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Playlist: O'Dark 30 episode 111 (3-07)

Compiled By: KUT

Caption: PRX default Playlist image

KUT's O’Dark 30 survives the BCS madness with more of the very best from the world of independent radio production this week. Every Sunday at midnight on Austin's KUT 90.5 and also at 4pm on digital KUT2 we present 3 hours of a little bit of everything from the world of independent radio production.

Episode 111 (3-07) includes Clever Apes: First memories...StoryCorps: Ono...Tossing Away the Keys...KUT's Portrait of an Artist with Black Red Black...The Beatles: Every little Thing - Episode 2...How 200 Ailing Pelicans Changed One Man's Life...Who needs to have a guitar to be a rock star

Clever Apes: First memories

From WBEZ | Part of the WBEZ's Clever Apes series | 08:22

Our childhood memories may not always be reliable, but they have a lot to teach us about how we think, learn, and build an identity. In this episode, Gabriel Spitzer explores what science has to say about our first memories.

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I’m sitting at a picnic table in our screened-in porch. It’s my third birthday party, and I’m opening presents. I unwrap a Tonka truck, and drop to the floor to start playing with it.

That’s been my earliest memory ever since I can, well, remember. But as the years wore on, something weird started happening. I started to feel less attached to the person in that memory. Now, I feel like I’m seeing the memory through someone else’s eyes, watching myself push that truck on the green astroturf carpet. I’m not even sure it’s a real memory anymore.

This has been on my mind because my own son recently had his third birthday. It got me wondering what his first memory will be, and more broadly, what is the nature of early memories? How reliable might they be, and how important to the construction of our identities?

On the latest installment of Clever Apes, we dig into what science has to say about early memory. Young kids actually have lots of memories that don’t make it into long-term storage. The phenomenon, called “childhood amnesia,” is not very well understood. But it seems to have something to do with the lens through which we see the world, and how it changes from early childhood (say, age three) to the more verbal period starting around age five or six. It’s tough to bridge that divide, and that may explain why I’m having a hard time connecting with my three-year old self.

And there’s another reason: memories are made from networks of neurons in our brains. That wiring gets used for lots of things, and so with each new memory, the networks change a little. When we remember something, we effectively rewrite it. That means that in some sense, each time we reflect on a memory, we’re putting a little more distance between ourselves and the actual event. Recent research suggests we’re even doing this in our sleep.

It’s enough to give a fellow a dose of existential distress. But there’s an upside too: A Chicago researcher has demonstrated ways that parents can reinforce and help solidify a child’s memories.If you listen to the show, you can hear me trying this out on my son, Ezra. I bribed him with M&Ms to get him to sit still.

Tossing Away the Keys

From Sound Portraits | 27:38

Louisiana State Penitentiary inmate Wilbert Rideau's report on fellow inmates who are serving life terms without the possibility of parole.

Tossingawaythekeys1_small CURRENT DATE PEG: In the early morning of January 9, 2005 acclaimed prison journalist Wilbert Rideau was granted freedom after 44 years behind bars. Rideau co-produced and narrated this documentary in 1988; Dave Isay has written new sample intro text to make it easy for stations to feature the documentary in recognition of Rideau's release. The Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola Prison, is a sprawling old plantation on the Mississippi River. It was named, long ago, for the birthplace of the slaves who were brought here to work the land. Now, Angola holds more than five-thousand prisoners, mostly African Americans. It still has the look of another time: long straight lines of black men march to work along the levees with shovels over their shoulders. They are trailed by guards on horseback, shotguns resting in their laps. It used to be that a life sentence in Louisiana meant a maximum of ten years and six months behind bars. But, in the 1970s, the state's politicians changed the definition. A life sentence in Louisiana now means just that. Unless they're pardoned by the Governor, inmates today know they will never again see the outside world -- that they will die inside Angola prison. Tossing Away the Keys is their story.

The Beatles: Every Little Thing - Episode 2

From Andy Cahn | Part of the The Beatles: Every Little Thing series | 54:01

This show includes a sampling of the Beatles' work with Eric Clapton, and a few songs from 2010 remasters from John and Paul.

Elt-logo3_small Hosted by Ken Michaels, ELT 2 includes a set of the Beatles' work with Eric Clapton, music from 2010 remasters, and a Beatle's son covers one of his Dad's songs!

How 200 Ailing Pelicans Changed One Man’s Life

From Richard Ziglar | Part of the GulfWatch: Stories about the ongoing effects of the BP Oil Spill from KRVS series | 05:42

The BP oil spill triggered an outpouring of volunteer energy. Concerned Americans lay boom, picked up tar balls, and performed mundane tasks like answering telephones. A few helped transport or clean oiled birds. Regardless of what they did, many volunteers now find themselves transformed. Meet party-photographer-turned-bird-lover Bart Siegel.

Bart_siegel_small The BP oil spill triggered an outpouring of volunteer energy. Concerned Americans lay boom, picked up tar balls, and performed mundane tasks like answering telephones. A few helped transport or clean oiled birds. Regardless of what they did, many volunteers now find themselves transformed. Meet party-photographer-turned-bird-lover Bart Siegel.

Who needs a guitar to be a rock star?

From KALW | 09:30

When it comes to making it big at anything, you’ve got to do some hard work. Behind every rock star, there are thousands of hours of practice, touring and rocking out. Of course, to rock out, you don’t actually need to know how to play an instrument – at least not at the San Francisco Regional Air Guitar Championships. There, rock gods are judged on their stage presence, technical merit, and something called “airness.”

To find out what that is, just take a listen to this story from KALW’s Christopher Connelly, who was there to witness it all firsthand.

And a note to our listeners – the following story contains mature subject matter.

Airguitar_coldsteelrenegade2_small When it comes to making it big at anything, you’ve got to do some hard work. Behind every rock star, there are thousands of hours of practice, touring and rocking out. Of course, to rock out, you don’t actually need to know how to play an instrument – at least not at the San Francisco Regional Air Guitar Championships. There, rock gods are judged on their stage presence, technical merit, and something called “airness.” To find out what that is, just take a listen to this story from KALW’s Christopher Connelly, who was there to witness it all firsthand. And a note to our listeners – the following story contains mature subject matter.