October 25 , 2008 (#103) - The Cambodia Show

Life and Death in Battambang
Virginia Madsen - Producer, ABC's Radio Eye

The statistics for children in Cambodia -- half of the country's population -- are bleak. Less than half of the children enrolled in primary school make it to the 6th grade and more than 40,000 die before their first birthday of diseases like pneumonia and dengue fever. Yet everywhere there are stories of families making the best of extraordinary circumstances and children surviving against impossible odds. Australian Producer Virginia Madsen traveled to Battambang, four hours from the capitol of Phnom Pehn, to Komar Rikreay, an orphanage whose name means "Happy Children". It was a family affair for this story. Not only is Madsen's brother a social worker at the orphanage, but Madsen brought her eleven year old daughter along on the trip. In fact, her daughter became a co-narrator in the story, helping to tell the children's stories of life and death in Battambang.


Enchanted Dusk
Aaron Ximm - quietamerican.org

Sound artist Aaron Ximm made this recording near the entrance to Angkor Wat in Cambodia... The sound of children, cicadas, fruit bats, the occasional motorcycle.

Cyclo Ride Home
Aaron Ximm - quietamerican.org

Another field recording from Quiet American. This one from a three-wheeled bicycle taxi, zipping through the streets of Phnom Pehn.

Clean out your ears and let yourself be transported by The Quiet American. Here's where to find more sounds from Cambodia, specifically.

See photos from Komar Rikreay in Cambodia.

Find out more about Komar Rikreay on the Radio Eye website.

October 18 , 2008 - Pledge Drive!!!

Please take a moment to support Re:sound, the Third Coast Festival, and WBEZ. Here's how.

October 11 , 2008 (#79) - The Being Deaf Show
Originally aired October 6, 2007

Being Deaf part 1: Time Lost
Kirsti Melville- Producer

We follow hearing parents with deaf children as they negotiate their way through the school systems, the medical establishment and the sharp political divide between the deaf who learn to speak, and those who exclusively sign.

Being Deaf part 2: Deaf and Proud
Kirsti Melville- Producer

Deaf with a capital D:  generations of proud deaf families who would never dream of using hearing aids or implants. Producer Kirsti Melville deftly balances the responsibility of representing the non-hearing in a hearing medium, itself a dicey proposition.

Featured Music:

Xela, "Inbetween Two Rooms ", For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights (Type, 2007)

Extras:

Check out more Street Stories from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation..

October 4, 2008 (#102)- The Radio Ballads Show


Between 1958 and 1964, eight "Radio Ballads" were created at the BBC by producer Charles Parker, and musicians Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. The Ballads wove sounds, voices, and music into a dense sonic tapestry, and they explored everything from the lives of coal miners to the lives of teenagers, focusing mainly on communities that weren’t often heard from on the radio. The Ballads changed the way people thought about (and listened to) radio forever.

In 2006, the idea was revived with another series of Ballads, produced by John Leonard and John Tams with Sarah Parker, the daughter of Charles. Today we'll sample from some of the original Ballads and some of the newer ones, and we’ll talk with Sarah Parker about her father, the art of documentary-making, and her unique relationship to the historic project.

The Ballad of John Axon (1958)
(Excerpt)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger - Lyrics and music
Charles Parker - Producer, BBC

The Ballad of John Axon chronicled the life of British hero John Axon, a train driver who died when he refused to abandon his runaway train, saving the lives of others at the expense of his own.


Singing the Fishing (1960)
(Excerpt)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger - Lyrics and music
Charles Parker - Producer, BBC

Singing the Fishing focused on the herring fishing communities in Northumberland, Durham, South Wales and the East Midlands.


The Big Hewer (1961)
(Excerpt)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger - Lyrics and music
Charles Parker - Producer, BBC

The Big Hewer took Parker, MacColl, and Seeger down into the coal pits to interview British coal miners.


The Body Blow (1962)
(Excerpt)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger - Lyrics and music
Charles Parker - Producer, BBC

The Body Blow explored the psychology of pain, and the lives and limitations of five people afflicted by Polio.


The Enemy That Lives Within (2006)
(Excerpt)
John Leonard and John Tams with Sara Parker - Producers, BBC
Music by Jez Lowe and Julie Matthews

Six people living with HIV/AIDS share their stories in this modern ballad produced in 2006.


Lord God Bird (2005)
Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister - Producers, Longhaul Productions

And now, a different sort of ballad. And an amazing coincidence: without knowing anything about the BBC Radio Ballads project, Longhaul Productions set out to do pretty much the exact same thing.

Featured Music:

Calexico, "Pepita," Feast of Wire (Quarterstick, 2003)
Chihei Hatakeyama, "Bonfire on the Field," Minima Moralia (Kranky, 2006)
Kallikak Family, "Guitar 2," May 23rd 2007 (Tell All Records)
Luc, "Ete," Pea of the Sea
Melodium, "Untitled 4" (Autres Directions in Music)

TAKE NOTE! ** Third Coast Festival Excitement! **

Find out the story behind the story of the Radio Ballads with Sara Parker, independent producer and daughter of Charles Parker, on Sunday, October 12th at the Old Town School of Folk Music. For more information, click here.

Extras:

Find out lots and lots more about the BBC Radio Ballads project, including the history of the Ballads (both new and old), and credits for all contributors.

Read a WHOLE BOOK about the Radio Ballads by Peter Cox, who calls them "the most compelling series of radio programs ever made" (!)

Learn more about Peggy Seeger, folk singer, activist, and super-talented multi-instrumentalist who composed music for the original Ballads.

Hear more "Song Stories" by Long Haul Productions.