A Channel from Brain to Heart.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 | cool, music, sound, stories, Uncategorized | No Comments

Earlier this week all of we had the wonderful experience of reading this email:

“Here I am, trying, during my workday, to NOT think about remix radio, but I’m hooked. Somewhere I read an article referring to the programming as “driveway moments” and I thought that meant, perhaps, that everyone was sitting in their cars in their driveways, as I do, with the radio on after work because they couldn’t interrupt their PRX listening and go home. The stories and voices you bring to your listeners are inspiring, enlightening, touching, and so full of truth, or I guess I mean honesty. I am a bundle of resonance. I plan to retire next June and now I think I know what I want to do when I grow up. Love you guys. Thanks for opening a new channel between my brain and my heart.”

We were like whoa. Opening a new channel between the brain and the heart? That is the nicest things anyone has ever said to us! But it’s hardly us programmers who deserve these kudos. It’s the incredible talent we showcase on Remix. Whether it’s one of New Hampshire Public Radio’s expert hosts interviewing an NPR music critic unknown details of John Lennon’s life, or producer Jason Samilski creating a new kind of poetic landscape with his own voice, thoughts, and original banjo and accordian music — good radio does, somehow, put our brains in touch with our hearts.

And WALE, a radio poem supported by original music, produced by new PRX producer, Jason Samilski. Jason is a Toronto-based writer and sound producer who works in radio plays, music, and short stories. Listen:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Bath image by Emanuela Franchini, Desert image by Jason Samilski.

Tags: beatles, lennon, listener feedback, poetry

The Hidden World of Girls with Tina Fey

Saturday, December 10th, 2011 | shows, stories | No Comments

Now in heavy rotation: The Hidden World of Girls from The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva). Do I even need to tell you how great this is? If you hear one minute of it, you might as well give up on doing anything else until it’s over.

Final Sale: An Audio Slideshow

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 | sound, stories | 2 Comments

For two months in 2006, Samantha Broun and Neal Menschel would show up at Winthrop Sherwin’s general store in West Groton, MA: Sam with a microphone and Neal with a camera. Together, they created an audio slideshow profiling Sherwin in anticipation of his retirement — after 70 years at the Sherwin Brothers’ Clover Farm Store. As of today, you can hear Sam’s audio on REMIX Radio. But I hate to sever Sam’s sound from Neal’s photography. Click below to enjoy their audio slideshow, from Transom.org:

Tags: slideshow, transom

REMIXing PopTech

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 | cool, sound, stories | No Comments

PopTech is a network of world changing innovators and every year a bunch of them cloister together in Camden, Maine and give talks, exchange ideas, and solve the world’s problems. Then they’ll most likely get back home and crash into the wall of anti-innovation that surrounds us all, but for these few days in Camden (and in your home- they live stream all the talks!) it will feel like anything is possible. That feeling is infectious, intoxicating, and quite fun to listen to.

We play a few of the great PopTech audio programs from conferences past on the stream, but this year REMIX is actually going to be there. Our own world changing innovator Benjamen Walker (he of Too Much Information) is going to the talks, roaming the halls, and bringing back stories and snippets from the 2010 conference. Keep checking back here and tune in for updates.

In the meantime, here’s a talk that I really dig by public radio’s Kurt Andersen (Hands off, book people. He’s ours!):

PopTech’s Video feed

You are getting sleepy…

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 | cool, stories | No Comments

The World Premiere of Snap Judgment‘s animated short by Joe Golling, “Getting Sleepy” based on Glynn Washington’s first piece in Snap’s Tales from the Library episode, an episode that just so happens to be produced by your REMIX host, Roman Mars.

Why we do what we do

Thursday, September 16th, 2010 | cool, shows, sound, stories | No Comments

PRXer Matt MacDonald turned me on to the RSA Animate video series a couple weeks ago, and man alive, are they awesome. This episode tackles an issue that confounds a lot of people in the public radio profession: why do we work so hard on something that (usually) offers so little financial gain? It turns out, independent producers aren’t freaks when it comes to this disassociation of higher brain tasks and monetary gain. We’re normal! At least in that sense. Indies are freaky in plenty of other ways. Come to Chicago in October and we’ll prove it.

Oh, oh: I uploaded a great new piece today (well several, but this one deserves to be listened to separately when other ambient noise is at a minimum). It’s called Secrets and Noise by Amy Conger. The piece gets progressively louder “as more and more noises and voices come in to muffle the speaker who only wants to tell you a little something.” I really dig it, but fear some of its greatness could be lost if you heard it on the car stereo, zooming down the highway. Take the time now, dear listener.

Book Odds REMIX: a preview

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 | cool, sound, stories | No Comments

This past weekend, REMIX Radio from PRX and the Third Coast International Audio Festival presented a REMIX/ShortDoc extreme challenge. For this year’s ShortDoc, the band The Books have selected eight sample sounds from their library of musical bits for anyone and everyone to use in their own radio story. That contest is going on right now and the winner will present their ShortDoc at the opening session of the Third Coast Conference in October. Check here for full details. You should definitely check it out, create a story and enter. But at Megapolis this past weekend, we wanted to try something a little more extreme. Unlike the general Third Coast challenge (in which producers are required to select only two sounds to work with) the Megapolis Book Odds REMIXers used ALL EIGHT sounds, plus the patented “PRX chime” (and any other sound they wish) and pulled it all together into a one-minute composition in 30 minutes! Cool sounds + super talented audio artists + 30 minutes  + flop sweat = awesome. I’m posting them all this week (both here and on the satellite), but here’s a preview of one of the entries by Kara Oehler and Benjamen Walker:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Radio Diaries premiere on REMIX

Sunday, March 14th, 2010 | stories | 1 Comment

On Friday we began running about 30 stories from one of the greatest ongoing radio series of all time: Radio Diaries. Joe Richman, and his crew of Anayansi Diaz-Cortez and Samara Freemark, work with people to document their own lives for public radio. The diarists become public radio reporters like you’ve never heard before, and along with keeping their own audio journal, they record interviews and collect sound from their daily life. All along the way the Radio Diaries crew works with them and ultimately turns the 30+ hours of raw tape into the best documentary you could ever hope to hear on the radio. In true public radio tradition, you will be moved and learn something new, no doubt, but the greatness the Radio Diaries approach is that they are also poignant, charming, funny, joyful, and amazing entertainment. If you keep it tuned to XM 136 you’ll hear them playing around the clock, but you can also listen, find, rate all the Radio Diaries stories on demand at PRX.

Here are some of my favs:

FYI, Radio Diaries is currently seeking donations to support their new “The Human News Desk: Finding the News in Everyday Life” series. If you want public radio to continue to be amazing, supporting Radio Diaries is how you make that happen. Your donation is tax deductible and will make you feel awesome.