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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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Earl Dixon is a veteran traveler, a veteran piano player, and he’s actually a veteran, too. An interesting story. Earl Dixon, the man on this show, traveled around the world, and has a lot of familiar stories to tell to those of us here in Mendocino County.
Originally Broadcast: June 11, 2002
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Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends
Tim Sanders, the author of a “Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends,” is the Chief Solutions Officer at yahoo.com. Knowledge, network and compassion are the themes of his book and the basis for what he believes will bring most success in business.
Tim Sanders recommends “The Third Wave,” by Alvin Toffler.
Originally Broadcast: April 9, 2002
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PT Barnum, sometimes known as the Prince of Humbug, was born in Connecticut in 1810. In many ways, he personified the American character that Frenchman Alexis De Tocqueville described in his book, “Democracy in America.” Barnum delighted in making money and telling the truth, as he saw it. Some truths were told in the political arena, where he was twice a member of the Connecticut legislature and, in the interim, Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Some of his truths were lies when they were told to other people, like the history of some of his circus performers. Other truths were told in his newspapers. PT Barnum, ‘PT’ as he liked to be called, was best known as the creator of the ‘Best Show On Earth,’ the Barnum and Bailey Circus. I spoke with PT Barnum, personified by Doug Mishler, in the studios of Radio Curious in July of 1996 when this program was originally broadcast.
P.T. Barnum recommends “My Toils and Struggles,” the autobiography of PT Barnum. Doug Mishler recommends “The Culture of Complaint,” by Robert Hughes.
Originally Broadcast: July 24, 1996
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Understanding Comics, A Rather Colorful Display: The Invisible Art
Comics have come to hold quite an important place in contemporary society. Satire, particularly political commentary, is perhaps closest to its essence when expressed in the visual comic. However, it also can be argued that comics have played a far greater role in the history of humanity, tracing back to all images depicting a sequential number of actions. My guest in this program is Scott McCloud, author of “Understanding Comics, A Rather Colorful Display: The Invisible Art,” a book about the history of comics.
Scott McCloud recommends “Jar of Fools,” by Jason Lutes.
Originally Broadcast: August 27, 1994
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Our guest in this program was Dr. William Fry, a psychiatrist who has done extensive research in the field of humor. We discussed the psychology and genetics of humor. Much of Dr. Fry’s research has concentrated on Cocoa, the gorilla, and we discussed that as well. This program was originally broadcast in March of 1992, when Radio Curious was called Government, Politics and Ideas.
Originally Broadcast: March 2, 1992
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The puckishly whimsical life and times of poet and film maker James Broughton is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious in a visit with Stephen Silha, the producer and director of “Big Joy,” a biographical film of the life and times of James Broughton.
Broughton believed that in order to live an authentic life we each should follow our own weird. He says:
“I don’t know what the left is doing said the right hand,
But it looks fascinating.”
And:
“I may be infecting the whole body
said the Head
but they’ll never amputate me.”
Stephen Silha and I visited by phone from his home near Seattle, Washington on Mother’s Day, 2014. He began our conversation by telling us what drew him to make a film about his friend James Broughton.
The book Stephen Silha recommends is “The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon,” by Tom Spanbauer.
The music in this weeks edition of Radio Curious is “Twril” by Norman Arnold, from the movie, “Big Joy.”
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This program is presented in honor of my mother, Lillian Brown Vogel, whose vivacious 39,549 days finally caught up with her on December 29, 2017. She died at her home here in Ukiah, California at the age of 108. Smiling until she closed her eyes for the last time, she cherished her well lived life. I dedicate this program to everyone who seeks to lead a long, active and happy life.
My mother played the piano almost daily for 104 years. She voted in every election since 1930, the year she began medical school. She earned a Master’s Degree in 1933 and Ph.D. in 1961, both in psychology. She worked as a clinical psychologist, retiring in 2005, at the age of 96. In response to many queries about the secret of her long life, she published her memoir, “What’s My Secret? One Hundred Years of Memories and Reflections,” on her 100th birthday in 2009.
My mother was driven by her curiosity and joy of life. She was able to get to the heart of most any matter with a few simple questions. And then always wanted to know more.
This interview, originally recorded on October 31, 2009, was poetically updated, as you’ll hear, on September 9, 2014.
Now this edition of Radio Curious begins when I asked Dr. Lillian Brown Vogel, my mother and my initial mentor on how to be curious: ‘Mother dear, what makes you curious?’
The book Lillian B. Vogel recommended in 2009, is “The Blue Tattoo: The Life Of Olive Oatman,” by Margot Mifflin.
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The creative imagination of playwright Don Samson is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. In May 2015, I had the good fortune of seeing a ten minute play entitled “Blind Date,” written by my long time friend, who lives in nearby Willits, California. For many years prior to becoming a playwright, Don Samson researched and wrote legal briefs for criminal defense attorneys, an experience we also discuss in this program.
After seeing the local production of “Blind Date,” I was curious about the circumstances that came to Don Samson’s mind when he created this play, so I invited him to visit the Radio Curious studios. We met on May 22, 2015 and began our conversation with his description of those circumstances.
Don Samson recommends the book, which is also a play, “Antigone,” by Sophocles.
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As a lawyer and a student of political science, I have come to appreciate the anomalies and humor of politics. One story that fits both of those categories well is the relationship between Nestle J. Frobish, the Chair-Creature of World-Wide Fair Play for Frogs Committee and the late Jerome R. Waldie, his former nemesis a Member of Congress from Antioch, just east of San Francisco, California. Their dissension arose in 1961 when Waldie was a freshman member of the California State Assembly and chose to introduce what came to be known as the “Frog Murder Bill,” resulting in Frobish organizing what turned out to be a 45 year campaign to get Waldie to renounce, what Frobish called his “vestigial impurities” visited upon him as the “mad butcher of the swamp.” Waldie finally acceded in 2006 and in this interview originally broadcast on June 11, 2007, tells us why.
The book that Jerome Waldie recommends is, “It Can’t Happen here,” by Sinclair Lewis.
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