Anthony Arthur – Changing America: Upton Sinclair Style

Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair

Since I was young, I have been intrigued by the work of Upton Sinclair. I remember as a boy hearing about Sinclair’s books and efforts to change the world. A close friend of my family was the writer for Sinclair’s campaign newspaper, when he ran for governor of California in 1934 and, although that was long before I was born, the stories rolled during his later visits. Sinclair is perhaps best know for, “The Jungle,” published in 1906, which openly revealed the inhumane conditions of the Chicago stockyards and how the meatpacking industry operated, resulting in the passage of the pure food and drug laws within months after the books publication.

“Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair,” is a biography written by retired professor Anthony Arthur, released in June 2006, 100 years after the publication of, “The Jungle,” and tells the story of Upton Sinclair’s life and work. Arthur weaves the strands of Sinclair’s contentious public career and his often-troubled private life, which Sinclair at times willingly revealed, into a compelling personal narrative.  Anthony Arthur rates integrity as Sinclair’s greatest strength, and claims his eloquence in writing and speech, along with his reputation for selflessness as the basis of a ground swell of support for Sinclair and his ideas. When I spoke with Professor Anthony Arthur at the end of August 2006, from his home near Los Angeles, California, he began by describing what attracted him to study and write about Upton Sinclair.

Anthony Arthur recommends, “Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph,” by T.E. Lawrence.

Originally Broadcast: September 6, 2006

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Martha McCabe – Culture and Racism

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

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Dr. Steven Miles – A Blind Eye to Torture

Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror

The silence of doctors, nurses and medics during the physical abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan and the information provided by physicians and psychologists to determine how much and what kind of mistreatment could be delivered to prisoners during interrogation is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Dr. Steven Miles, author of, “Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity and the War On Terror,” a book based in-part on eyewitness accounts of actual victims of prison abuse and more than thirty-five thousand pages of documents, autopsy reports and medical records. Dr. Miles is a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and its Center for Bioethics. He is a recognized expert in medical ethics, human rights and international health care. This interview with Dr. Steven Miles was recorded in mid-July 2006, from his office in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We begin when I asked him about his motivation to write a book about the treatment of people who are disarmed and imprisoned.

Steven Dr. Miles recommends, “Bury The Chains: Profits and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves,” by Adam Hochchild.

Originally Broadcast: July 20, 2006

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Christina Baldwin – Creating Community through Stories

Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives though the Power and Practice of Story

Story is the heart of language.  Story moves us to love and hate and can motivate us to change the whole course of our lives.  Story can lift us beyond the borders of our individuality to imagine realities of other people, times and places, to empathize with other beings, and to extend our supposing far into the universe. Storytelling, both oral and written is the foundation of being human.  In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Christina Baldwin, author of,  “Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives though the Power and Practice of Story.”  In Ukiah, California, the idea of capturing, “the story of Ukiah and Mendocino County,” is part of  defining our community’s future and is what will be used in the development of the Ukiah Area Plan, which is now under consideration by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.

Christina Baldwin recommends, “Turning To One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Our Hope for the Future,” by Margaret J. Wheatley.

Originally Broadcast: April 17, 2006

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Mike Tidwell – Destruction of Louisiana

Bayou Farewell, The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast

It is now known that the destruction to southern Louisiana, which occurred as a result of hurricane Katrina in August, 2005, was anticipated by some and should have been anticipated by others.  In this interview recorded in April 2003, and first broadcast in February 2006, our guest is Mike Tidwell, author of, “Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Coastal Louisiana.” Tidwell describes how that vast marshland of coastal Louisiana, home to millions of migratory birds and the source of one-third of America’s seafood, is literally washing out to sea. The bayou region, 6000 square miles in size, remains the fastest disappearing landmass on earth.  An acre of solid ground turns to water every 20 minutes; an area the size of Manhattan Island washes away every ten months.

Mike Tidwell recommends, “Oil Notes,” by Rick Bass.

Originally Broadcast: February 28, 2006

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Neil Proto – Law As A Tool For Social Change

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

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Mikey Weinstein – Update on Evangelism at the U.S. Air Force Academy

The concerns that evangelical Christianity continues to be proselytized at the United States Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, have not lessened since our August 9, 2005 interview with Air Force Academy graduate Attorney Mikey Weinstein. Mikey Weinstein, of Albuquerque, New Mexico is a former Assistant General Counsel in the Reagan White House and former General Counsel for H. Ross Perot. In October 2005, Weinstein sued the United States Air Force in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, alleging violations of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution because of the evangelical proselytization at the Air Force Academy. Details may be found in the first interview with Attorney Weinstein, and the subsequent interviews with Reverend MeLinda Morton and Professor Kristen Leslie at www.radiocurious.org. In this interview, recorded on December 11, 2005, Attorney Weinstein discusses the current status of the litigation; the “Officers’ Christian Fellowship” located at many of the 702 United States Military bases in 132 different counties around the world; what he believes to be the religious efforts and goals of some evangelical Christians; and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a non-profit corporation he is organizing.

Mikey Weinstein recommends “Constantine’s Sword, The Church and the Jews, A History,” by James Carroll,.

Originally Broadcast: December 13, 2005

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John Darnton – Who is Charles Darwin

The Darwin Conspiracy

Who was Charles Darwin and what led him to describe what we now call “the theory of evolution?” These curious questions are ones that I have been following since I was about ten years old. In 1978 I had the good fortune of visiting the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos Island in 1831 for month as part of a five-year voyage around the world. There he saw birds and animals that helped him formulate some of his ideas about evolution he published “The Origin of the Species,” 22 years later in 1853. And the world has not been the same since. Now, at a time when concepts of evolution and natural selection are attacked certain from theological and political perspectives, a novel called “The Darwin Conspiracy,” has been written by John Darnton, a writer and editor for the New York Times. “The Darwin Conspiracy,” although fiction, is said by John Darton to be 90% accurate, and covers Darwin’s life and thinking before and after the publication of “The Origin of the Species.” I spoke with John Darton from his home in New York City at the end of October 2005. He began by describing who Charles Darwin was, in his time and place.

John Darnton recommends “Snow,” by Orhan Pamuk.

Originally Broadcast: November 29, 2005

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Professor Kristen Leslie – Strident Evanglical Themes at the U.S. Air Force Academy

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

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Rev. MeLinda Morton – Evangelical Proselytization at the United States Air Force Academy

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

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