A "screening" without images — audio documentaries from this standout Chicago-based radio festival which celebrates the best feature and documentary work heard worldwide on the radio and the Internet. Join festival directors Johanna Zorn and Julie Shapiro in listening to and discussing some of the unforgettable stories they've come across in the past five years. The program will include a variety of innovative audio work ranging in style and content — from a personal tale about post-humous photography to a sound rich story about border crossings, to a humorous look at the uncanny, magnetic power of Wagner's "Ring Cycle" opera. An ongoing discussion will be held throughout the program, after each piece is played.
What if sounds could be frozen into ice cubes, then released upon their melting? Everyday movements and actions might become rich musical performances....(2:27)
Some members of Jude Fletcher's family have a fondness for taking pictures of the dead. Their photo albums boast the typical shots of joyous celebrations and family gatherings, side by side with shots of loved ones in their caskets. As eerie as this may seem, photographing the dead, or memento mori, was popular back in the 19th century. Fletcher takes a trip to Story City, Iowa, to discover why this faded tradition is still cherished by some in her family, and to come to terms with her own feelings on the matter. (8:19) It might seem hyperbolic to claim, as many Wagnerites do, that The Ring Cycle is "The Greatest Work of Art Ever," but the grandeur and power of this monumental work have permeated our culture from Star Wars to Bugs Bunny to J.R.R. Tolkien. The Ring and I asks what many of the uninitiated must wonder: "What's the big deal?" This radio journey, intended for both devoted fans and newcomers alike, encounters a diverse cast of characters who weigh in with their answers. (8:00 excerpt of 60:00 piece) A lyrical feature about life in the New Children's Hospital in Westmead, Australia, from the perspective of a young patient named Andrew Salter. (6:24) Much of the Sonoran desert between Tucson and Mexico is a haunting wasteland of discarded shoes, shirts and empty plastic water jugs. "And I walked..." is a soundscape exploration of how the thirst for the American dream translates into a literal thirst, for the scores of illegal immigrants who risk their lives while crossing the desert, in search of better-paying jobs. (6:06) In this non-narrated piece, animator and filmmaker Adam Clitheroe explores Nature vs Nokia. (3:47) Writer Sam Swope visits a class of restless, imaginative eleven year-olds in Queens, New York, where he embraces the challenge of teaching Wallace Stevens' poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." (7:39 excerpt of 18:39 piece)

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