Poetry Express 8/8/21: “Transformation”

“Transformation” by Emma Dawson Webb read by Alexa Barstow

About the host:
Jan Bindas-Tenney is a trans non-binary and queer writer, reader, fighter, lover, friend and parent living on unceded Abenaki land. They hold an MFA in nonfiction from University of Arizona. Their writing has appeared in the opinion pages of Maine newspapers, in legislative testimony, as well as in Orion, Guernica, Gulf Coast, Arts & Letters, CutBank, the Maine Review, among other places. They work at the Maine Humanities Council where they curate a weekly poetry feature on WERU Community Radio called Poetry Express.

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Pet Sounds 8/8/21: The Placebo Affect

Producer/Host: Dr. John Hunt

About the host:

My Sunday morning short has been running for about 11 years. I’ve cover a wide range of animal related topics from COVID to porcupines.

After graduating from Michigan State University Veterinary School in 1982 I practiced at three different veterinary hospitals in the Hartford, Conn area for 5 years. Then I bought a small part time clinic in Bucksport and turned it into a full time small animal surgery and medicine hospital. From 1987 to 2014 I enjoyed serving the Bucksport-Orland area pet owners. My kids grew up in Bucksport. I was a Boy Scoutmaster for a few years, and coached cross country and track in the Bucksport school system for 20 years. I’ve written three books working on a fourth.

I sold my practice and retired from practicing medicine in 2014. Since “retiring” I’ve continued Pet Sounds and my monthly Lets Talk Animals show on WERU. I’ve been teaching at local community colleges, officiating at high school track meets, writing and started a blog on line.

I enjoy hiking, reading, writing and anticipate spending more time with my first grandchild.

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The Nature of Phenology 8/7/21: Lobster Mushrooms

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

Look for an orange, chunky, irregularly-shaped mushroom with a rough, dry texture. When sliced, the interior is white. This combination of being irregularly-shaped with a white interior and unique rough exterior are clues about the weirdness of this particular fungus.

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 8/7/21: This week’s astrology update for August 7th and the week ahead

Good Morning People!
This is your Cosmic Curator, Tom Yaroschuk, With this week’s astrology update for August 7th and the week ahead.
The big celestial story as we speak is that the moon is waning, waning, waning. No moonlight tonight on the Penobscot…

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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Conversations from the Pointed Firs 8/6/21: Gordon Bok

Host: Peter Neill
Producer: Trisha Badger

The guest for Friday, August 6th is Gordon Bok, sailor, singer, songwriter, storyteller, woodworker, sculptor, and keeper of Atlantic memory and traditional music. He and host Peter Neill will discuss traditional ways of thinking that are unique to Maine, to the Atlantic coast, and to the cultural flow of humanity as informed and shaped by our ocean world.

Key Discussion Points:
MUSIC & SONG
THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE MAINE COAST
SPIRIT OF PLACE
TRADITIONAL SKILLS AND MUSIC

Guest: GORDON BOK, SINGER, SONGWRITER

About the host:
Peter Neill is founder and director of the World Ocean Observatory, a web-based place of exchange for information and educational services about the health of the ocean. In 1972, he founded Leete’s Island Books, a small publishing house specializing in literary reprints, the essay, photography, the environment, and profiles of indigenous healers and practitioners of complimentary medicine around the world. He holds a profound interest in Maine, its history, its people, its culture, and its contribution to community and quality of life.

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Awanadjo Almanack 8/6/21: “Summer of my Dreams”

Producer/Host: Rob McCall
Production Assistance: Rebecca McCall

About the host, Rob McCall:

Born in the Black Hills of South Dakota, grew up in Oregon and Illinois. Father was a Scots-Irish preacher, mother a Yankee Congregationalist tracing her ancestry back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Father taught him about Scripture, mother taught him about Nature.

Bachelor of arts in philosophy, bachelor of divinity in American religious history, graduate studies in education, doctor of ministry in congregational studies, certified in elementary education, tree fruits and entomology.

Worked as an elementary school teacher, tree and landscape contractor, church sexton, orchard manager, chimney sweep, ambulance driver, musician. Began second career as a preacher at age 40. Served as minister of the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill, Maine 1986 – 2014. He is currently chaplain of the Brooklin Fire Department.

Since 1992 has published the weekly Awanadjo Almanack which is broadcast to midcoast Maine and on the web at WERU-FM and appears in a number of publications. His writing has also appeared in Yankee, Down East, Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, Island Journal and elsewhere.

His first book, Small Misty Mountain, was published in 2006 by Pushcart Press and distributed by W.W. Norton. Publisher’s Weekly called it “by turns inspiring and infuriating.” His second book, Great Speckled Bird, followed in 2012. His third book, Some Glad Morning, was released in October 2020.

Passions include wild plants and animals, and traditional fiddle tunes. Married for 53 years to Rebecca Haley, artist and singer. Father of two, grandfather of two.

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Change Agents 8/5/21

Producer/Host: Steve Wessler

My guests were Joel Furrow the Executive Director of the Root Cellar in Portland and Lewiston Maine and Darragh Graham who directs the programming for youth in the St. Columbs House in Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Discussion of the difficult issues that face the youth from both communities. The Root Cellar in Lewiston serves mostly Somali youth and some Africans from other countries. The St. Columbs Park House works primarily with Protestant and Catholic youth.
Both guests discussed the role of religion in their work. This discussion focused on their own religious beliefs and how that informed their work. While they come from different religious traditions they found significant commonality about how religion informs their work.
Both guests discussed the emotional difficulty of their work for staff and for themselves and how to cope with the difficult issues affecting the youth they work with youth.

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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