Why Werner Herzog loves cat videos

Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen

PRX

Arts

4.6 • 675 Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2019

⏱️ 50 minutes

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Summary

Kurt Andersen talks with filmmaker Werner Herzog about his latest documentary, "Meeting Gorbachev," his unusual approach to narrating documentaries and their mutual obsession with cat videos. One of the busiest directors of TV comedy, Beth McCarthy-Miller, tells Kurt how she has gone about directing “SNL,” sitcoms and that notorious Super Bowl halftime show that popularized the term “wardrobe malfunction.” And 35 years ago, Prince went from a popular musician to a phenomenon, with the release of “When Doves Cry,” and the movie he wrote it for, “Purple Rain.” Two members of Prince’s band, Wendy Melvoin and Matt “Doctor” Fink, as well as music journalist and author Alan Light, tell the story of that remarkable song.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on Studio 360, what energizes the legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog?
0:12.0	Sometimes when I don't know how to order my thoughts, I switch on crazy cat videos, and immediately I'm rejuvenated.
0:23.3	We talk a lot about cat videos, the art of narration, and his latest movie, Meeting Gorbachev.
0:30.4	Plus, from the first time you heard this song, it was just absolutely mind melting.
0:36.9	Music song. It was just absolutely mind melting.
0:49.3	The story behind When Doves Cry, which Prince released, prepared to feel old 35 years ago this week.
0:51.6	This is what it sounds like ahead on Studio 360, right after this.
0:56.1	This is Studio 360.
1:10.7	And I'm sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This first level of garden. This is Studio 360. I'm Kurt Annes. And I'm sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
1:13.1	This first level of garden.
1:14.4	This is Thomas Jefferson's vegetable garden.
1:16.3	I like to have the roasted chicken base.
1:17.9	Very well done.
1:19.1	Editing is all about timing.
1:20.8	I try to get a little bit away from the actual subject.
1:23.4	You must get sick of your own voice, right?
1:25.9	Studio 360.
1:27.8	It's Kurt Anderson.
1:35.7	Werner Herzog has made more than 60 movies.
1:39.5	They're often about man versus extreme forces.
1:43.7	The Amazonian jungle in Fitzcaroldo, active volcanoes in the documentary Into the Inferno.
1:50.5	His latest film, Meeting Gorbachev, also fits into that frame.
	...

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