Cyrus Farivar

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my radio piece on “steampunk” will air on NPR’s All Things Considered today! It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams). New York – 4 pm to 6:30 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 4 pm to 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg…

I’m interviewing voters as they come out of the voting booths in Oakland, Piedmont and Lafayette today for the NYT’s online feature “Voices from the Polls”. Check it out here. Update: I had to go all the way out to Danville to find Republicans. Seriously.

I was out doing errands this afternoon and saw Obama supporters staked out at the intersections of Ashby Ave./Claremont Ave., Keith/College Ave. (Rockridge BART), and Broadway and 51st St. They were waving signs and banners at passing cars. Over the last few months, I’ve seen a few Clinton stickers around and two Edwards banners, but for the most part, this neighborhood seems to be Obama country, through and through.

Sarmad Ali writes: Throughout my entire year at Columbia, I was scared of almost all other ethnic food, especially sushi, which I found weird and repulsive. “Eating raw fish?” I would say to a friend in disgust. Just before graduation, a close friend from California said he would like to have me try sushi with him before he went back home. Not wanting to disappoint him, I went with him to a sushi place. He ordered for both of us…

Slate: In turn, Barack Obama’s candidacy marks the fulfillment of the 15th Amendment guaranteeing black suffrage. Whereas Romney is the most aristocratic candidate, Obama is the least. Not because he is biracial, but because he is self-made. His parents had little wealth, prestige, and power to pass on, and both are now dead. He has chosen his own faith as an adult (Protestant Christianity, as it happens), and he remains far and away the least wealthy of the Big Four.…

LA Times: Much of the opposition to Villaraigosa’s plan emanates from the Pico-Robertson area, a heavily Jewish enclave that features a mix of auto body shops, dental offices, bakeries by the dozen, Israeli and Persian markets, Thai eateries, Catholic churches, synagogues and Chinese restaurants, including a kosher place with mezuzas on the doorways. The elements of this urban hodgepodge have set aside any cultural and ethnic differences to battle City Hall with a united front. “The opposition is across the…

Dear Friends, I’ve been informed that my radio piece on North Korea’s new cell phone network, will be airing today. It will be available on any of these stations (and their Internet streams): New York – 3 pm Eastern – WNYC – 820 AM – www.wnyc.org Washington, DC – 8 pm Eastern – WAMU – 88.5 FM – www.wamu.org Los Angeles – 12 pm Pacific – KPCC – 89.3 FM – www.kpcc.opg Boston – 4 pm Eastern – WGBH –…

My new freelancer buddy Mia Lobel asked if I wanted to do a story for her new chemistry podcast, Distillations, sponsored by the Chemical Heritage Foundation. I filed a piece about using Second Life to teach chemistry, and the efforts of Prof. Jean-Claude Bradley of Drexel University, who has set up an online world with larger than Second Life in-world molecules. Have a listen here — my story starts at the 7:20 mark.

Big ups once again to Daniel Hernandez for his commentary on last night’s All Things Considered : “Age, Not Race, Splits Latinos’ Democratic Vote”. As he blogs: Friends, my latest commentary for NPR’s “All Things Considered” ran today. It addresses the question of whether “Latino” “tensions” and “unease” with “blacks” will prevent “Latinos” from voting for “the black candidate,” Barack Obama, in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary season. Please listen here. A bunch of those terms up there are in…

BBC: The Australian government has announced it will issue its first formal apology to Aboriginal people when parliament resumes next month. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the apology would be the first item of business when the new legislature convened on 13 February. It is aimed at the “Stolen Generations” – Aboriginal children taken from their parents to be raised by white families. The Age: Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the apology would be made on behalf of…