Around this time last Spring we set out on our first Listening Tour. We traveled from coast-to-coast connecting with amazing people over radio stories.
Who would have guessed that just a year later we’d be in the middle of a presidential election unlike anything our country has seen before? As the campaigns unfold, we can’t help but feel that history is being made and that this moment will shape the future of our country in powerful, still unknown ways. How will this moment by remembered? How are we understanding it now? How do we see our role in all of this? These are questions we’ve been mulling over since our trip to the Iowa Caucuses in February - and questions we’d love to ask you, too.
And so we’re hitting the road again, this time with our friends at Morning Editionas part of a special series, The View From Here.
This campaign season, NPR Generation Listen will convene listeners and voters in cities across the country to join live broadcasts of public radio’s flagship morning news magazine, Morning Edition. That’s right: you can see radio being made by some of your favorite NPR hosts, David Greene and Steve Inskeep.
In interesting and intimate spaces in regions usually overlooked during presidential elections, we’ll invite citizens to come together to listen to reporting on the political mood in their areas, and join a thoughtful conversation on what matters to voters – and how much the land, the streets, and where they live impact their experience.
In true Generation Listen style, these gatherings will be intimate, thoughtful, and personal as we listen together - and reflect on what this moment means and our role in it.
It might seem like a hard sell, but on September 1 in Atlanta, NPR Generation Listen filled an intimate space at The Loft in Midtown with young listeners looking to get real about opioids, addiction and the many ways America’s Opioid Epidemic has impacted our personal, professional and collective lives.
True to our Listening Party model, we curated a powerful piece by NPR’s always inspiring Kelly McEvers.
Last year, Kelly went to Indiana to report for her podcast, Embedded, a project that takes a story from the news and goes deep. There was a headline that had been catching her eye for sometime: a surprising HIV outbreak with no sign of slowing down. She and her producer, Tom Dreisbach, headed to Austin, Indiana to find out what was going and meet the people this story was actually affecting.
What did they find at the heart of the story? Addiction. To opioids. An epidemic that was ravishing a community and leading straight to the HIV crisis she’s been reading about. From this reporting trip, Kelly and her team created the very first episode of Embedded: The House.
A year later, Kelly and Tom went back to Indiana to follow up with the people they’d met. Had they been able to move forward with their lives? Had they been able to overcome their addiction? Kelly and Tom were able to find Joy, a nurse we meet in Episode One. The last we’d heard from her, she’d had an appointment with an addiction doctor scheduled. But would she keep it?
After talking for multiple hours in a rental car outside of Joy’s parents’ house, Kelly and Tom captured a deeply moving, powerful story about a woman struggling to beat her addiction and move towards recovery.
Joy’s story lay at the heart of our Listening Party.
After 22 riveting minutes of shared listening, Kelly kicked off the conversation with some questions for special guest Maia Szalavitz, author of a new book about addiction, Unbroken Brain, and a former addict herself.
She asked: Which parts of Joy’s story further stereotypes we have about people with addiction? Which parts challenge regular assumptions that we make? We seem to treat addiction differently from other illnesses: why and how does this play out practically? What is harm reduction all about? Who is most at risk for addiction in the first place?
We soon transitioned to the heart of the evening: the interactive conversation with our audience. Engaged, thoughtful and vulnerable, our inspiring and bright attendees opened up about their own experiences with addiction, about navigating the addiction of loved ones, and about committing their professional lives to thinking through systemic shifts that could change our cultural narrative about addiction and help offer relief to the thousands of American’s – of all ages and backgrounds – struggling to free themselves from its grasp. From the personal to the policy-based, questions and reflections we heard created a sense of hope about the future.
Two key questions surfaced from our discussion:
Why does it require a secondary result – like HIV, Hepatitis C, or a rise in crime – to make us (and policy makers) care about people suffering with addiction? Why isn’t it enough to acknowledge that addiction is an illness and there are proven ways to help treat this illness?
What can we – as Millennials, as active social media users, and as a people who care about helping people with addiction – do to change the narrative?
We explored all kinds of ways to poke at these questions, but a central idea took shape: we should seek out and share stories that show people with addiction as … people. We should seek out and share stories told in ways the allow those without first-hand experience to relate more empathically to the universally human struggles and triggers that lead those more susceptible towards addiction. We should try to chose empathy, support and community over shame. And of course, acknowledge that this conversation is a work in progress and needs to extend beyond our intimate gathering. Everyone took a moment to jot down something that had surprised them or changed their mind on a Reflection Card – something they could go and share with someone else in their lives who hasn’t joined our discussion.
And we invite you to join this discussion, too. Listen to We Found Joy or look out for our Host Your Own Kit for America’s Opioid Epidemic towards the end of September.
Generation Listen: America’s Opioid Epidemic is made possible by Cigna, and by a collaboration between NPR and NPR Member stations WABE and GPB, in Atlanta, and WBEZ in Chicago.
For#WhyListen Wednesday, NPR Generation ListenAdvisory Board member Anneke Jong shares her favorite NPR stories from the week.
She writes:
I had the NYC version of a “driveway moment” last week when I walked around the block a few times before heading into work so I could finish the Fu-Go episode of Radiolab (length: 36m). You guys. This episode is jaw-dropping. Truly. Listen to it now. Like, right now. It basically encompasses everything I love about great public radio storytelling: it’s surprising, whimsical, emotional, touching, educational…just, wow. Major props to reporters Peter Lang-Stanton and Nick Farago who bring us the tale of the mysterious WWII balloons that no one ever talks about.
In political news, 78-year-old Sen. Barbara Mikulski is retiring and, given her storied career on The Hill, I think it would be appropriate to describe her as a serious badass. In the senator’s Morning Edition interview(length: 5m) with Renee Montagne, we get a flavor of her GSD style. She talks about overturning the skirts-only rule for women in Congress, making her time in office “sizzle with advocacy,” and how she’d rather spend time raising hell than raising money. The best part comes around 2:40 when Renee tries to delicately ask the senator about her nickname:
MONTAGNE: …You’ve been called a little general in pearls. What do you think when you hear those things?
MIKULSKI: I think they got it right.
And last, I had one of thosemind blown moments this week when I listened to Guy Raz (host of the great TED Radio Hour) as a guest host on Pop Culture Happy Hour(length: 46m). The episode is about pop culture anniversaries, and I won’t spoil it for you, but especially listen from 4:45-5:10 and ready yourself for a shocking revelation. I also especially loved Linda Holmes’s analysis of why the 30th anniversary of a pop culture item may actually be the most important (around 12:25).
If you have your own recommendations for not-to-be-missed NPR stuff from the week, let me know on Twitter: annekejong
-Anneke Jong is an NPR junkie who lives in New York City. Follow her at @annekejong.
Visiting Propeller: A space for progress & innovation [New Orleans, LA]
While on this listening tour we’re seeking out the innovation and creativity of young people across the country. Lucky for us we got to tour Propeller in New Orleans. Founded in 2009, the team at Propeller is tackling tough challenges in NOLA by launching socially-minded ventures. So great to listen to the stories of why they do what they do, and why they care so deeply.
SXSW 2014 may be over, but the GIFs keep on coming.
That’s Future Islands’ Samuel Herring, future award-winning dancer. You can see more of his dancing here, and some other dance moves here. Now you can never say we haven’t brought you to the waters of sweet steps.
Here are some other (admittedly less dance-y) links I think you should check out:
1: Borderland: Where Neighbor Nations’ Emerging Futures Meet
“My colleagues and I drove 2,428 miles and remained in the same place.” Yes. That’s NPR’s Steve Inskeep, host of Morning Edition, on his trip across the full length of the US-Mexico border. Fascinating story and pictures, and there’s much more to come.
2: Thank Your Gut Bacteria For Making Chocolate Healthful
FUN FACT TIME: Did you know that the rumble in your stomach is called ‘borborygmi’, and it refers to your stomach muscles trying to digest food that… ya know, isn’t there? Fill that void with some chocolate, which can lead to lower blood pressure and reduced weight (!). The darker the chocolate, the better for it. More cacao, please.
3: An Imaginary Town Becomes Real, Then Not. True Story
Are you from Agloe, New York? Were you from Agloe, New York? Here’s Robert Krulwich with a story on how, if you were born at the right time, you totally could be an imaginary person because the town just… doesn’t exist anymore. Or does it?!
BONUS! Art imitates #nprlife: Ari Shapiro visited the Tate Modern Exhibition in London, and found a painting that seems to resemble… well, I’ll let you be the judge.
Excellent. Here are some links I think you should check out:
1: Wake Up And Smell The Caffeine. It’s A Powerful Drug
What was that? Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of my reliance on the sauce. While I’ve tried to personally curb my intake of soda over the last few years, coffee is my breakfast partner 4e. Love you, cuppa joe.
2: Attractor Of Animosity Arthur Chu Leaves ‘Jeopardy!’ (For Now)
The Ken Jennings of our era (Are we already saying that? I guess I just did) has been defeated. #NextGenKenJen. Respect for flipping the game on its head. Arthur Chu has inspired me to go on Wheel of Fortune and do the same thing. Vanna White and I have the same birthday. It is my destiny.
BONUS! You absolutely have to see this slow-mo footage from NPR Music’s Instagram account of Future Islands’ lead singer Samuel Herring’s dance moves. Click here. It is a must. And yes, it’s the same guy responsible for these daring jives on David Letterman.
You know, life is really weird, when an entire day can be associated with a single person. I’m talking about Friday, and if you’ve been on the Internet for any period of time the last, Idk, several years, you know what I’m talking about. Anyway, here’s a GIF that summarizes it being the end of the work week:
Thanks, Shaq. Here are some links I think you (I’m talking to you, Shaq) should check out (Also you, if you are reading this):
1: Thrill-Seeking Teen Sneaks To Top Of 1 World Trade Center
This reminds me of those pictures sure to give you vertigo. “Place Hacking” is apparently a thing, so when a 16-year-old wanted to climb the 1WTC, of course he did that very thing. Kids these days. When I was 16, I think* I was still playing Xbox, not climbing a skyscraper. Please, don’t try this at home (But if you do, tweet out the pictures before your phone gets confiscated).
BONUS! Perfect Pussy, my new favorite “potentially offensive band name but totally not offensive at all once you understand what it actually means, considering it’s actually about lead singer Meredith Graves’ cat”, played a positively blistering set at NPR Music’s SXSW 2014 showcase. Now you can watch their show in its entirety. Do that, and have an extraordinary weekend.
Hi. Happy Monday, I guess. I think David Lynch was channeling future me with this one:
I think I’m still asleep right now? But here are some links I think you should check out:
1: To Mike Birbiglia’s Parents: It’s OK If Your Son Sticks To Comedy
Our friends over at NPR West’s Weekend All Things Considered have a new series out called My Big Break, a project that captures “the moments when everything seems to click, and people leap forward into their careers.” This week spotlights comedian Mike Birbiglia, frequent This American Life contributor and star of Sleepwalk With Me - Which also features TAL’s Ira Glass in a clever cameo (Watch closely!).
Monday again. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. TV’s Space Ghost, how should we deal?
Just throw coffee on my face and I’ll try to absorb it, thanks. Here’s some links I think you should check out:
1: THE GIF IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE GIF!
Okay, so maybe my alternate headline for that story is misleading, but the sentiment stands. Long a source of pronunciatory controversy (a scenario I’m calling a pronunciaversy), the GIF is a cumbersome - and old - medium. In technology years, 27 is a veritable relic. So what is the future of moving images on the Internet? Is it something like what the New York Times has done with ‘living video’ sources like the ones seen here? Is it cinemagraphs like those seen on this NPR piece about North Dakota’s oil boom? Or is it the new(ish) HTML 5-based technology called the GFY? The definitive answer right now seems to be up in the air, but what is clear is that the pronunciation of GIF is 'jiff.’
2: A Father Plays Call Of Duty With His Son, Watched By Thousands
Because the internet, a kid and his dad now have 120,000+ subscribers on the streaming service Twitch, broadcasting their Call of Duty tag team efforts. Please go outside every once in a while, guys.
3: Fred Armisen’s Fake Bands (And Their Real Songs)
As the former intern for All Songs Considered, I totally get where the All Things Considered staff is coming from with loads and loads of mail every day. In this age of digital streams, we still somehow managed to get hundreds of CDs every week. Glad to see they didn’t throw away music from comedian and Portlandian Fred Armisen. Cacao.
BONUS! See if you can pick out which is my anonymous vocal confession on Morning Edition. If you do, I’ll give you some of these killer chocolate-covered espresso beans I’ve got at my desk this morning.
3: Digging For Gold: Study Says Your Race Determines Your Earwax Scent Digging for gold? More like headline gold. As for the piece, I’m fascinated - and yes, maybe a little disgusted - that race is one of the determining factors in what the wax that builds up in your ears smells like. Science is funducational, people.
BONUS! I’m a sucker for art installations, but this one might take the cake. Touching story, and a mind-bending idea for a memorial. Everything about this is a yes.
Dr. Kevin Olival from EcoHealth Alliance (left) and NPR’s science correspondent Michaeleen Doucleff lead our NYC discussion on pandemics.
Over 30 listeners filled a rooftop terrace blocks from Central Park to listen to reporting from Goats & Soda.
As the sun started to set, our group walked over to Central Park to observe some local bats.
Dr. Olival brought two bat detectors that allowed us to listen to, record, and even identify bat species by their echolocation calls.
Success! We found bats right as we entered Central Park.
We detected multiple bat species using the echolocation app.
We walked over to the bridge near W. 77th, which is known for bats.
The Manhattan skyline lit up the sky as Central Park grew dark and we wrapped our immersive experience.
photos: @hopeleigh
Did you know there are bats living in Central Park?! Neither did we, until Dr. Kevin Olival from the EcoHealth Alliance mentioned NYC as a cool place for an immersive Listening Party a few months back when we started designing this project.
You may recognize his name from Michaeleen Doucleff’s reporting on pandemics from Borneo. He’s the voice of the virus hunter who guides her and senior producer Jane Greenhalgh through the rainforest, where he and his team work to identify new viruses in bats.
Yesterday, he joined us on a rooftop terrace on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, just a few blocks from an area of Central Park known for bats. Our group of 30 has gathered for a listening session and discussion around two of Michaeleen’s stories: one about the rainforest in Borneo and one about the Gomantong Cave, also in Borneo, which is full of bats.
The group was engaged and curious, full of questions about the practical applications of Olival’s research and ideas about future pandemic prevention.
When the sun started to drop over the horizon, it was time to go look for bats. As we entered Central Park, Olival pulls two bat detection tools from his backpack: one that attaches to his cellphone and one that stands alone. He turns them on and BAM - immediately we pick up the sounds of bats! The device connected to his phone has the ability to record and identity the bat calls. We hear and see big brown bats as well as hoary bats. And we’re not even at the bridge at W. 77th known for bat sightings yet!
Olival guided us through the park to the lake, where he answered people’s bat questions and busted bat myths (they are NOT blind, they actually have great vision). We wrapped the evening with a newfound awe for bats and a continued curiosity around the ways humans interact with the animals all around us.
Budding bat enthusiasts, follow Kevin Olival at @nycbat on twitter for the latest on bats in NYC and beyond.
