The Next Big Thing Archive

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May 2004

Frontlines

Friday, May 28, 2004

Commentary from the front lines: on Capitol Hill; at a dodgeball tournament for adults; at the Golden Trailer Awards ceremony; and among goats in Cheyenne, Wyoming. On a more serious note, host Dean Olsher considers the cost of war, taking into account the war dead on both sides of the front. Also this week, Dean goes people-watching with illustrator, children’s book author, and designer Maira Kalman.

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Perspective

Friday, May 21, 2004

What can we learn about human behavior by following the course of a man who stepped out of his life and observed it from the distance of a few blocks – over the course of twenty years? What can we learn about the world by studying bugs? What can we learn about the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq by looking at a chapter in Canadian history? According to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Paul Auster, Tom Eisner and others, a lot – as you’ll discover on this week’s show.

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Unsealed

Friday, May 14, 2004

Investigations of private and forgotten things. Food writers Matt and Ted Lee unwrap cheeses and open jars in their search for the oldest food in New York. We meet a public letter writer in Mexico City, called upon to fill out job applications, write school essays, and compose verse. And we eavesdrop on the secrets of people entering and leaving a public library. Also this week, the adventures of comedy duo Ahna Tessler and Lauren Engel, who make their way to L.A. with their Hollywood pitch.

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Channeling

Friday, May 07, 2004

We bring you the voices of the dead, but also the voices of birds, dogs, and … Zero Boy, a species unto himself. Blue Chevigny brings us the memories of people who lived in and around a psychiatric hospital founded in 1869. Actor Sam Waterston stands at the podium where Abraham Lincoln stood, and recites the hour-long political "stump speech" Lincoln gave there in 1860. Sound artist Pamela Z makes birdsongs. And Zero Boy is back to bring to life the "sound cartoon" scenarios presented to him by listeners.