Station Showcase with PRX

“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”

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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.

“I think being a mentor and a role model for kids actually saved Kenny.”
-WSHU reporter Craig LeMoult

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Thanks for checking out the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. I’m Aaron Henkin, and each week on this podcast we drop in at one of the more than three hundred NPR stations across the country to hear some of the best and brightest work that’s being produced locally from Maine,Hawaii, Florida, Alaska and everywhere in between. This week our travels take us to WSHU in Connecticut, where reporter Craig LeMoult has been working for the past year, putting together stories on politics, poverty, and the environment. Craig recently profiled a youth mentor in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a man named Kenny Jackson. Mr. Jackson has been helping kids in Bridgeport deal with some of the same issues he faced growing up there, issues that landed him in prison during his own younger years. As you’ll hear in Craig’s story, Mr. Jackson’s guidance has made all the difference for one young man…

How did you come across Kenny Jackson and his mentoring program?

I was researching programs that help ex-convicts re-enter society after prison, and the director of one program mentioned Kenny Jackson to me as an example of a great success story. I went to visit Kenny at his office in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and quickly realized that his personal story was too good for him to be just a sound bite in a broader feature. So I decided to profile him and Garmar Ryan, the high school student who Kenny has been mentoring for years.

How did Mr. Jackson strike you when you first met him… what were your first impressions?

Being a mentor is what Kenny is all about. He’s been through some hard times, and somehow managed to come through it with an incredibly positive attitude and a mission to help kids avoid making the same mistakes he made. And he’s a radio reporter’s dream – a great talker.

Kids like Garmar Ryan obviously benefit greatly from the mentorship program… what do you think Kenny Jackson gets out of the experience and the relationships he forges with the kids?

I think being a mentor and a role model for kids actually saved Kenny. It gave him a purpose, and motivated him to stay on the right track, and help kids do the same.

Tell us a bit about your radio background and the sort of work you do for WSHU…

I’m a longtime public radio junkie and have been a reporter here since last August, shortly after I finished journalism school. My feature stories for WSHU range in topic from the health of lobsters in the Long Island Sound to health insurance for people in Connecticut. I cover issues of poverty, environmental stories, politics, and anything else we think is interesting and newsworthy. A feature I did on “vintage baseball” teams ran on the national Morning Edition broadcast in April.

Any other interesting stories you’re working on at the moment? What’s next for you?

I’m working on a series right now about kids in Connecticut’s foster care system.

You can hear more from WSHU 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.

“The land is rugged and pristine, a naturalist’s dream.”
-Producer Kelly Fenstermaker

“Hiking down into the canyon itself, it felt like dropping off the edge of the world.”
-Producer Tom Michael

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Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. Each week on this podcast we travel the fifty states and tune in to the excellent work that’s being produced locally at the hundreds of public radio stations across the country. This week, our travels take us to Marfa Public Radio in Far West Texas, where producers Tom Michael and Kelly Fenstermaker bring us along on an expedition to a secret canyon in the middle of the Texas desert, a secluded geological wonder that few human eyes have ever seen. Here are some thoughts from Tom and Kelly about their experience visiting “The Secret Canyon of West Texas”…

Tell me what it was like for you the first time you looked over the edge of this incredible canyon… Did you walk up the edge with your eyes closed, like Walter Nelson has his visitors do?

TOM: I approached the edge on foot, as I was recording another scientist, and since I was walking through cactus land, my eyes were VERY open. Still, the vista is unusually dramatic, even for those of us accustomed to the landscape out here.

KELLY: Walter led us to the edge, eyes open. The canyon took my breath away. The sight of a plunging crevice in tones of orange, pink, yellow, chocolate and white cutting through the desert flat lands was completely unexpected.

Is the canyon actually protected against uninvited visitors, or is it just because it’s so remote that few people go out there?

TOM: Both. Not only is the entrance unmarked and remote, but the canyon is land owned by Midwestern State University.

KELLY: It is not open to the public, and certainly, most people would not be motivated to make the long, rough drive to find it. It is a research facility, mainly visited by academia, gathering scientific data. Few know of its location.

Tell us a little bit about the Dalquest Research Site and what kind of research is currently going on there…

KELLY: In 1996, Dr. Walter W. Dalquest, a professor of Biology at Midwestern State University, and his wife, Rose, donated the land to Midwestern State University for research purposes. The land is rugged and pristine, a naturalist’s dream. It is rich in geologic formations and varieties of plant life. A species of spider was discovered in the canyon that is unknown to exist anywhere else.

TOM: There is study of local flora and fauna, as well as geology. Though it’s hard to find, the book “Ribbons of Time” (2006) gives greater depth on the site, with pretty nice photographs.

It was a real surprise to hear one of your speakers say that the most common cause of death in the desert is drowning… did that come as a surprise to you?

TOM: When I first learned about drowning in the desert, it was a surprise. But when you think about the ferocity of flash floods across dry land, it begins to make sense. You would think dying of thirst would be more common, but in talking to healthcare workers who treat dehydration cases, you find that dehydration is more often too much exposure to beer than too much exposure to sun.

What’s your favorite memory from the time you spent out at the canyon? Do you have any special sights that have stuck with you since?

TOM: Hiking down into the canyon itself, it felt like dropping off the “edge of the world.” I enjoyed speaking with the scientists along the way. My favorite part of the audio feature was the historic retelling of the geologist who fell quiet when he was gazing out onto the canyon. When the rancher asked what he was doing, he answered “reading the story,” the geologic story. Everyone “reads” in different ways, and as a radio producer, it’s interesting to learn how others “read a story.”

KELLY: My favorite time there was camping out with Walter Nelson, Douglas Preston, who wrote the copy for the book, and my friend, Evelyn Lucchiani. We hiked to the canyon bottom and amid cactus and dry earth, found a little spring surrounded by ferns, trickling along the bottom. Going up and down those canyon walls is not for sissies, but Walter navigates them like a goat. We had a hard time keeping up with him. Evenings were cool and quiet, and the night sky ablaze with stars. Evelyn and I laughed and talked in our tent until late and Walter came to tell us to be quiet so he could get some sleep.

You can hear more stories from Marfa 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.

“I did sample the goods…”
-Julie Sabatier, host and producer of KBOO’s ‘DIY, Portland’

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Thanks for checking out the Station Showcase with PRX. I’m Aaron Henkin, your host and curator for this weekly podcast that highlights the best and brightest stories from local public radio stations across the country. This week, we tune in to KBOO in Portland, Oregon, where radio-maker Julie Sabatier produces and hosts a monthly program called “DIY, Portland.” During a recent episode, Julie took on the enviable assignment of learning about amateur beer brewing. With technical assistance from Brian Kramer, Julie put together a profile about some local home brewers. (By the way, you can click here to find an excellent accompanying slide show!) Here’s a Q & A with Julie about what she learned along the way…

Obvious first question for you: Did you sample the goods? How does the home brew measure up to the store-bought?

I did sample the goods, though I didn’t get to taste the wheat beer they were working on since it will still be a few weeks before it’s finished. I tried their amber ale and it was pretty tasty. It was definitely better than the watery beer brewed by big corporations, but it also has some tough competition when it comes to the microbrews in Portland.

Do you know if these guys have crunched the numbers and figured out whether or not there’s any practical economic sense to making one’s own beer?

Nate told me that when he sat down to figure it out, in terms of materials and ingredients, he could beat the price of the store-bought stuff, but if his time is worth anything at all, it fails be an economically viable thing to do.

These guys make beer-brewing sound like a remarkably simple process… did they talk much about what can go wrong along the way?

Nate emphasized the importance of keeping everything as clean as possible and paying close attention to temperatures. He said the one time he made sub-par beer it was because he used some old yeast cultures.

What do you think appeals most to these guys about putting all this time and energy into making something they could just go pick up at the corner store?

I think it’s the same reason people enjoy making elaborate meals in their own kitchen. Nate and the other brewers I spoke to for this show all enjoy cooking and this seems to be just another extension of that.

When you and I corresponded last spring, your KBOO program “DIY, Portland” had been on the air for about a year… how’s the show and your radio career been going since then?

Things are going really well. In July, we’ll celebrate our 30th episode and the show is now broadcast on a few other community radio stations around the country as well as KBOO. I started having monthly listening parties (this time, it was a listening and tasting party) at a local bar/coffee shop called the Waypost and those have been really well-attended. I also got my first grant this year and am about to take on the first “DIY, Portland” intern. In January, I got a fulltime job at our local public radio station, KOPB, producing for their morning talk show. I feel lucky that my biggest problem right now is how to squeeze as much radio work as possible into every day. 

You can hear more stories from Julie Sabatier’s KBOO program “DIY, Portland,” 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.

“I used to think that I wouldn’t be able to write about it. But it just seems to need to be written about.”
-Nanci Olesen

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Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. The recent headlines about Senator Ted Kennedy’s diagnosis of brain cancer have had a particularly personal impact on Minnesota Public Radio freelancer and commentator Nanci Olesen. For the past 17 months, Nanci’s own sister has been living with brain cancer. It’s been an exhausting emotional experience for Nanci, as she’s witnessed the tumor taking its toll on her sister’s mental faculties. Nanci joins us this week on the podcast to share a very personal and honest essay about what it’s like to cope during a most unusual state of mourning…

What kind of an experience was it for you to sit down and write this piece?

I’ve been writing this piece for a few months. My sister has had brain cancer for 17 months. I have been realizing lately how much I miss my sister’s old self. When I write about it I think about the story and the way to tell it in very technical terms, like a commentator. But when I read it aloud, back to myself or to an editor or producer, I feel the power of the words and I still feel in shock that it’s my sister I’m writing about. There’s a disconnect. I used to think that I wouldn’t be able to write about it. But it just seems to need to be written about.

Has your sister heard this essay? What did she have to say about it?

My sister hasn’t heard this essay. She is a very sweet soul but she truly doesn’t see the difficulty of the situation she’s in. She feels concerned that I’m taking this so hard… which is a sign to me of how much she has changed. I truly wish that I could talk to her old self about how hard this is. I am giving her all the help I can and I also wish that I could get her help… her old kind of help.

What do you think she’d tell you about how you’re feeling, if she still had all her faculties?

I wish that she could talk about it with me, in her old self. I think she would feel so sad for me. If the situation were reversed, if I were sick and not so aware of how sick I was, I think she would be devastated. I think she would tell me that I should take very good care of myself.

It’s got to be a strange experience to be ‘in mourning,’ in a sense, for someone who is still alive… how do you cope with that?

I just started reading a book called AMBIGUOUS LOSS, by Paula Boss. She talks about what it’s like to feel like you’re left hanging in a relationship that has changed because the person who has somehow changed (some of her examples are people who develop Alzheimer’s). I think it will be a helpful book.

I cope with this loss by just carrying on, I guess. I’m trying to be aware of what our three teenagers need as they watch their aunt change. I hope that I can be helpful to them. And I am very connected to my sister’s little kids. I like taking care of them and I’m just trying to do my best.

What’s your sister’s long-term prognosis? How’s she doing at the moment?

My sister’s cancer is very serious. Most people with grade four brain tumors live about 16 months. I hope my sister will live another year or more, but right now she can’t take any chemo because her blood counts are so low. Her immune system is very fragile. There’s not really anything they can do to stop the tumor growth. She will die from this, and it might be soon.

At this moment, she lives every day. She doesn’t face the fact that she will die from this. Every once in a while she’ll make mention of it but it’s not something she’s interested in facing or really capable of thinking about.

How are your sister’s kids handling her situation?

Her children are one and three. So having a mom with brain cancer is all they know. But they don’t understand it, of course. “Mommy’s got a headache,” says her three year old. And her one year old calls her “Mama Mama, Mama” and reaches for her, but she’s also very attached to the other adults who take care of her. I don’t think there’s any way that the kids can comprehend what’s happening.

What kind of wisdom do you think you’ve gained, going through all of this?

I think the main thing I’ve learned is that anything can happen at any time. It’s very difficult to face the loss of someone who you love dearly. I think I’ve learned to treasure each day. And each day that I still have with my sister is good.

What would you say to someone who’s just discovered that a loved one has been stricken with a brain tumor?

Learn as much as you can about the tumor and the way that it can be treated. Love the person and try to come to grips with a situation that is very difficult. Seek advice from others and care for yourself very gently while you try to comprehend the changes that your loved one is going through.

You can hear more from Nanci Olesen 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.

“If a person is making a living and comfortable with their station in life… why would they leave? That’s how these folks look at it… they wonder what attracts people to the city.”
-KLCC correspondent Bing Bingham

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Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host and curator for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX… Each week on this podcast, we travel the fifty states and give some well-deserved extra attention to the excellent work that’s being produced locally at public radio stations all across the country. This week, we tune in to KLCC in Eugene, Oregon, to check out a great new series of ‘downtown profiles.’ Correspondent Bing Bingham has been producing the reports in collaboration with KLCC News Director Tripp Sommer. This week on the podcast, we’re featuring their story about the town of Antelope, Oregon – population 37. Here’s more from Bing and Tripp…

KLCC’s “Downtown Profile” series is a beautiful idea… what was the inspiration for the project?

Tripp: KLCC recently moved into a new station. We had been on the main campus of Lane Community College for nearly 40 years. Now we find ourselves in downtown Eugene. So we started by looking around the station’s new neighborhood to do some reporting and expanded it to other downtowns in our broadcast area.

How many towns have you profiled so far in the series?

Tripp: We profiled a total of seven towns. Go to www.klcc.org and do a search for Special Issues and you will find much more info on each of the downtowns.

Are you noticing some common threads among the concerns of townspeople you’re meeting throughout the region?

Tripp: Growth and infrastructure are high concerns. People also told us they want to preserve the character of their town, even as it grows.

It sounds like Antelope, Oregon, was really thrown for a loop by these “Rajneeshees” people… what’s the story behind them and what they did to Antelope?

Bing: Back in the early 80′s the Rajneeshees purchased the nearby 64,000 acre ranch [locals know it as the 'Muddy' rather than the 'Big Muddy']. Not long afterward, they took over town by political means. At the time there were accusations of the Rajneeshees running a bus service for homeless people in Portland in an effort to ‘stack’ the election. Eventually they succeeded and changed Antelope’s name to Rajneeshpuram, and the Antelope Cafe was Zorba The Buddha. There were incidents of helicopters buzzing locals who fought back, an assassination plot involving investigating state officials, poisoning of a restaurant salad bar along a major interstate and tapped telephone systems on the ranch. Eventually, they were charged with immigration violations and returned to India. Part of the conversation that didn’t make the final cut in the piece was where the locals described Antelope as having been ‘mauled’ by the Rajneeshees. I deliberately left in the part where one old-timer, who was Postmaster at the time, still wakes up at 3:00 AM when the truck with loud exhaust pipes patrolled the town. That sounded a lot like post traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] to me. These days, most of the folks who were there at the time would like to let it go and get back to their quiet lives. They like their quiet lives and prefer to keep it that way.

Are there a lot of towns like Antelope, where a majority of the housing belongs to out-of-town-vacationers?

Bing: Yes, especially east of the Cascade Mountains. The economy isn’t as robust outside of Oregon’s population centers [mostly the Willamette Valley] and, consequently, property and housing are cheaper. It makes it a good deal for a retiree who doesn’t have a ton of money and likes the outdoors.

What do you think the appeal of Antelope is for people like the three gentlemen you sat down with for this radio story? What do you think keeps them there?

Bing: It’s really quite simple…family, friends and quiet. The cultural ‘buzz’ of the big city isn’t attractive to them. Their friends and family, most of them, are nearby. If a person is making a living and comfortable with their station in life……why would they leave? That’s how these folks look at it…….they wonder what attracts people to the city.

How about YOUR town? What’s life like where you live, out there in Oregon?

Bing: I don’t live in town. I live on a remote sheep and meat goat ranch in the neighboring community of Ashwood. We’re smaller then Antelope. Our entire zip code [97711] has about 50 people in it, not houses, people. If memory serves, there’s about 9 people [and 3 horses] in what we Ashwoodians refer to as the metropolitan area. The closest shopping, off the net, is 25 miles away. That’ll give you the basics…groceries, car parts and all the things needed to sustain life. If you want anything beyond that it’s 75 miles away. Out here, you plan shopping trips. Running to town for a gallon of milk isn’t an option, particularly with these gas prices. As to what keeps me here…….well, a hundred horses couldn’t drag me out of here. My closest neighbor is over a mile away. At night, I can’t see the lights of a neighbor’s house. I like that. It’s worth a lot to me. I suppose, with my skill set, that I could make a lot more money if I lived in New York, LA or DC. I’m not a wealthy man, but I’m doing fine. I enjoy my friends, work and lifestyle. Move to the city? I don’t think so.

Tell us a bit about your radio background and the sort of work you do with KLCC…

Bing: I have been a freelance writer and photographer for almost 20 years. I’ve worked for KLCC since 1996, most of the time doing news and features. I have a few credits with NPR [news spots and 1 feature], Smithsonian Institution plus other regional and local stations. These last few years at KLCC I’ve concentrated on interviews and commentary. I specialize in rural and agricultural issues and getting into out-of-the-way places where mainstream reporters don’t go. I produce radio in my home studio and ship it via FTP.

Is the “Downtown Profile” series going to continue for a while?

Tripp: Whenever KLCC News does a Special Issues series, reporters always work to continue coverage on the topic or issue on into the future. Continuity is very important to us. I plan to have reporters re-visit the downtowns they profiled and they people they interviewed. It has also helped us focus on downtowns in our area, so I’m sure we will have reporters going out some more.

You can hear the other reports from KLCC’s ‘Downtown Profile’ 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.

“The idea of doctors and control is interesting. It’s a huge part of their training and essential in emergencies. Yet in addiction, control is lost. For physicians it causes a cataclysm of sorts that is difficult to reconcile.”
-Patricia Murphy, producer of the KUOW series “Troubled Doctors: Addiction and Depression in Medicine”

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Hi, Aaron Henkin here, your host for the NPR Station Showcase with PRX. Thanks for checking out the podcast… Each week on the Station Showcase, we highlight some of the best and brightest stories being produced locally at the hundreds of public radio stations across the country, and this week we head out to the Pacific Northwest. Patricia Murphy is a host and producer at KUOW in Seattle, Washington, and she recently put together a fascinating (and disturbing) series about doctors and addiction. We tend to think of doctors as authoritative self-possessed, the last people who’d make the mistake of succumbing to alcoholism or drug addiction. But doctors also deal with incredible pressures in their daily lives. Match that with a supply of readily available prescription narcotics and you have a potentially dangerous situation. They may be medical authorities, but like the rest of us, they’re still only human. Here are some thoughts from Patricia about what she learned along the way…

What was it that put the idea for this series on your radar, and what got you interested in pursuing it?

I was at a wedding last year when a friend of the family told me she had just attended the funeral of an anesthesia resident who had overdosed on Fentanyl. Nobody was sure if it was suicide or an accident. She also told me that the other residents were not surprised that one of their peers had succumbed to addiction. Apparently, it’s not that uncommon in the field. I’ve done stories about drug dependence and addiction in the past so this was right up my alley.

It seems kind of ironic, this whole notion of doctors falling victim to addiction… we tend to think of health care professionals as such powerful and educated and in-control people… but I guess they’re only human, right? Were you surprised to hear about this trend?

I was. Doctors are entrusted with our health and wellbeing. As patients, we place an unfair burden of perfection on them. It’s understandable, in many cases. They see us at our most vulnerable; we trust them with our lives. But that being said, they’re just people. So when you think about it, it’s not at all surprising that they are as fallible as the rest of us. The idea of doctors and control is interesting. It’s a huge part of their training and essential in emergencies. Yet in addiction, control is lost. For physicians it causes a cataclysm of sorts that is difficult to reconcile. In the recovery process, it’s imperative for doctors (or anyone) to surrender completely and admit they have no control over their disease. This is often a profound experience for a physician.

It’s pretty wild how dehumanized Dr. “N” ended up getting during the throes of his addiction… what kind of repercussions did he face when he got caught rifling through old syringes and stealing meds from his patients? I assume he lost his practice?

At this point Dr. N. was deep into his addiction. When he was confronted about his actions, he said he was relieved. But his intervention was the beginning of a decade-long struggle to kick his addiction to alcohol and Fentanyl. Like many physicians, he was deep in denial about certain aspects of his disease. It also fair to say that he resisted treatment well beyond what most physicians experience. At one point in his struggle he surrendered his medical license. He regained it after three years of sobriety and is now in private practice.

What kind of a road is it for physicians like Dr. “N,” once they go through their treatment… do they have trouble getting hired afterwards?

In researching this story I found that most doctors in recovery return to their practice under the supervision of the Washington Physicians Health Program. They are strictly monitored for five years following their treatment. They also have a designated overseer at their place of employment who reports to the program.

What was it like for you as an interviewer to sit down with Dr. “N” and hear him speak so candidly about his addiction and the damage that it did to him (and potentially to others)?

This was a difficult story. In the past, my work with addiction has been primarily focused on addicts who could be considered down and out. The humanity is all over them, and it’s not that difficult to see the greater truths around their situation. Listening to Dr. N’s story challenged me to rethink many of my own preconceived notions around privilege. For me, lot of it came down to that unspoken contract the patient enters into with his or her physician – the one that puts doctors on that unfair pedestal. I was shocked at how deeply engrained that notion of perfection was in me.

Tell us a bit about your radio background and the sort of work you’re doing these days at KUOW?

I’ve been kicking around public radio since 1995 – first at WBUR in Boston, then as host of “All Things Considered” then Morning Edition at New Hampshire Public Radio. I’ve been here in Seattle at KUOW for nine years now, hosting ATC, doing documentary work and series reporting. I love the freedom the KUOW offers me; it is a truly great station.

What’s next on the horizon for you? And other interesting projects in the works?

Oh boy, you know it’s hard to let go after doing a story like this. I think I’ll stay focused on health reporting for now, but I may be done with the addiction scene for a while. I don’t want to get a rep as a one trick pony! But you never know… stuff tends to grab me and I really have no choice but to run with it.

You can hear parts II and II in Patricia Murphy’s KUOW series “Troubled Doctors: Addiction and Depression in Medicine,” 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.