Melanie Benjamin: ruffling the feathers on the Swans of Fifth Avenue

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Doug Dangler

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Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/TrumanCapote1959.jpg

Many people think of Truman Capote as the campy talk show guest or the inspiration for the character of Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird. Melanie Benjamin wanted to know more about the author in his prime, before his high society tell-all book ruined his social standing in New York. Her research resulted in The Swans of Fifth Avenue, another of her trademark historical fictions in the vein of The Aviator’s Wife and Alice I Have Been. Listen in to learn about the scandal that essentially ended Capote’s literary career.

Melanie Benjamin will appear in Columbus with Thurber House on Wednesday, January 27, 2016.

Credit: Deborah Feingold

Credit: Deborah Feingold

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Saturday hour-long special

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Doug Dangler

Today’s hour-long special on WCBE featured singer-songwriters Anna Nalick and John Gorka, Speakeasy’s Sumukh Torgalkar, and Ohio State’s History Talk. Thanks to all involved.

Pork packing in Cincinnati 1873.jpg
“Pork packing in Cincinnati 1873” by Ehrgott & Krebs

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John Gorka and Anna Nalick: Together without knowing it

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Doug Dangler
Anna Nalick

Taken by MBTrama – https://www.flickr.com/photos/mbtrama/

Singer-songwriters Anna Nalick and John Gorka will appear in Columbus on January 17 and 22 at the Rumba Cafe and Six String Concerts, respectively. Listen in to learn more about Anna Nalick’s songs after “Breathe 2 AM” and which song took John Gorka the longest to write (Hint: I’ll tell you later).

 

 

SixString

 

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Catie Curtis and the best place to find inexpensive treasures

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Doug Dangler

How to teach your kids not to be materialistic? Catie Curtis‘ parents set many interesting examples, including taking their children to the town dump and saying,”Pick something out, anything you want.” As she recalls, it was a great teaching moment because they’d “actually find incredibly beautiful things.”

Among the beautiful things Curtis has found has been material for songs like “My Dad’s Yard,” which describes her father’s habit of collecting things and giving them away to people who might need them. As she says in the song,

So if you need something when times get hard
You can probably find it in my dad’s yard
And if you need hope if you’re coming apart
You can surely find it in my dad’s heart

Listen in to our discussion of her songwriting inspirations.

Singer Songwriter Catie Curtis will be in Columbus on January 8 with Six String Concerts.

 

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Brad Feinknopf: What a hip, cool photographer really wants [Part 2]

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Doug Dangler

BradHeadshotLG

Part 2 of my talk with Columbus architectural photographer Brad Feinknopf and his thoughts on what it takes to get great images of buildings.

Go here for Part 1 of our talk.

 

 

 

 

Here’s Doug’s image discussed on the podcast

Doug's image of building

 

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Brad Feinknopf: What a hip, cool photographer really wants [Part 1]

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Doug Dangler

BradHeadshotLG

Ever look at photographs of buildings, maybe with perfectly captured shimmering lights or passers-by caught just so, and wonder how they do it?

Columbus architectural photographer Brad Feinknopf details some of the tricks of the trade and how he moved from his start in fashion and art photography with Richard Avedon and Robert Mapplethorpe to architectural photography.

And for those of you considering a career in photography, he’ll let you know what a hip, cool photographer really wants in an assistant. Hint: it’s not what a lot of hip, cool assistants might think it is.

Brad Feinknopf’s photography

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BradFeinknopf_9882-10 The Ohio Theater Orchestral Band Shell | Rogers KrajnakBradFeinknopf_BCEC_7809 FFBradFeinknopf_10073-05

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Nicole Reber: Frank Lloyd Wright in his underwear and other literary writing topics

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Doug Dangler

NicholeReberWhat kind of childhood frustration leads one to be a writer? Central Ohio nonfiction writer Nichole Reber’s path to a career in writing was sparked by her mother reading to her and Nichole’s curiosity about how her mother did this because she “couldn’t understand how she got [Nichole] so excited and how she elicited so many emotions when it was just pictures and black marks on a page.” Listen in for a discussion of nonfiction writing, changing careers, and Frank Lloyd Wright in his underwear.

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The 5th-Annual MAT Scriptwriting Competition has kicked off! Accepting submissions now!

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Doug Dangler

The 5th-Annual MAT Scriptwriting Competition has kicked off! Accepting submissions now!

Posted by Midnight Audio Theatre on Saturday, December 12, 2015

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Eating soup (and grasshoppers) without a spoon with Jeffrey Cohen

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Doug Dangler

Cohen_F15_C (002)Ohio State University professor Jeffrey H. Cohen’s latest book Eating Soup without a Spoon sounds like a minimalist cookbook bent on reducing the amount of silverware used at a meal. It’s not. It’s a look at the application of anthropological methods in “the real world” by which Prof. Cohen means field work. Ever wanted to know what a grasshopper tastes like or how to, in fact, eat soup without a spoon? Tune in!

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Rebecca Redux: Frazier back in town with Six String Concerts

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Doug Dangler

Rebecca Frazier

The last time Rebecca Frazier was in Columbus with Six String Concerts, we talked about her transportation, the most dangerous tour bus in America. This time, we talked about the impact her kids have on her touring schedule and writing and why she’s a “Christmas nerd.” Catch her in town on December 4 with the Six String Concerts.

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