March 23, 2002

Voices from the past... Cold War radio broadcasts on wire, Mikhail Gorbachev on art, and a young girl's instructions on dying, as remembered by her parents. Also, it's time for our monthly caption contest, Five Sounds in Search of an Author.

Gorby Comes to Town
Remember him? And his faithful translator, Pavel Palazchenko? He's come to town to visit Ground Zero, and to talk about... art? NBT Host Dean Olsher goes to a SoHo gallery to suss out the situation.

Five Sounds in Search of an Author
In between these sounds is a story and it's up to you to write it. Listen carefully. Once again, The Next Big Thing is inviting your ideas on ways to weave a plot out of seemingly unrelated sounds. Author and Next Big Thing contributor Jesse Green will choose a winner to read his or her story on our show. You'll hear the results next week. E-mail your stories by end of day on MONDAY, March 25, 2002. Please include a daytime phone number. And remember, the time it takes to read them should come close to the time it takes to hear the sounds (about 30 seconds). Good luck!

No-Risk
In a radical departure from their usual stance of caution, NBT producer Catherine Fenollosa and her husband bought a car on eBay, then flew to Florida to pick it up. Now they're wondering, does risk-taking really suit them?

History on a Wire
In 1946, the United States began nuclear testing on the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. Few people were witness to those tests. One of them was broadcaster Don Mozley, who came into possession of the only live radio broadcast from that day. Archival wire recording restored by Art Shifrin.

Old Sounds
Audio restorer Art Shifrin has a passion. He takes old, crackling wire recordings and makes from them clear audio sound, providing glimpses into the earliest days of recording. Here he shares some of his radio gems, straight from the wire.

Arthur Godfrey and His Friends and Enemies
Arthur Godfrey was a radio legend, charming audiences with his affability throughout the 1950s. But in the business he came to be known as unforgiving, or worse. We listen to original broadcasts with Chuck Howell of the Library of American Broadcasting. Archival wire recordings restored by Art Shifrin.

A Seasoned Seaman
Independent fisherman Frank Sabatino was profiled just a few weeks ago as part of our "New York Works" series. Afterwards, NBT producer Emily Botein wondered why Frank wasn't returning her calls. When he finally did, he was very apologetic. He'd been in the hospital, after his boat sunk with him, his son and friend on it.

A Short Good Life
When Liza Lister was first diagnosed with leukemia at age four, her parents hoped she would still have a chance to grow up. She never did. And yet the way that she guided them through her death suggests that she held an understanding of life most adults never attain.


WNYC archives id: 12159