Radio Curious

Howard Zinn’s productive insights into history came to an end with his death in January 2010.  This edition of Radio Curious shares a previously not broadcast interview with Howard Zinn, recorded on July 7, 2006, where he discusses the important role of civil disobedience in creating new social and legal policies which he states are impossible to foment using established legislative or judicial practices.  Radio Curious host, Barry Vogel, Esq. begins this memorial program with the last few paragraphs of the first chapter of “A People’s History of the United States, 1492 to Present,” written by Zinn and published in 1988.  Vogel also shares his recollection of Zinn when they met in Greenwood, Mississippi in 1963.  The song “Ain’t Gonna Let Segregation Turn Us Around,” sung by the Freedom Singers is found on Broadside Records #301, recorded in 1962.

The books Howard Zinn recommends are “Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal,” by Anthony Arnov, and “Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq,” by Stephen Kinzer.

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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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Consider spending time on death row and turning that experience into the drive to get a doctorate? In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Professor Rudolph Alexander Jr. Ph.D., author of “To Ascend Into The Shining World Again”. As a 17 year old student Rudolph Alexander found himself in a threatening situation in which he felt compelled to shoot another man. In his trial he felt he was badly misrepresented by his attorney and was convicted and sentenced to death by the electric chair in the State of Georgia. Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1968, Rudolph’s sentence was changed to life imprisonment. He was later granted trusty status, which aided him in securing parole in 1975. Rebounding from his ordeal, Alexander began college, earning four degrees, including a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Minnesota. Presently Alexander is a full Professor at Ohio State University.

We spoke with Rudolph Alexander from his home in Ohio on October 26, 2009 and began by asking him to reflect on the extremes he has experienced in his life.

The book recommended by Rudolph Alexander is “My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir,” by Justice Clarence Thomas, of the United States Supreme Court.

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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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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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Contrary to what people might assume, not all diplomats representing the State of Israel are Jewish. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Ishmael Khaldi the Deputy Consul General from the State of Israel and based in San Francisco, California. Ishmael Khaldi is a Muslim who was born and raised in a migrant Bedouin community in Galilee in Northern Israel. Ishmael Khaldi is the first Bedouin diplomat and the first Muslim in the Israeli Foreign Service. In this interview he shares his journey from his migratory tribal roots to Northern California as the deputy consul general, and some of the Israeli proposals for resolving the present day internal conflicts. Ishmael Khaldi visited the studios of Radio Curious, in Ukiah, California on February, 12th 2009. Our Conversation began when I asked him how he defines his identity, being both a Bedouin Muslim and deputy consul general for the State of Israel.

The book he recommends is “The Secret War With Iran; The 30 Year Clandestine Struggle Against The World’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Power” by Ronen Bergman Ph.D.

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