Grocery lists, to-do lists, guest lists – human beings are compelled to put things into manageable order…and sometimes the result is anything but mundane. Today we look at some of the most memorable lists ever written – from Walt Disney’s un-used dwarf names, to a day in the life of country legend Johnny Cash. Plus, we’ll talk about tattoos in the workplace, and how gender stereotypes play into how people perceive ink.
Listen to the full show.
Covered in Ink
Beverly Yuen Thompson is an associate professor of Sociology at Siena College and author of Covered in Ink: Tattoos, Women, and the Politics of the Body.
Capital City Tattoo & Supply
We’ve been curious about the online flap over the woman who was refused a neck tattoo at a New York tattoo shop. Apparently, there’s a code among tattoo artists against inking the hands, neck or face of people who are not already heavily tatted-up. Word of Mouth producers Megan Tan and Molly Donahue went to Capital City Tattoo & Supply in Concord, New Hampshire to speak with some of the tattoo artists there about who is ultimately responsible for choosing where and what to ink.
Birth of the Barcode
A time a without barcodes is hard to imagine, but it wasn’t that long ago. Roman Mars, producer at the podcast 99% Invisible, brought us the story.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
Lists of Note
Shaun Usher is the creator and founder of Letters of Note, and now Lists of Note – two projects that both started as online archives, and have since been collected in gorgeously rendered coffee table volumes.
Captain Beefheart
Years before he crafted his ten commandments of guitar playing, Don Van Vliet, known as Captain Beefheart, crafted his most famous album – 1969’s Trout Mask Replica, which was selected for the national recording registry in 2010. The album is a wild mix of free jazz, blues, and beat poetry. In this piece, produced by Devon Strolovitch we’ll hear about the making of Trout Mask Replica, and learn why it was so influential.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.