We all know what it’s like to jump at the sound of an ice cream truck, but what is it like for the mustachioed purveyor of those eclairs, sandwiches etc once he tootles away down tot he corner and a new sale? This is a profile of one Good Humor Man as he makes his appointed rounds. 
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Despite our technically secular society, questions of meaning and the spirit are as meaningful as ever. In his long form documentary narrated by Gary Edquist, Adam Phillips spoke to experts and everyday people alike about that hunger, the roots of its urgency, and what some are trying to do to live lives of quiet “non-desperation.”
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This is the first piece I had on the air for which I was actually paid (God bless Pacifica). It dates back to 1986, and chronicles one rent fight in a low income area of Arlandria Virginia, just outside DC.
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The Kentucky coal region is a tough area with its own culture, its own natural beauty, and its endless seams of coal, many of which lie underneath the ground on mountains, rather than below ground. Many mining companies have taken to shaving off the top of the mountains, but the slag and the unsightliness and pollution caused by the work. On the other hand, the mountains of Appalachia are both remote and impoverished, and this strip mining produces a lot of jobs. In this story (which actually won a prize) examines the conflict in the abstract, but always lets the emotion and the human reality of the ongoing difficulties tell the tale.
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To Kill or Not to Kill? This question lies at the heart of an American debate, and calls forth fundamental values and opinions about the sanctity of life and the sanctity of justice. This 1995 doc, which features once condemned men, as well as the late Sister Helen Prejean (who figured prominently in “Dead Man Walking” explores many views and offers no answers. Not for the squeamish.
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Often praised as the greatest speech of all tine, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (November 19,1863) still resonates and moves Americans who hear it and memorize it. The famous words were the subject of a teaching unit for sixth graders at the John Eaton School in Washington DC, which culminated in a recital and some interviews at the Lincoln Memorial itself. I was there!
Here’s a link to the Address : http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
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In New York, one can walk through both solidly Jewish neighborhoods and completely Chinese neighborhoods and hear the same strident, even merry, clickety clack of ma jog tiles. Players in both worlds have developed their own cultures and phrasing. For instance, the Chinese phrase for the sound the tiles make when they are mixed up translates as “twittering of the sparrows.” In Jewish-English, it’s merely “smooshing.” This story explores both worlds.
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Valdus Adamkus was part of the anti-Nazi resistance in Lithuania during World War Two, and fled his native land for the US following the war, where he had a nice life, and rose high in the EPA bureaucracy in Chicago. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and Lithuanian independence, there was a question about who would be his nation’s next president. He said “Why not me?” and returned to win the election. I spoke with him by phone from the presidential palace.
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This is a story I did the weekend of October 10-11 2009 connected with a gay rights march on the Capitol, especially as regards gays in the military. Here’s the intro I used for the piece:
Demonstrations are expected this weekend in Washington as groups of active and former service members and their supporters urge lawmakers to repeal the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell†policy†that bars openly homosexual service members from serving in the military, and a stricter federal law that forbids homosexual from serving at all. Activists denounce both as inhumane, outmoded, and against both the military and the national interest. Supporters of the bans say they are necessary for the comfort and morale of heterosexuals in the ranks. Adam Phillips examines the controversy.
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New York’s Saint Thomas Church is one of the only boarding schools in America where talented young boys can go to learn to perform top notch liturgical chorale music and get a good secular education at the same time. Once puberty and the change of voice hit, their sweet sopranos are gone. In the meanwhile however, their boyishness and their music take center stage. This is their story.