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Playlist: O'Dark 30 episode 164 (4-08)

Compiled By: KUT

Caption: PRX default Playlist image

KUT's O’Dark 30 is now in semi-prime time with more of the very best from the world of independent radio production. Sunday nights at 10 on Austin's KUT 90.5 we present 3 hours of a little bit of everything from the world of independent radio production.

Episode 164 (4-08) includes A Shortcut to the Mountaintop...99% Invisible #69- The Brief and Tumultuous Life of the New UC Logo...Allen Lomax Archives piece from Willis Arnold...Microbial Video Games from Lindsay Patterson...Fanboyz...#33 - The Green Lawns of Texas...Good Morning!...Martin Luther King Jr.'s Path to Non-Violence...Discovering George...At Home in the Circus

A Shortcut To The Mountaintop

From Peter Bochan | Part of the Shortcuts series | 29:27

Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Mix

Martin_luther_king__jr A tribute to Martin Luther King Jr, featuring many of his most famous speeches mixed with music from Stevie Wonder, The Freedom Singers, Jimmy Cliff, James Taylor, Nina Simone, Bill Lee/Branford Marsalis, Moodswings,U2 and more---

99% Invisible #69- The Brief and Tumultuous Life of the New UC Logo

From Roman Mars | Part of the 99% Invisible (Director's Cut) series | 23:28

Emotions run wild in a branding identity campaign.

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If you’re not from California, or missed this bit of news, the University of California has a new logo. Or rather had a new logo. To be more precise they had a new “visual identity system,” which is the kind of entirely accurate but completely wonky description that gets met with sarcastic eye rolls from anyone who isn’t a designer, but there it is. But they don’t have a new anything logo anymore. Because of a massive public backlash, the UC system actually suspended the entire new brand identity monogram while we were reporting this story.

In this episode, we talk to the Creative Director of the UC Office of the President, Vanessa Correa, who led the team that created this short-lived brand identity and Christopher Simmons, principal of MINE, who waded into the UC logo fight with a brilliant blog post called “Why the UC Rebrand is Better Than You Think.”

One of the factors that contributed to the negative public reaction was that fact that the UC monogram wasoften depicted side by side with the classic University seal in media reports.

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Christopher Simmons argues that this image, and the general ignorance of the press, implied that the UC monogram was replacing the seal. Actually, the seal was not going anywhere, but this fact was not always clear. And even if the text was accurate regarding the logo’s relationship with the seal, the visual language of the juxtaposition cemented people’s expectations instantly. The blog Brand New depicted a more accurate representation of the visual identity evolution.

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Another piece of the marketing that misled the public was the University produced video that graphically illustrated some of the design elements in the monogram being pulled out of the seal, followed by the old seal being brushed aside. As a stand-alone statement, the video reinforced a lot of the fears that people had about the new logo and what it might replace.

 

Fourth generation UC Berkeley alum, Cyrus Farivar (see episodes #36 and #55, true believers) takes a look at the new UC logo and chronicles its tumultuous life and rapid death. We also use this opportunity to ruminate on the topic of how and when a design should be judged.

Important clarification from Vanessa Correa: “To be entirely accurate, the university didn’t suspend the entire new brand identity, but rather, just the monogram. (I’ve become a stickler for accuracy as of late. It’s a new thing with me.)”**

**We corrected the audio to reflect this clarification. I’m embarrassed by the error.

Fanboyz

From Jamie Courville | 03:56

Two tech professionals and apple “fanboys” describe their relationship with the products from the United States’ most profitable corporation. They consider where the devices come from and what we can all do about it in the future.

Playing
Fanboyz
From
Jamie Courville

Dsc_2940_small Two tech professionals and apple “fanboys” describe their relationship with the products from the United States’ most profitable corporation. They consider where the devices come from and what we can all do about it in the future.

#33 - The Green Lawns of Texas

From HowSound | 24:17

Avoiding the pitfalls of "parachute journalism" with Marketplace reporter Krissy Clark.

Howsoundfinallarge_small It's always a mystery to me -- how does a reporter travel to a place they've never been to and report a story? It seems fraught. How can you possibly get the story right? In fact, this type of reporting is so risky it has a name, "parachute journalism," and it's definitely something you want to avoid.

Marketplace Reporter Krissy Clark has a strategy for combating the pitfalls of "parachute journalism."  Krissy reveals her tactics on this edition of HowSound. She talks about living in Los Angeles but reporting on the drought in west Texas --- with only two days in the field. Talk about risky! And, we'll hear her story "The Green Lawns of Texas" which was produced for the podcast Freakonomics .

As an added bonus, here's a great collection of thoughts on getting to know a place and finding stories. It was written by students my students at the Transom Story Workshop .

Good Morning!

From Sara Brooke Curtis | 05:00

A collection of remixed "Good Morning" voicemail messages from friends all over the world.

Img_0715_small A friend of mine gave me an assignment to answer my telephone at 7:30 am on December 7th. She gave my phone number to one of her writing mentors and told her to call me. My only guidelines were to answer the telephone and share something with her. So..I created a Google Voice account and asked my friends and family to leave Good Morning messages. I edited a handfull of my favorites together, mixed them with some music, and layered in a recording of my Grandfather singing one of his favorite songs. At 7:30 am I shared this piece with the stranger. She emailed me today and told me that she's taken to playing it every monring as part of her daily ritual.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Path To Nonviolence -29:00 Version (Peace Talks Radio Series)

From Good Radio Shows, Inc. | Part of the Peace Talks Radio: Weekly Half Hour Episodes series | 29:01

Martin Luther King Jr.'s journey to a philosophy of nonviolence and his lasting legacy as a peace proponent is recalled in interviews with his daughter, Yolanda King, and one of King's top colleagues in the civil rights movement, Dr. Dorothy Cotton. This program is also available in a 59:00 version available at PRX.

Yolandaking_small IMPORTANT: Please have your local announcer read the following script before and after this show. "The following (preceding) program, featuring an interview with Yolanda King, the daughter of the late Martin Luther King Jr., was recorded in 2004. Yolanda King died, at the age of 51, May 15, 2007." PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Two women with very close ties to Martin Luther King Jr. reflect on how King developed into one of the great moral and political philosophers of the 20th century and how his philosophies might still guide the world through troubled times today. Dr. Dorothy Cotton was the highest ranking female in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by Dr. King. From 1960 to 1972 Dr. Cotton was the educational director for SCLC and worked very closely with Dr. King. The late Yolanda King was the eldest daughter of Dr. King. She was an internationally known motivational speaker and actress whose personal mission in life was to inspire positive social change and world peace. Ms. King died in May of 2007 at the age of 51. Ms. King and Dr. Cotton were interviewed separately in 2004 by phone by show host Carol Boss.  A newscast compatible 59 minute version of this program is available at PRX: http://www.prx.org/piece/3123 Promos for this program are also contained at the site for the 59:00 version.