Radio Curious

A Graceful Farewell: Putting Your Affairs in Order

Putting your affairs in order before you die is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Maggie Watson, a professional organizer who lives on the Mendocino Coast in Northern California. She is the author of, “A Graceful Farewell: Putting Your Affairs in Order,” a collection of ideas and forms that make it easy to list what you own and where everything is. In the course of our conversation Maggie Watson turned the microphones and began to ask me about estate planning, the documents which are useful for everyone to have and the differences between a will and a trust. In my day job I am an attorney in Ukiah, California and devote a portion of my practice to estate planning. Maggie Watson and I met in the studios of Radio Curious in early December, 2006.

www.agracefulfarewell.com

Maggie Watson recommends, “Millionth Circle: How to Change Ourselves and the World – The Essential Guide to Women’s Circles,” by Jean Shinoda Bolend.

Barry Vogel recommends, “Jacobson’s Organ and The Remarkable Nature of Smell,” by Lyall Watson.

Originally Broadcast: December 6, 2006

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After District Attorney Norm Vroman died in September, 2006, and his name could not removed from the ballot, Keith Faulder, the interim DA appointed by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, sued the County seeking to void the November 8, 2006 general election for DA and to require that a special election be held. Former Deputy District Attorney Meredith Lintott received the most votes in the June primary election and was also on the November, 2006, ballot along with Vroman. The California Court of Appeals upheld Faulder’s claim which Lintott and the County appealed to the California Supreme Court. This edition of Radio Curious discusses the history and status of this unique case in interviews with Faulder and Steve Antler, Lintott’s attorney.

Keith Faulder recommends, “Theodore Rex,” by Edmund Morris.

Steven Antler recommends, “October 1964,” by David Halberstram.

Originally Broadcast: November 29, 2006

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This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

The understanding of how we humans experience music and why it plays a unique role in our lives is this topic of two interviews with Dr. Daniel Levitin, author of, “This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession,” recorded from his home in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in late October 2006. Professor Levitin runs the Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He asserts that our brains are hardwired for music and therefore we are all more musically equipped than we think, and that music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, perhaps even more fundamental to our species than language. Professor Levitin believes that the music we end up liking meets our expectations of what we anticipate hearing, just enough of the time that we feel rewarded, and the music that we like also violates those expectations just enough of the time that we’re intrigued. In the first interview Dr. Levitin begins by describing how the human brain learns to distinguish between music and language. The second interview begins with a discussion of what happens when people listen to music they like.

www.yourbrainonmusic.com

Dr. Daniel J. Levitin recommends, “Another Day in the Frontal Lobe,” by Katrina Firlik, and, “The Human Stain,” by Philip Roth.

Originally Broadcast: November 1, 2006 November 8, 2006

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The Wonder of Boys, 10th Anniversary Edition

We explored the difficulties that boys have growing up in American society ten years ago, in a two-part interview with Michael Gurian, author of, “The Wonder of Boys: What Parents, Mentors and Educators can do to Shape Boys into Exceptional Men.” A tenth anniversary edition of, “The Wonder of Boys,” was released in 2006, and I spoke with Michael Gurian about his ideas and thoughts of what has occurred in the past ten years in relation to boys. The trend setting pressures of commercial advertising control the content distributed to boys and often are able to overwhelm the job of the parents to nurture the social development of children. In this interview with Michael Gurian, who lives in Spokane, Washington and recorded in mid-October 2006, we discuss the effects of media on the developing boy, content of what boys listen to when they have earphones on, the substitution of what comes from the earphones for what a boy would get in a relationship with parents, grandparents, or other meaningful people in a boys life.

www.gurianinstitute.com

Michael Gurian recommends, “The Collected Poems of Mary Oliver,” by Mary Oliver.

Originally Broadcast: October 10, 2006

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The Song of Hannah, A Biblical Novel of Love, Temptation, and the Making of A Prophet

Eva Etzioni-Halevy, a retired professor of sociology at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, Israel, is the author of, “The Song of Hannah, A Biblical Novel of Love, Temptation, and the Making of A Prophet,” and the guest in this edition of Radio Curious. The story takes place in Judea in the eleventh century B.C. when few people were literate. In this interview with Eva Etzioni-Halevy, recorded from her home in Tel Aviv, Israel, in late September 2006, she describes her interpretation of Hannah’s life, loves and leadership, and her impressions of Israel several weeks after the summer 2006 war with Lebanon. We began when I asked her to describe who Hannah was.

www.evaetzioni-halevy.com

Dr. Eva Etzioni-Halevy recommends, “Walking the Bible,” by Bruce Feiler.

Originally Broadcast: September 27, 2006

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Sex Lives of Wives: Reigniting the Passion, True Confessions and Provocative Advise from Real Women

How to ignite sexual passion from a woman’s perspective is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious, as we talk with Holly Hollenbeck, a former attorney from Omaha, Nebraska, and author of, “Sex Lives of Wives, Reigniting the Passion, True Confessions and Provocative Advice from Real Women.” Holly Hollenbeck says her book is not so much directed at how to please your mate, but how to please yourself by pleasing your mate. Take a look at www.passionseekers.com, her website devoted to helping women find passion and inspiration in their long-term relationships. I spoke with Holly Hollenbeck from her home in Nebraska, in mid September 2006, and asked her to describe what motivated her to write, “Sex Lives of Wives.”

Holly Hollenbeck recommends, “Adults Only Travel: The Ultimate Guide to Romantic and Erotic Destination,” by David West and Louis James.

Originally Broadcast: September 20, 2006

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Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair

Since I was young, I have been intrigued by the work of Upton Sinclair. I remember as a boy hearing about Sinclair’s books and efforts to change the world. A close friend of my family was the writer for Sinclair’s campaign newspaper, when he ran for governor of California in 1934 and, although that was long before I was born, the stories rolled during his later visits. Sinclair is perhaps best know for, “The Jungle,” published in 1906, which openly revealed the inhumane conditions of the Chicago stockyards and how the meatpacking industry operated, resulting in the passage of the pure food and drug laws within months after the books publication.

“Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair,” is a biography written by retired professor Anthony Arthur, released in June 2006, 100 years after the publication of, “The Jungle,” and tells the story of Upton Sinclair’s life and work. Arthur weaves the strands of Sinclair’s contentious public career and his often-troubled private life, which Sinclair at times willingly revealed, into a compelling personal narrative.  Anthony Arthur rates integrity as Sinclair’s greatest strength, and claims his eloquence in writing and speech, along with his reputation for selflessness as the basis of a ground swell of support for Sinclair and his ideas. When I spoke with Professor Anthony Arthur at the end of August 2006, from his home near Los Angeles, California, he began by describing what attracted him to study and write about Upton Sinclair.

Anthony Arthur recommends, “Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph,” by T.E. Lawrence.

Originally Broadcast: September 6, 2006

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Walking Tractor And Other Tales of Old Anderson Valley

Stories of the days that no longer exist in rural areas tell us how things were, how people worked, lived and played, and bring to life conditions that most of us never knew existed. “Walking Tractor and Other Tales of Old Anderson Valley,” is a collection of stories written by Bruce Patterson, who lives in Philo, a rather small community in rural Anderson Valley, Mendocino County, California. The introduction to, “Walking Tractor,” quotes Ernest Hemmingway as saying, “You can only write about what you know,” something that is verified in the stories of Bruce Patterson, who is known to his friends as Pat. I met with Pat in the studio of Radio Curious, in the last week of August, 2006 to learn about his life, his stories and the man he is.

www.4mules.com

Originally Broadcast: August 30, 2006

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Errors and Omissions

Who owns the rights to a play, a song, or a work of art? How important and fragile is the authorship? These and other issues of intellectual property rights begin to be revealed in,  “Errors and Omissions,” a novel by Stanford Law Professor, Paul Goldstein. “Errors and Omissions,” follows the story of Michael Seeley as he locates a World War Two era Polish refugee who is the author of a screenplay that has the potential to make a huge amount of money not only from the movie rights, but also from the sale of associated paraphernalia. Goldstein, who began writing fiction at the age of twelve, hopes now, fifty years later that readers of his first full length novel will carry away the sense of the fragility of authorship, when an artist creates a work out of thin air. I spoke with Paul Goldstein from his office at Stanford University and began by asking him to define intellectual property.

Paul Goldstein recommends, “Aspects of the Novel,” by E.M. Forster.

Originally Broadcast: August 9, 2006

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