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Fishko Files from WNYC

WNYC

From WNYC, New York Public Radio, join WNYC's cultural attaché Sara Fishko for her personal radio essays on music, art, culture and media.

Location:

New York, NY

Networks:

WNYC

Description:

From WNYC, New York Public Radio, join WNYC's cultural attaché Sara Fishko for her personal radio essays on music, art, culture and media.

Twitter:

@FishkoFiles

Language:

English

Contact:

WNYC Radio 160 Varick St. New York, NY 10013 212-433-9692


Episodes

Vast Wasteland

5/7/2021
On May 9th, 1961, a still-celebrated speech rocked the world of broadcast television. In it, FCC Chairman Newton Minow zeroed in on television's vapid programming landscape, and the words "vast wasteland" became a contemporary catchphrase. More from WNYC's Sara Fishko in this edition of Fishko Files. Newton Minow told broadcasters that they might lose their licenses if they didn't improve the content of their television. Hollywood producer Sherwood Schwartz felt that Minow was interfering with broadcasters. To rib Minow, Schwartz named the ill-fated boat on his show, Gilligan's Island, the S.S. Minnow. Minow and Public Television Newton Minow played a major role in the creation of Public Television in the United States. Channel 13 in New York began in the 1940s as a Commercial Television station with a cultural bent. After going through several owners, Channel 13 was put on the market in 1961. Minow and a number of interested broadcasting colleagues got together to help Channel 13 make the transition from a Commercial Television station to a Public Television station. One day I read in the paper that Channel 13 was being sold. And there was a group of people in New York -- particularly led by some of the foundations -- that were trying to buy it and make it into an educational station. And I decided then and there that we were going to help them, and then we did. And Channel 13 became an educational station. And we did the same thing in Los Angeles, the same thing in Washington. And without those three we would never have had a national system. My main goal was to expand choice. To let the viewer have a wider range of programming. And that’s why we created, really, public television. By expanding choice it seemed to me that was the best role for the government. Channel 13’s first day as a Public Television station was September 16, 1962. Edward R. Murrow introduced the first broadcast. Mike Dann – then a programming executive at CBS -- remembers Minow’s role in Public Television. I think he was a great advocate of it. And made broadcasters and the public conscious of the difference between PBS and the broadcast networks. There was a sense of dignity. We didn’t have public broadcasting practically at all at the start. There was none. It wasn’t until a number of us banded together and helped start channel 13 in New York. I think he helped make public broadcasting more important. Jack Gould Newton Minow cited Jack Gould as a major influence: "At the time [of the FCC appointment] I had been deeply influenced by a television critic named Jack Gould, who was the television critic for the New York Times. He was writing very often about the failure, as he perceived it, of the FCC to uphold the public interest in regulating broadcasting. And I went to the FCC with his message very much in my mind." From 1948 to 1972, Jack Gould was the head television reporter and critic for the New York Times. Gould’s columns were devoured by television executives. And because he worked with the Times as television critic for so long – from TV’s beginnings to its installation as a cultural mainstay -- even these selected article titles show the progression of the medium, in just his first few years on the job (Excerpted from Watching Television Come of Age, by Jack Gould). For more from the people heard in this episode of Fishko Files… The Atlantic As I Saw It: The Inside Story of the Golden Years of Television here Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism, and American Culture The Expanding Vista: American Television in the Kennedy Years This is the final edition of Fishko Files at WNYC. The episodes will live online and in the WNYC archives. You can find more extended Fishko work on our website. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Associate Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:18

Empire State: Going Up

4/30/2021
Tomorrow, May 1st, marks the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Empire State Building. As WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us, the building's rise to its 102-story height is only one of the ways it towered over all the rest. More, in this episode of Fishko Files. John Tauranac's book The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark is available online. John Alden Carpenter's Skyscrapers is available on Amazon. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Associate Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:10

Stanwyck & Co.

4/23/2021
In honor of this weekend's Oscars: WNYC's Sara Fishko with this Fishko Files from the archive, filled with the award-winning voices of some of the great women of Hollywood's Golden Age. (Produced in 2013) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:09

Poets' Voices

4/16/2021
In honor of April, National Poetry Month, WNYC's Sara Fishko asks the question: what's the connection between poets' speaking voices, and the poems they create? (Produced in 2012) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:06:54

Peter and the Wolf

4/9/2021
The celebrated children's tale with music, Peter and the Wolf - as WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us - was first heard in Moscow in the spring of 1936, an ominous time in the Soviet Union. Everywhere it went after that, it thrilled a listenership of kids. More, in this episode of Fishko Files. Walt Disney and Sergei Prokofiev met in Hollywood in 1938. Later, Disney made this promotional film about their meeting. (The man at the piano is an actor, not Prokofiev) Peter and the Wolf showcased some of the great voices and orchestras of the 20th century. See a list of some of the recordings used in Fishko Files, below. Peter and the Wolf(s) here Other music by Prokofiev used in this episode To see a selection of Peter and the Wolf album covers from the WNYC Archives, visit NYPR Archives & Preservation. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:29

Bernstein, Made for TV

4/2/2021
When we produced a feature on the celebrated Leonard Bernstein concert-broadcasts known as the Young People's Concerts (1958-1972), we were thrilled to find Roger Englander, the celebrated producer and director of the broadcasts, still alive. The interview is contained in this Fishko Files, which we replay in honor of Englander - who died recently at the age of 94. Read more on Roger Englander’s life and work in his New York Times obituary. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Bill Moss Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:08:10

Sibling Harmony

3/26/2021
The tradition of siblings singing together is as old as song. WNYC’s Sara Fishko looks at brothers, sisters, and sibling harmony in this edition of Fishko Files. (Produced in 2001) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:08:02

Changes

3/19/2021
A hundred years ago, as WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, a popular song appeared at a time similar to our own - when people desperately wanted to 'move on' from crisis. In this episode of Fishko Files, the unsentimental resolve of the song "There’ll Be Some Changes Made." Billie Holiday's rendition of "There'll Be Some Changes Made" with Ray Ellis and His Orchestra, from her final album The Last Recording (released in 1959). Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:15

Michael Rabin

3/12/2021
Michael Rabin, who lived from 1936 to 1972, was a midcentury, classical music phenomenon - a genuine violin prodigy, concertizing as a teenager and, later, stumbling in his career and his life. In this archival Fishko Files, WNYC's Sara Fishko talks to Itzhak Perlman to sort out Rabin's tragic story and his phenomenal playing. (Produced in 1999)

Duration:00:07:51

James M. Cain

3/5/2021
James M. Cain's novel The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) was adapted for the movies seven times. The most celebrated version was released 75 years ago, when Cain was on a roll - with three film adaptations made from his books in quick succession in the mid 1940s. WNYC's Sara Fishko and guests investigate the appeal of Cain's film noir-friendly style. (Produced in 2011) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:19

A Samuel Barber Classic

2/26/2021
Pieces of music, as WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us, can change in impact over time. On the 80th anniversary of a beloved violin concerto's premiere, Sara and guests consider the case of the American classical composer, Samuel Barber, in this episode of Fishko Files. Hilary Hahn's Barber & Meyer: Violin Concertos and Isaac Stern's Barber: Violin Concerto, Op. 14 are available on Amazon. Hilary Hahn's upcoming album Paris is set for release next Friday, March 5, and is available for pre-order. Barber's Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, performed by violinist Albert Spalding and the Philadelphia Orchestra Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:33

The Chopin Paradox

2/19/2021
The composer Frédéric Chopin, whose first published music appeared about two hundred years ago in the 1820s, eventually wrote hundreds of piano pieces, many of them memorable and popular. The musical influences that struck him along the way are considered by WNYC's Sara Fishko and guests in this edition of Fishko Files. (Produced in 2017) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Bill Moss Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:05

Jacqueline Kennedy's White House

2/12/2021
On Valentine's Day 1962, in the simpler days of television, all three networks aired a now-celebrated tour of the White House led by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. A stunning number of Americans tuned in and took notice, as WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us in this archival Fishko Files. (Produced in 2012) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:25

Message Pictures

2/5/2021
The recent death of screenwriter Walter Bernstein has WNYC's Sara Fishko ruminating on the subject of dissent, protest and the movies, in this edition of Fishko Files. Walter Bernstein is memorialized in many obituaries, including this one in The New York Times. MLK/FBI and The Front are available on Amazon Prime. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is now streaming on Netflix. Judas and the Black Messiah comes to theatres and HBO Max on Friday, February 12. The United States vs. Billie Holiday begins streaming on Hulu on Friday, February 26. Minamata is set for release later this year, with the date to be determined. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Ed Haber Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:35

Alex North (1910-1991)

1/29/2021
Composer Alex North was best known for his sharp and observant film scores, including the iconic music for "A Streetcar Named Desire" - but his music always spoke for itself. 30 years after his death, WNYC's Sara Fishko looks at one of Hollywood's most modest citizens. (Produced in 2012) Our interviewee and North's good friend, composer and teacher George Burt, died in 2015. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:16

Chayefsky

1/22/2021
It's 45 years since the film Network had its premiere. It seemed pretty far out in its time - but now seems remarkably prescient, thanks to the writing by Paddy Chayefsky, the subject of this archival Fishko Files. (Produced in 2006) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:11

MLK: 2 Films

1/15/2021
Today, the new documentary film MLK/FBI is available to screen. As WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us, it's a dark and revealing update to civil rights movement history. That, and an older Dr. King film, are the subjects of this edition of Fishko Files. MLK/FBI is out today in select theatres and on VOD. King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis is available to rent or buy. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:06:56

Man with a Movie Camera

1/8/2021
It's 125 years since the birth of Dziga Vertov, the Russian documentary film and newsreel director. That's a good excuse, says WNYC's Sara Fishko, to look at his remarkable and pioneering 1920s film Man with a Movie Camera, the subject of this Fishko Files. (Produced in 2011) Man with a Movie Camera is streaming on Kanopy and Vudu and available to rent or buy on Amazon. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:03:44

Life of the Party

1/1/2021
In this last gasp of 2020, we face a New Year's without parties - unless you count the ones in this Fishko Files episode, composed of party scenes from movies over the last many decades. (Produced in 2016) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:09

Ida Lupino

12/25/2020
The actress, director, and film business pioneer Ida Lupino's 1950 film "Outrage" has been added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. To celebrate, we bring you this Fishko Files meditation on her life and work. (Produced in 2010) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia Briley Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister Editor: Karen Frillmann

Duration:00:07:19