“The Obama campaign is mobilizing a strong grassroots effort in rural parts of Ohio and other Midwestern states. It seems his strategists learned from John Kerry’s 2004 campaign where rural areas were mostly ignored.” -WKSU Reporter Kevin Niedermier
Hi, this is Aaron Henkin, your host and curator for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. Each week on this podcast we spotlight the outstanding work that’s being produced at local public radio stations across the country, and this week we tune in for an insightful political report by WKSU’s Kevin Niedermier. This week, Senator Barack Obama’s political star is of course shining bright at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, but across the country in rural areas, voters are taking his presidential candidacy with a grain of salt. As you’ll hear in Kevin’s report, a lot of small-town voters across Ohio are yet to be convinced that Obama’s candidacy is worth supporting. Here’s more from Kevin…
You got quite an earful from rural Ohio voters during the making of this story! It sounds like folks are skeptical about everything from Obama’s sincerity, to his experience, to his color. I wonder, what surprised you most about what you heard during your conversations in Bolivar and Strasburg?
The biggest surprise for me was the number of undecided voters. With the exception of the barber and his customer, who both plan to cast ballots for John McCain, the majority of people I spoke with were still waiting to decide. Some said it would depend on vice presidential choices, others wanted to hear more from both candidates.
I could literally hear tension in the air in that barbershop in Strasburg as the man voiced his racial misgivings about Obama… was that a weird moment for you as a reporter?
It didn’t feel weird as much as it was surprising he would admit his feelings in front of an open microphone. The tension actually wasn’t too high. He happily posed for a picture afterwards and was eager to know when he was going to be on the radio. I did get an angry phone call from the barber’s daughter who accused me of goading her dad into making his comment to make a sensational story. His comment drew a lot of negative reaction in their small town.
What do you think people in urban areas and on the coasts understand the least about the mind of the mythical ‘Midwestern rural voter’?
…That most rural voters are ignorant of the issues and spend most of their time shooting guns and drinking beer. Most of the people I spoke were well informed and closely following the campaigns.
Does it seem likely that Obama will try to spend time and energy in these areas, reaching out to voters, or is he going to chalk up his losses and concentrate his efforts elsewhere?
The Obama campaign is mobilizing a strong grassroots effort in rural parts of Ohio and other Midwestern states. It seems his strategists learned from John Kerry’s 2004 campaign where rural areas were mostly ignored. Kerry lost Ohio to George W. Bush by a slim margin, and many people blame the lack of rural campaigning.
I suspect you’ll be busy reporting during the months ahead, as the presidential campaign puts Ohio on the map… what’s on the political calendar there? Any more big campaign stops coming up soon in your area?
I’m going to Denver to follow the Ohio delegation at the DNC. Our news director is covering the RNC. And if 2000 AND 2004 are any indication, we will be busy covering plenty of campaign stops in Northeast Ohio between now and November.
Is political reporting your bailiwick? What other sort of work do you do at WKSU?
We have a small news staff and nobody has a true beat. We’re all general assignment reporters. I run our one-person Cleveland bureau, and fill in as anchor when needed.
You can hear more reports from Kevin and WKSU online at The Public Radio Exchange. That’s where reporters and producers from around share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at www.prx.org.
“Even if your garden only yields one tomato… I think the attempt to actually do something about your situation says a lot.” -WRVO Reporter/Producer Jasmyn Belcher
Thanks for checking out the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. I’m Aaron Henkin. What’s the Station Showcase all about, you ask? Basically, we make it our mission here each week to shine a light on the excellent work being produced locally at the hundreds of public radio stations across the country. This week, our search takes us to WRVO in Syracuse, New York. That’s where the talented Jasmyn Belcher has been working for the past year as a news reporter and producer. Jasmyn recently put together a story about a new initiative from the Food Bank of Central New York: it’s a program that encourages needy families to cut down on grocery bills by growing their own food. As you’ll hear… even just one homegrown tomato plant in a bucket can make a difference.
First off, I wanted to give you my compliments on this piece… It’s got everything: Great opening sentence, really nice structure, wonderful scenes and interviews! Tell us a bit about your radio background and the sort of work you do for WRVO…
First off…thank you! As for my radio background, I was hired at WRVO last year as a News Reporter/Producer. Being that I still have day to day responsibilities, including interviews and spot news… getting out in the field, capturing sound and putting it all together is very exciting. Features are my favorite. Letting stories almost tell themselves with interesting sound is really fun for me. I’ve had some great opportunities that have helped shape my career so far. In college, I interned with a community radio station in London, England where I learned a lot on the production side. After that experience, I knew I belonged in public radio. I also received a scholarship from NPR to attend their 2008 regional fly-in, in Boston. NPR’s Robert Smith gave me the best advice, and it really got me thinking about how I want to produce feature reports. I have never learned so much, about so many things, in so little time! The very first feature I ever produced was on goat’s milk…it won a few awards this year and I think I’ve come a long way since then!
It seems like the ‘garden-in-a-bucket’ is a project that comes with maybe a small economic benefit, but a really big social dividend… there’s a real sense of independence and empowerment seems to go along with this idea. What do you think appeals most to people about it?
I think high fuel and energy costs have people thinking, and anything that may help ease the burden is intriguing. Whether it is an actual garden, a bucket garden, or anything else… I think the act of doing something yourself is encouraging. Even if we don’t have the means to change what is going on with our food source…we can at least feel like we are doing something about it.
How practical is it, do you think, for most of us to grow enough food to actually make a real dent in our grocery bills? Is it really realistic to put in that much time and energy for the return?
I think the program was more about the idea of taking control, especially for people who may not be able to afford fresh produce. The Food Bank is showing people they have options. Even if your garden only yields one tomato…I think the attempt to actually do something about your situation says a lot. The time and energy you put in…is a reflection of what is to come. I mean, if your grocery bills are too high, why not try growing food for free? Not to mention the other benefits, like knowing where your food comes from!
That was a truly inspired moment in your story when you gave that random stranger your garden-in-a-bucket! What was that exchange like for you and him?
After researching this program and getting all of the facts and other voices ..he was the last person I spoke with. It was really nice to have seen the entire process…from planting the buckets to dropping a plant off to a family. I think this is an inspired program, and I just tried to show that in my story. I’m glad it worked!
What’s next on the horizon for you? Have you got any other good stories in the works at the moment?
As of right now, it seems as though rising costs are taking a toll on just about everyone. I just finished a feature on high gas prices and touring musicians. I think it is sort of in the same vein as the food bank story…these musicians are being proactive and making choices in order to continue doing what they love. About a month ago, I did a story on a local drive-in movie theatre in Central New York. That has to be my favorite piece so far. It was really just a lot of fun. I love the nostalgia of the 1950’s…the music…the movies…everything. So I just jumped right into the story, thrilled to even have the opportunity. If people continue doing so many interesting things, I’ll try my best to get the word out!
You can hear more from Jasmyn Belcher and WRVO online at the Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at www.prx.org
Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. Each week on this podcast we shine a light on the excellent, original work that’s being produced locally at the hundreds of public radio stations across the country. This week, we tune in to KUOW in Seattle, Washington, for a conversation about a car that set a Guinness World Record back in 1973, a record that’s never been broken since. The car is called the Opel p1, it’s got a stock engine, it runs on standard gasoline, and it gets 376 miles to the gallon. This car sat in a museum for decades, but it was recently bought by a car collector named Evan McMullen, who sat down to talk about his amazing discovery with KUOW’s Megan Sukys. Here’s more from Megan…
What a wild discovery this car collector has made! How in the world did this technology get forgotten in the first place?
The car was created for a contest sponsored by Shell Oil Company. After the contest, it was inducted into the Talladega SuperSpeedways’ Motorsports Hall of Fame. And, that’s where it stayed for years.
No one has yet found the story of why the Opel was sent to a museum, instead of an assembly line. I think it’s worth noting that the technology was not created by or for a car company that was looking to manufacture it.
(Evan’s story of the Opel reminds me of an episode from the first season of The Dukes of Hazzard, to be honest. 005. 02/23/1979 “High Octane” A contest for a workable fossil-fuel substitute offers the Dukes a big cash prize and an excuse to resurrect their old moonshine still. (It’s worth watching!)
And why aren’t engineers lining up around the block to get a look at the technology under the hood of this incredible vehicle?
Evan McMullen just bought the car at auction recently. He is now trying to get the word out about what he found. It seems that the technology was truly forgotten and people still haven’t rediscovered it.
Are there impediments in the way of pursuing this fuel efficiency system?
As Evan describes it, it sounds like the high-efficiency adjustments were relatively simple and straightforward. There was no complex technology. It used regular gas as well. So, there was not a special fuel.
Does it result in a car with a weak motor?
The car set the fuel efficiency world record by driving at a steady 30 mph. It was not a high-performance contest. But, the engine was stock, meaning it was not a modified engine.
Are the production costs prohibitively high?
Evan McMullen knows that the creators of the car were from North Carolina. But, he has not been able to track them down. So, he doesn’t know how much was spent to modify the Opel.
But, the changes were mostly limited to hard rubber tires, insulating the fuel line and reducing wind resistance to the body of the car.
Do you happen to know how much Mr. McMullen paid for the Opel p1?
He didn’t tell me the purchase price. But, he is planning to auction the car.
Tell us a bit about your radio background and the sort of work you do at KUOW…
I started working in public radio back in my home state of North Carolina: WRQM in Rocky Mount. There, I interviewed many of the artists and musician who live in the area. Before that, I worked in commercial pop radio, including a morning show in North Myrtle Beach, SC. Back in 1999, I came out to Seattle to try to break into rich radio scene in this area. I’ve worked at KUOW since 2000, developing my interview skills and collaborating with co-workers on the show we now host.
Tell us about the show you host out there…
I’m the senior host of Sound Focus. There are four other interviewers on the show, all bringing in personal stories, like Evan McMullen’s. Sound Focus is an interview magazine that explores the character of the Northwest through personal stories. We ask people why they do what they do and how those actions shape their lives. Our guests range from political figures to bus riders, international rock stars to baristas.
So you’re on maternity leave now? Congratulations! How’s that treating you?
This is my second child. And, like with my first child, I am reminded that chaos is the start of creation. Caring for a newborn is confusing and crazy, but I know it’s the start of something wonderful. I just have to survive these first few months!
You can hear more from KUOW, Megan Sukys, and “Sound Focus” online at The Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at www.prx.org.
Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. Each week on this podcast we shine a little extra light on the outstanding and original work that’s being produced locally at hundreds of public radio stations across the country. This week we get treated to an international story by way of New York City. Producer Emma Jacobs is currently an intern at the WNYC program Soundcheck – she’s also active as a mentor for younger radio-makers at the Columbia University college station WKCR. And as if that’s not enough to keep her busy, Emma is also in the midst of completing a major in Francophone Studies. She recently spent some time in West Africa, and during her stay she visited a unique independent school in Dakar called the School of the Road… Emma spoke with the school’s founder, a self-educated man named Amayatou Mbaye. She also talked with a fellow American named Chad Goodroad, who’s volunteering at the school as a teacher…
What brought you overseas to Dakar, and how did you come across this story?
I’m working on completing a major in Francophone studies. I had done a lot of academic work around immigration to France and post-colonial literature, and eventually I realized I really wanted to go to West Africa, so for a semester abroad, I decided I wanted to be in Dakar. Chad Goodroad was another American student I met in Dakar, who told me about the School of the Road, where he was working. This story begins the day I went along with him and met everyone you hear in this piece.
When you visited Amayatou Mbaye’s school, what were your first impressions of the place and how it operated?
It’s this very calm, green space that you come upon very suddenly in the middle of this very chaotic shantytown. Impromptu, but very peaceful. The group of mostly very young students recites their lessons, and they’re a very cute, curious bunch. There’s a sort of nursery school–a group of four-year-olds just sitting happily in the corner, watching everything that’s going on. You can feel that it’s an operation run on a shoestring, but it has the feel and the atmosphere of a school. I think Chad and I both felt some ambivalence, because while such an attractive project that M’baye has put so much into, his school’s lack of formality can make it difficult to see how much the students progress. But, as Chad points out, it does reach some students with an education they might not find otherwise.
It sounds like the public schools in Dakar don’t have a really stellar reputation… Are they under-funded? Disorganized? What’s going on with the system there?
Senegal’s schools are over-crowded, and under-funded, particularly in poorer or rural areas. M’Baye told me the teachers in the public counterparts to his schools go on strike a lot too. The more well-known piece of the system, which I learned more about, is the public university, which had strikes going on nearly the entire time I was in Dakar.
Are there any particular memories or mental images that have really stuck with you since your visit?
Well, directly after this visit the School of the Road, I went straight to the doctor’s, where they cut this living, half-inch long larva out of my ankle. But, more seriously, there was this point every day on my walk home from school where I would turn in off a busy road onto a side street. And very suddenly, all the noise of the cars would fade and you’d hear bird song and maybe children playing. It’s something that conjures up for me all the abrupt contrasts of the city and of being there and walking through it.
Tell us a bit about your background and your radio career… you’re an intern at WNYC currently? What sort of work are you doing there?
I think I’ve always thought about radio, but only recently I realized it really seemed to be what I do. I programmed jazz for a year in Chicago and then I came to New York, where I co-run a youth radio program for high school and middle school students at WKCR, and work on some of my own pieces. While I was in Dakar, I got to see a lot of radio as a grass-roots tool for community activists. I worked with a Senegalese human rights worker there who aired a weekly program on the issues of refugees in the country and I made a visit out to another community station in a very poor suburb of the city. Radio there could mean something so different. Since I got back, I have gotten to peek into the major leagues this summer at WNYC, interning for Soundcheck, where I’m sorting the mail, and screening the calls, and getting to learn the dynamic of how a show’s team works together and how to hone my own skills.
As you continue to study the craft of radio-making, what are some of the more valuable things you’ve learned along the way about taping, editing, writing, voicing a story? Any advice for other young producers who are looking to get started in the field?
I wish I knew enough to give advice on this one. I’m learning by trial and error just trying to work my way through pieces and listen to what works and what doesn’t. I make my friends listen. I have completed some truly terrible pieces of radio to figure out how it works, but they’ve got to be done, too. If being overseas has opened my eyes in any way, it’s to bring home the reality that there are stories everywhere and you won’t run out.
You can hear more from Emma Jacobs online at the Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at www.prx.org.
“Everyone knows what needs to be done it’s just a matter of weather or not the necessary changes will be made or the same old tradition of corruption and civic disengagement will continue.” -WWOZ Street Talk producer David Weinberg
Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. Each week on this podcast, we drop in at one of the more than three hundred public radio stations across the US and give a little extra attention to the excellent work that’s being locally by radio-makers around the country. This week we check in again at WWOZ in New Orleans, Louisiana, where producer David Weinberg has been working to document the cultural life of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. David recently put together a report for the WWOZ Street Talk series about an initiative designed to get the city’s high school students interested in a professional skill that their town needs dearly right now: building and architectural design. Here’s more from David:
David, you and I last corresponded in January, and you had this to say about what daily life was like for you where you live in the Seventh Ward: “About half of the houses in my neighborhood are not only empty but visibly destroyed. There are lots of broken windows and piles of people’s possessions still strewn across overgrown lawns. It definitely takes its toll on you, especially seeing the kids in my neighborhood playing amongst the heaps mold-ridden debris outside many of the homes. I walk my dog everyday and it’s rare that I don’t hear shouting and arguments coming from inside a house. People are tired of living in a place that looks like a war zone.” Have you seen any changes for the better in the past 6 months?
Progress in my neighborhood is happening very slowly. I would say half a dozen more houses have been gutted and are livable since last we spoke. There is a church almost finished being remodeled and the FEMA trailer park that was near my house has been cleared of all residents and all the trailers are gone. But overall the area hasn’t changed a whole lot.
You got to talk with a lot of kids for this student design story, and I wonder how has their reaction to the aftermath of Katrina been different than older folks? Are the kids more or less resilient and optimistic about the future than their elders, do you think?
I think their reaction is varied. Some kids evacuated early, didn’t lose a lot and saw the experience as an adventure. But there are kids who saw some pretty traumatic things. There are kids I have spoken with whose parents never came back from being evacuated and they are living with friends and family. Then there are the kids who were evacuated and were attending public schools in other places and they are coming back and saying, “Hey, we are getting shafted here.” In some cases it’s made kids ask a lot of questions about why things are they way they are here. I do think the kids are a little more resilient. I also think that they are more willing to see the possibility for change as a more realistic goal then a lot of the elders.
The people behind this student design initiative are operating on the principle that design can empower kids and give them a better vision of their future… did you see that philosophy in effect when you visited with the students?
I think a lot of kids definitely feel more empowered after these projects. Anytime you are able to give kids real hands-on projects on a real-life scale, you are able to get past the “when are we ever going to use this?” argument and that has a lot of weight with kids - especially the projects that dealt with actual buildings. The kids that worked on the school courtyard project are spending every day seeing the fruits of their own labor. That’s pretty big to these kids. It also gives them a feeling that the adults in their lives believe in them and trust them with things that matter.
The design classes are an interesting way to make young people feel invested in staying where they live… what else do you think these kids are going to need in order to keep them from leaving New Orleans for better opportunities after high school?
New Orleans has always been a place where most people who grew up here stayed here and to some extent I don’t think that is going to change a whole lot. But the future New Orleanians are going to have to do more than just stay. They are going to inherit a whole lot of problems from the past generations. The schools for the most part are still a mess, the crime is at an all time high and a huge chunk of the economy has been washed away. The schools especially are in a real experimental stage; the city has brought in all these high-priced hotshots from outside the state, there are an unprecedented number of charter schools, and tons of new teachers. But it still feels like everything is on a trial and error basis. Everyone knows what needs to be done it’s just a matter of weather or not the necessary changes will be made or the same old tradition of corruption and civic disengagement will continue. Either way it’s going to be a lot of work, and despite what promises are made by politicians and educators. It’s going to take a long time to fix the system.
You can hear more from David Weinberg and WWOZ’s “Street Talk” series online at the Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at: www.prx.org.
Thanks for checking out the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. I’m Aaron Henkin, and each week on this podcast we give a little extra attention to the outstanding work that’s being produced locally at the hundreds of local public radio stations around the country. This week we tune in to WYPR in Baltimore where producer Mary Rose Madden has been looking into a growing economic problem centered on the state’s food stamp program. It turns out that because of rising food costs, food stamps are decreasing in value - they’re also helping fewer and fewer people. Here’s more from Mary Rose…
How did this story end up on your radar?
I heard a few different things related to food stamps within a two-week period. The Farm Bill was being voted on in Congress and news reports were covering some changes that bill would bring to the Food Stamp Program. Also, I was doing research about the New Deal, Welfare Reform, and federal subsidies, and I came across some alarming statistics about the federal entitlement, the food stamp program. And lastly, the food crisis was being discussed and explored in the news. So, when I spoke to my editors and told them I wanted to look into the program and see how effective it is - I brought all this to the table and they gave me the green light.
At the beginning of your piece, you talk with a 70-year-old woman named Beverly… what surprised you most about her story?
Beverly surprised me by being so open about her situation. She gave me permission to tape our conversation then spoke to me like we had known each other for years. One more thing: She’s obviously elderly and low-income, but she also lives in a tough part of Baltimore. It’s incredible to me that she is fully determined to make it to her community organization’s meetings.
When you spoke with Maryland Food Stamp Program Director Kevin MacGuire, you learned that 550 to 600 thousand people in MD are eligible for the assistance, but that the participation rate is only 55 to 60 percent. Tell us a little bit about why that number is so low… Is it more that people just don’t know that they’re eligible? Or is it just too complicated to get screened and approved for the assistance?
There are a few reasons the number is so low. First, folks have trouble applying for the program even though the state has made efforts to streamline the process by beginning the process online. The fact is you still need to go to the office of Social Services to finalize your application. This is a major deterrent - I spoke to one man who had been at the office for five hours! Unfortunately, he didn’t make the final script (I was asked to leave the premises in the middle of our conversation!) - but asking someone to find five hours off from work, maybe for a babysitter, or just from your life - is a unrealistic. Second, the food stamp program qualifies people with such low incomes (this is due in part to the ultra low poverty rate) - that many people don’t qualify even though they are indeed hungry. These people go to food banks and other places for help, but the federal entitlement should be able to help them.
Are there plans in the works to adjust the value of food stamps to correspond with inflated food costs?
The Farm Bill has adjusted the value of food stamps to correspond with inflated food costs, on a yearly basis, I believe. But, it’s my understanding that the income levels have not been adjusted. So, you may get a little more money for food, but more people won’t qualify to receive those benefits.
It sounds like the Maryland Department of Social Services office is about as user-friendly as a department of motor vehicles bureau… what’s making the place so intimidating and un-navigable for people?
That, I’m afraid, I do not have the answer to. Exactly what is this “red tape”? Why the lines? I wish we knew.
It sounds like the internet might be simplifying the application and screening process somewhat… where do folks log on to find out more?
You can hear more from WYPR and Mary Rose Madden online at The Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at: www.prx.org.
“Unfortunately our audience is jaded when it comes to our government’s over-reaction to the war on terror.” -Ross Reynolds, host of KUOW’s “The Conversation”
Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX… Each week on this podcast we crisscross the country and tune in to the excellent stories, essays, and interviews that air locally at hundreds of public radio stations across the US. This week, our travels take us to Seattle, Washington, where KUOW broadcasts a daily news-talk program called “The Conversation.” KUOW’s Ross Reynolds has hosted the show for the past eight years, and he recently interviewed a public defender who has seen first-hand what can happen when US intelligence operations are allowed to go unchecked. Steven Wax has compiled his legal experiences and research into a book called “Kafka Comes to America: Fighting for Justice in the War on Terror.” Here are a few words from Ross Reynolds about his talk with Mr. Wax and the history behind his program, “The Conversation”…
Mr. Wax made some pretty alarming and disturbing observations during your conversation… what kind of feedback have you gotten from listeners since this segment aired?
None. Unfortunately our audience is jaded when it comes to our government’s over-reaction to the war on terror.
Tell us a bit about the work you do at KUOW… was this segment with author Steven Wax part of a regular local talk program?
I’ve been hosting The Conversation, a daily one hour news-talk show for eight years. Until the last few years we did a single topic in each hour. But lately we’ve been adding newsmaker interviews and author interviews like Steven Wax, along with a major call-in segment. The Steven Wax interviewed aired in the last 18 minutes of the program.
What sort of a range of locally produced conversations are you hosting?
Very broad. We try to cover topics that contain a question which reasonable people can disagree upon, topics that callers have not just an opinion, but a story that informs the opinion.
As a host and interviewer, what’s the most rewarding part of the job for you?
Three experiences I love: 1. Asking the tough, fair question and hearing delicious pause as the gears turn in the interviewees, 2. laughing with a caller, like the guy who feared that test tube meat would become conscious and attack humans, 3. hearing an intensely personal story. We did a program asking “Do you believe in God?” A vet called with a horrendous account of finding a butchered baby. With anger burning in his voice he told us how that experience turned him away from faith.
What’s the toughest part of the job?
Finding the time with our limited staff to add the production grace-notes which can elevate a live program: that extra guest, the perfect music, the vox pop.
You can check out more original productions from KUOW online at The Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at: www.prx.org.
“We’ve been working with KAZU for almost five years, and I must say it’s been a wonderful partnership, professionally and personally.” -Terry Beers, host of Your California Legacy
Thanks for tuning in to the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. I’m Aaron Henkin, and each week on this podcast we travel the fifty states and listen to the outstanding local programming being done at the more than three hundred local public radio stations across the country. This week we head west to the Monterey Bay area of California, where member-station KAZU FM has developed a unique partnership with a Santa Clara University literary organization called the California Legacy Project. The fruit of the collaboration is a series called “Your California Legacy,” a daily installment of short-but-poignant dramatic readings of great writings about the state of California. This week on the podcast, we get a sampler platter of the brief, 90-second interstitials - writings from a feminist, a horticulturalist, a schoolteacher, and Rudyard Kipling. Here are a few words from “Your California Legacy” host Terry Beers…
Tell us a bit about the mission and the history behind the California Legacy Project…
California Legacy began in 2000 with a partnership between Heyday Books in Berkeley and Santa Clara University. Heyday was looking for a partner to publish a series of out of print classic California books, and SCU is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state, so it was a natural fit. After we established the series, I began looking for other avenues to bring California literature and history to a public audience, and what better way than public radio.
How did your partnership with KAZU FM come about?
I contacted people at a number of public radio stations in our area with the idea of producing brief but compelling performances of California writing. When I talked to folks at KAZU, I found an enthusiastic reception. But more importantly I found people with a lot of talent who saw the benefits for their listeners–many of whom have a real passion for California–of producing Your California Legacy. We’ve been working with KAZU for almost five years, and I must say it’s been a wonderful partnership, professionally and personally. We owe a lot to people at KAZU who have recorded and edited our pieces during this partnership, Bernhard Drax, Brita Heizmann, and Michelle Carol Christopher.
80 weeks and 400 original segments… that’s a lot of programming! How do you guys go about finding and editing all the literary content that goes into these segments?
Well, we DO produce a lot of books, too, so sometimes publishing projects can lead to material for the radio. We published an anthology of writing from southern California’s Inland Empire a couple of years ago, for example. Inlandia gave us a lot of rich material for our segments. Sometimes Santa Clara University students find material and submit scripts to us–a different kind of writing than they’re used to doing, but it’s kind of neat for them because their work finds a real audience. And sometimes, I just go looking for different or surprising things. For example, Edgar Allen Poe once wrote a story, “Von Kemplelen and His Discovery,” about what would happen to the California Gold Rush if you could turn lead to gold. Who could have predicted that?
You’ve got a great crew of actors doing your dramatic readings… what was the audition process like for these folks? What were you looking for in their voices?
We didn’t really audition them–in one way or another we’ve come together because of personal or professional connections outside of our radio work. Kevin Hearle is a fine poet, but he’s also a leading Steinbeck scholar. I’ve known him for years, and I’ve heard him at poetry readings many times. I knew I wanted his voice. Jessica Teeter was an English and theater major at SCU. I had worked with her on public readings drawn from one of our anthologies, Unfolding Beauty. For those projects, Jessica brought in Wm Leslie Howard, who delighted us with the way he gave voice to the writers included in the book, especially Mark Twain. Dan Maloney joined us after the radio projected got started. He’s very experienced and he’s given us so many great readings. I’ve especially enjoyed his Raymond Chandler.
After hosting all these segments, have you come across some favorite writers? Have you been inspired to read more of their work?
I’ve been surprised–perhaps I shouldn’t have been–at how much variety there is in California writing. Hinton Helper–who came with the Gold Rush and pretty much despised California–has been a delight to read. And then there’s Frank Marryat. He was an Englishman who came to California with his hunting dogs and his valet. He wrote a very amusing book called Mountains and Molehills about his experiences here, and we liked it so much we’re republishing it as part of the California Legacy Series.
What kind of feedback have you gotten from listeners who’ve heard the series?
There’s never enough feedback! But what we’ve heard has been very positive. Once in awhile we even get suggestions from listeners about writers we might feature. That’s how we found Asbury Harpending, for example, who wrote a book called The Great Diamond Hoax. Another listener told us about Charlie Parkhurst, a woman stage coach driver masquerading as a man. And another listener once sent us a letter, written in the 1880’s, by someone called Mary who lived in Mountain View, California. In the letter, she describes her California Christmas experience. It’s very gratifying to be able to include our listeners’ suggestions. It means we’re creating another kind of partnership.
You can hear more installments of “Your California Legacy,” from the California Legacy Project and KAZU FM, online at the Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at: www.prx.org.
“With gas at more than $4 a gallon, maybe cycling’s an easier sell now! And parking a bike is a snap. No more circling for a space.” -KQED producer Marjorie Sun
There are more than three hundred public radio stations across the US, and they’re buzzing with creative and talented reporters and producers who make it their mission to bring local audiences stories about the regional issues that affect their lives. I’m Aaron Henkin, your host here at the NPR Station Showcase with PRX, and each week on this podcast we’re happy to highlight the best and brightest of those local stories. This week we tune in to KQED in San Francisco, California, for a report about the slow but steady increase in the number of people who are opting to leave the car at home and bike to work. Marjorie Sun filed the story for the KQED environmental science series QUEST. Here’s a little Q & A with Marjorie…
First off, my compliments to you for actually getting on a bike and reporting on what it’s really like to pedal around the midst of urban vehicular traffic! Tell us a bit more about what you took away from that experience… it sounds like the ride made you a bit nervous?
I think I’ll design a t-shirt emblazoned with a bike and the words, “I Survived!” Not only were cars and ambulances whizzing past, but drivers are tempted by so many distractions nowadays. (And the pavement was really bumpy and jarring, a big complaint among veteran city cyclists.) The good news is that starting July 1, California drivers over 18 years old are barred from using handheld cell phones. Teen drivers are prohibited from any kind of cell phone use. I like Click and Clack’s saying: Hang Up and Drive!
You reported that in San Francisco 2 percent of people are biking to work… At first that didn’t sound like much to me, but then I thought about the size and population of the city, and realized that’s actually a lot of bikes on the road! Do you think those large numbers of bikers are having an effect on the awareness of car drivers? Is it getting safer to bike because drivers are more used to seeing bikes on the road?
It’s definitely gotten safer to bike in San Francisco. The number of collisions between bikes and cars are down from a decade ago by nearly 20% even as the number of cyclists has increased. But the reasons for the drop haven’t been well studied. The San Francisco government has only recently begun to collect and analyze data that could answer the kinds of questions you raised. Bike lanes sure help to raise awareness among drivers.
What do you think makes biking to work such a tough sell for people? Fear? Inconvenience? Laziness?
Could be all or some of the above… hard to say without survey data. Here are some clues by a federal study. Of the millions of people who bicycle in the U.S., nearly a quarter of them say they cycle for exercise and another quarter say it’s for recreation. Only 5 percent said they bike to work. So lots of people clearly like to cycle… just not to work. But with gas at more than $4 a gallon, maybe cycling’s an easier sell now! And parking a bike is a snap. No more circling for a space.
So, how about you? After putting this story together, have you been trying to bike more and drive less?
I have. I’ve cycled for exercise for years. But now I’m riding my mountain bike more to do errands and to get more places rather than jump in the car. I’m saving money, getting even more exercise, reducing my carbon footprint and having fun all at the same time!
You can hear more stories from KQED and the QUEST series online at the Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio, at www.prx.org.
“It’s quite humbling to witness their courage and ability to recover from such adversity. Hopefully, the family will land on higher ground, metaphorically and figuratively.” -Iowa Public Radio’s Stephen Grant
Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX… Thanks for checking out the podcast. Each week, we tune in to one of the more than three hundred public radio stations across the country, and we hear the work of a talented local producer. This week we meet Stephen Grant of member station WSUI, Iowa Public Radio, in Iowa City. This station is just a block away from the Iowa River, and Stephen says life at his office got turned upside down a few weeks ago when the river started its dramatic rise. As you’ll read in the interview below, he and his colleagues spent two days hauling everything they could out of the station’s basement and sandbagging around the perimeter of the building. Luckily, when the river finally crested, it was a few inches lower than expected, and the mandatory evacuation orders were lifted. In the midst of the chaos, Stephen took his microphone to nearby Coralville, and he put together a story about a local family that was less lucky. Their home was flooded and they were relocated to a local high school gymnasium. As soon as Stephen was able to get back in to work, he shared the Duffy family’s story on the air.
When you interviewed the Duffy family, they’d been living in the Northwest Junior High School gymnasium for seven days… have you had a chance to follow up and see how they’re doing now? Are they still there?
Following the Duffy interview I was very much invested in how this young family was holding up. Later that day I called Joe Hansen, the onsite Red Cross Public Relations Coordinator, to see if they were still at the school. He told me they were and so, using the excuse that I wanted to give the Duffy’s a copy of the news feature, I asked if I could come out and visit. He gave me the green light and off I went, several CDs in hand. Joe and I found the Duffy’s in the park feeding the ducks, taking a much needed break from the shelter. We were greeted with the warmest smiles. Jamie tells me that they may have at least another week at the shelter, possibly two, before getting into some kind of housing. Since my first visit, they’ve begun their applications through FEMA for financial assistance and have learned that FEMA will pay up to $800 for a security deposit and another $800 for first month’s rent. They plan to exhaust as many support options as possible. Both Jamie and Rusty tell me they refuse to move back into their apartment because of health hazards like mold and bacteria. She won’t allow her baby, Alexander, to live in those conditions. During our conversation I learned this is a family that is no stranger to hardship. Rusty told me that two years ago he and Jamie lived out of their car for an entire winter and then the Wednesday before their evacuation Rusty had outpatient kidney stone surgery. So during all of this he’s been recovering. Here you have a family with numerous unknown hardships out in front of them and they continue to be all smiles, level-headed and optimistic. It’s quite humbling to witness their courage and ability to recover from such adversity. Hopefully, the family will land on higher ground, metaphorically and figuratively. I do plan to check in with them again.
Tell me a bit about what the scene was like in that temporary shelter… was it pretty crowded? What was the vibe like in there?
When I first arrived at the shelter early that morning, I truly didn’t know what I’d be walking into. News reports had estimated that over 5000 people in the Iowa City and Coralville area had been displaced by the floods, so I was expecting to see large numbers. But as I entered the school’s gymnasium, my initial reaction to the scene was, “Where are all the people!?” There were only four people in the gym, in addition to the Duffy family and a hand full of Red Cross staff and volunteers. It was strange. The other oddity that jumped out at me was the room was completely dark except for one row of fluorescent lights along the south wall. The air felt heavy and the room was warm.
As I made my way into the center of the gym the scene began to change. I discovered my initial impression of the room had been inaccurate. Everywhere I turned, there were tell-tale signs of lives interrupted. On several cots blankets were tossed back, pillows were still dented with the impressions of the heads that had slept there the night before. A belt and a t-shirt hung off the edge of one cot, shoes and personal belongings were scattered around others. In a few places, paper bags used as makeshift suitcases were lodged underneath. Glancing over the entire room, I noticed that cots were grouped in unusual configurations. Some were in rows like in military barracks while others formed clusters where it appeared families had pulled them together. A few cots had been moved farther away to less inhabited areas for those who seemed to prefer isolation. I sensed that the people were trying to establish their own territory, trying to reclaim a sense of place amid the chaos. There was something about emptiness of the room and the implied presence of inhabitance that turned out to be more unsettling than if the room had been swarming with people. It felt like I was standing in a room full of phantoms.
Joe Hansen told me the shelter was currently housing about thirty people, and the shelter at Johnson Country Fairgrounds was housing around fifty. The low numbers make sense when you look at the topography and demographics. In Cedar Rapids, more than 1000 residential blocks were flooded displacing over 24,000 people. There, the Red Cross shelters were packed and serving 20,000 meals a day. In Iowa City and Coralville, however, the University of Iowa campus suffered the majority of flood damage with a much smaller area of residential neighborhoods being affected. Those areas consist of mainly middle to upper class income families. So it turns out that most of those evacuated are staying with friends, family or in hotels, which have been offering reduced rates. So what we’re really seeing in the shelters here are primarily the low income individuals or families with limited alternative options.
It was interesting to hear about the psychological repercussions that these disaster victims go through… what do you [think] the hardest thing is for outsiders to understand about the magnitude of this disaster and what it’s done to disrupt family’s lives?
In many ways, this is a tough question to answer. We can look at the typical stages victims of disasters go through, as Colleen Brems mentions in the piece. Certainly many of us have experienced something along these lines at some point in our lives. Just look back to 9/11 or Virginia Tech and the overwhelming feelings of anger, grief, anxiety and shock Americans felt that day, whether directly affected or not. In this regard, many people are able to relate to what these displaced people are feeling. But I’ve noticed that, at some point, the immediate impact of disasters becomes personal and it becomes less possible to truly understand what a person is experiencing emotionally or psychologically unless we have gone through it ourselves. Even with the greatest amount of empathy and understanding, all we can do is imagine what it’s like. What I mean is that it’s subjective for each victim. For outsiders watching the floods unfold on CNN or MSNBC, perhaps it is most difficult to truly know what it feels like to have your entire life history wiped out, your cherished possessions destroyed, and in some cases, completely erased; being left only with memories. I’ve got to say that personally knowing several families whose lives have been disrupted by this hydrologic catastrophe the one theme that keeps rising to the surface is the uncertainty of what lies ahead. But, I want to point out as well, that I am awed by everyone’s resilience and buoyancy. It’s quite remarkable, really.
How about your own situation? Did you get flooded, too? How’s the whole situation affecting your life?
Fortunately, my apartment is a little over a mile east of the river so, while it was a concern, the risks of being washed out of a home were small. Where the devastation hits home is watching friends and colleagues directly impacted by the flood and, of course, seeing the monumental damage done to the University of Iowa campus. I completed both of my undergraduate degrees here, one in piano performance the other in Russian language . . . currently, I am completing a Master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. The Arts Complex right along the river was severely compromised and it was painful to watch these buildings, which have been my academic home for more than eight years, go under water. At last report, twenty university buildings have been affected, sixteen significantly. I guess I was losing sleep over whether or not I would be back in classes in the fall. But University President Sally Mason and other officials are doing amazing things to guarantee that classes will resume. The other frightening disheartening moment has to do with our radio stations, which are only a block away from the Iowa River. WSUI, the NPR affiliate, is America’s oldest radio station west of the Mississippi river. It’s been in operation since 1919. We spent two days in the basement bringing up archived materials, old reel-to-reel tapes, hundreds of vinyl records and old black and white photos. Our engineers yanked every possible piece of equipment out of the station to rebuild a temporary site just in case we went under water. Then the computer I use, which has several in-progress radio features on it, was taken home for safe keeping. And then, of course, we were sandbagging like crazy. On Saturday, June 14tha mandatory evacuation went into effect and we were shut down. University police came by and bolted the doors shut and slapped evacuation notices on the doors. Thankfully, river levels crested late Sunday night, a few inches lower than expected, and by Monday our doors were reopened. The down side was we had no broadcast signal, no FTP site to send audio, and no internet. This made getting the news out a challenge. But our engineers Jim Davies and Nate Schultz did a few back handsprings and we were operational by Tuesday. Thanks to their efforts Duffy’s Ark and other features made it on the air.
You can hear more from Stephen Grant and Iowa Public Radio online at the Public Radio Exchange. That’s where producers from around the world share their work. Log on, write your own reviews, and have a say in what ends up on the radio at www.prx.org.
