Take Five

The world of public radio is developing some wonderful new shows we want you to hear, but they only exist in limited quantities (for now). This show gives us an opportunity to share with you, our listeners, some of the nifty new things in radio that aren't yet in full bloom.

Upcoming Programs
Here's the Thing
When you put two creative, well-known personalities together in conversation, it’s hard to stop listening.  On Here’s the Thing, award-winning actor Alec Baldwin gives the listener unique entrée into the lives of some of today’s most exciting performers. Baldwin sidesteps the predictable by taking listeners inside the dressing rooms, apartments, and offices of some of the leading creative personalities of our time, including David Letterman, Billy Joel, Chris Rock, Kristin Wiig, and Erica Jong. Employing an engaging mixture of curiosity, intelligence and warmth, Baldwin explores what motivates his guests, how they feel about what they do, and what keeps them up at night.

May 25, 2013
Chris Rock and Herb Alpert
Alec goes backstage with comic actor Chris Rock after a matinee of The Motherf**ker With The Hat to hear what it was like for Rock to be in his first play. Alec also talks with Herb Alpert, legendary trumpeter and music producer. In 1966, Alpert’s band The Tijuana Brass sold over 13 million records, outselling The Beatles.

June 1, 2013
Lorne Michaels and Erica Jong & Molly Jong-Fast
Alec visits Lorne Michaels in his office at Rockefeller Center – the same office he’s had since 1975, when he created Saturday Night Live. Michaels and Alec talk about what led to SNL and Michaels early years doing subversive political satire on Canadian radio. Alec also talks with writer Erica Jong and her daughter Molly Jong-Fast as they spar about sex and the legacy of the feminist movement.

June 8, 2013
Kristen Wiig & Dick Cavett
Alec talks with Kristen Wiig – a breakout Saturday Night Live cast member who says she loves performing, but admits there’s also a “big part of me that’s just like: don’t look at me.” Alec visits talk show legend Dick Cavett at his home in Montauk, Long Island. Over iced tea, Cavett shares memories from five decades in entertainment.  

June 15, 2013
Billy Joel
Alec sits down with Billy Joel at a piano as Joel details the decisions – musical and personal – that helped shape his music and his career.


Other programs in the Take 5 rotation include:
Action Speaks!
Action Speaks! is a series of contemporary topic-driven panel discussions framed by the theme "Underappreciated Dates that Changed America." Each panel draws three or four scholars, authors, practitioners, and other relevant guests into an open-ended discussion with the larger community in the casual atmosphere of the downtown Providence arts organization, AS220. Action Speaks' presenting station is 89.7 WGBH Boston. Now you can tune in nationwide to Action Speaks! to hear host Marc Levitt and an endless parade of perceptive intellects and insightful audience members!

Backstory
BackStory is a public radio program & podcast that brings historical perspective to the events happening around us today. 

Radiolab
Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we'll feed it with possibility.

State of the Re:Union
State of the Re:Union has set out to explore how a particular American city or town creates community, the ways people transcend challenging circumstances and the vital cultural narratives that give an area its uniqueness. 

The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour features our most beloved tales and the stories behind the stories. The series debuted in 2009 and is now airing on more than 200 stations nationwide.