Dear Friends,
Last things first, with podcast time stamps:
Marian Rose (Raymond) Smith (left) with Kathy’s mom, Rosa Lee, circa 1950.
FOOD (53:26). We wrap up this week’s podcast and radio show with Kathy paying tribute to her Aunt Marian, who died this month at the glorious age of 99.
Marian was Kathy’s mom’s older sister and the mother of twelve children. In addition to an old-school farming operation with hogs, corn, beans, alfalfa, and sorghum, Marian ruled over a huge garden and two full kitchens!
Between preserving food for the winter and serving three meals a day to 14 people, the kitchens pretty much ran full-time. Marian’s apple pies in particular were known far and wide.
It’s my contention that 21st century America has much to learn from Marian Smith and the farming practices of a bygone era. As supply chains are further disrupted from climate change and other calamities, large gardens and small-scale meat production will become necessities, not novelties.
KINDNESS (36:18). Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. His weekly column is one of my favorites, and he joins me this week to discuss kindness. Here’s one of the uplifting stories Randy shares:
“Katie Steller, a Minneapolis hair stylist, is an inspirational phenomenon. She is motivated by the belief that if fear is contagious, then why can’t kindness be contagious, too?
“In 2017, discouraged by stories of hate, pain and despair, she did what she was equipped to do. She took her red stylist’s chair out onto the streets of Minneapolis and began giving free haircuts to needy people without homes or jobs.
“Roadsides, medians and beneath overpasses became her salon. She talked with the people she encountered. She listened to them. And she cut their hair.
“’It became clear that being kind is never a wasted action, and the impact can create a ripple effect of good,’ Steller tells people. ‘If we want to see changes in our world, it needs to start with showing up and being kind to the person right in front of you.’”
OHIO (18:54). A longtime friend and astute observer of politics, Greg Maynard, joins me to discuss how some Ohio Republican politicians are trying to undo the will of the public, who voted overwhelmingly this month to protect reproductive rights.
Ohio Republican elected officials have also ignored the public and the courts on the state’s gerrymandered legislative and congressional district maps. So far, they’re getting away with it. What happens leading up to the 2024 general election will be incredibly important.
IOWA (1:21). Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds boasts of the state’s budget “surplus” even as she ignores critical services. Dr. Maureen McCue joins me for that conversation. Maureen has devoted her life to finding ways to support public health and provide universal health care access as part of her work as a primary care practitioner and as a leader with Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility.
With the Iowa legislative session set to begin in just over two months, Maureen encourages all concerned Iowa voters to challenge Reynolds and the Republican-controlled legislature to prioritize health care, child care, services to people with disabilities, and other public investments that are much-needed and severely underfunded.
Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action!
Ed Fallon
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Ed Fallon