Radio Curious

Click here to begin listening.  Stargazer, the Life and Times of the Telescope The history of the telescope is a rich story of human ingenuity and perseverance involving some of the most colorful figures in the scientific world. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Dr. Fred Watson, the Astronomer-in-Charge of the Anglo-Australian […]

Click here to begin listening.  Genocide is the intent to exterminate in whole or in part a specific group of people often based on nationality, ethnicity, race or religion. For the past two years, in the Darfur region of the nation of Sudan, located in north central Africa and populated primarily by black Africans, the Sudanese […]

Click here to begin listening.  Though some people dislike the idea, money has become an important and complex aspect of life. Many choose to invest in stocks and mutual funds, hoping for financial growth with and without guidance from a knowledgeable advisor. With five million people responsible for the financial interests of others, there is very little […]

Click here to begin listening. The Hidden Jury, and Other Tactics Lawyers Use to Win What happens when a guilty person is acquitted of crime? Or worse, when an innocent person is convicted of a crime? This injustice can sometimes be prevented with the help of jury consultants, people who assist lawyers in picking juries […]

Click here to begin listening.  The war that the United States has invoked in what is often called the “War On Terror” is unusual in many ways. One of those ways is that this war is being fought against a network that is spread out in many unsuspecting and obscure places. It is not being […]

Click here to begin listening.  My Hometown Concentration Camp Bernard Offen, age 72, survived five Nazi concentration camps in Poland during World War Two, when he was a young teenager. He now leads tours of these concentration camps and tells his story in this interview. Bernard Offen recommends “My Hometown Concentration Camp,” by himself. Originally […]

Click here to begin listening.  When recruiters from the Armed Forces of the United States seek out volunteers, they often portray military life to be a great adventure. They talk of schooling, travel and excitement. Sometimes that is not the case. In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit Sgt. Frank Pacino, who spent his early life in […]

Click here to begin listening.  The American Folklife Preservation Act of 1976 directed the Library of Congress to gather stories and art of everyday people to reflect the identity of America, which is recognized as the core of family and community life. The thought is that by linking us to the past we are better […]

Click here to begin listening.  On the eastern slope of the Continental Divide, about an hour’s drive east of San Jose, Costa Rica, is the Rain Forest Aerial Tram, a tramway that travels through, above and below the rain forest canopy. The rain forest canopy is home to more diverse forms of flora and fauna than […]

Click here to begin listening.  The Last Pope It is no secret that the papal conclave met April 18, 2005 to elect the head of one of the world’s few remaining imperial monarchies. However, those participating in the conclave and those assisting the Cardinals who will elect the next pope are sworn to secrecy regarding all […]

Click here to begin listening.  American Mania, When More is Not Enough Not so long ago before the common use of devices operated by electricity our lives were generally much more calm. And as humans we have a biological a heritage of being are curiosity driver, reward seeking and harm avoiding creatures. The conflict that […]

Click here to begin listening.  This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace Women Waging Peace is a global policy-oriented initiative working to integrate women into the peace process. Swanee Hunt, a former United States Ambassador to the Austria, founded it. Swanee Hunt is also the author of “This Was Not Our War; […]

Click here to begin listening.  Guiding Lights: The People Who Lead Us Toward Our Purpose in Life Every one of us, in every social role that we play, is a teacher and a mentor. Who has influenced us, and how we pass that influence along is a question that goes to the heart of both learning and […]

Click here to begin listening.  Nixon at the Movies, A Book About Belief Richard Nixon, and the movies he watched while he was president… On his third night in office, January 22, 1969 Nixon saw The Shoes of the Fisherman in the White House movie theater. From then until August 1973, when he resigned the presidency Nixon […]

Click here to begin listening.  Each of the 435 members of the House of Representatives in the United States Congress represents approximately 680,000 people, and is elected every two years. Mike Thompson is in his 4th term representing California’s 1st Congressional District that includes the northwest coast of California. Congressman Thompson visited the studios of Radio Curious […]

Click here to begin listening.  Anamika Sharma, the lead character in the novel Babyji, by Abha Dewasar grows up in Delhi, India, studying quantum physics at school and sex out of school. The story follows the life of a girl who sets her own rules in a culture that historically demands the opposite. Our conversation […]

Click here to begin listening. How can we assure ourselves that the food we eat is safe, nutritious and energy-efficient? If we are what we eat, we ought to know what we will become. That may be the concept underlying what is coming to be known as the slow food movement. Glenn McGourty is the […]

Click here to being listening.  Lori Berenson is a 35-year-old woman from New York who has been in prison in Peru since 1996 for allegedly conspiring with Peruvian revolutionaries, known as MRTA, (Movimiento Revoluncionario Tupac Amaru). Lori Berenson was twice convicted in Peru, first by judges who shrouded themselves in hoods, and then again in […]

Click here to begin listening.  Alienable Rights: The Exclusion of African Americans in a White Man’s Land, 1619 to 2000 “Alienable Rights: The Exclusion of African Americans in a White Man’s Land, 1619 to 2000” is a book in part written by Francis Adams, an independent scholar living in Los Angeles, California. The book posits that the […]

Click here to begin listening.  Born To Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture In the past 50 years, the advent of television as a medium for advertising has had significant effects on the buying habits of everyone, and especially on children. MRI scans on the brain, and the development of neuro-marketing are used […]

Click here to begin listening.  A Hole In My Life Have you ever been incarcerated? Locked in a prison cell for a number of years? That is what happened to Jack Gantos for being a crew member on a boat that smuggled a ton of hashish from St. Croix, in the Virgin Islands, to New […]

Click here to begin listening.  The First Idea: How Symbols, Language and Intelligence Evolved From Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans “The First Idea: How Symbols, Language and Intelligence Evolved From Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans,” is a book by professors Stanley Greenspan and Stuart Shanker. Their hypotheses assert that our ability to use symbols […]

Click here to begin listening.  Yael Berda is a young Israeli lawyer, born in New York and raised in Jerusalem. At the age of 14, she became involved in a struggle to free her parents from debtors’ prison and the experience changed her life. She has since become a leader of a non-violent movement for reconciliation and […]

The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11 The forces behind the disasters of September 11, 2001 are said to be unclear and undefined, notwithstanding the Official Report of the 9/11 Commission. David Ray Griffin, a Professor Emeritus from the Claremont School of Theology, and the author of “The New Pearl Harbor: […]

Click here to begin listening. In this edition of Radio Curious, we take a look at the cello, the kind of musical instrument it is and the sounds it makes. My guest is Jed Barahal, a concert cellist extraordinaire, who lives in Porto, Portugal and performed with pianist Christina Margotto, his wife, and Amari Barash, an […]