This week we’re sharing an excerpt from an episode of Down Time with Cranston Public Library in which host Tayla talked with Lauren Parmelee from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and Lauren Miller-Donnelly from the Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island. We talked about bird watching, books for people who love birds, and ways to meet other birders in Southern New England. You’ll also hear our regular segment, The Last Chapter, where we discuss a library or bookish question. This week we answered the question: what genre would we like to read more of? Enjoy!

Like what you hear? Listen and subscribe to Down Time on Apple Podcasts or your podcast player of choice! If you’d like to submit a topic for The Last Chapter you can send your topic suggestions to [email protected]. Our theme music is Day Trips by Ketsa and our ad music is Happy Ukulele by Scott Holmes. Thanks for listening!

In this week's episode, physician and author Therese Zink catches up with interview subjects from her book, COVID CHRONICLES. This collection of essays introduces the reader to the essential workers - physicians, caregivers, nurses, and retail workers - who kept the U.S. moving forward during Year 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the world was brought to its knees, they fulfilled their work obligations in hospitals, clinics, schools, group homes and stores, as well as balanced the needs of family and self. 

For more information about COVID CHRONICLES and author Therese Zink, please visit theresezink.com.

Episode theme music is Brotherhood and Brother by Monplaisir.

Providence Community Library was thrilled to have writer Julia Alvarez join the first meeting of PCL READS in May, 2020. PCL Reads is a citywide, one book, one community book discussion! Alvarez read from and discussed her new book, Afterlife, and answered audience questions about the novel and her writing process. You can watch the event recording at PCL's YouTube channel. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Julia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960 at the age of ten. She is the author of six novels, three books of nonfiction, three collections of poetry, and eleven books for children and young adults. She has taught and mentored writers in schools and communities across America and, until her retirement in 2016, was a writer-in-residence at Middlebury College. Her work has garnered wide recognition, including a Latina Leader Award in Literature from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, the Woman of the Year by Latina magazine, and inclusion in the New York Public Library's program "The Hand of the Poet: Original Manuscripts by 100 Masters, from John Donne to Julia Alvarez." In the Time of the Butterflies, with over one million copies in print, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its national Big Read program, and in 2013 President Obama awarded Alvarez the National Medal of Arts in recognition of her extraordinary storytelling.  

ABOUT THE BOOK: Afterlife is a compact, nimble novel set in this political moment of tribalism and distrust, a novel that asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including, maybe especially, members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we provide an afterlife for those glorious souls we have lost-so we stay true to everything they represent?

New England is famous for its whalemen, but here’s a surprise: The second-largest collection of whaling logbooks is housed in the Providence Public Library, thanks to an eccentric collector named Paul C. Nicholson. Not only do the logbooks chronicle a century of life at sea, but they may help us navigate our future.

This episode features an interview with Jordan Goffin, head curator of the collection at Providence Public Library, as well as a dramatic reading by actor Michael Kinnane and the sea shanty “Rolling Down to Old Maui,” performed by Stevie Lightnin’ (find out more at StevieLightning.com).

This week's guest host Robert Isenberg is a Providence-based writer and multimedia producer. He previously served as guest host for KBAQ‘s “Heart of the Arts” and assistant producer for KJZZ public radio in Phoenix. A veteran staff writer for Providence Monthly, Isenberg is also the author of several books and award-winning films. Feel free to visit him at robertisenberg.net

Thea Hopkins writes songs from her heart. She makes beautiful recordings, and she’s a powerful performer.

She’s the Grand Prize Winner of the 2020 Great American Song Contest. She’s performed at the Kennedy Center, and she’s worked with Noel Paul Stookey—Paul from Peter, Paul and Mary.

Thea is a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha’s Vineyard, and she calls her music Red Roots Americana.

Critics have called her latest album Love Come Down a masterpiece, and she’s working on her follow-up album which should be out in 2022.

Visit theahopkins.com to listen to her songs and learn more about her.

What’s on the menu? Hearty, home-cooked meals and desserts, of course. Bring your appetite but not a lot of cash. Diners are the true American eating place.

Join Tom Shaker for an exploration of all-things diner, and discover how Walter Scott’s late night, walkup lunch cart in Providence in the 1870s inspired a nationwide craze.

Dr. Tom Shaker is a college professor, a radio DJ, a documentary filmmaker, and an expert on Rhode Island jazz.

His radio show The Soul Serenade, featuring classic soul music from the 1960s and 1970s, airs on WICN on Mondays at 7 p.m.

His award-winning film with Norm Grant Do It, Man! The Story of The Celebrity Club tells the story of the legendary Celebrity Club, the integrated 1950s nightclub in Providence’s Randall Square neighborhood.

His book with Dennis Pratt A Treasury of Rhode Island Jazz & Swing Musicians is a biographical collection of jazz and swing musicians who have played in Rhode Island and a sequel to Who's Who in Rhode Island Jazz: c. 1925-1988 by Rhode Island musicians and historians Lloyd Kaplan and Robert Petteruti.

His book with Lloyd Kaplan In Harmony: Early Vocal Groups Remembered & Celebrated looks at over twenty trailblazing vocal groups, including The Mills Brothers, The Golden Gate Quartet, The Boswell Sisters, and The Delta Rhythm Boys.

In honor of National Bicycle Month, this week’s episode of Rhody Radio features “Libraries, Bicycles, and Storytelling from the East Bay Bike Path.”

Guest hosted by Jessica D’Avanza, community engagement librarian at Barrington Public Library and a bike commuter, she invited listeners to record and share their bike path stories for this episode. Barrington Public Library is located a half-mile from the East Bay Bike Path. This nearly fourteen-mile scenic path and former rail bed of the Providence and Bristol Railroad received a lot of love from our listener-submitted stories. 

Those who contributed were Robin Nyzio, Carl Seadale, Nancy Jakubowski, Rick Peltz-Steele, and Mark Binder.

Also in this episode, meet Cindy Elder, chief of business development in the Division of Parks & Recreation for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Hear how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the use of the East Bay Bike Path, tips for beginners heading out onto the path, and information about accessibility.

Learn how you can get involved with bicycle advocacy in the state from Kathleen Gannon, bike chair of the Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition. This statewide advocacy group works to encourage safe bicycling infrastructure for all ages and is encouraging cyclists to join the RIBike Team on Love to Ride for the National Bike Month Challenge.

Below are links to websites mentioned in the episode.

-- To learn more about National Bike Month and the League of American Bicyclists visit bikeleague.org/bikemonth.

-- The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Parks & Recreation, shares information about the East Bay Bike Path, including a history of the path at riparks.com.

-- The Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition works to create safe and accessible biking for all. Learn more about the organization and how you can get involved at ribike.org.

-- Love to Ride is an online encouragement platform and app, that aims to get more people riding bikes. Join the RIBike Team and help them reach their National Bicycle Month goal of 384 miles each day in May. Learn more and register at lovetoride.net.

-- For information about all of the bike paths in Rhode Island, visit the Rhode Island Department of Transportation's website at dot.ri.gov/travel/bikeri.

We'll see you on the bike path!

Rhody Radio is a project of the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services and is supported through a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Right at the height of the COVID pandemic, the West Warwick Public Library received a Library of Rhode Island grant from the Office of Library & Information Services funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to put on a summer writing camp for teens which had to be adapted to a virtual setting. Over the summer, the teens learned about writing, heard from writers and other professionals what a career in writing looks like, and at the end, published an anthology of short fiction works, Voices of the Lost Year, that captured the strange and intense feelings of our lost pandemic year. West Warwick Librarians Amber Bliss and Rashaa Al-Sasah sat down with Rhody Radio to share about the project! 

To read Voices of the Lost Year visit the West Warwick Public Library's website which has links to all the eBook platforms where you can download the book for free. You can also find a physical copy in any of Rhode Island's public libraries, or borrow the eBook from RI Ezone. If you do read the book, don't forget to rate and review it on Goodreads! 

The music in this episode is Learning from Kids by Blear Moon. 

Rhody Radio is a project of the Office of Library & Information Services, made possible with funding from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. 

In this episode, you’ll hear Providence-based author and storyteller Mark Binder share two of his favorite tall tales.

Roger Williams vs. The Big Blue Bugs explains the origin of not one but two famous statues.

The Great Rhode Island Clam Shake describes Mark’s first weeks as a resident of Rhode Island, battling hurricanes, seagulls, and the infamous New York System

These two live performances give a humorous and alternative facts view of life in the Ocean State. Roger Williams was recorded at the Coventry Public Library in 2017. The Clam Shake was recorded at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick during Sharing the Fire in 2009.

Music by George Dussault, used with permission. Stories and program copyright 2021 by Mark Binder, all rights reserved.

You can find many of Mark Binder’s books and audio recordings at your local public library. 

For more information on what Mark is doing now, and to links for his latest work, follow him on social media @markbinderbooks or visit his website at https://markbinderbooks.com

New & Notable Books brings you book recommendations from Rhode Island Librarians. Listen to new reviews every week, and find something wonderful to read.

Recent Novels with Mary Anne

• Eternal by Lisa Scottoline

• The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons