What exactly did renowned U.S. writer and art collector Gertrude Stein mean when she said “there is no there there” about Oakland, California? In honor of Gertrude Stein’s 138th birthday today, I explored the meaning of this oft-quoted phrase on the Inside Google Books blog. Read the full post here:

http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2012/02/gertrude-stein-puts-there-back-in.html

Gertrude Stein. Courtesy of the Oakland History Room, Oakland Public Library

Little did I know that researching for an article on “Gertrude Stein’s Oakland” would put me on a collision course with Occupy Oakland and get me tear gassed today (Jan. 28, 2012).

Read the full story on Oakland Local: http://oaklandlocal.com/posts/2012/01/how-researching-gertrude-stein-got-me-tear-gassed-community-voices

DJ Matt Werner’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Mixtape takes some of Dr. King’s best speeches and puts them to music.

Free download at http://djmattwerner.blogspot.com/2012/01/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-tribute.html

Learn more at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattwerner/oakland-in-popular-memory-book-project/posts/157495

Learn more about Oakland in Popular Memory, my collection of interviews with artists from Oakland and artists who’ve influenced musicians from Oakland, by going to my Kickstarter page and Thought Publishing.

My interview with Oakland hip hop artist, playwright, and community educator Ise Lyfe was published on the literary website the Rumpus last month. Click here for the interview.

For more about Ise Lyfe and his work, see http://www.iselyfeonline.com/

Read the post here: http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2011/08/peering-into-jorge-luis-borgess.html

Matt Werner’s first book of short stories, Papers for the Suppression of Reality, co-authored with Dr. Shaka Freeman will hit bookstores on March 1, 2011. The book is being published by Thought Publishing. You can pre-order a copy of the book here: http://thoughtpublishing.org/purchase/

DJ Matt Werner’s exclusive interview with spoken-word artist George Watsky, originally aired on Fresh Air: The Alternative on November 11, 2008.

In this interview, rising hip hop sensation, writer, and performer George Watsky addresses his beef with Michael Cera, and his experiences performing on the Def Poetry Jam, and working with Robert Redford in sustainability. This podcast also features 6 of Watsky’s tracks and poems: Lonely Hearts Club, Half Jewish, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Fight! Fight! Fight! (with Dahlak Brathwaite), Run My Mouth, and his Michael Cera diss track.

Also, check out his website http://georgewatsky.com/ for some funny blog entries, like this one: The Whitest, Least Famous person performing at the NAACP Image Awards…. He has a stop-motion video for I Got This Love and a popular video called Pale kid raps fast:

(Right click and select “Save Link As” to download the large, 89 MB mp3 audio file)

Click on the player to listen to the 40-minute interview and feature on writer and performing artist George Watsky.

Honoring the life and legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy, I made a mix to one of his most famous speeches: his 1980 Democratic Convention Speech, also known as “The Dream Shall Never Die.”

(Right click here and select “Save Link As” to download the MP3)

Kennedy’s speech is mixed to Letting Go (Dutty Love) by Jamaican American rapper Sean Kingston.

This was inspired by when I saw Ted Kennedy deliver a rousing speech in support of Barack Obama at Beebe Memorial Cathedral in Oakland, California on February 1, 2008.

I also made a remix to Robert F. Kennedy’s famous South Africa speech here: RFK in South Africa Remix

My interview with Oakland poet and playwright Chinaka Hodge was published on the literary website the Rumpus today. Click here for the interview.

Chinaka is known for her Def Poetry Jam appearances and play Mirrors in Every Corner. But her writing and artistic talents are wide-ranging, and include some pretty dope tracks with the Getback Crew:

Fr. Bruno Clifton, who I interviewed back in March 2009 for Fresh Air about the world premiere of his composition “In the jars, dark liquid,” has a new composition entitled “At sunset, troubled light.” The second of three orchestra pieces inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, “At sunset, troubled light” received its world premiere by the New Edinburgh Orchestra in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 12, 2010.

Fr. Bruno’s piece can be listened to at: http://mattswriting.com/At-sunset,-troubled-light.m4a

You can download the audio file by right clicking and selecting “Save link as.”

The orchestra piece is 9:30 minutes and is a 18.3 MB m4a audio file, which will play in iTunes.

Alternatively, a 22MB mp3 file can be downloaded by right clicking and selecting “Save link as” here: http://mattswriting.com/At-sunset,-troubled-light.mp3

First Rumpus Radio podcast: Interview with K.Flay

What is your pun threshold?

Are you ready for a pun battle between K.Flay and the International Pun Champion, Joe Sabia? Tune in at the 20-minute mark in the interview.

Topics also discussed by San Francisco hip hop artist K.Flay and Rumpus Radio host Matt Werner include MC Lars, K.Flay’s Mashed Potatoes Mix Tape, K.Flay’s songs, Guinevere, No Ignorance (remix of Paramore’s Ignorance), K.Flay staying straight-edge after her father’s passing, and her Do-It-Yourself ethic in music production. The podcast also features an exclusive acoustic version of Bye, Bye Illinois recorded by Rumpus Radio.

Pun battle excerpt:

What do you call it when Sara Palin gets high?

Baked Alaska.

For more on: K.Flay, visit http://kflay.com. And for more on Matt Werner’s podcasts, visit http://mattswriting.com.

This is a podcast for Rumpus Radio at http://therumpus.net. Voice overs are by Ben Felsing. Interview photo is by Joe Sciarrillo.

Podcast is 26 mins. MP3 file is approx. 60MB. Direct download link: http://mattswriting.com/K.Flay-Interview.mp3

Podcast is also available for free download on iTunes in my Mattswriting podcast channel. Search iTunes for K.Flay to find interview.