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American telephone companies of the early twentieth century strictly trained their female operators to become domestic machines serving the economic interests of male business owners. Yet telephone dramas, films and magazine fiction celebrated the operator as a subversive maverick who flouts rules and transgresses social boundaries. These disaster tales, detective stories and romantic comedies suggest that, far from being pawns of social control, operators themselves regulate society and engineer their customers' fates, as well as their own. Motivated by curiosity and empathy, the heroines of these tales prefer human connections to purely mechanical ones, and they use the power of the switchboard to manifest their own vision of the social good. The stories attest to a deep cultural respect and desire for empowered women protagonists and for the triumph of human initiative and decision-making over the efficiency of mechanized work.

Bells have long been a defining feature of Christian culture, shaping the soundscapes of medieval Europe. This article examines the sonic heritage of active medieval bells in the Valdres region of Norway. We analyze the tonal structure of bells from Slidredomen, Lomen, Hegge, Reinli, and Hedalen churches based on acoustic measurements taken during fieldwork in the summer of 2024. We collected acoustic data using a Sound Level Meter Cesva 202 and a Zoom H4n recorder, which we then used for tonal analysis of the bells with Wavanal software. The results revealed the distinctive voices of individual bells while highlighting tonal similarities among certain bells and patterns in bell selection within specific churches. Based on the study’s valuable insights into the sound character of medieval bells in Valdres, we discussed medieval bell tuning and the implications for the preservation of medieval church bells as sonic heritage.

Although the primary objective of seismic stations is the recording of waves generated by natural seismicity, the sensors can detect vibrations generated by different sources of natural and anthropogenic origin. The interest in identifying these sources has increased in the last years with the use of background seismic vibrations to obtain images of the crustal structure by tomographic methods and to monitor different natural processes. We present here a very particular case of these types of sources, the bell ringing in churches to indicate the passage of time. In some particular cases, the vibrations generated by the ringing of the bells are recorded in seismic stations installed near the bell towers. We review different examples throughout Europe of this particular kind of seismic records to illustrate how the seismic records can provide information on the traditions followed to mark the hours in some European countries, which turn out to be very different. The objective is not only to publicize this curious records but also to show that bridges can be built between very different scientific disciplines, such as seismology and social sciences, since the seismic data offers a new tool to researchers interested in investigating ethnographic aspects related to how the passage of time is marked in different European cultures.

The ringing of a bell has become an honored and cherished tradition in the realm of cancer survivorship care. As a medical student, I was initially unaware of this practice, but I have since gained a profound appreciation for its deep significance and emotional potency. Through the act of ringing the bell, patients who have successfully completed their cancer treatment are able to mark the end of a gruelling journey, while also heralding the start of a new and hopeful chapter in their lives.

Despite church bell ringing being directly influenced by purposive human action, often as a liturgical function, it creates a community soundscape with ascribed heritage values. While general heritage management processes and decisions are informed by heritage professionals with a broader range of experience, we find that church bell ringing is contrary to this process. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how a stochastic disruptive event can dramatically alter soundscapes on a community-wide scale. Here, the effective power over bell ringing often rested with the individual clergy at the local level and is subject to that individual’s personal preferences. This has serious implications to non-traditional forms of heritage, such as intangible sounds and soundscapes. In realizing the value of sound signals and soundmarks, we highlight the need to formally recognize these sounds of religious settings and consider them in heritage frameworks.

In a rehearsal room at City Center, the cast and creative team of \"Bells Are Ringing,\" the opening offering in the 18th season of Encores! gathered for the first full read of the 1956 Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green musical. Ms. O'Hara did an especially lovely interpretation of her opening number, \"It's a Perfect Relationship\" and showed her comic chops in \"Is It a Crime?\" (Will Chase plays her love interest, a lazy playwright.) Earlier, Ms. O'Hara, who most recently appeared as Nellie Forbush in \"South Pacific,\" had joked in front of her cast that she was \"not nervous at all.\"

When the heroine of the topical 1956 diversion \"Bells Are Ringing\" tells a Marlon Brando wannabe to knock off the Brando act because \"there's a glut on the market,\" she might as well be talking about Broadway musical revivals, circa 2001. At the moment, Broadway has nine of them, ranging from \"Annie Get Your Gun\" to \"The Rocky Horror Show.\" The latest second-time-around hopeful is \"Bells Are Ringing,\" a project originally announced for a tryout at the Pasadena Playhouse. Choosing the right musical title for successful rejuvenation is not, to quote \"Bells Are Ringing\" librettists and lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, a simple little system. This new, modestly budgeted \"Bells Are Ringing\" directed by Tina Landau (\"Space,\" \"Floyd Collins\"), stars Faith Prince in the role tailored for Judy Holliday. Working with choreographer Jeff Calhoun, director Landau mounted a 1998 concert edition of \"Bells Are Ringing\" starring Prince in Washington D.C. That format remains ideal for this enjoyable second- shelf property. L.A. audiences who caught the 1999 Reprise! version of \"Bells Are Ringing\" aren't missing much here.

This paper considers the situation in which the anticipation of a new sound in public space gives rise to political, social, and ideological debates. It demonstrates how the religious sound of ezan (the Muslim call to prayer) caused public discomfort even prior to becoming a part of Ljubljana’s soundscape, how power politics affected society and its religious sphere, and what kind of discourses take place in regard to the sounds associated with the Muslims in Slovenia.

Personally, I have allergies that flare up in response to numbers in which a smiley songstress induces loving fellowship among cranky New Yorkers in a subway car. [...] there's a distinct from-the-attic aroma to Comden and Green's brand of satire here, which combines gee-whiz enthusiasm with insider showbiz jokes (including a whole number devoted to name-dropping).

[...] in a large office space in a building in the West 30s, many phone operators work in close-knit quarters at 1-800-WeAnswer, which a little more than a decade ago purchased the actual Bells Are Ringing.