This show originally aired on January 25, 2020.
Our latest Sound Effect theme is “Friend or Foe.” First, we hear how artists took over a business group and changed Camano Island. Then, we meet an ex-Army Ranger whose flip-flop business is an olive branch for peace. We dive into the epic life of Sidney Rittenberg, a "towering historical figure" who settled near Tacoma. We learn about the ups and downs of having someone else’s DNA. And one woman shares how a bad fortune telling session led to a new outlook on life — and some payback.
CHAMBER COUP
The Rev. Chumleigh wasn’t exactly a regular at meetings of the Camano Island Chamber of Commerce. He was an odd fit for the business group. So Chumleigh dropped in on a friend, artist Jack Gunter, with an idea.
“He said, ‘I bet if we got a bunch of artists, we could take over the chamber and have it run by the artist community,’” Gunter said.
This was the 1990s, and there were only a handful of artists on Camano. But a small group of them began attending meetings. Listen to the full story to learn more about The Great Camano Chamber Coup.
FLIP-FLOPS FOR PEACE
The first time Matt Griffin went to Afghanistan, it was in combat gear.
Griffin was an elite fighter with the Army Rangers, going on missions to remote and dangerous mountain regions.
These days, Griffin goes to Afghanistan as a business person.Listen to this story to learn about the man behind Combat Flip Flops, a for-profit business that uses the tools of war to try and manufacture peace.
SIDNEY RITTENBERG
Sidney Rittenberg died in 2019 at the age of 98. To better understand his extraordinary life story, we talked with close friends of his from the Tacoma area, where he spent his last several decades, including a regular guest stint teaching at Pacific Lutheran University. And we draw on the documentary film The Revolutionary, from Stourwater Pictures, which gathered many hours of interviews with Rittenberg before his death.
MICROCHIMERISM
Our DNA is closely tied up with who we are. Every cell in your body contains identical copies of the blueprint for you.
Well, not every cell. In each of us, there’s a small number of cells with someone else’s DNA.
These exotic cells mostly come from our mothers and, if you’re a mother yourself, from your children.
And those cells aren’t just sitting there — they seem to affect our health, for better or for worse.
Learn more from this conversation with Dr. J. Lee Nelson, a faculty member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington.
FORTUNE-TELLER SCAM
Back in the late 80s Melissa Reaves was all smiles. She was getting ready to move from Michigan to San Diego, where she could enjoy the sunshine and palm trees, and she had what she thought was a really wonderful boyfriend named Bill. But when it was time to move, Bill was a no-show.
“I was really upset. And I remember that little voice in my head said ‘Girl you got it. Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. You’re going to be just fine.’”
But it was hard to listen to that voice. Her heart was broken. And so Melissa decided to go seek out some answers. And the person she turned to was a fortune teller. Listen to this story to learn how a bad fortune-telling experience changed Melissa’s outlook on life.
