COVER STORY
Prostitution
Kurt Andersen and the playwright Paula Vogel discuss artists' portrayals of prostitution.

In Bed with the Collector
Most people outside the art world had never heard of performance artist Andrea Fraser until she installed a video piece called “Untitled” in a New York gallery. In the video, Fraser has sex in a hotel with an art collector she had never met, and who paid her dealer handsomely. But Fraser told Tamar Brott that “Untitled” is more than a crude metaphor for “selling it.”
Kurt and Paula talk more about Andrea Fraser
Visit the Friedrich Petzel Gallery to see Andrea Fraser's work
Purchase Andrea Fraser’s newest book Museum Highlights: The Writings of Andrea Fraser (Writing Art) here

Fallen Woman
When Verdi’s opera La Traviata, or The Fallen Woman, premiered in 1853, audiences cried over the story of Violetta, the original hooker with a heart of gold. But as Eric Molinsky reports, in some ways it’s harder and harder for modern audiences to connect with the choices La Traviata’s heroine made.
Purchase a 1960 recording of La Traviata with Anna Moffo as Violetta here
Read a synopses of La Traviata
Learn more about Giuseppe Verdi

Song For Wuornos
Last year the movie Monster told the brutal, horrific story of the real life hooker Aileen Wuornos, who was executed by the state of Florida for killing 7 of her clients. One of the artists who spoke out against her execution was the avant-garde singer Diamanda Galas. Galas dedicated several of her songs to Aileen Wuornos, including a cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Trey Kay found out that one reason Galas felt so strongly about Wuornos’ case is that she herself had spent time walking the streets.
Visit Diamanda Galas' website
Go to Diamanda Galas' concert dedicated to Aileen Wuornos
Purchase Diamanda Galas’ CD La Serpenta Canta here
Purchase Monster DVD here

Born Into Brothels
First-time director Zana Briski’s documentary Born into Brothels is short-listed for this year’s Oscars.
A few years ago Briski, a photographer, found herself giving photography lessons to children living in the brothels of Calcutta’s red light district. She told Lu Olkowski about the challenges of trying to change people’s lives with art.
Go to photographer Zana Briski’s foundation, Kids with Cameras
Go to Film Forum’s website for Born Into Brothels
Purchase Brothels: Photographs by the Children of Calcutta here

SPECIAL GUEST
Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel is an award-winning playwright and drama professor who crafts her plays around difficult subjects like AIDS, incest, and prostitution. In 1998 she received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for How I Learned to Drive. Her other plays include The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot'N'Throbbing, Desdemona, and The Oldest Profession—about aging former prostitutes in New York City. She teaches at Brown University, where she directs the MFA playwriting program.
Visit The Signature Theatre’s website for tickets to Hot ‘N Throbbing in NYC
Purchase Hot ‘N’ Throbbing here

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The Anime Effect
Studio 360's Kurt Andersen predicted the influence of Japanese cartoons on American pop culture long before most cultural critics took notice – though he had more than a little help from his daughter.
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