Fishko Files

WNYC Studios

4.8 (123)
PERFORMING ARTS

From WNYC, New York Public Radio, join WNYC's cultural attaché Sara Fishko for her personal radio essays on music, art, culture and media.

05/07/2021

Vast Wasteland

On May 9th, 1961, a still-celebrated speech rocked the world of broadcast television. In it, FCC Chairman Newton Minow zeroed in on television's vapid programming landscape, and the words "vast wasteland" became a contemporary catchphrase. More from WNYC's Sara Fishko in this edition of Fishko Files. This is the final edition of Fishko Files at WNYC. The episodes will live online and in the WNYC archives. You can find more extended Fishko work on our website.

7 min
04/30/2021

Empire State: Going Up

Tomorrow, May 1st, marks the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Empire State Building. As WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us, the building's rise to its 102-story height is only one of the ways it towered over all the rest. More, in this episode of Fishko Files.

7 min
04/23/2021

Stanwyck & Co.

In honor of this weekend's Oscars: WNYC's Sara Fishko with this Fishko Files from the archive, filled with the award-winning voices of some of the great women of Hollywood's Golden Age. (Produced in 2013)

7 min
04/16/2021

Poets' Voices

In honor of April, National Poetry Month, WNYC's Sara Fishko asks the question: what's the connection between poets' speaking voices, and the poems they create? (Produced in 2012)

7 min
04/09/2021

Peter and the Wolf

The celebrated children's tale with music, Peter and the Wolf - as WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us - was first heard in Moscow in the spring of 1936, an ominous time in the Soviet Union. Everywhere it went after that, it thrilled a listenership of kids. More, in this episode of Fishko Files.

8 min
04/02/2021

Bernstein, Made for TV

When we produced a feature on the celebrated Leonard Bernstein concert-broadcasts known as the Young People's Concerts (1958-1972), we were thrilled to find Roger Englander, the celebrated producer and director of the broadcasts, still alive. The interview is contained in this Fishko Files, which we replay in honor of Englander - who died recently at the age of 94. Read more on Roger Englander’s life and work in his New York Times obituary.

7 min
03/26/2021

Sibling Harmony

The tradition of siblings singing together is as old as song. WNYC’s Sara Fishko looks at brothers, sisters, and sibling harmony in this edition of Fishko Files. (Produced in 2001)

8 min
03/19/2021

Changes

A hundred years ago, as WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, a popular song appeared at a time similar to our own - when people desperately wanted to 'move on' from crisis. In this episode of Fishko Files, the unsentimental resolve of the song "There’ll Be Some Changes Made."

7 min

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4.8

out of 5

123 Ratings

Realizes Podcasting Potential

06/09/2021

Chili (SF)

This podcast enriches my cultural awareness in a unique way. I would say that I wish more podcasts would deliver similar content except that Sara Fishko has produced an output so much better than others as to be a difference of kind not a difference of degree. So it really seems like this podcast is unique by design and so beyond replication. So instead of pleading for others to duplicate Sara’s technique I would instead ask Sara to preserve her vision at all costs. Outstanding work, Sara.
Always learning

03/10/2021

LAURAVEJA

Me too, I love this podcast and I think of it as a walking library of knowledge! So compact and yet so enriching.
Love this podcast

02/15/2021

Kathleen@

I love love love this podcast. Fishko files helps you remember why artists and art are so critical to our culture. I always learn something new. The delivery is so understated, it lets the stars shine brightly.
My favorite podcast

09/11/2020

Reynoj

Always offers new perspectives