InTheNo: Recent Episodes

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Clocks have March-ed ahead, and we've passed the Vernal equinox, so it's time to think spring. To usher in the season, here's a medley of live performance highlights from the March 23, 2007 "Jonathan Coulton meets Paul and Storm" show at Milkboy Coffeehouse in Ardmore, PA.

"Bigfoot Love Triangle" (known to friends as "BLT") takes its name from the fact that the elusive woodland creature was mentioned onstage in a pairing with Abraham Lincoln...and then in a different pairing with Leonard Nimoy. Coincidence, or classic amorous rivalry? You be the judge.

As with the Skullcrusher Pirate Hotdish, I've freely reordered songs from the show's two sets, mixing and matching the performers. Everything in this medley is farm fresh, made up entirely of new songs not found in the previous live show mix.

The set list for this virtual concert:

The Easter Song (P&S)

The Town Crotch (JoCo w/P&S)

Tom Cruise Crazy (JoCo w/P&S)

Randy Newman Movie Theme Songs: (P&S)

~~ Lord of the Rings

~~ The Passion of the Christ

A Talk with George (JoCo)

Under The Pines (JoCo) ~ live performance premiere!

My Fantastic Plastic Girl (P&S)

The Ballad of Eddie Praeger (P&S)

First of May (JoCo w/P&S)

Please note: All songs appear with permission from the artists, and no bunnies, hobbits, mannequins, space travelers, or movie stars were harmed during the making of this mix.

Remember, the year is young -- you still have lots of opportunities to catch Paul and Storm with Jonathan Coulton LIVE in 2007.

P.S. That cheer at the end? Greek to me, literally. Check out our interview with Jonathan Coulton for a tip on the Bryn Mawr-May Day connection.

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The geographic span between Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and New York's Columbia University is relatively modest, but for award-winning journalist Alfred Lubrano, the psychic distance he needed to travel as the first member of his family to attend college was far greater. Lubrano discusses the unique conflicts and challenges faced by "Straddlers" like himself -- people brought up in the working class, transformed through their educations, now leading middle-class lives.

We touch on numerous topics in this episode, including:

Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams (Wiley, 2003)

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway

Columbia University

GQ Magazine

New York Daily News

Caroline Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Richard Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory

Richard Sennett and Jonathan Cobb, The Hidden Injuries of Class

Michael Hout, UC Berkeley

Pierre Bourdieu

Dana Gioia, The National Endowment for the Arts

Stanford University

Harvard University

Phillips Exeter Academy

Fulbright scholarship

Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique

W.E.B. DuBois

Amazon.com

Slate.com and Dear Prudence

Tom Wolfe

Come listen to a very different kind of story about choosing to step away from bricks and mortar.

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Donald Nally left his job as a music professor to found an all-professional chamber choir; despite overwhelming critical acclaim, the group was forced to disband within two years. Nearly a decade later, as Nally prepares to become the Chorus Master of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, he and his singers have renewed their commitment to the performance of new and modern choral music as The Crossing. Nally speaks about his experiences, as well as sound, breath, emotion, release, and connection through the human voice.

We touch on numerous topics during this show, including:

Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia

Spoleto Music Festival -- Italy, United States

Gian Carlo Menotti, Amahl and the Night Visitors

Westminster Choir College

Joseph Flummerfelt

The Chicago "L"

Arvo P�¤rt

Sir John Tavener

Ton de Leeuw

Gerald Finzi Intimations of Immortality

Chorus America and the Margaret Hillis Award

Margaret Hillis

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Welsh National Opera

West Chester University

Philadelphia Inquirer, music critic David Patrick Stearns

Chestnut Hill Local, music critic Michael Caruso

Contemporary composers Thomas Ad�¨s, Jonathan Harvey, Judith Weir, David Shapiro, Robert Convery, Robert Maggio, Sharon Hershey, Jake Heggie, Kaija Saariaho

Josquin des Prez

Mark Rothko

Lyric Opera of Chicago

Tosca by Giacomo Puccini

The Crossing

Several live performance excerpts are heard during this episode, all conducted by Maestro Nally:

• "Lamentio Super Morte Josquin de Pres" by Hieronymus Vinders,

performed by the Bridge Ensemble (0:00) * "Te Deum" by James MacMillan,

performed by The Crossing (1:35) * "O Leave Your Sheep" arranged by Kenneth Leighton,

performed by The Crossing (11:52) * "trees" by Lars Johan Werle,

*performed by the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia,

solo by Levi Hernandez (18:19)* * "Gloria Tibi Domine" from The Saint of Bleeker Street

by Gian Carlo Menotti,

performed by the Spoleto Festival Choir (26:04) * "O Notte" by Bruno Bettinelli,

performed by The Crossing (31:00) * "Now, While The Birds Thus Sing A Joyous Song"

from Intimations of Immortality by Gerald Finzi,

*performed by the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia

and the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra (33:50)* * "Christmas Daybreak" by Robert Convery,

commissioned and performed by the Bridge Ensemble (38:58) * "Gallant Weaver" by James MacMillan,

performed by The Crossing (48:16) * "I Thirst" from Seven Last Words from the Cross

by James MacMillan,

*performed by the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia

and the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra (53:40)* * "Lagrime D'amante Al Sepolcro Dell'Amata" by Claudio Monteverdi,

performed by the Bridge Ensemble (57:12)

Come listen, and learn more about what lives in the space between the notes.

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After learning that the optioned screenplay he had quit his job to write would never be made into a movie, Matt Phelan took the opportunity to set his sights elsewhere. Now he has the dream job he's wanted ever since he was young: illustrating children's books, including this year's recipient of the Newbery Medal. He talks about his approach to illustration, shares some behind-the-scenes glimpses of how words and pictures are brought together in children's books, and reflects on the unique joy that children's books bring to readers of all ages.

Among the topics we touch on in this show:

• The Newbery Medal
• Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
• Phelan's website at www.mattphelan.com
• Phelan's sketch blog, Planet Ham
• The Flash Gordon series by Alex Raymond
• The Delaware Art Museum
• Dr. Seuss
• Wite-Out
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

In addition, several of the books Phelan has illustrated are mentioned. Among his works are:

• The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, written by Betty G. Birney (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2005)
• The New Girl...and Me, written by Jacqui Robbins

(Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2006) * The Higher Power of Lucky, written by Susan Patron

(Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2006) * Rosa Farm, written by Liz Wu (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2006) * Floridius Bloom and the Planet of Gloom, written by Lorijo Metz

(Dial Press, 2007) * A Box Full of Kittens, written by Sonia Manzano

(Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2007) * Where I Live, written by Eileen Spinelli

(Dial Press, 2007) * Very Hairy Bear, written by Alice Schertle

(Harcourt Children's Books, 2007)

Listen in and spend some time in the land of storybook endings...and beginnings.

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In the second of a two-part conversation with award-winning poet Teresa Leo, we talk of love and basketball, as well as life among "The Big 8" -- work, sports, God, hunting, hairdressing, family, food, and Italy. We also discuss how Leo reflects back of her life experiences in her poetry, and her approach to the language of love, longing, and loss.

During the interview, we touch on several people, places, and publications, including:

Teresa Leo: homepage, Pew Fellowship web page

Field & Stream magazine

Encyclopedia Britannica

Bucknell University

The American Poetry Review

CrossConnect, the 21st Century Literary Review

Pew Fellowship in the Arts

Emily Dickinson, Poem CXXVI

Yoko Ono, "Ceiling Painting (Yes Painting)"

George Eliot, from The Lifted Veil

The myth of Narcissus

The onetime halo rule in NCAA football

Willis Reed in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals

Is there more to the relationship between sports and verse than "poetry in motion"? Settle into a front-row seat and find out.

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Award-winning poet Teresa Leo is no stranger to rejection, a common outcome when submitting for publication and grants. She is also familiar with success -- her poetry has appeared in over a dozen publications and received several notable awards. In this first of two parts, we discuss how Leo composes poems, how fellow writers and artists help refine and inform her work, and what characterizes poetic writing.

During the interview, we touch on several people, places, and publications, including:

Teresa Leo: homepage, Pew Fellowship web page

Poet Stephen Dunn

Painter Irving Petlin

Poet Deirdre O'Connor (Before the Blue Hour)

Novelist Lisa Borders (Cloud Cuckoo Land)

Bucknell University

Pew Fellowship in the Arts

Painted Bride Quarterly

Poets & Writers magazine

Philadelphia Inquirer

Home Depot

If you've ever wondered how a poem finds it way to the printed page, drop some coins in the meter and listen in.

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The holiday season continues apace. To mark Boxing Day, the onset of Kwanzaa, the first day of Xmas gift returns, a belated Festivus, your 40th birthday, or anything else notable about today, here's a special year-end bonus: a medley of live performance highlights from the December 16, 2006 "Jonathan Coulton meets Paul and Storm" show at Milkboy Coffeehouse in Ardmore, PA.

(Check out the impish tour poster from Visual Thing a Week inkmeister Len Peralta of Jawbone Radio.)

"Skullcrusher Pirate Hotdish" is named in honor of some of the themes appearing in the songs -- and to mark the fact that I'm visiting in Minnesota (which is disturbingly devoid of snow at the moment). I've freely reordered songs from the show's two sets to give you a sampling of all the performers, separately and in combination. If you're new to either of the featured acts, you're in for a treat.

The set list for this virtual concert:

Opening Band (P&S)

Skullcrusher Mountain (JoCo)

Nugget Man -- Robert C. Baker (P&S w/JoCo)

Code Monkey (JoCo w/P&S)

Your Love Is (P&S)

Over There (JoCo w/P&S)

A Better Version of You (P&S)

Creepy Doll (JoCo)

The Captain's Wife's Lament (P&S)

Re: Your Brains (JoCo)

~~ (All brief "commercials" courtesy Paul and Storm.) ~~ Please note: All songs appear with permission from the artists, and no robots, pirates, zombies, cuddly creatures, or giant squid were harmed during the making of this mix. Nothin' furry in the slurry.

Get ready for the new year -- resolve to catch Paul and Storm with Jonathan Coulton LIVE in 2007. ["Release the doves!"] ______________________________________

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Just how far do you have to go when you quit your day job and pursue a record contract? If you're singer, songwriter, and troubadour extraordinaire Jonathan Coulton, a little interplanetary travel is all in a day's work.

We talk about a myriad of topics, including:

• The Pluto formerly known as planet, and the "Planet People" who determined its fate
• The PopSci Podcast
• A Mystery Holiday Musical Clip

[spoilers: secret performers, song information] * Actor Brian Dennehy * Theremins and Clara Rockmore * Coulton's interview on National Public Radio * Ikea and a certain bathroom lamp * The Yale Whiffenpoofs * When You Go remix (MP3 download) * Creative Commons and Lawrence Lessig * The Code Monkey Remix Contest winners

The music playlist for this episode:

• I'm Your Moon
• Chiron Beta Prime
• My Monkey
• The Future Soon
• First of May
• Ikea
• When You Go
• Code Monkey

We've departed from our standard weekend release schedule to bring you this Solstice special. Hope Yule Enjoy.
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What if nobody ever turned you down, and every possible option was available to you? Psychology professor Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, explains how being asked to choose from an overabundance of options can actually lead to feelings of dissatisfaction and helplessness, rather than greater contentment.

We talk about everything from jeans to jam, gourmet appliances to dog food, job hunting to retirement planning.

We also touch on the work of several notable scholars, including:

• Barry Schwartz, Swarthmore College,

The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less (2004) * Sheena Iyengar, Columbia University * Hazel Rose Markus, Stanford University * Daniel Kahneman, Princeton University, and the late Amos Tversky, Stanford University * Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler, University of Chicago,

"Libertarian Paternalism is not an Oxymoron" (HTML) (PDF)

The choice is simple: Listen in!
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A broken engagement spurred journalist and author Tom Zoellner to research and write a comprehensive examination of the global diamond industry. Zoellner also helped recount the story of Paul Rusesabagina, the man who saved hundreds of lives during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. We discuss both books during this episode.

The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire
~ St. Martin's Press, 2006 ~
[to read an excerpt, visit theheartlessstone.com]
An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography
(Paul Rusesabagina, with Tom Zoellner)
~ Viking, 2006 ~
During the podcast, we also talk about two films:

Blood Diamond
[IMDB] [Official site]
Hotel Rwanda
[IMDB] [Official site]

Zoellner has a piece on diamonds in the the Nov. 26 issue of Time magazine, in conjunction with their coverage of the Blood Diamond film.

The LA Times takes note of several of the initiatives surrounding the film's release.

For more information on how to take action on conflict diamonds, visit blooddiamondaction.org.
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