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An Anatomy of Humanity

From: Geo Beach
Length: 00:07:00

Five thousand miles from New York, commentator and medic Geo Beach had to practice a different kind of medicine, praying for a minister at Ground Zero, on "Understanding America after Nine-Eleven" . Read the full description.
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An Anatomy of Humanity
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Geo Beach

Gbwatercolor_small Award-winning public radio commentator Geo Beach (Marketplace, Living on Earth, Savvy Traveler) resides as far as you can from downtown Manhattan -- upcountry in Homer, Alaska. But Beach used to live in New York City, and for years he was a firefighter and medic. When his old roommate, now an ordained minister, begins phoning from Ground Zero in the days and then months following September 11th, Geo wrestles medical and ministerial traditions to integrate the biology and metaphysics of tragedy. Ultimately, Geo Beach gives voice to a hymn at once hard and magic, an amalgam that cannot be replayed on video, that is the particular province of spoken word and ears attuned.

An Anatomy of Humanity | 00:07:00

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Piece Description

Award-winning public radio commentator Geo Beach (Marketplace, Living on Earth, Savvy Traveler) resides as far as you can from downtown Manhattan -- upcountry in Homer, Alaska. But Beach used to live in New York City, and for years he was a firefighter and medic. When his old roommate, now an ordained minister, begins phoning from Ground Zero in the days and then months following September 11th, Geo wrestles medical and ministerial traditions to integrate the biology and metaphysics of tragedy. Ultimately, Geo Beach gives voice to a hymn at once hard and magic, an amalgam that cannot be replayed on video, that is the particular province of spoken word and ears attuned.

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Justin Grotelueschen

Posted on October 17, 2004 at 08:35 AM | Permalink

Review of An Anatomy of Humanity

This is a top-notch audio editorial; you get sucked into his voice. By my 2nd listen I think I realized what the message of the piece was -- it's a lot to take in with one listen because you get taken in by his excellent prose. Is there such a thing as a piece being TOO well-written? Very nicely done.
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Hans Anderson

Posted on December 05, 2003 at 07:38 AM | Permalink

Review of An Anatomy of Humanity

I remember watching the events unfold on television -- I had no radio in the hotel room my family was crammed into while our new home was being fumigated -- and saw two firefighters emerge from the dust of the collapsing first tower, turn to each other and hug, right there on camera, not even realizing they were on camera. I cried when the first building began to fall, and I cried when I saw these two burly men crying and hugging, knowing they'd come _this close_.

That's the feeling I get from this piece. I like to hear new formats, but sometimes a good, straight-forward commentary hits home just as well. This piece reminds me a lot of that day in the hotel room, when we woke up and saw the events. There was a lot of shock, much more grief, but some relief and, for some who made it out alive, joy.

This piece should be played any time they are talking about Sept 11, but I'd like to hear it in mid-spring, when you aren't expecting it. It will ring louder then, when separated from the rest.

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Helen Woodward

Posted on September 10, 2003 at 08:43 AM | Permalink

Review of An Anatomy of Humanity

Unusual, given all that has been written about the event, to find a new angle on the events of 9/11. Really LOVELY writing, drawing on producer's new life in alaska, and medical background, but a lot to take in in one sitting; I wanted to pause and digest. Touches on the common theme of helplessness that all of us felt, far from NYC and DC. This is utlimately about the aftermath, recovery and renewal, and how we heal, in our individual ways.

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Transcript

An Anatomy of Humanity

by Geo Beach

This is a short course in our anatomy, and like any map, it's just a picture, it's not the thing itself. Nothing changed, everything was revealed.

And right in the beginning I'll tell you I don't know the answers to the world more than you do. That's part of the answer.

On September 11th somebody said it was all too much for words - but there are words for all of it.

I listened to everything on the radio. And I saw that the video age is not suited to tragedy, and that words -- thoughts, literature, our composite cultural legacies -- might be able to compost darkness and turn it over into a new light. Television can only give us the instant reply. Sure, it's instant, but then it's just the same old truth, over and over and over. After awhile it's not true anymore, because humanity doesn't just bleed. We clot and scab and sc...
Read the full transcript

Timing and Cues

"An Anatomy of Humanity" fits all NPR morning and afternoon news clocks except Morning Edition Segment C.

"An Anatomy of Humanity" is also available for insertion into local station programming. Music bedding permitted. NDs and PDs phone Tempest studios Affiliate Relations 907-235-1212 for T&Cs or other programming details.

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