Jenny Lawton

It’s official: Studio 360 has a cold.  But I'm inspired by an odd and intriguing ad campaign for HALLS cough drops.  It features snifflers proudly bearing their red noses and eyes,...

Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe has been getting a lot of attention for her performance in the title role in the new film, Precious. Studio 360's Jenny Lawton finds out what it's like for Sidibe to ride this wave of acclaim for a part ...

Say you’re from the future, a future in which time machines exist.  Why not take a trip back to the good old 21^st century? And join us here at WNYC on Tuesday, November 17, as Kurt hosts the live taping of our show all about time travel.  You’ll meet some of the great scientists and fiction writers of our time as they grapple with this age-old fantasy, and hopefully you can enlighten us.

Tomorrow, the much-anticipated film, “Where the Wild Things Are” is coming to theaters. It’s based on the beloved children’s book by Maurice Sendak, whose fantastical illustrations have inspired innumerable artists.

Chie Sakakibara grew up in Japan but became fascinated with North American Indians after seeing them in the movie "Dances with Wolves." Her interest brought her to Alaska, as a student of cultural geography, where she continues to find connections between Inuit culture and her own. ...

In the 1950s, Paulus Berensohn, now 77, studied dance at Juilliard, performed on Broadway, and worked with modern dance legends like Merce Cunningham and Mary Anthony. Then, in his mid-20s, it occurred to him: what would it mean to dance, not just on the stage, but in ...

“Joe Turner's Come and Gone” is part of August Wilson's ten-play cycle about African-American life in Pittsburgh. It has returned to Broadway for the first time since the playwright's death (in 2005); the production is nominated for six Tony awards. But controversy and anger has surrounded the selection ...

Growing up, Studio 360 listener Seth Barkan got pressure from his dad to become a classical musician. Barkan dutifully studied classical piano for years, but it never quite suited him. Then he heard a recording of stride pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines and everything changed. Produced by Studio 360's ...

Live radio lives! Kurt recently stopped by the Aladdin Theater in Portland, Oregon for Live Wire -- an old school variety show with a modern twist, recorded in front of the hippest audience west of the Mississippi.

We were psyched to hear that Steve Reich was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his composition 'Double Sextet.' The piece is written to be played by two identical sextets of instruments, each made up of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, vibraphone and piano -- or by one sextet playing against a recording of the other.

Kurt's brother David Andersen is one of the top piano technicians in Southern California -- he's also an accomplished rock n' roller (and a total ringer for The Dude from 'The Big Lebowski' ). Kurt visited him at home in Malibu and at work on the pianos of some leading lights in jazz and film composition.

The tea ceremony is a 400-year-old ritual for serving green tea. But in Japan's techno-centric society (increasingly fueled by coffee) can the tea ceremony survive? Studio 360’s Jenny Lawton talked with tea masters, old and young.

The tea ceremony is a 400-year-old ritual for making and presenting green tea. But in Japan's fast-paced techno-centric society - one increasingly fueled by coffee - we wondered how the tea ceremony can survive. Studio 360’s Jenny Lawton talked with tea masters, old and young, to find ...

More great design solutions that I wish we could bring back with us to the US:

ITEM 1:

Say you're shopping in a department store with your toddler and you need to go to the bathroom... where do you stick the kid? TOTO, maker of the world's most amazing (and ...

This afternoon, Leital and I were hitting up some souvenir shops when we spotted this building across the river.  We were just as surprised when we found out what company it represents.

Any guesses?

===============

THE ANSWER:

Indeed, it is ...

I was alone in Kyoto part of last week getting tape for a story.  One night after doing an interview, I was looking for something to do... and I stumbled into one of the city's gigantic pachinko parlors.  The sliding doors opened to a wall of sound -- a cacophony ...

So get this: the world's first novel came from Japan -- and it was written by a woman -- and it's all about sex.

Japanese literary buffs and commoners alike are celebrating the 1000th anniversary of The Tale of Genji. The author Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973 - c. 1014 ...

Yesterday the whole team was in Nara (30 minutes by train from Kyoto) to meet with the writer Pico Iyer -- we've turned to him several times on the show for his keen, beautifully expressed observations of life in various corners of the world. Pico first came to Japan 20 ...

It's high season in Kyoto -- this weekend, the autumn colors are at their brightest and it seems like the whole country plus several others have converged on the city to take a look.  Luckily, there are dozens of temples (probably a dozen 'major' ones alone) with gorgeous landscapes and ...

Kyoto may be the 1200-year-old home of Japanese classical arts, but you wouldn't know it when you first get here.

Built in 1997 by Hiroshi Hara, Kyoto Station is a stunning living monument to modern Japan.  A hub for multiple regional and local train lines, it's also home to great ...