Audio interview with Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon from Israel about their new book The Future is Peace on "Transformation Highway" with host John Malkin on KZSC 88.1 FM / kzsc. org. Their local book event is at Temple Beth El in Aptos on Monday, April 20, 7:00PM. The book event is co-sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz and the Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz and will feature a Q&A moderated by Douglas Abrams. Tickets: bookshopsantacruz.com/future-is-peace

Aziz's older brother, Tayseer, died in 1990 at the age of 19 after sustaining internal injuries due to torture in an Israeli prison, where he was held on suspicion of throwing rocks. Maoz's parents were killed by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023. Aziz and Maoz are co-CEO's of InterAct International, a nonprofit dedicated to Middle East peace.

An edited version of the interview is available online and in print in the April 16, 2026 issue of the Santa Cruz Good Times.

Calling in from Capitola, but hittting the road in an hour to tour in support of new album, "Whirligig", a 6 song EP & 10" vinyl project coming out May 1st (officially), but advance copies available for purchase at shows - Santa Cruz show coming 2 weeks from tomorrow; songs on "Whirligig" include tunes about Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay, plus a song, "Gil Carter" about the longest home run ever hit in baseball (Carolyn is a big fan of baseball history) hit on August 11, 1959, in a farm league game in Carlsbad, New Mexico, where the home run knocked a peach out of a tree that someone witnessed, so they know the home run was either 650', or 733'!!! Bushwhackers mention Chuck Brodsky, who has at least 2 CDs with all baseball songs that are in rotation at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; the new CD was recorded in Portald, Oregon by Eric Skye; "Telephone Tune" with references that our grandchildren might not get (land line telephone with rotary dial & a chord; letters in the mail); Carolyn, "Are you my mommy or are you A.I.?"'; the Money Question ("are you able to support yourself with your music, & if so, how?"): "Yes!! Wea re very fortunate to have a guitar repair shop in Soquel, The House of Twang, which they can shutter temporarily when they tour; "Dollars Medley" is a set of 3 songs inspired by the Clint Eastwood triology directed by Sergio Leone with Ennio Morricone's iconic scores - "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "For a Few Dollars More", & "A Fistful of Dollars" - that Gerard Egan (the other half of Poi Rogers) wrote into a whistle-infused song on their first album.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening!

Started in 2015 with a grant to improve the scientific literacty of lay people about our watershed & its issues, inspired by former Santa Cruz city water director Rosemary Menard - & they've held the State of the San Lorenzo River Symposium almost every year since; our California State Senator John Laird will deliver the keynote; the Symposium is open to the public; Laurie is Executive Director of the Coastal Watershed Council, a local non-profit with a mission to preserve & protect watersheds - their budget is $600,000 - 700,000 per year, with 6 full time employees & 1 part-time...they get their funding from local & state as well as community support; deep dive into the agenda, with diversions to invasive species (esp. the shothole borer, which was first seen in Zayante Cree a year ago); "RCIS" = Regional Conservation Investment Strategy", which is used by the "RTC" = Regional Transportation Commission to guide investment & action in the watershed; "anadromous" = spawn in fresh water, & adult in ocean (e.g.: Steelhead, Coho Salmon), "HCP" = Habitat Conservation Plan = city permit to for handling water in the midst of endangered species, signed last year by the City Manager (after 25 years of work!); the San Lorenzo River habitat is the best it's been in 100 years, &, with regional planning, cities & communities are supporting each other better (but the challenge is that the Santa Cruz Mountains has the highest density of septic tanks west of the Mississippi!); the Symposium is a community conservation where, as Laurie put it, "It's amazing how many people are working on issues, & with a community conversation...about conservation!"

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening!

Quoting Bushwhacker's interviewee Izzi (now Dio) aka "Azure iivy", whom "Dangerous Dan" & "Kaos" interviewed 3 years ago, "Trans is who you are. Drag is what you do!" Tomorrow the Santa Cruz Burlesque & Drag Show celebrates 15 years, & Cyanide Cyn started it & has run it the entire time; Cyn had just moved here and loved the art & entertainment scene, but there wasn't as much live entertainment as wished for, & there weren't any burlesque or drag shows; the Santa Cruz Derby Girls asked Cyn to put together a Burlesque & Drag show, and the first one at the 1000-person main room at The Catalyst was packed; they moved to monthly shows in the Catalyst Atrium, & later moved to the Kuumbwa, now bi-monthly; Cyn is re-purposing a costume from 13 years ago, adding even more rhinestones, but it's not done yet; their sound person, Tommy Powell-Demeuth, has been with them since the beginning (with a little break for serious medical issues) - "Solid!" There are 8 Sin Sisters - Cyn books 7 Drag Queens per show, and each does 2 acts, 1 in each set - Cyn also books from out of town, & always books who they want on stage; when you come to a Burlesque & Drag show, "Prepare to be amazed! And be a little scared!"

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening!

Hailing from Aromas, on the other side of the Pajaro River in far north Monterey County; Chris was born & raised in Aromas - Richard was born & raised in Watsonville; Richard retired as a farm advisor, having gone to school at U.C. Davis in ag...now U.C. Santa Cruz has an Ag & Natural Resources Department! Both are songwriters, but separate, with different styles; played together in a 5-piece band for 5 years; the song "Fireworks Stand" is for his wife, Michelle, whom he met at Chico State after sitting next to her at a Freshman gathering, rifling through her purse, and seeing a picture of a girl he knew, so she must not have been from far from where he went to high school - Michelle later worked at a Fireworks stand in San Juan Batista, & when Chris asked how her day was, she said, "It was hot!" - Chris replied, without skipping a beat, that it must've been with her in the stand! Richard song, "All That I Need". The "Money Question"? A: Absolutely not! Chris' day job is a home inspector; San Juan Batista, where Dayan Kai, who Chris went to junior high school with, hails from. Song: "Down Like That". No website, no CDs....yet.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

Currently on Spring Break and in the district; as one of the first openly gay elected officials to city & state office, what's his take on Governor Newsom's homophobic slurs of conservative influencers & politicos? Quoting Barney Frank, Senator Laird said, "You have a right to privacy, but no right to hypocrasy!" Is this to help tailor his image ahead of a run for national office, or to raise attention to his own issues? Yes to both. Watsonville hospital - there's interest by Sutter to take it over in a public-private partnership, but not until later in the year - still need a bridge...the governor's office is focusing on hospitals that have 2 days of cash on hand, not 7 or 8 days; Senator Laird saved the hospital ove4 4 years ago via a "Gut and Amend" bill that created a hospital district; unfortunately cuts & delays in federal funding (DSH; QAF) have reduced revenue so that it's no longer sustainable; Watsonville is one of 2 1/2 hospitals in County (Dominican, also Sutter Maternity); Cesar Chavez day name changed for this year only to Farmworkers Day in record time by unanamous vote via Gut and Amend legislative action, including the "72 hour rule"; re-read Miriam Pawel's biography of Cesar Chavez, specifically the "Monday Night Massacre" when Chavez fired many aides...include a young Bill Monning, future California State Senator & John Laird's immediate predecessor; what happens next week? "All hell breaks loose!" - there's 6 weeks to get bills out of the House of Origin, with committee meetings every day, plus 7 - 8 bills of his that are in other committees...PLUS budget hearing; working on a resolution against offshore Oil & Gas drilling, with Dan Haifley, ex Executive Director of Save Our Shores, and Santa Cruz City staff, spoke...."Dangerous Dan", as a geologist / geophysicist working both sides of the military - industrial complex, including offshore oil & gas and offshore wind, assures Senator Laird that he can sleep well at night knowing that the oil industry will never drill offshore California north of Santa Barbara, because the many faults (including the San Gregorio - Hosgri Fault that cuts across Monterey Bay) butcher the potential reservoirs so that an "elephant" (1 billion barrels recoverable) cannot exist; Senator Laird: "You're remarkably rational. This administration is not. Plus, we need to send a signal."

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

House concert tonight features 2 sisters from Ukraine, the Bezhenar sisters, who have been collaborating with Nina on her new CD; Nina was playing with her brother Scott when she heard Kate Wolf through her records - she learned the songs, and became Kate's accompanying guitarist; Chris hales from Davis, California; song: "Candybars and Freedom", written by Chris, and a discussion of songwriting; the "money question": "Do you make a living playing music?" Answer = yes, thanks to various incarnations / groups and performing: it's no longer possible to make a living selling music CDs, but you can make a living through live performances.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "Kaos", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

Walnut Ave Family & Women's Center is celebrating 90 years in Santa Cruz!!! Started in 1933 as the local chapter of the YWCA; focus is on children, youth, women, family support, advocacy & prevention - children & youth = focus on the next generation, particularly life skills, including how to be in a relationship; added more focus on domestic violence in the 1990s, adding certified training to be an advocate for survivors of domestic violence (they have 2 hotlines, plus walk-in hours in downtown Santa Cruz); new program = "A Place for Change" - an alternative to the legal system for domestic violence; child care is a necessity...most parents in Santa Cruz work 2 jobs to get by...Santa Cruz subsidized child care is meeting only 14% of the need!! ...haven't been able to open infant / toddler child care because they can't pay enough for someone to live in Santa Cruz; Q: can we generate money to keep professionals? 75% funding from state and federal level, 10% local...local foundations are generous and more flexible (thanks!); shifted from YWCA to WAFWC when they saw the need for domestic violence services, and could not access federal funding as a religious organization; end on a note of hope & positivity: Julie enjoys working with people doing the hard work!

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "Kalamity Kyle" Weller, & "Kaos" (Katrina Clugston), airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

Today's luncheon will honor the 14 Women of the Year in Assemblymember Pellerin's District; this is the 3rd annual, & will be held in Santa Cruz at the Seymour Center (the 1st was in San Jose, and the 2nd was in Morgan Hill); discuss each of the 14 women in alphabetical order; one successfully worked on Measure A, a temporary tax in San Jose to fill the gap in health care due to cuts; AAUW is the American Association of University Women; Monte Sereno, population 3500, is the smallest city in the Assemblymember's district - & has no businesses!; the Briggs Initiative was a California proposition to ban LGBTQ+ people from teaching in schools - one of this year's winners helped defeat this in 1978 58.4% to 41.6%; a "candy striper" was a young woman who wore outfits like striped candy who would go to facilities (elder care, hospitals) to brighten people's days; "Africcianado" is a combination of Africa & afficianado; Damian's Ladder is a non-profit that supports senior citizens with odds & ends and projects.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

Brenda is a UCSC professor, filmmaker, and board member of the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF); the WFF is in its 14th year, having been founded by Consuela Alva when she found there wasn't an outlet for her films in the area; the WFF grew organically over time, & focuses on Latino & Indigenous Stories, with screenings now in Watsonville, Salinas, and Santa Cruz; one of the WFF's short films won an award at DocNYC in New York City!; Brenda's film got an extended standing ovation, and will screen next at the Philadelphia Film Festival; Brenda teaches social documentation & storytelling at UCSC.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.