Legendary podcaster and esteemed political commentator Madge Weinstein returns to the program to update the gentle audience on what life is like when there are vaccines for covid but people somehow still manage to make each other sick.
Michael Schaap is a documentary maker, a voice over artist, and an arm-chair historian who I have had the pleasure of knowing for almost two decades. For the past four years he has been watching in frustration and sadness as the US and the rest of the world, walk down a dangerous path not unlike what we’ve seen before. Today on the podcast, an end of the year, Hanakkuh-Christmas-Kwanzaa-Festivus special looking at the glboal impact of the election in the US. And like every good holiday film, if you listen close you’ll hear an inspiring message… as well as Michael’s cat chewing on cables and documents.
As someone living with terminal cancer, Matthew Dons is not one who would panic in the face of a global pandemic. From his home in Tokyo he joins us on the podcast today to talk about what is happening in Japan, but also what it is like to be a person with a compromised immune system in the midst of the international corona virus crisis. Listen and enjoy and then go support his GoFundMe to help him continue to live.
For decades Wim Kruiswijk has lived on the Dutch coast walking the beach before people arrive and after they have left. His treasure: messages in bottles. Over the years he has collected thousands, and turned beach combing into meaninful friendships. He’s also become extremely knowledgeable about why people write messages and bottles, as well as what else is happenning to the environment along the coast. Today on the podcast, in assocation with the For Keeps podcast, we pay a visit to Wim Kruiswijk to learn about his incredible experiences with messages in bottles.
High above the Kofu and within view of the all mighty Mt. Fuji, my friend Mieko joins me to tell the story of her family and this magical place they created. What starts as a conversation about a natural spring, quickly becomes the story of a family that believes very strongly in giving to those who are in need. As day turns to night and the sun goes behind the mountain, Mieko also reflects on her happy years living in the Netherlands and how she see’s her home country of Japan changing. (special thanks to Mieko and her family for one of the greatest weekends of my life)
Before the city of Maastricht chose to pursue marijuana prohibition policies they first asked a team of researchers to examine what impact it would have. The researchers found that the proposed “membership” system for coffeeshops, which included banning all non-residents from going into establishments, would have disastrous effects on the cities public safety, health, and economic situation. In response, the government demanded new research with results that would support their new mission to shut down marijuana cafe’s that have existed since the 1990’s. Today there are a several municipalities that have adopted this prohibition policy that is scheduled to go national by January 2013, and the results are already being felt. Nicole Maalsté is a researcher from Tilburg University who has been examining the issue of drug policy and coffeeshops in the Netherlands over the course of several decades. She joins me on today’s podcast to explain what her work has revealed and just how the relationship between politics and research has led to a startling reality on the street level.
