Radio Free Earth

Expanding Musical Taste

2009-10-05T07:21:00.002-04:00

Bob Dylan's got a Christmas album coming out, as many know already. Here's a piece that suggests his record may have been influenced by a 1991 Brave Combo Christmas album. Dylan covers a song that Brave Combo did there, the polka "Must Be Santa." According to this piece, Dylan once played that song on his XM radio showing, commenting about Brave Combo, “They say their mission is to expand the musical taste of their listeners. We have the same mission here on TTRH.” I note it because that's part of the mission here at Radio Free Earth, too.

New Times Require New Economy

2009-09-01T19:21:00.002-04:00

Here's an interesting piece, which challenges the idea (or high religion) of the growth economy, always expanding, growing fatter and fatter. Some economists seem to be working on a new model, based on cellular growth, in an effort to dream up a sustainable model of economic activity. Read this from the Harvard Business Review's blog.

RFE Podcast #17

2009-08-23T10:44:00.002-04:00

Get it while it's hot: #17

Listen now:

A Photo from Musikfest

2009-08-12T18:04:00.004-04:00

Here's a photo from the Morning Call's blog from our Musikfest performance last weekend:

Permalink here.

Priced to Sell: Malcolm Gladwell talks about "Free"

2009-07-07T09:02:00.002-04:00

Malcolm Gladwell takes aim at a new book by Chris Anderson called "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" in this week's The New Yorker magazine. Get it while it's free.

Gladwell refutes Anderson's assertion that "information wants to be free" -- "Amazon want information ... to be free, because that way Amazon makes more money. Why are the self-interested motives of powerful companies being elevated to a philosophical principle?"

Podcast #16

2009-07-06T07:10:00.001-04:00

Our new podcast is posted, so hop on over to our podcast page to listen or subscribe.

Gargantu-ant

2009-07-04T10:28:00.001-04:00

This is just plain cool -- a 400x-magnified image of an ant comprised of 400 photos taken with a scanning electron microscope.

Dreamwalkers

2009-07-03T13:08:00.005-04:00

I just came across this documentary featuring the late Sufi writer Idries Shah. "Dreamwalkers" covers such topics as conditioning, unconscious brainwashing, the function of ritual in society, the human nutritional need for attention, how we learn, confined thinking, and the stories of Mulla Nasrudin. (It is split into 10 parts -- the whole thing is under an hour long.)

Trogholm Blog

2009-06-21T09:50:00.002-04:00

Cory Panshin has officially started a blog, after toying with the idea for quite a while. She seems to be posting more regularly now, though you can go back and read some of her older posts as well. There's talk of story and the rise of civilization, cultural patterns and conspiracies... Generally, it's things you won't read anywhere else, but which will change the way you see the past and the present. The link is here and there's an RSS feed at the very bottom.

If you like what you read, don't forget to check back from time to time. I'll be reading, as she promises to be posting more on her theory of cultural cycles soon.

Brother Ben Sits In

2009-06-03T07:28:00.002-04:00

Our newest podcast is up, and it may be our best one yet. Scoot on over to our podcast page to listen.

Folk process or plagiarism?

2009-05-22T09:12:00.001-04:00

A "poem" purportedly written by a teenage Bob Dylan and up for auction at Christie's is actually a song written by the late Canadian country singer Hank Snow, the auction house said on Wednesday. Read more.

Making the world's knowledge computable

2009-05-16T18:50:00.002-04:00

WolframAlpha.com is a newly released "computational search engine," with the humble long-term goal of making "all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone."

I'm not sure I understand all the implications of this technology, or even how best to explain it, but I've been messing around with it for a while little while and it's really cool.

Check it out and see what happens!

"Sam Dogg, Meet Blind Willie Grunt!"

2009-05-16T13:20:00.001-04:00

Nice tribute page to Doug Sahm, and his relationship with Smokin' Bobby D. Click right ... here.

Podcast 14

2009-05-05T17:11:00.001-04:00

Podcast #14 is now up for your listening pleasure. Boogie on over to our podcast page to listen, or just subscribe here.

Springing Back

2009-05-01T13:35:00.004-04:00

When spring hits in New England, there's work to be done. And it's not inside in front of the computer. Still, expect a new podcast in the next few days!

I also want to thank everyone for supporting us and coming out to recent shows. Deja Brew was a blast last night, and so was Brew Works on Wednesday. We're tapping last week's events at Green Street and Elf Parlor for Podcast #14!

Our next big event is next Thursday (5/7/9). We're at the Rendezvous for the first time in Turner's Falls, starting at 9pm. Hope to see you there!

Podcast 13

2009-04-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Boogie on over to our Podcast page for number 13 just posted.

Stand By Me

2009-04-07T19:18:00.001-04:00

This has to be seen:

Music From Dark Hollow

2009-04-01T18:16:00.001-04:00

Check our podcast for episode #12 with music recorded live at Tinicum Arts Festival last summer.

A Need for New Economic Models

2009-03-27T08:38:00.004-04:00

I've been racking my brain lately over "The Economy." The current failure looks a lot to me like the failure of an outlook and value system, rather than something simply broken down and in need of tinkering and repair. I wonder how an ethic could be created to support an economy based on improving the overall quality of life for people, rather than simply producing more and more stuff, much of it crap.

I've also been thinking about the connection between economy and ecology, to the point where I've been toying with coining new words like economology, ecojomy and ecogeny, to bring together the sense that ecology and economy share a common root, eco, which originally meant house or household in Greek. In our currect evolutionary state, we realize that our house is the earth -- our economy is globalized, but our ecology has lagged behind. We've got to put our house in order.

I came across an article by Robert Costanza this morning that covers some of these points:

The intro says, "[W]e need to move beyond 'growth at all costs' and reorganise the economy based on the quality of life rather than quantity of consumption."

Here's the full story.

Earth Hour 2009 and Hilltown Sustainability

2009-03-23T10:55:00.003-04:00

Saturday, March 28, 2009, our good friend Sarah Stockwell is putting on a concert/community-building event at the West Cummington Church, in West Cummington, Massachusetts, with doors opening at 7:00pm, concert beginning at 7:30pm. Kim and I are joining Sarah on a number of tunes, and singing a couple of our own. (Sliding scale admission, $0-$5 for unemployed adults and $5-$10 for employed adults.)

This is a very exciting one-of-a-kind event, a model of New Ruralism, with implications for regenerating our communities, our environment and our lives.

Come early to meet local sustainable builders, farmers, alternative energy experts and more. There's more meeting time at intermission, and we'll turn the lights out at 8:30pm to honor the Earth Hour movement.

Listen below to an interview about the event and the local sustainability movement with Sarah Stockwell and Anna Hanchette of Manda Farm on WAMC's The Round Table:

Podcast 11

2009-03-16T16:03:00.002-04:00

Our newest podcast is posted here. Go and get it!

Bob Dylan: New Album and Interview

2009-03-16T09:51:00.003-04:00

Here's a short interview with Bob Dylan to accompany the April 28 release of his new album, "Together Through Life".

Podcast

2009-03-15T22:02:00.001-04:00

I'm bloody close, but I'm too exhausted from a busy weekend to finish tonight. Check back in the next day or two for Podcast #11.

There's A Bailout Comin' But It's Not For You

2009-03-12T05:20:00.004-04:00

Neil Young rants about the economy, the war, the Internet, digital music ("Download this / It sounds like shit ... ") and a bunch of other stuff.

Neil Young - Fork In The Road

Podcast 10

2009-03-01T16:28:00.001-05:00

Our new podcast is up. Listen here or simply click here and download it right now.