Dear Friends,
THIS WEEK’S PODCAST AND RADIO PROGRAM:
(01:05) Post-election sanity, with Dr. David Drake;
(18:06) Talking with Trump voters: Joel Brown;
(51:27) Where growing food is required, with Kathy Byrnes Fallon.
Click here for a short selection from my Chopin Plus recordings.
Sporadically over the past few years, I’ve managed to memorize and record all 21 Chopin Nocturnes. Because I can’t help myself, I took some liberty with the recordings, working in improvisations, B-roll, and an occasional song or classical guitar piece.
Serious classical music aficionados might be appalled. I’m ok with that. The recordings aren’t for the concert-hall crowd. They’re for family, friends, and fellow travelers in the struggle for peace, justice, and a sustainable future.
“What do Chopin Nocturnes have to do with peace, justice, and a sustainable future?” you ask.
I’ll let Emma Goldman respond: “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”
With that in mind, Kathy and I are hosting a series of house parties to raise funds for Birds & Bees Urban Farm and the Fallon Forum. I’ll perform material from my soon-to-be-released “Chopin Plus” album. Kathy and I will talk about our work to (1) relocalize food production, (2) reclaim the public airwaves for civil dialogue, and (3) address the existential crises humanity faces. There’ll be plenty of time for discussion, of course.
Not to disappoint Ms. Goldman, we’ll serve wine and some tasty tidbit made with ingredients from our garden, or from other local gardens and farms. Stay tuned for date-and-time detail.
In the meantime, check out this week’s podcasts and radio show:
POST ELECTION SANITY. For those threatening to flee the US in the wake of Donald Trump’s reelection, my first guest, Dr. David Drake, offers his professional take on how to maintain perspective and balance.
An option David and I strongly suggest you don’t choose is the “Escape from Reality” tour. For $40,000 a year, a cruise ship company, Villa Vie Residences, will whisk you away from the next Trump presidency for one, two, three, or even four years. David and I talk about the wrong-headedness of this “solution” to post-election depression — and also the horrible impact the cruise ship industry has on the environment.
TALKING WITH TRUMP VOTERS. My friend and neighbor Joel Brown served as a Democratic lawmaker from rural Iowa in the 1980s and early 1990s. (Yes, rural Iowans used to elect Democrats!)
Over time, Joel became so disgruntled with the Democratic Party that he’s now a Republican. All of us, especially the leaders of the Iowa Democratic Party, would do well to listen to his reasons for abandoning his former party and what inclined him to vote for Donald Trump.
If you’re among those who claim that all Trump voters are either stupid, racist, misogynist, or all of the above, you definitely need to listen to this conversation. We need to understand where Joel and tens of millions of other Americans are coming from. They are not the enemy.
I’ll have more of these conversations over the next few months. Pat Bertroche, another Trump voter, was on my program in November. Here’s a link to that conversation, beginning at the 1:13 mark.
WHERE GROWING FOOD IS REQUIRED. Kathy dug into a fascinating story about the Dutch community of Oosterwold, where residents must grow food on half their property. Oosterwold is home to 5,000 people, with a growing waiting list. Some residents are mostly self-sufficient while others plant apple trees or lease their land to professional farmers.
I’m not sure how a requirement to grow food would be received here in the land of “nobody’s gonna tell me what to do with my property.” But Oosterwold should inspire elected officials in American cities and counties to loosen restrictions on residents who want to grow their own food. For example, why is it against the law in some Des Moines suburbs to plant a garden on your front lawn?
I’ll conclude by stepping out on a limb here: If Chopin (whose use of “rubato” provided a liberating rhythmic freedom to his music) were alive today and living in Iowa, he’d reside in a city where the freedom to plant a garden is not only allowed but encouraged.
Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action. — Ed Fallon
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In addition to our PODCAST, listen to the Fallon Forum on these affiliates:
– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)
– WGRN 94.1 FM (Columbus, Ohio)