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According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a friend is “one joined to another in mutual benevolence and intimacy. Not ordinarily applied to lovers or relatives…a boon companion.” It first appears in “Beowolf” in 1018 A.D. as “freondum.”  Though the opposite of “fiend,” both words root in the same Germanic word soup for “love” and “hate,” so therefore inextricably intertwined.

 Here, two old friends, Teresa Jordan and Judith Freeman, both remarkable and accomplished writers and artists, born and bred in the American West, examine their own enduring relationship through the lens of Judith’s latest novel, the incisive, insightful, at times ruthless “MacArthur Park.” The novel’s core finds two older women, both accomplished writers and artists, born and bred in the American West, attempting to re-kindle their lifelong friendship after intimate convolutions blew them apart. Spoiler alert: marrying the same man may become a problem. No, not Teresa and Judith; her characters Verna and Jolene as they road trip across the West towards some notion of their shared childhood. What destroys friendships? Can good intentions alone heal those implosive moments of toxic intimacy almost inevitable in friendships? Who here has not lost a friend?

SHOW NOTES: Please spend some time on both their websites to appreciate the depth and quality of their respective creativity.

Judith Freeman: https://judithfreemanbooks.com/

Discussed in the Podcast:

Carolee Schneeman: https://www.moma.org/artists/7712

Judy Chicago: https://www.judychicago.com/

Elena Ferante: http://elenaferrante.com

Valeria Luiselli: “Lost Children Archive”: https://www.valerialuiselli.com/ 

Here’s great conversation about writing with Judith’s friend Barbara Feldon, yes, that Barbara, from “Get Smart:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NM1Vi-q1dg 

A special shout-out for her novel “Red Water” where Judith imagines John D. Lee's extraordinary frontier life and his disturbing, still controversial role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre through the eyes of three of his nineteen wives. Emma is a vigorous and capable Englishwoman who loves Lee unconditionally. Ann, a bride at thirteen, is an independent adventurer. Rachel, though she married Lee to be with his first wife, her sister Agatha Woolsey, is also utterly devoted to him.

Teresa Jordan: https://teresajordan.com/

In addition to all the writing, painting, sketching and storytelling you can find on her website, Teresa just returned from her residency at the Mesa Refuge, having been awarded the Marion Weber Healing Arts Fellowship to evolve her year of painting and drawing a different bird every single day into a book.

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We’ve podcasted about the Lake Powell Pipeline, so we thought, as the drought continues and water levels continue to drop, let’s go have a look. We told our board about the idea and it turns out that board member Catherine Smith rafted the Colorado River through Glen Canyon as a teenager in 1955. We were so pleased that she insisted on coming along. We included David Petitt, a well-known photographer now painter, and of course, our producer and host Logan, his wife Angie, and our assistant producer Ben.

The level when we took our trip in May was only 1/4 full at 3523 feet – just 33 feet above the minimum power pool of 3,490 feet, or where there’s not enough water to run the power generators. Dead pool is 120 feet lower, at 3,370 feet. Because the lake dropped about 40 feet in 2021 they have been releasing 500,000 acre-feet from Flaming Gorge to delay that moment of truth.

But the big picture is that Lake Powell is really only of value to generate power, tourist economy aside. So if it drops below minimum power pool, then evaporation and rock-saturation coefficients start to play in. If preserving water is the sole priority, why expose all this surface area and let it seep into the sandstone? It starts to look like better water sense to send as much water as possible to Lake Mead. It’s an immense, critical set of decisions the water lords have to make in the face of the harshest drought in 1200 years, and due to climate change, looking like the new normal.

Now suddenly the Glen Canyon Institute — premised on draining the lake and revitalizing the river and deemed “looney” by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch — is gaining prominence, with Director Eric Balken finding himself in interviews in the New Yorker. At the end of the episode, we interview him too so he can help us make sense of our observations of both beauty and tragedy inherent in Glen Canyon’s re-emergence.

As we explored the re-emerging canyon, we also looked for Ancestral Puebloan evidence. Having found little, we reached out to Erik Stanfield, an archaeologist with Navajo Nation. You’ll his voice about halfway through the episode. 

Our trip begins with a long walk down temporary ramps as Bullfrog Marina continues to have to move deeper and deeper into the canyon as water vanishes.

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For anyone concerned about the current global state of Democracy, which should be everyone, Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Digital Minister, may be our greatest hope:

“I’m not here to make citizens transparent to government, I’m here to make government transparent to citizens.”

She has flipped Big Brother, proving that this very same unprecedented internet connectivity can be harnessed to cultivate and manifest the very best of us as well — connecting instead of isolating, confirming truths instead of spreading lies, distributing power instead of consolidating it.

Very much due to Audrey’s work, Taiwan shot from 31st to 11th on the Economist’s Global Democracy Index to become a “Full Democracy,” and Asia's most advanced democracy. At the same time, the U.S. dropped from 8th to 25th, now a “Flawed Democracy,” also due very much to one man.

Here’s a foundational story of how she started down this road. During the 2014 Sunflower Revolution in Taipei, students and dissidents peacefully occupied the Taiwan Yuan, or parliament, for 22 days protesting a trade deal with mainland China, or the PRC. Audrey flew in from Silicon Valley, borrowed a laptop, plugged into 300 meters of ethernet cable, and connected over 500,000 citizens and over twenty NGOs in a real-time dialogue towards what she would ultimately call “rough consensus.” The demonstration won the day and resulted in a new trade agreement, very much due to Audrey’s remarkable and unprecedented real-time connectivity. The students remained completely peaceful throughout and respectfully cleaned up the parliament before they left, unlike other Congressional occupations of late. Powerful people in Taiwan’s conservative government took note of what Audrey was doing, and called her in to talk… and so it began…

I’ve listened to this interview countless times while editing, and I’m still hearing new things, so the odds are she’s going to just lose you, both with the technology and her philosophy. So here are two quick shorthands for each.

Per the tech: Virtually everything referred to, from Distributed and Polycentric ledgers to Multi-dimensional spaces to reverse accountability assures transparency, and empowers citizens, inspiring openness, real-time action, and the deployment of people’s different viewpoints. It all encourages plurality as a way to demonstrate, as she puts it, “our shared values are hiding in plain sight.”     

And all her philosophy, from calling herself a “post-gender, conservative anarchist” to the Lao Tzu and Taoist quotes sprinkled through this interview, are about cycling and returning power and voice to citizens, re-energizing the deepest, most fundamental precept of democracy: Power to the People.

View our complete show notes here: http://zioncanyonmesa.org/podcast-archive/steer-the-wind-audrey-tang-is-saving-the-world
https://oftaiwan.org/social-movements/sunflower-movement/
https://g0v.tw/intl/en/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Tang
https://theasiadialogue.com/2018/05/23/tsais-second-year-the-emergence-of-non-partisans-in-taiwan/
https://wtfisqf.com/?grant=&grant=&grant=&grant=&match=1000
https://www.snopes.com/articles/386830/misinformation-vs-disinformation/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadratic_voting#:~:text=Quadratic%20voting%20is%20a%20collective,voting%20paradox%20and%20majority%20rule.

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In Part 3, we continue searching for that special something that no one can quite put their finger on; whatever it is that is drawing people to Helper like a magnet. 

Gary DeVincent made his way to Helper because he has an eye for quality. He has been restoring old motorcycles and cars his whole life, giving him a penchant for recognizing things that were built with care and intention. So, several years ago when he saw the beautiful but run-down buildings on Helper’s main street he saw a project. Now he is doing everything he can to shorten the distance between now and then, restoring buildings to their original look with a vision of turning Helper into a romantic getaway. 

Again, we see how caring—the caring construction of the early 20th century—begets caring—the intention to revitalize and honor that caring and create new opportunities in the process.

The impetus behind his and many other restoration efforts often appears to be nostalgia. Nostalgia for a time when things were built with higher quality and when there seemed to be a lot of excitement and opportunity (at least for certain people). But it’s even nostalgia for a time when life was harder. This has prompted me to ask, What is it about the way we live our lives today that leaves us wanting something else? 

You’ll hear every one of the people I talk to in this episode, Gary DeVincent, Jaron Anderson, and Shalee Johansen, mention in their own words that Helper lacks pretense, that it feels authentic, and it’s that feeling of authenticity that is drawing them to Helper. 

But what happens when authenticity is ultimately obtained? When it becomes the commodity? Take a listen to find out if Helper can hang on to whatever it is that makes it so special, as the town continues to be revitalized.

We ask these questions and more as a way to continue exploring the mysteries of what brings together and then maintains that elusive sense of community.  Sure, we're talking specifically about Helper, interesting enough in itself.  But we're also examining Helper in light of these broader questions. At the end of this podcast, Logan and Ben will consider what these interviewees have said to see if Helper offers itself as a microcosm to understand the slippery nature of community.

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In her new book Gender(s), a new volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Kathryn Bond Stockton explores the fascinating, fraught, intimate, morphing matter of gender. Stockton argues for gender's strangeness, no matter how normal the concept seems; gender is queer for everyone, she claims, even when it's played quite straight. And she explains how race and money dramatically shape everybody's gender, even in sometimes surprising ways. Playful but serious, erudite and witty, Stockton marshals an impressive array of exhibits to consider, including dolls and their new gendering, the thrust of Jane Austen and Lil Nas X, gender identities according to women's colleges, gay and transgender ballroom scenes, and much more.

Stockton also examines gender in light of biology's own strange ways, its out-of-syncness with male and female, explaining attempts to fortify gender with clothing, language, labor, and hair. She investigates gender as a concept--its concerning history, its bewitching pleasures and falsifications--by meeting the moment of where we are, with its many genders and counters-to-gender. This compelling background propels the question that drives this book and foregrounds race: what is the opposite sex, after all? If there is no opposite, doesn't the male/female duo undergirding gender come undone?

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With the downturn of the coal mines in the 70s and 80s came a period of economic decline for Helper, Utah. The town was starting to look a little shabby, so proud residents Neida Garcia and Lois Giordano took it upon themselves to spruce things up a bit. They started planting flowers on Main Street with a hunch that caring would beget caring. They were right. Every business on Main Street wanted to be a part of it, and pretty soon there were pots of flowers outside every storefront. But it didn’t stop there. 

One day in the 80s, artists Dave Dornan and Marilou Kundmueller finally pulled off the freeway and onto Helper’s Main Street after one of their many trips to southern Utah for artist workshops. They had long been dreaming of hosting their own workshops, and when they passed a building for sale Marilou said, “wouldn’t it be nice to have a building like this?” Dave and Marilou bought the old Hotel Utah and began hosting artist workshops while also working on their own art. Some Helper residents were skeptical until they began to see the results of these artists’ caring. The restoration of the building improved the aesthetic of Helper and the workshops brought much-needed life to this sleepy town.

In this episode, you will hear how Dave Dornan’s artwork is inseparable from this story. He’s not interested in finding the beauty in things that are decidedly valuable but in finding “the beauty in something that could become valuable.” Through painting an old useless carburetor he breathes new life into it. Through picking and painting a rose from Chris Diamanti’s incredible rose garden, he turns the retired miner’s caring into an icon through his own form of caring: art. And this is the story of Helper, Utah; caring begets caring. 

Soon other artists started to realize that Helper could allow them to pursue their careers in a place where they could really be a part of a community. One of the many artists to follow Dave and Marilou’s lead was Kate Kilpatrick. Inspired by people’s coal mining and railroading stories, Kate began painting portraits of Helper’s residents as a way to remember these individuals and their stories. This process developed into her “Faces of Helper” series, which has seen six installments so far, and which truly bridges worlds, uniting Helper’s coal mining and railroading past with its new economy based on the arts and tourism. 

Kate’s work reminds us that none of this would even be possible without Helper’s unique story. Each face immortalized on canvas holds nostalgia for the good times in their smile lines, coal dust and worries over union rations in their forehead wrinkles. 

Take a listen to find out how artists helped the town shift to a new economy, buoyed always by Helper’s story, forging a new chapter of community, built solidly on the old. 

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What constitutes a community? What do they form around, the seed? What makes them persist over time?

Helper, Utah was founded as a “helper engine” town in 1881. Here trains would pick up an extra engine to help them up the steep, relentless grade of Price Canyon and over Soldier Summit. At the beginning of the 20th century, Helper was a booming railroading and coal mining community. It was also the most diverse place in Utah, with 27 different languages spoken in the town. Coal later diminished in value, and eventually started to run out, and the community has been forced to find a new way. From flower-planting to the inception of an annual arts festival, to the revitalization of Main Street’s historic buildings, Helper is finding ways to hold onto its story, while simultaneously moving forward with an entirely new economy, one based on the arts and tourism.

To understand how Helper found itself in this moment, where an economic shift is necessary, and to find out if locals are on board with this shift, we interview three Helper residents. In this episode, we speak with Jean Boyack, sometimes referred to as the “Mother of Helper”. We also talk to Richard Colombo, long-time owner of the R&A Market in Helper. He also served with the Helper Fire Department for 41 years, recently retiring from his position as Chief. And we speak with Mike O’Shea, who was born and raised in Helper and was the principal at a local elementary school. Each of these residents came from coal mining or railroading families and has observed Helper through boom times, decline, and revitalization.

Listen to find out what is contributing to the apparent ease and speed with which Helper's economic shift is taking place. Is it Helper's history of diversity? Its union history? Could the name Helper play some role here? Does economic revitalization just take a few individuals who care? Are new residents and old-timers alike on board with change? Is it the creation of opportunity, gentrification, or both? What does the future hold for Helper, Utah? 

A few but not all of these questions we hope to answer in part one of this series on Helper, Utah.

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The American West somehow still maintains its foothold in the global subconscious, its raw and alluring brew of archetypes, wide-open dreamscapes of canyons and mountains, cowboys and Indians, grizzly bears and buffalo.  As such, quote/unquote “Western Art” continues to make coin by milking these fantasies. 

But of course, that West is long gone, if it ever really existed. What remains?  What really happened here?  Where are we going? What is happening to the land, the indigenous peoples, the scant and ever-diminishing waters?  Who and where are the voices that will lead us forward? 

Diane Stewart’s Modern West Gallery has made its name by unflinchingly addressing these hard questions through art.  Diane, her family firmly grounded in the West, believes that art offers a unique path forward, and the Modern West Gallery her instrument to do so.

But hold on.  This re-opening night, for a carefully curated exhibit called “Variant,” was a celebration.  We collectively just emerged from the strangest of years to gather yet again, feel human, listen to live music (thank you Reckless Gestures), and drink free wine.  Party at the Modern West!   

In this podcast, we hang out with Diane and the three uniquely gifted artists she carefully chose to help us reflect on and move forward from this surreal year, Jorge Rojas, Al Denyer, and Paul Reynolds.  Though they all share a passion for social and environmental justice, they couldn’t be more different as artists.  How did they each respond to these times?  What emerged from them after a year of isolation?  How does mixing activism and art work?  How can we describe art without using impenetrable, pretentious language?  Is Pinot Noir really red wine, really?  Join us to find out.  

Scroll down to view their art.

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 “WOOOOO!  To see the beauty. To see the beauty.  It feels like you want to put all that beauty on top of you like that in the morning when the sun comes up and everything, you know?...and then at night, to be able to stand on Mother Earth to look out among the stars…so then things have changed and I’ve been baptized a bunch of times you know, but all that has gone…”

 - Henry Real Bird on Zion National Park

Henry was born in 1948 and raised on the Crow Indian Reservation; he spoke only Crow until entering first grade.  Those cultural rhythms and traditions remain the primary influence on his poetry. He earned his Master’s in Education and has taught everything from kindergarten, 4H and Head Start to serving as president of Little Big Horn College. He rode bucking broncs in rodeos until he busted his hip, which somehow led him to poetry. He has written six anthologies, four poetry collections, and twelve children’s books, which he also illustrated.  He served as Montana’s Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2011, was named the 2011-2012 Academy of Western Artists Cowboy Poet of the Year, and his poetry collection “Horse Tracks” was named 2011 Poetry Book of the Year by the High Plains Book Awards.

Henry lives on his ranch along Yellow Leggins Creek in the Wolf Teeth Mountains: "Now I'm raising bucking horses, writing, and dreaming." 

 “I’m amazed with some of the thoughts that I’m blessed with.”  - Henry Real Bird

We’d like to thank the Western Folklife Center for allowing us to use on-site recordings of Henry’s thoughts while at a Sun Dance and while horseback riding.

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“I’m interested in the ways that our social structures and technologies shape how we think and what we value.” C. Thi Nguyen

This podcast is the first of a series on “The Anthropology of Truth.”  Today in the U.S., truth, facts, and science are under unprecedented assault.  What is happening?  Is this just old news for us, perhaps forever stuck in Plato’s Cave, mesmerized by the shadows?  Or is there something about our high-tech and social media landscapes that act as accelerants and multipliers of our flaws?  Throughout this series, we’ll explore different aspects of the Truth to see if we can figure something out.  We can’t think of a better way to start laying these issues on the table than with the philosopher Thi Nguyen.

With a solid background in classic Western Philosophy, Thi unleashes Descartes’ “Evil Demon” onto our current tech and social media landscape, then considers the resulting mayhem.  The Demon disrupts our lines of trust, and at every turn offers us a clearer, easier but flattened interpretation of reality. Thi brings the current assault on truth, facts, and science into focus by combining the dynamics of echo chambers, “moral outrage porn,” game theory, and the hazards of quantifying complex environments.  

“I'm associate professor of philosophy at University of Utah. I’m interested in the ways in which our rationality and agency are socially embedded – about how our ways of thinking and deciding are conditioned by features of social organization, community, technology, and art practices. I’m also interested in the structures and nature of the interdependences we have with one another – and with our artifacts, practices, and institutions.” C. Thi Nguyen