VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE 43
AIR DATE 11 09 2018
FULL TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Fighting Fires
((SOT))
We like what we do, I think. Otherwise we wouldn’t do it.
((NATS))
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
From Road to Table
((SOT))
It’s called ‘Hillbilly Mardi Gras Alligator and Turtle Gumbo Over Country Creamy Grits’ or ‘Creamy Country Grits’.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Alive and Tapping
((SOT))
Today, I’m going to be two days away from 90. It’s a form of exercise, and I like the rhythm.
((Banner))
The Elephant Man
((SOT))
When I was given the chance to work with the elephants, I wanted to take them off their chains. But I also knew that you're dealing with the largest animal that walks the face of the earth.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((Banner: Spotlight on Philadelphia))
((PKG)) BOXING GYM
((Map: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania))
((Video Montage))
((Banner: Yo, Adrian!))
((Reporter: Maria Morton))
((Camera: David Gogokhia))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Banner: Front Street Gym has trained boxers since the 1960s, guiding young people and producing champions))
((Terrence Lewis, Trainer, Former Heavyweight Fighter))
Terrence Lewis. I’m a trainer here at Front Street Gym.
((NATS))
((Terrence Lewis, Trainer, Former Heavyweight Fighter))
I always tell the parents, when you let your kids run with those steps, they’re my kids. You know, I have three kids of my own. So, I want all these kids to feel like they’re with a father figure when they’re with me, and I treat them like a father. You know, I mean, we just have so much fun together, but they’re learning in the process. But, when they come in this gym, they’re my kids, in two hours.
((NATS))
((John Kemp, Boxer))
It’s kind of crazy. People come to the gym, they learn how to fight, but it’s actually to keep you from fighting on the street. So, it keeps you out of trouble. So that way, you’re able to come in here and relieve a lot of stress, relieve a lot of anger, and still be in a good environment at the same time, and have people that look over you and want to see you do better. I went from fighting on the street a lot, to coming in here. My grades improved. I stopped fighting on the street. I started being happier. I was upset because I never had my father in my life. So coming here and having a father figure to show me love and attention and everything, it actually changed my life in a very dramatic way.
((NATS))
((Terrence Lewis, Trainer, Former Heavyweight Fighter))
Discipline. Discipline and respect and just having some kind of foundation under you. You know what I mean? Because a lot of the kids don’t have any kind of foundation under them. Here, I give them a foundation. You see, because I don’t want them to only become champions in the ring. I want them to become great people.
((NATS))
((Frank Kubach, Owner, Front Street Gym))
You can either be a black kid or a Spanish kid or a white kid. They can be the worst enemies out in the street, the worst enemies in the street. When they get in that ring, they’ll show more respect for each other than their own brother. When they get done fighting, they’ve got respect for each other. Win or lose, win or lose, they’ve got respect because they’re one on one. They ain’t 50. They’re fighting three minute rounds or two minute rounds and they’re doing the best they can. You and another guy’s in the ring. It ain’t like a football team or a baseball team. It’s one on one. People don’t understand that. This is a real gym. This is an old fashioned gym. As long as I live, I’m going to try to do the best I can with this gym, keep it going.
((NATS))
((PKG)) FEMALE FIRE CHIEF
((Banner: Putting Out Fires))
((Reporter: Maria Morton))
((Camera: David Gogokhia))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Locater: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania))
((Banner: In 2017, Linda Long became the first female Fire Battalion Chief in Philadelphia’s history))
((Captain Linda Long, Philadelphia Fire Battalion Chief))
When I was a teenager and I wanted to do it, my parents did not think it was a good idea. And they did not think I had a viable career path in EMS (Emergency Medical Services) and Fire, so they discouraged it. When I was little, I played a lot of sports, so I was used to being around boys and I didn’t have a problem with it. Some of the wives had problems. Some of the men had problems.
((NATS))
((Captain Linda Long, Philadelphia Fire Battalion Chief))
I was on the EMS side and a paramedic officer for 14 years. And now, I’ve been on this side for 14 years.
((NATS))
((Captain William Dixon, Philadelphia Fire Department))
I think the people that you meet, the people that you help, the places you go, and the incidents that you respond to. It’s a culmination of things that make this, I believe, the best job in the world. But I think the thing that stands out the most is the camaraderie that you have with your fellow firefighters. There is nothing else like it.
((NATS))
((Captain Linda Long, Philadelphia Fire Battalion Chief))
Being a chief, I actually miss being on the fire truck because you get to go everywhere as a group together. We get to put the fire out, in five minutes, ten minutes, an hour, but you always get to see the end result. The fire is out, all the people are out, and you got to finish the job.
((NATS))
((PKG)) PHILADELPHIA MURALS
((Banner: Art Ignites Change))
((Reporter: Maria Morton))
((Camera: David Gogokhia))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((NATS))
((Courtesy: Porch Light Initiative, Mural Arts Philadelphia))
((Banner: Mural Arts Philadelphia is the largest public art program in America.
Its motto is “Art Ignites Change” and includes programs for drug addicts and prison inmates))
((NATS))
((Jane Golden, Founder & Executive Director, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program))
Who amongst us has not had a dark time in our lives? We all have. And how do we use art to engage people and connect people,
((Courtesy: Porch Light Initiative, Mural Arts Philadelphia))
and connect them often to themselves and their family and their community? We see people go from saying, ‘I’m an addict,’ to saying, ‘I’m an artist. I can hold my head up. I can consider going into recovery.’ And I think that’s where art comes in. People see themselves doing something tangible.
It finds a home somewhere where people are acknowledging your self-worth, saying this is beautiful, we have gratitude, you did this.
Art reflects back our lives in some way, and art can be like the work behind me. This piece is about the impact of prison on families. And there are QR codes built into this, so you can actually hear peoples’ voices. And this was created by men in a maximum security prison, some of whom are from this neighborhood. There is genius and power and magic everywhere, in every neighborhood, and it’s our job to try to mine it, and work with people, with people to create beauty.
((NATS))
((James Burns, Staff Artist, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program))
My name is James Burns, and I’m a staff artist with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. As a child growing up here in Philadelphia, I had a chance to see the murals, and my father would take me to see, like, the Dr. J mural,
((Courtesy: Dr J © 1990 KentTwitchell and Mural Arts Philadelphia, Photo © Jack Ramsdale))
which is, like, one of the more iconic ones. And you know, when new murals would go up, he would take me out to see them. And I think if you’re moved by art, it doesn’t matter if it’s a painting in a gallery or a painting on the street. I think it’s less about the form at the end of the day and more about the idea or the impetus.
((NATS))
((Jane Golden, Founder & Executive Director, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program))
Hope is believing in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change. You see change happen,
((Courtesy: Porch Light Initiative, Mural Arts Philadelphia))
and it just, over time, has given me extraordinary hope because I see it giving hope to so many people in this city.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
An Acquired Taste
((SOT))
It’s a neat place to try new kind of food. I mean, you don’t get alligator every day, you don’t get bear every day. I mean, it’s just fun.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner: The Way We Eat))
((PKG)) ORGANIC FARMING
((Banner: Fresh))
((Reporter: Mariia Prus))
((Camera: Dmitriy Savchuk))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: St. Mary's County, Maryland))
((Banner: Even’ Star is a certified organic farm, making minimal use of organic pesticides and fertilizers))
((BRETT GROHSGAL, FARMER))
Since we’re here, you can tell we’re very certified organic, because a conventional grower would have sprayed this with Roundup. This edge would be brown with an herbicide, and instead, weeds show better than anything that we’re very certified organic, as well as some other indicators of insect activity that aren’t good, the right kind of insects.
((NATS))
((BRETT GROHSGAL, FARMER))
This is tobacco hornworm. It also consumes tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. This caterpillar will take all the leaves off. Now, if we left all these caterpillars on here and didn’t kill them, this whole plant would eventually be destroyed, or not destroyed but defoliated. All the leaves would come off, and this will actually, in the end, start even eating the fruit. These we kill by just ripping them in half and throwing them away.
((NATS))
((BRETT GROHSGAL, FARMER))
This was all harvested yesterday, and actually, you can see, we had crows or deer visit overnight. And deer, we have some fencing around here, but not enough. That could be crows, and crows love our watermelon. And it’s a real problem, and no matter whether you’re conventional or organic, crows are going to hit your watermelon. They’ll ruin about 40 to 60 pounds a day.
((NATS))
((BRETT GROHSGAL, FARMER))
So, this is cantaloupe, little, teeny (tiny) patch of cantaloupe. This is planted in May. It should have already been produced and be done by now. None of these are. Oh, this one’s ready, it was missed. Ok, yep, that one’s probably a number 2. This one is ugly. It is such an ugly cantaloupe. This one’s called Edisto. That’s typical for Edisto. Edisto was bred for the coastal plain, actually the coastal islands of South Carolina. It is delicious. It’s so sweet and aromatic. We’ll open one at lunch so you can taste. So, even though this tastes much better than any of that cardboard-y junk in the stores, I’m one of the only growers I know that still grows this because I don’t care about how it looks. I care about flavor, and I want my customers to eat and go, ‘Wow.’” When they do, ‘Wow,’ that’s good, they’re loyal. After that, they’re loyal.
((NATS))
((PKG)) ROAD KILL RESTAURANT
((Banner: Super Fresh))
((Reporters: Evgeny Baranov))
((Camera: Sergii Dogotar))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Marlinton, West Virginia))
((NATS))
((ANGELA LESTER, CHEF))
Unfortunately, we can't control the wildlife and keep it from getting hurt when we drive on the roads. Things like that do happen every day and we try to make use of what we have, our natural resources.
((NATS))
((SANDY WALKER, FESTIVAL VISITOR))
Well, this isn’t actually roadkill. It’s animals that could be in a roadkill.
((NATS))
((CHER MEGASKO, CHEF))
What I don’t like is the big factory farms, the CAFOs, the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, where they treat the animals really badly. They have, pigs are in pens where they don’t even have enough room to turn around. I think that’s absolutely horrible.
((NATS))
((ANGELA LESTER, CHEF))
We are making a predator-prey chili with bear meat and venison which is deer meat, and some corn muffins.
((NATS))
((CHER MEGASKO, CHEF))
The name of our team is ‘You hit them, we spit them’. I’m the team captain. My husband and I came all the way from Texas. It’s called ‘Hillbilly Mardi Gras Alligator and Turtle Gumbo Over Country Creamy Grits’ or ‘Creamy Country Grits’.
((NATS))
((SANDY WALKER, FESTIVAL VISITOR))
We come here every year. It's a neat place to try a new kind of food. I mean, you don't get alligator every day. You don't get bear every day. I mean, it's just fun.
((NATS))
((CHER MEGASKO, CHEF))
I am moving towards being an enphomologist (entomophage), which is a person who eats insects, and I think as a society or as a country as a society, we’re moving more towards those alternate protein sources, getting away from the beef and the pork etc.
((NATS))
((SAMUEL DARLEY, FESTIVAL VISITOR))
I do think there are certain animals that just shouldn’t be eaten because of what they eat. But, you know, if let’s say like rats, because there’s farm raised rats, then it would be perfectly fine to eat a farm raised rat. But I wouldn’t go out to New York City, kill a rat, and start eating it.
((NATS))
((SANDY WALKER, FESTIVAL VISITOR))
And actually, I think it’s better to not let things go to waste. It’s wasteful to waste things. I think it’s a good way to not be a glutton, but to use things in an appropriate fashion.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
John’s Crazy Socks
((SOT))
I have Down syndrome. Down syndrome never holds me back.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((Banner: Happy Feet))
((PKG)) TAP DANCING
((Banner: Louder Than Ballet))
((Reporter/Camera: Shelley Schlender))
((Map: Albany, California))
((NATS))
((Tap Dancer))
Tap Dance is a kind of dance. It’s fun because of the tap sound on your shoes.
((NATS))
((Tap Dancer))
It makes it a bit louder than ballet. It makes more noise.
((NATS))
((Tap Dancer))
Maybe I’ll be a teacher for tap dance.
((NATS))
My name is Chance. I’m in 7th grade and I’m 13.
((NATS))
((CHANCE TOM, Tap Dancer))
It’s definitely a very rhythmic dance. It definitely involves a lot of dexterity of the feet.
((NATS))
If I do something like music, then I’ll definitely use it to influence a lot of my music, and if I do something like dance, I’ll most likely pursue it as a secondary.
((NATS))
((Tap Dancer))
I think, I might be doing tap dance when I’m older. I’m not sure though.
((NATS))
((BURTON RICE, Tap Dancer))
Today, I’m going to be two days away from 90.
((NATS))
It’s a form of exercise, and I like the rhythm, you know, the music. So, if you’re going to exercise, it beats walking to me.
((NATS))
((JOAN JUENGERT, Tap Dancer))
It has been the most wonderful thing in my life. Next to my family, tapping is the most important thing I’ve ever done. It’s good exercise. It keeps your mind really alert because you have to learn new steps, new routines all the time. All my worries fade away when I’m in tap class.
((NATS))
Every child should dance. It helps them with everything in their lives. It’s supposed to be good for math if you dance and you’re into music. I have a brand new baby in my family now, a grandchild who is 3 months old, and I can’t wait to get tap shoes on her.
((NATS))
((PKG)) SOCK ENTREPRENEUR
((Banner: Sock Entrepreneur))
((Reporter: Elena Wolf))
((Camera: Max Avloshenko))
((Adapted by: Ailin Li))
((Map: New York))
((NATS))
Ready and extra cheesy? Excited? Happy?
((Banner: John’s Crazy Socks sells 1,900 different styles of socks. It's a father-son business that is worth $5 million.))
((NATS))
((JOHN CRONIN, Co-founder, John’s Crazy Socks))
I want to sell crazy socks. Why socks? It’s fun. It’s colorful. I like being creative. I do wonderful things.
((Banner: To make each sock purchase personal, John places a note inside each box.))
((NATS))
Thank you very much. I hope you enjoy the socks.
((JOHN CRONIN, Co-founder, John’s Crazy Socks))
I have Down syndrome. Down syndrome never holds me back. I have the chance. I give other people a chance. What we do is showing it's possible to spread happiness.
((NATS))
((Banner: John’s Crazy Socks has 35 employees. Eighteen of them have different abilities.))
((MARK CRONIN, Co-founder, John’s Crazy Socks))
We want to show the world what’s possible when you give someone a chance.
((NATS))
((LINDA CAMPIONE, Sock Imagineer, John’s Crazy Socks))
This is a Down syndrome super hero sock. John designed the sock and then we turned it into a sock, and President Bush actually wore these socks. John sent them to him on Down Syndrome Awareness Day, and he takes very big pride in this drawing. And we have a woman’s version and a children’s version coming out in fall.
((NATS))
((MARK CRONIN, Co-founder, John’s Crazy Socks))
We get asked, you know, how does it feel to overcome barriers. We just don’t see barriers. We just go and do.
((NATS))
((JOHN CRONIN, Co-founder, John’s Crazy Socks))
Our mission is spreading happiness here, and doing something fun here.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Very Large Pets
((SOT))
And Tippi and her then husband looked at me like, “Dude, you cannot turn that elephant loose. That's the largest African bull in the United States.”
BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK D
((PKG)) PIA – ELEPHANT MAN
((Banner: The Elephant Man))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map: Acton, California))
((NATS))
((CHRIS GALLUCCI, Director, The ROAR Foundation Shambala Preserve))
One day in 1975, a friend of mine and I were riding through this desert and we stopped off at a bar to get a beer and we were just talking to the bartender and he was going, “You know there's a place up the road that's filming a movie and so you guys ought to stop by there if you're looking for work.” And that is how I ended up here.
My name is Chris Gallucci. I am the director of the ROAR Foundation Shambala Preserve, a nonprofit in California.
((Courtesy: Bill Dow/Courtesy of ROAR Foundation))
When I was first hired here, they were building caging and they needed fencing. They needed props. They needed everything and anything that a movie set would need. But this movie set happened to have lions and tigers on it, so therefore, they needed a lot of fence panels. They needed a welder. And so, I was a welder. And so, I'm looking at these two elephants constantly chained up, and I know what it's like to be chained up, and I don't like it.
But this was a very, very long time ago and the original people that worked with the elephants came from a completely different background, and that's how they were taught to deal with these particular animals. I went to [founder] Tippi [Hedren] and her then husband, and said, “Look, I want to work with your elephants. Why? Because I'm going to turn them loose.” And Tippi and her then husband looked at me like, “Dude, you cannot turn that elephant loose. That's the largest African bull in the United States.”
And I just told her, “Just give me a chance, give me a chance at this and just watch. Watch and see what happens.” She came out and said, “OK, all right, we'll give you that chance.”
The first thing that I did when I was given the chance to work with the elephants was, I wanted to take them off their chains. But I also knew that you're dealing with the largest animal that walks the face of the earth. You let an elephant get out of control, you have a problem that you cannot control. And so, I started making their chain longer, and then I would take them off the chain and put food 500 feet in front of them, have another chain set up and then they'll go to the food and then chain them up. Now, I just got 500 feet. So, the next day, I want a thousand. Next day, I went 2000. Pretty soon, you've gotten a mile with no chain. The trick is to get the animal to bond with you without the animal know he’s bonding with you.
((CHRIS GALLUCCI, Director, The ROAR Foundation Shambala Preserve))
And so, it's this whole evolution of trust that you end up creating with an animal while the animal doesn't know it. Like I said, the animal was following me. As the years go by, no more chains and I'm following them. And so, just constantly learning, learning, learning, learning, figuring out the animal.
Every day, when I would take them out of the barn, they used to stick their nose in the big dumpster. One day, I ran out of the barn, jumped in the dumpster and they didn't know I was in there. They both stuck their noses in the dumpster and I just came popping out. And so then, they both look behind them. It's like, ‘this dude’s everywhere.’ I just got you. I got exactly where I want you, and so that's how I successfully became the Elephant Man.
NEXT WEEK:
Super Adobe
CLOSING ((ANIM))
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SHOW ENDS
