Latest news with #McCarter
Chicago Tribune
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Column: A new podcast seeks to put you in ‘Hamlet's' head
In the centuries since William Shakespeare put quill to paper and wrote 'The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark' in 1602, or thereabout, we have met all sorts of Hamlets, seen all manner of versions of the play. We have encountered Hamlet in such actors as Sarah Bernhardt and Daniel Day-Lewis, Laurence Olivier and Mel Gibson, John Wilkes Booth and Richard Burton. Quite a crowd. We have seen 'Hamlet' on stages, in movies, in parks. Some of us (myself included) vividly remember the 1985 Wisdom Bridge Theater production directed by Bob Falls (soon to move on to lead the Goodman Theater) and starring a 26-year-old Aidan Quinn, who spray-painted the words 'To Be / Not to Be' before turning to the audience and saying, 'that is the question.' The latest and among the most intriguing, exciting and entertaining is currently available for your listening pleasure and, frankly, your amazement is 'Hamlet,' a Chicago-spawned six-part podcast series. Jeremy McCarter, who calls 'Hamlet' the most famous play ever written, has adapted and directed the play in collaboration with dozens of others, most crucially sound designer Mikhail Fiksel. 'The idea came to me two years ago,' McCarter says. 'We all have this super power when wearing headphones, the ability to let sound take us inside the head to a character. And I thought, 'Now, who has the most interesting head?' Hamlet came quickly to me.' The final result did not. 'It was a challenge and there were many scary moments,' McCarter says. 'We wanted to be inside Hamlet's head, hearing all he would be hearing. But the words had to remain all Shakespeare's. It was important to get the approval of some scholars (such as James Shapiro). I didn't want the Shakespeare police coming after me. … But we carried on, and in two years we had it.' McCarter moved here from Brooklyn in 2014 with his journalist wife and their baby girl. I interviewed him then, and he talked about his Harvard education; helping run New York City's Public Theater; writing books, including 'Hamilton: The Revolution,' with good friend Lin-Manuel Miranda; and recently becoming the literary executor of the novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder. In 2017, he founded and is the executive producer of the Make-Believe Association, a nonprofit audio production company. 'Hamlet' is available free on all major podcast streaming platforms, but I would urge you to listen to (or at least visit) It will give you a fuller vision of his mission, which is to 'create a community of artists and audiences who believe that telling stories together, and talking about what they mean, creates a more vibrant democracy,' with an emphasis on local talents. You will also be able to hear previous productions, such as 'City On Fire: Chicago Race Riot 1919.' 'Hamlet' stars 30-year-old Daniel Kyri, a native Chicagoan and familiar presence on local stages. He has been Hamlet before, in an acclaimed 2019 performance at the Gift Theatre, with Tribune critic Chris Jones calling Kyri an 'exceptional young Chicago talent … a distinguished young 'Hamlet.'' He called the performance 'honest, vulnerable enough, sufficiently complicated and, most important of all, walks its own walk.' 'I had worked with Daniel before on a project and so, of course, I saw him as Hamlet at Gift,' McCarter says. 'I was mesmerized by his performance and knew he was right for this project.' Kyri wasn't immediately sold. 'But finally, I became eager to get another crack at the character. I knew I was ready to tackle it again,' Kyri said. 'I think we are able to give the audience the ability to see into Hamlet's soul.' Even McCarter was anxious, saying, 'This really did start as an experiment. It took a while before we knew it was going to work.' The work was done at Tightrope Recording on the North Side. Kyri would often arrive fresh from the filming of 'Chicago Fire,' the locally shot NBC show on which he has been a regular cast member since 2018. It was announced earlier this year that he would be leaving due to budgetary reasons. 'But I am happy to tell you that things have changed and I will be coming back next season,' he told me. 'It is great for any actor to get a steady paycheck and when I was first cast on the show, it was so affirming for me as an actor.' It is beyond my caveman-like knowledge to detail all of the technological wizardry involved in this production. Sound designer Fiksel employs what is called the binaural method and all sorts of audio technological tools. The podcast premiered in June at the Tribeca Festival in New York City to rave reviews, one critic writing that it was 'a fastidious and entertaining reworking of the script. But it only gels into transportive immersion thanks to Mikhail Fiksel's sound design.' Since that premiere, McCarter, frequently with Kyri, has been spreading the word. Toward that end, he wrote a provocative essay in the New York Times, saying that the 'similarities between Shakespeare's bewildered, semi-deranged prince and his audience — all of us — have rarely been clearer than they are today.' That, of course, is for you to decide, but I will tell you that this is one powerful podcast. I had long thought Hamlet, during and after many encounters, was kind of a confused, lonely and vengeful young prince. That view has been altered by this new 'Hamlet.' Spending time 'in Hamlet's head,' as McCarter puts it, is an intimate and ultimately enlightening experience. I now find Hamlet a searcher, damaged, yes, but determined, isolated, but still curious. And, as I was pleasantly reminded, that Shakespeare guy sure could write.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wonder why the Beacon Journal does certain things? Check out the USA TODAY Network Style Guide
I often get questions from readers about why the Beacon Journal does certain things the way we do. Why does a physician get the "Dr." courtesy title but not someone who earned a doctor of philosophy? When do reporters agree to not name a source? And why is a pamphlet is a flyer, not a flier? The answer is we follow accepted journalism style — and now I'm happy to be able to share our style guide with you. The USA TODAY Network, which includes the Akron Beacon Journal and Record-Courier, on April 10 launched its USA TODAY Network Style Guide, a tool to help our journalists uphold our commitment to clarity, accuracy, consistency and transparency in journalism. We're also offering this free tool for our community, including students, teachers, bloggers and anyone with a passion for writing. Michael McCarter, vice president Opinion Group and Standards and Ethics for the USA TODAY Network, explains in the forward that this new style guide "is an evolving document that empowers us to communicate with clarity, accuracy and respect to foster trust and understanding." "We sincerely hope the style guide will be used and referenced in the spirit it was intended: to establish a uniting tool that provides simple guidance regarding language to enable consistency and clarity as we deliver on our mission of serving and empowering our communities," McCarter wrote. Of course, the USA TODAY Network Style Guide is just that — a guide. There still will be questions not addressed in the style guide that local editors consider while taking into account the communities we serve. For example, is that patch of grass between the sidewalk and street a tree lawn or devil strip? Anyone in Akron knows the answer to this question. (Devil strip, obviously.) Curious to see the answers to the questions I posed above or other style questions? You can check out the USA TODAY Network Style Guide at And, as always, I welcome your questions and feedback. Send me an email at cpowell@ or call 330-996-3902. Cheryl Powell is executive editor for the Akron Beacon Journal and regional editor for the USA TODAY Network North Ohio region. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: USA TODAY Network launches style guide
New York Times
20-03-2025
- New York Times
Why Are We Still Strip-Searching Prisoners?
Tracy McCarter remembers vividly the first time she was strip-searched. On Rikers Island in New York, she was forced to remove every shred of clothing and bend over to expose the most intimate parts of her body to three strangers. Ms. McCarter, who was arrested after defending herself from a violent domestic partner, said it was one of the most dehumanizing moments of her life. The fact that she is a sexual assault survivor made the search especially traumatizing. That search, and the dozens more that she experienced during the seven months she spent in jail, never recovered any contraband. 'It broke me,' said Ms. McCarter. Prison officials often say that strip searches are necessary to keep contraband, including weapons and drugs, outside of prisons. This is a worthy goal, but research suggests that strip searches don't serve it. Modern technologies have proved to be more efficient and less dehumanizing, and ought to be more widely adopted by prisons. Body scanners, similar to the machines used in airports across the country, allow prison officials to detect the presence of concealed items without requiring incarcerated people to undress. In recent years, red and blue states, including Ohio and New York, have purchased or expanded the use of body scanners in prisons and jails, recognizing that this technology offers a more effective and less invasive approach to prison security. This presents a rare opportunity for bipartisan criminal justice reform. More states and prison officials must see these searches for what they are: a state-imposed violation, which some experience as a form of sexual violence, which costs states and local governments millions in lawsuit settlements, wastes hundreds of staff members' hours and contributes to the dehumanization of incarcerated people inside American prisons. Strip searches are a common feature of life in prison. Visits from loved ones typically end with the same procedure: A prisoner must remove every article of clothing. Turn around. Bend over. Cough. Suspicion by a guard also can lead to a strip search. Ms. McCarter estimates that some weeks, she would be subjected to half a dozen or more strip searches. Corey Devon Arthur, an incarcerated writer in a New York State prison, estimates that he has been strip-searched over 1,000 times during his nearly three decades in prisons and jails. Research on the use of strip searches is limited, largely because few prisons release complete records of how many are conducted. The evidence that does exist points to their relative ineffectiveness. A New York Federal District Court conducted a study of 23,000 prisoners admitted to the Orange County correctional facility between 1999 and 2003. The strip searches uncovered no weapons, and they found drug-related contraband only five times. On the other side of the world, a government study of almost 900,000 strip searches in Western Australia similarly found that only 571, or 0.06 percent of all searches, turned up contraband. Strip searches have a financial cost. Lawsuits claiming that strip-searches violate constitutional rights of prisoners and their visitors (who in some prisons and jails also endure strip searches) abound, placing a burden on taxpayers. Cases in New Jersey, New York and California have collectively cost the cities and counties involved tens of millions of dollars to settle in recent years. A 2019 report by Washington's Department of Corrections found that after a body scanner was installed in one prison, the average number of strip searches conducted in one month fell from nearly 2,000 to about 150. The number of contraband discoveries increased from an average of two per month to 10. The scanner also reduced the time it took prison staff members to complete a search from an average of five minutes to just seconds. The report explained that body scanners are much more effective at detecting contraband because strip searches generally do not reveal items concealed in body cavities. County officials in Maryland and Mississippi have also credited body scanners, purchased with federal pandemic relief funds, with making their jails safer. Ms. McCarter says that one of the most traumatic parts of the seven months she spent on Rikers Island was how women were searched while they were menstruating. Prison guards would force them to remove their tampons, after which the women would have to stuff their underpants with wads of toilet paper. 'It was horrifying and humiliating,' said Ms. McCarter. 'It didn't have to happen that way.' Strip searches can be especially traumatic for Black Americans, who experience incarceration at a far higher rate than white Americans; for some prisoners, the practice conjures the history of enslaved people being regularly stripped naked and paraded in front of potential buyers. Strip searches send 'a very strong message,' said Mr. Arthur, who is Black. 'You are nothing more than cattle with no agency over your own body.' Governments and human rights groups around the world are starting to recognize the need to change the way strip searches are deployed in prisons. Human rights commissions in Australia and Canada have condemned routine strip searches as degrading and traumatic, and endorsed strict limits on when searches may be conducted. States including Connecticut that are still wavering on whether they should purchase body scanners should take note of the ways that these scanners help maintain both the safety and the humanity of incarcerated people across the country. For institutions that continue to use strip searches, robust oversight mechanisms are essential, including requirements for supervisor approval before conducting searches and independent reviews of these searches to ensure accountability. The vast majority of incarcerated people re-enter society, shaped by their experiences on the inside. After Ms. McCarter was released from jail, the trauma caused by strip searches followed her, and she experienced flashbacks when she saw anyone in uniform. It is possible to make prisons safer while recognizing the humanity of the people living within them. It's not often that the solution is so simple.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregon man puts up billboard in protest of ‘Greater Idaho' movement
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — An Oregon man has erected his own billboard in protest of the recent that went up around Salem in January. Wallowa County resident David Arlint told KOIN 6 News that he spent nearly $5,000 of his own money placing a billboard promoting Oregon unity in LaPine, near the home of Greater Idaho movement president Mike McCarter. The money, he said, was 'well spent.' 'I received an automated email from the greater Idaho movement stating that they wanted to put up billboards in Salem located near where the Oregon state legislature meets to say that they should be given the freedom to secede from Oregon and join Idaho,' Arlint said. 'Well, that brought me to the old saying my grandma used to tell me that 'what is good for the goose is good for the gander.'' 'Save our parks': Oregon sand artist pays tribute to national park workers Arlint said that he based the design off a simple bumper sticker he saw in Enterprise, Ore. The billboard displays the outline of the state of Oregon with a red heart in the center. 'I decided that would be a good design to use to get the point across that there are many tens of thousands of Oregonians in Eastern Oregon who don't want to become a part of Idaho,' he said. On Feb. 26, the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners held its first meeting of the year to discuss the possibility of the county leaving Oregon and joining Idaho. In 2023, Wallowa County became the 12th Oregon county to mandate the discussions by approving . Crook County . Washington man arrested for stealing $8M fishing boat with crew still on board, officials say During a public comment portion of the meeting, residents discussed numerous issues that would stem from Idaho's annexation of Eastern Oregon. Some of the topics discussed included the implementation of Idaho's 6% sales tax and changes in land-use and healthcare laws. There are many other unanswered questions surrounding the unlikely land transfer. Like what would happen to Oregon-managed institutions and properties like schools, prisons and state parks. KOIN 6 reached out to McCarter about the billboard placement. However, McCarter did not immediately respond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Yahoo
Sevier County woman still missing after 2010 house fire
SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — It's been more than 14 years since Theresa Mcmullin disappeared and her home burned, but law enforcement is still investigating, hoping to find out what happened to her. On September 12, 2010, firefighters responded to the scene of a house fire on Shady Gap Way in Sevier County. The address of the home is connected to the town of Cosby, but the home itself was in a rural area of east Sevier County. When crews arrived, they found that the home had already been on fire for some time, but they extinguished the remaining blaze. Girl still missing after disappearing on 1976 high school trip in the Smokies Eventually, it became clear to the fire department that a woman, Mcmullin, lived there, Deputy Chief Jeff McCarter with the Sevier County Sheriff's Office shared while speaking with 6 News about the case. Crews sifted through the debris multiple times, but no human remains were found. At that point, it was determined that she was missing, and she is still missing today. Mcmullin, who also went by the name of Terry, was known to be a woman who kept to herself. At the time of the fire, she was 63 years old, but if she were alive today, she would be 77 years old. McCarter explained that she wasn't very well known by anyone in the area, but she had moved to Sevier County from Florida several years before her disappearance. In addition to sifting through the debris, McCarter explained that there have been searches of other areas, including searches using cadaver dogs and search teams. McCarter said investigators believe something may have happened to Mcmullin. 'I believe she came to foul play in the house and her body was moved,' McCarter said. 'She had some medical issues, and she was prescribed some very high pain killers, so I believe that might have been the driving force between what happened to her.' He explained that while there where some drug activities associated with people around Mcmullin, it is not believed that she was part of those activities. Case still unsolved after Indiana man's body found in Campbell County in 1979 While some might be tempted to believe that Mcmullin was in the home but the fire was simply too hot for her remains to be found afterwards, McCarter explained that is extremely unlikely. Crews on the scene discovered animal remains in the fire, so if her remains were in the home, they likely would have been found. Another aspect of the case that is unusual is that her car was still outside the home at the time of the fire, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, and her son had not seen her since the fire. Throughout the investigation, investigators have interviewed various people who were close to Mcmullin and the case. McCarter said they spoke with Mcmullin's brother, who lived in Georgia, and with her son, who lived on the property but not in Mcmullin's home and has since left the area. They also spoke with others who were hanging around her son. McCarter said that there have been several obstacles in the case, including that in the last few years of the investigation, some of the people who were initially interviewed, and who investigators hoped to reinterview, have died. Over the years, investigators have gotten some help through tips, but after interviews and continued investigation, there hasn't been enough evidence to substantiate what they have been told. Still, they are continuing to work and learn what happened to Theresa Mcmullin. 'We're not going to stop investigating this until we find out what happened to her,' McCarter said. 'There's always somebody out there [who] knows something.' Police still searching for answers in Knoxville's recent 'no-body' murder case Although it's still unclear what caused Mcmullin's disappearance, there is still an effort to find her. If something did happen that resulted in her death, McCarter pointed out that she deserves to be properly laid to rest. 'Her body's never been recovered and she deserves a proper burial, you know, and we'd like information on what might have happened to her remains,' McCarter said. Anyone who has any information that could help investigators is encouraged to call the Sevier County Sheriff's Office at 865-453-4668 and ask to speak with the Criminal Investigations Division. Authorities say nearly 400 people go missing in Tennessee each year. That's five people for every 100,000. Check this list of people missing from East Tennessee to see if you can help locate someone. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
