A rabbi and a priest walk into a fundraiser, and talk about guilt ... Vin Scully on his life, work, and possible retirement ... Father Boyle on Pope Francis, so far ... Patt Morrison and Nate Silver talk sports, stats, and California politics.
The terrible burden of guilt and how to get rid of it, or, Father Boyle and Rabbi Gross fundraise for KPCC
Father Greg Boyle, who runs Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, and Rabbi Marv Gross of Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena, are experts in guilt and redemption. They know the burdens of guilt men and women carry around with them, and they know the path to letting go of that guilt.
Both men work with people who have hit bottom, who often think themselves worthless. Both help them find the worth in themselves, and build new lives, whether it's a homeless mother escaping an abusive relationship, or a Homie who can't see his life outside his gang.
In that context, not giving to KPCC even though you're a listener seems nearly petty, but on the other hand, it's a problem that's also a lot easier to fix. Both Boyle and Gross are current members of KPCC, but even they have sometimes lapsed.
Boyle says even though he was raised in the guilt tradition, "I kinda don't do guilt. I gave it up for Lent years ago." And he admits it has a purpose in getting us to put first things first. "Not that you're fundraisers were guilt-inducing, but just the fact that this was the only station I listen to was enough" to get him to give.
Rabbi Gross says, "What's true in Judaism is that there's a notion of missing the mark. There are expectations ... to act in a certain way. Guilt is an okay motivator. One shouldn't be suffused with guilt, oppressed by one's guilt, but guilt can help us be better people."
I asked Rabbi Gross how we could get people to elevate their guilt level so they'd give to KPCC. Should we put mothers on the air to guilt listeners into becoming members, and if so, which kind? Catholic mothers? Jewish mothers? Muslim mothers? "I think any women who's had children knows how to instill guilt," he said. "We're a multi-cultural society!"
There's much more in our interview, plus a bonus: Father Boyle discussing the papacy of his fellow Jesuit, Pope Francis.
Feeling guilty? Then give to KPCC and find redemption.
The Voice of the Dodgers talks with Ben Bergman
KPCC's Ben Bergman sat down to talk with Dodger legend Vin Scully about his life and career.
Here's their interview, in two parts.
Jason Mandell on The Coals' new album 'A Happy Animal,' unashamed LA country music
"Så gör även detta countryfolkiga band som på sin andra platta A Happy Animal ger lyssnaren tjugotvå behagliga minuters lyssning." Ikon Magazine (Sweden), 2013
That's the understatement of the year. Yes, A Happy Animal, the new record from the LA-based country band The Coals, is only 22 minutes long, but the music is much better than "pleasant," Ikon. It's inventive, catchy, genuine, and moving.
The very tall Jason Mandell, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist, says The Coals derives its name from Cole's PE Buffet, the downtown restaurant and bar that's allegedly the originator of the French Dip sandwich. "A much earlier version of this band used to play there, back when it was a total dive and everyone was afraid to go in. We just had to change (the spelling of the name) for legal reasons."
Southland Serenade: Jason, are you one of these guys who can write anywhere? Some guys need to be on a mountainside in total quiet. Where do you fit on that scale?
Jason Mandell: It's very simple. On one side I have a woman fanning me, and on the other a woman feeding me grapes.
You'll understand why the ladies would agree to fanning and grapery if you listen to our interview with Mandell, in which he gives us an exclusive rendition of Kris Kristofferson's 1970 tune Help Me Make It Through the Night. Kristofferson, Mandell says, along with Townes Van Zandt and Gene Clark, taught him a lot about songwriting: keeping the soul of country music, but using unexpected and more complex chord changes to keep it interesting.
Why country? Mandell says, "I think when I started writing songs, it felt like the only style I could comfortably write in, because it's about lyrics and stories, and every song needs a reason to be."
Over on the left, you'll see exclusive web audio in which Mandell explains the origins of the song Dirt Road, and hints that he'd wished he'd gotten his shoes dusty that day. In our main interview, you'll hear us talk about Sally Dworsky, who sings with Mandell on "Baseline Blues," and whom Garrison Keillor says has "the voice of an angel."
Want to go see The Coals play? Here are their next two gigs:
- Sept 9 at Witz End, 1717 Lincoln Blvd, Venice CA 90291
- Sept 14 at 701 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, in the parking lot under the building (Jason writes: "It's much cooler than it sounds.")
'It's taped?!' Off-Ramp releases script of supposedly ad-libbed fundraising spot
DYLAN: I’m Dylan Brody, humorist, storyteller and head commentator for KPCC’s Off Ramp.
RABE: You’re not the head commentator.
DYLAN: Fine. Long before I started appearing on KPCC I was an avid listener, a genuine fan of the informative news and talk programming during the week and the wonderfully funny stuff that runs on the weekends. That’s why I was KPCC’s favorite listener.
RABE: You weren’t the favorite.
DYLAN: I might have been the favorite.
RABE: We don’t have favorites. We love all our listeners equally.
DYLAN: Fine. My point is, the station provides a lot of great programming and it does it all without running commercials. So take a minute to do your part to keep it on the air. As control over the commercial media outlets continues to consolidate, we need public stations like KPCC more than ever. And remember, I’m not only the president of KPCC, I’m also a member.
RABE: You’re not the president of KPCC.
DYLAN: Fine. Can I say “Chanteuse?”
RABE: Do you sing?
DYLAN: No.
RABE: Then, no.
DYLAN: Can I say, “Call now and make your contribution?”
RABE: Yes. You can say that. But add the website.
DYLAN: Become a sustaining member of KPCC at kpcc.org, or by calling 866-888-5722.
RABE: And say thank you, Dylan.
DYLAN: Thank you, Dylan.
Nate Silver talks politics, baseball, and burritos
It’s not magic, it’s numbers. Nate Silver emerged from the world of sports nerd stats a half-dozen years ago to become the premiere political poll analyst in the country.
His data-driven forecasts on FiveThirtyEight.com were accurate down to the percentage point, and by 2009 he was one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.
Nate Silver has returned to the world of sports stats at ESPN, but he’s not giving up the political game either.
He was at USC recently as part of the Bedrosian Center’s Holt Distinguished Lecture series, and KPCC’s Patt Morrison put the numbers guru to the test.
New edition of 1939 WPA guide to California more than a time machine
The University of California Press has just released a classic. It's California in the 1930s, the WPA Guide to the Golden State, a book published in 1939 through the Federal Writers Project of FDR's Works Progress Administration.
The introduction is by Take Two regular David Kipen, of Libros Schmibros, who says that during the Great Depression, FDR realized he needed to find jobs for everybody who was out of work, including writers, so dozens of them went to work writing travel guides.
How do you squeeze 160,000 miles into a volume that readers can lift? During a Depression at, least, you hire a lot of people – or, in contemporary parlance, create a lot of jobs. Then you sort out the gifted writers and editors from the rest , who can help in some other way, or at least do no harm. Then you turn your editorial team loose, give them their heads, and watch what happens. What happened here was California: A Guide to the Golden State, which, under a gently updated new title, now re-emerges like a refreshed bear after 70 years of hibernation.
For any reader or writer, the crowning glory of the New Deal will always be this and the other American Guides, a series of travel books to 48 states, many cities, and any number of deserts, rivers, and other wonders, books that were expressly created to "hold up a mirror to America." John Steinbeck navigated by these guides to write Travels with Charley, where he called them "the most comprehensive account of the United States ever got together, and nothing since has even approached it."
In our interview, David and I spoke about the guide in general, and chatted about its delightful survey of California literature - accurate through 1939 - but we also visited one of the recommended stops on any tour of Southern California. While many sights highlighted in the book are gone, many are still with us, like the Millard House in Pasadena, a masterpiece of architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright. Realtor Crosby Doe, who concentrates on architecturally and historically significant homes and who has the listing for the Millard House (about $5m), gave David and me a tour of the house, which gets its due on page 248 of the guide.