Crises can take many shapes, from earthquakes, to chest pain… to a strange absence of strawberry blonde creatures in the forests of the Dominican Republic. In this show, four very different crises appear at four very different scales, affecting a person, a species, a city, and a human body. In each story, there is no emergency procedure, no obvious way out, and one person must make a choice: what are they going to save, and what are they going to sacrifice?
Host: Rosie la Puma
Producers: Rachel Hamburg and Will Rogers
Featuring: Meg Smaker, César Abril, Nicolás Corona, Simon Winchester, Julian Lozos
Release Date: 20 November 2013
Music used during transitions: Chuzausen, Gustav Landin
Intro story: Pixelated Apocalypse
Jackson Roach shows us an old arcade game called Missile Command, where in order to last as long as possible in a nuclear onslaught, sacrifices must be made.
Featuring: Jackson Roach
Music: deef, Christian Bjoerklund
Inspiration: This movie from Extra Credits on youtube
Image via flickr
Story 1: Put Some Gloves On, Let’s See What You’ve Got
Meg Smaker found herself in a crisis when she returned to the United States after six years in the Middle East. And when things got really bad, she decided to put on a pair of gloves and practice her overhand right.
Producer: Rachel Hamburg
Featuring: Meg Smaker
Music: Bosch Purvis, Podingon Bear, Broke for Free
Image via flickr
Story 2: Strawberry Blonde Forever
Some 76 million years ago, an asteroid wiped out three-quarters of the Earth’s plants and animals. The solenodon, a quirky, venomous mammal, lived through the impact. But now, human activity on its small island is placing it in danger of extinction. To help it survive, an unlikely hero will have to put down his gun and pick up his guitar.
Producer: Laura Cussen
Featuring: César Abril, Nicolás Corona
Music: Chuzausen, Sunsearcher, Marco Raaphorst, Urbano A. Zafra, Lo Ka Ping, Nicolás Corona
Image via flickr
Story 3: Fighting Fire with Fire
San Francisco almost burned to the ground in 1906 after the big earthquake. Out of the chaos emerged General Frederick Funston, who decided to literally fight fire with fire. But did his risky plan save the city? This piece was originally produced by Generation Anthropocene producers Leslie Chang, Miles Traer, and Mike Osborne as part of the 24 hour Radio Race from KCRW’s independent producer project.
Producer: Leslie Chang
Featuring: Simon Winchester, Julian Lozos
Image via wikimedia
Story 4: The Cold Tub
Your body is pre-programmed to react to all sorts of extreme environments. Sometimes this means making sacrifices to protect what’s most important. Corey, a teaching assistant for a human physiology course, takes us through his experiences, showing how a crisis of the body has taught him to deal with a crisis of the mind.
Producer: Kate Nelson, Rachel Hamburg
Featuring: Corey
Music: Alright Lover, Deef, Gillicuddy, Augustus Bro & Gallery Six
Image courtesy of Kate Nelson
Bonus Story: Catch 311
On March 11th, 2011 Justine Beed was sitting in an English classroom outside of Tokyo, when the 9.0 Earthquake hit near Fukushima. This sound poem tries to capture part of that experience, the ensuing media storm, and the resilience of the Japanese people in the wake of being shaken to their core.
Music: Dexter Britain
Effects: Cello Loop, Time Transition, Earthquake Tremor, Siren, TV On Switch, Newsreel 1, Japanese Reaction to Earthquake, Breaking sound, Time Transition, Newsreel 2, TV Off and Blip Out, Hammer 1, Slow Beat
Image via flickr