Davis has interesting people, ideas, connections, and events. On Davisville, host Bill Buchanan presents stories that have some connection to Davis. The program has won 17 Excellence in Journalism awards from the San Francisco Press Club since 2018, including first place in radio/podcast public affairs programs for 2025, plus a national Hometown Media Award for excellence from the Alliance for Community Media in 2024, and first place nationwide in news/public affairs programs among small stations from the Public Media Journalists Association in 2026. Contact: davisville @ dcn.org
Davisville, Sept. 21, 2026: Superfreak tells his story
Imagine that you’re a child of 5 or 6, in a family with two younger siblings, your mom, and your dad. It’s the early 1970s. Your family quits the family home and steady employment in the United States to drive a van across Europe through countries including Morocco, Yugoslavia, Iran and Afghanistan, eventually deep into India. The goal is to be free. Uninhibited. Not square.
Your mom has an undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Your dad is paraplegic, the result of contracting polio when he was 13. You encounter gurus, groups with colorful names, and “fast-friends” along the way. You live through some scary moments, and some happy ones.
How’d this work out?
This week on Davisville we talk with Caleb Dardick, the onetime child who lived this trip and wrote about it in his new book, “The Adventures of Superfreak: My Childhood on the Hippie Trail.” He’ll talk about it on Sunday, Sept. 27 (https://events.yolocountylibrary.org/event/16870560) at 2 p.m. in the main Davis library with Rachel Howard, a Davis author who's also part of today's program.
The photo shows Caleb Dardick in India in 1972; photo from Dardick Family Archive
8 Sept 2026
Davisville, Sept. 7, 2026: Four of the latest five Davis City Council races have each had just one candidate
Davis has a City Council election this fall — sort of. There is a city election in November, with two seats open on the five-person council, but with just one candidate for each seat, the winners are already decided.
Uncontested elections are also occurring in other districts, in Yolo County and beyond. Why is this happening, does it affect governance, and what does it mean, if anything, to the candidates who take office when no one is running against them?
We talk about this today on Davisville with the two people who, barring something unexpected, will start 4-year terms on the Davis council in December after running uncontested this fall: Gloria Partida, current vice mayor, former mayor and council member since 2018, who will start her third term on the council; and Judy Ennis, who will be the district 1 council member, and is new to the council. General approval of the candidates who ran might be a factor. So might Davis' switch to district elections, and the anger aimed at public figures. There are probably other reasons too.
Whatever the causes, the outcome is that starting in December, Linda Deos will be the only Davis City Council member who faced an opponent in her latest election. She won a three-person race two years ago.
25 Aug 2026
Davisville, Aug. 24, 2026: Psychedelic-era icons are still on the clock, 60 years later
The story is unlikely, especially if you know ’60s American pop music and how time usually works, but it’s true. The Strawberry Alarm Clock, whose psychedelic classic “Incense and Peppermints” scored a No. 1 U.S. hit in 1967, released an entirely new record this month, Where’s One? And here’s the time-defying part: Five of their six musicians in 2026 are original members from 1967. The sixth joined in 1986.
A band this active and intact from 60 years ago is a story worth hearing.
Where’s One? is the band’s sixth album, their first since 2012, and only their second since 1969. Full of life and variety, it’s getting good reviews. Today on Davisville we talk about their story, music, and fabled name with Randy Seol, Mark Stephen Weitz, George Bunnell, Steve Bartek and Howie Anderson (Gene Gunnels, stuck at an airport, couldn't make the interview). The Strawberry Alarm Clock played in Freeborn Hall at UC Davis on Picnic Day in April 1969. Anyone remember?
Photo of the Strawberry Alarm Clock by Daniel Coston.
Who has been a guest on Davisville
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Michael Gene Sullivan
Avantika Gokulnatha
Bill Pride
Maria Ogrydziak
Brett Lee
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