Christine Toole had a best friend named Chris when she was in her 20's. They did everything together, and Chris was the kind of man who was always more than ready to help a friend. Christine and Chris shared poetry, they went to concerts, and they talked and laughed with each other for hours.
A kiss changed all of that. Christine talks to Dick Gordon about her friendship with Chris, and how much he taught her about forgiveness and life.
Chuck Hackett is a futures trader, and he used to spend every day plopped down in his chair in front of his computer, talking on the phone. He heard about a study at the Mayo Clinic that put people on treadmills while they worked, and he decided to try it for himself.
Dick Gordon talks to Chuck from his office, while Chuck is on his treadmill.
Contact UsPatrick Ward has always loved to tinker in his backyard, and he has spent many years dedicated to the idea of ridding himself of his dependence on fossil fuels. He went "off the grid" in 1986, and he began driving a car fueled by biobutanol several years later.
Lots of people go off the grid, but Patrick went one step further when he discovered that algae growing on a local river could produce a fuel for modern vehicles that can completely replace petroleum-based products. Dick talks to Patrick about his fascination with freedom from fossil fuels.
Thomas Brennan graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts with a degree in art history and an intention to pursue architecture. But after college, he came back to the southeast and started working in construction. He found his new world to be intimidating and completely different from that of the academic world he'd just left. Thomas says the incident he was most mortified over - a forklift accident he caused - is the one that made him a true construction worker. He talks to Dick about what it was like to work in an entirely different world - with an entirely different set of rules.
Music heard in this story: Construction by Donald Byrd & Booker Little for the album The Third World
Joanne Charron decided to give up plastic for her New Year's resolution. That's right: no plastic. She felt that the amount of plastic she was using in her daily life was out of control, and after being told that the plastic she does intends to recycle may not actually be recycled properly, she made a decision: no more! She talks to Dick about the things that she misses, and what happens when she just can't figure out a way around the no-plastic rule.
Music heard in this show: Wait (Whisper Song) [Instrumental] for the album Instrumental Icons, Vol. 3
With all the talk of testing of youngsters on subjects like math and science, we thought it was time to hear a story of how kids fall in love with science.
Back in 1962 when the space race was on, Georg Deutsch approached Steven Schwarcz in the lunch line at junior high and asked, "Do you want to start a rocket society?" That encounter started a relationship that would last for decades, span several rocket experiments, and see their launching of the first non-governmental satellite. Georg and Steven cut class to study rocket science, visited top scientists - and even today, they watch closely when satellites go into space.
They talk to Dick Gordon about their adventures in rocket science as young men, launching rockets - both legally and illegally.
Georg Deutsch
Dave Owen heard Dick's conversation with Steve DiJoseph, who gave his television up years ago. Dave wrote in because he also gave up his television many years ago. But Dave also gave up his refrigerator. He tells Dick Gordon what he and his family do without a refrigerator, and what it is about the refrigerator that made him decide to have it hauled away.
Contact UsWhen Freddie Kiger moved into his apartment in the mid-1980's, he came across a trunk left by the previous owner. He never gave the trunk much thought, and just pushed it into a corner for years.
Then one night he decided to take a look inside. He found photos and letters which documented a woman's entire life, and discovering more about her became a passion for him. Freddie talks with Dick Gordon about his fascination with what he saw inside that mysterious trunk.
Ethel Clark Holbrook - larger>>
Many of us have made (and are now attempting to keep) our New Year's resolutions. Often these resolutions are all about changing something in our lives drastically. But what if the positive change in your life came from horrible tragedy?
Cali Lovett was just drifting through life during the second half of her 20's. She'd completed a college degree, but she wasn't using it. She was waiting tables and spending a lot of time partying.
But one weekend, Cali was driving her mother's car on the highway when she had to swerve to avoid hitting a dog. She lost control of the car, crossed the median, and crashed into an oncoming car.
The accident killed the driver of the other vehicle. Cali tells Dick how this event changed her life in ways she never expected.
