The Eugenics Movement and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Explored on Tom Needham’s the Sounds of Film
Stony Brook, NY - February 15, 2017 - Dawn Sinclair Shapiro, the director of The State of Eugenics, and Morris Day, the lead singer of the Time, will be Tom Needham’s special guests this Thursday on the Sounds of Film at 6 P.M. on WUSB.
The State of Eugenics is a film that explores the effects of the 1927 Supreme Court’s Buck v. Bell, which ruled that the government sterilization of “undesirable” citizens is the law of the land. After that decision, more than thirty states would go to pass eugenic sterilization laws targeting those “unfit” to reproduce. Long Island’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory played an important role in the eugenics movement. The State of Eugenics focuses on North Carolina, where for forty years the state ran one the nation’s largest and most aggressive sterilization program.
Dawn Sinclair Shapiro is a filmmaker and journalist. She has been a producer and writer for Tribune Broadcasting, CNBC, MSNBC, and Dateline NBC. She is also the director of the documentaries Inside the Handy Writers’ Colony and The Edge of Joy.
Morris Day.
Morris Day will also be Tom Needham's special guest this week on the Sounds of Film. He will be discussing his relationship with Prince, the music of the Time, and his acting career. Day had a long history with Prince that goes all way back to high school. After Prince signed his solo record contract, Prince hand-picked Morris Day to be the leader of a new band he wanted to record called the Time. The group went on to produce many classic funk albums including The Time, What Time Is It?, Ice Cream Castles, and Pandemonium.
Morris Day and the Time also achieved international fame when they were featured prominently in Prince's Purple Rain. The film’s soundtrack, along with many of Prince’s other albums were just made available across all streaming services like Spotify this past week. To coincide with these releases, the Sounds of Film will do a special segment featuring the music of Morris Day and Prince.
The Sounds of Film is the nation’s longest-running film-themed radio show. For the past 30 years, the program has delivered a popular mix of interviews and music to listeners all over Long Island, parts of Connecticut and streaming live on the Internet at wusb.fm. Previous guests include Laurie Anderson, director Hal Hartley, Whodini, director Ric Burns, Lalo Schifrin, director Mike Leigh, Ralph Macchio and director Kenneth Lonergan.