To celebrate the holiday season, BCB brings you this reading of O. Henry's classic Christmas Tale, The Gift of the Magi. Reading by Diane Walker; intro and extro music: In the Bleak Midwinter, by El McMeen.

From the Sandspit to Winslow Way and Fort Ward, from Kingston to Indianola and the piers of Seattle, strange phenomena abound. You can hear all about it here as Bainbridge Public Library's John Fossett, BCB's Diane Walker, and The Art Project's Susan Wiersema share true ghost stories from Bainbridge Island and beyond.

These stories were read aloud at the Art Project on Friday evening, October 26, 2018 under the direction of Susan Wiersema. We hope you enjoy them, and have a Happy Haunted Halloween.

From senior flirting to downward dogs and runaway beets, no subject is off limits to Bainbridge poets when invited to submit their favorite works with no theme to inhibit their creativity!

Every year, in April,  local poets submit their poems to Arts & Humanities Bainbridge for posting in island storefronts in honor of National Poetry Month, and each year at the end of April the winning poets gather to read their poems aloud.

This year BCB was on hand on Wednesday, April 25th, to record Poetry Corners Live, an event hosted by Arts & Humanities Bainbridge at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. This year’s lack of theme — a conscious determination on the part of the judges — resulted in a broad range of poems: some short, some long; some humorous and some deeply moving; some remembering loss and others full of hope.

The lucky folks who listened to this event heard some truly magnificent work —  and now you can enjoy it, too! Listen here, and enjoy a flavorful blend of island creativity. For more information, or to purchase a Poetry Corners 2018 chapbook with Karen Chaussabel’s colorful image, “Surrendering to What Is” on the cover, visit the Arts & Humanities Bainbridge website or stop by their office in the Marge Williams Center on Winslow Way West.

Credits: BCB audio tech: Finn Mander; audio editor: Jeff Wenker; social media publisher: Diane Walker.

Looking for a quiet break from the holiday rush? Listen here as noted Shakespeare expert, actor, and co-director of inD Theatre Tom Challinor reads Dylan Thomas’s Christmas classic, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”

Tom will perform this poem again live this weekend at Eagle Harbor Congregational church, at the corner of Winslow and Madison on Bainbridge Island.  That reading, which will be accompanied by violinist Lea Fetterman, is free, appropriate for all ages, and open to the public.

So bring the kids; come Friday or Saturday December 22 or 23 at 1, 2, or 3pm, and treat yourself to the sights and sounds of a good old-fashioned Christmas.

Credits: Audio tech: Chris Walker; Audio editor and social media publisher, Diane Walker.

When information is democratized, anyone can post content. On the one hand, this is really liberating, but on the other, it makes it really difficult to accurately assess what is true and what is not.

In this, the final talk of this year's Library U series on Fake News at the Bainbridge Island Library, Di Zhang, reference librarian at the Seattle Public Library, offers instructions on how to evaluate the plethora of information we encounter, and describes some resources and best practices for identifying fake news.

Listen here to learn more about Snopes; reverse image searching; Buzzfeed; the caveats against sharing, liking, and clickbait; and much more.  For additional help, see the resource list posted on the Bainbridge Public Library website at http://www.bainbridgepubliclibrary.org/pdfs/Fake-News-Survival-Guide.pdf.

Library U organizer Kathleen Thorne has created a video of this presentation; to view that video, visit https://youtu.be/m4kVn5aqShQ.

Credits: Audio tech: Chris Walker; Audio editor and social media publisher, Diane Walker.

In an era of fake news, how do we know which news sources we can trust?

In this, the third talk of this year's Library U series at the Bainbridge Island Library, David Brewster, founder of Seattle Weekly, Eastside Week, Sasquatch Books, Crosscut.com and Town Hall, explores the current state of our local news media and addresses the search for reliable news sources.

Listen here as, ably assisted by David Harrison, senior lecturer emeritus at the Urban School of Public Affairs at the UW, Brewster discusses the challenges and opportunities of Seattle media; the impact of The Stranger; the role of the "host body" in journalism; our business press; shifting news sources and where to find reputable ones; formulaic journalism; first amendment issues and concerns; the phenomenon of tribal epistemology; what makes a good journalist; and the value of having a plethora of media choices.

Credits: Audio tech: Chris Walker; Audio editor and social media publisher, Diane Walker.

In this 45 minute podcast, recorded at a forum held by the League of Women Voters on Wednesday evening, October 11, at Bainbridge City Hall, we hear from Bainbridge Island’s candidates for  Parks and Recreation Commissioner, incumbent Kirk Robinson and challenger Michael Pollack.

Listen here as the two candidates address issues posed by their audience, including questions about the plans for the Sakai park, the district's relationship with the Senior Center, the disc golf setup at Battle Point Park, the inclusion of dogs on the island's trails, term limits, the Parks and Rec budget, open communications, and more.

Special thanks to City Communications Manager Kellie Stickney for providing access to this recording.

Credits: Audio editor and social media publisher, Diane Walker.

In this 20 minute podcast, recorded at a forum held by the League of Women Voters on Monday evening, October 9, at Bainbridge City Hall, we hear briefly from each of Bainbridge Island’s candidates for City Council.

Listen here as Ted Jones and Matthew Tirman from the South District, Rasham Nassan and Wayne Roth from the Central District, and Joe Deets and Kevin Fetterly from the North District each briefly introduce themselves and answer two questions posed by audience participants. Sadly, additional questions during the evening’s presentation were not recorded due to technical difficulties.

Thank you for listening and for your patience; we hope to record all of Wednesday evening’s session with the Parks and Rec and School Board Candidates, so stay tuned!

Credits: BCB audio tech: Chris Walker; audio editor and social media publisher, Diane Walker.

If you've seen photos of a shark swimming in the streets of Houston after Hurricane Harvey, you've seen the particular variety of fake news that appears when emergencies attract national interest.

In this week's talk in Bainbridge Public Library's Library U series on fake news, UW Assistant Professor and former basketball star Kate Starbird describes some of the results and discoveries from her extensive research concerning fake news and social media in times of crisis.

Starbird's talk, delivered on September 30th at the Bainbridge Public Library, was entitled "Finding ‘Fake News’ in Times of Crisis: Online Rumors, Conspiracy Theories, and Disinformation.”

Listen here and learn how phenomena such as Facebook algorithms, the loss of trust in traditional journalism, clickbait, and confirmation bias can make us vulnerable to disinformation, misinformation, and conspiracy theories -- much of which may be being propagated by computer programs.

Credits: BCB audio tech: Chris Walker; audio editor and social media publisher, Diane Walker.

Although the term "fake news” didn’t garner Word of the Year status until 2016, this dubious journalistic practice has been with us a long time.  But our digital ecosystem seems to have evolved into a near-perfect environment for the flourishing of fake news, even as the digital news trend has decimated the force of the traditional, objectively minded, independent press. What to do now? 

In this month's Library U series, four different lecturers will be exploring topics around fake news. This podcast captures the first of those presentations, which was delivered Saturday, September 23rd, by T. Andrew Wahl, journalism professor at Everett Community College.

After an introductory video -- a Ted Talk by internet activist Eli Pariser on the Filter Bubble  -- Wahl goes on to discuss such subjects as the history of fake news, the origins of the filter bubble, the growing political divide, some classic examples of fake news, the challenges of responsible journalism, and how smartphones are changing our awareness of the world around us.

We apologize for the sound quality of this talk; it was held in the library's brand new public meeting space, and we had some difficulties connecting with the new sound system. But we feel certain you'll find Wahl's talk intriguing.

Credits: BCB audio tech: Chris Walker; audio editor and social media publisher, Diane Walker.

"Great art is the outward expression
of the inner life in the artist,
and this inner life will result
in his personal vision of the world."
Edward Hopper

From hot dogs to politics; from pregnancy to funerals  -- no subject is off limits to Bainbridge poets when invited to express themselves -- especially when inspired by the above quote from artist Edward Hopper!

Every year, in April,  local poets submit their poems to Arts & Humanities Bainbridge for posting in island storefronts in honor of National Poetry Month, and each year at the end of April the winning poets gather to read their poems aloud. 

This year BCB was on hand on Thursday, April 27 to record Poetry Corners Live, an event hosted by Arts & Humanities Bainbridge and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. This year's theme -- Expression -- resulted in a broad range of poems: some short, some long; some humorous and some deeply moving; some about memories and others full of hope.

The lucky folks who listened to this hour-long event heard some truly magnificent work --  and now you can enjoy it, too! Listen here, and enjoy a flavorful blend of island creativity.

Credits: BCB audio tech: Chris Walker; audio editor and social media publisher: Diane Walker.