Outside the Box 12/19/23: “Happy New Year??”

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger

About the host:
Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry’s activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men’s groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation.

Around Town 12/18/23: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Guest: Erica Nadelhaft, Education Coordinator for the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, with an invitation to a free zoom presentation and conversation, happening tomorrow (Tuesday, 12/19, starting at 6pm).  Deadline for registering is 3pm on 12/19.

About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The Nature of Phenology 12/16/23: Dark Days

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

Regardless of where you are from in the north, the difference feels severe between the summer solstice, when our planet is tipped towards the sun like a gentleman bowing to a dignitary, and the winter solstice, when our planet seems to be leaning away from the light like a vampire at dawn.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com.

About the host/writers:
Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing [email protected]

Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing [email protected]

Earthwise 12/16/23: The Christmas Tree

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley

About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine.

The Cosmic Curator 12/16/23: Karmic Knot

Good Morning, People! This is your cosmic curator, Tom Yaroschuk, with a look at the stars for the week of December 16th and the days ahead…

About the Host:
Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer.

Around Town 12/15/23: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Guest: Sharon Catus, Development Director, Downeast Community Partners, talking about their drive to raise $10k in 10 days for their emergency heating fund.

FMI: www.downeastcommunitypartners.org/  or 207-664-2424

About the host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Common Ground Radio 12/14/23: Seaweed and Climate Change

Host: Holli Cederholm
Editor: Clare Boland

Common Ground Radio is an hour-long discussion of local food and organic agriculture with people here in the state of Maine and beyond.

This month:

The December 2023 episode of MOFGA’s Common Ground Radio explores seaweed, a source of food, fertilizer, and carbon sequestration off the coast of Maine. The majority of the episode is a panel discussion on seaweed — called “Is Seaweed the Solution to Climate Change?” — that was recorded at the 2023 Common Ground Country Fair in September. The panel was organized and facilitated by Bridget Huber from FERN, the Food and Environment Reporting Network. The guests were: Nichole Price, a benthic marine ecologist with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine; Aurora Burgess, seaweed aquaculture coordinator at Atlantic Sea Farms in Biddeford; and Severine von Tscharner Welcome, of Smithereen Farm in Pembroke, who is also a co-founder of Seaweed Commons.

Guest/s:
Aurora Burgess, seaweed aquaculture coordinator at Atlantic Sea Farms in Biddeford.
Bridget Huber, a staff writer with FERN, the Food and Environment Reporting Network.
Nichole Price, a benthic marine ecologist with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine.
Severine von Tscharner Welcome, of the Greenhorns and Smithereen Farm in Pembroke.

FMI Links:
“A Precautionary Approach to Seaweed Aquaculture in North America: A Position Paper by the Seaweed Commons” — seaweedcommons.org
Atlantic Sea Farms — atlanticseafarms.com
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences — bigelow.org
“Climate savior or ‘Monsanto of the sea’?” by Bridget Huber — thefern.org/2023/06/climate-savior-or-monsanto-of-the-sea
Food and Environment Reporting Network — thefern.org
MOFGA Certification Services’ “Guidelines for Organic Sea Vegetables” — mofgacertification.org
Running Tide — runningtide.com
Seaweed Commons — seaweedcommons.org
Smithereen Farm — smithereenfarm.com

Tags:
Seaweed cultivation and wild harvest
Seaweed propagation/seed sourcing
Seaweed for carbon sequestration
Climate change
Opportunities and challenges in cultivating seaweed for carbon storage
Marine ecology
PFAS/arsenic uptake of seaweed

About the hosts:
Holli Cederholm has been involved in organic agriculture since 2005 when she first apprenticed on a small farm. She has worked on organic farms in Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Scotland and Italy and, in 2010, founded a small farm focused on celebrating open-pollinated and heirloom vegetables. As the former manager of a national nonprofit dedicated to organic seed growers, she authored a peer-reviewed handbook on GMO avoidance strategies for seed growers. Holli has also been a steward at Forest Farm, the iconic homestead of “The Good Life” authors Helen and Scott Nearing; a host of “The Farm Report” on Heritage Radio Network; and a long-time contributor for The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener, which she now edits in her role as content creator and editor at MOFGA.

Caitlyn Barker has worked in education and organic agriculture on and off for the last 17 years. She has worked on an organic vegetable farm, served on the Maine Farm to School network, worked in early childhood education and taught elementary school. She currently serves as the community engagement coordinator for MOFGA.