Sean - birdlife in sound

Really looking forward to this week's 360 Documentaries, exploring bird song, especially the pied butcher bird, in some great outback locations and with some interesting participants - RN stalwart Jane Ulman, an outstanding field recordist, and artist Hollis Taylor.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/bird-interrupted/5276030

Sean - a journey into the heart of New Guinea's Asmat tribal homeland

American Rockefeller heir, photographer and filmmaker, in the wilds of PNG early 1960s, disappears. Smithsonian journalist retraces his steps. Fascinating story, adventure travel meets investigative reporting at its best.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/What-Really-Happened-to-Michael-Rockefeller-180949813/?all

Sean - Harold Budd, reluctant composer

 

This is a little article in the Gaurdian about my favourite contemporary composer, Harold Budd, whose recent album Perhaps I posted below. From 1979 to 1981, when I was a school kid in Yrs 10,11,12, Brian Eno produced a series of ambient albums, that have since become classics. Eno's Music for Airports kicked off the series. At the time I obsessed over these albums, with their minimalist design covers of details of topographic maps, and unusual sounds within. The term ambient was barely in use, and these albums were somewhat mysterious and indescribable in the context of the late 70s/early 80s. On Friday afternoons I'd catch the train into town, in my school uniform but with my tie undone, and check out the 2 or 3 import record stores for new Eno ambient albums. These albums made music an adventure, helped keep me sane through my final school years, and have shaped my listening taste ever since. I first encountered Harold Budd on the album Plateaux of Mirror, a collaboration with Eno and No. 2 in the ambient series. Anyhow, that's enough music geek talk! Not a particularly profound article, just a bit of background on this intriguing composer.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/25/harold-budd-ambient-composer-interview

sonya - five questions with erik jensen, editor of the saturday paper

The Saturday Paper will publish its first issue this weekend, and I'm really eager to check it out. It'll be interesting to see whether it's distributed in the regions in paper form, you'll also be able to buy issues online.

It's the much talked about weekly newspaper from the publisher of The Monthly and The Quarterly Essay and according to this short interview with editor Erik Jensen, it promises to be "...focused almost exclusively on long form journalism – on narrative writing that shares its aspirations with the New Journalism of the 1960′s."

A lot of thought and work seems to be going into the design and layout of the paper, which makes it seem a little magazine-y to me.

If you're interested, here's an earlier interview from RN's Media Report with the paper's publisher Morry Schwartz.

And on the subject of print and magazines - I've recently discovered that the National Library in Canberra is a great place to read hard to find (and expensive) magazines from Australia and overseas. I read a copy of Harper's there last year and am now hooked, there's a great section at the front of the magazine with excerpts from all kinds of publications - from new books, to unusual police reports. And if you're into The Quarterly Essay, the library's bookstore sells back issues for $10.

sonya - the hidden world of girls and parenting sketches from louis c.k

so you're a tina fey fan sean? you might like this hour long compilation of an npr and kitchen sisters project called 'the hidden world of girls - girls and the women they become.'

they have a very succinct and enticing description: "stories of coming of age, rituals and rites of passage, secret identities - of women who crossed a line, blazed a trail, changed the tide."

I'm sorry to say that tina fey really bugged me in this compilation - and I normally love her! for me, she popped up a little too much saying the same thing. there are some really funny and surprising stories in this mix, and you can listen and explore the stories individually on the project's website.

in this compilation, I particularly enjoyed 'girls who hunt', russia's singing babushkas (a clever insight into the lives of elderly russian village women that also made me smile), this story about a woman who takes photographic portraits of american inmates and finally, 'in the west bank, women with a need for speed'.

I've been watching a bit of louis c.k's show louis lately, and his take on parenting always makes me laugh. here, he tries to teach his daughter about the importance of apologising.

Sean - something light and the Cronut

Here's an episode from the series Comedians in cars getting coffee. Not sure about this series, each episode seems like an extended ad for I know not what exactly, perhaps a car. Or coffee. However, this episode features Tina Fey, and I'll watch anything with Tina Fey in it. Who else would spontaneously coin the phrase, "feces are my purview", in relation to child rearing? Also, they go to a legendary NY French bakery to try a range of pastries including the Cronut, which is never really explained, but looks yummy. Perhaps a croissant/donut? Tina and Jerry have a funny exchange about American vs French business philosophy.

http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/tina-fey-feces-are-my-purview

Sean - Fresh Air episode - Sonic Wonders

I think NPR is one of the treasures of the US. I hope it's considered so over there! Here's a fascinating episode from the Fresh Air program - One man's quest to find the sonic wonders of the world.

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/19/279628642/one-mans-quest-to-find-the-sonic-wonders-of-the-world

Vanessa - how a fascinating oral history project about the conflict in Northern Ireland went terribly wrong.

Secrets from Belfast - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Wow - this is an intense, fascinating article. It took me a few nights to get to the end. A former IRA member and a respected Irish journalist are contracted by a Boston university with close ties to Ireland, to record oral histories with ex IRA paramilitaries, who speak frankly about the violent acts they committed, their motivations and how they feel about their actions now. Interviews were also recorded with Loyalists on the other side of the conflict. An incredible project with so much value for historians and for the public record, this article explores how the lack of groundwork by the academic institution into the legal implications of the project, and the decision by the journalist to draw attention to the very secretive project by publishing a book about one of the key subjects, eventually led to the project's downfall.

The article makes good use of multiplatform elements, with photos and a related article well integrated and not distracting from the well written and researched text. It also includes succinct audio grabs from a recording of a key IRA member. The first audio grab is perfectly placed. I wasn't expecting to be able to hear the voice of the person I'd just been reading about, so it was quite chilling to hit play.

Sean - Harold Budd on Spotify

Composer/keyboardist Harold Budd's album Perhaps. I rate this as one of the most relaxing/calming albums I've heard, while avoiding being new age, classical, or even ambient. Just a very introspective and personal music statement. One man and his piano, in the Mojave desert. Thought it might come in handy.

http://open.spotify.com/album/5l9uiEzMvLlNF9OS9KCp71

Vanessa - Hoop Dreams 20th anniversary oral history

I finally watched Hoop Dreams a year or two ago after hearing so many good things about it, and I was completely amazed. The way the two stories intersected, then went in opposite directions, then came together again, this kind of film can only be made with an extraordinary amount of time and commitment.

This article is a long read, quite fitting for a behind the scenes reflection on a 3 hour documentary, filmed over many years. It gives the point of view of the film makers, subjects, and distributors who helped bring the film to cinemas, rather than just the PBS TV broadcast it was initially intended for. Some great reflections on the awkwardness of filming people at both their high and low points, maintaining the relationships over such a long time, both between filmmaker and subject, and between the key filmmakers. And I found it especially interesting to read about the editing process, and how the breakthrough was to realise that they could stick with one character's story for an extended period, and didn't need to 'ping pong' too often, or keep the 2 stories tightly lined up chronologically. 

Also, I find it cute that they've used the term 'oral history' to describe this kind of article. I'm not sure if that's because it's quite a lengthy piece, or because there's minimal intrusion from the writer. In any case it grabbed my eye and feels kinda old fashioned in a sweet way.

An oral history of Hoop Dreams, 20 years after its premiere