Blank on Blank"Everything in my mind works like a search engine set for the image function." - Temple Grandin in 2008, from an oral history at Colorado State University
You’ve probably heard the story that Einstein - whose name is synonymous with genius - didn’t seem destined for much when he was a small child. He was years behind other children when it came to learning to talk, he did horribly in school. It seems that Einstein’s brain just worked differently than most other people’s. And many people these days are saying that Einstein was probably autistic - one of them is Temple Grandin.
Temple Grandin is a professor of animal sciences who’s worked in the meat industry to invent kinder ways to lead cattle to slaughter. She’s also autistic - the high-functioning version known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Autism, in case you don’t know, is a brain disorder that tends to affect people’s social skills, like the ability to read facial expressions and body language, but it can also mean extraordinary talent in math, music and the visual arts.
Temple Grandin has become something of a celebrity of autism. She’s written books, given TED talks, and she’s been around the world to speak on the subject. Claire Danes has even played her in a movie about her life.
As part of our special series, The Experimenters--where we uncover interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation…-- we found this interview in the holdings of Colorado State University, where Temple teaches. In this conversation, Temple’s at her best, explaining for the rest of us what it’s really like to have an autistic brain and how Einstein’s not the only genius who could have been dismissed for being different.
Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
More Experimenters coming soon: Carl Sagan, Dame Stephanie Shirley, Jane Goodall, Richard Feynman, and Buckminster Fuller
Subscribe for new episodes of Blank on Blank every other Tuesday... it's free: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
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Executive Producer David Gerlach Art and Animation Drew Herforth, Gabe Adams, Drew Christie, Jesse Lortz Series Producer Amy Drozdowska Assistant Producer Jessie Wright-Mendoza
Music Jahzzar "Room With A View", "The Last Ones", "Joke"
Temple Grandin On Her Search Engine | Blank on BlankBlank on Blank2016-03-01 | "Everything in my mind works like a search engine set for the image function." - Temple Grandin in 2008, from an oral history at Colorado State University
You’ve probably heard the story that Einstein - whose name is synonymous with genius - didn’t seem destined for much when he was a small child. He was years behind other children when it came to learning to talk, he did horribly in school. It seems that Einstein’s brain just worked differently than most other people’s. And many people these days are saying that Einstein was probably autistic - one of them is Temple Grandin.
Temple Grandin is a professor of animal sciences who’s worked in the meat industry to invent kinder ways to lead cattle to slaughter. She’s also autistic - the high-functioning version known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Autism, in case you don’t know, is a brain disorder that tends to affect people’s social skills, like the ability to read facial expressions and body language, but it can also mean extraordinary talent in math, music and the visual arts.
Temple Grandin has become something of a celebrity of autism. She’s written books, given TED talks, and she’s been around the world to speak on the subject. Claire Danes has even played her in a movie about her life.
As part of our special series, The Experimenters--where we uncover interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation…-- we found this interview in the holdings of Colorado State University, where Temple teaches. In this conversation, Temple’s at her best, explaining for the rest of us what it’s really like to have an autistic brain and how Einstein’s not the only genius who could have been dismissed for being different.
Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
More Experimenters coming soon: Carl Sagan, Dame Stephanie Shirley, Jane Goodall, Richard Feynman, and Buckminster Fuller
Subscribe for new episodes of Blank on Blank every other Tuesday... it's free: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
PBS Digital Studios is interested in learning more about what you like to watch and do online. They've got a short survey and they're going to randomly select 25 participant to receive a cool shirt. Check it out: surveymonkey.com/r/pbsds2016
Executive Producer David Gerlach Art and Animation Drew Herforth, Gabe Adams, Drew Christie, Jesse Lortz Series Producer Amy Drozdowska Assistant Producer Jessie Wright-Mendoza
Music Jahzzar "Room With A View", "The Last Ones", "Joke"
Janis Joplin on Rejection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdF4b1...
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http://amara.org/v/Q8FGThe 27 Club: Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis JoplinBlank on Blank2017-06-29 | Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin are connected for changing rock n' roll history and American culture in the 1960s. They also all died when they were just 27 years old. Who knows what could have been. Or maybe it was fate. What do you think?
These lost tapes from the Blank on Blank archive were recorded between 1969 and 1970 thanks to Howard Smith and Keith Altham.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David Gerlach ANIMATOR/DIRECTOR Pat Smith AUDIO PRODUCER Amy Drozdowska COLORIST Jennifer Yoo
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amara.org/v/ePFGLeading Ladies: Meryl Streep, Bette Davis & Marlene DietrichBlank on Blank2017-06-27 | Three legendary actresses who had something to say and blazed a trail for women. These lost tapes from the Blank on Blank archive were recorded between 1963 and 2008 thanks to Christine Spines, Shirley Eder and Jay Kent Hackleman.
Executive Producer DAVID GERLACH Interviewer CAL FUSSMAN Illustrator JOE McKENDRY Director PATRICK SMITH Animator JENNIFER YOO
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http://amara.org/v/7yMLTom Cruise Flips OutBlank on Blank2017-06-19 | "I was a kid who jumped off the roof and into the snowbanks because I wanted to see how many flips I could do before I hit the snow" - Tom Cruise in 2010, as told to Cal Fussman
What I've Learned: a series produced by Esquire and Quoted Studios
Executive Producer DAVID GERLACH Interviewer CAL FUSSMAN Illustrator JOE McKENDRY Director PATRICK SMITH Animator JENNIFER YOO
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http://amara.org/v/7wrFCourt Jesters: Robin Williams, Gene Wilder and Bill MurrayBlank on Blank2017-06-14 | Comedians are masters at making people laugh. But there's often more that lurks beneath the jokes. Legends like Robin Williams, Gene Wilder, and Bill Murray can not only bring humor to the stage, they can tap a depth of emotions and inward thought that can make an audience stop and think.
These lost tapes from the Blank on Blank were recorded between 1988 and 2007 thanks to Lawrence Grobel, the 92Y, and T.J. English.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David Gerlach ANIMATOR/DIRECTOR Pat Smith AUDIO PRODUCER Amy Drozdowska COLORIST Jennifer Yoo
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http://amara.org/v/7pvuThe Outsiders: Hunter S. Thompson, Lou Reed & Frank ZappaBlank on Blank2017-06-06 | This trio of merry pranksters didn't give a shit what anybody thought. Or did they? Here's Lou Reed, Frank Zappa and Hunter S. Thompson from a collection of lost interviews that we uncovered in the archives. These recordings were made between 1967 and 1987 thanks to Joe Smith, Howard Smith, and Studs Terkel.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David Gerlach ANIMATOR/DIRECTOR Pat Smith AUDIO PRODUCER Amy Drozdowska COLORIST Jennifer Yoo
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http://amara.org/v/798eAmerican Soul: Barry White, Ray Charles, Stevie WonderBlank on Blank2017-05-31 | Barry White, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder: American originals who created a sound unlike anything the world had ever heard. Here's the trio from the Blank on Blank archive on the inspirations and life experiences that helped shaped their destinies. These interviews were recorded between 1987 and 2005.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David Gerlach ANIMATOR/DIRECTOR Pat Smith AUDIO PRODUCER Amy Drozdowska COLORIST Jennifer Yoo
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http://amara.org/v/7YmUFortune Tellers: Ayn Rand, Kurt Vonnegut & Aldous HuxleyBlank on Blank2017-05-24 | Ayn Rand, Kurt Vonnegut and Aldous Huxley: three masters of words and ideas who made some bold predictions about society and life as we know it. What did they get right and where did they go wrong? Here's a trio from the Blank on Blank archive that makes you stop and think. These interviews were recorded between 1958 and 1970.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David Gerlach ANIMATOR/DIRECTOR Pat Smith AUDIO PRODUCER Amy Drozdowska COLORIST Jennifer Yoo
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http://amara.org/v/7NKhKevin Costners Ding DongsBlank on Blank2017-05-18 | "If you weren't as good as the next guy then work longer. Work faster. ... Sometimes shit needs to get done" - Kevin Costner in 2012, as told to Cal Fussman
What I've Learned: a series produced by Esquire and Quoted Studios
You might also like our Blank on Blank series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Executive Producer DAVID GERLACH Interviewer CAL FUSSMAN Illustrator JOE McKENDRY Director PATRICK SMITH Animator JENNIFER YOO
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http://amara.org/v/7E3nJohnny Depp Breaks StuffBlank on Blank2017-05-16 | "I was in a bad mood and I assaulted a hotel room. I broke a lot of stuff and it felt good." - Johnny Depp in 2009, as told to Cal Fussman
What I've Learned: a series produced by Esquire and Quoted Studios
Executive Producer DAVID GERLACH Interviewer CAL FUSSMAN Illustrator JOE McKENDRY Director PATRICK SMITH Animator JENNIFER YOO
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http://amara.org/v/7ATPGeorge Clooneys Uncle ChickBlank on Blank2017-05-12 | "It was part of our family business that you had to be able to tell a story" - George Clooney in 2011, as told to Cal Fussman
What I've Learned: a series Quoted Studios produced with Esquire
Executive Producer DAVID GERLACH Interviewer CAL FUSSMAN Illustrator JOE McKENDRY Director PATRICK SMITH Animator JENNIFER YOO
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amara.org/v/ePFUStings Name ChangeBlank on Blank2017-05-11 | "Your parents name you, but they don’t really know who you are. Your friends name you... I was very Stingian" - Sting in 2009, as told to Cal Fussman
What I've Learned: a series Quoted Studios produced with Esquire
Executive Producer DAVID GERLACH Interviewer CAL FUSSMAN Illustrator JOE McKENDRY Director PATRICK SMITH Animator JENNIFER YOO
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amara.org/v/ePFTClint Eastwoods Pussy GenerationBlank on Blank2017-05-10 | "We're living in sort of a more pussy generation now" - Clint Eastwood in 2009, as told to Cal Fussman
What I've Learned: a series Quoted Studios produced with Esquire
Executive Producer DAVID GERLACH Interviewer CAL FUSSMAN Illustrator JOE McKENDRY Director PATRICK SMITH Animator JENNIFER YOO
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http://amara.org/v/6pcjCharles Bukowskis Crappy LifeBlank on Blank2017-04-06 | "I'm such a spoiled old toad ... I was blessed with a crappy life" - Charles Bukowski in 1993
One afternoon, Bukowski sat down to record the audio version of his classic, Run With the Hunted. The session took place in his home with his wife by his side. These are the outtakes.
http://amara.org/v/5mAUBlank on Blank Live StreamBlank on Blank2017-03-31 | ...George Michael on FreedomBlank on Blank2017-03-21 | "I’m more experienced sexually than I was as an 18 year old. So maybe it’s time for that to start reflecting in the music." - George Michael on November 10, 1986, as told to Joe Smith
George Michael was 23 when he sat for this interview, which has never been broadcast before. He had just embarked on his solo career after leaving Wham!. During the conversation, George Michael talks about his sexuality and shedding his pop-ballad persona ala Careless Whisper. He sounds confident in striking out on his own and sees a clear path to super stardom, but he openly talks about the fear that lurks within that fame might be his demise. He reflects on the power of his fame, as he recalls the historice trip Wham! took to play in communist-China in 1985.
"Turn Back The Time" Andrew Peter Kingslow, James Alexander Knight
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http://amara.org/v/5PkIAlfred Hitchcock on Dead BodiesBlank on Blank2017-03-07 | "If I did a story or a musical about Cinderella, they would be waiting for the body to turn up" - Alfred Hitchcock in 1957
Interview by Colin Edwards from the http://PacificaRadioArchives.org
The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, sat down for a short interview on the set of a film tentatively titled, From Amongst The Dead. The film would be released in early 1958 as Vertigo, the classic starring jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. In this interview, we go inside the mind of a master storyteller with a penchant for fear.
MUSIC via APM "Hitch" Leo Nissim, Charles Francois Gounod "Force of Nature" Magnum Opus "Concealed" Alexander Paul Rudd "Scared By Shadows" Paul Martin Pritchard "Resistance Is Futile" Kurt Oldman
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http://amara.org/v/4oOGJacques Cousteau on Atlantis and CognacBlank on Blank2017-02-21 | "We're going to investigate every single one of these hypotheses, and we'll tell you what we think is the truth about it" - Jacques Cousteau in 1978
Interview by Roy Leonard on WGN Radio, from the Roy Leonard Audio Archive
Jacques Cousteau, the world famous oceanographer and undersea explorer who invented the Aqua-Lung, dared to go where no one had gone before. He followed his passion to both protect and better understand our world's oceans and the creatures that inhabited them. Cousteau was 65 at the time of this recording but he was still diving and hungry for more exploration and adventure. Here's his story.
via APM “The Moon’s Surface” & “Cosmos Rising” Matthew St. Laurent, Koichi Sanchez-Imahashi, Luc Johansson “Progressive Science” Mark David Allaway, Jeffrey Steven Lardner
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http://amara.org/v/4ViBGeorge Washington Carver on Ego and SelfBlank on Blank2017-02-07 | "You can’t get very far in life if you don’t get away from Self" - George Washington Carver in 1939
The famed scientist and inventor best known for the amazing work he did with peanuts -- he cooked up over 100 uses for peanuts incluing plastics and gasoline -- gave this rare interview four years before he died in 1943. It's an inspiring story about the importance of scientific discovery and putting ego aside in the search for facts and the truth.
We uncovered this rare tape via the George Washington Carver National Monument. Special thanks to Curtis Gregory at the National Park Service and Peter D. Burchard. Learn more about George Washington Carver here: georgewashingtoncarver.us
http://amara.org/v/3rvZOliver Sacks on Ripe BananasBlank on Blank2017-01-24 | "I’m very interested in how people adapt to extremes” - Oliver Sacks on July 28, 1996
The renowned neurologist and author sat down for an interview with Henry Tischler that aired on the Cover-to-Cover radio show on WGBH-FM in Boston.
In this episode of Blank on Blank, we're focusing on Sacks' ability to see how man handles afflictions and genetic defects to survive. Enjoy the journey to a hidden island where colorblindness is normal.
For more in The Experimenters series, including Carl Sagan, Temple Grandin, and Buckminster Fuller, check out: http://blankonblank.org
http://amara.org/v/30ncStephen King on ChildhoodBlank on Blank2016-12-13 | "The things that really scare us are the things that are going on just outside the spotlight that you can’t quite see" - Stephen King on October 22, 1989
The author takes us on a journey back to his childhood and the roots for his decades crafting memorable horror fiction.
Learn more about Stephen King's theory on evil and horror, the films made from his books, and his brilliant Twitter feed: http://blankonblank.org/stephen-king
Interview originally aired on the Public Radio Book Show and it comes to us courtesy of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and the New York State Writers Institute.
http://amara.org/v/1SdGFrancis Ford Coppola on SolitudeBlank on Blank2016-11-29 | "Death is on the back of everyone’s minds whether they want to admit it or not" - Francis Ford Coppola on July 28, 1996
MUSIC via APM "Warszawa" Teddy Albert Lasry "Corleone" Bernard Pierre Michel Grimaldi "Anacapri" Bernard Pierre Michel GrimaldiLeonard Cohen on MoonlightBlank on Blank2016-11-15 | “I don’t feel any compulsion just to stand under the spotlight night after night unless I have something to say“ - Leonard Cohen
One evening in December of 1974, Leonard Cohen went on WBAI FM in New York City. This radio interview has rarely been heard since the night it aired. But it's been preserved by the Pacifica Radio Archives (http://pacificaradioarchives.org).
Cohen talked about his creative endeavors and influences during the interview, but we circled in on the conversation about his writing and his poetry. Cohen read a poem he had written nearly 20 years earlier, Two Went to Sleep. There's something about hearing him read his own words and taking a journey into his mind. RIP.
http://amara.org/v/0PRTJimmy Carter on Power and GodBlank on Blank2016-11-01 | "The fact that a person has deep religious convictions doesn't necessarily mean that that person always thinks that he's right, that God's ordained him to take a dominant position" - Jimmy Carter in May 1976, six months before he was elected President.
Originally aired on WNET's Bill Moyers Journal on PBS
We loved uncovering this interview with Jimmy Carter talking about his humble upbringings and vision for America under his watch. He talks the impact of God and religion in his path to public service, experiencing with world while in the Navy, missing the final years of his father's life, and the true meaning of helping people overcome injustice in all forms.
Follow this with our episode featuring the man who would defeat him four years later, Ronald Reagan. youtube.com/watch?v=nAEI4HhKWbY
http://amara.org/v/ZRAVRonald Reagan on Making America Great AgainBlank on Blank2016-10-11 | "“How did I get over being poor? I got a job as a sports announcer and it led to everything else.“ - Ronald Reagan, as told to Bill Moyers on April 30, 1979.
Originally aired on WNET's Bill Moyers Journal on PBS
We loved hearing Ronald Reagan open up about his vision for America in the months before he'd even announced he was running again for President. He welcomed Moyers to his ranch in California and we share some gems from the conversation including a story about oatmeal meat and his humble upbringing, his roots in the Democratic party, his keys to getting out of poverty, and what truly separates America from the rest of the world. Enjoy.
Music via APM “Another Version Of You” Chris Zabriskie
“Wild Ones” Jahzzar
“Chunk of Lawn” Jahzzar
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http://amara.org/v/XPtEStevie Wonder on Keys of LifeBlank on Blank2016-09-27 | "If God didn‘t want me to sing it, he wouldn‘t have given me the talent to do it“ - Stevie Wonder in 2005
via APM "Funksville" Paul Lenart, Larry Luddecke "I Need A Love" Paul Lenart, Larry Luddecke
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http://amara.org/v/WPwcAldous Huxley on TechnodictatorsBlank on Blank2016-09-13 | "If you want to preserve your power indefinitely, you have to get the consent of the ruled" - Aldous Huxley
Interview by Mike Wallace on May 18, 1958, from the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin
"This is Aldous Huxley, a man haunted by a vision of hell on earth. Mr. Huxley wrote a Brave New World, a novel that predicted that some day the entire world would live under a frightful dictatorship. Today Mr. Huxley says that his fictional world of horror is probably just around the corner for all of us." - Mike Wallace
In this remarkable interview, Huxley foretells a future when telegenic presidential hopefuls use television to rise to power, technology takes over, drugs grab hold, and frightful dictatorships rule us all.
Enjoy the journey and tell us in the comments whether he was right.
http://amara.org/v/ViJ3Marlene Dietrich on Sex SymbolsBlank on Blank2016-07-26 | "I have never used my body. I have played roles where the legs were used and the body was used but in life, I have never done that" - Marlene Dietrich in 1969
Interview by Jay Kent Hackleman
Marlene Dietrich was one of the first big stars and sex symbols in Hollywood. The German-born actress appeared in 50+ films during a 30+ year career. She also became a force touring the world as a provocative cabaret singer. During WWII, Dietrich took on the honorary rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army and helped raise morale visiting Allied troops in Europe. Dietrich lived life to the fullest, to say the least.
“Ms. Dietrich agreed to our interview on the condition that it could be done in a dressing room at the theater," Jay Kent Hackleman recalled. "I certainly had no problem with that and she gave the entire interview reclining on a chaise longue and somehow that seemed absolutely appropriate.” From a chaise, Dietrich waxed prophetic on the idea of sex symbols, America's youth complex, and the traps of credit and material possessions.Thought provoking indeed. Enjoy.
“Ich Kusse Ihre Hand” Alain Francois Edouard Bernard
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http://amara.org/v/SU5tNora Ephron on Crazy Salad | Blank on BlankBlank on Blank2016-07-12 | "It’s okay being a woman now. I like it. Try it some time.” - Nora Ephron, in a 1975 interview with Studs Terkel
To many, Nora Ephron is best known as the screenwriter behind some classic movies like When Harry Met Sally, Julie and Julia, Sleepless in Seattle, and Silkwood. But before she turned to writing screenplays, she was a journalist and a writer. Ephron got her start at the New York Post in the 1960s and soon she was writing for New York Magazine and Esquire.
It was at Esquire that Ephron made her name through with her personal essays, such as the one about the smallness of her breasts (A Few Words About Breasts). Ephron mixed humor with honesty, and captured the ups and downs of both being a woman--and the growing women's movement. It was around this time she sat down with Studs Terkel. Ephron had recently released a collection of her essays called, Crazy Salad.
Listen to the full interview, more about her place in the women's movement, her thoughts on writing and movies, and an inspiring message for graduates (“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”)
COLORIST Jennifer YooBob Dylan at 20 on Freak Shows | Blank on BlankBlank on Blank2016-06-28 | “I‘m never going to become rich and famous” - Bob Dylan in 1962.
Dylan was just 20 years old when he appeared on the Folksingers Choice radio program on WBAI FM in New York City. He'd arrived in Manhattan just a few years earlier and was playing in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village, at one in particular he was paid "a dollar plus a cheeseburger."
During this hour-long interview with Cynthia Gooding, Dylan played some of his own songs ("The Death of Emmett Till", "Standing on the Highway") and covers of classics by Howlin' Wolf, Hank Williams, and Woody Guthrie. We scored this Blank on Blank with Dylan tuning up his guitar and playing his harmonica.
It's a wonderful snapshot in time, with a young Dylan before he was famous and before he even released his debut album. He's nervous and funny. He's just a guy with a guitar with a little mischief underneath.
PHOTOS New York Public Library National Archives Unsplash Bigstock Wikimedia Commons
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http://amara.org/v/Q8EsFrank Zappa on FadsBlank on Blank2016-06-07 | "I don‘t think that there‘s a girl around that would fit in with what we do" - Frank Zappa on June 6, 1971, as told to Howard Smith.
Frank Zappa had a few opinions. Surly? Matter-of-fact? Misunderstood? We'll let you decide as we present this rarely heard interview with Zappa recorded in his hotel room.
Zappa has a few things to say about women's lib ("a fad"), on LA vs "depressing" New York, why America is a nation of people being told what to do, and why women couldn't hack it in his band. Sit back and enjoy.
So much good stuff in the full interview, which you can hear at http://thesmithtapes.com.
Plenty more about Zappa, his battles with Andy Warhol and Tipper Gore's censorship crusade on our website: http://blankonblank.org/frank-zappa
Credits EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David Gerlach ANIMATOR/DIRECTOR Patrick Smith AUDIO PRODUCER Amy Drozdowska COLORIST Jennifer Yoo
MUSICvia APM “What’s Cookin’” Keith Mansfield “Bouncing Off The Wall” Ron Aspery “Linear Wet Highway” Thomas Woodard Jr., Ray Barnette “Freedom Breakout” Dave O List
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http://amara.org/v/Q8EtRod Serling on KamikazesBlank on Blank2016-05-24 | ”The most unfettered imagination belongs to young people, and they don’t walk through life; they fly” - Rod Serling in 1963.
If you've never seen the Twilight Zone, you're missing what might be one of the smartest and most thought-provoking television series of all-time. On the surface, it mimicked ordinary life. The pace was ordinary until challenges to the deepest fears and uncertainties that lurk inside the mind took hold.
The series ran from 1959-64 and was created by Rod Serling. The show was mesmerizing audiences across the U.S. when he was interviewed for Australian radio by Binny Lum. We came across this conversation in Australia's National Film and Sound Archive and it's one of those delightful back and forths that makes you stop and listen. Serling jumps into the conversation, there's little apprehension, and suddenly he takes you on a journey thinking about your own past and childhood, and the ultimate realization that "you simply cannot go home again."
http://amara.org/v/Q8EuCher on KitschBlank on Blank2016-05-10 | “I’m a cookie-decorating mom. I don’t bake them. I decorate them.“ - Cher in 1999, as told to Benjamin Svetkey.
On a spring afternoon, Svetkey drove to Cher's house in Malibu for an interview. Her assistant led him up to her bedroom where she was dressed in leopard print and resting on a leopard print bedspread.
Cher was open, honest, and forthcoming about the ups and downs of fame, being a mom, her gay following, the camp element of her persona, and how Sonny Bono changed her life. It's vintage Cher. Enjoy.
http://amara.org/v/Q8EvPatti Smith in 1976 on Getting BleepedBlank on Blank2016-04-26 | “When people say fuckin‘ shit, they don‘t think of a big turd, or two people makin‘ it anymore” - Patti Smith in May 1976, as told to Mick Gold
In the spring of 1976, Patti Smith made her debut in London. She wasn't even 30, yet. We're going inside her hotel, the Portobello, a Bohemian place popular with the fashion biz and musicians. Several journalists are inside the room asking Patti questions. For nearly two hours Patti holds court on her love of the French poet Rimbuad that spawned her creative path while still a young woman in New Jersey, her publicized relationship with Bob Dylan once she arrived on the scene, and her ability to dip into her unconscious pretty much anytime she wanted to.
It's vintage Patti Smith, unvarnished and unfiltered. We get to be flies on the wall that day.
via APM Sharon Kantor "Where Are You Now" Sean Baca "That Train" Mark Alberts "Play It Loud" "All Right Now" Eric John Labrosse, Mitchell Paul Rietman, Eric Mone, Timothy Francis SentzMartin Scorsese on FramingBlank on Blank2016-04-12 | "Sometimes when it all comes together ... you become the film you’re making." - Martin Scorsese in 1990, as told to T.J. English.
In this new episode we have a previously unheard conversation with legendary director, Martin Scorsese, on how he's framed his movies and his life. The early foray into making a movie as a kid, toying with becoming a priest, and where his parents fit into all this. And wouldn't you like to see a Scorsese Western? Enjoy!
Carl Sagan on Extraterrestrials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9WHs...
Sally Ride on Dumb Questions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eZ5...
Bill Murray on Being Obnoxious https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE6MQ...
Frank Lloyd Wright on Arrogance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muoVq...
Nina Simone on Shock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQFhQ...
Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzWMH...
Credits
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David Gerlach
ANIMATOR Patrick Smith
SERIES PRODUCER Amy Drozdowska
COLORIST Jennifer Yoo
MUSIC via APM
“What Do They Know 2” Alexander Baker, Clair Marlo
“Black Gold Blood!” Greco Casadesus
“Barren Mountains”
Mike Reed, Gaynor O’flynn, Tom Howe, Sachidanand Rauniyar
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http://amara.org/v/Q8EyCarl Sagan on ExtraterrestrialsBlank on Blank2016-03-29 | "A literal reading of the Bible simply is a mistake; I mean it’s just wrong" - Carl Sagan on October 4, 1985, as told to Studs Terkel.
The incomprehensible vastness of the universe, the wonder of our own place in it all… Carl Sagan was able to explain the science of space in a way everyone could understand.
Among his long list of roles and accomplishments, the Cornell professor and NASA advisor is possibly best known for the 13-part television series, Cosmos, which reached millions of people worldwide and sealed his place as celebrity scientist. Maybe he was teased a bit for his tendency to say “billions”, a lot.
But Carl Sagan had this amazing talent for explaining the scientific wonders of the universe without losing the wonder. When he spoke about the science of space, he captured imaginations and held people in thrall.
As part of our special series, The Experimenters -- we’re uncovering interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation -- we found this conversation between Studs Terkel and Carl Sagan in the WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive. Following “Contact,” the book he wrote with wife Ann Druyan - and the major motion picture that followed it -- Carl Sagan spoke with Studs all about our continuing search for intelligent life out there, including how, for a long time, Hollywood just got it wrong. Here’s the tape.
Support for this series comes from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
MUSIC via http://Freemusicarchive.org Jahzzar "Ingravity" "Part IX" Chris Zabriskie "CGI Snake" "God Be With You Till We Meet Again"Richard Feynman on What It MeansBlank on Blank2016-03-25 | "The key was somehow to know what was important and what was not important, what was exciting, because I can’t learn everything." - Richard Feynman in 1966
If you don’t really have a head for math and science, physics may be the most intimidating subject of them all. It’s space and time, the make-up of the entire universe - incredibly abstract and mind-bending stuff, and enough to make a lot of students throw in the towel. And that’s where Professor Richard Feynman really made his mark - of course he did all kinds of groundbreaking work, like his theory of quantum electrodynamics…. he proposed the parton model in the field of particle physics… was even part of the atomic bomb project.
But he was also an amazing teacher, this dynamic and charismatic lecturer who made physics fun. He was one of those rare people who not only naturally understood math and science - he was actually able to make other people understand it too. And like it.
Starting in 1966, science historian Charles Weiner interviewed Richard Feynman as part of a big oral history project at the American Institute of Physics. Recording hours of conversation, Weiner captured the details of Feynman’s entire career, his whole life. In those hours, Feynman talked about his earliest memories - what and who shaped the world-famous physicist - and teacher he’d later become. And most influential of all…. a man who was neither a scientist nor a mathematician - a man who didn’t even have any formal education - his dad.
As part of our special series, The Experimenters -- uncovering interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation -- we found this interview with Feynman in the archives of the American Institute of Physics.
Support for this series comes from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
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Executive Producer David Gerlach Animator Paul Ruttledge Series Producer Amy Drozdowska
Janis Joplin on Rejection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdF4b1...
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http://amara.org/v/Q8FBBuckminster Fuller on The Geodesic Life | Blank on BlankBlank on Blank2016-03-22 | "I must reorganize the environment of man by which then greater numbers of men can prosper." - Buckminster Fuller in 1965, as told to Studs Terkel
Hear more interview outtakes and learn more about Buckminster Fuller http://blankonblank.org/interviews/bu...
Buckminster Fuller was kicked out of college, and booted by Harvard not once, but twice. As a young man trying out jobs, he best liked working with his hands, and was more at home with mill workers, meat-packers and sailors, than professors.
Fuller’s most famous for his Geodesic Dome - think Disney’s Epcot Center. You could call him an inventor-philospher-engineer-architect-artist - but he was outside category, really - and he wanted to ‘do a lot with a little.' All to make the world a better place. The tape we found told us he also had his own deeper, more personal reasons for what he did.
Fuller spoke with Studs Terkel for Studs’ Chicago radio show twice. Once in studio in 1970, and the other five years earlier. That’s when he and Studs rode around in a station wagon through the rapidly gentrifiying neighborhood Lincoln Park - see if you can hear the hum of the moving car.
A conversation with Fuller was like running through a hedge maze - he spoke in fragments, these big ideas endlessly around the corner from others, warm and charismatic the whole way. Studs is firmly there, both holding the reigns and along for the ride - addressing him with all due respect. But as you’ll hear, Buckminster Fuller wasn’t too big on formalities.
Support for this series comes from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
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Executive Producer David Gerlach Director Patrick Smith Animator Jennifer Yoo Series Producer Amy Drozdowska
Watch
Temple Grandin on Her Search Engine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifsh6...
Frank Lloyd Wright on Arrogance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muoVq...
Sally Ride on Dumb Questions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eZ5...
Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzWMH...
Nina Simone on Shock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQFhQ...
Bill Murray on Being Obnoxious https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE6MQ...
Patty Hearst on Reasonable Doubt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bsi2...
Tom Waits on Everything and Nothing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyrDf...
Hunter S. Thompson on Outlaws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3QoK...
BB King on The Blues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tIph...
Elliott Smith on Freaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAP3s...
Robin Williams on Masks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PHGm...
Wayne Coyne on Living with Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJXU7...
Maya Angelou on Con Men https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VybIJ...
Bette Davis on The Sexes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNnTU...
Michael Jackson on Godliness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoCa3...
Jimi Hendrix on The Experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK2lf...
Meryl Streep on Beauty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG_T5...
Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osn8r...
"I have to make my life worth saving, and each day you spend as if it would be your last" - Dame Stephanie Shirley in 2010 from an oral history at the British Library
Computers had their start as a way to turn over the tedium of complicated, repetitive, mathematical calculations to someone else. Sort of the, um, ‘women’s work’ of mathematics and in fact women were often the ones doing the grunt work in the days developing the first computers and the code-writing that would become computer software. They just didn’t tend to get the credit.
As a young woman in 1950’s Britain with a talent for math, Stephanie Shirley, found herself in an ever-evolving field of information technology - building computers and writing code, working in places where the world's first programmable electronic computer was invented, exciting stuff. But at work, she found she was often the only woman in the room.
"When I first walked in there, about 200, you know, handsome, intelligent men turned round and looked at this new female that had sort of turned up. [laughs] So, and that, you know, took, it was, it was quite, you know, you were... It was almost scary to go into a big place like that, 100, not quite 100 per cent but ninety-nine per cent men." - Shirley said.
And this had its limitations. So she decided to strike out on her own and by doing so she came up with a whole new way to work in the computing industry - a way that allowed women to thrive.
As part of our special series, The Experimenters -- uncovering interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation -- we found this interview with British IT pioneer and businesswoman Stephanie Shirley in the British Library’s collection of Oral Histories. She explains how from the start, her home-based computer software company was uniquely women-friendly:
Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
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Executive Producer David Gerlach Animator Godfrey Hibbert Series Producer Amy Drozdowska Assistant Producer Jessie Wright-Mendoza
More Blank on Blank Episodes
Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzWMH...
Nina Simone on Shock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQFhQ...
Bill Murray on Being Obnoxious https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE6MQ...
Patty Hearst on Reasonable Doubt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bsi2...
Tom Waits on Everything and Nothing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyrDf...
Hunter S. Thompson on Outlaws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3QoK...
BB King on The Blues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tIph...
Elliott Smith on Freaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAP3s...
Robin Williams on Masks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PHGm...
Wayne Coyne on Living with Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJXU7...
Maya Angelou on Con Men https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VybIJ...
Bette Davis on The Sexes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNnTU...
Michael Jackson on Godliness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoCa3...
Jimi Hendrix on The Experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK2lf...
Meryl Streep on Beauty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG_T5...
Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osn8r...
Janis Joplin on Rejection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdF4b1...
Help us caption & translate this video!
http://amara.org/v/Q8FEJane Goodall on Instinct | Blank on BlankBlank on Blank2016-03-11 | "Animals were my passion from even before I could speak apparently. When I was about 10, 11 I fell in love with Tarzan" - Jane Goodall, as told to Ira Flatow in 2002
Jane Goodall is so nice, so good, it’s intimidating. She seems like almost a kind of mythic figure. She made groundbreaking discoveries about the behavior of chimpanzees when she was only in her 20s, and without any formal training or degree. Even now, she’s always on the go, speaking up for the rights of animals, campaigning for conservation, and working slavishly on her environmental education program. She’s a role model for young girls to get into science. With all that, it’s sometimes been hard for me to imagine her as one of us ordinary humans.
Which is why this interview we came across by veteran public radio science journalist Ira Flatow was just so great. Ira talked with Jane Goodall for his long-running Science Friday program back in 2002, and in that conversation, you can hear a Jane who’s full of formidable conviction, yes - but she’s also humble, vulnerable and best of all even actually fun.
This is another episode from our special series, The Experimenters, where we uncover interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation.
Support for this series comes from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Subscribe for new episodes of Blank on Blank every other Tuesday... it's free: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
PBS Digital Studios is interested in learning more about what you like to watch and do online. They've got a short survey and they're going to randomly select 25 participant to receive a cool shirt. Check it out: surveymonkey.com/r/pbsds2016
Executive Producer David Gerlach Animator Avi Ofer Series Producer Amy Drozdowska
Janis Joplin on Rejection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdF4b1...Frank Lloyd Wright on Arrogance | Blank on BlankBlank on Blank2016-02-16 | “Any man who really has faith in himself will be dubbed arrogant by his fellows” - Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957, as told to Mike Wallace
If you’ve ever been to Illinois, you’ll know all about the defining features of its landscape - namely, that it’s pretty much flat. But architect Frank Lloyd Wright did something new when he made buildings that somehow became one with the prairie. Long, low lines, and interiors that brought the light and space of the outside in. With the same approach, he built homes in the woods around waterfalls, on high bluffs that take in the stretch and space of the land below. If you’ve ever visited one of his houses, you’ll know how they manage to make you understand more about exactly where you live.
As part of our special series, The Experimenters, where we’re uncovering interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation, we found this 1957 interview with Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s part of a collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin celebrating The Mike Wallace Interview, a TV program that ran back in the late ‘50s. Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs and style seem very nice, very clean now, but at the time, he was a controversial personality. And like most famous architects, his work was as much hated as respected. And that’s what Mike Wallace wanted to talk about.
Here’s the tape.
Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
http://amara.org/v/Q8FHSally Ride on Dumb Questions | Blank on BlankBlank on Blank2016-02-02 | “I wish that there had been another woman on my flight. I think it would have been a lot easier.” - Sally Ride in 1983, as told to Gloria Steinem.
This episode marks the return of our special series, The Experimenters. We’re uncovering lost interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation - people who helped make the world we live in today. And some guest animators are bringing these conversations to life.
One of those people is Sally Ride. These days, just about every space mission has women on it. It’s just not a big deal. But in 1983, it was very much a big deal - that’s the year Sally Ride became the first American woman in space.
Back in 1963, Russia sent Valentina Tereshkova as the first woman to fly to outer space. But it took two more decades for the Americans to follow suit.
At the time, journalist and icon of the feminist movement Gloria Steinem had an ABC interview series, called ‘In Conversation with…” As part of that program she interviewed Sally Ride - and we found the tape in Smith College’s archive dedicated to the life and work of Steinem - The Gloria Steinem Papers, part of the Sophia Smith Collection.
Now at the time of this interview, as far as the public - and it turns out the press - were concerned, space was for clean-cut alpha males with names like Buzz. Then Sally Ride came along.
Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
More Experimenters coming soon: Frank Lloyd Wright, Temple Grandin, Carl Sagan, Dame Stephanie Shirley, Jane Goodall, Richard Feynman, and Buckminster Fuller
Executive Producer David Gerlach Director Danny Madden http://ornana.com Series Producer Amy Drozdowska Assistant Producer Jessie Wright-Mendoza Animators Danny Madden, Thomas Teraoka Inker Hannah Elder Compositor Josh Shaffner
MUSIC
sketch (vlad) (Jahzzar) Part VI (Jahzzar) Two days (Jahzzar)
http://amara.org/v/Q8FIGarrison Keillor on Humor | Blank on BlankBlank on Blank2015-12-15 | “My family was shocked when I came home with a volume of Hemingway … There was a price to be paid for being interested in fiction.” - Garrison Keillor in 1994
In this new episode we have a conversation with a true storyteller, the humorist, Garrison Keillor. This interview was recorded in front a live audience back in November of 1994 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
On stage that night was Keillor, the host of A Praire Home Companion, and George Plimpton, the famed editor of the Paris Review. The thread of their conversation that night was: the qualities of humor.
It’s been awhile since we dug into the archives of talks recorded at the 92Y over the years. What we loved about this conversation was something we hadn’t really thought about before: What is the obligation of humor? Enjoy
Hear bonus interview outtakes, celebrate Nina's style and impact on music and the civil rights movement here: http://blankonblank.org/nina-simone
Lilian Terry had a national radio show in Italy--everyone from Ray Charles to Duke Ellington appeared on her show--and there was one person she always wanted to interview: Nina Simone.
But Lilian had heard Nina didn’t enjoy speaking with white people. Thankfully Lillian had a confidant in Max Roach, the legendary jazz drummer, who introduced Lilian to Nina at the Newport Festival in 1968.
“Lilian Terry comes from Egypt, ” Roach said. The was was true; Lilian was born in Cairo to a father from Malta and a mother from Italy.
With that simple introduction, Nina waved Lillian over. Soon they were talking about nefertitti and the pharoahs.
Nina even told Lilian she thought she’d been in Egypt in a previous life.
A few days later Lilian went to Nina’s house in Mt. Vernon, New York. They sat by the pool, the tape recorder was turned on, and the conversation continued.
Executive Producer: David Gerlach Animator: Patrick Smith Audio Producer: Amy Drozdowska Colorist: Jennifer Yoo
NINA SIMONE MUSIC “Ain’t Got No/I Got Life” “Why? (the King Of Love Is Dead)
MUSIC via APM “Who Cares” Josh Phillips, Dave Bronze “Don’t Bail Me Out Boogaloo” Carmen Lundy “Night Talking” Tony Hymas “Lady De Luxe” Tony Hymas “West Side Waltz” Dick Stephen Walk
"Nothing means anything" - Kurt Vonnegut on November 8, 1970
From the Pacifica Radio Archives
Hear the full, unedited interview plus see Vonnegut's art work, learn secrets of Slaughterhouse-Five, and more nuggets of Vonnegut here: http://blankonblank.org/kurt-vonnegut
In November 1970, Kurt Vonnegut walked into a class room at NYU. He was a guest speaker that day. He’d prepared some handwritten notes on what he wanted to say: there were his thoughts on the art of writing, his childhood, the death of his parents. He jumped from topic to topic as he shuffled through his papers. Sometimes his voice trailed off. He delivered punchlines with perfect timing. The class roared. Listening to this tape, we get to be flies on the wall that day. So take a seat, but your book bag down and enjoy. Here’s Kurt Vonnegut
Executive Producer: David Gerlach Animator: Patrick Smith Audio Producer: Amy Drozdowska Colorist: Jennifer Yoo
Music You Heard via APM "Aphorismen Fur Klavier Op.3 (1961)" "24 Piano Preludes 12" Krzysztof Aleksander Meyer "Paris Blues Waltz" Frederic Robert Chauvigne "Punti Di Vista No.1 For Piano Solo" James Dashow
http://amara.org/v/Q8FLBill Murray on Being ObnoxiousBlank on Blank2015-10-27 | "I‘m just an obnoxious guy who can make it appear charming, that’s what they pay me to do" - Bill Murray in October 1988
T.J. English was tasked with writing a profile of Bill Murray for Irish America magazine. This was around the time Scrooged came out. So he headed out to Murray's house in New Jersey. The guys sat down and the tape recorder was turned on. Murray's dog ran about and wrecked a little havoc.
Murray cracked wise on giving back to his mom when he made it big, hijinks on the set of Ghostbusters, the spiritual change that saved him from destruction, and how fame sort of helps with talking to women.
Executive Producer: David Gerlach Animator: Patrick Smith Audio Producer: Amy Drozdowska Colorist: Jennifer Yoo
MUSIC VIA APM "Hot Club Swing" Marti Amado "Cafe Paris" Paul Reeves "Disentangled" Mac McKenzie "Today We Hung" Eric Nicholas, Wencelas Muller, Maurin Zahnd, Laurent Dumont, Julien Guillaume, Andre Matrot