Radio Cals

Eddie Pannell, a Vietnam War veteran who joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967, talks to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Research Services Division Manager Brian Robertson. Mr. Pannell details his experience as an interpreter who assisted South Vietnamese civilians with medical treatment, infrastructure growth, and other humanitarian missions.

Traci Berry, organizer of the annual Raid the Rock Adventure Race, talks with David Stricklin about the challenges and rewards of competing in and organizing expedition races.

Mark Christ, Outreach Director for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, talks with Matt DeCample about the Arkansas World War I Commemoration Committee and how Arkansans dealt with the war effort a hundred years ago.

In this episode of Chewing the Fat with Rex and Paul, the boys talk about Paul's funeral duty and the pleasures of Piggott, Arkansas.

Mark Christ, Outreach Director for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, talks with Matt DeCample about the Arkansas World War I Commemoration Committee and how Arkansans dealt with the war effort a hundred years ago.

James Mitchell, a Vietnam veteran who joined the U.S. Navy in 1967, talks to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Research Services Division Manager Brian Robertson. Mr. Mitchell details his experience as a Navy corpsman.

Today's broadcast of Radio CALS features Charles Stewart, founder of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and editor of the newest publication from Butler Center Books -- "Seeds of Genius: 25 Years of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame". Stewart sits with Matt Decample to talk about how growing up in a large family help shaped his character, how he started the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, and how they are celebrating the Hall's 25th anniversary.

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about Paul's Rotary Club talk at the Church of Christ in Wynne and how he had to change his talk when he realized it was going to be at the church, Paul's mother's elderberry jelly, the difficulties of picking elderberries, the need to go to the Mayhaw Festival in El Dorado and Chocolate Roll Festival in Searcy County, the boys' upcoming State Highway 7 expedition, Rex's opinion that the Old South Restaurant in Russellville has the best chicken-fried steak in Arkansas, Rex and Paul's recent Civil War foray based on the Camden Expedition, the fascinating and often obscure terminology regarding Civil War fights, a weird helicopter sighting, Mark Christ's great work in preservation of Civil War battlefields, a great lunch in Camden, fried green beans at Woods Place in Camden, how Paul got street cred in Wynne for knowing about Cypress Corner Bar-B-Q in Lexa, Rex's theory that the best barbecue places usually have signs featuring rusty pigs, the Arkansas State University footb

Students from Central High Memory Project and City of Little Rock youth radio interns interview Robin Woods Loucks about her experience offering to share her Algebra textbook with Terrence Roberts, on the Little Rock Nine's first day to attend classes at Central in September 1957. The Memory Project Team, sponsored by CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, is a student-produced effort to collect, preserve, and share oral history about civil rights and human rights experiences.

This week on Primary Sources, we've dug through our archives to present an interview with curator, author, and historian Delphine Hirasuna. She is the author of "The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946". She curated a traveling exhibition of the same name in 2010, which toured throughout the United States and Japan. This interview was conducted in 2011 for the Butler Center's exhibition "The Art of Living", which displayed works of art created by Japanese Americans incarcerated at Rohwer Relocation Center in Rohwer, Arkansas during World War II.

Matt DeCample chats with Little Rock native Jeff Nichols, the writer and director of several critically-acclaimed films ("Mud", "Taking Shelter", "Midnight Special", and "Loving") about growing up in Little Rock, his entrance into the film industry, and the Arkansas Cinema Society.

Judge Reinhold chats with Matt DeCample about starting his acting career to impress a girl and how a warehouse dinner theater in Florida prepared him for Hollywood. He shares behind-the-scenes stories about his roles in "Stripes", "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Beverly Hills Cop", and "Ruthless People", and discusses what it was like to be a guest on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson."

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about the fact that Paul is from Imdoden, setting a new Chewing the Fat record -- nine seconds -- for earliest mention, the Hope Watermelon Festival, the Hempstead County sheriff's otherworldly victory in the watermelon-eating contest, how the boys turned down the offer of a free 150-pounder, despite the generous offer of a burlap sack to carry it with, about the biscuits at Keeney's in Malvern, how Historic Washington has as good a lunch as one could get at any state park in the United States, how Paul likes well-cooked vegetables -- no crispy green beans, please! and the greatness of catalpa worms for fishing but the grossness of the green goo that comes out when you step on one, Paul's sneaky book-buying methods, discovering Glen Campbell's grave site three days after his funeral, Rex and Paul's funeral fixation, the death of Frank Broyles, how Broyles and Campbell and Johnny Cash gave Arkansas things to be proud of in the 1960s and helped the state live down some of th

The Memory Project at Little Rock Central High is a student-led effort to preserve, and share oral history of civil and human rights. For the 60th anniversary of the 1957 Central High Desegregation Crisis, the Memory Project students have produced an audio walking tour recounting the events of September 4th, 1957: the historic first attempt by the Little Rock Nine to attend their classes at Central. This episode of Primary Sources highlights a conversation with the Memory Project students about their work.

Arkansas State University History Professor Sarah Wilkerson Freeman sits with Matt DeCample to talk about The Art of Injustice, a show she is curating at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies through the end of the year. Injustice focuses on the WWII Japanese internment camps in Southeast Arkansas and the art that shared the experiences of those who lived there.

Sally Mengel tells Matt DeCample the origin story of Loblolly Creamery and why she thinks it has grown so quickly. She also explains why vanilla ice cream has an unfair reputation as a "basic" flavor.

This week, Rex and Paul chew the fat about Paul's new grandson, Wyatt, about whom he is understandably proud, Rex's relief that he can't bother people listening to this with pictures of the grandson, their great visit to the 133rd annual Davidson Camp Meeting and its nostalgic mixture of old-time religion, music, and food, Rex's remarkable tenure with the same insurance agent he's had since he started driving, eating at the counter at the Old South Restaurant in Russellville, the peach festival in Clarksville, the "peach-off" between Johnson County and Howard County, courtesy of CALS Executive Director and Nashville native Nate Coulter, peach butter, peach pies, peach iced tea, the full-peach Monty, how Paul wants to get a peach tattoo, their making what may be the steepest drive in Arkansas as they journeyed to Oark, the winding mountain road that helped Rex decide to drive, given Paul's tendency to nod off, an oak tree said to be 300 years old, poetry reading at the Oark General Store, how a rare moment of

Gretchen Hall, CEO Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, sits down with Matt DeCample to discuss how being a student athlete prepared her for a career in tourism, how she helps sell Little Rock to the world, and the city's potential to someday host a national table-tennis tournament.

This week, Rex and Paul continue chewing the fat about the PurpleHull Pea Festival in Emerson and related fun with motorized tillers, Keeney's Food Market in Malvern and its legendary sausage biscuits, Rex's embarrassing hat, the nervous hospital, Esau's corn, the boys' disappointment at not being the grand marshals for the PurpleHull pea-rade, how they picked the Pea Goddess, Burge's in Lewisville and their fried pies, Rex's son Evan's first experience of turkey fries, how Paul discovered that 55 in a 35 is considered speeding in Stamps, the two great catfish places in Garland City (Doc's and West Shore), taking cheesy photos on either side of the state line in Texarkana, the wonderfully named Hotel Grim, the Cattleman's Steak House, and Rex's double-header of chicken-fried steak and quail.

Preservation Arkansas Executive Director Rachel Silva-Patton talks with Matt DeCample about her career in Arkansas history, the economic potential that preservation holds for communities throughout the state, and shares the scandalous tale of the Villa Marre.