FRESH AIR
Director, screenwriter, musician and actor Christopher Guest co-wrote the rock parody This Is Spinal
Tap, as well as the mockumentaries Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. Actor, comedian, composer and musician Michael McKean is best known for co-starring in the spoofs This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. He got his start playing Lenny in the 1970s sitcom Laverne and Shirley. Vocal coach Melissa Cross is known as the “Scream Queen” for her work teaching metal, punk and hardcore performers how to use their voice without ruining their vocal chords. She teaches them how to growl, bark, bellow and scream. Gene Simmons is leader and bassist of the band Kiss, which rose to prominence and popularity in the mid 1970s. They were known for their face paint, black-leather outfits, eight-inch platform heels and grandiose stage shows.
RADIO TIMES
Hour 1
(Rebroadcast tonight at 11)
The 2008 Summer Olympics in China has renewed criticism on that country’s human rights record. We’ll talk with SOPHIE RICHARDSON, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, ERIC REEVES, a specialist on Sudan which has economic relations with China, and VICTOR CHA an associate professor of government at Georgetown University and who is currently writing a book on sports diplomacy in Asia and the Beijing Olympics. Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3
Hour 2
A rebroadcast of our interview with SUSAN BELL author of The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself. Bell who has spent the past 20 years as a professional editor talks how to self-edit and why editing is key to great writing. Originally aired 8/15/07 Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3
THE WORLD CAFE
Back by popular demand, the World Cafe revisits David Dye’s interview with Flight Of The Conchords. Calling themselves “New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk-parody duo,” the Conchords recently premiered as television stars in their own HBO series. Combining deadpan humor with the pair’s catchy melodies, the show documents their struggles to make it big in New York City.
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS: The Humans Are Dead