Mark Perzel

In the Taft Museum of Art’s current side-by-side exhibits, visitors will discover the long and rich history of the photographic arts in Cincinnati, dating back to the mid-1800’s and the introduction of daguerreotypes, as well as see an amazing collection of rare and historical daguerreotypes. Mark Perzel welcomes in Assistant Curator Tamara Muente to talk about the impact the daguerreotype made, why Cincinnati become such a hub for the art form, and what visitors can expect to see in the exhibits Local Exposures: Cincinnati Daguerreotypes and Photographic Wonders: American Daguerreotypes from The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) is celebrating 50 years of philanthropic service to the community in 2013, and they’ve just kicked off a competition to encourage all residents to share their ideas on how to make Cincinnati an even better place to live and work. Aptly titled The Big Idea Challenge, anyone can go online and share their community-changing idea in one of seven categories. As Beth Benson, the vice-president of communications and marketing for GCF explains to Mark Perzel, there are not only cash prizes for winning submissions, but the top idea in each category (selected by a community vote) will receive $5000 and technical support to kick-start the idea, and the overall top idea will receive $50,000 from the GCF board members to bring that idea to fruition.

Just off I-40, west of Knoxville, Tennessee, drivers note the exit signs for Oak Ridge and, probably, think very little of it. But this one-time secret city, a Manhattan Project site, employed thousands of small-town southern women during World War II to work on the atomic bomb. A new book, The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, shares interviews and personal stories of some of these women in a fascinating tale of secrecy, first-time independence, even romance. Author Denise Kiernan joins Mark Perzel to talk about these extraordinary women from an extraordinary time.

No one can write about food, man’s relationship with it, how far we’ve come from what previous generations used to eat, and the hazard much of today’s food is to the human body than Michael Pollan. His newest book is Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation and in it, he returns to the true classic elements of life and food: fire, water, air and earth. He joins Mark Perzel on the phone to talk about his newest work, already a bestselling addition to his previous books: The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food, Food Rules and others.

Sitting at the top of Devou Park in Covington, the Behringer Crawford Museum chronicles the history and culture of Northern Kentucky. In addition to a variety of permanent and special exhibits, the Museum hosts a number of special events, none more popular than their summer music series. Laurie Risch, executive director of the museum, and Mark Schalchter, volunteer coordinator of Music@BCM, join Mark Perzel to share some of the upcoming music and displays visitors will be able to enjoy during the summer.