Radio Curious brings you part two of a conversation about the subconscious mind with Shankar Vedantam, author of “The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives.” His book encourages us to be aware of how our unconscious mind is capable of controlling our decision making capabilities. In part two, we examine what compels suicide bombers of the early 21st century to take their own lives and those of others. And are we, in fact, all susceptible to these ideas? Shankar Vedantam is a national correspondent and columnist for The Washington Post and 2009-10 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
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Radio Curious brings you an archived conversation with David Ebershoff, author of “The 19th Wife,” a book about the life of Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Brigham Young, a critic of polygamy, and early leader in the struggle for women’s rights.
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The Winnemen Wintu people of California, having lived near Mount Shasta, along a tributary of the McCloud River for over 10,000 years celebrate the Balas Chonas, or Puberty Ceremony when girls mature into women. The ceremony, celebrated on July 3, 2012 was extraordinary, when Balas Chonas was held for the next Winnemem Wintu chief and spiritual leader. However, the Balas Chonas ceremonies may come to an end, if the United States government continues with a plan to raise Shasta Dam and flood out most of the tribes remaining sacred sites.
Our guest is Lyla Johnston, currently a student of Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University who is documenting the culture and sacred sites of the Winnemem Wintu.
Christina Aanestad the Assistant Producer of Radio Curious visited with Lyla Johnston at the July 3rd, 2012 Balas Chonas. They began their conversation when Christina asked Lyla how many sacred sites the Winnemem Wintu have along the McCloud River.
The book Lyla Johnston recommends is “The Red Tent,” by Anita Diamont.
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How to live with the brain of a cave-man in the 21st century, is the subject of this edition of Radio Curious. We visit with Rick Hanson, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and meditation teacher. He’s the author of “Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom.” This book explains brain functions that affect our attitudes and happiness and presents coherent and practical skills of positive psychology which employ tenants of Buddhism.
We visited with Dr. Hanson by phone from his home in San Rafael, California on June 11, 2012. We began when I asked him ways to live in modern society with a brain that evolved over millions of years in order to function well in hunter-gatherer society.
The book Dr. Rick Hanson recommends is “Satepatthana: The Direct Path To Realization,” by Analayo.
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There are two kinds of Holocaust survivors: Those who didn’t die yet could no longer experience pleasure and those who yearned to feel alive and were able to create anew.
In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Maya Finkel Schwartz, born in France in 1932 to Jewish parents from Poland. After being separated from her father at the beginning of World War Two, her mother had the foresight to introduce then seven year old Maya to as many social workers and nuns as her mother could locate. It was these people who Maya credits with saving her life as they sheltered her in barns and convents. She never saw her parents after the war. As an older teen-ager she arrived in Los Angeles, California where she still lives after a decades long career teaching high-school, and later as a singer, as we shall hear.
The story of Maya Finkel Schwartz is one of 52 childhood accounts of the horrors perpetrated by Nazi Germany documented in the book “How We Survived: 52 Personal Stories by Child Survivors of the Holocaust.” More information about this book is available at childsurvivorsla.org.
Maya Schwartz visited the studios of Radio Curious on April 20, 2012. Maya shared her story and a song, accompanied by her son Michael Charnas.
Her theme is the “joy of life,” which is where we began our conversation.
The story of Maya Finkel Schwartz is found in the book she recommends. She wrote one of 52 childhood accounts of the horrors perpetrated by Nazi Germany documented in the book “How We Survived: 52 Personal Stories by Child Survivors of the Holocaust.”
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Founded in 1929, the Heard Museum’s mission is dedicated to educating people about the arts, heritage and life ways of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with an emphasis on American Indian tribes of the Southwest. Committed to the sensitive and accurate portrayal of Native arts and cultures, the museum successfully combines the stories of American Indian people from a personal perspective with the beauty of art, showcasing old and new hand woven baskets, kachina dolls, other art and cultural objects.
The museum showcases the art and regalia of Apache, Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, and Yaqui, to name a few. More than 2000 items make up the museums exhibition. Artwork ranging from pottery, baskets, beadwork, dolls and paintings are on display.
Our guest is Debra Krol, the communications manager who shared portions of the Heard Museum with me on December 10, 2011. We began our conversation with Krol when she introduced us to the Heard Museum and the unique features that reflect the evolution of south western Native American art.
Debra Krol recommends two books: “Ishi’s Brain,” by Orin Starn, and “Indians, Merchants and Missionaries: The legacy of Colonial Encounters on the California Frontiers”, by Kent G. Lightfoot. Our interview with Orin Starn may be found here.
The Heard Museum website is www.heard.org.
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Socrates’ Way: Seven Masterkeys to Using Your Mind to the Utmost
Socrates of Athens, who lived before the Common Era, is respected as one of the greatest independent thinkers of all time. Socrates himself refused to be recognized as a teacher. Instead, Plato, his well-known student and reporter of Socrates’ dialogues, tells us he asked to be seen as a “midwife of ideas.” Socrates’ passion to achieve self-understanding, and the proper ways to live, continues to be studied and emulated to this day.
Socrates recommends “The Trojan Women,” by Euripides. Ron Gross recommends “The Clouds,” by Aristophanes.
Originally Broadcast: January 13, 2003
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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.
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The “Middle Water People” are a small tribe near Mount Shasta, in Northern California. During World War 2, they were relocated and their homeland was flooded to make the Shasta Dam. After an 80 year lapse, the tribe has reinvigorated a ceremony there, called the Puberty Ceremony, which honors a girls transition into womanhood. For 3 days and nights, men sing and dance on one side of a river, while the women, pass on traditions to girls on the other side.
The summer of 2011, the tribe will be holding the puberty ceremony for it’s future chief. But holding a ceremony on stolen land can be a challenge. The forest service refuses to grant the tribe private access to their ancestral land along the McCloud river, because they are an “unrecognized” tribe. Their ceremony is held with recreational boaters driving by, and camping as the tribe holds it’s right of passage. Under the guidance of their Chief and Spiritual Leader, Caleen Sisk Franco, the Winnemem-Wintu have sued the federal government to protect their rights and their ancestral land. She describes the puberty ceremony and it’s importance to their way of life.
Radio Curious Associate producer Christina Aanestad spoke with Caleen Sisk Franco, the chief and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe in Northern California in August 2011.
The Book Caleen Sisk Franco recommends is “Winnie the Pooh,” by A.A. Milne.
For more information on the Winnemem Wintu you can visit their website: www.winnememwintu.us
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Radio Curious hosts a conversation with Susan Crane, founder of plowshares who will be discussing her lifetime commitment to ending nuclear proliferation through non-violent direct action. She’s awaiting sentencing,scheduled for March 2011, for pouring her blood on trident submarine machine bombs in the state of Washington. A grandmother, in her 60s Susan Crane faces up to 10 years in federal prison for her actions. In this edition of Radio Curious, Susan Crane discusses practicing a code of non-violence in every day life as well as using non-violent civil disobedience as a means to creating peace in the world.
The interview with Susan Crane was recorded in the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, California, on January 29th, 2011.
The articles Susan Crane recommends instead of a book, are by Judge C.J. Weeramantry and be read on the links below:
http://www.jonahhouse.org/Disarm_Now_Plowshares/judge-weeramantry-trident.pdf
http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com
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