Voices of the Methow

On December 19th 2018, I attended and recorded a book launching presentation given at the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center. The book, Red Star Blue Star co authored by Historian and author Bill Layman and Wenatchi/P’squosa Colville Tribal elder and Activist Randy Lewis, tells the tale of a pair of twins fighting Spexman an elemental being that is defeated with the help of some of their friends. Randy also speaks of a time before rock island was submerged and the power and cultural heritage of the petroglyphs that his Grandfather witnessed as a youth, as well as the gathering and drying of salmon to share with tribal members during the winter months. Randy also spoke of the dream of his Mother, Mary Miller Marchand, and her wish that the petroglyphs, and photos of the petroglyphs that are scattered could be collected and preserved in a cultural center that would support the history and culture of native people of the area. You can pick up a copy of the book at the Sweet River Bakery in Pateros, as well as at the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center book store. Randy is a gifted Story Teller! As always, thanks for listening!

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This is an interview I recently recorded with Hilary Kaltenbach. I had several reasons for wanting to do this. I knew almost nothing about her and I wanted to give her an opportunity for a low stakes interview where she might be able to practice organizing her thoughts, so I decided to reach out and see if she was up for a chat. She was, and She didn’t disappoint! I want to share that I already recorded a similar interview with Boo Schneider, who is running for the same school board position as Hilary. Boo’s interview is also available on Voices of the Methow.

Hilary’s Website

https://sites.google.com/view/hilary-for-schools/about-hilary

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This is an interview I recently recorded with Boo Schneider. I had several reasons for wanting to do this. I knew almost nothing about her and I wanted to give her an opportunity for a low stakes interview where she might be able to practice organizing her thoughts, so I decided to reach out and see if she was up for a chat. She was, and She didn’t disappoint! I want to also share that I am offering the same opportunity to Hilary Kaltenbach, who is running for the same school board position as Boo. Hilary has agreed to record a convo with me using the same format I did with Boo. I will be sharing that as well soon. Check out Boo’s webpage link below!

Boo’s Webpage

http://Booschneider.com

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In this episode of Voices of the Methow, we are once again talking to musician and wildlife biologist, Ken Bevis. This is the culminating conversation in a 4 part series that began with a 2017 interview on my radio show on KTRT FM 97.5. In this episode we talk about the arc of Ken’s musical career, how he integrates it into his work as a biologist, and how he got involved with the Lost Homeland project.

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In this episode of Voices of the Methow, Byron is joined by retired Deputy Marshal and AI hobbyist Ken Bajema for Part 1 of an in-depth discussion about the accelerating development of artificial intelligence and its potential impacts on society, for better and worse. Ken describes how he built a personal AI chatbot at home, based on open source models and using existing AI agents to help him. He then draws on what he’s been learning from this experience to reflect on the formidable power of this technology and the unpredictable changes it may bring forth. The conversation is both technical and philosophical, but never boring. Please give a listen and let us know what you think.

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This is a conversation I recorded in 2020 with an old friend of mine named Leaf Running-rabbit. About 25 years ago, Leaf and I worked for three years on a construction site with a special group of people building a magical house. This is the story of some important lessons we learned, how we grew in the process, and how those lessons spiraled out into our own lives and many others.

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In this conversation we dive into Meditation and Braver Angels. Long time meditation and mindfulness based stress reduction teacher Sharon Cohen and Braver Angels advocate Janice Dickinson joined me to talk a little about themselves and about what each is doing to help build community in our valley. Also cover the work Kim Frey and Janice are doing supporting communication bridge building at the coaches lounge in Twisp as well.

You can contact Sharon Cohen at:

https://www.mindfulmethow.com/

For info on Braver Angels and also the Coaches lounge contact Janice Dickinson at:

[email protected]

Also check out Braver Angels at:

https://braverangels.org/

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Welcome to Voices of the Methow, a new podcast series I am launching featuring conversations with interesting people in and around the Methow Valley. For this episode, I invited Barry Stromberger and Ken Bajema to join me telling some funny stories. Content warning, a couple of Ken’s jokes may not be suitable for all audiences. Please join us as we time travel to talk about the valley as it was 50 years ago on up through more recent times. We share some some funny stories, some that were perhaps not so funny at the time! Hope you enjoy them! If so, please share the links!

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