In Defense of Mime

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Marcel Marceau passed away last week, leaving behind one of the most remarkable artistic legacies of the past century. He will likely be remembered as the preeminent ambassador of the universally recognized (and almost as universally parodied) art of mime. He was best known for his breathtaking live performances, which captivated audiences around the globe for 50 years. In addition to the innovations he made to his own art, Marceau's work was deeply influential to artists such as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Twyla Tharp. Michael Jackson said that without Marceau's "Walking Against the Wind," there would have been no Moonwalk.

As a young mime artist, Gregg Goldston chased Marceau around for over a decade before he finally met the man that would become his friend and mentor. Of Goldston Marceau once said, "His work is among the best I have ever seen." Gregg took some time earlier this week to talk to the BPP about Marceau, the state of mime artistry, and the loss of his friend.

After the bump, check out video of Gregg wrangling with an invisible hat.

Win Rosenfeld

11:22 AM ET | 09-28-2007 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post

Climb Aboard the BPP Bandwagon

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MGM Studios/Getty Images

 

Our newfound fame, thanks mostly to the piece about us in the New York Times yesterday, has prompted a flood of comments from people interested in the show, but concerned that their advanced age might make them unwelcome. Joel writes:

"OMG, here I am turning 57 next week, an NPR junkie for a couple of decades -- and this pilot is the best thing I've heard on public radio since the start-up of This American Life. (OK, not counting the day Bill O'Reilly walked out on Terry Gross...) Mind letting a few of us 50+ folks into your listener's club? How about if we promise to sit in the corner and not complain about our prostates?"

Craig says:

"I'm just irked that I am now 45, putting me just outside your desired demo, but too young to be one of those still angry about Bob Edwards being booted off ME. Could you narrow cast a bit for my age group? Maybe:

1. Are you a Gen X trapped in a boomers body? Or sports injuries you might still bounce back from.
2. I don't remember where I was when Kennedy was shot, but my mom does.
3. Roth IRA Conversion or Red Miata convertible? Which choice says you're old?"

Well Joel and Craig, to show you just how welcome you are, I've selected a vintage photo (above) from a talking picture serial which my grandmother tells me was called "Our Gang," later turned into a TV series called "The Little Rascals." Apparently, it was quite popular in her day. I use it now to illustrate not only the diverse tableau that the BPP plans to weave, but also the lengths to which we'll go to find reference points that all can appreciate. Even if your idea of podcasting is to dictate this blog post into a recording device, press it onto a vinyl record, and play it on your Victrola, you're okay with us.

Dan Pashman

10:27 AM ET | 09-28-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

The Best Song in the World Today

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One regular feature on our blog is "The Best Song in the World Today," where a member of the show staff highlights the one song that is rocking his/her world today. It doesn't have to be the best song of all time, it can be new or old, but for whatever reason, today, this song kicks butt. And since my Cubs are on the verge of clinching a division title, it's my BSITWT. For more on the interesting and poignant history of this Steve Goodman classic, check out this great piece posted yesterday to the Chicago Tribune blog.

Dan Pashman

9:52 AM ET | 09-28-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Mike Huckabee Takes on the BPP

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Remember when...

Here's the show with the full Huckabee interview.

Dan Pashman

10:07 AM ET | 09-27-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

We're Not Regurgitating, We're Recycling

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So the BPP is in the New York Times for the first time today, which is the closest that a radio show gets to a debutante ball. Our video producer Win Rosenfeld is applying one more layer of pancake makeup to a brand new video piece for tomorrow, but in the meantime we wanted to throw up some of our best work from the show piloting process, to give newcomers some idea of what we're about.

In a minute we'll post our video of the classic ping pong showdown between host Luke Burbank and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Other popular videos we've done are a scientific explanation of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, an interview with The Hold Steady, and a look at personal space issues in Second Life. Plus, who could forget Petra Haden's a capella rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'?"

And if you're one of those old fashioned types who actually wants to HEAR what our radio show SOUNDS like, stream or download two of our best pilot shows here and here, and check out an interview we did with NPR's Robert Krulwich about Alan Greenspan's underwear secret.

Dan Pashman

10:06 AM ET | 09-27-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

We Made the 'New York Times!'

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While we are working furiously toward our terrestrial and satellite radio launch on Monday, we took a minute to be excited by this article in today's New York Times.

Luke thinks the picture makes him look like a duck, but otherwise we're pretty happy with the piece.

Back to work!

Tricia McKinney

9:45 AM ET | 09-27-2007 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post

A Little Update

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The next few days will be a bit quiet on the BPP front, but we do have a couple of blog-exclusive tidbits in the pipeline. We'll be focusing most of our energies on preparing for next week's launch. And what do we have in store, you ask? Well the proposed guest list looks something like this: Nancy Pelosi, Reese Witherspoon, Dave Grohl, Steve Martin, Kanye West, Bill Clinton, J.D. Salinger, Bono, Dick Cheney, both Presidents Bush, Osama bin Laden, and Jared from Subway. Unfortunately, while we proposed those guests, we didn't necessarily get them. Or even try to get them.

But we do have Ben Harper coming into the studio for an interview and live performance, so that's super cool. And there will be more, much more.

On a separate note, I did want to respond to a question raised by Drew and others: Will the blog continue? The answer to that is an unequivocal "Hells yeah." We intend to do enough original writing, blog-exclusive audio and video, and general engagement that this site will stand on its own, period, radio show notwithstanding. Of course the show and blog will complement each other, and the separate components might be even more awesome when enjoyed as a whole, but this blog will live on, even during the times of day when the microphones are off.

Dan Pashman

12:57 PM ET | 09-26-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Campaign buttons, continued

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Tuesday's conversation on the presidential candidates' logos continued on email after the show.

Ilya Marritz (producer): Btw, what do you think of the Keyes logo? I kinda like it.

Ryan Bowman (designer): I almost like the Keyes logo, its dead simple which is good but his name needs to stand out a little bit more.

Continue reading "Campaign buttons, continued" »

Ilya Marritz

12:50 PM ET | 09-26-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

Pilot #29: The End of the Beginning

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Credit: Win Rosenfeld/BPP Luke Jacunski (left) and Mami Nagase, who were mugged as he proposed to her in Central Park. The pair was not harmed in the incident, and while some valuables were taken, her engagement ring was saved. Luke is showing off a ring designed by Mami.

It's our last pilot show, friends. We go live on the real radio this Monday, October 1. We'd like to thank you all for your enthusiastic feedback, thoughtful suggestions, encouragement, and especially, brutal excoriation. The process of disregarding your input has been invaluable to us.

That was a joke. We really do love you, and we couldn't have gotten this far without you. In fact, at the end of today's show we'll honor our most frequent poster, Steve Peterson, with the Bryant Park Project Award for Meritorious Blog Commenting, which we'll hand craft from a Microsoft template and mail to him. We'll also tackle the news thusly...

We'll cover Ahmadinejad at Columbia with two students who were there. We'll cover the strike at GM with a journalist in Michigan and an auto worker in Tennessee. (Notice a pattern here? The BPP doesn't just transmit the news, we invite it over for dinner.)

After that, it's a veritable smorgasbord. The biggest cricket event of the year just took place. Who cares? Vivek Agastya, that's who. He'll tell us about the new, faster-paced version of a game that, until recently, could go on for days. We'll learn more about protests by Myanmar monks. We'll ask Republican strategist (and African-American pastor) Joe Watkins whether leading candidates are wrong to skip a debate geared towards black audiences, and we'll learn about what candidates' logos say about them.

We'll also have a recently-engaged couple in the studio. Why? Because as he was proposing to her in Central Park, they got mugged, and the bandits got away with everything...but the ring. He'll explain how he hid it. All that plus new music with our buddy Andy Langer, The Ramble, The Most, and a vintage Mike Pesca piece. Listen!

Dan Pashman

12:03 PM ET | 09-25-2007 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post

Illustrating the Path to the White House

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In today's pilot, graphic designer Ryan Bowman explains what it takes to make a winning campaign sticker. He analyzes the candidates of 2008 by looking for the ideas behind the images.

Check them out for yourself (after the bump) and let us know what you think the art says about the politicians behind them.

Continue reading "Illustrating the Path to the White House" »

Win Rosenfeld

12:02 PM ET | 09-25-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

U.N. Excitement: Not Actually An Oxymoron

Filed under: Inside The BPP

The United Nations General Assembly meeting may be happening way to the east of our home off of Bryant Park, but the buzz in the air is palpable and the evidence of the excitement is everywhere.

I just popped downstairs to the street level of our building to get a soda, and saw this guy walking by, dressed as an American flag and carrying the stars and stripes over his shoulder. He was walking fast, so I sprinted behind him to ask what he was doing. He told me he was heading to the U.N. to protest the presence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The protester was a lively guy with an accent--he said he's an American, though originally from Kosovo. He told me he has protested at the U.N. many times before.

I got him to stop long enough to let me take his picture...

...and give me permission to post it on this blog, and then he was off down the street, and I got my soda.

--Tricia McKinney

Win Rosenfeld

2:33 PM ET | 09-24-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Seeing Octoviginuple: Pilot #28 is Here

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

 

Seeing Quintuple: Senator Hillary Clinton appeared on all five Sunday talk shows yesterday, including Meet the Press, as seen above.

Radio shows grow up so fast these days. It seems like one day you're doing five minute segments and the next day, a two hour show is the norm. And that next day is today.

Before we get into today's show, we want to welcome the BPP's new Web Producer, Laura Conaway. (She taught me how to make that cool gray line up there below the photo caption.) She'll be contributing blog posts very soon, which will free me up a bit to man the BPP distillery, where we refine your world into single malt news. Anywho, today's show goes a little something like this...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York. (In case you still haven't settled that bet you made with your friend at the bar Saturday night, it's pronounced "ah-mah-DEEN-eh-jahd." I called someone in Tehran yesterday to make sure.) As you probably know by now, the man's visit is causing quite a stir. Today we'll talk to NPR's own Robert Smith, who's on his way to the Columbia campus to cover protests there, and we'll get the bigger picture with USA Today's Barbara Slavin, author of a forthcoming book on Iran. She was the first US newspaper reporter to interview Ahmadinejad and has some interesting insights on him.

Hillary Clinton appeared on all five Sunday talk shows yesterday. We'll distill her 90-plus minutes of face time into three minutes of highlights. You'll laugh. She did.

We'll report on the closing of the last horse slaughter plant in the US, and the demise of the hyphen. Plus, Newt's presidential aspirations and the latest installment of Make Me Care. Today we'll have a reporter from Cnet try to make Luke and Alison care about the release of Halo 3. And Luke will offer an obituary for Seattle radio host Walt Crowley, who he featured in February on Day to Day.

Dan Pashman

9:33 AM ET | 09-24-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

We Slept In

Filed under: Inside The BPP

It's one of our last chances before we start our daily production schedule. This week's test run went well -- as well as it could given we all woke up at 3:30 in the morning.

We're working on two shows for next week -- Monday and Tuesday. We're kind of in hunker down mode today -- more coming soon, stay tuned.

Matt Martinez

1:18 PM ET | 09-21-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

Pilot #27: "Sublimation is the Real Deal"

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Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images Residents of Jena, Louisiana, show their support for six black teens, dubbed "The Jena Six," charged in an alleged attack on a white classmate. Protestors are converging in Jena today.

"Sublimation of an element or compound is a transition from the solid to gas phase so rapidly that the liquid phase cannot be observed." The BPP sublimates radio every day. Ponder that, and while you're at it, try to figure out during which conversation in today's show the above quote will be heard. Here's what's on tap...

-- We'll get the latest news on the Jena Six, and we'll get the pulse of the town when we talk to a local cafe owner as activists and protestors arrive there. We'll also talk Alan Greenspan with a guy who's interviewed him many times, NPR's own esteemed reporter Robert Krulwich. (Click here to download the Krulwich interview separately.)

-- A judge in the Philippines lost his position on the bench because he says he believes in three elves who give him advice. The elves are named Angel, Armand, and Luis (of course). Now a movement is afoot in the country to get the judge back on the bench. We'll talk to the reporter who's covering the story. And we'd like to ask you: Is there a difference between a judge who gets advice from elves and a judge who gets advice from saints?

-- Did you see this video of Pluto flipping out at Disney World? We'll talk to a professional mascot about the trials and tribulations of mascot-dom. And we'll look into the burgeoning movement away from clothes dryers and towards clotheslines in an effort to save energy.

-- We'll have NPR's David Folkenflik break down Dan Rather's lawsuit. Plus, the search for Steve Fossett continues, and we're very curious: Why is it so hard to find a wrecked plane in the middle of the desert? We'll find out when we talk to someone involved in the search. All that and our new favorite website, The Ramble, The Most, and so much more. Consider yourself sublimated.

Dan Pashman

10:14 AM ET | 09-20-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Krulwich Exposes Greenspan's Underwear Secret

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Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, seen here providing his stock response whenever anyone asks him to divulge his secrets of economic prognostication.

Economics professors and analysts around the world have studied theorems, computed derivatives, and crunched numbers into submission, all in the hope of predicting economic fluctuations as adroitly as Alan Greenspan has for the past half century. For years they've all asked, "What's his secret?" Well, it turns out his secret is in the men's underwear drawers of America, as this BPP interview reveals. (Isn't that where most people keep their valuables?)

We spent a good part of yesterday searching for just the right guest to talk to us about Alan Greenspan. We wanted someone who understands economics, of course, but also someone who could shed some light on Greenspan as a person. It turns out the ideal guest was just over the cubicle wall here at BPP HQ. We were pleased to welcome NPR's esteemed science correspondent Robert Krulwich, formerly an economics correspondent for NPR, CBS, and ABC, and someone who has interviewed Greenspan on numerous occasions. Grab a snack and enjoy.

Dan Pashman

8:33 AM ET | 09-20-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

Dog Day Afternoon: A Bryant Park Minute

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Being that our offices are smack dab in middle of New York City, there's always something interesting going on outside our door on any given day. Sometimes it's kind of intense, other times there's an interesting person doing something out of the ordinary, and once in a while there's a dogs-jumping-into-swimming-pools contest. Yesterday was one of those days. And that's the first subject of our brand-new, semi-regular feature, "A Bryant Park Minute."

Win Rosenfeld

1:39 PM ET | 09-19-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

The Tasering Heard Round the Net

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Is Andrew Meyer a victim of police overreaction or a troublemaker who got what he deserved? Watch the video and tell us what you think.

Dan Pashman

11:46 AM ET | 09-19-2007 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

Pilot #26: We're Lovers, Not Tasers, Bro

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Well the early morning hours seemed a little more normal today, though it's still far from routine. Here's what's on tap...

-- We'll discuss Hillary and her health care plans (Then and Now) with journalist and author Carl Bernstein, who wrote a book about Hillary. "Stewart, Burbank, and Bernstein" may not sound as pretty as "Woodward and Bernstein," but then again, Woodward doesn't look like Robert Redford.

-- We'll get our dose of hard news when we cover the latest on an incident involving security contractor Blackwater USA that left at least 11 Iraqis dead, and we'll cover the Fed's decision on interest rates with NPR's own Adam Davidson. Plus, the mortgage crisis has hit areas of California especially hard, so we'll talk to a realtor from the Stockton area to get a sense of things on the ground there.

-- The news is flying fast and furious around OJ Simpson. One guy says OJ was set up, while one of the victims is in critical condition after a heart attack. We'll take it seriously when we speak to a law professor who can tell us whether OJ might actually be getting treated unfairly. Plus we'll chronicle the story of the student who was tasered at a John Kerry speech, and we'll celebrate the 25th anniversary of the emoticon, all on today's edition of the BPP.

Dan Pashman

11:45 AM ET | 09-19-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Argggh Matey! It's National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

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Avast, there!

Yo, ho, ho and show number 26 on the way.

The Bryant Park pirate ship is preparing to raise the jolly roger with a new pilot today.

We don't have 15 men and a dead man's chest but we do have an interview with Carl Bernstein about candidate Clinton and her healthcare plan.

Check back soon, ye land lubbers.

Alison Stewart

9:41 AM ET | 09-19-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Luke Got to Work at Five in the Morning and Promptly Dropped His (BLANK)

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Check out the BPP's tribute to The Match Game, as heard on today's pilot. And in case you were curious, Luke dropped his box of donuts on the table.

Win Rosenfeld

4:33 PM ET | 09-18-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Pilot #25: The Best Part of Waking Up

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For the first time in BPP history, we actually made radio during the early morning hours that will be our regular time slot. It was only one hour instead of two, and we started at 8 instead of 7, but when you're rolling into work at 4:45 AM, you don't make those kinds of distinctions. In any event, something about early morning hours must have agreed with us, because we pulled off a pretty damn good show. Where else could you find all this and more in one tidy hour?

-- Blackwater in hot water in Iraq - We talk to an Iraqi on the ground near the incident in question to find out what happened, then we break the story out with Bill Sizemore, reporter for the Virginian-Pilot, who co-wrote a six-part series on Blackwater that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.

-- Brett Somers, best known as a panelist on the classic game show "The Match Game," passed away Saturday. Rather than mourn her death we choose to celebrate her life, by playing The Bryant Park Project Match Game, with our own Mike Pesca as game show host, and blog readers not unlike yourself as contestants.

-- Copper Theft Epidemic - Yes, we did say copper theft epidemic. Who? Why? Where? When? How? And what does it have to do with crystal meth? We'll find out when we talk to Scott Berinato, who wrote a fascinating article all about it.

-- Plus we'll play Make Me Care with NPR's Frank Langfitt, who's covering the negotiations between the United Auto Workers and auto manufacturers. And we'll do The Ramble, which includes the news that Crocs may be dangerous. Not the animals--the shoes.

Dan Pashman

9:23 AM ET | 09-18-2007 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

The BPP Is Awake

Filed under: Inside The BPP

"Morning Meeting" is a recap of our daily editorial meeting.

Good morning. The BPP starts our normal operating schedule today -- which means getting into the office before the sun rises. We're not the first people in the world who have to wake up at such an early hour, so we'll keep the moaning to a minimum.

We'll have a show for you later this morning, here's some of what you'll hear:

BLACKWATER -- The Iraq Interior Ministry halted the license for the security firm Blackwater after a shooting incident resulted in the deaths of nine Iraqi civilians. More on what Blackwater does and what this will mean for U.S. security in Iraq.

MARRY MY DAUGHTER -- A hoaxter published a website earlier this month called "Marryourdaughter.com." If you came across the site, and were so inclined, the site offered you a chance to buy a young bride. But some folks didn't know it was a hoax -- its founder claims he has gotten "tons" of responses to ads -- we'll talk with him.

COPPER WIRE -- Last weekend, a high school football game in Scottsdale, Arizona was canceled because someone stole the copper wiring in the stadium's field lights. That got us wondering, what kind of person steals the copper wiring from a school lighting pole? It turns out that small time copper theft is a rising epidemic in the U.S. -- we'll find out why.

Also, we've got The Ramble and a tribute to Brett Somers, who died this past Saturday, she was 83.

Matt Martinez

6:10 AM ET | 09-18-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

For Micro-Miniaturist Willard Wigan, Less is More

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Earlier this month, the collected works of sculptor Willard Wigan sold for over 11 million British Pounds ---22 million US dollars.

His subjects include the Titanic hitting the iceberg, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and the Statue of Liberty. But Wigan brings a remarkable perspective to these subjects...his work is all very small. Very very very small. In fact, many of Wigan's sculptures aren't visible to the naked eye. Starting with a grain of sand or rice, he carves away for months with a diamond shard before a piece is completed. And because the scale is so minute that he can only see what he's doing by using a microscope, Wigan can lose months of work by accidentally inhaling a sculpture or sneezing one away.

Check out some of his work in the video above.

Win Rosenfeld

7:06 PM ET | 09-17-2007 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

Contestants Needed!

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As you may have heard, Brett Somers, a regular on the classic game show "Match Game," has passed away. On tomorrow's BPP we're going to do a little tribute to her by playing our own rendition of The Match Game, with game show host Mike Pesca and a panel including luminaries like our own Alison Stewart and Luke Burbank. So what's missing? Contestants. The first two people to post a comment to this blog post saying they want to participate will be our contestants. The only rules are that you must be available via land line telephone tomorrow (Tuesday) between 8:00 and 8:40 AM Eastern time, and you must be over 18 years old. We'll contact the winners via email to work out the details. Ready...Set...Go!

Dan Pashman

5:28 PM ET | 09-17-2007 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

Don't Call It a Comeback. We Just Don't Do Shows on the Weekend.

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Credit: Win Rosenfeld/BPP

This old newspaper on Mike Pesca's desk inspired us to dig into the latest on former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Tomorrow we'll do another story inspired by a different old paper on Mike's desk.

Tricia wrote up this post but I (Dan) am posting it because her login hasn't been set up. Here's Tricia...

Hey, everyone, this is the new BPP editor, Tricia McKinney. I'm a long-time listener, first-time blogger. We put together two fun-packed hours of the Bryant Park Project for you, so stow those tray tables and put your seats in their full, upright position.

On today's show:

--President Bush announced his pick to succeed former attorney general Alberto Gonzales. It's this guy, retired federal judge Michael Mukasey. The last time he was big in the news, the story got eclipsed by coverage of this other guy. It's happening again.

--Which brings us to the latest twist in the strange story of one Orenthal James Simpson. The Juice is no longer loose. He's cooling his heels in the slammer, accused of felonies in connection with the theft of sports memorabilia. And today, celebrity news website TMZ.com posted some audio they say is of the robbery.

--Meantime, a year-and-a-half-old headline laying around on Mike Pesca's desk (see photo above) caught Luke's eye. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been in a coma since January 2006. We'll ask a correspondent from the Jerusalem Post whether Israelis have forgotten their former leader.

Continue reading "Don't Call It a Comeback. We Just Don't Do Shows on the Weekend." »

Dan Pashman

4:28 PM ET | 09-17-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Jeremy Harper Counts to a Million, Survives

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Last Friday, Jeremy Harper said "One million" into his webcam, and 89 days of counting out loud came to an end. He raised over ten thousand dollars for Push America, a charity aimed at providing aid for the disabled, by counting to a million over the course of nearly three months. During this time he stayed confined to his house, taking breaks only to eat and sleep.

Watch the final semi-delirious moments of the count above.

Win Rosenfeld

2:58 PM ET | 09-17-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

The Best Song in the World Today

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British musician, producer, and mixmaster Mark Ronson, best-known for his work with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen, has just remixed Bob Dylan's classic song "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)." The results are AWESOME. (Click the link and scroll down a bit to see the accompanying video.) We dare you to listen and not get funky.

Two more hours of the BPP are coming your way this afternoon!

Dan Pashman

12:13 PM ET | 09-17-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

BPP Show #23.2

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As promised, here's Hour Two of today's show. In this hour we'll do the Week in Iraq with guest Rachel Martin. Yes, the same Rachel Martin who acts as our newscaster. She spent a month in Iraq reporting for NPR, so we're glad to have her here to lend her expertise. (On a separate but related note, check out Rachel getting the Barbara Walters photo treatment on her NPR bio page.)

We'll cover New York Knick GM Isiah Thomas' troubles with Henry Abbott from the blog TrueHoop, we'll talk movies with NPR's own Bob Mondello, and we'll find out exactly what it's like to work with 3.2 million year old bones.

Have you heard about this guy? He locked himself in his apartment three months ago and began counting to a million. He should make it in a few hours! We got regular updates throughout today's show.

Dan Pashman

3:40 PM ET | 09-14-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

BPP Show #23.1

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We're breaking the show into two separate one-hour posts, so you can download either or both. In hour one we'll cover President Bush's speech and talk to Iraqi journalist Ali Fadhil in the studio. Ali just got back from Iraq two weeks ago, and he'll share his experiences and some amazing stories about conditions at Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital, which he covered for several months.

We'll learn more about a test for a very rare gene in women that puts them at much higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer. An ethical discussion surrounding the test has arisen because the test is so expensive (over $3,000) and the gene is so rare, but the test is being marketed on a mass scale to women who, almost entirely, aren't at risk. We'll talk to medical ethicist Dr. Arthur Caplan and Connie Elliot from Salt Lake City, who had a double mastectomy and hysterectomy after finding out she does in fact have the gene*.

After that we'll talk to C. Joel Marino, who's written a brutally honest column about coming to terms with his own sexuality in the wake of the Larry Craig scandal.

We'll also learn more about federal prisons' efforts to remove religious books from their stacks. Plus we'll have The Ramble, and NPR's own Mike Pesca on commonly misquoted "classic" movie lines. Hour Two is on the way!

*- Myriad Genetics released the following statement to the BPP regarding our story on their genetic testing:

Myriad Genetics has initiated the BRACAnalysis Awareness Campaign to improve awareness of the potentially life-saving information provided by its genetic test, among the 2-3 million American women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Women at risk are not widely aware that they can take measures to significantly reduce their likelihood of getting breast cancer and ovarian cancer. We encourage women with a strong family history, through use of a positive, responsible message, to become empowered by visiting their healthcare provider to determine whether they are appropriate candidates for testing.

Dan Pashman

3:39 PM ET | 09-14-2007 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

We Have a Good Show Coming Your Way!

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Things got a little hairy this morning because we did TWO hours, which will be posted shortly. But it wasn't nearly as hairy as this sideline action at the University of Oregon Ducks vs. University of Houston Cougars football game. Watch this and check back soon:

Alison Stewart

1:27 PM ET | 09-14-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

The Author and His Ink....

Filed under: Video

Writer Lord Byron famously wrote "a drop of ink may make a million think." If that's true, children's book author Phil Padwe will stimulate the minds of trillions. His new book is all about teaching kids not to freak out at the sight of tattooed adults. After speaking with Luke and Alison, Phil took a minute to show us his ink.

Win Rosenfeld

5:41 PM ET | 09-13-2007 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Iraq, a Ramble, a Mob Trial: BPP's Pilot 22

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