Davisville, Nov. 15, 2021: A terrific year for movies, says Davis critic Derrick Bang

Mon, 11/15/2021 - 6:10pm | Bill Buchanan

The New York Times recently posted a list of 115 new movies scheduled for release between now and the end of the year—way too many to track! Enter Derrick Bang, film critic for the Davis Enterprise and his blog Derrick Bang on Film, for our yearly talk about movies to see and avoid during this high season for movie-viewing.

The pandemic pummeled ticket sales in theaters this year, and movies are no longer the center of popular culture. Even so, Derrick says 2021 has been a terrific year for movies.

Trains and train songs recorded on Amtrak's Coast Starlight, on Listening Lyrics

Fri, 11/12/2021 - 4:00pm | Pieter Pastoor

Everybody loves a good train song -- so that's what's happening this week (Nov. 12) on Listening Lyrics, as recorded on Amtrak train No. 11, the Coast Starlight.

Trains are used in so many metaphors in music and art -- listen to the sampling collected here. Check out the playlist and enjoy the train ride -- ALL ABOARD!

Listening Lyrics playlist for 11/12/2021

The Folk Brothers for Nov. 10, 2021: Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine

Wed, 11/10/2021 - 11:10am | Peter Schiffman

This week we devote a big hunk of our show to airing tracks from Declan O'Rourke's 2017 concept album about the Great Hunger (1845-1852). After reading John O'Connor's "The Work Houses Of Ireland" in 2002, O'Rourke spent 15 years slowly turning O'Connor's and other's harrowing accounts of personal adversity into a song cycle. And just this past week, O'Rourke published his first novel: "The Pawnbroker's Reward," the story of a poor family in County Cork struggling through The Great Hunger.

Also on today's show: new music from ISHILA, Fialla, The McDades, Josh O'Keefe, Chatham County Line, and more.

The Folk Brothers playlist for 11/10/2021

KDRT's Don Shor to be honored at Yolo Community Fund's 2021 National Philanthropy Day celebration

Sun, 11/07/2021 - 12:47pm | Diane Crumley

Longtime KDRT programmer Don Shor is Davis Media Access' 2021 pick for Volunteer of the Year. He'll be honored as part of the National Philanthropy Day celebration, hosted by Yolo Community Foundation, at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 16, 2021 at the Davis Central Park Pavilion. For more information, see https://yolocf.org

Shor is probably best known in our community as the owner of Redwood Barn Nursery, and he modestly describes himself as “a guy who likes plants and jazz.” He produces two extremely popular weekly shows on KDRT, each with listeners across the country and globe. The Davis Garden Show, with co-host Lois Richter, is one of the longest-running shows on KDRT, and Jazz After Dark averages 6,000 downloads per week.

The Folk Brothers for Nov. 3, 2021: Song to a Refugee

Wed, 11/03/2021 - 11:10am | Peter Schiffman

Diana Jones' latest album, Song to a Refugee, is a collection of songs based on the narratives of people seeking asylum from violence and political retribution in their homelands. This morning we played "We Believe You," inspired by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's testimony of the dehumanizing consitions she encountered on the USA/Mexican border. The song features co-vocals from Steve Earle and Peggy Seeger, as well as Richard Thompson's unique guitar-stylings.

Also on today's show: new music from Reg Meuross, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Anais Mitchell, The Punch Brothers, Dave Nachmanoff, and more!

The Folk Brothers playlist for 11/03/2021

Davisville, Nov. 1, 2021: It's not only the pandemic that's making labor scarce

Mon, 11/01/2021 - 5:30pm | Bill Buchanan

We're living in a labor shortage, and signs like this one in downtown Davis aren't hard to find. The pandemic is a huge part of the reason but other factors are also at work, such as childcare, more people working for themselves, the cushion provided by benefits and a high savings rate, and baby boomers retiring. And yet California has the highest unemployment rate of any state except Nevada.

Today's guest is Suzy Taherian, a lecturer in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California at Davis, and the chief financial officer of Xpansiv, an international company based in San Francisco. She describes conditions she and other CFOs are seeing as we talk about reasons for the labor shortage, including some you might not have heard yet; how employers are responding; how it might resolve; and how employees can take advantage of the opportunities it presents.

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