KCRW's The Urban Man

The Necessary Bureaucracy

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:44:00 EST

Tonight I want to tell you about the kiss of a beautiful woman. It was, I assure you, exquisite. But first we have a little bureaucracy to complete...

2009: Not as Bad as You Think

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:56:00 EST

Once again, itâs time to announce my highly-anticipated predictions for the coming year. Once again, the Urban Man has been chatting up leading psychics and diligently caucusing with unnamed sources...

A Watch for the Urban Man

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:44:00 EST

Warming Up 4th and Main

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:44:00 EST

Again the other night, the Urban Man headed out to help warm up downtown L.A. Like many downtowns around the country, ours is a big, cold place after dark â so as usual, it required some thousands of Angelenos to get it done...

Warming Up L.A. Live

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:44:00 EST

Once I heard Kevin Starr, the great California historian, say a remarkable thing about L.A. He said, "Now that we've poured all this concrete, we have to learn to love concrete." And I remember thinking, "Yes! What a noble request to make of the human spirit. After all, here in L.A. someone is always building something large and cold and ugly. And surely, it's our job to go out and warm these structures up, not just with our bodies and our cash, but our affections."

The Tree of Numbers

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:44:00 EST

Recently, while working his day job, the Urban Man almost set off yet another global financial crisis. Really. All because of cell H33 on page 5 of a spreadsheet I was constructing...

Out Looking for the Spark

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:44:00 EST

Last week I got a little depressed. Yes, it happens even to the most dedicated Angeleno. Maybe it was a post-election depression or maybe it was part of the upcoming global depressionâ¦in any case, I needed to access The Spark of Life...

Last View of Atlantis

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:44:00 EST

Wasn't it a shame that just before Athens fell, nobody snapped any picturesâ¦or okay, made a few sketches? I mean, wouldn't it be great to see how the Acropolis actually looked? The Roman Colosseum? The Colossus of Rhodes?...

The New World

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:44:00 EST

Just after the election, I read a quote from a woman in France who said, "I think America is re-becoming a new world." All week long that phrase rang musically in the ear of the Urban Man as he went looking for the new world right here in L.A....

Standing at the Edge, Part II

podmaster@kcrw.org (Marc Porter Zasada) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:44:00 EST

I don't know about you, but tonight the Urban Man feels ten months pregnant. I'm lying here with a strangely distended belly, waiting helplessly for the birth of a new world...