Fishko Files

“Heart and Soul,” a 1930s song of modest melody and lilting rhythm, occupies a special place in the culture of piano-playing. Without its lyrics - with just its simple, jaunty tune - it’s become an iconic American tradition, especially at social gatherings. Why? WNYC’s Sara Fishko meditates on the mysteries of a popular tune. (Produced in 2006)

In honor of the ongoing Shakespeare400 celebration this year, WNYC’s Sara Fishko charts several iterations of Romeo and Juliet, and considers how that classic Shakespeare tragedy inspired a great Russian ballet score. (Produced in 2007)

Diane Arbus, the photographer who made her name taking pictures of ordinary people with extraordinary characteristics, is the subject of an exhibit which opened this week at the Met Breuer. More on Arbus from WNYC's Sara Fishko in this episode of Fishko Files.

Tomorrow is the hundred fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the French composer Erik Satie.  As WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us, Satie's music and thinking were more in tune with our time than with his own, in this edition of Fishko Files.

Mstislav Rostropovich was a rare combination: powerful conductor; courageous dissident; musical activist; but above all, he was a cellist. Shortly after his passing in 2007, WNYC’s Sara Fishko spoke to cellists about the lasting impacts of his life and work. (Produced in 2007)

Recently some venerable cultural critics have been collecting their thoughts into books. WNYC’s Sara Fishko opens them all in this edition of Fishko Files.

In June of 1947, the debut of a new radio show — using a hidden microphone — blurred the line between surveillance and entertainment. As Sara Fishko tells us in this archival edition of Fishko Files, the line is blurrier than ever. (Produced in 2007)

Right now in our current political season, as WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, it’s a new moment to rediscover an old film about an American rise and fall.                                                                                                                              

From the archives: Barbara Stanwyck was just one of a generation of Hollywood actresses — as WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us — who worked fiercely to hold onto their eccentricities of style, stance and voice.  More in this Fishko Files.

From the archives: Ravel, Debussy and Prokofiev are among the composers who made piano-recordings of their own works — and they have WNYC's Sara Fishko pondering the nature of interpretation in this edition of Fishko Files. (Produced in 2007)