KUCI: Digging Out: Recent Episodes
Claudia Shambaugh
This January 3, 2022 edition, is the final edition of “Digging Out.” This program was launched in October 2020, to offer means for getting us past the general election November 3, 2020. Then we needed to get past 1/6/21. So much debris to clear from what were the last 4 hours, 4 days, 4 weeks, 4 years, 4 centuries. The most vast piles were heaped over several millennia. This program closes out appropriately with the last guest, Terri Gerstein, director of the State and Local Enforcement Project at the Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program and a senior fellow at the Economic Policy Institute. She writes, researches, and advocates about the “powerful connection between work life and broader public welfare.” The leaping off point is the editorial she penned in the New York Times: "Other People's Rotten Jobs Are Bad For Them. And Bad for You," https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/06/opinion/labor-workers-rights.html. Another article also raised in the interview is penned by Heather Rust: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/12/nurse-shortage-labor-crisis-health-care-workers-hospital-corporations. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Nadine Sierra performs Villa-Lobos’, “Cantilena,” from Bacianas Brasileiras No. 5 W.389, A Place for Us – album.
In the first segment Orange County Supervisor for the Second District, Katrina Foley, offers important details about the Orange County Board of Supervisors' redistricting process underway, in advance of the OC Board of Supervisor hearing on these maps today 11/22 at 1 p.m. All districts, including the one into which Irvine would be drawn, are affected in this mapping exercise. https://cob.ocgov.com/2021-redistricting. In the second segment (minute 32:07), UCI Earth System Science undergraduate student Dinorah Hernandez will speak for the local Sunrise activists who will rally at the Irvine City Hall 11/23 meeting about how the Orange County Power Authority figures into the energy mix in the Climate Action municipal projects. More information is available by contacting Contact Kyler Chin 949 469 9476 or kyler@sunriseoc.org. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Bill Beasley, "Three Finger Snap, Letter To Herbie – album; Benjamin Clementine, “The People and I,” At Least for Now – album.
Ernesto Falcon, Senior Legislative Counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, brings critical tools during the U.S. Senate confirmation of Federal Communications Commission interim Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to become the permanent chair. This process comes with a deadline soon upon us- January 3rd. Mr. Falcon's work focusing on: intellectual property, open Internet issues, broadband access, and competition policy offers a button-down appraisal of how the US squares with other countries in 2021, and how the nominee could bring the country up to speed. It’s not just you who’s saddled with poor internet at inordinately high fees; we are all feeling it. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, "New Age," Channel the Spirits - album; Blondie, "Hanging on the Telephone," The Best of Blondie - album.
Jennifer Lee Koh, law professor at Pepperdine's Caruso School of Law, and formerly at U. C. Irvine, brings nuance to the hazzards plaguing Haitians fleeing one hazard after another. Her contributions at: https://www.law.uci.edu/news/videos/law-policy-series-immigration.html offer additional insight with her UCI Law School colleagues last June, about how institutions are and are not performing. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits - album; Shirlee Skai, "Ou Manke'm," Toutouni - album.
Andrea León Grossmann, Climate Action director of AZUL, builds a grassroots manual for the newly engaged activists, resuming activists. She uses current developments, and breaking news; the federal infrastructure reconciliation package, state and local laws and appointments. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Hermanos Guitérrez, “Esperanza”- album.
Josef Avesar, founder of the Israeli Palestinian Confederation, which advocates for a mutual third government for Israelis and Palestinians, offers nuance which is in short supply in the Arab Israeli conflict. He has been building simulations of the confederation process, with an impressive roster of commentators, in IPC’s virtual meetings this fall. Listeners are welcome to view previous recordings as well as partake in live demonstrations. During this interview Mr. Avesar takes stock of the contributions of the late Ruth Shapin who helped build this process. Submissions for the Ruth Shapin Essay Competition are due 8/30/21. More details about this and the ambitious simulation roster are available at: https://ipconfederation.org.
Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; and Horace Silver, “Peace,” Blowin’ The Blues Away – album.
Norberto Santana, founding publisher and editor in Chief of the Voice of OC trains his penetrating and seasoned journalistic eye on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. With billions of public money being spent, and not being spent, transparency is the watch word and civic engagement is the remedy. The next Board of Supervisor public meeting is this Tuesday, July 27th. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Shabaka and the Ancestors, “Behold the Deceiver” We Are Sent Here by History - album.
Acclaimed director, performer, and educator Brooke Aston brings “Ordinary Days,” a musical by Adam Gwon, in a filmed-staged production at a special outdoor, drive-in venue in Tustin 7-24 at 8 pm. This is the sign of life as The Wayward Artists return to life, honk honk. Brooke also posts us on how artists are resuming their creative work as the pandemic dims ever so slowly. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; The Wayward Artist production “Ordinary Days.”
Ion Sancho, after a 38 year career in supervising elections in Leon County, (Tallahassee) and around FL, has the long view of the health of our republic. Mounting suppression and subversion measures from state legislatures and the courts challenge the citizenry to hold the democracy together. This portion of the interview includes auditing and cyber security.
Music credits: Devon Gilfillian, “What’s Going On,” featuring Jasmin Cephas Jones, What’s Going On – album.
Ion Sancho, after a 38 year career in supervising elections in Leon County, (Tallahassee) and around FL, has the long view of the health of our republic. Mounting suppression and subversion measures from state legislatures and the courts challenge the citizenry to hold the democracy together. The extended portion of this interview is available in Part 2. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits - album.
Nancy Cohen president and founder, and Mona Shah vice president of external affairs of the recently established Gender Equity Policy Institute, present a new report, “Failing the Climate Justice Test; An Analysis of CA’s Projected Climate Resilience Funding and It’s Affect on Californians by Race Region and Gender.” Two tool-belts take on the pile of debris on today’s show. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits - album; Emancipator, “Labyrinth,” Mountain of Memory - album.
It’s a double header: performance art and graphic art tackling the debris. In the first segment, Robin Frohardt presents her smart and creative installation “The Plastic Bag Store,” for an immersion in time and space to examine the persistence of………plastic. Her installation will run from 6/30-7/11/21 at the Downtown LA location of 661 Imperial St. More details are available at: https://cap.ucla.edu/landing/plastic_bag_store_installation. In the second segment (minute 22:38), Robin Repp board member of the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art and juror Erika Hirugami keep the conversation going with the impact of the population on the planet presenting an ambitious, “The Anthropocene Epiphany: Art and Climate Change,” on exhibit from 7/3-8/21/21. Details for this installation are available at: https://www.occca.org/2021-07.html#gallery. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age” Channel The Spirits; Freddi Price, “Helen Walk Work,” The Plastic Bag Store film; Illum Sphere, “Thousand Yard Stare,” Glass - album.
James Lamb – activist, 2020 UCI Law School graduate, and now a criminal defense law clerk, schools us in the best possible way about what Critical Race Theory is. Life from here forward, is on the test. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Eliot Lip, Emancipator Remix “Not Quite Awake,” Skywave album.
Andrew Behar’s victory laps and sharp appraisals continue in this Part 2 of his interview. Check out the Proxies:https://www.asyousow.org/backstage-at-the-proxies for a good and enlightening time 6/24th 5-6 pm PT! Music Credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Sly5thAve "Everything Is Everything," Composite EP
This time the debris has been piling up since the dawn of the Anthropocene, the industrial era. Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, returns to do some victory laps over some breakthrough shareholder challenges to corporate leadership. These successes are attributable to an impressive legion of collaborators. This is Part One, next week, 6-14, will be the broadcast of Part Two. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Rone, “Esperanza,” Room With a View – album.
Returning to the show, this time together, are Andrea León Grossmann CA director of Azul, and John Hocevar Oceans Campaign Manager for Greenpeace USA. They knit together massive campaigns on the state and national levels, leading now with addressing California’s contribution to plastic waste that is exported to countries with weak labor standards and few environmental protections. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits- album; Forest Swords, "Panic," Panic- album.
This week we continue to work very hard the public health lane metaphor in Part 2 of my conversation with Vinu Ilakkuvan, founder and principal consultant of PoP Health. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel the Spirits; Gershwin Piano Quartet plays “American in Paris” by George Gershwin.
Vinu Ilakkuvan, founder and principal consultant of PoP Health https://www.pophealthllc.com, is the public health professional for the moment to consider who belongs and who doesn’t belong in the public health lane. Given the messy traffic there, this first of two parts offers a better idea of where to yield and where to pass the detritus on the road. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age;” Chemtrails, “Born in it’s Image” Cuckoo Spit EP
Jacqueline Keeler, a Diné/Ihanktonwan Dakota writer and activist, returns in this Part Two coverage of her latest book: "Standoff, Standing Rock, the Bundy Movement, and the American Story of Sacred Lands." The Bundy takeover of Oregon's Malheur Wildlife Refuge and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's standoff against an oil pipeline in North Dakota are two sides of the same story that created America and its deep-rooted cultural conflicts. Through a compelling comparison of conflicting beliefs and legal systems, Keeler explores whether the West has really been won—and for whom. This show includes other recent work with her inestimable, broad-reaching, myth-busting, story telling. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Charles Lloyd, "La Llorona," Kindred Spirits - album
Returning to do this show is Jacqueline Keeler, a Diné/Ihanktonwan Dakota writer and activist, with her latest book: "Standoff, Standing Rock, the Bundy Movement, and the American Story of Sacred Lands." The Bundy takeover of Oregon's Malheur Wildlife Refuge and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's standoff against an oil pipeline in North Dakota are two sides of the same story that created America and its deep-rooted cultural conflicts. Through a compelling comparison of conflicting beliefs and legal systems, Keeler explores whether the West has really been won—and for whom. This show is the first of two parts of a broad reaching, first rate story telling that you may wish you had heard when you first received your history lesson(s). Part 2 is available in a separate podcast. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Redbone, “We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee”
Former Assemblywoman and current local government official, Representative Christy Smith, who’s close general election loss last year, really does meet this show’s theme. Stay with me listeners – it will be apparent. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits - album; Rone, “Ginko Bilboa: Room With A View - album.
Silvio Carrillo, journalist, activist, and artist offers what keeps getting missed in mainstream coverage: a nuanced perspective of the motivations for Central American refugees to flee dangerous conditions. Silvio speaks as the California director of Berta Cáceres.org; the late activist, his aunt, who championed indigenous claims to resources in Honduras. Listeners can dig out by contacting their federal representatives in support of HR1574 and S388. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Natalia LaFourcade “Hasta la Raíz.”
Johanna Kim, Newport Beach businesswoman, civic contributor, and parent, examines the moment in which her three generations of Korean American family members dwell. KUCI listeners are invited to turn out and learn at the 4/3/21 Stop Asian Hate rally at Freedom Hall/Mile Square Park, 16801 Euclid Street in Fountain Valley at noon. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Ted Coleman Band “Sweet Bird” Taking Care of Business – album.
Keramet Reiter, UCI professor of Criminology, Law and Society, UCI School of Law, and director of Lifted, the prison education program in the UC system, brings a crowbar with her latest program that she’s building with colleagues and a crew of graduate and undergraduate students. Prison Pandemic, “Stories from the Inside,” is an ongoing project compiling voices of and about incarcerated people in California. Listening to her interview is the first way to engage. Other ways include: following @uciprisonpndmic and Prisonpandemic.uci.edu, or writing: Prison Pandemic/PO Box 4430/Sunland, CA 91041.
Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Devon Gilfillian, “What’s Going On,: feat Jasmine Cephas Jones
David Domke, associate director of Common Power, talks about how his organization is building on the momentum of the last recent general and special elections to address the national and state legislative voting rights measures. If you want more where this came from, you’re an email away to sign up for CP’s rousing gatherings or just follow up: https://commonpower.org talks; hand wringing is officially out of fashion. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Sunscreen, “Voices,” Just A Drop EP.
Today we turn out sights to local drinking water and the Poseidon desalination plant proposed in Huntington Beach, under consideration on and off and now on again. And examining the process and the merits of this massive infrastructure investment is Andrea León-Grossmann, Climate Action director of AZUL, advancing environmental justice as climate change is being tackled in all sectors on all levels. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Captain Planet, ”Big Man” feat Shungudzo – No Visa - album.
Kristen Poole, Ned B Allen Professor of English Renaissance Literature at the University of Delaware, and general editor of the Routledge Encyclopedia of the Renaissance World, talks about her new book, "Christianity in a Time of Climate," Wipf and Stock Publishers; a special tool for the era. Listeners are invited to find a copy of this lovely tome, for a broader experience of her particular thinking. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel the Spirits album; “ Fritz Kreisler: "Praeludium and Allegro," performed by Johanna Röhrig, violin and the Mozart Chamber Orchestra.
Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, primes shareholders of all portfolio sizes to advocate for justice, bringing several tools to the show, including his book, "The Shareholders Action Guide: Unleash Your Hidden Powers to Hold Corporations Accountable." Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Johnny Pacheco, “El Faisan”
Dr. Manuel Pastor, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the USC, as well as director of USC’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and their Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration; and serves on Governor Newsom’s taskforce for Covid-19 recovery, weaves social solidarity into the pandemic recovery model. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Chick Corea ”Spain” Return to Forever album. RIP, Chick!
Today we turn to immigration, with Fatima Majid's narrative laying out the complexities of her journey from Casablanca, Morocco to eventually Las Vegas, Nevada. This coverage is a bit of a lure to all listeners, to pursue other narratives in their midst. It’s never what you think it is. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Anis “Bistro,” La Chance – album.
Dr. Laura Mosqueda, Professor of Family Medicine and Geriatrics at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, covers the institutional, the cultural, and the personal aspects of our elder population amidst the current pandemic. Dr. Mosqueda is also the co-director of the National Center on Elder Abuse, a federally-funded clearinghouse for information on research, training, best practices, news and resources on elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; The James L’Estraunge Orchestra “Groovin’ You.”
Adam Smyer, attorney and writer, offers his fresh take on the optics and the words conveyed at the 59th Presidential Inauguration. Considering his latest book entitled, "You Can Keep that To Yourself: A Comprehensive List of What Not to Say to Black People, for Well-Intentioned People of Pallor," ’tis a gift to mine his thinking. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra, “Parable of Inclusion” Dimensional Stardust album.
Kevin O’Leary, journalist, writer, political science faculty member at Chapman University, and fellow at the Center for the Study of Democracy at UCI, draws on the history of the republic as the host endeavors to attribute roles of OC individuals in the melee perpetrated on the nation’s capital January 6th. Of interest is O’Leary’s latest book, released in September 2020, Madison’s Sorrow: Today’s War on the Founders and America’s Liberal Ideal. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Sean Jones “Lift Every Voice,” Roots album.
John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director of Greenpeace USA talks about his organization’s latest campaigns to reduce plastic production. This includes the lawsuit his organization filed last month in California, against the Wallmart Corporation, for deceptive labeling of plastic containers. Plastic, the debris that lasts tens of thousands of years. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Rone “Room with a View,” Room With a View album.
Welcome to the new time slot for, and the trimmed size of, this show. Today, José Trinidad Castañeda, Orange County Climate Action Campaign organizer and non-profit builder, has two separate tracks in which he’s working: the planet’s health and his own. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; “What’s Going On” feat Jasmine Cephas Jones.
My guests are OC Citizens Climate Lobby activists, Tom Osborne (Laguna Beach chapter) and Mark Tabbert (Newport Beach chapter and national board) look into where the 117th Congress and the new Biden/Harris will take legislation pertain to the carbon tax. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad, “Ao Redor Do Samba,” Azymuth.
Leading us through a bit of patriarchal unlearning is my guest, Ava Park Founder, Director and Curator of The Museum of Woman in Irvine and Founder, Spiritual Director, The Goddess Temple of Orange County, a women's spiritual organization meeting at The Museum of Woman with currently monthly Sunday Goddess services and Holy Days. Mary and the Virgin birth are considered in the context of two thousand years ago. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; and Alice Coltrane, "Journey in Satchidananda," World Spirituality album.
Charles Douglas III, with a Starbucks managerial career and activism in his tool belt, is on to something very special. He is now responsible for vision, brand, and community at a new organization known as Common Power. His colleague, David Domke spoke last week on “Ask A Leader”. On today’s show, Charles takes up how Common Power builds teams and develops a new generation of leaders, presently joining organizations inside Georgia to engage voters in the two consequential Senate run-off elections, taking place 1-5-21; early voting has begun this week.
Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; (1:54)John Fahey, “Joy To The World,” Christmas Guitar Soli With John Fahey, album.
What if we arranged a memorial to the COVID-19 casualties . . . all of them? Reverend Terry LePage, minister affiliated with the United Church of Christ respectfully considers: where, who, how, why, and when. If you have more to add, the host is but an email away, cshambaugh@kuci.org.
Today’s guest, Ani Zonneveld replaces dogma with nuance about Islam. She is the founder and current president of Muslims for Progressive Values, and founder and current board member of Alliance of Inclusive Muslims. She appears in advance of the MPV annual event: Celebration of Life 2020, to be held on the International Human Rights Day, December 10th 3:00-5:30pm (PST). Event details are available at: https://givebutter.com/celebrationoflife2020, or about MPV in general: https://www.mpvusa.org.
Tim Jemal puts Armenia on our maps, on our radars, for context about the devastation perpetrated on the majority enclave in the Republic of Artsakh (AKA Nagorno Karabagh) and the Republic of Armenia, why now, what folks in the diaspora world wide are doing to support those affected in the war, and why we should be concerned. Tim Jemal is an entrepreneur, advocate, educator, small business owner and nonprofit executive, and recently re-elected as a Trustee for the South Orange County Community College District. We didn't have to go far to get this insight, about Armenian casualties a century after The Armenian Genocide.
Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Charles Lloyd, “La Llorona,” Kindred Spirits album.
Tom Bowman, a strategic communication consultant based in Long Beach, California, talks about his new book, "What if Solving the Climate Crisis Is Simple?" Once you get past his provocative title, you’ll understand his clear and insightful grasp of intersectional issues and gain some essential take-aways. This book is part of the series, “Resetting Our Future.”
Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits - album; Scrimshaw, "Tanto Tiempo" Believers Vol. 1.
John Murillo III, professor of African American Studies, at U.C Irvine’s School of Humanities, with his work and interests in theoretical physics and Black Studies, brings a special take, an essential take. Black (in) Time, is an earlier work. Watch for his book coming out in early January 2021, “Impossible Stories on the Space in Time of Black Destructive Creation, published by Ohio StateU Press.
Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Swim, “How I Feel”
Sarah Myhre, speaks in this very delicate moment, in the aftermath of the 2020 electoral season. As the embodiment of intersectionality, Sarah is a leading voice in the fields of climate science, science communication, and public advocacy, speaking as a feminist advocate for representative leadership, pay equity for all, human rights, and climate solutions.
Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album; Jasmine Cephus Jones, "What's Going On."
On today’s program the infatiguable activist, Guerline Jozef offers a history lesson on Haiti; posts the grueling conditions forced upon Haitian nationals all over the Americas; and acknowledges white saviourism pertaining to two now famous Haitians moving into D.C. with their five other siblings.
Today’s program considers not the last four years, not the last 400 years, but actually a couple of millennia to understand more fully how European descendants come up short in understanding Native American sovereignty. Pulling back the curtain of the mythology of North American history is my guest Jacqueline Keeler, a Diné/Ihanktonwan Dakota writer and activist. Watch for her new book coming out February 2021, "Standoff; Standing Rock, the Bundy Movement, and the American Story of Sacred Lands," published by Torrey House Press, which is now taking pre-orders.
Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album.
John Raphling, of Human Rights Watch in Los Angeles; Andreya Garcia-Ponce De Leon, of San Bernardino Free Them All; and Lex Steppling, with Dignity and Power - take up CA’s prop 25 to replace cash bail with a pretrial risk assessment; and broaden conversation on reforming California's carceral system. They unearth the inequities and biases that are baked into the system. Music credits: The Comet is Coming, “New Age,” Channel The Spirits album.