05.24.12
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Episode #718

Palahniuk, Foley, Costello

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Friday, May 05, 2006

Kurt Andersen talks with ultraviolent novelist Chuck Palahniuk about why we love watching gruesome things that we hope never happen to us. A Foley artist explains how she uses sound effects to make hurting seem nastier. Jack Handey – of Saturday Night Live “Deep Thoughts” fame -- talks tough to our enemies. Plus: Elvis Costello stops by to explain why he wanted to tinker with some of his classic hits.

Guests:

Chuck Palahniuk

Violence

Kurt Andersen and Chuck Palahniuk explore the appeal of violence in entertainment.

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Fight Club

Much of the hand-wringing about violence these days has to do with TV, movies, and video games. But Chuck Palahniuk tells Kurt that books can sometimes be the best medium for vicarious head bashing. Palahniuk reads a bit from his new book Haunted. And he breaks the ...

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Foley Artist

In movies, the sounds of punching and smashing are created by someone sitting in a room with a microphone and a bunch of props - just like in the days of radio drama. Foley artist Sue Zizza explains how to make a fight sound really good, or ...

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Why Are You Laughing?

When Curly gouges Larry in the eye, we laugh—or at least some of us do. Richard Paul has been writing and performing comedy for 25 years, and he applied himself to one of the great mysteries of the universe: are The Three Stooges funny?

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My Speech To The Martians

We asked humorist Jack Handey—the creator of Saturday Night Live's "Deep Thoughts"—why people are so driven to violence. He thinks it's because we're human.

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Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello has kept his fans on their toes by zig-zagging musically over the last twenty-five years. For his latest recording, My Flame Burns Blue, Costello teams up with a Dutch big band called Metropole Orkest. They play new songs and reinterpret old hits ...

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