City Voice Podcast

Over the course of my life it’s become clear to me that trust is the foundation of all relationships. Trust shows up in different levels based on need and circumstances. When I go on Amazon and click on the battery powered fly swatter with the anti-fly guidance system that I’ve always wanted, I have trust that I will get it. I trust it will be as deadly accurate as advertised. If it’s not as advertised, I’m disappointed but not emotionally wounded. 

On the other end of the trust spectrum is my wife. We have been together for 22 years and she likely knows more about me than I see in myself. I trust her with it all. Money, thoughts, innermost fears, and my heart. My love for her is both enormously powerful and vulnerable.

With all my talk of love and vulnerability, you may be shocked, OK maybe not, to learn that as a part of our day to day lives…we don’t always agree. What’s for dinner? Yes, I was listening to you! No, I don’t still think I’m right. No, Jennifer Lopez is not a great actress. It’s too early to start talking about the Red Sox in the World Series. Lot’s of little things that at the time seem more significant due to the familiarity of many years together. Of course, life often presents bigger problems. Sometimes much bigger problems. In my experience when the more significant things come along, we have moments of debate or disagreement, and then we rally as a unified front. We can do that, as I see it, only because under it all is the foundation of love built on trust.

She, this woman I love more than anyone, is also the person I have the most disagreements with, bar none. I think that’s likely true in most marriages.

It’s that kind of deep, trusting love that lets us disagree, get mad, and say, that was stupid, you're wrong, are you out of your mind, and still put our heads down on the pillow together that night. It’s the kind of trusting love that I believe would let us have the worst fight in the history of us and then in the blink of an eye defend each other ceaselessly should a threat present itself. 

In some ways, it’s a similar sort of thing that brothers and sisters have with each other. My life experience with my sisters was that as kids we fought like cats and dogs. Not all the time but from time to time. We would curse and scream at each other. Nobody else was allowed to do that. If someone came along and said what I said the day before to my Sister, I would have none of it. I would defend them to the end.

It’s that sort of love that exists based on trust. The love for a brother, sister, husband, and wife that’s built on trust. It’s also true for friends and maybe our favorite waiter or perhaps the person you know at the grocery or the gym. All to different degrees but nonetheless a minimal essential level or a deep level of trust exists in all these relationships. Relationships are built on trust.

My belief is this kind of implicit trust has existed for us all as Americans. 

Listen here to Trust here on the City Voice Podcast or read the rest here .

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If your life is anything like mine you think about eating healthy. To the extent that actually happens in my life, I owe it to my wife Jacqui. I am a willing participant but she makes it happen. That's probably a big part of the reason I was interested when I became aware of the new book titled Formerly Known As Food by Kristin Lawless. FYI: Jacqui is glad I'm done with the book she wants it now. The other reason was a private message I received on Linkedin but we talk about that in this episode of the City Voice Podcast...so I won't spoil that here.

No doubt many of us agree that eating healthy has enormous value. We probably also agree that the big producers of food in America and much of the civilized western world care more about profit than they do the quality of the end product. So what do we do? What's the way forward? Many of the answers are in Formerly Known As Food. This is a thoughtful look at what the state of our food is, some ideas on what to do and not to do now, possible big-picture political fixes and a lot more. 

Here are some of the topics we discuss on this episode of the City Voice Podcast.

* How did we get to where our food supply is today?

* The food supply is changing our bodies on a very deep level.

* Eating organic? Vegetarian or Vegan? Maybe organic or vegan... ish? Are you wasting your money?                                                          

* Animal protein in your diet? Good or Bad? What kind of choices should you make in this area?

* What do you know about big mono-crop organic farming? Huh? Why does that matter?

* Packed organic foods? I'm good to go...right? It's organic and BPA free. We discuss the realities.

* What do American babies increasingly no longer have in their diets that they need...and what does baby formula have to do with it?

* Should babies be eating what most of us think of as baby food?

* Given the state of our food supply, what can we do?

* How are our regulatory agencies doing when it comes to overseeing our food?

* How does the food industry get us hooked from day one?

* What is the impact of fewer people having basic cooking and food preparation skills?

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Show links

Get the book: Formerly Known As Food by Kristin lawless

Kristin Lawless website

New York Times: The Bacteria Babies Need

A few minutes before I started recording my conversation with Tamara Russell I was contacted by a friend who just lost his wife. As it turned out Dr. Russell helps us through a process called the Transitional Pause Process in this episode. I didn't fully realize it when we began but it was exactly what I needed. Among many other things she discusses how we often stuff things down because we are too busy to feel or experience what just happened. I see now that's what happened to me when I heard from my friend minutes before my scheduled interview with Tamara Russell.

A little about Dr. Tamara Russell.

She is a clinical psychologist, a neuroscientist, the Director of The Mindfulness Centre of Excellence in London.

Dr. Russell is also the author of two excellent books. #WhatIsMindfulness? (yes the title is a hashtag) and Mindfulness in Motion. 

Mindfulness is something I have a personal interest in and see value in for myself and as far as I can tell for everyone else. 

Here are some of the things we discuss and do on this episode of the City Voice podcast.

* Tamara Russell walks us through an amazing 10 minutes of a meditation called the "Transitional Pause Process". I loved it and give my reaction to it in the moment. 

* What is mindfulness?

* Ever read something and realize you have to go back because you aren't sure what you just read? Have you ever been in conversation only to realize you haven't heard what the other person just said? We discuss.

* Social media pulls us in and we get lost in. It's designed to do that.

* Dr. Russell explains why mindfulness is particularly relevant now.

*  Mindfulness benefits to career and relationships

* Is mindfulness compatible with both a secular and spiritual approach?

* "BrainWise" Training.

* American Presidential politics and Britains Brexit have widened the divide between a great many people. Families, friends, coworkers, people on social media have a heightened level of I'm right and your wrong. So many of us are reacting at each other. What role can mindfulness play in correcting that course?

Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to City Voice and share with your friends.

Show links

Get the books:

#WhatIsMindfulness?

Mindfulness In Motion

The Mindfulness Centre of Excellence in London.

Try a Transitional Pause

Dinosaurs have been a fascination of mine since I was a boy. That seems to be true for many young boys and girls.

I loved asking my guest on this episode of the City Voice podcast, paleontologist Steve Brusatte, for his opinion of who wins in a sprinters death race. Gold medal Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt or T-Rex.

Back to my fascination with Dinos...Fast forward to the 1993 release of the original Jurassic Park movie. It seems that in the 25 years or so since the premiere of Jurassic Park we have a crop of passionate young men and woman that have become paleontologists and entered into other "Dino related" fields. Coincidence? Aaah no.

Steve Brusatte agrees Jurassic Park had a major influence. He also gives credit to charismatic and brilliant giants in the field like Dr. Robert Bakker. Bakker actually was a Jurassic Park consultant in the 90's. That's when I had a number of brief opportunities to work with him and learn that Dinos might have had wings and that they might be warm-blooded. Since that time Brusatte has found Dinos with feathers among the fifteen dinosaurs he has named. In fact, he says T. Rex likely had a kind of feathers.

We talk about the T. Rex evolutionary line and whether that line connects with alligators and lizards or the Mocking Bird outside my house.

Steve Brusatte is the author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, A New History of a Lost World. He is also a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh. A graduate of University of Chicago and Columbia University. He writes for Scientific American and is the resident paleontologist for the BBC's walking with dinosaurs.

Brusatte says, "this is the Golden Age of Dinosaurs" about one new species a week is being found. How amazing is that?

After reading The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs I believe Brusatte's work has the potential to inspire would-be new Dino Hunters and feed curious minds everywhere. 

For me, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs was a fascinating and enjoyable read and conversation about Earth, Dinosaurs, how MOST of them became extinct, and what we can learn from it all.

Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to City Voice and share with your friends.

SHOW LINKS

Want the book? The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, A New History of a Lost World

We have all seen the news reports of children being separated from their parents on America's Southwestern border.

I think for many of us there is confusion and revulsion regarding the fact that America is doing this.

We hear from the Whitehouse that this is the law. The President says he hates this law but it's the fault of the Democrats. Apparently, his claim or belief is that he is being made to do something that the United States of America has never done before.

Trump's claimed deep dislike for the policy of separation is juxtaposed with Attorney General Jeff Sessions justification for it. Sessions explains, "the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order."

These words have been used throughout history to justify and sanctify the misguided and times grotesque aims of governments. If we are to live by AG Sessions ministry, governments have Carte Blanche and we must salute and dutifully obey.

My City Voice podcast conversation today is with Antar Davidson.  He worked, until a few days ago, in a Tucson Arizona shelter with immigrant children.

A great many of these children had been separated from their parents when coming across the border. They are processed and admitted with little or no idea of where Mom and Dad are or when they will be reunited.

Antar tells us his story of how the kids who are often from places where their governments are a source of fear or worse are fed and given a roof over their heads.

He also tells us stories of sleeping on floors and how crying brothers and sisters are forbidden to hug each other before being separated after arriving at the facility.

I believe this is an important current reality for American's to be aware of. We get to decide if this is who we are as a people.

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Unifying stories or history, if you like, are a part of the fabric of what binds us as a race. Each country and religion has its stories of how it was founded and who the heroes and heroines are. This in many ways is the glue of me and you.

Origin Story by David Christian goes well beyond national boundaries and epic tales of national pride. 

It's the story of everything according to science. David Christian just puts everything into a readable enjoyable format. Well done Sir.

Science does have an ability to help us come to a unifying story based on facts and highly researched theory.  It's when we discount facts or as close to fact as we are currently capable, that societies drift toward chaos. 

Interestingly enough the Origin Story begins...in the beginning... and chaos was definitely present for the beginning.  I'm not going to get into the weeds here and now about what that chaotic violent origin was like. That's what the City Voice podcast is for. Besides Professor David Christian does a better job than I telling the story.

In my opinion, it's important to remember that Origin Story is just that. It's the telling of the story of our origin. In fact, it's the story of the origin of everything. It's a big glorious story that takes us literally from nothing to the aforementioned chaos of universal origins, the dinosaurs, the appearance of man, farming, communities, and societies coming onto the scene.

I think this a book waiting for a movie to happen. I'm hoping there is a scene where Professor Christian is interviewed by Bill Newgent, host of the City Voice Podcast...

More important than the self-indulgence of a fascinating read is potential outcomes. I go back to where I started. Our stories unify us. It's only always important to question and explore but not ignore facts. Or at least the best possible information we have. We get to make our best possible judgments around those.

Origin Story isn't solely looking back. The story gives us a greater understanding of where we...everything...came from and what that means in terms of where we are headed...everything.

So, three cheers to an important story based on facts and highly regarded thought.

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SHOW LINKS

Where to find Origin Story

My conversation this week on the City Voice Podcast is with Jeff Weaver, Bernies 2016 Presidential Campaign Manager. He is the author of "How Bernie Won Inside The Revolution That's Taking Back Our Country-And Where We Go From Here."

People across the political spectrum have strong feelings about Senator and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Some like to remind people that he is a Democratic Socialist and usually do so with the tagline that goes something like... we don't do socialism in America. On the other side of the political spectrum, some Democrats see Bernie Sanders as a threat to their political party and it's ability to win. The argument typically is something like this. If Bernie is in, he peels off more votes from the Democrat and we lose... Increasingly there are a lot of people who care less about a party and are more concerned about seeing a positive impact in their lives. I think Bernie's appeal, particularly to those not strongly affiliated with either party is that he seems to care more about reform and results and less about his own victory. Or that's the way people that feel that way see it. If Weaver is as dialed in on Bernie as I think he is, this City Voice Podcast interview should inform you and help you decide for yourself. I'm not here to tell you what to think.

Below are bullet points on my discussion with Jeff Weaver about How Bernie Won and a lot more. Thanks in advance for listening and subscribing to the City Voice Podcast. If you haven't subscribed yet go to the right column on this site or to the bottom and click on what works for you.

* Turns out Jeff Weaver owns a comic book store

* We talk about Bernie, SNL, and Larry David

* How did Jeff meet Bernie and begin his personal "Summer of Bernie" 30 years and still going?

* I ask Jeff Weaver what he would say to people thinking about running for Town Council and School Board

* Liberal/Progressive... Bernie is a Democratic Socialist. What does that mean and what does it mean for Americans?

* What happened during the primaries with the DNC and the Hillary Campaign?

* Jeff talks about a contract between the DNC and the Hillary Campaign.

* Jeff says, the issue wasn't everybody at the DNC but Debbie Wasserman Schultz was clearly trying to sabotage our campaign.

* I ask Jeff if this was more a Debbie problem or a DNC problem.

* There was a phone call in the car between Harry Reid and Bernie while Bernie was on the way to see President Obama at the Whitehouse. Jeff tells us who they talked about.

* Jeff gives us his thoughts on Superdelegates and the impact they can have on people like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris.

* Do Jeff and Bernie talk with (DNC Leadership) Tom Perez and Keith Ellison? What's that like and what do they talk about? Jeff tells me.

* Jeff explains many of the ways Bernie won as we talk about How Bernie Won.

* When Bernie knew the Democrat nomination was out of reach there was a meeting in a hotel between Bernie Sanders, Jane Sanders Jeff Weaver, and Hillary Clinton, John Podesta, and Robby Mook. Jeff tells me what they talked about.

* Jeff answers my question. Is the political energy out there more about being anti-Trump or for proposed ideas and policies?

* In the book Jeff says Bernie, in many ways, was completing the work FDR started. I ask Jeff to explain and whether or not Bernie is assuming the mantle of FDR.

* Jeff uses words from FDR's 1944 State of The Union radio address in How Bernie Won. I end this episode of the City Voice Podcast with the same portion of that SOTU Radio address as spoken by Franklin Delano ...

It's easy to think about how things were when you were a kid and fall into pure nostalgia. Nothing wrong with that but that's not where I'm going with my thoughts today.

When I was a boy in the early/mid-1970's we knew all our neighbors. We lived in a tight-knit area where most everyone on our block knew each other. Most evenings neighbors would come out at night into their yards and have conversations. We also knew people who lived in surrounding blocks. I don't say that doesn't exist anymore. I do say, it was a lot more common then, than it is today. 

We hear about how tribal people have become. This seems to center around politics. Is it the fault of politics? I think you will agree that tribalism has gone beyond everyday people to our elected officials in Washington D.C. and then some. Much the way people in communities don't talk political issues and opposing viewpoints (with the frequency I think they used to) neither do most of the members of Congress. Is that their fault or did we (the citizens) create that result?

Of course, this conversation isn't limited to Washington. It shows up in all kinds of ways from local politics to neighborhood gatherings. Or the lack of neighborhood gatherings in many places.

This week on the City Voice podcast my conversation is with Marc J. Dunkelman. He is the author of The Vanishing Neighbor, The Transformation Of The American Community.

Marc is a Watson Institute fellow in International and Public Affairs at Brown University. His work at Brown focuses on how the evolving architecture of American community has affected the workings of government, the dynamism of the American economy, and the resilience of the American social safety net.

During more than a dozen years working in Washington, Dunkelman served as a senior fellow at the Clinton Foundation, on the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as legislative director and chief of staff to a member of the House of Representatives, and as the vice president for strategy and communications at the Democratic Leadership Council. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, Daily Beast, and National Affairs, among other publications.

Our conversation ranges from our personal neighborhood experiences to the role of the U.S. Constitution and the chicken or the egg community or individual question.

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SHOW LINKS

The book: The Vanishing Neighbor, The Transformation Of The American Community

My Guest: Marc J. Dunkelman

 

Chris Matthews has been both loved and hated by legions of fans on both sides of the political spectrum. Either way you view Matthews, it's hard not to believe he loves America and our history. 

His years as a presidential speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter, columnist and Washington D.C. Bureau Chief have informed his experience of America in a way few can match. It's from here, I believe, he wrote Bobby Kennedy, A Raging Spirit. 

On this week's episode of the City Voice Podcast, we discuss his book, Donald Trump, high-speed rail, did Washington Post's Robert Costa lose too much weight, and do Americans care about truth.

Matthews is smart, engaging, energetic and I found him fun to talk with. 

I recommend his book, watching Hardball on MSNBC and of course, listening to my conversation with Chris Matthews.

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Buy the book! Ha! (My best Matthews imitation)...

America is a treasured tapestry of towns and cities. On this week’s City Voice Podcast I’ve enlisted the help of James and Deborah Fallows. With their help, we hear about that tapestry. What does it really look like? Is it frayed? What does it's future look like?

They spent the better part of five years immersing themselves in small and medium-sized town and cities across America. They did all this traveling in their small single engine airplane. The combination of both on the ground and birds-eye perspective gave them a unique look at America. The aerial insights inform how and why towns were built where they are and what their natural strengths are going forward. Getting to know the people on the ground gave them and now us a more immediate read on where America is and where it's likely headed.

    They are the authors of, Our Towns, A 100,000-Mile Journey Into The Heart Of America.

Our Towns reads like a modern-day Lewis and Clark single-engine airplane travel log for Cond'e Naste. It’s also bit of an urban planning enthusiasts guide to placemaking in small to medium size American cities and towns, it’s a keen observer’s take on the fabric of America, it’s a reporter's account of economic development in the heartland, and it’s an America political analysis during the times of Presidents Barak Obama and Donald Trump.

James Fallows has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic for more than thirty-five years, reporting from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and across the United States. He is the author of eleven previous books. He has provided commentaries for NPR since the 1980s. For two years he was President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter.

Deborah Fallows is a linguist and is the author of two previous books. She has written for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, and The Washington Monthly, and has worked at the Pew Research Center, Oxygen Media, and Georgetown University.

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SHOW LINKS

"Our Towns" Amazon Link To Purchase the book

James Fallows

Deborah Fallows

Their blog American Futures