KWNK 97.7FM

Tony Curtis and the Irish Imagination.

Politicians are starting to ride bikes and recognize the importance of protected bike paths. There is a fancy new protected path in Sparks that is a great example of what they are doing. But they face huge challenges. We will hear from conservative Mayor of Sparks Ed Lawson who recently started riding and it has changed his perspective. County Commissioner Alexis Hill is now bike commuting to. She is now on the Regional Transportation Commission, a life-long dream to improve safety. We hear what those two politicians are doing and how their perspectives have changed. Also, we hear how local artist Pan Pantoja performed for his friends riding his bike. Artist Emmalou Ras also built an outhouse on a bike so we will hear from her about that experience. We will also hear from author Helen Thompson about a little-known black community in Black Springs Nevada and how bikes entertained them when they had no other amenities. Also, as always, bike news!

From the KWNK Archives, Ilya caught up with former @wolfpackradio Station Manager Nick Rattigan (Surf Curse, Tele/visions, @currentjoys) while he was in town for his Current Joys Show in March of 2019. Check out Ilya's Soft Power Radio interview with Nick about his time at WPR, what radio and community radio means to him, and why it's such an important medium!

The Wilderness of Two Irish Poets

This summer, Reno was hopeful for a cleaner, healthier, safer future with major endorsements and new bike paths. The League of American Bicyclists, UNR, Dutch Cycling Embassy, Mayor Hillary Schieve, Councilman Devon Reese, Commissioner Alexis Hill, Reno Aces, S3 Development, Kyle Issacksen, Bird, and countless volunteers and businesses all came together to help Reno build a roadmap for a better bike future. In this episode, we review that roadmap covering building public support and how Reno is uniquely situated to help the homeless population with the proximity and benefits of Burning Man.

"Writing should make us think, but it should just as often make us laugh because, without laughter, we are dead souls. Laughing matters."

Burning Man's Black Rock City has been called the most bike-friendly place on Earth, with 90 percent of people riding bikes and almost no cars. It reverses our entire transportation landscape. But what does that even look like? We talked to people on and off playa about it with decades of experience -  a foreign diplomat about kids on bikes, a burner about fixing her bike, a couple of artists about recycling, we talked to mechanics about the challenges in Black Rock City with a flood of repairs as well as a national bike expert on finding a solution that could potentially apply to the same problems that exist worldwide. A couple of afterthoughts on this, people even bring their broken bikes to playa because it is easier to get them fixed out there than in their cities. Is Burning Man fixing the world, one bike at a time? There is only one way to find out. Let's ride on in.

“The Long and Storied Life of David Toll,” an homage to the late Gold Hill writer David Toll.

We are amidst a micro-modal revolution with all kinds of new transportation options. Educating communities on how to live with so many people on so many different devices is a real challenge. Today's show is dedicated to some of those efforts.

Many people complain about bike infrastructure in America, and yes, there are a lot better places, but there are also a lot worse places in the world. In this episode, we talk to people who are moving out of America for the Netherlands, hear from people who have traveled all over the world, and an organization dedicated to helping people travel by bike all over the world.