Radio Cals

This week Rex and Paul chew the fat about the PurpleHull Pea Festival in Emerson and related fun with motorized tillers, Keeney's Food Market in Malvern and its legendary sausage biscuits, Rex's embarrassing hat, the nervous hospital, Esau's corn, the boys' disappointment at not being the grand marshals for the PurpleHull pea-rade, how they picked the Pea Goddess, Burge's in Lewisville and their fried pies, Rex's son Evan's first experience of turkey fries, how Paul discovered that 55 in a 35 is considered speeding in Stamps, the two great catfish places in Garland City (Doc's and West Shore), taking cheesy photos on either side of the state line in Texarkana, the wonderfully named Hotel Grim, the Cattleman's Steak House, and Rex's double-header of chicken-fried steak and quail.

Encyclopedia of Arkansas author Bick Satterfield interviews Capi Peck, owner of Trio's Restaurant and Little Rock City Director for Ward 4. Capi's grandparents were the legendary Sam and Henrietta Peck, who owned the Hotel Sam Peck in Little Rock from the 1930s through the 1970s. This episode focuses on Capi's memories growing up in the hotel, her grandfather's flair for design, his friendship with the famous architect Edward Durell Stone, and Capi's life in the restaurant industry.

Pulaski County Treasurer Debra Buckner talks with Matt DeCample about being a woman in banking during the 80's and 90's, becoming an elected official, and shares stories of showing up on doorsteps to collect back taxes.

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about their trip to the Delta Regional Council in Cleveland, Mississippi, about the fact that there's more Delta in Arkansas than there is in Mississippi, Sonny Perdue, Rex's troubling lack of seersucker and wholly inadequate headware, the Biscoe IGA and its famous sausage biscuits and meat counter, the charms of old U.S. Highway 70, the Cache and White rivers, the Grammy Museum, a cotton-based style show dominated by political dignitaries, how Paul got to go back to the Alluvian Hotel because he took Jan there, the Viking Range corporation, Lusco's restaurant in Greenwood, halving a pompano, Turnrow Book Company, sauce acquisition, the Alluvian's library bar--it has real books--the Oxford book-buying experience and cool new hotels that should come to Arkansas, hanging out at famed journalist Curtis Wilkie's house, his book The Fall of the House of Zeus, the City Grocery restaurant and fried pickled okra, how Douglas Southall Freeman overcame Rex's willpower and made him b

Matt DeCample talks with Museum of Discovery CEO Kelley Bass about the museum's growth and ambitions, his first career at the Arkansas Gazette, and the Little Rock rock 'n roll scene during the 1980's.

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about Sam Houston's brother's grave, Calico Rock, the River View Hotel there, Angler's Resort near Mountain View, jam sessions in Mountain View, folk festivals in the area, the JFK Overlook at Heber Springs, Wilbur Mills, Fordyce and its great sports history, the Smithsonian's Hometown Teams traveling exhibition Paul and the Arkansas Humanities Council are working on, how auctioneers always seem to be called "Colonel," how Rex became a Kentucky Colonel, Paul's odd affection for the game of cricket, Rex's love of the old Iron Bowl games, his book Southern Fried, the Southern Foodways Alliance, how Paul fought the perception that he might be a food snob by making Sloppy Joes and eating a whole box of Little Debbie cakes, stopping at the Bulldog in Bald Knob for strawberry shortcake, how the boys need to get to some food festivals to replenish their supplies of various sauces, RIP: the footbridge at Oark that got washed away in the flood about the same time they talked about

Matt DeCample sits down with Dr. Sherece West-Scantlebury, President and CEO of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, to talk about her life in non-profit work, living through Hurricane Katrina, finding Arkansas, and how the WRF is fighting the root causes of problems facing Arkansans.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about Pocahontas, the oddly named Sanitary Barbershop, the Lesmeister Guest House, Ninth Street in Little Rock, the Olde Stonehouse B and B in Hardy, having three doctors at dinner who couldn't do anybody any good, the Biggers B and B and steak place in Hardy, the Eddie Mae Herron Center in Pocahontas, Ravenden, Williford, Ravenden Springs, Mammoth Spring, skipping the awards banquet at the Arkansas Historical Association because Chewing the Fat with Rex and Paul didn't get an award, La Pastorella Bistro in Mammoth Spring, Fred's Fish House, Rex's college buddies and their high-class taste in fish camps, Sportsman's in Flippin, Gaston's in Lakeview, the Jim Gaston Visitor Center in Bull Shoals, Harry Truman's 1952 visit, Bull Shoals controversies, Paul's Royal Ambassadors camping trip, his contention that he was not to blame for the fishing lure that got stuck in Phil Smith's head, rural electrification, the Norfork Dam, and the Jacob Wolf House in Baxter County.

Matt DeCample sits down with Richard Weiss, longtime director of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, to talk about the joys and tragedies of growing up as a missionary kid in Africa, trying to adjust to life in the United States as a young adult, and the important of good government.

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about Paul's annual appearance at the Friends of the Library pancake breakfast in Imboden, the wonders of fried pies, Imboden war stories, how the traffic jam in front of the strawberry stand in Bald Knob thwarted Paul's best efforts, Slader's Alaskan Dumplings in Searcy, sad news about Bryce's Cafeteria in Texarkana, Rex's fears of a tomato aspic shortage, Paul's trip to Stamps and a side trip to Burge's in Lewisville and their legendary turkey salad, eating catfish in Garland City, calf fries, the need to get upcoming festivals nailed down on calendars, Paul's discovery that oysters in Georgia are no match for those in Arkansas, Rex and Paul's ideas about asphalt, how they've given up waiting for their historian friends to organize a trip to visit the Civil War battleground at Shiloh, Paul's possible status as the only person in Arkansas who's eaten German food at Hot Springs and Mammoth Spring in the same month, expansion plans for the store at Oark, good news about pea

Today's broadcast of Radio CALS features a special edition of Primary Sources with hosts Matt Decample and Amy Bradley Hull interviewing authors featured at the 2017 Arkansas Literary Festival, including Dominic Wallimann, Cora Daniels, Hussein Hussein, Therese Oneill, and Celia Anderson. For more information about the Arkansas Literary Festival, visit arkansasliteraryfestival.org.

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about Rex's Delta food tour he gave some folks from Houston, Texas, the three Delta food groups, the IGA store in Biscoe, the historic and virtually unprecedented addition of an item to the menu at the Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, the appearance of His Honor, the Mayor, Cypress Corner at Lexa, Pasquale's Tamales in Helena, steamboats, how Rex wore out the boys from Houston, the magnificence of Crowley's Ridge, the Louisiana Purchase monument and its booming tourist business because of Rex and Paul, Murry's at Hazen and the best onion rings in Arkansas, Paul's lobbying (that would be whining) to get on the board of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Paul's celebrated appearance frying bacon and a bunch of other stuff at the Friends of the Library pancake breakfast at Imdoden, and a great German place -- Bavarian, really -- at Mammoth Spring. Not "Springs," so watch it.

To help overcome the domestic abuse all around them, Little Rock-based author, mother, and inspirational speaker Cara Brookins and her four kids decided to rebuild their family by building a 3500-square-foot, five-bedroom house...on their own. With what money they had she bought the construction supplies and an acre of land and got to work. After successfully building a house with her children, Brookins wrote a memoir of her experience titled "Rise: How a House Built a Family". Since the book's January release it has been an Indy Next Pick and a Barnes and Noble front-of-the-store selection for "What We're Reading," and Brookins has been featured in several magazines, started her own Macmillan podcast, and traveled the country and the world as an inspirational speaker. Hear all about Cara Brookins and her whirlwind success story as she joins host Matt DeCample in the Radio CALS studio for the latest edition of Primary Sources.

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about Paul's recent visit to the Eddie Mae Herron Center's annual hog killing and auction in Pocahontas, how he made off with a fresh ham, a shoulder, some sausage, pork chops, and about a four-pound slab of pork belly, as well as the first Arkansas Food Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which turned out to be a very successful evening celebrating Arkansas food culture and a lot of fun for Miss Rhoda. In the second half of the program, Mark Christ of the Arkansas WWI Centennial Commemoration Committee sits down with historian Kent Goff of the Mississippi Valley Education Program to talk about Arkansas's role in the Great War and the Centennial Committee's official kick-off event at the Old State House in downtown Little Rock.

This week we feature a special Arkansas Sounds edition of Primary Sources as host John Miller is joined in the Radio CALS studio by Jazz artist, Rodney Block. Block, a classically trained instrumentalist, performs a unique blend of traditional jazz, gospel, hip-hop, Bebop, funk and soul. An Arkansas native, he honed his skills by playing in some of Kansas City's premier venues – Grand Emporium, Plaza III, Blue Room, and Liberty Hall. His ensembles have opened for Jonathan Butler, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Wynton Marsalis and Angela Hagenbaugh, among others. Now based in Little Rock, Block has provided music for various private and corporate events. The ensemble was recently featured in the live television recording AETN Presents: Front Row with the Rodney Block Jazz Project. The television program received outstanding reviews and was nominated for a 2007 Mid-America Emmy Award.

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about cool things in Hot Springs and how people really are starting to see the importance of the city and park to the state and the nation, seeing about a hundred games at the Arkansas state high school basketball tournament and its fascinating mix of urban and rural Arkansas, how the old Baptist expression "Every head bowed/every eye closed" became a basketball benediction, Paul's latest distressing trend and Rex's deep sense of disappointment about it, travel tips on how to get to Hot Springs, and Paul's rant about the best way (his) to present the National Anthem before sporting events (hint: tell Aunt Martha to stay home that night).

Host Matt DeCample is joined in the Radio CALS studio by Gabe Holmstrom. Holmstrom is the Executive Director of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, a nonprofit group that advocated for planning, legislation, transportation, economic development and numerous public and private initiatives to improve downtown Little Rock. Holmstrom previously served as chief of staff to the Arkansas House of Representatives, and handled public affairs for Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods after a decade in state and federal government and politics. He has also served as an aide to former Cong. Marion Berry. Holmstrom lives downtown in the Governor's Mansion Historic District and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He is a member of the Arkansas State Board of Finance and board member of the Quapaw Quarter Association.

On this week's show, Rex and Paul chew the fat about the Slovak Oyster Supper, old U.S. Highway 70, famous people who come to Arkansas each year to hunt ducks, how some of the Brennan family of New Orleans came in to create a legendary seven-course meal in DeWitt, the new Arkansas Food Hall of Fame and how the boys were gearing up to help the Department of Arkansas Heritage host the first induction ceremony, graphic details of hog killing in preparation for the annual fund-raiser at the Eddie Mae Herron Center in Pocahontas, characters from Clark County and (where else?) Imboden, the lengths to which Rex's dad went to stay on good terms with people who had good quail-hunting land, and the difficulties of keeping wild quail plentiful.

On this week's show, host Matt DeCample is joined in the Radio CALS studio by Little Rock Zoo director, Susan Altrui who talks in-depth about her work as recently appointed director of the Little Rock Zoo, her passion for animals and vision for the future of the Zoo.

On today's episode of Radio CALS, Rex Nelson and Paul Austin chew the fat a little more about their remarkable quail-hunting trip with the grandson of Ernest Hemingway and the granddaughter of Hemingway's famous editor, Max Perkins (and we use the word "hunting" somewhat loosely).