Let Us Now Praise Famous Women

Generally when somebody says to the editor of a radio program “I’m going to get a grant to do long-form multimedia reporting with a poet writing about the working poor,” the editor gets a look on his face.  Poetry and poverty — not the most popular subjects in the rundown.  But when that somebody is [...]

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Off to See the Wizard

This week on Studio 360, we take an in-depth look at The Wizard of Oz, assuredly one of the most beloved (and bizarre) fables to capture Americans’ imaginations. This year marks the 70th anniversary of Warner Bros’ film adaptation of Frank L. Baum’s children’s book and for the past year the studio has been throwing [...]

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Cuteness gets remixed

Don’t be fooled by the first 20 seconds of this video– it’s is not just another cute toddler Youtube sensation. Prepare to be impressed and a little freaked out by some very slick video editing. The toddler noises and mugging for the camera get transformed into what could quite [...]

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Kurt Gets Auto-Tuned

Reports of the death of Auto-Tune are greatly exaggerated. This week on the show, we hear from the Gregory Brothers, a band that has turned the music industry’s favorite note-correction software on TV newscasters and politicians. With their series of viral web videos “Auto-Tune the News,” they’ve made divas out of talking heads.
Check out our [...]

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Kurt on The Leonard Lopate Show

Our host didn’t have to go far for his most recent media appearance. On Tuesday, Kurt was a guest on  The Leonard Lopate Show– our friendly neighbors in the WNYC office.
Kurt tells Leonard about his new book Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America and shares one [...]

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The Tablecloth Trick

Like most people, I wanted to be a magician when I grew up. I recently attended a screening of the 2007 Swedish film You, The Living (Du levande) by director Roy Andersson, a funny/sad movie made up of 50 vignettes that portray everyday life as absurd, petty, and hilarious. In the following scene, a [...]

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Kurt Gets Colberted

It’s not every day that you see someone you know on your favorite TV show– which is why I was so psyched to see Kurt on The Colbert Report Tuesday night. Stephen Colbert talked to Kurt about his new book Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America.

[...]

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Jim Henson’s Time Piece

Last night, I joined hundreds of nostalgic 30-somethings at a 30th anniversary screening of The Muppet Movie in Brooklyn. Seeing it on the big screen was pure delight, and proved the lasting genius of Jim Henson and co. Everything holds up: the snappy dialogue (Man in Swamp: “You, you with the banjo, can [...]

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Filipino Inmates’ Tribute to MJ

This is amazing. Especially a few minutes in when they bring out the banner with a giant Christ-like image of Michael. (See also my earlier post with their original “Thriller” performance from ‘07.) Thanks to Jocelyn Gonzales for this link.

-Leital Molad

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Michael Jackson’s Global Reach

This video of Filipino inmates performing a mass-ensemble dance to “Thriller” was circulating around the web a year or so ago. Given today’s news, we thought it was worth another look. Jackson’s death adds a dose of poignancy to the bizarre spectacle.

- Leital Molad

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