October 02, 2020 Episode Transcript
The AIH Transcript for October 02, 2020
[host]Hosts: Carol Off and Chris Howden[/host]
CAROL OFF: Hello, I'm Carol Off.
CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening, I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.
[Music: Theme]
Prologue
CO: Too close for comfort. Kristin Urquiza's father died of COVID-19, and now, U.S. President Donald Trump's positive test has her terrified — because she had a front-row seat at Tuesday night's presidential debate.
CH: The more the scarier. The news that Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, tested positive has come as a shock — and a Washington Post journalist tells us the President isn't the only Republican at risk.
CO: At tissue. It's another day of record-breaking COVID-19 cases in Ontario — and a mother whose child is home sick says the province's new rules have left her even more confused than she already was.
CH: Greens light. When the Irish golfer Brendan Lawlor stepped up to the tee this summer, he became the first professional golfer with a disability to compete on the European Tour. He tells us he's determined not to be the last.
CO: Pretty please, with orchards full of cherries on top. Australia's Deputy Prime Minister wants young people to help farmers by picking fruit — but his giddy descriptions of the job are the pits.
CH: And… Not a point of pride. The American Library Association says a sizable chunk of the U.S.'s most banned books were singled out for their LGBTQ themes — and one author tells us she's disappointed but not surprised.
CH: As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that thinks that suggests a need for a little textual healing.
Part one: Trump COVID, Washington Post, LGBTQ banned books
Trump COVID
Guest: Kristin Urquiza
CH: He's played down the severity of COVID-19 for months — even as it's spread extensively, and seemingly unstoppably, across his country. Just days ago, during the debate, he mocked his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, for wearing a mask. And early this morning, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he — and the First Lady, Melania Trump — had tested positive for the coronavirus. Mark Anthony Urquiza is among the more than 207 thousand people who've died of COVID-19 in the United States. On Tuesday night, his daughter, Kristin, was a front-row guest at the presidential debates. We reached Kristin Urquiza in San Francisco.
CO: Kristin, first of all, how far away from President Trump were you seated during the debate on Tuesday night?
KRISTIN URQUIZA: I was about fifteen feet away from the president for the entire 90 minutes that he was up on stage. And I had a direct line to him. So I was fairly close in the front row.
CO: And now the instructions as I understand them, was that people were to be tested and to be wearing masks, the small audience that was allowed to be there. Was that the case?
KU: That was my understanding as well. And for everyone who entered through the door that I entered through, we had masks on. We all had to have that verified wristband that our COVID test had come back COVID-negative. That being said, once I was in the debate hall, the Trump family was not wearing a mask — and the entire side of the Republican side wasn't wearing a mask either.
CO: And what about on your side? Everyone was with mask?
KU: I looked behind me and it was a sea of masked people. And it really just sort of struck me about this divisiveness and how we've politicized this simple, common a health care measure such as wearing a mask for each other's safety?
CO: Now, of course, the latest news being that Donald Trump and his wife have tested positive and actually have the virus. How worried are you now about having been exposed to the coronavirus?
KU: I am terrified. I've seen the darkest result of COVID. It's an undignified and lonesome death. My father passed away June 30th from COVID. You know, I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy. And I hope that the president and the others in his inner circle that are infected recover.
CO: I'm sorry to hear about your father. And I understand, though, he had been a Trump supporter. And you feel that Donald Trump is in some way at least partially responsible for your father's death?
KU: Yes, he is absolutely responsible — not only for my father's death, but the more than two hundred thousand people who have lost their lives here in the United States. He lied to the American public, consistently. And we now know from the Woodward tapes that he made decisions that were different from the information that he had.
CO: But just more specifically about your father, he was living in Arizona at the time. How did he respond? What precautions had he taken before he contracted the virus?
KU: My dad was a believer that the virus was real and that it was a threat. He wore masks. He practiced social distancing. And my dad, you know, listen to the president. So whenever the state of Arizona reopened in mid-May, following a visit from the Trump administration and both the Trump administration and Doug Ducey, the governor of Arizona, said, hey, we're on the other side of this pandemic. If you don't have an underlying health condition, you're safe out there. Let's start resuming normal activities. My dad listened. And, you know, when I said, Dad, hey, you probably shouldn't meet up with friends. You know, his response was like, I know you're concerned about me, but why would the governor, why would the president say it is safe, if it is not safe?
CO: And what happened?
KU: He contracted the virus a couple of weeks later. And then 19 days after that, passed away.
CO: Where had he gone, do you think, where he might have got it?
KU: He had gone and met up with some friends to go to a karaoke lounge? His favourite thing in the world was singing karaoke, which he hadn't done for many months because of the shutdowns. And after being kind of cooped up, he was ready to go out and sing the Beatles "A Hard Day's Night", and he thought it was safe.
CO: How old was he?
KU: He was 65.
CO: And were you able to be with him when he died?
KU: I wasn't. I got the phone call as I was driving home. I live in California, was on the highway, working my way back to Arizona to try and be closer. And his condition took a dive for the worse, which is common in COVID patients to have a sudden decline. And I was at a gas station when I learned that he had passed by himself.
CO: Again, I'm so sorry. And was very much on your mind when you learned that you had been in such close contact with people who seem to have got the virus?
KU: I think about all the people who've been so adversely impacted by this. It didn't have to be like this. We are four per cent of the world's population here in the U.S., and we're 20 per cent of the deaths. This is not because of some divine intervention. It's policy failure. It's leadership failure. And as I have been confronting my own exposure and the exposure to every single person in that debate hall, this could be a super spreader event. And I shudder to think of people getting sick, anybody getting sick.
CO: How did you come to be Joe Biden's guest at the debate?
KU: I spoke at the DNC sharing my dad's story. I believe I was probably invited because one of the segments of topic was on the COVID response. And as we saw in Tuesday's debate [slight chuckle], if you can call it that, the president showed up not to actually talk about the issues, but to throw a temper tantrum onstage.
CO: He has said in recent days that the pandemic is over, that virtually nobody is getting it. He says that he wanted to reassure people and give them hope, and that's why he was making those statements. Do you think he will change his tune now that he has experienced the virus?
KU: I doubt it. This president has shown us one thing, that he only has his best interest in mind. And if he recovers quickly and has a mild case, that will only fuel his cause further to downplay the severity of the largest global health crisis in a century.
CO: Have you been able to get tested yet?
KU: I'm on a list to get tested later today at one of the clinics. So I have a lot of folks helping me in my community makes sure that I can get a test quickly.
CO: Well, Kristin, I hope you're OK. And I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.
KU: Thank you. I appreciate your time.
CO: Bye.
CH: Kristin Urquiza was a front-row guest at the presidential debates on Tuesday night. She is also the founder of the group, Marked by COVID. We reached her in San Francisco. For more on this story, go to our website: www.cbc.ca/aih. 0Outside the White House this afternoon, the president's press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, briefed reporters on Mr .Trump's diagnosis.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY: I am not going to get in exactly what type of tests, but as soon as he was assured that he indeed tested positive for COVID-19, within an hour, we put out that information to the American people.
REPORTER: Will you be breifing us daily on his health?
REPORTER TWO: Kayleigh, what were the symptoms?
KM: I'm not going to get into the present symptoms exactly. He's had mild symptoms, but he is hard at work. We're having to slow him down a little bit. He's been on the phone with Senator McConnell, Senator Lindsey Graham. Been on the phone with Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, talking about emergency declarations for states, as well as stimulus. So he's hard at work despite the mild symptoms. Jonathan.
REPORTER: [hard to make out the question]
KM: It was deemed safe for the president to go. He socially distanced. It was an outdoor event, and it was deemed safe by White House operations. White House operations made the assessment it was safe for the president in consultation with others. Thank you guys so much.
CH: That was White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany briefing reporters this afternoon. After she spoke with reporters, the White House announced that the President would move to a special suite at the Walter Reed National military medical centre, as a precaution.
Washington Post
Guest: Dan Balz
CH: Dan Balz is a senior correspondent with The Washington Post. We reached him in Bethesda, Maryland.
CO: Dan, we didn't learn very much from the White House press secretary in that clip. But how, in your observations, is the diagnosis of the president likely to affect business at the White House?
DAN BALZ: Well, I think it's enormously disruptive. I mean, when you have the president of the United States who's in isolation, it certainly changes the way the White House operates. Now, White Houses function whether the president's there or not. And they function whether the president's completely healthy or not necessarily healthy. But this is an enormous blow to everybody at the White House. And it raises all kinds of questions about the protocols they follow and whether they need to change those. So, you know, this is a seismic event at the White House, frankly.
CO: And there's a lot of discussions about who knew what when about illness. But it wasn't just that with President Trump, there was Hope Hicks, his senior adviser, and Senator Mike Lee, people who have been in and out of crowds. What do you make of that?
DB: Well, we're still trying to nail down the full timeline of who knew what, when and what decisions were made and why they were made. I mean, clearly, the decision for the president to go to the fundraiser in New Jersey yesterday is a questionable decision. But given that they knew that Hope Hicks had tested positive and that the president had been in close circumstances with her on a number of occasions in recent days, the White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, indicated that as they were getting ready to leave the White House for that trip, they did pull some people off the manifest. But nonetheless, they went ahead with the president and put him in an environment in which he was potentially exposed, obviously, to the virus from Hope Hicks, or whoever he got it from. We don't know that that was the transmission. And then putting other people at risk. So these are all questionable decisions, which are going to be visited and revisited in the days ahead as we try to learn more about the president's condition.
CO: We just spoke with a woman who was a guest of Joe Biden's at the debate. She said that all the people on the Joe Biden side wore masks. Those on the other side did not wear masks. And having the fact that her father died of coronavirus, she's very concerned about having possibly been infected while attending that. What were the rules as far as being able to attend and be in that room?
DB: The rules were that if you were in the debate hall, you were to be wearing a mask. That was what the Presidential Debates Commission had stipulated. And this was held at the Cleveland Clinic. There was an effort made by someone, I believe, from the staff of the Cleveland Clinic to encourage the members of the Trump family or the Trump guest group to put masks on. But for whatever reason, they declined to do so. Now, it's it's a little difficult to try to remove the president's wife or family from a debate hall. But nonetheless, they deliberately violated those rules, even when reminded what those rules were.
CO: We know that the president has been very cavalier about the disease. The statements he's made, the way he has himself behaved without wearing a mask, with coming in close contact with people, with even having the rallies themselves. I mean, is it entirely up to him, is there no other authority, given the fact that this is spreading so quickly in your country? Who puts the brakes on?
DB: Well, people around him can try to put the brakes on him. But people who have tried to do that, like Dr. Fauci, or at times Dr. Birx, are overruled by the president himself. I mean, the president is the president. He can decide what he's going to do. And he goes to places and doesn't wear a mask. He holds rallies. And most of the people there aren't masked. He holds events. Granted, they're outdoors. But outside, you know, on the grounds of the White House where people are sitting very close to one another, as they were last Saturday when he announced his choice of Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his successor to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And, you know, people complain about it, and people criticize him for it. But he's been quite defiant about it and has, you know, as recently as the debate has mocked Vice President Biden for being diligent about wearing a mask and suggesting that there's something wrong with that. So this is the course he has chosen. Unfortunately, he now has, you know, tested positive for the virus. Everybody obviously wishes him a full and swift recovery, and the same for his wife, and for Hope Hicks. And just as anybody who gets this virus. But he has chosen to operate in defiance of all of the medical guidelines and expertise.
CO: I just wonder, just finally on the political front, the British reporters are tweeting that they remember that when Boris Johnson became sick with COVID-19, that it actually gave him a bump in the ratings. What effect do you think that this might have on Mr. Trump's standing in the polls?
DB: I think it's too early to know that. I mean, one thing we know about this campaign is that there's been almost nothing that has happened that has had any significant effect on kind of the overall dynamic or the trajectory. Is it possible that there will be kind of a, you know, a sense of sympathy for the president as a result of this? I think that's entirely possible. Whether that results in minds being changed, I don't know. I mean, one of the vulnerabilities he has had politically is that people have of quite a negative view of how he has handled the pandemic. And I don't know that him now having tested positive, will make people have a different view of that or not? But I think at this point, we're where in the world of speculation and I'm loathe to go there at this point. I think we have to wait and see how serious his situation is, how long it lasts, when he's able to come back out, whether there will be a presidential debate on October 15th or whether that has to be delayed or just what. I think, you know, we're in a day-by-day situation right now and figuring out the politics of this will have to wait.
CO: All right. We'll be watching. Dan, thanks so much.
DB: Thank you.
CH: Dan Balz is a senior correspondent for The Washington Post. He spoke to us from Bethesda, Maryland.
[Music: Ambient]
LGBTQ banned books
Guest: Sarah Brannen
CH: For years, there've been all sorts of reasons trotted out for why books should be banned from libraries or schools. Claims of witchcraft. Scenes of violence. Too many swear words. Too much sex. But over the past decade, no literary subject has sparked as much fury as LGBTQ issues. According to the American Library Association, half of the top 20 banned or challenged books of the past decade have featured the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer characters. And of the decade's top 100 banned books, a quarter deal with LGBTQ themes. Sarah Brannen's book is on that list. She's the author of "Uncle Bobby's Wedding." We reached her just outside Boston, Massachusetts.
CO: Sarah, it seems that your number 99 on the list of 100 most banned books, you just made it onto the list.
SARAH BRANNEN: I'm very honoured to be part of [CO chuckles] such a distinguished crowd.
CO: And, of course, you are being ironic.
SB: Well, [laughing] yes and no. It's not great knowing that people dislike a book you wrote. But on the other hand, it means you're doing something important, I think.
CO: Well, not just dislike the book. I mean, all authors know what it is [laughing] to have people who don't like their books. But to have people who want to have your book removed from libraries is a different thing, isn't it?
SB: Um, yes. This was my first book, and I was completely taken unawares by what was going to happen. And it's a very strange feeling. It's certainly not pleasant. After a while, you just develop a thick skin, I think. A lot of people had a problem with this book, and I heard from a lot of them.
CO: The book that's on the most banned books list is a book called "Uncle Bobby's Wedding". What's that story about?
SB: "Uncle Bobby's Wedding" is about a little girl whose favourite uncle, Bobby, tells the family he's going to get married to his boyfriend. And she's worried that he won't be spending any time with her anymore. And then he and his boyfriend, Jamie, take her with them on lots of fun excursions, and she realizes that having two uncles will be better than one.
CO: And they're guinea pigs, right?
SB: Well, they were. I am primarily an illustrator. And when this book was accepted for publication, they asked me to illustrate it. And to be honest, I'm better at drawing animals than people. [CO cuckles] So I drew them as guinea pigs. I also thought it might make the book more universally understood by children, so they wouldn't have to think what race are they? You know, where do they live? And it's just been republished in a new edition with new illustrations by a different illustrator, Lucia Soto. And this time with people, and I'm just thrilled to have it finally be the human beings that it always was. That's what I wrote the book about. I wrote it about a family.
CO: And what age is it aimed at?
SB: I think ages three to seven.
CO: Why do you think this has been so, I guess, controversial?
SB: Well, it was one of the very first books for young children that included LGBT content. And as far as I know, it was the first book by a major publisher that included a same-sex wedding. I wrote it just after same-sex marriage was legalized in my state of Massachusetts. It was a very exciting, wonderful time. You never saw such happy people as these couples who had been together for decades sometimes and never thought they'd be able to get married. And I was inspired by that joy. But on the other hand, it was an extremely controversial topic in the first decade of this century. A lot of people were very, very against the notion of same-sex marriage altogether, and especially in having it in a book for young kids.
CO: OK, this is 2008 that you published the book.
SB: Yes.
CO: So it's been a dozen years. And usually, you presume that once the shock is over, something that's changed in society, people start to get used to it. They start to know people who got married. Same-sex couples move into their street, their kids go to school with Your kids, and people seem to calm down. But the American Library Association says that it's significant increase in recent years to challenge books with LGBTQ themes. Why do you think that's the case?
SB: Well, I think it probably just has to do with the general division in our society in the last few years. That although every study that I've seen shows that same-sex marriage and everything to do with LGBT people has had increasing acceptance. There's, you know, a minority — a big minority — that doesn't agree with that.
CO: And do you think you're more vocal now? Do you think that they feel a bit unleashed by the atmosphere, the times that we're in that you're referring to?
SB: It certainly seems that way.
CO: Well, you've mentioned that you've had a lot of flack. You had some ugly responses. Like what?
SB: I got emails from people who were very angry with me for writing the book. And referred to it as filth and garbage and the product of the devil. And one person made a casual death threat. I didn't really take it seriously, but it was [awkward chuckle] very unpleasant to read. And I had I believe it was two different people who told me that they took the book out of their library and burned it, which is a very direct way of banning the book.
CO: Yikes!
SB: But I also got wonderful letters from people. There was a man who wrote to me thanking me for the book and telling me how much it would have meant to him to have it when he was young. He said he was from a very small town, I think in upstate New York, and he said that when he was a young boy, and he knew he was different from the other boys, he went to the library looking for something that would help him understand. And he couldn't find anything. And he said he was too embarrassed to ask the librarian about it. It's very touching.
CO: And so the response you get, I mean, do you respond to people? Do you write back? Because it seems like there is nothing sexual in this book, is there?
SB: There certainly isn't. I read a lot of comments online. And people who clearly have not read the book said that it was inappropriate for children because it showed homosexual sex. [hearty laugh] And I didn't answer them. But I did think to myself, there's no sex in the book that would be completely inappropriate. It's just about a family wedding. But I did not engage. I did not comment on posts and I didn't answer the emails. I didn't really think anything would be gained by that. I know other authors who do answer and maybe that's the way to go. I'm not sure.
CO: Sarah, it's good to talk to you. Thank you.
SB: Thank you very much. I enjoyed it.
CO: Bye.
SB: Bye.
CH: Sarah Brannen is the author of "Uncle Bobby's Wedding," which appeared in the American Library Association's top 100 list of most banned or challenged books in the last decade. We reached Ms. Brannen just outside of Boston, Massachusetts.
[Music: Jazz]
Fruit picking
CH: It's sweltering, and your shoulders are killing you. And the peach fuzz is giving you an itchy face rash. Perfect time to take a selfie and post it to Instagram with the hashtag "#peachykeen". At which point a very attractive fellow picker yells, "Let's get married!" [sarcastic chuckle] What an adventure! Picking fruit is not like that. It's hard work. Hot, difficulty, painful, and sometimes itchy. And you don't make a ton of money. Especially if you're exploited. So this week, when Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack tried to plant an idea, he got a bumper crop of grumpiness. Australian farmers are experiencing a serious labour shortage. So to help them, in a speech on Wednesday, Mr. McCormack said, "If you know somebody who might be on the coast who might be lounging around with a surfboard, tell them to come to the regions. Tell them to bring their mobile with them, because it would be a great Instagram moment for them to get up the tree, pick some fruit, who knows they might take some friends with them, they might make new friends, they might meet the love of their life." I mean...they might. But in general, it's not glamourous, it's not romantic, and your sunburned, sweaty, rashy face is not exactly Instagram material. So people who've actually picked fruit felt something was rotten in Mr. McCormack's description. He tried to pretend it's a plum job — and they didn't like them apples.
[Music: A coastal folk tune]
Part two: New Ontario testing rules, Brendan Lawlor
New Ontario testing rules
Guest: Stacy Kennedy
CH: For the second time this week, Ontario has broken its own record for new COVID-19 cases. The province reported 732 COVID cases today. This afternoon, Premier Doug Ford announced new rules on testing for the virus — and, in some regions, including Toronto, he introduced stricter public health measures at places such as restaurants and gyms. The tougher rules come just one day after new guidelines were imposed for screening for COVID-19 in schools. For parents like Stacy Kennedy, it's a lot to take in. She has a son in grade four who has been home sick from school since Monday. We reached her in Oakville, Ontario — which is west of Toronto.
CO: Stacy, how is your little boy doing?
STACY KENNEDY: My son is doing pretty good, all things considered. I mean, we're day, ooh, five or six into quarantining at home. He started showing symptoms on Sunday afternoon. And we discovered, you know, this isn't a regular sniffles. We're hoping that it's just a really bad cold. And then I started feeling symptoms on Tuesday. And the family decided to get tested for COVID on Wednesday.
CO: Now, were you required by the school to get tested or is this something you've done on your own?
SK: A little bit of both. My son gets therapy at home for his disability. So in order for therapists to come into the home, we need it. School does more or less require it. It's not in black and white in their policies, but anything greater than a runny nose, it's more or less interpreted as this could be more than your average cold. And for us as well, because my husband returned to the office in person about a month ago. So we want to make sure that his coworkers are safe as well. So we made the proactive decision to just go ahead and do it.
CO: And have you been told how long it will take before you get the results?
SK: So we were tested about 56 hours ago. We're in Halton Region. And we were lucky to call the local Halton Assessment Centre. And we had an appointment for a test within 24 hours. And at the time, they said five to seven days for results. But I'm hearing some other parents in the community being told it could be up to ten days.
CO: Yikes!
SK: So we're hoping by the weekend, but more realistic, early next week.
CO: I guess it's because there's this backlog that they're now saying it's about, well, it's more than 90,000 tests in that backlog and in the province of Ontario.
SK: Yes.
CO: And that before, there were some places you could just go early in the morning. I know there's people lining up at the 5:00 a.m, 4:00 a.m. to try and get tested. Now you have to get an appointment to go and do it?
SK: Correct. Well, in our region, we always had an appointment system. I know that that wasn't the case always in I understand Toronto and Ottawa. But, you know, I know locally some moms have taken their kids to different suburbs in order to get access quicker. So if they don't want to wait 24 hours to get an appointment, for example, maybe a 15-minute drive east of us into the Reel Region of Mississauga, there was a paramedic station doing a drive-through COVID test. And for us, with my son and his disabilities, we didn't think that was a great option for him. So we wanted to be able to be in a more hospital setting where people are just more familiar with his disability.
CO: Right. What is his disability?
SK: My son is autistic and he also has a history of medical trauma just due to some early surgeries when he was younger.
CO: OK. So you don't want to mess around when you got that, right?
SK: It's all about familiarity. This is a very traumatic event for all of us. I was telling your producer, whether you've been sick or you know someone who's been sick or, unfortunately, had a family member passed away, this has interrupted our lives in so many ways. So, you know, having a child have a COVID test, even for an adult, it was incredibly uncomfortable, let alone being in a medical environment where everybody is, you know, wearing a tremendous amount of PPE. It can be very intimidating. So we just wanted to make sure that it was an environment where we could mentally prepare him for what he was going to experience. And because it was in a hospital setting, even though it wasn't in the hospital, it was just, you know, adjacent, we were able to better prepare him for the experience.
CO: And, of course, you know, there is a surge in cases in this province, as there is in Quebec, the two hotspots right now. But 732 new cases on Friday in Ontario. So now, though, the Ontario government is saying that it wants to loosen the screening guidelines for school and allow kids with a single mild symptom like, say, a runny nose to return to school without a test. How do you feel about that?
SK: I find that it's hit or miss. I find that as parents, we kind of have to follow our gut. I know that there's some parents and families that are in a more privileged position where they do have parents working at home. So it's not as hard a decision to make. I'm hoping that other families, you know, gauge the symptoms that their kid might have. And we know our children best. You know, I sent my son to school with the runny nose because he perpetually has a runny nose. School knows that. He has a doctor's note for it. But I'm hoping that people make the right decisions. But I understand that, you know, if people have to work to put food on the table and pay the rent in order to survive, then they might send their kids to school with one or two symptoms, and I'm okay with that. In our school, the safety precautions are there. Kids are wearing masks all day long from kindergarten all the way up to grade eight. So I think that the frontline educators are doing the best that they can, and so are parents. We're all working through a very difficult situation.
CO: But do you think that they... and the thing we're hearing a lot is that parents feel that the guidelines are confusing, that they're contradictory. Are you feeling the same thing?
SK They're incredibly confusing. Even I was trying to catch up on the news that was released today by the Ford government. And it seems like a repetition of what we already know, with a little bit different guidelines. So I haven't spoken to anyone in my circle, my community, whether it's a mom's Facebook chat group, whether it's family members, my husband, we read the information and it's incredibly confusing because, you know, we can have a meal with my mom who lives outside of our house. But then the next day, my son goes to school with 19 other students. So it's incredibly confusing information. So I get more confused every day. I don't have a ton of confidence at this point.
CO: I think you're not alone in that.
SK: Yeah.
CO: Stacy, I hope your boy gets better, and I appreciate speaking with you. Thanks.
SK: Thank you. Have a wonderful evening.
CO: You too. Bye.
SK: Bye-bye.
CH: Stacy Kennedy is a parent, whose son is home sick from school right now. We reached her in Oakville, Ontario.
[Music: Electronica]
Hamilton tornado
CH: It started with rain. Then, the wind picked up. And within seconds, Prabhjot Thiara and his father were caught in the middle of a whirlwind — with debris flying everywhere. Environment Canada confirms that it was, in fact, a tornado that tore through the family's farm in southern Ontario this weekend. Photos of the area show roofs ripped off buildings, uprooted trees — even a transport truck blown onto its side. Mr. Thiara says the ordeal only lasted about 30 seconds, but it transformed their entire property into a "junkyard". Here he is speaking to the CBC on his farm near Hamilton, Ontario.
PRABHJOT THIARA: We're just wrapping up operation here, just normal day. We're packing up stuff, putting all the stuff we harvested for the day in the coolers. And started raining, and then rain just picked up winds. And then the winds just kept picking up, picking up. And at that point, we ran to shut our barn doors, because we're like we don't want the roof to go. As we're doing that, just the winds intensified, and everything just started going all over the place. And then I could see, like, out in the field just, like, a twister form, and the plants getting ripped out of the ground, going up into the air and just spinning. And then at that point, whatever our other building that was in our yard that just tore apart, smashed into our other building that my dad were in, and everything started shaking. And I was trying to shut the door, but the pressure from the wind wasn't allowing me to shut the door. It was just loud, like, just imagine wind just spinning and debris, just debris like just bullets, whatever, any object from a basket, to a can of pop, to like any small-to big-object was just a bullet. And whatever was in the way, it destroyed.
DAN TAEKEMA: You said you saw a twister. What did this look like to you? What were you seeing?
PT: It was just like a gigantic cloud of dirt because it was coming from the field. And it was just dirt mixed with wind mixed with just debris. And it was just whatever it was just catching on to everything and just taking it as far as I could see, just 150 up into the air, spinning and just intensifying. And then it just started throwing things around to the point where I got a glimpse of it before it got close to our yard, where it just started throwing everything in our yard around. And as I was shutting the door, my view of what I was seeing was limited. But if I didn't shut that door in time, the roof from the other building would have probably taken me out.
DT: And when you came out, like, what was that like to come out to this? It obviously looked so different than it would on a typical day.
PT: It's heartbreaking. It's speechless. Nothing's the same. I opened the window in the morning. I look out every morning. I see the sunrise. First thing I see is our yard. I see everything this morning. I didn't even have the guts to look outside because I knew I'd just be looking at a junkyard right now. Because everything it's just flattened, levelled, right? And everything we worked for is all gone.
CH: That was Prabhjot Thiara speaking to the CBC's Dan Taekema yesterday, just outside of Hamilton, Ontario.
[Music: Jazzy piano]
Brendan Lawlor
Guest: Brendan Lawlor
CH: Ireland's Brendan Lawlor is one of the top-ranked golfers with a disability in the world. And earlier this summer, the 23-year-old made history when he stepped up to the first tee at a course in England. The European Tour says he's the first professional golfer with a disability to compete on its tour. Mr. Lawlor has a rare genetic condition called Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome. And that was a big moment for him professionally — but also personally. Because he hopes to inspire others to take up the game. We reached Brendan Lawlor in Dundalk, Ireland.
CO: Brendan, have you had a chance tet to reflect on the fact that you have made golf history?
BRENDAN LAWLOR: No, it's been pretty crazy. It's probably three weeks now. And the last three weeks has been absolutely amazing with sort of interviews and people coming up to me and stuff. But I absolutely love it. It's really been incredible.
CO: And how was it for you? Just go back to the end of August when you were playing in the Honda UK Championship. What was going through your mind as you played in that tournament?
BL: Yeah, obviously, I was very nervous and stuff. And the fact that there was no crouds, to be honest, kind of helped because there was no added pressure of crowds. But there was a lot of media hype around the event and a lot of other pressure that way. But it was a really good buzz to play in such a great event.
CO: How did the other golfers respond to you?
BL: Yeah, so , to be honest, they were very, very encouraging. And going over as a disability golfer, you're not really knowing the people. And it's sort of you're going into a zone where you're wondering to yourself are these guys going to accept you? You are sort of feeling nervous of the people you're being around because they're playing at the highest level in the world and you don't know if you should be there or whatever [chuckling]. But they were very, very, very encouraging, which was lovely.
CO: You have what's called Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome. What effect does that have on your ability to play the game?
BL: I was born Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome, which means I'm of a shorter stature. So growing up, I would have been a lot of smaller than my peer group. And sort of walking long distances would have done me in, and would've been kind of tough to walk nine holes without being really tired and really sore. So when I was around 15; I didn't start golf until I was 15. So I was starting to fill out. I needed to train myself to be able to walk 18 holes because I didn't really want to rely on a buggy. Because I feel that golf is a exercise sport, and you get the mental side and the exercise. So I wanted to train my body in a type of way that I could walk 36 holes, I could walk 18 holes. But again, physical ways, I wasn't born with any knuckles in my fingers either. So that's quite tough to grip the club. So I have sort of special grips on my clubs that are like extra sticky, so they don't fly out of my hand too often. [chuckling]
CO: But with that in your mind as you decided you wanted to play golf, and all these things that would say, well, you know, you should take up a different sport, what is it that encouraged you to go with golf?
BL: My granddad was a huge advocate for golf. No one in the family took up golf. So he saw that when I was born, he put a about a ten-inch club in my hand at the age of three and sort of fed me into the game very early. I used to go up to his house for hours on end to practice in his garden. And he always had that special bond to me because I played the game and it's really special. He's still alive, and he comes to some of the events and watches. And he absolutely adores it.
CO: How's your family responding to your success this summer?
BL: Like, my family have been supportive from day one. It didn't matter what I did. If it was go to school or try and pass a driving test, they were always sort of proud of what I'd done. And that made me focus on things in life that made me happy instead of like if I had to go to school, I went to school, but they didn't push grades or anything. And they just wanted me to be happy in my own skin. So with everything that went on the last few months, they've been really, really delighted for me. And if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here today either.
CO: I understand your mom was reluctant for you to go into disability golf because she didn't want you to see yourself as being different. That you had never done that. They encouraged you not to, is that right?
BL: Yeah, exactly. Like, in Ireland, I played lots of sports, I played tennis, I played football, Gaelic football and I played people that were my own age and never told I was any different then. Same with golf I played amateur golf in Ireland at very high levels. My auntie actually found the European Disabled Golf Association online. And my mom, she was reluctant to say it because she might have thought I was getting insulted because I was never any different. I went to school normally, done all the normal things. And she asked me one day would I play this? And I thought it would be fantastic to give it a go. And because it can help so many people's lives, mentally and physically, so it's such a great avenue to go down.
CO: But this next step you made, which was to go, well, to be successful in the European Disabled Golf Association, but then to go on to actually play at the European Tour, and to play with other players who don't have a so-called disability. How much more difficult was it for you?
BL: Yeah, it's a huge step up. Like, the courses we play on the disabled calendar would be slightly shorter. So they'd be about 6,600 yards. And this European Tour course is like 7,200 yards. So, obviously I wouldn't be as long as the main guys on tour. But, again, I know I can compete at that level. I'm not there to win, but I'm there. I know myself. I'm capable. And I think that's giving other people an example that they can go out and do it, too. So I think that's really important.
CO: There's also money to be won in that league, [laughing] isn't there?
BL: Big time, yeah. big money. [laughing] There's no money in the Disabled Tour yet, but hopefully it won't be too far away. Keith Pelley has great ambitions for a Disability Tour that runs alongside the European Tour, and give disabled athletes a chance to make a living out of golf, which would be absolutely incredible.
CO: We don't have golf in the Paralympics yet, do we?
BL: No, and that's a huge part for me. Like, I think representing your country, there's no better feeling. And for such a great game not to be in the Paralympics, it's quite annoying for myself, but I don't think it's too far away. I received lovely messages from Paralympic Olympics on Twitter during the week of the event. So hopefully that might be the foot in the door to give us a chance and go out and promote such a beautiful game.
CO: Wel, Brendan, we'll be watching. And I wish you the best in your sport. And I hope to see you in the Paralympics someday.
BL: Perfect! Come here, Carol. Thanks so much for the call.
CO: Thank you. Bye-bye.
BL: Bye-bye.
CH: That was golfer Brendan Lawlor in Dundalk, Ireland. To see pictures from the European Tour event, visit our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.
[Music: Electronic]
FOA: Charlie Brown
CH: On this day in 1950, a four-panel comic strip made its debut in seven newspapers. "Good ol' Charlie Brown," one kid said in the third panel. And in the fourth: "How I hate him!" And that was the first "Peanuts" strip — drawn by a little-known cartoonist from St. Paul, Minnesota named Charles Schulz. It would become one of the most important, and widely-loved comic strips in history. Over the decades, we were introduced to Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, and Snoopy — among many others. But there was one character who is never seen in the strip, although she is mentioned by name. Well, nickname. In 1961, Charlie Brown revealed his crush: the Little Red-Haired Girl. And while his unrequited love's real name, or face, didn't make it to the newspapers, she made her debut on TV screens 16 years later, in 1977, in "It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown." That's when "As It Happens" host Barbara Frum called up Charles Schulz himself to ask why the Little Red-Haired Girl — whose name was "Heather" — was finally going to be seen.
BARBRA FRUM: Did you decide you had to bring romance into the Peanut's column? Can you just not hold off the 70s any longer?
CHARLES SCHULZ: Well, we're always searching for new directions in these television shows. I think they are more difficult to adjust than the daily and Sunday newspaper comic strip. It is more difficult to keep them on the air.
BF: So all the pressure now for sex and violence is even reaching Peanuts?
CS: No, I wouldn't put it that way. [both chuckling] I just suggested to the producer and the animator that maybe we could do a show with a little romance in it. And I said, why don't we have them finally meet the little red haired girl? So we worked out this story. And I think it has a base little compromise ending to it.
BF: Oh yes, but you don't want to give that away?
CS: No, no, no, you wouldn't want me to would you?
BF: Where did you dream up Heather from? Was she always in your mind when she was on the other side of the room, at the back of the class, in the playground? Did you always know what Heather looked like?
CS: No, in fact, I considered myself rather incapable of drawing her. And the longer I kept from drawing her, the furthermore impossible that became. But I think it all began one day when I was home alone, and I think I was listening to a Hank Williams album as performed by Joni James then. She was singing some of these sad songs that Hank Williams used to write about lost loves. And it occurred to me that might be something that would work very well for Charlie Brown. So that's how the whole thing started.
BF: Where do you get the name Heather from, and where did you get her looks?
CS: Well, the looks, of course, were created by the animators down in Hollywood. This is something that I didn't want to touch.
BF: This is your point that you didn't feel you could draw her?
CS: No. And, of course, the animators are still the ones that have to make her move and put her on the screen. So I left it up to their good abilities. And they knew that she had to be red haired because they tried to keep her up to style of hair that the girls wear these days.
BF: But this is the first time she's been named.
CS: Yeah.
BF: What were you holding off for, Mr Schulz?
CS: Well, it's a lot like trying to draw the inside of the dog house and things like that. The longer you hold off, the better I think it becomes left to the reader's imagination. Because eventually, I think each reader establishes these characters or these incidence in his own imagination. And then it's almost inevitable that what you draw will be a disappointment. So I think the longer you hold do hold off, the more difficult it becomes.
CH: Former "As It Happens" host Barbara Frum speaking with the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, Charles Schulz in 1977. Today marks 70 years since the first-ever "Peanuts" strip was published.
[Music: Funk]
Part three: Oregon mobile homes burn, Derek Mahon obit, weird book collector
Oregon mobile homes burn
Guest: Niria Alicia
CH: When the Almeda Fire ripped through southern Oregon's Jackson County last month, it destroyed Francisco Javier Torres' home — and thousands of others. Mr. Torres' belongings were lost, but he lost more than that. He had spent years refurbishing mobile homes to rent to people in the county, which is dealing with an affordable housing shortage. More than a dozen of those mobile homes were destroyed by fire. Niria Alicia is Mr. Torres's daughter. She lives and works in California's Bay area, but is with her family in Oregon now. We reached her in Ashland.
CO: Niria, the pictures show a wasteland in big parts of your county. How many people do you know whose lives have been uprooted by this fire, have lost their place to live right now?
NIRIA ALICIA: Right now, in our community, we don't know anyone who was not either directly impacted or who has not been at the forefront of responding or taking families in. So that number to me is not a number that that is the answer to that. [chucklinmg] Right now, unfortunately and fortunately, it's everybody in our community.
CO: And your father was one who came from Mexico. He was a tree planter. He has spent his whole life building what was there. What's left of your dad's home at this point?
NA: So, I mean, I couldn't go back for weeks. That was a personal decision that I made because, you know, it's too much to take in. I think we're still waking up every day and thinking like this didn't actually happen. Our communities didn't actually burn down. It' like, no, yes, like, they did. My father lost everything. His home is now ash — along with all of his belongings and our family belongings that were in his home. And, unfortunately, that's the story of thousands of families in our community, who also on September 9th woke up to nothing. We woke up to two villages that are now, you know, areas of hazardous waste.
CO: Your father told a New York Times, a journalist who spoke with him, he said that his entire life's work is gone.
NA: Um-hmm.
CO: So you mentioned the your family had things in his house, mementos, lots of things from everyone in your family, but also his livelihood he's lost.
NA: Yes. So my father was a former Northwest tree planter. And he planted over 12 million trees in the time when I was a child, when he was out there working. And, unfortunately, he got hurt on the job and decided he needed to change it up a little bit. So instead, because he had carpentry skills, he started acquiring mobile homes that were either on the verge of being demolished or were no longer desired. And he just started taking them, buying them, investing in them, rebuilding in them and renting them out to families and working people here in the Rogue Valley, in some of the Rogue Valley's most affordable housing. Now, I think they finally, and I feel more comfortable with these numbers, they've finally come out with numbers that say that out of the 3,000 structures that were lost, 75 per cent of those were mobile homes. And like I said before, many of our families who lived in these mobile home villages paid anywhere between 400 and 500 dollars. And you can't find that kind of rent here.
CO: So who were the people who relied on that supply of homes your father was refurbishing and renting? Who are the people, the families that needed them?
NA: So the families that my father rented the mobile homes to are working-class, Latinx, some were veterans, some were disabled folks, some, you know, had fixed income. And many of them also had no renters history. So, yeah, it's our community who work hard and who could only afford to live in these mobile home villages.
CO: And now, you mentioned that there is already a crisis — there was, before the fires, a crisis in affordable housing. So what does this mean now for people who have lost so much, who've lost their belongings, who've lost their jobs? Where are they going to live?
NA: So that's been the question before the Almeda Fires. We already had a one per cent vacancy rate. There is already a six-year waitlists. So to lose these 3,000 structures is a crisis on top of a crisis, on top of a crisis. And it's really just uncovered the inequality in wealth. And that poverty is something that our officials absolutely need to address. We're hearing so much from different officials and different people who are saying, oh, you know, we don't know if we'll be able to rebuild. We don't know if we have enough force. It's like it's absolutely possible. Our communities just need to be made a priority.
CO: We've heard from many people since the fires in Oregon and California, and they're devastated. They lost a lot, but they have insurance that will help them rebuild. They have options. They have families to go to. They have other things they can do, otherwise they can survive, as sad as it is for them. But you're talking about people who have none of that safety net, right?
NA: Yes. I've spoken with hundreds of people, and I can count in my hands the amount of people who have said that they had insurance. So the large majority of our community members, working-class, who will have to work already two to three jobs to be able to even afford some of the most affordable housing, our communities can't afford insurance. And on top of that, a lot of insurance companies won't insure mobile homes that have been refurbished because they don't see them as valuable assets worthy of being insured, especially not in this region that is so prone to wildfires. So that is our biggest concern right now. We also have many of our members, you know, we're a mixed status community. So when we ask ourselves who will have the ability to recover, who will have the ability to file an insurance claim, or call on FEMA for support? There's a lot of our members who who won't be filing claims, who won't be applying to FEMA because as many people may or may not know but FEMA is a part of Homeland Security, and that's, you know, that's very touchy for their status.
CO: Right, for their security living in Oregon, right? And for remaining there.
NA: Um-hm.
CO: They're fearing deportation as well.
NA: On top of losing everything. It's unfortunate and it's heartbreaking that our communities have to worry about that in these times.
CO: We'll leave it there, Niria. I'm sorry your father and your family is going through all of this. And I appreciate you telling us about it. Thank you.
NA: Thank you.
CO: Bye-bye.
NA: Bye.
CH: The home of Niria Alicia's father was destroyed by fire last month. She's a climate activist and we reached her in Ashland, Oregon.
[Music: lullaby]
Derek Mahon Obit
CH: Over a publishing career that began in 1965, the Irish poet Derek Mahon released more than 20 collections of poetry. But amid the chaos of 2020, one of his poems in particular has emerged as a balm. Patrick Mahon died last night in Ireland. He was 78 years old. He wrote "Everything is Going to be All Right" nearly 10 years ago. But it's proven to be a timely antidote to the confusion and fear this year has brought. This March, when many countries were beginning to lock down, an Irish news station ended its broadcast with a reading of that poem. Today, the Irish Times described the piece as, "a short lyric of solace and determined optimism," which "captured for many the national mood in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic." One of Patrick Mahon's many collections was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. He also won the David Cohen Prize for Literature, which recognizes a lifetime achievement in writing. His final poetry collection, called "Washing Up", will be released later this month. Today, people around the world are remembering him by finding comfort in what's become his most famous poem. Here's the late Patrick Mahon reading, "Everything is Going to Be All Right".
[Reading]
PATRICK MAHON: Everything is going to be all right. Why should I not be glad to contemplate the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window and a high tide reflected on the ceiling. There will be dying. There will be dying. But there is no need to go into that. The poem flow from the hand unbidden, and the hidden source is the watchful heart. The sun rises in spite of everything. And the far cities are beautiful and bright. I lie here in a rise of sunlight, watching the day break and the clouds fly. Everything is going to be all right.
[/Reading]
CH: Irish poet Derek Mahon died on Thursday night. He was 78.
[Music: Banjo]
Weird book collector
Guest: Edward Brooke-Hitching
CH: Cheese slices, penguin blood, toilet paper, human skin. Not the materials you'd probably use to print your memoir. And if they are, bad news: it's all been done. A decade ago, Edward Brooke-Hitching set out to curate the ultimate collection of strange books. And this week, he finally published the fruits of that labour: his own book, featuring everything from journals written in blood, to mysterious works of code, to a book that weighs as much as an elephant. Edward Brooke-Hitching is the author of "The Madman's Library". We reached him in London, England.
CO: Edward, am presuming that this book of yours is printed with normal paper and ink?
EDWARD BROOKE-HITCHING: [chuckle] It is as far as I'm aware.
CO: [chuckling] What inspired you to create the "Madman's Library"?
EBH: Well, I grew up, my father was a rare book dealer. I grew up in a shop. And I just was very lucky to constantly see books that you never normally hear about in the general awareness. We're all familiar with the great classics, great works. But you can't help but have the sense that all the books we know of are just just a few teardrops in this giant ocean of literary heritage from history of cultures all around the world. All the books have been destroyed. All the books that were maybe just a bit too strange to be kept alive or too difficult to categorize. And so that sort of leads you to the idea of what if you were the ultimate book collector looking to put together the most interesting library that you could if time and money and maybe a bit of good sense were were were not obstacles.
CO: These books truly are strange. And I wonder let's go into some of the ones that you have made in this compendium. What's your favourite?
EBH: Well, it is very difficult because I think there are literally thousands of books in there. But in terms of the story that made the biggest impression on me, it was to do with Saddam Hussein, which is not normally the kind of figure that leads you into a quirky story. [CO chuckles] But I had no idea that in 1997, to celebrate his sixtieth birthday, he commissioned the creation of a Koran to be written using his own blood. He had up to 57 pints of his own blood withdrawn and mixed with calligraphers ink to have this enormous 504-page volume produced. And it went on display in the Mother of All Battles mosque in Baghdad. And then after the fall of Baghdad, it was hastily hidden in an underground archive. And it t remains, as far as we're aware, remains there because it presented this ultimate dilemma. It's forbidden to create something as monstrous as that kind of Koran in your own blood. But it's also equally forbidden to destroy a Koran. So it exists in a kind of limbo of judgment.
CO: This is not the only book that you have recorded that was written in blood.
EBH: [chuckling] Yes. yes, It's a surprisingly extensive history. For example, you can range from a Marvel comic book produced in 1977 that was printed using ink mixed with the blood of the rock band Kiss. They starred in the comic book. Alternatively, I spoke to one dealer, which is how I researched the book, trying to chase down anecdotes of dealers and people like that. And they mentioned that they'd had a journal of a shipwreck from 1847 called "The Fate of the Blendon Hall", which had been written by the captain of the wrecked ship using what he had to hand, which was old newspapers and penguins. So the top subtitle of "Fate of the Blendon Hall" is written entirely in the blood of the penguin.
CO: There are a number of books that you have in this collection or in your compendium that are actually early examples of fake news. Can you tell us about some of them?
EBH: Yes. Well, I mean, one of my favourite characters in history is what you would characterize as the travel liar. Someone who came home into the docks with these wild, invented stories of lands that you couldn't possibly contradict him on because you had never left your own neighbourhood. And so one of the most interesting of these figures, his name was George Salmanazar. But he claimed to be the first for Taiwanese person to have ever stepped foot on the European continent. And he was a hit in London with high society because he described an incredibly brutal and savage land where the children were sacrificed, and the priests eat their hearts. But the curious thing is he was blond-haired, blue-eyed, white-skinned and spoke with a thick French accent. [CO laughs] But his book was a massive bestseller because he had all these wild stories and because he was incredibly charismatic and witty. And whenever he was questioned, he danced circles around his interrogators. For example, at the Royal Society, when someone said. Well, the fact that you mentioned the places in the tropics, you must be able to see the sun shine down the chimneys. But you said you couldn't. And he said, well, of course, you see in Formosa, our chimneys are corkscrew-shaped. The sun never makes it down to the bottom. [CO laughs]
CO: He's quick and clever for a liar, isn't he?
EBH: Exactly!
CO: As you have to be.
EBH: Yes.
CO: Now, of course, the whole idea of this is so even you and us as a child in this in this very bookshop of your dad's, it has a kind of Harry Potter feel to it. And, of course, magic does show up in there books, [EBH chuckles] including one about demonology and magic. Can you tell us about that?
EBH: Yes. My absolute favourite is a manuscript in the collection of the Welcome Library in London. Essentially, it was produced at a time when the hysteria over magic had subsided. And so what you really drink in with this great work of art is how the author is exercising and exorcizing his imagination and just relishing all these forbidden details that he can now provide because it was safe to really present an exciting idea of the possibilities of magic.
CO: Now, we know that all old, arid books can be very fragile and falling apart, but it seems that possibly the most durable book that you review is actually made out of something that never seems to write, which is Kraft American cheese slices.
EBH: Oh, yes, that was Ben Denzer's book, who has also produced other very unique books that consist of a collection of artificial sweeteners or American dollar bills. But, yes, only a few copies of "American Cheese", as it's called, was produced. A book made entirely of cheese and bound between boards. And it was fun tracking down copies. And as far as I was informed, that these copies remain what they call shelf-stable, in sufficient condition. But the librarians I spoke to said that's for now. We're keeping an eye on it. Who knows what's going to happen. [CO chuckles]
CO: All right. We'll leave it there. Edward, congratulations, and best of luck with your book.
EBH: Thank you very much.
CO: Bye-bye.
CO: Bye.
CH: Edward Brooke-Hitching is the author of "The Madman's Library". He's in London, England.
As he mentioned, just now, the book "20 Slices of American Cheese" by Ben Denzer contains slices of cheese — 20, I presume. Wrapped in plastic, of course, because cheese slices are disturbingly adhesive. As we learned on "As It Happens" in 2015, when Carol spoke with CBC host Sook-Yin Lee about the slice of processed cheese that got stuck to a window at her home in the summer of 2013. Which was still clinging on — a year-and-a-half later.
CO: Sook-Yin, is there really a slice of processed cheese stuck on your front door window?
SOOK-YIN LEE: This is correct. You've sluiced it well, Carol.
CO: And is it stinking up your house?
SYL: Funnily enough, no, not at all. It has no odour.
CO: And is it held there by glue or tape or anything?
SYL: No. What had happened was about a year-and-a-half ago, we had a block party, lots of fun times. My friend grabbed one of the remaining processed cheese slices and flicked it at my house and it stuck to my front door. And I was like, wow, that is incredible. I mean, it looked quite marvellous. And so I let it stay there. And the weird thing was, I realized as I continued to walk into my house that night, an insect, not a squirrel in the heat of summer, nor a mould spore would attach to this processed cheese. And so I started to take photos of the cheese, and the development of the cheese. And I began to post it. And I called it Cheesz Watch with a Z because it's not real cheese.
CO: [laughing] We're talking a year-and-a-half.
SYL: Yeah.
CO: It took about six seasons. It hasn't changed at all or what?
SYL: Well, I mean, of course, it's transformed over the time. I mean, you know, through sleet and hail storm and freezing, freezing winter. But then gradually it started to get covered with filth from the street. Then a couple weeks ago, I noticed that the cheese cracked. And then today, as I was going to work, I looked and I saw that the four corners have now separated from the glass panes. It's alarming because I'm not sure if the cheese is on death's door and I feel like I really have to pay particular close attention. But then it struck me that maybe it's animating to life and maybe taking on a life.
CH: [laughing] That was Carol speaking with Sook-Yin Lee in March 2015, about a slice of processed cheese that was stuck to her window for more than 18 months. That cheese held on for 747 days — until a house-painting mishap ended its tenancy later that year.
[Music: Indie rock]
Ella Fitzgerald recording
CH: You know how it is: you tuck something away because you think it's worth keeping. But then you forget all about it because you tucked it away. It's annoying — but then, it's amazing. Because someone gets to find it again, and sometimes what they find is that what you tucked away really was worth saving. Just ask the people at the record label Verve. Earlier this year, they were digging through a bunch of old boxes, and happened upon one that appeared untouched. It was still held shut with yellowed scotch tape. And inside was a recording of Ella Fitzgerald performing live in Berlin in 1962, at the peak of her musical powers. It seems Ms. Fitzgerald's manager had a habit of recording her live performances, alert to the kind of accidental alchemy that could never be reproduced in a studio. Moments of spontaneous genius — or rare mistakes that she somehow turned to gold.