Radio Curious

This program is about honey. We visit with Keith Feigin, owner of Lovers Lane Farm, at his bee keeping center in Ukiah, California. We discuss bees on the loose, how they orient themselves to a new location, communicate with each other and how Keith harvests the “liquid gold.”  Keith was just leaving to catch up with some bees on the loose when I arrived, and that’s when our conversation began in mid August 2011.

The book that Keith Feigin recommends is the “Secret Life of Bees,” by Sue Monk Kidd.  You may contact Keith Feigin via email at loverslanefarm@gmail.com.

This interview was recorded on the streets of Ukiah and at Lovers Lane Farm in Ukiah, California on August 15, 2011.

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Since the last Ice Age ended about 12,000 years ago, human beings have traveled along the Klamath River and it tributaries in the northwest corner of California and the coast of southern Oregon.  Many people finding an abundance of food, have stayed. The main source of their food was salmon. The power of the myth of the salmon may derive from the fact that wild salmon spread out across the Pacific Northwest about the same time that human beings did, at the end of the last Ice Age.

In this edition of Radio Curious we have an archived visit with Steve Most, author of “River of Renewal, Myth & History in the Klamath Basin,” a book that tells the story of the history of the Klamath River and the people who have continuously lived there for the past 12,000 years. Steve Most is a playwright and documentary storyteller. Among many other works, he wrote the texts of the audio voices and videos for the permanent exhibit of the Washington State History Museum. In this interview recorded in mid-March 2007, I spoke with Steve Most from his home in Berkeley, California. We began our conversation when I asked him to give a perspective of the geological and human aspects of the Klamath River and its place in history.

Stephen Most recommends the “Essays and Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson.”

Originally Broadcast: March 21, 2007

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Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. It is the opposite of vegetarianism or veganism; “carn” means “flesh” or “of the flesh” and “ism” denotes a belief system. Most people view eating animals as a given, rather than a choice; in meat-eating cultures around the world people typically don’t think about why they find the meat of some animals disgusting and the meat of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any animals at all.  This is the topic of a conversation with Melanie Joy, Ph.D., author of , “Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows, an Introduction to Carnism.”

The interview with Melanie Joy, Ph.D. was recorded in Ukiah, California on November 29, 2010.  Joy’s website is www.carnism.com The book she recommends is, “Food Revolution: How your diet can save your life and our world,” by John Robbins.

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Insects and the world we humans share with them is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  Our guest is anthropologist Hugh Raffles, the author of “Insectopedia,” an exploration of some of the most beautiful creatures in the world, or depending on one’s personal and cultural perspective, some of the most scary. I spoke with Hugh Raffles by phone from his home in New York City, on March 22, 2010, and began by asking him, “What is an insect.”

The books Hugh Raffles recommends are both by Roberto Bolano: “The Savage Detectives,” and “2666.”

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Learning to read is often a confusing and frustrating experience.  Parents and teachers sometimes create stress flowing from their personal angst to the frustration of the learner.  Reading to a non-judgemental creature, who never comments and always appears to pay attention helps to create reading fluency.  In the second of a series inspired by Jane Goodall’s movie “When Animals Talk,” we visit with Becky Bishop, founder of Reading With Rover, (www.readingwithrover.org), a program to help children learn to read, and Puppy Manners, (www.puppymanners.com) a dog training school located in Woodenville, Washington, about thirty miles from Seattle.  Becky Bishop relies on the close bond between children and dogs creating calm moments and encouraging a learning environment. “Reading With Rover” couples children who have difficulty reading with a dog who listens.  Becky Bishop joined us by phone from her home in Washington on February 22, 2010, began by explaining why dogs are better listeners than a teacher or parent and what methods Becky uses to train these pets.

The books Becky Bishop recommends are “Living Life As A Thank You: The Transformative Power Of Daily Gratitude,” by Nina Lesowitz and Mary Beth Sammon, and “Walter the Farting Dog,” by William Kotzwinkle, Glenn Murray, Elizabeth Gundy, and Audrey Coleman.

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Several weeks ago I had the good fortune of seeing “If Animals Could Talk,” a movie made by Jane Goodall.  A segment was about The MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon. The boys incarcerated there have committed serious criminal offenses, some of them are given an opportunity to train dogs, develop relationships with the dogs and in doing so learn  responsibility, patience and respect for other living creatures. There is a zero recidivism rate among the juvenile inmates who spend time training dogs at MacLaren.  Joan Dalton is the founder and executive director of Project Pooch, a non-profit corporation linked with MacLaren.  Joan Dalton and I visited by phone from her home near Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010. We began our conversation when I asked her to tell us how Project Pooch came about and then about Project Pooch itself.

The books that Joan Dalton recommends are “Children And Animals: Exploring The Roots Of Kindness And Cruelty,” by Frank R. Ascione and “Rescue Ink: How Ten Guys Saved Countless Dogs and Cats, Twelve Horses, Five Pigs, One Duck,and a Few Turtles,” by Rescue Ink and Denise Flaim.  You may visit the Project Pooch website at www.pooch.org.

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In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Helen Menasian, director of the Redwood Valley Outdoor Education Project, located north of Ukiah, California. Ukiah is a small town in a long narrow valley that has been occupied by the Pomo People for about 11,000 years. About 150 years ago when Europeans and other foreign settlers arrived  the wilderness of the Ukiah valley was interrupted by pavement, waterworks and mechanical noise.

The book “The Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder,” by Richard Louv describes some of the central ethos behind outdoor education for children. The book reminds us that parents have the power to ensure that their son or daughter will not be “the last child in the woods,” and discusses the importance of the nature-child reunion. During this conversation we hear how the Redwood Valley Outdoor Education Project seeks to regain that connection. We began by asking Helen Menasian to explain just what the project does. This interview was recorded in the studios of Radio Curious, Ukiah, California on February 8th 2010.

The book Helen Menasian recommends is “The Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder,” by Richard Louv.

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Our animal friends and companions often fill important roles in our lives as we do in theirs. And when a beloved pet falls sick it is a veterinarian to whom we look to help make the lives of our pets, and ourselves, more healthy and happy.

Frank Grasse practiced veterinary medicine in Willits, California, and under the pen name, Charlie Freed, authored “Vet Tails: Small Stories, From A Small Town, Small Animal Veterinarian.” Freed described the daily emotional roller coaster of his 35 years of large and small animal medicine and shared what he  learned about the bond between us and our animals.

Hannah Bird, Assistant Producer at Radio Curious visited with ‘Charlie Freed’ on January 18th, 2010 and began by asking him to describe the special relationship between people and their animal pets.

Dr. Frank Grasse passed away in 2011.

The book that ‘Charlie Freed’ recommends is “Marnie,” by Winston Graham.

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