Back on the 'In Character' Job

Hi, all. So it's been quiet around here the last few days. 'Course by "here" I mean on the blog, because it certainly hasn't been quiet at NPR. I've been a little busy with Oscars ('cause, among other things, I handle most of the movies pages you see on NPR.org). But we're all done with that, and I've even had a day off to recharge, so we're back in the game.

We're looking at Hester Prynne and Harriet the Spy -- both defiant individualists, those two, though in rather different ways -- this coming weekend. Looking forward to what NPR's Andrea Seabrook (Hester) and Neva Grant (Harriet) have to say about them. And to your feedback, naturally.

As for what we'll do with those stories on the Web, who knows? It's early yet. [ducking, because Elizabeth is probably going to take a swing now]

Actually it's looking like I'll have a few nice extras for you on the Hester Prynne, at a minimum. Andrea's producer, Tina Tennesen, tells me they were able to get John Updike on the phone to talk about Hester, and I'm hoping we'll have some extended excerpts from that conversation. Plus maybe some scenes from various film and TV versions of the story ...

Meanwhile: Never mind that the lowest-ranked Oscar ceremony in history has confirmed what we suspected, which was that Americans who haven't' seen the nominated movies certainly aren't' going to think of the Oscars as appointment TV. I suspect NPR's audience might be outliers in that crowd, so maybe it's worth asking how many of you did catch the Best Picture candidates, and whether any of their characters lit a fire in your imaginations.

So c'mon, send in those In the Wake of Oscar nominations!

-- Trey Graham

2:15 PM ET | 02-27-2008 | permalink