July 28, 2006
For decades Woody Allen made movies set in New York City about New Yorkers. But last year he surprised us all with Match Point - a sexy thriller shot and set in London. This summer Woody is back with the screwball caper, Scoop. Scoop is also set in London and stars Scarlett Johansson, but this time her co-star is Woody Allen. Kurt reached Woody at his home in London.
Novels about "the immigrant experience" are usually sentimental tales of pluck and dignity. Gary Shteyngart's Absurdistan is not one of those novels. The hero of the book is a 300 pound Russian named Misha Vainberg who boasts that he has huge loft apartment in Manhattan and a Puerto Rican-Mexican-Irish-German stripper girlfriend from the Bronx. Shteyngart tells Kurt Andersen why he wanted to satirize the wild and crazy immigrant experience.
Summertime presents a lot of choices, like picking the least disappointing blockbuster movies, finding the secret vacation spots, and making the most of a day at the amusement park. We asked Eddie Sotto, a former ride designer for Disney, what makes a well-designed theme park ride. Produced by Jonathan Mitchell.
Many a painter has stared at a blank canvas and pondered what to paint. Not any more! Jack Handey, whom you might remember as the author of Saturday Night Live's "Deep Thoughts", offers his best suggestions.
She's not your typical female singer-songwriter. Sure, Lisa Germano's voice is breathy, and a lot of her songs are confessional and melancholy -- but there's something slightly scary and weird about her work. Kurt Andersen chats with Germano in between songs from her new album, In the Maybe World.
Studio 360 is a co-production of
Public
Radio International and
WNYC New York Public Radio, and is funded in part by
Ken and Lucy Lehman, the
National Endowment for the Arts, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, and
DK Eyewitness Travel. Studio 360's American Icons series is supported in part by the
National Endowment for the Humanities. Our series on creativity and science is supported in part by the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Our series on Underground Heroes is supported in part by the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. 
