Michael Shuman — Keeping the Culture of Small Towns

Years ago, before the myriad of things to buy were as available as they are now, retail businesses were most often locally-owned and operated, often for generations. This all began to change in the middle of the last century, as many of the items in the Sears Catalogue became available in towns and cities across the nation for consumers to feel and touch. But, it wasn’t until approximately 25 years ago when Wal-Mart, Target and other big-box stores appeared nationwide in small communities, to the detriment of locally-owned businesses and the social and economic benefits those businesses provided to their communities.  Michael Shuman, an attorney and an economist, is the author of, “The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition.” This book addresses the issues and problems of locally owned businesses and how they can successfully compete with the big-box stores owned by corporations foreign to the region. We began our conversation, which occurred on January 21, 2008, when I asked Michael Shuman to describe how a corporation comes into being, as a basis to understand some of the problems of locally owned businesses in competition with the big box stores.


The book he recommends is, “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work,” by John Gottman.

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Thompson, Mike — October 2007 Interview

Mike Thompson represents the First Congressional District of California, including the North Coast and Mendocino County, the home of Radio Curious, in the United States House of Representatives. In this interview recorded in his Washington, D.C. office on October 11, 2007, we discuss the war, its funding, medicare, marijuana and children’s health insurance. The House of Representatives was not able to overturn the president’s veto of the children’s health insurance program in a vote that occurred after this interview.  This program was originally broadcast October 24, 2007.

Mike Thompson recommends “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army,” by Jeremy Scahill.

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Wattenburger, Jim — Who Should Control Rural Growth, Corporations or Citizens?

Should a shopping mall and a large residential development occur adjacent to the city of Ukiah, California? The city and many people fear this development will result in the loss of a unique, rural small town in northern California.  Mendocino County Supervisor Jim Wattenburger discusses his position in support of these projects, and about the legalization of marijuana in two programs recorded September 23, 2007, and the broadcast September 26, and October 3, 2007.

Jim Wattenburger recommends “Undaunted Courage,” by Stephen A. Ambrose.

 

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Shoemaker, Richard & Vogel, Barry Esq. — Citizen Effort to Combat Big Box Takeover of a Small, Rural Community

Contrary to the five to zero decision by the Ukiah City Council reccomending a No Vote, Medocino County Supervisor Jim Wattenburger, whoes district solely comprises the City of Ukiah, voted yes creating a board majority to further investigate the development of a major shopping center adjacent to Ukiah, a small, tranquil, rural community.  In this conversation Richard Shoemaker, a former member of the Board of Supervisors from the Ukiah district, and attorney and veteran board watcher Barry Vogel (host and producer of Radio Curious) discuss the unusual anomalies of this event.  This program was originally broadcast on August 22, 2007.

The book Richard Shoemaker recommends is “Ripples From the Zambezi,” by Ernesto Sirolli.  Barry Vogel recommends “Big Box Swindle,” by Stacy Mitchell.

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John Pinches — All Politics are Local Including Marijuana

The concept that all politics are local is shown in this interview with Mendocino County Supervisor John Pinches in our August 7, 2007 interview on growing, use and “legalization” of marijuana.

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Ferguson, Charles — Will This War Ever End?

“The Endless War,” a movie released in late July 2007, written, directed and produced by Charles Ferguson, depicts the blunders and ill-prepared manner in which the United States initiated and carried out the war against Iraq. This full-length feature film juxtaposes the statements and actions of the Washington leadership of the war, which at the outset failed to include President Bush – the Commander-in-Chief, with the leadership’s actions and grievous consequences that followed.  Charles Ferguson holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has extensive experience in foreign policy analysis, and lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area. When I spoke with him on July 20, 2007 we began with his explanation how the war and the occupation of Iraq were shaped by an extremely small group of people In Washington D.C., with limited foreign policy and post war occupation experience.


The film he recommends is “The Lives of Others,” a story about East Germany under the community regime.

 

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Allman, Tom — The Sheriff and Marijuana

Marijuana, some say, is on the lips of many people here in Mendocino County, California, and likely many other places throughout the world, to some with pleasure and to others with distaste. Nonetheless it doesn’t seem that marijuana will go away. Not withstanding federal laws prohibiting use and possession of marijuana, the people of the State of California adopted the Compassionate Use Act in 1996 and in November 2000, the voters of Mendocino County approved a resolution by a vote of 58% to 42% to decriminalize the personal use of marijuana. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Tom Allman the Sheriff of Mendocino County to discuss the enforcement of the many conflicting marijuana laws. Estimates of the value of the crop produced in Mendocino County vary from five to ten billion dollars. We began when I asked the Sheriff to comment on this estimate.  This program was originally broadcast on June 19, 2007.

Tom Allman recommends “The Hunt for Red October,” by Tom Clancy.

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Golden, Kevin Z. — Lawsuit to Ban Genetically Modified Alfalfa

The consequences of growing genetically modified alfalfa were deteremined by the United States District Court in San Francisco, California to be so uncertain and so potentially dangerous that they were outlawed nation-wide in litigation brought by the Center for Food Safety based in San Francisco. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Attorney Kevin Zelig Golden, who, along with others from the Center for Food Safety, litigated this landmark case which banned the planting of genetically modified alfalfa as of May 3, 2007.  This program was originally broadcast May 7, 2007.

The book that Kevin Z. Golden recommends is “Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals,” by Michael Pollan.

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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 up in American society ten years ago, 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 the 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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Holly Hollenbeck – Sex Lives of Wives

Sex Lives of Wives: Reigniting the Passion, True Confessions and Provocative Advise from Real Women

How to ignite sexual passion from a woman’s perspective is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious, as we talk with Holly Hollenbeck, a former attorney from Omaha, Nebraska, and author of, “Sex Lives of Wives, Reigniting the Passion, True Confessions and Provocative Advice from Real Women.” Holly Hollenbeck says her book is not so much directed at how to please your mate, but how to please yourself by pleasing your mate. Take a look at www.passionseekers.com, her website devoted to helping women find passion and inspiration in their long-term relationships. I spoke with Holly Hollenbeck from her home in Nebraska, in mid September 2006, and asked her to describe what motivated her to write, “Sex Lives of Wives.”

Holly Hollenbeck recommends, “Adults Only Travel: The Ultimate Guide to Romantic and Erotic Destination,” by David West and Louis James.

Originally Broadcast: September 20, 2006

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