Radio Tania

Philip Glass, podcasts and journalism

There are a lot of perks to being a journalist and one of them is surely the chance to speak with people you admire. Philip Glass may be one of those (I definitely admire him, just need to confirm the interview). I can't say I actively listen to Philip Glass regularly the way I do to say John Coltrane or Smog (at least lately). They are more accessible artists. But I admire Philip Glass for the vast range of his work. Last year, I went to see an opera of his, Appomattox, with Philip who managed to tolerate it even though he truly dislikes opera and this year, Glass is coming to San Francisco for the West Coast premiere of Music in Twelve Parts.

The other thing happening this week is I just started teaching a workshop with some students at CCA called PODCASTING YOU. They are excited about having a voice and when the podcasts come out, I will let you all know. Oh and just randomly, this is an image that Philip took in Tahoe.

A legend

A few years ago, I had the honor of spending the day with Studs Terkel, a journalist that I deeply admire. At the time, I was an editor at a publishing company called Seven Stories Press and Studs Terkel had come to New York for several interviews. I was his escort through different parts of the city and was too shy to ask him questions about his life. He was older now and his wife had just passed away. He kept on calling me "kid!" which I really liked and he wore a bright red sweater and still had the smile of a curious young man. He died a little over a week ago at the age of 96 and when I heard that he was no longer physically on this earth, I truly felt a great person was lost. Terkel published several books including Working and had a radio show in Chicago for 45 years. Listen to some of his recordings, here are some special ones on The Depression that aired last week on This American Life.