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Month: December 2010

Distillations #111 – A Distillations Carol

Celebrate the holidays Distillations style with our version of Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. It’s a bleak (yet entertaining) end-of-the-year/world show with visits from the ghosts of chemistry past, present, and future. Segments on Greek Fire, the devilish 8th-century weapon used by Byzantine naval forces. A feature from reporter Stefan Bos on the red sludge toxic spill that devastated a small town in Western Hungary this fall. Plus the future death of a very important star – our sun.

Image from CHF Archives: Scrooge and his third visitor. Illustration by John Leech, 1843.

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Distillations #110 – Essential Elements – Air

The fourth and final installment of our series on the original four Greek elements: EarthWater, Fire, and Air. Segments include a history of the air we breath – how it was formed and how it’s changing over time. Plus a feature from WABE reporter Jim Burress on how volatile organic compounds and tailpipe emissions combine to make a “toxic soup” and how furniture and carpet manufacturers are changing their products to make our air healthier.

New York Skyline image courtesy of Flickr user Sev!.

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Sound and Story – The Ritz, Newburgh

This is the second piece I produced for Eileen McAdam’s Newburgh Beacon Audio Adventure Tour, part of the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley. In this segment, long-time Newburgh resident Kathleen Gill talks about how Newburgh used to be a vibrant arts center, and all the stars who performed at the Ritz in its heyday. Make sure you visit the link below and listen to Ms. Gill talk about the time she performed at the Ritz as a little girl. She’s a charmer!

What famous couple made their debut here in 1940?

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Sound and Story – Dia:Beacon

I had the privilege of producing a couple stories for Eileen McAdam’s Newburgh Beacon Audio Adventure Tour, part of the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley. The first is about the building that now houses Dia:Beacon. It was built in 1929 to produce millions of cookie and cracker boxes for the Nabisco company. Long-time Beacon resident and former Nabisco employee John Ballo talks about how the building’s natural light created the perfect setting for cookie box color correction as well as modern art viewing.

What do an Andy Warhol painting and a box of Fig Newtons have in common?

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