Who says radio is dead? Between June 4th and 8th, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) will host an anomalous little festival merging the worlds of radio, theater, music, and storytelling in order to celebrate the hundred-year-old medium. The highlight of the fest is likely to be a Saturday June 7th interpretation of This American Life live from the Howard Gilman Opera House. Stephin Merrit of the Magnetic Fields will perform songs based on real stories from the beloved NPR program, and the event will include narrations by longtime host Ira Glass himself, as well as a mini musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, readings by Mike Birbiglia, and dance from The Monica Bill Barnes Dance Company.
The remainder of the festival has no shortage of things to offer: there are curated screenings of Talking Heads tour doc Stop Making Sense and classic anti-fairy tale The Princess Bride, live broadcasts of RadioLab, Wait Wait..Don’t Tell Me! and Soundcheck (featuring former Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser, San Fermin, and comic Wyatt Cenac), free musical performances by Alicia Olatuja and “Battle of the Boroughs” winners Brown Rice Family (both hosted by Terrance McKnight), and lots of interactive series and talks that will have you experiencing radio like never before.
