What does that word mean? Why don’t you hear it on this radio station? Can you use it in Scrabble? Do you want some answers? If so, don’t touch your radio dial even if your radio doesn’t have one.
Our guest in this edition of Radio Curious is the Steven R, Kleinedler, the Supervising Editor of the 5th Edition of the American Heritage English Language Dictionary.
Curious as I sometimes am, I wanted to know where all the words came from in the 2,084 pages of the American Heritage Dictionary. So, when Steven Kleinedler and I visited by phone from his home near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 16, 2012, we began when I asked to explain the origin of word lists that we now call dictionaries.
The book that Steve Kleinedler recommends is “Cryptonomicon,” by Neil Stevenson.
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Consumer behavior is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious in a conversation with Geoffrey Miller, professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of New Mexico, and the author of “Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior”.
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Life, culture and racism is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious, in conversation with attorney/novelist Martha McCabe, author of “Praise at Midnight.”
Martha McCabe worked as a civil rights and criminal trial lawyer in deep east Texas from 1974 to 1985. Her goal was to pour the raw material from her personal experiences as a lawyer into her story. It took Martha McCabe ten years to complete “Praise at Midnight,” her first novel. The deeper level into which she fell during that ten year period was recognizing the importance of consciousness and self awareness in avoiding the projection of one’s own dark side onto other people and then killing them, not only on a local level, but an international level as well.
Martha McCabe and I have been associates, good friends and colleagues since 1969 when we met at the University of Santa Clara where I was a law student.
When I spoke with Martha McCabe from her home in San Antonio, Texas on July 29, 2006, we began with her description of the culture of deep east Texas when she lived there from 1974 to 1985.
The books she recommends are “Reading Lolita in Teheran” by Azar Nafisi and “Caballero: A Historical Novel” by Jovita Gonzalez and Eve Raleigh.
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| The movie “A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle For a Living Planet”, produced and directed by our guest, Mark Kitchell tells the story of environmental activism – people trying to save the planet, their homes, the future. In a chronicle of five decades of grassroots and global environmental movements, Kitchell explores how we arrived at the present world-wide crisis. While exploring broader ideas and deeper meanings, A Fierce Green Fire brings together eras in the past 50 years from conservation to climate change.
The Mendocino Film Festival presents the world premier of A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle For a Living Planet, November 9, 10, and 11, in Ft. Bragg, Mendocino and Pt. Arena. You may learn more at mendocinofilmfestival.org and afiercegreenfire.com Mark Kitchell and I visited by phone from his office in San Francisco, California, on October 26, 2012. The film Mark Kitchell recommends is “Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time.” The book he recommends is “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,” by Naomi Klein. Click here to listen or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast. |
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We continue our conversation with Pulitzer winner Isabel Wilkerson, author of “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.” In the years between 1915 and 1970 almost six million black American citizens from the south migrated to northern and western cities seeking freedom and a better life.
Wilkerson interviewed more than 1,000 people for her book. She is the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and is a recipient of the George Polk Award and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. Her parents were part of the great migration, journeying from Georgia and southern Virginia to Washington D.C.
In part 2 of our conversation, recorded from her home near Atlanta, Georgia, on September 28, 2012, Isabel Wilkerson describes the inspiration behind her narrative non-fiction story of the six million African-Americans who migrated from the south between 1915 and 1970.
The books Isabel Wilkerson recommends are “The Ark of Justice,” by Kevin Boyle and “The Optimist’s Daughter,” by Eudora Welty.
Part one of our interview with Isabel Wilkerson is here.
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In the years between 1915 and 1970 almost six million black American citizens from the south migrated to northern and western cities seeking freedom and a better life. Our guest is Pulitzer Prize winner, Isabel Wilkerson author of “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.” Her book tells the untold experiences of the African-Americans who fled the south over three generations.
Wilkerson interviewed more than 1,000 people for her book. She is the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and is a recipient of the George Polk Award and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. Her parents were part of the great migration, journeying from Georgia and southern Virginia to Washington D.C.
In the first of two interviews recorded from Isabel Wilkerson’s home near Atlanta, Georgia, on September 28, 2012, she begins with a description of the “biggest untold story of the 20th century.”
The book Isabel Wilkerson recommends is “The Ark of Justice,” by Kevin Boyle.
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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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The buffalo that for most of the year inhabit Yellowstone National Park may be the only genetically pure buffalo population in North America. They still follow their migratory instincts and are the only buffalo to have continuously lived on their historic habitat since prehistoric times. Until the mass slaughter of buffalo that began in the mid-nineteenth century, tens of millions of these creatures roamed North America. Today the fewer than 4,000 wild buffalo that exist are under constant attack by livestock interests.
In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit with Mike Mease, the coordinator of the Buffalo Field Campaign, based on West Yellowstone, Montana, at the front end of his journey to Oregon and California in the fall of 2012. Mike Mease and others from the Buffalo Field Campaign are prepared with stories, video, music and activism inspired by the Yellowstone Bison in their efforts to protect America’s remaining buffalo. Mike Mease and I spoke by phone during the campaign’s first stop in Newport, Oregon, on September 17, 2012, and began our visit when I asked him to describe the current circumstances of buffalo in Montana.
The Buffalo Field Campaign will visit the Mendocino Recreation Center, 998 School Street, in the Village of Mendocino beginning at 7 p.m. on September 27, 2012. For more information call 707 937 4295.
The book Mike Mease recommends is “Confederacy of Dunces,” by John Kennedy Toole and Walter Percy.
You may contact the Buffalo Field Campaign at PO Box 957, West Yellowstone, MT 59758, telephone (406) 646-0070.
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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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This edition of Radio Curious is dedicated to Gerard “Tiger” Hill and those who died, when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans in 2005. Our guest is New Orleans Artist, Alex Santiago, who lived through the hurricane and eleven days later sought protection in the New Orleans Convention Center. In a conversation recorded in his kitchen in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, Alex Santiago shared his memories with Radio Curious Assistant Producer Christina Aanestad on August 15, 2012.
The book Alex Santiago recommends is “A Better World,” by Eckhart Tolle.
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