Ojai Quarterly magazine

01/05/2024

Fun discussion with Kit Stolz on his epic journey from Mexico to Canada along the 2,560-mile-long Pacific Crest Trail.

In this reprise edition, writer and frequent OQ contributor Kit Stolz talks about his epic walkabout, covering every one of the 2,560-miles of Pacific Crest Trail, from the deserts along the border with Mexico, to touching the fence that separates the U.S. from its northern neighbor in Washington St...

11/02/2023

Check out this wide-ranging discussion with return guest Mark Frost on the WGA strike, the future of writers in an AGI world and Ojai's exceptionalism.

Author and screenwriter Mark Frost grew up in a show business family, worked at famous Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, before heading to Hollywood to work for Steven Bochco, who revolutionized television with "Hill Street Blues," where Mark as on the writing crew with David Milch and also worked wit...

08/24/2023

Fascinating talk about the writers and actors out on strike, the studios and the challenges of Big Tech.

As of posting time, SAG/AFTRA (actors) and WGA (writers) were still on strike. Our guest Hawk Koch has been through a few strikes in his six decades in the entertainment industry, on both sides of the table. The studios have their offer on the table, so do the writers and actors, and talks continue....

08/19/2023

Episode 157: Listen in for a fascinating conversation about Ojai's potential as an artist destination with Dave Spanbock, abstract artist and erstwhile gallerist.

Dave Spanbock has been both an artist and gallerist in his extensive career, mostly as an abstract artist, drawing geometrical shapes, mostly squares, freehand and experimenting with colors and the moods and emotion they evoke. On a walk along Ojai Avenue, going past the derelict hulk of what was on...

08/05/2023

Ojai's Bob Salas on his close encounter as an Air Force missile officer and the subsequent years of cover-ups, disclosures and what it could all mean for the future of humanity.

With recent testimony from a whistleblowing intelligence officer and bipartisan calls for disclosure of the government's extensive reporting of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (the government's new phrase of art for UFOs), and information revealed about the possession of alien technology, few pe...

07/28/2023

Jeremy B. Cohen brings decades of experiences and hundreds of contacts to his new role as Artistic Director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference, replacing the legendary Robert Egan. He talks about his exciting plans for the future, as well as the critical urgency of the arts in the modern world.

Jeremy B. Cohen took over the reins as Artistic Director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference from the legendary Robert Egan, who led the conference through the past 23 years into its status as one of the leading new play development forums in the world. Cohen will call upon his multitude of contacts....

07/27/2023

Episode 155 of Ojai's podcast, Talk of the Town, has just landed with an epic interview with Ojai's Robert Salas, a retired Air Force missile officer who witnessed firsthand one of the most bizarre incidents in UFO history. The author, lecturer and aerospace expert comments on recent developments regarding a whistleblower's reports of the U.S. possessing alien technology and bipartisan calls from Congress for comprehensive disclosure of the many hundreds of UFO reports.

With recent testimony from a whistleblowing intelligence officer and bipartisan calls for disclosure of the government's extensive reporting of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (the government's new phrase of art for UFOs), and information revealed about the possession of alien technology, few peop...

07/21/2023

Filmmakers Sam Osborn and Alejandra Vasquez join us to talk about their documentary "Going Varsity in Mariachi" about the fascinating culture of competitive mariachi in South Texas. The duo are screening their film as part of the Ojai Film Society's summer season in Libbey Bowl. All screenings are free and more information is available at OjaiFilmSociety.org.

The Ojai Film Society opens their free summer series in Libbey Bowl on July 28th with "Going Varsity in Mariachi" about the world of competitive high school mariachi in south Texas. The film is fresh off its warm reception at the Sundance Film Festival. Filmmakers Alejandro Vasquez and Sam Osborn br...

07/14/2023

With the Emmy nominees released this week, let's look at an Ojai filmmaker's Emmy-nominated film, "137 Shots," about a tragic police killing involving a fusillade of shots, and the reactions in provoked in Mike's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

With the Emmy nominees released this week, it's a good time to post up our interview with Mike Milano, whose film "137 Shots" about a tragic police killing of two motorists in Cleveland was one of last year's nominees. We talk about a wide range of topics, focusing on the racial environment of his h...

07/11/2023

First District Supervisor Matt LaVere joins us to talk about the pressing issues facing his 160,000 constituents in Ojai and Ventura, as well as growing up in Ojai, housing issues, climate change, water adjudication and much more.

Matt LaVere is Ventura County's First District Supervisor, representing much of Ojai and Ventura with more than 160,000 constituents. He is also former mayor of Ventura and replaced Steve Bennett, now California State Assemblyman. Elected to office just as the pandemic swept through the world, LaVer...

06/27/2023

Dennis Shives, one of Ojai's most singular and distinctive characters, come on the podcast to talk about his seven decades as an artist. This episode should be required listening for anyone who seeks to understand what makes Ojai so special.

With his height, flowing blond hair and most often being barefoot, Dennis Shives is among the most singular, and representative, of Ojai's citizens. Ojai born and raised, Dennis has made his living as an artist - both musician and visual artist - ever since. He claims inspiration from his grandmothe...

06/20/2023

John Broesamle, ardent conservationist, author, historian and defender of the Ojai Valley's open spaces, has passed away. This is a repost of a fascinating conversation from 2020.

John Broesamle, professor, author, historian, ardent conservationist and Ojai Living Treasure, has passed away, leaving behind an enduring legacy of open space and environmental awareness. His awakening happened early in his life when he watched the farm fields of Long Beach give way to the cookie-c...

06/07/2023

Fascinating talk about Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, who founded the world's largest nonprofit organization right here in our little village.

The American Association of Retired Persons is the largest nonprofit group in the world with 38 million members. And it all began right here in Ojai in 1957 over dinner for six people at the Ojai Valley Inn. One of the persons was Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, a formidably tall redhead who changed the way...

05/25/2023

What a privilege to interview famous financial author Dr. Nomi Prins on her incredible career explaining how the banking system has been rigged in favor of Wall Street against the Main Street people who fund the system with their tax dollars. The Ojai resident and former Goldman Sachs executive survived the belly of the beast and is sharing her insights with a local audience.

05/20/2023

A re-release of Episode 64 from Season two of Ojai's podcast with Chumash Elder Julie Tumamait-Stenslie. A fascinating and wide-ranging conversation around California's First Peoples.

A look at the community of Ojai - an astonishingly beautiful village of 7,500 people perched on the eastern edge of the Pacific Rim. From the people who bring you Ojai Quarterly, Ojai Monthly and Ojai Hub.

05/12/2023

Another deep and fascinating conversation with Ojai's neighbors to the north in Lockwood Valley with Quail Springs.

Quail Springs farm is a 450-acre permaculture project in the Lockwood Valley north of Ojai, where they farm, herd, build and teach in as sustainable manner as possible. Ashwin and Alexx, the co-directors, join the podcast to talk about sustainability, the growth of their on-line courses, and the suc...

04/28/2023

The lovely and talented Ingrid Boulting (IngridBoulting.com and SacredSpaceStudio.com) joins the podcast to talk about her varied careers as an actress on stage and screen, her painting and her yoga teaching.

Ingrid Boulting was raised primarily by her grandparents in South Africa as her parents went to pursue careers in England and France. Her mother was a model and actress, and her father was a writer and director. She herself moved to London when she was 7, and she herself went to "a show-biz school"....

04/20/2023

Another fascinating talk with another fascinating Ojai resident: Kimberly Cluff, legal director of the California Tribal Families Coalition.

Kimberly Cluff, as the legal director of the California Tribal Families Coalition, sat in as the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the Brackeen v. Haaland case last November. The case is about an adoption and directly threatens the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, which sought to put an end to....

04/14/2023

It's grant-seeking time at the Ojai Women's Fund this year, so we have the grants chairs on to talk about this remarkable organization and its hundreds of members who have leveraged their resources and experience to touch thousands of lives in Ojai.

The Ojai Women's Fund was started seven years ago by Karen Evenden, Peggy Russell and Kyle Crowner with $50,000 to donate and a big vision for reshaping and democratizing philanthropy in Ojai. It is patterned after a fund Karen was familiar with in Seattle, comes with a $1,000 "buy-in" which earns o...

03/31/2023

Nothing is more important to Ojai's future than water. So who better to discuss this fascinating and complex topic than lifelong expert Richard Hajas, chairman of the Casitas Municipal Water District.

Richard Hajas, chairman of the Casitas Municipal Water District, and a lifelong water industry veteran, has been through many drought-flood cycles in his life. Born in Ventura, he's lived in Ojai for 40 years, and is a former operations manager of two major water districts: Casitas Municipal Water D...

03/24/2023

Our latest episode with Ojai's impresario of live music and the arts ...

Bernie Larsen, owner, producer and engineer and session musician for Spinout Records and the impresario behind the Underground Exchange, joins the podcast to catch up on what he's been up to since the pandemic hit Ojai like Keith Moon on a drum kit. Larsen's shift to a virtual space for performers c...

03/17/2023

Fascinating talk with Ojai Music Festival Artistic Director Ara Guzelimian. This year's festival will take place June 8-11 and feature Music Director Rhiannon Giddens.

The Ojai Music Festival's Artistic Director Ara Guzelimian was well situated to lead the festival through the tumult of the past three years. He's certainly looking forward to the June 8-11 festival this year and a return to something more closely resembling normal and worrying more about the music....

02/10/2023

Veteran producer Stu Crowner joins the Ojai podcast for episode 136. He talks about his career working with all the major networks, PBS, several cable channels, and stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Mike Douglas and producing tv in Ukraine.

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01/19/2023

An incredible experience talking with Kevin Breslin, the filmmaker, location scout and actor, who happens to be the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jimmy Breslin, who made a mark on New York City like few, if any, people in its history.

It's a long ways from the Big Apple to the Little Orange, but the issues and the personalities that shape them are remarkably similar. One key advantage New York had that Ojai didn't was an epic chronicler and columnist with the street smarts and monumental charisma of Jimmy Breslin. He was the perf...

01/11/2023

Great fun on the podcast talking with the legendary travel writer and author Jerry Dunn.

Jerry Dunn has a dream job - maybe THE dream job - traveling and writing about it. The former editor of National Geographic Travel has also written for many dozens of other publications, large and small, from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and our own Ojai Quarterly. He's also a prolific auth...

12/24/2022

Our newest episode, the 131st, takes us into the world of artificial intelligence and meditation with Sanehood's co-founder Nicholas Gray.

Nicholas Gray joins the podcast to talk about the Ojai-based startup he's been building the past two years with Vu Dang, that uses their own AI-aided app, FlowAI, to help people maintain the perfect flow state in their meditation. FlowAI uses the cameras on your phone or desktop to watch you as you....

12/17/2022

For episode 130 we are joined by Haady Lashkari, chief administrator of Ojai Valley Community Hospital, for an in-depth look at the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the hospital's incredible response with its 300-person staff.

Few if any Ojai residents were thrust further into maelstrom of the Covid-19 breakout than Haady Lashkari, Ojai Valley Community Hospital's chief administrator. Lashkari is responsible for the hospital's 300 employees and, by proxy, for the health care for the entire Ojai Valley. Those earliest days...

12/02/2022

Join us with guest Zhena Muzyka, to talk about her latest venture, Magic Hour. Based her in Ojai, it is, as she describes, "Where the sunset and sunrise create an electric pink Magic Hour, where the light illuminates the landscape and reminds us that through nature everything is possible." We talk about her starting out as a single mother with $6 to her name to founding, operating and selling her multi-million dollar company, Zhena's Gypsy Teas, to her success as an author "Life by the Cup," and publisher. And much, much more.

Zhena Muzyka is an acclaimed author "Life by the Cup," a social entrepreneur, teacher, executive coach, public speaker, and former publisher of Enliven Books, a new Mind-Body-Spirit imprint from Atria/Simon and Schuster. Most recently, she is the creator & chief formulator of Magic Hour Tea & Transf...

11/25/2022

Keith Nightingale brings a wide-ranging perspective to the war in Ukraine, both as a retired officer and as a defense contractor. He also grew up in Ojai and we share stories about the good old days and what's going on in Ojai right now.

Colonel (Ret.) Keith Nightingale has been helping ferry supplies to Ukraine through Poland, including boxes of Ojai citrus, which is much welcomed on the front lines in the eastern portion of the country. Nightingale brings us through the current state of the conflict, the fierce resistance being mo...