New Haven Independent

Castaway | April 11, 2008

Prozac Nation, Elm City Edition

by Mark Oppenheimer | April 11, 2008 12:03 PM | Permalink

"I'm Jewish, I'm blond, and there are things I can do that no one has tried."

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Castaway | December 20, 2007

Castaway #6: Wine Expert Nicholas Day

by Mark Oppenheimer | December 20, 2007 9:04 AM | Permalink

Local journalist Nicholas Day has a secret past.

Years ago, before he began contributing articles on the environment and food to Slate.com and other publications, Day (pictured with Mark Oppenheimer's dog J.J.) worked at the largest wine store in the country. He studied his reds and whites, his French and Italian and Australian grapes, aspiring to be a Master of Wines.

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Castaway | October 26, 2007

CASTAWAY, Episode Five -- Voice Artist Peggy Flood

by Mark Oppenheimer | October 26, 2007 8:13 AM | Permalink

She was Sharon Stone's voice double.

Voice double? Yes, less glamorous than being a body double, but more crucial to the film industry.

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Castaway | September 28, 2007

Castaway #4: Jonny Rodgers Goes Solo

by Mark Oppenheimer | September 28, 2007 12:18 PM | Permalink

Some know him for his legendary local band Mighty Purple. Others know him as the son of a local preacher man. I've always been intrigued by the fact that he's the nephew of one of my favorite novelists. Now he's recording new music, solo. On the latest edition of the Independent's "Castaway" podcast, a conversation with the great Jonny Rodgers, we hear a sneak preview.

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Castaway | August 21, 2007

Castaway #3: Sandra Luckow

by Mark Oppenheimer | August 21, 2007 5:11 PM | Permalink

Sandra Luckow directed Belly Talkers, a brilliant documentary about the weird, wacky subculture of ventriloquists and their dummies. But don't call them "dummies."

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Castaway | July 27, 2007

Castaway, Episode 2: Pulitzer Winner Debby Applegate

by Mark Oppenheimer | July 27, 2007 11:02 AM | Permalink

Can you win a Pulitzer after having failed your grad school exams? Apparently so. At least in the case of East Rock's Debby Applegate (pictured), who won this year's prize for The Most Famous Man in America, her biography of 19th-century preacher Henry Ward Beecher.

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Castaway | July 11, 2007

Castaway, Episode 1 -- Scientology Exclusive

by Mark Oppenheimer | July 11, 2007 5:46 PM | Permalink

Welcome to Castaway, the New Haven Independent’s new podcast series, hosted by me, Mark Oppenheimer, and engineered by fellow New Havener Lee Faulkner. Our first podcast will be somewhat unusual for the series. It’s an exclusive interview with John Carmichael, the president of the Church of Scientology of New York. In the past, Scientologists have been shy with the media, so an interview of this length and depth is rare.

This podcast is posted in conjunction with my article “The Actualizer,” which will appear this Sunday in the July 15 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

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