Climate warriorette and award-winning author Terry Tempest Williams, has just published her latest book, “Erosion: Essays of Undoing;” a book for these times with her inestimable attention to the health and souls of all beasts, including us. Williams sizes up the continuing assaults on America’s public lands and the erosion of our commitment to the open space of democracy. She asks: “How do we find the strength to not look away from all that is breaking our hearts?” We devote the full hour to her. The book is published by Sarah Creighton Books/Farrar Straus Giroux. Readers and listeners can stay current with her via: http://coyoteclan.com.
Author Archives: Claudia Shambaugh
American MONUMENT AND Art in Nature
Today we dwell in two very different museum spaces. First, conceptual artist lauren woods and curator Kimberli Meyer talk about the immersive and transformative experience of their current installation “American MONUMENT,” at UCI’s Beall Center. This installation continues through February 8, 2020. Details about the installation; including the upcoming think tanks on 11/19th and 11/22 – as well as the unveiling forum on 2/8/20, are available at: https://beallcenter.uci.edu/exhibitions/american-monument.
In the second segment (minute 37:35 ), Malcolm Warner, executive director of the Laguna Art Museum, returns to speak about this year’s “Art in Nature” program commission by artist Yorgo Alexopoulos entitled – 360° Azimuth, commemorating the Museum’s 7th annual multidisciplinary exploration of art’s many engagements with the natural world. The opening includes the outdoor multi-media installation launch Thursday Nov. 7, followed by a roster of events over the weekend. Details for this and later events are available at: https://lagunaartmuseum.org/events/.
National Women’s Political Caucus; Multi-Partisan/Multi-Tasking AND Assemblywoman Petrie-Norris Speaks/Governs
Karriann Farrell Hinds, President of the National Women’s Political Caucus of California, a multi-partisan organization, brings us from the multi-partisan good old days of her organization’s founding – to the present. Everything is in play. In the second segment (minute 31:47), CA Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, representing District 47: Irvine and nearby cities, reflects on the latest legislative session, her first. More of everything on the table: from the committee rooms, to townhalls, to the Assembly floor, back to the campaign season.
Naturalization Delays Ramp Up AND Talking Truth to California Power Companies
Ming Chen, law professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, and a member of the Colorado State Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights, reports on the lengthening delays in the naturalization process. Fascinating findings are available in that report entitled: “Citizenship Delayed: Civil Rights and Voting Rights Implications of the Backlog in Citizenship Naturalization Applications.” Attention: if you have not already applied for citizenship, you will likely not be eligible to vote in the November 2020 presidential election.
In the second segment (minute 40:20), Richard Alexander, electrical engineer and technical electrical publisher provides insights about the electricity infrastructure amidst the wildfires breaking out in California.
AI Predicts Wildfires in Alaska AND “30 Years of Discovery; Hope on the Horizon Dealing with Alzheimer’s
Shane Coffield, PhD student and researcher at UCI’s Department of Earth System Science, presents the Randerson Labs’ interesting findings using machine learning/artificial intelligence which models wildfires in Alaska, to predict which fires will burn out of control. The model will have application with California wildfires.
In the second segment (minute 30:19), Dr. Carl Cotman covers the state of Alzheimer’s research in advance of the UCIMIND Alzheimer’s Association annual conference in Irvine on 10-25-19, the title of which is “30 Years of Discovery; Hope on the Horizon. Chelsea Cox covers the roster of this year’s presenters. Information about UCI MIND is available at: https://www.mind.uci.edu.
Public Trauma AND PFAS
Roxane Silver, UCI Professor of Psychological Science, Medicine, and Public Health and Associate Director of the ADVANCE Program, brings the heft of her over 30 years of compelling work on how we experience publicly-shared trauma. Natural and man-made disasters are considered.
Then, (minute 33:00) staying in the expansive public health realm, UCI professor Scott Bartell offers a look under the hood about the challenges to understanding the pathways and public health impacts of PFAS chemicals in our environment and in our bodies. It’s very current work, and on the radar of people representing us on local, state, and federal levels.
Eyes Over Here; We’re Talking About Gerrymandering AND Coping With Sea Level Rise
Amidst the dizzying developments outta D.C., Ask A Leader puts Gerrymandering in front and center, with a civics lesson on why something so complex, so long established in political history – is so consequential to all of us. Seasoned political scientists Alex Keena (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Michael Latner (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) guide us through the nuances of state of the States mapping/remapping gerrymandered districts. Recommended read: Gerrymandering in America: the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, and the Future of Popular Sovereignty, published by Cambridge University Press.
In the second segment (minute 43:18) we bring back Aquarium of the Pacific CEO and President Dr. Jerry Schubel, in advance of their Sea Level Rise free community event on the evening of 10/7, 7-9 p.m., co-sponsored with The Nature Conservancy and the ArtCenter College of Design. Reservations are requested: http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/events.
Port of Esbjerg; Denmark’s Green Economy AND Local National Council of Jewish Women at Work
The green economy is on sharp display with the wind turbine sector. Dennis Pedersen, CEO of the Port of Esbjerg in Denmark, offers how the Esbjerg Harbor, also known as the “Energy Metropolis Esbjerg,” is a success story for these times. As they continue to outcompete the oil and gas sector, wind turbine farms continue to expand in on shore and off shore designs and in markets around the world.
In the second segment (minute 27:56), Dr. Linda Fox, President of the Long Beach/West Orange County Section of the National Council of Jewish Women, takes up how her local council sustains an ambitious charter amidst considerable social needs. They extend the invitation to “everyone with shared values of the beliefs in the dignity of every human being, in education, and the pursuit of social justice, Jewish or not, female or not.” The human trafficking hotline is 888-373-7888 or text 233733. Information on upcoming events is available at: https://www.ncjwlongbeach.org/.
Hydrometeorology versus A Little Sharpie AND SCR “Reeking of Excellence and Virtuosity”
As Director of the Center for Hydrometeorology & Remote Sensing, and Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science Department at UC Irvine, Professor Soroosh Sorooshian offers the finer points behind what we all witnessed as Hurricane Dorian blew toward the East Coast. His Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing website, https://chrs.web.uci.edu/ is one cool place to geek out for a while, for real time and long term weather patterns.
In the second segment (minute 35:10), South Coast Repertory’s new artistic director David Ivers presents the offerings at the beginning of this year’s season, this side of the New Year: “American Mariachi,” “The Canadians.” and “Aubergine.” Ticket and other information is available at: https://scr.org/ and 714-708-5555.
Reparations #1619
REPARATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. “So You Want to Talk About Race,” “Tears We Cannot Stop; A Sermon To White America,” “Lies My Teacher Told Me; What Your American History Teacher Got Wrong,” “Winners Take All,” The NYTimes “1619 Project,” “The Beautiful Struggle,” “Sweet Taste of Liberty; A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America,” “Shadow Bodies: Black Women, Ideology, Representation, and Politics,” and “There Will be No Miracles Here;” provide some background on the juncture at where we have arrived with respect to reparations in the United States. This solemn occasion is handled by Davin Phoenix, UCI Political Science professor, and author of the soon to be released “The Anger Gap: How Race Shapes Emotion in Politics for Action.,” published by Cambridge University Press.