Climate devastation and white feminism clash in dystopian novel 'Yours for the Taking'

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on Kpbs. Today we're talking about the arts and culture shaping San Diego. I'm Andrew Bracken in for Jade Hinman. Here's the conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. A new novel set in a dystopian future , challenges the world of white corporate feminism.

S2: I was interested in a story in which a feminist utopia becomes a dystopia because you can't create a hierarchy along a binary.

S1: Plus , Beth Accomando takes us to the site of a nearly 30 year old public art project in East County. Then we take a look into what's in store for San Diego's Arts in 2024. That's ahead on Midday Edition. Yours for the taking is a queer dystopian novel that explores the contradictions of white feminism and gender essentialism , all in the wake of a climate catastrophe. The year is 2050 , and natural disasters have almost left Earth uninhabitable. To ensure humanity's survival , scientists came up with city sized , glass encased structures called insides. They're meant to protect future generations from climate dangers ravaging the outside world. But when one billionaire businesswoman invests in New York City's inside , she uses it to create her vision of a perfect society. This is Gabrielle Corn's debut novel. She's an essayist and former editor in chief at nylon. She also led digital Lgbtq+ content and strategy for Netflix. She also has a sequel in the works. She joins me now to talk more about the book. Gabrielle , welcome to Midday Edition.

S2: Thank you so much for having me.

S1: There's a lot of fiction out there that explores the devastating impacts of climate change.

S2: One was that climate change is happening faster than humans can adapt to it , and two is that the climate change tipping points will be passed before women have equal rights. And I was working in women's media at the time and kind of in this all female world. And I just started thinking about what will the climate crisis mean for women and for queer people ? And then just thinking that question , the characters kind of came to life at the same time.

S1:

S2: And I've always thought , you know , is that something I could do ? And when the story took place in my mind , it was never not science fiction. It was always this kind of future society with technology that we don't have yet.

S1: And though it does take place in a dystopian future , it's also a world that feels oddly close to ours in a lot of ways.

S2: And that was on purpose. Like at a certain point , I was trying to inject some levity into the darkness by having it feel not similar to our world. And I think what ended up happening was , without even realizing it , I was pulling from seeds that have already been planted right now. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. And I mean , also , I didn't know if I was just in a more dystopian mood , like feeling that way about our current state , but a lot of it did seem familiar. In addition to being a novelist , you know , you're also a journalist. And like you mentioned , you've worked in women's media for a long time , especially your experience working with these publications.

S2: And while I was working on the book , it was this time of all of these companies kind of redefining themselves as feminist women's media , of course , included. And I just felt really fascinated by the idea between the difference between what you say about a place and the reality of a place , and , um , had this sense of disappointment that these spaces for women were not any better than other spaces that I had worked.

S1: So in the book , you know , the inside that we see , it's run by billionaire Jacqueline Millender.

S2: And I finished writing the book before the kind of like great girlboss reckoning where all of these women who were running these companies were called out for the horrible ways they were treating people. But I think we all felt it coming because , um , just like how Jacqueline treats her employees , there is this real difference between who you say you are and who you actually are , and how you brand yourself and the things you do behind the scenes.

S1:

S2: I mean , she came to me pretty fully formed as herself. And , you know , I , I think she she's someone who we've all worked for , right ? Like we've all had some sort of boss who sucks you in to something that you're not sure you believe in , and then you find yourself going along with it anyway.

S1: I want to ask you now about the portrayal of a feminist utopia in the story. Jacqueline is pushing for an inside where only women and non-binary people are admitted , but she's still trying to create this social hierarchy based on gender.

S2: And I was interested in a story in which a feminist utopia becomes a dystopia , because you can't create a hierarchy along a binary. And with Jacqueline , even though she's saying that it's not that she wants only women , it's that she wants no man , which is different because it allows room for , as you mentioned , non-binary people. She still has this idea in her head that people who can give birth are the most important people. And when she's thinking about building a community that can sustain itself and that can live through the climate crisis , she's prioritizing people whose children can become the next generation. And so that's the breakdown in the thinking , because she starts to give them more rights and different treatment.

S1: And in the book , the inside project is meant to be like this capitalist solution to climate change , but only a pre-selected population is actually allowed in.

S2: And when you think about who climate change is affecting the most right now , it is people in poorer places , like countries who can't afford to implement climate change solutions are the ones suffering the most. And countries who , you know , they're not necessarily using the most fossil fuels are the ones being affected more by the use of fossil fuels in other places. And so I was really interested in this idea of like who is saved and who is not saved. And the way the entire project works in the book is that there is a lottery and you apply to get in , but nobody really knows how people are chosen. And , um , you know , it's kind of like it's humans choosing humans. And I think humans are deeply flawed. And so the people in charge who think that there's a capitalist solution in my mind also think that there's a certain kind of person who deserves survival.

S1: I want to turn to some of the characters and the perspectives we hear from in this story. There's Ava , Shelby , Olympia. Can you talk more about the cast and their significance to the story ? Definitely.

S2: I mean , the story doesn't exist without these characters , and I think they all bring something really different to the table. Ava is the person who is accepted to inside , and we follow her journey. And because she's someone who's accepted , she also is someone who fits the bill of what Jacklyn thinks an ideal person should be. So in the end , she is rather similar to Jacqueline , even though she's someone who you're rooting for. She's someone who this broken system works really well for. Shelby is Jacqueline's personal assistant. She is a trans woman , and she is someone who is not accepted to inside , and instead Jacqueline invites her to go live on the US space shuttle with her , and Shelby has to make a choice between staying with her family and trying to survive out in the wilderness , or going to live with Jacqueline , where she will have all of the resources she needs and guaranteed survival. And then Olympia is Jacqueline's right hand person. She runs the health department inside , and she is probably the most idealistic character. She is someone who , um , agrees with parts of Jacqueline's mission , but accepts the job because she thinks she can change it from the inside. And so over time , we see her morals start to erode more and more until you know , she can't take it anymore.

S1: And all the main characters are also queer.

S2: Like when the characters appeared to me , they were all exactly who they ended up being on the page. I think , you know , you write what you know , but I also think queerness in science fiction is something that I didn't grow up with. And I think there are a lot of amazing new books that have a lot of queer characters in science fiction , but like , it's just something that I've wanted for a long time. And one of. The big questions of the book is how does climate change affect queer people ? So it was really important to me to have different kinds of queer people trying to survive and coming together. And I think queer love and queer friendship and queer community is one of the things that makes survival worth it.

S1: I'm just curious , you know , what your thoughts are on that ? Yeah.

S2: I find it really interesting that people feel so uncomfortable with it because my reality is full of queer people. And I think that to me , what feels unrealistic in books and film and TV is when you get one queer character in an ensemble where every single person is a different identity from the other. I think that queer people , like any marginalized communities , tend to come in packs. We always find each other. And so to me , it just it felt more realistic to have a group of queer people coming together in different ways than to have an isolated queer person in this otherwise straight world.

S1: I think earlier you mentioned , you know , not seeing too much queer representation and science fiction growing up.

S2: I think we're in a wonderful moment of representation , especially in science fiction. But across the board , I think , um , there are so many amazing queer books right now and coming out , I think it's a really exciting time to be part of.

S1: The book also looks at what it's like to build community and care for the people around you.

S2: And I think even though the society of Inside has a lot of flaws , the thing that's so beautiful about it , and the thing that makes our characters feel so conflicted , is that they do have the sense of community , and they do feel a responsibility toward each other. And that's that's the gift that they get from it.

S1: And there will be a sequel coming up. It's called the shutouts , you know , without any spoilers , what can people expect ? Yeah.

S2: So the shutouts comes out December 3rd of this year , and it's both a prequel and a sequel in that there are two timelines. One begins about ten years before yours for the taking starts , and the other one picks up right where yours for the taking ends. It introduces a few new characters and a few new societies , and it deals with slightly different themes. So while yours for the taking was largely about the problems within white feminism , The Shutouts focuses on misogyny within left wing activist movements.

S1: I've been speaking with Gabrielle Korn , author of yours for the taking. She'll be appearing at the book Catapult on January 10th to talk more about the book. Gabrielle , thanks for joining us today.

S2: Thank you for having me.

S1: Still ahead , Beth Accomando talks to a local professor about his sculpture in the form of a 150 foot tall water tower. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back to Midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bracken in for Jade Hindman. If you've ever driven east to the end of the 125 , then you've likely seen the 150 foot , mushroom shaped water tower encircled by shiny stainless steel clouds. The site specific environmental sculpture was commissioned by Helix and Padre Dam Municipal Water Districts , and designed by artist Jim Williamson. The large scale public art was constructed at Grossmont College , where Westerman taught and where his students helped with the fabrication. Kpbs arts reporter Beth Accomando recently visited the water tower with Wil Sterman , almost three decades after it was created.

S3: Jim , we are standing underneath the cloud water tower , which you designed , and this was a public art piece. So talk a little bit about the process of doing this. Okay.

S4: I was doing a lot of public art projects all over the county , and a friend of mine , Manuel Encina , who's an architect , was asked to do something for the tank for the aesthetics of it , and that quickly was decided that he was not going to do that because they didn't need an architect , they needed an artist. So he called me and had me go to a meeting. I had no idea what the meeting was about. I'm sitting there being interviewed by Helix and Padre Dam , and they asked me all these questions about community outreach and context and things like that. They said , thank you very much. And a couple days later , I got a phone call saying , we want to hire you. I didn't even know what for. They didn't tell me it's for this tank. It's just my approach to doing things and outreach to the community is what pretty much decided it. So I did several proposals. There were different options , and then we shopped them to the community. I spent a year going around to community groups , talking to schools , churches , got feedback and the three options that were there. They picked one , which is the one that got built here. So then I was hired on the design team for the tank. I worked with the civil engineers and the hydraulic engineers to do this. They decided to provide me with the materials. I originally was going to do this in my studio , but then I gave him the idea that if you really want community outreach , we need to work with community members , and I have students that can build this. We went to the school district and I got an agreement between Helix Water District , Pottery Dam Water District and Caltrans to do this. It was decided they would provide materials and whatever tooling we needed , and we went ahead and constructed these. It took about two years because those things are huge. They don't look like it , but some of them are 12 to 14 foot tall and 35ft wide. That's the size of a small house. And there are a lot of logistics to work out and everything. But that was fine. But the most important part to me was working with my students , because my students really love the idea of public art , and I had people driving down from Riverside County to work on this , on it every day. Nobody got paid , except I got paid as a teacher and I got paid as a consultant. They showed up every day. They worked hard and contributed. This was important to them. This is their neighborhood. Most of them lived around here.

S3: Explain what the water tower looks like. Okay.

S4: Okay. There is two water districts here. Padre dam doesn't need a tall tank , but helix needed to put their tank on stilts because the water pressure. So they decided to combine the two tanks into one structure. It looks like a big mushroom. Aesthetically , there's there wasn't a whole lot you can do with the outside , but around the rim there was where I decided to put clouds.

S3: Well , it explain why you decided to choose clouds because you did talk to people in the neighborhood. And clouds have kind of a special meaning here.

S4: Okay , so I researched this area. It was owned by a guy named Ed Fletcher , who the college I work at , which is across the street over there. He gave that land to the college district to build the college. There was no water. So he built a flume that ran from Mount Cuyamaca out of redwood , all the way down to Lake Murray. And that's what brought water to this area. Now , the idea was that it was going to run through his property , so his property have water , and then he could develop it. But it was a great , great first step for the city of San Diego and the community. The water system was one of the first ones ever built here for drinking. Originally , all the water districts that were in the state were for mining , so this was sort of a pioneering thing for him. So upon studying all that , which , by the way , I use Helix Water District's archives to find that information , it turns out that the people that live here can actually see these clouds climbing over the mountains over here , and that provides the water that went into the lake and into the flume. So they're literally probably the only people in San Diego that can actually see where their water comes from at that time , and now partially where it comes from. That was sort of the idea , the genesis behind this. I've been working on water issues in many different ways , not just this project for years , and but this really spoke to me. And so I pitched that idea , and that's what the residents here selected.

S3: Part of what you feel is an aspect of public art is being this kind of ambassador into the neighborhood and communicating with people what you're doing and finding out what they might like or object to.

S4: But I also got a job being a public art coordinator for the city of Carlsbad , and I put in something like 14 successful projects , but a project that had been selected before I ever was the coordinator ended up controversial. The city did not particularly handle that that well. So what I learned from that is you can do stuff that's controversial if you handle it correctly. So you've got to be honest. You've got to be out there and you got to face whatever's there. The water district was absolutely stellar in their way of handling this. They decided to send out 22,000 mailers to everybody. They could see this tank to find out what people really felt about it. And it came back. It was 98% of the people liked it. They liked the art , they liked the tank. And it was less than 2% that didn't like it. Handling public art has to be done very carefully. You cannot insult people. You cannot look down on them. You have to talk to them and you have to explain the idea. Even sometimes they don't get it. You got to do it many times. And if it's wrong , it's wrong. In this case , it was not wrong.

S3: And explain that some of the challenges of actually creating this piece.

S4: In order to do that , I didn't have my new sculpture building that they built. I had an old one and I had to build my own crane. I had to build spreader bars to lift things up. I had to build jigs. I pulled my father out of retirement , who worked at General Dynamics , and he came and showed me how to do layout work because he built huge aircraft and missiles and he knew how to do all that. So those skills , we used a surveyors tool to do that , and he worked on the project along with my students. It was challenging to get it there , get it up here. I had to take out $1 million insurance policy to step foot on this property. They wouldn't even let me come here. So anyway , I was involved in the fact that I was there was a 250 foot crane , and I was on the guy wire that was guiding them into place , but they put ironworkers up there to put the bolts in. They were great. The whole thing was supposed to take days. It took half a day and everything was accurately done. There's so much behind this. Like dissimilar metals create current. So they had to put in special , um , like Teflon pads and insulators and stuff like that , because it would create a huge amount of current that would leak into the tank and corrode it. I'd go find people to bend arcs to match the radius of the tank , but all through it , the water district was cool.

S3: Now , this is the first time I've actually seen the tank up close or as close as you can get , and I had never noticed before how much detail there is on these clouds. So talk a little bit about the kind of the finish that is on the clouds and , and how you created that.

S4: With stainless steel this thin , it's like 14 gauge. You can't weld it. So we riveted it with what's called cherry mono bolts. They use them to build water tanks. They don't leak to do the finish. We took the stainless steel and we brushed it to get the optical illusion that there's three dimensional in billows , then overlaid that with perforated stainless steel , which creates kind of a shadow effect. It was a challenge to figure out all these technologies that I wasn't necessarily familiar with. I was familiar with welding and fabricating , but I wasn't familiar with riveting. But it turned out pretty good , actually. And the idea was that people up close would discover the billowing maybe coming up the freeway. They look and see it , but from a distance that's not going to read.

S3:

S4: That's the hard thing to explain. It's about telling people about themselves so you're not talking down to them. What you're doing is just explaining something about the context and history of what you're doing. A lot of people tend to overthink that , and that's kind of lost on the general public , because they're not going to read a dissertation about it. So you have to be able to speak to them in visual language and then be able to back it up with the way you explain it. Also , getting them involved is the best way to overcome opposition.

S3:

S4: I've been lecturing about public art for years , and one of the things I've told my students is we live in an instant society. We don't build houses organically here. A developer comes in to build 350 houses , and all these people move in and they don't know each other. They don't know anything about the place they're moving into. They don't know the history. How many people knew about the flume ? They didn't. And yet they love the clouds and the visuals. They like they like the landscape. But how do you tie that together and make this a place ? A place with a history ? We're missing that here. It's not like Europe. It's not like Mexico , where you go everywhere and there's these roundabouts with statues and telling stories about history. We don't have that. So one of the things that's important to me is to have people understand that we need to hold society together with a glue that's about our culture and what we have in common. Public art is doing that. I was teaching over here public art classes across the street and also I was teaching graduate students at USC about public art and context. That's something I don't talk about a lot , but it's something I truly believe in , and that's why I pushed it so much. I'm unusual in that I can build anything. I also can be a coordinator , an administrator , and I also can be a teacher. And there's not too many people that. That's why USC hired me to teach all the way up in LA. Because there's three abilities. It's important that we understand who we are by the things that we put up around us , whether it's something small and subtle or whether it's something big. In this case , this. There's no way to be subtle here. I mean , this is a giant mushroom on top of a hill overlooking a freeway. And some of the people that were not liking this , their anger was misplaced or displaced because they were angry at the hole in the ground that Caltrans did and the disruption of the neighborhood. They did not understand how to express that. A PR person told them , attack the art because it's visible. So the water district was really cool and let this play out. And it's it's still here. And I run into people all the time that don't know who I am. And then once I tell them , they're like , oh , that's so cool. I was dreaming about that when I was a kid. It was such a good thing. You know , I have several other projects that are very subtle and nobody knows or even they're always about water , always about the place we live. That's arid in the 90s , the water district , Metropolitan Water District , and , uh , the State Water project sent me to see the entire water system from the feather River all the way here to San Diego , three weeks on a bus that wasn't air conditioned with scientists , educators. It's amazing what it takes to get our water here. And it got me thinking that people here , they see green , they see lawns , they see trees. They think this is the way things are. Well , I grew up here before all these trees were here. And Santee , the bottom down , there was all cows. There was nobody there. And we drove through a river without a bridge to go home. My parents went from Hillcrest to Santee. It's pretty brown. It's it's , you know , they used to grow raisins here because that's the only thing they can grow in Santee was raisins and olives. And a lot of people don't understand that , you know , they don't understand , you know. So a decade or two later , here we are with a water shortage. That's what this was about , to try to make people think about where our water comes from. Because you hide a water tank , they don't think about it , you know. So I saw this as an opportunity to talk about that.

S3:

S4: It's now an ecological desert , and there's a playground for small children. Now , you can't , you know , hit children over the head with that kind of stuff. But you can make them love indigenous animals and life. So I've got a great big park there outside the library , city of Carlsbad. I have one in the Costa in Stagecoach Park where it talks about the water. There's a spring there , and there's been 10,000 years of history of people using that water. And so I made symbols of water carved in stone from each of the different groups that were there. There's some stuff over at the college over here , but you can't get into it because it's a security thing. There's a child care center that I did to teach people about geology and water and things like that. That's the three I would mention. I also have done a lot of temporary projects for the Museum of San Diego , History City , la mesa , all of them about the environment. And those things are not as well known as this , because this is. Next to a freeway.

S3: Well , thank you very much for talking about public art. Thank you.

S1: That was Beth Accomando speaking with public artist Jim Westerman. You can view his water tower clouds from the 125 near Grossmont College , and look for Beth's TV feature on Monday to see how it was made. Coming up on Midday Edition , we hear about what the San Diego region has in store for the arts in 2024.

S5: I especially love the desert in the winter , so bundle up and you can check out a really unique art scene.

S1: That's next on Midday Edition. Welcome back to Kpbs midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bracken in for Jade Heinemann. Now that the new year is underway , we're going to take a look at what's in store in the art and culture world for San Diego in 2024. Joining me with some picks and dance , music , visual arts and more is Kpbs arts editor and producer Julia Dixon Evans. Hey , Julia , happy new year.

S5: Hey , Andrew. Happy New Year to you.

S1: Thank you. So let's start with an event. It combines visual art , music and performance. And it's happening later this month. Project Blank brings back their working title project for another year.

S5: And it's curated by co-curated by a visual artist , Diana Benavides and musician Lesley Ann Latham. And they'll transform this cathedral space into like a immersive gallery and performance space. There'll be installations and then a series of performances like music , movement , performance art and just tons to see. There are so many performers and artists that are involved in this , so it's definitely worth checking out. Great.

S1: Great. And one more arts event that combines both visual art and music , but this one involves a little road trip to the desert , and it's at the Borrego Art Institute. Yeah.

S5: Yeah. I'll start by saying this one opens this Saturday , so get ready. It's kind of an annual showcase that the Borrego Art Institute does of contemporary Latin American art. There's painting , photography , mixed media , and many of the artists that they're showing are from the Baja region. And they're also showing a solo exhibit that's in the Art Institute as well. It's by painter Jose Luis Nunez. The opening reception for these is going to also have mariachi music and Mixtec music. These performances will be from 3 to 5 p.m. , and it's all part of the Borrego Springs Art walk. So you can start there at the Borrego Art Institute , which is pretty close to Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs. And then from there you can head to other galleries and other exhibitions. There's stuff at the House of Borrego Springs , the Hacienda del Sol , the courts , and the Palms at Indian Head. And that artwork runs from 5 to 7. And I especially love the desert in the winter. So bundle up and you can check out a really unique art scene. And if you can't get there this Saturday , the exhibit , the Contemporary Latin American Art exhibit , will be on view through the end of the month , January 28th.

S1: Very cool. And like you said , it's a really beautiful time of year to visit that area as well as experience its art. So let's move on from there to visual art.

S5: Hold fast. It's an exhibit of art inspired by the giant kelp forests off of our coasts. There's an artist who was also a marine scientist and a diver , Oriana Poindexter. She makes these cyanotype from kelp. And then there's Dwight Huang , his fish and animal prints , and then also some real time kelp forest mapping by a Scripps oceanography PhD student. That's hold fast. And it'll be on view at the Birch Aquarium starting February 8th. But there's also going to be a companion exhibit at UCSD Geisel Library free to the public. That's called Ebb and Flow. It's curated by Poindexter and is a group exhibition and that opens January 12th.

S1: Kelp Art I dig it , I like it. Okay , another one here sounds pretty fascinating. It's slated for the Museum of Contemporary Art , San Diego this fall. Tell us about For Dear Life.

S5: Yeah , this is one that I personally cannot wait to see. It's called. This full title is for Dear Life Art , Medicine and Disability , and it's curated by the Museum's Jill Dorsey and Isabel Caso. And the museum says that this is the first historical survey of art that's made in response to illness or medicine. And this is a topic that's super relevant here in this biotech and health research hotbed in San Diego. But it also look at how art has followed disability justice and activism , and of course , how Covid has transformed all of this as well. This opens in September , and it's actually part of this massive California art program called Pacific Standard Time that's organized by the Getty Foundation.

S1: And both San Diego and Tijuana were selected as the world design capital for 2024. They mark the first by national cities to receive that honor , and that'll bring some events to the region throughout the year. But there are two festivals happening in the spring and another in the fall. Tell us about those. Right.

S5: Right. So this designation is intended to celebrate the region , the border. Region's rich and diverse design scene , and the first of these little mini festivals that happen even though there's events happening throughout the year. The first is Tijuana focused , and it's going to correlate with Tijuana Design Week. That's May 1st. Through fifth. There'll be lectures , tours , arts events , networking exhibitions all throughout that week. And then the San Diego focused week will be September 18th. Starting then , it'll be headquartered at the Minga International Museum , and there'll be other events and programs across the city. A lot of the details for these and the correlated events are still being worked out , so stay tuned.

S1: And San Diego has a lot of theater here. We have about 50 theater companies here , and we've seen more than a few plays in musicals emerge from San Diego and then head to Broadway or become nationwide hits.

S5: It's all set in New York and the Gilded Age , so it promises to be this really great period piece. And The Old Globe does this so well.

S1: Yeah , I'm looking forward to that one. I actually have tickets to it. I think it was a Martin Scorsese movie from like the 1990s or something as well. But it's a really interesting book. And Adina menzel's Coming to Town , she was the voice for Elsa and Frozen. I think a lot of parents remember the song Let It Go.

S5:

S1: And she also has a long history on Broadway.

S5: It's at the Loggia Playhouse in mid-February , and it's already selling out. So this is a brand new world premiere musical. It's about a mother who kind of hits a breaking point , and she runs away to the redwoods and has this sort of life changing experience there. It should be a beautiful set and a powerful story , and I know that I would probably pay to hear Idina menzel sing from the phone book. So there we go.

S1: And I bet there are a lot more plays , you know , theater events on your list.

S5: First up is the Old Globe's Powers New Voices Festival that's coming up next weekend. Actually , Cygnet has their Bill and Judy Garrett Finish Line festival that's usually in the fall. Lola Playhouse adopted San Diego Rep's Latinx New Play Festival. That's also in the fall. New Village Arts has their final draft , New Play Festival in the spring. And there's more than I can even begin to list off here. And for the most part , these are staged readings , so the actors will be running through the script without props or sets , and the playwrights will be watching for what works and what doesn't to spruce things up. And these are mostly free as well. Some of them tend to fill up , so you do have to plan ahead , but it's a great way to get a theater experience and kind of be there in the room when it happens. And you can hear great plays without the price tag.

S1:

S5: Malaysia dance has a sort of new tradition their everyday dances. This is their third year doing it. That's coming up January 25th through 28th , and there's going to be ten new works of contemporary dance choreography by choreographers that are based in San Diego and also in contemporary dance. San Diego Dance Theater has a couple of annual offerings. Of course , they're famous for their trolley dances , but don't sleep on Live Arts Fest. This is curated by their executive artistic director , Terry Wilson , and it focuses on original contemporary dance. But there are also other elements of performance in this as well. It runs several nights and that'll be in mid-July.

S1: So that's on the contemporary dance side.

S5: San Diego Ballet is doing a show called The Many Loves of Don Juan , which combines Spanish guitar and ballet with a story about who they refer to as , quote , the world's most famous Latin lover. So that will be at the Conrad in La Jolla , February 24th and 25th.

S1: Okay , so now let's talk books.

S5: It's been around for 29 years now , and they have established themselves as a total draw for big name writers. This year. The programme has events with Nick Hornby , Susan Orlean , Judy Woodruff , Elizabeth Gilbert and more and it runs February 20th through 23rd. There'll be events on campus , but also at Balboa Theatre.

S1: Okay , and how about the books that maybe aren't sold in airport newsstands yet ? Right.

S5: So the book catapult started hosting what they call a small press night or reading series. They started it early last year , and it's hosted by writer Kevin Kearney. And I personally love small presses because I think that the publisher and the writer both are more free to take risks with what they write and what they publish. And this next installment , which is on January 27th , features Melissa Broder , who has a new book out called Death Valley. I will also be reading fiction , and also Eddie Matthews and Kira Hampshire. And so watch for those. I'm sure there'll be more small press nights throughout the year as well. Great.

S1: Great. It'd be great to hear some of your fiction there. There's always a lot going on musically in San Diego , so let's just do a quick fire round on some things on your radar throughout the year there.

S5: Okay , so first is this weekend. It's the Athenaeum Sound on Festival , which is three days of concerts of new and experimental composition. These are held both at the Athenians Music and Arts Library in La Jolla , but also their Athenaeum Arts Center location in Logan Heights at Bread and Salt , and also then a little later , UC San Diego Park and Market has announced their full year of their intersections concert series. So these are pretty diverse music offerings. They range from jazz to world to folk. And they're going to kick things off on January 19th with Adam West , African musician. And this is at their new Downtown Annex concert hall. And there's about a handful of concerts throughout the year. And then one more to put on your calendar for later in the year is cellist Yo-Yo Ma , who will join the San Diego Symphony and Rafael Pereira in May at the new Jacob's Music Center after it finally opens.

S1:

S5: These shows are more like this magical theatrical experience than than a rock show , so be prepared. It's basically a supergroup of all these incredible San Diego women musicians. They do amazing Kate Bush arrangements and stage performances , their costumes and their props and and all sorts of scene changes. It's it's quite an experience.

S1: Yeah , it's a great show. I've seen them a couple of times and very theatrical , like you said , costume changes and the whole deal. Right.

S5: Right. It's so fun. And The Casbah is also celebrating their 35th anniversary. That's all month long this month. There's some big names doing shows there. The beet farmers pin back three mile pilot rocket from the crypt. And I'm sorry to mention this because they're also all sold out , but there are other acts that still have tickets available. If you wanted to help cheer on the Casbah , it's great.

S1: So finally , Julia , I was just curious. You know , I just wanted to ask you , with the new year here , I was curious if there's any new art trends you've been noticing in the new year. I know we've mentioned earlier some artworks , including multiple art forms.

S5: I have noticed this , this kind of interdisciplinary collaboration the last couple of years. Artists are and venues also have been kind of reaching across genres to work together. And I'm definitely seeing it more. So as I look at this upcoming year. Some of the artists that I've spoken with have said that working with different artists from different genres and different fields inspires them in different ways , and it helps them reframe their own work or their own approach to creativity. And of course , it's also a bonus that it brings new audiences to things.

S1: You can find details on all the things we've talked about and lots more at Kpbs. Org slash Arts. You can also sign up for Julia's weekly Kpbs arts newsletter. I've been speaking with Kpbs Arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , thanks so much.

S5: Thank you. Andrew.