Fresno's Best

Steven Church is the author of six books of nonfiction, most recently the collection of essays, I'm Just Getting to the Disturbing Part: On Work, Fear, and Fatherhood. His essays have been published and anthologized widely, including in the Best American Essays. He teaches in the MFA Program at Fresno State and is a founding editor of the literary magazine, The Normal School.

Steven's Website

Books

A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance Hanif Abdurraqib

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us Hanif Abdurraqib

In the Eye of the Wild Nastassja Martin

Anything by Joan Didion 

Alicia Perez is co-owner of Bee Happy Farms Inc a family beekeeping company serving the Central Valley. Bee Happy Farms is dedicated to raising honeybees, pollinating crops and harvesting honey varieties unique to our Central Valley. Their passion for honeybees extends to helping educate others on the importance of honeybees to our food supply chain.

Bee Happy Farms Website

Books

First Lessons in Beekeeping by Keith S. Delaplane

Today, we have Lourin Hubbard on the show. Lourin is running for California's 22nd Congressional District, comprising portions of Fresno and Tulare counties. Having worked in various capacities for the government, Lourin has a unique perspective he wants to share and utilize as a congressional representative for this area.

Lourin's Website

The Deficit Myth Stephanie Skelton

The Fire Next Time James Baldwin 

Today we have Jaclyn Manzanedo on the show. Jacyln is the Director of Donation Development, for the Valley Region of Donor Network West. Donor Network West is a federally designated nonprofit, 501(c)3, organ procurement and tissue recovery organization (OPO) with headquarters in Northern California and Northern Nevada. Established in 1987, they serve more than 13 million people and connect a donor’s gift to those in need in 45 counties in Northern California and Northern Nevada. This is a conversation all about organ donation. It’s something that we don’t like to think about (ehem, our death), but we absolutely should.

Books:

The Spirit Catches You When You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman 

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Donor Network West Site

Today, we have Adam Longatti. Adam is an artist and teaches at Fresno State. The focus of his art is landscape, specifically of the central valley. This was a wonderful and winding conversation, and I know you’ll love it!

Books Recommended 

The Letters of Vincent van Gogh by Vincent van Gogh

History of the Sierra Nevadas by Francis P. Farquhar

Handbook of Yokut Indians by Frank K. Latta 

Garden of the Sun: A History of the San Joaquin Valley, 1772-1939 by Wallace Smith 

Adam's Website

Our Patreon Page

In today's episode, we talk with Justin St. George, the president of Birds for Pride, the LGBTQ+ club that's been in the news these days. The club was originally started as a class project at FPU, but was rejected as a formal club by the university. This was a great conversation, and Fresno is lucky to have a leader like Justin. 

Books Recommended: 

The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation Thich Nhat Hanh

Living Buddha and Living Christ Thich Nhat Hanh

Links

Links for the Birds

Our Patreon Page 

Today we are talking about the soon to be published children’s book The Elote Man Goes to College written by Maia Gonzalez, Illustrated by Chalome Gonzalez, and Roald Tenorio.  I have the three authors on the show to talk about their writing and artistic process, why this story needs to be told, street vendors, elote, the importance of education, the challenges of self-publishing, and much more.

Book Release Information:

Book Release Party Thursday, January 20th, 6-8pm.
Book Reading and Refreshments, books will be available to purchase.
Masks are mandatory.

Books will be available online at www.miicamisa.com at the end of January.

Instagram: @Miicamisa

Follow @arteamericas on facebook for more event details.

For the first time in the short history of this show, we have a repeat guest on the program: Phil Arballo. We cover a lot in this episode: our memories of the insurrection, the continuing belief in the election being stolen, the Select Committee, the legacy of Devin Nunes, beating COVID in the valley, the next election, UFO's and much more. Please enjoy our conversation and consider donating to our show here. 

Phil's Website

A quick update on the podcast and plans for season three of our show. 

Today we have Corin Hoggard on the show. Corin Hoggard is an award-winning journalist who covers the courts for Action News and is the anchor of the weekend editions of Action News AM Live. This is a wide-ranging conversation that covers a lot, with emphasis of course on journalism and television. 

Book Recommendations

Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes 

The Odyssey Homer

Christopher Moore Author Page

Good Omens Neil Gaiman

Our Patreon Page