Radio Curious

Continuing our series on the funeral industry in the United States we visit with the owner of a mortuary in a rural northern California town.  As professionals describe their work and philosophy, George Leinen, owner of Empire Mortuary in Ukiah, California since 2000,  joins us in this edition of Radio Curious to share his thoughts and experiences.  We discuss funeral industry trade associations, business practices in some sectors of the industry, and how our guest’s philosophy evolved.

In this program, recorded in the studios of Radio Curious on September 21, 2013 we began our visit when I asked George Leinen to describe embalming,  what it is, and why it’s done.

The book George Leinen recommends is “The American Way of Death,” by Jessica Mitford.

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The personal journal is often not meant for the eyes of anyone but the writer. When a stranger’s journal is read, the reader often becomes a voyeur to the innermost secrets of another. And whether it is a true journal or one of fiction, who cares? Often, it remains a good story. Lynn Freed, originally of Durban, South Africa, wrote the fictional journal of Agnes LaGrange, entitled “The Mirror,” which reveals the thoughts, feelings, and loves of Agnes, starting when she arrived in South Africa to work as a housekeeper, and ending 50 years later.

Lynn Freed recommends “Misfit,” by Jonathan Yardly, “Essays,” by George Orwell & “Last Days in Cloud Cukooland Dispatches,” by Graham Boynton.

Originally Broadcast: December 12, 1997

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Journalism and civil disobedience is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Mendocino County journalist, Will Parrish, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a major in Sociology and Social Change and a minor in Journalism. Currently, he describes himself as a “social change activist/journalist.”

In this interview recorded in the studios of Radio Curious May 27^th, 2013, Will Parrish describes some of his past experiences as a journalist and continues with his story of why he sat in a tree for a week near Willits, Ca as an act of civil disobedience to protest the building of a highway.

The book Will Parrish recommends is “The Merry Adventurers of Robin Hood” by Howard Pyle.

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You too may be a naturalist, as we find out in this interview with Deborah Edelman, holder of a Master’s Degree in ecology from the University of California at Davis, and Adina Merenlender, holder a doctorate in biology and a University of California Cooperative Extension Specialist.  Together, along with Greg de Nevers they wrote “The California Naturalist Handbook.”  This handbook is an easy to follow guide as well as a text for anyone with interest in nature.

Deborah Edelman and Adina Merenlender visited the studios of Radio Curious on May 17, 2013. We began our conversation with Adina’s description of what a naturalist does.

The books Deborah Edelman recommends are “Story of Stuff:  The Impact of Overconsumption on the Planet, Our Communities and Our Health-And How We Can Make It Better,” by Annie Leonard, and “The Forest Unseen:  A Year’s Watch in Nature,” by David George Haskell.

The books Adina Merenlender recommends are “The Song of the Dodo:  Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction,” by David Quammen, and “The Weather Makers:  How Man is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth,” by Tim Flannery.

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Radio Curious presents a memorial to Michael Toms, the executive producer of New Dimensions Radio, in an interview recorded at his home in Ukiah, California on January 9, 1995.  Michael Toms passed away on January 24, 2013 at the age of 72.  We discuss radio as it was in 1995, his predictions for the future of radio, and many of his personal observations.

For over 40 years, Michael and Justine Toms have produced fascinating and long enduring and endearing programs on public radio with over 5000 programs in their archives.

In this conversation we get his perspective about how radio works, the producer to the listener point of view, and the future of radio.  I asked Michael Toms about his thoughts of the relationship between the producer of a radio program and the listener.

The Books Michael Toms recommends are:

“Feather Fall” by Laurens Van Der Post

“The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog” by Howard Rheingold

“Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine“ by Larry Dossey.

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Crime and criminal justice is the topic.  Our guest is Emeritus Law Professor Gary T. Lowenthal, at the Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law at Arizona State University.  He’s the author of the 2003 book, “Down and Dirty Justice:  A Chilling Journey into the Dark World of Crime and the Criminal Courts.”

This program, recorded on January 7, 2004, and first broadcast in February 2013, began with our discussion about the power structure in the American criminal court systems, where the judge has the authority, but the power often rests with the prosecutor.  We later visit the background of sentencing laws first promoted by President Richard Nixon.

The book Gary Lowenthal recommends is “Seabiscuit” by Laura Hillenbrand.

You may learn more about Professor Lowenthal’s work here.

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Local railroad systems were once the primary, if not the exclusive means of shipping and travel between nearby communities as well as links to those far away.  The California Western Railroad and the Northwestern Pacific Railroad met in Willits in rural Mendocino County in northern California, about 135 miles north of San Francisco.  Virgin old growth redwood trees were logged in the forests along the 40 miles of track to the coastal town Ft. Bragg.  Rail Villages, those isolated communities accessible only by train track prospered and grew.  Then came the automobile and trucks.

In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Richard Jergensen, president of the Mendocino Country Railroad Society, about the history of the California Western and the Northwestern Pacific Railroads, and what their presence did and can do in the future.  He is also the co-author of “How to Build with Grid Bean: A Fast, Easy and Affordable System for Constructing Almost Anything.”  Among a small part of his vast collection of maps, books, histories, posters and other memorabilia laid out throughout his home in Willits for our visit, Richard Jergensen shared a small part of this long story on January 20, 2013.

The book he recommends is “A Confederacy of Dunces,” by John Kennedy Toole.

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The harp, in its early form, is second only to the flute as the oldest known human musical instrument.  The Radio Curious theme music this week is played by professional harpist and harp teacher Jessica Schaeffer, our guest in this edition of Radio Curious.  Intrigued by the harp when she saw it at a piano lesson when she was four years old, she began her formal training to play the harp when she was ten.  Jessica Schaeffer holds a bachelor’s degree in the study of the harp and a Master’s Degree in music; she plays in symphony orchestras and teaches the instrument she loves.  We visited in the studios of Radio Curious where she brought her harp, played for us and told stories, on December 3, 2012.

Jessica Schaeffer’s website is www.jessicaschaeffer.com.  The book she recommends is “The Power of Now,” by Eckhart Tolle.

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