Under The Surface

Charles Person was one of the original Freedom Riders from 1961. At the age of only 18, he rode a public interstate bus into the segregated South with an inter-racial group of young people to challenge the persistent non-enforcement of US Supreme Court decisions which ruled that segregated public buses and other public spaces were unconstitutional. Viciously attacked twice by white Klansmen in Alabama, he put his life on the line to challenge the status quo in an act of nonviolent protest. Learn about his unique experience and his perspective on the current widespread protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis.

A personal reflection on the problem of being a HALF-JEW, meaning a patrilineal Jew in all its inane contradictions. But more broadly, a reflection on not quite belonging anywhere. Support Under the Surface by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/UndertheSurface Find out more at https://UndertheSurface.pinecast.co

Ella Vallone, the US mail carrier for Easthampton, MA has a fan club made up of all the different people who live along her route, which happens to be her very own neighborhood. Despite the challenge of walking 13 miles a day to deliver mail to 680 houses a day, the hardship of extreme weather and the weight of heavy loads, she has found the job rewarding. She says, "I am blessed with people who shower me with umbrellas, food, love and stories about themselves and the history of the town.” Support Under the Surface by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/UndertheSurface Find out more on the Under the Surface website.

David Entin served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968. But NOT as a soldier. Instead, he worked for USAID (United States Agency for International Development) in the province of Quang Ngai where he had some of the most memorable, paradigm-shifting experiences of his life. He experienced both the beauty of the Vietnamese countryside and the horror of war from the vantage point of a helicopter. He witnessed the hypocrisy of the war on a personal level too as it played out in his workplace role after the Tet Offensive. Support Under the Surface by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/UndertheSurface Find out more on the Under the Surface website.

Kamil Peters creates highly distinctive metal art work in Holyoke, MA ranging from small intricate masks to massive sculptures of animals and insects, as well as large-scale commercial installations. But his passion also lies in teaching the art of welding to young people who find themselves lost in a school system and society that renders them invisible. "Everybody needs a place... a place to feel like home away from home," he says. "When you honor your children, they will honor you back." Support Under the Surface by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/UndertheSurface Find out more on the Under the Surface website.

For the last day of 2017, I decided to look back at my life and create a solo episode on SEXISM. In particular, I reflect on my own personal experiences from childhood to adulthood. I also talk about how I internalized sexist ideas at a young age and how they formed my views on romance and the nature of "the real man." How can we break free of the sexist head trip of our culture while also remaining a part of it? Support Under the Surface by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/UndertheSurface Find out more on the Under the Surface website.

When I first heard Claire Dacey perform at an open mic about two months ago at Luthier’s in Easthampton, I was enthralled by the beauty and authenticity of her voice. In this conversation, Claire discusses the path that led her to create folk music as well as her background as a naturalist and ecologist. She also treats us to four of her breathtaking original songs! Support Under the Surface by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/UndertheSurface Find out more on the Under the Surface website.

Learn about Peter Duveen's personal spiritual journey from Catholicism to palm reading, Christian Science to the Unification Church. Throw Yukio Mishima's "Way of the Samurai" into the mix! And listen to his account of what he describes as a personal encounter he had with God at the age of 17. Support Under the Surface by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/UndertheSurface

Episode Notes An interview with Nancy Kissock who was courageous enough to follow her dream. She sold her home of 40+ years in the US in 2014 at the age of 73 to relocate to Paris, France! Find out about her personal journey and what it's like to make such a dramatic shift in one's life.

An interview with my father, Sidney I. Landau, who discusses his impoverished childhood in New York City in the 1940's; his experience as a draftee in the army in Frankfurt, Germany during the Korean War; his 40 year career as an editor of dictionaries and his life as an early marathon runner in Central Park during the 1970's. (Photo shows Sidney I. Landau with his niece, not the host).