Ira's Everything Bagel

This week, Ira spoke with Charles Pignone, president of Frank Sinatra Enterprises and Sinatra archivist. In this Ol’ Blue Eyes episode of Ira’s Everything Bagel, Charlie talks about Frank Sinatra’s enduring appeal; his commitment to quality; the most surprising thing Charlie found out about the chairman of the board; the decision to release a newly mixed and remastered version from the original Reprise session tapes of Watertown (with two of the songs featured during the conversation); how Sinatra’s music is streamed in the 21st century; and how Charlie became an early member of the Sinatra organization.

This week, Ira spoke with Betsy Rohaly Smoot, author of Parker Hitt: The Father of American Military Cryptology (published by the University Press of Kentucky). In this deciphered episode of Ira’s Everything Bagel, Betsy talks about Hitt’s contributions to the development of American military cryptology; his writing of The Manual for the Solution of Military Ciphers prior to World War I; why he was relatively unknown for his contributions to the military; how he was able to contribute his talents in World War II, despite having retired from the service ; why he promoted the idea of women in the workplace; and the possible reasons for his lack of advancement in the ranks.

This week, Ira spoke with Zeke Levin, musician, doctoral candidate, and translator from Yiddish of a book-length collection of stories by the radical Yiddish humorist Sam Liptzin (these translations of Liptzin’s work will be available through Farlag Press in 2023). In this farveylerishe episode of Ira’s Everything Bagel, Zeke talks about how he went down the Yiddish rabbit hole at a young age; why he his writing his dissertation about the intersection of Yiddish folk music and American folk music; how he discovered the “radical humorist” Sam Liptzin at the Yiddish Book Center; why he was amazed at the sheer volume of Liptzin’s work; and how the prolific author’s humor is timeless.