Studio 360: Gay Flag, Hip-hop, Regina Spektor

The rainbow flag was designed in 1978 for a gay parade in San Francisco, and over the last 30 years it has become the global symbol for gay pride. If the flag were designed in 2009, how would it look? Mark Randall of the design firm Worldstudio accepted the challenge, and he and his team came up with several ideas for a 21st-century pride flag makeover.


Next, historically, when homosexuality has come up in rap lyrics, it's been as a slur. But a new sub-genre of hip-hop by gay artists is starting to catch on. Rappers like Shorty Roc, Deadlee, and Mélange Lavonne call it "homo hop", and they're fighting for acceptance among hip-hop heads and the LGBT community alike. Produced by Roy Hurst.



And on Regina Spektor's new record, Far, she gets seriously existential - mentioning God 33 times in the first single, "Laughing With". She performs that song live in the studio and talks with Kurt about life, the universe, and everything. [Broadcast June 27, 2009]