Alternative Radio Friday 4/13

5:00 pm & 10:00 pm
In Conversation
Kurt Vonnegut

Where recorded: New York, NY
Date recorded: 23 Feb 2003

While attending university in the mid 70s, I probably spent more time reading the novels of Kurt Vonnegut than my college texts. He was my hero, and has become a cultural icon. His observation of the destructiveness and dehumanization of the 20th century, distilled by his rich imagination and quirky view of events and their time frames, make for delightful reading and listening experiences. His irreverence is palpable, as is his disdain for Bush and the current administration. Asked by a journalist for an idea for a really scary reality TV show, Vonnegut responded, "C Students From Yale, it would stand your hair on end." In his book Hocus Pocus, published in 1990, he wrote, "Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, that doesn't mean we deserve to conquer the Universe."

Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut was an infantryman in WW2 and was captured during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. He was then taken to a POW camp in Dresden in time to experience the horrific Allied firebombing of the city from the relative safety of an underground meat locker. The destruction wrought was greater than that of Nagasaki. He is now a self-described "fourth-generation German-American living in easy circumstances." He has written over 20 books and ranks among America's most widely read and best loved authors.