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Inflection Point 100: Death by Diversity Initiative & The Myth of Meritocracy

Organizational psychologist Dr. Barbara Adams says there is transformational power for everyone in diversity and inclusivity.




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Al Letson Reveals: Sebastian Gorka on America

This week, Reveal host Al Letson speaks to Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump. Usually, Gorka is sent out by the White House to discuss threats outside the U.S. In this special podcast, he and Al discuss domestic issues.

Gorka talks a lot about the backbone of America, “real Americans” and the people he calls “the chattering classes.” But who are the “chattering classes”? And what is “the real America”? The outspoken Trump adviser lays bare his views on the country.

Head over to revealnews.org for more of our reporting.

Follow us on Facebook at fb.com/ThisIsReveal and on Twitter @reveal.

And to see some of what you’re hearing, we’re also on Instagram @revealnews.




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America’s ring of fire

Last fall, Reveal reporters predicted that wildfires would spread to new parts of the country, and  to more densely populated areas. Now, we revisit that hour with a new story about Kansas, a state that’s battling not only wildfires, but also significant underfunding of its forest firefighter team.

Head over to revealnews.org for more of our reporting.

Follow us on Facebook at fb.com/ThisIsReveal and on Twitter @reveal.

And to see some of what you’re hearing, we’re also on Instagram @revealnews.




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Take No Prisoners: Inside a WWII American War Crime

In December 1944, Adolf Hitler surprised the Allies with a secret counterattack through the Ardennes forest, known today as the Battle of the Bulge. In the carnage that followed, there was one incident that top military commanders hoped would be concealed. It’s the story of an American war crime nearly forgotten to history.

After desperate house-to-house fighting between German and American forces, American soldiers wrested control of the Belgian town of Chenogne. Americans rounded up the remaining German prisoners of war, took them to a field and machine-gunned them.

Reporter Chris Harland-Dunaway found an entry in General George S. Patton’s handwritten diary referring to the incident in Chenogne. Patton called it murder. So why then was there no official investigation?

Through vivid interviews with a 93-year-old veteran who witnessed the event, conversations with historians and the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg Trials, and analysis of formerly confidential military records, we investigate why justice never came for the American soldiers responsible for the massacre at Chenogne.

Don’t miss out on the next big story. Get the Weekly Reveal newsletter today.




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America’s Drug War, Revealed

How a baggie of crack cocaine packed with fear, distortion and misconceptions, and one presidential address in the 1980s, helped shape the war on drugs.

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Don’t miss out on the next big story. Get the Weekly Reveal newsletter today.




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America’s Drug War, Revealed (rebroadcast)

How a baggie of crack cocaine packed with fear, distortion and misconceptions, and one presidential address in the 1980s, helped shape the war on drugs.

Don’t miss out on the next big story. Get the Weekly Reveal newsletter today.




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American Rehab (Trailer)

Reveal is launching its first serialized investigation: American Rehab. In the midst of the worst opioid crisis in America’s history, Reveal uncovers a type of rehab that is flourishing by turning tens of thousands of people desperate for treatment into an unpaid workforce. The eight-episode series will run in Reveal’s podcast feed from March 28 to May 2, 2020.




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Salman Rushdie’s Fantastical American Quest Novel

The New Yorker’s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, talks with Salman Rushdie about “Quichotte,” his apocalyptic quest novel. A few years ago, when the four hundredth anniversary of “Don Quixote” was being celebrated, Rushdie reread Cervantes’s book and found himself newly engaged by a much-improved translation. He immediately began thinking of writing his own story about a “silly old fool,” like Quixote, who becomes obsessed with an unattainable woman and undertakes a quest to win her love. This character became Quichotte (named for the French opera loosely based on “Don Quixote”), who is seeking the love of—or, as she sees it, stalking—a popular talk-show host. As Quichotte journeys to find her, he encounters the truths of contemporary America: the opioid epidemic, white supremacy, the fallout from the War on Terror, and more. “I’ve always really liked the risky thing of writing very close up against the present moment,” Rushdie tells Treisman. “If you do it wrong, it’s a catastrophe. If you do it right, with luck, you somehow capture a moment.” At the same time, the novel gives full rein to Rushdie’s fantastical streak—at one point, for instance, Quichotte comes across a New Jersey town where people turn into mastodons. Treisman talks with the author about the influence of science fiction on his imagination, and about his personal connection to the tragedy of opioids. Rushdie’s much younger sister died from the consequences of addiction, and the book is centrally concerned with siblings trying to reconnect after separation.




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Disasters at America’s Polling Places

On Monday, at the Iowa caucuses, a new smartphone app was used to report the results from each precinct. The app proved faulty, leading to a catastrophic failure to collect and report vote totals. In theory, advances in voting technology make voting easier and more accessible. In practice, they have introduced new vulnerabilities that can be exploited to suppress or undermine the will of the voters. Sue Halpern joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss the recent history of voter suppression and malfunctions at polling places and whether the 2020 election can be saved.




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Mitch McConnell, the Most Dangerous Politician in America

Mitch McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, but he didn’t come to national prominence until the Obama Presidency, when, as the Senate Majority Leader, he emerged as one of the Administration’s most unyielding and effective legislative opponents. In the past three years, McConnell has put his political skills to work in support of Donald Trump’s agenda, despite the lasting damage that his maneuvering is doing to the Senate and to American democracy. Jane Mayer joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss how and why McConnell, who faces reëlection this year, became one of Trump’s staunchest allies.




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The Pandemic Is Wreaking Havoc in America’s Prisons and Jails

Three months ago, Kai Wright, the host of WNYC’s the United States of Anxiety, joined David Remnick for a special episode about the effects of mass incarceration and the movement to end it. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic puts inmates in acute and disproportionate danger, that effort may be gaining new traction. Wright and Remnick reconvene to examine the COVID-19 crisis in prison and its political effects. David Remnick also speaks with Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey, who has signed an executive order to release certain at-risk inmates from states prisons—the sort of measure that would once have been deeply unpopular and risky. “I haven’t really spent any time on the politics,” Governor Murphy says. “In all the steps we’ve taken, we’re trying to make the call as best we can, based on the facts, based on the data, based on the science.” And Kai Wright interviews Udi Ofer, the head of the A.C.L.U.’s Justice Division, who notes that “the communities that the C.D.C. has told us are most vulnerable to COVID-19 are exactly the communities that are housed in our nation’s jails and prisons,” including a disproportionately older population among inmates. Given the lack of social distancing and, in many cases, substandard hygienic conditions, Ofer says that reducing the inmate population “literally is a life-and-death situation.”




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962- Keller & The Keels, Town Mountain, Fruition, The End of America, Diana DeMuth

Performances by Keller & The Keels, Town Mountain, Fruition, The End of America and Diana DeMuth. Recorded February 9, 2020Support is provided by Adventures on the Gorge. https://adventuresonthegorge.com/




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Reconstructing A Final Chapter Of The American Slave Trade

Savannah businessman Charles Lamar on Nov. 28, 1858, became the first person in 40 years to land a slave ship on American soil. That event is the subject of Jim Jordan’s new book, “ The Slave-Trader’s Letter-Book: Charles Lamer, the Wanderer, and other Tales of the African Slave Trade .” Jordan was able to reconstruct the story because he got his hands on valuable research material — Charles Lamar’s own letters, which most historians didn’t even believe existed.




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Limericks

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.




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How The Bank Of America Is Dealing With The Coronavirus Crisis

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: On a day when the U.S. unemployment rate soared to nearly 15%, the worst level since the Great Depression, we're thinking about all the Americans affected, all the jobs lost - 20.5 million in April. And it seemed a good day to hear from one of the major stakeholders in the U.S. financial system, not to mention a major employer. Brian Moynihan is the CEO of Bank of America. He joins me now. He's on the line from Boston. Mr. Moynihan, welcome. BRIAN MOYNIHAN: It's good to be here. Thank you for having me. KELLY: I wonder if you would start with how this moment is playing out at Bank of America itself. More than 200,000 people report to you. You have done no layoffs, and more stunningly, you've committed to doing no layoffs through the end of 2020. How are you managing that in this moment when so many jobs are being cut? MOYNIHAN: I think we need to back up and, as always, remember that this is a health care crisis that is




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Lawmakers Want To Get Americans More Relief Money. Here's What They Propose

Updated at 3:20 p.m. ET Democrats and some Republicans are considering ways for the federal government to get money into people's pockets while the coronavirus is keeping much of the economy on ice. Proposals for the next round of aid are being floated, and Democrats in the House are prepping another relief package as jobless claims continue to rise in the country. The Labor Department announced Friday that 20.5 million jobs were lost in April, pushing the overall unemployment rate to 14.7 %. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., hopes to release another bill, which is being crafted without the input of Republicans or the White House as early as next week. "This is a reflection of the needs of the American people," Pelosi said Thursday. "We have to start someplace and, rather than starting in a way that does not meet the needs of the American people, want to set a standard." The latest proposal from Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Ed Markey D-Mass., is a plan





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OST Full Show: The Merits, Risks, Politics Of The Swedish Model; COVID Dreams; Sue Monk Kidd

Compared to the lockdowns and shuttered businesses in countries across the world, Sweden is an outlier. Swedish officials have advised citizens to work from home and avoid travel, but most schools and businesses have remained open. This relaxed approach aims to minimize impact on the economy, and slow the spread of the virus through what is known as “herd immunity.” Now, as the U.S. weighs further spreading the disease against the impact of a tanked economy, some Americans — particularly conservatives — are looking toward Sweden’s model as an option. On Second Thought unpacks the merits, risks and strategy behind Sweden’s approach, and what has become a political talking point here in the U.S.




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The Merits, Risks And Politics of Sweden's Herd Immunity Strategy

Compared to the lockdowns and shuttered businesses in countries across the world, Sweden is an outlier. Swedish officials have advised citizens to work from home and avoid travel, but most schools and businesses have remained open. This relaxed approach aims to minimize impact on the economy and slow the spread of the virus through what is known as “herd immunity.” But striving for herd immunity without a controlled vaccine in place can also prove risky.




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OST Full Show: The Merits, Risks, Politics Of The Swedish Model; COVID Dreams; Sue Monk Kidd

Compared to the lockdowns and shuttered businesses in countries across the world, Sweden is an outlier. Swedish officials have advised citizens to work from home and avoid travel, but most schools and businesses have remained open. This relaxed approach aims to minimize impact on the economy, and slow the spread of the virus through what is known as “herd immunity.” Now, as the U.S. weighs further spreading the disease against the impact of a tanked economy, some Americans — particularly conservatives — are looking toward Sweden’s model as an option. On Second Thought unpacks the merits, risks and strategy behind Sweden’s approach, and what has become a political talking point here in the U.S.




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The Merits, Risks And Politics of Sweden's Herd Immunity Strategy

Compared to the lockdowns and shuttered businesses in countries across the world, Sweden is an outlier. Swedish officials have advised citizens to work from home and avoid travel, but most schools and businesses have remained open. This relaxed approach aims to minimize impact on the economy and slow the spread of the virus through what is known as “herd immunity.” But striving for herd immunity without a controlled vaccine in place can also prove risky.




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Episode 0x32: Matthew Garrett on UEFI at LinuxCon North America 2012

Karen and Bradley play and discuss Matthew Garrett's talk, Linux in a UEFI Secure Boot World talk from LinuxCon North America 2012.

Show Notes:

Segment 0 (00:34)

Segment 1 (08:43)

The slides from Matthew Garrett's LinuxCon North America 2012 talk, Linux in a UEFI Secure Boot World are available.

Segment 2 (51:35)


Send feedback and comments on the cast to <oggcast@faif.us>. You can keep in touch with Free as in Freedom on our IRC channel, #faif on irc.freenode.net, and by following Conservancy on on Twitter and and FaiF on Twitter.

Free as in Freedom is produced by Dan Lynch of danlynch.org. Theme music written and performed by Mike Tarantino with Charlie Paxson on drums.

The content of this audcast, and the accompanying show notes and music are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0).




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Episode 0x33: Richard Fontana at LinuxCon North America 2012

Karen and Bradley play and discuss Richard Fontana's LinuxCon North America 2012 talk, The Tragedy of the Commons Gatekeepers.

Show Notes:

Segment 0 (00:33)

Bradley and Karen introduce Richard Fontana's talk.

Segment 1 (02:48)

Richard Fontana's slides are available online, and there is also a well-written summary of the talk available on LWN.

Segment 2 (47:15)

Karen and Bradley discuss Fontana's talk.


Send feedback and comments on the cast to <oggcast@faif.us>. You can keep in touch with Free as in Freedom on our IRC channel, #faif on irc.freenode.net, and by following Conservancy on on Twitter and and FaiF on Twitter.

Free as in Freedom is produced by Dan Lynch of danlynch.org. Theme music written and performed by Mike Tarantino with Charlie Paxson on drums.

The content of this audcast, and the accompanying show notes and music are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0).




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Race In America

Race in America This month’s episode recognizes Black History Month by bringing together several scholars for a discussion of race in contemporary America. As we look back on 2014, we celebrate the achievements of African-Americans, but we also find racial inequality and abuses of power and privilege that continue to endanger and oppress non-white Americans....




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The Summit on Race in America, pt. 1 (Ep. 29, 2019)

On this week’s program, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Shemekiah Copeland, and Wyclef Jean at The Summit on Race in America: Liberty and Justice for All, held this Spring at the LBJ Presidential Library, on the campus of the University of Texas...




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The Summit on Race in America, pt. 2 (Ep. 30, 2019)

On this week’s program, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes a discussion with James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Shemekiah Copeland, and Wyclef Jean at The Summit on Race in America: Liberty and Justice for All, held this Spring at the LBJ Presidential Library, on the campus of the University of Texas...




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Michael Pack: Trump Pushes for Senate to Confirm Conservative to Run Voice of America

A key Senate committee has scheduled a vote on the long-stalled nomination of Michael Pack, an ally of Stephen K. Bannon, to run the agency in charge of the Voice of America. Employees are worried.




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AWARD / GRANT: Artist Relief - Coronavirus - Americans For The Arts

To support artists during the COVID-19 crisis, a coalition of national arts grantmakers have come together to create an emergency initiative to offer financial and informational resources to artists across the United States. Artist Relief will distribute $5,000 grants to artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19; serve as an ongoing informational resource; and co-launch the ...




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Nintendo of America sends home workers after employee tests positive for coronavirus


Nintendo of America has confirmed that an employee from its Redmond-based studio in Washington has tested positive for coronavirus. All other employees who had contact with them are now in self-quarantine even if asymptomatic, Nintendo wrote in a statement sent to The Washington Post. Upon learning the diagnosis, Nintendo of America alerted the public health […]




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A native plant guru’s radical vision for the American yard and the environment


How your garden can help the planet and all life around you.




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Vigor’s latest chapter underscores the crisis of American shipbuilding


Will private equity boost the Northwest's most important shipbuilder or look for a fast buck? Behind the question is the long and dangerous decline of a vital industry.




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The final insult: Women’s World Cup final forced to compete with Copa America, CONCACAF


Megan Rapinoe considers Sunday to be the final insult. The Women's World Cup final will have to compete with two others men's finals, the Copa America and the CONCACAF Gold Cup. "It's ridiculous, and disappointing, to be honest," Rapinoe said.




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America’s marijuana growers are the best in the world, but federal laws are keeping them out of global markets


The U.S. marijuana business has the potential to grow into a global industry, challenging Canadian cannabis growers.




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2 Seattle spots make GQ’s list of ‘Best New Restaurants in America in 2020’


GQ food writer Brett Martin visited 23 cities and 93 restaurants looking for the most exciting new places to eat. He found two home runs in Seattle.




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Frozen in place: Americans are moving at the lowest rate on record


People move far less than they used to: Just 9.8% of Americans moved in the year ending in March, according to newly released data. That was the smallest share since the Census Bureau started tracking it in 1947.




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Escape into American history with these 6 books, which offer lessons of leadership for trying times


This is a stressful, frightening and unprecedented time in American history. Nonfiction books can inform us about past disasters in American history, and help guide us as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic.




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It’s starting to feel like Seattle is being symbolically quarantined from America as coronavirus spreads


As Trump bashes our governor and the streets of Seattle get emptier, it's starting to seem like we're being cut off a bit from America — if not blamed for the outbreak altogether. "It feels like we're going it alone," says one relative of a resident at Life Care Center in Kirkland.




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‘Essential’ but unwanted: Coronavirus reveals another American double standard


Farm field workers, many undocumented, have now been categorized by the Department of Homeland Security as "essential critical infrastructure workers" during the pandemic.




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What U.S. leaders say affects whether Americans stay home during coronavirus pandemic, CDC data suggests


The decision by Americans to hunker down during the coronavirus pandemic has been heavily influenced by pronouncements from national and local leaders, according to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report offers the most robust information to date showing the relationship between people’s behavior and official policies announced by […]




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Princess Cruises and Holland America cancel remaining cruises out of Seattle


Before the coronavirus pandemic, 232 cruise ships were slated to call in Seattle in 2020. After the latest cancellations, just 71 are still scheduled.




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Biden Wins Three States and Takes Commaning Lead, as Virus Reshape American Politics


Joe Biden easily defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders in three major primaries on Tuesday, all but extinguishing Sanders’ chances for a comeback, as anxious Americans turned out to vote amid a series of cascading disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic. Biden, the former vice president, won by wide margins in Florida and Illinois and also carried Arizona, […]



  • Nation & World

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How The Bank Of America Is Dealing With The Coronavirus Crisis

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Brian Moynihan, the Bank of America CEO, about banks raking in fees from the Paycheck Protection Program.




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What Would A Sharp Decline In Remittances Mean For Latin America

Immigrants in the U.S. sent an estimated $150 billion to their home countries in 2019 — half to Latin America and the Caribbean. The World Bank is predicting a sharp decline in remittances this year.




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Stock Alert: Biomerica Shares Soar 28% In Premarket

Shares of Biomerica Inc. (BMRA) are surging over 28% in pre-market today, after the company announced that it has received a CE mark and launched a new high-volume production version of its COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test (a finger prick blood test with results in 10 minutes, that can be performed by trained professionals anywhere) being sold in countries outside the US.




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Stock Alert: Chimerix Shares Up 35% In Premarket

Shares of Chimerix Inc. (CMRX) are surging over 35% in pre-market today, after the company announced initiation of a Phase 2/3 study of dociparstat sodium or DSTAT in COVID-19 patients with acute lung injury or ALI.




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Stock Alert: American Express Down 3%

Shares of American Express Co. (AXP) are declining almost 3 percent or $2.50 in Monday's morning trade at $5.82 despite no stock-specific news. The stock has traded in a range of $67.00 to $138.13 in the past 52 weeks.




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How The Bank Of America Is Dealing With The Coronavirus Crisis

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Brian Moynihan, the Bank of America CEO, about banks raking in fees from the Paycheck Protection Program.




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Meridian Bioscience Boosts FY19 Adj. EPS Outlook - Quick Facts

While reporting financial results for the second quarter on Friday, life science company Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (VIVO) raised its adjusted earnings and revenue guidance for the full year 2020, despite the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the unprecedented demand for its Life Science products.




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GLASS, P.: Violin Concerto No. 2, `American Four Seasons` / Violin Sonata (Plawner, Vila, Bern Chamber Orchestra, P. Bach) (8.559865)

Philip Glass has become an iconic figure in American music. His works are often inspired by collaborations with other leading musicians, and the proposal of an “American Four Seasons” by the violinist Robert McDuffie to reflect Vivaldi’s famous masterpiece resulted in a concerto which evokes the Baroque spirit of early 18th-century violin tradition. With the Concerto’s range of moods, listeners are invited to decide for themselves which season the music evokes. The Violin Sonata sees Glass’s melodic and harmonic language haunted by the ghosts of Brahms, Fauré and Franck, “the meditativeness of this piece bringing a unique energy” for award-winning violinist Piotr Plawner.




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Guitar Concertos (Italian) - BOCCADORO, C. / GIULIANI, M. / SOLLIMA, G. / VIVALDI, A. (Segre, I Pomeriggi Musicali, Boccadoro) (DE3546)