Long one of the hottest issues in California and indeed the US, immigration has been an integral part to the Golden State’s success. Hysteria and ignorance have characterised the immigration debate and led to draconian exclusions of the “other”. Ironic given that immigration is part of America’s DNA….
In this 31-minute podcast (of two) San Diego-based scholar Justin Akers Chacón discusses the history of US-Mexican relations, starting with the non-honoured agreement of the US-Mexican war and continues through to the Bracero programme and the modern era. He discusses the maquiladoras, the enormous assembly plants on the US-Mexican border, as well as how undocumented workers were able to work and pay taxes with a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and the detrimental economic impacts of deporting undocumented workers.
In it, Akers Chacón challenges the widely-held perceptions, and discusses justice (NAFTA for capital, but not for labour), immigration’s positive economic impacts and the imbalance between short-sighted politicians and the quest of large multinationals for cheap labour.
Episode two will be released around 20 May and include policy formulation in an election year, the initial milestones and the decreasing impact of the United Farm Workers.
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In this 13-minute podcast, Samantha Schoech of Independent Bookstore Day (April 30) shares with us the origins of the day, how they learned from the vinyl industry about keeping declining media relevant, her favourite place to read, her desert island five and taking the day to a global audience.
www.indiebookstoreday.com
Next month, immigration with Justin Akers Chacón in two episodes.
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Grant Lee Phillips has been a staple on the California, and indeed the national, music scene for the last two decades. Fronting Grant Lee Buffalo in the 1990s, he ventured out on his own in 2000 and has just released The Narrows, his eighth solo adventure.
In this 41-minute interview, Grant-Lee discusses a few tracks off of The Narrows and songwriting more generally (min. 9). He then reflects on the recent passing of Merle Haggard, the influence of the Bakersfield sound (min. 14) and the musical differences between Nashville (his current home) and Bakersfield.
Grant-Lee recounts his first brushes with the entertainment industry as a 13-year old magician in the night clubs of Stockton, just off Route 99, getting ideas across in his music, mixing up performances and closes with the influence that California has on his work.
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Without John Muir (1838-1914), Yosemite Valley as the world knows it (Apple users included) may not be as pristine as it is today.
Muir, born in Scotland, grew up in the US and eventually made his way to California, where he fell in love with Yosemite. Over the course of several decades, Muir changed the way that America looks at nature, spurring the creation of the environmental movement and the designation of countless national parks.
In this 37 minute episode, Mary Colwell, author of John Muir - the Scotsman who saved American’s wild places, discusses Muir’s life, works and legacy. She covers Muir’s austere, religious upbringing and touches on his inventions and adventures (min. 4) and then considers the increasing role of religion in the current environmental agenda, particularly in Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia and Russia (min. 7). Mary continues, summarising Muir’s scientific theories, his advocacy work and disappointment over the Hetch Hetchy dam (including a meeting with Ralph Waldo Emerson, min. 17).
Finally, she closes the interview (min. 28) with how the book came about and her upcoming 500 mile walk from the west of Ireland to the east of England for the curlew bird.
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In this episode (29 minutes) David McLaughlin discusses Pope Francis’s controversial canonisation of mission founder Junipero Serra, which sparked protest from Native American groups about Spain’s ill treatment of indigenous populations.
He also touches upon disease, fire and earthquakes, and the rebuilding of the missions. David closes with a description of a few of his favourites.
Coming up in April, the BBC's Mary Colwell on John Muir, Justin Akers Chacon on immigration and musician Grant Lee Philips on his latest album, The Narrows.
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In this first episode (28 minutes) of two, David McLaughlin of the California Mission Resource Center tells the story of the Spanish Missions. These 21 missions, dubbed the the King’s Highway, served the dual purpose of protecting Spain's military interests along the California coast as well as converting the indigenous populations to Christianity.
McLaughlin provides the historical context, the balancing of military and religious purposes, mission layout, architecture and daily life as well as the differences between the Franciscans and the Jesuits in the running of individual missions.
The second episode, to be released around March 20th, will discuss Pope Francis’s controversial canonization of mission founder Junipero Serra, which sparked protest from Native American groups about Spain’s ill treatment of indigenous populations. McLaughlin also touches upon disease, fire and earthquakes, and the rebuilding of the missions and closes with his favourite missions.
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In this second episode (27 minutes), we discuss Chandler’s ups and downs with Hollywood and his indirect role as crime fiction’s leader. Williams shares some of the stand out moments (and archival gems) in writing Chandler's biography as well as his favourite on-screen Marlowe.
Next time, California’s Spanish Missions.
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The Big Sleep, Farewell my Lovely, the Long Goodbye….novels which constitute an integral part to the canon of crime fiction, all penned by Raymond Chandler. Chandler, a US citizen brought up in the UK, had a number of professions before taking up writing at the age of 44. Chandler churned out a number of novels, introducing the literary world to the character Philip Marlowe, private detective.
Tom Williams, author of A Mysterious Something in the Light, spent six years researching Chandler’s life and provides an intimate look into Chandler’s life, his stories and his influence.
In this first episode (28 minutes) of two, Williams provides the context of Chandler’s writing, giving an exhaustive overview of Chandler’s complex personal life, his relationships and his increasing alcoholism, which led to his sacking and launched his writing career en vrai. Williams also discusses Los Angeles’s state of corruption during this time, which served as an important backdrop for Chandler’s writing. Williams also touches on how Chandler developed and wrote his novels.
Episode two will be aired about 20 February, covering Chandler’s relationship with Hollywood as a screen writer and his role as torchbearer for crime fiction, with his essay "The Simple Art of Murder". In addition, Williams discusses how he became involved with Chandler’s work, the thrill of going through Chandler’s archives in Oxford and at UCLA, Chandler and the development of Los Angeles and his favourite on-screen Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart or Elliot Gould).
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The 6th street bridge is dead! Long live the 6th street bridge!
Photographer Kevin Break has been photographing downtown LA’s bridges for over 20 years. As the iconic 6th street bridge is being demolished, Break provides listeners with a history of the dozen bridges that span the LA River, comments on the replacement bridge and reflects on its eery silence and the unexpected nature in the concrete-lined river. He shares the logistics of going into the river and why 2am is the best time to shoot photos. He ends with how the Jesus Wall came into existence, the impact of going digital and the importance of archiving….26 minutes.
http://www.kevinsbridges.com
Next month - Tom Williams on crime fiction writer Raymond Chandler.
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In this second episode on electric mobility (19 minutes), industry expert Chelsea Sexton talks about the fear of a limited range, lessons from Silicon Valley, the politics of electric mobility, low oil prices, the evolution of batteries, fixing incentives, and the potential bubble in the industry.
Watch out for the next show with photographer Kevin Break on LA’s iconic 6th Street Bridge, scheduled to be released in the coming days.
In this first of two episodes (24 minutes), electric mobility expert Chelsea Sexton talks about the state of play in the sector. She gives us a brief background how she became involved through her time as a sales rep for GM and the ill-fated EV1 project, which was the main protagonist in the cult documentary film “Who killed the electric car?”.
Chelsea discusses how she and her cohorts went from pot stirrers with a goal to save the first cars and then embarked on a quixotic journey to make them part of today’s mix. That journey has taken them from the consumer’s enthusiasm (and anxiety) to some company’s full embrace (i.e. Tesla and Nissan) or minimalist compliance-based approach. At the forefront of the electric mobility debate, she argues that the industry is still misjudging the market.
The second episode will air just as the North American International Auto Show kicks off in January and will discuss the current déjà vu environment in which she feels the industry finds itself.
In this 19-minute episode, we take a look at some of 2015’s best stories, reflections and outtakes. We have (in the following order):
This is just a taster of the many eye-opening stories and reflections of the Soul of California’s guests over the course of 2015.
Enjoy them and feel free to download the complete interviews.
Have a good 2016.
For this second episode (27 minutes) on the Business of Food, Professor Richard Walker discusses the history and continued use of pesticides (the concept of gas chambers was started in the fields of California) and the describes the variety of available fruits and vegetables thanks to the State's melting pot of nationalities.
Dr. Walker continues with the logic of growing rice in the desert (there is none, except that it is a best seller in Japan), the agricultural lobby's inordinate influence in water allocation rights (Governor Jerry Brown’s multi-billion dollar tunnels project) and closes with why the drought has caught so many off guard.
California is a world leader in agriculture. Take note, this is not about farming, this is agricultural capitalism and it is relentless.
The State's growers take the finding of markets, killing pests and turning out a variety of food that is the envy of the world very seriously. Nearly endless water rights and labour standards right out of Steinbeck (the harvest gypsies of the 21st century) have allowed these growers to profit enormously.
In this first episode of two (26 minutes), UC Berkeley Professor Richard Walker walks us through the State's climactic trump cards, the industry's early application of technology in the 19th century and how it has adapted to current technology to increase production through apps, GPS and other means. He closes this episode with a discussion of the role that genetically modified organisms play, the tendency to have smaller companies and the key role that immigrants play in the industry, putting food on the table not only in the United States, but around the world.
Episode two, to be released around 20 December, will discuss the history and continued use of pesticides, the variety of fruits and vegetables thanks to the State's melting pot, the logic of growing rice in the desert, the agricultural lobby's influence in water allocation rights and why the drought has caught many off guard.
In this episode, EPIC’s Rob DiPerna discusses the split in the community between those favouring logging and those against it. He details the Headwaters “deal” reached between the US government and Maxxam and its consequences.
Rob also walks us through some of the challenges in being “certified”, specifically for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and how the private sector’s regulation is not always what it seems. Finally, he takes us through the work that still needs to be done in the forests and shares with us his favourite place in California (no surprises here, but it’s very specific).
www.wildcalifornia.org
For this first episode of two, Rob DiPerna of the Environmental Protection Information Centre (EPIC) provides an introduction and thorough overview of logging issues in Humboldt County, particularly the Headwaters Project, which saw the Houston-based investor Maxxam hostilely acquire long-established local company Pacific Lumber in 1985. Maxxam’s takeover involved the raiding of Pacific Lumber’s pension fund and the accelerated destruction of the some of the oldest trees on the planet - 10 metres in diameter, 30 meters in circumference and over 2,000 years old.
In this 27-minute podcast, DiPerna walks us through the politics around the industry, the technological advances, sustainability issues of clear-cutting the redwoods (and replanting them), the protest movement and its methods, which included cat and mouse tactics and tree-sits (one of which lasted for two years), and closes with discussing the rift in the community over the issue.
A bit of vocabulary, which may help…
HCP - Habitat Conservation Plan
THP - Timber Harvest Plan
BLM - Bureau of Land Management (federal level government agency)
CAL FIRE - California Department of Forestry and First Protection (state level government agency)
Harry Partch - who created musical instruments from scrap and completely dismantled the 12-tone system that Western music is based on - was not your average mid-twentieth century composer wandering around the Golden State.
To discuss Partch’s influence, impact and his own instruments, we are pleased to have as the SoC’s guest Thomas Oesterdiekhoff, the Director of the Musik Ensemble in Cologne, Germany, whose company produced Partch’s Delusion of the Fury in Cologne and at New York’s Lincoln Centre for two sold-out performances.
In this 15-minute interview, Oesterdiekhoff sheds light on Partch’s atypical upbringing, and his obsession with tone that led to creating his own tonal system. Creating an entire array of instruments using hubcaps, bottles and shell casings, Partch penned a number of brilliantly chaotic noise ensembles that push the boundaries of music that has been termed “unclassifiable”. Oesterdiekhoff describes how he and his team meticulously rebuilt a new set of instruments and how a trained musician threw out all of his/her knowledge to relearn Partch’s system. With 52 players and instruments on stage, half of which are moving around, no conductor, and a cast dressed up as hobos, Delusion of the Fury is one rare blend of music and theatre and demonstrates the genius that welds them together in ways unimaginable.
www.musikfabrik.eu
With thirteen solo albums, three Grammy nominations and one brush with death under his belt, Peter Case is back with 'Highway 62', his new album on Omnivore Records.
In this twenty-minute discussion as Case makes his way up California's Highway One, he talks about his new songs and his (song)writing more generally, the making of Highway 62 and the musicians who played on it (Ben Harper and D.J. Bonebrake, among others), connecting with the audience, the differences between northern and southern California and obtaining some of his education at City Lights Books.
Case is just embarking on the first leg of a US tour in November, with the second leg early next year.
www.petercase.com
This second episode with UC Berkeley's Gray Brechin includes Mono Lake's near-death experience and how Dr. Brechin and his colleagues used the public interest doctrine in the early 1980s to save it. He then discusses the West's water wars, the dismantling of large projects, Governor Pat and Jerry Brown's legacies, bullet trains and his favourite place.
Gray Brechin is the author of Imperial Dreams: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin and Farewell, Promised Land - Waking from the California Dream, both published by UC Press.
www.graybrechin.net
UC Berkeley Professor Dr. Gray Brechin gives a history lesson of San Francisco's "Imperial Dreams", drawing on the model of Ancient Rome. He discusses the immense environmental impacts that mining and logging had on the city's contado (Italian for hinterland). He argues that the technological advancements in mining played a key role in warfare and of all things the skyscraper, and that thanks to fracking California's attitude to new energy less resembles leadership and more one-foot-on-the-accelerator-one-foot-on-the-brake.
Dr. Brechin shares the large and uncomfortable role that UC Berkeley (and the wider UC Regents) had and still has in the development and delivery systems of nuclear weapons, lifting Ernest Lawrence to heroic status, while largely ignoring the role of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
His three wishes include Prop. 13 reform, investing in public education and that the digital generation puts down their devices long enough to see what's really going on.
He closes this first part with the real danger under which Californians place themselves in their built environment, sharing among others, the real risk of fire in the next big earthquake, repeating San Francisco's catastrophic experience of 1906.
Part two, to be aired later this month, will include Mono Lake's near-death experience and how Dr. Brechin and his colleagues used the public interest doctrine in the early 1980s to save it. Other themes include the West's water wars, the dismantling of large projects, Governor Pat and Jerry Brown's legacies, bullet trains and his favourite place.
Gray Brechin is the author of Imperial Dreams: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin and Farewell, Promised Land - Waking from the California Dream, both published by UC Press.
www.graybrechin.net
In this second episode with Lewis MacAdams, Founder of the Friends of the LA River, the discussion turns to the River's best spots (including canoeing), FoLAR's advocacy regarding the 6th street bridge and his best and worst experiences. He goes on to discuss his art, his book The Birth of the Cool (to be an HBO series) and LA's East Bank as the next SoHo. Lewis closes up the conversation by sharing the importance of a sense of humour in the face of so much adversity.
Please note that after the brief introduction, the episode begins with Lewis discussing progress of his 40-year artwork, which partially repeats the closing of the first episode (approximately three minutes).
Lewis MacAdams, Founder of the Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR), has looked the impossible in the face and stared it down. Taking on the Quixotic campaign of transforming the LA River, which Wim Wenders described as violent and dangerous in the 1980s, MacAdams and his Friends have been speaking on behalf of the River for thirty years. They have created a critical mass to transform the former "flood control channel" created in the 1930s back to its natural state.
A major victory took place just a few weeks ago when it was agreed to take out eleven miles of concrete of the 52-mile long river, giving nature its first real opportunity to recover after nearly four generations.
In this first of two episodes, MacAdams provides an extensive introduction to the LA River. He recalls throwing himself in front of bulldozers (minute 7), the role of the adjacent communities (minute 13), his preferred bureaucracy and champions such as LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and Governor Jerry Brown (minute 17) and a progress report after 30 years of his intended 40-year artwork (minute 23).
Throughout our talk, MacAdams shows humour, humility, honesty and an improvised creativity. He and his team have shown resilience and fortitude that has been to the LA River's advantage.
The next episode will air in late September and cover the best spots on the river, its architecturally stunning bridges, Lewis's best and worst experience, whether FoLAR is cool and the concept of LA's East Bank as the next SoHo.
www.folar.org
Through her multi-media projects on the Salton Sea, Highway Five, the State’s never-ending saga of water distribution and currently the Mojave desert, artist Kim Stringfellow has doggedly uncovered the complexities and little-known history in California’s hinterland.
In this 35-minute interview, Kim discusses her major projects, her development as an artist and her 100-mile view in Joshua Tree (!), providing interesting insight into some of the characters, players and issues that not only impact California’s periphery, but have implications for the rest of the Golden State.
www.kimstringfellow.com
Bertolt Brecht, Lion Feuchtwanger, Fritz Lang, Thomas Mann, Arnold Schoenberg - names which heavily contributed to Germany’s 20th century intellectual history. What unites these cultural giants is their choice of exile during the rise of Adolph Hitler - Los Angeles.
The Soul of California is pleased to have UCLA Professor Dr. Ehrhard Bahr on the programme, author of Weimar on the Pacific - German Exile Culture and the Crisis of Modernism. In this 35+ minute interview, Dr. Bahr covers a range of topics including the circumstances in which these writers, artists and musicians came to the United States, their reception once they arrived and the ups an downs of being in exile while their own country Germany was being led into hell.
Dr. Bahr discusses the role of Los Angeles in German cultural history, from the salons which were an extension of life in Berlin to the strained relationships between some of these pivotal figures and their difficulties in representing Germany in their adopted land.
The Golden Gate and Bay bridges have not only heavily contributed to the iconic San Francisco skyline, they serve as a collective engineering and aesthetic tour de force.
Architect Donald MacDonald, whose work continues on the redesigned Bay Bridge, gives an extensive overview of both bridges and thier places in San Francisco's history. Covering the politics and the financial history of each bridge, MacDonald moves on to discuss seismic measures, environmental impact, the "bridge aesthetic" (design) and how some cities are branding themselves through their iconic bridges.