#103. From Stunts to Studios: Christina Jeffers Shares How Public Access Empowers a County

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends and neighbors from all over the world, this is Scott Hammond and the 100% Humboldt Podcast with episode… This is, like, 103 or 4, it's great, with my new best friend Christina Jeffers. Hi, Christina.

Christina Jeffers: Hello.

Scott Hammond: How are you?

Christina Jeffers: I'm good. Thank you for having me.

Scott Hammond: Thank you for being had. Um- Welcome, welcome, welcome to freezing Humboldt today. Gosh, it's, like, freezing cold outside. Uh, love to know your story. What's your day job? What do you, what do you do here in Humboldt?

Christina Jeffers: So my day job, and my night job, and my spare time

Christina Jeffers: job-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Christina Jeffers: … is being the new executive director for Access Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Nice. And you guys are still at CR?

Christina Jeffers: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Nice

Christina Jeffers: For the time being.

Scott Hammond: For the time being.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And what is Access Humboldt? W- most of us will know what it is, so you should tell us.

Christina Jeffers: Well, first of all, we're not, like, some sort of, um, aid program that, uh, you know… People are always like, "I need access to healthcare." I'm like, "No, that's not us."

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Christina Jeffers: You know, and then of course they go, "Oh, yeah, you're PBS." Like, "No, no, no, that's not us."

Scott Hammond: Get, get warmer.

Christina Jeffers: Getting warmer, though. You're in the TV realm. Uh, we are actually your local PEG station, and PEG means, um, public access, education, and government channels.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: So we have five cable channels, and we also have KZZH-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … low-power FM radio.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, basically you should consider us your television station and radio station where you make TV and radio because-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Christina Jeffers: … it's all public driven.

Scott Hammond: Hear that, kids? You could go do one of these. Or something like it.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Or a Ray Olson, uh, Humboldt Outdoors

Scott Hammond: series.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, you guys have a lot of content.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, Ray's, Ray's series is amazing.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, and I go way back to cable TV when Cox Cable did the contract with Sean and the group back in the day, and they negotiated for five channels, so way to negotiate the deals, man.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Sean.

Christina Jeffers: Hi, Sean.

Scott Hammond: Is Sean still local?

Christina Jeffers: He is.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, and we, we've retained him for some knowledge-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Christina Jeffers: … and consulting here and there, yeah.

Scott Hammond: All that embedded wisdom.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. For those who don't know, Sean's my predecessor.

Scott Hammond: What's his last name?

Christina Jeffers: Um.

Scott Hammond: I should… We were joking about this, about remembering names. Tell me his name, quick, your former boss.

Christina Jeffers: McLaughlin.

Scott Hammond: McLaughlin.

Christina Jeffers: Sean McLaughlin.

Scott Hammond: That's right. And then we have Matt.

Christina Jeffers: Yes, Matt Knight.

Scott Hammond: Matt Knight. Oh, you got a last name.

Christina Jeffers: Mm.

Scott Hammond: And then John. I've had John on the, and Matt on the show.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, and John Hauser, yeah.

Scott Hammond: John Hauser's cool.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, he's rad.

Scott Hammond: Matt's pretty cool. He does his rock and roll with that other guy.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: From, um, our… He must be from the works. I don't know who the other guy is.

Christina Jeffers: The other guy. Are you talking about Nate?

Scott Hammond: Must be.

Christina Jeffers: Nate Dogg?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he's got his Pink Floyd shirt on, and they always talk rock and roll.

Christina Jeffers: Oh.

Scott Hammond: And music and musicians.

Christina Jeffers: That may be another-

Scott Hammond: Not Nate Dogg. Nate Dogg's your, on your team.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, Nate Dogg's on my team, yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's a nice guy.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Really nice. Yeah, you have a great team.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you're the… How long have you been the director there?

Christina Jeffers: Oh, about 15 months now.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Welcome to Humboldt.

Christina Jeffers: Thank you. Thank you, appreciate it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Tell us the whole, uh, Christina story.

Christina Jeffers: Oh my gosh, you don't have time for that.

Scott Hammond: I have 55 minutes left. We do have time. We will make time.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, wow.

Scott Hammond: So where were you born and raised? Where'd you go to school?

Christina Jeffers: Once upon a time, not long ago.

Christina Jeffers: Um,

Christina Jeffers: so yeah, I'm a, I'm a Northern California girl and a Southern California girl.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, spent my time in, uh, Davis, San Diego,

Christina Jeffers: Sacramento, um, Los Angeles-

Scott Hammond: Geez

Christina Jeffers: … um, Tahoe.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: Um, yeah, I really love California.

Scott Hammond: Did you move a lot? Did, was it Navy family or military?

Christina Jeffers: I actually, my dad did do military contracts.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, but, uh, he was out of the military by the time I was born.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: So, um, he was a specialist in IT and, um, standards for IEEE-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Christina Jeffers: … um, doing some, some cool stuff.

Scott Hammond: Whatever that is. What's that?

Christina Jeffers: You know, we used to joke around as kids that my dad was actually a spy.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Christina Jeffers: Because, you know, he traveled a lot.

Scott Hammond: CIA, yeah.

Christina Jeffers: He did these, like, high-level contracts for the government-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Christina Jeffers: … and, you know, he'd come home and, and we'd be like, "Oh, Dad," like, you know, "what'd you do? Was it, was it a good trip?" And he'd be like, "Well," you know, and he'd start, like, quoting IEEE standards-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … and we're just like, "Oh, oh, oh."

Scott Hammond: Right. See what… We stopped asking.

Christina Jeffers: We're like, "Wow, that's a great cover."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: So-

Scott Hammond: If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

Christina Jeffers: It's, you know, and some of that, kinda. Like, you know, I mean, w- like, just before Y2K, um, you know, there was a lot of talk about, you know, the nukes possibly going off because of the whole rollover of two digits-

Scott Hammond: Right

Christina Jeffers: … to four digits.

Scott Hammond: Freaking out.

Christina Jeffers: The ATM machines spewing out money.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Christina Jeffers: They didn't know what's gonna happen. Well, my dad was working on that.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And, uh, he, like, I don't know, three days before New Year's Eve, he was like, "Hey, honey, did you, uh, did you go out and buy heavy plastic and, um, you know, get some food rations and, uh, you know, pull about, like, 500 bucks out of the ATM?"

Scott Hammond: Wow, was he serious?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, he was serious.

Scott Hammond: Oh, what's it go-

Christina Jeffers: And, like, he had reminded me to do that- … and, you know, I totally spaced it, and I was like, "You're joking,

Christina Jeffers: right?"

Scott Hammond: Joke.

Christina Jeffers: Like, "You got this." And he was like, "Well, you know, testing went really well, but we just had a glitch." And I'm like-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Christina Jeffers: … "Huh."

Scott Hammond: Oh, Dad, come on now.

Christina Jeffers: You're joking. Yeah, I was just like, I was numb.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: So, you know, and I'm like, "Well."

Scott Hammond: And b- buying Dad's, Dad's kinda teased too a little

Scott Hammond: maybe.

Christina Jeffers: Sometimes, yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know? Did you dig out the bomb shelter? Did you clea- Do, do we have a basement dug out yet?

Christina Jeffers: N- yeah, no. I, I basically, uh, my husband at the time and I were like, "Well, if the nukes go off, we're gonna go outside and, and not be the survivors," right?

Christina Jeffers: We wanna go.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: We don't wanna be, you know, fighting the mole people for supplies.

Scott Hammond: Right, right. The li- the Walking Dead are around.

Christina Jeffers: Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, exactly. Yeah. I, um, so where did you actually go to high school or grade school?

Christina Jeffers: So, um, I, I went to, I, I would say m- most of my, my Early school days was in San Diego.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, I went to Poway High.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Um, great school. Um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … lots of, of interesting things there. Poway is a small town in San Diego where you could ride your horse to school if you

Christina Jeffers: want.

Scott Hammond: I know it well.

Christina Jeffers: Oh.

Scott Hammond: I was ra- I was raised in San Diego.

Christina Jeffers: That's right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, National City, not Poway.

Christina Jeffers: Right. I dated a guy from National City.

Scott Hammond: Oh, no.

Christina Jeffers: He was a hockey skater.

Scott Hammond: Real… Hockey skater?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Really? Did he go to Sweetwater High?

Christina Jeffers: Um, I don't know about that. I don't remember.

Scott Hammond: That's where we were, yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Great in the '70s, actually. D- you know, it's all crowded now and too many people, but the weather's good and traffic's awful, and tacos are

Scott Hammond: world-class.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, yeah, the tacos.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.

Christina Jeffers: I miss the food so much. I want San Diego.

Scott Hammond: Tacos El Gordo, five locations, all of them. Just delicious. Every time we go out, there's, like, tacos daily. It's like, okay.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But Poway, yeah, my dad lived in Oceanside.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, North County.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I liked North County. North County was fun.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Remember when Temecula was a truck stop, and we skinny-dipped in Bonzel in some pond, and it was just

Scott Hammond: good times.

Christina Jeffers: Nice.

Scott Hammond: And avocado trees everywhere.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, yeah, everywhere.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: And then you can go up to Julian and get some pie.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm, the apples, yep.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And we were just like feral hippie children growing up in the throes of, um, San Diego when it was still kind of not LA yet.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Yeah, I… last time I drove down, um, I was very

Christina Jeffers: confused-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … 'cause I was like, "Where's the space in between?"

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the, yeah, no, it's gone. It's s- it's fun though. Balboa Park's still fun.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, Poway to where? To s- college, or…?

Christina Jeffers: Uh, so from Poway, I ended up in Davis in Sacramento-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … for college, and-

Scott Hammond: Great school

Christina Jeffers: … um, yeah, and, um, just, I, I lived with my grandmother at the time,

Christina Jeffers: and-

Scott Hammond: Sweet

Christina Jeffers: … um, had a very, um, vivid imagination as a child.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Christina Jeffers: … was always a performer. Um, you know, my parents are the… they're a bit older than my contemporaries' parents.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And I think they believed in, like, you know, kids should be seen and not heard-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … and also not parented.

Christina Jeffers: You know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Like, "Here's the key. Come home."

Scott Hammond: It's funny how that goes together, that philosophy. It's like, yeah, and get out of here.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, you know, and-

Scott Hammond: And go away

Christina Jeffers: … um, so they had me in all these programs from the time I was a little girl to,

Christina Jeffers: um-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … you know, tap, jazz, ballet, uh, hip hop-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Christina Jeffers: … gymnastics, theater arts.

Scott Hammond: Karate?

Christina Jeffers: Um, actually taekwondo.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: Um, I am a black belt instructor of taekwondo.

Scott Hammond: I bet you are.

Christina Jeffers: And-

Scott Hammond: With the dancing, the dance thing.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Our daughters all did ballet after they were black belts in karate in McKinleyville.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, nice.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Yeah, they kinda go hand in hand, that control.

Scott Hammond: The body mechanics, yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Hi, Kalia. Hi, Brie. They, they jokingly say they're gonna go back and do a dojo in Mc- in Medford where

Scott Hammond: they live.

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And they're gonna play all dumb until, like, the second or third lesson, and then go into a tournament and just whip on everybody.

Christina Jeffers: Just, ah.

Scott Hammond: Ka- karate it out. I said, "Good luck with that." Yeah, I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Anyway.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, well.

Scott Hammond: So what'd you study at UC Davis?

Christina Jeffers: Um, so actually I lived in Davis-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … went to school at Sacramento.

Scott Hammond: At Sac State?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Christina Jeffers: At Sac State.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: So, um, theater arts major-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Christina Jeffers: … um, music minor. Um, almost got the, uh, the musical, um, theater degree-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … but I was, like, one dance class short or something, and I just… it was time to get out of college. I was burning those precious early actress years,

Christina Jeffers: and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Christina Jeffers: … my dad was a graduate of Purdue, and he was like-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Christina Jeffers: … "No child of mine is gonna drop out of college."

Scott Hammond: Stay there.

Christina Jeffers: So I was like, "Well, I'm just doing this and this. I'm not staying for one more class. I'm out of here."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Right.

Christina Jeffers: You know? And-

Scott Hammond: Can't wait to leave.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, took off to LA.

Scott Hammond: Oh, of course.

Christina Jeffers: So-

Scott Hammond: With like like all graduates do. What… So what'd you do in LA?

Christina Jeffers: I was an actress-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Christina Jeffers: … and a stunt actor, and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Christina Jeffers: … um, yeah. Uh, worked on a few movies down there, and then, um, came back up north-

Christina Jeffers: … and, um, ended up getting married-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Christina Jeffers: … for a while. And-

Scott Hammond: North, north where? Like Humboldt?

Christina Jeffers: To Sacramento.

Scott Hammond: Sac. Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, quasi north, I guess, now that I live in Humboldt, right?

Scott Hammond: It's more central, yeah. Maybe Southern California. We don't know.

Christina Jeffers: I love that, because, you know, in Sacramento, they're like, "Oh, San Francisco's

Christina Jeffers: not NorCal."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: "We're NorCal."

Scott Hammond: Who knows? It's not even… I don't even know. Is, is it more northern along-

Christina Jeffers: I mean, it's kinda like-

Scott Hammond: … latitude

Christina Jeffers: … diagonally east

Scott Hammond: … it's right, it's like right there

Christina Jeffers: … you know? It's, like, so close.

Scott Hammond: You go due east on 80, and you hit Sac.

Scott Hammond: That's-

Christina Jeffers: Right

Scott Hammond: … is that north? I don't know.

Christina Jeffers: It's, it's not really.

Scott Hammond: That's fun. So, um, wow, so you've traveled a bit.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, quite a bit.

Scott Hammond: So did you guys have kids?

Christina Jeffers: Uh, we had the one.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, she's great.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um,

Christina Jeffers: we… Oh, gosh, I went through, um, like, a few career changes during that time. Um, I worked in the emergency room for 10

Christina Jeffers: years.

Scott Hammond: Whoa.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and then I did a lot of, um, consulting, um, had my own nonprofits. Um, started building, um, some projects around film and things.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And then that kind of snowballed into creating a neighborhood for the creative class.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, I kind of took 13 screenplays and, um, used my networking with other filmmakers in Northern

Christina Jeffers: California to create a concept known as IndyWood-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Christina Jeffers: … um, which ultimately failed. Um, but over about seven years' time, I developed this huge live, work, teach, play space just north of the railyards, um, in

Christina Jeffers: Sacramento.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Christina Jeffers: Had a lot of strategic partners, and,

Christina Jeffers: um, when, uh, Trump got into office the first term-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: I was one of three producers being highlighted worldwide for my project.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And my, um, the Chinese delegation immediately pulled out in the middle of the conference.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And basically, I lost my Chinese investment.

Scott Hammond: Oh, no.

Christina Jeffers: It's like this huge political thing, and I was like, "No, no, no, no."

Scott Hammond: Come back.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and so, you know, the, um, some of the, the EB-5 financing I had through the Chinese delegates, um, that was, like, a major, uh, portion of the funding that I needed.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: So that all fell apart, and then, like, my, my other finance was like,

Christina Jeffers: "Well, you know, without that, we're not gonna do this."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: And it was like a house of cards.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: So, um-

Scott Hammond: Rebuild.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh, reinvent.

Christina Jeffers: I did. I did. For several years, I tried to create different iterations of-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … Indie Wood. Um, there was Indie House, Indie Bus.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, finally, uh, Capital Indie Collective.

Scott Hammond: It's all web-based?

Christina Jeffers: Uh, no. This was, uh-

Scott Hammond: This was live?

Christina Jeffers: Live, yeah.

Scott Hammond: In the North Rail Yards up that way?

Christina Jeffers: Um, yeah, mostly, like, uh, downtown, midtown-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … up in that area.

Scott Hammond: I like Sac. Sac's a fun town.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: It's, uh… You know, everybody says it's a really great place to raise a family,

Christina Jeffers: and I-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … I think, you know, it's pretty accurate.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and it's grown up.

Scott Hammond: My brother-in-law's a pretty big radio guy there. So Scott Hanson, Hanson McClain, they… He has the Money Matters-

Christina Jeffers: Oh, okay

Scott Hammond: … radio show-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … that's been on for 25, 30 years.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's just a, one of my favorite human beings, really nice guy, and-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … heck of a show, really legit money advice that's not, you know, gussied up with anything other than real and…

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They live out in El Dorado, of course, where it's

Scott Hammond: kinda nice.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Scott. Scott Hammond. He's Scott Hanson, so don't get us confused. So wow, so what a- what after that?

Christina Jeffers: Um, let's see. Where are we in the journey? Uh, Capital Indie Collective. Um, I… So I left the industry for a while. I got a little fried.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, because I could… I have so many almost famous stories, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … you know, "We're about to hit, it's gonna pop," and then it explodes, you know?

Scott Hammond: Right. Right.

Christina Jeffers: Um, so I threw up my hands, and I,

Christina Jeffers: um, I just wanted a regular job, and because my skill set was so extraordinary, it was really hard to find, like, a regular job, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And so, um, I decided to just kinda take off into the rural, like, the most rural part that I knew of, uh, Tahoe, outside of Truckee.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Christina Jeffers: And I worked as a work camper for a campground association.

Scott Hammond: What is a work camper?

Christina Jeffers: Uh-

Scott Hammond: I think I know what that could be

Christina Jeffers: … do you not know this world? Um, it's actually… It's pretty awesome. Um, the nomads will know what I'm talking about.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, but basically, um, national parks and,

Christina Jeffers: um, you know, other kinda campground associations-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … they have these positions where it's temporary. You go in, um, some parks, they have, like, pit toilets

Christina Jeffers: and, uh-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Christina Jeffers: … fireplaces you have to clean out.

Scott Hammond: West Tahoe on th- west, west side.

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: Like, there's a bunch of campgrounds over there and-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, there's, there's a lot there

Scott Hammond: … those are mostly state, I would guess, but I don't know that.

Christina Jeffers: Well, so the place that I was at was a private association.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, you might wanna think of it as, like, super glamping.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Uh, we're talking luxury fifth wheels with outdoor decks-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Christina Jeffers: … rock walls. Um-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Christina Jeffers: … these are regular campsites that people had rights to use year-round.

Scott Hammond: Is there a pool? Like, some of the campgrounds have, like-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … full-on facilities and stuff.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Christina Jeffers: They had, like, a lodge, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Very cool.

Christina Jeffers: And then, um, so I was running chainsaws, doing, uh, forest management-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Christina Jeffers: … um, driving a backhoe.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Jill, Jill of all trades.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Yeah. I really kinda went agro and-

Scott Hammond: I like it

Christina Jeffers: … got rural.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: So-

Scott Hammond: Outdoors. Yeah, no, that… I, I love it.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Yeah. And, um, so after a season of that and then going back and running the place on the board, uh, for a couple seasons, I then thought, "Okay, I should reabsorb, you know, go back into Sacramento."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and so I did some consulting for a nonprofit there, where I excelled with, um, several clients, um, just kinda reinventing their stories, positioning them for money-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and, um, getting them to find their narrative-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … that was lucrative for them.

Scott Hammond: I like it.

Christina Jeffers: And missed TV so much, missed film, you know, and I was still making, like, little, tiny independent film and appearances-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … you know, here and there,

Christina Jeffers: and, um, my recruiter was like, "Hey, you know, Access Sacramento

Christina Jeffers: needs-"

Scott Hammond: Oh?

Christina Jeffers: "… needs an executive director."

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Christina Jeffers: And I was like, "Wow, I don't know. That's a lot."

Scott Hammond: Kind of in your wheelhouse, though.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Christina Jeffers: So I applied, and I-

Scott Hammond: How many channels do they have?

Christina Jeffers: Um, they have two,

Christina Jeffers: and the-

Scott Hammond: Just two? Okay.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. It's just the public.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: So, um-

Scott Hammond: Is it part of the cable system or whatever they are?

Christina Jeffers: They are a peg station, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Is it Time Warner, or are they carried on all the cable carriers?

Christina Jeffers: It's anybody who has cable, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Christina Jeffers: And, and streaming.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause there's several cable carriers, I'd imagine, around Sacramento.

Christina Jeffers: Right. Well, they have a cable commission there.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay.

Christina Jeffers: So things are funded slightly differently than here.

Scott Hammond: A little bigger.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Just a little bit bigger.

Christina Jeffers: A whole lot more money.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Christina Jeffers: About $2.1 million budget.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And that's just for the P-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … not the E and the G.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Christina Jeffers: So, you know, it's a big market. It's a number 13 market.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Christina Jeffers: Um, by comparison, here we're, like, 197th or something like that.

Scott Hammond: I've hovered there for a long time.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I used to… Remember 194. I was in media for a while. I did radio and TV and c- I worked for Cox and then Suddenlink on the sales side.

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So we sold airtime on CNN, Fox News, ESPN.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, fun.

Christina Jeffers: So I bet that was a lot easier than selling it for peg.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah. Yes. I think it was. And then one day-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I drank all the red Kool-Aid, and here I am.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I'm your good neighbor.

Christina Jeffers: That's excellent.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: I'm glad to have you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, thank you.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Good to, good to be here. Thanks for having me.

Christina Jeffers: So, uh-

Scott Hammond: So you took the job?

Christina Jeffers: I, well, so it got down to between me and Donna, and they w- they went with Donna. And about six months after that, Donna said, um… She called me up out of the blue, and she goes, "Hi." I'm gonna do her voice.

Christina Jeffers: "Hi. My name is Donna, and I'm calling to make you my right-hand gal."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: "I'm only gonna give you one offer, so if you say 'no,' you're done."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And I was like-

Scott Hammond: From New York

Christina Jeffers: … who is this woman? Yeah, with like this kinda East Coast twinge,

Christina Jeffers: you know?

Scott Hammond: There's a little, little East Coast approach.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: We love all you East Coasters, by the way.

Christina Jeffers: We do. We do.

Scott Hammond: We do. You're just a little too much.

Christina Jeffers: Big heart for New York. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, a little, little too direct. Just a, just maybe-

Christina Jeffers: Little too direct.

Scott Hammond: Just a little bit.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: When we're drinking our mochas, we'll let you know.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, so-

Christina Jeffers: We'll-

Scott Hammond: West Coast, East Coast

Christina Jeffers: … we'll do the California thing.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, no.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah.

Christina Jeffers: No, yeah, yeah, no.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, no. And I understand their frustration with this 'cause it's like-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … BS, man. Just let's cut to the chase. Get, you know, it's a place of love and warm and welcome. Get the hot air. And so they-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … they're just very direct.

Scott Hammond: And I g-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I g- once you do that speak and got that dialogue, hey, we're friends.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's just how you talk.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's not gonna hold against you. Your heart's good. You're just, like, goofy.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, a little. S- and, and they go, "Yeah, you too."

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So-

Christina Jeffers: So

Scott Hammond: … I'm glad we solved that. So she calls, and what happened?

Christina Jeffers: So I told her, like, at the time I was, like, on a little, like, month-long vacation and, and, um, so I was like, "You know what? I'm on vacation right now." "I'm, I'm, I'm just gonna consider this." And I, I'm kinda thinking like, "What is going on over there?"

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: And so I called my recruiter, and I was like, "What's going on over there?" And he's like, "Say yes, say yes, say yes, say yes." And, and so I said, "All right." So I, I, uh, I think I emailed her back. I was, like, in this really, like, "I don't need this," kinda mode, you know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And so I emailed her back, and I was like, "Here's my counteroffer, final offer, um, and I can start in two weeks."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And so I get a text back from her, and she was like, "Done." And I was like, "Oh, damn. That was too easy."

Christina Jeffers: You know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Should've negotiated a little bit more.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, I know. I was like, "Man, I should've asked for more." Um, but then so I, I worked for Access Sacramento for, um, almost four years.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And I was their director of development.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, Donna and I, it, it took a lot of heavy lifting to get that station repositioned and ready to rock and roll again.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, it had gone through some changes. And, um, then my recruiter was like, "Hey, you know, it's been four years. Do you have the itch?"

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And I was like, "Yeah, I kinda do."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And he goes, "Awesome. I have the perfect place for you."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And I was like, "Where might this perfect place be?"

Scott Hammond: Wait, could it be Humboldt County, California? Wah, wah. Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And so he's like, "You're adventurous. Uh, you should go interview for Humboldt. Their, their AD's retiring."

Scott Hammond: This, wow.

Christina Jeffers: And I was like, "Okay, my own station, all right."

Scott Hammond: The legend-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Sean McLaughlin.

Christina Jeffers: The le- the man. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: The myth. How many years was he there?

Christina Jeffers: Uh, 18.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause he's only, like, 48.

Christina Jeffers: Right.

Scott Hammond: Like, like me. So, uh, wow, okay, great. I love it.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: All right, if you're just joining us, this is where I do this kinda talk to the camera and look at Nick and fifth or sixth wall. If you're just joining us, it's Scott Hammond, the 100% Humboldt podcast, here with my new best friend, Christina Jeffers, from Access Humboldt, which is, has nothing to do with special needs or buses or anything. It's just TV.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: TV for the people. I guess that's something else, but-

Christina Jeffers: Homegrown TV-

Scott Hammond: I like it

Christina Jeffers: … by the people, for the people.

Scott Hammond: I like all the stuff, though. It's, there's so much stuff to, like… Forget about the news and all this other stuff. I'm, I'm thumbing through this going, "Oh, this is great. There's the ECKID car guy. He's weird. Oh, there's the, there's, there's Rex Bone on the board of soups. Hey, what's up, City Council of Rio Dell and-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Deborah and the gang." And so it's all… And then Ray Olson and then-

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … you know, all the f- all the cast of many characters.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And roller derby.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, yeah, roller derby. I love it.

Scott Hammond: Let's, let's talk about your programming, and then I wanna know what you like about

Scott Hammond: Humboldt.

Christina Jeffers: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Tell me about your programming and what, how you've crafted and concierged and curated.

Christina Jeffers: Molded.

Scott Hammond: Mol- molded. Mold is probably better. I'm using the $2 words. So what have you done to mold the programming? Or is that part of your gig-

Christina Jeffers: So-

Scott Hammond: … as director?

Christina Jeffers: … you know, when I, when I walk into a station and I see it working and it's not

Christina Jeffers: broken-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … I, I don't fix it my first year.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Like, or any brand that I work for, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, so that's, that's kinda the, the thing about a development person. Um, and I've learned over the years developing other businesses, like, if there's somebody doing their thing-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and it's pretty darn good, you just give 'em a couple nudges-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … maybe a couple tweaks. And so, um, that's Jerusha-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Christina Jeffers: … uh, Wilhelmi. She is-

Scott Hammond: She's great

Christina Jeffers: … amazing. She-

Scott Hammond: Hi, Jerusha

Christina Jeffers: … she she is the station.

Scott Hammond: That's really ni- I haven't met her, but I kinda know her.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Well, 'cause you submit programming to her, right?

Scott Hammond: I do.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Not anymore. She just picks it up.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, well, see.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's-

Christina Jeffers: She's a giver

Scott Hammond: … that's on autopilot. Like- Yeah, no, she… Hi, hi, Jerusha. So you're my new best friend.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. My last station, um, every producer had to go through a lengthy form process every single submission.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. The la- the last programmer was, uh, not as amazing-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Christina Jeffers: … I'll just say.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Christina Jeffers: She is a gift and a gem. And so, um-

Scott Hammond: So she's your program manager?

Christina Jeffers: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Director, whatever you call her.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, manager, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Did you know that today when you play the quiz program- The show that you're gonna be playing for you and Jerusha, so she can get a prize

Scott Hammond: too. Special prize.

Christina Jeffers: All right.

Scott Hammond: Small, but thoughtful.

Christina Jeffers: Okay, well, I hope I don't choke.

Scott Hammond: You, you're gonna do great. Well, I don't know.

Scott Hammond: It's not a-

Christina Jeffers: You never know with me

Scott Hammond: … it's not a gimme. Say yes or no right now.

Christina Jeffers: Ah, maybe

Scott Hammond: Maybe. Can I have two weeks? I'll shoot you an email-

Christina Jeffers: Exactly

Scott Hammond: … with my answers.

Christina Jeffers: I don't know if I need this right now

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I like that. So you took the job here.

Christina Jeffers: I did, and, and the programming, um, that Jerusha does is, you know, very balanced.

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … it's between public access submitted programs-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … from your neighbors and friends of Humboldt County, and it's also the content created by us for the jurisdictions, and some of the jurisdictions create their own content-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and submit. Uh, we do end-to-end meeting coverage, so you never have to miss another city council meeting again-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … um, or waste management or, um, some of these other JPAs that we cover.

Scott Hammond: So jurisdictions means what?

Scott Hammond: Could be a water board or any sort of-

Christina Jeffers: I mean, you, you know-

Scott Hammond: … railway trails

Christina Jeffers: … if it's a civic meeting, we want to cover it.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Christina Jeffers: We may not cover it right this minute, 'cause no- whenever I say, "If it's a civic meeting, we do it," I get some caller who's like, "No, you don't."

Scott Hammond: You weren't there.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: Where were you?

Christina Jeffers: "I'm in the middle of this tiny, tiny town out in the edge of the county, and you didn't come to this one thing." And I'm like-

Scott Hammond: Right

Christina Jeffers: … "Well, submit it to us and we'll air it."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: You know? Come on, man.

Scott Hammond: Somebody filmed it.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Probably.

Christina Jeffers: You know, someone's got a cell phone, right? Point in the right direction, hold it horizontally, and give it to us.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: So then-

Scott Hammond: That's- there's your news story.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah exactly.

Scott Hammond: Strangely see a lot of that on local news. Love you, Channel 7 and 3, but-

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … just here's the… What? Okay. That'll work. That'll have to work.

Christina Jeffers: Here, here we are on the streets-

Scott Hammond: We're used to that

Christina Jeffers: … with our citizen journalist.

Scott Hammond: Yeah If you jiggle it a little-

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … it's, it's kinda cool. It makes it, you know, that jiggle effect.

Christina Jeffers: It's more engaging.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. You know, there's some good movie makers here, too, like-

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … Ray DeSoto and Malcolm DeSoto and all the others that I won't mention 'cause I've forgotten their names- … on the spot. But, um, so what do you like about Humboldt?

Christina Jeffers: I really love the people.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, you know, it's funny, I didn't know if I would because y- I got friends in Sacramento who are from Humboldt-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and they kinda like, "You know, there's something that Humboldt people do." "They try to scare the outsiders to stare, stay away."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: You know? And they're like-

Scott Hammond: It's true

Christina Jeffers: … "Oh, Christina, you're not gonna like Humboldt. It's so rural."

Scott Hammond: You're gonna hate it.

Christina Jeffers: "It's so spread out." You know, and I'm like- … "Okay, I know it's a big landmass."

Scott Hammond: I see the theater coming through now.

Christina Jeffers: Yes.

Scott Hammond: The impersonations. Sp- Okay. Car- Car- I'm sorry, I'm just c- commenting.

Christina Jeffers: It, it, when we move accurately, it was like…

Scott Hammond: Yeah, maybe that would be better.

Christina Jeffers: "Oh, Christina."

Scott Hammond: So spread out.

Christina Jeffers: "You're gonna totally love it."

Scott Hammond: Dude, dude, it's gonna be amazing. It's not your dad's ditch weed.

Christina Jeffers: Right

Scott Hammond: It's other things. Um, and not s- I, I don't wanna classify this as weed, but okay. Um, yeah, well-

Christina Jeffers: So no, I, I love the, I love the people first and foremost.

Scott Hammond: So the people are the-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … attraction. I agree.

Christina Jeffers: They've been very kind.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Um, you know, you kinda have that small town charm.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and there's a little bit of that, um, like, you know, we all know each other and you're the outsider.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Christina Jeffers: But it's like, "We all know each other and you're the outsider, but we like you, so come on in."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: You know?

Scott Hammond: Come over.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hang out.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I like it. Yeah, that's true. It's mostly true, and, and s- sometimes it's the people that make it hard here,

Scott Hammond: too, 'cause they're

Scott Hammond: different.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And maybe not just they're different, maybe they're just difficult.

Christina Jeffers: We keep it weird.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And w- if you can't deal with weird, it's gonna be a little t- difficult for you.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Maybe, "Now who's the difficult one?"

Christina Jeffers: I keep it weird anyway, so I think, you know-

Scott Hammond: Good. I like you already.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. We, uh-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … we had a pretty good fit happen. I mean, I love my recruiter. Um, you know-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … Randy's amazing, and, um, it's, in the interview process-

Christina Jeffers: … you know, it was funny 'cause I, you know, I wore the suit, right?

Christina Jeffers: The, uh-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … trendy on-point suit.

Scott Hammond: Really, like a three-piece, like-

Christina Jeffers: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: … old-fashioned

Christina Jeffers: … it was Calvin Klein, you know?

Scott Hammond: Oh, you're wearing the Klein. Okay, got it.

Scott Hammond: Oh, oh.

Christina Jeffers: Um, you know, and so they were like, "Ugh, she's wearing a suit, you know. She might not fit in." You know?

Scott Hammond: Right. "Who's the weirdo-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … with a suit?"

Christina Jeffers: But then, uh-

Scott Hammond: I would wear jeans. You-

Christina Jeffers: … couple weeks into it, and they were just like, "Yeah, yeah. She's the weirdo for us."

Scott Hammond: Good.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Choose your weirdos wisely.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Why not?

Christina Jeffers: So of course-

Scott Hammond: I like it

Christina Jeffers: … the outdoor recreation I'm all about. Um, you know.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: I don't drive a tractor here.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: But, uh, I do, like, all my own home improvement. My– I have a really big yard.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: Uh, my house was built in 1905, so I have a lot of-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … what do they call it? Deferred maintenance.

Scott Hammond: Old house syndrome.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: This Old House with Hugh Hauser, you know?

Scott Hammond: Right. Right. Right. So there's plenty– There's always gonna be chores.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. The outdoors, it's like, um, early in my training, I went to Hooped Slough with Don Brown State Farm, and I'm the, uh, the Padawan learner, and I show up at his door with my suit and my satchel, and I go, "Hey, let's do this." And he goes, "Right in my apartment is some shorts and some stuff, and we're gonna go kayaking, dude." I go-

Christina Jeffers: What?

Scott Hammond: … "Dude, let's go." And he had two s- 19-foot cherry kayaks that he built-

Christina Jeffers: Whoa

Scott Hammond: … on his Subaru, already pre-loaded. He had me all dialed in. Went, and I had done months and months of training to be an insurance guy, and, um, he had the most zen, beautiful afternoon of kayaking with

Scott Hammond: me that completed my training. It was like-

Christina Jeffers: Yes

Scott Hammond: … the pa- the, the complete, "You are, you are now complete."

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, he said three things. He goes, uh, "Enjoy Humboldt County-"

Christina Jeffers: Mm

Scott Hammond: … "because there's so much to do and see and be here."

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, "Don't be the guy that brings the casserole to the, to the funeral. Bring a big, fat life insurance check. Be the guy that offers to g- you know, insure families and protect them." And the last one he said, "In mar- in your marketing, position yourself in the community so you're part of the fabric of the community, and mean it."

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I thought, "Well said." And he died a few years later. He had, he had battled brain cancer for a long time.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, that's the worst.

Scott Hammond: He was kinda one of those legend dudes in Fortuna and quite a nice man.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, um, different story, different time.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, challenges for you guys. So, hey, uh, looks like some, some funding got cut nationally. Did that affect y'all?

Christina Jeffers: This is the part of the interview where it all-

Scott Hammond: Just laugh

Christina Jeffers: … falls apart and I start bawling, you know.

Scott Hammond: We could cry. I haven't had… Nick, we haven't had anyone cry yet.

Christina Jeffers: No, I'm not a crier.

Scott Hammond: That's okay. You can cry. Not all tears are evil. That's what Gandalf said.

Christina Jeffers: Hey, you know what? I survived Hollywood and that grind.

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh

Christina Jeffers: … yeah, not a crier. I'm, I'm one of the guys, I'll like, I'll, I'll stuff those emotions deep, you know?

Scott Hammond: LA is weird. We went to a party down there last November. Brother-in-law has a little get-together, and just kinda some of the people who are hanging out are wonderful, like, hill people from Bald- Mount Baldy and back. And then some were kinda like, "Like my Calvin Klein suit?"

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. It's great. You're great.

Christina Jeffers: It's great.

Scott Hammond: Just kind of a different, little different, not quite Humboldt.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, so, um, the adaptation is important, so-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … it was fun. But LA is kinda out, got that whole different cadence.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And then we went out to Ojai. You ever been to Ojai Valley?

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Really cool.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Now, there's Hollywood people out there. My wife was raised out there with, like, Lee Majors, and Johnny

Scott Hammond: Cash-

Christina Jeffers: Wow

Scott Hammond: … lived there for a while, and we went and saw… I digress just for a sec.

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: We went and saw Chuck Testa, who's the most famous taxidermist in the world.

Christina Jeffers: Wow.

Scott Hammond: He went viral, like, 15, 20 years ago.

Christina Jeffers: Wow.

Scott Hammond: And he's about five foot tall, and he's… And these guys, these Hollywood guys came and did this five-minute video. I'll shoot it to you when we're done. And it's just freaking hilarious. And I called him, I said, "Hey, Chuck, my wife and I and our daughter, 35-year-old, huge fans. Can we come and see you?" And he goes, "Yeah, come on, come on over to my studio over in Miners Oaks." And-

Christina Jeffers: Wow

Scott Hammond: … he's got this w- w- weird st- uh, taxidermy studio full of artist crazy things and-

Christina Jeffers: Oh, I thought you said full of artists. I'm like, "Wow, he does humans."

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He hasn't… I don't know that he's done one yet.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Scott Hammond: … but on his c- on his funny commercial, it says, "Chuck does not do pets." So he, he won't do-

Christina Jeffers: Oh

Scott Hammond: … he wants stuff, you know, little Bernie your cat-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … or Fido. So, but quite the artist and quite the art. It's pretty cool. I don't know how we got there, but let's come on back to the show.

Scott Hammond: Hi, welcome.

Christina Jeffers: Oh. Hi. So we were, we were talking about, uh… Yeah, w- well, we drove it off a cliff because we were talking about funding going

Christina Jeffers: off a cliff.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's right. You were gonna cry, and then you held it back.

Christina Jeffers: Yes.

Scott Hammond: So how, how can we help you if, if we had a mind to, and why should we? Maybe can you-

Christina Jeffers: Right

Scott Hammond: … explain that? Uh, how can we send you, like, my new Jag, and you can convert it like they do for money, or, you know, if I wanted to give you my

Scott Hammond: estate-

Christina Jeffers: Okay

Scott Hammond: … or just 100 bucks or whatever it was. How could we, how could we help your team?

Christina Jeffers: Well, you can go to accesshumboldt.net.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and just hit the donate button or go to, um, the KZ- KZZH portion, and you'll see the part about donating

Christina Jeffers: cars.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, you can also, uh, give us your time, give us your knowledge.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Christina Jeffers: Um, we are looking for a… We have to

Christina Jeffers: move. Um-

Scott Hammond: Heard that. Where you going?

Christina Jeffers: We don't know yet.

Scott Hammond: Don't know? I like that. Smiling all the way. You, you are resilient.

Christina Jeffers: This is what they call the fawning response, I believe-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … you know, where you just-

Scott Hammond: It's fine

Christina Jeffers: … laugh at everything.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah, we're moving.

Christina Jeffers: It's all good. You know?

Scott Hammond: We're going to Rio Del.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. That's right. We're moving it all to Sacramento.

Scott Hammond: It's gonna-

Christina Jeffers: Sacramento's losing their station. We're gonna take over theirs.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, we'll get broadcasts from there.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. No, that's not gonna happen.

Christina Jeffers: Um, but yeah, so, okay, funny little lead-up to this.

Christina Jeffers: Uh, so, you know, here I get hired thinking, "All right, you know, Sean's got the station on lockdown. He's developed it for 18 years. This thing's on cruise control."

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Christina Jeffers: "I'm gonna retire up in Humboldt. I'm gonna have this awesome team that I interviewed with." And, um, I told my board, "Look, you know, as a developer, I, um, I really want you to have zero expectation of me fundraising the first year. I gotta learn the market. I gotta know the business, the people-"

Scott Hammond: Culture

Christina Jeffers: … do all the handshakes, you know?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, they were like, "Yeah, yeah, no problem, no problem."

Christina Jeffers: And so I'm in the middle of moving here, and there's, like, this election going on, you

Christina Jeffers: know?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, you know, I just start to get settled in, and, uh, Trump gets into office.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: You know, and you can almost hear, like, this collective scream across

Christina Jeffers: the planet.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. At least across Humboldt.

Christina Jeffers: You know?

Scott Hammond: Some of it.

Christina Jeffers: And I don't know, like, someone was, like, cheering, like, "Yay, we won." You know, the other half was like, "Ahhh,"

Christina Jeffers: you know?

Scott Hammond: People were screaming.

Christina Jeffers: It's like that banana slug, you know, in that one movie where it's all, "Ahhh," you know, for, like, 10 seconds. Um-

Scott Hammond: I can see that, yes.

Christina Jeffers: Uh, in Flushed Away.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: But, um, so I was like, "Yeah, you know, no, no big deal." You know, we've, we've had public stations, you know, when the Republicans are in office. This is not, this is not a thing because, um, we are your actual embodiment of free speech. We are legislated free speech.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Uh, we hold open the channel to anybody, regardless of religion, belief,

Christina Jeffers: affiliation.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, so, you know, being the open free speech channels, yeah, not a problem.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Not a problem. Um, and then, uh, the, the rhetoric about media being evil really ratcheted it up more.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And they decided to do away with the CPB,

Christina Jeffers: and-

Scott Hammond: Which is what?

Christina Jeffers: The Corporation for Public Broad-

Scott Hammond: Right, right

Christina Jeffers: … Broadcasting.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: Easier for me to say.

Scott Hammond: And they're done in January officially?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They're almost done.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wait. That's-

Christina Jeffers: I mean, they were pretty much, they were undercut

Scott Hammond: … so that's last week. That's this week.

Christina Jeffers: That's it. So that's like today.

Scott Hammond: That was-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wait, that was Tuesday.

Christina Jeffers: So, um, you know, in the early, in the early months of last year, they started cutting funding to state parks, or national parks rather, and, uh, national services.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: They got rid of, uh, USAID,

Christina Jeffers: um-

Scott Hammond: Right

Christina Jeffers: … and which, uh, Inter News was installed here

Christina Jeffers: locally-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … which went under, like, overnight. Um, and, uh, you know, we started reaching out to fellow stations going, "Okay, we don't know what's gonna happen.

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Christina Jeffers: … we don't think we're under attack. There's no reason why we would be."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and, you know, PBS was like, "Yeah, I don't know," you know?

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And, um,

Christina Jeffers: so-

Scott Hammond: But your funding must be different from PBS-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and different from whatever. So are you federal or state or both?

Christina Jeffers: We're actually, um, we're legislated, um, to have funding from your cable provider.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Christina Jeffers: So back in the day, when they used our public lands to lay cables-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … uh, their payback was to give us, uh, no greater than 5% of their revenues-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … to hold open the public access education and government channels and provide, um, you know, all the support kinda stuff for that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: So, um-

Scott Hammond: Are they gonna pull back on that agreement at some point, or have they?

Christina Jeffers: Oh, they're trying to with HR 2289.

Scott Hammond: Is that Optimum behind that?

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: Or all the cable-

Christina Jeffers: I think it's all. It's, it's the-

Scott Hammond: All the industry

Christina Jeffers: … it's the mega telecom.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: You know, kinda-

Scott Hammond: So-

Christina Jeffers: There's been a lot of consolidation

Scott Hammond: … so they're renegotiating that, or they're trying to through legislation?

Christina Jeffers: Um, it's not really a renegotiate. It's more of a, "We don't do cable anymore,

Christina Jeffers: so, eh-

Scott Hammond: Whatever

Christina Jeffers: … why pay for these fees?"

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Christina Jeffers: 'Cause it's all, the cable franchise fees are all attached to

Christina Jeffers: cable-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and, um, you know, access to cable. So, um, when they invented the internet and broadband, they saw a loophole in that legislation from 1984, '86, and, you know, in the early 2000s

Christina Jeffers: to merge companies, shift technologies. Even though, like, internet was delivered over cable-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … you know, they were calling it internet services and not cable services.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And then broadband comes along, and now it's broadband.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: But it shares the same public byways.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Christina Jeffers: But they're not having to pay their fair share or give back anything to John Q.

Christina Jeffers: Public.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Christina Jeffers: So there's this, this battle that's been waged for about 20

Christina Jeffers: years now.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: It-

Christina Jeffers: And every time we try to get the, uh, franchise fees put onto the new modality, you know, we get

Christina Jeffers: shot down.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Christina Jeffers: And there's an interest in that, right?

Christina Jeffers: Like, if, if you're a, a, a big telecom company, um, and you're paying about, you know, 3 to 5% of your revenues-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … for this thing to exist that you don't necessarily want-

Scott Hammond: Or c- you can't control it.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause it, it's not profitable.

Christina Jeffers: It's like a little thorn in your side, right?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: So, um, they have been systematically trying to erode what we are.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And, and the thing is, we as the public have forgotten why we're so critical.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And the, the public voice-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … having a public access to the same platforms that these giants have, to have the equal free speech opportunities-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … is what they wanna do away with. They wanna have, you know, the corporate voice.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Or maybe even in Trump's case, just his voice.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Right? I mean, I can't speak for him. But there's some indicators out there, you know?

Christina Jeffers: Um, and then of course, you know, with the education channel, um, that used to be, like, distance learning delivered rural education.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And then, you know, so then Zoom came along.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And they're trying to, you know, shove out the education and, you know, undermine rural areas having

Christina Jeffers: education-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Christina Jeffers: … and educational content.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And then you've got, with the government channel, um, we're upholding open government, and we are, uh, by mandate, have to do end-to-end uninterrupted coverage of meetings.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: So, you know, we're not like CNN's little sound bites.

Christina Jeffers: It's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … the whole meeting.

Scott Hammond: Question. Sometimes, uh, I think the Fortuna City Council's on two channels simultaneously.

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Is there a purpose in that?

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: Is it just because, just because?

Christina Jeffers: It depends on a few things.

Scott Hammond: And not-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I don't think it's maybe always, but frequently.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. So it, it just depends on scheduling, like what we have, um, in the lineup-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and if there's a hole.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Christina Jeffers: We might spread it across a couple channels.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, if it's an issue that affects maybe a certain

Christina Jeffers: area.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Like, our fifth channel is really a repeater of one of our channels for South

Christina Jeffers: Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Christina Jeffers: So that's our wave channel.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and so, you know, you might see, like… 'Cause we're also, you know, stream.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: So you might see it on two channels, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha, okay.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hey, time for the quiz show.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, already?

Scott Hammond: Before we do that, though, how do we send money?

Christina Jeffers: Okay. How do you send money?

Scott Hammond: Gold, gold bullion.

Christina Jeffers: Um, so again, um, accesshumboldt.net.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, we also accept checks to, um, PO Box 157, Eureka, California,

Christina Jeffers: 95502.

Scott Hammond: 02 is correct.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, you know, you can stop me on the street and throw money at me. I, I wouldn't think you were crazy.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: And I could donate my classic '67-

Christina Jeffers: Sure

Scott Hammond: … Volkswagen Beetle?

Christina Jeffers: Any car, um-

Scott Hammond: So cars are cool

Christina Jeffers: … running or not. Yep.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: That works.

Scott Hammond: So that's an organization that works with nonprofits that comes and gets and

Scott Hammond: converts

Scott Hammond: that into-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … a tax donation.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … the benefit for me then as the giver-

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … is a tax donation

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: I see

Christina Jeffers: It's the full write-off for your car.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: Um, so I think they determine-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … the value with you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: And then, excuse me, and then they, um, take that value-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and, um, process the car-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and then give us the, um, the donation from there.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: All right. Hey, if you're just joining us, or if you're not, I'm gonna say it either way. I'm Scott Hammond with the 100% Humboldt podcast with my new best friend, Christina Jeffers. Hi.

Christina Jeffers: Hi.

Scott Hammond: How you doing?

Christina Jeffers: I'm great.

Scott Hammond: Are you ready to win some money and some stuff for Jashura?

Christina Jeffers: Oh my gosh-

Scott Hammond: Jashura

Christina Jeffers: … the pressure.

Scott Hammond: And you. Question number one. These are just gimmies. They're so easy. Uh, this will be fun for you 'cause you're an outdoors woman, and you get a whole day to go hiking and do whatever you wanna do in the wilderness. Where do you go to hike, and what do you do?

Christina Jeffers: Oh, I have to pick just one?

Scott Hammond: Uh, you don't, no. As many as you want.

Christina Jeffers: I get the whole day?

Scott Hammond: 9:00 to 9:00.

Christina Jeffers: Okay.

Christina Jeffers: Ah. There's, like, so many great places.

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: The map might be helpful.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, yes.

Scott Hammond: You can look at the map and go, "Oh, there-"

Christina Jeffers: All the distant squiggly lines.

Scott Hammond: Can you read it from there?

Christina Jeffers: My bifocals are good, but they're not that good.

Scott Hammond: They're not that great.

Christina Jeffers: Um, yeah, like, I love Sumeg. Um, I love Trinidad.

Christina Jeffers: Um, I love the, um, what is it? The Headwaters.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Out that way.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: That's a really great hike. Um, I do walk. I do long walks on the beach.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, usually I get up really early in the morning and do it, although I've been shamed. I'm not supposed to be going out there during king tides and stuff, so.

Scott Hammond: All right. Right.

Christina Jeffers: Didn't know that.

Scott Hammond: Careful. Careful, new people.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, careful.

Scott Hammond: Careful.

Christina Jeffers: It's not San Diego.

Scott Hammond: Careful e- everybody, yeah. W- so do you walk, like, Manila Beach or whatever, Samoa?

Christina Jeffers: Uh, mostly I go out to Towers.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Christina Jeffers: And-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … just walk as far as I can-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Christina Jeffers: … and then come on back and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, we like to go Clam Beach on Saturdays.

Scott Hammond: Just so weird. You'll see, like, maybe 10 people.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And dogs, and that's it.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. That's the shocker.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's not San Diego, that's for sure.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, or LA at all.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you just go for hikes in various places.

Christina Jeffers: I do. Just kinda, I, you know, like, I'll turn to my daughter and I'll be like, "Beach or trees?" You know-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Christina Jeffers: … if she's in town.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: And she's always like, "Why not both?" So.

Scott Hammond: Are you… 'Cause, 'cause you can here-

Christina Jeffers: You can

Scott Hammond: … with 10 minutes, right?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay, question number two. Good answer. Question number two. Uh, what's life-giving, and what is soul-crushing for

Scott Hammond: you?

Christina Jeffers: Oh, man. This is a big one. Okay, so life-giving for me is rooting for the underdog.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Christina Jeffers: Um, as a kid I was bullied a lot, and, um, after I became a black belt, that didn't happen anymore.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: And, uh, I think, um, just standing up for others and, like, causes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: You know, it really, a lot of my work translates into causes.

Scott Hammond: Ah. A justice person.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, I pretty, I have a strong sense of justice and community-

Scott Hammond: Good

Christina Jeffers: … really.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Community development. Um, and then what was the other question?

Scott Hammond: Soul-crushing.

Christina Jeffers: Soul-crushing. Well, besides bullies? Um… Oh, man, I, I can't take it when somebody has to yuck somebody else's yum.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: You know? I mean-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I've never heard that. I like… I already know what that is, but-

Scott Hammond: … I think I know it. Tell, tell me what that is.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Just like, you know, when somebody's-

Scott Hammond: Don't yuck somebody's yum

Christina Jeffers: … yeah. You know, if there's somebody out there who's like, "I'm gonna be a movie star when I grow up," you know-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … you don't have to be like, "Oh my God, that's so impractical."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: You know? It's just like-

Scott Hammond: You wanna be in a rock and roll band.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Do you know how hard that is?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Do you even know how to play guitar?

Scott Hammond: It's like winning the lottery or worse.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: If I, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that one as an actress-

Scott Hammond: Oh, God

Christina Jeffers: … you know, like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Christina Jeffers: … I'd be like, "Wow, that's, that's a good money-raising scheme."

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Right?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yuck their yum. I like that. I think there's a lot of forms of that too.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's like, you know, you do you, boo. D- if you wanna dress f- like that, I guess, oh, right.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: If that does-

Christina Jeffers: Radically express

Scott Hammond: … if that does it f- ri- if that does it for you, man.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And yeah, it's interesting. We, um, my wife and I have a, a g- term called getting curious.

Christina Jeffers: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: So hey, don't understand you. You're left, you're right, you're weird. You're a weirdo. Well, tell me how that is. How did you arrive at weirdo? You know? How's your journey there, weirdo? And, you know, and just con- sincerely, like, get interested and be present, and just go, "Oh, you can tell me. I won't get any on me. It's cool. I don't have to."

Christina Jeffers: Right, yeah.

Scott Hammond: "I don't have to buy it. I can just appreciate it."

Christina Jeffers: Observe, don't absorb.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I like it. Observe, don't abs- oh, you're full of those.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay, hey, question number three.

Scott Hammond: Who are you?

Christina Jeffers: I thought we established that.

Scott Hammond: I know. We're getting there. Getting closer.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, it's a lie detector test.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: I'm really… Okay, my name is Rachel Evans.

Scott Hammond: Who are you and what do you want?

Christina Jeffers: Who am I?

Scott Hammond: These are the two questions from, uh, Johnny's recovery dad, who died a few years ago.

Christina Jeffers: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Great guy.

Christina Jeffers: Wow.

Scott Hammond: Just a sweet, sweet man, and, um, Tom was really cool. He's from LA, from Torrance, and marathon runner, and, um, alcoholic most of his life, and, and pharmacist, which is a really interesting combo. Athlete and cool guy, but has all the pithy things. One of them was, um, "Never go to your mind, into your mind alone. It's a dangerous place."

Christina Jeffers: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: You know? Um, lot of other ones, but anyway, who are you and what do you want? That was a, a key one.

Christina Jeffers: Um, I, I would say I'm, I'm a very multifaceted person.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Uh, most people that meet me find me to be a chameleon.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, I see myself as a, a, you know, like a, a girl with a small town heart and,

Christina Jeffers: um, big town

Christina Jeffers: presence.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, I can be very conspicuous. I have no problems public speaking or performing on stage.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, or just putting myself out there and, um- But there is that, that small town girl on the inside that's, you know,

Christina Jeffers: really just wants us all to get along and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … all have good things, you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Um, do no harm is a big core tenet for me.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: Um, the other one I can- I can't say on the radio because it involves a swear.

Scott Hammond: You gotta do a swear? You gotta swear?

Christina Jeffers: It's a mild swear, but it's…

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I, I'm gonna check in with Nick, my, uh, he's my FCC guy. Oh, I got a thumbs up. Go for it.

Christina Jeffers: Uh, just, just don't be a dick, you know?

Scott Hammond: Okay. That's fair.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and it, it can mean… It's just… When you have core tenets that are very simple, like do no harm-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … you know, or don't be a jerk, you know.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, you can be in a situation and ask yourself, you're like, "Am I the jerk in the

Christina Jeffers: room?"

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: You know, or, "Am I doing harm by doing this?"

Scott Hammond: Yeah, or saying this.

Christina Jeffers: You know? Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Or non-verbally saying this.

Christina Jeffers: Right. Or, or yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Saying nothing is a choice.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. So, and then I forgot the second part of the question of who… Uh, what do I want?

Scott Hammond: What do you want?

Christina Jeffers: What do I want?

Scott Hammond: What do you want from life? Remember that old rock 'n' roll? I think it was The Tubes or somebody. What do you want from life?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Christina Jeffers: World peas. Little green peas world around.

Christina Jeffers: Um-

Scott Hammond: That makes pea soup, which is also good, but-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. I wanna bring joy.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Christina Jeffers: That's what I want.

Scott Hammond: Good answer.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. I-

Scott Hammond: I like that answer

Christina Jeffers: … we need more of that, um-

Scott Hammond: We need more joy

Christina Jeffers: … childlike wonder and joy.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And, and I love that we have a modality for all of our friends and neighbors to do that with, with television and radio.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Um, you can radically self-express, and self-expression is the opposite of depression. So-

Scott Hammond: Ooh

Christina Jeffers: … what better place for me to execute this mission than in Humboldt, where-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … the depression rates are so high.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. We have all the records for all the good and the not so.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: And I think it's, you know, we've w- as a society, we've lost connection in how to express ourselves honestly-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and safely-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … um, because of the ridicule of the internet and-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Christina Jeffers: … mean people, right?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, if, if you just sit with yourself and think, you know, "What is my voice? What do I wanna say?"

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: "And how do I amplify it?" You know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And, and then once you have what you wanna say, you can come express it with us.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: We will lift you up. We will, we will tell you how to do it. We'll teach you how to do it. We will do it for you, with you as the star. However you wanna participate with us.

Scott Hammond: That's right, 'cause you have studios. You have equipment. You rent stuff.

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: You do all k- all… I'll let you tell me. So I wanna make a movie.

Christina Jeffers: Okay.

Scott Hammond: A 10-minute short.

Christina Jeffers: Ah.

Scott Hammond: And I have this whole idea. I, I actually don't, but maybe I do. Um-

Christina Jeffers: We're in make believe. Go ahead.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And how do I, how do I interface with y'all?

Christina Jeffers: So it just so happens, we have this year-round short film incubator

Christina Jeffers: for-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … 10-page scripts or 10-minute shorts-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Christina Jeffers: … um, called Bold Fest.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And we launched it last fall.

Scott Hammond: Oh, right.

Christina Jeffers: And so we've already begun teaching the courses, and, um, the script submissions just closed for-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … a 10-page script.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And, uh, once selected in the top 10, you will be then fostered through the whole process of making your short

Christina Jeffers: film.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, then by summer, we will teach you all the marketing, um, and how to succeed behind a film property.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And then we'll give you a world premiere on the red carpet at the Eureka Theatre on October 15th.

Scott Hammond: Ooh, wow.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Already booked.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: Already booked.

Scott Hammond: I like it.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, they're a great partner. Shout out to Eureka Theatre. You guys are the bomb.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Greg Foster and everybody.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And Greg.

Christina Jeffers: Greg's on my board. He's amazing.

Scott Hammond: Greg's a lot of fun.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Good guy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah. Greg's amazing. He's cool. I see him on walks a lot. He… I used to go to the gym, and he would… I'd be riding my bike outside, and he would be walking outside. He got a lot further. Shout out to Greg.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Well, good. You know, I like, I liked what you said about being a chameleon and having the self-awareness to go, "Okay, that's, that's part of who I am. I'm chameleonic," which I think could, might be a word. Um, but who am I behind that? Maybe, and that, that, that courage-

Christina Jeffers: Mm

Scott Hammond: … to go, "Oh, how do I get ahold of my identity, and who am I when I'm not that?" 'Cause I could be that.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. "Hey, what's happening? Hey, Scott Hammond. How you doing? Great."

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, schmoozer. Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Identity is a hot topic right now.

Scott Hammond: Identity is-

Christina Jeffers: Like, identity politics and-

Scott Hammond: … so key

Christina Jeffers: … identity tribalism.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And I've-

Scott Hammond: It'll be-

Christina Jeffers: … I've never been a joiner.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: So I don't think I really have, like, a set identity.

Scott Hammond: Right. Right.

Christina Jeffers: I'm pretty fluid that way.

Scott Hammond: I was in high school, everybody.

Scott Hammond: Surfers-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Mexicans-

Christina Jeffers: Heavy metallers

Scott Hammond: … stoners. Oh, all of it, yeah. Who, who did I not like?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I mean, why would you limit yourself?

Scott Hammond: I, you know-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I don't know.

Christina Jeffers: Right. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: These are… Geez, be a chameleon, man, by all means. But at the end of the day, I had to sit with myself, and still do, and go, "Who the heck am I?" And I, I like-

Christina Jeffers: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I like the question 'cause it's, requires some work and some

Scott Hammond: thought.

Christina Jeffers: And, and who are you?

Scott Hammond: And feedback. Hmm. Who are you?

Christina Jeffers: I think of myself as a mirror.

Scott Hammond: Ah. The who, who are you?

Christina Jeffers: We're, like, fading back and mirroring each other.

Scott Hammond: Oh, no. Yeah. Who are you? Um, N- who is Nick? Uh, and I don't know that we always have that answer, but I think it's something to aspire to and to go, "Uh, okay, so who's assigning this? Is it my mom, my dad, my government, my coach, my spouse, my kids, my peers?" Well, BS a little bit. I need to hear maybe how I'm perceived. But-

Christina Jeffers: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … when I lean into who I am and who,

Scott Hammond: who… That's a whole different topic.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Well-

Scott Hammond: Let's, let's talk about that for 20 more minutes

Christina Jeffers: … there's, uh, the, you know, cool, uh, side note, I guess. A major part of my life is Burning Man.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Christina Jeffers: And, um-

Scott Hammond: There's a note. How many times you been?

Christina Jeffers: Uh, it'll be my 10th if I go this year.

Scott Hammond: Did, do you ever see Duane Flatmo?

Christina Jeffers: I, I do, yeah. I love-

Scott Hammond: Do you know him, do you know him now?

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: El, El Pu-Pulpo?

Christina Jeffers: El Pulpo.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's cool.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Well, that would be fun.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Um, so I've been running, um, a theme camp, uh, with other people, um, for, for several years now. We're a quesadilla camp.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: We serve, like, I don't know, I'm gonna exaggerate for effect, but, like, tens of thousands of quesadillas-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Christina Jeffers: … each year in just two days. We serve Tuesday and Thursday service.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: Um, we're also a bar camp, so, you know, lots of, uh, lots of drinks go through our camp.

Scott Hammond: Does one pay for all this?

Christina Jeffers: Uh, yeah, we, we pay for it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Um, we, we pay dues to our camp-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Christina Jeffers: … and we collect donations.

Scott Hammond: I see.

Christina Jeffers: And, um, then we, you know, we give it all away for free, of course, 'cause there's no money at Burning Man.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: Um, and when I, when I first tried to get to Burning Man, I was, um, an artist in my

Christina Jeffers: 20s, and I, I thought, you know, "Oh, this, this looks like a cool thing," you know?

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And then I put it off 'cause I didn't have the money to go.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And then in my 30s, I was like, "Yeah, I really wanna, I wanna check out this cool thing. It's a cool community." Uh, and just put it off again 'cause, you know, I, I had a young kid at the time. And then, uh, I got approached to, to do, like, uh, follow a fire troop and make, like, a short doc.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And so I got paid to go my first year, which, you know, is, like, kinda scandalous because of the whole-

Scott Hammond: Good incentive, though.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Got you there.

Christina Jeffers: So yeah, I got there, and, um, it cracked me wide open.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: And not in the sense, like, I'm not gonna start sounding like one of those cult

Christina Jeffers: people, but-

Scott Hammond: Right

Christina Jeffers: … you know, like, it was a, uh, discover- self-discovery s- experience like no other.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Christina Jeffers: And I didn't know I had a belonging and a place in this world-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Christina Jeffers: … as, you know, a, an artist, um, an actress-

Scott Hammond: A creative

Christina Jeffers: … and, you know, a multimedia artist. I do a lot of large format art in my spare time. Um, until I came here, and right at the gates, this, this dusty hippie, you know, s- they call 'em greeters.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Christina Jeffers: He, uh, he reaches out to me and he goes, "Welcome home."

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Christina Jeffers: I started bawling. And I told you, I'm not a crier.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Christina Jeffers: And I'm like, "What is, is this, like, the desert air? Like, what's going on here?" You know? And the person I was with is like, "Yeah, you found the mothership."

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Christina Jeffers: And the, the fact that I, I brought all these crazy outfits 'cause I thought, you know, "This is my chance to, like, dress like a complete idiot."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Christina Jeffers: Like, super crazy-

Scott Hammond: Right

Christina Jeffers: … all over the top, you know, over-animated, 'cause I can't do that in the default world.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: And I thought, "Eh, I'm gonna get the usual snark or, or something."

Scott Hammond: The default world.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. There's gonna be, like, some dig, right?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: Everybody there was like, "Hi. Oh my gosh, it's… Oh, I love your outfit. It's so great to see you."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: "God, you're a beautiful human being. Thank you for being here."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Christina Jeffers: And I was like, "These levels of dopamine-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Christina Jeffers: … have never been had before in my brain." Um, and you know what? And this is, this is without the drugs, you know?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Christina Jeffers: Like, this is-

Scott Hammond: It's drug-free

Christina Jeffers: … this is drug-free.

Scott Hammond: Good. Good for you.

Christina Jeffers: I was, I was shocked. And, um, and I thought, "Yeah, now I get it. Now I get why people become tribal."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Christina Jeffers: You know? I, I get it.

Scott Hammond: And they talk about Burning Man in talk about it, but nobody quite has captured it like you just did. That's good.

Christina Jeffers: Oh, thank you.

Scott Hammond: I like it.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And Duane's really high on it. He's always out there.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. I mean-

Scott Hammond: He's into it.

Christina Jeffers: He's, he's got-

Scott Hammond: Hi, Duane

Christina Jeffers: … an epic art car, you know, and he's-

Scott Hammond: Oh, he's-

Christina Jeffers: … he's a great artist and-

Scott Hammond: He sleeps in a mattress in the back of the truck.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Glamping. Big glamper.

Christina Jeffers: I still tent.

Scott Hammond: That's good.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah, at my age. Like, my camp mates are making fun of me. They're like, "Are you having problems getting out of the tent in the morning?" And I'm like, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. So real fast, what w- do you want us to say at your celebration of life? What would you like on your tombstone?

Christina Jeffers: Ugh. On my tombstone?

Scott Hammond: You have 15 seconds.

Christina Jeffers: "She had the audacity."

Scott Hammond: Ooh, good one.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Um, and at my celebration of life, what I would like to hear are, are people telling stories about how they were inspired and, uh, pushed their boundaries.

Scott Hammond: Ooh, love it. Thanks for being here.

Christina Jeffers: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: It's fun.

Christina Jeffers: Yeah. Really appreciate it.

Scott Hammond: Gosh, might have to do Burning Man now. I don't know. Maybe I'm too old.

Christina Jeffers: Nope.

Scott Hammond: No, never too old. Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt podcast. Like us, love us, subscribe to us. You can find us on YouTube, Access Humboldt TV. You can find us on all the platforms 'cause we're out there. And, uh, thanks for listening. Thanks again.

Christina Jeffers: Thank you very much.