The Nature of Phenology 10/9/21: Cotton-grass

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

There are several species of cotton-grass in Maine, but you know you’re looking at one if you see what looks like an unkempt cotton ball at the end of a stem that can be up to three feet tall. Standing taller than most of their low-growing bog neighbors, its top-heavy form bobs and sways in the breeze looking like something out of The Lorax.

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

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]

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The Cosmic Curator 10/9/21: Astrology update for the week ahead

This is your Cosmic Curator, Tom Yaroschuk with an astrology update for today Saturday October 9 and the week ahead.

Well folks – what a day, what a week.

The big news is that Scorpio is brimming with the energy. That sign of passion and deep stirring emotions, a love of the occult, and the mysteries of life and death is being transited by Ketu, the moon and Venus. Let’s start there…

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.

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Change Agents 10/7/21: The struggle for basic rights for Maine farm workers

Producer/Host: Steve Wessler

-Examining the conditions for farm workers in Maine
-Discussing the racial bias against farm workers imbedded in US laws
-Discussing the important pending legislation in Maine to provide farm workers with greater rights

Guests: Thom Harnett and Mike Guare are both lawyers from Maine who have and continue to work to provide farm workers with the same rights that other American workers have. Thom is a state representative from Gardiner. Mike works for Pine Tree Legal Assistance.

About the host:
Steve Wessler will soon will be starting his 28th year of working on human right issues. He founded the Civil Rights Unit in the Maine Attorney’s Office in 1992 and led the Unit for 7 years. In 1999 he left the formal practice of law and founded the Center for the Prevention of Hate. The Center worked in Maine and across the USA. He and his colleagues worked to reduce bias and harassment in schools, in communities, in health care organization through workshops and conflict resolution. The Center closed in 2011 and Steve began a consulting on human rights issues. For the next 5 years much of his work was in Europe, developing and implementing training curricular for police, working in communities to reduce the risk of hate crimes, conflict resolution between police and youth. He has worked in over 20 countries. In late 2016 he began to work more in Maine, with a focus on reducing anti-immigrant bias. He continues to work in schools to reduce bias and harassment. Wessler teaches courses on human rights issues at the College of the Atlantic, the University of Maine at Augusta and at the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in northern Virginia.

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 10/7/21: Our Devices Watch Us

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

“Watching TV That Watches Us” is a new report form Common Sense that once more brings to our attention that our electronic devices are doing much more than we may realize. Here is a link to that easy to use Infographic

The other report mentioned on today’s program entitled: “Are iPhones Really Better for Privacy? Comparative Study of iOS and Android Apps” takes a look at what goes on with the apps that we use on our smart phones.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

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Technoptimist Radio 10/6/21: Star Trek’s Holodeck will soon be a reality

Join Teresa Carey as she breaks down the latest news on the technology that is solving the world’s biggest problems. In today’s show, Teresa covers the smallest microfliers, a special feature of oyster reefs, and holograms you can touch.

To learn more about the topics in this episode:

Flying microchips the size of sand are tracking air data. Watch them fly.
How oyster reefs protect against hurricane damage

These holograms are so real you can touch them

About the host:
Teresa Carey is a senior staff writer at Freethink.com, where she covers genetics and the environment. She is also a US Coast Guard licensed captain and a NatGeo Explorer. In addition to Freethink her work can be found in BuzzFeed, Scientific American, PBS NewsHour, NPR Weekend Edition, Smithsonian and more. @teresa_carey

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Tough Island, Maine, Episode 8 10/5/21: Island Life on Matinicus

Producer/Host: Crash Barry

This week on Tough Island, Maine, Crash and Captain Donald have a disagreement, Crash ends up working on a presidential campaign and someone Crash loves, dies.

About the host:
Writer Crash Barry lives near a cannabis grove in the foothills of western Maine. Thirty years ago, he moved to Matinicus, Maine’s most remote inhabited island, to live and work as a sternman aboard a lobster boat. In Tough Island, Maine, Crash retells his misadventures using dramatic storytelling and unique sound design.

For over 25 years, Crash has worked as print, radio and on-line journalist, reporting on the intersection of politics and culture. He’s the author of the rollicking novel Sex, Drugs and Blueberries, a gritty memoir Tough Island and the true story of Marijuana Valley. Crash is also a filmmaker and wrote and directed the screen adaptation of Sex, Drugs and Blueberries.

Crash’s podcast Devils and Dirtbags is an ongoing investigation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts and a true tale of deceit, homicide, molestations and cover ups. The actions of evil Bishops and their unholy henchmen play out like a Hollywood movie, rife with death, destruction and disgrace, all framed by a murder mystery that haunted Springfield until an ex-priest made a deathbed confession. Crash tracked down both the murderer and another former priest, a serial child rapist that served as pastor of Crash’s childhood parish, to see if they felt guilt for their sins and crimes.

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