January 2022
Flying through Arizona: The Story of the First National Women’s Air Race with Natalie Stewart-Smith
In 1929, the first national women’s air race from Santa Monica, CA to Cleveland, OH passed through Arizona. Stopping in Yuma, Phoenix, and Douglas, the intrepid fliers solidified their determination and sisterhood along these Arizona waypoints. Who were these aviators? What were their planes like in 1929? What challenges did they encounter along the way? And what about that telegram sent to pilot Thea Rasche, “Beware of sabotage”? There is much to explore! This program is cohosted by Senior Services…
Find out more »February 2022
The Science of Music, The Music Of Science with Janice Jarrett
Why would so many physicists compare the universe to an orchestra? Why did Einstein use his violin playing to enhance his contemplation of the nature of the cosmos? The connection of music and math was illuminated early on when Pythagorus divided a string. Not surprisingly, from astro physicists to quantum theorists, the common base is mathematics. And clearly the study of sound, acoustics and the vibrational spectrum intricately entwine science and music. Learn about the correlations between these two overlapping…
Find out more »March 2022
Desert Rats, River Runners, and Canyon Crawlers: Four Arizona Explorers with Gregory McNamee
Francisco Garcés, a Franciscan friar, arrived in what is now Arizona in 1768. Assigned to the church at San Xavier del Bac south of present-day Tucson, he traveled widely throughout Arizona and California, charting overland routes that later travelers would follow. Near where Garcés would meet his death in 1781, an American soldier named Joseph Christmas Ives embarked on an arduous expedition up the Colorado River, one of the first Americans to see what he called the Big Canyon. A…
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