Adam Wilson Talks to Everyone

Christy McCay and I are cousins who didn’t know one another existed until we were adults, when our parents, full-blooded siblings, met for the first time. We talk about finding new family, the surprising role of genetics in shaping personality, and the importance of staying open and staying connected with family. We talk about adoption, about having kids and about losing our mothers, who both died in the past three years. 

Melvin "Mel Brooks" Kaminsky is America's greatest director, screenwriter, actor, composer and comedian. Now, after 40 years, his "History of the World, Part I," is getting a sequel. This is just the latest cinematic event for Mel, 96, who also wrote/directed "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein" and "The Producers." He's a national treasure and a personal hero of mine.

With one voice, the governors of Oregon, Washington and California condemned the recent US Supreme Court ruling overturning the right to abortion created in Roe v. Wade. This isn't the first time the West Coast has locked together on political matters. All three states ended their coronavirus restrictions at the same time earlier this year, and they were among the last states to do so. There isn’t a single Republican in statewide elected office from San Diego to Seattle. Politically speaking, how did the West Coast become the “Left Coast?”In this episode, I look at how the Pacific Coast became some of the most progressive territory in the nation. It all starts with who established original American governments, cities and institutions. And here's a hint: it wasn't the folks in the covered wagons.Thanks for listening. Visit my website for more podcast episodes, videos and whatnot.www.adamehwilson.com

Jan Jutte steered the Washington State Auditor's Office through a major crisis when the then-elected State Auditor Troy Kelley was charged with federal financial crimes. Jan was about to retire from her long career in public service, but instead stepped up as acting state auditor. We talk about the bizarre situation of telling your boss that they don't get to make the decisions. Dealing with the press. Trying to put distance between professional work and politics. And how, at one point, Kelley decided he literally didn't want to see Jan -- but continued to leave her to runt the office while he focused on his legal defense.Hope you enjoy the show, and as always, check out my website: adamehwilson.com

Today we're talking to Kevin Mayer, a long-time, great, friend of mine who has taken up smoking. And I don't mean of the nicotine variety, but smoking all variety of foods. And it's really amazing, the repertoire he's built up, from bacon-wrapped Oreos to making jalapeno cheese. He talks about the delicacy of trying to smoke cheese -- which I hadn't thought about before, but cheese does tend to melt. So how do you avoid melting the cheese while you're smoking it? Through it all, I really enjoy his focus on family and the way when we cook, we bring family together. Hope you enjoy it. If you want to check out other stuff I'm doing as always go to www.adamehwilson.com. And tell your family, tell your friends, like subscribe, all that stuff.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I turned to a Ukrainian friend to ask her what we, the Americans, need to understand about the conflict. Olha's response came down to this: Ukrainians are not Russians. They have their own history, their own language, their own culture, their own country. But Russian leader Vladimir Putin has predicated his war on a rewritten history, in which the Ukraine is the little brother to Russia, and the people there are just Russians with a dialect.  The stakes can't be higher for the people of Ukraine, as their lives and very identity stand to be lost. I really appreciated this talk, the personal stories Olha shared of the Orange Revolution in 2004, the quest for independence, and the never-dying belief that Ukraine can be i's own place, and the Ukrainians, their own people.

Is America in a new civil war?  Are we headed there? In this episode, I take on the question posed by Politico recently: "We are in a new civil war ... about what, exactly?"I propose the Compass of Power, a theory that holds the center of power in a democracy moves with the people. And Americans have been moving South for decades, tilting the center of national power away from the North, Democrats and liberals.  We talk about the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol, about Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Joe Biden and Georgia voting laws. It all comes down to the differences between how the North and South see the world.  To be Southern these days seems pretty similar to being conservative, and much of what the North has taken for granted is up for renegotiation. Can we do that without a fight?

Contrary to what you may have heard, women are not poorly designed for childbirth. Jessica Wilson talks about why we fear mothers will die in childbirth in the United States, starting with her own terrible experience having her first child. We talk about the cascade of interventions, America's dismal statistics of maternal mortality, and what we know about childbirth in the old days -- before doctors were around to get involved. We talk hospital birth vs home birth, and not unrelated, about fear for moms versus confidence in them. This is a Christmas episode, all about the babies!Speaking of which, new music this time: "Christmas Rap" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Longview, Washington resident Melinda McCrady spent 20 years working for Democrats in the state Legislature, and for that entire time, her blue-collar, timber-industry hometown elected Democratic representatives to the Legislature, to local office, even to Congress. But by 2016 Democrats were losing ground there, and certainly they lost big in 2021. Republicans now represent Longview, and not necessarily moderate Republicans, either. What happened to the generations of smaller-town working people who supported Democrats? Melinda and I talk about what issues cost Democrats seats, generational change, who makes up the elite and all the rest.  

Ever think about moving to a small town? Having your kids play every sport in high school? What if you got paid to go to their games and announce them over the radio? How about you run for city council and help your neighbors improve the community? Ian Cope lives that life. I ask him about it all -- including what makes sports so great for a community, what makes a good sports announcer, and whether running for office in your home town really makes you popular -- or just a target. 

Chuck  Pfeil is a master of knowing what he can change, and what he cannot. You might meet him as a handyman, a mushroom hunter, a fly fisher or an auditor. Chuck does all those things, but he tries to approach all of them as the same version of himself.  It's something he's learned over decades of self-examination, thought and study of New Age texts like Black Elk Speaks, or the works of Deepak Chopra and Caroline Myss. I talk to Chuck about his views on life, how he became interested in spirituality, his views on masculinity, how he navigated a career in public service, and where he's going next.

In that strange time called midlife, Krista Goldstine-Cole was turned down for graduate school by a local university. She decided she should go to Harvard University instead. She not only got in, she moved into the dorms at 47 years old. We talk to her about going back to school, rubbing shoulders with the nation's (and the world's) elite, what she learned, and how to save the kids. Because she's Dr. Goldstine-Cole now.

I talk to Beth Babin about what makes Texas Texas, and why Austin is such a different part of Texas.  We talk about the massive snowstorms this spring that exposed deep flaws in Texas' energy grid. We talk about Life Straws. We talk about serious injury, which Beth unfortunately experienced recently, and how you navigate through recovery.  And we talk about her deep loathing of rental scooters. She's a funny gal.

You may be a Big Lebowski fan, but have you considered the role of late stage capitalism in the film?  What about the twists it takes every time one character's name is used? John Hagemann has not just noticed these things, but writing extensively about them. He spent a semester in grad school analyzing the film through a dozen different lenses, and in this episode he takes us on a looping trip through the movie and back again.  We talk about why the Big Lebowski isn't so big after all. We talk about the power of Maude, and the meaning of the fantastic dream sequences. Take an hour to think about one of America's great flicks in some new ways.

We talk to Laura Cameron of Art for Art's Sake Press about how you step into the world of political activism. Laura shares how a deep personal loss led her to weigh in more often online.  She found talking to folks of another political bent was fraught with misunderstandings, and literally signed up to take a class on how to reach out effectively (Braver Angels ran the class).  We talk to Laura about what she's learned, how to get involved, and when to step away from a conversation.Follow Laura: ArtForArtsSakePress.comamazon.com/author/laurajcameron

Earl Adsley spends his time measuring snow in the mountains of Idaho and guess what? More than half of the water consumed in the West started as snow in the mountains.I talk to Earl about drought, about snow pack, about forest fires, and what all these things mean for the future of the place we call home. I learned a lot about how we get our water,  how difficult it is to predict how much we will have, and how precious all fresh water really is.