Something to Talk About

Strong opinions about the play "A Family in Gaza" rocked Bainbridge Island last week. The play was canceled, then rescheduled. Today we discussed why staging such a play would be very distressful to some people who suspected it represented antisemitism. Those presenting the play disagree, saying it offers insight into how the war in Gaza is affecting individuals and families. Congregation Kol Shalom President Frank Commanday is our guest.

In this episode, we walk through Timothy Snyder's 2017 book "On Tyranny" Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century," and discuss the signs by which democracies fracture and what history tells us about how to avoid handing over our collective authority to a leader or party that claims to directly represent the will of the people.

Ron Charles, past Chair of Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, and Josh Bagley, current Vice-Chair of Suquamish Tribe, join us to discuss the film Fish War, the 85-minute documentary describing the successful effort by tribes to affirm their treaty fishing rights and establish them as co-manager of the resource. Ron and Josh join us to talk about the state of fisheries in Puget Sound a community showing coming up Sun., June 8, at 6:30 pm., at Lynwood Theater.

AARP reports that veterans, active-duty service members and their families are nearly 40% more likely than civilians to lose money to scams and fraud. Andy Meyer talks about the resources available to arm yourself against efforts to steal your money, personal identity and more.

https://aarp.org/veterans

https://aarp.org/VetsFraudCenter

https://fmcsa.dot.gov/protect-your-move/search-mover

Topics include: Tomatoes, beans, and basil; Round-Up and other chemicals; the best tools for gardening, and more!

Focused on a June 7 event at Lynwood Theatre, an ad-hoc group of local residents is seeking to build a strong sense of democratic community and unity of purpose on Bainbridge Island through education, advocacy, and compassion. Kathryn Lafond, Sandy Spears, and Mike Kelly join us.

https://standingtogetherbi.org

There are lots of reasons to learn about food resilience—and with economic uncertainty joining other forms of emergency preparedness, we talk with Carol Appenzeller and John Fossett, co-leads of Bainbridge Prepares Food Resilience Team.

Related links:

All the info about the five ways to grow:

Sign-up for details & notices of Veg Club events https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ThmXhjanKKwId_cqY0y9dL_HnWT8ta-Ta-NVchUPdrk/edit?usp=sharing

Veg Club videos to make you a better grower at bit.ly/VegClubVideos

BI Fruit Club facebook.com/groups/BainbridgeIslandFruitClub OR bifruit.club

BP Food Resilience Team https://www.bainbridgeprepares.org/foodFriends of the Farms list of local farms: https://www.friendsofthefarms.org/local-farms-maps

[email protected]

Inspired by the movie “The Way,” Tom Hansen has always wanted to travel to Northern Spain and Portugal and walk the Camino de Santiago. In this Something to Talk About he’ll share what he calls “a photographer’s dream trip,” focusing on the people, culture, history, and sights of this part of the world.

To view the pictures: https://biseniorcenter.org/art-gallery/bi-photo-may-2025/

Brynn Felix, Chief Corporate Affairs and Legal Officer of Peninsula Community Health Services, talks about plans to open a PCHS primary care clinic in Winslow Green. She also shares details on other projects PCHS is working on.

Related link: https://www.pchsweb.org/

Bainbridge Island Senior/Community Center is among ten Washington state senior centers chosen for a pilot program to help older adults assess their well-being and identify simple steps they can take to improve their lives. James Firman, chief innovation officer and founder for BetterAge.net, joins us to describe the program’s goals and early findings.

https://biseniorcenter.org/betterage