Author: Mike Benedetti

Rachel Hamilton and Allison Vasallo share some vegan food.

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Bruce Russell visits the Dive Bar Mayoral Forum; performs solo at Pleasant Street Baptist Church; interviews Bert Centeno, Jacob Berendes, Jeff Barnard, and Mike Leslie; and shares his thoughts.

Correction: Bruce was visiting a friend, not a homeless shelter, when he wrote the song.

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On May 17, 1968, the “Catonsville Nine” went to the draft board in Catonsville, Maryland, took 378 draft files, brought them to the parking lot in wire baskets, dumped them out, poured homemade napalm over them, and set them on fire.

On the 40th anniversary, we talk with Catonsville Nine member Tom Lewis, and long-time peace activist Michael True.

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A conversation with Catholic Worker Scott Schaeffer-Duffy about zombies. Features footage from “Night of the Living Dead” and “White Zombie.”

Stills from this episode.

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Scott: Division and self-interest are not good solutions. Building up walls, keeping out people, not being hospitable, they’re not good solutions cause ultimately somebody’s gonna catapult a plague victim over your walls because of the bitterness. You’re gonna end up divided with each other. You gotta keep your values intact.

Mike: So actually Worcester’s success in dealing with people who are experiencing homelessness, or addiction, or whatever, maybe comes into play when we face zombie attack.

Scott: The compassionate cities are gonna fare better.

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Bruce is describing “Prince of Darkness.”

Mike: Wait a second, it’s a liquid form of Satan?

Bruce: Yeah!

Scott: You haven’t seen this film?

Bruce: You gotta see this man!

Mike: How do they manufacture a liquid form of Satan?

Bruce: It’s in a green liquid. How do you liquify vomit after you get it on yourself?

Mike: It is liquid! It’s vomit!

A conversation with bluesman Billy Blue.

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Topics include: how to play the harmonica, and why people said Robert Johnson sold his soul.

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An interview with comics artist Sam Gaskin.

Sam created the opening animation to the Snow Ghost Community Show. Also mentioned in this interview: Dan Clowes, Mario Lopez, Mad Magazine, Will Elder, Sergio Aragones, Jacob Berendes, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, In the Heat of the Night, HBML, Bert Centeno.

Bruce: So art can actually . . .
Mike: . . . solve crime.

Bruce and Mike attempt to inspire an art class at Paxton’s Anna Maria College, with mixed results.

Tom Lewis: “Contemporary art, it’s pushed to its limits, I think. We’re, uh . . . doing that tonight.”

Cha-Cha Connor takes Bruce on a walking tour of Worcester’s Green Island.

Gray Harrison and Claire Schaeffer-Duffy talk about coffee in Worcester.

Bruce and Mike discuss coffee with caffeine-powered bicyclist Gray Harrison and Catholic Worker Claire Schaeffer-Duffy. (More discussion of this episode at Pie and Coffee.)

• Man gets sick benefits for heavy metal addiction
• The International Coffee organization calls coffee “one of the most valuable primary products in world trade, in many years second in value only to oil as a source of foreign exchange to developing countries.”