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Playlist: Radio Producers Do It In Waves

Compiled By: Mason Gibb

During the 20th century opium wars, the BBC Third Programme distributes opium through its chain of satellites from India to Hong Kong.  Maintaining a constant supply of opium is the only way the above man tolerates broadcasts of  "The Archers." Credit: Mason Gibb, "Radio Wars: The Little Known History of Marconi's Deadly Weapon"
Image by: Mason Gibb, "Radio Wars: The Little Known History of Marconi's Deadly Weapon" 
During the 20th century opium wars, the BBC Third Programme distributes opium through its chain of satellites from India to Hong Kong. Maintaining a constant supply of opium is the only way the above man tolerates broadcasts of "The Archers."

Have you ever been enchanted, unable to move, stuck in your seat--like the young woman in Milton's Comus, bound and unable to move in some sort of unnamed sap. But instead of semen or menstrual flows, the sap immobilizing you was a radio broadcast? Something affiliated with PRX?

I can only assume that's why you're here. You're chasing that dragon: going to the PRX website, finding the program you heard to enjoy it in the privacy of your own home again and again.

This will be a playlist (maybe) of the best hits. Radio that smokes. Where something as mystical as radio and sound will hijack your mind, even make you feel like you have a soul.

For those who have already spent years in a radio den...turn up the speakers and hit that pipe! The next few hits are on me. Hide full description

Have you ever been enchanted, unable to move, stuck in your seat--like the young woman in Milton's Comus, bound and unable to move in some sort of unnamed sap. But instead of semen or menstrual flows, the sap immobilizing you was a radio broadcast? Something affiliated with PRX? I can only assume that's why you're here. You're chasing that dragon: going to the PRX website, finding the program you heard to enjoy it in the privacy of your own home again and again. This will be a playlist (maybe) of the best hits. Radio that smokes. Where something as mystical as radio and sound will hijack your mind, even make you feel like you have a soul. For those who have already spent years... Show full description

Hidden Kitchens Texas

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Hidden Kitchens series | 59:00

Hidden Kitchens Texas, a new hour of lively, sound-rich stories from Peabody Award-winning producers, The Kitchen Sisters, KUT Austin, and NPR. Hosts Willie Nelson and Dallas-born actress Robin Wright Penn, along with singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Los Lonely Boys, and some extraordinary tellers take us across Texas and share their own hidden kitchens. Stories of cowboy kitchens, ice houses, chili queens, the tamale lady at Fuel City in Dallas, the birth of the Frito, the birth of the 7-Eleven, the birth of the frozen Margarita, the first barbeque pit on the moon, musician's kitchens, cotton picker's kitchens, Czech sausage makers, the garage kitchens of the Vietnamese in Houston, deep fried fuel from biodiesel kitchens, and so much more. All the big issues play out in these wild and moving Texas kitchen stories -- oil, land, food, family, elders, war, work, immigration -- issues that touch the lives of listeners everywhere. It's radio that tastes real good.

Hktxlogo_small KUT 90.5 FM Austin and NPR present Hidden Kitchens Texas, a new hour-long special produced by the Peabody Award-winning Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva). Host, Willie Nelson, Dallas-born actress Robin Wright Penn, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Los Lonely Boys, along with some extraordinary tellers, take us across The Lone Star State in this new special. Stories of cowboy kitchens, cotton picker's kitchens, oil barrel barbeques, ice houses, chili queens, the birth of the Frito, the birth of the 7-Eleven, the birth of the Slurpee, the birth of the frozen Margarita, the first barbeque pit on the moon, all laced with a soulful array of Texas music. Intimate, historic, offbeat, and wild. So many issues we all share play out in these Texas kitchen stories--oil, land, food, family, elders, war, work, immigration--issues that touch the lives of listeners everywhere.

Hidden Kitchens: The Raw & The Cooked

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Hidden Kitchens series | 54:56

An hour-long journey into the world of clandestine cooking, kitchen rituals and traditions. Tales of kitchens that suddenly pop up, kitchens that stay underground to survive, kitchens that are the keepers of a culture. Cooking traditions that spring from the most unlikely moments of history. Hosted by Academy Award-winning actress, Frances McDormand.

Hk-raw_cooked-weenieroyale_small We travel the country and we travel in time in search of hidden kitchens and little-known corners of American food culture. From the Crossroads in Mississippi to the Birth of Rice-a-Roni in San Francisco. From the Sheepherder's Ball in the Basque Country in Boise to the Breadbasket of California's Central Valley. We hear kitchen stories and music from Michael Pollan, Rosemary Clooney, Robert Johnson, Super Chikan and more.

Entertaining, surprising, and soulful, a Kitchen Sisters' portrait of American life through food.

Some of the stories that are heard in this richly-layered documentary hour include: 

Kibbe at the Crossroads: A Delta Kitchen Vision: A story from the crossroads, in Clarksdale, Mississippi where barbeque, the blues and a kind of Lebanese meatloaf, meet.

Weenie Royale: Many hidden kitchen traditions come out of dark times, when surviving means adapting. We peer into a corner of America's not-too-distant past—the internment camps of World War II, where more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent—most American citizens—were incarcerated without trial for the duration of the war. Their homes, livelihoods, traditions and food taken from them. The Kitchen Sisters explore the impact of the internment on Japanese cooking and culture in America.  

The Sheepherder's Ball: Basque people fleeing Francisco Franco's dictatorship in Spain flocked to America. Many took jobs herding sheep across the West. We explore the world of Basque sheepherders and their outdoor, below-the-ground, Dutch oven cooking traditions.

Hidden Kitchen Mama: Kitchens and mothers. The food they cooked, or didn't. The stories they told, or couldn't.   

Breadbasket Blues: Travel down Interstate 5, straight into the agricultural heart of the California Central Valley, the nation's breadbasket, where the rates of juvenile obesity, type 2 diabetes and malnutrition are some of the highest in the country. The Kitchen Sisters explore some of the hidden causes of this epidemic and the local kitchen visionaries grappling with it.      

The Birth of Rice-a-Roni: Sometimes we find the story. Sometimes the story finds us. Nikki sat down next to this one at an NPR event in the Napa Valley. We were onstage interviewing Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma. The topic was corn, and we played a little excerpt from our Hidden Kitchen story on the 1930s kitchen visionary who invented the Frito. Over dinner, the 80-year-old woman seated by Nikki confided that she too had a hidden kitchen, and began to tell the complicated saga of the birth of Rice-a-Roni.

And we take a little detour to visit Mozart's Hidden Kitchen.

Hidden Kitchens: The Raw & The Cooked. Stories from across America about the transformative power of food. With host, Academy Award-winning actress, Frances McDormand.

Hidden Kitchens Special - Hour One

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Hidden Kitchens series | 59:02

Two new one-hour specials journey into the world of street corner cooking, kitchen rituals and visionaries— how communities come together through food. A poignant, sometimes wild chronicle of American life.

Hkmap_small Two new nationwide public radio collaborations. The first hour special is presented by NPR and KQED Public Radio. The second hour special is presented by NPR and Chicago Public Radio. Hour One: Secret, underground, unknown, unofficial, below the radar kitchen stories from across America, narrated by Frances McDormand, including: Hidden Kitchens Calling; An Unexpected Kitchen: The George Foreman Grill; NASCAR Kitchens: Feed the Speed; Listener Phone Messages: An Impromptu Trucker’s Buffet & The Tool Box Kitchen; A Raw Milk Coven; Milk Cow Blues: The Apple Family Farm and the Indiana Cow Share Association; America Eats: A Hidden Archive; The Forager: Hunting and Gathering with Angelo Garro; along with listener phone messages and the sound and music of place. Long description: A midnight cabyard kitchen on the streets of San Francisco, makeshift kitchens crammed in the racing pits of NASCAR, a secret civil rights kitchen tucked away in a house in Montgomery, the most unexpected hidden kitchen of all, The George Foreman Grill. The Hidden Kitchens series, first heard on Morning Edition is the inspiration for two new hour-long specials coming to public radio his fall. NPR and KQED Public Radio present Hidden Kitchens: Stories and More from Peabody Award winning producers, The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva) and Jay Allison -- two hour long broadcast specials narrated by Academy Award winning actress Frances McDormand. Hour two is presented in association with Chicago Public Radio. Hidden Kitchens travels America, exploring the world of street corner cooking, kitchen rituals and visionaries, how communities come together through food. Lively, richly layered, full of heart and spirit, the specials take listeners on a journey into the world of secret, underground, unexpected, unusual, clandestine cooking across America. Thousands of NPR listeners called in to share their own tips and leads on NPR’s Hidden Kitchen hotline, The Morning Edition series just scratched the surface of this intriguing archive of kitchen stories. Hidden Kitchens: Stories and More features these messages from listeners from throughout the country the James Beard Award-nominated radio series on NPR’s Morning Edition, is the inspiration. A collection of small kitchen stories, mysterious and revealing, first heard on NPR's Morning Edition, now unfolding further in these specials -- produced by The Kitchen Sisters and Jay Allison in association with KQED’s Campaign for the Future Program Venture Fund. Mixed by with Jim McKee at Earwax Productions. "The Kitchen Sisters are my favorite storytellers. Their off-beat kitchen stories make me want to walk through my neighborhood, go on a road trip and eat the food of family. They have heart." -Francis Ford Coppola “The Kitchen Sisters have done some of the best radio stories ever broadcast. I know some people who didn’t believe you could “that” on the radio.” -Ira Glass, host and producer, This American Life “This collection of stories from every corner of the United States is so hopeful and reassuring. The Kitchen Sisters understand that food is more than just food: it is about our connections to one another and to our place in the world.” -Alice Waters, Founder of Chez Panisse “The Kitchen Sisters are the best thing going on radio today… In bringing their stories to life in book form, they hold a wry, appreciative mirror up to America's foodways, and in the process, make you realize just how strange and wonderful our culinary traditions are.” -Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire Host bio: Universally acclaimed actress Frances McDormand’s celebrated performances include her Academy Award winning role in “Fargo” as well as additional nominations for “Almost Famous” and “Mississippi Burning”. Other films include “Something’s Gotta Give”, “Wonder Boys”, “Laurel Canyon”, “North Country”, and “Blood Simple”.

Hidden Kitchens Special - Hour Two

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Hidden Kitchens series | 59:05

Two new one-hour specials journey into the world of street corner cooking, kitchen rituals and visionaries? how communities come together through food. A poignant, sometimes wild chronicle of American life.

Hkmap_small Two new nationwide public radio collaborations. The first hour special is presented by NPR and KQED Public Radio. The second hour special is presented by NPR and Chicago Public Radio. Hour Two: Frances McDormand takes listeners on a further journey into unusual, significant, clandestine kitchens hidden across America. Stories include: Harvest on Big Rice Lake; Listener Phone Messages: Endangered Kitchens & Hippie Kitchens; Burgoo: Mopping the Mutton; Freighter Food: From the Galleys of the Great Lakes; A Secret Civil Rights Kitchen: Georgia Gilmore & The Club From Nowhere; Listener Messages: Grandmother?s Kitchens; A Prison Kitchen Vision; The Fellowship of Food. Long description: A midnight cabyard kitchen on the streets of San Francisco, makeshift kitchens crammed in the racing pits of NASCAR, a secret civil rights kitchen tucked away in a house in Montgomery, the most unexpected hidden kitchen of all, The George Foreman Grill. The Hidden Kitchens series, first heard on Morning Edition is the inspiration for two new hour-long specials coming to public radio his fall. NPR and KQED Public Radio present Hidden Kitchens: Stories and More from Peabody Award winning producers, The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva) and Jay Allison -- two hour long broadcast specials narrated by Academy Award winning actress Frances McDormand. Hour two is presented in association with Chicago Public Radio. Hidden Kitchens travels America, exploring the world of street corner cooking, kitchen rituals and visionaries, how communities come together through food. Lively, richly layered, full of heart and spirit, the specials take listeners on a journey into the world of secret, underground, unexpected, unusual, clandestine cooking across America. Thousands of NPR listeners called in to share their own tips and leads on NPR?s Hidden Kitchen hotline, The Morning Edition series just scratched the surface of this intriguing archive of kitchen stories. Hidden Kitchens: Stories and More features these messages from listeners from throughout the country the James Beard Award-nominated radio series on NPR?s Morning Edition, is the inspiration. A collection of small kitchen stories, mysterious and revealing, first heard on NPR's Morning Edition, now unfolding further in these specials -- produced by The Kitchen Sisters and Jay Allison in association with KQED?s Campaign for the Future Program Venture Fund. Mixed by with Jim McKee at Earwax Productions. "The Kitchen Sisters are my favorite storytellers. Their off-beat kitchen stories make me want to walk through my neighborhood, go on a road trip and eat the food of family. They have heart." -Francis Ford Coppola ?The Kitchen Sisters have done some of the best radio stories ever broadcast. I know some people who didn?t believe you could ?that? on the radio.? -Ira Glass, host and producer, This American Life ?This collection of stories from every corner of the United States is so hopeful and reassuring. The Kitchen Sisters understand that food is more than just food: it is about our connections to one another and to our place in the world.? -Alice Waters, Founder of Chez Panisse ?The Kitchen Sisters are the best thing going on radio today? In bringing their stories to life in book form, they hold a wry, appreciative mirror up to America's foodways, and in the process, make you realize just how strange and wonderful our culinary traditions are.? -Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva) have been producing radio programs together since 1979. They are the creators, with Jay Allison, of two Peabody Award winning NPR series, Lost & Found Sound and The Sonic Memorial Project heard on NPR?s All Things Considered and the James Beard Award nominated Morning Edition series Hidden Kitchens that explores the world of street corner cooking, kitchen rituals and visionaries ? how communities come together through food, now in it?s second season. The Kitchen Sisters groundbreaking national radio collaborations have brought together independent producers, NPR, stations, artists, writers, archivists, historians and public radio listeners throughout the country to create richly layered, highly produced radio documentaries that chronicle untold stories of American culture and traditions. Jay Allison is an independent broadcast journalist. His work airs on NPR?s All Things Considered, PRI?s This American Life, ABC News' Nightline, and other national programs. He is the recipient of four Peabody Awards and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?s Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding contributions to public radio, the industry's highest honor. He is the director of Atlantic Public Media and the founder of WCAI/WNAN, the public radio service for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. He is also an innovator in online projects for public broadcasting, including Transom.org and The Public Radio Exchange (PRX.org). Host bio: Universally acclaimed actress Frances McDormand?s celebrated performances include her Academy Award winning role in ?Fargo? as well as additional nominations for ?Almost Famous? and ?Mississippi Burning?. Other films include ?Something?s Gotta Give?, ?Wonder Boys?, ?Laurel Canyon?, ?North Country?, and ?Blood Simple?.

Lost & Found Sound and Beyond: Hour One

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Lost & Found Sound and Beyond series | 59:18

Lost & Found Sound and Beyond" is the second anthology of greatest hits from the Peabody Award winning Lost & Found Sound radio series, heard over the last five years on NPR's All Things Considered.

Lfsblayoutfnt5 Please do not broadcast until after October 8, 2004 "Lost & Found Sound and Beyond" is the second anthology of greatest hits from the Peabody Award winning Lost & Found Sound radio series, heard over the last five years on NPR's All Things Considered. A collection of eccentric, endangered and undiscovered sounds and oral traditions, this special two-hour program provides a glimpse of the recorded legacy of our country. Hosted by film legend Francis Ford Coppola, "Lost & Found Sound and Beyond" feeds in early September, and again in mid-October for use during the 2004 holidays. Each hour of the program can be aired as a discrete broadcast. The hours are not newscast compatible, but will otherwise follow the standard :20/:40 broadcast clock. This new gathering of unique stories is the product of a sprawling nationwide collaboration of independent radio producers, artists, musicians, archivists, writers, NPR, public radio stations and listeners. Lost and Found Sound was produced by two-time Peabody Award winning producers, The Kitchen Sisters (Nikki Silva & Davia Nelson) with Jay Allison. A sound hound himself, Francis Ford Coppola weaves these twelve richly-layered radio documentaries together with his own stories, reminiscences and home recordings, including his 1977 "interview" with five-year-old daughter Sofia Coppola about what she wants to be when she grows up. The stories include a surprising tale of Liberace and The Trinidad Tripoli Steelband, the saga of Sun Studios producer Sam Phillips, and narratives from Mohawk Indian ironworkers at the Twin Towers and Vietnamese manicurists in America. Promos for both hours are attached. Promo 1: 4:40 Promo 2: 0:40 Promo 3: 1:01

Lost & Found Sound and Beyond: Hour Two

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Lost & Found Sound and Beyond series | 59:04

"Lost & Found Sound and Beyond" is the second anthology of greatest hits from the Peabody Award winning Lost & Found Sound radio series, heard over the last five years on NPR's All Things Considered. A collection of eccentric, endangered and undiscovered sounds and oral traditions, this special two-hour program provides a glimpse of the recorded legacy of our country.

Lfsblayoutfnt5 Please do not broadcast until after October 8, 2004 "Lost & Found Sound and Beyond" is the second anthology of greatest hits from the Peabody Award winning Lost & Found Sound radio series, heard over the last five years on NPR's All Things Considered. A collection of eccentric, endangered and undiscovered sounds and oral traditions, this special two-hour program provides a glimpse of the recorded legacy of our country. Hosted by film legend Francis Ford Coppola, "Lost & Found Sound and Beyond" feeds in early September, and again in mid-October for use during the 2004 holidays. Each hour of the program can be aired as a discrete broadcast. The hours are not newscast compatible, but will otherwise follow the standard :20/:40 broadcast clock. This new gathering of unique stories is the product of a sprawling nationwide collaboration of independent radio producers, artists, musicians, archivists, writers, NPR, public radio stations and listeners. Lost & Found Sound was produced by two-time Peabody Award winning producers, The Kitchen Sisters (Nikki Silva & Davia Nelson) with Jay Allison. A sound hound himself, Francis Ford Coppola weaves these twelve richly-layered radio documentaries together with his own stories, reminiscences and home recordings, including his 1977 "interview" with five-year-old daughter Sofia Coppola about what she wants to be when she grows up. The stories include a surprising tale of Liberace and The Trinidad Tripoli Steelband, the saga of Sun Studios producer Sam Phillips, and narratives from Mohawk Indian ironworkers at the Twin Towers and Vietnamese manicurists in America. Promos for both hours are attached. Promo 1: 4:40 Promo 2: 0:40 Promo 3: 1:01

WHER: 1000 Beautiful Watts

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Lost & Found Sound series | 58:40

The story of the first all-girl radio station in the nation

Wher1_small WHER, the first all-girl radio station in the nation, went on the air in Memphis on October 29, 1955. It was the brainchild of sound legend Sam Phillips, who created the groundbreaking format with money he raised from selling Elvis Presley's Sun Studios contract.
 
Women almost exclusively ran WHER. On the air they read the news, interviewed local celebrities, and spun popular records. Behind the scenes they sold and created commercials, produced and directed programming and sat at the station's control boards. 

Lost & Found Sound: Hour Two

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Lost & Found Sound series | 59:04

Lost & Found Sound is an eclectic gathering of stories both historical and entertaining, woven together with lyrical sonic transitions, surprising audio artifacts and musings by the likes of Sun Records producer Sam Phillips.

Lfsmiddle_small Some of the stories in this collection include: "Carnival Talkers" - a tale of the vanishing voices and fading art of the sideshow pitchman. "Cigar Stories: El Lector, He who reads" - a lost tradition of story and smoke. In "Quest for Sound: Gettysburg Eyewitness" listen as a man recalls watching Lincoln give his historic address at Gettysburg. Follow New York recording legend Tony Schwartz through the neighborhood he has relentlessly recorded for some 50 years in "Tony Schwartz - 30,000 Recordings Later." Eavesdrop on Tennessee Williams and his friends recording on cardboard discs in a New Orleans penny arcade in "Tennessee Williams and The Pennyland Recordings" and listen to the strangest presidential telephone calls ever recorded in "LBJ and the Helium Filled Astronaut." The Lost & Found Sound radio series explores how recorded sound has captured American history. The series chronicles, reflects and celebrates the human experience through rare home recordings, sonic snapshots, and remarkable stories about people possessed by sound. If your station wants to air these specials and it's not an NPR member station, please call NPR program and member services at 1-800-329-5380.

Lost & Found Sound: Hour One

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Lost & Found Sound series | 59:04

Lost & Found Sound is an eclectic gathering of stories both historical and entertaining, woven together with lyrical sonic transitions, surprising audio artifacts and musings by the likes of Sun Records producer Sam Phillips.

Lfsmiddle_small Some of the stories in this collection include: "Carnival Talkers" - a tale of the vanishing voices and fading art of the sideshow pitchman. "Cigar Stories: El Lector, He who reads" - a lost tradition of story and smoke. In "Quest for Sound: Gettysburg Eyewitness," listen as a man recalls watching Lincoln give his historic address at Gettysburg. Follow New York recording legend Tony Schwartz through the neighborhood he has relentlessly recorded for some 50 years in "Tony Schwartz - 30,000 Recordings Later." Eavesdrop on Tennessee Williams and his friends recording on cardboard discs in a New Orleans penny arcade in "Tennessee Williams and The Pennyland Recordings" and listen to the strangest presidential telephone calls ever recorded in "LBJ and the Helium Filled Astronaut." The Lost & Found Sound radio series explores how recorded sound has captured American history. The series chronicles, reflects and celebrates the human experience through rare home recordings, sonic snapshots, and remarkable stories about people possessed by sound. If your station wants to air these specials and it's not an NPR member station, please call NPR program and member services at 1-800-329-5380.