
Things Are Not What They Appear To Be

Wherein your correspondent talks of propaganda, faulty perception, the art of magic, Whit Haydn’s theory of conjuring, suspension of disbelief, deception, Buddhist philosophy, and the need to doubt.
Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the commentary as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program heard on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.
Roswell
Rena del Cid and Toni Lindgren get stuck in the spooky New Mexico town when their van breaks down, and make a song out of it.
More at Reina del Cid
Painting The Town
The Big One
Wise Man Didn’t Know They Were Bringing Gifts
Another funny bit from Eleanor Morton
More at Eleanor Morton
Buy A Gun For Your Son
Monday morning, Tom Paxton, one of the best of the political songwriters of the 60s and afterwards, sings a song for Pete Seeger in 1965 about buying war toys. Little did Tom or Pete realize that the problem of war toys would be fully solved in our time by banning toy guns for children and insisting that they use real ones.
Thanks to Mitchel Cohen for pointing out this video.
Thanks to YouTuber funkydudesupreme
Growing Pains
Cards To Pocket
Pop Haydn with another killer magic routine
More at Pop Haydn
Guard Cat
Lalena
Anyone remember this Donovan song? Is it the saddest song in the world?
Thanks to YouTuber Sky Vibes
Every American Rom-Com Set In Ireland
Eleanor Morton and friends nail it!
More at Eleanor Morton
#Mew, Too
Even Educated Fleas Do It
Monday morning, a young Josh takes Mr. Porter’s words to heart.
More at Josh Turner Guitar
Street Games
Street busking is an ancient trade, going back at least to medieval and Renaissance times, with actors and entertainers displaced by enclosure and plague making their living on the streets, dependent on their spectators for their livelihood. Their descendants are still among us today, and modern-day busker Todd Various is one of the best I have ever seen. The cups and balls is the bread and butter of the traveling magician, illustrated in Renaissance woodcuts, but Todd’s execution of it is so sublime, and his manner with an audience is so thoroughly engaging and cunningly crafted, that one wants to reach into the video and put a couple of dollars into his hat.
More at todd various
“A Spectre is Haunting Europe…”

It’s May, and May brings up thoughts of Mayday and revolution and Karl Marx’s birthday, May 5,1818, so I thought it might be worthwhile to read from the surprisingly readable Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels.
Click on the grey triangle or mp3 link above to hear the reading as broadcast today on Arts Express on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the country.
Crab Dinner
3 Levels of Ain’t No Sunshine With Mary Spender
This was fun!
More at Mary Spender
That’s Life
First Day On The Guillotine
Eleanor Morton getting acclimatized to the new work environment.
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Ventura Highway
Monday morning, Chase Eagleson and Josh Turner so damned mellow that you want to strangle them.
More at Chase Eagleson
Every Jack The Ripper Documentary
The versatile and humorous Eleanor Morton takes us down a road we’ve been many times before.
More at Eleanor Morton
The Silk Stocking Sisters

In 1954, the Supreme Court issued their ruling on Brown vs. Board of Education, which was supposed to end segregation in US public schools. While that struggle was most visible in the South, it was occurring in different ways up North. In her book, Desegregation of the New York City Schools: A Story of The Silk Stocking Sisters, author Dr. Theresa Canada was part of a desegregation experiment herself as a student in NYC in the early 1960s.Through her own example and the oral histories of others, A Story of The Silk Stocking Sisters provides insight into the slow process of desegregation and eventual re-segregation within the New York City Public Schools during that time and the lessons learned. I was happy to speak with Dr. Theresa Canada about her experiences.
Click on the grey triangle or mp3 link above to listen to my interview with Dr. Theresa Canada as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica stations across the nation.