Fresh Air Weekend: Russell T. Davies, Captain Beefheart And Bruce Eric Kaplan

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors, and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

From 'Banana' To 'Cucumber,' New Series Spans The Spectrum Of Sex: Cucumber tells the adventures of a middle-aged gay man; Banana is a series of short stories. Russell T. Davies, who made Queer As Folk, says the titles came from a scientific institute in Switzerland.

No Hits, No Problem: Captain Beefheart's Major Label Run: In 1970, Warner Bros. Records had an unusual philosophy: they'd sign artists and, instead of wanting a hit single immediately, they'd develop them over several albums. This way, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Little Feat and Randy Newman got big career boosts. They also took a chance on Captain Beefheart, and although neither a hit single nor a hit album resulted, some very interesting music did.

'New Yorker' Cartoonist And TV Producer Writes 'Honest Portrait' Of His Parents: Bruce Eric Kaplan's illustrated memoir I Was A Child describes his life in Maplewood, N.J., in the '60s and '70s. He says it's a way of keeping his parents alive, "not just for me, but for the world."

You can listen to the original interviews here:

From 'Banana' To 'Cucumber,' New Series Spans The Spectrum Of Sex

No Hits, No Problem: Captain Beefheart's Major Label Run

'New Yorker' Cartoonist And TV Producer Writes 'Honest Portrait' Of His Parents

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