You’ve probably heard people refer to southeast Woodland as north north Davis. Ever wonder how that comment plays in Woodland?
Today we talk with Jim Smith, who recently retired as editor of the Woodland Daily Democrat, about our neighbor to the north, how they view Davis, the growing overlap between the two communities, and things about Woodland you might not know (he cites its artists and restaurants).
We also talk about changes in local journalism during the 27 years he edited the paper, and where to find reliable news.
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A small fraction of UC Davis classes—about 100—are meeting in person this spring. What’s the return to in-person learning like, a year after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the switch to remote education? Today we talk with instructor Dr. Andy Jones, whose outdoor writing course is one of the 100, about how he’s conducting the class, what students are telling him, some changes that might outlast the pandemic, and other insights from the past year.
Jones has taught at UC Davis since 1990. He’s also a leader in academic tech on campus, plus you might know him as the quizmaster at de Vere’s Irish Pub in Davis (temporarily closed because of the pandemic) and as a former Davis poet laureate.
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It’s been a nerve-wracking year, so maybe we could use some Nerve Wrackin’ Theatre. And that’s what we now have, thanks to today’s guest and Davis Media Access. In March, DMA began airing a syndicated show by the name of Lord Blood-Rah's Nerve Wrackin’ Theatre that observes the late-night tradition of airing monster and sci-fi movies, sometimes of terrible quality, for fun, humor, diversion, and occasionally an insight or two. Host Frank Wallace-Ailsworth, aka Lord Blood-Rah, hosts the program from his home in the Bay Area.
In Davis, you can find his show at 10:30 p.m. Saturdays on DCTV (channel 15 on Comcast, menu 99 on ATT U-Verse); listen to this interview to find out why on earth you might want to.
For more about the program, including viewing options if you don't have cable, see http://www.lordbloodrah.com/
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Education during the pandemic, the reason why Davis schools enrolls close to a thousand students who don't live in town, the opening of the Mondavi Center at UC Davis, reviews of countless theater and music performances -- Jeff Hudson has written and reported about such subjects for the Davis Enterprise and Capital Public Radio since the 1990s. Today we talk about stories and some of the beats he has covered, and now that he has retired, what he wants to do next.
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We hear a lot about teen bullying, but this research from the University of California, Davis, is new: It says most such bullying occurs among peers climbing the social ladder, and the “highest rates of bullying occur between friends, and between friends of friends.” As if junior high weren’t difficult enough.
Today I talk with sociology Professor Robert Faris about why this happens—it’s “driven by this pursuit of something that is so ephemeral: popularity in high school,” he says—and what to do about it. Many conventional anti-bullying efforts, Faris continues, aren’t working. Churning, low-quality friendships contribute to the abuse, but solid and stable friendships can be part of the cure.
The report's co-authors are sociologists Diane Felmlee at Pennsylvania State University and Cassie McMillan at Northeastern University.
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If San Francisco were an hour closer to Davis, how would that change life in Davis? We might find out in the next 10 to 20 years, thanks to a program that is starting to take shape now. Link21, sponsored by BART and the Capitol Corridor, would add a second transbay rail crossing as part of an ambitious, expensive plan to extend rail connections throughout the 21-county megaregion that stretches from Yuba County to Monterey. The program’s components include faster Capitol Corridor train service between Sacramento and San Francisco, among other changes. People throughout the region will have a chance to shape what gets built, and doing it all fairly is one of the major goals.
Today we talk with Camille Tsao, Capitol Corridor project manager for Link21, about what’s in the works.
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We have a new president in the White House, but the conflicts that tear at the country haven’t gone away. To do more than separate into groups and shout at each other, we need to do a better job of addressing and resolving conflicts. On today’s Davisville Kara Hunter, executive director of the Yolo Conflict Resolution Center, talks about how to handle conflict, wherever we find it.
She believes the quantity of conflict might not have increased in recent years, but our exposure to it has. Also, people might have become more comfortable sharing their disdain, disappointment and disillusionment.
To address the prevalence of conflict, she’d start in three areas, which she discusses on the show. She’s optimistic that we can get a handle on the problem, but says we’ll need good leaders who demonstrate conflict management, and we’ll need to consider our “will” – when we’re confrontational, are we just venting? Or once that’s done, do we really want to see change? |
The Covid-19 pandemic is about a year old. The first vaccinations have been given, and better days are ahead, but we’re months away from normal, and the county health officer even said this month that we're “probably about to enter one of the darkest times of the pandemic so far.” The deaths and illness are the biggest impact, followed by the damage to jobs, business and the economy. Today we talk with Cory Koehler, executive director of the Davis Chamber of Commerce, about how Davis' 2,500 businesses are faring this far in, different ways they’re coping, and what might be ahead. The chamber hosts its annual State of the City event online on Feb. 3, and the consequences of the pandemic are sure to be front and center.
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Brett Lee just spent 8 years on the Davis City Council, including two years as mayor. As he leaves office, we get his take on where Davis is strong (volunteerism), some lasting effects of the pandemic on the town, what he’ll do next, and how his views changed on the perennial question in Davis: Where do you allow developers to add housing, if anywhere?
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Doug Hatton has appeared as Santa Claus at events in and around Davis for more than 20 years. On today’s Davisville he talks about the experience, what Davis kids ask for, the time a girl asked for an ATM for her room, how he manages expectations, and the enjoyment he gets from doing it all. Listening is important, he says, kids can sense if someone really wants to talk with them, and yes, his beard is real. (Broadcast originally aired in December 2018.)
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