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A poignant interview with local author Shirley Melis on her memoir Banged-Up Heart: Dancing with Love and Loss. How do you cope with and survive losing two beloveds just a few years apart? How do climb out of the despair of grief and risk loving again? Or don’t take that risk and live only a half-life. A wide-ranging interview touching also the importance of advocacy for a loved one with medical needs and somehow taking care of oneself. A tender interview that allows us to glimpse life’s hardest lessons through the eyes and words of someone who has been there twice. www.shirleymelis.com

Robert Jensen, Professor Emeritus, University of Texas, Austin, brings clarity and honesty to KSFR listeners on the most critical challenge facing us today. His latest book, An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and The Fate of Humanity is co-authored with Wes Jackson, recognized as this country’s leader in the sustainable agriculture movement.In their very readable, short and clear book Jensen and Jackson don’t mince words, their style of writing is infectious and brings readers close to home as it lets our awkward feelings arise. But is there any hope left amidst the multiple converging and cascading crises, or is hope now irrelevant ? How do we do our part, however small, to offset or slow down inevitable contraction and collapse in cultures and society as we know them ? How do we move on from being a consumer even as we think our familiar habits are not adding to the problems?An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis and The Fate of Humanity published by University of Notre Dame Press.

Continuing a critical and heart-warming conversation from last week, Mariah is joined by her husband Byron as the two explore together the way to “Journey Well: You are More than Enough.” Who is this book written for and why even begin the Journey when all around us chaos seems to rule and no one can add one more thing to their agenda? And why More than Enough ? Isn’t it enough to just make it to the end of the day and collapse on the sofa ? In a loving husband-and-wife style By and Mariah discuss their mission “Mandate to Elevate,” something they’ve been doing all their lives, first in their respective professions giving and giving thanks, and now as writers and professional speakers. How can we, too, without feeling duty-bound or putting extra pressure on ourselves? mandatetoelevate.com

Delighted to interview Professor Chantel Prat, a cognitive neuroscientist who has been described as “making neurons sing and dendrites dance.” A fascinating 23 minutes discussing her new, very readable book The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours. Are you more inclined to be “left brained” or “right brained” and can we train our own brains to think differently? Why do languages or mathematics seem to come effortlessly to some people while the rest of us struggle to grasp the basics? Are we born that way? These and other questions answered or at least ruminated upon! www.chantelprat.com

Continuing the conversation with Bonnie Blue about her new book, Finding My Soul: Five Years at The Findhorn Community. Tips for listeners and writers hoping to publish, Bonnie shares her process of writing a memoir and finding help in the world of self publishing and book design. Why write a memoir, we ask ? She also shares more about what’s happened since she “found her soul” and also more about life in the inspiring Findhorn Community now, 35 years since she lived there. Contact Bonnie at beaublue4@gmail.com and the Findhorn Foundation at findhorn.org

Award-winning travel journalist Judith Fein and her husband, photojournalist Paul Ross, join me with their most personal and provocative book yet, The Spoon from Minkowitz: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands. Sitting in her Grandmother’s kitchen, little Judie learned six seemingly unrelated facts about the shtetl where her maternal ancestors lived until forced to flee or be killed first by the pogroms decimating Jews and later by Nazis. Her grandma’s stories were few and filled mostly with sadness, yet ignited in Judie a burning desire to see from where she came. How surprised she was on the eve of her wedding to Paul when his usually-distant father presented the young couple with a old spoon, a last remaining memento of his family’s life in the very same shtetl, Minkowitz. In Ukraine. This is part one of a riveting interview filled with history and hope and more. Find Judie and Paul, their books and travel tips at www.globaladventure.usPart 2 next week!

We continue our conversation and pilgrimage to Minkowitz in Ukraine with Paul Ross and Judith Fein. Their journey a few years ago predated this year’s new horrors inflicted upon a beautiful land tossed back and forth in blood since at least the 15th century. What were the six, small facts that Judie’s grandma recounted of her youth in the shtetl and how did they form clues to lead Paul and Judie to their ancestral village? Who did they meet and how important is simply being completely in the moment critical for all of us who love to travel? How do you become fully present, how do you stumble upon people and places with such synchronistic timing? And did they ever find the village of Minkowitz and what happened just before they arrived? The Spoon from Minkowitz: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands. www.globaladventure.us

At age 33 Bonnie Blue’s life in the 1980’s Midwest took a turn that would transform her for ever. A lifelong spiritual seeker and always happiest in nature she took herself off to Scotland to the pioneering Findhorn Community originally made famous for its miraculous gardens grown in sand. Nearly 40 years later Bonnie shares her memoir, Finding My Soul: Five Years at The Findhorn Community. She weaves a fascinating tale of adventure and very personal exploration inner and outer, inspiring for all of us. This is Part 1 of a chat with Bonnie Blue. Part 2 next week on July 21st. Contact Bonnie at beaublue4@gmail.com and learn more about The Findhorn Foundation at findhorn.org

How do we take care of ourselves while taking care of so many others ? Is self care selfish? These and other questions are answered by Mariah Edgington co-author with her husband Byron Edgington of “Journey Well: You Are More Than Enough.” Mariah, a former critical care nurse flying to accident scenes met her husband Byron, the helicopter pilot and Vietnam veteran, and when both retired were inspired to continue their mission to “mandate to elevate.” This time elevating friends and strangers by speaking and writing about rediscovering our passion and purpose and love of life. Journey Well has a companion Guidebook and invites readers in with personal and very relatable stories. mariahedgington.com and byronedgington.com Byron joins Mariah for Part Two next week, August 18.

Santa Fe listeners monsoon season is upon us and as excited as we are to finally have blessed rain on our parched land what’s the chance of being Struck by Lightning? Statistician Jeff Rosenthal joins us from the University of Toronto to reassure us. The respected author of numerous professional research papers and two books for the lay person (us), we chat about the weather, election polls, algorithms, gambling and how statistics help to make order out of our lives. His fascinating books are Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities and Knock on Wood: Luck, Chance and The Meaning of Everything. Find Jeff and his work at www.probability.ca