Today we sit down with Lisa Sanders, longtime San Diego musician and recent Hall of Fame inductee, and hear about her many projects, from new songs to furniture making, as well as her long association with other musicians and local venues. She reflects on her long career and the various rabbit holes that have brought her to now. She also provides valuable advice for musicians who are just starting out and shares a beautiful song about love. A quintessential San Diego episode. With co-host Bill A...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 223
Life coach and author Corrinn Davis joins us in the midst of the current crisis when so many of us seem to be on edge or full-blown mad, as reflected in road rage and homicide statistics. We talk about how anger can displace other painful emotions, for better or worse, and how it can be redirected in positive ways. We speculate about what we're seeking when we feed on other people's anger. She provides some questions to monitor yourself before you lose control—and for when you've gone off the de...
Mar 18, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 222
English writer, classics teacher, and former police officer, Mark Knowles, joins us to talk about Reacher, the Amazon series; Killing Floor, the book it's based on; and its British author Lee Child. We analyze what's the same or different between the show and the book, what we like about Reacher, and how he resembles a classic Homeric hero. We also talk about stuff that got changed in the show and whether or not we approve (like the thing with the dog and some woke additions), plus some challeng...
Mar 12, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 221
Welcome to the world of Curio and Co where founders, Cesare Asaro and Kirstie Shepherd use their flair for nostalgic design to create souvenirs from a past you wish had existed. They join us from Vienna to talk about the sense of playfulness their creations spark, as well as the research, analysis, and plain old work required to make design elements that hit the mark. They talk about being development partners, as well as work they find inspirational like that of James Gunn, or Oceans 11, or Pea...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 220
The Dutch Oven Daddy, Ned Adams, joins us to talk about all things cast iron: what it's good for, how to evaluate it, how to maintain it (especially the secrets of proper seasoning), and how to bring it back from a rusted state, using science! Ned also talks about his personal journey with cast iron, what got him started with it and its meaning to him today, as well as where to find the cast iron community of cooks and collectors. A lovely wide-ranging conversation about tradition, families, foo...
Feb 25, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 219
After working in record stores for over 30 years, Eleni has heard it all—and knows a lot! She shares her approach to providing information to those in need and to writing music reviews that can help a searcher find music they love. Raised in a large Greek family and exposed to a wide variety of music, Eleni moved to the desert as a teenager and began her career in music retail. Here she regales us with stories of bands, Elvis Costello, producers, and customers, as well as providing many recommen...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 218
Join Professor Jason Aukerman, Director of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies, to learn about Bradbury's life and work, the creation of the center, and surprising discoveries in the archives. We discuss Fahrenheit 451 in which Bradbury cautioned us about the danger of mass media and censorship, topics even more relevant today. Jason discusses his approach to teaching writing and Bradbury's literary strengths, as well as the role of an archivist in protecting and evaluating a lifetime of work. W...
Feb 12, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 217
Singer/songwriter, blogger, and memoirist Amy Rigby joins us today for a wise and fun conversation about her 30-year career, including her CBGB days, having Ronnie Spector feature one of her songs, meeting Wreckless Eric, writing her memoir, and work during the pandemic. Known for her clever, funny, and sometimes vengeful lyrics, Amy is beloved by her fans (including Jennifer's mom!) for her insights into everyday living and surviving. This conversation is no exception with Amy reflecting on leg...
Feb 05, 2022•57 min•Season 2Ep. 216
Join author Rosanne Tolin to discuss her book More Than Marmalade , the only biography of Michael Bond, the author of the beloved Paddington stories. Did you know Paddington was inspired by the Kindertransport refugees fleeing Germany and arriving in London with just a suitcase and a name tag? Bond, a dropout, worked for the BBC and as a struggling writer for many years before finally finding success with Paddington, a story concept suggested by his literary agent. Rosanne talks about her resear...
Jan 29, 2022•53 min•Season 2Ep. 215
Join singer/songwriter, musician, producer, composer and radio host Ben Vaughn talking about his many hats, how he got started in music and his gypsy career. In a wide-ranging, informal, and fun discussion, he describes doing a sound check in two different Ramblers (yes, the car) to pick the right one, getting a gun pulled on him in the producer's booth, his love for Mickey Lee Lane's Shaggy Dog, growing up listening to The Geator with the Heater, and the importance of always learning. We also s...
Jan 21, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 214
A Norwegian pig farmer may not sound like a femme fatale, but Belle Gunness lured dozens of men to their death and became Indiana's most notorious serial killer. Author and researcher Jane Simon Ammeson joins us to discuss her new book about Belle, including the latest discoveries about her gruesome deeds and mysterious disappearance. A creepy but fascinating episode. Jane's websites: https://janeammeson.com/ https://shelflife.blog/jane-simon-ammeson/ Thoughts? Comments? Potshots? Contact the sh...
Jan 14, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 213
Join Jennifer Hartman, director of Rogue Detection Teams, to talk about using rescue dogs in scientific work to locate and analyze threatened animal species. We cover dog selection and training (though the dog bounders are often learning as much from the dogs), the physical requirements of the work, what can be learned now through DNA analysis of animal scat, the benefits of using dogs in a non-invasive way, and the challenges posed by long solo trips into rugged wilderness. Specifically, we tal...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 212
Join relationship expert Melinda Blau while she discusses her book about the importance of acquaintances and weak ties in building networks, expanding our boundaries, and just making us feel better. With specific examples and tactical advice about how to initiate a conversation, nurture a relationship, and let it go, she gives us food for thought for the new year. She also presents the science of casual connections and explains their surprising impact, as well as what we are learning about inter...
Jan 01, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 211
Christmas music seems to be unstoppable with new songs and albums coming out every year, so Bill and Jennifer have a lot to talk about from traditional, classic tunes, whether they're overplayed and fall out of fashion; to innovative covers; to novelty and funny songs, new and old; to caroling and kids' TV shows; to artists who unexpectedly turn in an awesome song; and those we'd rather forget, especially if they included their kids on the recording. Whether Christmas is a happy or sad time for ...
Dec 24, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 210
Michael Nesmith, the cap-wearing Monkee, passed away last week. Jennifer and Bill talk about Michael's life and legacy in depth, from fleeing Texas to landing in the concoction that was the Monkees, and then moving on to myriad projects in music, video, and prose, often with instincts before his time. Productive, thoughtful, with a playful side, he has left us a big legacy of gifts that keep on giving. An episode for music and music video fans. With co-host Bill Aho. Michael's website that we me...
Dec 18, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 209
Jon Teichman and Geoff Walker join Bill and Jennifer to talk about the allure and resilience of vinyl LP records. Jon and Geoff are experts about vinyl and organize the multi-day and multi-city Ore Dock Record Show which features 10,000 LPs and thousands of visitors from around the world. Here they talk about sound quality, equipment, bootlegs, what people are buying, music communities, and more. They tell wonderful stories of found treasures and how music works like a time machine. You don't wa...
Dec 11, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 208
Join LolaGeek, a former sales consultant for LuLaRoe, for the lowdown on that business and other multi-level marketing schemes. Get the insider's view on how LuLaRoe, a billion-dollar direct sales clothing company, recruited, targeted stay-at-home moms, manipulated its messaging, enriched its founders and impoverished its workers, and ultimately became the subject of multiple lawsuits. An eye-opening tale about a pyramid scheme in lamb's clothing. Follow LolaGeek on YouTube: https://www.youtube....
Dec 04, 2021•51 min•Season 2Ep. 207
A galloping mile-a-minute ride through the career of Elliot Kendall, from his early days as a struggling musician in the Bay Area to waiter days in LA, his dream job as the Catalog Guy at Universal for 13 years, and now his constant reinvention. What fuels him? What's happening today with music promotion? How do we find good music? Does radio matter? Elliot answers these questions and many more. A lively and entertaining episode. With co-host Bill Aho. Find Elliot on LinkedIn: https://www.linked...
Nov 27, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 206
Join social scientist and poverty expert Mark Rank to discuss his recent book, "Poorly Understood: What America Gets Wrong about Poverty," and common misconceptions about being poor in the US. He explains that not only do many millions find themselves in poverty today, the risk of YOU finding yourself in poverty at some point during your life is surprisingly high. We consider poverty statistics, policies, the economic cost of poverty, and why it—and the myths around it—persists. An accessible an...
Nov 20, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 205
Join Jenny and Jeanne Abel as they discuss the life work of hoaxer Alan Abel, the genius behind such pranks as The Society for Indecency to Nude Animals, the fainting incident on Phil Donahue, presidential candidate Yetta Bronstein, Omar's School for Beggars, and mockumentaries, such as Is There Sex After Death . Daughter Jenny and wife Jeanne describe Alan's early career and progression into comedy, as well as the documentary Abel Raises Cain , which Jenny created with Jeff Hockett and which wo...
Nov 13, 2021•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 204
Music with the Michiganders Jennifer, Bill, and Doug discuss their first memories of music and early influences that turned them into giant life-long music fans, starting with bubblegum music and novelty songs. They talk about the importance of friends, a band’s covers, and passion versus production. They also celebrate the breakdown of musical genres and the many ways to access and discover music now, even if we have to work a little harder to discover and share music now. They also make some r...
Nov 07, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 203
Happy New Year, everybody. Ta-da! The new show will be called "Books, Shows, Tunes & Mad Acts." It will be classified on Podomatic under Art: Books, but if you have trouble finding it, write me at jennifer@discreetguide.com or catch me on Twitter @DiscreetGuide, and we'll hook you up. See you on the other side!
Jan 01, 2021•3 min•Ep. 202
Nick Brown is back! Former IT guy and now psychologist, Nick talks about some counter-intuitive policy changes for improving the efficiency and lowering costs of IT, by actually making users happier. It's a recognition of the importance of treating co-workers as humans instead of enemies, and an argument for a new way of thinking. This is a great episode to end our run with, as we have been moving toward these ideas over our last 200 episodes. We will have a new show in 2021, with a new format a...
Dec 30, 2020•42 min•Ep. 201
Upon the launch of their new book, Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire, join us to talk about what forces have been at work undermining public education in the US. We talk about public funding of religious schools, edupreneurs intent on pocketing tax monies, and edu-marketing, especially of online schools--all ways of diverting money away from traditional public schools--and the growing gap between privileged and disadvantaged students. We also discuss curriculum decisions and why parents migh...
Nov 17, 2020•1 hr 1 min
The Hades Factor, a bad-guys-with-a-virus story, was written by Gayle Lynds based on a treatment by Ludlum and published in 2000 shortly before his death. Ludlum wrote 21 books on his own, but his brand marches on, having produced another 26 books after his death, including 13 of the Bourne series. His decline after heart surgery and the death of his beloved longtime first wife was accelerated by an unhappy second marriage and a terrifying and mysterious house fire from which he never recovered....
Nov 15, 2020•34 min
University of Virginia professor and director of EdPolicyWorks Jim Wycoff joins us to discuss efforts to tie teacher pay to performance. Following on research about teacher effectiveness, especially in low-performing schools, Jim reviews programs in New York and Washington DC that emphasized teacher evaluation and rewarded high performance with significant financial compensation. He explains how some of those lessons learned, including discussions with teacher unions, can be transported to other...
Nov 10, 2020•57 min
Education researcher and Indiana University professor Chris Lubienski joins us to talk about what charter schools are, how they were and are created, what their promise was, how they are marketed in the US and abroad, and what the research shows about their effectiveness, especially in Indiana where the state has encouraged their formation in the name of school choice. Chris discusses Horace Mann's ideas about a Common School and how that has played out in the modern era, as well as data regardi...
Nov 03, 2020•55 min
Rebecca Makkai's 2018 book The Great Believers was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in fiction, for good reasons. It is two stories, one about the AIDS epidemic moving through a gay community in Chicago in the 80s and another of a mother searching for her daughter in Paris in 2015. The book is about death and grief, but that means it's also about love and life, and so invigorating and a reminder of how to live, now, when we are lucky enough to be here at the same tim...
Nov 01, 2020•40 min
On October 16, 2020, a French history teacher was beheaded by an Islamic terrorist while walking home from school. Controversy had arisen around the teacher when he used several satirical cartoons depicting Muhammad earlier in the month in a section on free speech. Demonstrations and tributes have followed, as well as aggressive action by French authorities to identify all those involved and shut down radical Islamic organizations. That, and strong words by Macron, have been decried as Islamopho...
Oct 27, 2020•15 min
We review a virus-related thriller published in March 2020 and written by Chris Bohjalian. A beautiful cover and an intriguing beginning set in Vietnam sadly lose their momentum in this thriller which suffers from minimal character development, a weak climax, and sloppy writing, perhaps because of hurried writing. We check in on reviews from the NYT Review of Books (loved it!) and the Amazon crowd (some, not so much). We engage in an editing exercise to see how to strengthen, clarify, and tighte...
Oct 25, 2020•46 min
