Radio Curious

Click here to begin listening.  How many of us are lonely? What is loneliness and how does it affect us? Approximately 25 years ago, when asked the number of friends in whom we could confide, most people in the United States said “three.” When that question was asked recently most people said “none.” Inquires reveal […]

Click here to begin listening.  In the story of Don Quixote, the author Miguel Cervantes tells, among other things, what Don Quixote ate for dinner every day of the week. This, in part became the inspiration for a book entitled, “Cooking from the Heart of Spain: Food of La Mancha,” written by Janet Mendel, an […]

Click here to begin listening.  In this edition of Radio Curious, we cross the line, if there is one, between politics and religion and visit with Rabbi Phil Posner to consider, among other things, ethics and moral courage. Rabbi Posner is the author of a fictional encounter, “Food For Thought, Character and Soul,” where he […]

Click here to begin listening. In 2004, filmmaker Katy Chevigny followed eleven Americans from dawn until past midnight and put a face on the voting rights issues to reveal the disparity between wealthy and poor neighborhoods, and the disenfranchisement of former felons. This became the documentary film, “Election Day.” Katy Chevigny founded Arts Engine, a […]

Click here to begin listening.  Non-lethal chemical warfare may be an oxymoron to some, but it was actually the goal of a U.S. Army research program in the 1960s and 70s at Edgewood Arsenal, an army arsenal in Maryland. The research goal was to find incapacitating non-lethal chemical weapons that would cause the enemy to […]

Click here to begin listening.  Digital, analog, long playing records, cassettes… How do they bring sound to our ears? In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with audio engineer and producer Gregg McVicar, one of the first independent radio producers to convert to digital audio technology. He produces a daily five hour eclectic music […]

Click here to begin listening.  Behind the scenes in Per Se, a four star restaurant in New York City, a sister restaurant to The French Laundry in Napa, California, is one of the topics in this edition of Radio Curious.  Phoebe Damrosch, author of, “Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter,” was the first female captain (head waiter) […]

Click here to begin listening.  The Virtues of Aging – Considering the alternatives, growing older is really not all that bad. The frame of mind that we develop and carry with us as we age controls much of how we feel and behave. James Earl Carter Jr., more often known as Jimmy Carter, the 39th […]

Click here to begin listening.  Polygamy used to be a central aspect in Mormon beliefs. However, it has not been for over 100 years now, due partly to considerable effort by Ann Eliza Young, one of Brigham Young’s many wives. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with David Ebershoff, the author of “The 19th Wife”, […]

Click here to begin listening.  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 […]

 Click here to begin listening. 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 […]

Click here to begin listening.  Ukiah, California, a small vibrant community, approximately 100 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge is the home to the Ukiah Players Theater. An annual May fundraiser for the theater offers a tour of old and new homes on the west side of town, offered by the residents willing to […]

Click here to begin listening.  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 […]

Click here to begin listening.  There is a lot of discussion about hope in this time of the pending election for president.  Francis Moore Lappe, author of, “Diet for a Small Planet,” discusses the need to give up certain old assumptions in her new book, “Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad.”  […]

Click here to begin listening.  Of two people, William Shakespeare and Edward De Vere, whose lives overlapped, De Vere had many of the experiences described in the literary works attributed to William Shakespeare. This conversation with Michael A’Dair and William Ray, two gentlemen intellectuals from Willits, California explores some of the reasons they believe De […]

Click here to begin listening.  North America, as we have known for millennia, has been populated by ethnic groups looking for a new place to live. Beginning in the early 17th Century and through the present time, Jewish people from around the world have seen North America as a favored place to live and in […]

Click here to begin listening.  Efforts to change culture memes or ideas of what we think sometimes result in the promoter of those new ideas being labeled with a negative banner. David Wann, the author of “Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle,” our guest in this edition of Radio Curious, was a […]

Click here to begin listening.  The chance to interview another interviewer is an opportunity I like to take. A chance came on September 4, 2007, when I was able to visit with Ira Flatow, the host of “Science Friday,” a part of Talk of the Nation, on NPR. We talked about some ideas and concepts he raises […]

Click here to begin listening.  Originally recorded on July 21, 2007. Since 2000, ambitious young evangelicals have made their way to Patrick Henry College, a small Christian school near Washington, D.C. Most of them are home schoolers whose idealism and discipline put the average American teenager to shame. At “God’s Harvard” they are groomed to […]

Click here to begin listening.  “The Endless War,” a movie released in late July 2007, written, directed and produced by Charles Ferguson, depicts the blunders and ill-prepared manner in which the United States initiated and carried out the war against Iraq. This full-length feature film juxtaposes the statements and actions of the Washington leadership of […]

Click here to begin listening.  Those of us who use the internet are subject to the words and wisdom, or lack thereof, provided by the people and or machines that upload ideas and content. The democratization of the internet, allowing anyone to post anything is, in the mind of Andrew Keen, our guest of this […]

Click here to begin listening. This program was originally broadcast May 7, 2007. The consequences of growing genetically modified alfalfa were deteremined by the United States District Court in San Francisco, California to be so uncertain and so potentially dangerous that they were outlawed nation-wide in litigation brought by the Center for Food Safety based […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: April 4, 2007 I Can Read You Like a Book Have you ever wondered what some body movements mean when people hear certain words or see certain images? Many of these body movements are involuntary reactions inherent to the individual or culturally based. “I Can Read You Like […]

Originally Broadcast: March 21, 2007 Click here to begin listening. River of Renewal, Myth & History in the Klamath Basin Since the last Ice Age ended about 12,000 years ago, human beings have traveled along the Klamath River and it tributaries in the northwest corner of California and the coast of southern Oregon. Many people […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: March 28, 2007 French Seduction: An American’s Encounter with France, Her Father, and the Holocaust. In a passionate blend of autobiography and cultural history, love, sex and art collide with hatred, withering French xenophobia and death, Eunice Lipton, our guest in this edition of Radio Curious, describes her […]

Click here to begin listening. This program was originally broadcast on February 21, 2007. The Oregon Caves, located about 70 miles northeast of Crescent City, California in the Oregon Caves National Monument, are a place full of interest, mystery, and history. The caves were located in 1874 when Elijah Davidson chased his dog into the […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: December 6, 2006 A Graceful Farewell: Putting Your Affairs in Order Putting your affairs in order before you die is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Maggie Watson, a professional organizer who lives on the Mendocino Coast in Northern California. She is the […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: December 20, 2006 Primal Healing: Access the Incredible Power of Feelings to Improve you Health The alleviation of human angst and emotional pain or distress is the goal of psychotherapy. Dr. Arthur Janov, together with his wife Dr. France Janov, believe the traditional, century-old method of talk therapy is not […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: November 8, 2006 This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession The understanding of how we humans experience music and why it plays a unique role in our lives is this topic of two interviews with Dr. Daniel Levitin, author of, “This Is Your […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: November 1, 2006 This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession The understanding of how we humans experience music and why it plays a unique role in our lives is this topic of two interviews with Dr. Daniel Levitin, author of, “This Is Your […]

Click here to begin listening.  Originally Broadcast: October 10, 2006 The Wonder of Boys, 10th Anniversary Edition We explored the difficulties that boys have growing up in American society ten years ago, in a two-part interview with Michael Gurian, author of, “The Wonder of Boys: What Parents, Mentors and Educators can do to Shape Boys […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: September 6, 2006 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 […]

Click here to begin listening.  Originally Broadcast: August 2, 2006 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 […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: August 9, 2006 Errors and Omissions Who owns the rights to a play, a song, or a work of art? How important and fragile is the authorship? These and other issues of intellectual property rights begin to be revealed in, “Errors and Omissions,” a novel by Stanford Law […]

Click here to begin listening.  Originally Broadcast: June 28, 2006 and July 5, 2006 The Culture Code, An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around The World Live and Buy As They Do The collective unconscious may be defined as a cultural code, a set of imprinted concepts that control how members of different societies […]

Click here to begin listening.  Originally Broadcast: June 28, 2006 and July 5, 2006 The Culture Code, An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around The World Live and Buy As They Do The collective unconscious may be defined as a cultural code, a set of imprinted concepts that control how members of different societies […]

Click here to begin listening. This interview with Dr. Steven H. Miles was recorded in mid July 2006. The silence of doctors, nurses and medics in cases of torture and physical abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Dr. Steven Miles, the author […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: May 9, 2006 With the help of a camera, especially a digital camera, and the internet we may now see portions of what other people see and have sent our way or perhaps have made public. Sometime soon I hope to present some visual images I think are […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: April 12, 2006 Letters to Sam:A Grandfather’s Lessons on Love, Loss and the Gifts of Life For most people, the desire to be known exceeds the desire to be loved. Who we are as individuals, how we reckon with our personal abilities and disabilities the topic of this […]

Click here to begin listening.  Originally Broadcast: April 18, 2006 The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain Do people over a certain age necessarily loose mental acuity? According to Dr. Gene Cohen, the answer is “no.” Dr. Cohen, a psychiatrist and gerontologist has determined that certain genes are activated by experience as […]

Click here to begin listening.  Originally Broadcast: December 5, 2005. Concepts of “reality” have many levels, some of which are gained by fasting, and/or the use of certain plants that allow a person to view the past, present or  and future.  This is especially true for cultures which cherish and practice the oral tradition and […]

Click here to begin listening. Originally Broadcast: December 13, 2005 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 […]

Click here to begin listening. 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, […]

Click here to begin listening. Hold On to Your Kids, Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers The economic and cultural changes that have occurred in North American society in the past fifty or so years have resulted in today’s children looking to and associating with their peers instead of their parents, for direction, […]

Click here to begin listening.  William Gibson’s new play “Golda’s Balcony” is the story of Golda Meir, her life, her love, her work and it’s a significant part of the story of Israel. This one-woman play is currently being performed by Tovah Feldshuh at the ACT Theatre in San Francisco, California until August 13. Tovah […]

Click here to begin listening. There are concerns that evangelical Christianity is close to being officially sanctioned at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as well as within other areas of the United States’ military forces. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit some of these issues with Mikey Weinstein, a […]

Click here to begin listening.  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, […]

Click here to begin listening.  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 […]

Click here to begin listening.  Few moments in American history have held the tension of the early 1970s. The nation was fundamentally divided between the jaded counter-culture and Nixon’s ‘silent majority,’ a rupture particularly connected to the still-escalating Vietnam War. The release to the public of the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971 focused […]

Click here to begin listening.  Don’t Know Much About History, Everything you Need to Know About American History But Never Learned “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of […]