Show for Oct. 16, 2011. Remembering Frank Kameny
As mentioned in an earlier post, I was saddened to learn this past week that gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny had died. For today’s show I replayed my 2010 interview with Frank, in which he looked back on his life as an activist. This is a somewhat longer cut of the original 2010 broadcast. In part 2 of the show, more on the subject of political activism and the sacrifices it sometimes calls for: an excerpt from a 2009 interview with former track star John Carlos, who talks about the famous black power salute he and fellow medalist Tommy Smith gave at the 1968 Olympic Games.
You can download the MP3 here (if using a Mac, control-click the link and choose “Save Link As…” If using a PC, right-click and choose Save Target As…”)
Frank Kameny, 1925 - 2011
I just got the unwelcome news that Frank Kameny died yesterday. Frank was an early leader of the gay rights movement in the US, an extremely effective activist, and certainly one of the most important civil liberties trailblazers that most Americans have never heard of. Aware that he’d been staging Fourth of July demonstrations for gay equality as far back as the mid-1960s, I interviewed him on my July 4, 2010 show. He was 85 at the time we spoke, feisty and funny and trenchant as ever. I had hoped to speak to him again. Regrettably, I never got the chance. But I’m grateful for the one conversation we did have, which you can hear below. The interview with Frank starts around the 32-minute mark.
You can download the MP3 here (if using a Mac, control-click the link and choose “Save Link As…” If using a PC, right-click and choose Save Target As…”)
Pledge Drive Continues: Still Time to Give
Many thanks to those of you who made contributions during our pledge drive show yesterday. Same to all who’ve pitched in during this drive. And to those of you who haven’t (yet), there’s plenty of time. Just call 888-777-1507 or go to KUSP.org. It’s soooo easy. And tell them what your favorite shows are.
On yesterday’s 7th Ave Project, we aired some choice bits from the past year’s shows. An accidental (and pledge drive-relevant) throughline emerged. If you want to hear the full stories from which the segments were taken, here are the links:
- Knowing you’re right, before the majority does: interview with Frank Kameny, gay rights pioneer
- Knowing you’re right, even when you aren’t: Political Scientist Brendan Nyhan on people’s resistance to facts
- Dying for love: conversations from Juvenile Hall
- A change of heart: an ex-con looks back on his 38 years in prison (voices from the Poetic Justice Project)
- War without end: evolutionary biologist Barry Sinervo on genetically-driven competition among lizards
- Breaking the vicious cycle: neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky and the baboon commune
- War, peace and music: David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet on Alexandra Vrebalov’s …hold me, neighbor, in this storm…
Show for Jan 2, 2011. Comedy from the Inside: Paul Provenza
Comedian and humor maven Paul Provenza returns to the 7th Ave Project. We discuss the recent history of comedy and Paul’s Showtime series The Green Room, in which he and fellow comics engage in freewheeling conversation, riff off of each other and occasionally argue (in a very entertaining way). The Green Room enters its second season in 2011. Here’s the website. And here’s a link to our previous show with Paul and photographer Dan Dion, discussing their book Satiristas.
Click the “play” arrow above to listen to the interview, or download the MP3 here.
Show for Nov. 28, 2010: Todd Gitlin—Israel, America and the Idea of Chosenness
Historian and cultural critic Todd Gitlin examines the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel and concludes that it goes deeper than geopolitics. He says the two countries have been shaped by a shared sense of heavenly purpose, a messianic belief that God is on their side. We discuss his new book The Chosen Peoples: America, Israel and the Ordeals of Divine Election, co-written by Liel Leibovitz.
Click the “play” arrow above to listen, or download the MP3 here.
Show for May 2, 2010. Political Scientist Brendan Nyhan; Wealth Reporter Robert Frank
Two entertaining, eye-opening and unsettling conversations highlight the shaky relationship between reality and perception. Political scientist Brendan Nyhan studies the impact of facts on political views, and finds that often, information doesn’t change minds. Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank says that despite fears that they’d lose their fortunes during the financial crisis, many of the wealthiest Americans are doing better than ever, the gap between rich and poor has grown and a new class divide may be emerging—between the rich and super-rich.
Click the arrow above to listen to the show. If you lack Flash player or have other playback problems, click this link for the MP3.
Visit Brendan Nyhan’s blog.
Read The Wealth Report by Robert Frank
Show for March 28, 2010. Gabriel Thompson: Working in the Shadows
So you think your job sucks? Journalist Gabriel Thompson went undercover to learn about the grueling, low-wage work mostly done by immigrants in the US. He harvested lettuce in Arizona, toiled in a poultry processing plant in Alabama and did time at a (surprisingly nasty) flower shop in Manhattan. He describes his year of living strenuously.
Click here to read more about Gabriel and his book Working in the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Won’t Do
