Charlotte Talks

Friday October 1, 2010 | The Mint Museum

The Mint Museum has long held an anchor position in the art community in our region. From its original home on Randolph Road to its first uptown location, the Mint has endured several changes but none as big as the grand opening of the brand new uptown building. The museum aims to be a world class destination for art and craft lovers and it is the third corner of the triumvirate of art repositories along with the Bechtler Museum and Gantt Center. We visited the new building and got a look at what’s inside. We share that experience and more about the Mint.

Guests
Dr. Kathleen Jamison – Executive Director, The Mint Museum of Art
Carla Hanzel – Curator, Bank of America Collection, Mint Museum
Richard Maschal – Visual Arts Critic and Former Staff Writer, Charlotte Observer

• Mint Museum website
• WFAE  |  New Mint Museum Opens Friday Uptown
• Photos  |  Photos inside and around the new Mint Museum
• Audio  |  Artist Danny Lane talks about his contribution to the Mint Museum
• Audio  |  Allen Blevins, Director of Bank of America’s Corporate Art Program talks about BoA’s contribution

Add and read comments

Listen to Show

Thursday Sept. 30, 2010 | Concussion Research

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention there are 300 thousand sports and recreation related head injuries in the United States each year. Most of those injuries can be classified as concussions.  Concussions are becoming more prevalent with the popularity of sports like football but there are gaps in the science of concussions. Doctors are still researching the best ways to diagnose, test for and treat concussions. We’ll meet three doctors who are very involved with concussion research and treatment.

Guests
Dr. Mark Halstead – Asst. Professor of Pediatrics and Orthopedics, Washington University in St. Louis
Dr. David Wiercisiewski – Director, Carolina Sports Concussion Program at Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates
Dr. Jerry Petty – Neurosurgeon, Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates and Team Neurosurgeon for the Carolina Panthers

• Study  |  Sport-Related Concussion in Children and Adolescents from the American Academy of Pediatrics

Add and read comments

Listen to Show

Wednesday Sept. 29, 2010 | HOAs and the Green Movement

There are hundreds of neighborhoods in our region and most of them are regulated by some sort of Home Owners Association. Those regulations generally include rules about lawns, exposed trash and exterior changes but some HOA covenants can be very restrictive according to residents. Added to the growing number of neighborhood disputes is a movement by more and more citizens to make their homes and lawns more energy efficient, but installing a solar panel or changing grass into natural habitat can run afoul of neighborhood rules. We invite experts on HOAs and how they work to join us and help us all understand neighborhood covenants and how they may change as cities become greener.

Guests
Mike Hunter – Attorney, Horack Talley and Columnist on HOA issues, The Charlotte Observer
Rick Roti – Attorney, Chair of Charlotte Public Tree Fund

• WFAE  |  Going Green Not Always Easy in HOAs
• Charlotte Public Tree Fund
• Charlotte Observer  |  HOA columns by Mike Hunter

Add and read comments

Listen to Show

Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 | The Free Clinic Movement

Today, we’ll talk about the advent of the free clinic movement back in the 60s and meet with one of the doctors who started the movement in California. The idea of free clinics for people who have no access to meaningful health care has only risen in the past few decades. We’ll talk about how this movement continues to thrive across the country and right here in the Charlotte region.

Guests
Dr. David E. Smith – founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics of San Francisco, and also a national leader in addiction medicine.
Dr. Bill Cody – Dean of the Blair College of Health and the Presbyterian School of Nursing at Queens University of Charlotte. He also started a free health clinic in Charlotte.

• Event  |  Dr. Smith will speak about his experiences with the free clinic movement on October 1, at Queens Universtiy of Charlotte. More details.

Add and read comments

Listen to Show

Monday Sept. 27, 2010 | Fall Arts Preview

Fall is here and that means many of the area’s performing arts companies are unveiling new seasons of theatre, dance and music. The Blumenthal’s Broadway Lights Series brings hits to town, while smaller area theatres offer up newer and sometimes edgy fare. The Charlotte Symphony has a new conductor and North Carolina Dance Theatre has a brand new building to dance in this season. We’ll sit down with some of the folks who make the art or write about it today.

Guests
Perry Tannenbaum – Theatre Critic, Creative Loafing
Steven Brown – Music and Dance Writer, The Charlotte Observer
Douglas Young – Vice-President, Theatrical Programming Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux – Artistic Director, North Carolina Dance Theatre

Add and read comments

Listen to Show

Friday Sept. 24, 2010 | Paganism in Our Region

When we speak of religion and belief systems in our region, we tend to think of Christianity, Judaism or Islam but a large and growing number of our residents are inspired by religious practices far older than any Abrahamic faith. There are pagans, witches and heathens among us and they are becoming more vocal in defense of their faith and the legitimacy of their belief systems. We will meet a few of these folks to learn more about some of the earliest traditions in humankind.

Guests
Reverend Tony Brown – Ordained reverend of a North American Wiccan church
Heather Darnell – Witch, member of the Reclaiming Tradition
Corbie Williams – Heathen, member of The Troth

Website mentioned during show: www.charlottepaganpride.org

Add and read comments

Listen to show

Thursday Sept. 23, 2010 | Coal Ash Pollution / Recent Hearings

Last week, the EPA held a public hearing in Charlotte on proposed coal ash regulations, one of eight hearings planned nationwide. The hearing cast a brighter light locally on the topic of coal ash pollution, but the situation is complex, and has several facets — and points of view.  On this edition of Charlotte Talks, we’ll bring you up to speed on the proposed regulations, what people on all sides of the issue think, and what impact all of this has on the Charlotte region.

Guests
Bruce Henderson – reporter for the Charlotte Observer
Rhiannon Bowman – freelance reporter who has written on this topic for Creative Loafing
John Downey – Senior Staff Reporter for the Charlotte Business Journal

Add and read comments

Listen to show

Wednesday Sept. 22, 2010 | North Carolina Economic Forecast

It’s been a long hot summer for the economy and some experts suggest that we are sliding back into what would be a double dip recession. Timed with this news is UNC Charlotte Economics Professor John Connaughton’s quarterly forecast. At the beginning of the summer Professor Connaughton forecast modest growth for the region. We’ll find out if he still feels that way or if North Carolina will join the slide back into recession. It’s time for our quarterly visit with John Connaughton to look at the region’s economic health.
Guest
John Connaughton – Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Forecast at UNC Charlotte

• Charlotte Talks  |  North Carolina Economic Forecast (last quarter)

Add and read comments

Listen to show

Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 | The Yadkin River Story

The Yadkin River has been a part of North Carolina lore for centuries. Daniel Boone traveled its paths and modern residents live, work and play by the river’s banks. It’s also one of the more controversial rivers in our state given that a private corporation owns and controls much of the Yadkin Rivers shoreline. Two journalists, Phoebe Zerwick and Christine Rucker, set out to write about and photograph some of the people and places along the Yadkin and to learn some of its secrets. Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks paddled the length of the Yadkin as well. They join us to talk about what they learned.
Guests
Phoebe Zerwick – Freelance Writer, Co-Producer Yadkin River Story
Christine Rucker – Photojournalist, Co-Producer, Yadkin River Story
Dean Naujoks – Yadkin Riverkeeper, Executive Director, Yadkin Riverkeeper org

• WFAE Series  |  Public v. Private: Power Struggle on the Yadkin

Add and read comments

Listen to the show

Monday Sept. 20, 2010 | Globalization

We have just been through a summer of discontent and are about to witness a continuation into the autumn and the fall elections.  US voters are unhappy with many things but at the heart of it is the economy and the economy is hurting from many things but at the heart of that are the effects of globalization.  Adrian Wooldridge is the Managing Editor of The Economist and joins us to talk about globalization.  He calls it “A Future Perfect.”  Find out why.
Guest
Adrian Wooldridge – Management Editor of The Economist and Co-Author of A Future Perfect

• Amazon  |  A Future Perfect by Adrian Wooldridge
• Event  |  Wooldridge will speak to the World Affairs Council Charlotte Sept. 20th. Details.

Add and read comments

Listen to show