Davisville, May 23, 2016: Guitar Mac Plays the BluesMon, 05/23/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill Buchanan“Guitar Mac” MacKnally has played dozens of times in Davis since the 1980s—if you go often to the Farmers Market, you've probably seen him there. On today's show we talk about different kinds of blues, playing in Davis, the sounds he gets from his 1930s steel guitar, and more. "The blues is truth, you know," he says after talking about his sad love song I'm Guilty. "From everyday in life." |
Davisville, 5/9/16: First he was an Aggie. Then he photographed the BeatlesTue, 05/10/2016 - 5:25pm | Bill BuchananEthan Russell was a student at UC Davis in the 1960s. Then he left for England, where he met Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and began photographing many of the biggest rock stars of the era. On May 20 he’ll speak at the Harris Center in Folsom, where he’ll present and talk about his photos and the stories behind them. We get a preview today on Davisville, including how he got this photo that became the cover of the classic Who’s Next—you’re looking at the CD version, with the campus in the background—as well as his memories of Davis. |
Davisville, 4/25/16: After Auschwitz—talking with Bernard Marks (part 2)Mon, 04/25/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill BuchananToday we present the second half of our interview with Bernard Marks, who survived internment in the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps when he was a child (here’s part 1). Now in his 80s, he often talks to students in Davis and elsewhere about his experiences. Today we pick up the conversation with his months at Dachau, where his existence was much worse; followed by his life after he came to America, the information he wants students to know, and the questions they ask. |
Davisville, 4/11/16: Talking with Bernard Marks, who survived Auschwitz and Dachau (part 1)Mon, 04/11/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill BuchananBernard Marks was a child living in Poland when Nazi Germany invaded at the start of World War II. Over the next several years he saw, endured and survived immense cruelty, including internment in the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps. After his liberation at the end of the war, he came to the United States. Now in his 80s, he often speaks to students (including in Davis) about his experiences, and today we hear his story (which continues in part 2). This is powerful. |
Davisville, 3/28/16: A talk with Paul Boylan, Davis un-candidateMon, 03/28/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill BuchananPaul Boylan, a Davis attorney, was going to run for Davis City Council this June, then needed to withdraw from the race. This created a chance for me to talk with someone who had done the homework to run for office, and has shown a preference for plain talk in his comments on the Davis Vanguard, but now wouldn’t need to couch his opinions in the usually careful language of a political campaign. We talk about political donations, transparency, putting sin taxes on the ballot, increasing the visibility of police officers on weekend nights downtown, and what he means when he says Davis’ problems derive from its success. |
Davisville, 3/14/16: Prof. Frances Dolan, recently named one of the best teachers in townMon, 03/14/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill BuchananFrances Dolan, an English professor and Shakespeare expert, just won the 2016 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement. On today’s program we talk about what constitutes good teaching, why Shakespeare is relevant, the value of literary analysis, and why she tells her students in the classroom that she can see them—that last part has to do with technology. This is an interesting discussion with someone who’s clearly very skilled at her profession. |
Davisville, 2/29/16: Going vegan in DavisMon, 02/29/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill BuchananToday’s guest is Lindsay Rubin, who founded the social group Vegans of Davis when she moved here after college about three years ago. We talk about the group, three main reasons people adopt a vegan or vegetarian diet, why many who do drift away from it, and why she believes it’s wrong to eat eggs even when they’re from a chicken you take good care of in your own backyard. |
Davisville, 2/15/16: Solving downtown’s late-night crowds-and-alcohol problemMon, 02/15/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill BuchananAfter months of discussions, Davis is closing in on new rules to tame downtown's late-night bar scene, which had grown in size, unruliness and violence until the fatal stabbing of a visiting college student last September shocked the town and prompted the city to clamp down. On today’s show we talk with Davis Enterprise reporter Felicia Alvarez, who writes about the issue for the paper. |
Davisville, 2/1/16: An earlier, simpler way to detect breast cancerMon, 02/01/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill BuchananDr. Angela Courtney, left, who earned a PhD in integrative pathobiology from UC Davis last year, has developed a urine test to detect breast cancer. She has also formed Adrastia Biotech with fellow UC Davis alum Mike Gilson to develop a commercial version of the test … and survived breast cancer herself. Today we talk with Courtney and Gilson about her remarkable work, and what it would mean to have a simple, early way to detect a cancer that killed 41,000 women and 400 men in the United States in 2012. They filed for a formal patent at the end of last August, and hope to get the test to market in about two years. (photo courtesy UC Davis) |
Davisville, 1/18/16: More stories from Oxford Circle's Gary Lee YoderMon, 01/18/2016 - 6:05pm | Bill BuchananOxford Circle, which formed at Davis High School, made it big enough in the 1960s to play the Fillmore, Avalon and other major stages in San Francisco and Sacramento, sharing the bill with bands like the Grateful Dead. Gary Lee Yoder (photo), Oxford Circle’s main singer and writer, and later a member of Kak and Blue Cheer, still lives in Davis, and his first appearance on Davisville 13 months ago became one of KDRT’s most popular shows online for 2014-15. Today he returns with more stories, including the first time he heard Janis Joplin sing—Yoder was backstage at the Avalon with Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia at the time—and sizes up the possibility of Oxford Circle playing again. “It’s on the back burner,” he says. “It’d be fun.” |
