You may have noticed by now that WNYC is asking you to send in some money to help pay for the programming you get on this station 24 hours a day, every day of the year. This week on our show, some of the reasons why we think giving is a worthwhile thing. That includes a view of New York you might not otherwise get - from the sky in a traffic helicopter, from Olga Bloom's music-filled barge in Brooklyn, from the mind and voice of poet and performance artist Sarah Jones and lots more. Like what you hear? Make a pledge at wnyc.org.
What's the Next Big Thing?
Former New York Mayor Ed Koch
Grandpa Al Lewis from "The Munsters"
Julia Child
The god of traffic
In the air with CBS Chopper 880 and Tom Kaminski. Throw in some back-ups, a pothole or two on the BQE and a disabled vehicle - it's a recipe for why to take public transportation. Dean Olsher reports.
Baby, oh Baby
He's a traffic cop, a has-been, a convert. Dean and Jule have an only-in-New-York street encounter.
Conversate is Not a Word
Sarah Jones, from her one-woman show Surface Transit, is Keisha Ray. "My momma didn't raise no fool." Here's a version of "Your Revolution" in the voice of Keisha Ray. It caused some heat in Oregon not long ago, when a listener complained and the FCC fined a public radio station $7,000. WE think it's more a creative commentary on the tired "Just Say No" campaign, but it's true some of the lyrics are explicit.
Barging in on Olga Bloom
Host Dean Olsher visits with the founder of Bargemusic at the Fulton Ferry Landing. Olga Bloom, after all these years, is still on fire for chamber music. She's a lot more, too.
Mr. Beller's Neighborhood
Imagine there's a park somewhere in New York and every time you go by it, you remember you were dumped by someone there. It's not that New York is different from other places in its ability to haunt you, it's just that there are so many more opportunities for it to happen here. And, little by little, those stories are finding a home online. Here we hear from Peter Strauss, Maggie Carino-Ganias, Jim Merlis, Denise Campbell and proprietor Tom Beller, himself. Submit your own story at mrbellersneighborhood.com. We'd love to hear it, too. Write to us at thenextbigthing@wnyc.org. Produced by Catherine Fenollosa.
It's a Great Hometown
Kadish Millet should have been a contender.... for the Brooklyn anthem, that is. His "Hats Off To Brooklyn" takes an infectiously melodic tour around the borough. Produced by Jule Gardner.
Farewell to Quince
They say one in 10 restaurants make it. We're sad at the news this week Quince on West 54th Street will not. Not long ago, we visited chef and owner Morgen Jacobsen there when Dean Olsher took a turn in his precision kitchen. Here's a snippet.
WNYC archives id: 8998