I have a red, plastic Swedish-made phone on a shelf in my home office, and it comprises the entirety of my inheritance from my grandparents.
The phone used to sit on a side table in their house, which was next door to the house I lived in as a child. It’s one solid piece of molded plastic, with the rotary dial in the base. The appearance is vaguely phallic and definitely mid-century modern. I remember playing with it as a kid, just turning the dial and listening to it click back to the starting position.
Through a series of unfortunate events, my grandparents’ belongings wound up in the hands of a near-stranger after their deaths. All of the family silver, photo albums and furniture was disposed of before any of the family was able to sift through it.
But this red phone was deemed to be worthless and was stashed in the basement, unrecognized and unloved, until I found it and brought it home with me. Every time I look at it, I’m transported back to their living room, with the oversized recliners and the picture window that looked out onto the birdfeeders. I can smell my grandmother’s cigarettes, and I can hear my grandfather laughing at something on TV.
This one object contains a lifetime of memories.
This resonance in objects is what inspired the creation of a new podcast from 89.3 WFPL and Louisville Public Media, which premieres next week. It’s called "Five Things," and I’m so excited to share it after months of work.
You can listen to a four-minute trailer here.
Each week, a different guest selects five things — physical objects — that have been important in their lives, and we talk about those things and why they matter.
Maybe the object itself is significant, like a piece of jewelry or a family heirloom; maybe the object represents an experience or a work of art; maybe the object is lost or no longer exists. Each object has meaning, and through those meanings, we start to understand a life. Artists and writers, activists and politicians, students and business owners — everyone has a story to tell. And so do their things.
The name "Five Things" comes from an original play by Louisville-based Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble, in which three characters stranded on a desert island each pull five cultural artifacts -- books, movies, albums -- out of a magic baby pool (stay with me) and riff on them, with great delight and absurdity.
But the final item for each character is something personal and irreplaceable: a bundle of letters, a mix tape, an old VHS cassette. It was a stunning production, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw it years ago.
With the kind permission of Le Petomane, I expanded this excellent idea to include any five objects that have been important to a life. I’ve now recorded nearly 20 conversations around this structure. I’ve loved getting to learn more about my guests through the objects they treasure, and I think you will, too.
Our first season of six episodes includes an elementary music teacher, a writer, a community organizer and a university president. Weekly episodes begin October 6. You can subscribe to "Five Things" wherever you get your podcasts.
