Representing John McCain

Former Fairfielder Galen Saturley speaks with Writers' Voices host Monica Hadley about his offerings in Blue Tree Publishing's Portrait of a Restaurant series (www.thebluetree.com). These beautiful books break new ground by combining

art photography and recipes, focusing on the best restaurants in a specific town. Galen recently published Portrait of a Restaurant: Cambridge and is working on two more books in the series.

Writer's Voices airs Friday at 1pm and is rebroadcast Monday morning at 8 am.

Former Fairfielder James Tipton will be the featured guest on Writers' Voices with Monica and Caroline this Friday at 1 pm (rebroadcast Monday at 8 am).

Tipton will discuss his recently published historical novel "Annette Vallon: A Novel of the French Revoluion," based on the life of William Wordsworth's French lover.

What about this woman, a footnote in literary history, inspired 15 years of research and writing?

Author and executive coach Susan Wilson joins Monica and Caroline on Writers' Voices Friday Jan 18 at 1 pm and Monday Jan 21 at 8 am. Susan is CEO of Executive Strategies (www.execstrategies.com), working with high-performance companies and individuals. She is the author of "Gourmet Meetings on a Microwave Schedule," "Transformational Leadership," "Magnetic Leadership" and more. She also contributed to "Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul" and "Intimate Moments with God." Susan uses her flair for storytelling to enhance her coaching work.

Plus, her coauthor on some of the books is Caroline's daughter-in-law, Deanne Herr.

Join us this week on Writers' Voices for another informative and entertaining interview.

Around Town's Melinda Arndt interviews Fairfield Arts and Convention Center's Stephen Sondheim Broadway actor Stephen DeRosa, who stars in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

Listen to this colorful character describe his life in theater and his impressions of Fairfield, Iowa.

James Moore discusses art and loss with local painter Suzanne Stryker, who was the target of art thieves twice right here in Fairfield.

Her story was featured in the Des Moines Register and picked up by the Associated Press.

She shares her thoughts and reflections on Planet Erstwild at 3pm CST

[Click on the picture to go to Suzanne's website.]

Former Fairfielder Meghan Dowd will join Monica and Caroline on Writers' Voicesthis Monday Jan 28 at 8 am. Meghan has been working in LA as a script coordinator and writing assistant for television shows such as Big Shots (currently on ABC), Reunion, Haunted and Laguna Beach: The Real OC. She's back in Fairfield on a break due to the writers' strike.

Tune in to hear Meghan decribe what she calls a "great job, we get to joke around all day and tell crazy stories, and eventually we have a workable storyline for an episode."

Janice Peterson talks about Human Design with Ava Kennedy.

For more information: www.jovianarchive.com

Monica
and Caroline welcome psychologist and teacher Dr. Laurel Parnell,
author of "Tapping In: A Step-by-Step Guide to Activating Your Healing
Resources Through Bilateral Stimulation" to Writers' Voices. Learn
about resource tapping and its development by practitioners of EMDR
(Eye Movement Desensitation and Reprocessing) healing therapies.

MAKING GREAT FOOD HAPPEN IN IOWA

Great Taste 7-8 PM Wednesday

Special Guest in the Studio-Wendy Wasserman

Wendy Wasserman
Before she became the publisher of Edible Iowa River Valley, Wendy lived in Tokyo, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, New York and Hawaii, and her passport now requires extra pages from all her international travel. She finds Iowa in some respects one of the most mysterious places she has have ever resided. She knows the territory is full of culinary surprises and delicious stories and is excited to discover them for the readers of Edible Iowa River Valley.

But there's more--the studio will abound with the smells of Kathy's cooking and we'll talk to some local food heroes!

This Friday at 1 pm and Monday at 8 am, Writers' Voices with Monica and Caroline welcomes Mt. Pleasant author and speaker Susan Klopfer. Ms. Klopfer, an award-winning journalist and formerly an acquisitions and development editor for Prentice Hall, is the author of "Where Rebels Roost: Mississippi Civil Rights Revisted," which follows the history of African Americans and their struggle for civil rights in the Mississippi Delta region.

Ms. Klopfer's prior publications include "The Emmett Till Book," and a number of computer how-to books. Her speaking topics include "There is a Book Inside You - How to Get It Out" and "How to Market Your Book and Services on the Internet."

Join us this week on Writers Voices for another stimulating conversation about books and writing.

Join Monica and special guest host Paul Gandy as they welcome former Fairfield resident Jessica Hawthorne-Castro to Writers' Voices.

Hawthorne-Castro was formerly a successful television literary agent for Hollywood's Endeavor Agency, representing writers, directors and producers for television and feature films. In this capacity, she assisted the creators of several top-rated TV programs, such as Entourage, The Office, Heroes, 24, and Law and Order. Jessica has since joined forces with her father, Tim Hawthorne, as the next generation of Hawthorne Direct, a Fairfield-based full-service television advertising agency.

Listen in Friday at 1pm or Monday at 8am as Jessica explains why "the writer" rules in television, how the internet is changing the rules of the game, and what it takes to make it as a writer in Hollywood.

This show is NOT for the faint of heart. It is a truly deep journey into the most abstract and profound realms of electronic music. It is a jaunt into a space and time that reflects the direction music is taking as we fly into the ultra_future. 2012 may very well need a soundtrack, and these artists and their music could be the candidates for that task.
Others who enjoy the sublime abstraction of the concepts of stress-release or impending earth changes could possibly discover the music's ties to physiologically empowering rhythms that exist in indigenous cultures and traditions; modalities which are meant to LIFT YOU UP and BRING YOU THROUGH blocks in creativity and consciousness in order to reveal a higher state of awareness.

On February 5th, my Great Teacher passed on into Mahasamadhi. His presence, his effort, his attention, his love, his devotion and his teachings have forever impacted the face of planet Earth. Personally, I have been enmeshed in Transcendental Meditation [TM] since just about the time I was born.
I attended courses with my Mom and I began meditating with a walking mantra and later moved on into the more advanced techniques. As a high school student @ Maharishi Upper School in Fairfield I spent my time rebelling against the dogma of the TM Movement, and then at the University of Iowa I began to explore consciousness via music, light and art...Raving and electronic music became power tools which needed juice and Transcendental Meditation was the obvious choice for me.

Dennis Raimondi speaks freely with Iowa Senator Charles Grassley

Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is the senior United States Senator from Iowa. He is a member of the Republican Party. He chaired the Finance Committee from January to June 2001, and from January 2003 to December 2006, and currently serves as the committee's Ranking Member.
Grassley has been ranked as high as the third most powerful senator. A late December 2007 poll shows Grassley remains highly popular in Iowa, with 66% approving of his job.

Fairfield artist/poet Elaine Duncan discusses creativity, breaking boundaries, and her uncommon book, "Feathered Space." (See www.featheredspace.com)

Children's writer and writing teacher Cheryl Fusco Johnson describes the joys of attending the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival - see http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/iswfest/. This will be Cheryl's 21st year teaching at the festival.

This sunday's show will begin with my newest drum n' bass song "Holy Mesina" which is an interstellar ode to the beatified and nearly cannonized saint, Antonia Mesina. It was written with full flurry on Wednesday February 27th 2008 and hits all the highs and lows with 3 movements during its 7 minute duration. From there the show will dip and dive into various Obvious World compositions spanning the entire map of conscious creation. No two songs will be alike and your attention span will NOT be tested. Instead this is a journey that I've been wanting to take with you for quite some time, a journey of creativity, an expedition of levity and curiosity full of color and emotion.

This week on Lyrical Venus, singer-songwriter Sharon Bousquet will stop by to talk about her recent trip to California for the premiere of the film Cosmic Radio. Three of Sharon's songs plus instrumental background music can be heard in the film!

"Whether she's playing the smoldering blues, soulful rock or country-tinged folk, Sharon Bousquet does everything with sultry grace. She's a woman with so much music inside her, it's as if she can't help but let it bubble out all steamy-like across a wide range of genres.... She has
considerable prowess on the acoustic guitar, yet she puts her instrument down occasionally to belt out an a cappella tune like the gospel-tinged "Temple".... Bousquet has the substance to rise to the top." - The Metro (Santa Cruz) - RP

"How would it be if you really created your life?
Stories you told, the good and bad, that they come alive?"
Ellis, How Would It Be

Minnesota based singer-songwriter Ellis is coming to Cafe Paradiso Saturday, February 9th as part of her CD release tour for her 6th album - Break the Spell.

Join us on the Lyrical Venus Radio hour for an interview with this inspiring and engaging artist and to hear tracks from the new CD!

“With a voice as strong as thunder and a message as powerful as a surge of lightning, Ellis pours out her heart and soul into every single word.” — Independent Songwriter Magazine- National

Special guest Sarah Brooks Joins hosts

Elsa Backstrom and Tabatha Watters.

They talk about accupuncture and life in Fairfield.

A Harvard-educated neurosurgeon reveals his experiences-in and out of the operating room-with apparitions, angels, exorcism, and after-death survival, and shares the lessons he learned.

A young burn victim remains in a coma until a ghost appears.
A doctor discovers he can predict when a patient will die.
A clinically dead patient later recounts extraordinary details about the private lives of her caregivers.
A physician needs the help of a Navajo shaman to exorcise the spirit of his dead patient.

These things really happened-and neurosurgeon Allan J. Hamilton was involved in every one of them, and many more. Based on thirty years of medical experience, The Scalpel and the Soul tells the unspoken stories behind remarkable patients and strange events, and shares the moral and spiritual lessons found in them.

Elsa Backstrom and Tabatha Watters talk with

Tom Todar

Tom discusses moving from Texas, becoming local, celebrating Easter,
and much more. This show has lots of laughter, energy, and enthusiasm
for life that really comes across the Radio Waves. Tune in at 9a.m. on
Easter Sunday.

This Week's Guests:
FORMER U.S.CONGRESSMAN MICKEY EDWARDS. Congressman Edwards was a member of Congress for 16 years and chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee. He was national chairman of the American Conservative Union and one of three founding trustees of the Heritage Foundation. He has taught at Harvard and Georgetown and is now on the faculty of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a vice president of the Aspen Institute. He has been a regular columnist for the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles
Times and a weekly commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. He lives in Hingham, Massachusetts and Washington, DC.
Congressman Edwards is the author of the book RECLAIMING CONSERVATISM. How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost and How it Can Find Its Way Back.

They tell me that April is National Poetry Month, so help celebrate this momentous occasion by tuning into Writers' Voices Monday at 8 am as Caroline and Monica interview Fairfield poets Rustin Larson and Matthew McLeod.

We'll be talking about the role of poetry in America in the 21st
century, what motivates these poets, and more. Plus, we'll get to hear
some great poems!

Fridays at 1pm CST Rebroadcast Mondays at 8am

This week's guest, Deborah Madison, is the founding chef of the renowned restaurant Greens and is the author of "Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmer's Markets" and half a dozen other vegetarian cookbooks.

She is active in the Slow Food movement, and is on the board of the Seed Savers Exchange and The Southwest Grassfed Livestock Association. Deborah writes for culinate.com and gourmet.com, and has contributed to Cooking Light, Williams Sonoma's Taste, Vegetarian Times, Gourmet, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Garden Design, Fine Cooking, Organic Style, The LA Times, Orion, and others.

Kate Ross, owner of the Main Stay, (pictured above) talks about running a Bed and Breakfast.

Shanta Small, formerly of Fairfield, is currently the Associate Director of Publicity
and Marketing at Tarcher/Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, Inc.
She has worked with both adult and children's book authors, including
Judy Collins (The Seven T's), Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way), Martha
Frankel (Hats & Eyeglasses), Carl Hiaasen (Flush), Markus Zusak
(The Book Thief), and John Feinstein (Last Shot).

On Planet Erstwild, James interviews some amazing people:

2pm- Baton Rouge-based bluesman extraordinaire Larry Garner who plays the Morning Star Friday April 18.

A world-class talent and a world-class man, Garner discusses his recent European tour, his new release Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, a recent heart attack and his love for the cultural landscape in Fairfield.

Irving Toast, disembodied poet laureate from the late 1890's, has found his favorite haunting place at KRUU-LP 100.1 FM, "The Voice of Fairfield" on Sunday mornings at 10:30 am.

Though at times you may hear his ethereal jabbering wending its way through the microphone cords, his chosen earthly medium, and host of the show, is Fairfield poet Rustin Larson.

Irving, through Rustin, will be interviewing established and emerging poets and writers from the North American literary scene and hosting haunting literary performances from talent near and far.

Tune in this Sunday, April 20^th to catch a brand new interview with renowned New Hampshire poet, W. E. Butts.

Pour the pancake batter, Maybelle! This one is gooood!

Marci Shimoff is a best selling author. Her most recent book HAPPY FOR NO REASON: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out, soared to #1 on many national bestseller lists including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com, and has debuted at #2 on The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
Marci is the woman's face of the biggest self-help book phenomenon in history, Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her six bestselling titles in the series, including Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul and Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul, have met with stunning success, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide in 33 languages and have been on the New York Times bestseller list for a total of 108 weeks. Marci is one of the bestselling female nonfiction authors of all time. In addition, she is a featured teacher in the international film and book sensation, The Secret.

The Téka Band was on a tour in the Midwest and the Magyar Mix crew caught up with them in Bloomington, Indiana where they were giving a concert closely followed by a Hungarian folk "dance-house" streching well into the night (or was it the morning already ??? ) as part of the 28th György Ránki Symposium by the Indiana University on "Folk Music Revival and the Dance-House Movement in Hungary".

This is an interview in Hungarian with Pál Havasréti, Beatrix Tárnoki and Csaba Ökrös recorded after the last day's dance workshop at the Indiana University.

----------

A Magyar Mix műsor Téka együttessel készített interjúja az indianai egyetemen megrendezett "Újjászülető népzene és a táncház mozgalom" szimpózium alkalmából - magyar nyelven

A felvételen Havasréti Pál, Tárnoki Beatrix és Ökrös Csaba hallható.

This Friday on Planet Erstwild at 3pm, James Moore interviews Professor Norman Finkelstein about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Professor Finkelstein has written several books on the subject including The Holocaust Industry and Beyond Chutzpah.

His scholarly research has been praised by Noam Chomsky, among others. Though his tenure was denied at DePaul University last year after an organized effort to discredit his work by detractors, which the school says played no part in its decision, he retired and in a settlement the university officially declared him a great scholar and good teacher. He recently spoke at Grinnell University.

Elsa Backstrom interviews Freddy Niagara Fonseca

about his passion for the Arts and his more recent enthusiasm for music and founding of the Chamber Music Society Fairfield.

Photograph by Mark Paul Petrick copyright

Craig Deininger bats second on Irving Toast, Poetry Ghost with host Rustin Larson, Sunday, April 27 at 10:30 am!

Wander in the desert and contemplate badger-shaped galaxies with poet Craig Deininger in the next episode of Irving Toast, Poetry Ghost.

Deininger has been writing poetry seriously for over 20 years. He has studied at U-Mass and Oxford, and has a life of travels and adventures, which seem to fuel his insights.

Deininger is currently putting together a comprehensive manuscript of his work, including 40 out of 800 or 900 poems. His work has appeared in The Iowa Review, Glyphs, Riverbend, and Craig has taught creative writing workshops in Amherst, Moab, and Banner Elk.

So dim the lights and place your fingers lightly on the table. The spirits are about to speak

A cross-country motorcycle tour brought Sherri Brooks Vinton face-to-face with the negative impacts of industrial agriculture and compelled her to trade in her career as a dot.com executive to begin a quest for food raised with integrity. Her first book, The Real Food Revival: Aisle by Aisle, Morsel by Morsel, (Tarcher/Penguin) is a result of that search and offers practical tips for eaters who, like herself, want a more delicious, sustainable future. The Real Food Revival was a Publisher’s Weekly Starred Selection and was nominated for the 2005 “Books for a Better Life” award.

Sherri Brooks Vinton will be a featured speaker at Fairfield's EcoFair on May 3. Join Monica and Caroline on Writers' Voices, broadcasting live Friday April 25 at 1 pm, to meet this author at the forefront of the Real Food movement. Rebroadcast Monday April 28, 8 am.

You can learn more about Sherri and her "Sustainable Solutions" at http://www.sherribrooksvinton.com/index.htm.

Geoff Muldaur and Dick DeAngelis at KRUU-FM

Tune in May 4th, 10:30 am CT as Suzanne Frischkorn pays a visit to the haunted studio (via phone call). Suzanne Frischkorn is the author of five chapbooks, most recently American Flamingo, (2008), and Spring Tide, selected by Mary Oliver for the Aldrich Poetry Award (2005).

Lit Windowpane, her first full-length book, will be released by
Main Street Rag Press in autumn, 2008. Her poems have recently
appeared, or are forthcoming in Ecotone, Indiana Review, Diode, No Tell Motel, MiPOesias, Salt Flats Annual, and the anthology Conversation Pieces: Poems That Talk to Other Poems, part of the Everyman's Library Pocket Poet Series (Knopf, 2007)

From 2001 to 2005 she served as an editor for Samsära Quarterly. She is the recipient of a 2007 Artist Fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.

Kasie Klemons visits " A taste of Fairfield" and discusses
her inspiration for hand-made tiles (shown below) and being a female
entrepeneur in Fairfield.

Monica Hadley interviews funsmith Bernie DeKoven, author of The Well-Played Game and Junkyard Sports, who was a part of Junkfest, this year's Youth Arts Festival.

OMAR MCDOOM IS A RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE BELFER CENTER AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY'S KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT. His research agenda covers civil wars, genocides, and ethnic conflicts, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. His current research project looks at Rwanda's genocide and in particular the question of civilian participation in violence. He spent a year interviewing genocide perpetrators in Rwanda's prisons.

Fairfield poet Tony Ellis, author of "There is Wisdom in Walnuts," will discuss his

work in process resulting from a weeks-long retreat at Soul Mountain writers' retreat. Soul Mountain was founded by poet Marilyn Nelson in rural Connecticut and is sponsored by the University of Connecticut. It offers residencies for up to four writers at a time. “When my book of poems about the scientist-saint George Washington Carver started to bear surprising fruit, I suddenly had enough money for a down-payment on a childhood dream. ...[Now,] poems not my own are being written under my roof. My guest book is filled with gratitude. So am I."

Pieta Brown will be phoning in to talk with James Moore at 2:15pm about her upcoming show at Cafe Paradiso (next weekend Friday May 23rd), accompanied by Lucinda Williams' guitarist and bandleader producer/guitarist Bo Ramsey. She'll be performing in New York City this Saturday night at the Bowery Ballroom.

Pieta is an artist who brings together the unvarnished humility of Loretta Lynn, the frank, modern rock punch of P.J. Harvey, the country sass and poetry of Neko Case, the urbane sophistication of Norah Jones or Rickie Lee Jones, and the soulful Southern grit of Bobbie Gentry, and - coloring it all - a deep abiding saturation in folk and blues that’s beyond her years.

Sunday, May 18th at 10:30 am CST tune in for Mary Swander. (She brought her banjo!)

Mary's Swander's most recent work is a forthcoming book of poetry entitled The Girls on the Roof (Turning
Point Press, 2009). This long narrative poem is the story of a mother
and daughter stuck on top of the roof of catfish dive on the banks of
the Mississippi River for three days during the 1993 flood. There, they
discover they’ve both had an affair with the same man.

Heather Miller, radio jockey Lyrical Venus, and Elsa Backstrom talk about their passion for living in Fairfield, what inspires them, and being almost related.

Writers' Voices with Monica and Caroline welcomes former Fairfield resident Jennie Rothenberg-Gritz back to the show on Friday May 23 at 1pm to discuss her recent ventures into multimedia story tellilng and her behind-the-scenes coverage of the David Lynch weekend for The Atlantic Monthly.

Jennie is an alumna of both Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment and Maharishi University of Management. She earned her masters degree in journalism from UC Berkeley in 2002 and went on to internships at Time Out London and The Atlantic Monthly. She spent two years as senior editor at Moment, a national magazine founded by Elie Wiesel, before joining the Atlantic Monthly staff full time. She is currently one of two editors responsible for all web content at The Atlantic online.

Muralist Ella Yates, who has been commisioned by ArtLife Society to create a Fairfield mural, talks with Planet Erstwild's James Moore about her background, her commision and her worldwide murals. She is an engaging and colorful artist, not to mention an adept on the 8-string ukelele.

[Click on the picture to go to Ella's website.]

Writers' Voices with Monica and Caroline welcomes Robert E. Herron, Ph.D. this week to speak about his recent book, "New Knowledge for New Results: A Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Sky-Rocketing Medical Costs." Dr. Herron is an independent researcher, writer, speaker, and consultant in medical cost reduction and health policy. He holds a B.A. in English, an MBA and doctoral degree in management, and has completed a post-doctoral program in the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease that was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Herron has taught a wide range of business and government policy courses. In his book, he reports the results of his research into the cost-effectiveness of various methods of disease prevention and alternative medicine.

On June the 5th, I am starting a series of shows concentrating on the German band Grobschnitt. Part of this will be a three-hour interview that I had with Eroc. Eroc was Drummer and creative Mastermind of Grobschnitt from the beginning in 1970 untill 1983. In 1983 he left the band at a time when he had achieved everything he wished for as a performing Artist. Since his departure from Grobschnitt he is concentrating on the technicial aspects as a successfull producer in the eighties and since the
nineties as a high profile expert for mastering. He remains as one of the most reputed protagonists of the German and the international musicscene and I regard myself very fortunate for the opportunity to have this long and in depth conversation about his career in general and Grobschnitt in particular.

So join me for this exceptional month-long series of shows about the most unique and wonderfull among all the German bands and come to know one of the most gifted musicians ever to come out of Germany.

FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR JESSE VENTURA.

Governor Ventura was elected in the Minnesota gubernatorial election of
1998 as an Independent and member of the Reform Part. His victory is
considered one of the greatest political upsets in U.S. history. His
most recent book is entitled, "Don't Start the Revolution Without Me."

ARTHUR S. BERGER, THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MUSEUM'S SENIOR ADVISOR FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

In this position, he focuses on the Museum’s international relations, VIP and Development-related outreach, and key aspects of the Museum’s public relations.

Join Monica and Caroline on Writers' Voices Friday June 13 at 1 pm as they speak with a writer who is also a reading expert.

The tips and examples offered in The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Speed Reading teach readers how to speed through and understand books, articles, and professional journals and also build their personal reading confidence and competence.

James Moore speaks with singer/actor Karla DeVito about her musical and theatrical career and her upcoming Fairfield performance at the Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts of Open Heart, the musical, written by her husband, 3-time Golden Globe nominee, Robby Benson, who will also be on stage with original cast member Stan Brown June 20-29.

J. P. Dancing Bear, Sunday, June 15th at 10:30 am, central time.

J.P. Dancing Bear lives in Northern California. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in hundreds of publications including Shenandoah, Mississippi Review, Cimarron Review, Poetry East, North American Review, Atlanta Review, Verse Daily, The National Poetry Review, Poetry International, Marlboro Review, Hotel Amerika, Interim, Seattle Review, Permafrost, Puerto Del Sol, Controlled Burn, Cranky, Rattle, Americas Review, and Slipstream.

Camie Bargerstock designed her a curriculum entitled The Cultural Organization of Death and Dying in which she studied America's perceptions, rituals, and systems surrounding death, dying, and grief, a reality she observes as rooted in a culture of fear and denial. She envisions a new paradigm, one that nurtures and embodies the end of life journey as a part of life and creative rite of passage worth crossing.

Robby Benson
is an American film and television actor, television director and educator. As an actor he was nominated for the three Golden Globe Awards. As a director Robby helmed over 100 episodes in television, from Friends to an entire season of Ellen.As a composer Robby has written scores for films, received two RIAA Gold Records for songwriting for Diana Ross and for The Breakfast Club soundtrack. Open Heart the musical by Robby Benson will open at Fairfield's Sondheim Center June 20.

Jacob Fred Jazz Oddysey's Brian Haas talks about band upcoming show at Cafe Paradiso.

On the Menu: Get to know Tabatha Watters

find out what inspires her, where her life momentum is going and how she is adjusting 6 months after the birth of baby Yasmine.

James Moore interviews independent media champion Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! who visited Fairfield this past weekend as part of a tour for her latest book "Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times", her latest book co-written with her brother, investigative journalist David Goodman. Democracy Now! is the largest media collaboration in North American public broadcasting.

Laura Dawn is a political activist and singer/songwriter. She has been the Cultural Director for MoveOn.org and the MoveOn PAC since March 2004.She appears on Moby's latest album Hotel, and she toured the world with him for 7 months in 2005.

Independent media champion Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, addresses Fairfield at the Public Library as part of a tour for her latest book "Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times", co-written with her brother, investigative journalist David Goodman. Democracy Now! is the largest media collaboration in North American public broadcasting.

Andy Zelleke is the co-directorof the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to joining Harvard’s Kennedy School faculty, Zelleke was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.His articles on corporate governance have appeared in Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Directors & Boards, and Corporate Governance: An International Review.

Laura Dawn is a political activist and singer/songwriter. She has been the Cultural Director for MoveOn.org and the MoveOn PAC since March 2004.She appears on Moby's latest album Hotel, and she toured the world with him for 7 months in 2005.

Bill Moyers, independent media champion, addresses the opening session of the National Conference of Media Reform held in Minneapolis June 6-8, 2008. This is an audio file from the freepress.net website.

On June the 5th, I am starting a series of shows concentrating on the German band Grobschnitt. Part of this will be a three-hour interview that I had with Eroc. Eroc was Drummer and creative Mastermind of Grobschnitt from the beginning in 1970 untill 1983. In 1983 he left the band at a time when he had achieved everything he wished for as a performing Artist. Since his departure from Grobschnitt he is concentrating on the technicial aspects as a successfull producer in the eighties and since the nineties as a high profile expert for mastering. He remains as one of the most reputed protagonists of the German and the international musicscene and I regard myself very fortunate for the opportunity to have this long and in depth conversation about his career in general and Grobschnitt in particular.

On June the 5th, I am starting a series of shows concentrating on the German band Grobschnitt. Part of this will be a three-hour interview that I had with Eroc. Eroc was Drummer and creative Mastermind of Grobschnitt from the beginning in 1970 untill 1983. In 1983 he left the band at a time when he had achieved everything he wished for as a performing Artist. Since his departure from Grobschnitt he is concentrating on the technicial aspects as a successfull producer in the eighties and since the nineties as a high profile expert for mastering. He remains as one of the most reputed protagonists of the German and the international musicscene and I regard myself very fortunate for the opportunity to have this long and in depth conversation about his career in general and Grobschnitt in particular.

Marilyn Nelson, former Poet Laureate of Connecticut, English professor, and founder of Soul Mountain Retreat for poets, is our guest on Writers' Voices this week. Among her 12 published books and 3 chapbooks are two National Book Award finalists, Newberry Honor Books and a Coretta Scott King Honor book. She has received numerous other honors and awards for her writing and teaching.

In recent years, Nelson has focused largely on writing poems that explore African American history using traditional poetic forms such as the sonnet. Although written for adults, they have been
published as illustrated books for young adults, receiving widespread acclaim. In "A Wreath for Emmet Till" she uses a very complex form, the heroic crown sonnet, to tell a tragic story from our not-so-ancient past.

Join Monica and Caroline Monday morning at 8am for a delightful wide-ranging conversation with poet Marilyn Nelson.

James Moore talks with Gabriel Renfrow about his music, his Kings of Heart and his passion for tatoos. Okay, not the latter, but next time he certainly will. "I come from a tatoo family," he told me matter of factly after the interview.

Mark Cox chairs the Department of Creative Writing at UNC Wilmington and teaches in the MFA in Writing Program of Vermont College. He is the recipient of the Whiting Writers' Award, a Pushcart Prize, a Kansas Arts Commission Fellowship, two awards from the Vermont Council on the Arts, and a Bread Loaf Writers' conference Fellowship.

Cox has published poems in such magazines as American Poetry Review, Poetry, and Crazyhorse. Ampersand Press published his chapbook, Barbells of the Gods, in 1988. Godine published Smoulder, his first full-length collection in 1989. His second collection, Thirty-Seven Years from the Stone, and his latest book, Natural Causes, were both published by the University of Pittsburgh Press.

Dennis Raimondi speaks with Broadway and popular star Randy Jones who will be featured in the Stephen Sondheim Center production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor live in the studio. Dates & times of the show are as follow:

July 11-13, Fri/Sat 7:30pm & Sat/Sun 2pm; July 17-20 and 24-27, Thurs/Fri/Sat 7:30pm
& Sat/Sun 2pm. Also,
the world premiere of Banjo Boy will be August 8-17.

Planet Erstwild's James Moore interviews Prometheus Radio Project's John Wenz. As legislation organizer for PRP, John visits Washington DC regularly meeting with members of Congress. Calling in from Philadelphia, John explains bill HR 2802 and how if it moves out the telecommunications subcommittee and receives a hearing, it means a second window for low power radio stations could be just around the corner--but reminds listeners they should do their part to make sure their congressmen sign on to the bill. Loebsack and Boswell have yet to sign on to the bill.

Cyndi Dale is an internationally renowned author, speaker, intuitive healer, and visionary. She is president of Life Systems Services, a corporation that offers intuitive-based healing, destiny coaching, and corporate consulting. Cyndi has been trained in multiple healing modalities, including shamanism, intuitive healing, Lakota medicine, and Reiki. She has written several groundbreaking books on the chakras, including Advanced Chakra Healing, Attracting Prosperity Through the Chakras, and New Chakra Healing, and her work has been translated into nine languages.
Join Monica and Caroline on Writers' Voices this Friday, July 11, from 1 - 2 pm in an inquiry into Cyndi's latest book, Illuminating the Afterlife: Your Soul's Journey Through the Worlds and Beyond, recently released by Sounds True. Our interview with Cyndi will be rebroadcast Monday July 14 at 8 am.

"Terse and funny and dry as a dead Iowa corn snake baking in the sun. Palecek delivers a quick, deadpan slap to reactionary, mindless post-9/11 America. The sting is delightful."

— Mark Morford, columnist, San Francisco Chronicle

Mike Palecek was a peace prisoner in the 1980's, serving time in county jails and federal prisons for civil disobedience at Offutt Air Force Base.

During the 1990s he was a reporter for small-town newspapers in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota. The small newspaper Ruth and Mike owned in southeast Minnesota was named the Newspaper of the Year for 1994 by the Minnesota Newspaper Association.

Michael Carrino's second book of poetry, Under This Combustible Sky, is a richly-peopled collection whose denizens are portrayed in a stark light, like that of certain Hopper paintings, a light no less beautiful for its starkness and hard edges. Reading these poems, one realizes that in lives so full of defeat there are redemptions in solitude, and victories within the sacredness of the moment. 'For me,' Carrino writes in the poem "Cat, Rose, Musical Score", 'self absorbed and anxious, objects explain/ passion, obsession; how you have/ no control unless you agree/ before dancing white on white in silence--/ we are what we arrange.' This could well be a statement of the aesthetic brought to the arrangement of this book: a pure witnessing, at times, of a moment's details which speak volumes of the poem's subject in a language that is both economical and plainly spoken, yet rich in its precision.

I think of the poem "The Woman" in which a photograph of a soldier's Korean mistress is ogled and handed around the family table, a favorite conversation piece:

Constance Brenneman is currently an On-Air television host for My 64 Cincinnati, cable channel 11, and an intervention counselor working within an alternative school in the Ohio Public School System. She is completing a documentary on the Maharishi Effect, or Superradiance Effect called Waves of Peace. Constance has guest starred on the ABC TV shows "The Practice" (1997) and "Alias" (2001) and co-starred in the feature film Swing (2003/I), shot in the San Franscico Bay area and directed by Martin Guigui.

"She's got her own inner groove; nothing tentative about it. A force to be reckoned with."
- Don Was

You know why I love the internet? Because I can find new music, meet the cool independent musicians from all over the world who make that music, and interview them on my radio show! Take Amy Raasch for example - she's all the way out on the West coast, winning songwriting contests and coming up with projects to push her songwriting to a whole new level. Join me on Tuesday to meet Amy and find out how she's doing on her "52 Songs" quest to write one song per week for a year, and post it on YouTube for the world to see!

Ken Roseboro and Elsa Backstrom discuss organic and non-GMO food, small businesses, and life in Fairfield.

A Taste of Fairfield focuses on the details of his work, what inspires him, and what motivates him.

Sunday, May 11th at 10:30 am CT tune in for some Emerson, Pavese, Complicated Pasta and a tribute to the late Robert Long's poetry!

Robert Long's poems appeared in dozens of magazines and anthologies, including The New Yorker, Poetry, and Partisan Review, as
well as three earlier collections. He taught at several colleges and
universities, including La Salle University, where he was
writer-in-residence. He died on October 13, 2006. Blue was his last published collection of poetry.

Austan Dean Goolsbee is a senior economic adviser to the Obama campaign. He is an economist and is currently the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Graduate School of
Business. He is also a Research Fellow at the American Bar Foundation, Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a member of the Panel of Economic Advisors to the Congressional Budget Office. He has been Barack Obama's economic advisor since Obama's successful U.S. Senate campaign in Illinois..

The Rescues have been described as an Indie Supergroup - three talented singer-songwriters and friends with solo careers, brought together to perform at another friend's wedding only to discover that the whole was more than the sum of the parts. And when you've got good parts to begin with, well - get ready to have your socks rocked! I'm betting you'll love the soaring harmonies, driving beats and heart-swelling ballads these three pump out time and again on their album Crazy Ever After as much as I do! Kyler England, 1/3 of The Rescues joins Lyrical Venus for an interview about songwriting and working with the band.

Next episode: Sunday, August 3 at 10:30 am CT tune in for a fascinating interview with Jim Autry!

Autry is the retired president of the Meredith Magazine Group, and had a distinguished career as an editor and publisher. Autry has been active in many civic, charitable, and arts organizations, most notably working with disability rights groups for more than 35 years. He served as president, chairman, and chairman emeritus of the Epilepsy Foundation of America. He is a founding member of the board of Peoplefor the American Way. He is also a founder of the Des Moines National Poetry Festival.

Elsa Backstrom and Diane Denbaum talk about life coaching on

A Taste of Fairfield

Singer/songwriter Paul Fauerso Paul founded the Loading Zone in 1966. They were the opening act for such legendary groups as The Who, Rod Stewart, the Grateful Dead, Sam and Dave, Big Brother and the Holding Company with lead singer Janice Joplin, and dozens more. Paul went on to write and record music inspired by the teachings of His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

KRUU-FM's Planet Erstwild host James Moore speaks with American original J.W. French.

J.W. French gets around — with a rudder stick between his legs and bugs in his teeth.

The Fort Myers, Fla., man landed his Acro Sport II biplane at the Roseburg Municipal Airport Saturday. Oregon was the 38th state the 72-year-old has visited by biplane since he began an aviation tour of the Lower 48 on June 15.

Next he’s visiting Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, duplicating the route of his late friend, Sam Burgess, whom French claims is the only person ever to have flown all 48 states in a homemade plane.

[Click on pic for complete story.]

Sarah Brooks is on the menu with "A Taste of Fairfield"

Elsa Backstrom will be interviewing her about starting one
day a week at the Jefferson County Hospital. The Iowa hospital is
starting to promote acupuncture and include it in what they offer.

Sarah is in the Physical Therapy department and still has her
practice at home, but this is a really amazing opportunity to offer
acupuncture to a crowd who may not already know about it.

Poets: Bill Graeser and Dan Troxell.

Bill Graeser is from Long Island and is the
University's Locksmith. Dan is from Des Moines and is the host of
"Readings at Zanzibar's" (it's the KGB of the Midwest, sweetheart).
Hey, I've read there. This series rocks the beans in the roasting
machine.

L'chaim!

James Moore and guest co-host Janet Attwood, New York Times best-selling author of The Passion Test, interview New Thought Minister Michael Beckwith, founder of Agape International, a trans-denominational community of 10,000 likeminds located in California.

He teaches widely and meets regularly with the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Arun Gandhi, and others promoting what he calls the emerging paradigm of a spiritual peace. Michael was one of the stars of the breakthrough movie The Secret and has appeared on many programs like Oprah, Larry King, and others.

www.agapelive.com

YO!  BABY-POP!  IT'S THIS PART THAT HAS THE KLEZMER MUSIC ON IT! 

Poets: Bill Graeser and Dan Troxell.

Bill Graeser is from Long Island and is the University's Locksmith. Dan is from Des Moines and is the host of "Readings at Zanzibar's" (it's the KGB of the Midwest, sweetheart). Hey, I've read there. This series rocks the beans in the roasting machine.

L'chaim!