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“In South Korea, Old Law Leads To New Crackdown”
By Louisa Lim

Voiceover heard at 0:51 through 1:07 and 1:36 through 1:44.

duration: 5:13

Listen to the story at npr.org

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“‘Cake Theory’ Has Chinese Eating Up Political Debate”
By Louisa Lim

Voiceover heard at 2:04 through 2:17 and 4:05 through 4:25.

duration: 5:25

Listen to the story at npr.org

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“Chinese Activists Turn To Twitter In Rights Cases”
By Louisa Lim

Voiceover heard at 3:26 through 4:33.

duration: 5:04

Listen to the story at npr.org

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“Data Show Housing Market Starting To Brighten”
By Tovia Smith

NPR’s Boston correspondent, Tovia Smith was working on a story about the housing market in the Los Angeles area.  She contacted NPR West for a tape-syncer and I was assigned to help with the story.  My job was to record Real Estate Agent Debra Berman as she showed off a property in Playa Vista to a potential buyer.  I was then asked to record Debra’s responses as Tovia interviewed her on a cell phone.

duration: 3:37

Listen to the story at npr.org

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“At LAX, TSA Workers Sing Cheer Into Holiday Travel”

Just a day before my internship at NPR ended, I was sent to record a performance for Weekend Edition Sunday.  The performance was at Los Angeles International Airport featuring a chorus comprised of TSA Officers.  I recorded the musical set in the International Terminal and conducted a tape-sync interview between Chorus Director Ray Matute and NPR’s Audie Cornish in Washington.  It was a nice, festive way to finish things off at NPR.

duration: 2:44

Listen to the story at npr.org

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“Wall Street Protests Stretch On, Reasons Vary”
By Joel Rose

As the Occupy Protests began gaining momentum earlier this fall, Los Angeles was starting to see a slow emergence of activists outside City Hall in Downtown L.A.  I was assigned to gather audio from the protests and ask people what they were fighting for.  Answers were varied and there was no clear issue.  When I arrived in early October, attendance was low and only 50 tents were set up outside.  However, that number would steadily increase over the course of October and November.  For this report by Joel Rose aired on All things Considered, he included an interview I conducted with a young activist named Sarah McGovern, heard from 2:57 through 3:17.

duration: 3:23

Listen to the story at npr.org

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By Daniel Hajek

Ryan Bingham performs the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Nov. 19th, 2011. Photo by David Bazemore

Until recently, guitarist Ryan Bingham’s life has played out like a country song. He’s endured long hours on the road, playing small gigs in smoky bars and losing a close friend.  But then the improbable happened. He was discovered, signed to Nashville’s Lost Highway Records and is working on his fourth studio album. Despite the success, Bingham still sounds at home on the open road.

duration: 6:11

Listen to the story at npr.org

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“Giving Life To The Law: Drawings from the Courtroom”

By Daniel Hajek

Mona Shafer Edwards' courtroom sketch of Lindsay Lohan and her Christian Louboutin shoes. Photo courtesy of Mona Shafer Edwards

For the last 25 years, Los Angeles courtroom illustrator Mona Shafer Edwards has taken the public into a place where cameras aren’t allowed: The Courtroom.

duration: 3:28

Listen to the story at npr.org

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By Daniel Hajek

Ordinance 42.15 will regulate vendors along the Boardwalk on Venice Beach.

On December 13, 2011, the Los Angeles City Council voted to regulate vending on the famed Venice Beach Boardwalk. By late January 2012, street vendors on the West side of the walk will be evicted in hopes to make way for more artists and performers. I was assigned to take a trip down to the Boardwalk and find out what street vendors, tax-paying business and tourists along the boardwalk thought of the new ordinance. The story was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered on Wednesday, December 21, 2011.

duration: 3:17

Listen to the story at npr.org

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“‘Copiale Cipher’: Mysterious Code Broken At Last”

By Daniel Hajek

The Copiale Cipher is composed entirely of intricate, hand-written code.

Until a couple months ago, a 250-year-old encoded text titled the Copiale Cipher baffled cryptographers and historians with bizarre symbols and seemingly random letters. Computer scientist Kevin Knight and researchers Beata Megyesi and Christiane Schaefer have broken the code to the 105-page manuscript, revealing the rituals of a secret German society.

duration: 2:57

Listen to the story at npr.org

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“Chance To Spot Rare Supernova Fading Fast”

By Daniel Hajek

Stargazers at Yucca Valley, Calif. use sensitive cameras to view Supernova 2011 fe. Photo by Brian Hajek

In August of this year, Supernova 2011 fe exploded in the nearby Pinwheel Galaxy. A group of local amateur astronomers in the desert town of Yucca Valley, California set up three high-powered cameras in the town’s Community Center parking lot and displayed the exploding star some 21 million light years away. The story aired on Weekend Edition Sunday on October 16, 2011.

duration: 2:59

Listen to the story at npr.org

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duration: 13:01

Diane Falanga is the author of the new book, P.S. I Hate it Here!  Kid’s Letters from Camp, a published collection of 150 hilarious handwritten letters from kids at summer camp.

duration: 7:32

duration: 28:33

Two stories based around awkward situations and a lesson on the hand motion known as, “the awkward turtle.”

duration: 13:08

duration: 6:47

In the summer of 1973, Jim Browne found himself traveling around the Midwest with just a backpack and a flimsy bed roll.  It was the summer he went hitchhiking – two adventurous months full of experiences he will never forget.

duration: 8:58

Dr. Kim Pereira is the Director of the Honors Program and Professor of Theatre at Illinois State University.  He is originally from Bombay, India (now known as Mumbai) and traveled to the Middle-East in 1984 to live and work in Bahrain.  By 1985, he arrived in Tallahassee, Florida before finally settling down in Normal, Illinois.  He shares stories from his incredible journey that unexpectedly led him to this small, Midwest town.

A photo of Dr. Kim Pereira braving out a frigid, Illinois winter

duration: 11:17

Two years ago, Caragh moved from Queensland, Australia to Normal, Illinois.  She left behind the tropical beaches and mountainous scenery for the flatlands of the American Midwest.  She explains some notable differences in lifestyles here in the U.S. and clears up a few misconceptions Americans have towards Australian culture.

Check out Caragh’s artwork: www.caraghbrooks.com

duration: 6:35

Beverley and Naomie both traveled from Paris, France to Normal, Illinois for a semester-long study abroad program at Illinois State University.  Along with Keiko and Tatsuaki, they lived in the I-House of Manchester Hall and were able to take part in living an American lifestyle.

A picture taken atop the Arc de Triomphe during my trip to Paris in May of 2010.

duration: 5:26

Keiko and Tatsuaki are two friends who lived in Manchester Hall on the campus of Illinois State University this past semester.  Keiko is from Hokkaido and Tatsuaki is from Osaka, Japan.  They both share their impressions of Normal, Illinois and the differences they see in American culture.

duration: 5:37

With an incredibly flat landscape surrounded by endless cornfields, Normal is not the most exciting place to live.  But it turns out that people travel across the world to live, work and study in this small town in the heart of Illinois.  Join me on a four-part series as I talk with people from four different nations who have traveled here from abroad.

They may come from different parts of the world but they all have one thing in common:  Their destination – Normal, Illinois.

duration: 20:04

Gabriel Gudding outside the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs, Mississippi, where he founded the Marshall County Correctional Facility Writing Program.  Photo taken March 2002.

Gabriel Gudding, associate professor of the English studies department at Illinois State University, began teaching at Auburn Correctional Facility in Auburn, New York in 1999.  He found the experience exceptionally rewarding, and has continued to volunteer at local prisons including facilities in Mississippi and Illinois.

Check out Gabe’s blog: http://gabrielgudding.blogspot.com

duration: 18:52

I talk with Jean Gorski, a former high school teacher of mine who shares an incredible story based around a dream that coincides perfectly with reality.

duration: 16:46

I interview Nashville singer/songwriter, Brooke Waggoner about her career as a musician, her inspirations for songwriting, and the meaning of her music.

Check out Brooke’s official website for tour dates: www.brookewaggoner.com

duration: 15:11

Don Gillan used his lucky numbers on a lottery ticket back in March of 1997:

7 – 12 – 16 – 21 – 33 – 36

The following night, he was stunned to see that all six of his numbers were chosen.

duration: 8:09

Glenn Ackeberg is a farmer, a mailman and an avid cyclist.  He discusses some of his most intense stories from the road and his love for the sport.

RAGBRAI

duration: 6:37

Part 2 : Hair plays a major role in society as it can partially represent a person’s character, group affiliations, and ethnicity.  But there is a genetic condition in humans that involves the growth of hair all over the body including the face.  This rare genetic condition, known as hypertrichosis has produced myth, curiosity, and misunderstanding.