Radio Curious

In the years between 1915 and 1970 almost six million black American citizens from the south migrated to northern and western cities seeking freedom and a better life. Our guest is Pulitzer Prize winner, Isabel Wilkerson author of “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.” Her book tells the untold experiences of the African-Americans who fled the south over three generations.

Wilkerson interviewed more than 1,000 people for her book. She is the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and is a recipient of the George Polk Award and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. Her parents were part of the great migration, journeying from Georgia and southern Virginia to Washington D.C.

In the first of two interviews recorded from Isabel Wilkerson’s home near Atlanta, Georgia, on September 28, 2012, she begins with a description of the “biggest untold story of the 20^th century.”

The book Isabel Wilkerson recommends is “The Ark of Justice,” by Kevin Boyle.

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Radio Curious brings you part two of a conversation about the subconscious mind with Shankar Vedantam, author of “The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives.”  His book encourages us to be aware of how our unconscious mind is capable of controlling our decision making capabilities.  In part two, we examine what compels suicide bombers of the early 21^st century to take their own lives and those of others. And are we, in fact, all susceptible to these ideas?  Shankar Vedantam is a national correspondent and columnist for The Washington Post and 2009-10 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

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Radio Curious brings you a conversation about the subconscious mind with Shankar Vedantam,
author of “The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives.” His book encourages us to be aware of how our unconscious mind is capable of controlling our decision making capabilities. Shankar Vedantam is a national correspondent and columnist for The Washington Post and 2009-10 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

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Concussion injuries to our children is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious as we visit with Dr. Robert Cantu, the author of “Concussions and Our Kids.”  Dr. Cantu’s medical career centers on neurosurgery and sports medicine and is dedicated to addressing the concussion crisis through research, treatment, education and prevention.

Dr. Robert Cantu and I visited by phone from his office near Boston, Massachusetts on September 24, 2012.

Dr. Cantu writes that the genetic inheritance of child begins to control his or her athletic skills at about age 14.  This is similar to the evolutionary influence that compels young teenagers to set a mark and establish status and belonging within their band or tribe, often through athletic prowess.  In the evolutionary history of our species this was necessary for basic survival.  Now in the 21^st century many of our children do the same thing, frequently with strong family support, yet at the same time subjecting themselves to radical injury.  Dr. Cantu and I visited by phone from his office near Boston, Massachusetts, on September 24, 2012, and began when I asked him to comment on that analysis.

The book Dr. Robert Cantu recommends, which was also made into a movie is “Head Games,” by Chris Nowinski.

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The buffalo that for most of the year inhabit Yellowstone National Park may be the only genetically pure buffalo population in North America.  They still follow their migratory instincts and are the only buffalo to have continuously lived on their historic habitat since prehistoric times.  Until the mass slaughter of buffalo that began in the mid-nineteenth century, tens of millions of these creatures roamed North America.  Today the fewer than 4,000 wild buffalo that exist are under constant attack by livestock interests.

In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit with Mike Mease, the coordinator of the Buffalo Field Campaign, based on West Yellowstone, Montana, at the front end of his journey to Oregon and California in the fall of 2012.  Mike Mease and others from the Buffalo Field Campaign are prepared with stories, video, music and activism inspired by the Yellowstone Bison in their efforts to protect America’s remaining buffalo.  Mike Mease and I spoke by phone during the campaign’s first stop in Newport, Oregon, on September 17, 2012, and began our visit when I asked him to describe the current circumstances of buffalo in Montana.

The Buffalo Field Campaign will visit the Mendocino Recreation Center, 998 School Street, in the Village of Mendocino beginning at 7 p.m. on September 27, 2012.  For more information call 707 937 4295.

The book Mike Mease recommends is “Confederacy of Dunces,” by John Kennedy Toole and Walter Percy.

You may contact the Buffalo Field Campaign at PO Box 957, West Yellowstone, MT 59758, telephone (406) 646-0070.

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Radio Curious brings you an archived conversation with David Ebershoff, author of “The 19th Wife,” a book about the life of Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Brigham Young, a critic of polygamy, and early leader in the struggle for women’s rights.

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This edition of Radio Curious is dedicated to Gerard “Tiger” Hill and those who died, when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans in 2005.  Our guest is New Orleans Artist, Alex Santiago, who lived through the hurricane and eleven days later sought protection in the New Orleans Convention Center.  In a conversation recorded in his kitchen in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, Alex Santiago shared his memories with Radio Curious Assistant Producer Christina Aanestad on August 15, 2012.

The book Alex Santiago recommends is “A Better World,” by Eckhart Tolle.

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The history and current status of the California State Park System, as in “how’d we get here and what’s gone wrong,” is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.

Efforts to close our state parks and transfer their management private corporate control continue to occur in California.  We visit with Franklin Graham, Ph.D. who describes how the California public trust to protect our parks has been bureaucratically compromised.

This program, recorded in the Radio Curious studios on August 20, 2012, began with Mr. Graham’s description how our state parks were established.

The book Frank Graham recommends is “West of the Thirties:  Discoveries Among the Navajo and Hope,” by Edward T. Hall.

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