Part 1: Chasing Lightning/Birth Photography
How do you capture something on film that takes place in 200 milliseconds? Answer: Not easily. For the past six years, our guest Tim Samarashas been working to capture a lightning strike in super-slow motion using a six-foot-tall, sixteen hundred pound cold war camera he calls “the Kahuna”. Tim is an engineer with three decades of storm research under his belt. His attempts to photograph lightning are profiled by George Johnson in the latest issue of National Geographic.
See the photo gallery here.
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Digital cameras are everywhere…documenting everything from mundane meals to cute things kids do. There are still a few high-stakes events that warrant the sticker price of a professional shutterbug: weddings of course, school portraits, and – for a new generation of open-minded Mommies and Daddies –births. The emerging trend was the subject of an article by Elissa Gootman of the New York Times – the only person on our staff who’s given birth was grossed out. The new dad was intrigued, so we wanted to find out more.
See birth photographer Karen Fenton's photos here.
Part 2: Geo-Engineering/Scientology Clinic
Two Harvard professors are developing a proposal for a first-of-its-kind field experiment in geo-engineering… a trial balloon that would release chemical particles into the atmosphere. Their hope? To better understand the effectiveness and dangers of technology designed to manually reverse climate change. Henry Fountaincovered the story in the green blog of the New York Times.
Check out these related articles:
Russian Scientists Field Test Geo-Engineering
China's Weather Manipulation Brings Snow
Part 3: The Forgotten Atrocity
Following the holocaust was the single greatest forged migration in human history, orchestrated by…the allies. Didn’t know about one of the darkest sides of the allies World War II victory?…well, neither did we. Today we explore why some events make the history books and others are lost in time, and how historians have shaped the history that we remember and the history we choose to forget. Our guest Ray Douglas is chairman of the history department at Colgate University. He recently published his new book “Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans After the Second World War,” which documents the expulsion of between 12 million and 14 million German-speaking civilians from various European countries to war torn following the atrocities of the holocaust.
Part 4: The End of ARCS?/On tour with The Dø
Have you ever picked a paperback from a used bookstore or library shelf, and seen the words “uncorrected proof: not for sale” on the cover? If so, chances are you were looking at an advanced readers copy, or “arc” – an early draft of a book that publishers sent out to reviewers, bloggers, and yes, radio stations in hopes of attracting media coverage. The thing is, arcs don’t disappear after review, and not every author appreciates unedited version of works floating about in literary circles…we wanted to pull back the curtain on this one small part of the publishing industry – so we called Jason Boog, blogger and editor of the publishing website Galleycat, and a frequent guest on Word of Mouth.
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On tour with The Dø
Olivia Merilahti and Dan Levy met in 2005 working on a soundtrack for the French film, Empire of the Wolves – the songs they wrote afterwards would eventually be released under the name “The Dø.” The online release of their first four songs had built “The Dø” an instant fan base – and with almost no experience playing live shows as a band, Dan and Olivia suddenly found themselves in front of packed audiences at a series of sold-out Parisian concerts. Two full-length albums and hundreds of performances later, Word of Mouth producer Taylor Quimby caught up with “The Dø” on their ongoing U.S. tour, and asked front woman Olivia Merihlati whether she as prepared for the band’s overnight success.
Check out this music video On My Shoulders...
