Dole, Professor Robert — Homosexuality and Schizophrenia

One man’s personal experience in recognizing his homosexuality, is the subject of this program.  Until the mid 1970s homosexuality was considered by many people to be a mental disorder and/or a crime, as it still is in some personal and political belief systems.  Homosexual people sometimes were housed in mental institutions, given medication and suffered an array of treatment methods, including shock therapy and other forms of behavior modification.

Professor Robert Dole, our guest in this edition of Radio Curious, was one of many individuals subjected to behavior modification of that period in time. In his book, “How to Make a Success of Your Schizophrenia,” he explains how the “treatment” he endured as an attempt to alter his homosexual preference made him schizophrenic.  His personal memoir describes his experiences growing up in the 1960s as a gay man, his institutionalization at the McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, the schizophrenia that consumed him as a result of his treatment, his self-led recovery, partially based on a spiritual experience, and his subsequent extraordinary life in academia.

Professor Dole, who is fluent in seven languages, teaches English as a Foreign Language at the University of Chicoutimi in rural Quebec, Canada, where he has lived for 30 plus years.  He and I visited by phone from his office at the University of Chicoutimi on November 4, 2011 and began our conversation when I asked to describe the schizophrenia he experienced.

The books Professor Robert Dole recommends are: “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” by Leo Tolstoy and any book from Stefan Zweig.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download the podcast.

Podcast: Download

Kennedy, Professor Randall — Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency

Racial Politics in America is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious, in our third visit with author and Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy, whose latest book is “The Persistence of the Color Line:  Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency.”  Kennedy is also the author of  “Nigger:  The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word,” and “Interracial Intimacies:  Sex, Marriage, Identity, and Adoption.”  We visited by phone from his home in Massachusetts on October 28, 2011, and began our conversation when I asked him to describe the current role of race in American politics.

The book Randall Kennedy recommends is “Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination,” by Alondra Nelson.

The interview with Professor Kennedy about his book “Nigger:  The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word,” may be heard here and the interview about his book, “Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity, and Adoption,” may be heard here.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Patrick, William — Loneliness and How It Affects Us

How many of us are lonely?  What is loneliness and how does it affect us?  Approximately 25 years ago, when asked the number of friends in whom we could confide, most people in the United States said “three.”  When that question was asked recently most people said “none.”

Inquires reveal that 20% of people, — 60 million in the Untied States alone – are feeling lonely at any given moment.  And, it appears that chronic loneliness may well compete with smoking, obesity and lack of exercise as a significant health risk.

In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with William Patrick, the founding editor of The Journal of Life Sciences and co-author of “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” along with University of Chicago psychology professor John Cacioppo.

My conversation with William Patrick, recorded on October 13, 2008, began when I asked him to define loneliness as used in their book.

The book William Patrick recommends is “The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins,” by Burton Mack.

Originally Broadcast: October 18th, 2008.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Feigin, Keith — Liquid Gold on Lovers Lane

This program is about honey. We visit with Keith Feigin, owner of Lovers Lane Farm, at his bee keeping center in Ukiah, California. We discuss bees on the loose, how they orient themselves to a new location, communicate with each other and how Keith harvests the “liquid gold.”  Keith was just leaving to catch up with some bees on the loose when I arrived, and that’s when our conversation began in mid August 2011.

The book that Keith Feigin recommends is the “Secret Life of Bees,” by Sue Monk Kidd.  You may contact Keith Feigin via email at loverslanefarm@gmail.com.

This interview was recorded on the streets of Ukiah and at Lovers Lane Farm in Ukiah, California on August 15, 2011.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Franco, Mark — U.S. Cultural Genocide: Winnemem Wintu Declare War

Independence Day begs the question of what freedom and independence means. For Independence Day, Radio Curious brings you an interview with the Headman and War Chief of the Winnemem Wintu tribe in Northern California.  The Winnemem Wintu declared war on the United States in 2004, in response to the “continued cultural genocide” against the indigenous tribe.  Since that time they have been in a state of war against the US Government, which refuses to officially recognize the tribe as Native Americans.  The Winnemem Wintu began their war by holding a traditional war dance at the California State capitol building in Sacramento.

In honor of Independence Day Radio Curious Associate Producer, Christina Aanestad, visits with Mark Franco, Headman and War Chief of the Winnemem Wintu tribe. His wife, Caleen Sisk-Franco is the Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe. This interview was recorded in July 2010, at a coming of age ceremony on tribal land along the McCloud River in northern California, near an area where their former villages were flooded to make the Shasta Dam. The conversation began with Mark Franco describing what it means to be the Headman of the Winnemem Wintu tribe.

The Winnemem Wintu website is www.winnememwintu.us/. You may enjoy Christina Aanestad’s interview with Caleen Sisk-Franco, the Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe, found here.

The book Mark Franco recommends is “Cadillac Desert:The American West and Its Disappearing Water,” by Marc Reisner.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Cole, Prescott — Greed is Now Respectable, Part One: Elder Financial Abuse

A will is a legal document that one prepares to identify what should be done with property after the writer has died.  In recent years, a document called a “living trust” has come into fashion that if it fits a persons needs and is done properly, would achieve the same purpose. Occasionally so called “free seminars,” are advertised living trusts.  Some of the gatherings are calculated to be more than instructional.  Rather they are calculated to sell the attendees, mostly senior citizens, a living trust at a surprisingly low price, as well as reverse mortgages and annuities.

Prescott Cole, an attorney working with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, based in San Francisco, California is our guest on this edition of Radio Curious, in the first of two discussions on financial elder abuse.  In this program we will discuss living trust seminars, how they are organized and what some of their goals are.

I spoke with Prescott Cole from his office in San Franciso on May 27, 2011 and began our conversation by asking him to describe a living trust seminar.

The website for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform is canhr.org. This interview was recorded on May 27, 2011.

The book that Prescott Cole recommends is the “Bartimaes Trilogy,” by Jonathan Stroud.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Basta, Michael — Relationship Warning Signs

Why some couples get along and others don’t, sometimes to the extent of terminating their relationship, is a curious question, the answer to which is likely to bring both pleasure and unhappiness to each of us. Michael Basta has been a licensed clinical social worker based in Sonoma, County California, since 1988. He is trained and certified as a Gottman Couples’ Therapist. This training identifies the traits and behaviors of couples that are useful to predict how long their relationship will last. Michael Basta visited Radio Curious on May 21, 2010, and began by describing the negative traits and behaviors that indicate a dark future for the relationship.

The book Michael Basta recommends is “The Female Brain,” by Dr. Louann Brizendine.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Brizendine, Dr. Louann — The Male Brain, the Female Brain-There is a Difference

Have you ever been curious about the difference between the male brain and the female brain?  Well I have, for a long time.  This week Radio Curious speaks with neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Louann Brizendine, founder of the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California at San Francisco.  In 2006 she wrote a book called, “The Female Brain,” and in 2010 she wrote “The Male Brain,”–very different books about very different genders of our human species.

The interview with Dr. Louann Brizendine was recorded March 21st, 2011.

The book she recommends is “The Emperor of All Maladies,” by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Johnson, Jr., Richard W. — A Revolutonary’s Memorial in his Own Words

Few people in Mendocino County, who are not elected officials, have created as much enmity and as many disruptive relationships as has Richard W. Johnson, Jr., who was the owner, editor and publisher of four local news papers under the banner: Mendocino Country.  Johnson died Wednesday March 16th, 2011, in hospice care.  He was 66 years old and will be remembered by his stalwart stance  activist vigor and irascible nature.

He was an original organizer of California Certified Organic Farmers, the recipient of the Mendocino Environmental Center’s ‘Walking Stick Award’ in 1992 for promoting an ocean sanctuary off the Mendocino Coast, and as an original proponent of Measure G on the Mendocino County ballot in 2000, which legalized marijuana in Mendocino County.  When we visited he said he wanted to discuss the misunderstood and seldom appreciated Richard Johnson, his life and times.  And he does.

The interview was recorded at the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, CA on February 19th , 2008.  Richard Johnson’s papers will continue.  Radio Curious Associate Producer, Christina Aanestad and Annie Esposito are publishing Mendocino Country Independent, Vistas and Confluence.  Augusto “Zezzy” Chirre will publish El Sol.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Moglen, Eben — The Best Spying Ever: Internet Security and the Freedom Box

The best spy system ever created and what the internet does and how it’s controlled by national forces is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  We visit with Columbia Law Professor Eben Moglen, a developer of the Freedom Box, which prevents government, businesses and other intruders from obtaining your personal information and internet uses. His blog is:  http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/blog.

For more information on the Freedom Box Foundation go here: http://freedomboxfoundation.org/.

The book that Eben Moglen recommends is, “Free Software, Free Society,” by Richard Stallman.

Click here to begin listening or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

« Previous Page — Next Page »