Bicentennial Baby
A limited series podcast about being born in 1976 and turning 50 the year the United States turns 250.
Created and produced by Yolanda Wisher for Art Philly's What Now: 2026 Festival.
Bicentennial Baby
Open Line: On Michael Jackson
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A short meditation on Michael Jackson as a cultural mirror for Bicentennial Babies. This segment sketches the strange intimacy of growing up under his shadow.
Bicentennial Baby was created and produced by Yolanda Wisher for ArtPhilly’s WhatNow 2026 Festival. The series was stitched and spun by sound engineer V. Shayne Frederick.
Michi: I mean, it's Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson.
Laurie: Michael Jackson. Goodness gracious. I mean, yeah.
Kenny: You have to differentiate. You have Afro Michael Jackson, Jheri curl Michael Jackson, straight hair Michael Jackson. There’s a difference.
Stewart: We all went to Kmart, and we bought Thriller on cassette and then brought it back to the house and just listened to it in the living room.
Laurie: I remember when the Thriller soundtrack came out and it was like, you know, my best friend at the time had a Fisher-Price record player, and we would go like, hide in her room and put on Thriller, and just like, oh my God.
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