Coming up in this edition of WYSO Weekend:
- GEM CITY CIRQUE: In 1959 an article in a small French newspaper reported that a circus school student had presented the most incredible act using a long piece of fabric. Over the last decade the Aerial Silks, as it’s now known, has seen a surge in popularity thanks to companies like Cirque du Soleil, and performance artists like Pink. It’s even showing up in fitness classes. Renee Wilde visited a studio in Miamisburg, where a local group of aerial artists train and share their love of this performance art form with others.
- EDGEMONT GARDEN: The Edgemont neighborhood in West Dayton has seen a burst of new energy in recent years. The Greater Edgemont Coalition has expanded its solar garden project. It’s also partnered with Central State University to teach a beginning farmers program, and grow its food-sustainability efforts. WYSO’s Alejandro Figueroa talks with Omope Carter Daboiku, the farm manager at the garden, on what this growth means for the neighborhood.
- 25th Anniversary of The Interview: 25 years ago, playwright Faye Sholiton and her play The Interview won the top prize at the Dayton Playhouse FutureFest. The play is centered around the Holocaust, and how one woman’s memory of it affects her relationship with her daughter - and her life. On Sunday September 18th, the Beth Jacob Synagogue will host two showings of the play, and host a Q&A with the playwright. We spoke with synagogue board member Helen Halcomb about the play’s significance.
- Jim 'Pee Wee' Martin: A local veteran and one of the last few World War II veterans immortalized in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers died on Sunday September 11, 2022. Jim “Pee-Wee” Martin, who parachuted into Normandy in June 1944, lived in Greene County. WYSO’s Garrett Reese has this remembrance.
- The Boonshoft Room of Wonders: The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton recently opened a new exhibit called the Beiser Room of Wonders. The exhibit harkens back to the museum's nineteenth century origins. Renee Wilde went behind the scenes with museum staff to bring us this story.
- Wittenberg Humanities Expansion: Christian Raffensperger has a mission to expand the education of humanities beyond classrooms and into communities. In other words - take it to the people. Raffensperger is the new director of the Margaret Ermarth Institute for the Public Humanities at Wittenberg University. Recently, he spoke to us about the mission and why it’s also a personal one for him.
- Rounding out the program is Poor WIll’s Almanack.
