Studio 360

He outdid a friend of mine, who was climbing one of the towers at night, but whose friends tried to convince him to do it legally. He practiced for quite some time and never wound up doing it publically.

It looks insane to the balance-challenged, but Philippe Petit stretched the boundaries of human capabilities and imagination, and did it with extraordinary grace and aplomb. He decided he had the skill to pull it off and thankfully, he was right! Looking at this video with post-9-11 eyes we might ask, how far has the human spirit fallen since 1974, when anything seemed possible?

Please name the piece of music introducing this piece.

After listening to the interviews on WNYC's, Leonard Lopate, and NPR's Studio 360, I was driven to see this film. It was a special event, and I wanted to be there last night at the Sunshine Cinema for the post-screening Q&A with Philippe Petit and James Marsh.

Overwhelmingly,(& no surprise), the audience's interest was with Philippe Petit, and not so much with the storyteller, James Marsh.

I am no film critic, but in retrospect, balancing humor and tension, James Marsh really brought to life Petit's story of, "To Reach The Clouds."

I was there looking to be transported, and I was ~

"Look!"

"Look Up!" "A Man walking in the sky..."

(He's there still.)

More on this subject is the Winner of the 2004 Caldecott Medal, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein. This beautiful book, for children of all ages, gives us a different way to remember the twin towers.

Hi Sean --

The music introducing this piece is "Fish Beach" by Michael Nyman, from the soundtrack to "Drowning by Numbers" (Venture).

(We try to list all of the music we use on the episode page -- click on the "Music" link under the segment.)

Hope you enjoy!