Gregg McVicar— “Bringing Sound To Our Ears”

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Digital, analog, long playing records, cassettes… How do they bring sound to our ears? In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with audio engineer and producer Gregg McVicar, one of the first independent radio producers to convert to digital audio technology. He produces a daily five hour eclectic music mix that may be found at www.undercurrentsradio.net and his personal website is www.radiocamp.com. Gregg McVicar holds an MA degree from the Annenberg School for Communication, is an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Arts in Oakland, California. On his visit to the studios of Radio Curious on August 11th, 2008 we began our conversation when I asked him to explain the difference between analog and digital.

The book Gregg McVicar recommends is, “The Earth Is Flat: A Brief History Of The 21st Century,” by Thomas L. Friedman.

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Phoebe Damrosch— “The Wisdom of the Waiter”

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Behind the scenes in Per Se, a four star restaurant in New York City, a sister restaurant to The French Laundry in Napa, California, is one of the topics in this edition of Radio Curious.  Phoebe Damrosch, author of, “Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter,” was the first female captain (head waiter) at a New York four-star restaurant. A graduate of Columbia University’s Barnard College, she shares surprising episodes and charm in a story relayed from the always-pleasant server’s point of view that some people spend several hundred dollars each to witness from the diner’s perspective. However, Phoebe sees things that the diners don’t. Phoebe Damrosch was born in a small rural mountaintop cabin next to a pure water lake several hours north of New York City, and grew up partly in Vermont and rural Haiti.

This conversation, recorded on July 15, 2008, began when I asked her to explain what a restaurant must do to receive the four-star nomination.

The book she recommends is “Drown,” by Junot Diaz.

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Tom Sheriff Allman— “Medical Marijuana Guidelines”

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State guidelines for growing and possessing medical marijuana, were issued by the California Attorney General on August 25, 2008. In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit again with Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, who participated in the development of these guidelines, to discuss their implementation. This interview was recorded August 27, 2008, in the studios of Radio Curious.

The book that Tom Allman recommends is, “Reagan’s War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism,” by Peter Schweizer.

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