Radio Curious

Consider spending time on death row and turning that experience into the drive to get a doctorate? In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Professor Rudolph Alexander Jr. Ph.D., author of “To Ascend Into The Shining World Again”. As a 17 year old student Rudolph Alexander found himself in a threatening situation in which he felt compelled to shoot another man. In his trial he felt he was badly misrepresented by his attorney and was convicted and sentenced to death by the electric chair in the State of Georgia. Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1968, Rudolph’s sentence was changed to life imprisonment. He was later granted trusty status, which aided him in securing parole in 1975. Rebounding from his ordeal, Alexander began college, earning four degrees, including a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Minnesota. Presently Alexander is a full Professor at Ohio State University.

We spoke with Rudolph Alexander from his home in Ohio on October 26, 2009 and began by asking him to reflect on the extremes he has experienced in his life.

The book recommended by Rudolph Alexander is “My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir,” by Justice Clarence Thomas, of the United States Supreme Court.

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How can you reach 100 years leading a healthy and fulfilling life? Lillian Brown Vogel, Ph.D., reached 100 in September 2009 and  published her book “What’s My Secret,” a memoir looking across her life and imparting thoughts and ideas to those of us who would wish to lead a long and active life.

Lillian is the mother of Radio Curious host and producer Barry Vogel.  He remembers from his childhood hearing her get to the heart of most any matter with a few simple questions.  A skill which helped put him onto his own curious path in life. This conversation recorded on October 31,  2009, begins by inquiring what makes Lillian curious.

The book recommended by Lillian Brown Vogel, Ph.D., is “The Blue Tattoo: The Life Of Olive Oatman.”

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The executive director of Mendocino County Tomorrow, Robin Collier, known locally for her skills in making excellent cheese cake, is the guest on this edition of Radio Curious. We visited on October 5, 2009 and discussed the organization and background of Mendocino County Tomorrow, as well as the corporation which funds it Developers Diversified Realty, its campaign in favor of Measure A and who would pay for the consequences of anything that’s built on the old Masonite property. I began by asking her to explain her role as Executive Director of Mendocino County Tomorrow.

The book recommended by Robin Collier is “Water For Elephants,” by Sara Gruen.

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Everybody thinks about love and many people say “I love you”, but how is love defined? The book “How To Love” written by psychiatrist Dr. Gordon Livingston answers these and many other questions about love and how to find a compatible and pleasurable partnership. In this interview, we discuss how to choose more carefully in matters of love to get what we desire and deserve. The song “Do You Love Me?” from the musical “Fiddler On The Roof,” is our background music. Dr. Gordon Livingston spoke from his home in Columbia, Maryland on July 13th 2009, where he lives and practices psychiatry. The conversation began when I asked Dr. Livingston to define love.

The book Dr. Gordon Livingston recommends is “All He Ever Wanted,” by Anita Shreve.

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Are you jealous? Have you ever been? Do you know the origin of your jealousy? Jealousy often goes hand in hand with feelings of love, but where does this emotion come from, and how can we manage it? In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Marcianne Blevis, author of “Jealousy: True Stories of Love’s Favorite Decoy.” In this book, Marcianne Blevis, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who lives and works in Paris, France, reveals the different ways jealousy affects people and suggests methods to understand and manage what can be a very destructive yet elusive emotion. She examines the deeper consequences of jealousy and inquires if jealousy is useful to us, and is this extraordinary passion in reality a strategy for survival. In this conversation with Marcianne Blevis from her home in Paris, France recorded on February 2nd, 2009 we began by asking her to explain what jealousy is?

The book she recommends is “Aux Confins De L’Identite” by Michel d’Musan currently only available in french.

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The issue of sexual orientation plagues people in many different ways — political upheaval that sometimes include religious or physical violence. But then politics, religion and violence are integral to human belief systems. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Irwin Keller, also known as “Winnie,” a founder and current member of “The Kinsey Sicks,” the Dragapella Beautyshop acapella Quartet.  The name, “The Kinsey Sicks” comes from Alfred Kinsey’s sexual orientation scale of homosexual men, the measure of which Irwin Keller explains in our conversation. Blasphemy, one of the hallmarks of the Kinsey Sicks resounds in their work and in the echoes of this interview recorded in a Northern California synagogue on July 28, 2008. We began when I asked Irwin Keller to describe “Winnie,” the character he portrays and the origin of “The Kinsey Sicks,” but first lets listen to the remainder of “Trixie” the second song on their newest CD, “Sicks, Sicks, Sicks!”  You can learn more about the Kinsey Sicks by visiting their website, www.kinseysicks.com

The book Irwin Keller recommends is, “The Seventh Well,” by Fred Wander and Michael Hoffman

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Dr. Dan Gottlieb is a practicing psychologist living and working near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has experienced quadriplegia for approximately 30 years when he broke his back and severed his spinal cord as a result of an automobile accident. His 2008 book, “Learning From the Heart: Lessons on Living, Loving and Listening,” shares some of his life experiences. In this conversation he explains how 30 years ago he could not have imagined that he would have become a quadriplegic, lose both his parents and his wife, and be a now happy and contented person. This interview was recorded May 14, 2008.

The book Dr. Dan Gottlieb recommends is, “The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness,” by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

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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., the owner, editor and publisher of four local newspapers under the banner of Mendocino Country, since 1984. Johnson, who characterizes himself as a community organizer, lives in his office in downtown Ukiah, CA, overlooking Courthouse Square; he claims among many other things to be the original organizer of California Certified Organic Farmers, the Recipient of Walking Stick Award from Mendocino Environment Center in 1992 for promoting Ocean Sanctuary off the Mendocino Coast, and the original proponent of Measure G on the 2000 ballot. When I invited him to visit Radio Curious he said he would like to discuss “the amazing but little understood and seldom appreciated Richard Johnson, his life and times.” We touched on those and a few other topics in this conversation, recorded in the studios of Radio Curious on February 19, 2008, and began when I asked him about some of the areas where he would like to be better understood.

Richard W. Johnson, Jr. said he does not have time to read, but you can read what he writes in his newspapers and at www.mendocinocountry.com.

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Reinforcement of desired behavior is the key to animal training. As humans, we are subject to the same way of learning. Amy Sutherland, author of, “What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers,” shares many ideas about how to achieve more desirable relationships with friends and loved ones. This Program was recorded on March 19, 2008.

The book Amy Sutherland recommends is, “Demonic Males: Apes and the Origin of Human Violence,” by Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson.

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