Radiolab: "Radiolab Remixed"

Host: WNYC Studios (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich)
Date: July 2, 2012
Episode Theme: Exploring creativity, reinterpretation, and collaboration through the Radiolab Remix Contest

Overview

This special episode of Radiolab dives into the results of the first-ever "Radiolab Remix" contest, in which listeners were invited to remix segments of the show using provided multitrack stems. The hosts, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, play selections from the over 130 submissions, discuss the creative processes behind the winning entries, and reflect on what happens when their meticulously crafted radio stories are reimagined by others. The episode celebrates collaboration and the surprising results that arise when art is opened to community transformation.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Concept Behind the Remix Contest

• Launch: Radiolab partnered with Indaba Music to release isolated multitrack elements (voice, music, sound design) of several stories to the public for remixing.
• Goal: To see how listeners "re-imagine" and "re-compose" Radiolab, turning carefully produced pieces into something new and unexpected.
• Volume of Submissions: 136 remixes received, in every style imaginable—from “Broadway” to techno.

2. The Grand Prize Winner: David Minick

Story Remixed: “Some” (from Radiolab’s afterlife episode, written by David Eagleman, read by Jeffrey Tambor)

• Premise: Imagines the afterlife as reliving all the moments in your life, grouped by type (e.g., every minute spent waiting in line).

• Minick’s Approach:

  • Used Tambor’s voice—already “musical”—as the basis for melody and rhythm in each section.
  • "Each line of Tambor's read would guide him to a new melody, a new style." (Jad Abumrad, 06:51)
  • Musical repetition mirrors the story's concepts—longer time blocks ("two years of boredom") become drawn-out musical phrases.
  • Wanted the music to make listeners feel the long durations: "So you actually feel the long lengths of time when it's two years of doing this... a little less when it’s 18 months." (David Minick, 07:51)

• Highlighted Moments:

  • [03:21–07:11] Montage of remixed narrative: layered repetition (“two years of boredom,” “waiting in line,” “having sex”), playful, rhythmic arrangements that literalize the story’s structure.
  • [05:58] Robert: “I would like to do a whole show like that. It's so much fun.”
  • [06:00] Jad (joking): “I'd rather shoot myself if we did a whole show like that.”

• Creative Process:

  • Total work: About 60 hours over a few weeks, balanced around family life.
  • Motivation: Competes in remix contests for fun, not as a primary job.

3. Runners Up: Diverse Musical Interpretations

- Jeff Barr’s “Pacing About the Lab”

• [13:16] Experimental, ambient remix focused on turning non-musical sounds into music.
• [15:16] Jad: “It’s like if Radiolab were an actual place in some alternate dimension, that would be like the sound of the dead space between thoughts where you’re just pacing around.”
• [15:31] Robert: “Random sounds like it means random. That is random sounds like it means random. That is random sounds like it means seven.”

- Director’s Choice: Mark Godfrey (“Daimyo”) & Ryan Vinson (“Sketch Lightly”)

• [16:11] Basis: An essay about vertigo, dramatized by actress Hope Davis.
• Their remix reframed vertigo (a loss of balance) as a metaphor for being swept up and disoriented by love.
• [19:36] Mark: “Just the idea of Vertigo... made me think of love. Love not knowing where you... how the space works anymore. I think it’s a lot like the way people describe falling in love. Where you get dizzy, everything seems different.”
• [21:45–22:18] Ryan’s rap and Hope’s narration blur medical symptoms with emotional states.
• [23:08] The exploration focuses on "the perspective of somebody who’s in the middle of it and not sure if she even really wants to be on the outside of it, but feels like maybe she should." (Mark Godfrey, 23:45)

4. Reflections by Jad and Robert

• Shock at the volume and creativity of entries.
• Robert admits initial skepticism: "I thought, why would people... go into our raw material and re-sculpt it? I said, nobody is gonna do that. It's just dumb." (24:30)
• Jad sees it as humbling, especially when remixers find "something that was in the story that we didn't even know was in there." (24:19)
• Both hosts express gratitude for the "energy, cleverness, and interestingness" of the submissions.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Artistic Reimagination:
  “What we're hoping for is that the stuff ends up in your head and just becomes some set of thoughts that we could have never imagined.”
  —Jad Abumrad [01:19]

• Regarding Minick's Piece:
  “If I could wake up in the morning and say, I think I'm gonna go to the bathroom now... that would be wonderful for me.”
  —Robert Krulwich [06:18–06:26]

• “I just wanted the whole idea of the story to be manifested in music.”
  —David Minick [07:51]

• On Interpreting Vertigo as Love:
  "The idea of Vertigo... just the feelings described in the original piece made me think of love. Love not knowing where you... how the space works anymore."
  —Mark Godfrey [19:36]

• “They found something that was in the story that we didn’t even know was there. I think that’s kind of beautiful.”
  —Jad Abumrad [24:19]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:13]–[02:24] — Introduction to the Radiolab Remix Contest
• [03:07]–[09:19] — Grand Prize Winner David Minick’s remix and interview
• [13:16]–[15:15] — Runner-up Jeff Barr’s entry, discussion of ambient sound as music
• [16:11]–[23:57] — Director’s Choice remix: Mark Godfrey & Ryan Vinson, interpretation and discussion
• [24:19]–[25:10] — Hosts’ reflections on the meaning and power of remixing

Tone and Style

• Playful, curious, self-deprecating, and appreciative of both their own meticulous process and the wild unpredictability of what happens when others get involved.
• Jad is open, analytical, occasionally deadpan; Robert is whimsical, eccentric, and delighted by musical risk-taking.
• The remixers are earnest, passionate, and eager to explain their processes.

Conclusion

"Radiolab Remixed" is both a showcase of creative reinterpretation and a warm invitation into the collaborative process behind audio storytelling. The hosts celebrate the unpredictable brilliance unleashed by opening their archives and are deeply moved by the new meanings participants have discovered within Radiolab's stories. This episode illustrates how, given the tools and a prompt, audiences can become co-authors—reshaping even the most carefully built work into new, resonant art.