The Final Curtain

Jolie Myers, NPR

 

--Steve Proffitt

We end our program today. We hope we do it on a long, sustained graceful note. To all the listeners and stations that supported us, a heartfelt thanks.

Now we scatter. Some of us will stay in radio or in journalism. Others will find new careers. But don't worry. We're all smart. We'll be OK.

If you want to keep in touch, we've created a Facebook group, Life After NPR's Day to Day. Check in from time to time, friend us, and don't be a stranger.

And here are some links to staff members personal blogs:

Madeleine Brand
www.madeleinebrand.com

Christopher Johnson
www.yourplanb.org

Alex Cohen
www.alexcoheninla.blogspot.com/

Steve Proffitt
www.nicejobmedia.blogspot.com

From all of us at Day to Day, goodbye and good luck.

Tags: exit | goodbye | see ya

11:41 AM ET | 03-20-2009 | permalink

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Gosh, That Almost Makes Us Feel Better

Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

 

--Steve Proffitt

Even though we're not quite dead yet, Los Angeles Times columnist James Rainey writes a nice little obituary for our program, which appears in today's paper.

Tags: axed | canceled | obit | paean

9:54 AM ET | 03-18-2009 | permalink

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Final Episodes

--Jason DeRose

Today, our TV critic Andrew Wallenstein talked about his favorite and not so favorite TV series' final episodes. Since Day to Day goes off the air on Friday, it's something I've been thinking about a lot as well. My list is kind of quirky. My top five:

1. Six Feet Under -- I completely agree with Andrew on this one. I cannot hear Sia's "Breath Me" without crying. I cared deeply about these characters. I identified with many of them. And knowing how they spent their dying days brings a lot of comfort to someone like me who's an empathy junkie. The day we were told Day to Day was canceled, I played "Breath Me" over and over on my drive home. I plan to do that this Friday as well.

Continue reading "Final Episodes" »

Tags: final episode | goodbye | tv

9:38 AM ET | 03-18-2009 | permalink

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Posting Secrets

 

--Martina Castro

Five years ago, Frank Warren started a little art project called PostSecret. He handed out 3,000 postcards to strangers and asked them to anonymously write down their secrets and mail the cards back to him.

Frank Warren

 

Frank Warren

It was an overwhelming success and he created a popular website to show off the cards. Warren still gets about 200 postcards a day. Now -- he's taking the secrets on tour. Postcards are currently on display at the Bedford Gallery near San Francisco.

Martina Castro is a producer and reporter with KALW in San Francisco. She decided to conduct her own social experiment. She went to the PostSecret exhibit and asked other visitors to share their secrets with Day to Day. One by one, they took her microphone off into a corner and whispered their private thoughts into Martina's recorder. She's woven the secrets together into a radio story for today's show.

Tags: art | secrets

11:40 AM ET | 03-17-2009 | permalink

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Find Us on Facebook

 

--Steve Proffitt

Working on a radio show like this one is very much like being a member of a tribe. We share joy and tears, coo over our babies, and sometimes dance together around a fire. We have our own lingo, our own history and our own legends.

But now, the sharp blade of the recession has cut down all the trees in our forest, and we are being scattered to the four winds.

In an effort to preserve a bit of the D2D culture and spirit, and as a way for us to remain connected to our listeners, we've created a Facebook group, Life After NPR's Day to Day.

We invite you to join, and befriend us. Follow our progress and we'll follow yours. Day to Day.

Tags: Facebook | diaspora | where are we

2:15 PM ET | 03-16-2009 | permalink

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Reconstructing Fashion

 

--Alex Cohen

Raquel Allegra has been making new outfits out of old clothes, ever since she was a little girl in Berkeley, California.

"I didn't get to go clothes shopping very often," she told me, "So I started just taking my clothes apart and putting them back together again in ways that I preferred... If I couldn't afford to get something new, I could make something new."

That talent has served her well. Over the years, she kept making her own clothes and wearing them. She eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue a singing career. Allegra took a job at Barney's New York, the luxury department store, to pay the rent.

Alex Cohen, NPR

 

Jamie Luca

"People would stop me," she explained, "and say 'I want THAT, I want what you're wearing!'" So, she decided to have a trunk show at her house. Allegra soon developed a loyal fan base, including celebrities Mary Kate Olson and Kate Moss.

Her most popular items are tops and dresses made out of old t-shirts that were once worn by inmates at southern California's jails. She hand dyes them and puts them through a brutal process she calls deconstruction. The result are beautiful pieces with sections that are finely webbed like a delicate gauze.

Raquel Allegra's designs are incredibly fragile - they can get caught on things, the holes can grow bigger. "but I appreciate that about the pieces," she says "it's life's texture in a way, coming in to shift the piece and make it your own."

Allegra will be showing off her new fall line at the L.A. Fashion Week.

Tags: clothes | fashion | innovation

1:35 PM ET | 03-12-2009 | permalink

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Red Blue Green Zone

Barn in Cavendish, 2009, Paul Bremer

 

--Nihar Patel


Failure or Fall Guy? Paul Bremer has been called both. Shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Bremer took over the Coalition Provisional Authority, and oversaw the administration and reconstruction of the newly liberated country for more than a year. His critics now blame him for allowing billions of reconstruction dollars to go unaccounted, and for disbanding the Iraqi army, which led to years of insurgent violence.

Bremer has defended himself against these charges, and has few regrets about his tenure as head of the CPA.

We called him this week to talk about something else - painting. US News and World Report recently reported that Bremer took up painting shortly after returning from Iraq, and has just launched a website featuring his work.

"I'm still obviously learning, as you can see by looking at my paintings," Bremer told Day to Day host Madeleine Brand. "It's difficult for me because I'm a beginner, so it's frustrating and humiliating."

His work is showing signs of improvement apparently. A painting he completed a month ago, Barn in Cavendish, is considered his best work yet. "According to my severest critic, who is my wife," joked Bremer.

The proceeds from the sale of his paintings are donated to non-profit historical societies in Vermont.

Tags: Iraq | Paul Bremer | art | painting | who knew?

12:29 PM ET | 03-10-2009 | permalink

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