“Our theme music was composed by BJ Leiderman.” If you’ve tuned in to NPR over the last 44 years, the likelihood is pretty great that you have heard this on-air credit. It’s because when BJ sold his themes to NPR, he made it a part of his contr

Bonus

Special Episode: Poetry Share!

Dec 10th, 2022 12m 19s

Some of you may remember a few years back when I uploaded a reading of "The Velveteen Rabbit." That was a recording I had made for librivox.org, an online archive of literary works in the public domain, recorded by volunteers all over the worl

David Wilcox

Sep 27th, 2022 1h 28m

I've known about David Wilcox since I first heard "East Asheville Hardware" back in the mid 90's working at a summer camp. I was absolutely captivated and delighted at what I was listening to, and knew that this was something that I needed to

Paisha Thomas

Aug 30th, 2022 1h 6m

Y'all. This woman right here has a story to tell, and it is massive. I met with her a week ago today (as of the uploading of this episode), and we chatted about her brand new memoir "Looking for Innocence", as well as a whole lot of other thin

Eric Ahlteen

Jun 6th, 2022 1h 3m

Eric and I first crossed paths when I made my way to Espresso Yourself Music Cafe, in Powell, Ohio, for an open mic night shortly after moving to Ohio. I consider myself really fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience the communit

Dre Peace

Feb 16th, 2022 1h 7m

My first impression of Dre Peace was a wall of sound that almost knocked me over.. Which would have been embarrassing since I was sharing a stage with him at an event called Music in the Round. I had to know more about this guy just from t

TJ George

Jan 1st, 2022 1h 27m

TJ George has been very busy. He has been workin on a pretty epic project for, well, to hear him say it, several years now. It is finally coming to life, as of January 7, 2022. TJ is a songwriter here is Columbus, and his new album, "Heroes

Remembering John: 12/31/1943 – 10/12/1997

Oct 12th, 2021 9m 36s

I was home from college on a fall break in 1997 when I found out John Denver had died in a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean. It wrecked me. This brief tribute will explain a little bit of why. Also, here is the video from the recording I

James Houston

May 7th, 2021 1h 4m

I first met James Houston when I decided to start learning karate in my mid-20s, living in a small, southwestern Virginia town along the New River. I wasn't sure what to expect when I signed up for karate, only that it seemed like there was a g

Bonus

Elemental Series: Gratitude

Sep 10th, 2020 14m 40s

Loss is a weird thing, isn't it? The day I recorded this, I had found out a friend had died. Just out of the blue. Hit by a truck while running. It was a big blow. I had already decided on a topic, and on its face, it seems like the wrong

Bonus

Elemental Series: Anger

Sep 3rd, 2020 12m 33s

Speak when you are angry, and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret. - Ambrose Bierce As I write this, I have 34% left on my laptop, and I'm getting on a plane in 2 hours. I'm heading out to my next job, in Burbank California, and t

Bonus

Elemental Series: Gold

Aug 27th, 2020 12m 3s

In 1983 a movie came out with a star studded cast, including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, and the two 1980s teen heart throbs pictured above, Ralph Macchio and C. Thomas Howell. The movie was called "The

Bonus

Elemental Series: The Laughing Curandera

Aug 20th, 2020 16m 6s

Hey everybody! I have something pretty cool to share with you. I've decided to give myself a little break from producing the full episodes of Flies in the Kitchen, because I've been out of town a lot working a contract job that has long hours

Barbie Angell

Jul 29th, 2020 1h 20m

Lately I've been looking at a lot of my Facebook memories, and being amazed at how oblivious we all were to what life would look like just one year later. Large groups closely gathered around tables, no masks, sharing pizza, and laughing. So

David LaMotte

Jun 12th, 2020 1h 14m

I first met David LaMotte at a weekend retreat in the WV mountains where he was performing. He and his newly-wed wife Deanna were there, and it was fun hanging out with them both. As it goes, though, with many traveling gigging musicians who

Ian Ridenhour

May 11th, 2020 1h 15m

Deep among the rolling hills and misty mountains of Western North Carolina lives a charismatic young man who has already, in his first 20 years on earth, managed to release 3 albums and 5 professionally produced music videos, sharing with the w

Chuck Brodsky

Apr 17th, 2020 59m 26s

When Chuck Brodsky was 21, he made a decision that he was going to follow his passion to become a songwriter who tells stories that matter. He hitchhiked from his hometown in Philadelphia to San Francisco and never looked back. I've been wantin

Zach Whitney

Jul 19th, 2019 1h 28m

This is a first. My buddy Zach Whitney loves the woods. He loves to go hiking in the woods whenever he can. So I thought it'd be fun to take a walk with Zach and record a conversation about music, mindfulness, and nature. Three things I kn

Jeromy Laux

Apr 16th, 2019 52m 22s

I met Jeromy when he was hired as the Production and Technical Coordinator at the church I was going to, and started noticing his really great eye for capturing moments on film, both in photos and video. He had such a great ability to co

Robbie Schaefer

Mar 15th, 2019 1h 10m

Photo by Laura Goyer This one's exciting for me. When I was in college 20 some years ago, I was brought by a friend to a small, standing room only bar with a bunch of 20-somethings crowded in very tight numbers, waiting for this band to c

Wyze

Feb 15th, 2019 1h 5m

I have seriously been trying to get Wyze on this podcast for months. I met her in November at an event in Columbus where she was sharing about her photography and her Vlog, and knew I wanted to hear more. We played email tag for way too lo

Bonus

Special Holiday Episode! The Velveteen Rabbit

Dec 14th, 2018 30m 52s

A special "Holiday Episode" for you! I ran across some audio from a recording I made for Librivox.org an online audiobook project made possible by a large wealth of volunteers who record readings of books and stories that are in the public dom

Anderson Cowan

Nov 13th, 2018 41m 5s

Anderson Cowan is a filmmaker living in Los Angeles, California, who hosts a number of podcasts, namely The Film Vault, Cinemaddicts, and The After Disaster. He's created a decent library of short films, and his first full length feature film,

Ron Freeman (Part 2)

Oct 10th, 2018 44m 8s

This is Part Two of my conversation with Ron Freeman (Just in case the title didn't give it away). If you've not listened to Part 1, How about checking that one out first? In this half, we chat a lot about community, and what that looks like

Ron Freeman (Part 1)

Oct 10th, 2018 52m 59s

I honestly don't know how I ended up with 2 hours of tape with Ron Freeman. Actually, that's not entirely true. I had a feeling that when I invited Ron to sit down with me and chat, it would be a long and fruitful conversation. I tell yo