William Boyer

The Rights of Our Children

America's Future: Transition into the 21st Century

William Boyer, a Professor Emeritus and the former Chairman of the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Hawaii, is the author of a book called “America’s Future: Transition into the 21st Century.”  In this program, we discussed the rights of future generations, how to protect those rights, what they are, and what right we have to determine the rights of future generations.  This program was originally broadcast in March of 1993, when Radio Curious was called Government, Politics and Ideas.

Originally Broadcast: March 30, 1993

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Mike & Halle Brady

Life in Vladivostok, Russia

Vladivostok, Russia, at the very eastern end of Siberia, is a city of about 800,000 people.  It is the same distance north of the equator as is central Oregon and Rome, Italy.  It’s close to the border of China and North Korea.  This city was closed to everyone, including Russians, until the early 1990s.  Halle Brady and Mike Brady, formerly of Potter Valley, California, spent two years teaching in Vladivostok and, in this program, we shared their experiences there.

Mike Brady recommends "Lenin's Tomb," by David Remnick. Halle Brady recommends "Gates of November," by Chiam Potok.

Originally Broadcast: July 3, 1998

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Richard Brodie

How Ideas Travel

The Virus of the Mind

The developing field of science called the science of memetics is based on evolution, studies memes: how they interact, replicate, and evolve.  The biological definition of a meme is a basic unit of cultural transmission.  The psychological definition of a meme is a unit of cultural heredity analogous to the gene, the internal representation of knowledge.  A working definition of a meme is a unit of information in a mind whose existence influences events such that more copies of itself get created in other minds.  “The Virus of the Mind” is a book devoted to the study of memetics and memes and was written by Richard Brodie, who also was a writer of the first version of Microsoft Word.    He was our guest for this edition of Radio Curious that was originally broadcast in July of 1996.  We began when I asked him what is the importance of studying memetics.

Richard Brodie recommends “The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History” by Howard Bloom.

Originally Broadcast: July 31, 1996

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Edward Fiske

The College Admissions Process

The Fiske Guide to Colleges

Edward B. Fiske, the education editor at the New York Times, is the author of “The Fiske Guide of Colleges.”  His book attempts to demystify the college application process and provide strategies to choose where and how to apply for a course of higher education.

Edward Fiske recommends "The Ladies Number One Detective Agency," by Andrew McCall Smith & "The Cairo House," by Samia Sarageldin.

Originally Broadcast: September 16, 2003

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Ira Flatow

Science Changes

Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature.

The chance to interview another interviewer is an opportunity I like to take.  A chance came on September 4, 2007, when I was able to visit with Ira Flatow, the host of “Science Friday,” a part of "Talk of the Nation," on NPR.   We talked about some of the ideas and concepts  in his book, “Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature.”  I think that after thirty-five years as a science journalist, Ira Flatow has seen enough to expect unexpected changes.  He refers to that at the close of the introduction to his book and writes:  “After watching science do its thing for a while, you realize knowledge is really a moving target. What we know today will probably be wrong tomorrow.  And science is that tool for discovery. When science tells us something, chances are that it will tell us something different a few years from now.”  And that’s where Ira Flatow and I began our conversation.  

www.iraflatow.com

Ira Flatow recommends "The World Without Us," by Alan Weisman.

Originally Broadcast: September 5, 2007

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Benjamin Franklin

Ralph Archbold

Visit with Benjamin Franklin

This conversation with Benjamin Franklin, as portrayed by Ralph Archibald who shares a birthday with Benjamin Franklin, was recorded in the summer of 1994 in two parts.  The first was recorded on a walk to where Benjamin Franklin lived and worked, and the second was recorded at the City Tavern, both Philadelphia landmarks in Franklin’s life and now.  Benjamin Franklin is, perhaps, the most noteworthy and animated of the Founding Fathers.  His contributions to science, common sense, and, most importantly, this nation of ours set him apart from most other figures in American history.

Originally Broadcast: July 18, 1994 and July 25, 1994

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Temple Grandin, Ph.D.

What Autism Can Tell Us About Animals

Animals in Translation:  Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior

Do animals think?  The book, “Animals in Translation:  Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior,” by Professor Temple Grandin gives us some clues.  Temple Grandin is a person with autism who teaches animal science at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado.  Autistic people can often think the way animals think, putting autistic people in the perfect position to translate “animal talk.”  Grandin explores the world of animals; their pain, fear, aggression, relationships and communication.  When I spoke with Professor Grandin from her office in Ft. Collins, Colorado, we began with her definition of autism.

Temple Grandin recommends “Our Inner Ape,” by Frans De Waal.

Recorded March 21, 2006

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Lucy Grealy

What is Ugly

The Autobiography of a Face

Lucy Grealy, a victim of Ewing’s Sarcoma, beginning when was nine years old suffered from a cancer of the jaw that is 90% fatal in the first few years.  In Lucy’s case, it was not fatal.  Rather it brought about many intense and emotional experiences that most of us could not imagine.  She had a large part of her lower jaw removed when she was about nine and half and for two and a half years had weekly chemotherapy treatments.  Throughout her teenage years, she had multiple surgeries to reshape her jaw.  Her book, “Autobiography of a Face,” reveals her experiences, her mistaken conflation of beauty and love, and what she learned about emotions, both her own and other people’s.

Lucy Grealy recommends “100 Years of Solitude,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Originally Broadcast: December 5, 1994

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Michael Gurian

A Look at The Wonder of Boys, Ten Years Later

The Wonder of Boys, 10th Anniversary Edition

We explored the difficulties that boys have growing in American society ten years in a two part interview with Michael Gurian, author of “The Wonder of Boys: What Parents, Mentors and Educators can do to Shape Boys into Exceptional Men.”  A tenth anniversary edition of “The Wonder of Boys” was released in 2006, and I spoke with Michael Gurian about his ideas and thoughts of what has occurred in the past ten years in relation to boys.  The trend setting pressures of commercial advertising control the content distributed to boys and often are able to overwhelm the job of the parents to nurture to social development of children.  In this interview with Michael Gurian who lives in Spokane Washington and recorded in mid-October 2006, we discuss the effects of media on the developing boy; content of what boys listen to when they have earphones on; the substitution of what comes from the earphones for what a boy would get in a relationship with parents, grandparents, or other meaningful people in a boys life.

www.gurianinstitute.com

Michael Gurian recommends “The Collected Poems of Mary Oliver” by Mary Oliver..

Originally Broadcast: October 10, 2006

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Gregory Hartley

Maryann Karinch

Reading Body Language

I Can Read You Like a Book

Have you ever wondered what some body movements mean when people hear certain words or see certain images?  Many of these body movements are involuntary reactions inherent to the individual or culturally based. “I Can Read You Like A Book:  How to Spot the Messages and Emotions People are Really Sending with their Body Language,” a book by Gregory Hartley and Maryann Karinch, described methods of understanding what people really mean and how to gain insight to their background by watching their physical behavior.  Hartley, a former Army interrogator details how to review with an open mind what you see, evaluate to know what is relevant, analyze to identify involuntary versus involuntary movements and then decide or draw a conclusion based on what you observe.

Gregory Hartley recommends “Without Conscience:  The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us,” by Dr. Robert D. Hare..

Originally Broadcast: April 4, 2007

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Dr. Jane M. Healy

Children Versus Television

Endangered Minds & Failure to Connect

It used to be that children would play with objects, be told or read stories, or perhaps listen to the radio during a significant portion of their early years.  With the advent of television, videos and computers, that tactile and oral world is often left behind.  Children who are frequently exposed to television, videos and computer games in the first seven years of life have been found to develop pathways in the brain that later are significantly deficient in reading, studying and socialization skills.  Dr. Jane M Healy is an educational psychologist with expertise in developmental psychology, and specialist in the brain development of young children. Her recent books, “Endangered Minds,” and “Failure to Connect,” discuss how television, videos and computers affect the minds of children.

Dr. Jane M. Healy recommends "The Goddess in Older Women," by Jean Bolden.

Originally Broadcast: May 9, 2001

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Glenn Langer

Enhancing Education and Heart Disease

Understanding Disease, How Your Heart, Lungs, Blood, and Blood Vessels Function and Respond to Treatment

In this two-part series with Dr. Glenn Langer, former Professor of Medicine, specializing in Cardiology, at UCLA we discuss the Partnership Scholars Program and heart disease.  In the first interview Dr. Langer describes the Partnership Scholars Program and how attention and exposure to new ideas can create a whole new world for children, whose life experiences might otherwise be forever limited.   In the second program, we discuss folklore, literature, psychology as they relate to cardiology and the heart.  Dr. Langer is the author of “Understanding Disease, How Your Heart, Lungs, Blood, and Blood Vessels Function and Respond to Treatment,” a book attempting to demystify medicine.  Both parts of this program were originally broadcast in October of 2000.

Glenn Langer recommends “Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea,” by Gary Kinder and “Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Biography,” by Marion Meade.

Originally Broadcast: October 24, 2000 and October 31, 2000

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Marc Lappe

Roadside Spraying, For Better or Worse

Break Out

Spraying of herbicides to kill weeds and/or plants that are considered by some to be pests is a phenomenon of the 20th century.  These sprays, in many cases, pollute the water we use in our homes; they destroy and sometimes permanently alter not only the growth cycle of what we are intending to kill, but also other plants, animals, and sometimes people.  Dr. Marc Lappe was a widely recognized Ph.D. toxicologist who has studied the effects of the use of the sprays.  He was the founder and a director of The justify for Ethics and Toxics, located in Gualala, California.  He was also the former director of the California State Hazard Evaluation System.  He’s been a fellow at the Hastings justify for the Study of Bioethics in New York, published 112 articles and eleven books on the subject of toxicology.  Dr. Marc Lappe died in May, 2005.

www.cetos.org

Marc Lappe recommends "Break Out, " by Dr. Marc Lappe.

Originally Broadcast: February 5, 1997

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Dr. Gerda Lerner

The Foremother of Women's History

Fireweed: A Political Autobiography

The history of women has existed as long as humans have, but it was not until the last half of the 20th Century that women’s history received academic attention.  Professor Gerda Lerner is a pioneer of the study of women’s history and a founder of the movement to study and record the history of women.  She has placed particular emphasis on the differences among women due to class, race and sexual orientation.

Originally Broadcast: October 1, 2002

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Eric Liu

The Benefits of Mentoring

Guiding Lights:  The People Who Lead Us Toward Our Purpose in Life

Every one of us, in every social role that we play, is a teacher and a mentor.  Who has influenced us, and how we pass that influence along is a question that goes to the heart of both learning and mentoring.  The concepts of mentoring are set out in the book “Guiding Lights:  The People Who Lead Us Toward Our Purpose in Life,” by Eric Liu.  In this interview, recorded n February 2005, Eric Liu discusses his experiences a mentor, a mentee, and an observer of both.   For more information see www.ericliu.com.

www.ericliu.com

Eric Liu recommends "All the King's Men," by Robert Penn Warren.

Originally Broadcast: February 15, 2005

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Domingo Sarmiento & Daniel Lewis

An Argentine President

Domingo Sarmiento, a teacher and later President of the Republic of Argentina, spent several years traveling in Europe and the United States in the mid-19th Century.  He spent six weeks in the US in the fall of 1847 and later published his account of this visit, selectively interpreting what he saw and experienced to conform to his ideas.  In this archive edition of Radio Curious, I visit with Domingo Sarmiento in the person of Professor Daniel Lewis, a scholar-presenter in the 1996 Democracy in America Chautauqua.  I met with Domingo Sarmiento during a break in the Chautauqua programming in Ukiah, California, and asked him what he saw the future of the American Union to be, from his perspective in 1843.

Domingo Sarmiento recommends any book by James Fenimore Cooper. Daniel Lewis recommends "The Invention of Argentina," by Nicolas Shumway.

Originally Broadcast: July 27, 1996

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Dr. Steven Miles

A Blind Eye to Torture

Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror

The silence of doctors, nurses and medics during the physical abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan and the information provided by physicians and psychologists to determine how much and what kind of mistreatment could be delivered to prisoners during interrogation is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  Our guest is Dr. Steven Miles is the author of “Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity and the War On Terror,” a book based in part on eyewitness accounts of actual victims of prison abuse and more than thirty-five thousand pages of documents, autopsy reports and medical records.  Dr. Miles is a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and its justify for Bioethics.  He is a recognized expert in medical ethics, human rights and international health care.  This interview with Dr. Steven Miles was recorded in mid-July 2006 from his office in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  We begin when I asked him about his motivation to write a book about the treatment people who are disarmed and imprisoned.

Steven Dr. Miles recommends “Bury The Chains: Profits and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves,” by Adam Hochchild.

Originally Broadcast: July 20, 2006

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Elliott Norse

Trawling the Ocean Floor

Once, fishes as big as turkeys and sheep swam the seas.  Now, most of their few remaining descendants would fit into a frying pan.  Dr. Elliot A. Norse, president of the Marine Biology Conservation Institute in Redmond, Washington, believes that this radical reduction in the size and number of the world’s fishes comes not only from over fishing, the catching of fish at a faster rate than they can breed, but also from bottom trawling.  Dr. Norse writes that bottom trawling crushes, buries, and exposes marine creatures like lobsters, crustaceans, clams, corals and sponges that live on or in the seabed, damaging or killing them.  In August of 1999, Dr. Norse visited with Radio Curious to discuss the effects of bottom trawling, how and where it’s done, and some of the concerns and causes of global warming and the effects it has on the oceans.

Elliott Norse recommends “The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction” by David Quammen.

Originally Broadcast: November 27, 1998

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Neil Proto

Law As A Tool For Social Change

To A High Court: The Tumult and Choices that Led to United States v. SCRAP

Law a tool for social change is the subject of this edition of Radio Curious, and it’s also reason why I decided to be an attorney.  Neil Proto, now a veteran Washington D.C. attorney, was a law student in the early 1970s in Washington D.C. and one of several law students in a group called SCRAP (Student’s Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures) which sued the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States and the nation’s railroads for what they believed was a violation of the NEPA, the National Environmental Protection Act.   The regulations, which they successfully challenged, discouraged the movement of materials that could be recycled and encouraged the movement of raw materials.  The Federal court issued an injunction, ordered an environmental impact report be prepared and in the end the regulations were overturned.  The story is told in Neil Proto’s book, “To A High Court: The Tumult and Choices that Led to United States v. SCRAP.”  For the past 35 years, Neil Proto has been practicing and teaching law in the Nation’s capital.   In this conversation, recorded in early February, 2006, we discuss the SCRPA lawsuit, importance of citizen involvement in the use of the law as a tool for social change and how court rulings in recent decades have made this involvement more difficult.

  Neil Proto recommends “The Prince of Our Disorder:  The Life of T.E. Lawrence,” by John E. Mack..

Originally Broadcast: February 14, 2006

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Evan Schwartz

The Inventor's Juice

Juice, the Creative fuel That Drives World-class Inventors

Albert Einstein suggests:  “To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old questions from anew angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance.” 

Thomas Edison suggests:  “The inventor has a logical mind that sees analogies.”

And Winston Churchill comments:  “Success consists of going from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm.”

The mind of an inventor works differently than the mind of a non-inventor.  What inspires the inventive mind?  What is different in the way an inventive mind perceives the world that is different from other minds?  What is the role of the role of invention in our society?  In this interview, recorded in January 2005, Evan Schwartz, author of “Juice, The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors” discusses inventing and inventions.  According to Evan Schwartz, the creative energy of inventors, their “juice” gets applied to problems, products, companies and markers through the use of creativity patterns.  Invention is a set of strategic thinking strategies that can be learned, taught and practiced, just as with other skills, like cooking, acting or sailing.  He began our conversation by describing what differentiates an inventive mind from other types of minds.

  www.gotjuice.org

Evan Schwartz recommends "Chronicles Volume One," by Bob Dyland.

Originally Broadcast: January 3, 2006

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Dr. Sally Shaywitz

How to Identify and Overcome Dyslexia

Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level

Approximately one child in five suffers from dyslexia, a condition that makes learning to read difficult and in some cases seemingly impossible.  In this edition of Radio Curious, originally broadcast in August of 2003, we visit with Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a Professor of Pediatrics at Yale University and the co-director of the Yale justify for the Study of Learning and Attention.  She discusses early diagnosis of dyslexia in young children, older children, and in adults, and what can be done to assist people who suffer from this disability.  In her book, “Overcoming Dyslexia,” Dr. Shaywitz describes how current research, including new brain imaging studies, are uncovering the mechanics underlying this problem, and have led to effective treatments.

Dr. Sally Shaywitz recommends "Emperor of Ocean Park," by Stephen Carter & "Samaritan," by Richard Price.

Originally Broadcast: August 5, 2003

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Elizabeth Stanton & Frederick Douglass

Sally Wagner & Charles Pace

A Visit with Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Frederick Douglass

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass were good friends from the mid 19th century to the late 19th century, and were active leaders in the fight for the rights of women and blacks throughout their lives.  From time to time they got together to visit and talk about America, as they knew it. In this archive edition of Radio Curious recorded in May 1998, I met with Chautauqua scholars Sally Roach Wagner and Charles Pace who portrayed Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass and asked them each to tell us what it was like to be an American during their life time.

Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Stanton recommend “The Columbian Orator: Containing a variety of original and selected pieces together with rules, which are calculated to improve youth and others, in the ornamental and useful art of eloquence,” by Caleb Bingham and “The Woman’s Bible” edited by Eliz. Cady Stanton.

Originally Broadcast: July 3, 1996

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John Sutter

David Fenimore

A Visit With John Sutter

John Sutter was an émigré from Switzerland who came to California to establish his New Helvicia in the land of opportunity, located in what is now close to Sacramento, California.  A man with vision and organization, and a liking to drink, Sutter built an economically thriving Anglo-American settlement outpost in what was then Mexican California.  The economy was based on livestock and lumber and used forced Native American labor.  The discovery of gold in 1849 at a mill owned by Sutter started the gold rush that ultimately led to his undoing, ruining him financially as the mass of humanity tramped through the lands he then claimed to own, on their rush to the gold fields.  John Sutter was portrayed by historian David Fennimore and was part of “Rediscovering California at 150” the California sesquicentennial initiative produced by the California Council for the Humanities.

John Sutter recommends “Ivanhoe,” by Sir Walter Scott and “Report Concerning North America,” by Godfried Duden.

Originally Broadcast: February 20, 1998

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Alexis de Tocqueville

Dick Johnson

A Visit With Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America

In 1831, a 25 year-old Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, trained as a lawyer, and preoccupied with democracy, came to the US to study this new political scheme.  Alexis de Tocqueville and his traveling companion, Gustave de Beaumont, arrived at Newport, RI, in an America comprised, then, of 23 states and 13 million people.  They stayed for nine months, and then returned to France at which time de Tocqueville began his epic poem entitled “Democracy in America.”  At a time then when slavery was an economic base in the South, and abolitionism was beginning to thrive in the North, America had three frontiers: geography, industry, and democracy.  In this program of Radio Curious, we’ll be talking with Alexis De Tocqueville, through the person of Chautauqua scholar, Dick Johnson.

Alexis de Tocqueville recommends “Democracy in America,” by Alexis de Tocqueville.

Originally Broadcast: July 17, 1996

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Gilbert Van Dykhuisen

Sea Life Mysteries Explained

71% of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans which are home to 99% of the life on earth.  About 250,000 species of ocean life have been discovered so far, but the ocean is home to an estimated 10 million species.  The Monterey Bay Aquarium on the central coast of California holds more than 300,000 creatures, representing over 500 species that live in 34 major aquarium galleries.  Under the direction of Giilbert Van Dykhuisen, a senior research marine biologist, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has created deep-sea life exhibit which is reflective of the deep-sea canyon located in the Monterey Bay and comparable in size to the Grand Canyon.

Gilbert Van Dykhuisen recommends “The Universe Below,” by William Broad.

Originally Broadcast: October 3, 1999

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