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Playlist: Jake Smith's Portfolio

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The Mosquito Crusader

From Jake Smith | 12:08

Eighty years ago, one man set out to eradicate the mosquito that now causes Zika virus—and it sullied his reputation forever.

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The Mosquito Crusader
From
Jake Smith

Soperbridge_small In 1930, when Fred Soper first took over the Rockefeller Foundation’s yellow fever program in Brazil, the goal had been to eradicate yellow fever throughout the country. But a few years later, scientists realized that there was a flaw in that plan. Soper’s team could never truly eradicate the disease—they could only keep it under control. That wasn't good enough for Fred Soper. He decided that if he couldn't eradicate yellow fever itself, he was going to destroy that which carries it: the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Soper's subsequent crusade against Aedes aegypti has largely been seen as a case of personal ambition blinding good sense. Yet in recent months, in light of the Zika virus, scientists have again been talking about eliminating aegypti—this time through genetic engineering. So should Soper be vindicated? This story features archival documents of Soper's (read by voiceover artist Dan Schoeneberg) and interview clips with science historian Nancy Leys Stepan.

The Mosquito Crusader | 12:08

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Part of the Problem

From Jake Smith | 04:12

Neighborhood present sits down with neighborhood past.

Playing
Part of the Problem
From
Jake Smith

Stl_copy_small A neighborhood newcomer sets out to have a conversation with his neighbor, who's lived in the neighborhood for decades. That conversation soon turns to the uncomfortable subject of gentrification—and then promptly gets flipped on its head.

Part of the Problem | 04:12

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The Theatre of the Everyday

From Jake Smith | 17:32

An arts student wanted to capture an honest picture of his grandparents. So he chose to betray their trust.

Playing
The Theatre of the Everyday
From
Jake Smith

Gps__1__small

In fall of 2014, an arts student begins his senior year of college. He's a visual arts major and it's time to put together a senior thesis. He wants to capture "the theatre of the everyday." So he decides to take a trip to Florida. His grandparents live on a country club in Boca Raton, and he's always been fascinated with their community. The goal, he explains, is “To try to have some honest conversation with them about life, and how aging works, ... and whether they still love each other." 
 
He shows up with a bunch of audio and video recording equipment, and begins interviewing his grandparents to make a documentary, but he isn't getting what he wants. "I started to notice that the formal interviews became sort of theatrical,” he says. So the next day, he decides to take matters into his own hands. He chooses the smallest, most inconspicuous camera. He places it nonchalantly on the bar next to the living room. He turns it on. "Then I ran upstairs just to see what happened." After about 15 minutes, he comes down to shut it off.
 
This hidden camera has captured exactly what he's looking for. "Their conversations couldn’t be more perfect. Couldn’t be more like something Beckett would write," he says. "It was totally this bizarre play, where people are just talking at each other—sort of this perfect, existential thing." His grandparents squabble about what to eat. They're oddly frank about their bodily ailments. It's painfully mundane, and painfully real. It's the first of five secret-camera clips he'll collect during his time in Florida. 
 
There's just one thing. "I felt bad that they didn’t know I was filming them," he says. "But I also felt it was the only way to do it." He goes back to school. Over the next few months, he edits the secret camera footage into a few short films. In April, he installs the videos as part of his senior class's art exhibition. But when the show opens, he gets mixed feedback. "It was usually either 'that's really funny' or 'that's really f---ed up.' Or 'that's funny BECAUSE it’s f---ed up,'" he recalls. "There was the response of, 'Who does this? Why are you doing this to grandparents?'" 
 
His grandparents still don't know about the footage, and he acknowledges that the stakes are pretty high. He expects his grandparents would feel pretty betrayed if they learned about his project. "If they find out and my relationship is never the same, then no, it wasn’t worth it. My relationship with them is more important than this," he insists. But at the same time, he says he doesn't have much guilt about using his grandparents' vulnerability for his own gain. "I think it's OK to be a little selfish," he admits. "Yes, I’m exposing them, but it’s who they are."

The Theatre of the Everyday | 17:32

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