http://www.radiocurious.org Fri, 01 May 2026 04:07:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.1 Welcome to the 20th year of Radio Curious, half hour interviews on a curiously wide variety of topics about life and ideas. All of the almost 400 half-hour archive editions on our website are free for you to enjoy, download, copy, share or rebroadcast as you wish. Please give credit to Radio Curious and let us know what you like about the program. www.radiocurious.org Radio Curious clean Radio Curious curious@radiocurious.org curious@radiocurious.org (Radio Curious) Creative Commons-Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Radio Curious Radio Curious, Interviews, Environment, Education, Chautauquan, Psychology/Psychaitry, Sex, Mendocino, Law, Religion, Feminism http://www.radiocurious.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/radio-curious-rss-logo.jpg http://www.radiocurious.org/category/art/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/12/05/alex-de-grassi-a-cumulous-cloud-on-guitar/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/12/05/alex-de-grassi-a-cumulous-cloud-on-guitar/#comments Fri, 06 Dec 2024 05:10:29 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=5388 http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/12/05/alex-de-grassi-a-cumulous-cloud-on-guitar/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening.  - Alex De Grassi is a guitarist extraordinaire whose interpretation of the Radio Curious theme, entitled “The Last Cowboy”, you may hear if you listen carefully. In this edition of Radio Curious he asks us ‘What does a ... Click here to begin listening.  Alex De Grassi is a guitarist extraordinaire whose interpretation of the Radio Curious theme, entitled “The Last Cowboy”, you may hear if you listen carefully. In this edition of Radio Curious he asks us ‘What does a cumulous cloud sound like when played on guitar?’ Alex De Grassi will share that sound with us in this interview. De Grassi played the trumpet as a child and when he was about 12, his brother was given a guitar, which soon gave Alex inspiration… allowing us to hear what a cumulous cloud sounds like. Our conversation began when I asked him about his relationship with the guitar. You can learn more about his work at his website www.degrassi.com. Alex De Grassi came to the studio of Radio Curious for this conversation on November 12th 2008. The book Alex De Grassi recommends is “Musicophilia: Tales Of Music And The Brain”, by Oliver Sacks. Ignacio Ayala clean http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/11/28/marcos-pereda-soft-sounds-of-spanish-guitar/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/11/28/marcos-pereda-soft-sounds-of-spanish-guitar/#comments Thu, 28 Nov 2024 06:37:10 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=5385 http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/11/28/marcos-pereda-soft-sounds-of-spanish-guitar/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening.  - Spanish songs sung and played on guitar is something I have enjoyed beginning when I lived in Peru in the mid 1960′s. I often have the pleasure of listening to and talking with Marcos Pereda, Click here to begin listening.  Spanish songs sung and played on guitar is something I have enjoyed beginning when I lived in Peru in the mid 1960′s. I often have the pleasure of listening to and talking with Marcos Pereda, a person who can do just that. Marcos was born in Cuba and made his home there until the end of the last century when he moved with his American wife to the United States and soon thereafter to Mendocino County where he has settled, and can often be found playing his guitar and singing the soft sounds of his songs. Marcos Pereda joined Radio Curious at our studio in Ukiah on the 24th November 2008. The book Marcos Pereda recommends is “The Course of Miracles” by Dr. Helen Schucman. Ignacio Ayala clean http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/10/17/gregg-mcvicar-bringing-sound-to-our-ears/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/10/17/gregg-mcvicar-bringing-sound-to-our-ears/#comments Thu, 17 Oct 2024 19:00:51 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=5367 http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/10/17/gregg-mcvicar-bringing-sound-to-our-ears/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening.  - Digital, analog, long playing records, cassettes… How do they bring sound to our ears? In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with audio engineer and producer Gregg McVicar, Click here to begin listening.  Digital, analog, long playing records, cassettes… How do they bring sound to our ears? In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with audio engineer and producer Gregg McVicar, one of the first independent radio producers to convert to digital audio technology. He produces a daily five hour eclectic music mix that may be found at www.undercurrentsradio.net and his personal website is www.radiocamp.com. Gregg McVicar holds an MA degree from the Annenberg School for Communication, is an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Arts in Oakland, California. On his visit to the studios of Radio Curious on August 11th, 2008 we began our conversation when I asked him to explain the difference between analog and digital. The book Gregg McVicar recommends is, “The Earth Is Flat: A Brief History Of The 21st Century,” by Thomas L. Friedman. Ignacio Ayala clean http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/03/15/andrew-keen-does-the-internet-really-kill-culture/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/03/15/andrew-keen-does-the-internet-really-kill-culture/#comments Fri, 15 Mar 2024 06:30:59 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=5260 http://www.radiocurious.org/2024/03/15/andrew-keen-does-the-internet-really-kill-culture/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening.  - Those of us who use the internet are subject to the words and wisdom, or lack thereof, provided by the people and or machines that upload ideas and content. The democratization of the internet, Click here to begin listening.  Those of us who use the internet are subject to the words and wisdom, or lack thereof, provided by the people and or machines that upload ideas and content. The democratization of the internet, allowing anyone to post anything is, in the mind of Andrew Keen, our guest of this edition of Radio Curious, creating a “cut-and-paste” on-line culture which threatens copyright protection and intellectual property rights at the expense of those who create original work. Andrew Keen is the author of “The Cult Of The Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture.” When I spoke with him from his home in Berkeley, in early June 2007 we began with his explanation of the democratization of the internet. The song, film and book recommended by Andrew Keen are the U2 song “Vertigo,” the movie “Vertigo,” by Alfred Hitchcock, and the book “Vertigo,” by W.G. Sebald. Ignacio Ayala clean http://www.radiocurious.org/2021/05/05/diskin-saul-identical-twins/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2021/05/05/diskin-saul-identical-twins/#comments Wed, 05 May 2021 21:18:16 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4393 http://www.radiocurious.org/2021/05/05/diskin-saul-identical-twins/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - The End of the Twins, a Memoir of Losing a Brother - Ever wondered what it would be like to have an identical twin—how alike would you be to that person? How much of an individual would you be? Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-1197-1-1197-1-Diskin_Saul_1-01-19-IA-2019.mp3) The End of the Twins, a Memoir of Losing a Brother Ever wondered what it would be like to have an identical twin—how alike would you be to that person? How much of an individual would you be? Saul Diskin and his identical twin brother Marty grew up together in New York City where Saul and Marty were inseparable. As adults, they began to live separate lives, Saul in Phoenix and Marty near Boston. In 1991, Marty, who had suffered from leukemia for 20 years, needed a bone marrow transplant, which he received from Saul. In his extraordinarily intimate book, “The End of the Twins, a Memoir of Losing a Brother,” Saul Diskin chronicles the rich relationship beginning with their early childhood and ending well past Marty’s death in 1997, shortly before their 63rd birthday. Saul Diskin recommends “Entwined Lives,” by Nancy Segal and “Cosmology and Creation: The Spiritual Significance of Contemporary Cosmology” by Paul Brockelman. Originally Broadcast: September 22, 2001 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2020/05/13/zacha-bill-developing-an-artist-colony-in-the-village-of-mendocino-california/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2020/05/13/zacha-bill-developing-an-artist-colony-in-the-village-of-mendocino-california/#comments Wed, 13 May 2020 20:05:54 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4517 http://www.radiocurious.org/2020/05/13/zacha-bill-developing-an-artist-colony-in-the-village-of-mendocino-california/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Bill Zacha, the leading force behind the creation of the Mendocino Art justify was a person with vision and moxie and one who made a dream come true. In August 1957, Bill Zacha, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-Bill_Zacha_5.13.20_IA.mp3) Bill Zacha, the leading force behind the creation of the Mendocino Art justify was a person with vision and moxie and one who made a dream come true. In August 1957, Bill Zacha, was a young married teacher and lived near San Francisco. On a short trip to the village of Mendocino with his wife Jenny and friends, Bill not only saw the beauty of the Mendocino coast, but the opportunity to act swiftly to purchase what is now the Mendocino Art justify and keep that property out of the hands of those who envisioned creating a trailer park there. Since its inception, the Mendocino Arts Center has featured artists, teachers, and students from all over the world. Bill Zacha, who was often called “Mr. Mendocino,” died on March 18th 1998. Bill Zacha recommends “Love in the Time of Cholera,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Originally Broadcast: March 27, 1998 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2020/01/15/knight-m-wayne-rural-american-artist-in-cambodia/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2020/01/15/knight-m-wayne-rural-american-artist-in-cambodia/#comments Wed, 15 Jan 2020 19:31:46 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4487 http://www.radiocurious.org/2020/01/15/knight-m-wayne-rural-american-artist-in-cambodia/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Wayne Knight, an artist based in Mendocino County, California with over 40 years of experience, traveled very little before he found himself in Phnom Phen, Cambodia in 1995 and 1996. He spent just under a year there, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-Wayne_Knight_(1-15-20).mp3) Wayne Knight, an artist based in Mendocino County, California with over 40 years of experience, traveled very little before he found himself in Phnom Phen, Cambodia in 1995 and 1996. He spent just under a year there, looking, seeing, and painting scenes that previously were beyond his imagination. Wayne Knight also worked with the Cambodian Defenders’ Project in developing computer access to their legal resources in Cambodia. His experience verified his security and, in many ways, enhanced his continuing growth as an artist. Other programs you may enjoy are with Daniel Ellsberg discussing the Pentagon Papers and Vietman, and with Linda Kremer, Esq., a Marin County, California, public defender who took a leave of absence to direct the Cambodian Defenders Project. They both may be found on this website. Wayne Knight recommends “Living My Life,” by Emma Goldman. Originally Broadcast: April 2, 1997 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/12/11/laura-ferri-as-grace-carpenter-hudson-the-painter-lady/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/12/11/laura-ferri-as-grace-carpenter-hudson-the-painter-lady/#comments Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:26:32 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4481 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/12/11/laura-ferri-as-grace-carpenter-hudson-the-painter-lady/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Grace Carpenter Hudson was known as the painter-lady in her hometown of Ukiah, CA. She started her career as a painter when she was a teenager in the 1870s. By the time of her death in 1937, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-Grace_Carpenter_Hudson_(Laura_Ferri)_12.10.19IA.mp3) Grace Carpenter Hudson was known as the painter-lady in her hometown of Ukiah, CA. She started her career as a painter when she was a teenager in the 1870s. By the time of her death in 1937, she had produced over 600 canvas paintings and numerous other works. Her skills focused almost exclusively on the lives and cultures of the Pomo Indians who lived in Mendocino County. Her husband, Dr. John Hudson, assisted her by making the study of native culture his life’s work, overshadowing his profession as a physician. Grace Carpenter Hudson was a shrewd businesswoman, as well as an artist of increasing renown. Most of the family income came from the sale of her artwork. I spoke with Grace Carpenter Hudson in the person of actress Laura Ferri at the Grace Carpenter Hudson museum in Ukiah, CA, during an exhibition of her work. Grace Carpenter Hudson recommends “The Age of Innocence,” by Edith Morton. Laura Ferri recommends “Stones from the River,” by Ursula Hegi. Originally Broadcast: March 5, 1997 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/10/15/potok-chaim-escaping-communism/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/10/15/potok-chaim-escaping-communism/#comments Tue, 15 Oct 2019 19:15:17 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4471 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/10/15/potok-chaim-escaping-communism/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Chaim Potok, the author of “The Chosen,” “The Gift of Asher Lev,”Davida’s Heart,” and many other novels, chronicled the life of a Russian Jewish family in the non-fictions story, “The Gates of November. Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-Potok_Chaim_10-15-919_IA.mp3) Chaim Potok, the author of “The Chosen,” “The Gift of Asher Lev,”Davida’s Heart,” and many other novels, chronicled the life of a Russian Jewish family in the non-fictions story, “The Gates of November.” This true story of the Slapeck family, Solomon Slapek, his son Valodya, and daughter-in-law Masha, spans 100 years. Beginning with Solomon’s childhood at turn of the 20th century, his escape to America and return to Russia, it eventually describes Valodya and Masha’s life after they apply for an exit visa to leave Russia in 1968, in order to emigrate to Israel. Chaim Potok died July 23, 2002, at his suburban Philadelphia home of brain cancer at the age of 73. The book Chaim Potok recommends is “The English Patient,” by Michael Ondaatje. This program was Originally Broadcast: January 8, 1997 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/06/11/mccloud-scott-the-invisible-art/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/06/11/mccloud-scott-the-invisible-art/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2019 18:27:52 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4435 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/06/11/mccloud-scott-the-invisible-art/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Understanding Comics, A Rather Colorful Display: The Invisible Art - Comics have come to hold quite an important place in contemporary society. Satire, particularly political commentary, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-1197-1-McCloud_Final_6.11.19_IA.mp3) Understanding Comics, A Rather Colorful Display: The Invisible Art Comics have come to hold quite an important place in contemporary society. Satire, particularly political commentary, is perhaps closest to its essence when expressed in the visual comic. However, it also can be argued that comics have played a far greater role in the history of humanity, tracing back to all images depicting a sequential number of actions. My guest in this program is Scott McCloud, author of “Understanding Comics, A Rather Colorful Display: The Invisible Art,” a book about the history of comics. Scott McCloud recommends “Jar of Fools,” by Jason Lutes. Originally Broadcast: August 27, 1994 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/05/14/davis-don-a-story-teller-at-work/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/05/14/davis-don-a-story-teller-at-work/#comments Tue, 14 May 2019 18:17:01 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4427 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/05/14/davis-don-a-story-teller-at-work/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Don Davis, a story-teller from Okracoke, North Carolina and joins us in this archive edition first broadcast in July 1993, when Radio Curious was called Government, Politics and Ideas. In our conversation, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-1197-1-Davis_Don_7-19-93_(5-14-19_IA).mp3) Don Davis, a story-teller from Okracoke, North Carolina and joins us in this archive edition first broadcast in July 1993, when Radio Curious was called Government, Politics and Ideas. In our conversation, we discuss the role of story-telling in our modern technological society, the art and dance of story-telling in person and on tape, and story-telling workshops. Originally Broadcast: July 19, 1993 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/04/02/seeger-pete-thoughts-from-a-troubadour-an-interview-with-pete-seeger/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/04/02/seeger-pete-thoughts-from-a-troubadour-an-interview-with-pete-seeger/#comments Tue, 02 Apr 2019 18:02:10 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4415 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/04/02/seeger-pete-thoughts-from-a-troubadour-an-interview-with-pete-seeger/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - This archive edition of Radio Curious was originally recorded and broadcast in January of 1992 when Radio Curious was called “Government, Politics and Ideas.” Our guest is Pete Seeger, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-Seeger_Pete_1-20-92_(1-29-18).mp3) This archive edition of Radio Curious was originally recorded and broadcast in January of 1992 when Radio Curious was called “Government, Politics and Ideas.” Our guest is Pete Seeger, a folk musician and a very special person in the lives of many people around the world. He brings songs of hope, peace, justice and equality wherever he goes. He was an inspiration to me when I first learned to play the 5-string banjo and when I took lessons from him, in what seems both long and ago and, just yesterday. We began our conversation when I asked him what he meant when he said “the world is in a state of uncertainty Originally Broadcast: January 20, 1992 LeGov clean 28:59 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/01/22/brodsk-joseph-a-book-of-poems-next-to-every-bible/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/01/22/brodsk-joseph-a-book-of-poems-next-to-every-bible/#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2019 02:26:44 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4400 http://www.radiocurious.org/2019/01/22/brodsk-joseph-a-book-of-poems-next-to-every-bible/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - A Part of Speech, Less Than One, To Urania, Marbles, & Watermark - Joseph Brodsky, a winner of the Noble Prize, was the United States National Poet Laureate in 1991. Born in what was then Leningrad, Soviet Union, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-1197-1-Brodsky_1-22-19_IA.mp3) A Part of Speech, Less Than One, To Urania, Marbles, & Watermark Joseph Brodsky, a winner of the Noble Prize, was the United States National Poet Laureate in 1991. Born in what was then Leningrad, Soviet Union, he grew up in a communal apartment, and was very active in language and literary pursuits. In 1963, a Leningrad newspaper denounced Brodsky, calling his poetry pornographic and anti-Soviet. He was interrogated and twice put in mental institutions. His papers were seized. He was arrested and indicted on the charge of parasitism. In a secret trial, he was called a “pseudo-poet in velveteen trousers,” who failed to fulfill his “constitutional duty to work honestly for the good of the motherland.” Yet no fault was found in the content of his poetry. One of the more interesting comments Joseph Brodsky made as a guest was that there should be a book of poetry in every hotel room, right next to the Bible. He said that he didn’t think that the telephone book would mind. Joseph Brodsky died on January 28th of 1996, a world-class poet. Originally Broadcast: November 18, 1991 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/12/04/bartholomew-therese-asian-art-museum-the-dragons-gift-sacred-arts-of-bhutan/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/12/04/bartholomew-therese-asian-art-museum-the-dragons-gift-sacred-arts-of-bhutan/#comments Wed, 05 Dec 2018 02:09:48 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4385 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/12/04/bartholomew-therese-asian-art-museum-the-dragons-gift-sacred-arts-of-bhutan/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - In this edition of Radio Curious we would like to take you to the country of Bhutan, East of Mount Everest and bordered by India and Tibet. Bhutan is a mystical kingdom considered by many as The Last Shangri-La. Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-1197-1-asian_art_bhutan_030709_IA_12.4.18.mp3) In this edition of Radio Curious we would like to take you to the country of Bhutan, East of Mount Everest and bordered by India and Tibet. Bhutan is a mystical kingdom considered by many as The Last Shangri-La. We visit "The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan," an exhibit which was displayed at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California, in the spring of 2009. We start in conversation with Therese Bartholomew, the curator of the exhibit who helps us to understand what inspired the exhibit and the trials and tribulations of transporting such valuable religious objects from monasteries at the top of Bhutanese mountains to the city of San Francisco. We will also visit the exhibit itself and hear some of the ceremonies, meet the monks who have traveled with the exhibit and tour the museum docent Henny Tanugjaja. Therese Bartholomew is the Curator Emeritus of Himalayan Arts at the Asian Art Museum San Francisco the book she recommends is “My Life and Lives, The Story of a Tibetan Incarnation” by Rato Khyongla Nawang Losang. We visited with Therese Bartholomew from her home in San Francisco on the March 27, 2009 and began by asking her what makes Bhutan and Bhutanese arts so special? LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/11/20/freed-lynn-reflections-on-a-life-2/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/11/20/freed-lynn-reflections-on-a-life-2/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2018 02:05:18 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4381 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/11/20/freed-lynn-reflections-on-a-life-2/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - The personal journal is often not meant for the eyes of anyone but the writer. When a stranger’s journal is read, the reader often becomes a voyeur to the innermost secrets of another. Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-1197-1-FREED_LYNNE_2018_IA.mp3) The personal journal is often not meant for the eyes of anyone but the writer. When a stranger’s journal is read, the reader often becomes a voyeur to the innermost secrets of another. And whether it is a true journal or one of fiction, who cares? Often, it remains a good story. Lynn Freed, originally of Durban, South Africa, wrote the fictional journal of Agnes LaGrange, entitled “The Mirror,” which reveals the thoughts, feelings, and loves of Agnes, starting when she arrived in South Africa to work as a housekeeper, and ending 50 years later. Lynn Freed recommends “Misfit,” by Jonathan Yardly, “Essays,” by George Orwell & “Last Days in Cloud Cukooland Dispatches,” by Graham Boynton. Originally Broadcast: December 12, 1997 LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/10/09/donner-dr-stanley-origins-of-public-television/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/10/09/donner-dr-stanley-origins-of-public-television/#comments Wed, 10 Oct 2018 01:53:56 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4369 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/10/09/donner-dr-stanley-origins-of-public-television/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - We all know that people listen to radio and watch television. The difference between radio and television is in the image. When you listen to radio, your mind creates the image for you. When you watch television, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-10-09-18_Dr._Stanley_Donner_Published.mp3) We all know that people listen to radio and watch television. The difference between radio and television is in the image. When you listen to radio, your mind creates the image for you. When you watch television, a ready-made image is flashed before your eyes. The early days of television were days of great creativity, when the questions of “how” and “what should we do” were present at all levels of production, ownership and programming. In the early 1950s, a young professor from Stanford University named Stanley Donner was creatively engaged in the development of public television in San Francisco, California. In the last 50 or so years, Professor Donner has participated in and followed the development of this mind-boggling medium. Professor Stanley Donner in the Radio Curious Studios in September 1998 to share the story of how KQED was organized and successfully applied for funding within a very few days, just before the opportunity lapsed. Dr. Stanley Donner recommends “The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy’s View of History,” by Sir Isaiah Berlin.   LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/08/01/rosenthal-ken-the-space-between-brilliance-and-madness/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/08/01/rosenthal-ken-the-space-between-brilliance-and-madness/#comments Thu, 02 Aug 2018 01:29:10 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4349 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/08/01/rosenthal-ken-the-space-between-brilliance-and-madness/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - In this program we discuss cultivating beauty in the space between brilliance and madness with Ken Paul Rosenthal, an independent film maker based in San Francisco, California. - Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-ROSENTHAL_INTERVIEW_7-30-18_CA-final.mp3) In this program we discuss cultivating beauty in the space between brilliance and madness with Ken Paul Rosenthal, an independent film maker based in San Francisco, California. Rosenthal says his "work explores the geography of madness through the regenerative power of nature, urban landscapes, home movies, and archival footage from hygiene films." And his 2011 film "Crooked Beauty”, available on Vimeo, reveals his artistry and cinematography skills. Rosenthal's 2018 film "Whisper Rapture" is a musical and mental health documentary focusing on Bonfire Madigan and her cello. The music you are hearing now is by Bonfire Madigan on her cello, with permission. Not a stranger to demons of the mind, Rosenthal readily shares his personal experiences, and describes how communities of like-minded people can collectively ease the individual pain and find joyful creativity in the spaces between brilliance and madness. When Ken Paul Rosenthal and I visited by phone from his home in San Francisco, California on July 30, 2018, we began our conversation when I asked him to describe what many people call mental illness. The books Ken Paul Rosenthal recommends are both by David Abram: "The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World," and "Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology.” The film he recommends is "Leave No Trace," about a father and daughter who lived off the grid in the wilderness. Ken Paul Rosenthal’s website is http://www.kenpaulrosenthal.com . His 2018 film “Whisper Rapture” can be accessed here: http://whisperrapture.com/ His 2011 film “Crooked Beauty” can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/28315394 LeGov clean 28:56 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/06/05/silha-stephen-the-puckish-whimsical-life-of-james-broughton-2/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/06/05/silha-stephen-the-puckish-whimsical-life-of-james-broughton-2/#comments Wed, 06 Jun 2018 01:04:14 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4331 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/06/05/silha-stephen-the-puckish-whimsical-life-of-james-broughton-2/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - The puckishly whimsical life and times of poet and film maker James Broughton is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious in a visit with Stephen Silha, the producer and director of “Big Joy, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-SILHA_STEVE_5-12-14_CA.mp3) The puckishly whimsical life and times of poet and film maker James Broughton is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious in a visit with Stephen Silha, the producer and director of “Big Joy,” a biographical film of the life and times of James Broughton. Broughton believed that in order to live an authentic life we each should follow our own weird. He says: "I don’t know what the left is doing said the right hand, But it looks fascinating." And: "I may be infecting the whole body said the Head but they’ll never amputate me." Stephen Silha and I visited by phone from his home near Seattle, Washington on Mother’s Day, 2014. He began our conversation by telling us what drew him to make a film about his friend James Broughton. The book Stephen Silha recommends is “The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon,” by Tom Spanbauer. The music in this weeks edition of Radio Curious is "Twril" by Norman Arnold, from the movie, "Big Joy." LeGov clean 29:02 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/05/09/krol-debra-native-american-art-of-the-southwest/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/05/09/krol-debra-native-american-art-of-the-southwest/#comments Thu, 10 May 2018 00:53:18 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4323 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/05/09/krol-debra-native-american-art-of-the-southwest/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Radio Curious visits the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1929, the Heard Museum’s mission is dedicated to educating people about the arts, heritage and life ways of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-1197-1-KROLL_DEBRA._CA1.mp3) Radio Curious visits the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1929, the Heard Museum’s mission is dedicated to educating people about the arts, heritage and life ways of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with an emphasis on American Indian tribes of the Southwest. Committed to the sensitive and accurate portrayal of Native arts and cultures, the museum successfully combines the stories of American Indian people from a personal perspective with the beauty of art, showcasing old and new hand woven baskets, kachina dolls, other art and cultural objects. The museum showcases the art and regalia of Apache, Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, and Yaqui, to name a few. More than 2000 items make up the museums exhibition.Artwork ranging from pottery, baskets, beadwork, dolls and paintings are on display. Our guest is Debra Krol, the communications manager who shared portions of the Heard Museum with me on December 10, 2011. We began our conversation with Krol when she introduced us to the Heard Museum and the unique features that reflect the evolution of south western Native American art. Debra Krol recommends two books: "Ishi’s Brain," by Orin Starn, and "Indians, Merchants and Missionaries: The legacy of Colonial Encounters on the California Frontiers", by Kent G. Lightfoot. Our interview with Orin Starn may be found on our website at http://www.radiocurious.org/2004/03/09/orin-starn-who-was-ishi/ The Heard Museum website is www.heard.org. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/03/27/wendy-norris-as-emily-dickinson-hiding-in-her-own-house/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/03/27/wendy-norris-as-emily-dickinson-hiding-in-her-own-house/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2018 00:41:26 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4308 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/03/27/wendy-norris-as-emily-dickinson-hiding-in-her-own-house/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - History remembers poets of past eras as windows into the civilization of their time. A poet’s words reveal life and feelings we would otherwise never know. New England, in the mid-19th century, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-1197-1-DICKINSON_EMILY_CA_2016.mp3) History remembers poets of past eras as windows into the civilization of their time. A poet’s words reveal life and feelings we would otherwise never know. New England, in the mid-19th century, was the center of a renaissance of American poetry. Emily Dickinson, better known now than she was then, was known for her phrases which sang out in a multitude of forms, meters and styles. Her words presented her innermost feelings and thoughts. A passionate and witty woman, she made a craft and an art of her words and her life. I met with Emily Dickinson in the person of actress Wendy Norris, in the parlor of the Dickinson family home, magically carried from Amherst, Massachusetts, to the stage of the Willits Community Theater, in Willits, California, where the belle of Amherst told her story. We began our conversation when I asked Emily Dickinson why she chose not to receive visitors in her home for so many years. LeGov clean 29:01 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/02/06/sullivan-michael-gene-political-theater-black-men-and-the-police-2/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/02/06/sullivan-michael-gene-political-theater-black-men-and-the-police-2/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:21:16 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4292 http://www.radiocurious.org/2018/02/06/sullivan-michael-gene-political-theater-black-men-and-the-police-2/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Theatre as a commentary on the condition of society is the subject of this edition of Radio Curious. The topic is the relationship of police and black men in America in 2015. Our guest is Michael Gene Sullivan, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-SULLIVAN_2-6-18_JG-1.mp3) Theatre as a commentary on the condition of society is the subject of this edition of Radio Curious. The topic is the relationship of police and black men in America in 2015. Our guest is Michael Gene Sullivan, the resident playwright, director and a principal actor in “2015: Freedomland,” this year’s production by the San Francisco Mime Troupe. The first question and answer on the frequently asked questions page on the San Francisco Mime Troupe website is: “Why do you call yourself a Mime Troupe if you talk and sing?” The answer is: “We use the term mime in its classical and original definition, ‘The exaggeration of daily life in story and song.'” When Michael Gene Sullivan and I visited by phone from his home in San Francisco on June 29, 2015, I asked him if “2015: Freedomland” was an exaggeration of daily life in story and song from his perspective. The book Michael Gene Sullivan recommends is “The Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Force,” by Redley Balko. LeGov clean 29:05 http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/09/26/samson-don-the-creative-imagination-of-don-samson/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/09/26/samson-don-the-creative-imagination-of-don-samson/#comments Tue, 26 Sep 2017 20:44:02 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4250 http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/09/26/samson-don-the-creative-imagination-of-don-samson/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - The creative imagination of playwright Don Samson is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  In May 2015, I had the good fortune of seeing a ten minute play entitled “Blind Date,” written by my long time friend, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-SAMSON_DON_2015_CA.mp3) The creative imagination of playwright Don Samson is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  In May 2015, I had the good fortune of seeing a ten minute play entitled “Blind Date,” written by my long time friend, who lives in nearby Willits, California.  For many years prior to becoming a playwright, Don Samson researched and wrote legal briefs for criminal defense attorneys, an experience we also discuss in this program. After seeing the local production of “Blind Date,” I was curious about the circumstances that came to Don Samson’s mind when he created this play, so I invited him to visit the Radio Curious studios.  We met on May 22, 2015 and began our conversation with his description of those circumstances. Don Samson recommends the book, which is also a play, “Antigone,” by Sophocles. LeGov clean 29:01 http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/08/17/most-stephen-documentary-filmmaker-stories-make-the-world-part-two/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/08/17/most-stephen-documentary-filmmaker-stories-make-the-world-part-two/#comments Thu, 17 Aug 2017 20:24:07 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4239 http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/08/17/most-stephen-documentary-filmmaker-stories-make-the-world-part-two/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - We continue with part two of “Stories Make the World,” with Stephen Most.  He’s a playwright, documentary film maker, and author of the book “Stories Make the World: Reflections of Storytelling and the Art of the Docume... Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-MOST_STEPHEN_2_8-16-2017_CA.mp3) We continue with part two of “Stories Make the World,” with Stephen Most.  He’s a playwright, documentary film maker, and author of the book “Stories Make the World: Reflections of Storytelling and the Art of the Documentary.”  Most presents vignettes of his mentors and experiences, and employs his personal art of storytelling to share who they are and what he has learned in his 54 year career as a writer and story teller. In part one Most discusses his experience with Peruvian Shamen and Curanderos as a young man when he lived on the north coast of Peru, and the art of documentary making.  Here, in part two, Most tells the story of biologist and conservationist Aldo Leopold, among others, and describes the art of listening. When Steve Most visited the Radio Curious studios on August 4, 2017, we began part two when I asked him about the art of storytelling. The books Stephen Most recommends are: “Human Condition” and “On Revolution,” by Hanna Arendt, and “Granada” by Steven Nightingale. Stephen Most's website is (http://stephenmost.com/). LeGov clean 29:01 http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/08/09/most-stephen-documentary-filmmaker-stories-make-the-world-part-one/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/08/09/most-stephen-documentary-filmmaker-stories-make-the-world-part-one/#comments Wed, 09 Aug 2017 20:21:39 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4237 http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/08/09/most-stephen-documentary-filmmaker-stories-make-the-world-part-one/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Meaning, which comes from stories, is the topic of our two part series on how stories make the world. Our guest is Stephen Most, author of "Stories Make the World: Reflections on Storytelling and the Art of the Document... Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-MOST_STEPHEN_8-7-17_CA.mp3) Meaning, which comes from stories, is the topic of our two part series on how stories make the world. Our guest is Stephen Most, author of "Stories Make the World: Reflections on Storytelling and the Art of the Documentary." In this book, Most shares his experience as a playwright, writer, and creator of documentary films over the past 50 plus years. Steve Most and I first crossed paths in 1976. We soon determined we had both lived in Peru for several years ten years earlier, and have been friends since.  In his 2007 visit with Radio Curious http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/06/22/most-stephen-river-of-renewal-myth-history-in-the-klamath-basin/, Most and I discussed his book "River of Renewal: Myth and History in the Klamath Basin." "Stories Make the World" is a crucial account of the principles and paradoxes that attend the quest to represent reality truthfully.  Most shows how documentary filmmakers and other nonfiction storytellers come to understand their subjects and cast light on the world through their art. Steve Most visited the Radio Curious studios on August 4, 2017, to record this series on storytelling and the art of the documentary. The central theme of "Stories Make the World" is meaning comes from stories. We begin with Steve Most’s description of his initial experiences starting with his arrival to Peru’s north coast in 1964.  He contrasts information, including raw facts, and meaningful knowledge with a story. Stephen Most's website is stephenmost.com. To stream or download films in the "Stories Make the World" visit: www.videoproject.com/stories. LeGov clean 29:01 http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/02/28/sorel-edward-an-actress-her-lovers-and-a-daft-caricaturist/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/02/28/sorel-edward-an-actress-her-lovers-and-a-daft-caricaturist/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2017 19:13:43 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4187 http://www.radiocurious.org/2017/02/28/sorel-edward-an-actress-her-lovers-and-a-daft-caricaturist/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Edward Sorel, a satirical caricaturist, and cartoonist, whose first book is Mary Astor’s Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936, is our guest in this edition Radio Curious. Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-Radio_Curious_-_20170228_-_Sorel.mp3) Edward Sorel, a satirical caricaturist, and cartoonist, whose first book is Mary Astor’s Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936, is our guest in this edition Radio Curious. Claiming to be daft about Mary Astor for about a half a century, Sorel describes Astor’s career as a Hollywood-based actress who seemingly more than enjoyed a lustful and salacious life. Astor’s diary, which allegedly revealed the untold stories of her trysts and lovers, was the centerpiece of the sensational 1936 trial to determine the custody of her young daughter. Sorel, whose pictorial satires have appeared on the covers of forty-six editions of The New Yorker magazine, visited Radio Curious by phone from his home in Harlem, New York City, on February 27, 2017. The books Ed Sorel recommends are: Iron Dawn: The Monitor and The Merrimack, and the Sea Battle that Changed History, by Richard Snow; and Terrible Virtue, a Novel, by Ellen Feldman. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/12/14/axt-robert-mixed-messages-and-the-arts/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/12/14/axt-robert-mixed-messages-and-the-arts/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2016 02:08:29 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4165 http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/12/14/axt-robert-mixed-messages-and-the-arts/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Intelligence bears the precious gift of bringing into being the dream only imagination makes possible our seeing. - And the dreams found deep within the chambers of our hearts Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-AXT_INTERVIEW_BROADCAST_12-13-16____BV_3__.mp3) Intelligence bears the precious gift of bringing into being the dream only imagination makes possible our seeing. And the dreams found deep within the chambers of our hearts are best expressed and brought to life by the creative arts. This poem presents the world view of Robert M. Axt, our guest on this edition of Radio Curious. Axt is a retired contractor who self-studied to become an architect, whose last name was changed three times by the time he was ten years old, and now in his mid-eighties, a poet and patron of the arts. Axt, who has lived in Ukiah, California, since the 1960s shared his childhood story in the November 2016 presentation of First Person Plural, a monologue series taught and directed by the Ukiah dramatist Ellen Weed. Axt created an enriched family life for himself along with a live of artistic imagery which he manifests in his work as an architect and in his passion as a poet. In the first half of this edition of Radio Curious, Axt reads his monologue, Mixed Messages. It describes the loneliness and cruelty of his childhood, while living with relatives or step-parents, and often alone by himself after age 12. In the second half we discuss how his life might have been had his father not been banished from his life at age 2, and his thoughts about the importance of fomenting the creative imagination. The book Robert Axt recommends is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Louis Carrol. This program was recorded on December 11, 2016. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/12/07/werdinger-roberta-a-woman-of-words/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/12/07/werdinger-roberta-a-woman-of-words/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2016 02:04:56 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4163 http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/12/07/werdinger-roberta-a-woman-of-words/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - Story teller, writer, publicist and editor Roberta Werdinger is our guest once again. - In the course of our November 21, 2016, visit when Roberta Werdinger when her personal story Barbwire and Flowers, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-WERDINGER_BROADCAST_12-1-16.mp3) Story teller, writer, publicist and editor Roberta Werdinger is our guest once again. In the course of our November 21, 2016, visit when Roberta Werdinger when her personal story Barbwire and Flowers, it was clear that she had more to say. Werdinger is a woman of words, who studies the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. Fascism is one of those words. How to recognize and respond to fascism, work with fear and go beyond trauma, is part of our conversation in this program. When Roberta Werdinger and I met in the Radio Curious studios November 26, 2016, she commented that she sees herself as having a hybrid life and modus operandi. We began when I asked to describe her hybrid life and modus operandi. The book Roberta Werdinger recommends is “The Unconquerable World: Power, Non-Violence and the Will of the People,” by Jonathan Schell LeGov clean 29:01 http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/11/23/werdinger-roberta-barbed-wire-and-flowers/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/11/23/werdinger-roberta-barbed-wire-and-flowers/#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2016 01:58:08 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4159 http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/11/23/werdinger-roberta-barbed-wire-and-flowers/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - "Barbed Wire and Flowers": A daughter’s story of her perception and relationship with her father. He, a survivor of the holocaust, and she, his adult child describes the strength of his life incumbent on her youth, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-WERDINGER_INTERVIEW_BROADCAST_11-23-16.mp3) "Barbed Wire and Flowers": A daughter’s story of her perception and relationship with her father. He, a survivor of the holocaust, and she, his adult child describes the strength of his life incumbent on her youth, and their visit to one of the two concentration camps where he was interned by the Nazis in World War Two. Roberta Werdinger, a storyteller, writer, publicist, editor, is our guest in this edition of Radio Curious. Raised as a non-secular Jew and ordained as a Buddhist Monk, plans to include "Barbed Wire and Flowers" in the memoir she is currently writing. I heard her public reading of "Barbed Wire and Flowers" here in Ukiah in June, 2016 I invited her to visit Radio Curious. She did on November 21, 2016. Our visit begins with her reading "Barbed Wire and Flowers," and I invite you listen for the next 17 minutes. Our conversation follows. This program was recorded on November 21, 2016. LeGov clean 28:14 http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/07/12/norris-wendy-emily-dickinson-hiding-in-her-own-house/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/07/12/norris-wendy-emily-dickinson-hiding-in-her-own-house/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:51:58 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=4119 http://www.radiocurious.org/2016/07/12/norris-wendy-emily-dickinson-hiding-in-her-own-house/feed/ 0 Click here to begin listening - History remembers poets of past eras as windows into the civilization of their time.  A poet’s words reveal life and feelings we would otherwise never know.  New England, in the mid-19th century, Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-DICKINSON_EMILY_CA_2016.mp3) History remembers poets of past eras as windows into the civilization of their time.  A poet’s words reveal life and feelings we would otherwise never know.  New England, in the mid-19th century, was the center of a renaissance of American poetry.  Emily Dickinson, better known now than she was then, was known for her phrases which sang out in a multitude of forms, meters and styles.  Her words presented her innermost feelings and thoughts.  A passionate and witty woman, she made a craft and an art of her words and her life. I met with Emily Dickinson in the person of actress Wendy Norris, in the parlor of the Dickinson family home, magically carried from Amherst, Massachusetts, to the stage of the Willits Community Theater, in Willits, California, where the belle of Amherst told her story.  We began our conversation when I asked Emily Dickinson why she chose not to receive visitors in her home for so many years. LeGov clean 29:01 http://www.radiocurious.org/2015/11/10/martin-buzzy-teaching-guitar-in-san-quentin-prison/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2015/11/10/martin-buzzy-teaching-guitar-in-san-quentin-prison/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2015 23:07:38 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=3892 http://www.radiocurious.org/2015/11/10/martin-buzzy-teaching-guitar-in-san-quentin-prison/feed/ 0 mass incarceration,prison,San Quentin Buzzy Martin taught guitar in San Quentin Prison for three and a half years, where he gained a unique "insiders" perspective about prison life, prisoners, and the guards. He chronicles his experience in a book, "Don't Shoot! I'm the Guitar Man." Buzzy Martin began teaching music to at risk kids in Juvenille Hall. He then taught guitar in San Quentin Prison for three and a half years, where he gained a unique "insiders" perspective about prison life, prisoners, and the guards. His book, "Don't Shoot! I'm the Guitar Man," chronicles his experiences teaching prison inmates, including rapists, child molesters and murderers how to play the guitar. Martin shares his experiences with incarcerated youth, to teach them that prison is not a “badge of honor,” and he reveals how music can be a universal language to open the hearts of people who may think they don't have one. Buzzy Martin's memoir will be made into a movie. Visit his website for more information.  The interview with Buzzy Martin was recorded on October 11th, 2010. The book he recommends is, “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book,” by don Miguel Ruiz. Click here to listen or on the media player below. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2015/06/23/samson-don-the-creative-imagination-of-playwright-don-samson/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2015/06/23/samson-don-the-creative-imagination-of-playwright-don-samson/#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2015 21:21:02 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=3748 http://www.radiocurious.org/2015/06/23/samson-don-the-creative-imagination-of-playwright-don-samson/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with playwright Don Samson, who discusses his work and creative process and his former life as the author of legal briefs for criminal defense attorneys. The creative imagination of playwright Don Samson is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  In May 2015, I had the good fortune of seeing a ten minute play entitled “Blind Date,” written by my long time friend, who lives in nearby Willits, California.  For many years prior to becoming a playwright, Don Samson researched and wrote legal briefs for criminal defense attorneys, an experience we also discuss in this program. After seeing the local production of “Blind Date,” I was curious about the circumstances that came to Don Samson’s mind when he created this play, so I invited him to visit the Radio Curious studios.  We met on May 22, 2015 and began our conversation with his description of those circumstances.  Don Samson recommends the book, which is also a play, “Antigone,” by Sophocles. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/12/31/vogel-barry-a-conversation-with-host-and-producer-barry-vogel/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/12/31/vogel-barry-a-conversation-with-host-and-producer-barry-vogel/#comments Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:54:25 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=3527 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/12/31/vogel-barry-a-conversation-with-host-and-producer-barry-vogel/feed/ 0 Radio Curious starts off it's 25th year with an interview of the show's host and producer Barry Vogel. John Gravois, the deputy editor of Pacific Standard magazine talks with Vogel about the art of radio. For this edition of Radio Curious, broadcast at the beginning of our 25th year on the air, I invited my friend John Gravois to interview me about my experiences, reflections and thoughts over the past 24 years that I’ve been the host and producer of Radio Curious.  John Gravois is the deputy editor of Pacific Standard magazine and a contributing editor to the Washington Monthly. His work has appeared on This American Life, in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, and Slate, among others. He lives in Albany, California. John Gravois and I visited in the studios of Radio Curious on December 27, 2014.  We began our conversation with his comments about the archives found on the Radio Curious website. The books that I recommend are “The Warmth of Other Suns:  The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration,” by Isabel Wilkerson and “Jacobson’s Organ and the Remarkable Nature of Smell,” by Lyall Watson. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. LeGov clean 29:02 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/12/23/pereda-marcos-the-new-cuba-reflections-stories-and-song/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/12/23/pereda-marcos-the-new-cuba-reflections-stories-and-song/#comments Tue, 23 Dec 2014 22:04:56 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=3516 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/12/23/pereda-marcos-the-new-cuba-reflections-stories-and-song/feed/ 0 Cuba Radio Curious visits with Cuban born singer-songwriter Marcos Pereda, who now lives in Ukiah, Ca. Pereda shares songs and stories about his life and his reflections about the new diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. Marcos Pereda, a native of Havana, Cuba, and a singer-songwriter who lives in Ukiah, California, is our guest in this edition of Radio Curious. The background music in this weeks program is a song titled "Center" that he wrote and then performed on his guitar in our studios.  Pereda returned from a two month visit in Havana on December 20, 2014; he traveled there to attend his mother’s funeral.  In our visit, recorded on December 22, 2014, Pereda shares his music and songs, his thoughts and experiences about life in Cuba and in the United States, and his hopes for the new relationship between the the two nations.  We began our conversation when I asked him to tell us about his mother.  Marcos Pereda's email is: marcosinsonte@hotmail.com (mailto:marcosinsonte@hotmail.com). The book he recommends is “The Little Prince,” by Antoine St. Exupery. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. LeGov clean 29:02 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/11/12/levene-bruce-james-dean-in-mendocino/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/11/12/levene-bruce-james-dean-in-mendocino/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2014 20:35:04 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=3461 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/11/12/levene-bruce-james-dean-in-mendocino/feed/ 0 Radio Curious discusses earthquakes with John Dvorak, Ph.D., a geophysicist and author of “Earthquake Storms: The Fascinating History and Volatile Future of the San Andreas Fault.” John Steinbeck's novel, “East of Eden” was published September 1952 and the movie-made soon thereafter-is the subject of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Bruce Levene, author of “James Dean in Mendocino: The Filming of East of Eden.” The Mendocino Film Festival will screen "East of Eden" on Friday, November 21 and Sunday, November 23, 2014. Soon after “East of Eden” was published, plans began immediately for a motion picture. Warner Brothers bought the rights and director Elia Kazan hired playwright screenwriter, Paul Osborn to write the film script. After several attempts to encompass the sprawling 560-page novel, they decided to use only the last 90 pages—the story of Adam Trask, his sons Aron and Cal, their mother Kate, and the girl Abra. It's a story about the search for love, the desperate search for his father's love, by the son Cal, the fanciful search for his mother's love by Aron, and the futile quest by Adam for the love of all humanity. John Steinbeck wrote of his book, “The subject is the only one that man has used of his theme. The existence, the balance, the battle and the victory and permanent war between wisdom and ignorance, light and darkness, good and evil.” By 1954, when Kazan began searching for locale to use for the filming of “East of Eden,” neither Monterey nor Salinas, where the stories took place, looked much like California in 1917. Warner Brothers had made “Johnny Belinda” in Mendocino in 1947, which might have influenced the director. Or perhaps as one wire service reported:  “Like many other voyagers, he just wandered up the Mendocino Coast and found what he was looking for.” In late April, preparations for filming began and the fist day of shooting took place on May 27. In that amazingly brief time the Mendocino scenes were completed and by June 3, the Warner Brothers production team was gone, leaving local residents with fond remembrances. Bruce Levene writes, “I first saw “East of Eden” on the fan tail of a US Navy destroyer in the Caribbean in 1956. I'd read the book but never traveled west of Des Moines. California was unseen, Mendocino was unheard of. I thought "East Eden" had been filmed in Monterey and Salinas, wherever they were.” “East of Eden” became Levene's favorite motion picture. Not particularly because of James Dean, although he was certainly unforgettable. “Whatever the man was in real life, saint or sinner,” Bruce Levene writes, “we will never really know.  It's undeniable however, that in front of an audience or camera he was remarkable. And that, for an actor, is the best thing that can be said. Dean was just something else.” For Bruce Levene, it was how he felt about the whole movie—the shoreline, the town, it's people, the actors: Julie Harris, Joe Van Fleet, Raymond Massey and Burl Ives (Massey and Ives didn't go to Mendocino), and Leonard Rosenman's wonderful music. A totality in feeling, rare in motion pictures, was only enhanced to Bruce Levene when he moved to Mendocino in 1969. When Bruce Levene and I visited from his home in Mendocino, California, on November 11, 2014, I asked him what prompted him to write his book “James Dean in Mendocino.” The book Bruce Levene recommends is “The Immense Journey” by Loren Eiseley. Click here to listen or on the media player below. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/07/01/rovics-david-the-art-of-political-song/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/07/01/rovics-david-the-art-of-political-song/#comments Tue, 01 Jul 2014 19:11:09 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=3349 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/07/01/rovics-david-the-art-of-political-song/feed/ 0 david rovics The Art of Political Song is the topic of Radio Curious with singer – songwriter, David Rovics who discusses how he creates his songs, some of which he’ll sing, and what he hopes they will achieve.  Songs of a political nature are not surprising given the similarities and parallel community structures of politics and religions, with each community promoting the behaviors and concepts it supports as being the most appropriate.  The art of political song, which has been crafted and heard world wide since time immemorial, is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. In this program we visit with singer–songwriter David Rovics, a veritable troubadour and folk musician of our time.  He visited the studios of Radio Curious on December 9, 2012, and began our conversation when he described his work, his songs, and how he creates them.   The following is his biography taken from his website. 
”David Rovics grew up in a family of classical musicians in Wilton, Connecticut, and became a fan of populist regimes early on. By the early 90's he was a full-time busker in the Boston subways and by the mid-90's he was traveling the world as a professional flat-picking rabble-rouser. These days David lives in Portland, Oregon and tours regularly on four continents, playing for audiences large and small at cafes, pubs, universities, churches, union halls and protest rallies. He has shared the stage with a veritable who's who of the left in two dozen countries, and has had his music featured on Democracy Now!, BBC, Al-Jazeera and other networks. His essays are published regularly on CounterPunch and elsewhere, and the 200+ songs he makes available for free on the web have been downloaded more than a million times. Most importantly, he's really good. He will make you laugh, he will make you cry, he will make the revolution irresistible.” Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/05/13/silha-stephen-the-puckish-whimsical-life-of-james-broughton/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/05/13/silha-stephen-the-puckish-whimsical-life-of-james-broughton/#comments Tue, 13 May 2014 16:41:02 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=3294 http://www.radiocurious.org/2014/05/13/silha-stephen-the-puckish-whimsical-life-of-james-broughton/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with Stephen Silha, the producer and director of “Big Joy,” a biographical film about the puckishly whimsical life and times of poet and film maker James Broughton. The puckishly whimsical life and times of poet and film maker James Broughton is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious in a visit with Stephen Silha, the producer and director of “Big Joy,” a biographical film of the life and times of James Broughton.    Broughton believed that in order to live an authentic life we each should follow our own weird. He says: "I don’t know what the left is doing said the right hand. But it looks fascinating.” And: "I may be infecting the whole body said the Head but they’ll never amputate me.” Stephen Silha and I visited by phone from his home near Seattle, Washington on Mother’s Day, 2014.  He began our conversation by telling us what drew him to make a film about his friend James Broughton.    The book Stephen Silha recommends is “The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon,” by Tom Spanbauer. The music in this week's edition of Radio Curious is "Twirl" by Norman Arnold, from the movie, "Big Joy." Click here or on the media player below to listen. LeGov clean 29:02 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/10/29/luke-gregorio-the-day-of-the-dead/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/10/29/luke-gregorio-the-day-of-the-dead/#comments Tue, 29 Oct 2013 19:26:27 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=3063 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/10/29/luke-gregorio-the-day-of-the-dead/feed/ 0 The Day of the Dead, as it's celebrated in Mexico, is the subject of this archive edition of Radio Curious, in conversation with Gregorio Luke, the cultural attache of the Republic of Mexico in 1997. Most countries in the world send ambassadors to talk about and promote what their country is like and to carry on political affairs between and along other nations.  These ambassadors often have assistants known as “cultural attaches.”  They bring and share their nation’s culture, history and the folklore with their host countries.  The cultural event known as Halloween in the United States is celebrated annually on November 1st as the Day of the Dead in Mexico and other Latin American Counties. In 1997 Radio Curious invited Gregorio Luke, the cultural attache from the Republic of Mexico based in Los Angeles, California, to our studios when he was the Consul for Cultural Affairs. His job at that time was to broaden the Mexican cultural presence in the United States. Our conversation began when I asked Gregorio Luke to describe the cultural gaps he sought to bridge in presenting Mexican and to tell us about the Day of The Dead. The book Gregorio Luke recommends is ”The Crystal Frontier,” by Carlos Fuentes. Click here to listen or on the media player below. Click here (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/podcast/podcast.xml?program_id=72102&version_id=79798&version=1) to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/27/levitin-dr-daniel-your-brain-on-music-part-two/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/27/levitin-dr-daniel-your-brain-on-music-part-two/#comments Tue, 27 Aug 2013 22:57:47 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2964 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/27/levitin-dr-daniel-your-brain-on-music-part-two/feed/ 0 Radio Curious brings you part two, of a 2006 conversation with Dr. Daniel Levitin about the relationship between music and the brain. Dr. Levitan is author of “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.  He says 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 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. Professor Daniel Levitin's website is www.yourbrainonmusic.com. The books Dr. Daniel J. Levitin recommends are, “Another Day in the Frontal Lobe,” by Katrina Firlik, and, “The Human Stain,” by Philip Roth. Originally Broadcast: November 1, 2006 November 8, 2006 Click here to begin listening to part one. Click here to begin Listening to part two or on the media player below. Click here (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/podcast/podcast.xml?program_id=20418&version_id=23947&version=2) to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/19/levitin-daniel-dr-your-brain-on-music/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/19/levitin-daniel-dr-your-brain-on-music/#comments Tue, 20 Aug 2013 02:20:26 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2955 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/19/levitin-daniel-dr-your-brain-on-music/feed/ 0 Radio Curious revisits a 2006 conversation with Dr. Daniel Levitin about the relationship between music and the brain. Dr. Levitan is author of “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.  He says 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 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. Professor Daniel Levitin's website is www.yourbrainonmusic.com The books Dr. Daniel J. Levitin recommends are, “Another Day in the Frontal Lobe,” by Katrina Firlik, and, “The Human Stain,” by Philip Roth. Originally Broadcast: November 1, 2006 November 8, 2006 Click here to begin listening to part one. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/07/buron-melissa-french-impressionists/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/07/buron-melissa-french-impressionists/#comments Wed, 07 Aug 2013 08:28:01 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2940 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/08/07/buron-melissa-french-impressionists/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with Melissa Buron, art historian and curator of the French Impressionist exhibit, Impressionists on the Water, currently at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, California.  The travel facilitated by the industrial revolution in 19th century Europe opened vistas for those who could afford the excursion and vistas for the painters who became known as the Impressionists.   In this edition of Radio Curious, we discuss the work of the French Impressionists, what they saw and what they chose to portray.  Our guest is art historian, Melissa Buron, the curator of Impressionists on the Water, the current exhibit at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, California.  Melissa Buron and I visited by phone from her office at the Palace of Legion of Honor Museum, one of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, on August 5, 2013.  We began our conversation with her description of the exhibit, Impressionists on the Water. The book she recommends is “Possession,” by A.S. Byatt. Click here to listen or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:01 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/05/13/donahue-terry-alloy-orchestra-new-music-for-silent-films/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/05/13/donahue-terry-alloy-orchestra-new-music-for-silent-films/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 20:37:00 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2815 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/05/13/donahue-terry-alloy-orchestra-new-music-for-silent-films/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with Terry Donahue, a member of the Alloy Orchestra, a group of multitalented musicians who provide live, in house, orchestral backup to silent films of the 1920's era. The Alloy Orchestra is a group of multitalented musicians with widely diverse abilities, based near Boston, Massachusetts.  This group provides live, in house orchestral backup to the Chaplin, Keaton and other classic silent films of the 1920s. Our guest in this edition of Radio Curious is Terry Donahue, an Alloy Orchestra partner, a skilled player of the accordion, musical saw, drums and bells, to name only a few. Terry Donahue and I visited by phone from his home near Boston Massachusetts, on May 10, 2013, and began with his description of the composition of the Alloy Orchestra. The book Terry Donahue recommends is “Accordion Crimes,” by Annie Proulx, and “Delicatessen” a French film. Click here to listen or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/04/02/edelman-reid-the-music-man-is-coming-to-river-city/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/04/02/edelman-reid-the-music-man-is-coming-to-river-city/#comments Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:58:28 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2753 http://www.radiocurious.org/2013/04/02/edelman-reid-the-music-man-is-coming-to-river-city/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with Reid Edelman, producer and director of The Music Man, a local theater production involving more than 100 people from the Ukiah, California area. The Music Man is coming to town, right here in River City, also known as Ukiah, California. In this program Radio Curious visits with Reid Edelman, the producer and director of the musical extravaganza.  Edelman is a professor of Theater Arts at the Mendocino College in Ukiah, California.  This production of the Music Man, presented by the Mendocino College Theatre Arts Department and Ukiah Civic Light Opera, involves more than 100 people from the Ukiah community. It opens April 12 and plays through April 21, 2013 at the Mendocino College Center Theater on the Ukiah campus. For more information call (707) 462 9155. I met with Reid Edelman in the Radio Curious studios on March 29, 2013 and began our visit when I asked him:  Why the Music Man? The book Reid Edelman recommends is “Improv:  Improvisation and the Theatre,” by Keith Johnstone. Click here (http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-EDELMAN_REID_INTERVIEW_CA_2013.mp3) to listen or on the media player below. Click here (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/podcast/podcast.xml?program_id=67446&version_id=74828&version=1) to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/06/05/capt-forrington-cass-a-beach-made-of-glass-and-hands-in-acid-one-man-and-many-stories/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/06/05/capt-forrington-cass-a-beach-made-of-glass-and-hands-in-acid-one-man-and-many-stories/#comments Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:57:06 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2369 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/06/05/capt-forrington-cass-a-beach-made-of-glass-and-hands-in-acid-one-man-and-many-stories/feed/ 0 Radio Curious takes you to Glass Beach in Ft. Bragg, Ca for a visit with Captain Cass Farrington, the creator and owner of the Glass Beach Museum. While traveling the world as a merchant marine, Cass Forrington has transported munitions, A former dump site at the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Ft. Bragg, California, is part of the story in this edition of Radio Curious. Captain Cass Forrington, creator and owner of the Glass Beach Museum, and the author of "Beaches Of Glass, a History & Tour of the Glass Beaches of Fort Bragg, California," is our guest.   He is also a Master Mariner, holder of an unlimited Master’s Certificate, allowing him to be the captain of any size sea going vessel.  He has many stories to tell. Captain Cass and I sat on Glass Beach No. Two in Ft. Bragg, on a windy afternoon, June 2, 2012, with the waves lapping ten feet away.  We began when I asked him to describe Glass Beach.  But keep listening to hear his story about putting his hands in acid 40 years ago. Captain Cass Forrington's website is: captcass.com Capt. Cass Forrington recommends a movie and a book. The book is "The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology," by Ray Kurzweil.  And the movie is “What the Bleep Do We Know?” Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/05/21/trimpin-music-and-thought-pushing-the-limits/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/05/21/trimpin-music-and-thought-pushing-the-limits/#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 00:39:30 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2344 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/05/21/trimpin-music-and-thought-pushing-the-limits/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with Trimpin, a sound artist whose the topic of a documentary "Trimpin." Pushing limits in music and thought is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious as we visit with Trimpin, a man who makes music from unusual instruments.  He is the star of documentary film about his life’s work Trimpin, who uses a single word for his name received a Mac Arthur Genius Grant 1997. He asserts that he is trying to “go beyond human physical limitations to play instruments in such a way that no matter how complex the composition or the timing, it can be pushed over the limits.”  The music, he said, starts with a sound in his head.  He then transforms that notion for us to hear.  The film Trimpin will be show at the Mendocino Film Festival the first weekend of June 2012, in Mendocino California. I spoke with Trimpin from his studio in Seattle, Washington, on May 19, 2012, and asked him to comment on the characterization where he is described as a mad-scientist, a magician, or possibly a tour guide. Rather than recommending a book, Trimpin said that he gave up reading sometime ago and replaced it with thinking.  He’d “rather think than read," he said. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/03/13/la-tigresa-one-womans-power-fortitude-and-poetry/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/03/13/la-tigresa-one-womans-power-fortitude-and-poetry/#comments Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:42:58 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2248 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/03/13/la-tigresa-one-womans-power-fortitude-and-poetry/feed/ 0 Radio Curious Assistant Producer, Christina Aanestad speaks with performance artist and poet, La Tigresa about art and activism. Radio Curious Assistant Producer, Christina Aanestad speaks with performance artist and poet, La Tigresa about art and activism. La Tigresa made national headlines in 2000 for blockading a logging truck bare breasted while reciting poems of the Goddess, to save old growth redwood trees in Northern California. The book La Tigresa recommends is "Pronoia is the Antidote to Paranoia," by Rob Brezsny. La Tigresa's website is www.latigresa.net. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/02/28/ensler-eve-the-vagina-monologues/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/02/28/ensler-eve-the-vagina-monologues/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:32:52 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2222 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/02/28/ensler-eve-the-vagina-monologues/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/01/03/2115/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/01/03/2115/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:55:04 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2115 http://www.radiocurious.org/2012/01/03/2115/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with the Herd Museum in Pheoniz Arizona, a museum of over 2000 pieces of art from Southwestern Native American tribes. Founded in 1929, the Heard Museum’s mission is dedicated to educating people about the arts, heritage and life ways of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with an emphasis on American Indian tribes of the Southwest. Committed to the sensitive and accurate portrayal of Native arts and cultures,  the museum successfully combines the stories of American Indian people from a personal perspective with the beauty of art, showcasing old and new hand woven baskets, kachina dolls, other art and cultural objects. The museum showcases the art and regalia of Apache, Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, and Yaqui, to name a few.  More than 2000 items make up the museums exhibition.  Artwork ranging from pottery, baskets, beadwork, dolls and paintings are on display. Our guest is Debra Krol, the communications manager who shared portions of the Heard Museum with me on December 10, 2011.  We began our conversation with Krol when she introduced us to the Heard Museum and the unique features that reflect the evolution of south western Native American art. Debra Krol recommends two books: "Ishi’s Brain," by Orin Starn, and "Indians, Merchants and Missionaries: The legacy of Colonial Encounters on the California Frontiers", by Kent G. Lightfoot. Our interview with Orin Starn may be found here. The Heard Museum website is www.heard.org. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/12/19/2098/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/12/19/2098/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:43:02 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2098 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/12/19/2098/feed/ 0 Storytelling, like radio, brings pictures to the mind of the listener and allows each one of us to imagine what we hear. Radio Curious visits with story teller Mark Binder who explains what happens when the story teller vanishes. Storytelling, like radio, brings pictures to the mind of the listener and allows each one of us to imagine what we hear.   Our guest on Radio Curious is story teller Mark Binder, author of “A Hanukkah Present:  Twelve Tales to Give and Share,” who describes what happens when the storyteller vanishes.  Radio Curious spoke with Mark Binder from his home in Providence, Rhode Island on December 16, 2011.  We began when I asked to discuss the importance of story telling around Hanukkah and other holidays of the winter season. The book Mark Binder recommends is “The Best of Myles,” by Flann O’Brien.  His website is www.markbinder.com Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/12/05/dakin-susanna-an-artist-in-the-white-house/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/12/05/dakin-susanna-an-artist-in-the-white-house/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:39:09 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=2075 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/12/05/dakin-susanna-an-artist-in-the-white-house/feed/ 0 Imagine if you can, an artist instead of a politician in the White House. Radio Curious teams up with TUC Radio’s Maria Gilardin for a visit with Susanna Dakin, author of An Artist for President. Dakin’s autobiography chronicles her 1984 presidential ... Imagine if you will an artist instead of a politician in the White House.  This possibility existed in 1984 in reality, not in the George Orwell novel.  Susanna Dakin, a sometimes resident of Santa Monica, California and sometimes of Mendocino County, California, a sculptor by training conceived of her national campaign for the presidency as a one-year durational art performance piece.  Although Sue Dakin as she is now known, was defeated having been effectively overshadowed by the second term campaign of Ronald Reagan, Dakin has continued to practice what she calls “system sculpture” in her political, spiritual and art life. This unusual episode in American Presidential Campaign History is revealed in Dakin’s book An Artist for President:  The Nation is the Artwork and We are the Artists, published in 2011. Maria Gilardin, host and producer of TUC Radio, and a friend of Sue Dakin and me, joined us in the studios of Radio Curious on November 25, 2011 in conversation with Sue Dakin about about her life and book.  Maria Gilardin’s website is www.tucradio.org. The book Sue Dakin recommends is, “The Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History,” by S.C. Gwynne. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. LeGov clean 29:01 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/05/23/les-blank-the-chef-of-film-making/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/05/23/les-blank-the-chef-of-film-making/#comments Tue, 24 May 2011 00:03:42 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=1794 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/05/23/les-blank-the-chef-of-film-making/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with film maker extraordinaire, Les Blank, about his life's work including a documentary about folk/blues musician Lightning Hopkins and a film about garlic. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Les Blank, film maker extraordinaire. Les Blank will receive the Albert Maysles award at the 2011 Mendocino Film Festival where his films “Burden of Dreams” and "The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin' Hopkins" will be presented.  John Rockwell, writing in The New York Times, describes Les Blank as, "…a documentarian of folk cultures who transforms anthropology into art." Though he had a long fascination with films, his career turned to film making after he saw “The Seventh Seal,” by Ingmar Bergman.   Our conversation, which was recorded by phone from his home in Berkeley, California on May 23, 2011, began when I asked him why he makes films. The films Les Blank recommends are “The Seventh Seal” and “Through a Glass Darkly,” both by Ingmar Bergman. Les Blank's website is www.lesblank.com Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/podcast/podcast.xml?program_id=51974&version_id=58219&version=1) to download and subscribe to our podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/04/11/saving-a-small-town-post-office-ukiah-ca/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/04/11/saving-a-small-town-post-office-ukiah-ca/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:41:20 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=1735 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/04/11/saving-a-small-town-post-office-ukiah-ca/feed/ 1 The United States Postal Service is closing post offices in small and rural towns across the country. Radio Curious visits with 3 local residents in Ukiah, Ca about their efforts to save the local downtown post office. The United States Postal Service has plans to close post offices in cities, small towns and rural areas across America. This edition of Radio Curious is a case study of how the federal government plans to close the main Post Office in Ukiah, California.  The Postal Service says it operates under a "corporate model" and is not subject to public information requests, even from local government. It is unwilling to share the bases of it cost analyses or even let the City of Ukiah conduct its own evaluations. We visit with three members of the Save the Ukiah Post Office Committee, Ukiah Mayor, Mari Rodin, Alan Nicholson and Mike Sweeney. They discuss the community efforts to save Ukiah's downtown post office and why. The interview was recorded April 11th, 2011. The book Alan Nichols recommends is “House,” by Tracy Kidder. The book Mari Rodin recommends is "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking," by Malcolm Gladwell. The book Mike Sweeney recommends is, "The Storms of my Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity," by Dr. James C. Hansen. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/podcast/podcast.xml?program_id=50928&version_id=57101&version=1) to download and subscribe to our podcast. LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/01/11/reinhart-ed-boogie-woogie-pianist/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/01/11/reinhart-ed-boogie-woogie-pianist/#comments Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:59:45 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=1606 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/01/11/reinhart-ed-boogie-woogie-pianist/feed/ 1 Radio Curious visits with world famous boogie woogie piano player, Ed Reinhart, who also masquerades as Rico Suave and Earl Dixon. In my opinion, when my friend Ed Reinhart comes here to Ukiah, it is well worth the effort to track him down and listen to him play someone else’s piano and sing along. And that is what happened the last few days of 2010. The sign said Ed would be playing at the Himalaya Café at the south end of town on New Year’s Eve beginning at 6:30 pm. Now it may seem a bit early to start a New Year’s Eve Party, but Ed is always ready to do things his way, and under the guise of liking to get to bed early, he played and sang Old Lange Syne when it was New Year’s in New York, or in the Ukiah vernacular, 9 p.m. Now Ed, who masquerades as Earl Dixon, a semi-unknown sort as he likes to say, and/or Rico Suave, a moniker he adopted while living in Ecuador, can play boogie-woogie piano better than most anyone. And that to me makes Earl and Rico all the more confusing as to who they may or may not be. Ed, etc. have been guests on three previous editions Radio Curious, and those visits are available at www.radiocurious.org. Why so much Ed on Radio Curious? I like him and his music and enjoy our visits. We hope you do too. So Happy New Year to each of you and welcome to the first Radio Curious program recorded in our 21st year on the air. This interview with Ed Reinhart was recorded in the studios of Radio Curious, in Ukiah, California on January 7, 2011. The book Ed Reinhart recommends is “World Without End,” by Ken Follett. Click here (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/download/48534/54534/69250/?url=http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-ED_REINHART_INTERVIEW_1-7-11_CA.mp3) to begin listening or on the media player below. Click here (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/podcast/podcast.xml?program_id=48534&version_id=54534&version=1) to download and subscribe to our podcast LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/01/04/1597/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/01/04/1597/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 05:41:08 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=1597 http://www.radiocurious.org/2011/01/04/1597/feed/ 0 Radio Curious visits with Denis Dutton, author of ‘The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution,” who died December 28, 2010. In this edition, we visit with Denis Dutton, author of ‘The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution.”  A quote from this book, at page 46, provides a good idea of who we are and what the book is about.  “As much as fighting wild animals or finding suitable environments our ancient ancestors faced social forces and family conflicts that became a part of evolved life.   Both of these force fields acting in concert, eventually produced the intensely social, robust, love making, murderous, convivial, organizing, technology using, show off, squabbling, game playing, friendly, status seeking, upright walking, lying, omnivorous, knowledge seeking, arguing, clubbing, language using, conspicuously wasteful, versatile species of primate that we became.  And along the way in developing all this, the arts were born.” Denis Dutton was a professor of ‘Philosophy of Art’ at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. We visited by phone from his home in Christchurch, New Zealand on July 17th, 2009 and began our conversation by asking him to further explain the birth of the arts. The books Denis Dutton recommends are “Before The Dawn: Recovering The Lost History Of Our Ancestors,” by Nicholas Wade and “The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution,” by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending. You can listen to a radio curious interview with Gregory Cochran by visiting the 2009 Radio Curious archives on our website www.radiocurious.org. Denis Dutton died on December 28, 2010. Click here to begin listening or on the media player below. Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/podcast/podcast.xml?program_id=34585&version_id=39654&version=1) LeGov clean 29:00 http://www.radiocurious.org/2010/04/23/muldaur-maria-sing/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2010/04/23/muldaur-maria-sing/#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:42:52 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=1112 http://www.radiocurious.org/2010/04/23/muldaur-maria-sing/feed/ 0 Maria Muldaur is a name that has been familiar to my ears since I was a teenager, she could be familiar to your ears too on this edition of Radio Curious.  After the popularity of her songs “I’m A Woman” and “Midnight at the Oasis” in the late 60’s an... Maria Muldaur is a name that has been familiar to my ears since I was a teenager, she could be familiar to your ears too on this edition of Radio Curious.  After the popularity of her songs “I’m A Woman” and “Midnight at the Oasis” in the late 60’s and early 70’s she has explored her love of American "roots music." During this conversation we discover what drew her to "roots" music, who influenced her and  what “I’m A Woman” means to her.  We began our conversation with her to sharing stories about her early life in Greenwich Village, New York. The books Maria Maldaur recommends are: “The Game Of Life And How To Play It,” by Florence Scovel Shinn, “The Wisdom Of Florence Scovel Shinn,” “ The Power Of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale and  “The Code” by Tony Burroughs. This interview was recorded in the studios of Mendocino College on April 19 2010. The books Maria Maldaur recommends are: “The Game Of Life And How To Play It” by Florence Scovel Shinn, “The Wisdom Of Florence Scovel Shinn,” “ The Power Of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale and  “The Code” by Tony Burroughs. Click here to begin listening. (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/download/42219/47701/63641/?url=http://www.radio4all.net/files/curious@radiocurious.org/1197-1-MULDAUR_INTERVIEW_MONO_hb_WEB.mp3) Click here to download the podcast of this program. (http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/podcast/podcast.xml?program_id=42219&version_id=47701&version=1) LeGov clean http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/21/dutton-denis-the-evolution-of-the-arts/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/21/dutton-denis-the-evolution-of-the-arts/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:11:06 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=627 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/21/dutton-denis-the-evolution-of-the-arts/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/13/fraser-alasdair-haas-natalie-sounds-of-scotland/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/13/fraser-alasdair-haas-natalie-sounds-of-scotland/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:54:29 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=613 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/13/fraser-alasdair-haas-natalie-sounds-of-scotland/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/06/bennell-alan-a-horticultural-extravaganza-in-scotland/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/06/bennell-alan-a-horticultural-extravaganza-in-scotland/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:46:16 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=601 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/07/06/bennell-alan-a-horticultural-extravaganza-in-scotland/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/06/17/shearer-oliver-tales-from-the-golden-age-of-jazz/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/06/17/shearer-oliver-tales-from-the-golden-age-of-jazz/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:34:54 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=579 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/06/17/shearer-oliver-tales-from-the-golden-age-of-jazz/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/04/16/the-dragons-gift-sacred-arts-of-bhutan/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/04/16/the-dragons-gift-sacred-arts-of-bhutan/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:10:52 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=416 http://www.radiocurious.org/2009/04/16/the-dragons-gift-sacred-arts-of-bhutan/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/11/24/pereda-marcos-soft-sounds-of-spanish-guitar/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/11/24/pereda-marcos-soft-sounds-of-spanish-guitar/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:31:53 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=539 http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/11/24/pereda-marcos-soft-sounds-of-spanish-guitar/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/11/12/de-grassi-alex-a-cumulous-cloud-on-guitar/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/11/12/de-grassi-alex-a-cumulous-cloud-on-guitar/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:08:46 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=543 http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/11/12/de-grassi-alex-a-cumulous-cloud-on-guitar/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/08/11/mcvicar-gregg-bringing-sound-to-our-ears/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/08/11/mcvicar-gregg-bringing-sound-to-our-ears/#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:41:24 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=552 http://www.radiocurious.org/2008/08/11/mcvicar-gregg-bringing-sound-to-our-ears/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/2007/06/01/keen-andrew-does-the-internet-really-kill-culture/ http://www.radiocurious.org/2007/06/01/keen-andrew-does-the-internet-really-kill-culture/#comments Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:41:18 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=635 http://www.radiocurious.org/2007/06/01/keen-andrew-does-the-internet-really-kill-culture/feed/ 0 http://www.radiocurious.org/1996/09/18/gilbert-ronnie-a-view-over-the-years-of-freedom-songs/ http://www.radiocurious.org/1996/09/18/gilbert-ronnie-a-view-over-the-years-of-freedom-songs/#comments Wed, 18 Sep 1996 22:53:52 +0000 http://www.radiocurious.org/?p=644 http://www.radiocurious.org/1996/09/18/gilbert-ronnie-a-view-over-the-years-of-freedom-songs/feed/ 0