Shows
Ojai: Talk of the TownAsk Me Anything With Bret BradiganThe long-delayed AMA episode is here! Expect to learn why I do the podcast, who's listening, and from where, future plans and projects.
Mostly, I've been gathering listeners' questions and feedback and wanted to share those with the rest of our listeners.
There's a few criticisms (ouch!) which I promise to take onboard. And a criticism or two that while well-intended, weren't well informed, so thanks for the opportunity to clarify. Any failure of communication is on me.
If I didn't ask your question, apologies, a few of the voicemails got lost in...2024-11-0150 min
Ojai: Talk of the TownOjai's Fisherman with Eric HodgeIf you one of the lucky people, you get a weekly text from Eric Hodge with a list of his freshest sea-to-table catch. Hodge is known by Southern California's finest chefs for his meticulous and precise expertise in the Japanese technique of Ikejime, which quickly and humanely kills the fish, but also enhances its flavor and freshness and shelf life. It took him more than a year to perfect this process.
We talk with Eric about the great abundance of life in and around the Channel Islands, and how fragile and vulnerable that ecosystem is as the...2022-04-102h 15Ojai: Talk of the TownOne Hundred Episodes of Ojai Talk of the TownTo mark the occasion, I (Bret Bradigan) talk about the podcast, why I started it and why I continue it. At first, the idea back in April 2020 was to create a cultural artifact to mark the moment of Ojai's experience with the podcast during the early days of the pandemic. The first guests - Mayor Johnny Johnston and OUSD Superintendent Dr. Tiffany Morse - gave us key insights into this epochal moment. I urge you to go back and listen to those early episodes and be transported back to that time.
Then I realized it made a...2022-03-3151 minOjai: Talk of the TownJ.B. White: Writing for Fun & ProfitJ.B. White may best be known to Ojai residents as the leader of the Ojai's house band, The Household Gods, but he's a successful screenwriter with a long list of credits, including the Hallmark Film, "Get Me To The Wedding On Time," which will be released later this summer. As a multi-genre writer, he's also adapted a Peter Benchley book, "The Beast," and written the horror film, "House of Frankenstein."
Among his recent credits for Hallmark Channel are "A Christmas Miracle For Daisy," "The Christmas Ornament," and "The National Tree." He didn't start out to be...2022-03-241h 00Ojai: Talk of the TownAthletes in Recovery with Tere KarabatosAIR Pizza recently opened in Mira Monte with a big splash and is making a mark on Ojai with its traditional "pizza by the slice" vibe. For all the fun and excitement of opening a popular new restaurant, AIR's owner Tere Karabatos has larger purposes in mind, of which the pizzeria is only part. AIR stands for Athletes in Recovery, and Karabatos, in recovery himself, is the founder and executive director. He is using the business to build a sense of community and ladder to success for others like himself.
Karabatos, a standout athlete in his youth in baseball and...2022-03-1756 minOjai: Talk of the TownSurfing Cuba With Nicholas WeissmanNicholas Weissman, executive producer of "Havana Libre," joins the podcast to talk about this documentary which follows the trials and travails of a dedicated group of Cuban surfers who try to get their sport officially recognized by their government. Surfing in Cuba exists in this liminal space, neither legal nor quite illegal, haunted by the legacy of "balseros," tens of thousands of whom traversed the 90-mile channel between Cuba and Florida on makeshift rafts.
Francisco ("Frank") and Yaya are the two stars of the documentary, and their charisma carries through the film, as they deal with bureaucrats...2022-03-0156 minOjai: Talk of the TownTomatomania! With Scott DaigreTomatomania! is back and Scott Daigre joins us to discuss this fascinating fruit and its many uses and importance in the culinary world. After a pandemic hiatus, Daigre is producing 13 events this year, which are more than just a chance to find rare breeds and learn growing techniques and advice, they take on a festival-like atmosphere.
Daigre's interest in gardening began when he was very little on his grandfather's farm in southern Louisiana, and continued even through his corporate career in marketing, until he followed his passion to a job as a nurseryman, then taking over the...2022-02-231h 04Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Supreme Court with Judith Hale NorrisAs former chief staff counsel for both the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the First District, just two stops on her distinguished legal career, Judith Hale Norris has gotten know many of the current Supreme Court Justices very well. With Justice Stephen Breyer about to retire, it seemed a great time to reach out to her to get her informed take on this, and many other legal questions confronting our country.
More than that, though both Norris and her husband Bill have woven themselves into the fabric of Ojai life...2022-02-111h 02Ojai: Talk of the TownOjai Plant Medicine with Lanny KauferLanny Kaufer's new book, "Medicinal Herbs of California" was just published by Falcon Guides and he joined the podcast to talk about this thorough look at the 70 plants in this field guide to common plants and their medicinal uses. Kaufer took over the popular Ojai Herb Walks back in 1976 and has been roaming the backcountry, introducing people to the wonders of the botanical world ever since.
This handy field guide includes not just information about the herbs themselves, but where to find them, their medicinal uses, how to harvest them sustainably, and various recipes and potions. Kaufer...2022-02-0459 minOjai: Talk of the TownFirst Amendment & Ojai with Kevin DavisKevin Davis, co-author of "Community Powered Journalism," has studied deeply the ways in which newspapers and local media can stay relevant, profitable and enable communities to make informed decisions about their future. He's also studied the ways in which many newspapers have lost their way. He explains how, in a perverse twist, the largest and most profitable companies in the world - Google and Facebook - do no original reporting themselves, and yet are getting richer and richer off the few reliable and trustworthy news sources that remain.
This has resulted in historic low levels of trust...2022-01-281h 13Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Wild Life with Rick RidgewayExplorer, conservationist, mountaineer and author Rick Ridgeway has lived a life that is best summed up in the subhead of his seventh book, "Life Lived Wild:" Adventures at the Edge of the Map." Each chapter of this book covers a different adventure, all of them told in Rick's compelling style.
These adventures included climbing uncharted peaks in the Himalayas, searching the rivers of eastern Siberia for tigers, crossing the remote fastnesses of the Chang Tang Plateau in Tibet in search of the calving grounds of the enigmatic and endangered chiru - an antelope-like goat prized for its fur and now p...2022-01-201h 40Ojai: Talk of the TownCreating A Farmers Market with Julie GerardJulie Gerard's interest in a healthy, plant-based lifestyle began with her surviving a cancer scare, which she attributed to her food choices. So along with a dedicated cohort of like-minded people including Heath Perry, Steve Sprinkel, Michelle Lopez-Dohrn and Grace Malloy, she's been trying for years to open Ojai's second farmers market. After a few abortive attempts she found success this past spring with Thursday's Certified Farmers Market in Chaparral High School's courtyard. The festive field of 60 vendors selling of farm-fresh produce, local products and hugely popular sandwiches and wood-fired pizza has quickly proven to be an established part...2022-01-121h 00Ojai: Talk of the TownRoaming the Carrizo Plain with Chuck GrahamAn hour north of Ojai takes you into a different world, the largest remaining grassland in California, a quarter-million acres of the Carrizo Plain National Monument. It is often called "the American Serengeti" and is the remnant of the great San Joaquin Valley grasslands that once covered most of the middle of the state.
Our guest has spent 15 years studying, learning, observing and taking photographs in this stunning setting. He published his beautiful collection of essays and photographs called aptly enough "Carrizo Plain." It's available around town at Poppies Art & Gift, Meg's Ojai House, Bart's Book and online. The introduction...2022-01-0600 minOjai: Talk of the TownSmile Mountain with Joel Fox & Jennifer DayJoel Fox and Jennifer Day of Smile Mountain are busy creating content for many artistic projects all at a time. Their latest project is the most far-out of them all — a nine-minute promotional film for the James Webb Space Telescope, which launched December 24th into an orbit one million away from earth, where the $10 billion project will listen and watch into the deepest recesses of space and time.
Joel grew up in Ojai, which he remembered as an idyllic place, far from the complaint refrains of too boring and nothing to do. It was here that he learned to exercise hi...2021-12-3058 minOjai: Talk of the TownCooking & Writing With Abigail NappAbigail Napp grew up in the food business as her mother was a leading caterer in the Pacific Northwest, and she never strayed too far from the culinary world. After college she began a career of traveling and writing about food, including at Condé Nast's La Cucina Italia. Her circuitous path led to Ojai, where she's been experimenting with various local products, including an Ojai adaption of a Northern Italian-French traditional liqueur made with walnuts and neutral grain spirits.
Abigail's varied interests in the culinary arts led to a wide discussion about eating and writing about eating, a...2021-12-231h 12Ojai: Talk of the TownTopa Topa Brews With Jack DyerJack Dyer was present for the craft beer boom in the San Diego area in the 1990s and it left him with an unquenchable thirst to join the ranks of the top brewers. He now has five taprooms and hundreds of outlets and thousands of devoted customers of his distinct IPAs and lagers. He is also a big believer in building community and puts skin in the game with the 1 Percent For the Planet, supporting the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy among other programs and projects.
Dyer, inspired by Yvon Chouinard's approach to business as chronicled in "Let M...2021-12-1553 minOjai: Talk of the TownSurviving the "Sh**house" with Lauren DukeLauren Duke's just-published memoir, "Shithouse," is a rueful yet antic recounting of her traumatic childhood, with a junkie prisoner father and a volatile mother and an alcoholic stepfather. It ends with her building both successful businesses and a loving family, seeking and occasionally finding peace through yoga, writing and therapy.
Duke's distinctive voice shines through the messy dysfunction, as she learns that good people can do bad things, and vice versa. And how to take control of your narrative and rebuild your memories from a place of healing and understanding. The book, laced with humor and insight...2021-12-011h 10Ojai: Talk of the TownScott Johnson on Art, Architecture & OjaiScott Johnson, founding partner of Johnson-Fain in Los Angeles, has lived with feet in both the world of art and of architecture. During the pandemic, holed up in his Ojai home, he wrote "Uncommon Ground: Notes on the Visual Arts + Architecture." Johnson is both a builder and visual artist and seeks common understandings between the two disciplines.
He and wife Dr. Meg Bates, a prominent ob-gyn doctor, built their Ojai home as a retreat from the city's hurly-burly and found themselves spending a lot of time during the lockdown with friends and family. Scott took the opportunity...2021-11-171h 06Ojai: Talk of the TownOjai Film Festival & The Art of CinemaIt's been 22 years since the Ojai Film Festival's launch and since then they've screened more than 1,000 films and hosted hundreds of filmmakers, directors, writers, cinematographers and more. This year, the festival has added the competition category "Outstanding YouTube Filmmaker," and will also host a screening with Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao of her 2017 film, "The Rider."
Festival co-founder and artistic director Steve Grumette, OFF president Jon Lambert and board member and veteran film crewman Sven Shelgren joins Bret Bradigan for a spirited discussion of the festival, its past and future, the world of cinema and we share a few...2021-11-011h 15Ojai: Talk of the TownKaren Banfield's 12 Good MenKaren Banfield started out making a calendar for Naked Gardening Day but the response among her prospective models was, well, discouraging. She was undaunted, and started right in with her 12 Good Men project, identifying a year's worth of local men who exhibit traits of compassion, selflessness and service. The calendar is meant to identity and honor these men who live up to the highest ideals of a respectable, responsive and healing masculinity, and will hopefully serve as role models for Ojai's young men.
Her journey to Ojai took many detours. About 12 years ago, she began a long...2021-10-2859 minOjai: Talk of the TownOK Boomers with Topa Talk's Steph & CodyThis episode we talk with the hosts of the popular Topa Talk podcast, which is in its third season and closing in on 100 episodes. Stephanie St. James and Cody Creighton have been delighting and informing their listeners with topics like Ojai's boutique wars, racial protests, coffee shops and hot takes on pop culture. Lots of hot takes. Plus they are Ojai's top Halloween enthusiasts.
Besides the engaging and often hilarious subject matter of this podcast, we also wade into the thicket of issues around what Ojai lacks, what makes it great, and dive deep into issues that...2021-10-211h 06Ojai: Talk of the TownOjai Storytelling Festival with Debra Ehrhardt & FriendsFor 22 years the Ojai Storytelling Festival (October 28-31 this year) has been bringing in the country's best practitioners of this ancient art form. We are joined by OSF founder Brian Bemel, next year's director Kara Lakes and Jamaican storytelling phenomenon Debra Ehrhardt for a lively romp through the festival's past and future.
Debra will be the featured performer at the adult-rated Naughty Tales on the night of Saturday, Oct. 31st. She joins the all-star lineup including Kim Weitkamp, Bill Harley, Donald Davis, Bil Lepp and many more for four days of hilarity, humanity and creative expression.
2021-10-1855 minOjai: Talk of the TownAttica Prison Riots 50 Years On With Ojai's Lenny KlaifIn September 1971, Lenny Klaif was a third-year law student at the University of Iowa, when he took up the cause of prisoner rights in the tragic aftermath of the Attica Prison Riots. Klaif had graduated from the University of Buffalo, mere miles from the prison. Four days into the riots, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller sent in the state troopers, and in a hail of bullets, killed 43 people, including 10 prison guards.
It took 30 years before the lawsuits and legal actions were concluded, and Klaif was in the middle of it, getting to know such seminal characters like F...2021-10-1459 minOjai: Talk of the TownOjai Living Treasures Danny Everett & Tiarzha TaylorDanny and Tiarzha were recently named Living Treasures by a joint committee of the Rotary Club of Ojai and the Ojai Rotary-West. After this episode, you'll understand why.
They met at UCLA where Danny was a standout sprinter and Tiarzha a student leader and athlete herself. It was an interesting journey for both of them to get to that place — Danny grew up in central Texas before moving to south central Los Angeles, while Tiarzha hails from Anchorage, Alaska. Danny participated in two Olympics and won several medals in the 400 meter race, including a gold medal as pa...2021-10-061h 34Ojai: Talk of the TownA Walk from Mexico to Canada with Kit StolzWriter Kit Stolz set out on the 2,560-mile Pacific Crest Trail seven years ago; through a changing world he kept to a promise to walk at least 500 miles per year. He completed it this summer, touching the fence that separates the U.S. from its northern neighbor in Washington State's foggy pine forests.
We talk about this epic journey, the lessons learned along the way, and the enduring friendships formed in the crucible of personal challenge and hardship. We also talk about Ojai's increasing aridification, the new wave of migrants to our "smiling vale" and the high-quality...2021-09-301h 05Ojai: Talk of the TownOjai Studio Art Touring with Pam GrauIn the early 1980s, three women — Bert Collins, Gayel Childress & Marta Nelson — founded the Ojai Studio Artists as a way for artists to connect, mentor and learn from each other. They also started hosting open studios on the second week in October, a tradition which flourished up until the global pandemic. It has helped establish more firmly Ojai's identity as an arts destination.
This year, the tour returns Oct. 8-10 and features 63 artists. In a departure from the past, the tour this year is free.
We talk with OSA president Pam Grau, who has revitalized the...2021-09-2355 minOjai: Talk of the TownOjai Brewcraft with Jeremy HaffnerWith Ojai Valley Brewery about to open its taproom and beer garden on Bryant Street this October, the time was right to catch up with Jeremy Haffner. He's been perfecting his hopless, local botanical beers for years, and selling them at the family restaurant Azu, which he operated with his wife Liz and mother-in-law Laurel Moore until the beloved institution was sold this month.
Haffner has been using Ojai-specific herbs like sages, mugwort, yerba santa and sumac to give it the characteristic bitterness and flavor notes that beer enthusiasts crave. He also uses local water and runs h...2021-09-171h 19Ojai: Talk of the TownFarming & Cooking in Ojai with Steve SprinkelIt's been more than 20 years since Steve Sprinkel and wife Olivia Chase opened The Farmer & The Cook in Meiners Oak. The restaurant/grocery/music venue and gathering place has created a vibrant community around it. The fresh, organic produce that Steve grows on his nearby farm forms the basis for the delicious good that Olivia and her crew cooks.
Steve grew up in the Pasadena area in a construction-business family, but found himself drawn to farming while staying on an innovative commune near Santa Cruz in his college years. His deep love of soil and the things...2021-09-091h 25Ojai: Talk of the TownCalifornia Recall Electioneering with Josh GohlkeWe are joined for a special episode of Ojai: Talk of the Town with Josh Gohlke, the former deputy opinion page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Gohlke has been writing about and covering Gov. Gavin Newson since his 2018 election. He shares his opinion about the recall process, the opera bouffe of the 46 mostly eccentric candidates, the perils of campaigning with bears, and the terrible urgency of this election. Not only can a sitting governor be replaced with someone who is the choice of fewer than 15 percent of the electorate, but control of the U.S. Senate may well...2021-08-311h 04Ojai: Talk of the TownJames Becket's Pursuit of Truth, Justice & The Ojai WayAuthor, filmmaker and eco-warrior Jim Becket has completed his latest project," "Seeds of Vandana Shiva," about the fascinating Dr. Shiva, who grew up in the Himalayan hinterlands and is now using restorative and innovative agriculture as a way to feed the planet's hungry billions, while being a constant target of Big Ag for her fight against GMOs and their post-colonial power grabs in developing countries.
It is merely the latest for this prolific creator, who, well into his 70s, climbed 19,341-foot-tall Mount Kilimanjaro with the sons of Julius Nyere and Idi Amin for "Sons of Africa," which...2021-08-261h 07Ojai: Talk of the TownRhiannon Giddens & The Ojai Music FestivalRhiannon Giddens, virtuoso banjo player, singer-songwriter, Grammy winner, MacArthur "Genius" Grant recipient and keeper of the flame of African-American roots music, will be among the featured performers at this year's Ojai Music Festival, coming Sept. 16-19, under the musical direction of John Adams.
We talked with Giddens from her home in Dublin, where she and her partner, Francesco Turrissi, now live. It will be her first trip to Ojai, though she's inadvertently hit on an Ojai theme with her popular "Aria Code" podcast, in which she contrasts an aria from Stravinsky's "Rake's Progress" with Vivian Liberto Cash's i...2021-08-1143 minOjai: Talk of the TownSurviving AIDS with Ventura Councilperson Doug HalterDoug Halter lost his partner to AIDS during the worst days of the epidemic, so he dedicated himself to civic activism as a way to repay the debt and keep himself sane. Finding his purpose in life not only helped Halter survive what was once a sure death sentence, but gave him the motivation and direction to thrive. The fruit of this labor is his recent book, "Give Me Time," a memoir chronicling his darkest days during the early days of AIDS and his lifelong love of the area.
The book takes us through Doug's growing up...2021-07-291h 17Ojai: Talk of the TownSurviving A Phillippines Interment Camp With Karen LewisDecember 8, 1941 came like a storm as the Japanese aircraft began bombing and strafing Manila and other American outposts in the Phillippines Island, at that time an American colony. For Karen Lewis, the daughter of an American accountant for a gold mining company, it started out as an adventure - leaving the mining camp at Baguio to head for safety in Manila. It quickly became much more harrowing - three years of confinement in Santo Tomas, a Catholic University just across the Pasig River from the city proper, along with 3,000 other mostly American and English detainees.
Karen was 9...2021-07-231h 11Ojai: Talk of the TownBeatrice Wood's Ojai with Kevin WallaceBeatrice Wood's finest work of art could well have been her life. The famous ceramicist was in the middle of key 20th century moments - Igor Stravinsky's tumultuous Rites of Spring debut in Paris in 1912, Marcel Duchamp's controversial "Nude Descending a Staircase" and his "Fountain" in 1917. "The Mama of Dada" more than any single person, shaped Ojai's identity as an arts haven and inspirational, creative place.
Kevin Wallace, director of the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, talks about her life, loves, influences, those she influenced, and much much more. We also talk about Kevin's journey to...2021-07-141h 03Ojai: Talk of the TownLocal Bath Box & Beyond With Lauren NicholsLauren Nichols has shifted from her career in urban planning to putting together local personal care products such as soaps, bath bombs, beauty products and others, all curated for value to the community and environment - safe, sustainable and of superior quality. Local Bath Boxes are available by subscription and include fan favorites such as Bogue Milksoaps, Friend's Ranch citrus, Seeb & Solace and Frog Creek Farms, with more added frequently.
The journey to her launch brought us into deeper discussion about how societies are organized, our mutual fanship of Jane Jacobs, Christopher Alexander and other icons, and...2021-07-0755 minOjai: Talk of the TownSergio Aragonés & the Art of the CartoonSergio Aragonés might well be the world's most distinguished, prolific and beloved cartoonist. Even as Mad Magazine, where his distinctive and hilarious drawings graced their pages for 60 incredible years, ceased publication during the pandemic, Sergio has been busier than ever. He's cranking out multiple editions of his picaresque masterpiece, "Groo the Wanderer," creating multiple covers for other magazines, working on bespoke projects and entertaining his adoring fans with his instantly recognizable, hilarious and insightful cartoons.
Sergio talks about his family's flight from Franco-era fascism in Spain to France, then to Mexico City, where his father found w...2021-06-241h 43Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Hollywood Blacklist & Ojai With Mark LewisAmerica was riven in the late 1940s and early 1950s when the House Un-American Affairs Committee turned its gimlet eye on Hollywood and 10 writers and producers with suspiciously leftist sympathies. The Hollywood Ten were among the most successful and well-known writers of their time, including Oscar-winners Michael Wilson and Dalton Trumbo. After being forced out of their careers and country, they encamped for the more tolerant climates of Mexico and Europe, writing under assumed names for much lower wages and no credit.
In the mid-1950s, they began to trickle back into America, where Trumbo and Wilson...2021-06-121h 01Ojai: Talk of the Town#64 - The Chumash Way With Julie Tumamait-StenslieJulie Tumamait-Stenslie grew up in Ojai with an idyllic childhood as the youngest of seven children, playing in the Ventura river bottom. Her father, Vincent, was a revered Chumash elder and keeper of the traditional folkways. Julie apprenticed herself to him, learning the old songs, stories and folkways of this ancient and fascinating people.
She now has taken his place, performing ceremonies along from Malibu to San Luis Obispo, teaching children the songs and stories by which Chumash peoples passed on information through the generations and making sure that her people are represented. Besides archeological surveys on...2021-06-031h 08Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Inn Crowd with Chris KandzioraChris Kandziora, the Ojai Valley Inn's Sales and Marketing Manager, could very well have been the busiest man in Ojai during the pandemic. In March 2020 as the first lockdown went into effect, Chris had to manage the ramping down of the huge facility, calling the wedding parties, the conferences and conventions, thousands of booked guests, as well as furloughing most of its 800 employees - then he had to manage its ramping up as restrictions loosened later in the summer, then another lockdown in the fall. He was also the Inn's point person for the coordinated pandemic response effort involving the...2021-05-291h 01Ojai: Talk of the TownJim Selman's Post-Pandemic Real-Time WorldWhen author and executive coach Jim Selman published his 11th book, "Living in the Real-Time World," in November 2019, he didn't know he would get a "proof of concept" unlike any in more than a century. The pandemic brought home the basic truth that it's a fool's game to predict the future, instead we need to focus on the key capabilities (Jim lists six) that allows the flexibility and resilience to deal with the unimaginable pace of change. The book is aptly subtitled "Six Capabilities to Prepare Us For An Unimaginable Future."
The book's title was taken from...2021-05-201h 26Ojai: Talk of the TownZander Gabriel Gets Down to BusinessIt's been a long journey for Zander "Z-Man" Gabriel from his earliest days at Ojai's rickety wooden skate park to his astonishing professional success, about to launch his own brand with skateboards, gear, merchandise and more. He's one of the top pros in this exciting sport, though he still spends most days on urban adventures, looking for fun new places to skate.
It was one of these urban adventures that gave him his street cred, when after 10 brutal attempts, he stuck the landing on the notorious El Toro 20-step staircase in Lake Forest, with a "never been done" backsmith trick...2021-05-1556 minOjai: Talk of the TownLark Ellen Farming with Kelley D'AngeloKelley D'Angelo, founder of Lark Ellen Farms, has seen her business increase dramatically during the pandemic. Her line of sprouted, low-carb, high-protein granolas, trail mixes and vegan patés have found a growing list of devoted customers over the past few years and it all began, and remains, here in Ojai.
She got her start as "Granola Girl" at local farmers markets and, with encouragement from Ernest Niglio, manager of Rainbow Bridge an enthusiastic proponent of local products, decided to go big into grocery chains. Then she took her show on the road, taking orders from other ret...2021-05-0657 minOjai: Talk of the TownMalcolm McDowell on "A Clockwork Orange's" 50th AnniversaryFew performances on the big screen are as memorable as Malcolm McDowell's portrayal of ultraviolent Alex, who terrorizes the night with his Droogs. The film catapulted McDowell to international stardom and firmly entrenched Stanley Kubrick in the pantheon of world's most interesting and innovative directors.
An endless repository of fascinating stories, we learn from Malcolm about the serendipitous collaborations that made the film come alive, the futuristic design and eccentric costumes that brought sharp relief to the movie's dystopian message. Malcolm also says that what made Alex such a compelling villain was "his joie de vivre. He...2021-04-301h 08
Ojai: Talk of the TownRe-Opening Our Schools With Dr. Tiffany MorseWhen the Ojai's 2,300 public school students were sent home last March, we had no idea how long until those students would be back in their classrooms. Turned out it would take more than a year before the schools could safely reopen.
One of our earliest guests on the Ojai: Talk of the Town podcast was Tiffany Morse, superintendent of the Ojai Unified School District, to talk about the extraordinary measures the district was taking to make sure that the students (and parents) could meet the terrific challenge of remote learning. Not to mention the hundreds of meals e...2021-04-201h 23Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Wisdom Palace With Meredy Rice BensonMeredy Benson Rice, a long-time Ojai educator, has a side passion as an author. We talk about her most recent release, "The Wisdom Palace," about 12-year-old Isabelle, whose parents are about to get divorced. She is sent off to her grandfather's farm in rural Ontario, where she dreads the disruption and chaos that ensues. As Rice writes, "Instead she is propelled into the chaotic world of her Aunt Beth, a wild menagerie of cousins, and a crazy plan to run a summer camp for the elderly."
Among the happy elderly campers are Ida, an exotic 90-year-old who resembles an Ojai...2021-04-1452 minOjai: Talk of the TownPixie Tangerine Month with Emily Thacher AyalaOjai is celebrating this month, in however an abbreviated fashion, Ojai Pixie Tangerine Month. So Emily Thacher Ayala, whose family has been farming in the Ojai Valley for a century and a half, is the perfect guide to this sweet, petite fruit, which has become a key characteristic of Ojai.
Emily talks about her family's rich history in the valley - her father's side included Sherman Day and Edward Thacher, founders of Thacher School and the Ojai Tennis Tournament, on her mother's side the Friend family, the pioneers who began farming here in the 1870s and still...2021-04-081h 04Ojai: Talk of the TownFathers & Sons with the Brothers BradiganThis episode we get personal, as I reach out to my brothers to talk about our father, Floyd John Bradigan, who died just over 40 years ago at age 60. We mark the moment that all three of his sons have outlived him. It seems like an opportunity to have a discussion about our memories of this singular man, who would have been 101 years old this year.
My brothers, Bruce and Bob, at ages 75 and 73, are 15 and 13 years old than me respectively. It felt as if they were a whole different generation, and in some ways they were. But...2021-03-301h 25Ojai: Talk of the TownBuilding the Ojai Dream with Frederick FisherFred Fisher, the internationally renowned architect and his wife, Jennie Prebor, could have chosen anywhere in the world to live. In fact, he recently spent two years in Rome as a Fellow with the American University, where he wrote a book, "Robert Venturi's Rome," with colleague Stephen Harby. They studied the Eternal City through the eyes of Venturi, the groundbreaking (literally) architect whose "Complexity & Contradiction in Architecture" has deeply influenced generations of architects.
As featured in the Spring 2021 issue of Ojai Quarterly by Jerry Dunn, Fisher and Prebor moved to Ojai for its excellent views, tight-knit community...2021-03-251h 00Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Real Fun Wow experience With Daren Thomas MageeDaren Thomas Magee is one of the country's best-known illustrators with more than 370,000 followers on Instagram, and his Real Fun Wow company has become the platform for his singular, instantly recognizable style of simple bold lines and muted hues.
He is also the artist whose work graces the Spring issue of our local magazine, Ojai Quarterly, which is flying off the shelves. The discussion covers a lot (A LOT) of ground. We talk about growing up in western New York's frozen wastelands, the Underground Railroad, his journey to Ojai, Imposter Syndrome, psychedelics, his own podcast with Jaymee Carpenter, "Mystical/Cynical,"...2021-03-1659 minOjai: Talk of the TownThe Writing Life with Kristen MacGuinessKristen McGuiness is the author of the bestselling memoir, "51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life" in which she recounts her adventures (and misadventures) of entering single life as she neared age 30 after a workaholic decade. In this book, she went on 51 dates in 50 weeks and found more than romance, she found herself. After the manic world of publishing, her next career in the nonprofit world seemed tame by comparison, but the experience of actually making a difference in children's lives, of raising money and spirits, has helped her enormously in her coaching practice.
She has more...2021-03-0956 minOjai: Talk of the TownPsychology Yesterday & Tomorrow with Dr. Tom KrauseDr. Tom Krause started Behavioral Sciences Technology in the 1980s with a partner, and from its modest beginnings in Ojai, it has become a global leader in the workplace safety field. Even beyond global, as one of their biggest contracts was from NASA, when they were hired on after the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.
We talk about Tom's entry into psychology during the heated debates between devotees of two very differing philosophies - Carl Rogers' humanism and B.S. Skinner's behaviorism. Moving to Ojai to set up a private practice, Krause became interested in applying a...2021-03-021h 07Ojai: Talk of the TownArt, Artists & Pandemic with Cassandra JonesCassandra Jones is an Ojai artist with a list of exhibits and permanent collections that would go on for days. Most proximately, she is the first artist-in-residence at Taft Gardens, the acclaimed westside Mediterranean flora showcase. She is also the wife of Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jurgensen and a mother, a task made harder by quarantine confinement.
We cover a lot of ground in our talk - the dawn of modern design, including the Bauhaus movement, that emerged from the pandemic of 1918 and its lessons for today, working and creating during the current pandemic, the Renaissance, Greece and Los Angeles. Mostly...2021-02-181h 02Ojai: Talk of the TownWhat's Next for the Music World? - A Justin Little ProductionIt's been a rough year for performing artists, for whom audiences are like oxygen, and vice versa. Few people are better positioned to explore the strange quandary in which we find ourselves than Justin Little, a founder of Bailey Blues, a boutique agency representing K. Flay, The Midnight and Jake Etheridge among others. It is a fascinating conversation with a key insider in the music industry that could have gone on for hours.
Now living in Ojai, Little has lived and breathed music since his teens living in West Texas and the Bay Area. When fresh out...2021-02-111h 31Ojai: Talk of the TownReaching & Teaching With Jim BaileyJim Bailey took a roundabout path to teaching, earning his bachelor's degree and teaching certificate when he was 31, after a peripatetic career as a cowboy and surfer. He feels these real-world experiences have given him a richer, deeper context for his teaching. He's now been teaching 20 years in Ojai, including both private and public schools, and is the founder and director of Rock Tree Sky, which provides enriching experiences for students age 5 to 18.
This Ojai Living Treasure and science educator has partnered with the Ojai Unified School District for an innovative program during the pandemic, which might...2021-02-041h 05Ojai: Talk of the TownOjai's Pioneer Families with Tony ThacherDespite his down-to-earth demeanor and genial wit, Tony Thacher, the farmer and erstwhile geologist, has a distinguished lineage. His grandfather helped start The Thacher School in the 1880s, and his wife, Anne Friend Thacher, is the daughter of legendary citrus rancher Elmer Friend and part of the historic family that were among the first to stake out claims in the Ojai Valley.
We talk about the current state of agriculture, Berkeley's Free Speech Movement, water issues, community service, the future of Ojai and steelhead trout. Tony also tells a few tall tales (some which might true-ish),
2021-01-2853 minOjai: Talk of the TownPeter Fox Mans Up for Ball-Talking MonologueActor/writer Peter Fox has written a companion piece to Eve Ensler's much-loved "Vagina Monologues." His is called the "Testicle Monologues: If These Balls Could Talk" and has been recorded with professional actors and is being live-streamed at Santa Barbara's Center Stage Theater as a fund-raising event. Much like Ensler's feminine tour de force, Peter's play is a set of loosely woven, hilarious, touching and poignant reflections on man's distinctive pair of characteristics.
We talk about Fox's pandemic-induced creativity, the role of the arts in culture, the tremendous hardship, and also opportunity, faced by arts organizations...2021-01-1551 minOjai: Talk of the TownThe "Unsinkable" Audio Movie with John MawsonIt's been 80 years since a German naval cruiser took out a convoy of 38 merchant ships mid-Atlantic, carrying much-needed gasoline and provisions for the Blitz-besieged defense of England. The motor tanker San Demetrio was one of those ships, spawning an incredible saga.
Abandoned by her crew by a captain who feared the volatile cargo would explode, she was left to burn. Two of the three lifeboats were rescued, but the third, with 16 merchant marines, drifted for several days, risking death from exposure or being discovered by the German raiders. When they spotted a fire on the horizon, it turned out to...2021-01-1244 minOjai: Talk of the TownThe Cosmos & Surfing With Thacher's Dr. Jon SwiftThe first episode of Season Two of "Ojai: Talk of the Town" is our first on-location podcast. So how fitting that's it's at Thacher School's Observatory with Jon Swift, Ph.D., who has helped the school build its astrophysics study and rebuilt its historic 28-inch telescope.
In the five ensuing years, he's taught these fortunate students to shoot for the stars. Thacher School is now a respected partner with leading researchers around the globe, especially in the study of exoplanets, of which more are being discovered and studied all the time. His students have had their names...2021-01-021h 04Ojai: Talk of the TownGetting to Know Ojai's Mayor, Betsy StixBetsy Stix decided to run for Mayor after reading Gay Hendrick's bestselling book, "The Big Leap." The book talks about the finding and living with your purpose. Imagine her surprise when she met Hendricks and his wife Katie while doing door-to-door campaigning. She won the election handily and was sworn into office Dec. 15th, ready to tackle Ojai's toughest issues - high risk of catastrophic wildlife, tricky water management issues, the lack of affordable housing and many others.
Stix attended Williams College, usually ranked the No. 1 school in the country, then to Stanford, from whence she entered...2020-12-2757 minOjai: Talk of the TownSustaining Ojai with Connor JonesPermaculture expert and advocate Connor Jones has been immersed in the Ojai Valley land for decades, building a consulting and education business on permaculture as a way to preserve, protect and flourish in this often dry, harsh environment. A serendipitous encounter with a textbook while still in high school led him into his life's passion, where he is sought out by landowners, students, farmers and others to help them bring their land into a state of flourishing health and diversity.
He trained at the one of the world's leading permaculture centers in Australia before returning home to...2020-12-2159 minOjai: Talk of the TownCannabis & Ojai with Chelsea SutulaThis episode Chelsea Sutula with Sespe Creek Collective brings us up-to-date on the recent developments with marijuana retailing in Ojai, the onerous new 3 percent tax, pandemic adjustments, the existential dread and how cannabis might just be the medicine we need to get us through this dreadful year.
Chelsea grew up in Maryland and Athens, Georgia, daughter of researchers and academics, before going out on her own in Chicago and Pittsburgh, then finding her way to Ventura County, where she got involved in the medical marijuana side of things. It was a natural move to Ojai to open S...2020-12-1559 minOjai: Talk of the TownThe Shows Must Go On with Hawk KochHoward "Hawk" Koch is a true son of Hollywood, the son of legendary producer Howard Koch Sr. In fact, they are the only father-son team to chair the Academy of Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Sciences, hosts of the Oscars. But he went his own route to make his own mark, leaving for England while still in his teens to join the music business as an assistant to the legendary Harold Davison, where he helped manage acts such as the Dave Clark Five.
When he returned to Hollywood, he began his steady ascent up the success ladder, e...2020-12-031h 00Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Actor-Writer-Musician-Playwright Life with James MorrisonJames Morrison is a familiar presence on the stage and screen, having had key roles in the hyper-kinetic "24" where he played the head of the counter-terrorism unit, and the prison warden in David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" (co-written by his friend and fellow Ojai resident Mark Frost.
Having looked forward to this conversation for ages, he did not disappoint. Besides sharing that we were both the fifth of six children, he talked about hitchhiking the length of the Alcan Highway (look it up), being a problem child at Anchorage, Alaska's West High School, where he found salvation in t...2020-11-261h 02Ojai: Talk of the TownCovid-19 Vaccines & You With Dr. Marty PopsWe talk with Dr. Pops about the promising vaccines in human trial, one from Pfizer and the other from Moderna. Both companies said they will file for an emergency use authorization with the Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks. One or the other vaccine could be ready as early as January, and would likely go to front-line workers in the medical field. The Pfizer vaccine will be a two-stage process and requires extremely cold temperatures - minus 70 celcius, making the rollout a challenge since few facilities are equipped with the cold technology. The Moderna vaccine also requires...2020-11-1954 minOjai: Talk of the TownElection Post-Mortem with Sandy TreadwellAlexander "Sandy" Treadwell had an illustrious career in New York State as a Republican County activist and close associate and friend of three-term Gov. George Pataki. He also spent six years as the Secretary of State of New York, one of Pataki's key cabinet members. He is also a "Never Trumper" who fears America's authoritarian turn during the past four years.
He was born in England, where his father was a general officer in the British Army and where his parents met during World War II. Treadwell is the grandson of a founding executive of General Electric, a...2020-11-1257 minOjai: Talk of the TownKim Maxwell on Fearlessly Launching Your StoryFor 25 years now, Kim Maxwell, a performer herself, has taught Ojai people on how to tell their stories and how to perform them, and how to grow in the process. For the past three years, she and her crew, which includes her daughter Lily, have produced "The Townies" podcast, which includes only-in-Ojai conversations, music, performances, our own "Prairie Home Companion."
Kim, a native of Canada's Prairie Provinces, escaped the bitter cold for the bright lights of Los Angeles in her teens and has only looked back occasionally, just to be sure nothing was gaining on her. We...2020-10-291h 08Ojai: Talk of the TownKrista & Katherine Of The Holy F*ck PodcastIt's a real treat to check in with the vivacious and witty Krista Kim & Katherine McClelland of the popular Holy F*ck Podcast. The two Ojai women — coaches, counselors (Katherine is also a minister) and authors began their podcast, now in its third season, after a serendipitous encounter at a local watering hole. Their overlapping yet distinct practices give them the insights into themselves, each other and their clients. Krista describes her practice as focusing on people going through "big, sexy, spiritual changes," and Katherine's as for "people in partnership opening to each other in a really powerful way."
...2020-10-2359 minOjai: Talk of the TownBringing the Virtual World to Ojai With Tara SaylorThrough a demoralizing Spring, Summer and now Fall of cancellations - from the Tennis Tournament to Ojai Day - one prestigious event is still happening. With its inventive and innovative lineup of virtual, and even a few select few in-person activities Taste of Ojai is coming this Sunday, October 25th at 5 p.m.
This issue of the podcast we speak with event organizer Tara Saylor, who is uniquely qualified to make this happen, so that sponsoring organization, the Rotary Club of Ojai, can continue to make possible college scholarships for worthy high school seniors as well as do...2020-10-181h 04Ojai: Talk of the TownExit Interview with Ojai Mayor Johnny JohnstonSpecial Bonus Episode: Ojai's first directly elected Mayor, Johnny Johnston, is nearing the end of his second and final term. It seemed a good time to catch up with what's going in the city with the pandemic, the coming election and what he hopes for Ojai's future. The lawsuit that forced the city and school district to divide into proportionally populated districts - designed to increase minority participation but likely to have the opposite effect - comes in for a critical analysis of its effects.
We talk about the what works with the city, what doesn't, and...2020-10-1359 minOjai: Talk of the TownOne Thousand (And One) True Fans with Artist Lucy BellwoodLucy Bellwood, adventure cartoonist and artist extraordinaire, has accomplished significant feats for someone still so young, including developing a loyal and devoted fan base. She is currently working on a book project with Kate Milford about a seafaring adventure graphic novel series with kind and cuddly capybaras.
We talk about the eternal artistic hustle, about Kant's admonition "to not number voices, but instead weigh them." Lucy talks about the famous blog post from Kevin Kelley's "1,000 True Fans," and how to develop and sustain enough people who will stick with an artist through thick and thin and allow t...2020-10-121h 06Ojai: Talk of the TownWhy is Ojai Worth Saving? John Broesamle's PurposeJohn Broesamle and his wife Kathy moved to Ojai more than 40 years ago, where they both rolled up their sleeves and got involved, especially on environmental issues. They have been at the forefront of fights against uranium and gypsum mines, freeways criss-crossing the valley, landfills, double-trailer trucks laden with gravel rumbling past our public schools, and, more recently, fracking permits in upper Ojai.
A retired history professor, John's deep context for current challenges gives him insight and understanding that makes him a formidable activist. When he noticed that Ojai faced an existential threat about every decade, John...2020-10-0856 minOjai: Talk of the TownThe Bluesman's Journey with TD LindIt took a great deal of courage for Tim Arlon (aka TD Lind) to muster up the courage to ask family friend, Glyn Johns, the legendary producer of such renowned bands as the Rolling Stones and The Who, to produce his most recent record, "Little Mr. Big Man," with former bandmate Screamin' John. Johns' reply was a dream come true for any musician, "What took you so long?"
The record was released in October 2019 and was nominated for awards on the Blues charts and was a great record to tour behind, til a pandemic happened. The album...2020-10-011h 00Ojai: Talk of the TownAgora Foundation's Coronavirus-Era Success with Andy GilmanThe Agora Foundation has been a key part of the intellectual landscape of Ojai for a decade now, bringing in top teachers for bracing and wide-ranging discussions of the Great Books Seminars. Executive director Andy Gilman was a co-founder of Agora as well as of the well-received Ojai Chautauqua panels, which bring together top panelists for even-handed dialogue about knotty issue.
While the pandemic shut down the in-person seminars, it opened other opportunities, which Gilman was able to pivot toward. Now weekly, the Agora seminars take place every weekly, and bring in people around the country and...2020-09-2259 minOjai: Talk of the TownOjai's Affordable Housing Woes with Michelaina JohnsonMichelaina Johnson, a Ph.D candidate in the Environmental Studies program at UC Santa Cruz, spent a year researching the lack of affordable housing in Ojai and possible solutions. The results of that research were published in a highly readable account in the Fall issue of Ojai Quarterly.
Johnson has deep roots in the community, going back generations, and she was hearing from her many local friends about their struggles to find housing in Ojai, a struggle made more difficult by the pandemic. In her thorough story, she asks local leaders and citizens about the problem and w...2020-09-151h 06Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Ojai Playwrights Conference Goes Big, with Robert EganThe Ojai Playwrights Conference, which takes over two weeks in August, is one the foremost cultural occasions in the country. Typically, the OPC selects eight plays for intensive workshops with experienced dramaturges, theater directors and producers, culminating in stage reads for the public in highly anticipated shows. Sadly, this year the in-person OPC was another victim of the pandemic.
But Robert Egan, for 20 years the OPC's artistic director - along with the rest of the staff and board - was not deterred. Instead of moving past this fraught era, they went straight at it, with a lineup o...2020-09-031h 04Ojai: Talk of the TownThe Uses of Irreverence with Journalist Franz LidzIn a preview of a hugely entertaining feature in the Fall issue of Ojai Quarterly by Kit Stolz, (which will hit the streets August 28th), we talk about Franz Lidz has had a dream career in journalism, covering such characters as future president Donald Trump trying build a golf course in Scotland, and his conflicts with the colorful locals, reminiscent of the film "Local Hero." He spent 27 years as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated during their glory years. He now writes for the Smithsonian Magazine, going deep with long-form narrative features on Neanderthals, the skull of Pliny the...2020-08-271h 15Ojai: Talk of the TownYour Brain on Music with the Bravo Program's Laura WalterLaura Walter, the coordinator for the Ojai Music Festival's Bravo program, provides music education for Ojai's kindergarten through 3rd grade students. Since the pandemic, Walter has pivoted deftly to providing that music curriculum online. It's not been without its challenges, as anyone who tried to sing "Happy Birthday" over a Zoom call can attest.
Still, this partnership between the Music Festival and the Ojai Unified School District is one of the most important public-private partnerships in the Ojai Valley. Walter, an accomplished flautist and recording artist, has been with the Bravo program for 12 years now. Her approach i...2020-08-191h 00Ojai: Talk of the TownOn Grief, the Arts & Sisterhood with Lila Glasoe FranceseLila Glasoe Francese idolized her older sister, Carolyn Glasoe Bailey when they were growing up in Minneapolis for good reason. At age 19, Carolyn opened an art gallery just as the Minneapolis art scene was burgeoning, and introduced many artists to the wider world as a gallerist and curator for private collectors. Carolyn introduced Lila to the world of art, fine dining and travel. She also introduced Lila to her husband, Dines Francesce, and inspired their move to Ojai. Carolyn lived here for 25 years before her tragic death from the brain cancer, glioblastoma.
Carolyn's brilliant career advanced many...2020-08-131h 01Ojai: Talk of the TownGlobe-Trotting, Filmmaking & Entrepreneuring with Reed FishReed Fish and his wife Liz took off a year to travel the world, collecting memories like FDR collected stamps. After his return to California, he set up shop in Ojai as a photographer and videographer, raising his family and working hard.
Before those adventures, he made a well-received film called "I am Reed Fish," which came out in 2007 and starred Jay Baruchel, Alexis Bledel, Schuyler Fisk and Katey Sagal. The whole experience was great fun, including the premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Very loosely based on Reed's life story, it involves a story of a y...2020-08-031h 03Ojai: Talk of the Town"Twin Peaks" & Saving Ojai with Mark FrostMark Frost is one of the foremost authors, screenwriters and producers in Hollywood (and Ojai). From his early days on the stage at the famous Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, to his years in the legendary writer's room with Stephen Bochco, David Milch and others with "Hill Street Blues," Mark Frost has been creating and working with some of the best minds in the business.
So in the late 1980s when he got a call from David Lynch, with whom he collaborated on another project that didn't get launched, he was all in. The quirky, moody show, which...2020-07-291h 14Ojai: Talk of the TownWatergate, Mob Bosses & Ojai with Bill GilbrethGiven the news of the day, we reached out to Bill Gilbreth, the prominent attorney who served both as a prosecutor during the Watergate hearings, and as a defense attorney for several organized crime figures. Talk about "intersectionality." We also talk about sending federal Border Patrol troops into Portland and other cities, the showdown between protestors, mayors and President Trump.
Bill grew up in the Fresno area where he was an often-truant student who dropped out of high school to ride the rails and also attempted to join Castro's revolution in Cuba. When presented an opportunity to...2020-07-2559 minOjai: Talk of the TownCreating Art During a Pandemic with Natalie KrimNatalie Krim is an established artist with a large following who recently moved to Ojai, just before the world went into lockdown. Her drawings are vivid and expressive, usually showing women in sensuous, flowing lines often in acts of self care. Slightly naughty, always fun - her drawings are a tonic for these strange times. We talk about how she found Ojai and made the decision to relocate here last November.
Vogue magazine, in a recent article, called her quarantine diary of her Ojai days "an ethereal study," and "a master class in calm, self care."
2020-07-1856 minOjai: Talk of the TownFrom Turtle King to "Tiger King" with Eric GoodeEric Goode knew that he had an amazing show on his hands with "Tiger King," the seven-episode documentary series about Joe Exotic, the gay polygamist zookeeper in Oklahoma who is now serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison for a murder-for-hire plot against his chief critic, animal activist Carole Baskin. The Netflix show's colorful cast of eccentrics helped the show capture the cultural moment. "We had a captive audience for a show about captive tigers," he said.
Goode has his own colorful past, which we explore in our wide-ranging talk. But it's his deep love for Ojai...2020-07-0351 minOjai: Talk of the TownThe Arts & Ojai With Porch Gallery's Lisa Casoni & Heather StoboPorch Gallery hosted the first gallery show opening over two days at the end of June with Shana Mabari's "Constellatio: Planeta: Stella" featuring the work of an artist who went into the stratosphere on a NASA mission with an enormous telescope to observe black holes, quasars and other astronomical phenomenon. The opening was spaced over two days and insured careful social distancing by limiting the number of people in the gallery at any one time. While waiting to enter, patrons could check out the six tables designed by seven local artists as a meditation on the age of social...2020-07-031h 00Ojai: Talk of the TownKent State: Lessons Learned With Bob WickBob Wick is much more than a media magnate and co-owner of Wick Communications, a chain of newspapers and radio stations across the country. He is also a renowned artist, the creator of monumental bronzes that bring together man and nature in compelling and insightful ways. He also taught art at Kent State University in the 1960s and knew well many of the leading figures from that tumultuous era.
He was close friends with Carl Oglesby, anti-war activist, author and president of the Students for a Democratic Society, and John de Groot, famed journalist who won the first of his...2020-07-0157 minOjai: Talk of the TownSurviving Covid19 with Andrew BradiganAndrew Bradigan, former Ojai resident (and the podcast host's son) lives and works in Nashville, TN as a sales manager for Postmates, the food delivery service. In early March, there were several confirmed cases of Covid19. Postmates' 600 employees were moved out of the office and into quarantine, setting up their schedules and living situations to work from home.
However, it was too late for young Bradigan, who began suffering night sweats, muscle weakness and shortness of breath. This was especially hard for Andy, who is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast, and, at 6'5" and 215 pounds, is in p...2020-06-2455 minOjai: Talk of the TownTalking Ojai With Tennis Legend Stacy Margolin PotterStacy Margolin Potter reached into the top ranks of pro tennis players during a golden age of women's tennis, along with Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Chrissie Evert, reaching #18 in ranking. She shares with "Ojai: Talk of the Town" her deep love of, and long history with, Ojai where she won seven titles at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, the world's oldest amateur tennis tournament. She tells a fun story about getting food poisoning during the tournament and still drawing upon inner reserves of strength and determination to triumph.
Growing up in Beverly Hills as a member...2020-06-181h 04Ojai: Talk of the TownJohnny Cash's Ojai Sojourn with Mark LewisThe film "Walk the Line" won Oscars for both its leads, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, as it chronicled a dark period in the Man in Black's life. The film doesn't mention Ojai by name, but he lived five years in the Ojai Valley, high above Casitas Springs. I spend an hour talking with the superb writer Mark Lewis about Cash's many Ojai stories, starting fires in the Sespe, drinking at the Inn, getting drunk with Sheb Woolley of "Purple People Eater" fame.
Meanwhile, we unravel another strange strand of Ojai lore; about how Cash left the O...2020-06-1155 minOjai: Talk of the TownExperience & Discovery: The Ojai Music Festival with Ara GuzelimianThe 74th Ojai Music Festival will still take place June 11 to June 14, but due to the pandemic, it will occur virtually as we learn from Ara Guzelimian, who takes over from Chad Smith as artistic director after this year's festival. Guzelimian is busy planning for the 75th anniversary festival for June 2021, with minimalist legend John Adams as music director, putting modern American composers in the spotlight.
As for 2020's festival, he urges everyone to go OjaiFestival.Org to keep in the loop as there will be streaming events each day. Although the 74th Ojai Music Festival will h...2020-06-0453 minOjai: Talk of the TownJournalism, Teaching & Ojai with Nomi MorrisThis episode, Nomi Morris, who teaches writing and journalism at University of California at Santa Barbara, talks about her experiences closing out the semester at UCSB, the challenges of teaching in a pandemic and how this cohort of 2020 students is being shortchanged of the personal interactions that are critical to a well-rounded education. To that point, she says the young people of today don't think about the future in the same optimistic terms as in the past. No one talks about making something for the 22nd century the way people once talked about the 21st century, "and that says...2020-05-311h 03Ojai: Talk of the Town"The Land & The Light" — Conservation Challenges in Ojai with Tom MaloneyWe check in with Tom Maloney, executive director of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, just as the preserve have seen a surge in use (and abuse) from the pandemic. The swimming hole on the Ventura River preserve has particularly seen huge crowds, with trash and graffiti marring that beautiful place such that the OVLC board (full disclosure, of which the podcast host is a member) has made the agonizing decision to hire a security firm close the park to crowds, while leaving it open for recreational uses such as hiking, horseback rides and biking.
Maloney talks about his previous job...2020-05-241h 03Ojai: Talk of the TownNonprofit Challenges in a Pandemic with Jesse PhelpsJesse Phelps, media coordinator for the Lakota Peoples Law Project, part of the Romero Institute, has found his work more important than ever during the Covid19 outbreak. The Lakota and Oglala peoples in South Dakota have formed mutual aid efforts to screen people coming into and their reservations for the virus. Given their poverty and lack of access to quality medical care, it is imperative for them to prevent the virus from getting to them in the first place. However SD Governor Kristi Noem disagrees and is trying to shut down their health-screening checkpoints.
This media strategy — pet...2020-05-2154 minOjai: Talk of the TownSustainable Energy, Barbie dolls & Eleanor Roosevelt with Robin GerberRobin Gerber, a well-known author, attorney and president of the Committee for Replacing Oil & Gas, talks about how her group received a $50,000 grant (the first yet) from the Ojai Valley Defense Fund to represent Ojai's interests as Ventura County moves forward with its General Plan.
Robin says that fracking, the imminent threat that caused CFROG to form, isn't on the horizon yet, but the situation bears watching. We talk about Upton Sinclair's book, "Oil," from which the Paul Thomas Anderson film "There Will Be Blood," is based and which was set in southern California including Santa Paula. G...2020-05-141h 05Ojai: Talk of the TownManaging Disasters with Ojai Chamber CEO Jamie FlemingChamber CEO Jamie Fleming joins us to talk about the chamber's role in managing SBA loans and disaster relief during the pandemic. From his extensive surveys of local businesses, he's optimistic that Ojai will gradually reopen this summer, and that the majority of member businesses will weather this storm in one form or another. He's part of a group dealing with responses through the city council and the Ojai Valley Inn, as well.
Fleming also talks about the influx of Los Angeles people coming to Ojai for our hiking trails and beautiful backcountry, and how that might...2020-05-071h 08Ojai: Talk of the TownChef Claud Mann on Cooking Through a CrisisIn this episode of "Ojai: Talk of the Town," we check in with Ojai's Rotie's co-owner and chef, Claud Mann. A wonderful storyteller, Claud talks about being on the front lines feeding Ojai residents during this pandemic, trying to keep as many of his talented staff employed as possible. Claud talks about the business of restaurants, the low-profit margins, the hard work, and that moment when a chef realizes who he's cooking for, and why. We talk about what Ojai might look like after the stay-at-home order is lifted and millions of Los Angelenos, cooped up for months, are...2020-04-301h 09Ojai: Talk of the TownWhat Shakespeare Can Teach OjaiWe check in with Michael Addison, distinguished Shakespeare actor, director and producer, former artistic director of the California Shakespeare Festival and founder of the Bell Arts Factory.
In 1603 and 1613, the Globe Theater (and other theaters) in London were closed an astonishing 60 percent of the time due to plaque-related quarantines. It is believed that some of Shakespeare's finest works, King Lear among them, were written during these extended periods of isolation. Addison reminiscences about Angus Bowmer, founder of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, which began as an interlude for a boxing match. We talk about John Reed's...2020-04-2150 minOjai: Talk of the TownSigns of the Time in Ojai, with Mayor Johnny JohnstonIn this episode, we talk with Ojai's Mayor about the local response to the pandemic, the shock to the economy and the subsequent strain on the city's "rainy day" fund. We also talk about the dilemma of promoting social distancing and healthy activities such as hiking in our beautiful backyard, as well as pockets of resistance, herd thinning and his "embers" metaphor linking the pandemic to the Thomas Fire. We talk about our new favorite oxymoron, "disciplined freedom," and the concept of social insurance. We talk about the probable impacts of the pandemic on the elections this coming November.2020-04-181h 01Ojai: Talk of the TownEducation in the Age of Pandemic, with Dr. Tiffany MorseIn this episode of "Ojai: Talk of the Town" we check in with Dr. Morse about the Ojai Unified School District's mobilization in light of the school closure in March. We talk with her about the enormous social needs of the 2,400 students, including basic food and shelter, the district staff's heroic efforts to meet those needs, including providing 650 meals a day. The district is also struggling with technology gaps, getting thousands of students online, the challenges of learning while older students are caring for their younger siblings, the cancellation of such important events in the lives of students...2020-04-1856 minOjai: Talk of the TownDr. Marty Pops on Ojai & Coronavirus ReadinessWe talk with Dr. Pops about the state of readiness of Ojai for the Covid-19 crisis. We talk about Ojai Valley Community Hospital's imminent opening of their continuing care center, acute care center and the community's tremendous support of health care initiatives. Dr. Gus Iwasiuk's incredible surgery to save the life of a man who was skewered by a length of rebar was also remembered fondly. The hospital is also excited to resume the "perfect knee replacements" that are done in Ojai at the new surgery center.
Our wide-ranging talk includes the development of a wide-spectrum, universal...2020-04-1549 minOjai: Talk of the TownCoronavirus & Community. A talk with Dr. Marty Pops.2020-04-0700 min