Hi there. This first journal entry is an experiment of sorts. If you’re reading this, it means our web designer, Todd Holmberg, has successfully uploaded it and some accompanying pictures onto our fledgling website. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to our friend Todd, who has created this site for the price of zero dollars, and also to our friend Carl Nielson, who createdThe Signal’s logo, also for the price of zero dollars. It’s nice to have good-hearted friends like these guys, and we thank them.
Spoken-word artist JaHipster is one of the many poets who have contributed poems for us to air serially on The Signal.
The Signal has successfully aired two episodes so far, and we’ve been very encouraged by feedback from appreciative listeners. Here’s a short run-down of what we featured on those first two episodes:
This is Paul Santomenna. He’s the mastermind of Baltimore’s Megaphone Project. He makes documentary movies in his rowhouse basement editing suite.
The premiere episode of The Signal (airdate 9.17.04) included a story about a sound effects man who loves to relive the golden days of radio drama, a visit with the cast of Everyman Theatre’s Uncle Vanya, a poem by Baltimore spoken word artist JaHipster, a conversation with a local documentary filmmaker who uses his skills to sway public policy, and a trip to the Greektown home of iconic writer Raphael Alvarez.
The Signal, episode 2, (airdate 9.24.04) began with a visit to the International Spy Museum, where a former CIA spymaster shares some espionage history and tells tales of being betrayed by double agents. This program also included a visit with a local graphologist who can plumb a person’s psychological depths by looking at a handwriting sample. This episode concluded with a visit to an independent bookstore, Atomic Books, and an interview with the publishers of Found Magazine.
This is the spy radio used by Baltimore’s own Virginia Hall, a WWII spy who was known as ‘The Limping Lady.’ (She had a wooden leg named Cuthbert.)
Now it’s Monday morning, and I’m about to meet with co-producer Lisa Morgan to sketch out what we’re going to cover for Friday’s show. More later.
-Aaron Henkin