Do we have more in common than divides us? Thought-provoking conversations on the street & with special guests from the arts.
Episodes
Sunday Aug 14, 2016
Sunday Aug 14, 2016
Broadcast on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It's A Question Of Balance® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations - out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Out And About – Conversations with People on the Street about Questions That Matter: Where Do We Draw The Privacy Line in a Public Space?
From a legal perspective there is only an expectation of privacy in public in very limited circumstances. Nevertheless, there has always been an informal code of conduct governing our respect for others’ personal space and privacy in public. Nowadays with the advent of social media and nearly every phone being a camera has this code of conduct changed? What level of privacy do we expect in a public space? How much privacy do we accord others? Is this dependent on how we were brought up? Or what our friends do? When posting content acquired in a public space do people even think about when it’s appropriate to do so? Is there a difference between taking video or photos to share just with friends in person, and posting that photo or video on social media?
There’s been a lot of discussion of surveillance by the state via CCTV cameras, particularly prevalent in the UK, with the whole fear of ‘Big Brother is watching you’. Is it possible though that we the people are in danger of actually becoming Big Brother by voluntarily posting so much information about ourselves and other people so that there is no real privacy? Due to the possibility to search information online and the ease with which law enforcement agencies and technology companies can aggregate data, a lot of information about people that once would have been considered personal is now readily available. Do you feel we have changed our perception of what personal or private information constitutes?
What do you think? For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
In Out And About we consider topics with local relevance and global significance. The idea is to get us thinking about the questions that affect us all - to stimulate new thinking, or clarify what we already feel. To hear how other people’s opinions may differ from or be similar to our own.
Sunday Aug 07, 2016
Sunday Aug 07, 2016
Broadcast on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It’s A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations – out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Arts Interview: In-Depth Conversation with Juliet Sergeant
This week as her special guest from the arts Ruth Copland is pleased to be interviewing award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant. This year, Juliet designed the Modern Slavery Garden for the Royal Horticultural Society’s world-famous Chelsea Flower Show. The garden was a thought-provoking conceptual evocation of modern slavery and was the first social campaign garden in the flower show’s 104-year history. It was awarded a Gold Medal and the coveted People’s Choice Prize. Juliet Sargeant has been winning awards for 20 years for her imaginative solutions to complex garden problems, including awards from the Society of Garden Designers in 2012 and 2015, for sustainability and hard landscaping design. Having previously worked as a medical doctor and with a degree in psychology, Juliet sees gardens and landscapes as central to the health and well-being of individuals and society as a whole. Through her garden design business, Juliet creates truly individual spaces for clients, which help them to connect with the landscape and enjoy the full potential of their gardens.
In addition to her degrees in medicine, Juliet Sargeant has a BA Honours degree in Garden Design and teaches professional garden design to students at KLC School of Design based at Hampton Court Palace, and also recreational courses to garden enthusiasts. In addition, she is a visiting lecturer for the world’s leading museum for art and design, the Victoria and Albert museum in London. She is former Chair of The Society of Garden Designers, and is now on the Royal Horticultural Society selection panel for show gardens and she acts as a judge as well. Juliet has had her gardens featured on the BBC, Channel 4 and Meridian Television, as well as in several magazines. She also works as a presenter fronting video pieces for the BBC. She writes occasionally for the garden press and has co-written a planting book with Catherine Heatherington called A New Naturalism. Juliet Sargeant is a finalist for the GG2 Leadership Awards 2016, which for 16 years has celebrated leaders and role models in the community. She has also been nominated as a London South Bank ‘Change-maker’. Juliet sees garden design as an art form, and looks forward to the day when gardens will be fully valued for their contribution to society.
For more info visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Sunday Jul 31, 2016
Sunday Jul 31, 2016
Broadcast on 30 July 2016 on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It's A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations - out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Out And About – Conversations with People on the Street about Questions That Matter: What Does America Being Great Mean To You?
According to Inquisitr, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has said that the 1980s was the best decade as America was great then because the economy was so strong it exploded and America’s enemies feared it. Do you think about America in terms of being ‘great’? When people think of America being great are they thinking primarily in terms of the economy and military power? What qualities would America embody to be great in your opinion? Is being great based on how America is viewed from the outside - how it dominates the world or how it is viewed as a world power economically and militarily? Or is it more about how it treats its own people and is viewed by them? Great is a superlative. It’s common for Americans to say that America is the greatest country in the world. How important is it to you that America is the best country in the world? If you allow yourself to be nostalgic - are there things that you remember fondly that don’t exist today that you wish did? Do you think America's greatest years are behind it or could still be ahead of it? What does America being great mean to you?
What do you think? For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
In Out And About we consider topics with local relevance and global significance. The idea is to get us thinking about the questions that affect us all - to stimulate new thinking, or clarify what we already feel. To hear how other people’s opinions may differ from or be similar to our own.
Monday Jul 25, 2016
Monday Jul 25, 2016
Broadcast on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It’s A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations – out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Arts Interview: In-Depth Conversation with Steven Friedman
This week as her special guest from the arts Ruth Copland is pleased to be interviewing scientist, philosopher, artist and performer Steven Friedman. Excelling in academics from an early age, Steven’s contributions to molecular biology and medicine range from developing methods to work out the structure of viruses to conceiving smart chemotherapeutics against cancer. Steven Friedman’s writings include philosophy, poetry, and plays; his art, ranging from representational pastels to acrylic under acrylic poles, has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and has entered major private collections around the world. A prominent contemporary intellectual, Richard T. Murphy, has written that Steven Friedman is “the only person I have ever known who I am sure is a genius, someone whom one could pair with Einstein and not sound silly.”
As a young man, Steven Friedman enrolled in Harvard, majoring in philosophy and graduating cum laude in General Studies. He was then accepted into the PhD program in molecular biology at UCLA under a grant from the National Cancer Institute and then into UCLA's School of Medicine. Steven’s writings include over 200 works of philosophy; six collections of lyric poetry; the play, A Passion of the Mind (1980); and the philosophical narrative poem, The Books of Joshua (2008). His output has also included such unconventional forms as the beachbook T Lite Book by the Sea in 5000 tealights next to Santa Monica Pier in 2009 and the skybook, Proving God in Worlds from Even to Odd, over Huntington Beach, California, in 2010. Steven’s one-man show, Phalaris’s Bull: Solving the Riddle of the Great Big World is a personal and poetic narrative addressing philosophy, art, and science. The show was described by The New Yorker as a ‘truly distinctive piece of theatre’ and ran at The Beckett Theater at Theater Row, NYC, from December 12, 2015 to January 16, 2016. As a fine artist, Steven Friedman has been represented at Robert Berman Gallery at Bergamot Station Arts Center in Los Angeles since 1999.
For more info visit itsaquestionofbalance.com
Tuesday Jul 19, 2016
Tuesday Jul 19, 2016
Broadcast on 16 July 2016 on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It's A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations - out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Out And About – Conversations with People on the Street about Questions That Matter: What Qualities Do You Want in A World Leader?
This week we consider ‘If You Are For Something Must You Be Against Something?’ There is a well-known quote from bible “Whoever is not with me is against me”. But in everyday life if you are for something must you automatically be against something else? It would seem in the US with the current political climate and also the issues with the recent shootings by police and of police that this is how many of us feel. We feel if we are pro-black then we must be anti-police and vice versa or if we support one political candidate then we are against the others. If you feel strongly for something does it make you take up a position against something else?
Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency. According to work by Eddie Harmon Jones and Kracht and Woodard, when new conflicting information is presented mental stress is created. If this is not alleviated by changing our view then other ways to reduce stress include misperception; rejection or refutation of the new information; seeking support from those with similar views; and trying to convert others to our way of thinking. When you feel strongly about something do you feel a tendency to want to reject information that conflicts with your views? Or convert others to your way of thinking? If more of us were able to to hold conflicting views in mind - for example that we can support the police and be critical of them - what effect do you think that might have on finding solutions to social problems? For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
In Out And About we consider topics with local relevance and global significance. The idea is to get us thinking about the questions that affect us all - to stimulate new thinking, or clarify what we already feel. To hear how other people’s opinions may differ from or be similar to our own.
Monday Jun 20, 2016
Monday Jun 20, 2016
Broadcast on 20 June 2015 on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It's A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations - out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Out And About – Conversations with People on the Street about Questions That Matter: What Qualities Do You Want in A World Leader?
Dwight D. Eisenhower said “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.” John F. Kennedy stated that “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” Jack Welch from GE advised “Keep learning; don't be arrogant by assuming that you know it all, that you have a monopoly on the truth; always assume that you can learn something from someone else.” What qualities do you want in a world leader? Historically we seemed to have valued more the ‘hard’ qualities of leadership, for example strength and control, but perhaps today we prefer a less paternalistic and more partnership approach. So do world leaders today need different qualities than they did in the past? Henry Ford stated “working together is success”. Perhaps consensus-building could provide more solutions or is ‘might is right’ still the best way forward? Are different qualities needed to be the leader of the United States than other countries? Is there still resistance in the US to having a woman as leader?
In Out And About we consider topics with local relevance and global significance. The idea is to get us thinking about the questions that affect us all - to stimulate new thinking, or clarify what we already feel. To hear how other people’s opinions may differ from or be similar to our own.
Monday Jun 13, 2016
Monday Jun 13, 2016
Broadcast on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It’s A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations – out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Arts Interview: In-Depth Conversation with Camilla d’Errico
This week as her special guest from the arts Ruth Copland pleased to be interviewing Italian-Canadian Camilla d’Errico, urban contemporary painter, illustrator, character creator and comic book artist. Camilla d’Errico has distinguished herself as one of the breakthrough artists in Pop Surrealism’s New Figurative movement through her ability to seamlessly weave manga and western styles with surrealist elements, combined with an extensive emotional palette. Based in Vancouver, Camilla is a prolific artist who has released eight books, including the best-selling Femina and Fauna and Pop Manga, and multiple comics, as well as showing her work in art galleries across North America.
Widely recognized for her captivating yet playful style, Camilla d’Errico is a regular fixture on the comic convention circuit, making appearances at around 10 conventions each year. She is published by Random House/Watson Guptill books, Boom! Studios, Image Comics, IDW, Dark Horse Comics and more, with self-publishing roots for her literature-inspired series, Tanpopo. Her books comprise graphic novels, collections of her artwork, and also instructional books on how to draw and paint, her latest publications being Pop Painting: Inspiration and Techniques from the Pop Surrealism Art Phenomenon and an art coffee table book entitled Rainbow Children.
Camilla d’Errico’s work has a large fan-base which includes Stan Lee, Emma Roberts, Felicia Day, Neil Gaiman, Ronda Rousey, Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears. She has been covered by media such as Forbes, MTV, Huffington Post, The Mary Sue, Examiner, and Paste Magazine. In 2016 Camilla has a solo exhibition at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles entitled ‘Dances With Dreams’ where she is debuting a new and exclusive collection of original oil paintings and framed ink drawings for exhibition and sale. An entrepreneurial artist, Camilla’s work can also be seen on toys, clothes and accessories through creative partners Hasbro, Disney and Mattel, and she recently expanded her art style into fashion eyewear with Coastal.
For more info visit itsaquestionofbalance.com
Sunday Jun 05, 2016
Sunday Jun 05, 2016
Broadcast on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It’s A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations – out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Special Arts Report: Ruth Copland Talks to Award-winning Artist Rose Sellery and Personal Clothing Stylist and Blogger Tina Brown
PiVot: The Art of Fashion, founded by Rose Sellery and Tina Brown, brings art and fashion together, producing incredibly unusual fashion events showcasing the work of cutting-edge fashion designers and artists’ one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces. This philanthropic endeavor actively seeks to promote and aid in the professional development of its participants. Artists’ creations transcend the imagination and designers’ collections awe the crowd and blur the lines between fashion and art. PiVot works with artists and designers to help them express their vision, collaborate, build community and move forward with runway performances, workshops, exhibitions and the PiVot Designer's Market.
Rose Sellery’s creative exploration has been forged around human dynamics: the fragility of the family, gender roles, social issues and the intricacies of our relationships to one another, affording her the opportunity to explore the mysteries of who we are and develop conceptual art garments, as well as narrative photomontage and sculpture. Inspired by the spoken word, Rose Sellery reinterprets collected slang, derogatory words and worn, thoughtlessly sanctioned expressions. She works in the materials essential to the piece; from metal to bone, cigarette butts to rose petals, fabric to photographs, creating humorous, thought provoking and sometimes disturbing three-dimensional objects and wearable art. Rose has curated art exhibits and fashion events around California and has exhibited artwork both nationally and internationally, including the World of Wearable Art, in New Zealand and work currently on exhibit in The Hague in the Netherlands. She is the recipient of numerous awards, one being the coveted Gail Rich Award. Rose was one of the driving forces behind FashionART Santa Cruz for nine years. She co-founded PiVot: The Art of Fashion with Tina Brown. In addition to her conceptual art garments, photomontage and sculpture Rose manages the Cabrillo College Gallery in Aptos, CA.
Tina Brown is a personal clothing stylist and blogger with a B.S. in Environmental Design from UC Davis, her studies emphasizing clothing as an environment for the body, not solely fashion. She interned with a French milliner in San Francisco and worked at Britex Fabrics where she took her first consignment making hats for a major runway event for Macy’s. Tina went on to work for the next ten years on fashion photo shoots and runway events in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles. Some of her clients included Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Giorgio Armani. Her credits also include movie set costume stylist, and makeovers for clients ranging from female executives and retired professionals to new moms. She currently is running her personal makeover business, ilkastyle, in Santa Cruz. She also donates her time each spring mentoring local middle and high school students who participate in FashionTeens Santa Cruz. Tina co-founded PiVot: The Art of Fashion having previously worked for 6 years as Designer Coordinator for FashionArt Santa Cruz.
For more info and to hear previous shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Monday May 30, 2016
Monday May 30, 2016
Left to Right: Jen Heck, Lina Qadri. Photo by Michael Dawson
Broadcast on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It’s A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations – out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Special Arts Report: Ruth Copland Talks to Award-winning Film-maker Jen Heck and Artist and Academic Lina Qadri
The Promised Band had its world premiere at the Cinequest 2016 Film Festival where it won the award for Best Documentary. Ruth Copland interviewed the director of the film, Jen Heck, and the lead protagonist, Lina Qadri, as part of a series of special arts reports from the festival. The Promised Band is the story of a fake rock band comprised of Israeli and Palestinian women who decide that, despite their dubious musical talent, a music group is the best cover story to meet and interact with each other. Aided by a naive but well-meaning American TV producer, our unlikely musicians have to cross borders, repeatedly and sometimes illegally. They have to secure permits to travel when possible, and find safe spaces to practice and perform. Although their societies are kept apart by the Israeli separation wall - solid concrete 26-feet tall and 3-feet thick - the women connect through their sameness, and their lives become entangled in ways they couldn't expect.
Jen Heck completed her MFA at Columbia University’s film program in 2009. She has had work at major film festivals including Sundance, The Hamptons, and Palm Springs; at museums including the Whitney (Biennial 2004) and MoMA; and on networks including MTV, Bravo, and VH1. Jen Heck has won awards at festivals for her short narrative films Airplanes and Salamander, both photographed by Martina Radwan. Jen Heck won the Canon-Atomos Documentary Film-maker Award for The Promised Band at Cinequest 2016. She currently works as a documentary TV producer/director in New York.
Born in Kuwait, of a Syrian mother and a Palestinian father, Lina Qadri studied Fine Arts and Graduated from AN Najah in Nablus City, Palestine. She is currently studying for an MA in Gender and Development at Birzeit university. Lina Qadri is one of the main protagonists in The Promised Band and is the only band member in the film who is based in Palestine.
For more information on the film and upcoming screenings visit www.thepromisedband.com
Wednesday May 25, 2016
Wednesday May 25, 2016
Broadcast on 21 March 2015 on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.
It's A Question Of Balance ® radio show balances the intellectual with the creative, exploring whether we have more in common than divides us through thought-provoking conversations - out and about with people on the street on different topics, and in the studio with inspiring guests from the arts. Balance is not a compromise. Balance is truth distilled from many places creating cohesive understanding.
Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Arts Interview: In-Depth Arts Conversation with Bob Fitch
This week as her special guest from the arts Ruth is pleased to be interviewing iconic photographer and photo-journalist Bob Fitch. Bob’s photo archives are a principal source for the iconic images of the peace, social justice and cultural movements of the last 60 years including intimate photo documentary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Civil Rights Movement; Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers; Dorothy Day and the Catholic Workers; Joan Baez and David Harris and the Draft Resistance; Fathers Phillip and Daniel Berrigan; Congressman Ronald V. Dellums and other participants in this vibrant period of history. Such is the quality and significance of Bob’s work that in October 2013 Bob's images were acquired by Stanford University to establish the Bob Fitch Photographic Archive at the Stanford University Libraries. Bob’s photographs have also been featured in two Smithsonian traveling exhibits. Bob moved to Watsonville, CA in 2008 where he manages his photo archives and, although affected by Parkinson’s disease, remains active in community empowerment programs.
For more info and to hear previous shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com