Baby, If You Ever Wonder

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

Produced by Win Rosenfeld and Zena Barakat

Thanks, everyone, for being part of the Bryant Park Project. Look for us here.

Laura Conaway

3:58 PM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (15) | e-mail post

The Rundown For...Ever

Filed under: Tomorrow's BPP, Too Beautiful to Live

Win Rosenfeld

3:57 PM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (32) | e-mail post

Let Me Tell You About My Good Friends

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

The cast of the BPP.

Zena Barakat

 

These are just a few of the people who made the Bryant Park Project such an amazing place to work. Last night I left our office knowing that I had just one day left with everyone here, one more day to make the show that we all love so dearly. I was depressed, and I knew there was only one thing I could do -- bake.

There is something about measuring, mixing, and frosting that I find incredibly soothing. My mom always baked for me when I was young, and I remember watching her take the time to paint the food coloring on the apple cut-outs on top of her pie. It was like edible proof of how much she loved us. Last night when I was carefully mixing and coloring my third batch of homemade butter cream frosting, I was just overwhelmed with feelings for this group. I leave the BPP with a final batch of baked goods, 24 ice cream cone cupcakes filled with all my love.

Caitlin Kenney

12:00 PM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (27) | e-mail post

Thanks For The Memories

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

Just a short post to thank everyone here for making me a part of the BPP family. Having started working for the show in June, I think I was perhaps the most recent addition to the staff, but I'm grateful that I had the time here that I did, however brief. It was much more than just a job.

I read somewhere recently that the average person laughs 17 times a day (all right, a depressingly paltry amount of laughter to begin with) but I know that I met my daily quota at our morning meetings alone, and exceeded it many, many times over throughout the rest of each day here. Being at the Bryant Park Project was like being part of one big continuous postmodern vaudeville show, with routines both comic and serious, whose stage extended virtually everywhere and could include anything.

Thanks for letting me in on the act.

Paul Hechinger

11:48 AM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Fruit From Our Friends

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

Our table is now piled with sweets -- three different kinds of cupcakes, plus donuts and a pair of cheesecakes. Now, thanks to our friends at WNYC's Takeaway, we've got healthy food, too. They sent us fruit, lovely fruit. Thanks, guys. Keep the faith.

Laura Conaway

9:48 AM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

The Final Stage Of Grief: Acceptance

Filed under: The Best Song In The World Today, Too Beautiful to Live

When Web editor Laura Conaway proposed doing a mashup of the five stages of grief with the "Best Song in the World Today," I immediately called dibs on stage five: acceptance. It probably wasn't my smartest move, as it turns out. I thought I was well into acceptance, and then found that in the middle of doing the segment I couldn't even talk. Apparently that's the big misconception about Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's groundbreaking research. You don't just move through the stages in order. You go back through them again and again, and you never really finish.

I want to reiterate that I do have a sense of perspective and that although this is a profound loss for me -- personally and financially -- it's not all that bad in the grand scheme of things. We are all healthy people, we have the ability to work elsewhere, we will all be just fine.

But to help us accept the loss of the show and the Web experience we all loved (I mean ACTUALLY LOVED -- how rare is that?) I picked the song "Smile Smile Smile" by Dan Zanes. It's about loving simple things about other people, and about how that love ripples and expands and eventually circles the world. Enjoy.

Tricia McKinney

9:03 AM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (23) | e-mail post

A Toast to the Bryant Park Project

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

As the BPP posse wraps up its final show, I just wanted to hijack their blog for a moment and ask all of you to raise a glass and join me in a toast.

From start to finish, through thick and thin, the Bryant Park Project team has been innovative, entertaining, informative and a class act. You've created more than a show, more than a community - you've created a family, and for that I thank each and every one of you.

Cheers, BPP, and thank you again - it won't be the same here without you.

Andy Carvin

8:42 AM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (52) | e-mail post

Before The Atom Split

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

The wonderful Revolution 21 fired over this clip from our earliest, earliest days.

Laura Conaway

6:07 AM ET | 07-25-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

Where To Find Us Now

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

Over the next few days, we'll be packing up the Bryant Park Project. The last broadcast is Friday morning. As for the other parts of the show:

The last blog post happens on Friday. BPP friend and NPR guy Andy Carvin has agreed to handle comments through the end of Monday, wherever you are.

The Facebook page will remain live. The main Twitter stream will freeze at some point on Friday. Twitter.com/bppdiner will stay live, collecting updates that mention "BPP." We'll also watch for replies through Summize.

And now, thanks to Rob Paterson, we're building a whole new town. It's on Ning, it's free, and all the cool BPP kids are doing it.

Blink three times and we'll have a staff blog. We'll post it on Ning and Facebook and the Twitter Diner account, so you'll know where we are.

But remember, you were always a part of the show. And you still are. Keep the lights on, will ya?

After the jump, a list of places to find BPP staff and friends.

Continue reading "Where To Find Us Now" »

Laura Conaway

12:38 PM ET | 07-24-2008 | permalink | comments (28) | e-mail post

Help The 'BPP': Come Party With Us

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

The cure: friends, plus finely crafted anaesthetics

iStockPhoto.com

 

We're holding a Tweet-up, which is the 2.0 way of saying we're gathering in a bar with anyone willing to be seen with us.

It's happening Friday, July 25, the last day of our show. We're meeting at 6 p.m. (sharpish) at D.B.A. in the East Village. We'll probably be there until 9, maybe 9:30.

The bar's at 41 First Avenue in Manhattan, between 2nd and 3rd streets. Subway directions here. We'll be the unemployed ones. You'll know us when you see us.

Laura Conaway

11:09 AM ET | 07-24-2008 | permalink | comments (40) | e-mail post

I Made You A Tape

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

You know when you're miserable or happy, every song sounds like it was written about you? I've spent a lot of time in my record collection since NPR told me it wanted to just be friends last week, and I'm finding every song has a little something to say about it.

This made doing my Best Song in the World Today pretty hard. There were a lot of contenders that didn't make the cut. I pulled a few aside, and here you go: a tiny breakup mixtape.

1)As Long as You Tell Him -- Faces
2)I'd Rather Go Blind -- Etta James
3)It's Raining -- Irma Thomas
4)Only Love Can Break Your Heart -- Neal Young

What's your sad song?

Ian Chillag

9:13 AM ET | 07-24-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post

Listener Checks In: Cerealize the BPP

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman.

From DMOtech

 

You want to know why we love you so much? Check out this post from listener Daniel O'Toole.

Laura Conaway

6:53 AM ET | 07-24-2008 | permalink | comments (28) | e-mail post

"I got one LAST thing to say!"

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

That's how Bruce Springsteen introduces "Raise Your Hand" on the greatest box set ever released, Live 1975-1985. He then goes on to sing:

If there's something you need
That you just don't have
Well just don't sit there
Feeling bad
Come on now get up
Try and understand
Just raise your hand

Well BPP fans new and old, and young and old, you've certainly done that.

I want to first apologize for being largely M.I.A. online since this maelstrom hit. The truth is, the outpouring of affection for our show has been surprising to the whole BPP crew, and while some understandably take comfort in knowing this thing was really reaching people, I've found it more maddening than anything. It's even harder to handle being cancelled when you're faced with so many reminders that you were succeeding.

Working on a radio show is strange in a way, because you never see your audience. Sometimes friends ask me, "Don't you get nervous when you go on the air?" And I always respond, "No. Because I convince myself nobody's listening." (Why would going into a room and talking to your friends make you nervous?) But thanks to the wonders of the interwebs, the studio wall, like so many others, is coming down. And I just want to say thanks to everyone who's written so many nice things about the show, especially Shelley Bishop, who named a baby chick after me. (It's not her firstborn son, but she did promise not to eat it, so I can't complain.)

Although the weight of the BPP's cancellation is heavy, I'm cheering myself up by looking forward to this Sunday, when I'm going to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Giants Stadium, in New Jersey. All music fans remember their first concert, and mine was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Giants Stadium, in New Jersey...in 1985. I was eight.

For those of you who aren't lucky enough to be going to the show, I promise to post a full recap and review on the new site Monday morning. (You didn't think a little cancellation would stop us, did you?) For now, enjoy Bruce and the boys back in the day performing "Raise Your Hand." They have other songs I love more, but this one sure seems applicable right now, especially about 2:30 into the video. And it got my booty shaking...

Dan Pashman

7:03 PM ET | 07-23-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

I Guess We Can't Work It Out

Filed under: The Best Song In The World Today, Too Beautiful to Live

Let's make a deal.

iStock

 

We're in the middle of our last week here at the BPP and at stage three in the Kubler-Ross model of grieving -- bargaining. Today on the show, I talked about hoping that we could find a way to keep this show alive. So many of you have shared your suggestions and strategies for saving the BPP this week , and it's nice to know you are feeling the same sort of desperation I'm dealing with. Unfortunately for all us, yesterday we did get an official answer from NPR's interim CEO Dennis Haarsager, and it wasn't what we were hoping for. He is the official and final word from NPR, but still you never know. I mean it could happen, they could change their minds....right?

Caitlin Kenney

9:33 AM ET | 07-23-2008 | permalink | comments (37) | e-mail post

NPR CEO Responds To The 'BPP' Crowd

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

NPR's interim CEO, Dennis Haarsager, sent this post for our blog. He writes:

Thanks to everyone who has voiced support for the Bryant Park Project on this blog and elsewhere. We have read almost all of these letters and postings (I've personally read about a third of the blog comments). I have asked the BPP staff to permit me to use this space to respond to many of your questions and concerns, and offer more insight into our decision and where we are headed.

First, let me wholeheartedly agree with your high praise for the BPP staff. They are a team of smart, creative journalists who have delivered compelling programming every day. I want to specifically mention Alison Stewart, one of the finest hosts in broadcasting today; executive producer Sharon Hoffman; and senior supervising producer Matt Martinez. They are some of the most talented people I have ever encountered in broadcasting and they have done a great job of presenting news in a different way and in building loyalty among all of you in a short period of time. They have my gratitude and the respect of this entire organization.

Continue reading "NPR CEO Responds To The 'BPP' Crowd" »

Laura Conaway

3:20 PM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink | comments (117) | e-mail post

NPR CEO Has Something to Say

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

According to the blog of NPR's interim CEO, someone on our staff asked whether we could continue the Bryant Park Project as a website. CEO Dennis Haarsager responds:

"In this case, radio carriage was inadequate and web/podcasting usage was hampered -- here's the relearning part -- by having an appointment program in a medium that doesn't excel in that kind of usage. . . .

"I'd like to see good minds like those of the BPP staff think about how we can do good journalism delivered via the web using techniques beyond just throwing up another portal-type web site and expecting people to come to it. Our new open API release is a great tool for that. The realities of how people use the web, how web audiences grow through search, and technologies for tracking attention and tailoring content delivery to match how people spend their attention all need to be considered. Portals still have a place, just as their close cousins radio transmitters do, but we can no longer put all our eggs in that basket.

"NPR will, I hope, be a leader in a new generation of news delivery over multiple platforms, including ones we've never conceived. But we can't make those 2nd generation investments if we continue 1st generation efforts that aren't consistent with what we know about how media usage is maturing."

Laura Conaway

2:06 PM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink | comments (37) | e-mail post

Anger, Thy Name Is Me

Filed under: The Best Song In The World Today, Too Beautiful to Live

We're winding down the final days of the BPP, and we're marking the time by taking you through each of the five stages of grief, in the form of our regular feature, The Best Song in the World Today. Yesterday we did denial. Today it's Anger. That was a tough straw for me to draw, since I'm hoping to get a good reference from NPR. But here's what I came up with:

Dan Pashman

8:13 AM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

Fourteen People Set Loose To Find Stories

Filed under: Stuff We Love, Too Beautiful to Live

Louisiana's capital city

From AbandonedBatonRouge

 

One of the crazy things about working at the Bryant Park Project is that we get (got?) to dream. Maybe you were tied to your desk more than you wanted, but you could see the day coming when you'd be able to go out with a camera and a recorder and bring back the amazing story that had been keeping you up at night.

The crazy thing about leaving the Bryant Park Project is that we still have those dreams, the exact same ones.

Today, thanks to Twitter pal @revolution_21, I give you Abandoned Baton Rouge, a loving photo chronicle of what's happening in Louisiana's capital city. It's not pretty. But it is worth losing sleep over.

Check it out:
Abandoned Baton Rouge
Revolution 21

Plus:
The Motorless City

Laura Conaway

7:13 AM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

Stages of Grief For The 'BPP': Denial

Filed under: The Best Song In The World Today, Too Beautiful to Live

A denial, a denial, a denial

Getty Images

 

In our last week at the Byrant Park Project, we're using music to move through the stages of grief as defined by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross.

Today, I took the first one, denial, for which I played Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It's a song that seems to be maybe just a mess of feelings until the very end, when Kurt Cobain sings, "a denial, a denial, a denial."

Now, as I'm listening to people around me prepping for their segments, I'm struck by how many songs could fit the bill. I think someone suggested "Walking on Sunshine" as an alternate for denial. Let's make a playlist. The stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Hit the comments, please.

Laura Conaway

8:27 AM ET | 07-21-2008 | permalink | comments (46) | e-mail post

The Weirdest End To Maternity Leave

Filed under: Maternity Leave, Too Beautiful to Live

Back in the chair, briefly.

Zena Barakat/NPR

 

The last time I was this surprised, Journey was cut off mid-lyric.

If you asked me a few weeks ago what my final maternity leave blog post would cover, I might have said the anxiety of leaving the cub, excitement about getting back to a job I love and/or lessons I learned in the past 12 weeks.

So it is odd to write about returning to the workforce for only one week. That's it.

So much of my energy has been spent preparing for my new life -- from finding baby sitters to buying breast pumps. I never thought I would have to be prepared to face the big question of "What should I do next?" I'm still working on that one.

I will confess that a few weeks ago I though, "Wow, I wish I had a little more time at home with Isaac." Ah, the cliche is true -- be careful what you wish for.

Have you ever gotten what you wanted, in an unexpected and maybe even unwanted way?

See you Monday.

Alison Stewart

12:33 PM ET | 07-18-2008 | permalink | comments (21) | e-mail post

Pesca Makes The 'BPP' A Valentine

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

As was always the plan, I'm going back to reporting for NPR -- all sports all the time, which I'm very excited about.

For the past couple of days, we've all been remembering the BPP as a great media experiment. Let's not forget that it was, at times, a great radio show to listen to, and at all times, a truly fun radio show to work on. The writer Chris Hedges, who covered many wars for the New York Times, pointed out that combatants don't fight for the policymakers, or the generals, or God, or country or the flag. For the most part, they fight for the guy to the left of them and the guy to the right of them.

In some businesses, like Wall Street trading, "going to war" metaphors abound, but you don't hear them so much at NPR. Still, Hedges' point holds here. What drives you to wake up at 3:30 a.m., and be a somewhat absentee dad, and put in 12-hour days, and really, really care that the people of Vincennes aren't bored in the morning -- you can chalk that up to professionalism and commitment, sure, but it's mostly due to the people you work with.

With the BPP folks in mind, I put together an audio valentine of some of my favorite moments on and off the air. It does go on a little too long, and at times the references and connections are obscure, which makes it a good reflection of me. Also, if you get really bored in the middle, you can start listening for the brief Terry Gross cameo. Thanks, BPP. There was so much joy in what we did.

Mike Pesca

10:25 AM ET | 07-18-2008 | permalink | comments (39) | e-mail post

The Ramble! The Second Hour!

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

On this morning's show, Matt Martinez revealed what happened to the Ramble and the show's second hour. One of them is coming back; the other he explains -- just press play.

Meanwhile, for those of you determined to consider resurrecting the Bryant Park Project, I give you new media guru/BPP friend Rob Paterson. He's at least having fun with the exercise.

Laura Conaway

2:07 PM ET | 07-16-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

Just 'Stache It.

Filed under: Luncheonette, Stuff We Love, Too Beautiful to Live

I am procrastinating. I should be finding a job right now, but I'm looking at my friend's brilliant blog about edible moustaches. Who is my friend? She goes by the pseudonym Prudence Smithfield, and her blog co-conspirators are Cornelius Honeycutt and Dorcas Porkbutt.

Asked why they created this blog, Prudence says:

"We, at porkmoustache, felt that the history of edible moustaches had been left out of the history books for far too long and it was high time that the world's comestible lip hair found its way to fame."

I agree.

Zena Barakat

11:46 AM ET | 07-15-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

Dawn Of A New Day

Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private, Too Beautiful to Live

Looks even better from a bike.

 

There's a certain Zen to the pre-dawn commute. Empty streets, birds chirping, a sense of victory at having beat the masses.

I'm a lifelong New Yorker (translation: jaded curmudgeon) but in these early-morning moments, the city often wins me back.

A shorter BPP means a later start time. I got to leave my house when it was light out and rode my bike up the spine of Sixth Avenue, past the sites of chance encounters and old jobs.

Continue reading "Dawn Of A New Day" »

Laura Silver

7:47 AM ET | 07-15-2008 | permalink | comments (18) | e-mail post

Customer Service

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

Thank you, all of you, for the blog comments you've posted in support of the show. We've been reading all of them... and I can't overstate what it's meant to us on a profoundly sad day. As fans of this show know, we are passionate believers in what we've been doing here, and it's heartening to see that you all got it.

A lot of you have asked where you can write to register your unhappiness with NPR's decision. Here's the answer: Go to npr.org/contact/. Click on the "I want to contact a program" option and pick Bryant Park in the drop-down menu. I've been assured that NPR has set up a special folder for these so they'll be separated quickly from the rest of the audience e-mail and directed to the right person. Don't send it to "contact an NPR office/management," since it will go into the general pool of incoming mail and will take longer to be forwarded.

You can also write to our Ombudsman, Alicia Shepard. She can be reached here.

Sharon Hoffman

1:49 PM ET | 07-14-2008 | permalink | comments (68) | e-mail post

What's Next For The 'BPP'

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

Write your own caption.

iStockPhoto.com

 

We are still absorbing the news of our untimely demise. We will still produce new shows for the next two weeks, and we'll keep on blogging and twittering. We may also dip into the Best of the BPP, stuff we're really proud of.

If there's anything you want to hear, let us know in the comments, will you?

Tricia McKinney

11:14 AM ET | 07-14-2008 | permalink | comments (128) | e-mail post

NYT: NPR Is Canceling The 'BPP'

Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live

UPDATE: How to write to NPR.

-----------------------

This just in, from the New York Times:

National Public Radio officials are expected on Monday to tell the staff members of "Bryant Park Project" that their experimental weekday morning program, designed to draw a younger audience to public radio and capture listeners who had moved online, is being canceled.

The last broadcast of this New York-based program, which many listeners tuned into at npr.org rather than over the air, is expected to be on July 25. It's an expensive failure -- the first-year budget was more than $2 million -- and comes at a time when NPR is facing the same financial constraints as other news media thanks to higher costs and a downturn in underwriting.

Laura Conaway

9:18 PM ET | 07-13-2008 | permalink | comments (733) | e-mail post