Hi. My Name Is Alison Stewart

Filed under: Inside The BPP

My first post here feels a little like a blind date.

Some folks that you and I both like -- the NPR gang -- think we might get along, could have a grande latte together, develop a relationship that could make us both happy.

But, of course, there is the anxiety about the outcome of that pesky first meeting...or first podcast...or broadcast...or, in this case, blog posting.

Having been on MANY blind dates in my life (I just got married six months ago), I know the process can be nerve wracking. I also know that the first meet-up isn't a make or break situation. Essentially, it's a "Hi, how are you and who are you?"

Still, there is nothing quite as uncomfortable as those moments immediately after "hello." How do you follow up? You really can't start out with, "Hey have you ever been in prison?" or "I voted for Sanjaya, did you?"

From my vast experience, I found a question that usually worked and kept things going for about ..... 5 minutes. I would ask, "What was the best thing that happened to you today?" It works as an ice breaker and a research tool. You could get a sense of the person. Is he a big old wet rag who can't think of one single good thing that happened in the past 24 hours? Or is he someone who understands having exact change at the right time can qualify as a superior moment.

The best thing to happen to me recently? Getting this gig.

I mean it.

Think about it, Luke and Matt and I -- with your help -- are getting to do something rare. One, we get to work on a new news show at an organization which values the news and its listeners. Two, we are doing development on demand: Your input will matter.

In order to do this I think more dates, or rather, blog posts and comments are in order. I hope you don't find me presumptuous for asking for a second date, but I really want to know more about you. I'm really interested in what's important in your life. What was the last song you downloaded? What sites do you have bookmarked? What is important to you in a news show?

I'll go first: I'm a hike-loving, book reading, web surfing, newlywed Jersey girl music-o-phile -- an aunt of two and a step-mother to one ... cat, named Sonny Liston. I've seen 46 of the 50 states, Africa, Cuba and Jordan, but I love to be home. What matters to me in a news show? Honesty, humility, all sides of the conversation and meaningful information.

And you??

(P.S. Today is my dad's 78th birthday. Happy B-day Joe!)

Alison Stewart

10:00 AM ET | 04-30-2007 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post

Alison Stewart Signs On To The BPP

Filed under: Inside The BPP

We are proud to announce that Alison Stewart has joined NPR as co-host -- along with Luke Burbank -- of our new morning show. From our very own press release:

Stewart joins NPR from NBC and MSNBC, where she has been anchor of the MSNBC daily news show The Most, newsreader and substitute anchor for NBC's Weekend Today and contributor to Today. Since joining MSNBC in 2003, she has anchored coverage of such news stories as Hurricane Katrina, the 2006 Olympics in Torino and the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Previously, she was an anchor for ABC News' World News Now and contributor to 20/20 Downtown and Good Morning America, and was part of the network's Emmy Award winning team reporting on the September 11 terrorist attacks. Stewart began her career as a political reporter for MTV News, working on the channel's 'Choose or Lose' election coverage in 1992 and 1996. She was honored with a George Foster Peabody Award for MTV's coverage.

In addition to being a brilliant, talented, award-winning journalist -- she's also an awesome person and I'm sure you'll all love her. But, we thought our feelings would best be expressed through song (which we admit makes very little sense) and video. So, thanks to our good friends at Jumpcut, we conjured up this little gem. We'll be waiting for the call from Sundance...

Matt Martinez

11:00 AM ET | 04-27-2007 | permalink | comments (32) | e-mail post

Don Imus: Our New Co-Host?

Filed under: Inside The BPP

How disturbing is that to think about? Well, actually, some one has thought about that, and she visualized it on a whiteboard in the NPR newsroom. Melissa Gray is a talented NPR producer and a wicked good cartoonist -- she's made an art of sending up NPR personalities and staff, but you have to work here to appreciate her scribblings. We've taken a picture of a drawing she did envisioning Imus as the co-host of our show. Again, she calls the show "Zak," which is NOT what the show is going to be called. (And Luke has sworn on the grave of Ira Glass, so we really mean it.)

Matt Martinez

8:58 AM ET | 04-27-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Our Two Cents

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Like everyone, we were pretty much devastated by the events at Virginia Tech this week. And just when it seemed like the vigils and Hokies! cheers were taking the edge off some of the grief, the now infamous Multimedia Manifesto showed up at NBC headquarters. As someone with no personal connection to the story, the pics and videos made me feel queasy... I can't imagine how it felt for the victim's families. Brian Williams and NBC took great pains to explain why they decided to air the stuff. In fact, they spent the top of their broadcast on Thursday night defending themselves. Even so, a couple of victim's families pulled out of their planned interviews with The Today Show in protest.

I know we here at The BPP haven't really posted much on the topic, but I guess that's because frankly, we didn't have all that much to add to the conversation. We cruised Facebook and MySpace looking at the online tributes. We called some of the victim's families trying, unsuccessfully -- to get interviews. I gotta say, though, I was kind of relieved no one agreed to give us a "Bryant Park Exclusive" from their hospital bed. It's a uniquely crappy feeling to call a grieving family with the goal of getting them to talk to you about it on the radio. I know that if it happened to my family, some reporter is the last person I'd be looking to talk to. Having said that, NPR has actually done some really thoughtful stuff on the topic. Make sure to check out Melissa Block's interview from Wednesday's All Things Considered.

Had we actually been on the air when things went down on Monday, I think we would have tried to call out to the dorms, just to hear from someone close to the scene about what was actually going on. We would have been checking Twitter and the other social networking sites to see if students were using them to communicate. Later on we would have probably tried to track down someone who lived through Columbine just to ask them if it's possible to have any semblance of a normal life after something like this happens to you.

Mostly though, we would have tried treat the story and the people affected with -- at the very least -- a little dignity. No "Former FBI Profilers" talking out their backsides about 'what the killer's motivations were four minutes after the news broke. No Bryant Park staffers camping out on the front lawn of the poor parents of the shooter. We'd basically try to be the anti-Nancy Grace .

There's not really much else to be said. It's a super sad situation, and it's going to take a really really long time for the people affected to feel even slightly okay again. If we see something that we really think you need to see, we'll put it up. Otherwise, we're going to kind of lay low.

Luke Burbank

3:09 PM ET | 04-20-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Failure to Communicate

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Mmmmmm. Tasty Blackberry!

Credit: Above The Law

All over DC last night, dudes in Pleated Dockers were seen unholstering their Blackberries at an even more obsessive rate than normal, as some 8 million subscribers tried to figure out why their Blackberries had bit the dust.

Starting at about 8 p.m. Eastern time (or about the 4th frame of Wii Bowling if you were hanging out with us at Meghan's house), there was a massive system-wide crash. While Blackberry phone service was unaffected, anyone sending an e-mail was pretty much screwed, as I found out first hand when I tried to e-mail my kid about how awesome I am at Wii Bowling.

Anyway, the company that makes the devices, Research in Motion, scrambled through the night to get the thing fixed. Mercifully, by mid-morning today many people were reconnected. The company still doesn't know what exactly went wrong, and frankly, they're not all that stoked about doing media interviews on the subject of how their system crapped out (I learned this when I called and e-mailed their spokesfolk).

Couple of questions:

1) Last night 8 million American Idol fans had their email voting rights disenfranchised... good or bad for Sanjaya?

2) How many late night booty call emails went undelivered? Mark my words, exactly nine months from last night is going to be a slow day in the maternity wards (at least here in DC, where 90% of late-night hookups are facilitated via Blackberry).

We're going to stay on this story. Bryant Park Action News! On the case, and on your side.

Luke Burbank

1:33 PM ET | 04-18-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Shock and Horror

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Injured occupants are carried out of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Monday, April 16, 2007. A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday morning.

Credit: Associated Press

The weather on the East Coast is blustery and miserable today. Folks along the I-95 corridor woke to the dreary remains of a terrible nor'easter. Just when we thought the day could not get any bleaker, the news from Virginia comes in.

There are almost no words to describe the horror at Virginia Tech this morning. We won't even try. Scores are dead after a gunman opened fire on campus -- it is the deadliest campus shooting in the U.S. yet. And the fact that we can compare campus shootings is such a depressing, crushing truth.

We had some good plans for launching our podcast this week, but I think we may set some of those aside to talk about what happened today. One of the stories we planned to bring you -- the one about church in nightclubs -- will definitely be postponed. NPR Producer Amy Walters was going to talk to us about it, but she's been dispatched to Blacksburg, Va. to help with reporting there.

Right now we're digesting what has happened. The reported numbers of dead have steadily been rising throughout the day. We're online, listening to the radio and watching TV, just like the rest of you.

We're going to spend some time talking about this over the next few days. We want to know what you're thinking. Leave a comment or Contact Us through email.

More later...stay tuned...

Matt Martinez

2:21 PM ET | 04-16-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

This Week's BPP Rundown

Filed under: Inside The BPP

Man, my avatar is exhausted, I'm gonna hit the beach and get my drink on. Virtually, of course.

Credit: ROBIN UTRECHT/AFP/Getty Images

Here's some good stuff we hope to bring you this week (in no particular order):

Don't Stand So Close To Me -- Turns out that even in virtual worlds, the same social rules for physical contact exist. New York video producer Win Rosenfeld is going to take us on a journey into Second Life and explain why virtual frottage is as gauche and disturbing as it is in the real world.

If You Build It, They Will Come...and Pay $9.50 for a Miller Lite -- The music festival season kicks off next week with the Coachella Festival in Indio, Calif. We're going to talk with Austin-based DJ Andy Langer about how music fests are changing the way people see live music.

Raise Your Hands In The Air! Praise Jesus Like You Really Care! -- A chat with NPR Producer Amy Walters about the next big thing in Christian evangelism: Church in nightclubs. We'll talk with Amy about her journey to the The Mayan in downtown Los Angeles, where they have church services on Sunday. (No cover charge.)

Also: You got a great story idea? Did you record something amazing with a good story behind it? Contact Us.

Luke Burbank will be your host. I'll be your producer, stay tuned.

Matt Martinez

12:15 PM ET | 04-16-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Insert Dog Pun Here

Filed under:

Anne Carnes pushing her dog Shadow.

Credit: The Brooklyn Paper / Gregory P. Mango

Great. Now the world can accuse American pets of being lazy, too.

When we were shooting our intro video for this blog we ran across a lady pushing her two dogs in a stroller. I was sure it would be the first and last time I saw anything so ridiculous.

But today, I get an email from a good friend about the next big thing in New York: Pet strollers. The Brooklyn Paper has done a story on the trend (oh, man -- I can't believe this is a trend) and interviewed Anne Carnes from Bay Ridge about her petmobile:

"It was worth every penny," Carnes said. "Shadow lets me know when he has to do his business and he jumps right out. He also lets me know when he gets tired and he jumps back in, he is a very smart dog."

Beth Deprado is one of the perpetrators behind the strollers. Her store is called Posh Pets. From The Brooklyn Paper:

Deprado's store sells six different models ranging in prices from the Happy Trails model at $65, to the $200 luxury Jeep model. Most accommodate dogs in the 20-pound range and the strollers come in all colors.

Dog strollers: Official Trend. (sigh)

Hot Dog On a Roll: Pampered Pooch Pushed In Stroller (The Brooklyn Paper)

Matt Martinez

1:42 PM ET | 04-13-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

CBS Fires Imus, D.C. Pundits Sit Shiva

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Don Imus appearing on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show.

Credit: Getty Images

Well, the other cane dropped today as CBS announced it's firing morning radio host Don Imus. This, of course, over his calling the Rutgers University Women's Basketball team "nappy-headed hos." MSNBC dumped their telecast of the I-Man's show yesterday. If we were on the air right now, this is just the kind of topic we'd probably get drawn into talking about ... on one hand it's not nearly as important as, say, the war, heart disease, or American Idol, but on the other hand it has lots of interesting stuff going on: Race, free speech, college basketball.

So here's the question, how would you all want us to talk about something like this? A straight up interview with someone from Rutgers or Imus' camp? You have a better approach? Chime in with your ideas, please.

Blue Devil
Oh, and on the subject of race and college sports: There is some major worm turning going on in North Carolina. Yesterday the announcement came down that all charges are being dropped against the three white Duke lacrosse players accused of raping an African-American exotic dancer they'd hired for a party. I say the worm has turned, because back when the story first emerged the players were painted as rich, racist monsters who descended on Durham from the dreaded Northeast to play lacrosse and have their way with the locals. That image was put forth most forcefully by the local prosecutor, a guy named Mike Nifong. He gave lots of media interviews declaring the guilt of the players, and talking about "The Blue Wall of Silence" that was thwarting the investigation. Well, now Nifong is the one in super-hot water. Most of yesterday's press conference involved North Carolina's District Attorney (the state's top lawyer) calling Nifong a "rogue prosecutor." Now it's Nifong who's due in court later this week to answer charges he purposely ignored evidence that would have exonerated the players, including the facts that the woman's story changed multiple times and that there is a total lack of DNA evidence linking her to any of the players or any sort of attack. For his part Nifong released a statement in which he said, "To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three suspects that were wrongly accused."

Okay, so let's play (cue music): How Would You Cover This! Lightning Round!

We sort of batted around the idea of cold calling the Duke dorm rooms just to see what people are thinking. We even thought about interviewing one of the Rutgers basketball players about the Duke situation just to see what came of that (in our defense that was at the very end of the day when we were really sleepy).

Imus and the Duke Lacrosse debacle... what's your angle on the story?

Luke Burbank

7:55 PM ET | 04-12-2007 | permalink | comments (14) | e-mail post

My Dad's in There

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Jim Gates stands in front of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center where his father is currently serving time.

Credit: Luke Burbank, NPR

What if your 70-year-old retiree of a dad called you one day and said, "I'm going to jail, right near where you live. Can I get a ride?" That's just what happened to L.A. radio producer Jim Gates recently. His dad, Philip, was protesting something called The School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga. (The name was actually changed to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, but people still call it School of the Americas -- or SOA for short.)

Check out this interview (audio) we did with Jim about his dad being arrested.

Also, check out this video of Jim and Luke scoping out the detention center where Jim's dad currently resides.

Send Jim's dad a letter! He's stuck in his room for 15 hours a day for cryin' out loud. We're pretty sure he'll have time to read it.

Philip E. Gates
92947-020 (Inmate number, this is SUPER IMPORTANT)
MDC Los Angeles
Metropolitan Detention Center
P.O. Box 1500
Los Angeles, CA 90053

Put your full name and return address in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope.

Send letters only. Include nothing else with the letter. No stickers on the envelope other than a first class stamp. Send no books, gifts, news clippings, etc. All mail is opened and inspected. Deviations to these Bureau of Prisons requirements will result in undelivered mail.

Luke Burbank

4:24 PM ET | 04- 9-2007 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

Better than Russell Simmons, Worse than Star Jones

Filed under: Inside The BPP

I was sitting in the R Bar yesterday (LA's newest, finest, and only Pirate Bar. A bar that requires you use a secret password to get in. Awesome!), when my buddy Nihar came in wildly waving a copy of The Onion. "Dude," he exclaimed, "they're totally making fun of your new show!"

Needless to say, I was thrilled.

It seems we made their Tolerability Index ("A Guide to What We're Barely Putting Up with This Week"). Apparently, the idea of NPR doing a show aimed at younger people (which by NPR standards means people under 40 65) seems lame to them. Not to mention that they, like many other people, have somehow gotten the notion that the new show is going to be named "Zack," which, I swear on the grave of Ira Glass, it will not be.

Here's how that rumor got started. A long time ago, some NPR types were joking about names for the new show, and someone (possibly after a three martini lunch) JOKINGLY threw out the name "Zach" (with an "h," by the way). Well, as my mom always said, "Luke, jokes can really hurt people." Never were her words more true, because from that little joke, people just started referring to the show as "Zach." Usually the conversations would go something like this:

Other Person: "Hey Luke, how's it going with the Zach show? Also, why the hells are you calling it the 'Zach show'? That's a terrible name."

Luke: "I agree it is a terrible name, and additionally, that's not really the name."

Other Person: "Because yeah, I can't believe you're calling it that."

Luke: "Sigh."

So anyway, the show isn't going to be named Zach. And if we were going to name it after a Saved by the Bell character (which The Onion figured was our idea), it would have totally been Mr. Belding.

Oh, and on the topic of The Onion: They ranked us as being more annoying than Star Jones being on TV all the time again but less annoying than Russell Simmons' new motivational book Do You! -- which features non-ironic quotes from Donald Trump. Look, we're just happy that they're vaguely aware of our existence.

Oh, and the password to get into The R Bar? It's "yo ho ho." Seriously.

Luke Burbank

5:33 PM ET | 04- 6-2007 | permalink | comments (15) | e-mail post

It's Hard Out Here for a Blog

Filed under: Inside The BPP

Here's the problem with trying to get famous people to come on your pretend radio show. At some point, they realize it's pretend.

This week we had the bright idea to try and talk to Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez about their new awesome-looking movie, Grindhouse (if you see one film this year about a woman with a machine gun for a leg, it should be Grindhouse). We thought they would be the perfect people to have for our big launch, they're well-known and talented and interesting.

So we call the flack (public relations) lady from the movie company and tell her we're doing this new NPR show, and she's all super gung-ho. She's setting us up with a special screening, and she's figuring out where QT and RR (which is how people in the know refer to them) are going to be. We're emailing back and forth like 15 times an hour, I'm feeling really hopeful about things, and then, it happens.

Flack Lady: We're so excited to set this thing up, oh by the way, where can we hear this show again? What's the station?

Luke: Umm... Hey look out behind you!

Flack Lady: What?

Luke: RIGHT behind you!!!

Flack Lady: I don't see anything.

Luke: My mistake. So how 'bout that ball team?

Flack Lady: Are you drunk?

Luke: Somewhat.

Flack Lady: Where's this show going to air?

Luke: When should we show up to interview Quentin?

Flack Lady: This isn't a real show is it?

Luke: It's going to be. In like six months. It's on the Web.

Flack Lady: --click--(dial tone)

Luke: Hello? Hello? (Quiet sobbing.)

Aaaaaand scene!

So that's why we don't have an interview with QT or RR or anyone famous today. Maybe when we have a few more readers to this blog we'll be able to get Scott Baio.

Luke Burbank

6:16 PM ET | 04- 5-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Is This Thing On?

Filed under: Inside The BPP

Welcome to the blog and our first official post. I won't be too wordy, since the video pretty much explains itself. If you are still confused about what Bryant Park is after you watch the video, have a look at our FAQ. All questions Bryant Park-related will be answered; we're a full-service shop.

If you can't use the flash player, go to YouTube and you'll find it there.

Matt Martinez

5:49 PM ET | 04- 5-2007 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post

Rules for Getting Your Comment Posted

Filed under: Inside The BPP

We've come up with a few simple rules for comments. Violate them and you will suffer (the shame of having your comments blocked, probably).

Keep it polite. Of course folks will disagree, but try to focus on the issues and not your opponent's corny screen name, or their love for The Dave Matthews Band. For example: "Luke is so so wrong about The Seahawks winning the Superbowl" is fine. "Luke is an idiot and has no value as a human being because he thinks the Seahawks will win the Superbowl" is less fine. Also, don't threaten people or post racist / sexist / mean stuff.

No obscenities. You can curse at your computer screen, just not on it, when you're posting comments to our site.

Don't rip stuff off and post it as your own fascinating work. Seriously, can you think of anything sadder? Quoting is fine as long as you give credit.

Spam not welcome here. Feel like dropping a nonsense comment into every item we've got? Reconsider.

Focus Daniel-san. In other words, stay on topic. When folks are engaged in serious discussion about the merits of The Wire versus Battlestar Galactica, they don't need you posting some Nigerian email scam in the same thread.

Rambling makes us bored.
Don't post a freaking novel.
Haikus are fun, yeah?

For a good time call ... Please don't post anyone's e-mail addresses or phone numbers in the public areas of the forum. People don't appreciate it.

To put a word in our ear. On the other hand, if you have something private to say, please don't confuse everyone else by adding it to the blog. Use our handy contact form, which you can find in the right column of the blog.

No solicitors, no recruiting. There's a fine line between talking about a cool gadget you discovered or a mystical moment you had or a candidate you met versus full-on shilling for a product, religion or political party. We're not sure exactly where that fine line is, but we'll know it when we see it. So do us all a favor and don't turn this forum into a recruiting tool for your pyramid scheme or miracle cure. We Will, We Will, Block You.

Rumors and conspiracy theories are not really our thing. If you want to offer unsubstantiated allegations about the current administration or suspicions that your 11th grade shop teacher and the Freemasons are in cahoots, e-mail them to us privately. We'll see if there's any merit to your theories before we besmirch the good name of Mr. Wilburne.

But wait, there's more. If you'd like to read this stuff again but in excruciating detail, courtesy of our lawyers, please visit the npr.org Terms of Use page.

Luke Burbank

5:31 PM ET | 04- 3-2007 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

FAQs About 'The Bryant Park Project'

Filed under: Inside The BPP

What is 'The Bryant Park Project'?
On the radio, The Bryant Park Project is a morning drive-time news show that will change your life, speed up your commute, and jack your test scores 50 points — in whatever order you choose. On the Web, The Bryant Park Project is a glorious digital river of podcasts, videos, photos, blogging, debating, and giblets so cool we're afraid to name them.

Do I belong here?
You bet. Look, they let the rest of us in. Our gang aims to make you feel at home, with surprising interviews and tasty segments soaked in fully carbonated NPR smarts. So pull up a chair, will ya?

Why 'The Bryant Park Project'? NPR New York is right across the street from Bryant Park — which is where they have Fashion Week, which is sort of like the center of the universe, which is sort of like us. Plus, the boss liked it.

What's the purpose of 'The Bryant Park Project' blog? Think of it as a combination laboratory, cocktail party, and invitation to take this outside. We'll use the blog to experiment with nifty stuff, from story ideas to multimedia wowees. You might catch a glimpse of what's coming up on the show. You might catch a glimpse of what happened after a story aired. Most importantly, you'll get a chance to have your say — about The Bryant Park Project in particular, or about the wider news of the day.

Watch the blog for stories to love, sites to get stuck on, songs to set on "repeat," and true confessions from Bryant Parkers like you ... whatev, whenev.

Who can comment?
Everyone except your imaginary friend. You don't have to sign up to comment, but that could change as we add new features.

Do you have rules about what people can or can't say in the comments?
Uh, yeah. Discussion rules arehere, in language we can all understand.

Will you read blog comments on the show?
Yes. We live for call-outs.

What if I have a question or comment that I don't want the world to see?
Use the "Contact Us" form. It'll be our secret.

Can I suggest stories on the blog?
We wish you would. Use the "Contact Us" form.

Can I link to your blog?
Absolutely!

Will you link to my blog?
Maybe, maybe not.

Matt Martinez

11:29 AM ET | 04- 2-2007 | permalink | comments (52) | e-mail post