The Way We Live Now from Karen's Letter

Karen Christensen
  • 0.0 (0)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
The Way We Live Now from Karen's Letter

The way we live now: stories, tools, & ideas. In conversation with authors (mostly living, but some favorites from the past, too) as we look for ways to make the world a better place. karenchristensen.substack.com

  1. 10 FEB

    Green Party 1990 to Principles First 2025

    Is a third party the answer? Karen Christensen tells the story of her involvement with the UK Green Party and shares a recording on the 8-minute talk she gave about the UK Greens at the 1990 organizing conference that led to the establishment of a US Green Party, which has been running candidates for president in spite of international criticism by more established and successful Green parties. This show was inspired by Karen's plan to attend Principles First in Washington DC, a gathering of conservatives and others who intend to change the trajectory of US politics. Show Notes Principles First Summit 2025: American Principles and Priorities / Speakers US elections: European Greens call for Jill Stein to step down David Icke - Wikipedia Dee Berry 1926 – 2022 - www.gp.org San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi’s Woes Began Before Immigration Uproar – NBC Bay Area Michael Feinstein, former mayor of Santa Monica Conspiracy, murder, or suicide in the German Green Party: Who killed Petra Kelly? (Mother Jones) I should note that Caroline Lucas was a long-serving Green Party leader and then MP, very professional, and in Canada there is the admirable Elizabeth May. And Jonathon Porritt, a former Green Party leader, is an influential media figure in the UK and still very much an activist. (He wrote the foreword to a couple of my environmental books, too - thank you, Jonathon!) More of the Green Parties story in the Sage Reference Encyclopedia of Leadership: download the PDF here. Get full access to The Way We Live Now at karenchristensen.substack.com/subscribe

    20 min

  2. 4 FEB

    A conversation about "schoolishness"

    Anthropologist Susan Blum talks with Karen Christensen about how she came to question today’s educational practices and discusses her newest book Schoolishness: Alienated Education and the Quest for Authentic, Joyful Learning. Her study of Chinese social values led her to explore what we mean by cleverness and originality. She then began to question the nature of education itself, and its role in students’ lives, which took her to critical, progressive, and feminist pedagogy and the anthropology of learning. The conversation also goes into alternative education, global variation, the role of parents, and the use of online tools and smart phones in the classroom. Get full access to The Way We Live Now at karenchristensen.substack.com/subscribe

    39 min

  3. 30 JAN

    Desi pubs - a conversation about race, exclusion, and resilience

    David Jesudason, a London-based journalist who writes about beer and author of Desi Pubs - A Guide to British-Indian Pubs, Food & Culture, explains how he realized that certain aspects of British life, particularly when it comes to people of color and the working class, have been massively underreported. He began to write about Desi pubs, the British-Indian pubs that became third places for those unwelcome in “white” British pubs. Jesudason talks about his book how Desi pubs have thrived in different parts of Britain, compares them with Jamaican pubs, and discusses issues of exclusion and acceptance. Links Desi Pubs - A guide to British-Indian Pubs, Food & Culture “The Triumphant Story of Britain’s Desi Pubs” “Eclectic Avenues — How London’s First Black Pub Landlords Changed the City’s Drinking Culture” Get full access to The Way We Live Now at karenchristensen.substack.com/subscribe

    39 min

  4. 30 JAN

    Simon Winchester talks about The Man Who Loved China

    Author Simon Winchester explains how he came to write the life of Joseph Needham, the British scientist who became fascinated by China's culture and history. He recollects his encounter with Needham's multi-volume epic, 'Science and Civilization in China,' and explains how he came to narrate Needham's extraordinary life journey from his early interest in languages and biology to his profound influence on the Western perception of China. This recording was made in 2009, at an event in New York hosted by the National Committee on US-China Relations in conjunction with publication of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of China by NCUSCR member Karen Christensen. Get full access to The Way We Live Now at karenchristensen.substack.com/subscribe

    59 min
  5. From the US Capitol, January 2021

    17 JAN

    From the US Capitol, January 2021

    We are re-releasing this podcast because it was recorded over the phone with Congressman Seth Moulton, who was actually at the U.S. Capitol one week after the insurrection of January 6th, 2021. Remarkably, he took the time to speak to me about trains while he was on his way to vote on the second impeachment of Donald Trump. Seth Moulton is still a congressman in Massachusetts, a straight-talking politician we're lucky to have representing us, upholding democracy and US values. In the podcast, you’ll hear Congressman Moulton’s conviction about the role that trains, and high-speed trains, can play in the future of the United States. This interview helped inspire us to launch the new Train Time podcast and newsletter at Substack. Get full access to The Way We Live Now at karenchristensen.substack.com/subscribe

    21 min

  6. 16 JAN

    Restaurateur Mark Firth on hosting, farming, & drinking

    Is a restaurant a third place? Can it be one? Mark Firth, known for the restaurants he cofounded in Brooklyn and now owner of the Prairie Whale in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, explains the rewards and challenges of creating a welcoming social space as well as dishes made with locally grown ingredients. Mark left Brooklyn to farm in the Berkshires, then bought a building on Main Street Great Barrington and turned it into an attractive and lively eatery. He also explains how he and others in the food industry deal with seasonality and cranky customers, and with alcohol. This show will be of interest to diners and to anyone in the food and beverage industry. Show Notes “The Restaurateur Who Helped Build an Empire—and Gave It All Up Prairie Whale Restaurant, Great Barrington, Massachusetts Get full access to The Way We Live Now at karenchristensen.substack.com/subscribe

    44 min

  7. 12 JAN

    American princess priestess poet

    After her death by suicide in 1963, the young American poet Sylvia Plath became a feminist icon, a mythically brilliant and doomed figure. Her last poems, published after her death in a format edited by her estranged husband, the poet Ted Hughes, established her reputation and made her a commercial success, but it was her tumultuous personal life, rather than her work, that got most attention. Hughes became known as the philandering husband of Sylvia Plath as well as poet, and poet laureate. Why, however, all these years later, are biographers and critics still writing about her? Carl Rollyson argues that Plath’s greatness as a poet has been overshadowed. In this podcast, he explains to Karen Christensen, a Plath skeptic, how he is setting the record straight in a series of books about Plath. Carl Rollyson is a prolific biographer as well as a critic who writes and podcasts extensively about the art of biography. His next book is Making the American Presidency: How Biographers Shape History (University of Virginia Press). Read more about him here. CarlRollyson.com Amongst Carl’s books about Plath: The Last Days of Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 2: 1955-1963 The most recent and most comprehensive biography of Ted Hughes is by Jonathan Bate. Here is Carl’s review. Get full access to The Way We Live Now at karenchristensen.substack.com/subscribe

    54 min

  8. 21/12/2024

    Joyful reading: a podcast about the novels of Anthony Trollope

    Karen Christensen welcomes fellow lifetime literature students Bob Blaisdell and Kia Penso (Class of ’81) for a feast of fandom on the writing of Anthony Trollope. Blaisdell and Penso have been fans of Anthony Trollope since they first read his work as literature majors at UC Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies. They talk about what makes Trollope’s novels so engaging: the courage of his female characters; his humor; the ease and suppleness of his narrative voice. Their conversation touches on Trollope in history and in relation to other literary eras and places, never losing sight of the uniqueness of this singular author’s character, vision, and artistic practice. They also talk about another Trollope fan, Marvin Mudrick, and what they learned about reading, and life, from that remarkable teacher. Bob Blaisdell is the editor of The Wit and Wisdom of Anthony Trollope (Blackthorn Press) and of dozens of Dover anthologies of literature. He's the author of Creating Anna Karenina and Chekhov Becomes Chekhov (Pegasus), biographical studies of Tolstoy and Chekhov in the midst of their creative works, and Well, Mr. Mudrick Said … A Memoir (Berkshire Publishing Group). He lives in New York City and teaches at Kingsborough Community College (CUNY). Kia Penso grew up in Jamaica, and as a freshman at the University of California at Santa Barbara was led by luck into the classroom where the literary critic Marvin Mudrick taught the writing of narrative prose. She was admitted to UCSB’s College of Creative Studies, and there she became a literature major for life. She has a PhD in English from UCSB and a MS in Journalism from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. She writes about literature and about the Caribbean. She supports her reading, writing, and painting habits by editing reports for large international financial institutions. Kia believes that everyone should have the right and the opportunity to develop creatively at any time in life. Get full access to The Way We Live Now at karenchristensen.substack.com/subscribe

    58 min
See All (38)

Trailer

About

The way we live now: stories, tools, & ideas. In conversation with authors (mostly living, but some favorites from the past, too) as we look for ways to make the world a better place. karenchristensen.substack.com

Information

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign-in or sign-up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada