Radio Curious

This is the second of two interviews about the nation-wide acceptance of the recreational and medicinal use of marijuana.  Our guest is Tim Blake, founder of The Emerald Cup, California’s oldest competition among outdoor growers of organic cannabis.  He shares his opinions about the future cultural and legal acceptance of marijuana. 

Tim Blake and I continued our conversation about the growing nation-wide acceptance of marijuana and why. His comments and opinions are his, and were recorded in the studios of Radio Curious on January 17, 2014.

The book Tim Blake recommends is “The Urantia Book:  Revealing the Mysteries of God, the Universe, Jesus and Ourselves,” published by the Urantia Foundation.

Tim Blake’s comments and opinions are his and not necessarily that of Radio Curious.  We’re just curious.

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The growing nation-wide acceptance of marijuana for medical and recreational use and how it is grown and evaluated is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  We visit with Tim Blake, the founder of The Emerald Cup, California’s oldest competition among outdoor growers of organic cannabis. The Emerald Cup originated in an area known for it’s marijuana cultivation as the Emerald Triangle, a region of northwestern California which includes Del Norte, Trinity, Humboldt and Mendocino Counties.

In the first of two conversations with Tim Blake, recorded in the studios of Radio Curious on January 17, 2014, we began when I asked him what marijuana growers could expect in 2014, as California is in the midst of the most severe drought in recorded history and considering the fact that water is indispensable to growing marijuana.

The book Tim Blake recommends is Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality, By, Christopher Ryan, Ph.D and Cacilda Jethá M.D.

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The rather fascinating tale of midwifery and murder in York, England set in the mid 1640s is the topic of our conversation with Sam Thomas, author of “The Midwife’s Tale,” and “The Harlot’s Tale.”  While researching English history for his Ph.D. thesis, Thomas happened on to the Will of Bridget Hodgson, a midwife.  A fictionalized version of her life forms the basis for Thomas’s mystery series set in York, in which Bridget Hodgson is the protagonist.

Our conversation with Sam Thomas, recorded by phone on December 27, 2013 from his home near Cleveland, Ohio, where he teaches high-school history, begins with his characterization of York, England, in 1644.

The books Sam Thomas recommends are “An Instance of the Finger Post,” by Iain Pears, and “The Lock Artist,” by Steve Hamilton. 

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Finding water on a ridge top, as in where is a good place to drill and how deep will it be before there’s good water, is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  Our guest is Rob Schroeder, a water well driller based in Ukiah, California and employed by Weeks Drilling of Sebastopol, California. 

Rob Schroeder says he’s also an amateur dowser.  That’s a person who tries to locate a good spot from which to drill for water by using a divining rod, which is a bent metal rod or a forked branch from a tree.  Rob and I walked in the redwood forest on a ridge top about half way between Ukiah, California and the coastal village of Mendocino, a distance apart as the crow flies of about 35 miles.  In addition to the divining rod, he looked for certain trees and other signs indicating that a vein of water could be near.  You’ll sometimes hear the crunch of leaves as we walked among the trees on November 10, 2013. 

We begin with Rod Schroeder’s description of the divining rod that he uses, how to use it and a guess as to why it works.

The book Rob Schroeder recommends is “Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means,” by Russell Means and Marvin Wolf.

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“What Are You Afraid Of?” is the title of a cd released in August 2013 by singer and songwriter Mary Buckley, our guest in this edition of Radio Curious.  Mary has a wide range of skills and experiences and has been singing her songs since she was a young teenager in the mid-1970s.  She visited the studios of Radio Curious on November 10, 2013, and began her story when I asked her what prompted her to create a cd.

The book Mary Buckley recommends is “A Pattern Language,” by Christopher Alexander.

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One might say that wine is the life blood of Charlie Barra, the founder of Barra of Mendocino Organic Wines.  He’s our guest on this edition of Radio Curious.

Barra was born in 1928, close to his winery, about five miles north of Ukiah, in Mendocino County, California.  His parents, both immigrants from the Piedmont region of Italy, had a long history in the vineyards and grew only organic grapes.  Barra continues that policy now in his vineyards and grows only certified-organic crops.

He says that for the past 67 years he never missed a harvest, claiming that pay day comes once a year, after the harvest is sold.

Charlie Barra and I visited in the kitchen of his home in Ukiah, California on November 1, 2013, and began our conversation with stories of his early memories.

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Continuing our series on the funeral industry in the United States we visit with the owner of a mortuary in a rural northern California town.  As professionals describe their work and philosophy, George Leinen, owner of Empire Mortuary in Ukiah, California since 2000,  joins us in this edition of Radio Curious to share his thoughts and experiences.  We discuss funeral industry trade associations, business practices in some sectors of the industry, and how our guest’s philosophy evolved.

In this program, recorded in the studios of Radio Curious on September 21, 2013 we began our visit when I asked George Leinen to describe embalming,  what it is, and why it’s done.

The book George Leinen recommends is “The American Way of Death,” by Jessica Mitford.

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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

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Journalism and civil disobedience is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Mendocino County journalist, Will Parrish, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a major in Sociology and Social Change and a minor in Journalism. Currently, he describes himself as a “social change activist/journalist.”

In this interview recorded in the studios of Radio Curious May 27^th, 2013, Will Parrish describes some of his past experiences as a journalist and continues with his story of why he sat in a tree for a week near Willits, Ca as an act of civil disobedience to protest the building of a highway.

The book Will Parrish recommends is “The Merry Adventurers of Robin Hood” by Howard Pyle.

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