June 26, 2009
The rainbow flag was designed in 1978 for a gay parade in San Francisco and over the last 30 years it has become the global symbol for gay pride. If the flag were designed in 2009, how would it look? Mark Randall of the design firm Worldstudio accepted the challenge, and he and his team came up with several ideas for a 21st-century pride flag makeover.
Check out the designs and vote for your favorite HERE.
Historically when homosexuality has come up in rap lyrics, it's been as a slur. But a new sub-genre of hip-hop by gay artists is starting to catch on. Rappers like Shorty Roc, Deadlee, and Mélange Lavonne call it "homo hop," and they're fighting for acceptance among hip-hop heads and the LGBT community alike. Produced by Roy Hurst.
"I'm a Rapper" by Shorty Roc. Warning: explicit content.
It's been more than a decade since Ellen DeGeneres came out on her sitcom and "Will and Grace" premiered. So how is television doing with the portrayal of non-straight people in 2009? Comedian Judy Gold tries to answer that question and tells Kurt, "I want a show about a gay family where you forget they're gay."
Dozens of listeners submitted ideas to Studio 360's Flickr page for the gay flag redesign challenge. And fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi picks his favorite.
On Regina Spektor's new record, "Far," she gets seriously existential - mentioning God 33 times in the first single, "Laughing With." She performs that song live in the studio and talks with Kurt about life, the universe, and everything.
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, and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation. 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. 
