All posts by Francesca Rheannon

About Francesca Rheannon

Francesca Rheannon is an award-winning independent radio producer. In addition to hosting Writer's Voice, she's a freelance reporter for National Public Radio and its affiliates. Recipient of the prestigious Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for reporting on substance abuse issues for her news series, VOICES OF HIV, produced for 88.5 WFCR public radio in western Massachusetts. She is also finishing a book on Provence (PROVINCE OF THE HEART) and working on a memoir of her father, THE ARGONAUTS.

Podcast

Coal Wars In The Mines and The Streets

Ted Nace
Ted Nace
Diane Gilliam Fisher
Diane Gilliam Fisher

Poet Diane Gilliam Fisher talks about her book, KETTLE BOTTOM. It’s about the Mine Wars of the 1920’s and the people who fought them. And we talk with Ted Nace about the movement to stop new coal plants from being built. His book is CLIMATE HOPE: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal.

The Massey Energy Company mine disaster in West Virginia is but the latest in a long and bitter history of the exploitation of the people and the land of Appalachia’s coal country. The other side of that story is how the miners fought back to win better wages and working conditions by organizing the UMWU.

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Looking at the Upper Big Branch mine, one fact stands out for those who know enough about how important that union history is. The mine was non-union. Far more coal mine fatalities happen in non-union mines than those where the workers are unionized.

Poet Diane Gilliam Fisher’s 2004 book KETTLE BOTTOM uses verse to tell the story of the West Virginia Mine Wars of 1920—21. That’s when the United Mine Workers union went up against the coal operators and their hired thugs. Many people died — mostly miners — and President Harding sent in troops to quell the rebellion. The southern coal fields didn’t win union recognition until 1933.

KETTLE BOTTOM won the 2004 Perigia Press Award, and was listed in the 2005 top ten list for poetry by the American Booksellers Association. In addition to KETTLE BOTTOM, Fisher is also the author of ONE OF EVERYTHING and RECIPE FOR BLACKBERRY CAKE. Writers Voice spoke to her in 2004.

Read Diane Gilliam Fisher’s poem Explosion at Winco No. 9.

Coal is most carbon intense fuel, according to climate scientist James Hansen. With climate chaos happening at a faster pace than even the most pessimistic scientists predicted, many are saying we should just leave the coal in the hole.

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Ted Nace is one of them. His new book, CLIMATE HOPE: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal, tells the remarkable story of the movement to stop the building of any new coal power plants in the US. In just 2 years, between 2007 and 2009, it managed to stop plans nearly a hundred coal plants from being built, out of 151 proposed. The loosely organized grass roots movement brought a burgeoning coal boom largely to a halt.

Ted Nace is the founder of CoalSwarm, a web based wiki that currently has over 2,000 articles and has become an online hub for the anti coal movement.

Podcast

Archived Show: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness

Gail Hornstein
Gail Hornstein

This is an archived show this week, originally aired on May 21, 2009. Gail Hornstein talks about AGNES’ JACKET: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness. Read the original post here.

Podcast

Navigating our Dysfunctional Health Care System

lionel shriver
Lionel Shriver
Patrick Malone
Patrick Malone

Patient advocate and author Patrick Malone talks about his book, The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care-and Avoiding the Worst. It’s about how to keep from being a victim of medical errors. We’ll also talk with novelist Lionel Shriver about her new novel, SO MUCH FOR THAT. It’s about health insurance gone very wrong. And Martin Espada, Richard Wilbur and other poets read at a benefit for the children of Gaza. Continue reading

Podcast

Memoirs of Ireland

Alphie McCourt
Thomas J Rice
Thomas J Rice

Thomas Rice tells us about FAR FROM THE LAND: AN IRISH MEMOIR. He left his beautiful but hardscrabble family farm to emigrate to America in 1959. Also, we hear excerpts from a 2008 interview with Alphie McCourt about his memoir, A LONG STONE’S THROW. Continue reading

Web Extras

Web Extra: Poet Marianne Boruch

Marianne Boruch

In the spring of last year, Christian McEwen interviewed the poet, Marianne Boruch when she came to Smith College for its poetry reading series. Boruch is the author of seven volumes of poetry, as well as two volumes of prose. She was born in Chicago, grew up in a Polish Catholic family, and was already writing poems by the time she was in high school. Her work is strongly influenced by her Catholic childhood, as well as by her love of nature, and her interest in dreams. “I think we get into a dream state when we are writing,” she says. “We drop down under the surface and connect with that other realm.”

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“I’d like to say I’m of the begging bowl theory of poetry. You put out your begging bowl and see what drops into it. I really don’t want to know where the poem is going. And of course revision is a great thing. You get a draft and start tinkering and find out where it really wants to go.”

Boruch currently teaches in Purdue University’s MFA program, and through the non-residential program for writers at Warren Wilson College. Her most recent book is [amazon-product text=”GRACE, FALLEN FROM” type=”text”]0819569534[/amazon-product].

This interview is part of a series of interviews of poets Christian McEwen is doing, called Sparks from the Anvil. Writers Voice is hosting several of the interviews. Sparks from the Anvil features poets who appear at Smith College’s poetry reading series.

Podcast

Is Marijuana Safer Than Alcohol?

Peter Vickery
Peter Vickery
Mason Tvert
Mason Tvert

Marijuana policy activist Mason Tvert talks with host Francesca Rheannon about the book he co-wrote, MARIJUANA IS SAFER: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? It says marijuana should be treated legally no different than alcohol. And Peter Vickery tells us about his historical thriller, MADISON HOPPER AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN BLOOD BROTHERHOOD. It’s the first in a mystery series about the struggle for civil rights in the early years of the 20th century. Continue reading

Podcast

Masters of Art, Science and Deception

SJ Parris
SJ Parris
Mark Lamster
Mark Lamster

Mark Lamster talks with host Francesca Rheannon about the great Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens’ career as an unofficial diplomat for the Spanish Crown. And mystery writer S.J. Parris tells us about Renaissance scientist Giordano Bruno’s visit to Oxford in 1583. She spins a murder mystery around the visit and around Bruno’s mission as a spy for the English Crown. Continue reading

Web Extras

Web Extra: Kim John Payne

Kim John Payne
Kim John Payne

This is the full interview with educator and therapist Kim John Payne about Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids.

You can find the whole show here.

On Amazon.com: [amazon-product text=”Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids ” type=”text”]0345507975[/amazon-product]

Podcast

Raising Decent, Secure, and Happy Kids

Kim John Payne
Kim John Payne
Rafe Esquith
Rafe Esquith

Celebrated elementary school teacher Rafe Esquith talks about his book, Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up World. And we talk with educator and therapist Kim John Payne about Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids. Continue reading

Podcast

Money, Rights and the Value of Nothing

Raj Patel
Raj Patel
Samba Gadjigo
Samba Gadjigo

Raj Patel talks about his best-seller, THE VALUE OF NOTHING. It’s about reshaping market society and redefining democracy. Mount Holyoke College film prof Samba Gadjigo tells us about his community-based learning project, Africa Through African Eyes. And we hear a clip from next week’s show: Kim John Payne on SIMPLICITY PARENTING. Continue reading

Web Extras

Web Extra: Dom Sagolla

Dom Sagolla
Dom Sagolla

Dom Sagolla talks about how Twitter’s role during the antigovernment demonstrations in Iran started him thinking about how to protect one’s identity on Twitter.

You can listen to the full interview with Dom Sagolla.

Podcast

Changing The World With Social Media?

chris brogan
Chris Brogan
Dom Sagolla
Dom Sagolla

Twitter founder Dom Sagolla talks about his style guide to Twitter, 140 CHARACTERS. And social media expert Chris Brogan tells us about his book, TRUST AGENTS. It’s about how to use the Web to build your influence, improve your reputation and create trust. Continue reading