Ericast 152 - Mikael, Part 2 (REPEAT)

A repeat of Episode 70 of the Ericast (posted July 6, 2006) in memory of Mikael Rudolph, who died February 26th, 2010. To round out the war/military/government discussion that we only touched on in this podcast episode, here are clips of an impeachment-related interview that Mikael gave about a year after his Ericast interview:

Part 1



Part 2



My favorite quote from the Ericast episode is Mikael's reference to himself as a "recovering evangelical charismatic contemplative." Listen for it.

Here's the original text of the episode post:

The long-awaited "Part 2" of my interview with performer extraordinaire Mikael Rudolph (info at http://www.MikaelTheMime.com/).

This part of the interview talks about Mikael's show "Swim Home", its Christian perspective/context/overtones, and Mikael's political views -- in general, what it means to be "Christian" and "politically active" in this country today.

Much different from Part 1, and equally interesting (in my opinion)!

Because time was short, we weren't able to talk in detail about additional resources that you, the dedicated listener, might want to browse if you're intrigued by Mikael's comments. But he was good enough to forward the following list of "recommended reading", so-to-speak:

• The Project for a New American Century's own published plans for global domination with signers Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowicz, Perle, John Bolton, Jeb Bush and a number of other now Bush Administration officials and/or corporate cronies.
• Independent journalist Greg Palast - an American working for the BBC
• Independent journalist Dahr Jamail www.dahrjamail.com (a great source of REAL truth from Iraq)
• Seymour Hersh (maybe the greatest living journalist in my opinion)
• The writings of William Rivers Ritt
• Countdown with Keith Aldermann
• The website of House Representative John Conyers, Jr.
• AlterNet
• Truthdig
• weekly-spin@prwatch.org
• Progressive Democrats of America
• AfterDowningStreet.org
• 911truth.org
• The New York Times
• The Washington Post
• The London Times
• British Broadcast Company
• Canadian Broadcast Company
• Congress.com
• Veterans for Peace
• Veterans for Peace and Justice
• Iraq Veterans Against the War
• Amnesty International
• The American Civil Liberties Union
• Democrats.com
• Minnesota DFL Party
• MoveOn.org
• People for the American Way
• Harper's Weekly
• press@worldcantwait.org
• School of the Americas Watch
• Act for Change
• Public Campaign Action
• The Colbert Report OF COURSE!!!
• The Late Show with John Stewart
• Air America Radio
• Working Assets
• Working Families e-activist Network
• PBS - ESPECIALLY THE NEWS HOUR WITH JIM LEHRER
• Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! is very dry, but she is incredibly brilliant and cuts to the core of the news
• Original documents on the web including very personal correspondence between ENRON criminal Ken Lay and the President

As I mention in the podcast, I agree with about 90% of what Mikael is saying, and it's up to you to figure out the other 10%... so I'm not necessarily endorsing the above references. But if you're intrigured by what Mikael has to say in this episode, you now have some reading that you can do!

As always, if you have any questions/concerns/comments/thoughts, call 206-339-3742 (206-339-ERIC) or e-mail eric at ericast.com. And thanks for listening!

2006 UPDATE: Mikael left a comment to the podcast show notes with this update:

Thanks Eric. I really enjoyed the interview. I just need to learn to SPEAK UP!!! (Not that uncommon for a mime, I know). I did want to mention one more resource that might be of interest to you and your listerners: Sojourners Magazine and online Christian resource center: www.sojo.net

Pastor Jim Wallis is a wonderful speaker and writer who really clarifies how being a Christian can be reconciled with a truly compassionate and Progressive political view. Social justice and serving the needs of the poor are Christian values and "Sojourners" is one part of the Christian Church as a whole that can help us all to see that giving to those in most need can and will help us find the true heart of Christ in our actions. Here is one quote:

Poverty is not a family value
by
Jim Wallis 6-29-2006
It is the season when we celebrate the church coming down from that upper room into the streets with the power of the Spirit to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. The good news that he proclaimed in his opening mission statement in the little town of Nazareth: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor."

As I think was clear from the interview, I have a tough time reconciling this calling upon Jesus and upon us with the way the Evangelical Church in American seems so eager to embrace and support our government that summarily rejects continuing support for any and all programs that help the poor and most vulnerable in favor of tax breaks for the rich and no-bid contracts for the even richer.

Ericast 151 - Mikael, Part 1 (REPEAT)

A repeat of Episode 69 of the Ericast (posted June 29, 2006) in memory of Mikael Rudolph, who died February 26th, 2010. Here are clips of the show that we discussed in this interview:



And here's the original text of the episode post:

A spectacularly interesting interview this week with Mikael Rudolph -- more information at www.MikaelTheMime.com. The name of the site gives you a hint at his profession! The general discussion revolves around the history of Mikael's art and the challenge (and importance!) of non-verbal communication.

Please bear with the odd digital echoes or "hiccups", which come and go through just the first five minutes or so of the interview. I don't know how they got there (something goofy with the Skype recording) and wish I could get rid of them, but I can't... and my biggest fear is that you (the dedicated listener) will get so annoyed by them that you'll tune out. But bear with the bad audio -- the interview is worth it, and it does get better just a few minutes in.

(I think the last blip is at 8:50 and it's completely clear from that point forward. So if you can't manage to listen through the early noise, at least fast-forward to that point in the podcast and try again... though, without Mikael's background from the previous few minutes, the rest of the interview won't make nearly as much sense!)

The only advantage of my little recording problem is that, after suffering through that audio mess, you won't notice the little "dit-dit-dit" teletype sound of audio interference deep inside my computer.

(Hey, this "recording a telephone call" stuff is tricky!)

What was going to be a 20 or 30 minute conversation with Mikael lasted more than an hour, so Part 2 of the interview will appear next week.

If you have any thoughts/comments, be sure to call 206-339-3742 (206-339-ERIC) or e-mail eric at ericast.com!

Ericast 150 - Remembering Mikael Rudolph

Well, here's the punchline: Mikael Rudolph died a few months ago. So, to remember this mime and peace activist who I interviewed in 2006, we're going to re-run our 2006 interview with him in the coming weeks...

As I mention in this week's podcast, the reality in this world is that "people die"... yet this story seems to have particularly sad ending as Mikael had successfully (?) battled one form of cancer only to have another (caused by the very medicine that cured him) take his life when he seemed so healthy and healed.

I didn't have a chance to say goodbye (not that we were close enough that it would have mattered) and, in fact, hadn't seen or spoken with him since 2006... yet I still felt a connection to him. And since this podcast was the vehicle through which that connection was made/formed/developed, I thought it would be fitting to re-share his conversation.

I quote in this episode:

A Fond Farewell to Mikael Rudolph (warisacrime.org)
Remembering Mikael of Impeach for Peace (impeachforpeace.org)
Patriots for Corporate Rights! (corporaterights.org)

See also:

Mikael Rudolph, Activist & Mime, RIP (debra.worldcantwait.net)
Mikael Rudolph Remembered (minnesotaplaylist.com)

And from better days:

Mime uses humor to put cancer in its place (fleshandstone.net)

Share your memories of Mikael, comments on his interview on the Ericast, or other thoughts and opinions: 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

Ericast 149 - Inappropriate Vocal Inflection

Recorded on Friday -- I'm feeling much better now, thanks! -- this is an example of what happens when a cold goes bad. And, as I mention in the podcast, this isn't a fake voice; it really is "the new normal" when I get a cold like this. (And now that it's Sunday, I'm fairly normally "normal" again.)

Pretty much the entire episode is tongue-in-cheek, so if we were able to all gather together and listen as a drunken group, we'd all be laughing hysterically. But that's not the case, so you're probably going to sit alone in your car or office (or home) and thing that this is really strange or sad.

Nothing too deep or comment on... but if you want to say anything, call 296-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

Ericast 148 - Where'd September Go?!?

In an episode that causes everyone to ask, "What kind of cold medicine is Eric on?!?" (answer: "none"... which might explain things?) we have a bold and brash return to the Ericast with a collection of listener feedback from the summer.

Shouts out to Chad, Jonzer and Matt -- I've missed you guys! Glad to be back in the saddle here (metaphorically speaking).

The occasional microphone pop and wind noise (sorry! poor placement!) and scratchy voice means that our brief hiatus didn't help us to improve our production values on the Ericast, but it did allow us to revitalize our use of the "majestic we" and refer to ourselves as plural as much as we can.

Comments or future podcast topics or identification of obscure 1980s sitcom references should take the form of a quick phone call to 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or, if necessary, an e-mail to me (eric) at ericast.com. Enjoy!