Ojai: Talk of the Town

The film "Walk the Line" won Oscars for both its leads, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, as it chronicled a dark period in the Man in Black's life. The film doesn't mention Ojai by name, but he lived five years in the Ojai Valley, high above Casitas Springs. I spend an hour talking with the superb writer Mark Lewis about Cash's many Ojai stories, starting fires in the Sespe, drinking at the...

The 74th Ojai Music Festival will still take place June 11 to June 14, but due to the pandemic, it will occur virtually as we learn from Ara Guzelimian, who takes over from Chad Smith as artistic director after this year's festival. Guzelimian is busy planning for the 75th anniversary festival for June 2021, with minimalist legend John Adams as music director, putting modern American composers in...

This episode, Nomi Morris, who teaches writing and journalism at University of California at Santa Barbara, talks about her experiences closing out the semester at UCSB, the challenges of teaching in a pandemic and how this cohort of 2020 students is being shortchanged of the personal interactions that are critical to a well-rounded education. To that point, she says the young people of today don'...

We check in with Tom Maloney, executive director of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, just as the preserve have seen a surge in use (and abuse) from the pandemic. The swimming hole on the Ventura River preserve has particularly seen huge crowds, with trash and graffiti marring that beautiful place such that the OVLC board (full disclosure, of which the podcast host is a member) has made the agoniz...

Jesse Phelps, media coordinator for the Lakota Peoples Law Project, part of the Romero Institute, has found his work more important than ever during the Covid19 outbreak. The Lakota and Oglala peoples in South Dakota have formed mutual aid efforts to screen people coming into and their reservations for the virus. Given their poverty and lack of access to quality medical care, it is imperative &nbs...

Robin Gerber, a well-known author, attorney and president of the Committee for Replacing Oil & Gas, talks about how her group received a $50,000 grant (the first yet) from the Ojai Valley Defense Fund to represent Ojai's interests as Ventura County moves forward with its General Plan. Robin says that fracking, the imminent threat that caused CFROG to form, isn't on the horizon yet, but the sit...

In this episode of "Ojai: Talk of the Town," we check in with Ojai's Rotie's co-owner and chef, Claud Mann. A wonderful storyteller, Claud talks about being on the front lines feeding Ojai residents during this pandemic, trying to keep as many of his talented staff employed as possible. Claud talks about the business of restaurants, the low-profit margins, the hard work, and that moment when a che...

We check in with Michael Addison, distinguished Shakespeare actor, director and producer, former artistic director of the California Shakespeare Festival and founder of the Bell Arts Factory. In 1603 and 1613, the Globe Theater (and other theaters) in London were closed an astonishing 60 percent of the time due to plaque-related quarantines. It is believed that some of Shakespeare's finest works,...

We talk with Dr. Pops about the state of readiness of Ojai for the Covid-19 crisis. We talk about Ojai Valley Community Hospital's imminent opening of their continuing care center, acute care center and the community's tremendous support of health care initiatives. Dr. Gus Iwasiuk's incredible surgery to save the life of a man who was skewered by a length of rebar was also remembered fondly. The h...