Radio Curious

Finding water on a ridge top, as in where is a good place to drill and how deep will it be before there’s good water, is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  Our guest is Rob Schroeder, a water well driller based in Ukiah, California and employed by Weeks Drilling of Sebastopol, California. 

Rob Schroeder says he’s also an amateur dowser.  That’s a person who tries to locate a good spot from which to drill for water by using a divining rod, which is a bent metal rod or a forked branch from a tree.  Rob and I walked in the redwood forest on a ridge top about half way between Ukiah, California and the coastal village of Mendocino, a distance apart as the crow flies of about 35 miles.  In addition to the divining rod, he looked for certain trees and other signs indicating that a vein of water could be near.  You’ll sometimes hear the crunch of leaves as we walked among the trees on November 10, 2013. 

We begin with Rod Schroeder’s description of the divining rod that he uses, how to use it and a guess as to why it works.

The book Rob Schroeder recommends is “Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means,” by Russell Means and Marvin Wolf.

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“What Are You Afraid Of?” is the title of a cd released in August 2013 by singer and songwriter Mary Buckley, our guest in this edition of Radio Curious.  Mary has a wide range of skills and experiences and has been singing her songs since she was a young teenager in the mid-1970s.  She visited the studios of Radio Curious on November 10, 2013, and began her story when I asked her what prompted her to create a cd.

The book Mary Buckley recommends is “A Pattern Language,” by Christopher Alexander.

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One might say that wine is the life blood of Charlie Barra, the founder of Barra of Mendocino Organic Wines.  He’s our guest on this edition of Radio Curious.

Barra was born in 1928, close to his winery, about five miles north of Ukiah, in Mendocino County, California.  His parents, both immigrants from the Piedmont region of Italy, had a long history in the vineyards and grew only organic grapes.  Barra continues that policy now in his vineyards and grows only certified-organic crops.

He says that for the past 67 years he never missed a harvest, claiming that pay day comes once a year, after the harvest is sold.

Charlie Barra and I visited in the kitchen of his home in Ukiah, California on November 1, 2013, and began our conversation with stories of his early memories.

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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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