Dave visits with James Zimring, author of the new book What Science is and How it Really Works. In a wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from the methodology of science, news flash, there really isn't a "Scientific Method" like the version you saw in your high school biology textbook, to some of the most important social issues of our day like the anti-vaccination movement and climate change science denial. Understanding the logical and philosophical underpinnings of science is the
Just in time for spring and that itch we gardeners - new and long time - have to get the summer vegetables into the ground, Cultivating Place revisit a favorite conversation with grow-your-own revolutionary, Brie Arthur – author of the "Foodscape Revolution" and "Gardening with Grains". Her enthusiasm will get your season growing – join us!
The dream of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad—a cross-country rail line to connect the West with the rest of the nation—was first dreamed in Sacramento. Was first built here. The valley’s first railroad, completed in 1856, ran the 22 miles between Folsom and Sacramento. Theodore Judah, its engineer, dreamed of a cross-country railroad connecting California growers and merchants to the rest of the nation—the country’s first transcontinental railway, a technological feat many would
Dr. Kathleen Gabriel is a native Chicoan and graduate of Chico State. She is currently an Associates Professor at the university and has authored various books and articles on underrepresented students. Gabriel carries a passion for history, her new book, Chico History: 1905-1971 Featuring the Bartlett Drug Company is her second publication on Chico history. The book primarily focuses on the 20th century, a small pharmacy business, and the growth and development of downtown Chico.
If there is one most contentious issue in the history of California, it is probably water. From the Owens Valley water wars from the early 20th century that were chronicled in part by the film Chinatown, to the modern era of trying to strike a balance between wildlife, fisheries and agriculture as well as urban water use, water is crucial to all stake holders.
Having just moved across the seasonal threshold of the Vernal Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere, this week we continue our focus on land and land and ecology-based garden projects – this time in conversation with horticulturist and plantswoman Laura Ekasetya.
People love to poke fun at Sacramento. Mark Twain was among the first. In Sacramento, he observed, “It is a fiery summer always, and you can gather roses, and eat strawberries and ice cream, and wear white linen clothes, and pant and perspire at eight or nine o’clock in the morning.” Looking for an icon—like New York, the Big Apple—some folks have dubbed Sacramento the Big Tomato, a wry reference to its truck-crop heritage.
Nancy's Bookshelf revisits a conversation with retired professors Roger Lederer and Carol Burr who wrote and illustrated The Birds of Bidwell Park. Now they have collaborated on a guide to the trees of Bidwell Park.
The boards of supervisors in Butte and Yuba counties Tuesday will consider opposing a state plan that some say will limit local control over needle exchange programs. Critics say the proposed regulatory changes from the state would exempt the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) from complying with local ordinances that restrict syringe exchange programs.
The afternoon evacuations were issued in Berry Creek for the North Complex, Neil Meyer and David Lusk were at their homestead called Two Bucks Ranch. They had no idea the fire was headed their way. The sky had been filled with smoke for weeks as the fire originally burned as the Bear/Claremont Fire in forested Plumas County. High winds pushed it toward Butte County on Sept. 8, 2020. The fire made an enormous run that day, engulfing more than 100,000 acres in 24 hours . That night, Meyer said
Dave talks to NASA's Jason Derleth, the executive in charge of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program about some future proposals that are being funded that may sound like science fiction but many are likely to revolutionize the future of space exploration. From magnetic levitation tracks on the Moon to miniature robotic submarines to explore the oceans of Europa -- it's science and technology literally at the cutting edge.
Here we are – mid-way into Women’s History Month, one year after the publication of The Earth in Her Hands . In honor of these two thresholds, this week on CP we offer out a conversation with one of the extraordinary women working in the world of plants featured in the book: Edwina Von Gal - a landscape designer based on New York’s Long Island. Having designed landscapes for the rich and famous in the New York area it was midway through her career that Edwina had an epiphany about the potential
Butte County has reached a legal settlement with a man who accused jail deputies of assault. The county and the medical provider for the county jail agreed to pay former inmate Cody Pettigrew a total of $90,000 to settle a lawsuit he filed last year. Pettigrew alleged that while he was in custody in November 2019, deputies struck him on the head and dragged him down a flight of stairs after he suffered a seizure.
Award-winning playwright and author Lynn H. Elliott shares details on his multicultural universe and coming of age novel, The Crossingway . Elliott’s story follows a young boy named Howell on a perilous journey as he searches for his mother after her dissapereance in the Sierras. Also, Jim Hasse explores a couple he befriended in Vietnam in his book Warriors and Friends .
Sitting around the pool doing nothing is no sin in Palm Springs. Countless swimming pools here, reportedly one for every six residents—all kinds of water use hard to believe in the middle of a desert. It’s the first thing you’ll notice, along with acres of lawns, and well over 100 golf courses. No worries, people say. Plenty more where that came from, thanks to our underground lake.
The city of Chico is being sued over the planned expansion of Bruce Road from two to four lanes between Highway 32 and Skyway. The nonprofit Northern California Environmental Defense Center is asking a local court to send the $30 million project back to the city for further environmental review. Attorney Richard Harriman represents the environmental group. He says the nonprofit is suing in part because the project comes at a pivotal point in addressing climate change.
Dave talks to polar climate expert Jennifer Francis about the hows and whys of the north polar region's dramatic warming is affecting weather here at temperate latitudes. From freezing temperatures in Texas to the persistent drought conditions in California, it turns out much of what is happening (or not happening in the case of winter storms hitting California) is due to changes in the polar jet stream caused by a rapidly warming climate at the highest latitudes.
As the vernal equinox is imminent for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, a conversation on balance and our importance as humans in the balance of natural systems. Lorena Gorbet is a Mountain Maidu elder in Northeastern California, a mother, a basket weaver, a land restoration activist, and an educator. She joins Cultivating Place this week to share more about the balanced systems thinking of the traditional ecological knowledge of her culture. Listen in!
Greater Palm Springs is another good place to travel with, and among, people again. In the beginning was the desert—the Colorado Desert, and its wide, sandy Coachella Valley. With the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains as scenic backdrop, Palm Springs sprang up from the Cahuilla people’s sacred palm-shaded hot springs. Then came the movie stars, when Hollywood discovered “the village,” followed by the heyday of mid-century “desert-modern” architecture.
Sport is unscripted drama. Author Carson Medley spent a year observing the Chico State basketball team and its inspirational coach, and has now written a book about that season. This week, Nancy digs through her archives for a conversation with the author of Through the Red Door: The Eternal Season of Coach Clink and the Division II Chico State Wildcats .