Celestial Navigation

12/01/10 • 10 min

Producer Tom Niemisto weaves between an interview with tall-ship captain Samantha Heyman and an astronomer/poet around a bonfire under a broad star-filled sky. The stars are governed by a perfect order and yet, they create a chaos of mystery. We link astronomy to creation myths in constellations. We search for deeper meaning the night sky or, with rigorous mathematics, we search for our physical location through navigation. This is Tom's first non-narrated audio work and, as with many radio stories, he sat on the great verite tape from the bonfire for two years before deciding to weave it with the tall-ship captains' voice. And... check this out... He scored the the music himself and performed it with his cello, seeking to "evoke the undulating horizon off a ship's deck, and the glint of stars trying to tell you something." We'd say he nailed it. The original version of this piece was commissioned by Julie Sabatier for Destination DIY on Oregon Public Broadcasting. It will be broadcast on December 4th on OPB on a show entitled "DIY: Rituals." Photo by Fmmr via Creative Commons.

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A Sense of Sanity &/or Fear

Signs like "Take it Down A Notch," "My Political Views Cannot Be Summed Up On A Pithy Sign," and, of course, "God Hates Figs." Sam Greenspan, Big Shed's Correspondent in Washington, DC, attended The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear and files this report.

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Cold Concrete Birth by Kelley Libby

Producer Kelley Libby produced a radio story about 13 year-old farmer Colby Perron while at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. This is not that story. But if you listen to Colby's story, you will hear a very short scene in which a calf is born. Kelley spent all day, waiting on a cold concrete floor in a barn in Topsham, Maine, just to get the recording she needed for that scene. Later, she realized the tape she got told a separate story about waiting, pain, responsibility, knowledge and the beginning of life. We can't help but mention that this story would also fit into Big Shed's Audio Verite + 1 Competition if we hadn't given her some editorial help. But you should be inspired. If Kelley can record an audio verite story without even trying, surely you can too.