Flotation Device Interview with Mat Maneri
Mat Maneri by Antonio Porcar Cano
Mat Maneri is one of the few prominent jazz musicians to make the viola his primary instrument. He joined Flotation Device host Michael Schell to talk about his music, including his Ash Quartet’s upcoming Earshot Jazz performance at Cornish Raisbeck Auditorium on Monday, October 30 (tickets and info at Earshot.org).
Hear more of Mat Maneri’s music Sunday night at 10:00 PM on Flotation Device.
Non Profit Aid Organizations in Palestine
While negotiations for a ceasefire between Israeli and Hamas officials are announced, 7,028 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during this war according to Al Jazeera news from today. 2,913 of the dead are children. More than 1,709 of the fatalities, women. Over 1,405 Israelis have been killed. In addition, over 17,000 in Palestine have been injured. These numbers are from Aljazeera and Palestine Red Cross and are confirmed by Human Rights Watch. 50% of Palestinian residential units are destroyed. Most of the 65 sewage pumping stations are not operational. 11 water sanitation facilities are destroyed. (numbers from OCHA and Palestine Health Ministry)
Palestinian American activist, Linda Sarsour was in Vancouver, Washington on October 25th to speak at the Washington State Faculty and Staff of Color Conference. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama was there and recorded an excerpt of Sarsour’s response to an audience question about aid to Palestine.
The two organizations Linda Sarsour refers to are below:
Palestinian American Medical Organization (PAMA)
Producer: Yuko Kodama – Special thanks to Washington State Faculty and Staff of Color Conference and Linda Sarsour for permission to record and broadcast
Photo: Baitulmaal
David Neiwert: The Rise of and Dangers of White Supremacy
David Neiwert is a local investigative journalist who has specialized in writing about right wing extremism. He was a reporter for the Daily Kos. He has also been an investigator, analyst and reporter for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Neiwert is also author of the book, The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault on American Democracy.
He’ll be speaking about the rise and dangers of white supremacy at the Everett Civic Auditorium at 6:30 October 26. The event is sponsored by Unidos, and Communities Against Hate and Violent Extremism (CAHVE). Co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union, Alliance for Gun Responsibility, American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League of the Pacific Northwest, CAIR Washington, Change The Narrative, Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church, Faith Action Network, NAACP of Snohomish County, National Organization of Women, Northwest Progressive Institute, Paths To Understanding, Salish Sea Federation of Democratic Women, Snohomish County Indivisible, Snohomish County Pride, WA Partners for Social Change, WSDCC, Separation of Church and State Caucus.
Flotation Device Interview with Melvin Gibbs of Harriet Tubman
Flotation Device host Michael Schell recently interviewed Melvin Gibbs of music collective Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman performs Friday, October 27 at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute during this years Earshot Jazz Festival!
“Founded in 1998, the New York-based power trio Harriet Tubman embraces freedom as its governing principle, as evinced by its name and its seamless interweaving of soul, rock, jazz and avant-garde elements. Bassist Melvin Gibbs joined Flotation Device host Michael Schell to talk about the band’s upcoming Earshot Jazz performance at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute on Friday, October 27 (tickets and info at Earshot.org).”
Activist, Linda Sarsour Speaks Against Islamophobia and White Supremacy
Linda Sarsour, noted Palestinian-American civil rights leader and Executive Director of MPower Change spoke at Seattle’s Rainier Arts Center on Islamophobia and White Supremacy in January, 2023.
The event was hosted by Valley and Mountain Fellowship’s Center for Faith, Art, and Justice in partnership with the United Church of Christ’s Join the Movement Toward Racial Justice. The event was part of the Set Us Free from Fear: Faith, White Supremacy, and Politics series. The series invited scholars, clergy, and activists working at the intersection of race and faith to share their wisdom to our broader communities.
Sarsour was co-chair of the 2017 Women’s March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women’s March. She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She is the author of We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders: A Memoir of Love and Resistance, published in March, 2020.
Producers: Valley and Mountain Fellowship, United Church in Christ’s Join the Movement toward Racial Justice
Photo Linda Sarsour and Women’s Media Center
What Distinguishes Sephardic Jewish Communities?
The new graphic novel, We Are Not Strangers, is a story about the relationship of a Japanese American family and a Sephardic Jewish family leading up to and after WWII.
The book’s author, Josh Tuininga, Densho Founder, Tom Ikeda and Dr. Devin Naar, University of Washington, Associate Professor of History & Jewish Studies will speak about the parallels and relationships between these communities on Monday, October 23rd at Third Place Books.
Dr. Devin Naar speaks about the characteristic culture of the Sephardic Jewish group, largely from Mediterranean regions in the Jewish diaspora , in comparison to the Ashkenazi Jewish groups from Central and Eastern Europe.
Producers: Lucy Braginski and Yuko Kodama
Photo: Naar standing beside fragments from the Jewish cemetery of Salonica built into the old city walls (2014) | Photo by Argilo Mitilinou
Music Show Updates
Sometimes the business of making radio gets in the way of talking about radio. I’m reminded of the opening lines to the Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter song “The Wheel:”
“The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down,
You can’t let go and you can’t hold on,
You can’t go back and you can’t stand still,
If the thunder don’t get you then the lightning will.”
True enough, you might say, but aren’t the next two lines:
“Won’t you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn’t you try just a little bit more?”
In the constant whirl of what’s coming up next the things that have happened, regrettably, sometimes don’t get their due.
KBCS has been blessed with stability. We’ve long had a group of passionate volunteers with the unique mixture of time and technical knowhow and musical knowledge (and sometimes the music itself) to curate and host a radio show. When a show does go away and is not replaced with something similar it’s often that one of those crucial components is not to be easily found. It’s the very uniqueness of many of our programs that make us love them but can also be what causes the acute sadness when they go off the air.
The question I’m most asked when a show goes off the air is why did I cancel it? I likely didn’t cancel it. Our volunteers work hard and continually make delightful radio that everyone at KBCS is quite proud of and happy to air.
Usually, a show ends because a volunteer has said what they’ve needed to say and feel that it’s time to move on to other pursuits. We’ve even had hosts leave and then return at a later date. In fact, one of our longtime favorites is considering such a thing right now. Dare I say: stay tuned? I daren’t. Not yet, at least.
A few updates:
Hawai`i Radio Connection
Hawai`i Radio Connection is not going off the air. That said, Uncle Ed and Maile are stepping down as regular hosts. Uncle Ed has been with KBCS since first discovering the station at 1993’s Northwest Folklife Festival. His passion and knowledge and collection of Hawaiian music is extraordinary. For the past 12 years Uncle Ed has co-hosted their week of HRC with Maile. Maile brought a spontaneous and infectious spark to the show. Their chemistry and humor together, not to mention their exquisite musical tastes, will be deeply missed.
Music of Africa
We’ve been proud to host Music of Africa since 1993. It was hosted over the years by Jon Kertzer, Andy Frankel, Hans Kelstrup and the late Doug Patterson. This 30-year run has been beautiful and inspiring and we thank all those who made it happen. You can still catch Hans on the radio as the host of African Airwaves at the mighty good KBFG in Seattle. There are rumors that Jon Kertzer isn’t quite done with radio just yet. Time will tell.
City Soul
Earlier this year City Soul went off the air after 19 years. J Justice and Atlee brought the grooves and the soul of the Emerald City to our airwaves. Their show was hip and sophisticated and the perfect salve for a Friday night. Keep your eyes and ears open because you can still catch J Justice and Atlee spinning live around town.
Folksounds
Folksounds ended an astonishing run of over 40 years this past August. Eric Hardee (32 years) and Jean Geiger (26 years) gave us an expansive showcase every week in the very best of acoustic music. Their passion and service and curatorial skills made Tuesday evenings at 7:00 PM a destination.
We are quite grateful to all of the KBCS volunteers, both past and present.
Thank you for listening.
Iaan Hughes, Music Director
KBCS In-Studio with Sam Russell and the Harborrats
Ah, summertime. We’re remembering that fun in-studio we did with Sam Russell and the Harborrats on July 22! We chatted about boomboxes, recording favorite songs off the radio, evangelical fervor, and the healing power of music.
KBCS In-Studio with Cooper Stoulil
A mighty fine in-studio with Cooper Stoulil. We chatted about creating memorable melodies, how our limitations can often be creative gifts, and a lovely thought that the aboutness of art can sometimes miss the whole point. Embrace the abstract, the feeling, the moment.
KBCS In-Studio with Andrew Duhon
Andrew Duhon stopped by the KBCS studio on Wednesday, October 4th and we had a terrific conversation about PNW logging roads, how walking in a circle may not take you back to where you started from and being inspired by nature in songwriting as both metaphor and our place within in it. That took us to chatting about kudzu which took us to poems by Robert Frost and James Dickey and even a choice Henry David Thoreau quote from Self Reliance. C’mon now!
You can hear the interview plus 3 live songs above!
