Summary: It is the story of the brain aneurysm that almost killed my mother in 1987 and how she became a completely different person from the mother of my childhood.
Issues of loss, transformation and personal growth are brilliantly explored in this piece. I was moved by the shared memories of mother and daughter. The voices were beautiful and real.
I listened to this piece for the first time over the holidays last year (2004). And now that it's holiday time again, I have been thinking of it. And so I listened again, and it's even better the second time around. This is a really, really beautiful piece of radio. The writing and the production are so graceful and thoughtful. And the story is just extraordinary. I noticed the suggestion on PRX is that this piece would be good on Mother's Day... but I would argue equally good at holiday time (or any time. This piece does not "need" a hook). I say good at holiday time because it's a time when I find myself thinking about family, and change, and the constraints and possibilities of life. The mother in this story has a brain aneurysm, and the event rearranges her chemistry somehow and she kind of morphs into another person (used to be kind of tight and constrained, now sings aloud in public. Used to hate sex, now loves it, etc, etc). And the beauty of the story is the way the daughter observes this transformation, and reports on it, nakes meaning of it, for us and for herself. A really, really terrific piece!!!
This piece is really good, because the narrator's mother is such an engaging presence, and because the aneurism experience makes an effective story arc. At the beginning of the piece, we're introduced to the mother enough to become attached to her, but then we're not entirely sure if she's going to survive, so there's a subtle tension that propells the story forward. The daughter's story takes place in the background, offering a nice reflective aspect without upstaging the mother's more dramatic transformation. This piece reminds me once again how powerful it is to have dialogue between people who know each other intimately- there is a warmth and immediacy when the mother and daughter share their memories of the crisis experience. Great idea to get sound of the mother singing. Reminds me of a TAL piece with a daughter interviewing her dad and getting him to sing the jingle he wrote for his nascent cable channel featuring 24/7 puppies- hilarious, and instantly makes the singing dad into a hugely sympathetic character.
Not sure the effects made it better- there was something a little phony about the siren and hospital machines, because it forced me to imagine a) that the daughter or some unknown person was there recording in the hospital while the mother was in critical condition, or b) that the sound was recorded later and added in artificially. This is a case where faking it wasn't effective- maybe urgent-sounding music would have created the crisis atmosphere more effectively.
I remember the day my mother passed away and thought how wonderful it would be if see just opened her eyes and became a new person. During her life she became very dark and I missed the fun times, This piece reminded me when I was young with my mother and it made me happy and sad at the same time. Very provocative and interesting since it made me stop and listen so I wouldn't miss a thing. Thanks
Other reviewers have already sung the praises of this story: a daughter's account of her mother's near death experience, her mother's new persona, with musings on what it all means. There are two versions of this story: eleven and twenty minutes. If you have a "showcase" program that can handle the longer version, you may prefer it to the shorter. In defiance of conventional arithmetic, I think the eleven-minute version is just a bit too long, and the 20-minute version is just about right. How can this be? There is a level of detail in the longer version that makes many of the anecdotes more entertaining and meaningful. The narrative flow, to me, seems easier to follow. I got more of a sense of two-parallel-stories-in-one, which seems apt for a mother-daughter character set. Both versions are fine, to my ears, but I liked the longer one more (usually not the case for me, by the way).
PDs at newstalk stations, don't be put off by the slightly glib title -- if you audition no other PRX piece this month, listen to this one. You don't have 20 minutes to listen, so do this instead: Listen to the start, then go about 6 minutes in, then about 16. You will know then whether this terrific piece can work for your station.
This is a lovely and compelling story of a daughter and a mother whose relationship is transformed by a stroke. (The mom almost dies, and emerges, superego impaired, a new and delightful person: "I love sex now; I wasn't so crazy about it before.")
This piece, or a condensed version of it, would work well as part of a show that touches on topics including:
*mother-daughter relationships
*the cutural phenomenon of hospitalization
*kids caring for aging parents.
This is serious business, certainly, but the story is told with a light touch and an easy sense of humor. The hospital scene six minutes in is riveting, and realized beautifully as radio. There's some more amazing tape 16 minutes in -- a lovely unforced scene of disagreement between mom and daughter.
The BIG question is: How do you program this warm, amusing, deeply stereotype-busting piece? Of course this piece deserves to be heard in the full glory of its 20 minute version, but I'm afraid that length may limit its usefulness for many stations.
The most obvious local market for this -- if it's not snapped up by TAL -- may be local news-talk shows. This story could be used to focus a discussion -- by callers, by local in-studio guests -- of some of the topics mentioned above. But a local show can lose it's own sense of identity going 20 minutes without standing down and bringing in local voices. So if there is a shorter version, or a version that occurs in three or four segments, I urge the producers to make these alternatives available to stations via PRX. I think this could add significant flexibility, and could get this on the air more often, in more places, and at times of day when more people are listening. Personally, I think this is some great radio, and I want lots of people to hear it.
Comments for The Day My Mother's Head Exploded
Produced by Hannah Palin
Other pieces by Hannah Palin
Rating Summary
7 comments
Ellen Boscov
Posted on May 10, 2007 at 09:27 AM | Permalink
Review of The Day My Mother's Head Exploded
Issues of loss, transformation and personal growth are brilliantly explored in this piece. I was moved by the shared memories of mother and daughter. The voices were beautiful and real.
Jule Gardner
Posted on April 14, 2006 at 08:03 AM | Permalink
Review of The Day My Mother's Head Exploded
Review deleted.
Emily Hanford
Posted on December 19, 2005 at 04:46 PM | Permalink
Review of The Day My Mother's Head Exploded
I listened to this piece for the first time over the holidays last year (2004). And now that it's holiday time again, I have been thinking of it. And so I listened again, and it's even better the second time around. This is a really, really beautiful piece of radio. The writing and the production are so graceful and thoughtful. And the story is just extraordinary. I noticed the suggestion on PRX is that this piece would be good on Mother's Day... but I would argue equally good at holiday time (or any time. This piece does not "need" a hook). I say good at holiday time because it's a time when I find myself thinking about family, and change, and the constraints and possibilities of life. The mother in this story has a brain aneurysm, and the event rearranges her chemistry somehow and she kind of morphs into another person (used to be kind of tight and constrained, now sings aloud in public. Used to hate sex, now loves it, etc, etc). And the beauty of the story is the way the daughter observes this transformation, and reports on it, nakes meaning of it, for us and for herself. A really, really terrific piece!!!
Jenn Blair
Posted on July 18, 2004 at 10:21 AM | Permalink
Review of The Day My Mother's Head Exploded
This piece is really good, because the narrator's mother is such an engaging presence, and because the aneurism experience makes an effective story arc. At the beginning of the piece, we're introduced to the mother enough to become attached to her, but then we're not entirely sure if she's going to survive, so there's a subtle tension that propells the story forward. The daughter's story takes place in the background, offering a nice reflective aspect without upstaging the mother's more dramatic transformation. This piece reminds me once again how powerful it is to have dialogue between people who know each other intimately- there is a warmth and immediacy when the mother and daughter share their memories of the crisis experience. Great idea to get sound of the mother singing. Reminds me of a TAL piece with a daughter interviewing her dad and getting him to sing the jingle he wrote for his nascent cable channel featuring 24/7 puppies- hilarious, and instantly makes the singing dad into a hugely sympathetic character.
Not sure the effects made it better- there was something a little phony about the siren and hospital machines, because it forced me to imagine a) that the daughter or some unknown person was there recording in the hospital while the mother was in critical condition, or b) that the sound was recorded later and added in artificially. This is a case where faking it wasn't effective- maybe urgent-sounding music would have created the crisis atmosphere more effectively.
Nicholas Rodites
Posted on April 23, 2004 at 04:56 AM | Permalink
Review of The Day My Mother's Head Exploded
I remember the day my mother passed away and thought how wonderful it would be if see just opened her eyes and became a new person. During her life she became very dark and I missed the fun times, This piece reminded me when I was young with my mother and it made me happy and sad at the same time. Very provocative and interesting since it made me stop and listen so I wouldn't miss a thing. Thanks
Phil Easley
Posted on March 18, 2004 at 01:24 PM | Permalink
Review of The Day My Mother's Head Exploded
Other reviewers have already sung the praises of this story: a daughter's account of her mother's near death experience, her mother's new persona, with musings on what it all means. There are two versions of this story: eleven and twenty minutes. If you have a "showcase" program that can handle the longer version, you may prefer it to the shorter. In defiance of conventional arithmetic, I think the eleven-minute version is just a bit too long, and the 20-minute version is just about right. How can this be? There is a level of detail in the longer version that makes many of the anecdotes more entertaining and meaningful. The narrative flow, to me, seems easier to follow. I got more of a sense of two-parallel-stories-in-one, which seems apt for a mother-daughter character set. Both versions are fine, to my ears, but I liked the longer one more (usually not the case for me, by the way).
David Schulman
Posted on March 16, 2004 at 06:24 AM | Permalink
Review of The Day My Mother's Head Exploded
PDs at newstalk stations, don't be put off by the slightly glib title -- if you audition no other PRX piece this month, listen to this one. You don't have 20 minutes to listen, so do this instead: Listen to the start, then go about 6 minutes in, then about 16. You will know then whether this terrific piece can work for your station.
This is a lovely and compelling story of a daughter and a mother whose relationship is transformed by a stroke. (The mom almost dies, and emerges, superego impaired, a new and delightful person: "I love sex now; I wasn't so crazy about it before.")
This piece, or a condensed version of it, would work well as part of a show that touches on topics including:
*mother-daughter relationships
*the cutural phenomenon of hospitalization
*kids caring for aging parents.
This is serious business, certainly, but the story is told with a light touch and an easy sense of humor. The hospital scene six minutes in is riveting, and realized beautifully as radio. There's some more amazing tape 16 minutes in -- a lovely unforced scene of disagreement between mom and daughter.
The BIG question is: How do you program this warm, amusing, deeply stereotype-busting piece? Of course this piece deserves to be heard in the full glory of its 20 minute version, but I'm afraid that length may limit its usefulness for many stations.
The most obvious local market for this -- if it's not snapped up by TAL -- may be local news-talk shows. This story could be used to focus a discussion -- by callers, by local in-studio guests -- of some of the topics mentioned above. But a local show can lose it's own sense of identity going 20 minutes without standing down and bringing in local voices. So if there is a shorter version, or a version that occurs in three or four segments, I urge the producers to make these alternatives available to stations via PRX. I think this could add significant flexibility, and could get this on the air more often, in more places, and at times of day when more people are listening. Personally, I think this is some great radio, and I want lots of people to hear it.