Maine Currents 11/21/17

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

FOUR FOUNDATIONAL THEORIES OF LABOR ACTIVISM IN MAINE: THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR, THE AFL, THE IWW, AND THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF EUGENE DEBS – a presentation by Marc Cryer, Director of the Bureau of Labor Education, the University of Maine, recorded at UMaine on 11/16/17. This was the final in the fall semester Marxist and Socialist Studies lecture series.


Maine Currents- independent local news, views and culture, Tuesdays at 4pm on WERU-FM and weru.org

Coastal Conversations 8/29/17

Producer/Host: Natalie Springuel

Maine coastal and ocean issues: Fisheries History at Penobscot Marine Museum

-Penobscot Marine Museum’s fisheries exhibit and events and the role of museums in helping people understand about complex fishing industry issues
-National Fishermen’s photo archives from the Post World War Two era, donated and on display at Penobscot Marine Museum, illustrate over 60 years of fishing industry changes in Maine and the Nation
-Port Clyde Fresh Catch founder and long time fisherman Glen Libby, described the changes he has seen in 40 years of fishing, including changes in technology and fish populations that led him and others to start the nation’s first community supported fishery.

Guests:
Cipperly Good, Penobscot Marine Museum
Glen Libby, Port Clyde Fresh Catch
With thanks also to Jessica Hathaway, National Fishermen Magazine

Talk of the Towns 8/9/13

Producer/Host: Ron Beard
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Program Topic: Maine as Muse for historians

Key Discussion Points:
a) Each guest provides brief background on themselves and what led to their interest in writing about Maine, using historical lenses…
b)Each guest offers a short reading from their own published work, a page or a passage that you are proud of, that invites readers to share your passion for Maine and history
c)What, for you, is so compelling about Maine’s story? How is Maine your muse as a historian?
d)What is your research like… how do you go about it?
e)A recent historical biographer spoke of sources of primary historical data, among them, the public record (official documents), newspaper accounts, and personal archives (letters, diaries, journals) … how have you used these kinds of sources… what surprises have you uncovered?
f)What successful techniques have you found to engage readers in the lives and events of the past? Where are the lines between history and historical fiction… are the lives of real people as compelling as fictional characters?
g)If listeners are interested in Maine history, who else should they be reading… who are your “go to” historians where Maine is concerned?
h)All history is not “formal”… we see interest on the part of local historical groups and others to collect “oral histories” … what do you see in this trend?
i)What other trends do you see ahead (digital archives, family history/geneology…?)

Guests:
A) Tim Garrity, Executive Director, Mount Desert Island Historical Society
B) Nancy Alexander, Isleboro, UM doctoral thesis “’Keeping House’”: the Hidden Economy of Maine Coastal Women 1850-1900”.

WERU News Report 3/23/11

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Contributor: Marge May

**NOTE: There are a few seconds of hissing sound at the beginning of this audio file before the show starts.**

Segment 1: Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance of 2011

These ordinances have now been passed in Penobscot and Sedgwick, and been defeated in Brooksville voters by a margin of just 9 votes. The town of Blue Hill will be voting on the issue on April 2nd. For some background on the movement, WERU’s Marge May spoke with a local farmer Heather Retberg, owner of Quill’s End Farm in Penobscot. (Note: This interview originally aired on WERU’s “Women’s Windows”)

Segment 2: Local News Headlines
As hundreds of workers rallied in support of unions in Augusta yesterday, Governor LePage has ordered that a mural depicting labor history in Maine, be removed from the lobby of the Department of Labor. He has also ordered that conference rooms bearing the names of heroes of the labor movement be renamed…
At a statehouse news conference earlier today, sportsmen, lake advocates, and experts on wildlife, water quality and fisheries decried legislative attacks on Maine’s natural heritage (LDs 1, 156, 159, 219, 341, 434, 872, 888, 1022 and 1031)…
A group of small business owners and the Maine Small Business Coalition, held a press conference in Portland yesterday, ahead of the Maine Bureau of Insurance’s public hearing on Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield’s proposed rate increase on individual health insurance plans…
Animal Welfare Advocates to plan to Lobby State Legislators at the Capitol Tomorrow…

Segment 3: LePage TV
Governor LePage– well known for avoiding talking to media or attending debates when he was on the campaign trail, now has his own TV show. “Inside the Blaine House”, which premiered this week, is hosted by Chamber of Commerce employees and stars the Governor himself… (Time Warner Cable TV and www.MaineVOD.com)