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Elsa DorfmanMemories in Pictures and Sound
We remember not only those who died in war, but also a Boston poet, a disappearing musical tradition, and old Penn Station. Also, portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman on using photos to preserve life. And writer Lawrence Weschler on the long-term consequences of the Vietnam Memorial.
White Card
In the 1960s, the next big thing in Amsterdam was white bikes, left unlocked on the street, for anyone to use and then leave for the next rider. Recently, a few lucky New York City subway riders were treated to a similar social experiment with a “use it and pass it on” Metrocard. It was the brainchild of Brooklyn musician John Keith, who took White Bike organizer Luud Schimmelpennink's vision to a whole new level.
Portraits of the Living
A day in the life of Elsa Dorfman, large-format Polaroid portrait photographer. She's photographed everyone from Pulitzer Prize winners to the shop owners in her neighborhood. For every subject, she tries to make her photos say two things: "this person lives" and "this person was here." Here are the pictures Elsa took during the sessions we recorded. Produced by Emily Botein.
Talking Trash
Heard on the street in New Orleans...garbage collector and filmmaker C.L. Taylor, sharing the ins and outs of the job, and of his films, all while tossing bags of trash into the back of a truck.
Two Reed Flutes and a Double Bass Drum
While the term Balkanization has come to mean ethnic strife, one of the few groups to avoid the tribal clashes of the last decades have been the Roma, also referred to as the Gypsies. Instead, Romani musicians have unconsciously worked as a kind of cultural glue in the region, keeping alive hybrid musical traditions of disparate cultures. Music critic Charlie Keil and his wife Angeliki have regularly visited the Roma community of Jumaya in Northern Greece over the last 40 years. They retell some of the stories they heard, accompanied by music and sounds collected by Steven Feld. The Keils and Feld collaborated on the book Bright Balkan Morning. Produced by Michael Kavanagh.
Old Penn Station
Forty years ago, the original Penn Station fell victim to demolition. The building was well-documented in photos, but few people know that there's another relic of the place - a documentary field recording intended for use in creating sound effects at a production house. And those sounds create a sense of place you just can't get from pictures.
About Himself
By the time Jim Dunn met him in Boston, poet John Wieners was well into his fifties, and prone to reclusiveness and mental instability. Nevertheless, Dunn befriended him - regularly accompanying him to readings, not to mention on trips to Burger King. Dunn, also a poet, shares his memories of Wieners, who died in March 2002 at age 68. Produced by Sean Cole.
About Memorials
Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial set a standard for war memorials that many believe has gone unmatched. But according to Lawrence Weschler, who runs the New York Institute for Humanities at New York University, she also established a view of war that has had profound--albeit unintended--historical consequences.
