As the air grows colder, we leave behind the hot summer blockbusters, and move to more serious films, many of which will be vying heavily for award show attention. On today’s show we go behind the spotlight to examine the art of how actors create characters. Then, we’ll explore the next frontier: exo-solar planets. The search for planets outside our solar system – with the idea that discovering one just like ours – is a real possibility.
Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.
Anatomy of an Actor
- We go beyond the glam for an exploration the mysterious art of how actors create characters. Philip Maciak wrote about the Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep editions of Anatomy of an Actor. He joins Virginia to talk about the craft of creating characters.
- To hear the many accents of Meryl Streep, click here.
WOM10132014A.mp3
Anatomy of an Actor
"So-And-So Is Typing"
- David Auerbach wrote “I Built that ‘So-and-So is Typing’ Feature in Chat…and I’m Not Sorry” for Slate.com. He developed the typing indicator now used on everything from GChat to the iPhone. A software engineer and critic, David writes the weekly Bitwise column for Slate on technology.
WOM10132014B.mp3
So and So is Typing
Five Billion Years of Solitude
- Science journalist Lee Billings writes about the fate of our planet, and the scientists on the leading edge of identifying whether there are planets just like ours out there in the cosmos. He’s on the line to talk about his book Five Billion Years of Solitude.
WOM10132014C.mp3
Five Billion Years of Solitude
Deep Sound
- The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute is currently home to a scientist who, in 2009, tried to record something no human ear had ever heard. He built a glass pod, filled it with hydrophones (underwater microphones), and sent it down to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench. Producer Annie McEwen brings us the story.
- You can listen to the story at PRX.org.
