Grams and Mom - their phenomenalness is showing...
Someone has written "Sarah Falin is coming" in bright yellow chalk on the sidewalk in front of the state capitol.
I don't know what will happen when she gets here tomorrow, and I haven't decided whether I'll be a part of it when it does. I do know that I've spent the last week at Line Breaks 2011, and I have seen some majorly inspirational and painfully relevant pieces. Tonight's performance of "Birdies" and "Get a Room" inspired me to publish this post in honor of phenomenal women everywhere. It's an audio essay, so I think it pretty much speaks for itself.
Intro: With Sarah Palin en route to Wisconsin, Madisonian Lauren Peterson tries on a different kind of protest.
Follow-up: If you're just dying to find out more about some of the phenomenal women I mentioned, check out their work. And let me know what women YOU think we should be talking about tomorrow instead of you-know-who.
We meet again, my faithful blog readers! I'm riding some serious exhaustion in the wake of the Film Festival (and as I gear up for Line Breaks at my other job), but I needed to get this post out before one of my favorite holidays passes us all by. Like any great radio piece, today's post features equal parts history and shameless pleading.
But first, a disclaimer: Alice Paul is my idol (and I am not alone in this). My unadulterated love and adoration for this feisty suffragist surpasses even my devotion to (gasp) public radio. I have tried, for the sake of brevity, to limit my gushing within this audio piece - but that doesn't mean I'm an objective source for information on the subject. As with my Film Festival reporting, I am brimming with bias - and proud of it. I lose sleep over the crushing realization that I will never have the opportunity to meet the person I most admire (what with her having been born in 1885, I suppose I could hardly expect her to have stuck around waiting for my arrival). I am a card-carrying member of the Alice Paul Institute, and if you knew Alice like I know Alice, you would be too.
Rest assured, while this may be my first Alice Paul piece, it won't be my last. If, like me, learning a tiny bit about Alice has awakened in you an insatiable urge to spend as much time with her as possible, I highly recommend the film Iron Jawed Angels. It's one of my all-time favorite movies, and I'd be delighted to lend it to you, watch it with you, or, if my copy is already on loan, simply recite the entire thing from start to finish for you.
Also, there is (FINALLY) an entire published biography of Alice, with chapters and everything. I can't lend that, since it's on my Kindle, but if you stop by my place I will make you a cup of tea and hover over your shoulder while you read it.
Intro: Less than one hundred years ago, women voted for the first time in a national election. Two months ago, Lauren Peterson headed to the polls for a statewide primary - and found her chief election official with plenty of time to chat.
I've been thinking a lot lately about bias, especially the political variety. As I listened to Ira Glass discuss allegations of NPR's supposedly liberal leanings, I wondered why one of my favorite storytellers was leaning so heavily on a concept (objective reporting) that by definition couldn't exist. As I do when I need audio advice, I turned to John Biewen. In his foreword to Reality Radio, John celebrates a form of documentary that embraces individual voice and perspective. The producers in Reality Radio not only acknowledge their role in shaping "true" stories, they use it to create innovative pieces and push the boundaries of reporting. And I dig it.
I produced a more news-oriented version of this segment for tonight's "In Our Backyard" on WORT-fm. But after rereading Katie Davis' manifesto, I was inspired to throw objectivity to the winds and tell a story in which I'm an active participant, complete with my very own opinions.
INTRO: Signs of spring are finally emerging after another epic Wisconsin winter. As down parkas become scarce, the food carts reappear on Library Mall, and UW students flee town for the week, thousands of midwesterners will celebrate warmer weather by sitting in the dark. Preparations for the 2011 Wisconsin Film Festival are underway across an otherwise deserted campus. Lauren Peterson caught up with one of the festival’s masterminds at their temporary box office on the second floor of the Memorial Union.
OUTRO: To join festival organizer extraordinaire Allen Ebert and Superwoman Meg Hamel in the countdown to opening night, follow @wifilmfest on Twitter or visit www.wifilmfest.org .
