Radio Curious

After District Attorney Norm Vroman died in September, 2006, and his name could not removed from the ballot, Keith Faulder, the interim DA appointed by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, sued the County seeking to void the November 8, 2006 general election for DA and to require that a special election be held. Former Deputy District Attorney Meredith Lintott received the most votes in the June primary election and was also on the November, 2006, ballot along with Vroman. The California Court of Appeals upheld Faulder’s claim which Lintott and the County appealed to the California Supreme Court. This edition of Radio Curious discusses the history and status of this unique case in interviews with Faulder and Steve Antler, Lintott’s attorney.

Keith Faulder recommends, “Theodore Rex,” by Edmund Morris.

Steven Antler recommends, “October 1964,” by David Halberstram.

Originally Broadcast: November 29, 2006

Click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

Errors and Omissions

Who owns the rights to a play, a song, or a work of art? How important and fragile is the authorship? These and other issues of intellectual property rights begin to be revealed in,  “Errors and Omissions,” a novel by Stanford Law Professor, Paul Goldstein. “Errors and Omissions,” follows the story of Michael Seeley as he locates a World War Two era Polish refugee who is the author of a screenplay that has the potential to make a huge amount of money not only from the movie rights, but also from the sale of associated paraphernalia. Goldstein, who began writing fiction at the age of twelve, hopes now, fifty years later that readers of his first full length novel will carry away the sense of the fragility of authorship, when an artist creates a work out of thin air. I spoke with Paul Goldstein from his office at Stanford University and began by asking him to define intellectual property.

Paul Goldstein recommends, “Aspects of the Novel,” by E.M. Forster.

Originally Broadcast: August 9, 2006

Click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

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

Click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

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

Click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

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

Click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (2)

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

Click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

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

Please click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

Though some people dislike the idea, money has become an important and complex aspect of life. Many choose to invest in stocks and mutual funds, hoping for financial growth with and without guidance from a knowledgeable advisor. With five million people responsible for the financial interests of others, there is very little regulation or control of what they do, or how they do it. Donald B. Trone is President of the Foundation for Fiduciary Studies, a nonprofit organization established to develop and promote the practices that define a prudent process for investment fiduciaries, a person who is responsible for the money or assets of others. Donald B. Trone will discuss the practical and regulatory environment that defines the roles and responsibilities of investment fiduciaries, and how one should be chosen to work for you. The program begins with Trone explaining what a fiduciary is. You may visit the website of the Foundation for Fiduciary Studies at www.fi360.com. The edition of Radio Curious was produced with the support of the National Press Foundation, www.nationalpress.org.

Donald Trone recommends “A Survey of the New Testament,” by Robert H. Gundry.

Originally Broadcast: June 14, 2005

Click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)

Genocide is the intent to exterminate in whole or in part a specific group of people often based on nationality, ethnicity, race or religion. For the past two years, in the Darfur region of the nation of Sudan, located in north central Africa and populated primarily by black Africans, the Sudanese government has been committing racial genocide. Reports are that as many as 400,000 black African civilians have been murdered by the Sudanese government together with Arab rebel groups in Darfur. Professor Sam Totten, a scholar in Genocide Studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, visited the Darfur area in the fall of 2004 and has been examining this present day massacre that most of the world has chosen to ignore. I spoke with Professor Totten from his home in Arkansas and asked him to explain the reasons behind the genocide.

www.savedarfur.org

Sam Totten recommends “Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda,” by Romeo Dallaire.

Originally Broadcast: June 7, 2005

Click here to begin listening.

Podcast: Download

• » Comments (0)