Development of "American Icons," a special series for broadcast within Public Radio International's Studio 360.

American Icons on Studio 360 is a recurring series of special features embedded within Studio 360 which examines time-tested works – of literature, music, film, architecture, design or visual art – that have achieved the status of an “icon” in American culture. Since the series was first launched in 2001 with funding from the NEH, Studio 360 has produced three American Icons seasons on topics ranging from Moby-Dick to The House of Mirth to The Autobiography of Malcolm X; from The Wizard of Oz to I Love Lucy; from Appalachian Spring to “Anything Goes” to Kind of Blue; and from Monticello to Fallingwater to the Vietnam War Memorial. The requested NEH funds will enable us to produce 3 new segments to be aired in the coming summer and fall. The three new segments we would like to produce are: 1) “Amazing Grace” – how this 18^th century hymn became America’s spiritual national anthem, and why its message of sin and redemption resonates so deeply with Americans, both religious and secular; 2) Shaft, Gordon Parks – how this film and its award-winning funk soundtrack by Isaac Hayes unleashed the Blaxploitation boom and created a new popular iconography of blackness; 3) Leonard Bernstein’s Young Peoples Concerts – how this popular concert series enchanted a generation of young people, and changed the meaning of “music appreciation” during the era of rock and roll. Along with the completely new material, we would like to update an re-release the 14 hour long shows already in our inventory, creating an interim series that mixes original pieces with restored episodes, in order to help maintain the continuity of the American Icons brand and keep the series fresh and alive in our listeners’ minds.

Production of four hour-long radio programs and five shorter segments on iconic works of American culture for Public Radio International's Studio 360, together with development and production of digital companion materials.

"American Icons" is a group of specially-developed and produced programs and stories to be broadcast within Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, a weekly one-hour public radio show about creativity, the arts and humanities co-produced by PRI and WNYC Radio and distributed nationally by PRI. Each of the "American Icons" programs or stories will examine a classic work -- of literature, music, film, architecture, theater or visual art -- that has achieved the status of an "icon" in American culture. Online extensions and interactive features will invite audience participation and engagement. For each subject, a range of stories will explore the historical and social context of the work itself, the contradictions and controversies surrounding its creation, what it signified when it was first created, and what it has come to signify over time.