Hey you didn’t think we forgot about Chanukah did you? Nah, we got your Chanukah, we got it right here in a show that just aired on WHYY Radio (Wednesday, December 20th, 10 pm – 11 pm):
Chanukah a Time for Superheros illuminates the connection between ancient heroes and modern-day superheroes. Host Arye Gross begins with the Chanukah story of the Maccabees, the Hebrew band of brothers who fought against the religious repression of the Syrian-Greeks over 2000 years ago. This heroic tale has inspired comic book writers since pow, zap and bam first appeared in print and on the silver screen.Listeners enjoy insights from Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee and DC Comics’ Wil Eisner, who describe their humble origins and the backdrop of their Jewish experience that informed Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman. Listeners also hear from filmmakers Sam Raimi (“Spiderman”) and Brian Singer (“X-Men,”) from Michael Chabon, the acclaimed author of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,” and they visit the studios of Art Spiegelman and the Hanouka brothers, cutting-edge graphic novelists.
“Chanukah: A Time for Superheroes” includes archival radio and movie clips, music and readings, all woven around the compelling tale of how the holiday evolved from a story of military victory to one of light and inspiration.
You can still listen! Head over to PRX.org (a nonprofit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs) where they’ve archived the 1 hour show! You’ll need to sign up to listen to the stream but sign-up is free and relatively painless.
Happy Chanukah!
posted by Jesse Willis
Speaking of Ardai and new book lines, here’s an older interview from NPR member station WHYY. Terry Gross interviewed Charles Ardai for her show Fresh Air back on May 5, 2008. In the interview Ardai details his inspirations (including his stories from the holocaust, William Blake and Lawrence Block) for his novel Songs Of Innocence, and the rest of the Hard Case Crime series. Near the end of the interview Ardai discusses the then upcoming 50th book in the HCC series (called Fifty-To-One) – which is a recursive novel about an editor named “Charles” who starts a paperback book line called “Hard Case Crime” – it takes the titles of the first 50 books in the HCC series and uses them as chapter titles to inform the novel’s plot. So cool!