Martin, Buzzy — Don’t Shoot! I’m the Guitar Man

Buzzy Martin began teaching music to at risk kids in Juvenile Hall.  He then taught guitar in San Quentin Prison for three and a half years, where he gained a unique “insiders” perspective about prison life, prisoners, and the guards.  His book, “Don’t Shoot!  I’m the Guitar Man,” chronicles his experiences teaching prison inmates, including rapists, child molesters and murderers how to play the guitar.  Martin shares his experiences with incarcerated youth, to teach them that prison is not a “badge of honor,” and he reveals how music can be a universal language to open the hearts of people who may think they don’t have one.

Buzzy Martin’s memoir will be made into a movie.  His website is http://buzzymartin.com/

The interview with Buzzy Martin was recorded on October 11th, 2010.  The book he recommends is, “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book,” by don Miguel Ruiz.

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Joy, Melanie Ph.D. — Why We Eat Some Animals and Not Others

Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. It is the opposite of vegetarianism or veganism; “carn” means “flesh” or “of the flesh” and “ism” denotes a belief system. Most people view eating animals as a given, rather than a choice; in meat-eating cultures around the world people typically don’t think about why they find the meat of some animals disgusting and the meat of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any animals at all.  This is the topic of a conversation with Melanie Joy, Ph.D., author of , “Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows, an Introduction to Carnism.”

The interview with Melanie Joy, Ph.D. was recorded in Ukiah, California on November 29, 2010.  Joy’s website is www.carnism.com The book she recommends is, “Food Revolution: How your diet can save your life and our world,” by John Robbins.

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Munoz, Maca — Community Radio in the Americas

As part of our ongoing series of community radio around the world, Radio Curious speaks with Maca Munoz, an organizer with Palabra Radio.  Radio Curious host and producer Barry Vogel and Maca Munoz both attended the 10th international congress of Community Radio Broadcasters in La Plata, Argentina, along with approximately 500 other community radio delegates from 86 countries who gathered to discuss community radio around the world.

Palabra Radio is an organization that facilitates low power radio station projects in the America’s, from immigrant communities in the United States to rural indigenous communities in Latin America.  Palabra Radio provides training, technical support and other assistance to communities, collectives and social organizations that want to operate a low-power community radio station.  Their website is www.palabraradio.org

The interview with Maca Munoz was recorded on November 12, 2010 in La Plata, Argentina.  The book Maca Munoz recommends is, “Open Veins of Latin America,” by Eduardo Galeano.

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Abuzada, Fadi & Rahman, AHM Bazlur — Community Radio Around the World

Radio Curious host and producer Barry Vogel and associate producer Janet Mendell attended the 10th international congress of the World Association of Community Broadcasters, known as AMARC.  AMARC is a network of more than 4,000 community radio stations, in more than 100 countries.

Founded in 1983, its goal is to democratize the media sector. AMARC advocates for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighborhood levels. It defends and promotes the interests of the community radio movement through global solidarity, networking and cooperation. The 10th AMARC congress was held near Buenos Aires, Argentina the second week of November 2010, with 500 delegates from 86 countries present.

In addition to presenting a workshop on interviewing skills, Radio Curious interviewed conference delegates from several different countries. In this edition of Radio Curious, the first in a series about local community radio around the world, we visit with Fadi Abuzada, a community radio activist in Palestine and AHM Bazlur Rahman, the CEO of the Bangladesh NGO’s Network for Radio and Communication.

The interviews were recorded in November 2010, in La Plata, Argentina.

Fadi Abuzada recommends the movie, The Little Town of Bethlehem.

AHM Bazlur Rahman recommends visiting his organizations website, www.bnnrc.net, instead of reading a book.

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