So where do we go from here? I shouldn’t be sitting reading stories about victims of the plague but I do and a great one was in the Sunday New York Times, by Pam Belluck, an epic about a healthy young father of three, 49, struck down hard and suddenly by COVID-19 who was kept alive on a ventilator for a month by doctors at Massachusetts General and almost given up for lost, but somehow, by extraordinary means and technology and dedicated doctors and God’s mercy and a visit from his wife who sat and held his hand for three hours when he seemed to be a goner, he came back to life, and in the online edition of the Times, there’s a video of the hospital staff in blue scrubs lining a hallway and applauding as the gentleman is wheeled out of the ICU. I don’t cry easily but it brings tears to my eyes. This is the heart of the coronavirus story, not the briefings, not the demonstrations at state capitols, but the heroic work of medical professionals to spare us the miseries of this defiant disease. The Belluck story is a work of narrative art. It should get a Pulitzer Prize. I’m 77, safely sequestered in a New York apartment under the supervision of my wife who intends to keep me around, so we stay put. The medical troops are doing their duty, and we the people assist them by staying out of harm’s way. Men and women are riding the subway into Manhattan in order to do the essential things to support life, bring in groceries, deliver them, take away garbage, run the hospitals and clinics, provide security. When the pandemic is over, our society will need to stop and think about who is essential and why should the delivery truck driver earn a tiny fraction of what is paid to the Executive Vice President for Interactive Synergy & Proactive Metrics? Read the rest of the column >>> |
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A Prairie Home Companion streaming weekly As everyone hunkers down at home and practices good social distancing, Garrison and the Prairie Home staff are serving up some virtual comfort food and helping to keep us all entertained and sane! Each week, we are unlocking the complete video performance of a classic episode of the show and streaming it on Garrison's YouTube channel for one week only. We'll be sharing those links here as well as on our Facebook page -- please feel free to help spread the word, and help spread the cheer during this time!
A Prairie Home Companion: May 10, 2014
Coming to you from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, it's a STAR-STUDDED live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. With special guests, guitar-slinging singer Brad Paisley, country music outsider Sturgill Simpson, mandolin maestro Sam Bush, and fiddle virtuoso Stuart Duncan. Plus, a visit from Brian Dan Christensen, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, musical director Richard Dworsky with guitarist Dean Magraw, drummer Chris Brown, and bassist Todd Parks, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon..
Watch the show >>> |
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PHC Actors in Conversation This past weekend, Garrison got together (through Zoom, of course!) with the Royal Academy of Radio Actors: Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman. In a freewheeling conversation, they touched on how each of them came to be part of the Prairie Home cast, memories of making the A Prairie Home Companion movie with director Robert Altman, on-air bloopers over the years, and more. Then our editor organized it a bit, added a couple flashy titles, and the result is a 29-minute video sure to bring you back to some good memories and shed light on some unexpected behind-the-scenes moments, from teaching guests how to pronounce Piscacadawadaquoddymoggin to making the sounds of sickness.
This conversation will premiere at 6 p.m. CT tonight, so mark your calendars, prepare the microwave popcorn, and get ready for another opportunity to chat in live time with your fellow Prairie Home fans! There may even be a Dusty & Lefty sketch somewhere in there... Watch the video premiere at 6 p.m. CT >>>
Buy a 3-CD set of the actors' work >>> |
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The Writer's Almanac April is National Poetry Month and we are thankful to listeners of the podcast, many of whom have written in recently to tell us how comforting The Writer's Almanac has been during a time of great anxiety. We are so glad to be of service at this time.
For the past month, we have also been posting videos of TWA poets reading their own work and sharing a few thoughts. Check out our Facebook page and look for the tag #TWApoets, or watch the playlist on YouTube.
If you enjoy The Writer's Almanac, you can help support it with a contribution. All proceeds are used to pay the poets and publishers for the rights to broadcast the individual poems each day. You can contribute here (note: donations to LLCs are not tax-deductible) >>>
One of the featured poems this week was "The Sound of a Train" by Faith Shearin, a regular contributing poet on the Almanac. Watch "The Sound of a Train" >>>
Visit The Writer's Almanac website >>>
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Duets and a bit of "Hopeful" history Garrison recently wrote that singing duets was his favorite part of A Prairie Home Companion. He has sung with Prudence Johnson, Kate MacKenzie and the Hopeful Gospel Quartet, Lynne Peterson, Jearlyn Steele, Meryl Streep, Aoife O'Donovan, Sarah Watkins, Christine DiGiallonardo, Sarah Jarosz, and more. Garrison cited a Hopeful Gospel version of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Crossing the Bar'" as being among his all-time favorite performances. Watch some Hopeful Gospel videos >>>
Some 'Hopeful' history >>>
Get "Beautiful Dreamer" with Heather Masse >>>
Listen to APHC duets at home >>> |
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| The hat proved so popular that it has led to a line extension. . . and we ask that as we approach the election season that we keep comments respectful remembering the old adage that mom taught us all: "if you can't say something nice, don't say it at all."
With that said, Garrison wades into the 2020 presidential election, devising an wry alternative to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. 100% cotton shirt is available in sizes S - XXL Get the Shirt >>>
Get the Hat >>> |
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Limericks are the poems that can be written in the empty spaces between life, and this compact book illustrates the full range of the form's utility: thank-you notes to doctors, odes to "Prairie Home" performers, postcard greetings from exotic places, succinct biographies of favorite writers, and scribbles in the margins of Sunday church programs.
Here is a limerick Garrison wrote about his mother Grace:
My mother whom I adored
Is in heaven where, with one accord,
Saints clang their balls
In heavenly halls
As they fall on their knees to the Lord.
Get the Book >>> |
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