The Shortwave Numbers Mystery

May 26, 2004 • For at least 40 years, shortwave listeners have been stumbling across the eerie sound of unidentified stations transmitting only voices chanting numbers. Speculation on their purpose has ranged from UFO landing coordinates to international espionage. We explore the mystery of the shortwave numbers stations through the recordings compiled by hardcore numbers monitors.

Sofia Coppola at Age 5

February 27, 2004 • As the Academy Awards approached, the Lost and Found Sound archives from 1977 presented a home recording of 5-year-old Sofia Coppola. Coppola was being interviewed by her father, Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola, who asked his daughter to talk to her future adult self. Coppola was up for two awards and was the first American woman nominated for best-director.

'Lost and Found Sound': 5-Year-Old Sofia Coppola

February 27, 2004 • As Sunday night's Oscar awards approach, we unearth a gem from the Lost and Found Sound archives from 1977 -- a home recording of 5-year-old Sofia Coppola, nominated for best director for Lost in Translation. Coppola is being interviewed by her father, Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola, who asks his daughter to talk to her future adult self.

Tony Schwartz, 30,000 Recordings Later

February 26, 2004 • A profile of Tony Schwartz, an innovative and inspired sound gatherer, recording the sounds of America since 1945. A man who will venture no further than his postal zone, Mr. Schwartz has made more than 30,000 home recordings in the streets, delis, cabs, playgrounds and stoops of his New York neighborhood.

Home Movie Day

August 15, 2003 • The Kitchen Sisters, Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva, compile audio comments about Saturday's planned celebration of home movies. The event honors pre-camcorder America, when friends and family were captured on 8 mm and 16 mm celluloid. Promoters of the event say home movies give us a look at the past that newsreel and old TV broadcasts can't. Some are very private statements about how the camera operator viewed the world; others show new perspectives. For example, an African-American family's home movies show segregated life from their point of view. Other films are unintentional "art."

Liberace and the Trinidad Tripoli Steelband

March 4, 2003 • The steel drum musical instrument was first created in Trinidad, hammered from biscuit boxes, brake drums and oil barrels. One of the biggest "steel pan" bands of the 1960s was the Esso Trinidad Tripoli Steelband, who gained worldwide fame when an unlikely patron heard their act and took them on tour. Lost and Found Sound presents a story of calypso music, steel drums and flamboyant pianist Liberace.

Sonic Memorial Project: 'A September Story'

September 10, 2002 • For three months this summer, a coalition of audio artists led by the Kitchen Sisters (Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson) collected remembrances, poems, music, on-site recordings and small shards of sound related to the World Trade Center. The result is "A September Story," an intimate documentary. Explore the online sound archive, and make your own contribution.

The Sonic Memorial Project: WTC Building Stewardesses

July 29, 2002 • As part of Lost & Found Sound's Sonic Memorial Project honoring the history of the World Trade Center, All Things Considered features the story of the WTC "construction guides" -- friendly co-eds in mini-skirted uniforms who manned the information kiosks and put a pretty face on controversy surrounding the construction of the twin towers.

Mohawk Ironworkers, Walking High Steel

July 1, 2002 • For six generations, Mohawk Indian ironworkers have shaped New York City's skyline, working the "high steel" of skyscrapers and bridges. From The Sonic Memorial Project and Lost & Found Sound, hear the stories of the Mohawks who helped build the World Trade Center Twin Towers -- and their descendents who returned to the site after Sept. 11, to help clear the shattered towers away.

Sonic Memorial Project: 'Radio Row'

June 3, 2002 • As part of Lost & Found Sound's Sonic Memorial Project, All Things Considered features the people and stories of "Radio Row," the neighborhood that was demolished to make room for the World Trade Center in 1966. The six-square-block area in lower Manhattan once formed the largest collection of radio and electronics stores in the world.

Lost and Found Sound Sonic Memorial

February 14, 2002 • For Valentine's Day, The Kitchen Sisters share a collection of weddings and love stories from nearly 30 years at the World Trade Towers. Three couples an hour were hitched every Valentine's Day on the observation deck.

Stories of Love & Marriage

February 14, 2002 • NPR listeners contribute stories commemorating the life and history of the World Trade Center. Some of the most surprising were about weddings. The Sonic Memorial Project uncovered tales of romance and marriage that took place 1,377 feet above sea level.

World Trade Center Sonic Memorial

February 4, 2002 • All Things Considered presents a survey of the results of a search for audio artifacts from the World Trade Center towers. We hear samples of the sort of material people have sent in thus far. Among them, Hispanic workers who listened to Spanish stations while they cleaned the towers at night; marriages at the WTC; and the actual sound of sightseers atop the structures. Further stories about the sounds of the WTC will be heard later in the year. Listeners who want to contribute their own tapes or stories should call 202-408-0300. The project is a collaboration between NPR News, independent producers Jay Allison and the Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva), along with member station WNYC.

Conrad's Garage

November 30, 2001 • Frank Conrad's garage near Pittsburgh is widely considered to be the birthplace of modern broadcasting. For 94-year-old Harry Mills, memories of Conrad's earliest broadcasts still ring with excitement. Hear the story of radio's early days on All Things Considered. It's part of NPR's continuing Lost and Found Sound series.

Lost and Found Sound: Loons

December 29, 2000 • In this latest installment of our series, Lost and Found Sound, producer Brent Runyon recalls leaning how his father taught him how to make a loon call, with tape of the teaching session. In Brent's family, his father could do the call, his grandfather knew how to, Brent's brother can do it, but Brent can't and he doesn't know why. He is the only man in his family who can't make the call. Sometimes he sits alone in his apartment and practices, but hasn't nailed the call of the loon yet. (5:30)

Find out more at: http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/001229.stories.html.