To The Best of Our Knowledge

from Wisconsin Public Radio

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You might think that anxiety over baldness is a relatively recent development in the history of civilization. But it's not. The ancient Romans invented the comb-over and paint-on hair, which has since become spray-on hair. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll uncover mankind's historic quest to end baldness. Also, we'll visit one of the few places where men can get together to talk and hang out – the barber shop.

Vince Staten is the author of "Do Bald Men Get Half-Price Haircuts?: In Search of America's Great Barbershops." He tells Anne Strainchamps that barbershops give men a sense of community as well as haircuts and that nothing beats a barbershop shave. Also, Joel and Ethan Coen discuss their film "The Man Who Wasn't There." Billy Bob Thornton plays a spooky barber in the movie, from which we hear clips. "The Man Who Wasn't There" audio clips from "The Man Who Wasn't There" DVD (USA Home Entertainment) http://www.themanwhowasntthere.com/

SEGMENT 2:

A'Lelia Bundles is the author of "On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madame C.J. Walker." Bundles tells Steve Paulson about her great-great-grandmother's life and how she was able to build an economic empire out of hair care products for Black women. Also, psychiatrist Allen Peterkin is the author of "One Thousand Beards: A Cultural History of Facial Hair." He tells Steve Paulson that beards make people think of either Santa Claus or Satan, and that facial hair is making a comeback

SEGMENT 3:

Gersh Kuntzman is the author of "Hair!: Mankind's Historic Quest to End Baldness." He tells Jim Fleming the Romans invented both the comb-over and painted-on hair; that one brand of spray-on hair (made from shredded sheep hair) actually works; and that toupees are much better than they used to be. And he describes just how gruesome hair transplants are!

Books:

• A'Lelia Bundles, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madame C.J. Walker (Washington Square Press)
• Gersh Kuntzman, Hair! Mankind's Historic Quest to End Baldness (AtRandom.Com) http://gershkuntzman.homestead.com/front.html
• Allen Peterkin, One Thousand Beards: A Cultural History of Facial Hair (Arsenal Pulp Press)
  http://www.arsenalpulp.com/booklistm-r.html#thousandbeards
• Vince Staten, Do Bald Men Get Half-Price Haircuts: In Search of America's Great Barber Shops (Simon & Schuster)

Music:

• "Hair"/The Cowsills from the CD, "20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Cowsills (Universal)
• "Hairstyles and Attitudes"/Timbuk 3 from the CD, "Back To Back Hits: Stan Ridgway, Timbuk 3" (EMI/Capitol)
• "I Think I'll Get My Hair Cut"/Jona Lewie from the CD, "The Best of Jona Lewie" (Metro Music)
• "Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 In C Minor Op. 13 Excerpt (Birdy's "Pathetique") conducted by Carter Burwell from the CD, "The Man Who Wasn't There: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (Universal)
• "Tired Of Your Permanent"/NRBQ from the CD, "NRBQ" (Rounder) http://www.rounder.com/Album.asp?catalog_id=4445
• "Growin' A Beard"/The Morells from the CD, "Shake And Push" (East Side Digital)
• "Moustache"/Sparks from the CD, "Angst In My Pants" (Oglio Records) http://www.oglio.com/contents/track_list.asp?ProductCode=30
• "Comb Your Hair And Curl It"/The Chieftains from the CD box set, "From the beginning The Chieftains 1 to 4" (Claddagh Records)
• "Bald Headed Men"/Four Bitchin' Babes (Christine Lavin, Sally Fingerett, Julie Gold, Megon McDonough) from the CD, "Philo So Far: The 20th Anniversary Folk Sampler" (Philo/Rounder) http://www.rounder.com/Album.asp?catalog_id=3233
• "Why Wait"/Perez Prado from the CD, "Space Age Pop Volume 1: Melodies and Mischief" (RCA/BMG)

Distribution dates:

• week of 04/28/2002 - hour 2