Heard on the Streets

Despite the cold weather, it's time to hit the streets. Dean walks through a Bronx neighborhood with Sister Thomas, a woman with a mission (or two). Human rights observer John Sifton leads us through the noisy and oftentimes unnerving streets of Kabul and beyond. And New Orleans filmmaker/garbage collector C. L. Taylor tells tales from both his trades. Also, novelist Meg Wolitzer on Hollywood trailers, historian Edmund Morris on historical precedents to the current presidency, and cartoonish music from the Raymond Scott Orchestrette.

This Is Your Trailer
Next Big Thing contributor Meg Wolitzer is singularly unimpressed by Hollywood's latest offerings. So she's turned inward, concocting some films of her own - or at least imagining what the previews would sound like. Supporting cast: Mary Testa and Jonathan Freeman. Produced by Curtis Fox.

Spelling Mission
Sister Miriam Thomas runs the Simpson Street Development Association, an organization that provides counseling, substance abuse prevention, and mentoring, among other services, to a Bronx community called Hunt's Point (which is spelled with an apostrophe, she wants you to know). Dean Olsher walks and talks with Sister Thomas, who makes the connection between knowing why things are spelled the way they are and making things better.

Talking Trash
Heard on the street in New Orleans... garbage collector and filmmaker C. L. Taylor, sharing the ins and outs of the job, and of his films, all while tossing bags of trash into the back of a truck.

Letter from Afghanistan
After a brief moment of geo-political fame, Afghanistan is far from center stage these days. But there are those, like attorney and Human Rights Watch researcher John Sifton, who keep constant vigil of the place. Sifton has been in and out of Afghanistan over the past several years. Last March, when war in Iraq was looming, he decided to take a tape recorder along. Produced by Amanda Aronczyk.

Roosevelt Rides Again
When looking for a historical precedent for our current president, some have pointed to Teddy Roosevelt. As Roosevelt scholar Edmund Morris tells Dean Olsher, the theory has merits, but also pitfalls. Produced by Michael Kavanagh.

Raymond Scott Re-Mix
Though he himself may be forgotten, composer and bandleader Raymond Scott's compositions are probably familiar to anyone who's a fan of TV cartoons from the 40s onwards. But as Dean discovers, the seven members of the Raymond Scott Orchestrette see much more than that in Scott's music, which they love to take apart and put back together again.

WNYC archives id: 37503