Countdown

We look at people facing countdowns of every kind. One man must decide whether or not to register as an illegal immigrant with the INS by the end of next month. Another has just a few hours to bake an extravagant cake for one of his more demanding clients. And then there's Dean, counting beats under the tutelage of 9-year old drummer Rachel Trachtenburg, the youngest member of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.

This Notice Is for You

If you are a male, over 16 years of age, without legal immigrant status, and from any of 25 countries named by the United States Justice Department, you are facing a difficult decision: whether or not to register with the INS and face possible arrest or deportation. Dean speaks with J., a Bangladeshi who has lived in Queens, New York, for ten years, and who fears he may soon lose the life he's made here.

The Cakeman

Imagine baking an enormous cake for 1500 people in your own kitchen — and the kitchens of your upstairs and downstairs neighbors. Raven Patrick DeSean Dennis III, a.k.a. the Cakeman, pulled it off. That was back when he ran his baking business out of a Harlem apartment. Today, he's more comfortably situated in a cake shop in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. But with tall orders coming from devotees such as Mary J. Blige and Lena Horne, he's still got his hands full.

Crossed Signals

So you're riding to work on the subway, trying to read your book, and you keep losing your place because of the loud guy at the other end of the car. What do you do? Ask Jenny Douglas. Or Curtis Cravens. Or their kids.

Subway Mexican-Style

From the international branch of our Department of Transportation, an audio postcard from Mexico City, sent by Next Big Thing contributor and well-traveled straphanger Sara Harris.

Five Sounds in Search of an Author

Next Big Thing contest judge Jesse Green returns to choose a winner from this month's entries.

School of Romance

A big auditorium. Rows of stackable chairs. A collection of lonely people, sitting in the dark with napkins over their faces. Welcome to the School of Romance, as imagined by performer and audio artist Miranda July. With music and sound design by Tim Renner.

Drums 101

Dean wants to learn how to play the drums. So he turns to a pro, Rachel Trachtenburg, drummer for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. Granted, she's only 9 years old, but she's got a mean paradiddle. Featuring the band's hit, "Look at Me."
Visit the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players website.
(picture right: Rachel. Photo by John E. Hollingsworth)


WNYC archives id: 32476