To The Best of Our Knowledge

from Wisconsin Public Radio

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It doesn't get much more American than a waitress in a diner taking your order. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the diner. For some, like painter Edward Hopper, the diner is a muse. For others it's just a greasy spoon. But have we romanticized the endless cups of coffee and the sassy waitress?

Michael Witzel is the author of "The American Diner." He talks with Jim Fleming about the way Hollywood makes use of the diner, and we hear scenes from several movies set in diners, including "Pulp Fiction," "Diner," "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and "The Blob."

SEGMENT 2:

Andrew Hurley's book is "Diners, Bowling Alleys, and Trailer Parks: Chasing the American Dream in Postwar Consumer Culture." Hurley talks with Jim Fleming about the history of the diner. He says they were working class restaurants that developed their own outlaw chic while still appealing to the middle class. Also, Jason Pfaff wants to eat in every single Denny's. He's made it to a few hundred so far. He describes his quest for Anne Strainchamps, and reads an excerpt from his website dedicated to The Denny's Project.

SEGMENT 3:

Mark Strand is the former Poet-Laureate of the United States, and the author of "Hopper." He talks with Steve Paulson about Edward's Hopper's classic painting, "Nighthawks." And, Greg Kot, rock critic for the Chicago Tribune and a regular contributor to Rolling Stone, tells Steve Paulson about Tom Waits' album "Nighthawks at the Diner." And we hear lots of music.

Books:

• Andrew Hurley, Diners, Bowling Alleys and Trailer Parks: Chasing the American Dream in Postwar Consumer Culture (Basic Books)
• Mark Strand, Hopper (Knopf)
• Michael Witzel, The American Diner (MBI Publishing)

Music:

• John Coltrane. I'm Old Fashioned. Blue Train. Blue Note.
• Force of Evil. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Bottom of the World (end title). MGM 1948.
• Jennie Avila and Amy Torchhia. Live at Goodgreydaniels. Diner with a Past. JenAmy Music.
• Wolly Pleasant. House of the Holy Moly. Denny's at 4 a.m., unknown record label.
• Jimmy Smith. The Sermon. The Sermon. Blue Note.
• Miles Davis. Kind of Blue. So What. Columbia Records.
• Tom Waits. Nighthawks at the Diner. Eggs and Sausage. Asylum Records.

Distribution dates:

• week of 05/26/2002 - hour 2