On Demand
The Next Big Thing
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Voices Raised
Show #430We start with voices on Capitol Hill, and end with music and conversation about prayer, featuring novelist Mary Gordon, singer/songwriters Maggie and Suzzy Roche, and ethicist Peter Singer. In between, we hear from one of the first female cops to patrol the streets of New York City, and from a community of Ivory Coast immigrants who have found both peace and conflict in West Philadelphia. And we drop in on record stores throughout Manhattan, where purveyors of great music talk about what’s playing.
Testimony
At the end of a week of heated debate on Capitol Hill regarding what the President did and didn’t know, we look back at an earlier era when senators had some rather sharp words to say on a similar subject.
Walking the Beat
In 1972, Detective Lucille Burrascano was among the first fifteen women police officers to patrol the streets of New York City. She and host Dean Olsher go back to her beat, the 77th Precinct in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to talk about what it was like to be a uniformed pioneer back then. Produced by Jill Krauss.
» New York City Police Museum website
Heard in a Record Store
A trip to some of New York City’s best record stores to find out what the folks who work there are listening to. Produced by Amanda Aronczyk. The playlist goes like this:
Casa Latina: Sonora
Ponceñas "Back to the Road"
A Classical Record:
Kan Ishiis ballet suite, "Marimo"
Karaoke Champ: "Toxic"
(the karaoke version) off the CD "Panorama's Top Hits Monthly - April 2004"
Other Music: Arthur Russells
Calling Out of Context
Pars Foods: Mortezas
"Colorful World"
Jazz Record Center:
Mike DiRubbo Quintet's "Human Spirit"
This Side of the Ivory Coast
Many immigrants from the Ivory Coast have made their home in West Philadelphia. Writer and political analyst Siddhartha Mitter visited recently, to offer this portrait of a new immigrant community. Produced by Michael Kavanagh and Emily Botein.
Singers and Writers
Recently, The Next Big Thing joined an eclectic group of musicians and writers for a live show, "I Could Write a Book: A Love Affair Between Words and Music." Here, some highlights, featuring novelist Mary Gordon and singer/songwriters Suzzy and Maggie Roche, who raise their voices in offbeat prayer. Recorded March 12, 2004, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space.
» Symphony Space website
» The Roches website
Prayer
If a stranger approaches you on the street and asks you if you pray, chances are, that person has an agenda for your soul. Yet, as Dean Olsher discovers when he tries asking the question (minus the agenda), people are remarkably open to answering. Here’s a random sample, from the streets of Queens, NY, as well as an argument against prayer, from bioethicist Peter Singer. Produced by Jamie York and Julie Subrin.
