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News at 6 on WNUR News – April 13, 2022 The James Webb Telescope, Bridgerton’s costumes, and the Pet Shop Boys movie WNUR News broadcasts live at 6 pm CST on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on WNUR 89.3 FM
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Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:17 Live from w N U R news. I'm Iris Fort out. You're listening to the six o'clock news on w N U R 89.3, FM HD one Evanston Chicago it's Wednesday, April 13th, 2022. Tonight on w N R news. We hear from scientists about the web telescope, a look into Bridgeton costume design with a Northwestern fine arts student, and a deep dive into video album and musical film genre with the pet shop boys. It couldn't happen here. Those stories coming up tonight on w N R news at six. Thanks for tuning in the James web space telescope launched into space last December, since then, it's floated a million miles away in space with the purpose of seeing the universe's oldest galaxies to learn more about NASA's most ambitious project, w N U R news reporter Nick song spoke with some astronomy experts in March. One of them is an astronomer here at Northwestern. The other NASA's lead scientist for the telescope.
Speaker 2 00:01:30 All systems are go we're inside a minute. Now T minus 50 seconds in counting
Speaker 3 00:01:34 On December 25th, 2021, a rocket, roughly the size of the statue of Liberty lifted off in French Guyana packed on board. The most advanced infrared telescope in the history of mankind, the rocket escaped Earth's orbit. And weeks later, the James web space telescope reached its destination LaGrange 0.2, a stationary point, a million miles away from earth, perfectly balanced between the sun and the Earth's orbit free from interference
Speaker 4 00:02:03 Get,
Speaker 2 00:02:09 And we have star
Speaker 4 00:02:11 And lift off
Speaker 2 00:02:14 De liftoff from a tropical rainforest to the edge of time itself. James Webb begins a voyage back to the birth of the universe.
Speaker 3 00:02:23 The field astronomy stands on the precipice of scientific discovery. Web has fully deployed culminating two and a half decades of planning and production resulting in a device a hundred times more powerful than the aging Hubble telescope people are understandably excited, probably none more so than those involved on the scientific side of web. The OERs with projects approved for web's initial round of research, the scientists at NASA who put this research into action and the individuals who've organized this entire process from the very start, just like launching a satellite in the space, discovering the secrets of the universe with the web telescope is a multi-stage process
Speaker 5 00:03:03 So far so good, but there are a lot more steps, uh, ahead of us. Uh, but man, if it all comes together, the way it's supposed to, it is going to knock our socks off.
Speaker 6 00:03:14 I'm rather hoping there's a discovery that says, gosh, we didn't know that was, but we have to go look at that more.
Speaker 3 00:03:19 That's Dr. John Mather,
Speaker 6 00:03:21 Um, senior project scientist for the James web space telescope. And I work at NASA Godward space flight center, which is just outside Washington, DC
Speaker 3 00:03:29 In 2006, Dr. Mather received the Nobel prize in physics for his work on cosmic microwave background radiation. Those discoveries helped cement the big bang model as the leading theory behind the origin of the universe. He's a big deal in the world of astrophysics.
Speaker 6 00:03:44 Well as senior project scientist, I'm responsible for deciding what we ought to do, uh, collectively with all the scientists that we work with and, uh, making sure that our engineering team can do that as it's pretty challenging.
Speaker 3 00:03:56 Mather is the last original JWST team members still at NASA, having been the head scientist on web since 1995, when the project began, he helped decide the scientific instruments. That would be a board web.
Speaker 6 00:04:09 We had committees and committees and committees, and we argued and argued in the initial sketch. This is what astronomers really want. And let's see if we can find a way to make it happen.
Speaker 3 00:04:19 The engine engineering to get web into L two orbit is complicated enough, but settling on the best tools to pack is a beast unto itself. Sure. There have been infrared space telescopes before, but never one in an orbit so far away as web mess up and you'll realize the screw you're trying to loosen doesn't fit the Philips head screwdriver in your pocket. And the tool cabinet is a million miles away. NASA needed to make sure the tools of board web were the right ones for the present moment and the future.
Speaker 6 00:04:50 Basically, we said, well, we've got these wonderful scientific challenges and how could you possibly observe something that would tell you to answer? It's a little too hard to anticipate and what scientists went to do 10 you 30 years in the future. We'd better have a general purpose set of tools.
Speaker 3 00:05:06 NASA settled on four scientific instruments, a near infrared spectrograph and camera called nurse back. And NorAm a mid-infrared instrument called mirror and a combination fine guidance sensor and near infrared imaging tool. Each of these instrument include components, commonly found in research telescopes, including the spectrometer.
Speaker 6 00:05:26 We hear that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, for an astronomer, a spectrum is worth a thousand pictures. The spectrometer allows you chemical composition of that object, how hot it is, how it's moving. And, um, sometimes even more like what's the pressure we spend a lot of time and effort to get a spectrum of an object.
Speaker 3 00:05:45 Web also has its own set of specialized components to address its unique situation. It's the only space telescope equipped with a micro shutter array, a grid of a quarter million tiny shutters that can be open and closed individually. This allows web to capture spectrometry data for a hundred individual objects, all in a single light exposure.
Speaker 6 00:06:07 The way we from our project side did it was we're gonna build a tool and then we're gonna ask the, the astronomy world, okay, what do you wanna work on today? So we asked him Jamal to send it in proposals,
Speaker 7 00:06:18 All these elements that we sort of take for granted and are just here on the earth, gold until they're in platinum. Yeah. We still are trying to track down where they come from in the
Speaker 3 00:06:27 Universe. That's Dr. Charlie Gilpatrick. He works as a post fellow at Northwestern university, specifically in the center for interdisciplinary exploration and research in astrophysics.
Speaker 7 00:06:38 I mostly study things that, that change on the sky on day to week, time scales.
Speaker 3 00:06:45 In other words, KPA spends time looking at supernova, fast radio bursts and other explosions that happened in space.
Speaker 7 00:06:54 I've used telescopes in Hawaii, like ke and pan stars, uh, telescopes and Chile like the SW telescope. And then of course, space based telescopes. So primarily Hubble in the past. And, and yeah, now I have the James web space telescope program
Speaker 3 00:07:11 Two and a half years ago, Dr. Kopa was studying super Nova and how they produce elements like oxygen and Silicon
Speaker 7 00:07:17 Week, and a actually see all of the elements that a supernova produces and sort of add them up and infer how much ejecta it produced in the first place.
Speaker 3 00:07:28 Ke Patrick thought this methodology could potentially be used to study another phenomenon called a Killan Nova, whereas a supernova forms after a single star collapses in on itself, a kilo is one, a neutron star Kares into another neutron star and tears, the smaller one apart
Speaker 7 00:07:44 Nebular supernova. So supernova go through the, the exact same nebular phase as ANOVA is expected to go through.
Speaker 3 00:07:52 He hypothesized that Killan Nove could be the source behind the universe is heavier elements with that. KPA filled out a project proposal with himself as the principal investigator.
Speaker 7 00:08:04 For the very first time, we, we would be able to say exactly where elements like neodymium heavy elements that are sort of around that, that one on the periodic table are formed. You know, that's a huge draw in terms of, you know, how James WEG be able to sort of take a, like a qualitative step forward into the next generation of, of nuclear astrophysics.
Speaker 3 00:08:28 At this point, Kerick had the scientific justification for the project, the method, the goal, and the belief that this could lead to a huge discovery,
Speaker 7 00:08:36 You know, after that was really the hard work of like proving that it, it would be actually practical to do,
Speaker 3 00:08:43 To write up the actual project proposal KPA and his team used a specially made computer program called the astronomers proposal tool. They specified what observations they wanted web to do. That means marking down the instruments web should use the exact target in space where web should look and how many hours to spend looking, stuff like that.
Speaker 7 00:09:02 We have sort of this huge effort over the course of like three or four weeks where we were collaborating on this proposal, but also some other ones that are also related to K OB bay to try to figure out whether this would work, can then write everything together.
Speaker 3 00:09:16 The world awaits web and its initial round of discoveries. Exactly what web will discover is a prediction based in hope and what ifs more than in educated guesses. If there's one certainty with web it's, this, the telescope means so much to the community of astronomy.
Speaker 7 00:09:34 First came to observational astronomy in 2010. And even then I kind of knew I wanted to do nucleosynthesis. It almost seems like in some sense, I've come full circle back to that, like understanding the origin of the elements. That's one of the most exciting parts about like being involved in this project
Speaker 3 00:09:52 For w Nur news I, Nick song,
Speaker 1 00:09:56 Welcome back to w N R news. It's six, 12:00 PM central moving on to arts and entertainment. Netflix's hit series. Bridgeton provides viewers and addictive twist to Regency Aero, dramatics, wigs, corset, and silk dresses characterize the show, which returned to Netflix in March for season two, reporter Justine Fisher spoke with the Northwestern fine arts graduate student to gain insight on the show's costume design.
Speaker 8 00:10:33 The hate Netflix show Bridgeton said in England's Regency era follows the lives of the influential Bridgeton family. First gaining popularity with the release of the first season in December of 2020, the show re-entered popular discourse when season two came out on March 25th of this year, One of the most notable aspects of this series is the decadent costume design from corset to empire line dresses, to large hair pieces, the detailed and extravagant costumes characterize the shell. First year of Northwestern university's MFA and stage design program. Benjamin CREs describes his take on Bridger's costumes.
Speaker 9 00:11:16 You know, they've taken some liberties with the liberties arts to make it like more beautiful <laugh>. So it's just like, it's like candy. I think to look at
Speaker 8 00:11:24 Kret studied psychology and theater for undergrad in Ohio and says he stumbled into costume design after doing a two week internship in theater. He stuck with it in Baltimore for six years before ending up at Northwestern crest fit. Favorite Bridgers in character is the feather Tims whose costumes are meant to be garish with an acid yellow and out of proportionality. That crest finds to be more visually interesting.
Speaker 9 00:11:49 Yeah. There's this family that, you know, they're kind of like struggling with money all the time. <laugh> so I think they're meant to be more out of fashion, but, um, really just to make them like loud and like trying to fit in the most, they, the designer has put them in these like really bright colors. Whereas the other family is more like blues and soft paint and kind of in general, the whole town is like softer colors, but they're in these like bright, bright colors.
Speaker 8 00:12:18 Chris also mentioned his admiration for the Queen's wigs in the show.
Speaker 9 00:12:23 I will say, I love like using NA like natural black hair in the architecture of those wigs is like so cool to see
Speaker 8 00:12:32 Kres a rest is the controversy around corsets as well.
Speaker 9 00:12:36 It's like this myth that's been created that corsets were like tearing into people's skin and, and yes, they were uncomfortable, but they weren't like, and yes, there were some periods where they were rearranging the organs. But like in this, like the period of Bridgeton, it was more about like a posture and be like keeping everything tight and up, cuz it's all about the buzz. So
Speaker 8 00:12:59 Some actors love corsets and some hate them, but crest believes they are ultimately a necessary aspect of Regency error. Costing
Speaker 9 00:13:07 Actors kind of get the two opinions. It's either like, oh, I can't wear course that it will interrupt my breath. Um, then the, there are some actors who either like love the, what courses do to their breath or like love what it does to their posture. And like helps them inhabit the character. I think for a period like Richard has said in the Regency period, you almost need that. Cuz they like their idea of beauty is like these columns. Like, and so the, these courses help you like be a human column
Speaker 8 00:13:36 Crest, these costumes as part of creating the world. But this doesn't mean designers should be limited by historical accuracy.
Speaker 9 00:13:43 Like if you're trying to be so historically accurate, that can be like less fulfilling. I think. So like what they do in Bridgeton is exciting cuz you, you take like the period. So the, but then you like the push it in the directions that are like, uh, interesting for the viewers. So like you push the sexuality, you push the, you push the color. So you have contrast between families. Like you're pushing everything in, in that way, diverging from, even if you start from like the research, then you like go and see like what can we take from modern? Like that makes us more interesting. That makes characters more relatable. Not only if like, if you're doing a straight period piece straight, like are the clothes kind of like you're limited there, but also like, you know, the, the conversation and the way these people lived was kind of limiting. And like even that can be a little like boring to a modern viewer. So that way like Richard turn's pushed of course in that way too. I think if you're going to do a period piece, you have to have a point of
Speaker 8 00:14:40 View, some of his favorite details stray from the norms of the period,
Speaker 9 00:14:44 Right? The historically accurate costumes are from boring. I mean they're, they have them all in like silk, which of course there was silk back then, but like back then, there, there also would've been like a lot of cotton mu a lot of white dresses. Um, but to kind of elevate everything, to like the extreme, um, in terms of color, in terms of fabric, everything is just like luxurious and fancy. The designer also does this thing where she puts like almost every five costume has like a sheer layer of fabric over the silk, which is like, it's almost kind of hard to see, but it's like usually organza. And what it does is like, it makes these dresses almost glow, cuz it like catches the light from the side. It also makes them like move in a more beautiful way.
Speaker 8 00:15:28 But ultimately crest believes the Liberty's taken by Bridger's costume designers enhance the meaning of the show From Evanston, Illinois, Justine Fisher, w N U R news.
Speaker 1 00:15:44 The video album and musical film genre are mediums seldom explored by mainstream musical artists, still popular movies like pink Floyd, the wall, Beyonce lemonade and the Beatles help come to mind. Reporter Zach McCreary shows us one interesting example of the art form in pet shop boys. It couldn't happen here.
Speaker 11 00:16:10 If you don't know or remember who the pet shop boys are, I'll be play a bit of their most popular song ever in the us west end girls
Speaker 12 00:16:17 In the dead, the Eastern,
Speaker 0 00:16:31 There
Speaker 11 00:16:31 Are classic Sy pop duo, compos of singer Neil 10 and keyboardist. Chris Lowe two men that met in a high-fi shop in Chelsea England since then they've had massive success in their home country and abroad. The affor mentioned west end, girls reached number one on the UK charts as well as the billboard, top 100, the guardian called it the greatest UK. Number one single ever in 2020 praising its heady rush of lust, naivety disco and opaque references. Tolen the song was released both as a single in 1984 and as the second track on their debut album, please in 1986, they soon released their second album actually in 87, both albums saw massive international success. In fact, the latter album helped provide 60 era soul slash country singer dusty Springfield's career, featuring her on the track. What have I done to deserve this? Following the success of their first two albums production was started on an hour long music video for the album. Actually the product later evolved into a feature length film with songs from both of their first two albums. They named it after their song. It couldn't happen here.
Speaker 11 00:17:55 The film is in a word bizarre it's reminiscent of an era where not everything in a movie had to make sense. In some ways it could be interpreted as an art film. The first shot we see as a group of dancers on a beach and clocked in a on see Essex before Dawn white flags waving in the wind in the background, tenant dressed in a full tuxedo, stands at a distance and watches then walks away and starts biking along the shore. Throughout the film, we meet an array of people who are all quite interesting tenant bikes to a shack and meets a man who keeps asking. If the person he's talking to as a politician, continue only expressing his disgust of them. He also likes peeping at nude women on the beach with a pair of binoculars, then a sudden cuts, a low filling what seems to be a bottomless chest with random juvenile items. He goes downstairs where we find he's been staying in a bed in breakfast, run by a man who wears giant ears and a woman who's deeply religious yet extremely co
Speaker 0 00:18:52 Be
Speaker 13 00:18:53 Upstanding. Bless us, Lord. Pardon? Ha bless us. Lord. Sit. Ha laugh. No shut up. Right. Do Lord for these things and for what we are about to receive from my bounty through Jesus Christ. Lord all amen. All amen. Right? Come on everybody. Oh, Comey, darling. Oh, want
Speaker 11 00:19:26 You uncle dredge here is played by the same man who plays the horny politician, beachfront postcard salesman. Anyways, lo throws his breakfast onto the land lady likely out of annoyance and runs away passing a group of hell's angels on the way. Meanwhile, tenants somehow rises back from the sea and passes a blind priest, leading a group of young boys. Confusingly two of these boys are 10 and low as children who are also coexisting in the same scene as their adult selves tenant in a monologue. Meanwhile thinks of the lyrics to it's a sin.
Speaker 14 00:20:02 When I look back upon my life, it's always with a sense of shame. I've always been the one to blame for everything I long to do, no matter when or where or who has one thing in common too, it's the same
Speaker 11 00:20:18 Suddenly it's night. The two boys separate from the priest and end up at a risque cabaret style show on the boardwalk where nuns, disrobe, and dance with men in leather jackets while it's a sin, plays people wearing gray, full face makeup, sit the seats and the priest in his very deep voice yell after the kids
Speaker 15 00:20:37 Voice
Speaker 13 00:20:39 Who
Speaker 15 00:20:40 Wants to leave the room,
Speaker 0 00:20:43 Ah,
Speaker 11 00:20:51 Eventually lo meets up with tenant at a mailbox while the ladder writes postcards to his mother. One thing to note is that many characters will speak lines from songs like these gentlemen who are almost hit by a car
Speaker 0 00:21:07 Around running down, running down underground. You gonna, until I get you, you got no, you got no tag.
Speaker 11 00:21:17 And then we go into west end girls. The interesting thing about the use of music in the movie is that it acts more like a soundtrack than anything else. Very much. Unlike a traditional music video, sometimes tenant will be shown on screen singing the lyrics, but the plot isn't built around the album songs. The movie goes on from there later, the duo pick up a hitch hiking killer in the backseat of their car played by the same man who played the priest. A bit of double meaning perhaps then go to a dingy cafe where they order oysters and champagne alongside them today. Flamboyant may and his autonomous ventriloquist dummy as well as Neil Dixon essentially reprising his role as bigs the pilot from the British movie with the same name,
Speaker 11 00:22:05 It's a movie that's enthralled in symbolism. That can be extremely overbearing at times yet. The film overall has a jovial and cheeky air about it. Lowe's only line in the movie comes when he masquerades as a female fortune teller. For example, the film saw little success, both domestically and abroad. Kevin Thomas at the LA times said, then it couldn't happen here. Shouldn't have happened anywhere 10 and low been caught up in what is essentially a string of MTV type numbers overlaid with a pseudo surreal style and snatches of confounding philosophical discourse that might have something to do with Einstein's theory of relativity. For all I know, even more bizarre is that their album actually, and the movie somehow unintentionally predicted a British disaster. The saw Kings cross revolves around the British underground station Kings crossing pancreas
Speaker 0 00:22:54 Only last I found lost by the called Kings
Speaker 11 00:23:11 Tenant set in liner notes for the song. There's lots of crime around Kings cross prostitution, drug addicts, and a lot of tramps come up to you there later, summing up the song as it's an angry song about taurism in the part of the movie dedicated to the song, low intent traveled to a train station at the same time, a man on fire is shown slowly making his way down the street, driving a car that is likewise on fire. Coincidentally in November of 1987, an escalator in Kings cross station caught on fire. The flame spreading throughout the underground station, over 30 people were killed and a hundred more were injured, call it foresight or pure bed luck. The entire situation was tragic during the movie's editing process, the scene was nearly cut out. However, the victims of the family wanted the scene to stay in the movie. So it stayed what originally was just a fun musical art film. Somehow unfortunately became a symbol of Thatcherism in tragic. At the end of watching it, I can say that it's definitely a product of its time and with it comes the anger tragedy and hope that came with it. It might not be a masterpiece, but it sure tried for w N U R news. I'm Zach McRory
Speaker 0 00:24:21 And king cross.
Speaker 1 00:24:31 Welcome back to w N U R news. It's 6:27 PM central here in Chicago. The weather has taken an unusually humid and warm term. It's currently 62 degrees in Evanston. And though residents woke up to rain. We had a sunny break in the early afternoon before showers returned winds tonight will range from 10 to 20 miles per hour. Tomorrow temperatures will drop to the low forties to fifties with high winds. By Friday, we head into upper fifties with sun, your skies. However Chicago's fickle spring season will bring a low of 34 for the day. So pack a code for your morning and evening commutes.
Speaker 1 00:25:18 That's all for w N R news at 6:00 PM. For more news updates and reports. Follow us on Twitter at w N U are news. You can listen to these and other stories of the day on our website, w nur.news that's w N U r.news. Find us on apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Our producer today is Nicks song and our reporters are, are just team Fisher, SAC MCRA and Nick's song from all of us here at w N U R news. I'm Iris Swarthout. Thanks for listening. Catch our next newscast on Friday, April 15th at 6:00 PM. Now back to scheduled programming.
