operation Kuwaiti Field Chicken – the use of chickens for early detection of chemical weapons in the Persian Gulf. Wondering if perhaps he should follow suit on the domestic front, host Dean Olsher consults with a variety of poultry experts. Produced by Michael Kavanagh.

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Baghdad on My Mind

Jazz violinist Matt Glaser greatly admires the perseverance of members of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra in Baghdad, who frequently must rehearse, and even perform, without the benefit of heat or electricity. He wonders if he might enlist the support of Attorney General John Ashcroft, a musician himself, to send the orchestra much-needed music supplies.

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The Basement Tapes

Joel Topcik recently discovered a stash of his never-released recordings in a Converse shoe box in his parents’ basement. The tapes span nearly a decade and a half, dating as far back as 1979, when Joel was – well, 9 years old. He’s thinking the discovery might merit the release of a boxed set...
Produced by Julie Subrin.

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How You Know You’re an Adult

A poem by Steve Almond, author of the short story collection My Life in Heavy Metal.

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Celebrity Stash

These days, there seems to be a museum for everything – Barbie, sex, even mustard! The Next Big Thing’s “unreliable narrator,” Alice Furlaud, introduces us to the latest: the Museum of Celebrity Artifacts, whose attractions include discarded items from the likes of Jackie O. and Chairman Mao. Produced by Curtis Fox.

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Penitentiary

In Philadelphia, within sight of the downtown skyline, is what appears to be a decrepit castle. It’s actually the Eastern State Penitentiary, built in 1829 and shut down in 1971. During the early years of its operation, it was considered ground- breaking for its use of solitary confinement as a means of purifying the soul. Today it operates as, of all things, a museum. Dean tours the grounds with the museum’s program director, Sean Kelly. Produced by Amy Farley.