A Big Sur Podcast

A conversation with Johan Eklöf, author of The Darkness Manifesto.

When I first came to Big Sur I used to drive my motorcycle between Bixby Canyon and Ventana Inn. I drove several days, and some nights, each week. When going north from Ventana at night the part of the ride from River Inn to Bixby was in almost total darkness (especially during new moon), only the lighthouse swung its steady beam out over the sea at its precise intervals. I often used to stop at Little Sur, turn off all my motorcycle lights and wait for the requisite twenty minutes for my eyes to get acclimated to the dark. The reward soon came in the form of a night sky that rivals anything I have ever seen, be it in northern Sweden or out in the middle of the South Atlantic ocean! The Milky Way! Like a huge, indeed milky, cloud in the sky dotted with thousands of stars and galaxies. What an amazing place this is, I remember thinking!

The agreement we have in Big Sur to keep our lights down at night, to at night turn off any light that isn’t absolutely necessary, to not have illuminated driveways and parking spaces, is one of the many wonderful things about our community. The recognition that we live in a place that begs us to together protect and safeguard the wild, rustic and, at night, dark place we are so grateful to call home.

There are however many, and more important, reasons than our personal romance with the night sky to protect the night. For example, I recently found out that the Yucca lives in symbiosis with a Moth, the Yucca Moth (!), and that, no surprise, the Moths are very sensitive to light. In fact if you have a constant light on at night there are hundreds of insects, many of them pollinators, that might get killed each night as they fly into and around the light. If you study flora and fauna in urban areas you will find certain species to be very rare, if not totally gone, due to ubiquitous lighting that kills off the important night pollinators. Fruit growers are aware of this.

Part of Eklöf’s Darkness Manifesto reads:

Become aware of the darkness |  Protect the darkness  |  Preserve the darkness in your surroundings  |  Follow your inner rhythm  |  Discover nocturnal life  |  Seek out darkness  |  Learn more about the darkness and its importance for the survival of animals and plants  |  Talk about darkness with the people around you  |  Influence your environment and be a role model in the fight against light pollution.¨'

Carpe noctem!

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

Weston Call passed away August 12, 2018.
His birthday is June 28.

Many in Big Sur knew him.
If you didn't know him here's a chance for you to get a glimpse into who he was.

This is a conversation with Weston's Mom, Galen. We talk of many things. I am grateful, and I believe you will be too, for the openness and willingness with which Galen is talking about how she has been navigating her grief, healing and love.

SHARE THIS EPISODE

BIG SUR FUND in memory of Weston Call
Helping Parents Heal
Ode to Weston Call (Paddle Out)
The Issue at Hand (a text very influential  for Galen's reality check about suffering.)
Weston Podcast w/ Magnus

Thanks to Two Feather's Media for a short audio clip with Chelsea Belle Davey and Butch Kronlund.

Thanks to KAZU for a short audio clip with Weston.  

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

A middle aged couple walks in to the Henry Miller Library sometime in 2019. They come down the path under the redwoods like so many others have done before them. This time however I wonder:

Who is the woman accompanying them!

She looks like she’s from the island.

Turns out the woman is Sonia Haoa Cardinale from Easter Island/Rapa Nui.

We had a wonderful afternoon!
We are now connecting again via Zoom for this podcast. 
I am touched by much of what Sonia says.

Please share this episode with anyone you think may enjoy it.

>>>>>>>>

Rapa Nui
Sonia Haoa Cardinali
Thor Heyerdahl
Anakena
Kon Tiki
Mata Ki Te Rangi
Link to some of Magnus' photos from 1983

>>>>>>

Henry Miller refers to Easter Island many times when he dreams himself away from ‘civilization.'

“If you elect to join the herd you are immune. To be accepted and appreciated you must nullify yourself, make yourself indistinguishable from the herd. You may dream, if you dream alike. But if you dream something different, you are not in America, of America American, but a Hottentot in Africa, or a Kalmuck, or a chimpanzee. The moment you have a "different" thought you cease to be an American. And the moment you become something different you find yourself in Alaska or Easter Island or Iceland.”

―  Henry Miller,  Tropic of Capricorn

"Christ will never more come down to earth nor will there be any law- giver, nor will murder cease nor theft, nor rape, and yet... and yet one expects something, something terrifyingly marvellous and absurd, perhaps a cold lobster with mayonnaise served gratis, perhaps an invention, like the electric light, like television, only more devastating, more soul rending, an invention unthinkable that will bring a shattering calm and void, not the calm and void of death but of life such as the monks dreamed, such as is dreamed still in the Himalayas, in Tibet, in Lahore, in the Aleutian Islands, in Polynesia, in Easter Island, the dream of men before the flood, before the word was written, the dream of cave men and anthropophagists, of those with double sex and short tails, of those who are said to be crazy and have no way of defending themselves because they are outnumbered by those who are not crazy."

―  Henry Miller,  Tropic of Capricorn

"But I have thought often of a place like Easter Island, I can do without civilized society, without art, without culture: I have enough inside me to last me the rest of my life."

―  Henry Miller,   in a letter to Emil Schnellock

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

# 63 The Questions That Matter Most with Jane Smiley.

We talk about writing, spelling and grammar and learning how to read. We mention Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Shakespeare, Alice Munro and how to kill!

WELCOME TO Jane Smiley at the Henry Miller Library, July 29.
We will focus on her latest book: :"The Questions That Matter Most"

LIST OF JANE SMILEY'S BOOKS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

We have a wonderful conversation roaming from Jerusalem to Vanuatu, from Atheism to Greek Orthodoxy and from Thomas Merton to Sam Harris!

Oh...and from Dalai Lama to Henry Miller!

The Half Known Life

Best place to visit Pico Iyer online is his website HERE!
Pici Iyer on Wiki: HERE
New Camaldoli Hermitage HERE

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

Magnus speak with Michael Paduano about the soon to be published book
The Book of Conversations with David Edgar
and also about the literary archival detective work that eventually resulted in its publication…it is an exciting story!

Some of you remember Michael from Episode 31 of a Big Sur Podcast - I recommend listening to that episode as well of course.

The Paris Review w/ excerpts from The Book of Conversations with David Edgar
We will have the book at the Library soon, so please stop by and get it here!
Preorder the paperback here.
 Order a copy of the 100-copy limited edition hardcover here. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Waters Reglitterized
Letters to Emil
Order and Chaos Chez Hans Reichel
The Berg Collection
The Rosy Crucifixion
Lawrence Durrell
Keely Richter, archivist at HMML
etc. etc. ...marvelous!

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

Ronna Rio Emmons is well known and loved in the Big Sur community perhaps especially because of her many years being our art teacher. Ronna, and her husband Michael and I, have fun talking and we cover a few  good stories. Below are links and comments about some of what we speak of. (Michael, as you will realize, will have to have his own podcast episode!!...so please stay tuned! 😊)

PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!

Places and artists:
Kokkola, Finland
Giant slide in 1983
The Greatest Story Ever Told (film)
Agnes Lawrence Pelton
Trancendental Painters
Charles Burchfield
The Group of Seven

Big Sur Artists that are mentioned:
Erlinda Montaño
Carolyn Kleefeld
Erin Gafill
Branham Rendlen
Sula Nichols
Jill Woyt
Ruby Dudley
Sunyata
and others…

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

I met Yossi Klein Halevi when I was in Jerusalem in early 2020. We have stayed in touch ever since that fateful day. His voice is important in Israel as you will hear.

I hope you take the time to listen to this podcast and then to read all of Yossi's books, and listen to his talks on YouTube, other podcast etc..
By doing so you will get to know a wonderful man.
LINKS:
Yossi Klein Halevi's website.
Yossi Klein Halevi's Podcast
Recent article in TOI

Yossi Klein Halevi is the author of several books that explore the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the complexities of Israeli society. Here are some more details about his books:

1. "Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist" (1995): A memoir of Yossi's own journey from being a member of the far-right Jewish Defense League in the United States to becoming an advocate for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
2. "At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for God with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land" (2002): In this book, Yossi explores the religious landscape of Israel and the role that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam play in the country's culture and politics.
3. "Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation" (2013): This book tells the story of the Israeli paratroopers who fought in the 1967 Six-Day War and their divergent paths in the decades that followed. It explores the complex political, social, and cultural forces that have shaped Israeli society since the war.
4. "Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor" (2018): In this book, Yossi writes a series of letters to his Palestinian neighbor, seeking to build understanding and empathy across the Israeli-Palestinian divide. The book explores the history of the conflict, the challenges facing both Israelis and Palestinians, and the potential for a peaceful future.

Yossi's writing is known for its depth, nuance, and compassion, and his books have been widely acclaimed for their insight into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the complexities of Israeli society.

I hope this podcast will make you feel closer to Yossi Klein Halevi.

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

Action packed podcast episode with Darryl Purpose!
And he is soon coming to the Library:
Tickets HERE for the April 29th evening with Darryl Purpose at the Library

Some folks we mention during our chat:
Ellis Paul
Paul Simon
The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament
Mozart

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram

Joshua's article about the recent arrest of Evan Gershkovich.
>>>>>>>>>>>
A podcast co- hosted with the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies, based at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. The Monterey Initiative is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Joshua Yaffa visited the Middlebury Institute by invitation of Professor Anna Vassilieva, who is the director of the Monterey Initiative and the Russian Studies Program at the Institute.

Joshua gave a public talk and met with students who specialize in Russian politics and joined me, Magnus, on a trip down the Big Sur coast. We spoke of his time in Moscow as the foreign correspondent for the Economist, some about his education, his ideas on what makes a good journalist, Big Sur as a place, how objectivity is impossible, and much more.

What you hear is part of our daylong visit.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
It was an honor to host Joshua.
SPECIAL THANKS to Anna Vassilieva and Joshua Yaffa.
>>>>>>>>>>>>

Joshua's Website

All comments much welcomed!

Support the show

_________________________________________________


This podcast is a production of the Henry Miller Memorial Library with support from The Arts Council for Monterey County!

Let us know what you think!
SEND US AN EMAIL!  😊
[email protected]

FaceBook
Instagram