Radio Curious

Click here to begin listening. What is poetry and song? Perhaps we’ll find out in this program, with guests Ron Whitehead and Sarah Elizabeth from Campbellsville, Kentucky. They visited the studios of Radio Curious in May of 2004. You can learn more about Ron Whitehead and Sarah Elizabeth at their website, www.tappingmyownphone.com. Ron Whitehead & Sarah Elizabeth recommend […]

Click here to begin listening.  Last Kabbalist of Lisbon In the early part of the 1500s in the Iberian Peninsula, which comprises Spain and Portugal, people who were not followers of the Roman Catholic faith were expelled, required to convert to Catholicism or killed. At that time, there was a sizeable Jewish population living in […]

Click here to begin listening.  What is the importance that forgetting has played throughout human history? What will be the effects on society, relationships and humanity now that so many aspects of our lives are digitally preserved? Viktor Mayer-Schönberger author of “Delete: The Virtue Of Forgetting In The Digital Age,” and our guest in this […]

Click here to begin listening. Adam’s Curse, A Future Without Men The Y chromosome, compared to the body’s 45 other chromosomes, is very fragile. It has been worn down by millions years of attrition and over time has lost many of its genes. It is unable to exchange genetic material or repair itself because it does not […]

Click here to begin listening.  The Last Pope “The Last Pope,” by David Osborn, takes us inside the world of the Vatican and the American branch of the Catholic Church. Fictional relationships between the conservative and reform branches of the Catholic Church are revealed in a novel that combines character from both groups. David Osborn recommends […]

Click here to begin listening. In May 1954, the United States Supreme Court, unanimously declared, ”segregation in public education is a denial of the equal protection of the law.” This is a two-part discussion about the aftermath of that decision. Our guest is Dr. Elizabeth Allen, a Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan. […]

Click here to begin listening.  In May 1954, the United States Supreme Court, unanimously declared, ”segregation in public education is a denial of the equal protection of the law.” This is a two-part discussion about the aftermath of that decision. Our guest is Dr. Elizabeth Allen, a Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan. […]

Click here to begin listening. This edition’s guest was Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA). We spoke about the access that the Democrats as the minority party have to the microphone in Congress. We also discussed the 9/11 Commission and its investigation, the Patriot Act, the then upcoming Democratic and Republican National conventions, and the election of 2004. Rep. […]

Click here to begin listening.  Director of, The Future of Food “The Future of Food,” a film written and produced by Deborah Koons Garcia, discusses our food’s conflicting relationship with both mass agri-business and local agriculture. Our discussion was conducted in the context of the passage of Mendocino County’s Measure H, banning growth of GMOs […]

Click here to begin listening.  Ishi’s Brain: In Search of the Last ‘Wild’ Indian In 1911, Ishi, the last Stone Age Indian, walked into the community of Oroville, CA, opening an anthropologic window into the lives of native Californians. In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit with Orin Starn, an anthropologist at Duke University in […]

Click here to begin listening. The Viagra Myth: The Surprising Impact on Love and Relationships Viagra, a drug with infinite name recognition and touted benefits, is, as we know, pervasively advertised on television and the Internet. But what is the truth and what is the fiction about this drug. These and other questions about increasing […]

Click here to begin listening.  Genome & Nature via Nurture: Genes, Experience and What Makes Us Human Are we humans defined by nature or nurture? Matt Ridley, the author of “Genome,” published in 2000, has more recently written “Nature via Nurture: Genes, Experience and What Makes Us Human.” He argues that genes are enablers, rather than constrainers; […]

Click here to begin listening.  The Journey of Man, A Genetic Odyssey Around 60,000 years ago, a man – identical to us in all important genetic respects – lived in Africa. Every person alive today is descended from him. This is known because the secrets of human evolution are hidden in our genetic code. In this edition of […]

Click here to begin listening.  Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are “Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are,” was written by Brooke Kroeger, an Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University. Her book reveals why many ‘passers’ today are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass is an attempt […]

Click here to begin listening.  The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness Hope is one of the most fundamental and powerful of human emotions, and also one of the least studied and understood. “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness,” by Dr. Jerome Groopman, a Professor […]

Click here to begin listening.  My Fellow Americans, The Most Important Speeches of America’s Presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush Michael Waldman, an expert on the Presidency, wrote or edited nearly 2000 speeches, including several of President Clinton’s State of the Union speeches. He is also the editor of “My Fellow Americans, The […]

Click here to begin listening.   The Vagina Monologues The Vagina Monologues, created and produced by Eve Ensler, tell the stories of women, their relationships, feelings, and, in some cases, abuse. In this edition of Radio Curious, we spoke with Eve Ensler about the origin of the the Vagina Monologues and the film, “Until the Violence […]

Click here to begin listening.  Director of, The Human Stain Robert Benton is the director of “The Human Stain,” which is based on the third novel of Philip Roth’s trilogy describing the turmoil of post-WWII America. It exposes the life of Coleman Silk, a Professor of Classics at a small New England College, an eminent Jewish intellectual […]

Click here to begin listening.  Triangle, the Fire That Changed America Until September 11, 2001, The Triangle Shirtwaste Fire on March 25, 1911 was the deadliest workplace disaster in the history of New York City. David Von Drehle, a political writer for the Washington Post, is the author of “Triangle, the Fire That Changed America,” […]

Click here to begin listening.  Our guest in this program is Congressman Mike Thompson, who represents Mendocino County in the House of Representatives. He expressed his frustration with the way the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives controls the House, in the first fully Republican government in the US since 1953. Rep. Mike Thompson […]

Click here to begin listening. This episode was originally broadcasted on November 21, 2003. Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820 to 2000 The development and the expansion of homes, where they are and why they came to be in the places they are, are issues of particular importance to Dolores Hayden, Professor of […]

Click here to begin listening.  This episode was first broadcasted on November 25, 2003 The Lies of George W. Bush, Mastering the Politics of Deception According to David Corn, the author of “The Lies of George W. Bush, Mastering the Politics of Deception,” all American Presidents have lied, but George W. Bush has relentlessly abused […]

This episode was first broadcasted on October 7, 2003 Click here to begin listening.  Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble Our earth is in big trouble. The environment and our economy are in crisis. Essentially, we have created a bubble economy in which we are over-consuming the earth’s natural […]

This episode was first broadcasted on September 2, 2003. Click here to begin listening. Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood Our guest in this program lived in Rhodesia, Malawi and Zambia from 1972 to 1990. Her father joined up on the side of the white government in the Rhodesian civil war, and […]

This program was originally broadcasted on August 12, 2003. Click here to begin listening. Y, The Descent of Men, Revealing the Mysteries of Maleness Professor Steve Jones, author of the book, Y, The Descent of Men, Revealing the Mysteries of Maleness, discusses biological aspects of maleness created by the Y chromosome. Jones explores the effect […]