"Autobiography" by Joe Brainard
From This Land Press | Part of the Poetry to the People series | 03:30
In his poem "Autobiography," Joe Brainard tells us who he is. Some of the things that make him unique challenge the status quo of 1950s Tulsa, where Brainard spent his childhood. In this edition of Poetry to the People, readers share their thoughts and experiences with homosexuality and the struggle of being a minority. Full text below.
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"Autobiography," by Joe Brainard
----I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1942.
----No, I wasn’t. I was born in Salem, Arkansas in 1942. I always say I was born in Tulsa tho. Because we moved there when I was only a few months old. So that’s where I grew up. In Tulsa, Oklahoma.
----A lot has happened between then and now, but somehow, today, I just don’t feel like writing about it. It doesn’t seem all that interesting. And it’s just too complicated.
----What’s important is that I’m a painter and a writer. Queer. Insecure about my looks. And I need to please people too much. I work very hard. I’d give my right arm to be madly in love. (Well, my left.) And I’m optimistic about tomorrow. (Optimistic about myself, not about the world.) I’m crazy about people. Not very intelligent. But smart. I want too much. What I want most is to open up. I keep trying.
The Hidden World of Girls with Host Tina Fey (Hour 1)
From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the The Hidden World of Girls series | 54:00
Groundbreaking writer, actress and comedian, Tina Fey comes to Public Radio to host The Hidden World of Girls, two new hour-long Specials inspired by the NPR series heard on Morning Edition and All Things Considered. From the dunes of the Sahara to a slumber party in Manhattan, from the dancehalls of Jamaica to a racetrack in Ramallah, Tina Fey takes us around the world into the secret life of girls and the women they become.
Sound-rich, evocative, funny, and powerful--stories of coming of age, rituals and rites of passage, secret identities. Of women who crossed a line, blazed a trail, changed the tide. These specials are produced by Peabody Award-winning producers, The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva), in collaboration with NPR reporters and foreign correspondents, independent producers and listeners around the world.
These two stand-alone Specials are Newscast Compatible, produced with the NPR News Special Programming Clock.
Hour two is available here: http://www.prx.org/pieces/68512
The Hidden World of Girls
Two New Hours from The Kitchen Sisters and NPR
With Host Tina Fey
The Hidden World of Girls, two new hour-long Specials hosted by Emmy Award-winning writer and actress, Tina Fey. Stories of coming of age, rituals and rites of passage, secret identities—of women who crossed a line, broke a trail, changed the tide.
Host Tina Fey, star of 30 Rock, author of Bossypants and Saturday Night Live alumna, takes listeners around the world into the secret life of girls—from the dunes of the Sahara to a slumber party in Manhattan, from the dancehalls of Jamaica to a racetrack in Ramallah—and reveals some of her own hidden worlds.
These two new specials are produced by the Peabody Award-winning Kitchen Sisters, in collaboration with NPR and independent producers from around the world. Inspired by “The Hidden World of Girls” series heard on Morning Edition and “All Things Considered”, these specials feature the best stories from that series as well as new, never before heard features, interviews and music.
Lively, sound-rich, evocative, “The Hidden World of Girls” is two hours of stories and more. Stories of girls and the women they become.
As part of this international collaboration, The Kitchen Sisters opened up The Hidden World of Girls NPR phone line and invited listeners to share their stories of groundbreaking girls and pioneering women. Calls poured in from around the world and these stories and messages thread throughout the hours. Stories in the hour include:
- The story of The Braveheart Women’s Society: Coming of Age in South Dakota, a journey to a four-day rite of passage ceremony for Sioux girls from the banks of the Missouri River.
- From the foothills of Dublin, The Hidden World of Traveller Girls. Travellers, the gypsies of Ireland, nomads traveling in caravans, camping by the side of the road. The men live for horses, the girls for their weddings. Big elaborate weddings.
- We travel to Wayne County, Mississippi into the world of Girls Who Hunt.
- We grapple with issues of family, crime, violence and reckoning in the story, Deborah Luster: One Big Self
- Russia’s Singing Babushkas—a group of elderly women from Buranovo, Russia, who began singing together and who have become a musical sensation at concerts performing Beatles songs.
- And science fiction stories of friendship, superpowers and the Beatles.
Major Funding for The Hidden World of Girls comes from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art. And from listener contributions to The Kitchen Sisters Productions.
BILLBOARD :59
Incue: My best friend Rosemarie and I had a very involved secret life.
Outcue: Back in a moment.
NEWS HOLE: 1:00-6:00
SEGMENT A: 12:29
Incue: From The Kitchen Sisters and NPR, welcome to The Hidden World of Girls.
Outcue: The Hidden World of Girls continues in a moment.
BREAK: 19:00-20:00
SEGMENT B (18:59)
Incue: You’re listening to the Hidden World of Girls a collaboration between NPR, The Kitchen Sisters and listeners around the world.
Outcue: Stories from Louisiana, Russia and Venus when we return in a moment.
BREAK: 39:00-40:00
SEGMENT C (18:59)
Incue: I’m Tina Fey with more stories for NPR’s Hidden World of Girls
Outcue: With The Kitchen Sisters, I’m Tina Fey. MUSIC
