WRFI Specials and Series

Host Michael Rhynes interviews Taili Mugambee Director or the Ultimate Re-Entry Opportunity about re-entry work underway in Tompkins County.

This program originally aired on September 17, 2024 on WRFI Community Radio.

How can we ensure access to healthy, sustainable food for everyone in our community? What can we do as individuals? What changes would you like to see to government policy? How did the pandemic affect the way you eat? 

Listen back to our WRFI's September 12 food security and call-in show. Panelists, callers, and host Felix Teitelbaum explored local food security and insecurity and got to know some local farmers and organizers dedicated to mutual aid and a just food system.

Panelists on the show were:

Ana Ortiz of No Mas Lagrimas, which supports and empowers people to meet their basic needs and does food rescue and relief work.

Lorena Mendoza Lorena and her husband Carlos grow food for No Mas Lagrimas and their customers at West Haven Farm in Ithaca.

Debbie Branker-Livermore of Loving Farms, which grows chemical-free produce for people in Tompkins and Tioga Counties and provides to the Candor Food Pantry.

and Katie Hallas, of Tomkins Food Future and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County.

This program was the second in our "Food and Country" series leading up to the screening of Ruth Reichl’s documentary “Food and Country” Tuesday, September 17 at Cinemapolis. Make sure check out our exclusive interview with Ruth Reichl and get tickets for the film! The screening on Tuesday will be followed by another panel discussion and talkback with the audience. Panelists for that conversation will be Christa Nunez of Khuba International, Denise O’Leary of Cafe Dewitt, Chaw Chang of Stick and Stone Farm, Jeff Bessmer of GreenStar Coop, Kelly Sauve of the Ithaca Farmers Market, and moderated by WRFI's Felix Teitelbaum.

Support for this series comes from Tompkins County Food Policy Council, Moosewood Restaurant, GreenStar Coop, the Ithaca Farmers Market, and WRFI's members and donors. Special thank to our partners at Cinemapolis and Greenwich Entertainment.

In this edition of CREATIVES ON WRFI, a conversation between celebrated American novelist Jonathan Lethem and Jacob White, Associate Professor of Writing at Ithaca College and host of Jamaican Clash on WRFI.

Jonathan Lethem visits Ithaca this weekend as part of the fourth annual Ithaca Is Books Festival (Sept. 12-15). You can see Lethem live in conversation with Writing Professor Eleanor Henderson on Friday, Sept. 13 at Buffalo Street Books (6:00 p.m.).

Jonathan Lethem is the author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novels Motherless Brooklyn, Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, and Brooklyn Crime Novel. His newest book, The Collapsing Frontier, published this year by PM Press, collects recent works of nonfiction and fiction, some of which previously appeared in The New Yorker Magazine.

Mildred Alvarado, María José Oviedo y Tim W. Shenk del equipo de Futuro en Ag del Cornell Small Farms Program vuelven al programa Alcance Latino con Carlos Gutiérrez. Comparten aprendizajes sobre las finanzas personales y empresariales, claves para desarrollar un negocio agrícola exitoso.

Mildred Alvarado, María José Oviedo and Tim W. Shenk of Cornell Small Farms Program's Futuro en Ag team return to the Alcance Latino radio show with Carlos Gutiérrez. They share information about personal and business finances, key to developing a successful farm business.

Photo: Jared Davis

María José Oviedo y Tim W. Shenk del equipo de Futuro en Ag del Cornell Small Farms Program comparten con Carlos Gutiérrez en el programa Alcance Latino. Invitan a conocer las oportunidades disponibles para productores y aspirantes a la producción agrícola que son de la comunidad latina o hispanohablante. De particular interés es el curso virtual "Cómo Iniciar su Negocio Agrícola" de seis sesiones, que se lanza el 24 de septiembre.María José Oviedo and Tim W. Shenk of Cornell Small Farms Program's Futuro en Ag team share in Spanish with Carlos Gutiérrez of the Alcance Latino program. They invite listeners to learn about opportunities available to farmers and aspiring farmers from the Latino/a/x or Spanish-speaking community. Of particular interest is the six-session online course, "Cómo Iniciar su Negocio Agrícola" (“How to Start Your Farm Business”), which launches Sept. 24.

Listen to WRFI's exclusive interview with Ruth Reichl about her forthcoming film "Food and Country." Felix Teitelbaum's interview with Reichl and Cornell's Rachel Bezner Kerr originally aired on WRFI on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

WRFI will present “Food and Country,” directed by Laura Gabbert, on September 17 at Cinemapolis. You can learn more and get your tickets here. The documentary is a personal and expansive look at how the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in our food systems, offering both a critique and a celebration of those working to create positive change.

Ruth Reichl is one of America's most influential food writers and critics. With a career spanning over five decades, Ruth has shaped the way we think about food. She’s worked as a critic for the LA Times and the New York Times, and as the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and she’s the author of several best-selling memoirs.

Rachel Bezner Kerr is a Professor in Global Development at Cornell, where she teaches courses on food systems, and does research in Africa on sustainable agriculture, gender, climate change adaptation, food security, and nutrition.

This series is made possible in part by Tompkins County Food Policy Council, Moosewood Restaurant, the Ithaca Farmer's Market, and GreenStar Coop, and in partnership with Cinemapolis.

“Living With Grief" explores the ways people navigate the journey of losing a loved one. The series is produced by WRFI's JT Stone.

In this episode Jessica Ryan, a teacher at Notre Dame High School in Elmira, opens up about how she copes with the death of her daughter, Rebecca Ryan, who was struck by a car in 2021. 

The second annual Democracy Fest will be held in Ithaca on Tuesday, August 6. Organizers Jeff Furman of Rejoice the Vote and the Ben and Jerry's Foundation, and Rev. Ken Clarke of the Tompkins County Office of Human Rights join host Felix Teitelbaum to talk about this celebration and commemoration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Today's episode is about personal space and pride and was produced by Azalea from CUMEP and Felix Teitelbaum from WRFI.

"We Are CUMEP” is series of short radio diaries documenting the camp’s music, art, and social justice curriculum recorded by youth at CUMEP. The station is training campers in CUMEP's Media Major who will record the voices and sounds of the camp throughout the rest of the 2019 season.

Today's episode is all about black joy and pride and was produced by Jaz-myne from CUMEP and Felix Teitelbaum from WRFI.

"We Are CUMEP” is series of short radio diaries documenting the camp’s music, art, and social justice curriculum recorded by youth at CUMEP. The station is training campers in CUMEP's Media Major who will record the voices and sounds of the camp throughout the rest of the 2019 season.