Studio 360
In April, the band Nirvana is being inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame — it’s been 25 years since the release of their first
album, a gnarly piece of late punk called Bleach. But it was their second album, from 1991, that made them famous.
More American Icons
American Icons: Nirvana's Nevermind
Friday, January 03, 2014
In April, the band Nirvana is being inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame — it’s been 25 years since the release of their first
album, a gnarly piece of late punk called Bleach. But it was their second album, from 1991, that made them famous.
American Icons: The Wizard of Oz
Friday, November 29, 2013
It's been over seventy years since movie audiences first watched The Wizard of Oz.
Meet the original man behind the curtain, L. Frank Baum, who had all
the vision of Walt Disney, but none of the business sense. Discover how Oz captivated the imaginations of Russians living under Soviet rule ...
American Icons: The Scarlet Letter
Friday, November 01, 2013
One of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ancestors was a judge in the Salem witch
trials. In his novel of early America, Hawthorne explores the tension
between our deeply ingrained Puritanism and our celebration of personal
freedom. Hester Prynne was American literature’s first heroine, a fallen
woman who’s not ashamed of her sin ...
Bonus Track: Tom Perrotta on Nathaniel Hawthorne's influence
Bonus Track: Tom Perrotta on Nathaniel Hawthorne's influence
American Icons: Uncle Tom's Cabin
Friday, October 25, 2013
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin to promote the
abolitionist cause. So how did Uncle Tom become the byword for a race
traitor — a “shuffling, kowtowing, sniveling coward”? A scholar traces
Tom’s unfortunate journey through pop culture, and a controversial
writer who’s been called an Uncle Tom decides to own it ...
Slideshow: Uncle Tom in popular culture
Slideshow: Uncle Tom in popular culture
American Icons: The Disney Parks
Friday, October 18, 2013
Generations of Americans have grown up with Walt Disney shaping our
imaginations. We’ll tour Disneyland with its art director, a
second-generation Imagineer, who explains why even the trash cans are
magic. In Florida, urban planner Andres Duany shows how a theme park
helped reimagine city life; Tom Hanks, the first person to play Walt
Disney on screen, and futurist Cory Doctorow explain how Disney made
them kids for life.
Bonus Track: Cory Doctorow on the Disney theme parks
Bonus Track: Cory Doctorow on the Disney theme parks
American Icons: Untitled Film Stills
Friday, October 11, 2013
In the 1980s, Cindy Sherman began taking self-portraits that showed
her in costumes and scenarios that looked just like movie stills,
although they were her own inventions. In a media-saturated age, Untitled Film Stills have influenced a generation of artists as well as pop stars who play with identity as a kind of performance.
Slideshow: Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills
Slideshow: Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills
American Icons: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Friday, October 04, 2013
How do you build a monument to a war that was more tragic than
triumphant? Maya Lin was practically a kid when she got the commission
to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall. Her
minimalistic granite wall was derided by one vet as a “black gash of
shame.” But inscribed with the name of every fallen soldier, it became a
sacred place for veterans and their families, and it influenced later
designs like the National September 11 Memorial.
Bonus Track: Kurt Andersen's full interview with Maya Lin
Bonus Track: Kurt Andersen's full interview with Maya Lin
American Icons: Leaves of Grass
Friday, September 27, 2013
Walt Whitman set out to invent a radically new form of poetry for a
new nation. His book was first viewed as bizarre and obscene — one
reviewer said that the author should be publicly flogged. But revising
and adding to the book until his death, Whitman accomplished his goal,
creating a new Bible for American poets.
Slideshow: The changing editions of Leaves of Grass
Slideshow: The changing editions of Leaves of Grass
American Icons: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Friday, September 20, 2013
Ken Kesey had worked in a mental hospital, but his first novel was
really a parable of what happens when you stand up to the Man – a
counterculture fable that doesn’t end well. We visit Oregon State
Hospital, where the film was shot, Louise Fletcher describes what it was
like to play one of the top movie villains, and Sherman Alexie debunks
the myth of the silent Indian.
Slideshow: Behind-the-scenes of the film
Slideshow: Behind-the-scenes of the film
American Icons: Anything Goes
Friday, September 13, 2013
Cole Porter lived in Europe during the 1920s, and returned to
American to write a sharp satire of this freewheeling era that has
outlived the people and events it referred to. Music historian Will
Friedwald explains how Frank Sinatra saved the song, and we hear a new
version written by Joe Keenan.
Exclusive Bonus Track: An updated version of "Anything Goes"
Exclusive Bonus Track: An updated version of "Anything Goes"
American Icons: Native Son
Friday, September 06, 2013
The story of a young man in the ghetto who turns to murder was an overnight sensation. But some think Native Son
exploited the worst stereotypes of black youth. We trace the line from
Bigger Thomas to Notorious B.I.G., and visit a high school drama class
acting out Native Son, and struggling to grasp the racism their grandparents experienced.
Video: Author Richard Wright's screen test for the film adaptation of Native Son
Video: Author Richard Wright's screen test for the film adaptation of Native Son
American Icons: Season 3 Preview
Friday, August 02, 2013
This September, we'll launch a new season of our award-winning
documentary series American Icons. We'll look at Richard Wright's Native Son, the Disney theme parks, The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and many more great works of ...
Listen to a preview
Listen to a preview
Richard Wright as Bigger Thomas
Monday, July 08, 2013
Over the past year, Studio 360 has been producing new episodes of
our American Icons series. I'm working on a program about Richard
Wright's 1940 novel, Native Son. One of the strangest artifacts I've run into is this 7-minute video of the author himself, playing his most infamous ...
American Icons: Appalachian Spring
Friday, July 05, 2013
In 1942, Aaron Copland was commissioned to write a score for the
choreographer Martha Graham. Dance and music in America have never been
the same. Their ballet Appalachian Spring looks at the tension between community and individualism through the story ...
American Icons: The House of Mirth
Friday, July 05, 2013
Lily is a smart single woman, a beauty in demand on the party
circuit. But Lily is nearing thirty, and struggling to manage money,
friendships, and romance. In The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton examined the dangerous compromises facing a woman who wants ...
Bonus Track: Jonathan Franzen on Edith Wharton
Bonus Track: Jonathan Franzen on Edith Wharton
Why the Song Dixie Continues to Divide Americans
Friday, July 05, 2013
It’s been a century-and-a-half since a minstrel tune called “Dixie”
debuted in New York. The song went viral, and soon North and South alike
were whistling “Dixie.” With the outbreak of the Civil War, “Dixie”
became an anthem of the antebellum way of life. And today ...
Bonus Track: Elvis Sings "Dixie"
Bonus Track: Elvis Sings "Dixie"
American Icons: Superman
Friday, May 31, 2013
Kurt Andersen goes up, up and away with Superman and finds out why "The Man of Steel" remains as popular and elusive as ever.
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