Growing Old In East L.A.
From David Greenberger
| Part of the Growing Old In East L.A. series
| 00:53:27
Producers: Produced by David Greenberger and Barbara Price, in collaboration with Jay Allison
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Broadcast History
WCAI/WNAN scheduled for 7/16/06
Transcript
full transcript of the piece is available at
www.growingoldineastla.com
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
One minute bilboard, with space for 5 minute newscast.
60 sec break at 22:46 (with music)
End at 52:31 (extra voices and music in last 30 seconds)
Suggested Host introduction:
In Growing Old In East L.A. the story of California is told by unheralded people through quiet moments that usually go unnoticed. Culturally they may have one foot in another homeland, but America is where they have they have built their lives.
In the debates and discussions about immigration reform, we may focus on ?otherness,? and what it means to be an illegal alien. Ultimately, we are all thinking about is what makes us Americans. Listening to Growing Old In East L.A., what becomes clear is that what we share, what we have in common far outweighs the real and imagined differences. A sense of home, of place, and pride are among the shared qualities that join the community of East L.A. with the rest of America.
Here is David Greenberger with Growing Old in East L.A.
Musical Works
All original music composed for Growing Old In East L.A. by David Hidalgo and Loiuse Perez (2006)
Additional Files
- Growing Old In East LA composite photo (goela.jpg)
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Additional Information
- Produced: Jan 01, 2006
- Added to PRX: Jun 18, 2006
- This piece is in English
Dheera Sujan
Posted on July 17, 2006 at 05:21 AM | Permalink
Review of Growing Old In East L.A.
The elderly have been largely marginalized in our western societies which are ever increasingly involved in the cult of youth. So it?s a relief to hear a programme unashamedly dedicated to hearing the voices and thoughts of old people. In this collection, David Greenberger wants to give us a taste of the long lifetimes of interesting experiences by a very particular largely ethnic community.
There are some charming moments here. ?I thought the world would be better by this time, says one old man wistfully ?after all the wars we?ve gone through, I thought this world would be a better place, but it?s not really.? That?s a life lesson in itself ? history must keep repeating itself and experience has to be accumulated by each generation anew.
Sometimes I would have liked some of the questions to go deeper ? the narrator tells us that he asks questions, sometimes banal, sometimes unexpected, to hear how they respond rather than their actual answers, but occasionally that didn?t seem quite enough.
Technical quality varies here ? some of the questions off mic are so distant that they clash with the studio narration that comes in loud and clear just moments later. And the music though gentle and original sometimes just simply has no place ? fading in and out so arbitrarily that it distracts from rather than enhances what people are saying.
But all in all, this is a gentle piece, giving us a chance to re-connect with a part of society who are now gathered into senior citizen homes, and no longer sitting around in the village square available for chat and advice. And for that experience alone, it?s a worth listen.