All Of It History Projects: BBC and the Public Songbook
HOUR 1
[REBROADCAST from November 11, 2022] In November of 1922, BBC radio first crackled into the homes of Londoners. Over the next century, the BBC would expand far beyond news and become one of the world’s preeminent forces in arts and cultural programming. It’s now the world’s largest broadcaster, beloved by NPR listeners and carried in countries around the world, where it provides programming in languages from Arabic to Yoruba. Its story is chronicled in the new book, The BBC: A Century On Air, by David Hendy, a media historian and former BBC producer.
Hendy joins us for a special hour-long program, 100 Years of the BBC, exploring the history of the BBC. Listeners will hear sound from reporters on the beaches during D-Day, Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, the rise of the Beatles, and popular BBC radio and television programs of the past – as well as a glimpse of the broadcaster behind the scenes.
HOUR 2
[REBROADCAST FROM March 1, 2023] We speak to the winners of the Public Song Project and hear to their submissions. Kat Lewis discusses her summer-fun rewrite of “(I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for) Ice Cream.” Alice Lee explains her modern take on the archetypal country hit, “The Prisoners Song.” And Chloe and Lily Holgate, who perform as sybil, share the inspiration for their musical setting of the Edna St Vincent Millay poem, “Afternoon on a Hill.”
Then we take a tour through highlights from the listener-generated WNYC Public Songbook, and hear more creative submissions. Public Song judges Paul Cavalconte (host of New Standards), Shanta Thake (chief artistic officer of Lincoln Center), and musician DJ Rekha join us to reflect on the project and some favorite tunes.
Finally, we hear from Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke University, who explains the meaning of the public domain and highlights some of the works that entered in 2023. You can read more about the public domain and new works in it in her Public Domain Day 2023 blog post.
