Something (rather than nothing)

Olivia Dolphin is a driven content creator with a passion for storytelling and language. She is up to some wonderful things. She is a musician and singer and her publication Wizards in Space is a love-creation with deep respect for creators and their imagination."Wizards in Space is a space for wizard writers. It’s a niche community within a community, for voices and art that you don’t quite know where it belongs. This is where you belong. For wizards. In space. In this space. We’re feel makers. Let’s make people feel stuff."Olivia is a graduate  from The University of Rhode Island and makes magick in the art city named Providence, Rhode Island.https://pitchandprose.bandcamp.com/album/lion-hearted-blood

Aunia Kahn was the 2nd guest ever on the SRTN podcast and I am so pleased Aunia is back with this lovely conversation that delves into art and its ability to heal and help us persevere.Aunia Kahn is a multi-faceted creative entrepreneur and a globally awarded, collected, and exhibited figurative artist/photographer, published author, instructor, and inspirational speaker. She is also the owner of Rise Visible a full service creative digital marketing agency and Create for Healing.Her work has been in over 300+ exhibitions in over 10 countries; at places such as San Diego Art Institute, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, iMOCA, St. Louis Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Mitchell Museum, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. She has also been a guest on podcasts like Entrepreneur on Fire, with 70 million downloads & 1 million monthly listens.Aunia has curated several internationally recognized books and projects, including Silver Era Tarot, Inspirations for Survivors, Obvious Remote Chaos, Minding the Sea: Inviting the Muses Over for Tea, Avalanche of White Reason, XIII: The Art of Aunia Kahn, Witch’s Oracle and the Witch’s Oracle 2nd Edition, Moon Goddess (Modern Eden Gallery) exhibit, Tarot Under Oath (Last Rites Gallery), Lowbrow Tarot Project (La Luz De Jesus Gallery), etc.Her forthcoming projects include; An Epidemic of Retrospective, Disintegrating Stars, and the Ethereal Realms Tarot.She loves Animals, Prussian blue, Psychology, Design, Miracles, Hummingbirds & Life.https://auniakahn.com/

Liz Medina is the Executive Director of the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. She previously served as the co-chair of the Goddard College Staff Union, UAW 2322. Last year, she launched an oral history podcast called En Masse in an effort to build working-class culture. En Masse is part of the Labor Radio Network. She is also a member of DSA.https://www.enmassepodcast.com/ 

When Joyce A. Miller turned 60, her curiosity fueled the writing for her debut historical fiction novel, Joe Harris, the Moon, based on her granduncle’s life at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Her cousin, Bob Harris, who is a huge baseball fan and cares deeply about their family history, did most of the research for the story. It was a joy for Miller to piggyback on his research and dig deeper into the history of southwestern Pennsylvania and the baseball world. She wanted to unravel the truth of Joe Harris’ story through fiction.Miller retired at 60 and moved to the Church Hill section of Richmond, Virginia. She moved to Richmond to be closer to her adult children, who went to college at VCU and never returned home. She lives in renovated, red brick building that was once a 1910 industrial brush factory. Miller can almost see her Uncle Joe as a young man leaning against the massive twelve-inch by twelve-inch oak wooden pillars in her living room.Miller lives with her husband, Alan, and her retired racing greyhound, Coheed. Coheed, like all racing greyhounds, was registered with a racing name. The breeder gave him and his littermates the names of rock and roll bands, and he became CoheedandCambria. Miller just kept the Coheed part. Miller wonders if Coheed could name her, would he keep “Joyce” or name her something else.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56621068-joe-harris-the-moon

Anika Orrock is an award-winning illustrator, writer, designer, cartoonist, storyteller & author of The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and the illustrator of “Birdie Can, Too!” by Malaika Underwood.Anika’s work is included in the Society of Illustrators 62nd Annual exhibition & book and has been featured in national publications, including The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post and on NPR.Her illustration work has been commissioned by The Worcester Art Museum, National Pastime Museum, ABC News & FiveThirtyEight, Merrill Lynch, Resy & American Express, The International Women's Baseball Center, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association, Major League Baseball organizations and international sports publications, as well as by a variety of musicians and record labels. https://www.anikaorrock.com/

With her ever-growing and enthusiastic fan base, Portland-based pop-soul singer-songwriter Laryssa Birdseye is probably most known for her emotionally- powerful, sometimes scathing “break-up” songs. Laryssa’s ballads and pop anthems effortlessly tap into the universal psyche of women her age around the world who have all experienced heights and pitfalls in that rocky battlefield called love.But, Laryssa’s innate talent as a songwriter, accomplished vocalist and skilled instrumentalist prove she’s much more than just the latest incarnation of an eternally lovelorn female pop artist. She builds a depth into her songs and live performances inspired by soul and folk/roots influences, without taking herself too seriously while letting her decidedly wicked sense of humor shine. All-in-all, one could say Laryssa is a next-gen musical artist with a dirty mouth and a heart of gold. Vocally, she’s been in line with the likes of Norah Jones (perhaps with an itty-bitty anger problem), and has been known to elicit comparisons to hit-maker pop sensibilities of singer-songwriters Katy Perry, Pink, and Adele. Laryssa will have you shouting right along with her during one of her empowering anthems, yet can also emotionally-clutch you in the palm of her hand during a somber, intensely moving ballad. Along the way, listeners should be prepared to laugh - a lot, and to feel - a lot. Backed by her dedicated full band, Laryssa has been gaining recognition as a rising star in her home turf of the Pacific Northwest and – increasingly – the West Coast and wide World beyond. Her 2nd official album, 'Press Play', is a concept EP exploring grief -and its different stages - and was released late 2019. A prolific live show performer, fans can catch her while touring regularly up and down the West Coast and other cities.This episode features the tracks 'Shame' and 'Barely Friends.'https://www.patreon.com/laryssabirdseye 

The Music Episode 🎼 Music from: Kym Gouchie SpaaceweedKinneret Ely  Peter Sund  Well Bred Mongrels Theo B. VeeusGreg Clifford

Ricardo Levins Morales is an artist and organizer based in Minneapolis. He uses his art as a form of political medicine to support individual and collective healing from the injuries and ongoing reality of oppression.He was born into the anti-colonial movement in his native Puerto Rico and was drawn into activism in Chicago when his family moved there in 1967.Ricardo left high school early and worked in various industries, and over time began to use his art as part of his movement work. This activism has included support work for the Black Panthers and Young Lords and participating in or acting in solidarity with farmers, environmental, labor, racial justice, antiwar and other struggles for peoples empowerment. He was a founding member of the Northland Poster Collective (1979-2009).He also leads workshops on creative organizing, social justice strategy and sustainable activism, and mentors and supports organizers. The worker members of RLM Art Studio are represented by the Newspaper and Communications guild/CWA.Ricardo’s work is widely used by grassroots movements, organizations and communities.https://www.rlmartstudio.com/

Emily Coupe is an Australian born Eurasian actress, singer, model, and film producer who has worked consistently in both Australia and Los Angeles.   Emily's 1st acting credits include a co-star role on Channel 10's 'Offspring' and lead in short films ‘Heavy Tackle’, ‘The Story of Jack’, ‘I Remember The Future’, & ‘Cybersmart’ directed by Tropfest award winner Chris Benz. She made her theatre debut in the sold out season of 'Tales of a City by the Sea' At La Mama Courthouse.  She has recently been cast as the lead in feature films 'The New Hands', 'Lilith', 'House Bound' and 'Dark Haven', as well as booked co-star roles on A&E's Cold Case Files and Netflix's Corrupt Crimes. She also appeared in the latest online McDonalds Commercial. Emily recently completed feature film The Crossroads in Arizona, in which she played one of the leads, and is co-writing/producing the music. Emily is also developing multiple pilots/feature length projects through her company Couped Up Entertainment. She has been cast in upcoming film 'The Locket' shooting mid May 2021.  She released her first album 'Revolutuon' in late 2019. In the past couple of years Emily has also played over 100 gigs at various venues around L.A, including to 3,000+ people at Warner Center Park & sold out show at The Viper Room.She is signed with music management co. Sparam Entertainment.http://www.emilycoupe.com/

This episode is a Team-Up including Martin Michaud-Couch, Sean Wynn, Ethan Slayton and Ken Volante. Featuring the following characters - Conan, Spider-Man, Shang Chi, Nick Fury, The Punisher, Gwen Stacy, The Green Goblin, and so much more!The premise is that we each describe a WHAT IF issue of Marvel Comics. What If comics explore different chains of causality in Marvel Comics in order to entertain alternate realities. These comics are really strange and run from the profound to the half-assed.Strap yourself in for this carnival ride. 4 issues of WHAT IF. 4 geeks recording in the pure and natural environs of Portland, Oregon USA. This episode was deeply fun and it is still tough to believe that this team was able to sit down together for the first time, in the same spot, EVER.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10168312/ 

“My name is Gabriel Valentin and when it comes to comics and video games, I am a hopeless romantic. I’m talking rose petals on the bed, champagne in the ice bucket and of course a little bit of mood lighting before I stock up on potions and head into the next dungeon. My deepest passions have forever been music and storytelling. I’ve spent over a decade touring, working with writers and assisting music producers in their recording sessions. In 2014 I decided to unite my loves of music and storytelling together, to create the live art show known as Digital Lizards Of Doom. It has and always will be a love letter to the sci-fi/fantasy genre. At every D.L.O.D. performance I feature silly songs that build upon the world of the two main characters, a heroic lizard named Dizzy Doom and an evil robot named Commander E.K.O. Within the first year of D.L.O.D.’s conception, I had completed three national tours, was showcased on six different cable networks, secured a record deal with Noize Cartel Records and was asked to create a pop culture YouTube series for Meltdown Comics and Collectibles, a noted Hollywood comic store. Having the chance to work with Meltdown only added fuel to my passion for the arts and gave me the ingredients needed to feed my hunger for all things nerdy. I have helped develop entertainment for channels like Nerdist, SYFY, SPIKE TV, Warner Bros and Nintendo. With all of the relationships that I have made in the entertainment industry, I sincerely believe I have the ability to work in any environment of the entertainment world, so lets get together and write another sappy love letter to all things wonderful and exciting.”https://dlodworld.com/

Kristina King is an amateur weirdo based out of Portland, Oregon. Professionally, she is a former English teacher who now manages a technical support team for a leading developer of effects plugins and 3D software. While she’s had a video camera in her hands for much of her life, she is most passionate about making community and getting folks to create together. She’s been producing for Fetus in Fetu Productions for a dozen years and will say “Yes" to any project a Fetoid asks her to take part in, whether it’s acting as a fighter in a D&D play or opening her house for some pickup shots for a schlocky vampire movie. Creating art with any medium is awesome, but it’s even better when you build relationships at the same time—at least, that’s how she copes with existential crises.

Frances McKee is a Scottish singer / songwriter best known for her work with the band, The Vaselines. Frances is also a Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher and runs her own studio at The Yoga Extension, based in Glasgow.

Betty Jaeger is a self taught vocalist and seasoned performance artist hailing from Kalispell, Montana and writes the entirety of the group‘s song repertoire. Daughter of Montana’s Poet Laureate 2017-2018, Lowell Jaeger, she is naturally groomed to be the captivating vocalist and songwriter she has become. Her own lyrics are replete with animal and nature imagery, but it’s a fairy tale more in the fashion of Grimm than Disney, with minimalistic guitar styling to accompany them. She also graces stages across the Pacific Northwest as a burlesque performer.https://www.instagram.com/peaches_von_killingsworth/

Tansi! Hello! My name is Leticia Spence, I'm from Pimicikamak and Opaskwayak Cree Nation and I am a freelance graphic designer and illustrator based in Treaty One territory. I specialize in branding and campaign work, package and logo design for both print and social media and I occasionally dabble with website development. I am passionate about coming up with creative solutions and marketing strategies to visually communicate with your target audience. I have a large focus on Indigenous designs and I am passionate about delivering well researched, authentic and visually strong work to my clients.https://globalnews.ca/tag/leticia-spence/

Dylan Jett is a self-taught pianist, singer, songwriter, rapper, producer and performer from Melbourne, Australia. With an equal passion for music and acting, starring alongside Russell Crowe, Olga Kuylenko, Jai Courtney, Isabelle Lucas, Steve Bastoni and Ryan Corr in ‘The Water Diviner’, Dylan plans to take the music and acting worlds by storm!https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6146828/

Born and based in Seattle, Raven Juarez is a contemporary native artist, teacher, and presenter.Juarez attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY and spent a year abroad in Florence, Italy, to study painting, drawing, print-making as well as Italian art and film history. She graduated in 2013 with a BA in the liberal arts, with concentrations in Child Psychology/Development and Visual Arts. Raven’s work is characterized by intricate designs blending the abstract into symbolic meaning to tell her stories. Created in a process Raven describes as “conversations with herself”, her pieces offer a glimpse into her subconscious and conscious wantings, wonderings, memories, and dreams. In 2015, her first solo exhibition, Don't Touch, was in Brooklyn, NY, at The One Well in Greenpoint.Since returning to the Pacific North West, Juarez's recent work has been shown in Tacoma and Seattle.https://yehawshow.com/artists/raven-juarez

Graig Kreindler grew up in Rockland County, New York. In 2002, he graduated with Honors from the School of Visual Arts in New York City with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. His award-winning sports work has appeared in juried shows and museums across the United States, and has been featured in nationally-distributed books, newspapers, magazines, on the Internet and television. To Graig, no other sport embodies the relationship between generations and the sense of community like baseball. His goal is to portray the national pastime in an era when players were accessibly human, and the atmosphere of a welcoming ballpark was just as important as what happened on the field. He is proud to act as a visual historian, recreating a history that he has never experienced, yet, like millions of fans, maintains a profound connection with.https://www.graigkreindler.com/

Brandi Milne is an American painter. Born and raised in Anaheim California in the late 1970's, Milne's surrounding world of classic cartoons, toys, candies, Disneyland and joyous family Holidays fascinated and deeply influenced her young imagination. Self-taught and emotionally driven, Brandi's work speaks of love, loss, pain and heartbreak underneath a beautiful candy-coated surface.  Using elements as language from her child's mind, Brandi creates a unique surreal world that is undeniably hers.  Brandi's work is celebrated and supported in fine art galleries and museums internationally and across the US, and has been featured in both written and online publications such as Hi Fructose & Bizarre Magazine.  She published her first book So Good For Little Bunnies in 2008 and her second, Frohlich, in 2014, both with Baby Tattoo Books.  Brandi has collaborated with many companies including Hurley, Billabong, Disney, Sugarpill Cosmetics and Acme Film Works for CVS Pharmacy. Brandi is pleased to present her new exhibition  —— October 29, 2022 at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. http://www.brandimilne.com 

Emily Somoskey is a 2-D mixed media artist and painter from Northeast Ohio. She pursued a BA in Art Education/Painting at The University of Akron in Akron, OH (2013) and her MFA at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, MI (2020).  Emily is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in Painting at Whitman College, in Walla Walla, WA.Emily’s mixed-media paintings use representational and abstract methods to explore the ways we simultaneously experience physical and mental space. On a material level, her work is largely built through layering paint and various forms of photographic imagery.  These disparate mediums collectively create a complex and nuanced language that weave together moments of clarity and ambiguity. Through her work she references the shifting and overlapping nature of our experience with the sensate and psychological realms; giving form to the complexity, instability, and enigmatic nature of our lived experiences.https://www.emilysomoskey.com/

Clementine Hage is a photographer located in Portland, Oregon. She focuses on music documentation, as well as queer themes of identity in her personal work. In any work she makes, Clementine aims to capture emotion and vulnerability in its raw form while emulating the beauty of a single moment. https://clementinehage.com/

Taylor Dean tsi dsdaʔ. pastəd čəd. spuyaləpabš čəd. ʔaciłtalbixʷ čəd.  My name is Taylor Dean.  I am white, I am a Puyallup, I am Native American.  I am in a unique position to critique the colonization of America from both a colonized and colonizer perspective.  My art work explores this duality via performance, installation, sculpture, and printmaking. https://taylorartdean.wixsite.com/website/bio

Melissa Oliveri is a multi-disciplinary artist who came to Minneapolis, MN from Montreal, Canada in 2006, bringing with her an eclectic mix of both French- and English- Canadian cultures. A born creator, Melissa has been writing stories, drawing, and playing music since childhood. Her most recent endeavour is a podcast called The Skylark Bell, which she writes, records, narrates, hosts, and produces. A large part of the podcast is the original music that accompanies most episodes, all which is composed, performed, and recorded by Melissa under her stage name Cannelle, the French word for cinnamon, which was partly inspired by the colour of her hair. Melissa’s diverse musical influences range from Alternative music like Pixies and PJ Harvey, to French artists like France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, and Jean Leloup, and women songwriters like Regina Spektor, Imogen Heap, Tori Amos, and Amanda Palmer. Having experienced an important loss as a child and lived through the grief that ensued, her art often tug on the heartstrings, but she can also write about everyday life situations from a humorous angle. Whether playing a silly song about her favourite snacks, dreaming about living among palm trees, or softly singing an ode to a departed loved one, her songs and stories will make you feel exactly what she wants you to feel.https://melissaoliveri.com/

“Disrupting the Canon” investigates how four women of colour use their practices to disrupt a predominantly Eurocentric, male art narrative. The goal behind this exhibition and presentation is bigger than diversifying the canon, which can still leave artists of colour and women on the margins. Rather, this discussion is part of the huge project of deconstructing the racist and sexist tendencies of our societal and institutional structures with the aim of building a new foundation of multiplicity. Natalia Arbelaez, Magdolene Dykstra, Habiba El-Sayed, and Heidi McKenzie work to fashion a more egalitarian canon through artistic practices that delve into diverse histories.

Dakota Noot is a Los Angeles-based artist and curator. He uses drawings, paintings, and installations to create animal-human hybrids that explore rural yet fantastical, queer identities. Originally from Bismarck, North Dakota, he continues to show in both North Dakota and Los Angeles, including solo and two-person shows at Highways Performance Space, MuzeuMM, and PØST. Noot has exhibited in group shows at Charlie James Gallery, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Torrance Art Museum (FORUM. 2019; MAS-ATTACK, 2016), and “Queer Biennial: What if Utopia?” at LAST Projects. His series of cutout drawing-installations have been shown at LA Freewaves, Cerritos College Art Gallery, and Otis College. Noot graduated with a BFA in Visual Arts from the University of North Dakota (2015) and an MFA from Claremont Graduate University (2017). He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Oxnard College and Orange Coast College. Along with Christopher Velasco, he co-founded the nomadic curatorial project Scream Queen. He was the key artist for the 2018 Slamdance Film Festival. https://www.dakotanoot.com/

Amy Guidry (b. 1976, Jacksonville, N.C.) is an American artist residing in Lafayette, Louisiana. She grew up in Slidell, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. Guidry comes from a family of artists including the late painter Eleanor Norcross. She studied at Loyola University of New Orleans where she received her Bachelor's degree in Visual Arts in 1998. She was the recipient of the Loyola University Art Scholarship, which is awarded to only one student per graduating class. Guidry’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationwide including the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Aljira a Center for Contemporary Art, Brandeis University, the PhilaMOCA, the Paul & Lulu Hilliard Art Museum, and the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Her work is present in public and private collections throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia; including the Alexandria Museum of Art, The City of Slidell, and the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Guidry’s paintings have been featured in publications such as American Artist, Adbusters, and American Art Collector as well as online features such as Hi-Fructose and the Huffington Post. Her work has also been featured on MTV’s The Real World, Season 20: Hollywood. She is represented in New Orleans by LeMieux Galleries.www.amyguidry.com

SRTN welcomes Charlie French!“Yes, I have Down syndrome, but first I want you to see me: Charlie French. And then I want you to see my art. I am an abstract artist. I am an intuitive artist.  I embrace a blank canvas with a sense of wonder and adventure. I work hard, I keep learning but mostly I let go, be FREE and have FUN.Special thanks to guest co-host Karen French.The Questions:Question 5: what or who made you who you are?My imagination. It is always with me. It is me. And I’m a funny guy.Question 7: why is there something rather than nothing?I don’t like nothing. I like lots of somethings. And my imagination gives me lots. I happily paint on a big white canvas of nothing. My imagination creates lots of somethings! So I will keep painting!Question 1: were you an artist when you were born?yepQuestion 2: let’s chat about your artwork, your paintingOK! My website: www.justcharliefrench.org is a portfolio of my art. This is where you can see a lot of my art. My series.At first these paintings were BIG. But now I paint these on fine art paper. Some days I like to be FREE when I paint, and some days I love to follow a routine.These paintings follow a process now: tape the paper, use titan buff and white high flow for a base coat, choose high flow colors and add with a scraper and water spray. Keep adding colors until I am happy. Let dry, and then add the black lines using my template and a bigger scraper. And that’s it. Morning in Paris. I have 10 new ones coming out this summer, and I am learning how to make prints for an on-line shop. It is not as easy as painting.My Instagram followers really like my Morning in Paris series. During Covid my little brother Will was staying with us. We watched a movie from when we were little kids: Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We lived in Europe and have visited Paris many times. I love Paris. And so I started painting Notre Dame with my brother. It was a lot of fun.And one more series I love is my Squares series. There is something about squares that makes me feel good. I love shapes. But my favorite is the square. I love using big brushes to make big square designs. And also using pencils.More recently, I painted The Muffin Man paintings. These are about muffins. I love muffins. Even gluten free muffins! I was laughing so hard when I painted these that I had to sit down one time.I really hope my paintings help people see my happiness.I have a lot more series. I paint what is in my mind. What makes me feel good. I just let go and be free. So, for example, when it was snowy and cold, I painted a new series called Snowy Day. How could I paint snow? Well, I used one of my favorite tools: high flow white acrylic paint. I pour it from the top of the canvas and swipe down with a big sponge. Beautiful snow.I went to Mexico after my vaccines. And I have been working on this series, but using white textured bubbles instead of dark fathoms. I loved watching and touching the white bubbles in the ocean. It’s beautiful.My favorite series is In the fathoms below. These paintings are about the beginning of The Little Mermaid Disney movie. The sky, the sea, the birds and the ship in the dark fathoms below! This always makes me laugh. It makes me happy. I play the music when I paint this series. I love it!So first is my Imagination. These are paintings from my mind. They are inspired by music, water, food, movies, shapes. They are inspired by things that make me happy.http://www.justcharliefrench.org/

A warm welcome to Elizabeth BestonHer artist statement gives a wonderful introduction to her explorations:We often associate the microscopic world as looking inwards, and downwards (as opposed to space, which is felt of as an outward, expansive pursuit). Through my photographic work, I want to challenge this paradigm, using the microscope as a platform for connecting to something bigger than us – after all, in H.G. Wells’ ‘War of the Worlds’ it wasn’t the power of the humans that won earth it’s victory, it was microbes, unseen by us on our plane of vision, but there nonetheless, mightier than any army. Through my microscope, I am invited into new galaxies, and whilst I use my instrument for scientific exploration, I also find abstract and aesthetic beauty – mysterious landscapes, intriguing textures, and depths of colour. It is these fascinating discoveries I want to share with the world, and show the beauty under a microscope through visceral eyes.https://www.instagram.com/elizabethbeston/

For over a decade, Zoë Presley has guided individuals, couples and groups in cultivating wellbeing. Trained as a Depth Psychotherapist and Forest Therapy Guide, and in Transcendental Meditation, her approach inspires heart-centered healing, self-knowledge and connection to the natural world. She has served as a wilderness guide, eco-therapist, author, meditation teacher, and lecturer. In addition to her private psychotherapy practice, she offers guided Forest Therapy walks in the Portland area. https://www.zoepresley.com

Audrey Martinovich is a recording engineer and producer that specializes in acoustic music such as classical, jazz, and folk. She co-owns & engineers at a recording studio in Madison, Wisconsin called Audio for the Arts and produces podcasts. She has been working in audio for eight years and has been a full-time studio owner & recording engineer for three years. She has recently worked with The Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, and artists Johannes Wallman & Sam Ness. She produces the Big Wild Radio Show every week, which reaches over 100,000 listeners and has engineered remote guests for podcasts such as Alan Alda’s podcast, Pod Save America, NPR’s A1, & Terrible, Thanks for Asking.https://soundgirls.org/audrey-martinovich-studio-owner-recording-engineer-producer/

Eric Lotke has worked for, with and against labor unions. Early in his career he did advocacy in the criminal legal system, researching problems and proposing solutions that all reached the same conclusion – we lock up too many people (especially people of color) and don’t do enough to keep people safe. His work includes the book, The Real War on Crime, and the studies such as Hobbling a Generation, The Tipping Point and Prisoners of the Census. An attorney, Lotke sued private prison companies and departments of corrections over the excessive price of prison phone calls and other conditions of confinement. During this time, police and corrections unions were usually on the opposing side. Lotke spent the next several years as research director of a think tank, the Campaign for America’s Future in Washington DC, researching and writing about kitchen table economics – including health care, manufacturing and clean energy. Now he often found himself on the union side – the folks who brought us the weekend. Eventually he decided to join the union team. He worked first for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU, “Justice for Janitors”) and most recently the National Education Association. He spends most of his time fighting against the privatization of public education and in favor of higher pay for educators everywhere. Lotke is the author of three novels, Union Made (about the criminal legal system), Making Manna (about labor unions) and 2044: The Problem isn’t Big Brother, it’s Big Brother, Inc. (sequel to Orwell’s 1984). Before any of that, as readers of Making Manna may guess, Lotke earned his living as a chef.https://ericlotke.com/

For this episode we visit with Danish artist and musician Peter Sund.    Lunau & Sund songwriting is inspired by a beautiful mix of Nordic hymns and songs mixed with folk and Americana. You could call the style Nordicana.  Trine Lunau (vocal, accordion) and Peter Sund (guitars, vocal) have been playing together and writing music for 18 years. Their performance and connection on stage are second to none. Their concerts are built up around their voices and guitar and the music is supported by humors tales and anecdotes about the duo’s life and their sources of creative inspiration.      Lunau & Sund has for many years been playing concerts in Denmark. They have since extensively been working on building an audience in Sweden. This has resulted in several tours in Sweden, the latest in March/April. In addition to Sweden, several other European countries have been visited in recent years, such as Germany, Estonia, Greece, Switzerland and Italy.    In 2019, Lunau  & Sund played to the delight of Rhode Islanders in Newport.   http://www.lunau-sund.dk/  

Paige Pettibon is an artist based in Tacoma, Washington. Her medium focus is acrylic painting, but has extended to fiber art, beadwork, and other media.     Paige is black, white, and Salish (from the Confederated Salish and Kootenei Tribes). Paige is influenced by her native northwest community by learning the Lushootseed language, tribal songs, dances and traditions.https://www.paigepettibon.com/

Nickolas Rossi is a New York City based director & cinematographer. He attended Columbia College in Chicago for fine art photography and graduated from Portland State University with a degree in Sociology. Following university he lived and worked in Montréal, London, Prague and Los Angeles. With nearly 20 years experience behind the camera, Nickolas has worked extensively across the world shooting narrative, documentary, commercial, and branded content projects. As a DOP / director, his work has screened at top-tier festivals including AFI DOCS, Melbourne International, IDFA, CPH:DOX, SFIFF, Sundance, and DOC NYC, as well as broadcast and VOD platforms such as PBS Independent Lens, The Sundance Channel, IFC, Amazon, Netflix, and MTV/ LOGO. His non-fiction film work includes the award-winning feature documentaries, “ADJUST YOUR COLOR"(2008) by Loren Mendell, "THE SHERIFF" (2020) by Grace Sweeney, Netflix’s “MERCURY 13” (2018) by David Sington & Heather Walsh, and “THE POWER OF TWO"(2011), the directorial debut of Academy Award® nominated producer, Marc Smolowitz. Nickolas’ cinematography has also been featured in John Maloof's 2013 Oscar nominated documentary, “FINDING VIVIAN MAIER", “THE FEAR OF 13" (2015) by David Sington, “UPSTAIRS INFERNO” (2014) by Robert L. Camina, and Lance Bang’s “INSIDE PORTLANDIA” (2012)for IFC. His directorial debut 'Heaven Adores You' (2015) about musician Elliott Smith, made its premiere in 2014 and screened at over 40 festivals across 5 continents. http://heavenadoresyou.com/

Soprano Kinneret Ely is a freelance opera singer based in New York City and Tel Aviv.Kinneret covered the roles of Anna in Catalani’s Loreley and the Fata Azzurra in Respighi’s La Bella Dormente nel Bosco in Teatro Grattacielo’s 25th Anniversary Concert in September 2019. She sang the role of Violetta in La Traviata in July 2018 at the Jerusalem International Opera Masterclass (JIOM), and at their gala concert with the Israel Netanya Kibbutz Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Tiberiu Soare. Kinneret then rejoined Teatro Grattacielo for their film production of Giordano’s Fedora as Un Piccolo Savoiardo, and covering the role of Dimitri. She also sang in their virtual concert with the Camerata Bardi Vocal Academy in April 2020. She was a semifinalist in both the Premiere Opera Foundation + NYIOP International Vocal Competition, and the Rochester International Vocal Competition in 2020. She also competed in the Bolshoi Young Artists Opera Program Auditions in 2019, the Montserrat Caballé International Competition in Zaragoza in 2014, and was a semifinalist in the 2013 Jenny Lind Competition. Her YouTube channel has more than 29,000 views. She studied Italian at the Società Dante Alighieri in Siena, French at the Alliance Française in Paris, German at the Goethe Institut in Berlin, and Russian at the Derzhavin Institute in St. Petersburg. https://www.youtube.com/user/KinneretEly

A wonderful conversation with the talented Irish musical artist GREG CLIFFORDClifford’s style is an authentic synthesis of Indie-pop rock fused with electronic aspects and ‘classical’ guitar fingerpicking. In 2017 he released an LP entitled ‘Quodlibet’, as well as playing 17 gigs across Ireland as part of a 3-act showcase called the ‘Back to Basics Tour.' Since then he has gone on to release his second album 20/20 Vision. As well as touring throughout Ireland and internationally with his own music, Clifford is also an established arranger and producer. He has scored for and performed with the RTE Concert Orchestra in a sold-out National Concert Hall and holds a Masters in contemporary composition. Enjoy the hit song 'Long Lost Friend' included in this episode.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExO4w-mqC28

The up and coming Portland-based garage-psych punk band, Spoon Benders released their debut album ‘Dura Mater’  in May 2020. Inspired by bands such as Goggs, the Pleasure Seekers, Black Sabbath, Thee Oh Sees, and the Stooges, they have managed to create a diverse and highly dynamic sound that promises to hold your undivided attention.https://www.wweek.com/music/2020/07/08/spoon-benders-music-is-inspired-by-iggy-pop-and-neuroscience/ https://www.spoonbendersband.com/

Greg Larson was a starry-eyed fan when he hurtled headfirst into professional baseball. As the new clubhouse attendant for the Aberdeen IronBirds, a Minor League affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, Larson assumed he’d entered a familiar world. He thought wrong.  He quickly discovered the bizarre rituals of life in the Minors: fights between players, teammates quitting in the middle of the games, doomed relationships, and a negligent parent organization. All the while, Larson, fresh out of college, harbored a secret wish. Despite the team’s struggles and his own lack of baseball talent, he yearned to join the exclusive fraternity of professional ballplayers.   Instead, Larson fell deeper into his madcap venture as the scheming clubbie. He moved into the clubhouse equipment closet, his headquarters to swing deals involving memorabilia, booze, and loads of cash. By his second season, Larson had transformed into a deceptive, dip-spitting veteran, now fully part of a system that exploited players he considered friends.  Like most Minor Leaguers, the gravitational pull of baseball was still too strong for Larson—even if chasing his private dream might cost him his girlfriend, his future, and, ultimately, his love of the game. That is, until an unlikely shot at a championship gives Larson and the IronBirds one final swing at redemption. Clubbie is a hilarious behind-the-scenes tale of two seasons in the mysterious world of Minor League Baseball. With cinematic detail and a colorful cast of characters, Larson spins an unforgettable true story for baseball fans and nonfans alike.  An unflinching look at the harsh experience of professional sports, Clubbie will be a touchstone in baseball literature for years to come.https://www.clubbiebook.com/

This is a special episode with SRTN Producer and Editor Peter Bauer!This episode is quite the happening. It was recorded live at Warbling Creek Studios in the storied lands of Eugene, Oregon. Peter and I talked about the podcast, about music and philosophy. We reflect on the show, where it came from and where it is going. Peter is a painter, an adventurer, a musical talent, a producer and editor. Listen to this all the way through!!! Peter's musical projects Blazar, Blotter Paper, and Detour can be found here - http://bit.ly/warblingcreekThe episode features two amazing exclusive tracks to this episode!!! The first track is LoFi Beat 2 (unnamed loFi project). The final face-melting extended track features the sonic journey called Blazar. The song  *Cubensie* will take you towards the Vanishing Point and when the track ends it will drop you off on Exit 42 - otherwise known as the nexus between Something and Nothing. 

Randy J Byrd was a toddler in his playpen comfortably snuggled between two 15-inch subs that blasted the likes of Ozzy, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen. Randy’s mother loved heavy music and never said he could not listen to something.Thus a Metalhead was brought into being.Randy is a photographer for the fantastic doom/metal service Doomed and Stoned which serves the varied local worldwide doom and stoner metal scenes. Randy’s images of the Metal Scene are striking and demonstrate the vibrant images in many local metal scenes.Randy is a talented musician and has delved into metal, hip-hop, and punk. We held a lively discussion about the famous Richmond, Virginia music scene which will make you very excited for some live music. We also talked about nothing, something, and being.Enjoy the music.Metal Horns up in the air.https://www.instagram.com/rivercitydoomconsulate/

Buddy Nestor is an abstract painter who strikes a strange new chord with portraiture. Using photographs he takes of beautiful women, he creates grotesque, distorted creatures, their features uncomfortably recognizable within the melting forms, slashes and swirls of Buddy’s abstraction.“These physical and psychological images are my attempt to capture the true nature of humanity. They are spiritual X-Rays. The models that I use in my work are all beautiful women. However, there is nothing beautiful about the portraits I create.”Mr. Nestor was born and raised in Collingswood, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, PA. As an only child “Latch Key Kid”, he spent endless hours in front of the television, watching movies and drawing and gravitating toward strange cult and horror films. In 1999, he traveled around the world on an aircraft carrier, and painted everyday. He received his B.A in Fine Arts shortly after his return to the States.https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/the-art-of-buddy-nestor/ 

Metra Mitchell received her early training at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY where she earned her Bachelor's of Fine Art in Painting and Minor in Art History on a full art scholarship in 2006. She later was awarded a teaching assistant ship from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO where she pursued her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2008.Metra's works have been exhibited in many galleries including: Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH, PhD Gallery in St. Louis, MO, St. Louis Artist Guild, Art St. Louis Gallery, Cinema Gallery in Urbana, IL and The Foundry Art Center in St. Charles, MO. Institutions that have exhibited her paintings include University of Alaska- Anchorage, Susquehanna University, Northern Kentucky University, University of South Alabama, Western Kentucky University, Fontbonne University, World Trade Center in St. Louis and The Regional Commerce and Growth Association of St. Louis. She has also exhibited internationally in Eme' Exposition Internationale at the Centre Culturel et de la Vie Associative Villeurbanne in Lyon, France.In an exhibition entitled "Master PiecesMetra's works were highlighted by Cincinnati's cultural magazine City Beat as "exploring the nude figure while relishing the paint in rich colors and bold strokes. The subject's gaze- or in one decapitated instance, lack of one- and the inclusion of a single object create a haunting effect."She has given lectures on her work and process at several events including PhD Gallery's One Year Anniversary, Opening Night of Gunther Van Hagan's Bodyworlds at St. Louis Science Center and St. Louis Community College at Forest Park's annual City Art Speak. Metra has taught Figure Drawing II/III at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, Drawing I at St. Charles Community College and Drawing I/II at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. She is currently teaching Drawing II, III, Advanced Drawing, and Design I at Forest Park along with Art Appreciation at St. Charles and Maryville University. Her role as teacher has opened up a new vein in her work, something that she is just beginning to explore.https://metramitchell.com/

For this episode of Something (rather than nothing) we engage with the talented music artist and activist Laura Hopkins. Hopkins discusses her classical piano training, writing songs, growing up around music, playing guitar and creating some ‘louder’ music.Hopkins exquisite work with the band Death Parade straddles wide emotional terrain and floats into space only to be brought back in and grounded in our beautiful and strange world.We grapple with life, death, something and nothing. The soundtrack to this episode includes the music tracks Ghostworld and women of the internet (woti)https://deathparadepdx.bandcamp.com/album/it-was-worth-it-to-love-though-it-hurt-so-bad

Ghost Frog are four humanoids from planet Earth who started to make strange sounds together in the winter of star date 2013 in Portland, OR, USA. This interstellar transmission captured the words of Humanoids Quinn Schwartz and Karl Beheim.They play heavy psychedelic stoner grunge that combines doomy riffs with punk energy and otherworldly melodies while exploring themes derived from sci-fi/ horror film and literature, as well as all things spacey and/ or spooky. The result is what they call “paranormal stoner punk,” a retrofuturistic brand of nebulous noise rock that sounds like it was made by angry aliens on acid.https://ghostfrog.bandcamp.com/album/astral-arcade

Ever since she was a little kid drawing ghosts and graveyards at her desk in her parents’ basement, MELISSA ALFORD wanted to be an artist. Always a fan of the weird and the macabre, she discovered her love of sequential art through artists like Gary Larson and Charles Addams. Melissa went on to get her BFA in sequential art from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and has worked as a freelance illustrator and comic artist ever since. Working primarily in pen and ink, her work focuses on themes of finding beauty in the darkness, of working through challenging emotions with art, and of course, not forgetting her artistic roots, the occasional homage to vintage horror. Melissa was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and after having lived away for several years, has once again settled in The City of Roses.https://www.melliferaarts.com/

"New perspectives can spring up from within the most insignificant everyday moments. A private photograph, a newspaper article or even a still frame of a movie can be the medium for another dimension. All these are raw materials for me, which I gradually release from any unnecessary feature that traps them into the optically compatible world. My aim is for my images to have a universality that goes beyond the context of a particular place, time or person." Kiki Kolympari was born 1974 in Nuremberg where she lived and worked for many years. She studied Visual Arts at the School of Fine Arts in Athens from 2012 to 2017. During her studies she also completed the following courses:  Byzantine Iconography, Fresco painting, Encaustic, Ceramic sculpturing and Art Theory. She graduated with an MFA Honours Degree. She currently lives and works in Athens.https://kikikolympari.wixsite.com/kikikolympari

Jainam Jhaveri is a graduate in business management and degreed in software programming. Jainam started working when he was fifteen years old and worked in multiple corporate companies in fields like content writing, marketing and sales, software programming, administration work. In 2015, his father passed away and he took over the family business. Jainam says:"Somehow I randomly came to know about Astrology and it was very intriguing, though I did not believe in it first - but by studying it and applying it - I realized how accurate it is. Then came the love of my life and that is Philosophy. I started studying Vedanta, Buddhism and Jainism."Join 'Philosopher Jay' from Mumbai, India and host Ken Volante to learn about philosophical traditions of India and their commentaries on something, nothing, nonduality and the nature of being and becoming.https://www.instagram.com/philosopherjay/

Turkish artist, İlay Karabay Solaklı graduated from economics and spent her former years working in corporate companies and government institutions. Realizing that this lifestyle isn't satisfactory enough for her she decided to follow her childhood passion, which is painting.   The self-taught artist mostly uses acrylic and nail polish in her paintings. She believes that paintings should give people positive and calm energy, thoughts, and feelings therefore she states that color composition is the most important aspect.   Started from drawing doodles and comics, eventually, she ended up doing abstract paintings. “It’s more freeing and limitless, you can use any type of medium and draw what's inside your mind and heart without any limit,” says the artist.She also believes that talent itself is not enough to achieve your goals in the art industry. You need dedication, hard work, and most importantly creativity, so you can be original and stand out from the rest. "Basically, I paint my feelings. :)  All of them. All the time. And i like to share them with everyone. Enjoy."https://www.arteilay.com/

Vincente DiSanti Founder / Producer / Director WOMP STOMP filmsVincente DiSanti moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and has since worked in several aspects of the film industry including live-action, feature animation, story development, voice acting, visual FX, commercials, and much more. A jack of all trades, Vincente is best known for his directorial work on Never Hike Alone (2017), Never Hike in the Snow (2020), Imagine (2018), The Red Room (2015), and starring as Michael Myers in The Spirit of Haddonfield (2018). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5719786/

Ken Volante has been asking questions of SRTN guests for awhile. In this special episode, Rachel Lally, podcast host of Six of One and Half a Dozen of the Other returns to ask the SRTN host the baffling questions he usually advantages himself of.  Ken Volante is a labor activist. Volante is originally from Pawtucket, RI which is known as the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. He has worked on behalf of working people for a quarter century and was involved in the beginning stages of The Wisconsin Revolt. He holds degrees in English literature and Philosophy from The University of Rhode Island, an M.A. in Philosophy from Marquette University, a M.S. in Labor Studies from The University of Massachusetts - Amherst.  He has worked as a grocery clerk, a bookstore clerk, a University Professor and a union representative.  His creative endeavors include hosting the podcast 'Something (rather than nothing)', painting in an abstract style, writing short pieces and he has recently started doing short documentaries.  Volante is influenced by the following artists: Kathy Acker, Nikolai Gogol, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Plato, Immanuel Kant, Jesus Christ, Stanley Kubrick, Polly Jean Harvey Andrei Tarkovsky, The Buddha, William Faulkner, David Lynch, Taylor Swift, The Cure, Neurosis, Neutral Milk Hotel, Weedeater. (((Remember, every list you write will be incomplete)))  This episode is dedicated to my lovely parents Kenny Sr. and Patricia :-)