Pulling Back the Curtain on "Oaf"
Featured on the May 25, 2018 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:
- Federal officials recently issued a grim forecast for the Colorado River. After a winter with very little snow in the Rockies, The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says there's more than a fifty percent chance that Lake Mead will fall into shortage in 2020. That's ramping up pressure on lower basin states to sign onto a plan to reduce their water usage. Vanessa Barchfield teamed up with the Arizona Daily Star's Tony Davis to explore what the plan is, and why Arizonans - in particular - should care.
- The new play Oaf at The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre in Tucson is an almost wordless odyssey into the bizarre world of a circus performer who often finds the challenges of life stacked against him. Andrew Brown profiles co-creator/ director Wolfe Bowart and co-creator / performer Matt Walley about creating art that is "NOT intended for mature audiences".
- PBS is inviting everyone to read more books this summer with The Great American Read, and you can help to decide which book deserves to be called America's best loved novel. Mark McLemore meets some avid readers at the Murphy-Wilmot library in Tucson to ask for their recommendations, regardless of whether the book they love made the The Great American Read 100 book list.
- And, meet Paul Grady Lee, a Tucson resident who has found comfort and relief in in the sound produced by ancient instruments called Tibetan singing bowls. Tony Paniagua finds out why Lee thinks it is important to share these healing sounds with others in the community.
Arizona Spotlight airs every Thursday at 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and every Friday at 8:00 pm on NPR 89.1 FM / 1550 AM. You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, or the NPR App. See more from Arizona Spotlight.