Radiolab - Radiolab Remixed

Episode Date: July 2, 2012

Turning ideas into radio is one of the most exciting, frustrating, rewarding, and insanely fun things there is. Which got us thinking--why not ask you to join in on the fun? So we teamed up with Indaba for our first-ever remix competition. And now we get to play the winners.  

Wait, you're listening. Okay. All right. Okay. All right. You're listening to something very cool. It's not Radio Lab, the beautiful show that we do here. From N-N-N-P-R-Y.

H-C. Yes. Hey, I'm Chad Abum-Rod. I'm Robert Crilwich. This is Radio Lab. The podcast. Remixed. So here's the thing.

We make this show. And we worry about each and every word, every sound, every breath. But really what we're hoping for is that the stuff ends up in your head and just become some set of thoughts that we could have never imagined. So with that in mind, a couple months ago, we teamed up with this site called Indaba Music to host a Radio Lab remix contest. What we did was we put out a bunch of our stories, but as multi-track versions so that the voice, the interviews, the music,

Everything is separated out on its own track. So people could take what we've done and do anything they want with us. Anything. And they did. And our job was to pick a bunch of winners. So here we are with the results of the first ever, not necessarily annual Radio Lab remix contest. Yes. Five months straight, you flip through magazines while sitting on.

We got 136 submissions. Every style that you can imagine. And we're going to play a... a couple for you right now, some of the winners. Right. So let's just jump in with the Grand Prize winner. So one of the pieces that we offered as remix material was this one. In the afterlife, you relive all your experiences, but this time, with the events reshuffled

into a new order. It was from our afterlife show, and it was a story called Some, which was written by David Eagleman, read for us by actor Jeffrey Tambor, and the idea of the story was to imagine a version of the afterlife where all the moments of your life would be clumped together by category. For five months straight, you flip through magazines while sitting on a toilet. You take all your pain at once, all 27 intense hours of it. The story itself is kind of a remix in a way. Yeah. It's a really funny story and poignant at times. And a lot of people chose to remix this story, including our Graham Prize winner. My name is David Minnick. That's him. Is that all you

what? We'll hear more from David Menick in just a second. First, let's hear his remix. This is some written by David Eagleman, read by a Jeffrey Tambor, originally produced by Radio Lab and remixed by David Minnick. All right, try it. Take two. In the afterlife, you relive all your experiences, but this time, with the events we shuffled into a new order. You see, all the moments that share a quality are grouped together. For instance, two years of boredom staring out of bus window sitting in an airport two years of boredom staring out of bus window sitting in an airport two years of boredom staring out of bus window sitting in an airport two years of boredom

staring out of bus window sitting in an airport two years of boredom staring out of bus window sitting in an airport two years of boredom staring out of the bus window sitting in an airport two years of boredom waiting and looking for loss items looking for lost items looking for lost items looking for lost items looking for lost items 15 months looking for lost items looking for lost items looking for lost items seven months having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex having sex Having sex, seven months, having sex, having sex, having sex, having sex, having sex, having sex, having sex, having sex, having sex, seven months, having sex, having sex, sex. And you it's because you can't take a shower until it's time to take your marathon. Chower.

200 day Chowl. Wow. I would like to do a whole show like that. I would shoot myself if we did a whole show like that. Really? Oh, because you know why it's too Broadway for you? I'm realizing this.

For me, this was like it was the best. It was like it was Broadway in a way that made me hurt. But it was also like it was also just a feat of composing. If I could wake up in the morning and say, I think I'm going to go to the bathroom now. I think I'm going to go to the bathroom now. Oh, I'd kill myself. That would be so wonderful for me.

Hello. Hey. Hey. Is this David? Yes, it is. How are you? Hi, David. This is Jed.

Hi, Jed. We liked your thing a lot. That was really something. Thank you so much. Although, truthfully, we kind of disagreed. Robert loved it. I was amazed at what you've done, but it was a little too broadway for me. That's not my fault.

You've got to talk to Jeffrey Tambour about that. No, I'm not. I don't like show tunes either, but his voice was already musical. David explained to us. Each line of Tambor's read would guide him to a new melody and a new style. Because he's an actor. He's a really good actor, and so his voice actually follows pitch patterns. Five months straight, you flip through magazines while sitting on a toilet. Flip through magazines while sitting on a toilet.

For five months straight, you flip through magazines while sitting on a toilet. And a lot of them actually suggested the type of music, like driving the street in front of your house. Driving the street in front of your house. Was already in rhythm. Driving the street in front of your house. That one I could actually hear the first time. Really? If you listen to the melody enough times, and then you start putting chords to it,

it inevitably suggests some sort of style of music. Five weeks driving lost. Five weeks driving lost. Five weeks driving lost. Five weeks driving lost. Five weeks driving lost, lost. Two weeks wondering what happened when you die. Two weeks wondering what happened when you die. Two weeks wondering what happened when you die. Six days clipping your nails. Six days clipping your nails. Six days clipping your nails. Six days clipping your nails. I just wanted the whole idea of the story to be manifested in music. So you actually feel the long lengths of time when it's two years of doing this, a little less when it's 18 months.

15 hours writing your signature. And you get shorter and shorter. Seven hours vomiting. And then when he describes that you imagine your life, all the events in your life being in different order, like real life actually is. on earth. I just wanted to cut from one thing to another to another to another in random order, sort of the way life actually works.

It is part of the afterlife. You imagine something... Waiting for a green light. Analogous to your earthly life. Reading books. And the thought. Cars crest is blissful. Watching commercials. A life where episodes are split into tiny, shallowable pieces.

Swallowing. Moments do not endure. Counting money. You sleep. Where one experience is the joy of jumping from one event to the next like a child. Thought, hopping from spot to spot. Skin is cut on the burning sand. Working, babies are born.

For instance, flipping your nails, staring out the bus window, waiting for a green light shower, having sex. Reading books, hopping from spot to spot. Cars crash, counting money, swallowing, swallowing. Your eyes hurt, tying shoelaces, staring into the refrigerator without opening your eyes. Shower. How long did this take you? Well, all told about 60 hours.

60 straight hours? Oh, no, no, no. I've got three kids. I can't stay up that. 60 hours over a period of a few weeks. My actual job is a piano teacher and a church organist, and I teach a couple of music theory courses at a two-year college. That's what I actually get paid for. I don't get paid for this time. It's just fun. How often do you do this kind of thing?

I've entered probably about 30 contests since 2009. Really? What sorts of contests? Well, there was the Snoop Dog contest, and I turned it into a pirate song, a pirate shanty. I just had him singing over pirate music, change his rhythm to make it a sea shanty. Snoop is what they say as if they knew me. Group ads on my head like a coofeet. My nigger kid cut it.

That's my little buddy. Call some holes up and get some cutty, cutty, cut it. What's your life like? Mine's is kind of tight. A long way from hustling. Well, so David Minnick was our grand prize winner. He gets $500. A ticket to the live show and a back rub from Robert.

I didn't know I was doing backrubs. I just put that in there. But now it's on tape. You got to do it. And let me just say one thing before we do any more winners. And this is in reference to the whole Broadway thing. If we're going to be representative of the kinds of things that we got in, most of the submissions, like I would say about 100 of them, sounded like this.

Just sort of four on the floor techno, which I gotta admit, you know, not being a Broadway guy, I sort of like the stuff. You like this stuff? Yeah, I mean, lower the lights, put the smoke machine on, I am all about that one. I actually listen to stuff like this when I'm writing. Really? Yeah. It's just like the sound of energy. I am so sorry for you because not only do you lack any Broadway, but you believe in this.

techno? I just think it's a tasty little loop. It's a great loop. How do I know you? Okay, we'll be right back and we will have the runners up. Some of them pretty fabulous. Could have taken the crown. And one of our rematchers actually ended up being Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky. He threw together a breakbeat based on some material from our limits show. And here it is. to lovingly support some underwriting. Hi, this is Whitney from Richmond, Virginia.

Radio Lab is supported by GFI, creators of Viper antivirus. Viper is designed to protect personal computers from malware threats, including viruses, biware, Trojans, worms, and adware without slowing down the computer. For a special offer, visit tri-viper.com. Click the mic and enter code Radio Lab. Thanks. End of message. Hello, this is Hannah, and this is Molly.

And we're from San Jose, California. Stitcher is having a contest for one of its users to fly to Seattle the weekend of August 25th to see Radio Lab's live show in the dark. The winner of Stitcher's flyaway contest will receive round-trip airfare for two, an overnight stay in a hotel, front row seats, and a meet and greet before the show. Stitcher users can only enter the contest by listening to Radio Lab on the Stitcher app and clicking on the contest banner to register. The Stitcher mobile app is available in app stores and at Stitcher.com. That's it. Say bye. Okay, so we're back with the results from the Radio Lab remix competition. We just heard our grand prize winner.

Now the runner's up. This first one is from a fellow named Jeff Barr. He's actually the editor for a really cool podcast named Risk, and he calls this one pacing about the lab. You know, that, that, that, that, tails. One, two, three. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 18, 27, 37, 5, 71, 200, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7. 7. With me.

Really got tuned into... That's Jeff. The sounds that aren't meant to be music, but come off as music to me, so I just play with that and turn it into songs. Mother. Mother. It never occurred to me that there might be any other explanation. Big fat slice of chocolate, eh? What? There was...

There was... There was... Two-too-bo-ba. There was... Tugentzah! We... Are you... No, it is...

Ha-no-it-no-is-g... ...we-g... ...are you still... ...no-it-no-no-k... ...no-it-no-no-stch... ...and-no-the-go-the-the-the-the-g... It's just... I know.

This is... We're... Are you? No. It's just... I know. This is a total where we... Yeah.

Are you... Sill, it's... Woo! Woo! Woo! Mm-hmm. You have to make me think of. It's like if Radio Lab were an actual place in some alternate dimension,

Mm-hmm. That would be like the sound of the dead space between thoughts where you're just pacing around. Right. Or maybe... Or perhaps it's what the studio is dreaming about when you're not in it. Oh, I like that. Random. Sounds like it means random.

That is, random sounds like it means random. That is, random sounds like it means seven. And, of course, there are other award-winning, what do you go, runners-up out there, winners. And you can listen to them, the ones we've chosen on our website, also on Endaba's website, but we now have, I got to say, the one that really, really delighted us. It's neither a runner-up nor the grand prize winner.

Maybe we would call this the... Director's choice about that. the director's choice. So just to set this one up, we had a show about vertigo, actually, about a disease. We turned up an essay from Burton Ruchet. Of the New Yorker. Who pretty much invented the whole genre of medical mysteries. Anyhow, many, many years ago, he interviews this woman about something she's going through and writes an article about it. And we had actually actress Hope Davis dramatized the reading.

I'd been home about an hour. Dinner was ready and waiting in the oven. And I was sitting at the piano. Basically in this essay, this woman loses control of her body. I started across the room. I felt the floor sort of shake. Good heavens, I said, what was that? Things begin to tilt. The world gets very strange and out of scale.

Her arms begin to feel like they're lengthening and then contracting. She just completely loses her relationship to the planet Earth. Frank just looked at me. His face was a perfect blank. He made some way. remark about old buildings stretching and settling and handed me my drink. Now, she's suffering from a disease called Vertigo. That's what the whole essay is about, the surprising symptoms that happen when you get Vertigo. Listen to what these two remixers,

two guys who did this next remix, listen to how they take that idea of vertigo and flip it. Everything was quite ordinary and normal until Frank came alone. He was a presence in a suit. He was smooth. solid and certain she could tell the way he moved. He saved confidence and savored every breath he ever drew. And she was a leaf, just let loose from the tree. No idea what she was supposed to be or to do. She was just an outline, some notes on some loose leaf paper.

And paper was something he knew how to use. He worked for the paper, capturing the news. A molder of material out looking for a muse or amusement. She was infused with consumed by his every movement. His blue eyes became her new sky. They spread across the room. They bled over the edges of her vision and her view was the hue that colored the few things she thought she knew. Two pools that overflowed his face and changed the way she moved.

I thought the floor saw it. The floor gave a shake. A shake. I could feel a little. And sank. It went down and up. It was as if I were sinking into the floor. The tilt and I'd take a step and the floor was like.

It would give under my foot and I would sink. So can you guys introduce yourselves? Oh, my name is Mark Godfrey, and I go by Daimyo as a producer in the world of production, so Chibby to Chang. And my name is Ryan Vincent. I go by Sketch Lightly in the world of hip-hop music, Changadie Ching. So Ryan's the rapper on this thing, and Mark's the guy who makes the music. Well, I think all I gave him at first was, like, listen to the stems. I think I could write something about this interpreting Vertigo as something about love.

and positives and negatives. And he kind of went from there and made all of the music. Yeah, it was kind of, I don't know, came out of nowhere, so I was just trying to make something that would fit with his style. Now, how did you go up with the idea of taking vertigo, which is a disease

where you lose your balance and your relationship to gravity and making that about love and losing yourself in another person? Yeah, I don't know, listening to the other pieces that were submitted before, People would either just leave all the vocals basically the same

and just do different musical arrangements underneath. And then there were some that would take the vocals and chop them up in all crazy ways. And it was really awesome to listen to it. But being a fan of the show, I guess I kind of miss the story sometimes, like just the feeling from the story. So I tried to think of a way that I could kind of sit in between there. So just the idea of vertigo,

just the feelings described in the original piece, made me think of love, not knowing. where you, how the space works anymore. I think it's a lot like the way people describe falling in love where you're just, everything seems different. Right, exactly. Is that just something that made sense to you in the abstract or were you drawing from personal experience or something?

I don't know. Is there something behind that? I guess it's definitely drawing from personal experience, but I guess these two guys have been in love for a very, very long time. This is a kind of confessional thing. I mean, you could tell if you ever see us in the same room. My leg starts cranking up towards me and then the walls start moving in on me. It's such a sweet guy.

No, that's an honest question. Is there a real answer to that? Yeah, no, there is. So when I heard the feeling described in the piece, my question of myself was, why can I relate to this? Like, why does that make sense to me? Because I've never been there. I've never had vertigo.

But for me, I guess, I mean, getting really personal. I'm, I mean, I'm divorced. I'm really young and divorced, I guess, for most people. But just the second verse talks a lot about this unsure feeling when your identity becomes lost in someone else, when you're not sure where you stop and they begin. And that can be a really great thing, but also can be really troubling.

And when you're not sure, what you are on your own anymore, I guess. And I guess I have gone through that. It all happened so quickly head spinning turned to wedding ring. She was his completely, and he was her everything, and she was everything in turn, but only in turn. She was Frank's wife first, and nobody third. And second, she was someone who she couldn't quite pin down,

the woman that she was before she lost herself in his smile, but he was so handsome and successful in her husband, and that had to say something about the woman who loved him, right? These were the questions that kept her up at night eyes. Why did the sky, wondering what it would be like if the sun's light didn't strike the moment? She shuddered, shut her eyes and pressed herself against his side. I was jealous. I began to move and at a different. I was conscious of a new dimension. I had a new relationship to space. My arms. My whole body felt different.

It had no permanent shape. I seemed to be completely at the mercy of some outside force. I was amorphous. Right, that's not a person who's safe. That's not a happy feeling. So in that scenario, I don't want to be too literal about this, but who, are you, you're talking from the perspective of the woman about a guy named Frank. I assume that you're closer spiritually to the woman's perspective in this case. Right, I guess I would say I would more closely associate to the female character.

Right. She just has all these thoughts and questions, but then the last line is like she shuddered, shut her eyes and pressed herself against his side. So she's kind of brushing those away because it was scary and going back to security and comfort. But we don't yet know whether she's going to go solo. That's very true. Thank you. Paying attention.

No, it's a very subtle line at the end that, I don't know. I meant it to be that way because I didn't want it to feel decisive. So you wrote this from the perspective of somebody who's in the middle of it. Right, I guess from the perspective of someone who's in the middle of it and not sure if she even really wants to be on the outside of it, but feels like maybe she should. It's a strange place to be. I guess I sat there for a long time. You know what's kind of like humbling about that whole thing for me? Is it like they found something that was in the story that we didn't even know was in there.

That thing is kind of beautiful. Yeah. Well, see, that's the thing. When this idea was created, it wasn't created by me, because I thought it was insane. I thought why would people in the busyness of their lives go into our raw material and resculpt it? I said, nobody is going to do that. It's just dumb. But the fact that 136 people took the time to do it, it brought so much talent and energy and cleverness and interestingness to the whole thing.

It's just, I don't know what to call it. Well, I think it's kind of wonderful is what it is. Yeah, it's just cool. So thank you to everybody that entered. Thank you. And thank you to Indaba for making this possible for us. You can hear a bunch of the remixes on Indaba's website. That's indaba music.com, and they run a site that's really extraordinary

because it gets a whole bunch of people who love music and love mixing music together. Yeah. So thank you, Endaba. Yeah. I'm Chad Abumran. I'm Robert Krollwitch. Thank you for re-listening. Hi, my name is Marty Foda.

I'm a radio lab listener from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Radio Lab is supported in part by the National Science Foundation and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, enhancing public understanding of science and technology in the modern world. More information about Sloan at www.sloan.org. Thank you. End of message.