The deep sea – and the creatures that occupy it – can often feel like a scary and intimidating unknown. But in Sabrina Imbler's new book, How Far The Light Reaches, the author finds a lot of common ground with marine life ranging from the common goldfish to the Bobbitt worm. In today's episode, Imbler speaks with Greta Johnsen, host of WBEZ's Nerdette podcast, about writing a memoir that weaves biology and personal anecdotes into a greater understanding of gender, family and coming of age.
This episode was originally released in summer of 2015.
Music
* Under the credits is Harlaamstrat 74 off of John Dankworth’s Modesty Blaise score.
* Then, we have the most obvious crickets/summer night song ever: the fantastic, perpetually delightful Green Arrow from Yo La Tengo’s I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, which has soundtracked many crickety summer nights for me over the years.
* The cops roll in to a loop of the very beginning of the epic Ptah, the El Daoud, the title track to Alice Coltrane’s album from 1970.
* Then we have a mix of two improvisations from Charles Cohen’s “Brother I Prove You Wrong”: Cloud Hands and The Boy and the Snake Dance.
* There’s a brief dip into Dorian, by Fang Island.
* The jaunty accordion, typewriter thing is Biking is Better on Wintergatan’s eponymous album.
Notes
I researched this one primarily through old newspapers. The easiest place to find a number of them is to read the excellent site, The Museum of Hoaxes’ page on this event. Also: if you’re in the Atlanta area and ever want to have yourself a day, you can see the actual monkey. It’s preserved in a jar at the Georgia Bureau of Investigations museum in Decatur Georgia.
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The landmark theater in downtown Austin has been a source of movie entertainment for more than a century, while many of its contemporaries have closed for good.
In the Palo Alto Baylands, right on the edge of a marsh, sits a building with a strong resemblance to a boat. Who built it, and why did they go with the nautical theme? KQED's Silicon Valley Editor, Rachael Myrow, hops aboard to find out.
This story was reported by Rachael Myrow. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Amanda Font and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Paul Lancour, Christopher Beale, Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.
On March 5, 1770, one of the major events leading up to the American Revolution occurred.
A confrontation between Boston civilians and British soldiers resulted in the deaths of five Americans.
While the events of that day helped spur the cause of American independence, the events which happened after helped determine what kind of country it was to be.
Learn more about the Boston Massacre, its causes, and its aftermath on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Reporter Arionne Nettles brings us two stories honoring Black History in Chicago: The legacy of Ida B. Wells who empowered Black people to claim political power here. And the tale of Cadillac Baby, Nettle’s grandfather, who helped establish and nourish the Blues industry in Chicago.
Reporter Arionne Nettles brings us two stories honoring Black History in Chicago: The legacy of Ida B. Wells who empowered Black people to claim political power here. And the tale of Cadillac Baby, Nettle’s grandfather, who helped establish and nourish the Blues industry in Chicago.
Hanna Pylväinen's new novel, The End of Drum-Time, opens with the ground quite literally shaking beneath a Lutheran congregation. It sets the tone for a novel wrapped up in understanding how faith, nature and human connection work alongside – and sometimes against – one another in an 1850s community of native Sámi reindeer herders in the Scandinavian Arctic. In today's episode, Pylväinen speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the nuances of writing in an omniscient voice and the power of lived experience for understanding a faraway place and culture.
Once every 450,000 years or so, the Earth undergoes a radical transformation.
The planet’s magnetic field will literally flip. The north pole becomes the south pole and vice versa.
Despite the fact that we know this has happened many times in the Earth’s history, we really don’t know what would happen if the poles were to reverse today.
Learn more about when the Earth’s magnetic poles reverse on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In the 1950s, pregnancy and adoption were topics often clouded in shame, secrecy – or both. That's certainly true for Eleanor and Ruby, the two protagonists of Sadeqa Johnson's new novel, The House of Eve. As the two young Black women try to maneuver the misogynoir in the society around them, they're also confronted with the complicated realities of becoming a mother. In today's episode, Johnson tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe how those circumstances bring the characters together, and why she felt it was important to pay special attention to Black women's experiences during that time in history.
