Martha McCabe – Culture and Racism

Praise At Midnight

Life, culture and racism are the topics 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.  The deeper level into which she fell during the ten year period it took her to complete, “Praise at Midnight,” was the importance of consciousness and self awareness in avoiding the projection of one’s own dark side on to other people and then killing them.  She applies this to both local and international levels in her considerations.  She 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 at the time she was living there, 1974 to 1985.

Martha McCabe recommends, “Reading Lolita in Teheran,” by Azar Nafisi and, “Caballero: A Historical Novel,” by Jovita Gonzalez and Eve Raleigh.

Originally Broadcast: August 2, 2006

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Dr. Clotaire Rapaille – Understanding Our Collective Unconscious

The Culture Code, An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around The World Live and Buy As They Do

The collective unconscious may be defined as a cultural code, a set of imprinted concepts that control how members of different societies live.  Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, a French born psychologist brings together the concepts of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud in his development of the collective unconscious in the book, “The Culture Code, An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around The World Live and Buy As They Do.” Dr. Rapaille thrives on new ideas, which is part of the reason he chose to become American. We visited by phone from his home in New York State, the last week of June 2006, and asked him to describe the development of his ideas.

Dr. Rapaille’s website is:  www.archetypediscoveriesworldwide.com

The books Dr. Clotaire Rapaille recommends are, “The DiVinci Code,” by Dan Brown and “Straight From The Gut,” by Jack Welsh.

Originally Broadcast: June 28, 2006 and July 5, 2006

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Ken Rockwell – A View Through the Lens: Photography and the Internet

With the help of a camera, especially a digital camera, and the internet we may now see portions of what other people see and have sent our way or perhaps have made public. Sometime soon I hope to present some visual images I think are special, in addition to the sound images you can hear, here on the Radio Curious website. In preparation for creating those images, I found my way to an intriguing photography website called www.kenrockwell.com. This website has many references about cameras, how to choose and use them, and it also tells the story of a man who freely shares his knowledge and skills about photography. After reading his website, I invited Ken Rockwell to join us for a conversation about photography, cameras, websites and the use of the internet. Ken Rockwell and I visited by phone in early May, 2006, from his home near San Diego, California. For him, good photography narrows down to seeing better, which he describes to be more of a feeling than an actual momentary vision.

www.kenrockwell.com

Ken Rockwell recommends, “Ten-Thousand Miles of America,” by Richard A. Suleski, Jr.

Originally Broadcast: May 9, 2006

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Mike Tidwell – Destruction of Louisiana

Bayou Farewell, The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast

It is now known that the destruction to southern Louisiana, which occurred as a result of hurricane Katrina in August, 2005, was anticipated by some and should have been anticipated by others.  In this interview recorded in April 2003, and first broadcast in February 2006, our guest is Mike Tidwell, author of, “Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Coastal Louisiana.” Tidwell describes how that vast marshland of coastal Louisiana, home to millions of migratory birds and the source of one-third of America’s seafood, is literally washing out to sea. The bayou region, 6000 square miles in size, remains the fastest disappearing landmass on earth.  An acre of solid ground turns to water every 20 minutes; an area the size of Manhattan Island washes away every ten months.

Mike Tidwell recommends, “Oil Notes,” by Rick Bass.

Originally Broadcast: February 28, 2006

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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 as a tool for social change is the subject of this edition of Radio Curious, and it’s also the reason why I decided to be an attorney. Neil Proto, now a veteran Washington D.C. lawyer, 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 United States Interstate Commerce Commission 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 practiced and taught law in the Nation’s capital. In this conversation, recorded in early February, 2006, we discuss the SCRPA lawsuit, ihe 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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Mikey Weinstein – Update on Evangelism at the U.S. Air Force Academy

The concerns that evangelical Christianity continues to be proselytized at the United States Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, have not lessened since our August 9, 2005 interview with Air Force Academy graduate Attorney Mikey Weinstein. Mikey Weinstein, of Albuquerque, New Mexico is a former Assistant General Counsel in the Reagan White House and former General Counsel for H. Ross Perot. In October 2005, Weinstein sued the United States Air Force in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, alleging violations of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution because of the evangelical proselytization at the Air Force Academy. Details may be found in the first interview with Attorney Weinstein, and the subsequent interviews with Reverend MeLinda Morton and Professor Kristen Leslie at www.radiocurious.org. In this interview, recorded on December 11, 2005, Attorney Weinstein discusses the current status of the litigation; the “Officers’ Christian Fellowship” located at many of the 702 United States Military bases in 132 different counties around the world; what he believes to be the religious efforts and goals of some evangelical Christians; and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a non-profit corporation he is organizing.

Mikey Weinstein recommends “Constantine’s Sword, The Church and the Jews, A History,” by James Carroll,.

Originally Broadcast: December 13, 2005

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Gordon Neufeld – Hold On to Your Kids

Hold On to Your Kids, Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers

The economic and cultural changes that have occurred in North American society in the past fifty or so years have resulted in today’s children looking to and associating with their peers instead of their parents, for direction, for a sense of right and wrong and for values, identity and codes of behavior. This peer orientation works to undermine family cohesion. It interferes with healthy development and fosters a sexualized youth culture in which children lose their individuality and tend to become conformist, desensitized and alienated. These concepts and what to do about them to develop strong families and emotionally healthy children are explained in “Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, “ by Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D. and Gabor Mate, M.D. When I spoke with Dr. Gordon Neufeld from his home in Vancouver, British Columbia we began our conversation with a discussion of the importance of the development of an attachment between the adult caregiver and the child, beginning at infancy.

www.GordonNeufeld.com

Gordon Neufeld recommends “The Anatomy of Dependence,” Takeo Doi.

Originally Broadcast: October 25, 2005

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Professor Kristen Leslie – Strident Evanglical Themes at the U.S. Air Force Academy

The series on evangelical Christianity at the United States Air Force Academy, continues with Kristen Leslie, a professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at the Yale University Divinity School. Professor Leslie was invited to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado to meet with the Academy chaplains and provide training in the counseling of female cadets who were victims of sexual assaults that had occurred at the Academy. In the course of her visits in 2004 and 2005, Professor Leslie and the group of graduate students from the Yale Divinity School who accompanied her, observed what she called “strident evangelical themes” at the Academy. Professor Leslie testified before the Subcommittee on Military Personnel of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Armed Services on June 28, 2005, at the Congressional hearing entitled “Religious Climate at the U.S. Air Force Academy,” and reported her observations of her visit that included: The hanging of a banner containing an overtly Christian message by the football coach in the team locker room; the Air Force Academy commandant leading a “challenge and response” cheer about Jesus in front of a group of cadets of mixed faith; distribution of flyers advertising religious events in the cadet dining hall and over the public address system; failure of the Air Force Academy to consider the religious practices of cadets of minority faiths when setting the cadet schedule; and public expressions of faith by senior staff and faculty members, in some cases in inappropriate venues such as classrooms. Interviews with MeLinda Morton, the Air Force Academy Chaplain who resigned the end of July 2005, and Attorney Mikey Wienstein, a 1977 graduate of the Air Force Academy, both of whom are outspoken critics of the inaction on the part of the Air Force Academy leadership may be found here on the Radio Curious website. The Harvard University Committee on the Study of Religion has a detailed report, with abundant links to other articles on this issue that may be found at www.pluralism.org. And information about Professor Leslie’s testimony before Congress may be found at www.yale.edu/divinity/press. This interview with Kristen Leslie speaking from her office at Yale University about these issues was recorded on August 26, 2005.

Professor Kristen Leslie recommends “Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader,” by Ann Fadiman.

Originally Broadcast: August 30, 2005

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Rev. MeLinda Morton – Evangelical Proselytization at the United States Air Force Academy

This program with MeLinda Morton, a Lutheran minister who resigned from active duty as a chaplain at the United States Air Force Academy effective July 31, 2005, continues our series on evangelical proselytization within the United States Air Force and at the United States Air Force Academy in Coloradio Springs, Colorado. This interview was recorded on August 19, 2005, and begins with Rev. Morton describing her duties as a pastoral chaplain to the cadets at the Air Force Academy and the issues that led up to her resignation. If you are interested in this topic, please listen to interview with Mikey Weinstein, an Air Force Academy graduate and a former attorney in the Reagan White House.

Rev. MeLinda Morton recommends “No Future, Queer Theory and the Death Drive,” by Lee Edelman.

Originally Broadcast: August 23, 2005

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Mikey Weinstein – Evangelical Christianity and the United States Air Force Academy

There are concerns that evangelical Christianity is close to being officially sanctioned at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as well as within other areas of the United States’ military forces. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit some of these issues with Mikey Weinstein, a graduate of Air Force Academy, a businessman and former attorney in the Reagan White House. He describes how evangelical Christianity appears to have become the standard within the United States Air Force Academy that trains future leaders of the U.S. Air Force. At the beginning of an Air Force career each new cadet, among many other things, takes an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. These cadets are led by Brig. Gen. Johnny A Weida, the current USAF Academy Commandant of Cadets. On the official Air Force website, under character development, Brig. Gen. Weida is quoted as saying, “Our primary emphasis is to ensure every graduate has the character, honor, integrity, sense of service and excellence required of a second lieutenant in the world’s greatest Air and Space force.” On July 29, 2005, the name of Brig Gen Weida, the number two officer of the Air Force Academy, was deleted from a list of Air Force generals to be promoted, shortly before the Senate voted on those promotions. An April 28, 2005 report by American United for Separation of Church and State accused Brig Gen Weida of proselytizing to the cadets and specifically endorsing evangelical Christianity at the Academy. It is suggested that this may be a reason why he was not promoted. This interview with Mikey Weinstein, who worked as Assistant General Counsel in the Reagan White House Office of Administration, was recorded by telephone from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on August 3, 2005.

Mikey Weinstein recommends “The Sins of Scripture,” by John Shelby Spong.

Originally Broadcast: August 9, 2005

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