Valley of Smoke
by Alex MacInnis
Audio documentaries of Southern California: microcosm of human experience, crossroads of everything. Each episode explores a different path through its subject matter, but all foreground personal histories and patiently unfolding narratives amidst original music, sound design, and affection for the minutiae of The Southland. Background, credits, sources, and partial explanations for every episode at valleyofsmoke.com . Created and produced by Alex MacInnis.
Episodes
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009 Buttons or Keys? Part 2
The accordion lets its hair down and finds its groove; from animal costume strip-tease to a tiny village in rural Colombia to Tommy Lasorda's birthday and the world's largest meatball.
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008 Buttons or Keys? Part 1
The story behind one of the largest accordion schools in history, how impressionable young children were once recruited into esoteric pursuits by strangers appearing at their front door, and the rise and fall of the piano accordion in the USA.
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007 No Direct Flights
Two urban metropolises almost exactly opposite on the globe are each home to over 14 million people. Each sits at the southern foot of a mountain range, and is infamous for traffic, smog, and a hot, dry summer. Each entered their modern age in the 1770's and came into their own with explosive...
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006 Our Closest Neighbors, Part 2
By the late 19th Century, just when there aren't many wild predators left, we turn away from rural living. The deer are happy about this, and reproduce accordingly. And strangely enough (or perhaps, obviously), we then proceed to take animal tourism to a new level, being especially fond of paying...
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005 Our Closest Neighbors, Part 1
The urban areas of The Southland are only getting more popular with the local wildlife. As coyotes and mountain lions become resigned to–if not delighted by–urban living, distinctions such as wilderness and civilization fall away. Scientists are beginning to study the city as natural habitat and...
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004 Working Without A Net
An essay on personal and collective responsibility amid shifting economic sands and elusive safety nets, focusing on one of Los Angeles' great economic engines: creativity. Aerialists, singers, musicians, visual artists, science fiction writers, film directors, and special effects specialists are...
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003 Your Boyfriend's No Rocket Scientist, Part 2
We've been in space for over fifty years, but it still requires enormous resources and risk to get there. As part of the quest to change that situation, Mojave, California–the small desert town with an oversized airfield–has evolved from a training ground for Marine flying aces to the first…
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002 Don't Want to Complain
The very personal story of the Siegel family, exploring the struggle of communicating bad news to loved ones, especially as the bad news piles on. Among many other things, here may be found: glimpses of Los Angeles through the later decades of the 20th Century, the minty-fresh smell of City Hall,...
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001 Your Boyfriend's No Rocket Scientist, Part 1
Southern California was perhaps the world's single most important location for the development of the industry that came to be known as aerospace. Starting in 1910 and steadily building for three decades, the region came into its own in World War 2 and continuined through the entirety of the Cold...
About this show
Audio documentaries of Southern California: microcosm of human experience, crossroads of everything. Each episode explores a different path through its subject matter, but all foreground personal histories and patiently unfolding narratives amidst original music, sound design, and affection for the minutiae of The Southland. Background, credits, sources, and partial explanations for every episode at valleyofsmoke.com . Created and produced by Alex MacInnis.
Hosted by
Alex MacInnis