Across the DinerVerse

Jack Davenport opened a diner in south-central Los Angeles specializing in home-style soul food back in 1969 near the intersection of Western Ave. and what is today, Martin Luther King Blvd.
Because he wanted to make it a family business, he named the diner Jack's Family Kitchen.
Well, life throws you curves, and Jack's marriage didn't work out. Luckily for him, a woman named LaFay owned a hair salon right around the corner from Jack's, and he spent the next ten years pursuing her. Fay finally said yes but kept her business and built it into the largest hair salon in Los Angeles with a fancy Wilshire Ave. address.
After Jack passed away in 2012 (and thirty years of marriage to Fay), Fay honored Jack's wishes to keep the popular diner open at all costs--and it hasn't always been easy.
Fay, who is coming up on her 80th birthday, offers her thoughts and insights on a host of topics including:
*Working hard to keep the doors open for the benefit of employees, their families, and the south-central community as a whole.
* Race relations in America.
*Reparations.
*Bad hair.
*A rooster-crowing customer who's in love with her.
*Personal responsibility.
*Her relationship with God.
*Her hope for Jack's and the south-central L.A. community.
I think you'll find Fay Davenport a breath of fresh air; a woman with valuable life experience and a healthy dose of postive-can-do-it attitude.
Diner Info:
Jack's Family Kitchen
3965 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA. 90062
323-296-5215
www.jacksfamilykitchen.com

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My father-in-law, Marvin, suggested I do a podcast from a deli in L.A. close to where he grew up. It's called Factors Famous Deli which has been around since 1948!
I saw a woman sitting in a booth wearing scrubs and assumed she was a medical professional, but I had no idea she was a licensed nurse midwife. I wasn't even really aware that midwives were still a thing--my kids were born via C-section with my wife's gynecologist doing the procedure.
The midwife's name is Kerin, and she's been doing it for over twenty years. We get into birthing babies at home in bed, in blow-up pools, and toilet births--you name it! She also discusses how the United States is NOT the best in the world in regard to women's overall healthcare and low infant mortality rates. Kind of shocking considering we have some of the most expensive health care costs in the world.
Kerin also has strong opinions on other issues including reproductive rights, the impact of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and the ongoing learning curve that is gender/sex identity for newborns.
Thanks for giving this episode a listen.
Factors Famous Deli
9420 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca. 90035
(310) 278-9175
www.factorsdeli.com

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Tim never felt like he fit in at home or school. The youngest kid in a blue-collar family with a history of alcoholism, Tim was traumatized at the age of 10 when his older brother and mentor was shot by a Black man for no apparent reason. The incident instilled a fear-based hatred of African Americans that festered into rage-filled violence toward pretty much anyone. He numbed his feelings of pain and inadequacy with alcohol and drugs.
As a teen, he found kinship with '80's punk rockers and skinheads. One night in Hollywood, Tim and his anarchist friends assaulted a number of young gay men and prostitutes. They left one for dead, got in their cars, and drove back to the safety of the suburbs.
When the first Persin Gulf War began, Tim marched down to the Army recruiter to enlist but was rejected. Defeated, he decided to fight against all foreign "enemies" of the United States here at home. Tim willingly joined the Neo Nazi movement and worked closely with the infamous Tom Metzger and the White Aryan Resistance (WAR).
He met and married a like-minded woman, had a child, and dutifully instructed his son (at age 3!) the ways of Neo Nazism: Nazi salutes, "Heil Hitler's", and an expectation daddy would beat down any Black person he saw.
Luckily, God, life, or the universe had a different path for Tim, and through A.A. and the kindness of his perceived enemies, Tim learned that living a boozy, hate-filled life was untenable. He desperately wanted to CHANGE--and did.
The coda to Tim's amazing story will leave you gobsmacked!
SHOW NOTES:
Cosmo's Bistro
1031 E. Rout 66
Glendora, CA. 91741
(626) 857-7667
www.cosmosbistroglendora.com
RECOVERY INFO for meetings, literature, guidelines and questions to ask yourself if you think you have an addiction issue. Some common ones are:
Alcoholics Anonymous
www.aa.org
Narcotics Anonymous
www.na.org
Gamblers Anonymous
www.gamblersanonymous.org
Sex Addicts Anonymous
www.saa-recovery.org
Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
www.slaafws.org
Overeaters Anonymous
https://oa.org

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This is kind of a surprise bonus episode. I've been working for months on a true-crime series of podcasts from my hometown of McCook, Nebraska, where a heinous double murder was committed out of a love-triangle gone bad--and the people killed had no direct involvement with this salacious three-way affair. It's a bonkers story.
I not only interviewed the lead investigator of the case, but I also talked with the author of a book about it (IN COLD STORAGE, University of Nebraska Press), and will include audio from official police interviews and the murderer's confession.
I wanted to include a forensic psychologist on the podcast to bring some clinical insight into the mindset of the people involved and how normal, everyday people go off the rails and do things they would never rationally do under normal circumstances--and I found one, Dr. Mario Scalora, PhD, from the University of Nebraska. Listen for him on upcoming episodes about this jaw-dropping case.
But I also started talking to Mario about our nation's collective mental health right now and what the hell's been going on with the insane number of mass shootings, the uptick in violent and overall crime, divisiveness and just how people seem really pissed off and angry about everything.
This episode is a result of that extended conversation which I thought was pretty interesting and I hope you do to.
Recorded at the Hi-Way Diner in Lincoln, Nebraska. Go Big Red!

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Episode eleven was recorded at Yankee Doodle's Cafe in Alpine, Wyoming, just south of Jackson Hole and home to hard-working, gun-loving ranchers, and high-tech billionaires who bring their money and liberal ideas to an area steeped in history and patriotic traditions.
Property values are soaring forcing locals to move away to find more affordable housing. There's mounting debate on whether Wyoming's limited gun restrictions need to be changed in the wake of America's mass-shooting crisis.
Yankee Doodle's owner, Alisha, proudly displays a sign at the front door that reads: "Lawfully concealed weapons welcome on the premises."
Tim, a local lodge owner, breaks down why guns matter in this wild country and why out-of-staters need to mind their own business.
Sean, a custom gun-maker, shares the importance of gun education and responsibility, the right and need for people to protect themselves, and his heartbroken feelings every time there's another mass shooting.
Finally, Adam, weighs in on the billionaire effect impacting everything from rents on service workers, sixty-mile one-way commutes, and exploding property taxes all caused by wealthy elites who only spend a few weeks a year in Wyoming.
Diner Info: Yankee Doodle's Cafe
20 U.S. Route 89
Alpine, WY. 83128
(307) 654-7507
www.yankeedoddlescafe.com

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