Explore every episode of the podcast Blank on Blank
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Innocence, Innovation and Future Shock | 06 Mar 2017 | 00:16:08 | |
Alvin Toffler and Margaret Mead, an author and an anthropologist who endeavored to understand the impact of scientific invention. In this episode of our series, The Experimenters, we hear from two visionaries who believed that while we’ve started a technological revolution, we don’t quite know where it’s going to take us. But maybe most interesting of all […] | |||
| Peanuts, Atlantis, and Colorblindness | 12 Feb 2017 | 00:20:44 | |
Oliver Sacks, Jacques Cousteau, and George Washington Carver. Our podcast returns with lost interviews featuring this trio on self, sight, and deep-sea diving. The three icons had the imaginations and daring to go where none had gone before. They overcame indifference and bigotry, exploring the darkest depths of the ocean, and even challenging their own deepest assumptions. These […] | |||
| Carl Sagan on Extraterrestrials * | 29 Mar 2016 | 00:12:53 | |
“The evolutionary record is clear that extraterrestrials would be very different from us” – Carl Sagan in 1985, as told to Studs Terkel. The incomprehensible vastness of the universe, the wonder of our own place in it all… Carl Sagan was able to explain the science of space in a way everyone could understand. As part of […] | |||
| Dame Stephanie Shirley on Survival Code * | 15 Mar 2016 | 00:16:34 | |
“I have to make my life worth saving, and each day you spend as if it would be your last” – Dame Steve Shirley in 2010 Dame Stephanie Shirley might be the most successful tech entrepreneur you have never heard of. In the early 1960s, Shirley started a barrier-breaking, all-woman software company that would eventually be valued at $3 billion. From […] | |||
| Temple Grandin on Search Engines * | 02 Mar 2016 | 00:11:46 | |
“Everything in my mind works like a search engine set for the image function.” – Temple Grandin in 2008 This rarely heard oral history with the autism activist, author, and professor of animal science, was uncovered at Colorado State University. In this conversation, Temple Grandin is at her best, explaining for the rest of us what it’s […] | |||
| Frank Lloyd Wright on Arrogance * | 16 Feb 2016 | 00:11:11 | |
“Any man who really has faith in himself will be dubbed arrogant by his fellows” – Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957, as told to Mike Wallace Architect Frank Lloyd Wright did something new when he made buildings that somehow became one with the landscape. Long, low lines, and interiors that brought the light and space […] | |||
| Sally Ride on Dumb Questions * | 02 Feb 2016 | 00:11:59 | |
“I wish that there had been another woman on my flight. I think it would have been a lot easier.” – Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, shortly after her historic launch in 1983. Interviewed by Gloria Steinem. At the time of this interview, as far as the public – and it turns out […] | |||
| Garrison Keillor on Humor * | 15 Dec 2015 | 00:08:25 | |
“My family was shocked when I came home with a volume of Hemingway … There was a price to be paid for being interested in fiction.” – Garrison Keillor in 1994 In this new episode we have a conversation with a true storyteller, the humorist, Garrison Keillor. This interview was recorded in front a live […] | |||
| Nina Simone on Shock * | 01 Dec 2015 | 00:08:52 | |
“It’s a good time for black people to be alive. It’s a lot of hell. A lot of violence, but I feel more alive now than I ever have in my life. I have a chance to live, as I’ve dreamed.” – Nina Simone in 1968, from a rare interview that’s never been heard before. […] | |||
| Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys * | 11 Nov 2015 | 00:09:08 | |
“Nothing means anything — except the artist makes his living by pretending, by putting it in a meaningful hole, though no such holes exist.” – Kurt Vonnegut in 1970 Kurt Vonnegut walked into a class room at NYU in November 1970. He was a guest speaker that day. He’d prepared some handwritten notes on what he […] | |||
| Bill Murray on Being Obnoxious * | 27 Oct 2015 | 00:09:04 | |
“I‘m just an obnoxious guy who can make it appear charming, that’s what they pay me to do.” – Bill Murray in 1988 as told to T.J. English This previously unheard interview was recorded at Bill Murray’s house in New Jersey. T.J. was writing a profile for Irish America magazine. Bill’s dog was there and had […] | |||
| Patty Hearst on Reasonable Doubt * | 13 Oct 2015 | 00:11:28 | |
“I‘m a coward, I didn’t want to die” – Patty Hearst in 1982, as told to Larry Grobel. Larry Grobel told us the story about a time back in the early 80s when he borrowed a swimsuit at the Playboy mansion. It seems that back then, Hugh Hefner kept spare trunks at the ready whenever his guests […] | |||
| Tom Waits on Everything and Nothing * | 29 Sep 2015 | 00:09:05 | |
“I don’t know what the ‘big time’ is” – Tom Waits in 1988 as told to Chris Roberts Imagine what would happen if you sat down on a couch next to Tom Waits? Here’s the tape. Watch the animated version of this episode from our series with PBS Digital Studios: blankonblank.org/tom-waits | |||
| Hunter S. Thompson on Outlaws * | 28 Jul 2015 | 00:09:57 | |
“I keep my mouth shut now. I’ve turned into a professional coward.” – Hunter S. Thompson in 1967 with Studs Terkel. The interview was recorded shortly after the release of Thompson’s book, Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. He spent more than a year living, drinking and riding with the Hells Angels up and down the […] | |||
| Dustin Hoffman on Duplicity and Famosity * | 14 Jul 2015 | 00:09:31 | |
“I carried a knife taped to my leg. I never used it but it was there.” – Dustin Hoffman in 1971. Listening to this interview tape from the Pacifica Radio Archives, we were drawn to this idea of the struggles that pop up between different generations and the internal questions one confronts as he or […] | |||
| Ayn Rand on Love and Happiness | 09 Jun 2015 | 00:07:18 | |
“I have no faith at all. I only hold convictions.” | |||
| Joni Mitchell on Illusions | 21 May 2015 | 00:08:16 | |
“I was young for my age. Not as naïve as they expected. I don't know why I seem to bring that out in people.“ | |||
| John Coltrane on Giant Steps | 08 May 2015 | 00:06:24 | |
“I want to be the force which is truly for good.” | |||
| Ray Bradbury on Madmen | 27 Apr 2015 | 00:06:34 | |
“If you have to ask yourself whether or not you love a girl or you love a boy, forget it. You don't.” | |||
| Dolly Parton on Getting Dirty | 10 Apr 2015 | 00:06:51 | |
“Mama just always said, 'you be what you are and you don’t have to worry about nothing.'” | |||
| Richard Feynman on What It Means | 30 Mar 2015 | 00:09:03 | |
"The key was somehow to know what was important because I can’t learn everything." | |||
| Jane Goodall on Instinct | 24 Mar 2015 | 00:08:33 | |
”When I was about 10, 11, I fell in love with Tarzan.“ | |||
| Buckminster Fuller on The Geodesic Life | 16 Mar 2015 | 00:09:23 | |
“I was sure things were just not being done in logical ways.” | |||
| Lou Reed on Guns and Ammo | 16 Feb 2015 | 00:06:31 | |
“I write a song called 'Heroin', you would have thought that I murdered the Pope” | |||
| B.B. King on The Blues | 02 Feb 2015 | 00:07:50 | |
“I like to feel that I pay my own way, no free lunch.” | |||
| Elliott Smith on Freaks | 20 Jan 2015 | 00:06:34 | |
“A lot of people are kind of depressed. I'm happy some of the time, and some of the time I'm not.” | |||
| Tom Robbins on Jitterbugs | 16 Dec 2014 | 00:07:01 | |
”If I knew how it was going to end, I probably wouldn't write it.” | |||
| Robin Williams on Masks | 02 Dec 2014 | 00:07:07 | |
“Comedy is there to show us we fart, we laugh, to make us realize we still are part animal.” | |||
| Wayne Coyne on Living with Death | 11 Nov 2014 | 00:06:09 | |
“I‘m pouring my guts out so they can feel like your guts at the same time.” | |||
| Maya Angelou on Con Men | 28 Oct 2014 | 00:07:01 | |
“The only way you can be a mark is if you want something for nothing.” | |||
| Liberace on Peacocking | 13 Oct 2014 | 00:07:24 | |
“Anyone that dares begrudge what I have today, just better get off their duff.” | |||
| Bette Davis on The Sexes | 23 Sep 2014 | 00:07:27 | |
“I think men have got to change an awful lot. They still prefer the little woman.” | |||
| Michael Jackson on Godliness | 15 Sep 2014 | 00:07:45 | |
“My singing… I’ll just say it simple as possible: It’s just godly.” | |||
| Meryl Streep on Beauty | 23 Jun 2014 | 00:06:24 | |
“The thing that was relentless for me was how you look... It just drove me crazy.” | |||
| Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness | 03 Jun 2014 | 00:07:07 | |
“Learning how to die is therefore learning how to live” | |||
| David Bowie on Ziggy Stardust | 20 May 2014 | 00:06:35 | |
"If it’s wearing a pink hat and a red nose, and it plays a guitar upside down, I will go and look at it." | |||
| Gene Wilder on The Truth | 06 May 2014 | 00:06:22 | |
“When you please your mother, it gives you confidence you can please other people” | |||
| John Lennon on Love | 22 Apr 2014 | 00:06:58 | |
“It’s no good being with people you can dominate all the time” | |||
| Johnny Cash on The Gospel | 08 Apr 2014 | 00:07:03 | |
“I just hope and pray I can die with my boots on” | |||
| Heath Ledger on Role Playing | 04 Mar 2014 | 00:06:42 | |
“My nervous energy is usually the easiest form of energy to tap into.” | |||
| Stan Getz on Wasted Years | 18 Feb 2014 | 00:06:43 | |
“I’ve done some dastardly things but what can I do except make amends and apologize?” | |||
| Jimi Hendrix on The Experience | 04 Feb 2014 | 00:07:12 | |
“When things get too heavy just call me helium--the lightest known gas to man.” | |||
| Barry White on Making Love | 07 Jan 2014 | 00:06:18 | |
“When a man’s making love, the last thing he thinks about is war.” | |||
| John Updike on Family Affairs | 17 Dec 2013 | 00:06:06 | |
“There is the fear you somehow neglected to say what was really yours to say.” | |||
| Tupac Shakur on Life and Death | 03 Dec 2013 | 00:06:26 | |
“I feel like a tragic hero in a Shakespeare play.” | |||
| Grace Kelly on JFK | 18 Nov 2013 | 00:06:40 | |
“The President turned to me and asked: ‘Is that a Givenchy you‘re wearing?‘” | |||
| Jerry Garcia on The Acid Tests | 05 Nov 2013 | 00:07:07 | |
“When we fell in with the acid tests we a started having the most fun we had ever had.” | |||
| Kurt Cobain on Identity | 22 Oct 2013 | 00:06:19 | |
“I even thought that I was gay. I thought that might be the solution to my problem.” | |||
| Ray Charles on Singing True | 08 Oct 2013 | 00:06:30 | |
“If somebody don’t like something that I do, that’s his or her prerogative. Just like it’s mine.” | |||
| Janis Joplin on Rejection | 23 Sep 2013 | 00:05:21 | |
“In my insides, it really hurts if someone doesn't like me. It's silly.” | |||