Early smallWorld archive show about “swingers”.

Interview with Richard M. Smith. We discuss how to tell if someone has been reading your email; DidTheyReadIt.com; finding out what kind of emails the National Security Agency and what email providers might be helping out the NSA; is President Bush overstepping boundries on domestic spying?; the first attack on the World Trade Center; going to Afghanistan to shut down al-Qaeda; is trading civil liberties to combat the war on terrorism realistic?; Mohammed Atef dialing the wrong number; monitoring who visits the White House web site; when he decided to change his focus on software engineeering to privacy issues; can DIRECTV monitor all the shows you are watching?; secure digital privacy from the government to the manufacturors to the consumers; encrypting your hard drive; transactions and surveillance at Amazon; RFIDs, embedded networking processors and cookies; can we live under unrelenting scrutiny?; credit card companies becoming life raiders; Tony Blair and the Microsoft Word dossier; where is digital surveillance taking us?

Featured song is “Untitled” by Triple Ave.

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Last.fm is a free service that tracks your musical taste, finds similar users, and provides musical recommendations and free personalised radio.

Interview with Martin Stiksel, co-founder of of the Last.fm.

We discuss what Last.fm is and how it works; scrobbling; the advantages to using Last.fm’s donation model; allaying the fears of record companies about the digital distrubution of the songs on their label through Last.fm; how Last.fm helps promote music for record labels, bands and musicians; people stealing music downloaded from Pandora; why you can not play specific tracks with Last.fm; how Last.fm has changed his listening habits; how Last.fm began; future plan s for the company; howmusic is going to be created, purchased, distributed and listened to in the next 10 years; one of my favortie Last.fm music tags; my sole complaint with Last.fm.

Featured song is “Purpose and the Decay” by Sigcell.

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3 parts: interviews with several polyamorous couples and one woman in an open relationship.

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Interview with James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency.

We discuss what his book, The Long Emergency, is about; why he doesn’t see his book as a prognostication of a doomsday; writing about living in a world of peak oil with a certain relish; the hardships that we all will face; political uncertainty; why he believes that alternative such as biodiesel, electric cars and solar power will not and should not preserve our current lifestyle; America’s short-term memory loss of the 1973 oil embargo; President Carter’s environmental legislation; how we became dependent on other countries for oil; OPEC; the oil fields of Cantarell, Burgan, Ghawar and Daikin; how deep our petroleum dependency goes; the psychology of previous investments; the Rocky Mountain Institute; the hypercar; Asian pirates in the Pacific coast; the breakdown of governments in the world; designer viruses to kill off surplus population; Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution; his “racist” views on Southern culture; living in the last days of a belle epoch; the change in economies amenities, agriculture, cities and justice; looking for the silver lining; the Congress of New Urbanism; what has changed since he wrote The Long Emergency; what his time line is for the coming Long Emergency.

Audio from the video of Bruce Sterling’s talk on Effective Activism was played with kind permission of Big Picture TV. Click here to view the video.

Featured song is “Drag Of The Mask” by Martini Henry.

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Interview with Laurie and Kandrix, creators of the A Monk’s Tale comic book.

We talk about the format of their comic book, the creative process and the mundane aspects of self-publishing. Visit their web site.

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Jeffrey J. Kripal, Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion

Esalen Institute is a combination alt-think tank, academic community and sensual retreat perched on the Pacific-facing cliffs of Big Sur, California. Its thinkers formed the leading edge of American culture for decades. Here was ground zero of the 1960s social revolution: the sweaty hot-tub commingling of free love, tantric yoga, Buddhist meditation and Gestalt therapy-as well as the academy for the propagation of the human-potential movement. Outlaw all-stars like Aldous Huxley, Allen Ginsberg and Hunter S. Thompson felt the pull of the place. Now scholar Jeffrey Kripal has produced the first all-encompassing history of Esalen: its intellectual, social, personal, literary and spiritual passages. Kripal brings us up-to-date and takes us deep beneath historical surfaces in this definitive, elegantly written book

Interview with Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion.

We discuss what is the Esalen Institute and what is >Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion about; what he felt he needed to expand upon from his last book, On The Edge Of The Future: Esalen And The Evolution Of American Culture; the myths and reality of Esalen Institute; what initially attracted him to the Esalen; ideas that came form the Esalen Institue that have become mainstream; balancing science and religion and how to incorporate the two in life; does science try to encapsulate divinity; Frederic Spiegelberg; the connection between sexuality and spirituality; how America is dealing with questions of gender.

Featured song is “Concerto No. 1 for Tabla and Percussion Quartet” by Shawn Mativetsky.

Interview with Adam Weissman of Freegan.info.

We discuss what freeganism is and how it began; how he found out about freeganism; urban foraging; really, really free markets; squatting in abandoned buildings; guerilla gardening; Food Not Bombs; dumpster diving; Dr. Ruth Kava of the American Council of Science and Health; Dr. Michael Greger; Oprah Winfrey’s food disparagement trial in Texas; why some freegans do not believe that veganism is free of exploitation; why freegans values are more loosely defined than vegans; the practice of plate scraping; shoplifting and employee scams amongst some freegans; Coca-Cola involvement in destroying the water supply in India and murdering union organizers in Columbia; Procter & Gamble’s animal testing; Nike and The Gap’s sweatshop labor.

Featured song is “Move Somethin’” by Scot-Free.

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Hey, everybody, got a great show for you today! Our guest is Keith Goldman and he builds amazing LEGO dioramas. Today’s show is an enhanced podcast so you’ll get to see his dioramas on your iPad, iPhone, iPod or on iTunes and see for yourself how amazing they are.

Come to think of it, you might have already seen dioramas based on the Logan’s Run movie last week on the web on blogs like Make and io9, which is how I found out about Keith.

I think the reason why people got so excited about Keith’s LEGO Logan’s Run diorama is because they combine to magical elements: LEGOs and Logan’s Run.

LEGOs are magical because you can build your own toys and create your own stories around them. And then you can take them apart and create something new. And while there seems like an infinite combination of things you can make with LEGOs you’re also challenged with building within the constraints of LEGOs plastic bricks, and that’s part of the fun, too.

And Logan’s Run?

If you recall, that was a movie where people lived in a domed city that was I’m complete ecological harmony but was essentially a shiny mall. Everyone was attractive and were complete hedonists. The only drawback to this utopia was that you had to die when you turned 30.

Some people didn’t want to die and wanted to escape to a place called Sanctuary where they could live out the rest of their lives. These people were called runners and the people who hunted them down were called Sandmen. And one Sandman, Logan, our titular hero, decides to run with our heroinn, Jessica, which takes them outside the domed city to the real world.

Looking back Logan’s Run seems kind of cheesy but there’s a lot going on in that movie. Logan’s Run is a retelling of the Garden of Eden story, but in reverse. Logan and Jessica are Adam and Eve who are kept infantilized in an artificial paradise. It’s only until they flee into nature that they become adults and can have a mature relationship with each other.

Logan’s Run can also be seen as a story about how civilization flattens us as individuals to better fit in a society. Logan’s Run can also be seen as a retelling of Plato’s cave story. When Logan returns from the natural world to the domed city to tell people that they don’t have to die, that there is a world beyond the domed city, he, like the character from Plato’s story, is regarded as crazy and a threat to their comfortable illusions.

Like a said there’s a lot going on.

And finally, as fake as the domed city looks in comparison to our CGI generated movies, I wanted to live in that world. By sheer force of imagination that world became real to me as a kid, and that’s kind of what it’s like building with LEGOs.

And that brings us back to Keith. So let’s go talk to him.

Songs heard on today’s show:

1. The Daisy Riots “Girls Don’t Play Lego”

California composer Terry Riley launched what is now known as the Minimalist movement with his revolutionary classic In C in 1964. This seminal work provided the conception for a form comprised of interlocking repetitive patterns that was to change the course of 20th century music and strongly influence the works of Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams as well as rock groups such as The Who, The Soft Machine, Curved Air, Tangerine Dream and many others.

When I first started having bands on my show at WMFO I was heavily into hardcore, punk, industrial, hip hop, anything that was aggro and in your face. But after a few years I got bored with that format and embraced my freeform roots. The live performances I had on my show reflected that change. I started inviting blues or jazz or pop bands to play over the air.

At one point I wanted to have a small orchestra perform a piece over the air. But the challenge was what piece could I choose that a bunch of musicians could easily learn that didn?t require that they be a virtuoso on their instruments?

A friend suggested Terry Riley?s In C.

Let me explain how In C works so you can appreciate this month?s installment of the Small World Studio Sessions.

In C is an aleatoric musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964. By aleatory we mean music in which some element of the composition is left to chance or some primary element of a composed work?s realization is left to the determination of its performers. In the case of In C, the piece can be performed by a group of 35 musicians or smaller. As the title suggests, the piece is in the key of C.

From Wikipedia:

?In C consists of 53 short, numbered musical phrases; each phrase may be repeated an arbitrary number of times. Each musician has control over which phrase he or she plays: and players are encouraged to play the phrases starting at different times, even if they are playing the same phrase. The performance directions state that the musical ensemble should try to stay within two to three phrases of each other. The phrases must be played in order, although some may be skipped. As detailed in some editions of the score, it is customary for one musician (?traditionally played by a beautiful girl,? Riley notes) to play the note C (in octaves) in repeated eighth notes. This drone functions as a metronome and is referred to as ?The Pulse.?

?In C has no set duration; performances can last as little as fifteen minutes or as long as several hours, although Riley indicates ?performances normally average between 45 minutes and an hour and a half.??

The concept of In C was exciting to me and after hearing a recording of In C I decided to form an ensemble to perform the piece.

I roamed the streets of Boston and Cambridge for a month, inviting musicians to play In C. Some were friends. Some were friends of friends. Other were street performers. In the end I had gathered 15 musicans to perform In C.

The next stage was to rehearse In C. Getting that many people together at once is a challenge, particularly with musicians. I decided to break up the ensemble into two groups and had them rehearse at my friend Matt?s place, since he had enough room for that many musicians.

Finally we were ready.

One Saturday night I had everyone meet at WMFO to perform In C in our small recording studio. Getting a band of five musicians in there was a challenge but to have an ensemble of 15 people, plus all their instruments and the microphones, was almost more of a feat then putting the ensemble together.

I wanted to be a purist about this performance but I compromised by inviting musicians who played the electric guitar and the keyboard. As long as they staid true to the score I would be happy. Unfortunately, at one point the guitar player decided to improve during the performance. In the end it wasn?t a terrible thing and I?m just glad we managed to pull of In C.

As I mentioned earlier, a beautiful girl is supposed to function as the metronome for the score. Despite our best efforts, we had forgotten that essential part of In C.

Instead of a beautiful girl we had a bearded man act as the metronome. The pulses were played by Michael Bloom, who volunteered to act as the metronome by playing the pulses on his marimba.

Michael had rented a station wagon so he could transport his marimba to the station. Then he had to lug it up three flights of stairs into the studio. His marimba was like a large xylophone so having Michael just play the pulse was a waste but someone had to do it. Thank you again, Michael.

I was a deejay at WMFO for 17 years and performance of Terry Riley?s In C is the moment I am proudest of. I?d like to thank Vera Beren for rescuing the performance and transferring it from a DAT cassette to a CD. I?d also like to thank all 15 of the musicians who made the performance if In C possible.

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Today on the Small World we’ll talk with Roger Snider of Ultra Rigs of the World.

We’ll talk about Dekotora and his project of photographing ultra rigs from around the world.

Dekotora (or Decotora or Art Trucks) is an abbreviation for “Decoration Truck” that describe a kind of loudly decorated truck most commonly found in Japan.

These trucks are typically clad in neon or ultraviolet lights, flamboyant paints, and chrome and gold. These decorations can be found on both the cab and the trailer, and not only on the exterior but also in the interior.

Roger first became interested in trucks while working on shooting photo stills for Doug Pray’s documentary, Big Rigs.

This is an enhanced podcast so you will be able to see Roger’s's photos of these amazing rigs on your MP3 player or browser.

Songs heard on today’s show:

1. Asleep at the Wheel with Leon Rausch “Truck Driver’s Blues (feat. Willie Nelson)” [FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD]
2. Kool Keith feat. KutMasta Kurt “Diesel Truckers Theme” [FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD]

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Interview with Jim White. We discuss corporate bloopers.

The Circle of Success; affairs in the work place; values in business; embezzlement in a religious organization; the IT hostage situation; mission statements; planning and accountability, detoxing your to-do list; his careers as a consultant; how many hours a week he puts in at work; what he does to relax.

Jim White

Author Bruce Sterling reads an excerpt from Carl Sandburg’s “The People, Yes.”

Featured song is “Hummadinger” by Gwenevered.

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Digital Audio Production is Sonic Cinema’s specialty. They create all types of audio productions from original full-cast radio drama, to audio commercials, corporate promotions, film soundscapes, voice-over demos and film, sound tracks and audio books.

Interview with Jack Ward, co-founder of Sonic Cinema Productions.

We discuss how he got into radio theatre; developing Shadowlands Theatre; CKDU 96.5 FM; how The Sonic Society and Sonic Cinema Productions; his literary radio programs Chapter and Verse and Guided Winds; Todd Maffin; the Ideas radio program hosted by Lister Sinclair; the concept behind Shadowlands; Rod Serling; writer Lucille Fletcher; his radio drama, Right Number, Wrong Party; the scope of the projects and people in The Sonic Society; is partner Andrew Dorfman; The Dead Line radio drama; their adaptation of Firefly; Joss Whedon; working within the constrains of someone elese’s universe; Kevin J. Anderson’s Star Wars series; capturing the essence of the characters in Firefly; wherehis love for radio theatre came from; The Firesign Theatre; The Frantics; the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas spoken word CD; radio theatre he currently enjoys; the Claybourne podcast; Bruce Sterling’s Zeitgeist audio book; why radio theatre is close to death; are podcasts obscure; the secrets of making great radio theatre; Actra.

Special thanks to Dani for turning me on to The Sonic Society!

Featured song is “Everybody’s Talkin’ on the Phone” by Howie Newman.

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Hey, everybody, I’ve got a great show for you today!

We’re going to talk with Ian McDonald about his book, The Dervish House, that will be released in July through Pyr.

The Dervish House combines Islamic mysticism, political and economic intrigue, a terrorist threat, and a nanotechnology with the potential to transform every human on the planet. The Dervish House takes place in Istanbul in 2027. The Dervish House is seven days, six characters, three interconnected story strands, one central common core—the eponymous dervish house, that pins all these players together in a weave of intrigue, conflict, drama, and a ticking clock of a thriller.

Ian is a science fiction novelist who’s themes include nanotechnology, postcyberpunk settings, and the impact of rapid social and technological change on non-Western societies.

We’ll also talk with Cory Doctorow about his latest novel, For the Win, a book about gamer kids all over the world who use multiplayer games to organize and fight back against abusive employers by forming a union. It’s a wonderful book that I couldn’t put down.

Cory is a blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of Boing Boing, a blog and directory of wonderful things.

You can download a free electronic copy of For the Win and Cory’s other novels at his website but I encourage you to support Cory by purchasing at least one of his books at your local or online bookstore.

Music featured on today’s show:

1. Futuristic Sex Robot “WoW” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Backini “Istanbul” [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Next time on the small WORLD we’ll talk with Corey Olsen, host of The Tolkien Professor Podcast. Corey is a professor at Washington College and a PhD in medieval literature and The Tolkien Professor Podcast has made me appreciate Tolkien in new ways. Even if you’ve never read The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings I think you’ll enjoy The Tolkien Professor Podcast.

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Today’s show is unique for two reasons: I recorded it on location rather than over Skype in the small WORLD studios. Okay, that’s not so unique but any excuse to get outside and get some sun is good enough for me. The other reason today’s show is unique because my guest is Chris Gondek who is a net friend. We all have net friends these days but they are scattered across the country and across the globe that’s rare that you’d ever meet any of them.

So let me tell you about Chris.

I moved to San Diego by way of Boston and like most transplants I try and keep touch with my hometown. Some people will read their hometown newspapers online or follow their hometown’s sports team. Me? I listen to the MIT Press Podcast.

I never attended MIT but I was a regular patron of the MIT Press Bookstore. It’s a great place! Where else are you going to pick up the Autonomedia‘s Jubilee Saints calendar, a copy of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly and books like a collection of essays about sampling digital music and culture like DJ Spooky‘s Sound Unbound under one roof? The MIT Press Bookstore, that’s where!

So when I found out that the MIT Press Bookstore had launched a podcast I subscribed immediately.

The MIT Press Podcast was a reflection of the bookstore. The podcast featured interviews with various authors and the Podcasts were eclectic and erudite. I was also impressed with the podcast’s host, Chris Gondek. Chris asked insightful and interesting questions. More importantly, it was clear that he has actually read the books by the people he was interviewing. That is unbelievably rare and as a fellow interviewer I appreciated that.

Later I started listening to a podcast called Twitterhood. I really enjoyed Twitterhood because the show feature informal and brief interviews with really interesting people like Guy Kawasaki and Jesse Thorn. I thought the host sounded familiar and when I sent out a request to be a guest I discovered that Twitterhood’s host was none other than Chris Gondek, the MIT Press Podcast.

The interview with Chris was fun but I had even more fun afterwards talking to him about the art of interviewing. I almost never get to talk shop so it was a blast to be able to compare notes with a fellow interviewer. When I found out that Chris was coming to visit San Diego I simply had to meet him! I also wanted to return the favor and interview him.

So enjoy today’s show. And while you’re at it, subscribe to Chris Gondek’s main show, The Invisible Hand, where Chris interviews authors about business management books.

See you next time when my guests will be authors Cory Doctorow and Ian McDonald.

Until then, take care.