Edwin Martinez at Finca Vista Hermosa

The World in Your Cup, Rethinking Tribalism and Bishop Gene Robinson

Megan Sukys
01/23/2009

Edwin Martinez, a third–generation farmer, tells us how he took a group of Seattle baristas to Guatemala to get a new appreciation of coffee. We also hear from Seattle–based novelist Sherman Alexie about rethinking tribalism, and a local lecture from Bishop Gene Robinson.

At 2:00 p.m. – Sherman Alexie

Seattle–based novelist Sherman Alexie tells Steve Paulson how he wrote his novel "Flight" in response to 9/11. He thinks the fanaticism of flying planes into buildings is the end game of tribalism, and he wanted to teach his sons something else.

At 2:20 p.m. – Bishop Gene Robinson

Bishop Gene Robinson is the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire and the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. He delivered an invocation at the concert Sunday that kicked off days of President Obama's Inauguration ceremonies. Robinson was invited to be a part of the ceremonies just last week. The same day the news about that broke, January 12, Robinson spoke in Seattle. He was excited and so was the crowd there to see him. Robinson has written a memoir, called "In The Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God." The Diocese of Olympia, Integrity Puget Sound, and St. Andrew's Episcopal Church sponsored his talk at Town Hall Seattle.

At 2:40 p.m. – Robert Horton on Political Storytelling

The past week has been about ceremony and pomp, but soon politics will reign again in the other Washington. And that can be really interesting to watch. Robert Horton, film critic for the Everett Herald, shares some ideas for political storytelling worth watching.

Films Robert Discussed:
Frost / Nixon (2008, currently in theaters)
Che (2009, currently in theaters)
Frost / Nixon, The Original Watergate Interviews (1977, currently available on DVD)
W (2008, available on DVD 2/10/2009)

At 2:50 p.m. – The World in Your Cup

At Seattle's Victrola Coffee, the baristas can tell you the difference between Empire Blend and Triborough Espresso. They can also tell you how much work it is to pick fresh coffee cherries on a Guatemalan farm. They know this because Edwin Martinez took them there. Edwin Martinez is a third–generation coffee farmer from Guatemala. He and his family now divide their time between their farm, known as Finca Vista Hermosa, and the other half of the year in Bellingham, Washington. Today, Jeremy Richards joins Edwin at Seattle's Burke Museum for their new exhibit, "Coffee: The World in Your Cup." Edwin demonstrates how he can get a wealth of information simply by tasting a cup of coffee.