The Mediavore

The Mediavore

themediavore  //  Todd Mundt and Graham Griffith unearth the best of public media.

 
May 10 / 1:58am

CBC's Rewind: The Sounds of Victory in Europe, 65 Years Ago

by Graham Griffith
Many of the 65th anniversary V-E Day celebrations in Europe this weekend were a bit overshadowed by concerns over the Greek crisis and other debt concerns in the EU, but it was still an historic day.  Or days, rather.  Russia, which marks Victory in Europe on May 9  (while the rest of the continent celebrates May 8), had an unprecedented display, as British military marched in a Red Square celebratory parade.  
Back in the Americas, CBC's Rewind pulled out some very interesting archival recordings and shared the thoughts of Allied soldiers from 65 years ago.  Take a listen:

 

Comments (0)

 
May 7 / 5:02am

A Little Gaga Fun at 635 Mass Ave

by Graham Griffith
Who says pub radio folk take themselves too seriously?  Top marks go to Korva Coleman and the unnamed producers for their work on the latest NPR music video:
Filed under  //  Korva Coleman   Lady Gaga   NPR  

Comments (0)

 
May 7 / 4:47am

LA Moth Performance, Scott Kravitz

by Graham Griffith
Having missed yet another fist-Thursday Moth event in Detroit (though the excuse this time is so much better than past months), I watched this performance from Scott Kravitz for a little fix.  It is worth the five minutes, if for no other reason than you get exposed to the phrase, "lipstick on the teeth crazy."  
Filed under  //  LA   Scott Kravitz   storyslam   The Moth  

Comments (0)

 
May 7 / 4:28am

BBC's Election 2010 Coverage

by Graham Griffith
With nearly all the returns in, the Conservative Party has won the most seats in the UK Parliamentary elections, but are well away from a controlling share of the House of Commons.  So the world's oldest Parliamentary Democracy is looking at a hung parliament. At the risk of stating the obvious, the BBC is the place to turn to try to make sense of the election results and all the maneuvering that we are likely to see over the next couple of weeks.  Newshour will continue to try to cover the election in a manner that seeks global relevance.  But the BBC's Election 2010 Web page is your best bet for updated news.  
Filed under  //  BBC   BBC online   Conservatives   election 2010   Labour   Liberal Democrats   Newshour   Parliament  

Comments (1)

 
May 6 / 7:26am

RadioLab Podcast: Words as a 'Window into an aging brain'

by Graham Griffith

Ian Lancashire is a professor of English at the University of Toronto.  And he has a skill at turning words into data (or at least he knows how to program computers to do the task), allowing him to learn more about an author's thought process.  Several years ago, he evaluated Agatha Christie's work (and brain), and he discovered that the mystery writer had developed Alzheimer's.  In the latest RadioLab podcast, Jad Abumrad shares Lancashire's story, and what his research teaches us about the power of the words we choose.  Take a listen:

Filed under  //  Agatha Christie   Alzheimer's   brain   Jad Abrumad   RadioLab   WNYC   words  

Comments (0)

 
May 5 / 10:43am

Isabel Allende on Haiti, Past and Present

by Graham Griffith
Best selling Chilean American author Isabel Allende's latest novel is set in a nation that was struck by an earthquake this year, but not Chile.  La Isla Bajo El Mar (Island Beneath the Sea) is set in Haiti at the turn of the 18th Century.  While the novel is set in the [very relevant] past, Allende spoke about the recent natural disasters in both Haiti and Chile with Marty Moss-Coane on WHYY's Radio Times:

Filed under  //  Isabel Allende   Radio Times   WHYY  

Comments (0)

 
May 3 / 6:50am

Robert Fisk on Pakistan, Afghanistan and India

by Todd Mundt

Celebrated reporter Robert Fisk of The Independent connects the dots that spell big trouble in Pakistan and big headaches for the countries that cross paths with it. This is an excellent interview from The Current on CBC Radio One.

Watch it on the beta video show or listen to the complete interview.

 

Filed under  //  afghanistan   anna maria tremonti   cbc radio one   india   Pakistan   robert fisk   taliban   the current  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 21 / 7:56am

'Blowing Smoke?': WGBH and Partners Investigate the Impact of Carbon Offsets

by Graham Griffith

If the near future of journalism depends (at least in part) on news organizations finding ways to work together, then this effort 89.7 WGBH, The Christian Science Monitor and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting should be repeated.  Phillip Martin and Doug Struck now report on the partnership's investigation into the real effectiveness of carbon offsets.  And by "real effectiveness," we are referring not to how purchasing carbon offsets makes people feel, but rather the impact on climate change.  Turns out, there isn't much impact.  Read Doug Struck's online article, and listen to Phillip Martin's radio report here.

And listen to Martin's appearance on The Takeaway:

Filed under  //  carbon offsets   environment   investigations   Phillip Martin   WGBH  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 20 / 7:50am

Singapore's Prime Minister Says Nuclear Summit An Important Step Toward Safer World

by Graham Griffith
We've had a lot of American policymakers and op-ed page residents weighing in this month about President Obama's push to shift nuclear weapons policy.  So it was interesting to get the Singapore Prime Minister's take earlier this week.  Lee Hsien Loong attended the nuclear summit, and then visited with Charlie Rose:
Watch the full interview here.  
 
 
Filed under  //  Asia   Charlie Rose   nuclear weapons   PBS   Singapore  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 19 / 10:32am

'Krakatoa' Author on Iceland Volcano's Parallels With Eruptions Past

by Todd Mundt
Here's some historical perspective on the Icelandic volcano and the disruption it's causing across Europe. PBS Newshour reporter Jeffrey Brown talks to author Simon Winchester, who wrote Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, about the Indonesian island obliterated by a volcano in 1883.

Filed under  //  iceland   jeffrey brown   krakatoa   pbs newshour   simon winchester   volcano  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 19 / 8:51am

Joe Palca vs the Volcano

by Todd Mundt
This is one of a set of photographs taken by NPR's Joe Palca while on assignment in Iceland, covering the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

To understand a volcanic eruption, you need to go to the volcano to sample the material it's spewing out. Palca joined Volcanologists Evgenia Ilyinskaya and Asgerdur Sigurdardottir to follow their research.

 

Filed under  //  Asgerdur Sigurdardottir   Evgenia Ilyinskaya   iceland   joe palca   npr news   volcano  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 19 / 8:23am

The SEC Fraud Suit Against Goldman Sachs

by Todd Mundt
There's been a lot of coverage of the SEC's suit against Goldman Sachs since last Friday. We want to highlight a couple noteworthy pieces.

From The Takeaway today, here's a conversation with Louise Story of The New York Times, who first reported on Goldman's practices late last year; and University of Maryland Law professor Michael Greenberger, a former federal regulator at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Filed under  //  economic crisis   global economic crisis   goldman sachs   louise story   michael greenberger   pri   sec   the takeaway   wnyc  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 19 / 6:41am

Rescuers Recall 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing

by Todd Mundt
Fifteen years ago, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck full of explosives next to the federal building in Oklahoma City. 168 people died and scores more were injured in what is still the worst act of domestic terrorism in US history.

On NPR's Morning Edition today, Kurt Gwartney (KGOU) reports on the recollections of the people involved in the rescue and recovery.

 

Filed under  //  1995   bombing   federal building   kurt gwartney   oklahoma city   timothy mcveigh  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 19 / 5:01am

BBC News Covers the Volcano Cloud as it Happens

by Todd Mundt
You can follow the news of the Volcano Cloud as it happens, courtesy of BBC Global News. The rolling blog includes the latest tweets from the test flights going on today, as well as the limited return of some flights in Europe. Check it out.

via news.bbc.co.uk

Filed under  //  airlines   Europe   iceland   travel   volcano  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 19 / 4:13am

British Government Uses War Ships to Ferry Stranded Passengers

by Todd Mundt

The Takeaway covers the British government's decision to put two warships in the service of getting British citizens home. BBC defense and security correspondent Nick Childs has the latest.

Filed under  //  airlines   BBC   iceland   nick childs   travel   volcano  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 16 / 4:15am

Icelandic Volcano Eruption Strands Air Passengers for Second Day

by Todd Mundt
As we enter the second day in which air traffic is grounded throughout much of northern Europe, here's coverage from ITN, via the PBS Newshour.

Filed under  //  airlines   Europe   iceland   travel   volcano  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 14 / 12:04pm

Michael Lewis on "The Big Short"

by Todd Mundt
Lewis

Two years after the financial meltdown, the details on how and why US banking system came so close to collapse are still emerging. Interestingly, the pile of books being published about it is getting better, too.

In The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, author and Michael Lewis asks the question: Who got it right? Lewis traces the fights of the loners who bet against subprime mortgages and, in time, had their suspicions of Wall Street’s investment practices proved right. Lewis talks with Radio Times host Marty Moss-Coane on WHYY.

Filed under  //  economic crisis   global economic crisis   marty moss-coane   michael lewis   radio times   whyy  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 14 / 8:38am

Bringing a Global Sound to the Bagpipes

by Todd Mundt
When you think about the bagpipes, you might imagine a line of Scottish men in kilts playing at a funeral or a parade. But Seattle area musician Sylvia DeTar wants to take the bagpipes in a new direction. She's a member of the world champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band. DeTar tells KUOW's Jeremy Richards how she moved beyond traditional bagpipe music to create a unique collaboration at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Filed under  //  music   bagpipes   jeremy richards   kuow   olympics   sylvia detar   vancouver  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 14 / 7:01am

Icelandic Financial Report Takes Center Stage, Literally

by Todd Mundt
Iceland's economic agony was the result of "extreme negligence" - the conclusion of a report issued by a special investigative commission of Iceland's parliament.

On NPR's All Things Considered, Robert Siegel talks to Magnus Geir Thordarson, artistic director of the Reykjavik City Theatre, about staging a reading of the commission's 2,300-page report.

Filed under  //  All Things Considered   economic crisis   global economic crisis   iceland   Magnus Geir Thordarson   npr news   robert siegel  

Comments (0)

 
Apr 14 / 6:16am

Lehman Used 'Alter Ego' to Shift Risks

by Todd Mundt
Louise Story

Lehman Brothers used a "shadow bank" - Hudson Castle - to pass off its risky investments. In a report she co-wrote for The New York Times, Louise Story likened it to a "hidden passage on Wall Street." On Marketplace, she talks with host Kai Ryssdal about how Lehman was able to obscure the true extent of its troubles.

Listen to the interview

Filed under  //  apm   economic crisis   economy   global economic crisis   kai ryssdal   lehman brothers   louise story   marketplace   new york times  

Comments (0)