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The Spot: Looking Up & Over

Gabriel Moulin Photo

This week on KALW's showcase for the best stories from public radio podcasts and independent radio producers... 

Interview with Paul Horowitz, produced by Ian Coss for “Radio Contact,” originally aired March 2016.

Radio Contact,” is a project and interview series that explores the experiences of people who have worked in the realm of radio, whether on the technological side of radio science, or the cultural side of popular broadcasting. In this episode, we hear from Physicist Paul Horowitz who started his teenage years as a licensed, short-wave enthusiast, and now, sends signals much, much, much farther.

The project is supported by the Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments as part of the special exhibit: “Radio Contact: Tuning into Politics, Technology, and Culture.” More information about the exhibit, including more interviews from the project, is available at the collection’s website: radiocontact.org.

The exhibit "Radio Contact" runs now through December.
Credit Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments at Harvard University.

High Above Lake Michigan,” produced by Nate DiMeo for the podcast The Memory Palace, originally aired June 2009.

Reaching upward is a trend in engineering human connection that pre-dates radio broadcasting. Literally building up, pushing the limits of how big a structure can be, captivated people across the world, inspiring a global conversation of who could build it taller, faster, and stronger. The World’s Fair: Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893, debuted one such structure that inspired and thrilled fair goers like never before. 

You can subscribe to The Memory Palace on iTunes, Stitchr, or whatever you prefer to listen to podcasts on. You’ll also find more from The Memory Palace team at their website.

Four Seconds: Suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge,” produced by Jake Warga, originally aired September 2009.

There’s one statistic about the Golden Gate Bridge that’s not easy to talk about, but one that shouldn’t be ignored: more people commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge than from any other structure anywhere else in the world. In 2005, journalist Jake Warga documented his search, on the bridge, for a better understanding of why, one day, his friend decided to climb over the rail and jump.

You can Jake’s recent reporting at his website.

As of today, the planned suicide deterrent net on the bridge still hasn’t been built. The current bids from contractors interested in the project are set to expire this week, and supervisors from the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District have requested for more time to decide.

If you are coping with losing someone you love due to suicide, there are people waiting to listen on the peer-led Warm Line, run by the Mental Health Association of San Francisco, at 855-845-7415. And the national suicide lifeline is always available, 24/7 at 800-273-8255.

This week's episode featured music from: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tycho, Jon Brion, El Ten Eleven, and Aretha Franklin.

If you have a suggestion for a podcast or an audio project we should feature, please drop us a line at thespot@kalw.org.

Tune in next week for another episode of The Spot, only on KALW San Francisco.