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MUSIC OF THE INFINITE MIND 2006
Broadcast starting week of June 28, 2006

In this hour, a special presentation: our fourth presentation of The Music of the Infinite Mind. We've been joined recently by some talented musicians with smart things to say both musically and otherwise about many intriguing aspects of the human mind. Now, you'll hear some of the best who have stopped by to visit The Infinite Mind’s studios. Guests include: Aimee Mann, the Black-eyed Peas, Loudon Wainwright III, Chris Louviere, and the cast of Menopause the Musical, with a special report on the multitasking genius of American composer Charles Ives.

To begin, from our program “Midlife,” The Infinite Mind's Bill Lichtenstein talks with singer/songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, an artist who has, over the past 30 years or so, found that when you put your mind to it, you can write a song just about anything. When he was invited to join us for a program about midlife, Wainwright realized he had written songs all around midlife, but he'd never done a song devoted to the subject. The result? Exclusive to The Infinite Mind: a world premiere of the song, "Doing the Math!"

Hypomania, a symptom of bipolar disorder that starts out as exhilaration but can spiral out of control, has its pros and cons, we learned in our program on the subject. From that show, we hear next from folk singer and guitarist Chris Louviere, who joins us to tell his personal story of bipolar disorder and to play the song “Benzo Train” from his new album, titled “Hypomania.” Louviere’s mother suffered from misdiagnosed bipolar disorder, and he explains how fear of a similar predicament kept him out of treatment for years – even though he knew he had inherited his mother’s illness. In “Benzo Train,” he sings about his attempts to slow down his racing thoughts, albeit with the wrong drugs.

For more information on Chris Louviere, his album, and his family history of bipolar disorder, visit his website.

Next, from our program “Writer’s Block,” an interview on the subject with award-winning singer/songwriter Aimee Mann. She’s recorded five albums, most recently "The Forgotten Arm." She says her songwriter’s block was inspired at least in part by the business foibles of her previous record labels (she now has her own record company) and explains how her song, “Calling It Quits,” helped her break through. You can hear more of Aimee Mann’s work by visiting www.aimeemann.com

After the break, we turn to spirituality, with an excerpt from our program: “Religion: Beyond Belief.” Lest you think that religion and spirituality are exclusively the domain of the pious, the scholarly, or---heaven forbid---the extreme, the Black-Eyed Peas will remind you that these basic forms of human expression are found everywhere in our culture, including in rap music. The 2005 Grammy Award winners talk with The Infinite Mind's Bill Lichtenstein before a recent concert about spirituality, their desire to counter negative messages in popular music, and the need to build community. They also rap a few verses of their hit Where is the Love?

After that, from our program “Multitasking,” The Infinite Mind’s Jackson Braider takes us into the concert hall, where we encounter an unlikely hero of American music, Charles Ives (1874-1954), an insurance salesman whose creative use of multitasking in his musical compositions recreated the parades and parties in his hometown of Danbury, Connecticut. Noted Ives biographer Jan Swafford says the beauty of Ives’s work can be found in how the composer made the connection between music and life, “including everyday life and everyday music.” Jan Swafford’s biography Charles Ives: A Life with Music and Charles Ives’s Three Places in New England are available at Amazon.com

Finally, from our program on the aging brains of the baby boomer generation, “Dude Where’s My Walker?,” a live musical presentation from “Menopause the Musical.” Kathy St. George and Adrienne Cote, from the Boston cast of “Menopause,” join us for a lighter look at aging and share their own personal experiences with “the Change.” We also hear two selections from the show, which parodies classic Boomer songs. “Help Me Rhonda” becomes “Thank You Doctor,” and the new version of the song “The Great Pretender” isn’t about lost love – it’s about lost memories.

Heard on The Infinite Mind:

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