Radio Curious

If you like interview programs perhaps you have listened to Fresh Air, produced in Philadelphia and broadcast regularly many public radio stations.  The host is Terry Gross, our guest on this edition of Radio Curious. I wanted to know who she is, and what she does to prepare for and create Fresh Air. When we visited by phone from her home near Philadelphia, I asked her how puts together so many interesting programs so frequently.

The books Terry Gross recommends are “Self-Consciousness: Memoirs,” by John Updike, and “U and I,” by Nicholson Baker.

The program was originally broadcast: March 7, 1994

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Judi Bari, our guest in this archive edition of Radio Curious, was one of the leading environmental activists on the North Coast in the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, notwithstanding that she was a victim of a car bombing in 1990 and severely injured. Presumably, the bomb was intended to stop her activities as a leader and organizer for Earth First!. The bomb that injured her exploded in May 1990 while she was driving in Oakland, California, took a tremendous toll on her physically and resulted in a lawsuit she brought against the FBI and the Oakland, California Police Department. In the weeks before this interview which was originally broadcast in November 1993, when Radio Curious was called Government, Politics and Ideas, Judi Bari obtained approximately 5,000 pages of FBI documents which she gathered as part of her lawsuit. We spoke about this information and about Judi’s background.

Judi Bari recommends “A Taste of Power: A Black Women’s Story,” by Elaine Brown.

Originally Broadcast: November 29, 1993

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Filtering People

Prejudices exist in almost every human context, but how do we overcome them and act without stereotypes? This program’s guest is Dr. Jim Cole, who lives in Ellingsburg, Washington and is a psychologist. We discussed diversity training – the process of becoming more aware of the prejudices we have. This program was originally broadcast in November of 1993, when Radio Curious was called Government, Politics and Ideas.

Dr. Jim Cole recommends books by Jane Lovelock.

Originally Broadcast: November 23, 1993

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America’s Future: Transition into the 21st Century

William Boyer, a Professor Emeritus and the former Chairman of the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Hawaii, is the author of a book called “America’s Future: Transition into the 21st Century.” In this program, we discussed the rights of future generations, how to protect those rights, what they are, and what right we have to determine the rights of future generations. This program was originally broadcast in March of 1993, when Radio Curious was called Government, Politics and Ideas.

Originally Broadcast: March 30, 1993

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After the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention in 1992, Richard M. Alston, who was then chairman of the Economics Department at Webber State University in Ogden, Utah, sent a political survey to the delegates to that convention. This survey concerned the perceptions of convention delegates regarding economic issues in the United States. As a delegate to the Democratic National Convention I was sent one his surveys, and decided to ask Professor Alston for an interview. In our interview we discussed the survey and what information he hoped to ascertain with it as well as the role of economists in academic institutions in America. This program was originally broadcast in November of 1992, when Radio Curious was called Government, Politics and Ideas.

Originally Broadcast: November 30, 1992

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This archive edition of Radio Curious was originally recorded and broadcast in January of 1992 when Radio Curious was called “Government, Politics and Ideas.” Our guest is Pete Seeger, a folk musician and a very special person in the lives of many people around the world. He brings songs of hope, peace, justice and equality wherever he goes. He was an inspiration to me when I first learned to play the 5-string banjo and when I took lessons from him, in what seems both long and ago and, just yesterday. We began our conversation when I asked him what he meant when he said “the world is in a state of uncertainty

Originally Broadcast: January 20, 1992

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A Part of Speech, Less Than One, To Urania, Marbles, & Watermark

Joseph Brodsky, a winner of the Noble Prize, was the United States National Poet Laureate in 1991. Born in what was then Leningrad, Soviet Union, he grew up in a communal apartment, and was very active in language and literary pursuits. In 1963, a Leningrad newspaper denounced Brodsky, calling his poetry pornographic and anti-Soviet. He was interrogated and twice put in mental institutions. His papers were seized. He was arrested and indicted on the charge of parasitism. In a secret trial, he was called a “pseudo-poet in velveteen trousers,” who failed to fulfill his “constitutional duty to work honestly for the good of the motherland.” Yet no fault was found in the content of his poetry. One of the more interesting comments Joseph Brodsky made as a guest was that there should be a book of poetry in every hotel room, right next to the Bible. He said that he didn’t think that the telephone book would mind. Joseph Brodsky died on January 28th of 1996, a world-class poet.

Originally Broadcast: November 18, 1991

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This program’s guest is Paul Coverdale, at the time the Director of the Peace Corps, appointed by the first President Bush. He later became a Senator from Georgia. Our discussion concerned the nature of the Peace Corps and Coverdale’s role as the agency’s director.

Originally Broadcast: August 19, 1991

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