We’re trying something new here at B-Side.  Rather than picking the theme of our next show behind closed doors, we’re opening it up to you, our listeners, to help us decide.

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Here are some brief descriptions of the proposed shows.

Success and Failure: This suggestion comes from Claudine who says “How about goals — success and failure? Oversimplified, but I’m thinking of having goals and keeping them. Or failing spectacularly.  Maybe I’m thinking about this as I’m about to embark on my first half marathon. Maybe it’s thinking about our young president raking in awards like the Nobel Peace Prize, making all of us look bad, or at least very unaccomplished. I think this could work from personal to global.”

Awkward Moments: From Courtney: We all have them.  Like that time at dinner at a friend’s house when her dad’s chair just collapsed right under him.  There’s no way to make that not awkward, but laughing hysterically probably wasn’t the right response either.  What about running into an ex, and then being forced to have a long painful conversation?

Rules to Live By: Also from Courtney: Friends with rules to determine whether a guy is a jerk by the second date.  Guys who have their own special rules of poker.  The bible, the 630 Jewish mitzvah’s.  Rules that are never followed.  Unspoken rules that are always followed.

Roadblocks and Milestones: Ekene says “This a show could explore themes like the public works projects funded by stimulus dollars (both successful and otherwise). It could be a show that features little-traveled roads with unique markers alongside narratives of major turning points and setbacks in the progress of world or US History (i.e. the fall of the Berlin Wall), or groups and individuals fighting for a common cause. It could also feature individuals who have carved out a particular place for themselves in contemporary culture or in recent history.”

Run Ins With the Law: From Rob: “Anything from getting pulled over for a ticket to having to deal with someone in court, to suing someone, from unexpected lawyers, to quirky judges to police academies or lawmakers in DC. ”

Childhood Dreams (or maybe more generally Dreaming): From Kristin: This could be a show about many things, like:
- the way we all had them, about what we’d be when we grew up for example, what they say about us, how they metamorphose, or how we end up so far from what we once wanted so fervently
- how we value kids’ dreams, encourage them so much and then require adults to be more practical
- the differences between poor kids’ and rich kids’ dreams – what you see as possible is circumscribed by your surroundings
- some interesting psychological research being done now about how to help kids reduce and handle their nightmares

Corbb brings a couple of ideas:
Search and discovery – spouses, treasures, jobs, college majors, opportunities…
Dust yourself off, try again? – the process of starting over.

Please take the poll at the top of this page and then tell us why you like the theme you’ve picked and suggest possible stories by leaving a comment.

Good news!  The B-Side guide to making great radio has been rebuilt.  Lots of people use this resource as they begin working in audio and we wanted to make sure it would be available as quickly as possible.  Please share the guide with others who you think might be able to use it.

Link: Tuning Your Work: A Guide to Creating Great Radio

Dear Dedicated B-Side Listener:

Our site has been hacked, which is a total bummer. Our technical team is hard at work trying to repair the problem.  But, basically, the website has been wiped out.  We’re rebuilding now and when we’re done we hope it will be a much better site than it was before.  At the moment, though, it’s pretty ugly.

You can still listen to past shows on our bare bones podcast site:

http://bsideradio.libsyn.com/

Or by visiting us in Itunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=79941797

You may also be wondering when the heck we’re going to have a new show for you. Well, that’s a good question. The answer is soon. And that’s not all. We’re actually working on three hour-long shows that we’re sure you’ll enjoy.

Here’s a preview:

IN LIMBO – The story of a man who went to Afghanistan to make a difference but found a more complicated reality than he could have imagined. And the stories of undocumented immigrant students trying to go to college and the obstacles that they face – legally, emotionally and fiscally.

LOST & FOUND – From a lost diary, to lost hearing to finding oneself in a batch of”Janet Jackson Breast Cupcakes,” this episode of the show is about various forms of being lost and found. Host, Tamara Keith is looking for suggestions for where to tape the show. Do you know of an awesome lost and found, maybe at a museum? Do you know a nature guide who would be interested in getting lost with the host? If you have better suggestions, please send them to Tamara.

BOUNDARIES – There are physical boundaries and psychological ones. On this episode of B-Side, we explore a lot of them. We patrol the border on the open seas in Grease, visit a tiny European town divided between two nations. We take a ride in the Berkeley casual carpool where some people just have no boundaries and talk to a new mom who describes pregnancy like an alien invasion that doesn’t improve one the child is born.

See, we’ve been hard at work. We swear! In the meantime, please check out our old shows on itunes an Libsyn.

Again, we are sorry about our minor technical disaster.

Sincerely,

The B-Side Crew