April 2006

Berlin is a huge city. It's really more like many cities that happen to border on one another and (like the boroughs of New York, maybe) each part of the city has a distinctive feel.

The Funk Doc lives in Friedrichshain and on this day we wandered in and out of Friedrichshain looking for a suitable place to sit and record (outdoors for the first time in a LONG time).

Finding a place along the Spree River, the Funk Doc started us of with tales of his experiences as an intern at the CNN media empire.

His experinces got us thinking (out loud) about racism (overt and hidden) and some of the differences we've observed between German and US society.

Unfortunately the MD recorder started acting funny, so we headed to the nearby cafe where we recrded Artscast013: La Tazza D'Oro.

If you have any especially strong feelings about the topics we discuss, post your ideas in out web forum:

Ahoy.

Timetable and Playlist:

0:00-1:00 - The Funk Doc on CNN

1:00-4:00 - Filming the soccer fans

4:00-8:00 - Media coverage and objectivity

8:00-13:00 - CNN in Europe - Coverage of European minorities

13:00-20:00 - US and European immigration / intolerance (banana throwing)

20:00-23:00 - Outkast & Slick Rick - Street Talkin'

23:00-27:00 - In the cafe / Overt racism

27:00-34:00 - Insititutional racism in the US and Europe

34:00-36:00 - Explanation of Barbecue Funk

36:00-39:00 - The J.B.'s - Keep On Bumpin' Before You Give Out of Gas

39:00-43:00 - The Roots & Cody Chesnutt - The Seed (2.0)

43:00-46:00 - The music / White countries

46:00-52:00 - Drunk Poles & Affection

52:00-58:00 - Young Poles & Germans / Old Poles

59:00-1:02:00 - Outkast - Church

1:02:00-1:03:00 - Next time

I (the Old Man) have a problem:

I always feel a bit odd playing music by people who are regularly seen on MTV. After we put this show together, I also heard the Cody Chesnutt song in the background of a German TV special and I really got upset.

But I also hate it when people deliberately seek out music that is obscure and take secret pleasure in knowing you've never heard of any of their favorite bands. Those people suck.

But the Funk Doc's right. Good music is good music and sometimes it ends up on MTV.