Show for April 24, 2011. Rising from the Ashes: Filmmakers David Hoffman and John Barrett.
Documentary filmmaker David Hoffman lost nearly everything he owned—including his huge film and art archive—in the fire that destroyed his home in 2008. But he was determined to salvage something from the ashes. A new documentary, Everything Which is… Yes, shows what he lost and what he found. I spoke to David Hoffman and the film’s director, John Vincent Barrett.
Click the “play” arrow above to listen to the interview, or download the MP3 here.
Everything Which is…Yes premiers at the Santa Cruz Film Festival on May 8, with a second screening on May 11. Showtimes and more info here.
Visit the Santa Cruz Film Festival website.
Show for March 20, 2011. No Regrets: Biographer Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf
Carolyn Burke’s previous two biographies—of the poet Mina Loy and photographer Lee Miller—documented the lives of trailblazing and under-recognized women artists. Her third effort, just released, takes on a much better-known subject. No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf sheds new light on the singer and her songs, looking past the Piaf legend to sketch a fuller portrait of France’s indispensable chanteuse. It may be impossible to really say what makes a great artist great, but Carolyn and I do our best in this interview, while listening to some examples from the Piaf canon. Subjects include Piaf’s guttersnipe beginnings, the French penchant for misérabilisme, her wartime exploits, her physical decline and final, improbable comeback.
Click the “play” arrow above to listen to the interview, or download the MP3 here.
Here’s a video of Piaf singing La Foule (The Crowd), one of Carolyn’s favorites, and mine, too:
Show for Aug 22, 2010. Planetwalker: The Pilgrimage of John Francis
For two decades, environmental activist John Francis wandered America on foot while keeping a vow of silence. Along the way, he got to know a side of himself and this country that few experience. An extraordinary travel story and a remarkable person. Interview originally broadcast August, 2009.
Click the arrow above to listen to the show. If you don’t have Flash player or have other playback problems, click this link for the MP3.
Wes Moore was a Rhodes Scholar on his way to a successful career when he learned of another Wes Moore, wanted by police for murder. He discovered surprising parallels in their early lives, before their paths diverged. He tells their two stories in his book, “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates.”
Click the arrow above to listen. If you don’t have Flash player or have other playback problems, click this link for the MP3.
Show for Feb 14, 2010. Against Infatuation: Essayist Terry Castle
Terry Castle takes on her own and others’ self-deceptions in her latest collection of hilarious, brutally honest essays, “The Professor and Other Writings.” Targets include sex, romance and youthful crushes. She and Robert do their best to burst as many bubbles as possible. The book jacket features one of Terry Castle’s many collages. See more. Editors note: I don’t think Terry Castle is “against infatuation,” but the Sontag allusion was hard to pass up…
Show for Jan 24, 2010: Tracy Kidder on Paul Farmer and Partners in Health
Following the Port-Au-Prince earthquake, the medical organization Partners in Health has played a key role bringing emergency aid to Haiti. On this edition of the show, we re-aired Robert’s 2003 interview with writer Tracy Kidder discussing PIH, its work in Haiti and its founder, Dr. Paul Farmer. Farmer was the subject of Kidder’s best-selling book “Mountains Beyond Mountains.”
Show for Dec 6, 2009. Private Wars: Tracy Kidder and Andrew Sean Greer
Two interviews from the archives: Tracy Kidder discusses his 2006 memoir, “My Detachment,” about the year he spent as a young army lieutenant in Vietnam. Novelist Andrew Sean Greer from 2008, on his most recent work: “The Story of A Marriage.”
To here the show, click the “Play” arrow above, or you can download the mp3 here.
