Monday, December 22nd – from HPR2, it’s The Conversation
In Hawaii, it often seems as if everything old is new again as ancient values of sustainability and self-reliance come to the fore in a modern state crippled by its dependence on outside sources of food and energy. On Kauai, there’s an effort underway to bring traditional practices once again to the fore through the development of a 75-acre land parcel that’s intended to be a regional food hub. The Kilauea Ag Park Complex project is spearheaded by non-profit Malama Kaua‘i and its Executive Director, Keone Kealoha, joined the show to tell us more.
Intro Music: Nuttin' For Christmas by Art Mooney and His Orchestra feat. Barry Gordon
Outro Music: Kauai Beauty by Gabby Pahinui
Biodiversity Trail Opens: Chipper Wichman
How does your garden grow? If you’re in Hawai’i, it might be the very picture of the luxuriant tropics. Looks alone can be deceiving, however. Here and elsewhere, conservationists are sounding the alarm about biodiversity or the variety of organisms in the ecosystem. To alert us to the crisis, a biodiversity trail has just opened to the public at the McBryde Garden on Kauai’s South Shore. It’s part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. The organization’s director is Chipper Wichman, and he joined the show by phone.
Intro Music: Paniolo Medley by Ken Emerson
Outro Music: Biodiversity by Joe Reilly
“Life as a North Korean Defector”: Tommy Driskill
Recent events haven’t added much to our understanding about North Korea but they have increased our national anxiety and our curiosity. It’s a drama with many subplots: one of them being the plight of the defectors who have fled the hardline Communist autocracy in search of something better… Most of them end up in South Korea, and Tommy Driskill, a young documentary filmmaker, is in a unique position to tell their story. He is the director, writer, and producer of the documentary “Life as a North Korean Defector,” which can be seen here.
Intro Music: Got Django by Hot Club of Hulaville
Outro Music: North Korea by Asian Traditional Music
Hawaiian Community Assets Helping Homeless Families: Desiree Vea
‘Tis the season to spend, spend, spend. We are drenched in consumer messages all year long, making it hard to save money in any season... but what about drawing on cultural values to improve our money management skills? This is just part of a strategy which has motivated some Native Hawaiian families to get out of homelessness and into permanent housing. Hawaiian Community Assets is behind this program and its director, Desiree Vea, joined the show to tell us more.
Intro Music: In This Home on Ice by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Outro Music: Hamakua Hale by Ken Emerson
