Speechification

Some more Radio 3, and quite music-heavy this one, but justified by the voices:

Musician and writer Banning Eyre heads to the American state of Georgia, gateway to the Deep South, and southern end of the Appalachian Mountains, to record some of the unique vocal music that has been preserved in the area, and meet the personalities who have kept the traditions alive. [MP3]

Thanks to, um, someone, for the tip. Sorry. Remind me. Andy! It was Andy! Andy gave me the tip! Thanks/sorry Andy.

I first heard about police departments podcasting a while ago, and the Tulsa Police Department's "Street Stories" in particular, but when I had a look, the official Tulsa PD website hadn't been updated since last April, so I rather lost interest. Thank goodness for Crossing Continents then, who just reignited it with a whole half hour of absolute gems from Officer Jay Chiarito-Mazarrella.

"This midget Don King stuff happens all the time." Enjoy. [MP3]

Atlantic Public Media curates a weekly podcast of nature programmes from all around North American public radio - a pretty rich source, it turns out. Here's a lovely short feature from the 1980s about snakes, produced by Public Radio veteran Jay Allison.

Wouldn't it be great to add the BBC's radio nature programmes to the mix? I wonder if anyone's thought about that. Especially since most of them are already available in perpetuity online. Here's the MP3 and here's how to support Atlantic Public Media.

The picture, Southern Copperhead, is by Reader Walker. Used under licence.

Fabulous performance from the wonderful writer James Ellroy on WYNC's Studio 360. Absolutely hilarious, whilst ably demonstrating the great American love of language.

Studio 360: James Ellroy [mp3]

In New York State there's a community—called Lily Dale—established in 1879 by Spiritualists. Yes, Spiritualists. As a consequence the town is full of mediums. This lovely half-hour doc by Frank Falk was originally made for CBC Canada and went out in a religion slot on The World Service at the crack of dawn this morning (MP3).

And I've just noticed that's two CBC programmes in a row! Pic by Ross G.

The true function of Speechification is to uncover the gems you missed or the ones you heard and would like to hear again. I suppose this is the kind of thing we might expect the BBC to do for us but while they're getting around to it, here's another terrific programme from my archive: it's about Malcolm X and his influence but it's also about a remarkable moment, just a few years ago, when history sort of leaked through into the present: on eBay of all places. Excellent. Here's the MP3 and the show's web site which has some background.

A short feature from Radio France International's English service. It went out in August, just after Barack Obama's nomination. We learn that French people think of Barack Obama (correctly) as mixed-race and not black. But we also learn that as they've got to know Obama they've started to call him 'black' in response to his presentation in the US media (MP3).

A mini-post featuring something from Charles Wheeler's archive: three-and-a-half minutes recorded on the fourth of April 1968, the day of Martin Luther King's assassination (MP3).

Here's a reminder of the richness and surprise that's on offer all over the BBC's radio output. Watchification contributor Jem Stone told me I ought to nip over to Radio 2's web site and listen to Jarvis Cocker's programme about Sheffield, which he said was excellent. But I was too late, by about half an hour. So I poked around a bit and came across this really marvelous one-hour feature—presented by one-time guest Joan Rivers—about The Ed Sullivan show, on the occasion of its Sixtieth birthday. Perfection (MP3).

I'll admit that by the end of his 58-year Sunday morning reign I was thoroughly bored of Alistair Cooke, droning on as he had for all of my remembered years plus about another twenty. Reading his unending bloody series of bloody letters, all from bloody America (did he never go anywhere else?). Now, though, revived for one week only, four years after his death (and all that nastiness with the stolen body), I hear something quite different—and it's a real joy. It's his language, of course: so courtly but also relaxed, effortless. He was an extraordinary communicator.

The BBC’s North America editor, Justin Webb, has picked five letters, each from a different US election campaign, going all the way back to 1948. Here's number two, which is about an incident in Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign at the height of the Vietnam War. The other programmes are here. but you'll have to get a move on: the clock is ticking and they'll be replaced by next week's Book of the Week... er... next week.