Annual Report 2004 ANNUAL REPORT 2004: Summary Tundra Club is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, incorporated in 1995, with offices in Montana and Utah. Our mission is to support independent productions for public broadcasting, film and the web. We have helped produce a series of public radio shows on the environment, experimental videos, a film festival, the web’s most popular dream-related site: DreamWave <http://Dreamwv.com>, the Chrysti the Wordsmith <http://WordsmithRadio.org> series on etymology (that aired on 400 stations in 130 countries), and the Western Soundscape Project <http://Kuer.org/soundscape/>. Since 2001 our main focus has been the (((HearingVoices))) public radio project. The mission of (((Hearing Voices))) is to create and distribute evocative, compelling and innovative radio programs by outstanding independent producers. We find the extraordinary in the ordinary, the uncommon in the commonplace. We offer the unexpected voices, ideas, and experiences that public radio listeners find memorable. These programs are heard by millions of listeners on National Public Radio and Public Radio International series, such as All Things Considered, Latino USA, This American Life, Marketplace, and Living on Earth. Our budget averages $180K per year. Operating and project support has come from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, Foundation for Deep Ecology, and other public and private agencies. (((HearingVoices))) has produced 200 stories in three years. We won awards from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, National Headliner Awards, American Women in Communications, Society of Professional Journalists, New York Festivals, and American Women in Radio and Television. We have also mentored dozens of talented emerging producers, and helped them get their work broadcast nationally. Among our consortium producers are Scott Carrier (Harper’s Magazine, Esquire, This American Life), Andrei Codrescu (NPR commentator), Sarah Vowell (Time Magazine, This American Life), Nancy Updike (fmr Fresh Air), and Larry Massett (SoundPrint, NPR DNA Files). Our stories can be heard at: <http://HearingVoices.com/radio/>. Our public radio specials are at: <http://HearingVoices.com/special/>. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Trent Harris, President [Filmmaker] Salt Lake City UT Barrett Golding, Treasurer [Audio Producer, Web Designer] Bozeman MT Scott Carrier, Secretary [Writer, Audio Producer] Salt Lake City UT Tundra Club • 686 Canyon View • Bozeman MT 59715 406.586.1408 * TundraClub.org * [email protected] SELECTED RADIO STORIES 2004 = Alex Caldiero- Poet? by Scott Carrier (5:41) When is a poet not a poet? And when should he just say he is? For National Poetry Month a profile of Alex Caldiero, who is a poet, a writer and a performance artist -- but thinks of himself as none of the above. Premiered on NPR Day to Day. Garden for Disappointed Politicians by Sarah Vowell (3:27) What happens to the electoral losers? Where hould they go? This "Garden" provides a place for them to go. It's an entry in a new book called The Future Dictionary of America, edited by Dave Eggers, in which American writers were asked to define words which will be coined in a future, better U.S.A.. Premiered on NPR Day to Day. Bonnie Jo Hunt by Gregg McVicar (5:32) From the radio series Earthsongs: Sioux singer Bonnie Jo Hunt grows up on a remote South Dakota reservation, becomes an accomplished soprano, and layers opera over insects for Robbie Robertson's "Twisted Hair", off the Music for the Native Americans album. Premiered on Day to Day. Living Flag by Dmae Roberts & damili ayo (14:46) A woman sits cross-legged, panhandling on a busy city sidewalk. She takes money only from white folks, and gives it to blacks who pass by. Her sign reads: "200 Years of Slavery in the United States. It's part of performance artist damali ayo's "living flag." Premiered on PRI/WNYC Studio 360. Flamin' Betty by Barrett Golding (4:48) 263 mph is the world land speed record for Supercharged Competition Coupes, set on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats ("the fastest place on earth"). The record holder is Betty Burkland, a 63-year-old grandmother from Great Falls, Montana. Interviews and music from the film "Return to Bonneville." (Music: Jeff Arntsen; Recordings: Jim Kehoe) Premiered on NPR Day to Day. Cargo Flight to Somewhere by Judith Sloan (5:28) After losing his wife, daughter, and livelihood, Bovic Antosi escapes the Democrativc republic of Congo as cargo; only to end up in a detention center adjacent to JFK airport for two years. From the Crossing the BLVD series: interviews from immigrants and refugees who now live in Queens NY. Song by Kinglsey Ogunde from Nigeria. Premiered on Day to Day. Office Yoga by Rebecca Flowers (2:37) For Labor Day: A more realistic approach to spiritual awareness; how yoga might help relieve stress at the office, or not. Premiered on NPR Day to Day. Private Sector by Nancy Updike (59:00) 20,000 civilian contractors are among American forces in Iraq. They've been killed by roadside bombs and interrogated prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The whole hour is devoted to their lives: A Boston policeman teaching Iraqis the trade; a screener at Baghdad airport, and other private citizens on an occupying power's payroll. Premiered on PRI/WBEZ This American Life. Moth Music by Jeff Rice (3:31) The eerily beautiful music of moth wings. A tale of bat-detectors, beehive destruction and the intersection of insect and synthesizer. Premiered on NPR Day to Day. Haunted Cabin by Jake Warga (17:46) A night in the woods in an allegedly haunted cabin with a group of ghost hunters. There are many reasons to look for the dead. ghost hunters Premiered on PRI/WBEZ This American Life. Mojave Road by Ben Adair (14:59) The Death Valley desert is vast in space, time, ghost towns (with Opera Houses still standing), century-old abandoned mines, billion-year old boulders. "One hundred human empires will rise and fall in the time it takes Death Valley to notice our passing." The place is perfect for the drifters and artists now living there. Premiered on Savvy Traveler. A Flock of Cellphones by Larry Massett (3:36) Cellphones have nurtured humanity's obsession with telling each other where they are, where they'll be and "Where are you?" A dynamic, realtime location report. Maybe it's human nature. Or maybe (quack) it's just (tweet) nature. Premiered on NPR All Things Considered . RADIO SPECIALS (ONE-HOUR) 2004 Portrait of a Plague w/ guest host Joe Richman For W.H.O. AIDS Awarenes Day (Wednesday December 1 2004) PORTRAIT OF A PLAGUE, Stories of AIDS Awareness: Host Joe Richman spends "Just Another Day At the Biggest Hospital In the World" in Soweto -- 2000 patients check in daily, half are HIV positive. American RadioWorks' producers Stephan Smith and Stephanie Curtis give tape-recorders to three HIV-Positive teens in "The Positive Life." Dave Isay's "Letters to Butchie" are a dying mother s letters to a son she'll never see. We hear selections from "And Trouble Came: An African AIDS Diary," by composer Laura Kaminsky; also poetry, essays, and the Memory Box Project for AIDS orphans. Soapbox w/ guest host Sarah Vowell For 2004 Elections SOAPBOX is a sampling 20th Century political speech: Host Sarah Vowell tours a "Garden for Disappointed Politicians." Scott Carrier has friends across from the White House in "Lafayette Square." Dave Eggers snaps a "Family Photo Opp" in brother Bill's campaign Hummer. Joe Frank's "Presidential Candidate" is just like us -- and that's scary. Jesse Boggs and the Bush Admin do the "WMD Waltz." Taylor Mali teaches us "How to Write a Political Poem." And the Presidents swear their Inaugural Oaths. Home Team w/ guest host Gwen Macsai For Baseball Season / World Series HOME TEAM, a full roster of baseball stories from public radio's hall of fame: Host Gwen Macsai takes a swing at singing the National Anthem ("one of the most humiliating moments of my life -- caught on tape"). Dan Collison provides play-by-play commentary on The Potato Ball Caper. Barrett Golding spends a season with the Rookie League. Terry Allen defines the many meanings of Dug-Out. And Phillip Kent Bimstein plays ragtime ball with the St. Louis Cardinal's Bushy Wushy Beer Man. Stars & Bars w/ guest host Larry Massett For Summer & Independence Day STARS & BARS celebrates America in flags and festivals: recitations and reflections on the Pledge of Allegiance; a Nevada town proudly calls itself the Armpit of America; Otha Turner's fife & drum picnic in Mississippi; young and old in Ocean City MD; the Rainbow Family celebrates peace in the national forest; and a tribute to the glories of war. Stories by Joe Frank, Scott Carrier, Barrett Golding, Ben Adair and host Larry Massett. 200 Years Later w/ guest host Josef Verbanac For the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial 2003-2006 200 YEARS LATER we roll down the expedition's path, biking and mic-ing today's Lewis & Clark Trail. What have we done with the woods, waterways, prairies and towns these past two centuries? Journeying up the Missouri River, over the Rocky Mountains, then down the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, we bring back audio portraits of the people and places along the explorers' route by producers (& bicyclers) Barrett Golding and Larry Massett. The Earth Sings w/ guest host Dmae Roberts For Earth Day THE EARTH SINGS is sounds for and from Mother Earth: Maori culture and country; an audio trek through Nepal's Annapurna Mountains; opera over insects by Robbie Robertson; a classical music Fantasy for Oboe, Frogs, Crickets and Coyotes; and Pulse of the Planet's extraordinary sounds from the natural world.