Everybody Is Looking for a Better Place

A fresh look at Hans Christian Andersen's story the Ugly Duckling. Online romance that has nothing to do with the internet. A visit from activist lexicographer Erin McKean, who sets her sights on Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. And new songs from musical guest Nina Nastasia.

Henry's Horoscope Hotline
Astronomers are still working to understand the particularities of Sedna, the "tenth planet" (or "planetoid," depending whom you ask), which was discovered a year ago. Meanwhile, inquiring minds want to know: what impact is Sedna having on astrology? Next Big Thing contributor Henry Alford is on the case.

Ugly Ducklings
It's not easy being an outsider. Sometimes, you just want to be among your own. That may be the lesson of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "The Ugly Duckling," and it's a lesson that seems to resonate with our Danish reporter Pejk Malinovski, who went to Central Park in search of fellowship.

Living Room Concert
Host Dean Olsher takes a trip to a tiny apartment where singer/songwriter Nina Nastasia writes and practices her songs amidst the din of New York City. In this salon-like setting, Nastasia performs a few new songs for The Next Big Thing. Nina's last album was "Run to Ruin." Produced by Jamie York.

Wired Love
In 1879, a telegraph operator named Ella Cheever Thayer wrote a novel about an online romance between two telegraph operators, titled (appropriately enough) Wired Love. Writer Paul Collins, who publishes lost and forgotten books as editor of the McSweeney's Collins Library imprint, researched the novel and its author. He introduces several excerpts, which are performed here by actress Eliza Foss. Produced by Julie Subrin.

Finding Morse
The Morse code taps heard in our Wired Love dramatizations were provided by Mel Schneider, vice president of the Kings County Radio Club. For years, Schneider has been using Morse code and other forms of ham radio communication to make contact with people throughout the world, all from a little room on the second floor of his house in Brooklyn. He invites Dean over for a demonstration. Produced by Julie Subrin.

Use It or Lose It, Part I
Oxford American Dictionary editor and consummate word pusher Erin McKean is back to foist endangered words on high-profile writers and the like. This week's victim: singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt, founder of the Magnetic Fields.

Scrapbooking
You know an activity has reached fad status when it manages to convert a noun into a verb — as in "to scrapbook." Next Big Thing contributor Charlie Schroeder decided to find out what the fuss is all about, by attending a scrapbooking workshop in the L.A. suburb of Monrovia. Produced by Amanda Aronczyk.

Experimentum Mundi
From the sounds of everyday life in the small village outside Rome where he grew up, composer Giorgio Battistelli created music for an orchestra made up of artisans from that village - the barrelmaker, the cobbler, the pastry chef, and so on. The extracts here are taken from a longer piece by Robyn Ravlich of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

WNYC archives id: 43810