WPR: To the Best of our Knowledge - Music

Robert Glasper on his album "Black Radio"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Robert Glasper's new album Black Radio is a reference to the black box of recordings that survives a plane crash.

David Sheppard on Brian Eno's "Music for Airports"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 6 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Brian Eno biographer David Sheppard talks about Brian Eno's groundbreaking 1978 album,l "Ambient 1: Music for Airports."

Stephen Sondheim on "Into the Woods"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

"Into the Woods" celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Stephen Sondheim chats with Steve Paulson about the history of the legendary musical.

Frank Browning on the Dancing Brain

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

What happens in your brain when you dance? Frank Browning talks with scientists and choreographers in France and the U.S. about the "dancing brain."

Suzzy Roche on "Wayward Saints"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 1 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Singer/Songwriter Suzzy Roche talks about channeling her creativity from writing songs to writing her debut novel, 'Wayward Saints."

Stephen Thompson on "The Onion" and Regionalism

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Mon, 5 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Stephen Thompson is the founder of the A.V. Club, the arts section of the satirical newspaper, "The Onion," originally based in Madison, Wisconsin. Thompson eventually left Madison for Washington DC, to work at NPR as an editor and reviewer at NPR Music. In this interview, Thompson tells Steve Paulson about the forces that drew "The Onion" staff to New York, and what it means to be an artist in the Heartland.

This Will Make You Smarter

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

John Brockman talks smarts, "third culture" intellectuals, and our web-y world in this NEW and UNCUT interview.

The Other F Word

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 8 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

“The Other F Word" tells the stories of punks from the 80s and 90s, who are now dads. What's the other F word? “Father”, of course.

Butch Vig on Music Industry Trends

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Fri, 6 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

He's produced albums for Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day and Foo Fighters. After decades in the business, Butch Vig says that new technologies are changing the music industry.

Butch Vig: A Musical Life in Trends

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Thu, 5 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

For all the trend watching and forecasting, it has to be someone’s job to create the future… to come up with something truly new.For decades, musician and producer Butch Vig has been doing just that. Vig says from the beginning, he wanted to make music that was different from what he was hearing in the mainstream.

Anna Rabinowitz on "Darkling"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Poet Anna Rabinowitz found a shoe box full of old letters and photos of family and friends killed in the Holocaust. She wrote the poem "Darkling" to feature their voices. We also hear excerpts from the opera "Darkling."

Penny Von Eschen on the Jazz Ambassadors

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600

The State Department used jazz musicians as a weapon in the cold war to win hearts and minds in the Third World. Louis Armstrong, Dizy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Dave Brubek were among the so-called "jazz ambassadors."

Mamek Khadem on Songs of the Revolution

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Many things can evoke a memory. Like a smell. Or a touch. When Mamek Khadem wanted to evoke the memory of her native Iran during the Islamic revolution in 1979, she did it with music.

Salman Amhad on Pakistani Rock and Roll and Democracy

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Democracy, politics and Pakistani rock and roll.

MC Yogi on Sacred Hip Hop

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Hip Hop meets yoga?

Simon Reynolds on "Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 2 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Simon Reynolds talks to Steve Paulson about his book, "Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past."

Simon Reynolds on "Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Simon Reynolds is the author of "Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past." Reynolds tells Steve Paulson that our culture's obsession with its own immediate past is affecting originality.

Amiri Baraka on "This Planet Is Doomed: The Science Fiction Poetry of Sun Ra"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Celebrated poet, playwright and activist Amiri Baraka wrote the foreword to the book, "This Planet Is Doomed: The Science Fiction Poetry of Sun Ra." He spoke to Steve Paulson about Sun Ra's music and poetry.

Charles Limb on Neuroscience of Jazz

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Charles Limb is a surgeon and musician who researches the way creativity works in the brain. He puts jazz musicians inside an fMRI to find out what the brain does during musical improvisation.Watch Charles Limb's TED Talk here

Dwight Reynolds on Religious Tolerance

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Dwight Reynolds talks with Steve Paulson about the history of religious tolerance in Al-Andalus and how it was reflected in the music of Moorish Spain.