Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: – Many towns, business owners and home owners think about and plan for the future in some way… how has the issue of climate sharpened focus on the need to plan for and adapt to sea level rise and warming? – What does “climate resilience” look like from each of your perspectives… what examples provide you with inspiration? – What are the key challenges you face as you engage your communities and plan for climate resilience? Who do you get to answer sceptics? – Where can other communities get help with these challenges? Other examples of working within and across town boundaries, etc. Guest/s: Kathleen Billings, Town Manager, Stonington Susie Arnold, director Center for Climate and Community Resilience, Island Institute Carla Guenthher, Senior Scien
Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: Profiles of three community music organizations: Bagaduce Music, Ellsworth Community Music Institute, and Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine. – Signature programs of each organization? How has each organization evolved? – Make up of “faculty” and creative leaders? Target participants and audiences? – What is your organization’s mix of teaching and performance? – What is your mix of local talent and inspiring musicians from away? – How does making music benefit those involved? – How does making music build community? (examples of collaboration?) – How is each organization led and funded? – Where might listeners learn more about your organizations and how to get involved? Guest/s: Bennett Konesni, Executive Direc
Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: What is the history and mission of Island Readers and Writers (IRW)? Offer some examples of how authors have connected with student readers, using their books to inspire student readers to become writers as well. Where does reading and writing fit into the aspirations of pre Kindergarten to 8th grade education in Maine? IRW belief in essential role of reading to foster the healthy development of children as confident, curious, and engaged learners, and empathetic and active citizens. How does IRW connect with classroom teachers and their schools? What is the engagement before, during and after the visit by authors? What is life like for classroom teachers and their students in the present day? Expectations, aspirations and realities? H
Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: Overview of College of the Atlantic’s Summer Institute, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society Reflections on what “exploration” means in the 21st century Preview of sessions led by Nadia Rosenthal on the science of viruses and implications for global health Preview of session led by Kim Stanley Robinson, on Space: Our Last Great Commons Guest/s: Darron Collins, President of College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor Nadia Rosenthal, Scientific Director, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The Ministry for the Future, science fiction writer Other links: Summer Institute at College of the Atlantic Can Science Fiction Wake Us Up to Our Climate Reality? – The New Yorker, January 24, 2022 Abou
Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: Advocacy and Non-violent Direct Action: A conversation with George Lakey and Sue Inches. How do we make change in the face of policies that seem wrong, either because they harm people or the earth? Some situations call for building relationships with policy makers and using the art of persuasion. But if persuasion doesn’t work, a backup plan might include non-violent direct action, confronting those in power and stirring the public as a result of media attention. Our conversation with two activists and authors help us understand these choices and how they fit into today’s landscape of change. Topics include: What is the connection between advocacy and non-violent direct action, with one or two examples and lessons learned along the