The Voice of the Arts

Among his many talents, Irish writer Frank O’Connor had a particular gift for showing the world through the eyes of young, precocious, often naive protagonists, like Larry Delaney of his 1954 story “The Genius.” Larry wants to be the town’s first proper genius and win the affections of Una Dwyer — first, he just has to find out where babies come from.

This week’s episode features a reading of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Late Encounter with the Enemy.” Written in 1953 and published in 1955 in her short story collection “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” this is O’Connor’s only story dealing with the American Civil War.

Bits and pieces from the comedy world, featuring a tribute to the late Larry Larson, a frequent contributor to AM1690 and the man who brought you characters such as Stefan and Anthony Fllambeau.

A meeting of great minds: William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, and the men of Monty Python.

You know him, you love him — Spiritual Healer, Performance Artist, Life Coach, Pool Cleaner, Lawn Care Expert: Dr. Anthony Flambeau, a disciple of Dr. Marvin Monroe.

Is it humanly possible to have too much cowbell? I mean is it physically, psychologically, emotionally, and morally possible to have too much cowbell?

Acting at its finest, and a story about an imaginary playmate who can’t play because he has to take a meeting.

Our resident Wild West historian Jim Dunham joins us once again to discuss two characters of the Old West, one an outlaw and the other a lawman.

“Never, never had anyone spoken to me in that tone before. I looked at him incredulously and saw his face convulsed with rage. It was only then that I fully realized how God had codded me, listening to my prayers for the safe return of this monster.” — 7-year-old Larry, speaking of his father, in Frank O’Connor’s “My Oedipus Complex.”

We feature another great short story by Alice Munro titled “Axis,” first published in The New Yorker in 2011. As in many of Alice Munro’s short stories, the characters aren’t like anyone I know, but they never seem contrived or invented. I would say that she loves creating characters and then observing them as they go their own way.

Kate Walbert’s 2012 New Yorker short story is set on a buzzing early spring day in Times Square, evoking the unique sense of renewal and energy palpable in New York when the city finally begins to thaw out from a long winter. While dutifully fulfilling her youngest daughter’s wish of visiting the hectic M&M World, Ginny’s day turns tense as she struggles to keep track of her kids and revisits memories of her estranged husband.

The life and times of the Apache warrior and his involvement in the longest armed conflict in U.S. History.

Flora and Terry were both born out of wedlock and have been sent to live far from their families to hide the shame. Flora reveals to Terry that his auntie is really his mother and crushes his dream of someday living with her and the English gentlemen that takes them out on a jaunt to the beach.

A fateful bus ride provides the backdrop for an exploration of early ’60s race relations and the differing beliefs between a mother and her son in Flannery O’Connor’s award-winning 1961 short story.

Spending time with Uncle Jasper and Aunt Dawn.

When faced with a million dollar question about the planets, it’s important to be careful which answer you put your finger on.

Songs and tales from riding the rails.

Was the woman in the negligee being carried by King Kong as he climbed the Empire State Building actually one of the cleaning women?

How a youthful, dissolute lifestyle helped create the terrific lyrics to Leonard Cohen’s “Closing Time.”

A suggestion for how to handle the check at the end of a dinner with friends: hand it to the person next to you and say “This is outrageous! I wouldn’t pay it if I were you!”