I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing.

In recognition of the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony, we offer you a special week of

conversations from our archives with guests who have actually won an Oscar and one guest

who was a current Oscar nominee.

We begin with Barbara Streisand.

There really are no words to describe the talent, the career, the woman that is Barbara

Streisand.

Streisand first on the scene in 1964 with Funny Girl on Broadway.

Right when it felt like the suburbs and McCarthyism might go on forever, the Beatles show up on

the Ed Sullivan show and on Broadway along comes this phenomenon.

This totally new, unusually gorgeous, nakedly ambitious Jewish girl from Brooklyn in

clothes so wildly bright, they blow out your new color TV.

She kept her name, she kept her nose, she kept that accent, she could not be more different

from what wasp culture told women they should be.

New York is just full of unusual and interesting girls who are starting out in show business

but few of them have the style as early as this young lady.

She's 19 years old, her name is Barbara Streisand.

And then she gets on stage.

She's grounded, she's powerful and she's got the greatest voice America has ever heard.

Over the following years, we also learn she's a great actress.

Here she is trying to win Redford's love in the way we were.

Sure I make waves, I mean you have to and I'll keep making them until you're every wonderful

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