Digging into the history of America's love of Halloween
Oct 31, 2024
Underground History explores the origins of spooky stuff on this special Halloween episode.
Mike Green, host of the Jefferson Exchange, with Chelsea Rose, host of Underground History(Photo by Jefferson Exchange Senior Producer Natalie Golay)
Tina Sharp Reuwsaat and Marion Held join the Exchange to discuss how the historical relationship Americans have with collectables, costumes and the iconography of Halloween, and how it has evolved over the past century plus.
Tina Sharp Reuwsaat is a retired curator with the Southern Oregon Historical Society and Baroness of Darkwing Manor, one of Southern Oregon's most beloved haunted houses.
From sunset on October 31 to sunset on November 1 is the traditional celebration of Samhain, (pronounced sow-in). It is a Wiccan holiday, first celebrated by Celtic pagans, and is one of their eight major holidays, or Sabbats. Joining the Exchange to discuss the Celtic tradition of Samhain (SOW IN) is Rebeca Spirit.
According to resources from the Boston Public Library, all Wiccans share some common beliefs. They love and respect nature, and try to live in harmony with the earth. One of their main beliefs is "Harm None." This includes animals, humans, and nature. Samhain was first observed by Celtic Pagans. Samhain marked the Celtic New Year, the end of summer, and the end of the harvest season. It also signaled the beginning of winter, which they associated with death. On this day, the Celts believed the veil between the living and the dead was especially thin. This allowed spirits of the dead to visit the living.
Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead” as it translates in English, began in central and southern Mexico. At that time, mourning the dead was seen as disrespectful. Instead of grieving, it was more important to keep the memory of those who have passed alive. Those who celebrate the holiday believe that at midnight on October 31, the souls of deceased children come down from heaven and reunite with their families on November 1.
The festivities surrounding Dia de los Muertos are filled with calaveras (skulls) and calacas (skeletons). Celebrators wear colorful makeup and costumes, hold parades and parties, sing and dance, and make offerings to lost loved ones. People also create altars in honor of loved ones who have passed. They are decorated with pictures, flowers, candles, the deceased loved one's favorite food, and pan de muerto (bread of the dead).
Note: Despite the painted faces, costumes, skulls and skeletons, it is important to note that this holiday is not a Mexican version of Halloween. Dia de los Muertos is not intended to be a spooky holiday like Halloween. While Halloween is dark and scary, the Day of the Dead is a bright and colorful celebration of life. Both holidays share the theme of death, but the point of Dia de los Muertos is to celebrate the memory of those who have died.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, November 1st is also All Saints Day. They believe the souls of deceased adults come to visit on November 2, which is also known as All Souls Day in the Catholic religion.
Hello, Halloween! A curated list of Spooky Reads
Oct 31, 2024
Four local booksellers give their recommendations for some chill-filled Halloween reading.
Chinook salmon have returned to the Klamath River after 100 years
Oct 30, 2024
OSU researchers gathered lineage data about a local population of Chinook salmon for over 13 years.(Courtesy of Oregon State University)
The first sighting of wild Chinook salmon in a stretch of the Klamath River that had been blocked by dams for over a century marks a pivotal milestone in the river's ecological restoration. Wild Chinook salmon have returned to waters upstream of the site where the Klamath River’s Iron Gate Dam once stood. The removal of a total of four dams in the Klamath River Basin was part of the largest river restoration project in U.S. history.
Joining the Jefferson Exchange to discuss the latest evolution in the process are three guests: Ken Brink, Vice-Chairman of the Karuk Tribal Council, Ren Brownell, Public Outreach Officer for the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, and Damon Goodman, Director of the Klamath, Mt. Shasta and Lassen region of the California Trout organization.
The sighting of Chinook in such a short time following removal of the four Klamath dams, an effort that took several decades, could serve as a model for future restoration projects across the United States, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.
Redding's innovators compete in startup competition starting Nov 1
Oct 30, 2024
( Shasta Economic Development Corporation)
The 9th Annual Shasta Startup Games, produced by the Shasta Economic Development Corporation (EDC) will be in Redding, CA on Nov 1-3.
Katie Janiszewski, Director of Startup Redding, will join the Exchange to discuss.
SHASTA EDC DESCRIPTION: If you’ve started a business or want to — the Startup Games is for you! This is a guided, collaborative, and high-energy event where participants:
Practice the most important things to do with any new idea
Meet like-minded people and collaborate during the event
Engage in friendly competition while learning
Enjoy a unique experience you’ll talk about for years
Oregon plans to reserve a state forest as a carbon warehouse
Oct 29, 2024
Coast Range fog settles on the Elliott State Forest near Coos Bay.(Jes Burns / OPB/EarthFix )
Oregon’s leaders decided for the first time to dedicate an entire state forest to storing harmful greenhouse gases to combat climate change while generating revenue from selling carbon credits.
Ali Ryan Hanson (she/her), Director of Communications, Oregon Department of State Lands joins the Exchange to discuss.
The fate of the Elliott State Forest near Coos Bay has been the subject of intense negotiation for years, but on Tuesday morning the three members of the State Land Board – Gov. Tina Kotek, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade and state Treasurer Tobias Read – voted unanimously to support a proposed forest management plan for the Elliott’s future that prioritizes research, protecting animal habitat, increasing forest carbon storage to combat climate change and produce income from the sale of carbon credits.
Logging would still be allowed in parts of the forest, but would be significantly reduced from previous decades. The decision makes Oregon the second state nationwide to enroll an entire state forest in a plan focused on storing harmful emissions in exchange for carbon credits, after Michigan.
Nonfiction children's book teaches true story of climate resilience
Oct 29, 2024
Ellen Dee Davidson is author of The Miracle Tree, a bilingual illustrated children's book about a true story of climate resilience.( Ellen Dee Davidson)
The Miracle Forest is a true story of one man’s dream to revitalize a desert plain and grow a forest. And from that forest emerged a community that nurtured and expanded the forest, which evolved into a sustainable ecosystem with a local economy that supported the community. It’s a story of resilience, imagination, creativity and the profound impact of collective action. And best of all, it’s an illustrated storybook for children.
The author, Ellen Dee Davidson, joins the Exchange from her home in northern California.
(Book illustrated by Carolan Raleigh-Halsing | Translated by Mariela Paz Caceres).
Why do majorities of Black and White women vote polar opposite in presidential elections?
Oct 29, 2024
Shari Dunn is CEO of ITBOM Consulting in Portland, Oregon and author of "Qualified"(Courtesy of Shari Dunn / Shari Dunn)
In our continuing series of Common Ground Conversations on Race, we're diving into the persistent trend of polarization of women voters along racial lines. Shari Dunn is the author of Qualified: How Competency Checking and Race Collide at Work. S
Dunn joins Mike Green on the Jefferson Exchange to offer her insights into why the majorities of Black and White women have consistently voted polar opposite in nearly every election despite having similar concerns of family, children, education, career, equal wages and more.
The past, present and future of the Klamath River
Oct 28, 2024
(Stephen Most / Oregon State University Press)
Author, filmmaker, and playwright Stephen Most began his coverage of the Klamath Basin with his 2006 book "River of Renewal," followed by a documentary of the same name in 2009. The book and documentary cover the history of the Klamath Basin, with a focus on ongoing efforts towards restoration and Indigenous fishing rights.
Yet the restorative history of the Klamath did not end in the 2000s. The last few years have brought renewed restoration efforts, and the last of four dams was removed this year.
Stephen Most joins the Exchange with producer Charlie Zimmermann to discuss his updated second edition of "River of Renewal," released in the wake of the latest developments.
What happens to a family when a young husband commits suicide?
Oct 28, 2024
(Rachel Zimmerman and the Santa Fe Writers Project / Rachel Zimmerman and SFWP)
Author and award-winning journalist Rachel Zimmerman joins the Exchange to discuss her memoir, "Us, After: A Memoir of Love and Suicide." She shares her journey from abject debilitating grief following the sudden suicide of her 50-year-old husband (an MIT professor), to recovery and discovery of joy again. Rachel joins the Exchange to discuss how she and her two young daughters coped in the aftermath of the sudden shock to their lives.
SFWP DESCRIPTION: (Santa Fe Writers Project) When a state trooper appeared at Rachel Zimmerman’s door to report that her husband had jumped to his death off a nearby bridge, she fell to her knees, unable to fully absorb the news. How could her husband, a devoted father and robotics professor at MIT, have committed such a violent act? How would she explain this to her young daughters? And could she have stopped him?
A longtime journalist, she probed obsessively, believing answers would help her survive. She interviewed doctors, suicide researchers and a man who jumped off the same bridge and lived.
Us, After examines domestic devastation and resurgence, digging into the struggle between public and private selves, life’s shifting perspectives, the work of motherhood, and the secrets we keep.
In this memoir, Zimmerman confronts the unimaginable and discovers the good in what remains.
ABOUT Rachel Zimmerman, an award-winning journalist, has been writing about health and wellness for more than two decades. She currently reports on mental health for The Washington Post. Previously, she worked as a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal and a health reporter for WBUR, Boston’s NPR station, where she co-founded WBUR’s CommonHealth blog, and co-created The Checkup podcast with Slate. Her reporting and essays have appeared in The New York Times; The Atlantic; Vogue.com; O, the Oprah Magazine; New York Magazine’s, The Cut, and Slate, among other publications. Find her on at rachelzimmerman.net
Bruce Campbell returns to host second annual Casinoween fundraiser
Oct 24, 2024
Bruce Campbell is featured at the Ashland Elks Lodge's Casinoween fundraiser on October 28.( Ashland Elks Lodge)
Bruce Campbell has been a featured actor in the "Evil Dead" movie series, TV shows and theatrical stage performances. He's recognized around the world.
Bruce Campbell with JPR host Mike Green(Photo by JPR Senior Producer Natalie Golay)
But Bruce Campbell is local, and has called Southern Oregon home for a quarter-century. He pops up from time to time in local events, like the Casinoween fundraiser at the Ashland Elk Lodge on the weekend before Halloween (October 26th).
One of the causes benefiting from the evening of fun is a scholarship for theater students at Southern Oregon University. Bruce Campbell visits the Exchange (again) to talk about Casinoween, the scholarship fund and his own background in the acting industry.
The pathway from reentry to redemption in society
Oct 24, 2024
(Kristy Laschober / Kristy Laschober)
When incarcerated individuals have paid their debt to society and released from prison, what happens next? How do they reenter society after being isolated for years, perhaps decades? How does our society welcome them, treat them, enable access to resources and a pathway to becoming a positive contributor to society? What are the challenges reentering citizens face when trying to do the right thing? How are the challenges different for women?
ABOUT: Kristy made national headlines for selling drugs to a priest and went to federal prison with her boyfriend. While serving her five year sentence, Kristy began writing to face the truth about what led her there and the shame she hid behind. In the midst of her searching, she cultivates a deep and unwavering love for herself and others. After prison, Kristy graduated summa cum laude from Southern Oregon University and dedicated her life to freeing other women from the invisible chains that bind them.
"Impose Your Will" is a guiding principle of an organized threat to American democracy
Oct 23, 2024
Jon Michaels is co-author of Vigilante Nation(Simon and Schuster, UCLA School of Law / Simon and Schuster, UCLA School of Law)
You are to be forgiven if you've never been taught about "Vigilante Democracy" in K-12 or higher education, although it is rooted in the founding of the United States, and was prominent throughout the antebellum era, as well as the pivotal influence during a century of domestic terrorism after the Civil War.
Co-author Jon Michaels joins the Exchange to dive deep into the details laid out in the book he wrote with co-author, David Noll.
Publisher Simon & Schuster describes the book: "Vigilante Nation tells this story of the American Right marginalizing, subordinating, and disenfranchising the increasingly diverse and cosmopolitan members of the American polity. This book exposes the vigilantes’ plans, explains their methods—everything from book bans to anti-abortion bounties to attacks on government proceedings, including elections—and underscores the stakes. Now that supporters of democratic equality are numerous and dexterous enough to finally secure the broad promises of the civil rights revolution, the race is on for Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and the architects of Project 2025 to subvert our democracy before a countermovement can rise up to thwart their insidious plans." BOOK
EXCERPT: "...just as the term extralegal vigilantism is no redundancy, legal vigilantism is far from an oxymoron. "We're less familiar with this latter style of vigilantism, but throughout most of our nation's history, legal vigilantism was not only commonplace, but also a foundational feature of our political, social, and economic life. This was certainly true in antebellum America, when state and federal laws authorized plantation owners, bounty hunters, and other agents to ruthlessly enforce and uphold slaveocracy.
"And it was just as true during the long decades of Jim Crow, when lawmakers, judges, sheriffs, mayors, and governors devised vicious legal devices that relied on private actors to expand and intensify state efforts to reinstall and then perpetuate white supremacy.
"January 6 was extralegal, for sure. There was no authority for MAGA diehards to impede the business of Congress, to hang Vice President Mike Pence, to get the "Big Jew" (a reference to Senator Chuck Schumer), or "shoot" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Harry Dunn and his fellow Capitol Police officers were hardly looking the other way. And the Justice Department has prosecuted hundreds of trespassers, rioters and insurrectionists. The plan for January 7 - and beyond - was to legalize it.
"This would be no small feat given the cultural, economic, and demographic tides lifting the prospects of Black and brown Americans, non-Christians, LGBTQ+ persons, and women who consider themselves the equals of men in both the domestic and commercial sphere.
"To that end, menacing campaigns of harassment and violence couldn't be limited to big political events -- rallies, voter registration drives, and election days. Those would be swept in, for the sake of completeness, but they'd hardly be enough. Private enforcement of the ancien regime would instead have to be an "everyday crusade." And it would have to operate across different domains, using different tools, and targeting different constituencies who threaten white Christian political and cultural hegemony."
ABOUT THE AUTHORS Jon Michaels is a UCLA professor of law specializing in constitutional, administrative, and national-security law. His award-winning scholarship has been published in The Yale Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, and the Harvard Law Review; his popular essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, and The Forward. A Yale Law graduate and former Supreme Court clerk, Michaels is a member of the American Law Institute, serves on the advisory board of UCLA’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, and is a faculty affiliate of UCLA’s Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy. His first book, Constitutional Coup, was published by Harvard University Press.
David Noll is the associate dean for faculty research and development and a professor of law at Rutgers Law School. His scholarly writings on civil procedure, complex litigation, and administrative law have appeared in the California Law Review, the Cornell Law Review, the New York University Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, and the Texas Law Review, among others, and his popular writing has appeared in venues including The New York Times, Politico, Slate, and the New York Law Journal. A graduate of Columbia University and New York University School of Law, Noll is an academic fellow of the National Institute for Civil Justice. He clerked on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Love after 50
Oct 23, 2024
My Better Half host Vanessa Finney explores the intricacies of relationships among the population of seasoned citizens with Francine Russo, author of Love After 50: How to find it, enjoy it, keep it.
(Simon and Schuster, Active Aging with Oseterics / Simon and Schuster, Active Aging with Oseterics)
Russo offers a comprehensive and intimate guide to finding, keeping, and enjoying love after fifty ... the best kind of love there is.
Studies show that love after fifty is more satisfying than at any other stage in life, and it makes sense: at this stage, you are more emotionally stable and more focused on the present; you know what you absolutely have to have, but also what you can live without; partnering is no longer about building family and fortune—it’s about sharing intimacy as grounded individuals.
In Love After 50, journalist Francine Russo interviewed experts in the field and dozens of couples to help show the way.
ABOUT Francine Russo is the author of They’re Your Parents, Too! How Siblings Can Survive Their Parents’ Aging Without Driving Each Other Crazy. A widely recognized journalist, she covered the Boomer beat for Time for over a decade. She has also written for Scientific American, The Atlantic, and other major publications. Russo has two grown children, three adult stepchildren, and eight amazing grandkids. She has experienced first-hand the tremendous potential we all have to grow and transform ourselves with the people we love. A PhD in English literature, she lives in New York with her partner.
Ukrainian Cultural Fair in Ashland on Oct 25
Oct 22, 2024
Ashland Unitarian Church will host a Ukrainian Cultural Fair featuring Grammy-winning pianist Nadia Shpachenko(Anima Mundi Productions / Anima Mundi Productions)
On October 25th the Ashland Unitarian Church will host a Ukrianian Fall Cultural Fair from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. Grammy-winning pianist Nadia Shpachenko will be featured during the free event.
The event is a collaborative production of Anima Mundi, Uniting for Ukraine Rogue Valley and the Ashland Sviatohirsk Aid Project (Ashland’s Ukrainian Sister City). Also, the Cultural Fair will offer performances by celebrated local Ukrainian pianist Iryna Kudielina, the Ukrainian vocal ensemble Kalynonka, and others, as well as a sale of baked goods, textile arts, and paintings by members of Ashland's local Ukrainian refugee community.
Ethan Gans-Morse with Anima Mundi joins the Exchange alongside Denise Crosby (Uniting for Ukraine).
Ethan Gans-Morse of Anima Mundi and Denise Crosby of Uniting for Ukraine (Rogue Valley) with Jefferson Exchange host Mike Green(Photo by Natalie Golay, Jefferson Exchange Senior Producer)
The Ukrainian Fall Cultural Fair is produced by the Ashland-based nonprofit Anima Mundi Productions, which is kicking off the 2024-25 season of their Heart of Humanity concert series with a weekend of events featuring Grammy-winning Ukrainian pianist Dr. Nadia Shpachenko and a concert on Sunday, October 27.
Quick details:
Friday, October 25, 6:30-8:30 pm
Ukrainian Fall Cultural Fair
Ashland Unitarian Church, 87 4th St, Ashland
This event is FREE but RSVP is required online or by phone:
Note: This event is free, but there will be opportunities to make tax-deductible donations to support Ukrainian war refugees.
Oregon's Higher Education Commission releases new five-year strategic plan
Oct 22, 2024
Oregon's Higher Education Coordinating Committee (HECC) released its 2024-2029 Strategic Plan(HECC / HECC)
The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) unanimously approved a five-year strategic plan on Oct 10. HECC Executive Director, Ben Cannon, joins the Exchange to discuss the vision, strategy and impact of the plan.
The new plan will be used to guide development and implementation of higher education and workforce development funding and policy initiatives that impact Oregonians statewide.
The adoption of the new plan occurred after a process of development and input that started in the fall of 2023.
It aims for a future where all Oregonians benefit from the economic, civic, and cultural impact of postsecondary education, training, and workforce development.
The HECC contracted with Coraggio Group to facilitate the strategic development process which included assessment of background data and needs; broad public and partner engagement (including a public survey with over 400 responses, numerous focus groups, interviews, and outreach sessions); as well as discussion and input over the course of a year of HECC public meetings.
The power of "constitutional sheriffs"
Oct 21, 2024
Jessica Pishko is author of "The Highest Law in the Land"(Jessica Pishko and Penguin Random House Publishing / Jessica Pishko)
Hiding in plain sight is an enormous power of local control paid for by the taxpayers over which there is little control.
In her new book, "The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy," author Jessica Pishko reveals disturbing data and insightful information from her years of investigating the landscape of county sheriffs across America. The power of county sheriffs is steeped in history dating back to the antebellum era of slavery.
Today, sheriffs control the power to arrest and imprison while also maintaining control over the vast majority of county jails. Within the population of county sheriffs exists a significant resistance to the democratic principles of the nation ... and a loud whisper campaign of white Christian nationalism and unchecked power.
Pishko exposes the deep-rooted challenge to American democracy posed by groups of county sheriffs and their active allies and tacit supporters in the form of county control by armed law enforcement that align with the ideology of far-right extremists.
Pishko reveals an unsettling reality yet to be fully addressed or even discussed in national discourse and political narratives about groups of "constitutional sheriffs" who believe they are accountable only to the constitution and the people of their county. Pishko joins the Exchange and unlocks the door to national secrets about the looming threat to democracy posed by a segment of the population of county sheriffs.
ABOUT PISHKO: Jessica Pishko is a journalist and lawyer with a JD from Harvard Law School. She has been reporting on the criminal justice and legal system for a decade, with a focus on the political power of sheriffs since 2016. In addition to her newsletter "Posse Comitatus," her writings have been featured in The New York Times, Politico, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic and other major media. She has been awarded journalism fellowships from the Pulitzer Center and Type Investigations and was a 2022 New America Fellow.
Ashland.News organizes online forum to discuss Measure 15-234
Oct 21, 2024
Ashland.News Executive Editor, Bert Etling and board member Tara Houston with Jefferson Exchange host, Mike Green(Photo by JPR Senior Producer, Natalie Golay / JPR Senior Producer, Natalie Golay)
On October 23, Ashland.News will host an online forum for Ashland residents to hear the facts behind the controversy over Measure 15-234.
The Ashland City Council voted to approve a $75 million loan from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to replace the city’s water treatment plant in a new location. That decision led to a community petition that put the finance decision on the November ballot in the form of Measure 15-234.
If voters approve, the EPA loan could potentially result in six 10% increases in water rates for residents within the next six years.
If voters reject Measure 15-234, the City of Ashland maintains that the water treatment plant will still need some form of repair or replacement, and other financing options will likely be explored, potentially resulting in taxpayers carrying an even larger burden of cost than the current EPA loan option.
Ashland residents will decide in November whether they want to foot the bill for the EPA loan.
Ashland.news Executive Editor, Bert Etling and Ashland.news board member Tara Houston join the Exchange to talk about their upcoming online public forum on Oct 23 (7 pm to 8:30 pm) with a panel discussion and debate over the issues behind Measure 15-234.
For more information on the water forum, click here.
Questions or suggestions for the Ashland.news events team? Email: convene@ashland.news
California's Prop 33 would institute limits on hikes in rent
Oct 17, 2024
University of California, Berkeley students search for apartments in Berkeley on March 29, 2022. (Eric Risberg / AP Photo)
Housing affordability is a major issue in every state across the nation. The people of California want the state to do something about it. That’s where Proposition 33 comes in.
Rents are sky high in California. Many believe it is due to a Rental Housing Act passed in 1995 favorable to landlords, which would be repealed if Prop 33 passes in November. Joining the Exchange to shed light on this issue is Susie Shannon, the Campaign Manager for YES on 33.
Community Works is a free resource center for domestic violence victims
Oct 17, 2024
(Community Works of Jackson County / Community Works)
Community Works was founded in 1996 as a countywide resource for domestic and sexual violence, and is currently the only free resource of its kind in Jackson County.
Community Works serves 3,000 adults and children with a comprehensive range of programs and services, including a 24 hour crisis line, shelter, housing and more to meet the needs of people experiencing traumatic events in their lives.
Joining the Exchange are Erin Martin-Fournier, Community Works Advocacy Services Director, and Crystal Buhler, the Justice Services Manager at Community Works.
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