Tony Marcano, Senior Editor
We have an interesting story about "found money" this week. Dan Devore of Orlando, Florida made a video of his then 7-year-old son's visit to a dentist to share with friends and family. The boy's dental surgery required some heavy duty medication -- and the effects are hilarious. That portion of the video went viral on YouTube, and, through an advertising partnership, Devore found thousands of dollars pouring in.
Tanya Jo Miller, guest blogger from Cyberfrequencies.com
This week on CyberFrequencies, find out what's on the browsers of Arianna Huffington, Howard Dean and guest blogger Bright B. Simons from Ghana.
Gemma Watters, Production Assistant
My memory has never been good at retaining information, noticeably more so as I climb the ladder of age. Even a simple "Knock, knock" joke escapes my mind by the time I reach the punch line. However, a good, juicy quote always sticks in my mind.
This week, Liane Hansen speaks with British comedy writers John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. They've compiled an anthology of quotes under the title "If Ignorance is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People?: Smart Quotes for Dumb Times." In England, the writing partners are best known for creating the comedy panel quiz show "Q.I." with presenter Stephen Fry. "Q.I." stands for Quite Interesting.
Kara Oehler and Ann Heppermann, guest bloggers
Mapping Main Street, Part I.
Once you start looking, you'll notice Main Streets are everywhere and tell all kinds of stories. There's a Main Street in San Luis, Arizona that dead-ends right into the Mexican border. The Main Street in Navasota, TX is a gravel road in the middle of a field. Main Street is small town and urban center; it is the thriving business district and the prostitution stroll.
Mapping Main Street is a collaborative documentary media project that creates a new map of the country through stories, photos and videos recorded on actual Main Streets. The goal is to document all of the more than 10,000 streets named Main in the United States. We invite you to capture the stories and images of the country today. Go out, look around, talk to people, and contribute to this re-mapping of the United States. www.mappingmainstreet.org
Charla Bear, assistant producer
David Greene sat in as guest host of Weekend Edition Saturday this week and got an impromptu drum lesson from Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips. It was part of their conversation about a new college degree program for asipiring rock stars at the University of Central Oklahoma.
See if David made the grade:
Tanya Jo Miller, guest blogger from Cyberfrequencies.com
On this week's CyberFrequencies' podcast, Queena Kim and Tanya Jo Miller dish with KPCC's Molly Peterson about Fortune Magazine's tech conference.
The band featured on this week's show -- Awesome New Republic -- is begging folks, please, steal my music (on Pirate's Bay), which reminds me of Jackson Musker's prescient article a while back about pirate ethos called "Share Thy Booty" reminding us it's OK to share our files -- sharing is caring.
When politicians mention Main Street, they evoke one people and one place. But there are over 10,466 streets named Main in the United States.
Starting next Saturday on Weekend Edition, we'll be launching a new project called Mapping Main Street. Over the next two months, we'll be airing stories from Main Streets across the country created by Peabody-award winning producers Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler. We'll also be asking you to contribute your own photos, videos and stories from Main Streets near you.
The Mapping Main Street team started exploring Main Streets this summer, driving more than 12,000 miles throughout the United States. Every Main Street was a little different--from the discovery of autographed photos of Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis in a dilapidated house in West Virginia to conversations with a transvestite prostitute in Chattanooga to breakfast truck owners serving up menudo on the Mexican border.
We'd love to have you collaborate in this mass documentary project by visiting one of the thousands of Main Streets yourself and taking a photo or video. The only requirement for participation is that all photos, videos and interviews must be recorded on a street named Main Street. Take a look at the project's website at http://mappingmainstreet.org. You can view content from participants across the country and use the site to find Main Streets in your neck of the woods. You can also receive updates by becoming a fan on facebook.
Mapping Main Street is generously funded by MQ2, an initiative of AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio, Inc. with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The project is also supported with funds from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.
Mapping Main Street is created by Ann Heppermann, Kara Oehler, Jesse Shapins and James Burns, with help from Josie Holtzman, Sara Pellegrini and Ian Gray.
Sarah Beyer Kelly, senior producer
Guest Host David Greene's interview with musician Ronnie Milsap airs Saturday on Weekend Edition. Over the course of the almost hour-long conversation, Ronnie Milsap revealed much of himself: he was born blind and shunned by his mother, who believed his blindness was punishment from God. He was raised by his grandparents, learned Braille at the age of 6, and lost the last remnant of his sight after a blow from a teacher at school. Amazing stuff, all of it. And most of that will make its way onto the air this week. But one story, about how Ronnie Milsap met Ray Charles, and how the elder singer encouraged him to make music, to follow his heart, did not. Here's an excerpt of that section of the interview. It's worth a listen.
Listen to the excerpt:
Queena Kim and Tanya Jo Miller, guest bloggers from Cyberfrequencies.com
Queena Kim and Molly Peterson take Amazon's Kindle to the beach for some summer reading, and speak with 17-year-old Justin Gawronski, a high school student who's suing Amazon for deleting his Kindle copy of "1984." On the website, Jackson Musker's blog Search Wars looks at Microsoft's partnership with Yahoo! And the release of its Bing search engine to challenge Google. It's a sports fan's take on the blockbuster acquisition. Compare the search engines for yourself at google-vs-bing.com.
Brent Baughman, Weekend Edition
Jackie Rodriguez in uniform. Photo courtesy Juan Rodriguez.
Early this week, Senior Supervising Producer Davar Ardalan came to work with an August issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids. (Her kids subscribe.) In it was a story about 13-year-old Jackie Rodriguez of Weslaco, Texas. Jackie is a real ace -- she's thrown 25 no-hitters in four seasons of play, and she plays the trumpet and piano.
We called Jackie to learn how playing an instrument helps her excel at pitching -- and vice versa. She even gave us a live piano performance. Here's Jackie's story.
You can nominate Jackie -- or any other precocious athletes you know -- for Sports Illustrated's Sportskid of the Year here.
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