Rabbi Naomi Levy – Healing Through Prayer

To Begin Again, the Journey Toward Comfort Strength and Faith in Difficult Times

What is prayer, how is it done, and what good does it do? The ability to mourn and grieve is one of the many things that distinguish humans from other animals, as is the ability to pray, or consciously not pray. When life is good, people often pray less than when times are tough and tough times occasionally visit all of us, with or without prayer. Rabbi Naomi Levy is the author of “To Begin Again, the Journey Toward Comfort Strength and Faith in Difficult Times.”

Rabbi Naomi Levy recommends “The God of Smal Things,” by Arandati Roy.

Originally Broadcast: December 7, 1999

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Edmund Morris – Who was Ronald Reagan? One Opinion

Dutch, A Memoir of Ronald Reagan

A President of the United States is frequently a biographer’s subject who usually acts with second-hand information and without explicit authority from the President, himself. In 1985, Edmund Morris, who was born in Kenya and educated in South Africa, was authorized and appointed by Ronald Reagan to be the official biographer for the 40th President of the United States. Morris, who characterizes Reagan as a man difficult to truly know, had unprecedented access to President Reagan both in and out of the White House. He met regularly with Reagan and reviewed Reagan’s daily handwritten White House journal as well as Reagan’s earlier writings. Morris’ 1999 book, entitled “Dutch, A Memoir of Ronald Reagan,” is narrated by a fictional character, quite uncommon in most biographical interpretations, and tells the story of President Reagan.

Edmund Morris recommends “Guard of Honor” by James Gould Cozzens.

Originally Broadcast: November 30, 1999

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Gilbert Van Dykhuisen – Sea Life Mysteries Explained

71% of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans which are home to 99% of the life on earth. About 250,000 species of ocean life have been discovered so far, but the ocean is home to an estimated 10 million species. The Monterey Bay Aquarium on the central coast of California holds more than 300,000 creatures, representing over 500 species that live in 34 major aquarium galleries. Under the direction of Giilbert Van Dykhuisen, a senior research marine biologist, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has created deep-sea life exhibit which is reflective of the deep-sea canyon located in the Monterey Bay and comparable in size to the Grand Canyon.

Gilbert Van Dykhuisen recommends “The Universe Below,” by William Broad.

Originally Broadcast: October 3, 1999

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Jonathan Weiner – Genetic Control

Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior

How much of our personalities are truly within our control? What is currently known about how the genes we inherit affect our behavior? The science that studies these questions is now called molecular biology. Looking at life from the genes up, molecular biology has given us insight into the hard links between genes and behavior. Seymour Benzer, a pioneer scientist who studied the genetics of fruit flies, is the hero of a book called “Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior,” by Jonathan Weiner. Weiner, who won the Pulitzer prize in 1995 for his work on the finches of the Galapagos Islands, provides a current analysis of Benzer’s genetic studies and raises questions about molecular biology the 21st century.

Jonathan Weiner recommends “The Missing Moment,” by Robert Pollack.

Originally Broadcast: May 26, 1999

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Dr. Ken Alibek – Soviet Germ Warfare Part 1

Bio-Hazard: The Chilling Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World — Told From Inside by the Man Who Ran it

Biological warfare is the use of weapons that cause death by disease. The largest and most sophisticated biological weapons program in the world, which cultivated and stockpiled anthrax virus, brucellosis, the plague and genetically altered strains of small pox, employed more than 6000 people at over 100 facilities in the former Soviet Union. For 15 years, ending in 1992, Dr. Ken Alibek, a doctor of medicine and a Ph.D. in microbiology, was the scientific leader of Bio-Preparat, the civilian branch of that secret biological weapons program, masquerading as a pharmaceutical company. In 1992, Dr. Alibek defected to the United States. Several years later, he wrote “Bio-Hazard,” a book detailing the development of biological weapons, the horrors of his former life and why he chose to defect. This is a two-part program with Dr. Ken Alibek, recorded in 1999.

Dr. Ken Alibek recommends “Prevent,” by Richard Preston & “Vector,” by Robin Cook.

Originally Broadcast: May 11, 1999 & May 18, 1999

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Mike Frost – You Can’t Hide

Spy World: Inside the Canadian and American Intelligence Establishments

The fact that governments spy on each other is no secret. The fact that they also collect data about lives of millions of innocent citizens worldewide may be unknown to many people. Mike Frost, the author of “Spy World: Inside the Canadian and American Intelligence Establishments,” worked as a spy for over 30 years. Mike traveled worldwide, setting up devices to intercept what were thought to be secret international communications. Mike Frost has since retired as a spy and has many thoughts and considerations about his former job. Our discussion led to a two-part program, originally broadcast in April of 1999.

Mike Frost recommends the movie, October Sky.

Originally Broadcast: April 6, 1999 & April 13, 1999

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Winifred Gallagher – In Good Times and in Bad

Working on God

Why are we the way we are? How should life be lived? When should we start living it that way and why? “Working on God” is a new book by Winifred Gallagher, a science writer who lives in New York City. When her early learning about Christianity was shaken by her college education, she asked, what if religion could be something else? After writing books on how heredity and experience create the individual, and how our surroundings shape our thoughts and emotions, she has chosen to work on god.

Winnifred Gallagher recommends “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time,” by Marcus Borg.

Originally Broadcast: March 30, 1999

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Susan Crane – Blood on a Nuclear Submarine

Civil disobedience often precedes most social or political change. The American political tradition has deep roots in civil disobedience. The Boston Tea Party, the Underground Railroad of the Civil War period, the Suffrage Movement, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and the Vietnam War protests are well known examples. Symbolic destruction of the tools of war is an act of civil disobedience currently carried out by religious and faith based war protesters. Susan Crane, once a Peace Corps volunteer and a former Ukiah teacher, hammered on a nuclear submarine in Maine and then poured blood on it. As a result, she was sentenced to two years in federal prison. I met with her in the studios of Radio Curious at the end of February 1999, the day after she was released from prison.

Susan Crane recommends The Bible.

Originally Broadcast: March 9, 1999

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Dame Shirley & Kate Magruder – Women and the Gold Rush

When word that California had gold in its creeks and streams reached the United States of America in 1848, fortune seekers from all over the world soon began to arrive in California by boat, covered wagon, and on foot. Some people made their fortunes by selling provisions or services and very few actually found enough gold to take home. Louise Smith Clapp of Amherst, Massachusetts, using the name of Dame Shirley, wrote detailed and vivid descriptions of the life and ways of the gold seekers and of mid 19th century California. In this two-part program, we will talk to Dame Shirley in the person of Kate Magruder, a Chautauqua performer and participant with the California Council for the Humanities Sesquicentennial Project, Rediscovering California at 150. 1

Dame Shirley recommends The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Kate Magruder recommends “Days of Gold,” by Malcolm Rhorbough & “The Shirley Letters,” by Dame Shirley.

Originally Broadcast: March 16, 1999 & March 23, 1999

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Dr. Victoria Patterson – Native American Life, Before and After Europeans

Cultures that have no written language pass on their histories through oral traditions. The stories are the way that social values and traditions are taught by one generation to the next. Animals often play a significant character role in these stories. In the Native American traditions of the northwest part of California, the coyote is a very popular character. Dr. Victoria Patterson, an anthropologist based in Ukiah, California, has worked with native peoples for over 30 years. She knows these stories, and she sees them as windows, allowing us to imagine how original native peoples of northern California thought and lived. I met with Dr. Victoria Patterson and asked her about the significance of the story where the coyote jumped off into the sky. Our discussion lead to a two-part program, originally broadcast in February of 1999.

Dr, Victoria Patterson recommends “Deep Valley,” by Bernard W. Aginsky and “Under the Tuscan Sun,” by Frances Mayes.

Originally Broadcast: February 16, 1999 and February 26, 1999

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