Laura Fogg— “Travelling Blind”

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The ways different creatures, especially us humans, use our senses to guide ourselves through life has long attracted my curiosity. I’ve often wondered how blind people seem able to orient themselves, and also wondered about their dreams.

From time to time, over the years, I would see an attentive woman walk past my office window next to a young person of student age. They would walk together talk, and the young person almost always carried a white cane with a red tip. Laura Fogg is this woman, the author of “Traveling Blind: Life Lessons from Unlikely Teachers,” and our guest in this archive edition of Radio Curious.

Laura Fogg worked as a Mobility and Orientation Instructor for the Blind in Mendocino County for over 35 years beginning 1971. She pioneered the use of the red tipped white cane with very young blind students some of whom had multiple impairments. She traveled long distances over the rather spectacular back roads of Mendocino County to work with each student his or her home.

When she visited the studios of Radio Curious on December 1, 2008, I asked her about the lessons that she learned that have changed her life.

The book Laura Fogg recommends is “My Year of Meats,” by Ruth Ozeki. Published in 1999.

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William Patrick— “Loneliness and How It Affects Us”

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How many of us are lonely? What is loneliness and how does it affect us? Approximately 25 years ago, when asked the number of friends in whom we could confide, most people in the United States said “three.” When that question was asked recently most people said “none.” Inquires reveal that twenty per-cent of people, — 60 million in the Untied States alone — are feeling lonely at any given moment. And, it appears that chronic loneliness may well compete with smoking, obesity and lack of exercise as a significant health risk.

In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with William Patrick, the founding editor of The Journal of Life Sciences and co-author of “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” along with University of Chicago psychology professor John Cacioppo. My conversation with William Patrick, recorded on October 13, 2008, began when I asked him to define loneliness as used in their book.

The book William Patrick recommends is “The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins,” by Burton Mack.

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Phoebe Damrosch— “The Wisdom of the Waiter”

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Behind the scenes in Per Se, a four star restaurant in New York City, a sister restaurant to The French Laundry in Napa, California, is one of the topics in this edition of Radio Curious.  Phoebe Damrosch, author of, “Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter,” was the first female captain (head waiter) at a New York four-star restaurant. A graduate of Columbia University’s Barnard College, she shares surprising episodes and charm in a story relayed from the always-pleasant server’s point of view that some people spend several hundred dollars each to witness from the diner’s perspective. However, Phoebe sees things that the diners don’t. Phoebe Damrosch was born in a small rural mountaintop cabin next to a pure water lake several hours north of New York City, and grew up partly in Vermont and rural Haiti.

This conversation, recorded on July 15, 2008, began when I asked her to explain what a restaurant must do to receive the four-star nomination.

The book she recommends is “Drown,” by Junot Diaz.

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Carroll Pickett— “To Kill or Not To Kill, No Man Should Die Alone”

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To Kill or Not To Kill: That is the question still presented to juries in capital cases in the United States, one of the few countries remaining in the world to employ the death penalty. In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit with Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served as chaplain for the Texas Department of Corrections from 1982 to 1995 and counseled 95 inmates on their way to death by lethal injection. “At the Death House Door: No Man Should Die Alone,” is a independent film documentary, directed and produced by Steve James and Peter Gilbert, that presents a personal and intimate look at the death penalty in Texas through the eyes of Pastor Pickett, a Presbyterian minister. Over the years, after each of the 95 executions, Pickett would record his experiences with that person on the tape he used to practice his sermons. Although he never listened to those tapes, they became the thread and primary source for the movie. I spoke with Pastor Carroll Pickett on May 23, 2008 from his home in Texas, after hearing him speak at a special hearing on capital punishment in San Francisco, CA, while he was on a break from a national publicity tour. We began when I asked him to explain what brought him to work with condemned men and be with them in their last hours. This program was originally broadcast on June 25, 2009.
The book Carroll Pickett recommends is “Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist,” by Mike Farrell and Martin Sheen.

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Dr. Daniel Gottlieb— “Learning from the Heart”

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Dr. Dan Gottlieb is a practicing psychologist living and working near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has experienced quadriplegia for approximately 30 years when he broke his back and severed his spinal cord as a result of an automobile accident. His 2008 book, “Learning From the Heart: Lessons on Living, Loving and Listening,” shares some of his life experiences. In this conversation he explains how 30 years ago he could not have imagined that he would have become a quadriplegic, lose both his parents and his wife, and be a now happy and contented person. This interview was recorded May 14, 2008.

The book Dr. Dan Gottlieb recommends is, “The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness,” by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

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John Pinches — “All Politics are Local Including Marijuana”

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

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This program was originally broadcast May 7, 2007.

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.

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

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Zana Briski, Ross Kauffman – “Brothels of Calcutta, India”

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Originally Broadcast: March 15, 2007

Born Into Brothels

“Born into Brothels” received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2005. A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, “Born into Brothels” is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as prostitutes. The most stigmatized people in Calcutta’s red light district however are not the prostitutes, but their children. In the face of abject poverty, abuse, and despair, these kids have little possibility of escaping their mother’s fate or for creating another type of life. In “Born into Brothels,” directors Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman chronicle the amazing transformation of the children they come to know in the red light district. Briski, a professional photographer, gives them lessons and cameras, igniting latent sparks of artistic genius that reside in these children who live in the most sordid and seemingly hopeless world. The photographs taken by the children are not merely examples of remarkable observation and talent; they reflect something much larger, morally encouraging, and even politically volatile: art as an immensely liberating and empowering force. Devoid of sentimentality, “Born into Brothels” defies the typical tear-stained tourist snapshot of the global underbelly. Briski spends years with these kids and becomes part of their lives. Their photographs are prisms into their souls, rather than anthropological curiosities or primitive imagery, and a true testimony of the power of the indelible creative spirit. You can learn about this film and Kids with Cameras at www.kids-with-cameras.org. I spoke with Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman in February 2005. Beginning the conversation first with Zana Briski, I asked her to explain what drew her to India before the concept of “Kids With Cameras” was even a dream.

www.kids-with-cameras.org

Zana Briski recommends “Secret Life of Bees,” by Sue Monk Kidd.

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Maggie Watson & Barry Vogel, Esq. – “Make It Easier For Your Loved Ones When You Die”

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Originally Broadcast: December 6, 2006

A Graceful Farewell: Putting Your Affairs in Order

Putting your affairs in order before you die is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Maggie Watson, a professional organizer who lives on the Mendocino Coast in Northern California. She is the author of, “A Graceful Farewell: Putting Your Affairs in Order,” a collection of ideas and forms that make it easy to list what you own and where everything is. In the course of our conversation Maggie Watson turned the microphones and began to ask me about estate planning, the documents which are useful for everyone to have and the differences between a will and a trust. In my day job I am an attorney in Ukiah, California and devote a portion of my practice to estate planning. Maggie Watson and I met in the studios of Radio Curious in early December, 2006.
www.agracefulfarewell.com

Maggie Watson recommends, “Millionth Circle: How to Change Ourselves and the World – The Essential Guide to Women’s Circles,” by Jean Shinoda Bolend.

Barry Vogel recommends, “Jacobson’s Organ and The Remarkable Nature of Smell,” by Lyall Watson.

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Dr. Arthur Janov, Dr. France Janov –” Emotional Healing by Examining Initial Imprints”

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Originally Broadcast: December 20, 2006

Primal Healing: Access the Incredible Power of Feelings to Improve you Health

The alleviation of human angst and emotional pain or distress is the goal of psychotherapy. Dr. Arthur Janov, together with his wife Dr. France Janov, believe the traditional, century-old method of talk therapy is not the answer. Together they direct the Primal Center in Venice, California, and Dr. Arthur Janov, who wrote, “The Primal Scream,” in the late 1960s, is the author of “Primal Healing: Access the Incredible Power of Feelings to Improve Your Health.” The Janovs assert that the best emotional healing is obtained by reaching back to the point of injury that formed an initial imprint of the pain, which often occurs in the womb or in early childhood. They believe that accessing these subconscious memories is necessary for improved physical and emotional health. We began our conversation with Dr. France Janov and Dr. Arthur Janov, recorded in mid-December 2006, from their home in Santa Monica, California, when I asked them to explain how initial imprints in a person’s life can be the cause of lifelong pain.

http://www.primaltherapy.com

Dr. Arthur Janov recommends, “Hostile Takeover: How big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government and How We Can Take It Back,” by David Sirota.

 

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