Radio Curious

In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Les Blank, film maker extraordinaire. Les Blank will receive the Albert Maysles award at the 2011 Mendocino Film Festival where his films “Burden of Dreams” and “The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins” will be presented.  John Rockwell, writing in The New York Times, describes Les Blank as, “…a documentarian of folk cultures who transforms anthropology into art.”

Though he had a long fascination with films, his career turned to film making after he saw “The Seventh Seal,” by Ingmar Bergman.   Our conversation, which was recorded by phone from his home in Berkeley, California on May 23, 2011, began when I asked him why he makes films.

The films Les Blank recommends are “The Seventh Seal” and “Through a Glass Darkly,” both by Ingmar Bergman.

Les Blank’s website is www.lesblank.com

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This edition of Radio Curious is again about Richard W. Johnson Jr., publisher of a group of newspapers in Mendocino County, California, called Mendocino Country.  He died March 16^th, 2011.  The interview was recorded in June  2008 shortly after voters passed Measure B, a ballot measure that attempted to regulate marijuana growth and production.  The measure repealed an earlier ballot initiative Richard Johnson wrote, Measure G in 2000, that set a limit of 25 plants and 2 pounds of processed marijuana.  Measure B reduced the limits to 6 plants person and 8 ounces of processed marijuana.  Richard Johnson was opposed to Measure B and we began our conversation when I asked him why he took on this issue considering the fact that he did not use marijuana.

Richard W. Johnson said he didn’t have time to read because he was too busy writing.

Originally Broadcast: June 18th, 2008

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Microbiology, what it is and how it benefits society is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is the late Dr. Sanford Elberg, a retired professor of microbiology and bacteriology and later the Dean of the Graduate School at the University of California at Berkeley.   He died April 8th, 2011.

One of his scientific successes was the development of a vaccine for brucellosis, a disease in farm animals causing the female to abort early in pregnancy. This interview with Professor Elberg, who received a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1930, was recorded at his home in Mendocino County, California in March 1998. Dr. Elberg begins with a definition of microbiology and bacteriology.

Sanford Elberg recommends, “The Plague Tales,” by Ann Benson.

Originally Broadcast: March 30, 2006

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The United States Postal Service has plans to close post offices in cities, small towns and rural areas across America. This edition of Radio Curious is a case study of how the federal government plans to close the main Post Office in Ukiah, California.  The Postal Service says it operates under a “corporate model” and is not subject to public information requests, even from local government. It is unwilling to share the bases of it cost analyses or even let the City of Ukiah conduct its own evaluations. We visit with three members of the Save the Ukiah Post Office Committee, Ukiah Mayor, Mari Rodin, Alan Nicholson and Mike Sweeney. They discuss the community efforts to save Ukiah’s downtown post office and why.

The interview was recorded April 11th, 2011.

The book Alan Nichols recommends is “House,” by Tracy Kidder.

The book Mari Rodin recommends is “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” by Malcolm Gladwell.

The book Mike Sweeney recommends is, “The Storms of my Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity,” by Dr. James C. Hansen.

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Few people in Mendocino County, who are not elected officials, have created as much enmity and as many disruptive relationships as has Richard W. Johnson, Jr., who was the owner, editor and publisher of four local news papers under the banner: Mendocino Country.  Johnson died Wednesday March 16th, 2011, in hospice care.  He was 66 years old and will be remembered by his stalwart stance  activist vigor and irascible nature.

He was an original organizer of California Certified Organic Farmers, the recipient of the Mendocino Environmental Center’s ‘Walking Stick Award’ in 1992 for promoting an ocean sanctuary off the Mendocino Coast, and as an original proponent of Measure G on the Mendocino County ballot in 2000, which legalized marijuana in Mendocino County.  When we visited he said he wanted to discuss the misunderstood and seldom appreciated Richard Johnson, his life and times.  And he does.

The interview was recorded at the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, CA on February 19^th , 2008.  Richard Johnson’s papers will continue.  Radio Curious Associate Producer, Christina Aanestad and Annie Esposito are publishing Mendocino Country Independent, Vistas and Confluence.  Augusto “Zezzy” Chirre will publish El Sol.

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Radio Curious hosts a conversation with Susan Crane, founder of plowshares who will be discussing her lifetime commitment to ending nuclear proliferation through non-violent direct action.  She’s awaiting sentencing,scheduled for March 2011, for pouring her blood on trident submarine machine bombs in the state of Washington.  A grandmother, in her 60s Susan Crane faces up to 10 years in federal prison for her actions.  In this edition of Radio Curious, Susan Crane discusses practicing a code of non-violence in every day life as well as using non-violent civil disobedience as a means to creating peace in the world.

The interview with Susan Crane was recorded in the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, California, on January 29th, 2011.

The articles Susan Crane recommends instead of a book, are by Judge C.J. Weeramantry and  be read on the links below:

http://www.jonahhouse.org/Disarm_Now_Plowshares/judge-weeramantry-trident.pdf

http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com

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In my opinion, when my friend Ed Reinhart comes here to Ukiah, it is well worth the effort to track him down and listen to him play someone else’s piano and sing along.

And that is what happened the last few days of 2010. The sign said Ed would be playing at the Himalaya Café at the south end of town on New Year’s Eve beginning at 6:30 pm. Now it may seem a bit early to start a New Year’s Eve Party, but Ed is always ready to do things his way, and under the guise of liking to get to bed early, he played and sang Old Lange Syne when it was New Year’s in New York, or in the Ukiah vernacular, 9 p.m.

Now Ed, who masquerades as Earl Dixon, a semi-unknown sort as he likes to say, and/or Rico Suave, a moniker he adopted while living in Ecuador, can play boogie-woogie piano better than most anyone. And that to me makes Earl and Rico all the more confusing as to who they may or may not be.

Ed, etc. have been guests on three previous editions Radio Curious, and those visits are available at www.radiocurious.org. Why so much Ed on Radio Curious? I like him and his music and enjoy our visits. We hope you do too. So Happy New Year to each of you and welcome to the first Radio Curious program recorded in our 21st year on the air.

This interview with Ed Reinhart was recorded in the studios of Radio Curious, in Ukiah, California on January 7, 2011.

The book Ed Reinhart recommends is “World Without End,” by Ken Follett.

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The power of any criminal prosecutor and especially a local district attorney, is immense.  The given job of the DA is to serve justice, and the on-going question is what process to employ in order to achieve justice.  Not all prosecutors have experience as a defense attorney and as a prosecutor.  In Mendocino County, California, David Eyster, an attorney with experience on both sides of criminal cases, was elected to the office of District Attorney and will assume the position of chief law enforcement officer of the county on January 3, 2011.  When he visited the studios of Radio Curious on December 27, 2010, we had a conversation about the role of a criminal defense attorney and how that will affect his new role as prosecutor; his attitude toward “overcharging” criminal violations, what he calls “leveraging the defendant;” the use of the grand jury in criminal cases; and his plans to prosecute unfair business practices.  We began when I asked him about the role of the criminal defense attorney.

The book David Eyster recommends in the “Autobiography of Mark Twain.”

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This week Radio Curious is joined by 3rd District candidates for Supervisor in Mendocino County, incumbent John Pinches and challenger Holly Madrigal. Host and attorney Barry Vogel asks them both the same questions, independently of one another so you can compare their answers.  The interviews were recorded October 8th, 2010, at the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, California.

The book John Pinches recommends is, “Genocide and Vendetta,” by Lynwood Carranco and Estle Beard.

The book Holly Madrigal recommends is, “Last Call,” by Daniel Okrent.

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