Helloooo!
Helloooo! is the title of our latest episode, which also happens to be the last episode of the first season of the Green Tunnel. It's a tad ironic that the last episode of the season is titled with a greeting. Wait, is that irony or just a weird thing? Either way, we've been having fun and working hard producing the podcasts your enjoy. If you appreciate our efforts, you can become a member of R2 Studios and support the production of great audio. Read on to learn more!
The Consolation Prize team is still thinking about our most recent episode, "The Art of Diplomacy," which features the story of 20th-century artist, author, and world traveler Irena Wiley. There is so much to learn about Irena and her extraordinary life that we dedicated our last newsletter to trying to find her lost art. And this week our team went on a field trip to see some of her pieces.
And we'd still like your help. Irena Wiley went to Vietnam on several USO tours from 1968 to 1970. Here's what we know about where she went. At each stop, she drew portraits of wounded soldiers that she then gave them to send back to their families. We firmly believe that some of these portraits still exist out there, maybe in an attic or letterbox in the closet. We want to find these portraits.
Will you help us? You can help us by doing two things: (a) listen to the episode, and tell your friends and people you know about it and about our search, and (b) if you have connections with any communities of Vietnam veterans, please share this newsletter or the episode with them.
And if you do know anything about Irena Wiley, or you’ve encountered her in her Vietnam work or elsewhere, will you please get in touch? You can reach us at consolationprizepod@gmail.com, or on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or you can even leave us a voicemail at our website, consolationprize.rrchnm.org.
The Green Tunnel team wrapped up a very successful first season this past week! We are closing in on 25,000 listens for the season! Our last episode is titled, "Helloooo!" It's about Eiler Larson, the official greeter for Laguna Beach, California, who would stand on the corner shouting greetings to all who passed by. Eiler might also might be the first person to walk the entire Appalachian Trail. Tune in and see if you agree.
Although "Helloooo!" is our last episode for the season, don't despair, we are hard at work planning and preparing for season two. And we have some bonus episodes coming out this summer that you won't want to miss!
Our very own Mills Kelly met a Green Tunnel listener, Tracey Davis-Witmyer, when he stopped by ATC Headquarters last week! Thanks for posting this, Tracey; we really appreciate your support!
We have been listening to a podcast that you might enjoy: Reframing History. "Reframing History is the result of a two-year, deep-dive research effort to understand how Americans think about history and how our field can more effectively explain history’s value." So put on your SCUBA gear and get ready for a deep-dive! We have something in common with our colleagues over at Reframing History--they too are funded by the Mellon Foundation.
This week, two of our Consolation Prize team got to tour Gold Leaf Studios, which is owned by Bill Adair. Adair is the one who rescued a lot of Irena Wiley's art from the junk auction. We got to see Wiley's art up close and personal, and we even got to learn a little bit about how gold leafing works! Among a lot of other things, Bill showed us how he studies frames, including this one that was part of a portrait of Millard Fillmore.
For just a few dollars a month, you can help us make amazing audio stories. Your money goes to helping us make our space better, hiring voice actors, paying for music and archival tape, and so much more.
Plus, if you become a member, you could get a super cool tumbler or a cool t-shirt! There’s really no downside here.
And that’s it for this edition of “Good Tape!” Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next time.
You just read issue #14 of Good Tape. You can also browse the full archives of this newsletter.