Sarah Lamm is the director of the documentary "Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox," which examines the Bronner family and their counter-culturally iconic soap. She talks about the original Dr. Bronner, who created his famous soap in a tenement apartment after being briefly committed to a mental institution. The soap's text-dense label includes wisdom from Ghandi, Jesus and Olympic champion Mark Spitz. Sarah also discusses the second and third generations of the family, who've built the soap into an international force and more recently into a leader in the field of sustainable business practices.

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Goofaround Gang with Tim & Eric, Paul F. Tompkins and Will Franken
Baseball with Bill Lee and Tim & Eric
Joke Warfare with Terry Jones and Dino Stamatopoulos

The secret history of Ape Lad's grandfather Alouitious Koford's Laugh-Out-Loud Catson BoingBoing TV. Garfield Creator Jim Davis looks pretty familiar.

Hey all...

I'm headed out of here to go home to the Bay and and spend the holiday with family. I won't be back on the web or email much at all until next week.

I feel really great about what I have accomplished this year, and most of that accomplishment came directly from folks offering helping hands.

First and foremost, the dozens of listeners and blog readers who donate to support the show. Without you, I couldn't be doing this work full-time right now, even with national distribution and all that stuff. Donations are what keeps the machine churning. So thank you to everyone who's donated.

Secondly, thanks to the many folks who've offered other kinds of help. Obviously, the folks at PRI like Mike and Heidi who reached out to me and brought the show on board, despite the fact that it remains really an experiment. Also to the folks at stations like Chris and Terry who reached out and convinced me by their actions that maybe doing this kind of show wasn't totally crazy. Of course Ian and Aaron and Emma and Tim and Stefan who've worked directly with me and done a uniformly superb job, for much less money than they're worth. And also to the many folks I've met along the way, like the Kasper Hauser guys, John H, Jenna at the Second City, Nick and all the many other folks I won't name who've just taken it upon themselves to help out this year, generally without me even having to ask. I can't tell you how excited I was when Paul Scheer sent me that picture of him wearing a TSOYA shirt at the MTV something-or-other awards :).

One of the toughest things about doing the show, especially in the couple years between Jordan and Gene leaving and all this great stuff happening, was feeling alone. That's always a hazard in radio -- who knows if anyone's out there listening. Help from all of you has really made this year the best in Sound of Young America history, and for that I'm very thankful.

We continue our journey into The Sound of Young America's vast audio archive with this program from The Sound of Young America Classics.

For over 30 years Del Close was the leading light in improvisational comedy in Chicago, having a huge influence on Mike Meyers, Bill Murray, John Belushi and the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, among many others. Following Del’s passing in 1999, the UCB started the annual Del Close Marathon as a means of celebrating their mentor’s life, and passing on his legacy to future generations. Ian Roberts and Anthony King from the UCB talk about the event.

Jeff Griggs’ book “Guru: My Days with Del Close” explores elements of Close’s biography, from his childhood in Kansas, his early years as an actor to his involvement with the Compass Players and Second City.

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“The Art of the American Snapshot 1888 – 1978” is currently running in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, until 31st December 2007. The exhibition features photos from the collection of Robert E. Jackson from Seattle, one of the country’s premier snapshot collectors. I spoke to Robert about the exhibition and all things ‘snapshotty’ – here’s what he had to say.

EMcD: How would you define a snapshot?

RJ: The snapshot can be defined as a democratic photographic phenomena arising out of the technological advances in the mechanics of camera processing. This produced a product which allowed the amateur to take photos with some of the same degree of ease and sophistication as found in professional photography at a cost which was affordable. The act of taking a snapshot is personal response to a moment involving telling a story using the camera as a surrogate for memory.

EMcD: How did you go about accumulating these photographs over the years?

RJ: My interest in snapshots grew out of an earlier interest in paper ephemera. I liked the content of the snapshots--the tricks, the odd poses and costumes, the small jewel-like nature of the medium. And probably most importantly snapshots were inexpensive relative to other types of photographic mediums, and they were plentiful which meant I could build a collection with some ease. One can collect fingers obscuring the lens, photo emulsion mistakes, gay interest photographs, badly tinted photos, photos where faces have been scratched out, photos of pit bulls, photographer shadows, the notations on the backs of photos. Also this most democratic of photographic mediums could have only been built using the internet and most specifically Ebay which allowed me to network with dealers and be exposed to items from around the United States and often the world on a daily basis.

EMcD: You've assembled a huge array of photos spanning a 90 year period in American history. What themes does the exhibition explore?

RJ:The exhibition explores the creativity of the snapshooter and how cultural influences impacted the ways in which the photographer interacted with the times as well as with friends and family. The personal, intimate nature of the snapshot and the often voyeuristic impulses of the snapshooter are highlighted through the portrayal of sleeping photos throughout the time period. The issue of remembrance, narrative, and rituals within the snapshot genre are shown via the presentation, through the decades, of birthday cakes.

EMcD: What impact did the introduction of easily accessible photography have on life in America during the period examined?

RJ: It provided the general population an affordable means to create a narrative of their life. Their ability to record the world around them and to interact, via taking a picture, in the historical and familial events by which they were surrounded allowed for the preservation of a slice of American life which we now can experience and attempt to understand from a sociological and aesthetic vantage point.

EMcD: Since 1978 technology has improved dramatically and the way we now view images has totally changed. Does the fact that we now view many of our photos via computers and not captured as actual physical prints ruin the concept of the snapshot?

RJ: Technology has not necessarily improved in relation to the creation of the snapshot, but rather has changed, and via such change has impacted our way of thinking about the taking and making of a snapshot. Once the price decreases and the ease of taking and editing a snapshot increases, photos which don’t fit within the accepted canon of what a “good” snapshot should be are often eliminated (in that sense one could say something has been “ruined”). Thus the manner in which we interact with our snapshots, our memory, has changed. Snapshots are not viewed anymore as private documents, but rather are viewed as something to exhibit in the public sphere via websites such as Flickr.

As part of the exhibition, the documentary “Other People’s Pictures” will screen on November the 21st and 23rd at 1.00pm in the Gallery. The 53 minute piece tracks nine collectors as they hunt for images of people they do not know. Co-producer of the documentary Lorca Shepperd was a previous guest on TSOYA.
Listen to the interview with Lorca Shepperd

Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim -- known collectively as Tim & Eric -- are the creators of the Cartoon Network [adult swim] series "Tom Goes to the Mayor" and "Tim & Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job!" Their bizarre humor hinges on uncomfortable social relationships and industrial-film aesthetics.

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You might also enjoy these past interview programs:
Goofaround Gang with Tim & Eric, Paul F. Tompkins and Will Franken
Baseball with Bill Lee and Tim & Eric
Joke Warfare with Terry Jones and Dino Stamatopoulos

This week on the show Jordan and Jessetalk with Ryan McKee about his trip to the Bondage Ball (not very appropriate for kids), plus KCRW and Would You Rather.

Freeway + Curtis Mayfield = Dream Team

Neither Freeway nor Beanie Sigel is a versatile rapper. Freeway is passionate and desperate; Beanie is passionate and somber. But boy am I looking forward to their new records.

I love Beanie's new single with R. Kelly, too.

The whole thing makes me want to post "What We Do," which is maybe the best record Roc-A-Fella ever made, including Jay's.

"If my kids hungry, snatch the dishes out your kitchen."

Here's a little comic pallette cleanser after three weeks of hefty shows. Bryan Coffee performs "Shrimp," from his one man show The Weekly Armenian.

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A clash of the titans, as MaxFunsters John Hodgman and Xeni Jardin do battle on the field of ideas.

"Aristotle believed that Mole Men were generated spontaneously from dirt and dung."