Radio Curious

In this edition 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.

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Fiddle and Cello have a strong tradition in Scottish, 18th Century Music. In a reinvention of the classic musical marriage between big and small fiddles, Natalie Haas (on cello) and Alasdair Fraser (on fiddle) have become well renowned for their near telepathic interplay and powerful music. Together they play tunes both from the 18th Century, the age of poet Robert Burns to modern day compositions by Fraser himself. I spoke with Natalie Haas and Alasdair Fraser at our studio in Ukiah, California on March 15th, 2009 and began by asking what was so special about the coupling of the fiddle and cello in Scottish music?

Natalie Haas and Alasdair Fraser have recorded a number of albums including their latest “In The Moment.” The book Alasdair Fraser recommends is “Three Cups Of Tea: One Man’s Mission To Promote Peace… One School At A Time,” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The book Natalie Haas recommends is “The Soloist,” by Steve Lopez

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Some of us may be curious about the vast diversity of plants around the world and might wonder who collects and identifies new species and where might we see them displayed? In this edition, the 2009 Radio Curious tour of Scotland continues as we visit with Alan Bennell, head of visitor services at the Royal Botanic Garden located in Edinburgh, Scotland. Alan Bennell guides us through this horticultural extravaganza and describes how the collection has grown since it opened in the 17th Century and how the research conducted there is used in conservation efforts around the world.

This interview with Alan Bennell was recorded on May 18th, 2009, a windy rainy day with birds singing in the background, in the Royal Botanic Garden located in Edinburgh, Scotland. We begin the conversation by asking him to introduce himself and the gardens. Please ignore the sounds of the wind and rain, but do enjoy the chirping of the birds.

The book recommended by Alan Bennell  is “The Chronicles of Bob Dylan,” by Bob Dylan.

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Every so often you find an extraordinary talent in your own back yard… Mr. Oliver Shearer lives close to the studio of Radio Curious and has many claims to fame, having played with the greats of the golden age of jazz, such as Kenny Burrell, Art Tatum and Charlie Parker. Oliver Shearer trained to be a doctor before turning towards his natural aptitude for music and composing his own symphony, singing and playing vibraphone. In this edition of Radio Curious we get chance to hear Oliver in all of these roles. We spoke with Oliver Shearer from the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, California on the March 2, 2009 and began by asking him, just what is a vibraphone and what makes it sound so special?

Oliver Shearer is a musician and composer. The book he recommends is only printed in Swedish and concerns the life and times of composers.

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In this edition of Radio Curious we would like to take you to 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 will be visiting “The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan,” an exhibit which is currently displayed at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco until May 10^th 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.

Through todays edition we will also visit the exhibit itself and hear some of the ceremonies, meet the monks who have travelled with the exhibit and take a tour with museum docent Henny Tanugjaja.

We spoke 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?

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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