Most Recent Podcasts

The Big Bang Theory with Simon Singh 5.1.09

Left, The planet Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 8; Right, The planet Earth photographed by Galileo en route to Jupiter (Photos courtesy of NASA).

Speaking with scientist Simon Singh caused a bit of a brain explosion for me in a wonderful way. Parallel universes…

Simon stopped practicing science in his late twenties upon realizing how much he enjoys sharing his knowledge with non-scientists like me and explaining complex theories of existence to us. I have always loved imagining the beginnings of the universe, what was there before consciousness and contemplating ideas like time and what existed before the concept of it and us etc. So, not to confuse you any more let me just say how fun it was speaking with him about his book, Big Bang.

My mind is expanding with mathematical theories (Fibonacci sequences, the Golden Mean, Phyllotaxis, Swarm Theory) and our connection to the patterns we observe in nature. From an interactive site for the mathematical study of plant pattern formation, I learned that the pine cone has 13 visible spirals going one way, eight going the other way and that these numbers are successors in the Fibonacci sequence. This sequence is expressed in numerous things including cells, the chambers of a shell, the curve of waves, the cosmos, the chambers of a heart, the Internet, social networking sites, groups of people, mice, bacteria and so on.


A Cyclone


The Internet

I'm constantly aware of the power and beauty of nature and its patterns as well as my dependence on it; the paradox of it all. I'm thinking about our relationship to the Swarm and the Sequence Theories as we multiply and organize, as we war and as we create, as the glaciers melt and the polar bears die, as our mistakes and loving accumulate. What kind of collective intelligence and network is connecting and empowering every one of us?

Duration: 28:51
Download The Big Bang Theory with Simon Singh 5.1.09

Energy Symposium:Mountaintop Removal & More 4.24.09

The little Beeline and I traveled last spring to the Poconos in Pennsylvania to participate in an Energy Symposium hosted by the Homestead School in Glen Spey, New York. I had never before met the founder of the school, Peter Comstock who also organized this event. Our meeting changed me in numerous ways. Not only was I introduced to the amazingly articulate and engaged students of the school but I met some of the West Virginian heroes fighting the massive energy companies that through Mountaintop Removal are destroying their homes, their health and their communities. What are we doing, Mountaintop Removal? It seems obvious that the framework we have created is killing us and/or our neighbors and our children. Moving from the city to the country has deeply impacted me as I’ve become more aware of the importance of the land, of nature and my dependence on it. My heart broke as I spoke with the West Virginians about the destruction of their lives in coal mining territory and my participation in that devastation. Thank you Brenda and Amber McCoy, Larry Gibson, Jeff Barrie and the kids with an "alternate attitude" from the Green Power Alliance.

After spending the day at the Energy Symposium in PA and being invited by Larry Gibson to his mountaintop home in Kayford, West Virginia, the Homestead School generously decided to hold a school fundraiser so they could sponsor Trailer Talk in West Virginia. Thanks again Pete and the Homestead School for making the journey possible. Please remember that Trailer Talk is always looking for sponsors and every dollar helps keep me on the road, talking with all of you!
Duration: 28:08
Download Energy Symposium:Mountaintop Removal & More 4.24.09

Peeper Pond Walk 4.17.09

This week's road session:

Happy Spring! The wood frogs are croaking, the peepers are beginning their amazing song and we had an amazing maple syrup season in the Northeast. The singing-spring yellow flowers of the Coltsfoot have just burst open and the wild ducks are quacking outside my kitchen windows. I'm back from Los Angeles where I rejuvenated myself, recorded pieces that I'm excited to share with you and had an incredibly fun and generous(because of you) fundraiser. Thanks to everyone who attended and contributed towards Trailer Talk.

The little Beeline and Trailer Talk still need a Chariot, a used SUV or even a borrowed vehicle so we can hit the road. The border in Texas and the mountains in West Virginia are calling. The road beckons. Please help!

When the Peeper Frogs begin their chorus of exuberant song I welcome, with great relief spring and its rapid unfolding. After the harshness of this winter the tiny Peepers are the first audible yet invisible proof of life bursting and moving; of the wildlife world outside my windows at my home in Liberty, New York and the satisfaction that I feel knowing that even this little pond with its ephemeral pools sustains a multitude of life that I call home. Join me for a peeping peeper walk with naturalist Bill Cutler as he introduces me to the wildlife outside my kitchen windows and how important it is to protect these wild places.



Very exciting news and a reminder of the power of "we the people" in protecting our homes and fighting to preserve the environment, the NYRI proposed power lines are not cutting through upstate New York. For a listen to the folks fighting and to the unified voices of neighbors fighting to save their beloved community tune in to, "They're Back, NYRI: No Power Lines 10.3.08" on the this TT page. The struggle to protect our region from Natural Gas Drilling and that seemingly destructive deep down drilling in to that "valuable" Marcellus Shale can now get our full attention.



Thanks to all of you who have contacted me to tell me that you've really enjoyed my reports on 51 Percent. Those pieces will be posted here in the near future. More of those to broadcast soon. Next report will be on Mothers.

Duration: 29:19
Download Peeper Pond Walk 4.17.09

Passover Celebrations 4.10.09

First night of Pesach with the Lew Family at their home just before sundown, S. Fallsburg, NY


Second night of Passover at Rose Brown and Les Mattis's home, Beaverkill, NY

This week's road session:

I joined the Passover celebration at the Lew and the Brown/Mattis homes. I met Pinny and Channah Lew, along with their children during a Trailer Talk at a Farmer's Market in Sullivan County and Pinny advised me for another Trailer Talk with the Hasidic Jewish community in the area. Thanks Pinny for joining me at the kitchen table twice for Trailer Talk and welcoming me to your kitchen table for the first night of the Pesach Seder. Both nights were an incredibly different expression of being Jewish. I welcome Passover with the contemplation and celebration of freedom and thinking about my Jewish identity and how little I know about Jadaism. Pinny beautifully shared the metaphor of Passover and I wore my mother's deep purple coat as I thought of her birth in Germany in 1934, a place that she soon fled with my grandparents. Rose and Les's clebration on the second night is something that I have looked forward to in recent years and I welcomed seeing old friends, sharing our history and laughing lots.

Please join us for the meals...
Duration: 28:57
Download Passover Celebrations 4.10.09

Maple Syrup Season 4.3.09

This week's road session:

It’s spring, okay very early spring in the Northeast and the first sign signaling the end of wintertime in New York State is Maple Syrup Season! In my Sullivan County neighborhood the robin’s are busily darting about, the blue heron is fishing on my pond, the wild ducks are stopping over looking for a nesting place and the tree rhododendrons have uncurled their leaves. This year the conditions are perfect (warm days and cool nights make the sap run) for a bountiful maple syrup season. I went to the Muthig family farm in Parksville, New York for maple syrup weekend and learned about the process of tapping the sugar maples for sap and making delicious maple syrup. I spoke with the Muthig family and others about spring, maple syrup and the mysteries of the sap. Join in for this conversation about maple syrup facts and more.

I'm dreaming of maple candies, that gogeous sugar maple tree, panckaes, warm weather, oatmeal, the American Maple Museum...
Duration: 29:28
Download Maple Syrup Season 4.3.09

Farm Sanctuary - A Benefit for Compassion 3.27.09

This week's road session:

How do you define political? Immersing myself in an evening welcoming and even expecting engagementt; I'm bursting with the conversations I had with Moby, Gloria Steinem, Russell Simmons and Martina Navratilova at the Farm Sanctuary, "Benefit for Compassion" at the Jivamukti Yoga Center in NYC. Just being around people taking action for compassion was uplifting. Thank you Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamukti.
Duration: 27:28
Download Farm Sanctuary - A Benefit for Compassion 3.27.09

Woodstock, Then and Now: The Museum at Bethel Woods 3.20.09

Mom Irene with her daughter Irene and family

This week's road session:

Happy Spring!

The Museum re-opens for the season and it's the 40th Anniversary Year of Woodstock and also the Sullivan County New York Bicentennial!

What impact do the sixties and the social movements have on us today and what does Woodstock mean to you? Do we still believe that we can change the world? Mom Irene and her family(the first in line for the opening!), join me along with numerous others for opening day, June 2nd. I was excited to be at the opening of The Museum at Bethel Woods, which is part of the larger Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in the Sullivan County Catskills of New York. Being on the site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival is exciting and interesting as I ask why Woodstock symbolizes the dreams, desires and actions of a decade? "The Museum at Bethel Woods is an immersive and captivating multi-media experience that combines film and interactive displays, text panels and artifacts to explore the unique experience of the Woodstock festival, its significance as a culminating event of a decade of radical cultural transformation, and the legacy of the Sixties and Woodstock today." I spoke with visitors to the Museum at the opening day of The Museum at Bethel Woods. Not only does Bethel Woods celebrate the significance of Woodstock but also it is actively involved in the revitalization of my home in Sullivan County. Thanks Bethel Woods!

Duration: 28:28
Download Woodstock, Then and Now: The Museum at Bethel Woods 3.20.09

Amy Goodman, The Exception to the Rulers 3.13.09

Amy Goodman

This week's road session:

"Goodman is the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ for 'developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.'”

Here's to the artists and the activists raising their voices, to the independent journalists mucking it out in the face of violence so that they can be our eyes and ears and bring us the critical information for keeping our democracy alive. Here's to those taking action after a long work day, spending their own hard-earned money to get to actions, marches and protests to ensure that important issues remain on the table. Go, go, go...!

I spoke to Amy Goodman, the host of Democracy Now! (and Malachy McCourt & Tim Robbins) about her book, The Exception to the Rulers.
Duration: 28:52
Download Amy Goodman, The Exception to the Rulers 3.13.09

Whitney Biennial '04 Part Two 3.6.09

This week's road session:

Trailer Talk was parked in front of the Whitney Museum of American Art for the Whitney Biennial 2004. The trailer became a performative sound installation as people gathered in and around the trailer for conversations about significant social movements, definitions of community and the role of art in impacting and reflecting on social change. I sat at the kitchen table of the trailer from the early evening as people began to line up outside for the opening night of the exhibition. I spoke with participants until one o'clock in the morning, exploring the site of these conversations within the mobile domestic space as the interviews were performed in a public space. I was delighted to be joined by artists Andrea Bowers, Craigie Horsfield, Bruce McClure, Catherine Opie and Julianne Swartz among others in this Part Two of the series. Sound was recorded from some of the installations throughout the show and street sounds from that night are layered into the piece. The 2004 Biennial Exhibition(March 11 to May 30) was curated by Chrissie Iles, Shamim M. Momin, and Debra Singer.


Andrea Bowers talking with Sabrina


Bruce McClure with Sabrina
Duration: 29:13
Download Whitney Biennial '04 Part Two 3.6.09