Something (rather Than Nothing) podcast

#Fine Arts #Society #Arts #Philosophy #Ken Volante #Born And Raised

33:58

On June 25th 2025, in collaboration with Open Folk, we presented our first ever live interview event in Los Angeles. As Open Folk put it: "In These Lines is a live event where three artists each bring one song — not just to perform, but to explore. They sit down with Sofia Loporcaro, host of Before The Chorus, to talk about where the song came from, what it meant to write it, and what it still holds. Then they play it. Just the song, and the truth behind it." Find Open Folk on Instagram: @openfolkla Find Gaby on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0K9pSmFx0kWESA9jqx8aCW?si=Wz4RUP88Qlm_RKs7QTLvWQ On Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/gaby-moreno/472697737 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gaby_moreno/ Find Lily on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0p0ksmwMDQlAM24TWKu4Ua?si=Bmdg-uIUTHu-zRUc_dqL3g On Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/lily-kershaw/526884610 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilykershaw/ Find James on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3u50TPoLvMBXNT1KrLa3iT?si=OoLoq7ZTRZyUiytQcz0FsQ On Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/james-spaite/905076868 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesspaite/ Subscribe: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://beforethechorus.bio.to/listen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for our newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.beforethechorus.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@beforethechoruspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@soundslikesofia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ About the podcast: Welcome to Before the Chorus , where we go beyond the sounds of our favourite songs to hear the stories of the artists who wrote them. Before a song is released, a record is produced, or a chorus is written, the musicians that write them think. A lot. They live. A lot. And they feel. A LOT. Hosted by award-winning interviewer Sofia Loporcaro, Before the Chorus explores the genuine human experiences behind the music. Sofia’s deep knowledge of music and personal journey with mental health help her connect with artists on a meaningful level. This is a space where fans connect with artists, and listeners from all walks of life feel seen through the stories that shape the music we love. About the host: Sofia Loporcaro is an award-winning interviewer and radio host who’s spent over 8 years helping musicians share their stories. She’s hosted shows for Amazing Radio, and Transmission Roundhouse. Now on Before the Chorus, she’s had the chance to host guests like Glass Animals, Feist, Madison Cunningham, Mick Jenkins, & Ru Paul's Drag Race winner Shea Couleé. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

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Why is there something rather than nothing? This podcast is a philosophical and psychological exploration into the act of creation (poets, musicians, writers, painters, thinkers, all of us) by: Ken Volante

300 episodes

Something (rather than nothing)

Something (rather than nothing) explicit

updated 10 days ago

Series home•Feed

300 episodes

#Fine Arts #Society #Arts #Philosophy #Ken Volante #Born And Raised

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Something (rather than nothing)

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Calvin John Smiley 54:48

10 days ago54:48

54:48

Something Rather Than Nothing Podcast Episode 300!!! We talk ABOLITION. Calvin John Smiley, Ph.D. is an associate professor of sociology at Hunter College-CUNY. His research and scholarship broadly focus on issues related to justice, inequality, and race. Smiley is the co-editor of Prisoner Reentry in the 21st Century: Critical Perspectives of Coming Home (Routledge, 2020). He is the author of the award-winning Purgatory Citizenship: Reentry, Race, and Abolition (University of California Press, 2023), which explores how system-impacted individuals navigate and negotiate the reentry experience with diminished legal rights and amplified social stigmas. Further, he is the author of Defund: Conversations Towards Abolition (Haymarket Books, 2024), which considers how #defund can bridge the divide between reform and abolition, becoming a catalyst to help organizers realize abolitionist visions. Finally, Smiley has published in an array of peer-reviewed journals and public outlets. Beyond his academic work, Smiley is committed to public sociology and praxis. He has been a regular contributor to several news and talk show outlets. Additionally, he is the founder and director of Till Everything Better LLC, which works with system-impacted youth through restorative justice practices within New York City youth detention facilities. Finally, Smiley is the Project Director for the CUNY New Paths and Administration of Children’s Services (ACS) program to offer system-impacted youth college-credit courses.…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Katie Marie 1:04:10

19 days ago1:04:10

1:04:10

Katie Marie is a Cherokee/Choctaw educator, Indigenous Wisdomkeeper, and decolonial guide who works at the intersection of healing, community, and education. Enjoy this ranging conversation into matriarchy, wellness of being, Indigenous futures, our planet, Art & Philosophy! Something Rather than Nothing…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Annabel McConnachie 30:22

4 weeks ago30:22

30:22

Annabel McConnachie (she/her) is an actress, writer, singer, dancer and content creator. She is originally from Sydney, Australia but is currently based in New York City. She is best known for her work in the critically acclaimed miniseries 'IKEA Heights - The Next Generation'. Her much anticipated new play 'Archive of My Own' made its stage debut in a moved reading at the Tank. THANKS FOR LISTENING!…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Sophia Hembeck 58:23

6 weeks ago58:23

58:23

Sophia Hembeck is a bilingual writer and artist based in Edinburgh. She has published three books (Things I Have Noticed, 2020 & Things I Have Loved, 2023 & Thiings That Are Different Now, 2025) which are compromised of her essays and short prose as well as artwork that she specifically created for the books. They are part of her poetic-memoir trilogy." She’s a fierce advocate for literary essays and teaches essay writing classes for writers of all levels. You can buy her books here. Instagram: @sophiahembeck…

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LIVE at Browsers' Bookstore with Abe Richmond and Pete Dryden 35:45

8 weeks ago35:45

35:45

This episode was recorded and captured LIVE on Independent Bookstore Day (April 26, 2025) from Browsers' Bookstore in Albany, Oregon. Pete Dryden : Photographer, cabinet maker, professional overthinker. Hiding out in Albany, Oregon—dodging small talk, chasing meaning in the grain and the frame. Restless mind, calloused hands, too many questions and never enough quiet. Abe Richmond : Owner of Browsers’ Bookstore . If spotted in the wild, he is reading totally tubular titles. We talk about bookstores, Edward Abbey, Kathy Acker, Morrissey, Hunter S. Thompson and so much more. Celebrate Independent Books & Bookstores!!!…

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Craig Randall 26:19

10 weeks ago26:19

26:19

About Craig Randall - I've loved stories and literature and writing for as long as I can remember. For just as long, I've also struggled with anxiety and depression. They have loomed over me, all my life, threatening to steal away whatever hope and joy i've worked so hard to build. All my work, the fiction and the poetry, was born out of this struggle as I worked to overcome and deal the hardships these struggles brought on. There's so much to the story, which I will write about later. In the mean time, just know you're not alone. You are brilliant and strong and are not a product of whatever's held you back. You got this! We got this! Oh, one of my main hopes is let men know it's okay to feel, it's okay to express, it's okay that we're not always sure how, but real strength is found in taking that step forward and bearing ourselves to those we love. We can all feel whole!…

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Kola Shippentower 45:59

11 weeks ago45:59

45:59

Shippentower is named Co-Captain of the Oregon Ravens Football Team! Kola Shippentower is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. She has co-founded and is the Director of The Wisáwca Project - Enough Iz Enough, a non-profit organization working together for change, for better communication and involvement. Kola has developed a Safety Plan to be utilized by anyone in identifying safety methods, contacts, and procedures to keep one safe whether in an abusive relationship or a plan to track a missing person. She is a professional fighter and brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Welcome back to the show Kola!!! And we talk women's football and MMIW . . . Oregon Ravens SRTN Website…

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Meghan Lamb 52:46

13 weeks ago52:46

52:46

Meghan Lamb is the author of Mirror Translation (Blamage Books, 2025), COWARD (Spuyten Duyvil, 2022), Failure to Thrive (Apocalypse Party, 2021) All of Your Most Private Places (Spork Press, 2020) and Silk Flowers (Birds of Lace, 2017). Her work has also appeared in Quarterly West, DIAGRAM, Redivider, and Passages North, among other publications. She currently teaches creative writing through the University of Chicago, Story Studio, Hugo House, and GrubStreet. She is the fiction editor for Bridge Books and the nonfiction editor for Lover's Eye and Nat. Brut. Music here…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Raechel Wolfe 1:03:48

14 weeks ago1:03:48

1:03:48

Raechel Wolfe is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Portland, OR, whose work spans film, writing, modeling, and Creative Direction. She made waves by creating FINK, the world’s first Instagram-exclusive short film, and was a founding member of the core team behind Buckman Journal. Raechel continues to push creative boundaries, now adding curator to her dynamic portfolio. Featuring co-host and model/artist Jenny Peterson. For Your Eyes Only…

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elle nash (deliver me) 37:53

20 weeks ago37:53

37:53

elle nash is an electrifying writer based in glasgow, scotland this is about her book 'deliver me' - At a meatpacking facility in the Missouri Ozarks, Dee-Dee and her co-workers kill and butcher 40,000 chickens in a single shift. The work is repetitive and brutal, with each stab and cut a punishment to her hands and joints, but Dee-Dee’s more concerned with what is happening inside her body. After a series of devastating miscarriages, Dee-Dee has found herself pregnant, and she is determined to carry this child to term. Dee-Dee fled the Pentecostal church years ago, but judgment follows her in the form of regular calls from her mother, whose raspy voice urges Dee-Dee to quit living in sin and marry her boyfriend Daddy, an underemployed ex-con with an insect fetish. With a child on the way, at long last Dee-Dee can bask in her mother’s and boyfriend’s newfound parturient attention. She will matter. She will be loved. She will be complete. When her charismatic friend Sloane reappears after a twenty-year absence, feeding her insecurities and awakening suppressed desires, Dee-Dee fears she will go back to living in the shadows. Neither the ultimate indignity of yet another miscarriage nor Sloane’s own pregnancy deters her: she must prepare for the baby’s arrival. Something Rather Than Nothing Podcast…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Vanessa Stockard 29:16

22 weeks ago29:16

29:16

Vanessa Stockard recently visited the podcast for the 3rd time! Vanessa Stockard was born in 1975 in Sydney and spent her formative years in a small country town in the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. At 12 she returned to Sydney as a boarder at Abbotsleigh. After graduating from the College of Fine Arts (COFA) Sydney in 1998 with a BFA, Stockard launched head first into the avant-garde art scene in the bohemian village of Glebe. Stockard is one of the most dangerous artists on the Australian, and by extension, international scene. Her ethereal works of art are a window into the soul of a talented and complex artist, one whose legacy is bound to resonate well past her generation. The existential nature of her painting viscerally questions our concepts of social relationships and reality. Twenty years of introspection and experimentation, ranging over a number of media, have forged Vanessa’s style and vulcanised her craft, enabling her to reveal complex misdemeanours, while simultaneously demanding the viewer’s self-reflection. She deals with isolation and sadness with intimate care and attention. Vanessa is unhindered by failure, always continuing the discovery of things previously unseen, revealing work that is fresh, unlaboured and penetrating. The deceptive everyday nature of her subject matter belies hidden depths of relationship, feeling and emotion. One could describe her process as absence of thought, a freedom of construct, not unlike the stream of consciousness associated with authors such as Hemmingway and Thomas Wolfe. If light and shade were students, she would be their master. This skill, combined with a naturally deft hand and a determined use of perspective, imbue her subjects with gravitas. The artist refers to set design elements that often alter and morph as her piece progresses. She has said she feels grounded from her ability to draw from the benign surrounds of familiar life, infusing these images with a meaning that yields a meditative satisfaction. Stockard’s oeuvre features many pieces developed without any direct visual reference but rather from memory, often incorporating domestic pets such as cats and dogs. Juxtaposing the anthropomorphic nature these animals are given by our society, she infuses the personification of virtue and vice into the everyday canine and feline status quo of our pets. Cats with their fluffy comical exteriors glint with an instinctive urge to kill and cruelly torment their prey, dogs with their providence of happiness, loyalty and friendship are flung back onto Churchill’s menacing metaphor for depression. The Kafkaesque mindset behind such works is reminiscent of the existentialist authors like Sartre and Camus. Absurdism appears with cake imagery and its relation to a childlike nostalgia for happiness which may never be real, but rather imaginary, unattainable and unachievable. It’s been said “pain is inexhaustible, it’s only people who get exhausted…” One can never “have it all”, to be both the artist and patron. To intrinsically understand those things around us that others overlook is what we want from our artists, our creatives. They give voice to the profound mystery of the world around us, surrounded as we are with consumerism, pointless greed, deceit and dissatisfaction. There’s no pretension here in these paintings, just spontaneous insight and beauty. Some art is said to speak volumes, but these works are more like innocent and delicate poems, whispering untold truths with an economy of words. Something Rather Than Nothing Podcast…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Aaron Keuter 58:41

26 weeks ago58:41

58:41

Aaron Keuter is an editor, motion designer, animator, and visual effects artist in Portland, Oregon. SRTN is a worldwide podcast that features the greatest creators you can find.

Something (rather than nothing)

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Rachael Tyrell 1:26:17

27 weeks ago1:26:17

1:26:17

Rachael Tyrell aims to create art that reimagines classic pinup aesthetics through a contemporary lens. Working primarily with Sharpies and various inks, she crafts pieces that radiate raw energy. Her sculptural work transforms everyday objects into surreal expressions, challenging expectations. Drawing from her background as a model, Rachael's art explores the fluid boundary between being seen and seeing. She wields ink with intention as each permanent line shapes her distinctive visual language. Her autobiographical zines blend intimate narrative with striking imagery and have traveled with her to zine fests in Los Angeles, Detroit, and Portland. They hint at stories untold and adventures yet to come. Beyond her art, Rachael steps behind the decks as a DJ and hopes to be a quiet catalyst for others' creativity. Her artistic universe embraces contradiction and invites viewers into a world where art becomes a shared secret. Rachael's website SRTN Podcast Website…

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Lady Ro 1:07:35

29 weeks ago1:07:35

1:07:35

Lady Ro is a Baltimore based indie folk rock musician. Formally know as Baby Carrots, Lady Ro began playing shows in Baltimore in 2019, where she quickly garnering a solid following. Her performances are a dynamic blend of heartfelt song writing, humor, a stirring powerful voice, and a wicked sense of style. We had a lovely chat about the great city of Baltimore, DIY aesthetic, thanos & eros, creativity, melancholy, style, the city, photography, vinyl and Rock & Roll.…

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Tina aka poler.t.ina 26:40

31 weeks ago26:40

26:40

Stop in and enjoy this lovely chat with dancer Tina! We chatted a bit of horror, a bit of art, a bit of dancing, standup comedy and constantly challenging yourself. There was even a special guest visit by Ripley The Cat. Thanks for visiting from Germany, Tina.! Tina's Instagram

Something (rather than nothing)

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Squirm! with Kels & Tess & Kenny & Jenny 51:42

32 weeks ago51:42

51:42

Enjoy a lovely and vulnerable chat with Kels & Tess. Host Kenny and Co-host Jenny explore health, excitement, sex, p*rn and the powerful things that move us. Kels is a producer, businesswoman, and sex and relationship enthusiast. She never underestimates the power of a good story or a good spreadsheet. In tandem with a career in project management and marketing, she has been writing, directing, producing and performing for film and theater since 2013. Kels believes the core of a good business, production, or sexual experience is the same: being attuned to other people and aware of their sweet spots. She’s committed to restoring education to its natural state — enticing. Tess uses her experience as a researcher to establish a data-driven foundation for Squirm. She holds a master's degree from the University of Amsterdam where she researched the intersection of sex education and pornography. Tess has organized events featuring sex educators, filmmakers, and academics with the goals of celebrating erotic culture and destigmatizing talking about sex. She is a feminist erotic film enthusiast and is always looking ahead to the next indie film festival. Get Squirmy P*rn Nerds Podcast…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Albany, Oregon Teacher Strike Special! (with Liz Craig, Dana Lovejoy and Voices of GAEA) 26:04

35 weeks ago26:04

26:04

Something (rather than nothing) Podcast presents a special STRIKE episode from Albany, Oregon. SRTN gives you an up to the moment report on the brave educators of The Greater Albany Education Association (GAEA) who have been on strike for five (5) days as of this episode’s release. GAEA is fighting for student safety, lower class size and a wage that recruits and retains high quality educators. The Mariana Link Click here to support GAEA: Website Instagram Facebook…

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Besa Tetova 44:56

39 weeks ago44:56

44:56

Besa is a film photographer and model who resides in Chicago. Her work is largely editorial, drawing inspiration from old Hollywood film noir and the creative direction of Sofia Coppola. Besa SRTN

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Elisabeth Eaves 46:17

40 weeks ago46:17

46:17

Elisabeth Eaves is the author of the debut novel The Outlier as well as two critically acclaimed non-fiction books, Wanderlust: A love affair with five continents and Bare: the naked truth about stripping . Her work has been anthologized in four books of essays, and she's won three Lowell Thomas awards from the Society of American Travel Writers. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Foreign Policy, Marie Claire, Slate, and many other publications, and she was a staff writer and editor at Forbes and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Before turning full time to writing, Elisabeth worked as a waitress, a bartender, a deck hand, a landscaper, an office temp, and a peep show girl. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Born and raised in Vancouver, Elisabeth lived in Cairo, London, and Paris, spent 10 years in New York City, and now resides in Seattle. SRTN Website…

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Keenan Marshall Keller and Alex Delaney 40:39

41 weeks ago40:39

40:39

Shelia Knox awakes from a two week coma to find her life torn apart. Her children have been savagely murdered. Her husband is missing. Her hand completely mangled and her throat slit to within inches of her jugular…Leaving her with nothing left to live for. So, when the men responsible for taking her and her family, come after her to try and finish the job, they unwittingly let loose an Angel of Death, hell-bent on hunting down those responsible and making them all pay. From the creative team of Keenan Marshall Keller (writer/co-creator of The HUMANS from IMAGE Comics) and Alex Delaney (creator of The Derelict and The Other Side of Town ) comes VENGEANCE Is For The LIVING ; A 4 issue mini-series overflowing with gritty exploitation action about the power of anger/loss and the clearness of vision that VENGEANCE can provide. SRTN Website…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Samn Johnson 53:35

42 weeks ago53:35

53:35

Samn Johnson (he/they, b. 1991) is a composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and historical linguist. Their work often harnesses research on acoustics and historical phonology to set texts in ancient languages like Latin, Old English, Hittite, and Gothic. Samn has written for a range of performers including Chromic Duo, Righteous GIRLS, JACK Quartet, and harpsichordist Nathan Mondry. His latest work is the song cycle Consolation, setting Latin poetry from Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy for vocalist Tis Kaoru Zamler-Carhart. It is out on innova Recordings, June 28, 2024. The two preceding recordings, both self-released, are Ageless Sea (2022), for chamber choir, chamber orchestra, electronics, and rock band, and First Book for Piano (2022), performing his own piano works. Samn is also half of the synth pop duo Acraea, together with Leora Mandel. Samn holds degrees in composition from the University of Michigan and NYU, studied composition at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and has taken courses in Indo-European historical linguistics at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. SRTN website…

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Frederick Livingston 41:43

45 weeks ago41:43

41:43

Frederick Livingston lives in the liminal space between experiential education, sustainable agriculture, and peacebuilding. His work has appeared in numerous literary and scientific journals, public parks, and bathroom stalls. SRTN podcast

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Shannon Kringen 49:18

46 weeks ago49:18

49:18

Multi Media Artist Shannon Kringen grew up in San Diego California and Whidbey Island Washington. She is a self taught photographer with a background in Graphic Design. She has worked as a figure model in Seattle since 1992. She completed her BA degree in Arts and Literature from Antioch University in 2013. She sees her creative expression as a tool to connect with community and a way of increasing self awareness and tap into a deeper wisdom within. We talked about Hundertwasser Music! SRTN Website…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Aranea Push 46:16

47 weeks ago46:16

46:16

Aranea Push is a digital illustrator and comic artist living in the PNW. Aranea blends rich illustration with sharp attitude, creating a style she lovingly refers to as ‘Effin’ Adorable’. In 2023, she published her first graphic novel “Coffee & Wine” which you can read in its entirety here !\ SRTN Website Browser's Bookstore Popular Culture and Philosophy Series…

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Olivia Dolphin 56:54

49 weeks ago56:54

56:54

It was a pleasure to talk to Olivia Dolphin about her deep literary and musical talents back in Episode 116 Providence, Rhode Island’s Olivia Dolphin brings a deep and gritty honesty to her lyrics that captures an audience. Whether it’s a song about embracing your imperfections, being ghosted, or challenging yourself, Dolphin’s vulnerability pulls you in. Enjoy the single "Quiet Girls" and this talk about life, magick, art, literature and the things we live for . . . Olivia site SRTN Site…

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Sara McGrath 38:06

50 weeks ago38:06

38:06

Sara McGrath is an illustrator and author of "Garage Girls" and lives in Los Angeles. About "Garage Girls" - - - Sara & Chloe are best friends, roommates, & co-hosts of garage girls, a weekly talk show that airs at an inconvenient time on Los Angeles' public access channel, a station no one watches. And yet, they become wildly famous and popular. Can you even Believe? Sara's website SRTN Website…

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Ilya Popenko 31:09

51 weeks ago31:09

31:09

Ilya Popenko is a multi-disciplinary artist who was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to the US at the age of 16. He is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer as well as a songwriter and a performer. In 2011, he formed a band called Mad Meg who play in an eclectic style they themselves haphazardly identify as “Punk-Chanson-Noir”. Based out of New York, Mad Meg has toured extensively in Russia and the former Soviet Bloc, including tours that covered close to 30 cities throughout the vast, frozen expanse of Eastern Europe, and in the course of which they shared the stage with such luminaries as Nogu Svelo!, Rasputina, and Emir Kusturica and recorded a live album in a female prison in Lithuania. While Mad Meg is on hiatus, Ilya works on his solo songs, one of which he’s proud to present today. SRTN Website…

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Spencer Fleury 40:10

1 year ago40:10

40:10

Spencer Fleury is the author of I Blame Myself But Also You and other stories (Malarkey Books, 2024) and How I’m Spending My Afterlife (Woodhall Press, 2021). He lives in San Francisco. Spencer Fleury Website SRTN Website

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Lauren O'Brien and "Lolo's Boyfriend Show" 1:06:04

1 year ago1:06:04

1:06:04

Lauren graces the show again to talk more about her exciting solo play "Lolo's Boyfriend Show." It was such a thrill to talk to Lauren about art, the development of Lolo, taking risks on the stage and the hopes and dreams we all need : - ) We also talk about so many costume changes, fashion and design! Bunch of John Leguizamo love at the end. Here's a little pshow review here from Broadway World This is Lauren on the SRTN Fringe Episode This is SRTN…

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Ross McMeekin 40:14

1 year ago40:14

40:14

Ross McMeekin the author of The Hummingbirds (Skyhorse, 2018.) His short fiction has appeared in literary journals and magazines such as Virginia Quarterly Review , Shenandoah , Redivider , and X-R-A-Y . He has won fellowships from Hugo House and Jack Straw Cultural Center in Seattle. For the last ten years, he has served as editor of the literary journal, Spartan . McMeekin's Below the Falls is a collection filled with passion, tenderness, love, and peril. Two climbers in the North Cascades risk their friendship and lives ascending a frozen waterfall. The girlfriend of a famous comedian in Greenwich Village must decide whether she wants to raise a child in the spotlight of fame. A mysterious Bird of Paradise makes daily overtures to an elderly widow in the frigid Midwest. A Texas fracking mogul struggles to find the love his money prevents. The deeply rendered American landscapes of these stories emerge as a vital background for characters faced with conflicts that cannot be easily resolved, illuminating interior worlds filled with contradiction. You can find him at www.rossmcmeekin.com SRTN Website…

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Matthew Kyle Levine 51:58

1 year ago51:58

51:58

Matthew Kyle Levine is a filmmaker and cinematographer based in New York City. His short films have won awards and played at numerous film festivals throughout North America, including the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival and the Canada Shorts Film Festival, most notably for his short film “Miss Freelance”. Watch 'Caleb and Sarah" and other short films on Mathew Kyle Levine's Vimeo: MKL Vimeo SRTN Website…

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Paul Luikart 36:22

1 year ago36:22

36:22

Paul Luikart is the author of the short story collections Animal Heart (Hyperborea Publishing, 2016), Brief Instructions (Ghostbird Press, 2017), Metropolia (Ghostbird Press, 2021), The Museum of Heartache (Pski’s Porch Publishing, 2021), the 11th installment of Belle Point Press' Prose Series, and The Realm of the Dog (J. New Books, 2024.) He serves as an adjunct professor of fiction writing at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He and his family live in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Paul's Website…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Shannon Robinson 48:02

1 year ago48:02

48:02

The Ill-Fitting Skin is layered with surreal storytelling but remains an extraordinarily realistic read, in the sense that even the most solid realities of life—and death—tend to blur and shimmer at their raw edges. The talkative bird that nests in a woman’s womb is as real as the “previous tenant.” The love of a mother for her uncontrollable son is as real as the wildness that is in her too. The women of The Ill-Fitting Skin are real women—who work and grieve and create and destroy, who love and do not love, whether at the roll of the dice or because “the pages are paths, and you will have to choose among them.” Shannon Robinson’ s debut short story collection, The Ill-Fitting Skin , is winner of the Press 53 Award for Short Fiction (forthcoming with Press 53 in May 2024). Her writing has appeared in The Gettysburg Review, The Iowa Review, Joyland, Water-Stone Review, Nimrod, failbetter, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in fiction from Washington University in St. Louis, and in 2011 she was the Writer-in-Residence at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Other honors include Nimrod ’s Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction, grants from the Elizabeth George Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts, a Hedgebrook Fellowship, a Sewanee Scholarship, and an Independent Artist Award from the Maryland Arts Council. She teaches creative writing at Johns Hopkins University and lives in Baltimore with her husband and son. www.shannonrobinson.org…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Morgan Parker 30:52

1 year ago30:52

30:52

Morgan Parker is a poet, essayist, and novelist. She is the author of the young adult novel Who Put This Song On? ; and the poetry collections Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night , There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé , and Magical Negro , which won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, winner of a Pushcart Prize, and has been hailed by The New York Times as “a dynamic craftsperson” of “considerable consequence to American poetry.” Parker’s debut book of nonfiction, You Get What You Pay For is available at your favorite bookstore.…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Ruby Roth 44:31

1 year ago44:31

44:31

Ruby Roth ’s work is defined by the female form and depicts the inner lives of women through emotionally visceral representations of the bodies they inhabit. For the past several years, amidst a radical transition from a decade of familial life as a best-selling children’s book author-illustrator to self-determined independence as a single female artist, Roth has explored the deep end of the feminine spectrum and its archetypes. Roth’s work often features solitary women navigating inner and outer wildernesses. In vast emptiness, surrounded by hints of nature, her wild women and “girl gods” find their way through physical and spiritual dimensions of darkness and light, bondage and freedom, apocalypse and utopia, life and death, transmuting nourishing or toxic forces into usable means. Roth has been a keen observer of the body since childhood, having been diagnosed with scoliosis, which required 13 years of aggressive and painful treatment. Rooted in academic anatomy and pop surrealism, her artwork——often created in live-model sessions——exaggerates and distorts female forms to reflect them as vessels of powerful, feminine processing. Roth is based in Los Angeles, CA. SRTN Website…

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Mark Ostler 51:52

1 year ago51:52

51:52

Mark Ostler joins the show to kick around comic books - specifically his work Ivar the Boxer and Waltzing Carpet Juliette We also talked about Warning: Danger! Mark Ostler is a comic book writer and publisher. In 2023, he wrapped up a 4 issue mini-series titled, “Waltzing Carpet Juliette” about the dangers of consumerism. In 2024, he began a new self-published comic book series titled, “Ivar The Boxer”. Mark Ostler can’t draw comics. Thankfully, he’s got talented friends who are skilled artists. Thus far, 37 different illustrators have contributed artwork to these collaborative comic books. What began as a creative daydream has blossomed into an incredible comic book community. Together, we’re creating “Waltzing Carpet Juliette” and “Ivar The Boxer”. Mark is also the lead singer of “WARNING: DANGER!” – a Seattle based punk band. They have released 7 different albums, embarked on 3 West Coast tours, produced 4 different videos, featured on 2 compilation albums and 1 movie soundtrack. Check out WARNING: DANGER!’s music on all major streaming platforms. Sometime soon, a major publishing house might pick up Mark’s comics or music. Check out Episode 265!!! SRTN…

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Jim LaBelle 57:10

1 year ago57:10

57:10

This episode is very different than others. Jim LaBelle, this episode's featured guest, passed away recently. I wish, hope and pray that our conversation gives tribute to Jim's contributions and advocacy. Thank you and farewell Jim. Host Ken Volante "There are certain individuals that go under the radar their entire lives despite being one of the most resilient people in the room, and that is without question Jim LaBelle. A father, world traveler, lawyer, disability advocate and professor, Jim’s story isn’t well known to many, but we hope to change that. A quadriplegic since 1969 and passing on April 21st, 2024, he was paralyzed for nearly 55 years and showed a life can be well lived in spite of paralysis." Spinalpedia Blog "For over fifty years, I have been pushing my chair. I graduated from law school and passed the bar exam in three states. My travels took me to twenty-three countries. My story is not an inspirational anecdote; it's about finding love, losing love, grief, joy, and single parenthood. Don't call me 'bound' or 'confined' to my wheelchair. My chair gives me freedom. A wheelchair user today has more rights than one did fifty years ago. Yet there are still many obstacles in finding housing, transportation, employment, and medical care. I am not trying to be a role model, just a possibility. There are obstacles, and people may not always treat you properly, but there is progress." Jim LaBelle…

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Kathleen Stuart 49:44

1 year ago49:44

49:44

Blend a background in fast-paced PR, political campaigns, and a lot of roll-up-your-sleeves energy, and you've Stuart Collective f ounder and CEO K athleen Stuart. Kathleen founded Stuart Collective in 2017. With a crystal-clear mission to support changemakers in securing progressive wins, Kathleen works every day to win campaigns, pass high-profile legislation, and influence public opinion. Kathleen brings over a decade of on-the-ground political work in campaigns and leading PR strategies. As a result, she advises leading progressive organizations that impact all the spaces — from healthcare to housing to infrastructure and more — that Stuart Collective shares with its clients. Stuart Collective…

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Ivana Yellowback 49:24

1 year ago49:24

49:24

Ivana Yellowback is a member of Manto Sipi Cree Nation – God’s River (maternal family) and a relative to Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (paternal family). She is both Asiniskow Ithinew ekwa Muskego Ininew (High Rock and Muskeg Cree). Ivana an Associate Producer, Writer, Cree host, and English co-host of Eagle Vision’s and APTN’s 7TH GEN Home (7thgen.ca) \ Cree Webisodes | 7TH GEN (2022/2023/2024). She has also acted as principal characters in “DJ Burnt Bannock” (2021) The Team — DJ Burnt Bannock , along with “Little Bird” (2023) 'Little Bird,' From Fremantle, Rezolution: Jennifer Podemski Talks - Variety . Ivana holds a 4-year Bachelor of Arts HONOURS degree at the University of Winnipeg (4-Year Honours BA: Sociology, Minor: Conflict Resolution Studies), and a Bachelor of Social Work degree at the University of Manitoba. She is also starting her Masters of Social Work degree this upcoming Fall at the University of Manitoba. Ivana holds 10+ years of experience in social services work, spanning from program development and implementation, facilitation, and workshop trainings (various), youth mentorship and leadership, and social advocacy and counselling. Ivana is an Executive Training Facilitator (with Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc.), an executive board member for sakihiwe festival, and is an oskâpêwiskwew (helper) member of the Indigenous Helpers Society. She is also a trained Traditional Family Parenting facilitator, a Grief and Loss Facilitator, and Indigenous Life Skills Coach. Ivana’s most important roles and work is being an aunty, pipe carrier, lodge carrier, drum carrier and singer. SRTN Website…

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Mel and Teghan Hammond 43:11

1 year ago43:11

43:11

Teghan Hammond and Mel Hammond are sisters who grew up punching each other whenever they saw a P.T. Cruiser, dying their hair blue together, and fabricating a fake band in which their middle brother was (allegedly) the lead singer. Writing Lucy, Uncensored was their first time co-writing. Unless you count the summer they spent scribbling down recipes for the strangest sandwiches you’ve ever heard of, like the Tax Exemption Wrap (Teghan) and the Nail Gun Sandwich (Mel). Today, Teghan lives in northern Indiana, where she drinks excessive amounts of coffee and volunteers for LGBTQIA+ causes. When she’s not tearing down gender norms, Teghan is probably watching cartoons or gaming. Mel lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where she writes books in a rainbow-painted room. Besides writing, she loves walking in the woods and eating dairy-free ice cream. Between the two of them, Teghan and Mel have four adorable cats. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/750113/lucy-uncensored-by-mel-hammond-and-teghan-hammond/ Folks can also preorder from their local indie bookstores. ISBN is 9780593814055. Publisher is Knopf Books for Young Readers Website: www.melhammondbooks.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hamtasticduo Mel’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamsandwichmel/ SRTN Website…

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NYC Fringe Festival with Jude Treder-Wolff, Lauren O'Brien and Suzanne Bachner 56:20

1 year ago56:20

56:20

Special Spring 2024 NYC Fringe Festival episode with three dynamic creators! Lauren O'Brien presents Lolo’s Boyfriend Show - a new comedic solo show, the writer is also the performer; Suzanne Bachner presents Conversations with My Divorce Attorney - the playwright also directs the two hander play which she started writing many years ago when she was getting a divorce. Her current husband stars as her divorce attorney; Jude Treder-Wolff presents FASTER - real life therapist and playwright wrote a new show about how technology is speeding up our lives. She also performs the play. SRTN Website NYC Fringe…

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Page Stephenson 50:14

1 year ago50:14

50:14

From Page Stephenson : "Sometimes my life feels as though I am both the director and the directed. As I attempt to navigate the vast ocean of choices, I often find myself adrift. It's in these moments that inspiration often bubbles to the surface. My creative adventures have enabled me to collaborate with giants like Google, Red Bull, Patagonia, and Netflix. These projects have sent me around the globe, expanding my perspective beyond my wildest dreams. I have been fortunate enough to play with robotic arms, fast computers, remote aircraft, and even real movie cameras. For me, it isn't about the gear, brands, or crazy stories; it's the journey of the self. I spend my time lost in video games, cinema, and researching new tools of expression because I love doing so; it is a way of life and it has sculpted me. Hopefully, I can sculpt a small bit in return." SRTN podcast…

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M.J. Bassett 54:03

1 year ago54:03

54:03

M.J. Bassett is an English director, writer, and producer of film and television. She began her career directing the cult horror films Deathwatch and Wilderness, the dark fantasy Solomon Kane , and the video game adaptation Silent Hill: Revelation. Since 2012, she has worked as a director and writer on high-profile television series like Strike Back, Ash vs Evil Dead, Power and Altered Carbon. Check out ROGUE with Megan Fox and the upcoming RED SONJA movie! SRTN Website…

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Ben Tanzer 1:14:22

1 year ago1:14:22

1:14:22

Ben Tanzer 's work includes the short story collection UPSTATE, the science fiction novel Orphans and the essay collections Lost in Space and Be Cool. Tanzer is a storySouth and Pushcart nominee, a finalist for the Annual National Indie Excellence and Eric Hoffer Book Awards, a winner of the Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival Nonfiction Prose Award and a Midwest Book Award, and has received an Honorable Mention at the Chicago Writers Association Book Awards for Traditional Non-Fiction and a Bronze Medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Tanzer has also also written for Hemispheres, Punk Planet, Men’s Health, and The Arrow, AARP’s GenX newsletter.. The Missing releasing March 21, 2024, nearly contemporaneous contemporaneously with this special episode release! SRTN Website…

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Philip Barasch 1:06:26

1 year ago1:06:26

1:06:26

Philip Barasch has maintained a lifelong interest in sequential art. He is the creator of HandHewn, a magazine designed to explore the Graphic Short Story art form. His years in Portland, Oregon included involvement with The Stumptown Comic Book Convention, Sequential Art Gallery and Talisman Gallery. Philip and his wife, Charis, relocated to Astoria, Oregon in 2018. Charis departed this world in 2022, radically altering Philip's art form. He is now creatively consumed by this forced, revolutionary reinvention. SRTN Podcast…

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Nicholas Tamagna 1:54:55

1 year ago1:54:55

1:54:55

Guest host Kinneret Ely interviews opera star Nicholas Tamagna Nicholas Tamagna’s meteoric rise in recent years has made him one of the world’s most fascinating alto voices. Highlights of the last few seasons were undoubtedly his interpretation of Ermano in the award-winning CD recording of Gismondo, re di Polonia (Leonardo Vinci) on the Parnassus label and its extensive concert tour, his MET debut in March 2020 in Sir David’s McVicar’s re-visited production of Händel’s Agrippina as Narciso, at the side of Joyce DiDonato, Harry Bicket, Kate Lindsey and Brenda Rae as well as the worldwide cinema broadcast of the performance and his spectacular interpretation of the Händel roles Ruggiero in Alcina and Silvio in Il Pastor Fido at the Händel Festival in Halle, Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the Göttingen Händel Festival, and most recently his debut at Bayreuth Baroque 2022 as Timagene in the highly-acclaimed production of Vinci’s Alessandro nell’Indie from Max Emanuel Cenčić, at the side of Bruno de Sà, Franco Fagioli, and Jake Arditti. In future seasons, he will be heard at such prestigious houses as San Francisco Opera, Israeli National Opera in Tel Aviv, Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria, Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, Australia, and Bayreuth Baroque. SRTN Podcast…

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Chimen Georgette Kouri 51:44

1 year ago51:44

51:44

Chimen Kouri is a writer based in Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey. Her work has been featured in Goat’s Milk Magazine, Blood Moon Poetry, Up the Staircase Quarterly, and more. She fell in love with storytelling one Christmas morning during a power outage when she and her parents laid in bed while her father told stories about his life in Lebanon. She is currently writing two full-length poetry and prose collections, What Haunts Me the Most and The Old Dutchburn House, and her first novel, Miss America Is Burning. When she isn’t writing, you can find her cuddling her dogs and cats and rewatching The Last Kingdom on Netflix. For more of her work, check her out on Instagram SRTN…

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TJ McGowan 1:01:40

1 year ago1:01:40

1:01:40

TJ McGowan aka The Everyday Bite is a Bronx based writer, poet, and spoken word artist who has performed all over the Tri-State. His written work has been published in Flash Fiction Mag, Collective Unrest, 35MM, Mojave Heart, Vamp Cat, United: Red, BX Writers, to name a few. His body-autonomy poem, I Am Not Her Bones, and its incendiary performance was recipient of the 2019 Poem of the Year at the Word Masters Poetry Gala. The written version can be found in Wide Eyes Publishing's anthology, War Crimes Against the Uterus. He has one full-length poetry collection, We Are Not One Thing, currently available for purchase. In addition to that, he is one half of the the trip-rock poetry and meditative metal duo, Subtle Bodies, most recently writing/directing the short poetic film for their debut EP, Apocalyptic Hearts. When not slinging poetry or music, he spends his days as an Associate Producer for a Film & TV company based in NYC, contributing to script and creative copy on most of the productions that pass through the doors. He is also way more interesting than this bio, so come out to one of his shows and chop it up with him. Contrary to the stage name, he does not bite...unless provoked. SRTN Podcast…

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Olivia Britz-Wheat 48:55

1 year ago48:55

48:55

Mortal Emblem owner Olivia Britz-Wheat is a multimedia artist who has been tattooing for over 15 years in Portland. She hails originally from Colorado, attended college in Missoula, Montana until learning how to tattoo under Phil Roberson and Jed Dillon. Enjoy this wide-ranging conversation and regale in thoughts about art, Depeche Mode, Portland, The Lloyd Center mystique and VHS love. SRTN Website…

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Cheeky Fun with Baroque B*tches Podcast 2:04:00

1 year ago2:04:00

2:04:00

ART FUN with the hosts of the Baroque B**ches Podcast ! How much fun can you have on a podcast? I dunno but this was hella fun. Join this wildly ranging art, life, and raunch conversation to discover what you did not want to know but, really, c'mon, you actually really did want to know. Art Scholarship for the People!!! BB Website up in here SRTN Website…

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Elizabeth Coplan 45:35

1 year ago45:35

45:35

Death is the high cost of living. The weight of that knowledge can feel crippling but is it there we find the deepest and most important knowledge of how to live? After tragedy struck in 2013, Elizabeth Coplan turned to writing to express her personal grief. She wrote many published essays, and later, after experiencing three losses in less than a year, she turned to writing plays focused on this global experience known as death. In 2016, Elizabeth developed the groundbreaking play, Grief Dialogues , and built the nonprofit Grief Dialogues , a theatrical movement creating new conversations about dying, death, and grief. Elizabeth is the script consultant, director, and producer for Juntos Nos Ayudamos/Better Together , a film about a Hispanic family surviving suicide. She is also the creator and the co-host of the podcast, Out of Grief Comes Art , and the Executive Producer of 8 AM , an award-winning short film on traumatic loss. ’Til Death , Elizabeth’s full-length play about one mother’s choice that unveils a family’s long-buried secrets, opens Off-Broadway in November 2023 under the direction of Chad Austin, Producing Director of the Abingdon Theatre. The play stars Two-Time Tony Award Winner Judy Kaye, Tony Award Nominee Robert Cuccioli, with Whitney Morse, Dominick LaRuffa Jr., Michael Lee Brown, TV and film star Amy Hargreaves. In addition to an updated production of Grief Dialogues scheduled to open in New York City 2024, Elizabeth is currently working on The Book Club , a new play highlighting the lives of five senior women. She is collaborating with Ina Chadwick on The a Chronicles , a theatrical series of stories that spark conversations about women’s reproductive rights, and on a TV sitcom pilot Act Three , a coming-of-age story about a late-in-life emerging playwright. All before she turns 70 in June 2024. Elizabeth Coplan SRTN Website…

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Allyson McCabe 1:09:50

1 year ago1:09:50

1:09:50

ALLYSON MCCABE is a journalist whose work is heard on NPR’s newsmagazines, public radio stations and programs, and podcasts. Also appearing in publications such as the New York Times, New York Magazine/Vulture, BBC Culture, Wired, and Bandcamp, McCabe is also the author of WHY SINEAD O’CONNOR MATTERS , UT Press, 2023. SRTN Podcast…

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Katherine Yeske Taylor 55:11

1 year ago55:11

55:11

Katherine Yeske Taylor began her career as a rock critic in Atlanta in the 1990s, interviewing Georgia musical royalty such as the Indigo Girls, R.E.M., and the Black Crowes while still a teenager. Since then, she has conducted several hundred interviews and contributes regularly to Billboard , Flood , Spin , and American Songwriter , among others. She is a longtime New York City resident and is extremely active in the downtown rock scene. SRTN Website…

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Kola Shippentower 57:01

1 year ago57:01

57:01

Shippentower signs with the Oregon Ravens Kola Shippentower is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. She has co-founded and is the Director of The Wisáwca Project - Enough Iz Enough, a non-profit organization working together for change, for better communication and involvement. Kola has developed a Safety Plan to be utilized by anyone in identifying safety methods, contacts, and procedures to keep one safe whether in an abusive relationship or a plan to track a missing person. She is a professional fighter and brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Welcome back to the show Kola!!! Waymakers Ravens Video Oregon Ravens SRTN Website…

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Katy Tessman 36:00

2 years ago36:00

36:00

Minnesota musician, Katy Tessman is an optimistic and approachable singer-songwriter with a voice full of the wisdom she’s gained through cancer survival, heartbreak, and motherhood. Her powerful vocals and rhythmic approach to guitar (or mandolin) express a straight-from-the-heart songwriting style that moves passionately over diverse emotional and musical terrain. SRTN Podcast…

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Meghan Lamb 1:15:45

2 years ago1:15:45

1:15:45

Meghan Lamb is the author of COWARD (Spuyten Duyvil, 2022), Failure to Thrive (Apocalypse Party, 2021), All of Your Most Private Places (Spork Press, 2020), and Silk Flowers (Birds of Lace, 2017). She served as the Philip Roth Writer-in-Residence at Bucknell University, and teaches creative writing through the University of Chicago, Story Studio, and GrubStreet. Her work has appeared in Quarterly West, DIAGRAM, Redivider, and Passages North, among other publications. She runs the shadow text reading series Significant Others, a project dedicated to elevating new books and the “behind-the scenes” texts that inspired them. She is the fiction editor for Bridge (a Chicago-based arts publication) and the nonfiction editor for Nat. Brut , a Whiting Award-winning journal of art and literature dedicated to advancing inclusivity in all creative fields. She is also the frontwoman of Kill Scenes , an 80s cinema-inspired band described as "a beguiling combination of The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Tangerine Dream fronted by an unholy conflation of Siouxsie Sioux, Kate Bush, and Diamanda Galás." Something Rather Than Nothing…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Kate Brody 46:38

2 years ago46:38

46:38

Kate Brody lives in Los Angeles, California. Her work has previously appeared in Lit Hub, The Rumpus, Noema, and The Literary Review, among other publications. She holds an MFA from NYU. Rabbit Hole is her debut novel. Released January 2, 2024. SRTN Podcast

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GLÜME 1:37:16

2 years ago1:37:16

1:37:16

GLÜME is an art phenomenon. Whether she was plucked from the astral planes or the near-dream world she occupies a unique space in the heart. Her album MAIN CHARACTER is a subtle and attractive dark-pop trance. HEAVEN makes you bounce as you slightly weep and pray your rosary. Dream of your car floating in the clouds as you listen to THE QUEEN OF L.A. Philosophy, artist-blue-balls, Marilyn Monroe, goddesses, dream-worlds, OnlyFans and the redirection of music revenue as a radical body-act are included in this Christmas present to you! Playgirl Records Spotify SRTN Website…

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Stephen Pellnat 52:09

2 years ago52:09

52:09

Stephen Pellnat "I have been making comics for as long as I can remember understanding the written language. I received my formal education at the School of Visual Arts in New York City from 2005 to 2009, graduating with a Bachelor’s of the Fine Arts. I have self published comics for years, including Kitty of the Dead, Ma, Heaven and now, Upstate. I have been featured in a number of promotional campaigns in the northeast, including the tours of Klezwoods and Cocek Brass Band. I provided album artwork for Klezwoods’ Album Toy Monkey and Cocek Brass Band’s album Here Comes Shlomo. Upstate is my latest work, and the work I’m proudest of to date. I was born in Albany, New York in 1987. I grew up in the town of Stuyvesant New York, a location which may have partially inspired the fictional town of Heinrichville. I currently live in Portland, Oregon, which is not, at the time of this writing, aflame. I have a wife and a cat. I dislike parties and desperately want to be liked. I am not good about updating my website bio." SRTN WEBSITE…

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Zora von Pavonine 1:01:55

2 years ago1:01:55

1:01:55

Surrounded by animals, held most dear was the peacock family that allowed her to follow them around, telling stories, inventing all kinds of life. Zora von Pavonine spent her teenage chapter foreshadowing her eventual participation in burlesque with another solo activity crafted beautifully from the mind and body, performing as a decorated cross country and track athlete, breaking records and holding others to this day. Her deep appreciation for this output, mental tenacity, just the self and the body, stuck with her long after she left the track and immersed herself fully in hip hop dance. She found grounding and heaven in hip hop and had been teaching the format for years when she found burlesque and she knew: she knew she had mined the gem, a dynamite composition of effort, passion, expression and self. A published poet, holder of a handful of intellectual property patents and a few degrees in the creative arts, Zora needles on towards creating smart, impassioned acts wrapped in costumes that speak to her tremendous love of fashion and design, reflective of her hip hop roots and the unmistakable dedication of a distance runner… It has been said that her sparkle can be seen from outer space; it has been rumored that one night in Zora’s audience will have you discovering confetti in all your places for a month on… with pasties so small, even the most veteran of show-goers blush, they come to see the tease and leave with an eyeful of feathers… she is the Girl With The Peacock Tattoo. Zora was initially featured on SRTN Episode 10 Zora's Aura SRTN Website…

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Salo Panto 39:23

2 years ago39:23

39:23

Salo Panto is: Joe Garwig, Max Doyle, Ed Beach, and David Kudelka Since 2015, Salo Panto has been exploring and bending every corner of the rock genre. Rooted in psychedelia with a stage presence that will blow your hair back, commonly being described as “a sight to behold”. Their technical skill and original hooks play homage to the legends of rock while transforming the genre into something new entirely. These chameleons can be found anywhere from the alternative radio waves to a doom show lineup, specially curating their sound for every performance, creating an atmosphere that is infectious and inclusive, all for the love of music. The band has frequented many premier venues in Portland such as Rontoms, Doug Fir and Dante’s. In 2023 they’ve added notable notches to their belt by performing four dates at the Rose Festival, Lose Yr Mind Fest and releasing their debut full-length album, “Parallel Narratives” on Literal Gold Records. Salo Panto Bandcamp SRTN Wesbite…

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Salisha Old Bull 43:31

2 years ago43:31

43:31

Salisha Old Bull (Salish/Crow) is an Indigenous artist based in Montana. She creates a diverse array of art genres but has an affinity to beadwork. "I am motivated by the Salish history and Indigenous place-based knowledge. I have learned that place gives a sense of self and allows a person to grow intellectually and continue to explore their possibilities in life. I feel that cultural preservation is a strong influence in my life, and I enjoy combining imagery that reflects cultural values. I use beadwork as an expression of the nature that reflects my tribal heritage. My craftsmanship cannot be possible without the upbringing and teaching of my grandmother, Rachel Arlee Bowers. I adore beadworking but, also enjoy integrating other genres such as photography, painting, and hint of digital art. Artistry has been something of a culmination of my academic studies over the years combined with my love for my Bitterroot Salish cultural values and practices. In my time in higher education one of the best moments was learning about place-based education and its interesting relevance to Indigenous ways of knowing. The basic idea of place-based education and its connection to traditional ecological knowledge is uncanny. Many Indigenous people once depended solely on their environment in reciprocal manner and this was how people were educated. Each person acquired a strength and skill set and most people had an educated connection to the land. This land is what gives a person a strong sense of self-identity. Being grounded allows a person to go forward in life and continue to grow intellectually and explore beyond their basic needs. By evoking this motivation to solidify personal, tribal self-identity, I feel that artistry can empower individuals and empower and motivate them to seek more land knowledge—traditional ecological knowledge. My overall vision is to create contemporary art, combining traditional, flat-stitch, two-needle, beadwork, with current photography and photo editing techniques. I want to capture the past, the present, and the significance of places that hold deep-seeded history for the Bitterroot Salish. I think by capturing past images and present images with traditional beadwork I can evoke this emotional response and help people to think of their roots and how they can continue to learn the historical context of our land and its ties to our existence. I hope to motivate people to recapture knowledge that is almost gone and revive it by passing it onto younger generations." Salisha Old Bull website SRTN Website…

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Suziey Block is a Scream Queen 51:10

2 years ago51:10

51:10

Welcome back Suziey! Recorded in a Russian cemetery in Portland, Oregon. Suziey Block kills it in the found footage insta-classic Horror in the High Desert Her performance in ‘Entrance’ i s a haunting tour-de-force Suziey was last featured on SRTN Episode 194! And you heard it here - Suziey Block is the official SRTN podcast SCREAM QUEEN (statue in development) . . . And we had some good ol' fashioned horror talk and we mutually developed a LABOR screed. SRTN Website…

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Pete Dryden 42:51

2 years ago42:51

42:51

Pete Dryden is a portrait photographer based in Oregon. When he’s not deconstructing the world of photography he’s plotting ways to enter into it. Enter the world of Something

Something (rather than nothing)

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Lori Fetrick (Chillin' with ICE) 1:02:52

2 years ago1:02:52

1:02:52

Let's go Hollywood! Something (rather than nothing) Podcast is pleased to present Lori Fetrick who is also known as ICE from American Gladiators! She stars in the Netflix Documentary ' Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators .' Lori does a great podcast called " Chillin' with Ice" so you can go on a Gladiator nostalgia stroll but also learn so much from Lori in ways of living, eating, being yourself, entertaining, loving art and dealing with your shit. Fan-boy-host- Ken was in his glory. Sparkles of ICE. You rock Lori! Could write forever. But just listen to ICE ICE Baby…

Something (rather than nothing)

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Pieta Brown 1:24:52

2 years ago1:24:52

1:24:52

The daughter of two preacher’s kids, Pieta Brown’ s early upbringing in Iowa was in a rural outpost with no furnace, running water, or TV. There, she was exposed to traditional and rural folk music through her father, Greg Brown, the now beloved Midwestern folk singer. Later, while living with her mother in Birmingham, Alabama during her formative years, Pieta drew on and expanded these influences and began writing poems and composing instrumental songs on piano. By the time she left home at 18 she had lived in at least 19 different houses and apartments between Iowa and Alabama. In her early 20's, after experiencing what she describes as "the songs calling,” Pieta started experimenting with the banjo and eventually picked up a 1930's Maybell arch-top guitar during a visit to her father's place and never looked back. Emerging from a disjointed and distinctly 'bohemian' upbringing, Pieta began performing live and making independent recordings soon after teaching herself how to play guitar. "I grew up around a lot of musicians and artists living on the fringe, and have always felt most at home among them," Pieta says. Continually revealing new layers as both a songwriter and performer, Pieta is being recognized as one of modern Americana's true gems. In recent years Pieta has released multiple highly critically acclaimed albums, with much attention being paid not only to her distinct sound and style, but also the power of her singing and songwriting, including fan favorite Paradise Outlaw (2014 Red House, which Bon Iver master mind, Justin Vernon, called his “favorite recording made at our studio.”) Pieta has toured North America with Mark Knopfler, and toured various regions of the U.S., Australia and Canada with John Prine, Amos Lee, Brandi Carlisle, JJ Cale, Ani Difranco, Mavis Staples, and Calexico among others. She has co-written songs with and made recent guest appearances on albums by Calexico, Amos Lee, and Iris Dement, whose latest masterpiece Workin’ On A World (2023) Pieta co-produced. Pieta’s songs and music have been heard in various TV Shows and indie films including Everything Will Be Fine (Wim Wenders). With the release of her most recent album Freeway (September 2019, Righteous Babe) co-produced by Bon Iver drummer, S. Carey, followed by multiple experimental collaborations since with various artists including JT Bates, S.Carey, and Howe Gelb & The Colorist Orchestra, as well as a new instrumental based side-project she calls Sylvee & The Sea, Pieta’s music and artistry continue to rise. ~ "...a style and a sensuality that’s all her own...."- Pop Matters ~ "Among the top tier of songwriters today..." - FAME (Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange) ~ "...a gifted singer-songwriter whose lyrics are pieces of polished poetry" - Huffington Post Pieta's Website SRTN Website…

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Cristina of espooky 52:50

2 years ago52:50

52:50

Cristina Lumague is a freelance podcast producer, editor and the host of Espooky Tales, Historias Unknown and Novelas Con Cafecito. Enjoy this SRTN Halloween Special! Cristina and Ken talk about spooky tales, horror movies, telenovelas, podcasting, art y mas . . . espooky Patreon SRTN Podcast

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Charles Mulford 47:21

2 years ago47:21

47:21

Charles Mulford is a sculptor based in New Jersey. He holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and a BFA from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts. His sculptures have been exhibited in the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ, the Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA, the Bruton Museum, Somerset, UK, and The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ. Mulford apprenticed at the Seward Johnston Atelier, specializing in metal chasing and fabrication. His work is part of the special collection of the Vanderbilt University Library and Temple University Library. Charles Mulford’s sculptures explore the complex emotions surrounding anxiety through the lens of humor. Cartoon figures, 3D-modeled objects, and scans of human heads act as vehicles for theatrical narratives. Mired in tragic circumstances, the characters express their feelings about illness and death. Exaggerate scenes capture a sense of unease, reflecting the stress and vulnerability of anxiety. The result is a visual representation of a tortuous and sometimes humorous world. Mulford website SRTN Website…

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Nick of Skeleton Boy 35:00

2 years ago35:00

35:00

Host Ken Volante was watching some 'Dark Souls' gameplay and heard some rocking music down at the Albany, Oregon skatepark. He got to meet Nick of Skeleton Boy and here we bring you some of the sounds from the Willamette Valley. Thanks Nick for the great chat! 💀Welcome to The Bone Zone💀 💀Punk-ish band from Albany, Oregon💀 💀Keepin' it spooky 24/7/365💀 Skeleton Boy SRTN Website…

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Carol Butler 59:41

2 years ago59:41

59:41

Carol Butler is a ballpoint illustrator based in Boise Idaho, where she works seasonally as an organic farmer. An avid cyclist, and Norm Macdonald fan. She spends her time being a day dreaming degenerate while getting lost in the throws of a good science fiction novel. Featuring special guest host Sarah Romano-Diehl Carol in Insta! SRTN Website…

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Angel Marcloid is Fire-Toolz 45:40

2 years ago45:40

45:40

Producer / composer / multi-instrumentalist Angel Marcloid records music under the moniker Fire-Toolz . Though Marcloid’s output emerges in a litany of distinct aliases and projects — from the jazz fusion / new age of Nonlocal Forecast to the vaporous nostalgia of MindSpring Memories — the Fire-Toolz catalog remains the central focus of the prolific artist’s musical universe and a home for Marcloid’s most ambitious and combinatory work. 'I am upset because I see something that is not there.', the fifth Fire-Toolz album to join the Hausu Mountain catalog since 2017, follows 2021’s sprawling double-album Eternal Home (HAUSMO111) and 2022’s self-released EP I will not use the body’s eyes today. I am upset […] offers listeners a prismatic cross-section of juxtaposed genres and compositional contortions to explore, maintaining Fire-Toolz’s signature density and complexity while tightening the scope of Marcloid’s experimentation into the project’s most focused song cycle to date. Perhaps more than any previous Fire-Toolz album, I am upset […] presents some form of pop music, carried in Marcloid’s passages of clean vocals, in the bright synth and keyboard tones that animate its tracks, in the yearning saxophone lines that pour into view and whisk the narrative onto a new path. The format of a one-person “band” carries a different weight in a landscape of solo artists crafting abstract modernist productions that don’t allude in the slightest to various twentieth-century rock-related traditions. Fire-Toolz exists on both sides of this divide. Fire-Toolz SRTN Podcast…

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Jadon Allen of Guilt! 26:34

2 years ago26:34

26:34

Jadon Allen is the founder of Guilt! or guiltpdx, a streetwear and street art company based out of Portland, Oregon with the main goal of pushing creative boundaries. Guilt! produces a plethora of goods including unique clothing, colorful artworks, photography, and videography sold both online and in local Portland stores. More work can be found @guiltpdx on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Jadon Allen SRTN Website…

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elle nash 33:50

2 years ago33:50

33:50

Elle Nash is the author of the short story collection Nudes (404 Ink and SF/LD Books) novels Gag Reflex (Clash Books) and Animals Eat Each Other (404 Ink and Dzanc Books), which was featured in the 2018 June Reading Room of O - The Oprah Magazine and hailed by Publishers Weekly as a ‘complex, impressive exploration of obsession and desire.' Her new novel, Deliver Me (Unnamed Press) was released October 2023. Her work appears in Guernica, BOMB, The Nervous Breakdown, Literary Hub, The Fanzine, Volume 1 Brooklyn, New York Tyrant and elsewhere. She is a founding editor of Witch Craft Magazine and has edited fiction at both Hobart Pulp and Expat Literary Journal . elle's website podcast website…

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Anna May 45:30

2 years ago45:30

45:30

Alternative tragic Americana, invocations for peace & judgment reshaping with bleeding heart stream of consciousness poems. Originally from Connecticut, before becoming a western transplant, Anna May is a singular artist whose songs bear a placelessness that lends to their timeless nature. The deep exploration of heartbreak and trauma has been an ongoing quest throughout Anna's work. Her lyrics have been heavily textured by a lonesome whimsicality that finds itself most at home in the vastness of the American West. Anna's music honors the nomadic spirit with memory, meditation & fresh interpretations of folk music and jazz influence. She honors a hope to enhance connection, humility, healing, and joy among people in the process of parting with typical genre rules. Anna's lyrical sensibility is steeped in wisdom, and layered with evocative musicality and metaphysical embroidery while eschewing the mainstream & parting with platitudes. Anna explores both estrangement and connection while taking cues from artists like Billie Holiday, Shawn Colvin, Neil Young, and Leonard Cohen. As a yogi, pianist, teacher & poet, she masterfully blends all of her influences into her songwriting. Anna has performed at wildflower music & arts festival, treefort music festival, Boston arts festival, water lantern festival, trout lake hall, abbey arts in Seattle, Globe Hall in Denver, Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, Broadway Comedy Club in Manhattan, the Mint in Los Angeles, and many more. Anna May Website SRTN Website…

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Sarah Romano-Diehl 1:15:10

2 years ago1:15:10