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Wisconsin Public Radio

KID-POWERED MEDIA

Program 06-05-28-A

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The average American child grows up in a house with three TVs, three Radios, two VCRs, two CD players, a video game player and a computer. That's a lot of media. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge what happens when kids stop consuming media and start making it? We'll meet kids who make radio, make TV and design video games - kid-powered media.

SEGMENT 1:

Kaari Pitkin produces Radio Rookies, New York's Peabody Award winning radio project for teenagers. She and one of the Rookies, Jaimita Haskell, tell Jim Fleming about the project and how if affects the lives of the kids involved with it, and their communities. And we hear excerpts of Jai's piece on educational tracking. And we meet the 4th graders of Mrs. Mincberg's class at Randall Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, as they begin the school day. Also, TTBOOK producer Charles Monroe-Kane reports on what he thought was a piece of youth media - MTV's hit comedy "The Andy Milonakis Show."

SEGMENT 2:

We go to recess with the Randall Elementary 4th Graders. Also, Daniel Handler wrote "A Series of Unfortunate Events" under the pen name of Lemony Snicket. It's a hugely successful sequence of novels for children - the 13th and final one is due in October - which feature the dreadful misadventures of the Baudelaire orphans. Handler tells Anne Strainchamps that he never wanted to write for children, and we hear a brief excerpt from Volume 12. And the Randall 4th Graders talk about books and reading and book reports.

SEGMENT 3:

Maurice Sendak is the beloved author of the children's classic "Where the Wild Things Are." Now he's written and narrates a story called "Pincus and the Pig: A Klezmer Tale." It's based on Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" and features Klezmer music by the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra. Sendak tells Steve Paulson that he grew up speaking Yiddish and loves its vituperative quality. And he says that he regards some great artists as close personal friends. And the Mrs. Mincberg's 4th graders read and talk about poetry.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 06-05-28-A.

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Music:

• "World Playground" (Putumayo).
• Theme music from the film, "Lemony Snicket's Series of
  Unfortunate Events," starring Jim Carrey.
• Selections from the CD, "Maurice Sendak's "Pincus and the Pig: A
  Klezmer Tale."" The Shirim Klezmer Orchestra. (Tzadik).

Distribution dates:

week of 09/02/2007 - hour 2 week of 05/28/2006 - hour 1

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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