Saving a Small Town Post Office — Ukiah, California

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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Farr, Sam — Status of the Government — A Conversation with California Congressman Sam Farr

This edition of Radio Curious is a visit with Congressman Sam Farr, who represents Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties in the U.S. House of Representatives. We discuss the importance of public radio, the new Tea Party members in congress and some of the differences between the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration.

The interview with Congressman Sam Farr was recorded April 3rd, 2011.

The book he recommends is “When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and it’s First Fifty Years,” by Stanley Meisler.

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Johnson, Jr., Richard W. — A Revolutonary’s Memorial in his Own Words

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 19th , 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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Sheehan, Cindy — Gold Star Mom’s for Peace

Sometimes in peoples lives, something happens that changes them, forever.  Especially when a child dies.  In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Casey Sheehan who was killed in the Iraq War shortly after he enlisted, about 7 years ago.  This event changed her life, dramatically.  She discusses her personal transformation from being an every-day working class mother, to becoming an outspoken peace activist, author and congressional candidate.

The conversation with Cindy Sheehan was recorded March 16th, 2011.

Cindy Sheehan’s book, “Myth America” is available for free on her website: http://cindysheehanssoapbox.com.

The book she recommends is, “Hegemony and Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance,” by Noam Chomsky.

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Moglen, Eben — The Best Spying Ever: Internet Security and the Freedom Box

The best spy system ever created and what the internet does and how it’s controlled by national forces is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  We visit with Columbia Law Professor Eben Moglen, a developer of the Freedom Box, which prevents government, businesses and other intruders from obtaining your personal information and internet uses. His blog is:  http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/blog.

For more information on the Freedom Box Foundation go here: http://freedomboxfoundation.org/.

The book that Eben Moglen recommends is, “Free Software, Free Society,” by Richard Stallman.

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Jerome Waldie — Fair Play for Frogs Part-2

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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Frobish, Nestle J. — Fair Play For Frogs, Part 1

Frogs play an important role in the world’s ecology and are their occasional demise is sometimes noted as an impending ecological disaster. In 1961, a newly elected member of the California State Assembly, Jerome R. Waldie, introduced a bill that read in full:  “Frogs may be taken using slingshot.” Little did he know that this bill would plague him throughout his political career, in the California Legislature, United States Congress, and as a candidate for Governor of California. Our guest is Nestle J. Frobish, the Chair-Creature of the World Wide Fair Play for Frogs Committee, an organization founded in Berkeley, California soon after Waldie introduced what became to be known as the “Frog Murder Bill.”

“Fair Play for Frogs, The Waldie – Frobish Papers,” the collected correspondence between Nestle J. Frobish and Congressman Jerome R. Waldie was published as political spoof in 1977.  Around that time some misguided people, including Congressman Waldie accused me of being Nestle J. Frobish.  Let me make it clear, here and now:  I Barry Vogel am not now, nor ever have been Nestle J. Frobish. However I did speak the with Chair-Creature Frobish by phone as he lurked near a pond at Frog Central in northern Vermont on May 21, 2007, so this rather preposterous story could be told from at least his perspective. My interview with Jerome R. Waldie, humbly presents his perspective and may be found on this web-site.  The interview with Frobish was originally broadcast May 21, 2007.

The book Nestle J. Frobish recommends is “State of Denial,” by Bob Woodward.

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The Power of the Prosecutor — Eyster, Esq., David

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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Munoz, Maca — Community Radio in the Americas

As part of our ongoing series of community radio around the world, Radio Curious speaks with Maca Munoz, an organizer with Palabra Radio.  Radio Curious host and producer Barry Vogel and Maca Munoz both attended the 10th international congress of Community Radio Broadcasters in La Plata, Argentina, along with approximately 500 other community radio delegates from 86 countries who gathered to discuss community radio around the world.

Palabra Radio is an organization that facilitates low power radio station projects in the America’s, from immigrant communities in the United States to rural indigenous communities in Latin America.  Palabra Radio provides training, technical support and other assistance to communities, collectives and social organizations that want to operate a low-power community radio station.  Their website is www.palabraradio.org

The interview with Maca Munoz was recorded on November 12, 2010 in La Plata, Argentina.  The book Maca Munoz recommends is, “Open Veins of Latin America,” by Eduardo Galeano.

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Abuzada, Fadi & Rahman, AHM Bazlur — Community Radio Around the World

Radio Curious host and producer Barry Vogel and associate producer Janet Mendell attended the 10th international congress of the World Association of Community Broadcasters, known as AMARC.  AMARC is a network of more than 4,000 community radio stations, in more than 100 countries.

Founded in 1983, its goal is to democratize the media sector. AMARC advocates for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighborhood levels. It defends and promotes the interests of the community radio movement through global solidarity, networking and cooperation. The 10th AMARC congress was held near Buenos Aires, Argentina the second week of November 2010, with 500 delegates from 86 countries present.

In addition to presenting a workshop on interviewing skills, Radio Curious interviewed conference delegates from several different countries. In this edition of Radio Curious, the first in a series about local community radio around the world, we visit with Fadi Abuzada, a community radio activist in Palestine and AHM Bazlur Rahman, the CEO of the Bangladesh NGO’s Network for Radio and Communication.

The interviews were recorded in November 2010, in La Plata, Argentina.

Fadi Abuzada recommends the movie, The Little Town of Bethlehem.

AHM Bazlur Rahman recommends visiting his organizations website, www.bnnrc.net, instead of reading a book.

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