Air Date: Week of January 22, 2010

LOE received lots of listener letters and calls in response to our holiday specials and story about car sounds of the future. We’ll hear some comments, criticisms and kudos.

Transcript

YOUNG: It’s Living on Earth, I’m Jeff Young.

[LISTENER LETTERS THEME; TYPEWRITER SOUNDS]

YOUNG: Time now – to hear from you. Our two special, holiday shows drew a lot of listener response – both kudos and criticism.

“I just listened to your New Year’s storytelling special,” writes Colleen Anderson of Charleston, West Virginia.

“The stories were exquisite and educational. This is one of the best things I have heard on radio recently.”

Thanks Colleen!

Storyteller Jay O’Callahan’s love letter to NASA, “Forged in the Stars,” inspired this love letter from WCPN Cleveland listener Terre Maher.

MAHER: I love giving the task of interpreting science to a poet-storyteller. It is moving and touching and learning about the voyager and putting a “hello” in so many languages. I just thought it was a really, really cool piece. And thank you for putting it on.

YOUNG: Our storytelling specials didn’t please everyone. Listener Patrick White of Washington, DC signed his email “Very disappointed”. He questioned why we produce our annual story telling shows at all. “According to your broadcast history,” writes Patrick, “environmental concerns are only operative 50 weeks a year.”

And we got an earful about our story on creating new sounds for silent electric cars. Ken Fisler another WCPN listener writes: “it might be interesting to allow electric car owners to upload a sound of their own choosing into the warning system. It could be a selling point for prospective car buyers.”

When Shawn Snow, who hears us on KUAR in Little Rock, Arkansas, heard that story, it took her back to the future, and one of her favorite TV shows from the 60’s.

SNOW: The Jetsons. George Jetson’s flying car.

YOUNG: And do you remember what that sounds like? Can you do it for us?

SNOW: Oh, gosh! [Laughs]

[SNOW MAKES BBBBRRRRRLLLLLL SOUND]

SNOW: Something like that.

YOUNG: That’s pretty good!

[SOUNDS OF JETSONS’ FLYING CAR]

YOUNG: It’s happy. It’s kind of like chirping little bird or something.

SNOW: It is; and it’s something that’s not frightening and we recognize it as a vehicle of some kind. And it just makes me happy.

YOUNG: Do you happen to remember the Jetson's household robot’s name?

SNOW: No…Roy, Elroy? No, that was the kid.

YOUNG: ‘Our boy, Elroy.’

SNOW: Yeah, and Jane his wife, and the teenager – gosh, what was the robot’s name? I don’t remember.

YOUNG: Rosie.

SNOW: Rosie! How could I forget?

YOUNG: Well, as Rosie was fond of saying: back to work.

[ROBOT ROSIE SAYING, “Back to work, back to work, everybody, work, work, work, work”]

SNOW: That’s it – back to work.

YOUNG: Thank you very much!

SNOW: Sure, nice talking to you.

YOUNG: Well, if you have any comments on our work – let us know. You can reach us at comments @ l-o-e dot org. Once again, comments @ l-o-e dot o-r-g. Our postal address is 20 Holland Street, Somerville Massachusetts, 0-2-1-4-4. And you can call our listener line, at 800-218-99-88. That's 800-218-9-9-8-8.

[END LISTENER LETTERS THEME]