Artist Lorraine O’Grady in conversation with WACK! curator Connie Butler in January 2008.

• WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution ::

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Nearly two decades after sculptor Tony Smith’s death in 1980, the Museum of Modern Art mounted a major retrospective curated by Robert Storr, who leads this scintillating panel with Robert Swain, Richard Tuttle, Joel Shapiro and Mel Bochner whose reminiscences provide illuminating views of the artist’s working process and the nature of their debt to his accomplishments. Recorded at MoMA, September 8, 1998.

• Historic Audio from the Museum of Modern Art ::

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How does America look to foreign eyes? The year 2005 marked the bicentennial of the birth of Alexis de Tocqueville, our keenest interpreter. Atlantic Monthly asked another Frenchman, Bernard-Henri Lévy, to travel deep into America and report on what he found. Presented by the Atlantic Monthly, this revent was recorded at New School University on May 9, 2005.

• Living History ::

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A conversation for a live audience recorded by WPS1 at Cooper Union’s Grand Hall in New York City on February 17, 2006. The two principals were noted novelist, dramatist, essayist and activist Walter Mosley and legendary performer, activist and humanitarian Harry Belafonte. The discussion was part of the Conversation with the Nation series, sponsored by The Nation magazine and the New School for Social Research.

• Living History ::

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Jeannie Hopper and Nicky Siano (Ispira Records) discuss the beginning of the New York club scene past to present. They get into the Zen of DJ-ing and the alchemy of beats and bodies on the dance floor. Siano was the owner/designer/DJ of the legendary 1970s’ dance palace The Gallery, a club that inspired The Garage and Studio 54. Continuing his work at The Gallery on the weekends, Siano weaved his magic during the week at many legendary clubs, including Le Jardin, The Grand Ballroom, Galaxy 21, Enchanted Gardens, and not to mention Studio 54. He inspired and launched the careers of Grace Jones, D.C. La Rue, Loleatta Holloway, Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles. It was no coincidence that when Steve Rubelle opened Studio 54, he chose Siano as one of its two original DJs. In 1977, he became the first DJ to produce a record—the underground classic “Kiss Me Again” on Sire Records. Ispira Records was started in 2004 by Siano, with its first release “Smoking It” by Automagic becoming a dance floor staple at the Loft and many other major clubs around the world. From 1984 until 1998, Siano worked with people with AIDS. He wrote the best selling AIDS manual “No Time to Wait” in 1993. To this day, Siano considers his work with PWA’s his most important work.

• DJ Culture ::

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P.S.1’s David Weinstein in conversation with the founder, curator, and consultant of the Perna Foundation: Tonino Perna, Manuela Annibali, and Marc Mayer. This discussion took place at the 2007 Venice Biennale during which the Perna Foundation was the primary sponsor of P.S.1's floating radio station and rendezvous center.

• Venice Biennale 2007 ::

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The award-winning designer Bob Mackie discusses his career in theater, film and television, and his scene-stealing fashions for such stars as Carol Burnett, Cher, Elton John and Diana Ross. Mackie is interviewed by Simon Doonan, Creative Director at Barney’s New York, and Dorothy Twining Globus, former Director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute and curator of the exhibit Unmistakeably Mackie. Twining Globus is currently curator of exhibitions at The Museum of Arts and Design in New York. This event was recorded on November 17, 2005 at Christie’s in New York City in conjunction with the auction of Mackie’s private archive held on November 22, 2005. Catherine Elkies of Christie’s introduces the speakers.

• Living History ::

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Carolee Schneemann was a full participant, and a courageous one, in the cultural turbulence of the sixties; confronting taboos, challenging traditions, and embracing new forms. Her ongoing work as a painter and her merge into the downtown New York performance scene of that era (Judson Dance Theater, Warhol’s Factory, assorted Happenings and kinetic theater) lead to her own performances and films such as the notorious 1964 Meat Joy, a “celebration of flesh as material,” a living montage of naked bodies, raw fish, chickens, and sausages. In this conversation with filmmaker, archivist, and historian MM Serra, Schneemann discusses her film Fuses at length along with anecdotes and reflections on life and work, sex and tech, cats and people, and much more.

• WPS1 Interviews ::

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In 1978, Walter Kerr – the Pulitzer-Prize winning theater critic who now has a Broadway house named after him – organized a wonderful series of talks at MoMA on the subject of screen acting. Our favorite featured the films – and the person – of the great Claudette Colbert (star of “It Happened One Night, 1934’s “Cleopatra” and “Imitation of Life,” “Midnight,” “The Palm Beach Story”) in a good-humored and down-to-earth talk with an unusually relaxed Kerr and an appreciative New York audience.

• Historic Audio from the Archives of the Museum of Modern Art ::

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Perhaps the most beloved figure in hip-hop around the globe, Afrika Bambaataa celebrates his 30th anniversary with Charlie Ahearn. Here he tells how, after his super electro-funk anthem, “Planet Rock” hit, he was able to record with his funk heroes James Brown and George Clinton, as well as with punk avatar Johnny (Rotten) Lydon. Afrika Bambaataa began his B-boy throw-downs in New York City’s Bronx River housing project in 1974, transforming the often violent local gang scene into an entirely new, creative culture through his organization, the Universal Zulu Nation.

• Yes Yes Y'all ::

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Jack Macrae introduces Joan Didion who reads from her book, The Year of Magical Thinking. The Year of Magical Thinking is Didion’s collection of 88 days of grief-filled writing following the death of her husband, John Dunne, in December of 2003, and the death of her daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, a year and a half later. Recorded Oct. 24, 2005 at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York.

• Channel 192 ::

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WPS1’s David Weinstein and rock historian Glenn Leslie sit down with drummer Neal Smith, whose work on the first seven albums released by the original Alice Cooper band (Alice Cooper on vocals, Michael Bruce and the late Glen Buxton on guitars and Dennis Dunaway on bass) ranks with the finest rock drumming ever recorded. The band’s fabled theatrics, irreverence and hard work earned them notoriety and riches. They also made hits with tracks such as Halo Of Flies, Killer, Billion Dollar Babies, School’s Out, I’m Eighteen, and No More Mr. Nice Guy. Smith’s current projects include one with Dennis Dunaway and former Blue Oyster Cult bassist Joe Bouchard on guitar and vocals as Bouchard, Dunaway and Smith and the Cinematik project with bassist Peter Catucci.

• Living History ::

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