The Jefferson Exchange
Summary: JPR's live call-in program devoted to current events and news makers from around the region and beyond.
Podcasts:
The news that North Korea may have missiles capable of reaching our West Coast is both unwelcome and ironic. Ironic because the anniversaries of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occur in the next week. As always, the anniversaries will be observed by people who do not want to see the bombings repeated, including the Friends Committee on National Legislation and Rogue Valley peace groups. Kate Gould of FCNL and Southern Oregon University professor Michael Niemann both speak at
The gorgeous Smith River is thought of as a California stream, but some of its waters rise on the Oregon side of the state line. And it is that side that just gave a boost to efforts to protect the Smith. Oregon's Environmental Quality Commission just applied "outstanding resource waters" designation to the North Fork of the river. The Smith River Alliance pushed for the label.
How can you know a person from afar, something beyond the standard biographies? For Laura Shapiro, the answer was on the dining table, literally. She tracks six notable women--some famous, like Eleanor Roosevelt, some less so, like British caterer Rosa Lewis--in the book What She Ate . From their food choices and habits (be glad you never had a meal at the FDR White House), we learn more about each of the women.
Can you pull yourself away from the news long enough to get immersed in a good book? The long, warm days lend themselves to reading, and we'll spend the summer getting advice on WHAT to read from some of our local bookstores. Fiction or non, fantasy or not, what's your pleasure? Our weekly feature "Summer Reads" probes the tastes and recommendations of Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah.
"Transparency" is the term often used to describe a government in which the workings are visible and open to the public. Which is how things are supposed to be in America. But even places that profess to believe in transparency can throw up obstacles. Oregon passed a major public records law decades ago, then passed many exemptions to that law. Now the 2017 legislature has produced four new laws that should affirm the primacy of openness in government. It impressed the state's chapter of the
Dead trees happen. But a LOT of dead trees happening all at once is a cause for concern, and it led to the creation of a Sudden Oak Death Syndrome Task Force in Oregon. Public officials at several levels of government took part, producing a report on impacts of SODS on oaks and other trees. The report is finished, and a set of recommendations is part of it.
There IS life after fossil fuels. Peter Kalmus can attest to that. He's aware that he lives in a society still powered by them, but he made great strides to reduce his own carbon impact. It was about walking the talk: Kalmus is an atmospheric scientist at NASA. He tells the story of changing his life to prove the world can change, in the book Being the Change .
The eclipse is now three weeks away (August 21st), and the excitement is mounting. In parts of Oregon and in many other states, the eclipse will be total. And you could totally damage your eyes by trying to sneak a look at it without protective eyewear or a viewing device. Dr. John Hyatt at the Retina & Vitreous Center of Southern Oregon knows a thing or two about how the eyes work, and what (like looking at the sun) can make them work poorly.
Recent history has not been very kind to one of the primary keepers of history in Jackson County. The Southern Oregon Historical Society lost its primary funding source through a change in property-tax law; it is currently all-volunteer. But still working to preserve the region's history, and working to raise money for the effort. SOHS presents a fundraiser on Saturday, August 5th, the Hanley Farm Music Festival .