07. Simulation = Memory + Emotion
HOST AND CURATOR
Sara Ortiz
SENIOR PRODUCER
Nicole Kelly
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
Vera Blossom and Layla Muhammad
MIXER + ENGINEER
Fil Corbitt and Kevin Krall
CONTRIBUTORS
Rachel James, Lisa Ko, Amy Kurzweil, Ray Kurzweil, Arthur Moon, Vi Khi Nao, Guest Host Niela Orr, Elena Passarello, Geneva Skeen, Tyler Tingey, and Toisha Tucker
MUSIC BY
Jeremy Klewicki
ILLUSTRATION
Jesse Zhang
ART ACTING AS A SIMULATOR
To what extent can we really know a person we've never met? As writer and cartoonist Amy Kurzweil works on her next graphic memoir, she seeks to know her paternal grandfather, who died before she was born. In this conversation, Amy and her father, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, discuss artificial intelligence, chatbots, and art as simulation and a vehicle to replicate human emotion.
Music in this segment: “Buoancy” by Chad Crouch, “Ice Flow” by BioUnit, “Seeing the Future” by Dexter Britain
YOU CAN'T HIDE IN THE DESERT WIND
Poet Vi Khi Nao guides listeners through a meditative sound walk along the Las Vegas Strip, where, according to Vi, the ghost of the diurnal self meets the ghost of nocturnal life. Produced by Rachel James and scoring by Geneva Skeen, this auditory exploration brings forth a poetic, visceral experience under the (scorching) desert heat.
RECREATING LIFE, BLEAK DAYS, AND COMFORT KARAOKE
Can video (Zoom) gatherings make us feel lonelier? Before the nation was quarantined to their homes, novelist Lisa Ko and visual artist Toisha Tucker would rent big, private karaoke rooms in New York City with friends. After the 2020 lockdown, in an attempt to connect with friends, Ko organized Zoom hangouts and karaoke parties to simulate the feeling of togetherness. For this segment, Ko and Tucker consider the gap between the performance and the reality of collectively gathering in virtual spaces.
WOODEN HEART
Most people agree that the real Elvis Presley hasn’t walked this Earth since that August night in 1977, but Presley lives on through the dedication of Elvis Tribute Artists. In this segment, writer Elena Passarello examines how both people and puppets are vessels for our imagination and emotion.
Featuring covers of Wooden Heart by Arthur Moon and Aura Lee by Tyler Tingey, Passarello delivers a sharp essay about loneliness and facsimile, and what occurs when projects (puppets) take on lives of their own.