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Diversions

Opinion

David Sedaris

The City of Lights in the Dark

Most Americans come to France expecting to see the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower. Commentator David Sedaris describes his experiences in the City of Lights from his preferred venue: the inside of a movie theater.

The City of Lights in the Dark

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Food

Julia Child and Jacques Pepin

Daniel travels to Cambridge, Massachusetts to visit two cooking legends, Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Although they are two of the most accomplished cooks in the food world, they have some advice for the rest of us. Namely, don't take cooking so seriously! They say that cookbooks, including their latest Julia and Jacques, Cooking at Home (Knopf, September 1999), should be used as a guide, but do what you want in your own kitchen. While in Julia's kitchen, Daniel gets to try Caesar Salad Julia's Style, as well as a Spanish potato omelet, or "tortilla."

Julia Child and Jacques Pepin

Only Available in Archive Formats.

Lost & Found Sound

LOST & FOUND SOUND: The Transistor on the Schoolbus

Our series Lost & Found Sound remembers the explosion of transistors radios for the first time in the early 1960s. Washington lawyer Jonathan Cuneo recalls how every kid had to have one when they first became small enough to carry around in a pocket. With portable radios, sports like the World Series could be listened to in school - and on the school bus ride home. Cuneo tells how the final game of the 1960 World Series was a highlight of his life -- thanks to his transistor and where he heard the game.

LOST & FOUND SOUND: The Transistor on the Schoolbus

Only Available in Archive Formats.

Lost & Found Sound

Lost & Found Sound: A Lover of Lost Fans

As part of our series Lost & Found Sound, Quest for Sound Curator Jay Allison introduces us to a collector of old electric fans. We are treated to solo performances of individual old fans, and an orchestra of fans blowing at once, and learn that in days gone by, a good electric fan was a blessing -- and expensive. Some models cost the average American worker two months pay.

Lost & Found Sound: A Lover of Lost Fans

Only Available in Archive Formats.

Lost & Found Sound

Lost & Found Sound: Man with a Horn

In our weekly series, Lost and Found Sound, a collaboration between NPR and independent producers, we learn about Eric Byron, a self-appointed disc-jockey of sorts who sets up in the corner of a New York City park on Sundays. He uses a home-made phonograph with a four-foot horn made from a heating duct to play old 78-rpm records, many recorded before 1930.

Lost & Found Sound: Man with a Horn

Only Available in Archive Formats.