"It just looks like there's a perfect storm of political will..." Tom Ammiano
Persistence pays off in the when you’re an interviewer. For some time I have wanted to speak with Tom Ammiano, who now represents the 13th District in California (essentially, San Francisco). Certainly, one of the reasons I wanted to speak with him was because he was calling for the legalization of recreational marijuana sales in California. But when I started doing my basic research, I found out about his part in the Briggs initiative. That's a bit of deep history, and made him all the more interesting, as a politician and an activist.
Tom Ammiano's office is on the 14th floor in the California State building in San Francisco. It's right across the street from the entrance to the Civic center parking garage, but the address is on the opposite street. The upshot is that I walked four blocks through San Francisco, lugging my gear to come around the front door when I could have just waltzed in through the back door. It was only when I got up to his office that I realized where I was.
Ammiano was out to lunch when I arrived, but got back early and we started out conversation early as well. He's done time as stand-up comedian, and you can see why he's an effective legislator and activist. He's a smart man who cuts to the chase in the manner of any good speaker. And it was really interesting, talking to him about his history, first as a schoolteacher, then as an activist and politician. We talked a bit about Harvey Milk, and George Moscone, and about Ammiano's work on AB 390, the bill to legalize marijuana sales in California – then tax the hell out of 'em, to bring some much needed funds into the state budget. Care to hear a great story, well-told, by the man who lived it? Just follow this link to the MP3 audio file.
02-11-10: A 2010 Interview With Sam Farr
"The money came from Washington, but the uses for that money came from the local community." Representative Sam Farr
You have to read to stay informed; and that is why it is important to read for pleasure as well. And, in the same way you need to keep abreast of what is happening politically, by watching news reports and reading newspapers, you also have to try to connect with those charged with running the country on different level. Yes, we see these guys son television all the time. We hear their speeches. It's a very different experience to sit down and have a conversation.
I was lucky enough to get over an hour with Congressman Sam Farr, who represents the 17th District of California — the central coast — in the United States House of Representatives. We talked in his office in Salinas, California. It's a small office tucked into a federal building with a post office. It's a very human space — and a great place to get a thoughtful portrait of how the most powerful country on earth is being run.
When you talk with Sam Farr, your first impression is of just how thoughtful he is. Farr got his start in the Peace Corps, so he combines that thoughtfulness with a very practical and down-to-earth approach to governing. The House of Representatives sometimes seems like a human zoo when you see it on television, complete with dung-flinging. Talking to Farr, you understand that vision is simply a cartoon. Farr is approaches his job with deliberation and an admirable practicality. Yet you can also sense his frustration at the state of governance.
This interview is not a message piece, or a hatchet job, or a promotional puffery. I sat down as a citizen, and asked Farr about, well, everything. And he gave me thorough, insightful answers. Our government is supposed to have some measure of transparency. All I wanted to do was to find out what Farr is doing in Congress, and specifically, what he's doing for the central coast. The answers are as complicated as the 17th District, which to me is exactly what I would like to see and hear. You can get a glimpse into the workings of the federal government by following this link to the MP3 audio file of the interview, which is 1 hr. 8 min. and 93.5 MB.
02-10-10: Speaking Frankly: Thomas Frank on Re-Populism and Re-Launching The Baffler
"I have never seen 'populist backlash in a headline before." Thomas Frank
It's always interesting when words get tossed into the political fire, their meanings burnt to a crispin, only to be reborn, and alas, re-branded. If the word "crispin" doesn't exist it should, and though the word re-branding exists, to my mind, it shouldn't. Unless it refers to being stamped with a hot poker.
Yes, we've heard a lot of populism these days, and the references pretty much seem to point to what those in the UK might call "hooliganism." But it wasn't always that way, or rather it was, but the hooligans, or Populists, as they called themselves in the 19th century, had a rather different endgame in mind.
All this new-fangled populism, left, right and center is perfect fodder for Wall Street Journal Columnist Thomas Frank. He wrote about it in "Populism is Democracy at Work," and it's the usual Frank column that makes everyone in the political realm a bit nervous. And they should be! Populism has a long and actual history that has been written down and verified. It's not exactly what the latest newspapers purport it to be. Were the original members of the Vox Populi to arise from yesteryear and assert their opinions, they'd not be so ... popular as those claiming the crown are today. Oh history, as Frank and I discuss. It is ever so inconvenient.
02-09-10: A 2009 Interview with David Drake, Part 2 / Complete
"I didn't have a governor ... that is ... anything, endgame, was me killing somebody." David Drake
Yes, David Drake comes off as quite intense. But there's a level of generosity and humor in his voice as well. It's just amazing how complicated the human voice is. How seemingly simple inflection can convey so many nuances, how a simple statement can embody horror, humor, self-knowledge, self-disgust, distress at the state of the world. And it's amazing how close a voice can bring us to another human being.
As I mentioned yesterday, the interview with David Drake ran particularly long. The second half, which I'm podcasting today, contains my favorite anecdote, which came, actually, at the very end of the interview. Whatever your feelings about David Drake, his writing, or military SF may be, prepare to have them demolished. I can't imagine anyone who hears this writer speak not wanting to read what he writes.
Fortunately, you can find a Drake's complete 'Hammer's Slammers' series out from Night Shade Books. The Night Shade editions include all the stories, and all the novels, with new interstitial material. I suspect that these may prove to be rather valuable artifacts in the long run. But no matter what, they have the sort of "put 'em on the shelf together" appeal that will make them must-buys for many of my readers.
02-08-10: A 2009 Interview with David Drake, Part 1
"I'm still screwed up, but not nearly as badly as I was." David Drake
I first encountered David Drake's Lovecraftian fiction in 'New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos', edited by Ramsey Campbell where I read "Than Curse the Darkness." I enjoyed the story and I enjoyed the jokes, but didn't have much sense of the author until I heard him speak at the World Fantasy Convention on a panel with Jeff VanderMeer.
Drake is best known for the series of military SF novels he write about 'Hammer's Slammers,' which he described in our interview at being pretty much like his Vietnam experience, "with rayguns." Drake is a great speaker, full of passion, intensity, and humor shot through with the sort of virulent anger that can only be channeled into white-hot writing.
This conversation quickly took a turn into the intense, so I trust that readers will tolerate the strong imagery and the equally strong opinions. This chat went quite a bit beyond frank.
But since this is so long, I've split the conversations into two segments; the first 37:21, the second 41:48. Today, I'm offering readers Part One of my David Drake interview — just follow this link to the MP3 audio file. I'll podcast part 2 tomorrow. I guess it makes me just a little bit sad to let this one out. I almost feel like this interview has been my friend for these months while it incubated and waited to bubble to the top. I trust my listeners will understand why when they hear it.
New to the Agony Column
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05-08-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat' : Reading in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Phone Interview with Mark Sundeen : "...over the years, I had heard through my friends that he had stopped using money and was living in a cave..."
04-30-12: Commentary : Christopher Moore Follows 'Sacré Bleu' : A Story in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Christopher Moore : "...it often isn't efficient to tell a story in chronological order..."
04-27-12: Commentary : Lisa Lutz on 'Trail of the Spellmans' : Meta-Fiction is Fun
Agony Column Podcast News Report: SF in SF from February 11, 2012 : Panel Discussion Moderated by Terry Bisson and Interviews with Rudy Rucker, K. W. Jeter, and Jay Lake
04-26-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Emmanuel Carrere 'The Adversary' : The Enemy Within
04-23-12: Commentary : T. M. Luhrman Listens 'When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God' : Science and the Supernaturaly
04-18-12: Commentary : Gregg Jones Stirs Through 'Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dreams' : A Dream Of Today From Yesterday
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Gregg Jones : "The Philippinos would welcome us with open arms and greet us as liberators."
04-17-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Caleb Carr 'The Alienist' : Subterranean History
04-16-12: Commentary : Richard Zacks Visits 'Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York' :The Wild, Wild East
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Richard Zacks : "Roosevelt and Riis were out looking, and if they did find a cop, he was talking to a streetwalker."
04-12-12: Commentary : Excess of Excellence : Short Story Edition
Agony Column Podcast News Report: Three Books with Alan Cheuse : 'The Wolf Gift' by Anne Rice, 'Arctic Rising' by Tobias Buckell and 'The Third Gate' by Lincoln Child
