That's Life

Gitane is French!  French-Canadian to be precise.  She grew up in an entirely French-speaking area of Canada and says she didn't truly learn English until she moved to Santa Monica and no one spoke French!   French to English.  How does that work?  How do you move from speaking (and thinking in) your birth tongue to speaking (and maybe thinking in?) a different language.  Aside from the spelling a...

  What's related to what?  It's complicated. Producing the KDRT radio progam "Jazz After Dark", our own Don Shor knows a lot about jazz and its roots.  Also about some of the spin-offs that have happened over time.  But after talking to him today Lois came away a little dizzy.  It seems that each individual jazz player/ singer/ artist can add whatever flavor they want to their improv in the middle...

    Today on That's Life:  talking tech with Tamra Pica. Tamra and Lois talk about tech every Thursday evening on the video show "The Rundown" with David Paskin and others.  To hear THAT, go to TheRundown.show and follow the link.   But that's then and this is now.  Tamra Pica  agreed to be on Lois' radio show to talk about non-tech things; but we slipped and fell into tech talk as well.  **Sigh.*...

Yolo Basin Foundation's bat expert Corky Quirk know a LOT about the "Bats in our Bypass"! And she freely shared her knowledge and fascinating stories about this non-rodent population.  Yep. That's right. Bats are NOT rodents!  Even though the German word for them (fledermaus) literally means 'flying mouse', they aren't.  Corky says that about half the mammal species in the world are rodent species...

  Heidi Pidcoke. A Quaker, psychotherapist, teacher, and ... In all, a very interesting person.  

Ray Maxwell is a fascinating man.  He has done so many wonderful things, we'd need a month to even  summarize them!  In this episode we touch on a few -- hot air ballooning, finding minerals by looking at vegetation from space, how wind moves over mountain peaks and what those aerial waves and ridges can be used for, changes in vision after cataract surgery, setting up a studio, teaching people to...

David Hosley had led a very full life. Lois could have interviewed him about many many different things and filled up a show -- his long media career (starting at age 12!), being a renowned investigative reporter,  teaching at various colleges and universities, UC administration, managing LOTS of radio and tv stations, producing six documentaries, training journalists in ethics, heading non-profit...

Lois recently discovered the beautiful music of James Galway and is eager to share it with you.  Hope you enjoy this flute music .

     Davis employs a wildlife biologist named John McNerney to oversee all things natural in the City.  John  has been on the show several times (all archived for your listening pleasure!). This time our discussion focussed on the turkeys and other 'wild' animals in the City and what people should or should NOT do in their interactions.  Although I hope you will listen to this entire episode; here...

KDRT's Hawaiian expert  Beth Post is today's guest. Her radio show "Na Mele O Hawaii" is one of the most popular on this station!  And the story of how it came to be and what changes it has made in her family's is fascinating. Beth first became involved with KDRT when a  friend started the "Road Scholar" show about home-schooling and needed a back up. Beth and her daughter started helping out and...

Ann Ranlett is an artist.  A SCRATCHBOARD artist.  What's that, you say?  Listen to today's show and find out!  Lois found Ann while researching a 'drawing' to be donated to the Friends of Art for their auction at the Yolo County Fair.  (Anyone know a local artist named "H. Friend" who was been making things in 1972?)  Once Lois figuring out this was not a drawing, but actually a scratchboard; she...

  "What is Friendship?: a discussion with friends" Three of Lois' friends -- Leanne Friedman , Marilee Eusebio , and Autumn Labbe-Renault -- joined her to talk about friendship and friendliness .   [Originally aired  6/14/2018;  re-aired 7/7/2026.]  

Three of Lois' friends -- Leanne Friedman, Marilee Eusebio, and Autumn Labbe-Renault -- joined her to talk about friendship and friendliness.  

Reese Rowland from the City of Davis spoke about his work on Stormwater Pollution Prevention.  Do you know where your water comes from and where it goes? Listen to today's show and find out! 

A repeat of the show with  John Puett  about D&D, photography, and the Office Hours  / After Hours community. [First broadcast  03/17/2022;  aired again  04/23/2025 and 05-06-2025.]

Jeff Peterson's CD "Slack Key Travels" Bird behaviors (info via Lois).  

Corky's back!  To talk to us about bats, bats, and more bats!   -- primarily the Mexican Free-tail Bat which is so plentiful under the I-80 freeway at the causeway.  Size, shape, habit -- all the things that one can know about these insect-devouring friends -- that's what Corky Quirk has for us today.  And then there are the mysteries that scientists still haven't learns.  The crack in the attache...

Who's Tyler Lee, you ask? He's a very nice young man who Lois met at KDRT when he and another fellow were alphabetizing vinyl records in our library.  Lois, of course, started chatting with Tyler and (not unusually) ended up asking him to come and be on the show.  And he agreed! This is a man with a wonderful story.  I hope you have as much fun listening to this show as we had making it. 

Starting about 15 into this weeks show, Lois interviewed Mark Blake, the owner of Blake's Heating and Air Conditioning.     Lois asks him about how extremely hot weather affects the efficacy of your A/C, how to maintain your system to cost you the least, and operate the best.   Listen to learn and enjoy!

Songs from the Debbie Harry Blondie CD "Once More Into The Bleach" [1988, Chrysalis]      

Summertime 2009  brought songs from "Misner & Smith" off their brand new album -- which was the first of MANY!  For current info, see   MisnerAndSmith.com (Also, as our PSA, info about controlling mosquitoes in your yard.)

Dierdre Wolownick , author of  "The Sharp End of Life" , shares her stories and introduces us to her son, Alex Honnold , who not only taught her to climb but is also the central figure in the recent award-winnig movie "Free Solo" .  This show will give you a feel for what modern climbing is like and help you know more about this fascinating woman.  Dierdre climbed Yosemite's El Capitan when she wa...

Today on "That's Life", Lois and Sharla Hardy talk about DCTV , SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) , brother Jim, art, history, and shared experiences. "Don't mix ammonia with clorox!" If you watched any of Lois' DCTV productions (from 1992 thru 2003), you saw some wonderful camera work by  Sharla Hardy .  She was part of the repetoire crew that helped me produced many shows and several series...

It's starting to sound a lot like Christmas! Here are a few carols to pass the time. First broadcast December 2025.

  A few of you were around in the  70s and 80s and knew John Denver.   For you, here are some of his early songs.  Some other listeners have never even HEARD of John Denver!  For you, here is an introduction to one of the most influential singers of his time.  I've included some history of John as well as some of his music.  Today's songs are from his famous  "Rocky Mountain High"  album.  (The CD...