This week, we explore things lost, and things found - letters, memories, voices, paintings, and a play by Wallace Shawn.

Caption Contest
Five Sounds in Search of an Author:
Listen carefully
In between these sounds is a story and it's up to you to write it. Once again, The Next Big Thing is inviting your ideas on ways to weave a plot out of seemingly unrelated sounds. Author and Next Big Thing contributor Jesse Green will choose a winner to read his or her story on our show. You'll hear the results next week. E-mail your stories by end of day on MONDAY, January 14, 2001. Please include a daytime phone number. And remember, the time it takes to read them should come close to the time it takes to hear the sounds (about 30 seconds). Good luck!

Executive Disorder
This past November, President Bush signed an executive order that grants former presidents considerable authority to restrict access to presidential papers. So how did this all come about? Comic actor Charlie Schroeder imagines what it would be like to eavesdrop on our past and present leaders as they come up with The Plan.

Love Letters
You've still got a month before Valentine's Day. Thinking of sending a love letter? If so, you would be joining a venerable tradition, one well documented in David Lowenherz's new book, 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time. Here, he shares with us some of his favorites, including a dramatic exchange between Georges Sand and Flaubert.

Lost Art
Eight years ago, Jonathan Blum's entire portfolio disappeared from the trunk of his car - in his mind, some of the finest work he's ever made. Then, recently, a woman at one of his openings recognized his work. In fact, for nearly a decade, she had been in possession of his portfolio. They arranged to meet, so that she could hand it over. Come along and see what happens. You can see Jonathan's paintings at www.jonathanblumportraits.com.

My Mom the Opera Singer
Jazz violinist Matt Glaser grew up in a musical household. His mother was an opera singer as a young woman, and she still loves to listen to Verdi and Mozart. A few years ago she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She has difficulty recalling the most basic day-to-day information. But somehow somehow she has retained the high notes of the soprano part to "Don Giovanni..."

Dido's Lament
We stop by the Henry Street Chamber Opera just in time to catch the company starting in on the culminating aria from "Dido and Aeneas."

Caption Contest
Try it. You'll like it.

The Designated Mourner
Two years ago, Wallace Shawn's eerie play was staged in a 30-seat theater. It was critically acclaimed, people clamored to get seats - and then, soon after, it disappeared. Well, now we've brought it back, with the original cast - Wallace Shawn, Deborah Eisenberg and Larry Pine - and with direction by Andre Gregory. The play proves remarkably topical, exploring both the personal and the political in wartime. Here is an excerpt. The entire play will be aired Sunday, January 13, at 8 p.m. on WNYC.

WNYC archives id: 11651