Radio Curious

From interrogating Japanese prisoners of war to working as an anti-war activist, Ukiah, California resident Charles Fogg has led a varied and fascinating life. At 91 years of age he talks through his life’s journey. After studying Oriental studies at the University of California, Berkeley and traveling through Japan and China during those studies, he was drafted into the military and attended the Monterey Language School, where his proficiency in Asian languages grew. During World War Two he interrogated Japanese prisoners of war and Chinese prisoners of war in the Korean conflict. After retiring from the U.S. army in 1966 as a Lieutenant Colonel he became active in George McGovern’s presidential campaign and the anti Vietnam war movement. I spoke with Charles Fogg in the studios of Ukiah TV on December 11th 2009 and began by asking him about his early travels in Japan and China.

The book recommended by Charles Fogg is “The Raj Quartet,” by Paul Scott.

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In the 35 years that I have been practicing law in Mendocino County, California, I have been involved in several election issues and closely followed many different political events.  In my opinion, Measure A, which is on our county wide ballot this fall is the most significant issue that that has been put to the voters in my years here.   In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit with my long time friend Ron Arkin and discuss what I see could be the consequences to Mendocino County if Measure A receives the majority of the votes in the current election.

The book that I recommend is “Jacobson’s Organ and the Remarkable Nature of Smell,” by Lyall Watson.

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The executive director of Mendocino County Tomorrow, Robin Collier, known locally for her skills in making excellent cheese cake, is the guest on this edition of Radio Curious. We visited on October 5, 2009 and discussed the organization and background of Mendocino County Tomorrow, as well as the corporation which funds it Developers Diversified Realty, its campaign in favor of Measure A and who would pay for the consequences of anything that’s built on the old Masonite property. I began by asking her to explain her role as Executive Director of Mendocino County Tomorrow.

The book recommended by Robin Collier is “Water For Elephants,” by Sara Gruen.

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What to do with approximately 78 acres just north of Ukiah, commonly known as the old Masonite property, will be on the ballot this fall, at the initiative of a German controlled shopping center developer, based in Ohio, known as Developer’s Diversified Realty. Referred to by its place on the ballot, it is called Measure A, and if it passes will change the zoning on the 78 acres from industrial to mixed-use. The major shopping mall proposed by the current owners of the land would have significant effects on the surrounding area for years to come if it is ever built. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Frank McMichael, the executive director of the “Mendocino County Local Agency Formation Commission” to discuss a report the commission requested he prepare about the effects of this project. The program is the first in a series of several programs about this project.I met with Frank McMichael in the studios of Radio Curious on September 25, 2009 and quickly got into the details of his report.

The books recommended by Frank McMichael are those that deal with nutrition and health related issues.

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Susan Crane is a serious political activist of an unusual form. Instead of lobby the powers that be, she has taken a hammer to beat on weapons of mass destruction, and poured her own blood on those weapons. She says she is called to take these actions as a protest to war and the harm it causes to our fellow human beings. An occasional visitor of Ukiah, California, where she has friends and family, Susan Crane visits Radio Curious when she is here to give us an update on her life, thoughts and recent experiences. I met with Susan Crane in the studios of Radio Curious, on Labor Day, September 7, 2009, ten and one-half years since we last visited here. She then had just been released from federal prison, and picked up her story at that point.

The book recommended by Susan Crane is “Enemy Combatant: My Imprisonment At Guantanamo, Begram and Kandahar ,” by Moazzam Begg

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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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Attorney Susan B. Jordan, a good friend and colleague, died in a plane crash on Friday, May 29, 2009. For me personally, Susan’s death is a big loss.  Susan and I first met in the summer of 1970 working for a legal services program dedicated to developing legal strategies to change unconstitutional and unfair laws. We met again and became friends when she moved to Mendocino County in the late 1980s. We worked together here on many projects, the last being strategies to defeat the proposed mall project on the Mendocino County ballot this fall, 2009.

In this edition of Radio Curious all the guests and I are or were lawyers. We’ll hear portions of a Radio Curious interview with Susan B. Jordan recorded April 25, 1996, and thoughts about her life from Attorneys Steve Antler and Ann Moorman, and Judge David Nelson.  The book Susan B. Jordan recommends is “Bird By Bird,” by Ann Lamont.

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Corporate development of an 800,000 square feet mega-mall in a small northern California community is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Guinness McFadden, a farmer and grape grower, who lives and works near Ukiah, California is a member of SOLE, a local grass-roots organization whose name is an acronym for Save Our Local Economy. In the conversation with Radio Curious host and producer, Barry Vogel, recorded on April 20, 2009, McFadden discusses the efforts and consequences of this mega-mall project, promoted by Developer’s Diversified Realty, the largest shopping mall builder in the nation, whose corporate stock fell from approximately $90.00 per share in 2007 to approximately $2.00 per share in April 2009.

The book Guinness McFadden recommends is the “John Adams,” by David McCullough.

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The laws around the control of marijuana and medical marijuana usage are many and complex. How we find our ways through this maze and understand the rules and regulations surrounding the marijuana plant, allegedly 1000′s of years old, used legally and illicitly worldwide and well known in Northern California by many as an economic base and/or a source of pleasure presents many curious questions.
In this edition of Radio Curious we visit again with Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman in an attempt to clarify the laws and ordinances currently in effect in Mendocino County, California and how he as county Sheriff enforces them.
Sheriff Allman has been heard to say that he would “like to take marijuana off the front page.” We hear how he views the evolution of marijuana control and whether he can foresee a time when marijuana no longer is on the front page. We spoke with Sheriff Tom Allman in the studios of Radio Curious on April 13, 2009 and began by asking what changes he has witnessed with regard to marijuana beginning when he was a child growing up in Garberville at the southern end of our neighbor, Humboldt County.

The book he recommends is “Vet Tails” by Charlie Freed

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