Image of the famed Fabulous Las Vegas sign courtesy of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, www.lvrj.com
Next week, SOTRU host Al Letson and I head out for a reporting trip to Las Vegas, a city of abundant nicknames. Most of them have to do with the Las Vegas that is a veritable icon of American culture: the glitz (City of Lights), the sleaze (Sin City), the celebrity (Entertainment Capital of the World), or a mixture of all of these (Glitter Gulch? Apparently, that’s downtown Las Vegas, according to some…). There’s a new candidate, though, attached to the newly minted version of Las Vegas, post-recession: Foreclosure City. (more…)
Richard O’Connor was featured in our recent Veterans Day Special and was kind enough to share this:
On November 10, 2010, I was fortunate to be the subject of a broadcast on Veterans’ Day, a special by State of the Re:Union. Sara Wood interviewed me numerous times and worked with other SOTRU producers to produce this wonderful piece.
Jim Jerrell (USMC,Ret.) spoke on my behalf during the broadcast. I fought with him in Vietnam. He is responsible for getting me on the base (Travis AFB, Fairfield, CA) to sing and play my guitar for the wounded. He and his wife Estella have been visiting the wounded for the past seven years. (more…)
For Veterans Day, SOTRU produced a special radio hour that goes beyond the news headlines to tell stories of the emotion, challenges and victories that occur when soldiers return home from duty.
From reflecting on their experiences and healing wounds in unexpected ways to providing purpose and support for their brothers and sisters in arms, this episode explores how veterans are serving each with the same bravery and courage with which they served our country. (more…)
In the relatively small public radio documentary world, there is one event that serves as a kind of combination Oscars/family reunion/Christmas morning (at least regarding level of excitement): the Third Coast Audio Festival. Several hundred of the most enthusiastic radio producers in the country (plus a few international folks too!) descend upon Chicago for a couple of days of workshops, listening sessions, and drinking bourbon (well, perhaps that’s an unofficial part of the conference). Just having returned from this year’s festivities, I’m riding on the thrill of connecting with all these other folks who are just as big radio dorks as I am. (There are others out there! Thank God!) (more…)
New Mexico Nonprofit Helps Small Communities Find Their Voice
When I was in high school, I used to write in a little red journal. Whenever I had some spare time, I’d sit and scribble down musings about my life, my family and my neighborhood – knowing that nobody else would read them, but still hoping to get my thoughts out there in the universe. Like most teenagers, I had a busy mind, but I didn’t have much of an audience to share it with.
A few weeks ago, then, I was thrilled to learn that a few students in Taos, NM, are getting a chance to voice their thoughts on the radio – thanks to a nonprofit organization called Cultural Energy. (more…)
Our recent “Sounds of the Re:Union” episode features the old time music and square dance scene in LA. In the episode, one of the people we hear from is Susan Michaels. Susan’s been calling at LA square dances for decades. She also helps to keep the old time tradition in LA alive by teaching a new generation how to call.
One of her mentees, Cory Marie Podielski, has been calling for a little more than a year. We asked Cory some questions about how and why she participates in the LA Old Time scene. Here’s what she had to say: (more…)
For our Los Angeles documentary, we teamed up with California Is a Place in an intimate piece that focuses on the day-to-day life of working mariachis. From the daily uncertainty of employment and living conditions to the unquestionable passion and love for the music, State of the Re:Union explores how these practitioners of beloved culture are making their living and making home in LA.
To listen to our radio episode, Los Angeles – Home Sweet Home, or see other related collateral, visit our Los Angeles page. And please start the conversation about this documentary by commenting below.
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Listen to Our Radio Episode, Los Angeles – Home, Sweet Home:
When a chance to speak with Phil Collins comes around, you simply can’t turn it down. Seriously, that’s like a law or something. Anyway, we had the pleasure of chatting with him about Going Back, his new album of Motown covers, his work with the Little Dreams Foundation and in true SOTRU style, a rapid fire selection of questions. We hope you enjoy! (more…)
We want to thank all of our amazing sponsors, volunteers and guests that made SOTRU – A Celebration of Community such an incredible and successful event. The food from Biscottis, Orsay and Bento Cafe was out of this world, the beer from Bold City was tops and the downtown library venue was just right.
The cocktail hour was perfectly accented by the music of Adam Mantovani. Additionally, guests purchased raffle tickets for items including owner’s suite tickets to a Jaguars game donated by J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver, original artwork by mactruQue and Heather Blanton. (more…)
State of the Re:Union has received an amazing opportunity — the chance to win a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant. All we need is a few minutes of your time to vote for our project.
Just click here, join the Pepsi Refresh Project and vote for State of the Re:Union. It’s that easy! You can vote every day in October. Thank you for all of your support!
If you’ve heard our show before, you’ve heard the intimate letters residents have written to the place they call home. We feature these Dear ___ letters on the show, and here on the website, and we encourage anyone of you to write your own letter to your hometown.
Marian Naranjo is the eldest daughter of eight siblings, a mother of four children and a grandmother of six grandchildren. She’s a traditional potter and tribal member of Santa Clara Pueblo, located in north-central New Mexico in the area known to the nineteen sovereign Pueblo Nations and archeologists as the Tewa Basin. Marian says she claims her “ancestry from our last migration from the Puye cliff dwellings, located to the west within the Jemez Mountains. Within and around the four mountain ranges that surround the Tewa Basin are the sacred aboriginal ancestral homelands of the Pueblo peoples, my people, who have been the caretakers and guardians of these places for millennium.” (more…)
