Episodes
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with acclaimed violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman. Scheinman has produced several critically acclaimed solo albums, including 12 Songs, named one of the Top Ten Albums of 2005 by The New York Times. She has played with Norah Jones, Nels Cline, Lou Reed, Ani Difranco, Aretha Franklin, Lucinda Williams, Bono, Bill Frisell, and Allison Miller. For years, Scheinman nursed the idea of a musical homage to Humboldt, in particular the area known as the Lost Coast, a remote, earthquake and mudslide-prone region of coastal northern California, where she was raised. She considered the project from many angles. That idea has come to fruition in the form of her latest album entitled All Species Parade, the focus of this episode. All Species Parade is an epic and sprawling double album with an A-list ensemble, featuring guitarists Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and Nels Cline, pianist Carmen Staaf, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Though the album does evoke a sense of pastoral wonder, it also strives to capture in Jenny’s words, “a charged relationship to nature, a feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves, powerful, and fragile, and constantly changing. Something alive. With All Species Parade, I set out to musically reflect that experience of awe.” In this episode host Michael Shields and Jenny Scheinman discuss how nature, and a personal musical challenge of Jenny’s regarding song length and breadth, inspired the soundscapes found on All Species Parade. They talk about the outstanding grouping of players on the album, how Jenny paid tribute to the Wiyot Tribe with the song “Jaroujiji,” what the true meaning of the song “Shutdown Stomp” actually is, and so much more.
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with director James Kicklighter and political analyst / producer Guy Tal Seemann. Kicklighter spent the first eighteen years of his life in Bellville, Georgia, population 123. Since then, he has gone on to become an award-winning director and producer of narrative films, documentaries, and advertising. His latest film, The American Question — the focus of this episode — seeks to answer the pressing question: can America rediscover its unifying values and restore trust among its people? The captivating documentary is narrated by political analyst Guy Tal Seemann who has worked in government and campaigns since the age of 16. He is an entrepreneur and community leader. He was a political journalist for a year and a half and worked in the U.S. Senate as an aid. He worked on Middle East national security strategy while in the Israeli government and most recently became an entrepreneur by developing his own startup company in drug discovery and a nonprofit in the performing arts.
Examining the heart of a divided America, The American Question explores the historical and contemporary factors that have eroded our trust in our neighbors, communities, institutions, and government. The film takes viewers on a journey from historical empires to pivotal moments in modern America, through an independent team’s eight-year mission to discover the forces that shaped our now divided society. The film shares personal stories from diverse Americans in swing state communities in Pennsylvania and Michigan, and analysis from leading political scientists and historians. The American Question uncovers how economic shifts like globalization and the atrophy of local communities have fragmented the national identity. In this episode host Michael Shields, James Kicklighter, and Guy Tal Seemann discuss a bevy of factors that have led to the political division that is viscerally felt in America today. James and Guy expound on what they learned in the eight years they spent talking to people on both sides of the political divide in crucial swing states while offering thoughts on potential solutions that can begin to heal a divided America, and so much more.
Streaming everywhere on October 29th. Find it Here!
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Subhadra Das who specializes in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the history of scientific racism and eugenics, and what those histories mean for our lives today. For nine years, she was Curator of the Science Collections at University College London where she was also Researcher in Critical Eugenics at the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation. Her debut novel, UNCIVILISED : Ten Lies That Made The West, is the focus of this episode. Western civilisation is a powerful brand, and full of accepted wisdoms that we rarely question. Taking cues from Greek philosophy and honed in the Enlightenment, certain notions about humanity and society grew into the tenets many of us still live by today. But if we take a closer look at these ideas, it seems they are not all they're cracked up to be. In fact, some of them are outright lies — and we can start to ask who really benefits from them. What is the value of a scientific worldview that conjured up ‘race’? Are the Western concepts of ‘saving’ and ‘wasting’ time really the best ways to live? Who are our laws actually designed to serve? And the real question: is the West as civilized as it likes to think it is? In an age of division and entrenched inequality, UNCIVILISED is a timely, provocative and entertaining counter to the ideas and assumptions that have shaped the West, exposing the fatal flaws at its core. In this episode host Michael Shields and Subhadra Das discuss Subhadra’s work with museum collections, as well as her background growing up in Abu Dhabi, which have both informed her worldview and the stories told throughout UNCIVILISED. They dig into a few of the lies that embolden the West such as ‘Knowledge is Power’, ‘Justice is Blind’, and ‘Time is Money” while also celebrating cultures (Blackfoot Nation / First Australians) that Westerners could learn a great deal from, and so much more.
Grab a copy of UNCIVILISED : Ten Lies That Made The West here!
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with A.R. Moxon, author of The Revisionaries, a genre-bending debut novel that The Washington Post said "might be the weirdest novel of the year." His weekly online newsletter, The Reframe, enjoys a readership of over 10,000 people. His latest release — Very Fine People: Confessions of an American Fool — is the focus of this episode.
For some people, the rise of Donald Trump's MAGA cult represented only ongoing proof of a supremacist nation they had endured all along. Author A.R. Moxon was not one of them. He was caught unaware. Thus begins this confession of an American fool, a methodical mapping of the nation the author failed to see — a nation of "very fine people" too convinced they are exceptionally good to acknowledge the ways they participate in abuse and harm. Very Fine People is an essay collection contemplating what to do about a populist far-right authoritarian uprising involving so many of our friends and family members. Written from 2016 to 2023, it is a work of progressing awareness, pondering the questions "how did we get here?" and "what do we do about it?" In this episode host Michael Shields and A.R. Moxon ruminate over their shared nativity about how many people in their life, and in America, are comfortable with an open white supremacist and fascist as a president of the United States, while considering how it's clear that an emboldened and vocal minority is willing to do anything to protect their supremacy. They talk about the power of love, art, and story in combating a movement riddled with hate, how being frank with language is a way to replace “current ideas with new ones,” how a hope full of rugged resolve exists within all the madness, and so much more.
Grab a copy of Very Fine People here!
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast presents an interview with New York City based musician Mike Horn, who helms the experimental folk project Seawind of Battery. Seawind just released their second album, a mesmerizing work full of gorgeous ambient and drowning soundscapes that is called East Coast Cosmic Dreamscaper. While Seawind of Battery is just a few years young, it is not Mike's first musical project. In 2017, Mike launched his indie folk solo project Goldkey, which released several impressive EP's — Background and escapes. His other musical collaborations include Static Traveler (with Eric Lense) and the psychedelic experimental rock project Sunblinders (with Eric Lense and Jeff Saltzburg). We are also thrilled to feature Jarrod Annis in this episode, a tremendous lap-steel guitar player who became an official Seawind member after he started backing Mike up at live appearances back in late ’22. In this episode host Michael Shields, Mike Horn, and Jarrod Annis discuss the evolving sound of Seawind of Battery as they wade into their sophomore release while considering the songwriting process for the songs on the album often derived from live improvisational moments. They discuss Mike and Jarrod’s shared influences and life events that have led to the birth of the project’s unique, soothing instrumental sound, and so much more.
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast presents an interview with singer / songwriter Irena Eide who goes by the stagename Rainy Eyes. A Norway Native now based in Southern Louisiana, Rainy has recently released her second album entitled Lonesome Highway, a soulful, vulnerable, and beautiful work of art that is the focus of this episode. Lonesome Highway, as the story goes, was born out of revelry and resolution in a redwood cabin tucked into the California coast, endowed with a spirit simmering in wanderlust, and ornamented with the rich traditions of the Louisiana bayou. The 11 songs that comprise the album are brimming with perseverance and perspective, written as Rainy reflected on the juxtaposition of her circumstances. As she basked in the joy of motherhood, she was simultaneously confronting a troubled relationship that had turned toxic. Lonesome Highway marks a hope-filled and assertive new beginning for Rainy Eyes, as electric guitar and drums now join fiddle and banjo. In this episode host Michael Shields and Rainy Eyes discuss Rainy’s musical and geographic journey from Norway to California to Louisiana while exploring the musical influences she acquired along the way. They dig into the ins-and-outs of her new album, exploring the weighty and relatable themes present within it, while also celebrating the collection of 70 original folk songs for children entitled Little Folkies she recently released…and so, so much more.
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast presents an interview with Alan Swyer, an award-winning filmmaker whose recent documentaries have dealt with Eastern spirituality in the Western world, the criminal justice system, diabetes, boxing, singer Billy Vera, and beyond. In the realm of music, among his productions is an album of Ray Charles love songs. His novel The Beard was recently published by Harvard Square Editions. His latest documentary, When Houston Had The Blues — the focus of this episode — shines a bright light on a vibrant Black music scene that has never gotten its just due…until now. Houston’s early and indelible mark on American music and the blues — often overlooked despite its rich history — is celebrated in the soulful, feature-length documentary, When Houston Had the Blues. While Houston may not come to most people’s minds as a major “music city” like Memphis, Chicago or New Orleans, it has a legacy that few other cities can match. Years before Elvis hit the charts with “Hound Dog,” it was originally recorded by Houston’s Big Mama Thornton (arguably the defining version). And long before Motown, Houston was home to one of the most successful Black music empires in the country. When Houston Had the Blues features an extensive collection of photos from the ’40s and ‘50s and vintage/contemporary performances by Bobby “Blue” Bland, Chic “Juke Boy” Bonner, Charles Brown, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Jewel Brown, C.J. Chenier, Arnett Cobb, Albert Collins, Diunna Greenleaf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Albert King, Freddie King, Trudy Lynn, David “Guitar Shorty” Kearney, Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, Katie Webster aka The Swamp Boogie Queen, Don Wilkerson and more. With a unique timber and flavor unlike any other town in America, even other Texan cities, Houston’s blues scene — ranging from “gut bucket” to highly sophisticated — has long been a melting pot of music, influenced by salsa, tejano, cajun, zydeco (then known as la-la), jazz, country and, later, rock ‘n’ roll.
Stream Houston Had The Blues on iTunes / Apple TV.
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Dr. Genevieve Guenther, a former Renaissance scholar who turned to climate research and activism after having a child and becoming increasingly alarmed about the world her son could inherit after she died. Now an expert in climate communication, Dr. Guenther is the founding director of End Climate Silence. At End Climate Silence she directs strategy and outreach, helping journalists explain the links between global warming and extreme weather, headline the urgent findings of climate science, and foreground the role of climate breakdown in news about politics, energy, business and finance, immigration, real estate, health, travel, food, and even the arts. She is affiliate faculty at The New School, where she sits on the board of the Tishman Environment and Design Center. Dr. Guenther advises NGOs, corporations, and policymakers on fossil-fuel disinformation and climate communication, and she serves as Expert Reviewer for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Her recently released book, The Language of Climate Politics, is the focus of this episode. A groundbreaking investigation into the propaganda justifying the fossil-fuel economy, The Language of Climate Politics offers readers powerful new ways to talk about the climate crisis that will help create transformative change. In an illuminating analysis, Dr. Guenther shows that the climate debate is not, in fact, neatly polarized, with Republicans obstructing climate action and Democrats advancing climate solutions. Partisans on the right and the left often repeat the same fossil-fuel talking points, and this repetition produces a centrist consensus upholding the status quo, even as global heating accelerates. Ultimately, The Language of Climate Politics is an inspiring call to arms, a book that equips readers with powerful new terms that will enable them to fight more effectively for a livable future.
Grab a copy of The Language of Climate Politics here, and follow Dr. Genevieve Guenther on Twitter here!
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Leslie Mendelson. Modeling her music after such '70s icons as Carole King and Joni Mitchell, Leslie Mendelson began making waves in 2009 with her debut Grammy-nominated album Swan Feathers, which was followed by two outstanding offerings, 2017’s Love & Murder and 2020’s If You Can’t Say Anything Nice. Just last month Leslie released her fourth studio album — the focus of this interview — an outstanding collection of tracks entitled After The Party (Royal Potato Family). For this latest effort, she collaborates with not one, but three producers: the legendary Peter Asher (James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt), the young, in-demand Tyler Chester (Madison Cunningham, Sara Bareilles, Sara Watkins) and her longtime songwriting partner, three-time Grammy Award-winner, Steve McEwan. Recorded at Jackson Browne’s studio Groove Masters in Santa Monica, CA, she was joined by an ace band featuring guitarists Waddy Wachtel and John Jorgenson, bassists Leland Sklar and Derrick Anderson, and drummers Jim Keltner and Abe Rounds. Throughout After The Party’s ten tracks, Leslie crafts a distinctive folk-rock, pop-Americana flavor, evoking the sounds of Laurel Canyon, but with the downtown grit and sharp wit of Brooklyn, the city she has called home for over two decades now. There’s a refreshing realness and effortless musicality that feels both nostalgic and new throughout After The Party. In this episode host Michael Shields and Leslie Mendelson talk about how Leslie’s recent album’s title was inspired by Andy Warhol’s still life of the same name while recounting the compelling story how she came to working with famed producer Peter Asher on the album and recording in Jackson Browne’s Groove Masters Studio. They discuss the remarkable band that backed Leslie for After The Party, the diverse and introspective themes found throughout the album, what life on the road is like for Leslie currently, and so much more.
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with journalist and essayist Santi Elijah Holley who covers music, books, culture, and religion. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Guardian, VICE, Tin House, and elsewhere. He is the author of an excellent 33 ⅓ book which is the focus of this episode, a deep dive into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Murder Ballads. Murder Ballads, the ninth studio album from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, is a gruesome, blood-splattered reimagining of English ballads, American folk and blues music, and classic literature. Most of the stories told on Murder Ballads have been interpreted many times, but never before had they been so graphic or profane. Though earning the band their first Parental Advisory warning label, Murder Ballads, released in 1996, brought Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds their biggest critical and commercial success, thanks in part to the award-winning single, “Where the Wild Roses Grow,” an unlikely duet with Australian pop singer, Kylie Minogue. Closely examining each of the ten songs on the album, Santi Elijah Holley investigates the stories behind the songs, and the numerous ways these ballads have been interpreted through the years. Murder Ballads is a tour through the evolution of folk music, and a journey into the dark secrets of American history. Learn more about it and Santi Elijah Holley’s book in this episode!
Grab a copy of Murder Ballads by Santi Elijah Holley here!
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast presents an interview with novelist and activist Liz Jensen, Liz’s critically-acclaimed work spans black comedy, science fiction, satire, family drama, historical fantasy, psychological suspense, and most recently, a memoir. Beyond her prolific writing output, Liz is a founder member of Extinction Rebelion Writers Rebel, a literary movement using words and actions to highlight the climate and ecological emergency, and in 2023 she launched The Rebel Library, a resource for readers of climate and ecological literature in all genres. She also teaches creative writing in the UK and Denmark and volunteers on the grief helpline run by the Danish National Grief Centre. In her recent memoir, Your Wild And Precious Life: On Grief, Hope and Rebellion (Canongate, 2024) — the focus of this episode — she shares her reflections on personal and ecological grief and finding resilience after the tragic sudden death of her son Raphael in 2020. Liz’s son's death will never make sense to her. But it has taught her that it's possible to find meaning, collectively and individually, in the loss of what we love. Resilience, Liz believes, is a seed that we all bear inside us. It germinates in emergencies. It sets down roots in astonishing and unexpected ways. And if we notice it, and tend to it, it blooms. Liz’s son, a zoologist, conservationist, and ecological activist, was twenty-five when he collapsed and died unexpectedly. She fell apart. As she grieved, forest fires raged, coral reefs deteriorated, CO2 emissions rose, and fossil fuels burned. Your Wild and Precious Life is the story of how a mother rebuilt herself, reoriented her life, and rediscovered the enchantment of the living world. Set against the backdrop of climate and ecological catastrophe, Your Wild and Precious Life is an argument for agency, legacy, and the wild possibility of hope after devastation. Liz’s book is so very special and so many things all at once. It’s a deeply honest handbook encompassing the grief one experiences when they suffer profound loss. It’s a loving ode from a mother to a son. It’s a celebration of activism and a call to action. It’s a story of resilience, and proof that it’s possible to find life beyond the pain.
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This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Zach Schonfeld, a freelance writer, journalist, and critic based in New York. He contributes to Pitchfork, Paste Magazine, and other publications. He was formerly a senior writer for Newsweek, where he was on staff for five years. His first book, 24-Carat Black's Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth was published in 2020 as part of the 33 1/3 series. His latest book — entitled How Coppola Became Cage — is the focus of this episode. In 1982, a gangly teenager named Nicolas Coppola made his film debut and changed his name to Nicolas Cage, determined to distance himself from his famous family. Once he achieved stardom as the rebel hunk of 1983's Valley Girl, Cage began a career defined by unorthodox risks and left turns that put him at odds with the stars of the Brat Pack era. How Coppola Became Cage takes readers behind the scenes of the beloved cult movies that transformed this unknown actor into an eccentric and uncompromising screen icon with a wild-eyed gift for portraying weirdos, outsiders, criminals-and even a romantic capable of seducing Cher. Throughout How Coppola Became Cage Zach Schonfeld traces Cage's rise through the world of independent cinema and chronicles the stories behind his career-making early performances, from the method masochism of Birdy to the operatic torment of Moonstruck and abrasive expressionism of Vampire's Kiss, culminating with the astonishing pathos of Leaving Las Vegas. Drawing on more than 100 new interviews with Cage's key collaborators — including David Lynch, Martha Coolidge, John Patrick Shanley, and Mike Figgis — How Coppola Became Cage offers a revealing portrait of Cage's wildly intense devotion to his performances and his creative self-discovery as he drew on influences as far-flung as silent cinema and German Expressionism. These were all crucial ingredients in the creation of a singular acting style that rejects the limits of realism. Join in as host Michael Shields and Zach Schonfeld celebrate an actor that Ethan Hawke describes as “the only actor in the history of the form to really change the form” while invoking David Lynch to describe Cage as “the jazz musician of actors,” in an episode that is as Nic Cage as they come.
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This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with the author of the 33 ⅓ book dedicated to the legendary Britpop band Pulp’s renowned album This is Hardcore, Jane Savidge. As co-founder and co-head of legendary PR company Savage & Best, Jane Savidge is widely credited as being one of the main instigators of the Britpop movement that swept the UK in the mid 1990s. During this time, Savage & Best represented Suede, Pulp, The Verve, Elastica and Longpigs, whilst representing many other artists of the era including the Cranberries, The Fall, and Jesus and Mary Chain. She is the author of Lunch With The Wild Frontiers (2019) and Here They Come With Their Make Up On: Suede, Coming Up and More Adventures Beyond The Wild Frontiers (2022). This Is Hardcore is Pulp's cry for help. A giant, sprawling, flawed masterpiece of a record, the 1998 album manages to tackle some of the most inappropriate grown-up issues of the day – fame, aging, mortality, drugs, and pornography – and still come out crying and laughing on the other side. In this episode host Michael Shields and Jane Savidge dig into the weighty themes present in This is Hardcore revolving around fame, aging, success, and pornography. They expound upon the “Michael Jackson Incident” which propelled lead singer Jarvis Cocker to unfathomable fame, how Jarvis used music and the crafting of This is Hardocre as catharsis for his real life struggles, what the final legacy of Pulp might be, and ultimately they celebrate a 33 ⅓ book that serves as a love letter to a remarkable album.
Grab a copy of Jane Savidge’s This is Hardcore here!
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This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow, co-directors of the critically-acclaimed documentary Ahead of the Curve which chronicles the career of lesbian-rights icon Franco Stevens who launched Curve, the best-selling lesbian magazine ever published. Against the hostile backdrop of hate crimes and family rejection in the 1990s, with few celebrities or politicians willing to be out publicly, Curve magazine dared to celebrate a full, inclusive range of lesbians, queer women, and nonbinary people, seeding some of the most pressing conversations around LGBTQ+ community today. Growing up, Franco never saw any representation of queer women — she didn’t even know it was possible for a woman to be gay. When she realized she was a lesbian, it changed the course of her life. In 1990, Franco created a safe place for lesbians in the form of Curve magazine. Her approach to threats and erasure in the ‘90s was to highlight all kinds of LGBTQ+ women and make them beautifully visible. The magazine helped build the foundation for the movements being led by today’s queer activists. In this episode host Michael Shields, Jen Rainin, and Rivkah Beth Medow dig deeply into what the existence of Curve magazine meant to lesbians and the lesbian community while marveling about the obstacles and adversities Franco Stevens navigated bringing Curve to life. They discuss the controversy and complexities surrounding the word “lesbian,” a dispute concerning the name of the magazine which almost brought the publication down, the important work of The Curve Foundation, and, ultimate, they celebrate the profoundly inspiring legacy of Franco Stevens and the magazine she created which meant so much to countless people.
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This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with music journalist and author Katherine Yeske Taylor. 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. Her book, She’s a Badass: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism, is the focus of this episode. Feminism has always been a complex and controversial topic, as female rock musicians know especially well. When they’ve stayed true to their own vision, these artists have alternately been adored as role models or denounced as bad influences. Either way, they’re asked to cope with certain pressures that their male counterparts haven’t faced. With each successive feminism movement since the 1960s, women in rock have been prominent proponents of progress as they’ve increasingly taken control of their own music, message, and image. This, in its way, is just as revolutionary as any protest demonstration. In She’s a Badass, Taylor interviews twenty significant women in rock, devoting an entire chapter to each one, taking an in-depth look at the incredible talent, determination — and, often, humor — they needed to succeed in their careers (and life). Interviewees range from legendary artists through notable up-and-comers, including Ann Wilson (Heart), Gina Schock (The Go-Go’s), Suzanne Vega, Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Orianthi, Amanda Palmer, and more. Their experiences reveal the varied and unique challenges these women have faced, how they overcame them, and what they think still needs to be done to continue making progress on the equality front. Their stories prove that promoting feminism — either through activism or by living example — is undeniably badass. In this episode Michael Shields and Katherine Yeske Taylor talk about the inspiring and eclectic interview subjects found in She’s a Badass while considering all the varying struggles they each have faced in a male-dominated music industry. They discuss how feminism has always been a complex and complicated topic, the attributes that propelled the passionate musicians in Taylor’s book to success, the importance of ally-ship, and so much more.
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This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with author Noa Silver, who was born in Jerusalem, raised between Scotland and Maine, and now resides in Berkeley, California. After receiving her BA in English and American literature and language from Harvard University, Noa lived and taught English as a Second Language on Namdrik — part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the smallest inhabited atoll in the world. She later completed her MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University and then worked as an editor on various oral history projects, ranging from an archive documenting the Partition of India and Pakistan to a cancer researcher telling the stories of trauma experienced by cancer survivors. Her debut novel, California Dreaming — the focus of this episode — will be available everywhere on May 21st, 2024. In California Dreaming, we find Elena Berg, having grown up on stories of her mother's wild youth in California, relocating from New England to the Bay Area in 2011 for a placement as an English teacher with Teach for America. Once there, she is eager to inspire a love of poetry and literature in her diverse but underprivileged students. Her own grandfather — a Holocaust survivor — was a storyteller and teacher who touched the lives of his students for years to come. Elena’s mother followed in his footsteps, leaving behind the hippie lifestyle of her twenties to become a university professor.
But Elena quickly finds herself feeling disconnected from teaching, unable to inspire her students, and before long, she grows disillusioned with her career. Coming of age between the Occupy and #MeToo movements and against the backdrop of the 2016 election and California's ever-worsening fire season, Elena reckons with California as she imagined it, and California as it really is. As she does so, she must also ultimately reconcile the person she envisioned herself to be with the person she actually is.California Dreaming is a robust debut in literary fiction. It is an earnest story that encourages readers to think about how we make meaning in our lives, and how the stories we tell ourselves influence the ways in which we see the world — and our place in it.
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This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Sean Enfield, an essayist, poet, bassist, and educator from Dallas, TX. Currently, he resides in Milwaukee, WI where he is a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of Permafrost Magazine. Now, he serves as an Assistant Nonfiction Editor at Terrain.org. His essays have been nominated for three Pushcarts and he was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered as a finalist for their Three Minute Fiction contest. His debut essay collection, Holy American Burnout!, — the focus of this episode — was the runner-up for the Ann Petry Award, a finalist for The Megaphone Prize, a finalist for River Teeth’s Literary Nonfiction Book Prize, and is available now. Threading his experiences both as a Texan student and later as a first-year teacher of predominantly Muslim students at a Texas middle school, Holy American Burnout! weaves personal essay and cultural critique into the historic fabric of Black and biracial identity. In it, Enfield intersects examinations of which voices are granted legitimacy by virtue of school curriculum, the complex relationship between basketball and education for Black and brown students, his students’ burgeoning political consciousness during the 2016 presidential campaign, and cultural figures ranging from Kendrick Lamar to Hamlet. These classroom narratives abounding in Holy American Burnout! weave around Enfield’s own formative experiences contending with a conflicted biracial family lineage, reenacting the Middle Passage as the only Black student in his 7th grade history class, and moshing in both Christian and secular hardcore pits. As Enfield wrestles with the physical, mental, and emotional burdens that American society places on educators, students, and all relatively conscious minorities in this country, he reaches for an education that better navigates our burnt-out empire.
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This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast presents an interview with Ben Proudfoot, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker most noted as the director of The Queen of Basketball, winner of the 2021 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. With co-director Kris Bowers he also brought to life the short documentary film A Concerto Is a Conversation, which was an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021. His latest documentary, The Last Repair Shop — the focus of this episode — was the recipient of the 2024 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. Once commonplace in the United States, today Los Angeles is by far the largest and one of the last American cities to provide free and freely repaired musical instruments to its public schoolchildren, a continuous service since 1959. The Last Repair Shop grants an all access pass to the nondescript downtown warehouse where a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople keep over 80,000 student instruments in good repair and in it the film blends the unexpectedly intimate personal histories of the repair people with emotional, firsthand accounts from the actual student musicians for whom their instruments made all the difference. In this episode host Michael Shields and Ben Proudfoot expound upon what music and access to instruments means to the lives of the children in Los Angeles while considering how the power of music has changed the lives of those who passionately labor in the repair shop. They talk about how the promise of the American Dream manifests itself within the documentary, the message of hope that is abounding in the film, and so much more. Ultimately this episode celebrates an inspiring documentary that serves as a passionate love letter to Los Angeles and to those unsung heroes who gave countless others the gift of music. This is an episode that pays tribute to a truly unique program that has produced countless legends from John Williams to Kendrick Lamar.
Watch The Last Repair Shop here!
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This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Rick Korn, the founder of In Plain View Entertainment who is a film and TV producer, writer, and director that works with entertainment companies on creating socially conscious documentaries. He was co-founder of Television Production Partners, an award-winning branded entertainment company that was nominated for an Oscar, Emmy and won a Peabody Award for Hank Aaron Chasing The Dream. Rick has produced benefit concerts with Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, and Joan Jett. He executive produced the documentary My Old Friend with Paul McCartney and Carl Perkins and Rick and Perkins collaborated on several documentary concerts, benefits, and an album called Go Cat Go which included Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, John Fogerty, and Paul Simon. Recently, Rick directed and wrote the docu-concert Do Something and Vote which included performances from Bruce Springsteen, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Black Puma’s, Nathaniel Rateliff and Alabama Shakes, and featured many prominent activists fighting for a safer and healthier world. The film A Father’s Promise — Rick’s latest documentary — tells the inspirational story of one man’s journey from devastating tragedy to personal triumph. When his young son Daniel is murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a grief-stricken Mark Barden, a world class guitarist, loses all joy in the music that had defined much of his life. But, in time, Mark rewires himself to become a powerful voice for change, becoming the co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise and a tireless advocate for gun violence prevention. Mark is a father on a mission, and, with the help of his many famous music artist friends, he slowly rediscovers himself, eventually playing and performing the music that had always meant so much to him and his family. In A Father’s Promise Rick takes you on Mark’s powerful 10-year journey as he gradually finds his way back to music with the help of friends Sheryl Crow, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Bernie Williams, Jimmy Vivino, the Alternate Routes, and many others. The film impactfully mixes live music performances into the storyline, underlining powerful emotions, as Mark continues to find ways to empower his music with his activism, and vice versa. A Father’s Promise finds Mark honoring his son by working for change, playing his music, and building hope for a better tomorrow. In this episode host Michael Shields and Rock Korn discuss the intriguing story of how Rick came to know Mark Barden and began to work with him to tell his inspirational story.. They dig deeply into what A Father’s Promise says about the power of music to heal and unite and fight for change in the world while also celebrating Mark’s daughter Natalie’s journey into activism. They highlight what Mark’s work with Sandy Hook Promise aims to accomplish, the inspiring work of the Where Angels Play Project and the Artist For Action movement, and so much more.
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This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Nancy Kates, the acclaimed filmmaker behind the groundbreaking documentary, Brother Outsider: The Life Of Bayard Rustin. This pivotal work was instrumental in introducing a broader audience to the life of Rustin — an openly gay Black civil rights leader and a driving force behind the March on Washington. Nancy also produced and directed the feature-length HBO documentary Regarding Susan Sontag, about the late essayist, novelist, director and activist. Her other film credits include Castro Cowboy, a short film about the late Marlboro model Christen Haren who died of AIDS in 1996, Joining the Tribe, Married People, and Going to Extremes. During his 60-year career as an activist, organizer, and an angelic "troublemaker," Bayard Rustin formulated many of the strategies that propelled the American Civil Rights Movement. His passionate belief in Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence drew Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders to him in the 1940s and 50s. In 1963, Rustin brought his unique skills to the crowning glory of his civil rights career: his work organizing the March on Washington, the biggest protest America had ever seen. But his open homosexuality forced him to remain in the background, marking him again and again as a "Brother Outsider." Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin combines rare archival footage — some of it never before broadcast in the U.S. — with provocative interviews to illuminate the life and work of a forgotten prophet of social change. Rustin's monumental role as a central strategist in the Civil Rights Movement and his unwavering stand for peace and justice casts him as a towering figure in U.S. history. His narrative, particularly as an openly gay advocate in perilous times, has found a renewed resonance in our current socio-political environment. And Nancy’s documentary brings back to life a man who profoundly influenced the course of the civil rights and peace movements. In this episode host Michael Shields and Nancy Kates dig deeply into just how pivotal a figure Bayard Rustin was in the Civil Rights Movement while questioning why he often remained outside the scope of notoriety as a “Brother Outsider.” They discuss what it was like for Rustin to be openly gay in America in the 1960s, his on-and-off relationship with Martin Luther King, how he brought the March on Washington to life, and so much more.
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