Back when NPR was still known as National Public Radio, a reasonably fledgling operation (starting in 1968), short on money but long on imagination, they were able to produce a vast array of interesting and informative programs like this one. Starting around 1972, Voices In The Wind was hosted by folk singer and songwriter Oscar Brand and his subject matter ran the gamut, as is evidenced in this half-hour excerpt from 1975.
An interview with Stripper and Burlesque Queen Ann Corio on the art of Stripping in connection with her Broadway show "This Was Burlesque". An interview with fledgling screen idol Jan-Michael Vincent on the art of acting. John Lennon on the seemingly endless question "will the Beatles ever get back together?". A piece on the long-thought lost Concerto of Max Bruch and an interview with Tim Weisberg, fresh from his success with "Dueling Banjos" from the movie Deliverance.
The first half hour is sadly missing, so I don't know who else was interviewed. But this half-hour is more than ample proof that curiosity and a gift of gab seem in very short supply these days. Or our current state of affairs with mainstream media just chooses not to notice - which I suspect is more of the case than there just not being enough interesting people and interesting situations to go around.
Such is Pop Culture.
