The Nature of Phenology 12/19/20: Warm Hooves and Bird Feet

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

Picture a wet duck standing on ice or paddling through sub-freezing ocean waters. How is it that their skinny feet, without fat or feathers for protection, don’t freeze? And what about the legs and feet of hooved mammals?

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

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Dawnland Signals 12/17/20: The Power of Song

Producers/Hosts: Maria Girouard, Esther Anne
Production assistance: Jeffrey Hotchkiss

Critical conversations of truth, healing, and change in the Dawnland: The Power of Song

-Can you tell us about how you started singing?
-What is your most special singing memory?
-What is your advice to parents who want to teach their children the power of song?

Guests: Sarah Dewitt, Micmac, Suzie Lewey, Passamaquoddy, and Julie Miller, Micmac – members of Mawitan’ej E’pitjig; and Dwayne Tomah, Passamaquoddy language teacher.

About the hosts:

Esther Anne, Passamaquoddy from Sipayik, joined the Muskie School of Public Service in 2003 where she works on projects that engage and benefit tribal communities including facilitating the Maine tribal-state Indian Child Welfare Act workgroup and creating child welfare resources with the Capacity Building Center for Tribes. She had a primary role in the creation and establishment of the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Maine-Wabanaki REACH. Esther now serves as secretary for the REACH Board of Directors and on the REACH Communications Committee. Esther lives on Indian Island and her family includes adult children and a grandbaby.

Maria Girouard, Penobscot from Indian Island, is Executive Director of Maine-Wabanaki REACH, a statewide organization working toward truth, healing, and change in the Dawnland. Maria is a tribal historian with a Master’s Degree in History from the University of Maine and a special interest in the Maine Indian Land Claims. Maria has devoted years to community organizing, environmental stewardship and activism, and growing food in tribal communities.

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 12/17/20: December Update 1

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Difficult as it may be to get into stores these days, it’s still the holiday season and lot of folks are buying “smart” appliances. As we’ve mentioned on past programs, these devices are called “smart” for a reason, a point made by one of the regional offices of the FBI. Those agents offered some very good advice for any time of year but especially in the gift-giving season.
The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, is trying to offer some swell advice as well about having your face scanned if you want to take a plane out of the country. That idea deserves a stocking full of coal. Here’s why.

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Maine Currents 12/15/20 Elections 2020 Edition: The Finale

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

It’s the 3rd Tuesday of the month, so it’s once again time for our Elections 2020 edition of Maine Currents, with guests, Professor Amy Fried, Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Maine, former State Representative Ralph Chapman
Ann Luther, board member for the League of Women Voters of Maine, and host of the Democracy Forum here on WERU, and Will Hayward, Advocacy Program Coordinator for the League of Women Voters, joining us for a discussion of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results, the Electoral College meeting under heavy security, the possibility that Trump will attempt to pardon himself, the status of the Maine legislature, and where things go from here

Taped via Zoom on Tuesday, December 15th, 2020

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 and Maine Currents, she 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 the First Place 2017 Radio News Award from the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

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