Our dead are usually dealt with by strangers in the West now, but until quite recently this wasn’t so. Ruth Copland features her conversation with Caitlin Doughty, bestselling author of mortician’s memoir Smoke Gets inYour Eyes, and host of Ask The Mortician. Caitlin founded The Order of the Good Death to bring realistic discussion of death back into popular culture and owns her own alternative funeral home to assist people take care of their own loved ones in death.
To listen to topic shows click here It's A Question of Balance | Topics
Caitlin Doughty, New York Times bestselling author talks about her experiences, and her desire that we not fear death, ageing or the body disposal process. Born and raised in Hawaii, Caitlin attended the University of Chicago from which she graduated with a degree in medieval history. Stalked by the idea of death from an early age due to a childhood trauma, Caitlin moved to California after graduating, with the intent of entering the funeral industry. She has worked as a funeral arranger, and a body-van transport driver, and attended Cypress College for her second degree, in mortuary science. Currently she works as a licensed funeral director/mortician in Los Angeles and owns her own alternative funeral home, Undertaking LA, to help people help themselves (handle a corpse). She founded The Order of the Good Death in 2011 with the goal of bringing the realistic discussion of death back into popular culture. Caitlin has a web series entitled Ask The Mortician, and she has been featured on NPR and the BBC.
For more info and to listen to past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Print
Email
This question may seem preposterous as therapy is often seen as a last resort for serious personal malfunctions or, otherwise as expensive, self-indulgent navel-gazing. Mental health has been stigmatised but that’s changing, and maybe we could all benefit. Ruth Copland's expert guest is Lori Gottlieb, best-selling author, psychotherapist and “Dear Therapist” advice columnist.
What is therapy? How does it work? What is it possible to achieve? And how should one choose a therapist? Could everyone benefit from some therapy? Ruth talks to Lori about all these questions and more; also about Lori's latest book ‘Maybe You Should Talk to Someone’, which takes us behind the scenes of her own therapy practice with clients and also into her own therapy sessions, which reveals a lot about her own life!
For more info and to listen to past shows click here www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Lori Gottlieb is a practising psychotherapist, New York Times bestselling non-fiction author, and writer of The Atlantic‘s weekly “Dear Therapist” advice column. Lori's books include the best-selling ‘Marry Him - the case for settling for Mr Good Enough’ and ‘Stick Figure’, a memoir which takes the reader on a personal journey through preteen anorexia and the internal and cultural dynamics that shape it.
She is also a valued contributor in the media and has appeared on such shows as The Today Show, Good Morning America, The CBS Early Show, CNN, and NPR’s “Fresh Air.” Her new book ‘Maybe You Should Talk to Somebody’ is being adapted as a television series with Eva Longoria. The book takes us behind the scenes of a therapist’s world, where her patients are looking for answers, and so is she! Lori Gottlieb is on the Advisory Council for Bring Change to Mind, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging dialogue about mental health, and to raising awareness, understanding, and empathy.
Print
Email
Interviews with Europeans recorded in London when Ruth Copland was in the UK, and an interview with internationally best-selling British author Michael Marshall Smith, who lives in Santa Cruz, give an outside perspective on how the US is viewed and whether views have changed in the last few years. (Photo R - Ruth Copland with guest Michael Marshall Smith).
To listen to this and other shows on interesting topics click here Topic Conversations | It's A Question of balance
There are varied opinions on what Americans think of the US right now - whether it needs to be made great again, whether it still is great, whether it ever was great. What does ‘great’ mean? But what do non-Americans think about all this?
Ruth Copland presents her Out and About interviews on the street recorded on the Embankment in London. London is a very cosmopolitan city and the Embankment is a particularly cosmopolitan area as it is near Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, the London Eye, the Millennium Bridge, and the historic City of London, so there tend to be lots of visitors from many different countries. Sure enough, the first people who agreed to be interviewed by Ruth Copland were from Italy and France.
Ruth also features her interview with ex-pat, internationally best-selling and award-winning British author Michael Marshall Smith, who currently resides in Santa Cruz, California, to get his views as a non-American living in the US. A highly talented and original writer for over 20 years, he is known in particular for 'The Straw Men', which he is currently adapting for TV. His supernatural thriller ‘The Intruders’ was made into a dramatic TV series starring Mira Sorvino, Millie Bobby Brown and John Simm. His latest book is ‘Hannah Green and Her Unfeasibly Mundane Existence’.
For more information and to listen to past shows click here It's A Question of Balance
Print
Email
Acclaimed writer and futurist Neal Stephenson imagines what would happen if we could live on as digital souls. "Endlessly inventive and absorbing" (Kirkus Reviews), 'Fall; Or, Dodge in Hell' combines the technological, philosophical and spiritual in one grand myth raising profound questions about the breakthroughs which may transform our future.
Ruth Copland talks to Neal Stephenson about what inspires his highly popular and original novels, one of which 'Seveneves' was listed by Bill Gates as one of his top ten favourite books!
To listen to the interview click here Neal Stephenson | It's A Question of Balance.
If you enjoy the interview you can meet Neal in person in Santa Cruz on June 6th 7 pm. Get tickets and more info here https://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/nealstephenson
Neal is known for his speculative fiction works, which have been described variously as science fiction, historical fiction, maximalism or baroque, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk. His novels explore areas such as mathematics, cryptography, philosophy, currency, the history of science and envelope-pushing concepts of various kinds. Neal also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired Magazine, and has worked as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (funded by Jeff Bezos) developing a manned sub-orbital launch system. He is also Chief Futurist at Magic Leap, which produces a head-mounted virtual retinal display, called Magic Leap One, which superimposes 3D computer-generated imagery over real world objects.
Neal’s best-selling and critically acclaimed novels include Seven Eves, which Bill Gates named as one of his top ten favourite books and President Obama selected for his 2016 summer reading list. Other acclaimed novels are Reamde, Anathem, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O with Nicole Garland, The System of the World, The Confusion, Quicksilver, Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, Zodiac, and the nonfiction works In the Beginning . . . Was the Command Line and Some Remarks.
For more info and to listen to past shows click here www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Print
Email
Known as the godmother of Silicon Valley, Esther Wojcicki has inspired Silicon Valley legends such as Steve Jobs and is affectionately called ‘Woj’ by her many friends and admirers. She is famous for founding the media arts programme at Palo Alto High School and teaching a journalism class that has changed the lives of thousands of students, many of whom have gone on to have an outsize influence of their own. She has created the Moonshots in Education movement to help shift the culture of education to one that empowers both students and teachers. She is a leader in Blended Learning and the integration of technology into education. She is the mother of a super family, raising three happy daughters who have each made their own mark on the world as the CEO of YouTube, the Founder and CEO of 23andMe, and a top medical researcher.
Ruth Copland speaks to the highly creative and inspiring globally renowned educator, journalist, thought-leader, and author of the new book How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results at the famed media arts centre at Palo Alto High School where Esther Wojcicki still teaches. Ruth talks to Esther about what gave her the confidence and creative dynamism to challenge the education system; what sparked her passion for education and the arts; how she defines a successful person; whether failure is part of success; what inspired her to write her book; the role of journalism in the age of ‘fake news’; what she hopes her legacy will be, and much more.
To listen to the interview click here Esther Wojcicki | It's A Question of Balance (broadcast 4 May).
In addition, Esther Wojcicki serves as Vice Chair of Creative Commons and has been intimately involved with Google and GoogleEdu since its inception, where she was one of the leaders in setting up the Google Teacher Academy and remains a guiding force. She has two Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Palo Alto University and Rhode Island School of Design and was California Teacher of the Year in 2002. Esther believes strongly in the relationship between the school and home. As a mother, she and her husband Stan, a professor and former chair of the physics department at Stanford, fostered creativity and critical thinking in their daughters. Esther Wojcicki’s new book <em>How To Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results</em> draws on her considerable experience and success in both her personal life and career. It's a book all parents should read, and anyone who cares about how we can help children find success on all levels and on their own terms.
Photo: Esther Wojcicki (left) at the California Theatre, San Jose, after receiving the Cinequest Life of a Maverick Award and being interviewed live onstage by Ruth Copland (right). Photo credit Freedom Cheteni.
For more info and to listen to past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Print
Email
Ruth Copland, Interview, Its A Question of Balance, on the street, machines
Do we need to learn that just because we can do something doesn’t necessarily mean that we should? Where is the end-point? How much of your life do you want to give over to machines? If we abdicate too many mental and physical tasks to machines could we end up in a Wall-E world of atrophied bodies and brains, or is it the logical way to create a wonderful utopia?
Ruth Copland features her interviews out and about on the street asking people - Why do we seem to want everything done for us? And what will happen when it is? (broadcast 27 April).
For more information and to listen to past shows click here www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
The future holds out the prospect of driver-less cars and many other ways in which we can basically sit back and have everything done for us. Why is this desirable? One of the prime reasons given for using machines is to do jobs that humans don’t want to do and thus free up leisure time. Is free time the ultimate ‘win’ in our society? Or if we gain leisure at the expense of using the full capacity of our bodies and minds are we degrading human experience?
From the advent of labour-saving devices which simplified cooking, cleaning, and washing, we have moved towards increasing automation of tasks through technology. It is customary for businesses’ phones to be answered by automated voice systems, manufacturing has been streamlined replacing workers with machines, and computers complete all sorts of tasks that used to be done with brain power. There’s even people working on creating sex robots. Where will it all end? Ultimately, how much of our lives do we want to give over to machines?
Print
Email