Thorne Dreyer :
RAG RADIO PODCAST | Heart attack survivor Jeff Shero Nightbyrd on how not to have one!

Jeff, who had triple bypass surgery, talks about heart health, holistic health, and our health care system.

Jeff Nightbyrd on Rag Radio at the KOOP studios in Austin, February 27, 2015. Photos by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.

Interview by Thorne Dreyer | The Rag Blog | March 12, 2015

Jeff Shero Nightbyrd, who was a major figure in the ’60s New Left and underground press movements, is our guest on Rag Radio. Jeff, our long-time friend and colleague, had a serious heart attack in 2014, and underwent triple bypass open heart surgery, which he discussed in a widely-read Rag Blog article.

On the show Jeff discusses his personal experience and some lessons he learned about heart health that he hopes will help others who might have a heart attack or who would like to avoid having one.

Download the podcast of our February 27, 2015, Rag Radio interview with Jeff Shero Nightbyrd here — or listen to it here:

 
Rag Radio is a weekly hour-long syndicated radio program produced and hosted by Rag Blog editor Thorne Dreyer. The show is produced in the studios of KOOP 91.7-FM, a cooperatively-run all-volunteer community radio station in Austin, Texas, and is first broadcast and streamed live on KOOP every Friday from 2-3 p.m. (CDT).

Jeff provides an intimate picture of his personal experience — with his heart attack, surgery, and recovery — while also offering some extremely useful insight into heart health, holistic health, and, in a larger sense, the strengths and weaknesses of our health care system. Jeff, who travels widely, also talks about health care in other parts of the world, especially Ecuador, where he recently spent time, and Cuba.

The new improved Jeff Nightbyrd (left): Just like the Jeff of old! With Rag Radio’s Thorne Dreyer.

Jeff Shero Nightbyrd, who lives in Austin, was national vice president of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and later was active with the Yippies. In addition to helping start The Rag in Austin, Jeff published and edited the underground newspaper RAT in New York and the influential Austin Sun, which served as a transition into what would be called the “alternative press.” Jeff also owned a low-power television business and worked with Pacifica Radio in Houston. In recent years Jeff has run Acclaim, a major national talent agency.

This show was broadcast during Austin community radio station KOOP-FM’s spring membership drive and solicitation for financial support for the station has been removed.

Coming up on Rag Radio:

• FRIDAY, March 13, 2015: Ellen Sweets, author of Stirring it Up With Molly Ivins, on her coverage of the Guantanamo trials, on writing about food and culture, and on the issue of gentrification in Austin.
• FRIDAY, March 20, 2015: Vocalist Maryann Price, member of the Western Swing Hall of Fame and the Texas Music Hall of Fame — with live performance.

Rag Radio is hosted and produced by Thorne Dreyer. Tracey Schulz is the show’s engineer and co-producer, Roger Baker is our still photographer, and Jesse Spratt is our Rag Radio apprentice.

Rag Radio has aired more than 250 shows since September 2009, on KOOP 91.7-FM in Austin, Texas. Rag Radio is broadcast live every Friday from 2-3 p.m. (CDT) on KOOP — and streamed live on the web — and is rebroadcast and streamed on Sundays at 10 a.m. (EDT) on WFTE, 90.3-FM in Mt. Cobb, PA, and 105.7-FM in Scranton, PA. Rag Radio is also aired and streamed on KPFT-HD3 90.1 — Pacifica radio in Houston — on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. (CDT).

After broadcast, all Rag Radio shows are posted as podcasts at the Internet Archive.

Rag Radio is produced in association with The Rag Blog, a progressive Internet newsmagazine, and the New Journalism Project, a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

Please contact us at ragradio@koop.org.

[Thorne Dreyer is an Austin-based writer, editor, broadcaster, and activist. A pioneering alternative journalist, Dreyer was founding “funnel” of the original Rag in 1966 Austin and managed KPFT-FM, the Pacifica radio station in Houston. Dreyer now edits The Rag Blog, hosts Rag Radio, and is a director of the New Journalism Project. Contact Dreyer at editor@theragblog.com.]