The Short Fuse Podcast

SUBCRIBE TO READING THE CITYOrder Tyler Wetherall's novel AmphibianAbout Reading the City "Reading the City" is a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC, a weekly diary of upcoming New York literary life on a need-to-know basis. No long blurbs, no reviews, just book events of all stripes. "Reading the City" links to the author's books, website, or social pages when possible. Tyler Wetherall, the founder and editor, is a believer in the  power of the literary community to raise each other up, champion one another, and help make the site an inclusive and welcoming space for all writers and readers. Tyler Wetherall is a  Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and teacher, and the author of No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run (St. Martin's Press) and Amphibian (forthcoming from Virago).   She arrived in New York from London in 2014, knowing just three people. She  carried with her a manuscript she had  written alone in a Victorian outhouse at the end of her mother's garden in Devon. Her entire experience of the writerly life thus far was solitary—and pretty cold. She found herself in a  very special place called the Oracle Club (RIP) in Long Island City, and there  she met real life authors for the first time. After staying up late and  talking craft, drinking gin, and playing records, or reading poetry and howling into the night, she had  found her community, and through that community the practical and intellectual resources she needed to become an author myself. Photo credit:  Sammy DeighElizabeth Howard, Producer and Host of the Short Fuse Podcast Elizabeth Howard is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others.  Her books include Queen Anne's Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O'Gorman:  A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York.  @elizh24 on InstagramThe Arts Fuse The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication's over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine's motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.” The Arts Fuse has published over 7,000 articles and receives 60,000+ visits a month. This year they are celebrating their 5th birthday, a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts.Why The Arts Fuse? Its birth was a reaction to the declining arts coverage in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. When the number of news pages shrink in the mainstream media, attention is paid. But the continual whittling down of arts coverage has been passed over in silence. Editor-in-Chief Bill Marx started the magazine to preserve the craft of professional arts criticism online, while also looking at new and innovative ways to evolve the cultural conversation and bring together critics, readers, and artists.Serious criticism, by talking about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts, plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations need a response. When they are ignored as they are by the mainstream media, they fail to gain an audience. And without an audience, they fold, further weakening the entire ecosystem.Assist The Arts Fuse in their  mission: to keep arts and culture hale and hearty through dialogue rather than marketing.SUBSCRIBE to the weekly e-newsletterLIKE The Arts Fuse on Facebook, FOLLOW  on TwitterHELP  The Arts Fuse thrive by providing underwriting for the magazine. Even better — make a tax deductible donation.  

 Sonya Chung is the author of the novels The Loved Ones (Relegation Books, 2016) and Long for This World (Scribner, 2010). She is a staff writer for the The Millions and founding editor of Bloom, and is a recipient of a Pushcart Prize nomination, the Charles Johnson Fiction Award, the Bronx Council on the Arts Writers' Residency, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, a Key West Literary Seminars residency, a Studios of Key West residency, and an Escape to Create residency.  Sonya's stories, reviews, & essays have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Tin House, The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, The Late American Novel: Writers on the Future of Books, Short: An International Anthology, and This is The Place: Women Writing About Home, among others. Sonya has taught fiction writing at Columbia University, NYU, and Gotham Writers' Workshop. She is the Director of Film Forum. Film ForumFilm Forum began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Karen Cooper became director in 1972 and under her leadership, Film Forum moved downtown to the Vandam Theater in 1975. In 1980, Cooper led the construction of a twin cinema on Watts Street. In 1990, Film Forum's current Houston Street cinema was built at a cost of $3.2 million. In 2018, Film Forum raised $5 million to renovate and expand its Houston Street cinema, upgrading the seating, legroom, and sightlines in all theaters and adding a new, 4th screen. In 2023, Cooper stepped down as Director and was succeeded by Deputy Director Sonya Chung.We present two distinct, complementary film programs – NYC theatrical premieres of American independents and foreign art films, programmed by Cooper (Advisor to the Director as of 2023), Mike Maggiore, and Sonya Chung; and, since 1987, repertory selections including foreign and American classics, genre works, festivals and directors' retrospectives, programmed by Bruce Goldstein. Our third and fourth screens are dedicated to extended runs of popular selections from both programs, as well as new films for longer engagements. Film Forum is open 365 days a year, with as many as 250,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, approximately 60 employees (of which half are full time), 6,500+ members and a $7 million operating budget. Approximately 80% of our budget is spent directly on programs. As a non-profit, we raise approximately 50% of our operating income. Public funders include: The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council for the Arts, and various NYC agencies including the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Private donors include individuals, foundations, and corporate entities. Additionally, our members contribute more than $500,000 annually. This allows us to take risks on emerging filmmakers and challenging films. Film Forum has a $6 million endowment, begun in 2000 with a $1.25 million gift from the Ford Foundation.Film Forum is the only autonomous nonprofit cinema in New York City and one of the few in the U.S. The success of our distinctive position is evidenced by our over 50-year tenure, during which our programs and fiscal resources have grown steadily. Sadly, since the 1970s, dozens of NYC art-house theaters (and a great number throughout the U.S.) have closed their doors.As a cinema of ideas, Film Forum is committed to presenting an international array of films that treat diverse social, political, historical and cultural realities. Unlike commercial cinemas that primarily “book” high-grossing, Hollywood films, Film Forum's programs are thoughtfully selected, with attention to unique cinematic qualities, historical importance individually or within a genre and – particularly for documentaries – relevance to today's world.Elizabeth HowardElizabeth Howard is the Host of the Short Fuse Podcast.Arts Fuse The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication's over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters. 

Adam KuperProfessor Adam Kuper  is an anthropologist and public intellectual. He has held positions at a number of universities  and is a recipient of the Huxley Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Kuper is the author or editor of 19 books and  has published over 100 journal articles focusing on anthropological theory, the history of anthropology in the US and Britain, and southern African societies and cultures. He has made numerous appearances on BBC TV and radio, and reviewed regularly for the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Wall Street Journal.  The Museum of Other PeoplePublished by Penguin Random House, in this deeply researched, immersive history, Adam Kuper tells the story of how foreign and prehistoric peoples and cultures were represented in Western museums of anthropology. Originally created as colonial enterprises, their halls were populated by displays of plundered art, artifacts, dioramas, bones, and relics. Kuper reveals the politics and struggles of trying to build these museums in Germany, France, and England in the mid-19th century, and the dramatic encounters between the very colorful and eccentric collectors, curators, political figures, and high members of the church who founded them. He also details the creation of contemporary museums and exhibitions, including the Smithsonian, the Harvard's Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, and the famous 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago which was inspired by the Paris World Fair of 1889.Listen to an excerpt from The Museum of Other People  Elizabeth Howard  The Short Fuse Podcasts, hosted and produced by Elizabeth Howard, are conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others who have a lens on contemporary thought and stir us to seek change. With their art, their music, their performances, and their vision they lead us through the social and environmental transformations sweeping across the globe.“Artists are here to disturb the peace.” James Baldwin.The Short Fuse is distributed through the Arts Fuse, a journal of arts criticism and commentary. 

The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and the Reclamation of Their Groundbreaking History   By:  Karen ValbyThe forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas, the first principals in the Dance Theatre of Harlem, who traveled the world as highly celebrated stars in their field and whose legacy was erased from history until now.At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Lydia Abarça was a Black prima ballerina with a major international dance company—the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She was the first Black ballerina on the cover of Dance magazine, an Essence cover star, cast in The Wiz  and on Broadway with Bob Fosse. She performed in some of ballet's most iconic works with her closest friends—founding members of the company, the Swans of Harlem, Gayle McKinney, Sheila Rohan, Marcia Sells, and Karlya Shelton—for the Queen of England and Mick Jagger, with Josephine Baker, at the White House, and beyond.Some forty years later, when Lydia's granddaughter wanted to show her own ballet class evidence of her grandmother's success, she found almost none, but for some yellowing photographs and programs in the family basement. Lydia had struggled for years to reckon with the erasure of her success, as all the Swans had. Still united as sisters in the present, they decided it was time to share their story themselves.Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character, and steeped in the glamor and grit of professional ballet, The Swans of Harlem  is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of their historic careers, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long. During Covid, five ballerinas met weekly on Zoom and formed the 152nd Street Black Ballet Legacy Council. Karen Valby joined them and wrote their story “Karen Valby's The Swans of Harlem brings to life the stories of Black dancers whose contributions to the world of ballet were silenced, marginalized, and otherwise erased. Karen introduces readers to important figures of our past, while inspiring us to courageously chase our dreams.”Misty Copeland“These five original Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerinas fell in love with an art form that most of America believed was white and should remain so. Upon Arthur Mitchell's founding of an all-Black company in 1969, they eagerly took their places at the barre and challenged themselves to the utmost. They triumphed. They showed that Blacks could not only excel at classical ballet but could also shape the art in their own vibrant image. Karen Valby weaves their stories together as a choreographer would: the women form an ensemble, yet each gets her own riveting solo. It's thrilling to watch as they join forces at last and claim their unique place in American ballet's past, present and future.”—Margo Jefferson152nd Street Black Ballet Legacy FoundationThe 152nd St. Black Ballet Legacy is an independent non-profit organization created by five trailblazing Black ballerinas.  Their professional careers began at the founding of Dance Theatre of Harlem, where their sisterhood was born.  They have enjoyed and nurtured their sisterhood for over 50 years and continue to thrive for the sake of preserving our their rich history.Lydia Abarca Mitchell is a founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and their first prima ballerina. She danced leading roles in George Balanchine's Agon, Bugaku, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Swan Lake, Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun, Ruth Page's Carmen and Jose, William Dollar's Le Combat, and Arthur Mitchell's Ode to Otis, Holberg Suite, and Biosfera. She was featured on the cover of DanceMagazine, in the movie The Wiz, and on Broadway in Bob Fosse's Dancin'.  It was a stunning career on the world stage.Karen Valby Author of Welcome to Utopia, and contributor to The New York Times; O, The Oprah Magazine; Glamour; Fast Company; and Entertainment WeeklyDance Theater of HarlemThe Dance Theater of Harlem was founded in 1969, during the Civil Rights movement by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook.Harlem School of the ArtsElizabeth Howard, Producer and Host of the Short Fuse Podcast Elizabeth Howard is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others.  Her books include Queen Anne's Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O'Gorman:  A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York.  @elizh24 on Instagram     

Yoknapatawpha and Faulkner Conference in Oxford, Mississippi This is the longest continually running literary conference in the United States dedicated to the work of one author. This is the 50th Anniversary of the Conference, first held in 1974. Square Book Store, Oxford, Mississippi Square Books is a general independent bookstore in three separate buildings (about 100 feet apart) on the historic town square of Oxford, Mississippi, home of the University of Mississippi and many great writers, including William Faulkner, Barry Hannah, Larry Brown, and, for a time, both Willie Morris and John Grisham. The main store, Square Books, is in a two-story building with a cafe and balcony on the second floor; Off Square Books is a few doors down from the main store and has lifestyle sections such as gardening and cookbooks; Square Books, Jr., the children's bookstore, is in a building on the east side of the square; above it (in the site of the original bookstore) is the more recently opened Rare Square Books, which feature collectible, vintage, first edition books across a broad price range. Square Books is known for its strong selection of literary fiction, books on the American South and by Southern writers, a large inventory of reduced-price remainders, and its emphasis on books for children. The store hosts the popular Thacker Mountain radio show and over 150 author events a year.University Press of MississippiUniversity Press of Mississippi tells stories of scholarly and social importance that impact our state, region, nation, and world. We are committed to equality, inclusivity, and diversity. Working at the forefront of publishing and cultural trends, we publish books that enhance and extend the reputation of our state and its universities.Dr. Jay WatsonHowry Professor of Faulkner Studies Jay Watson, a native of Athens, Georgia, received his B.A. degree from the University of Georgia (1983) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University (1985, 1989). He joined the English department at the University of Mississippi in 1989, was promoted to Professor of English in 2007, and became UM's second Howry Professor in 2010. During the 2002-2003 academic year he served as Visiting Fulbright Professor of American Studies at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland, and he has since been honored with the UM Faculty Achievement Award (2012), the UM Liberal Arts Professor of the Year award (2014), and the UM Humanities Teacher of the Year award (2014). In 2013 he was a finalist for the Southeastern Conference Professor of the Year Award, and in 2018 he was the fall convocation speaker at UM.  Elizabeth Howard, Producer and Host of the Short Fuse Podcast Elizabeth Howard is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others.  Her books include Queen Anne's Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O'Gorman:  A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York.  @elizh24 on Instagram  

Elizabeth Howard began hosting and producing the Short Fuse during the pandemic years. Those days when we were shuttered in our rooms. Displaced. Disoriented. Since then she has hosted 33 conversations, created a YouTube channel for online Short Fuse reading groups, and held live events at P&T Knitwear in New York, the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, and at the Portsmouth Athenaeum in New Hampshire.  You can find all of the Short Fuse conversations  on the Short Fuse website.Dell'Aria Cafe is at 232 East 111th Street in East Harlem.  An authentic cafe with roasted Italian coffee ... and conversation.Jasmine Rice LaBeija is a Drag Queen, who can often be found performing in New York City.Rev. Michael Curry is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States.  He spoke at the memorial held for Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.Ann Kjellberg is the founder of Book Post. Bill Marx is the founder and Editor of the Arts Fuse, the online journal of arts commentary and criticism.Kyle Dacuyan is a poet and the director of the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery.Valena Beety is the author of Manifesting Justice and works with Tasha Shelby.Frank Young is the artist who created the collage for this episode.   

The Arts Fuse is  an on-line magazine designed to preserve the craft of professional arts criticism,  while also looking for ways to explore new and innovative ways to evolve the cultural conversation and bring together critics, readers, and artists. Substantial criticism -- by sparking lively, contentious dialogue about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts -- plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations are fostered by debate and evaluation. When they are ignored, as they are by the mainstream media, they fade away.SUBSCRIBE to the Arts Fuse weekly e-newsletterLIKE the Arts Fuse on  Facebook, FOLLOW on Twitter.

Justice Malala, is one of South Africa's foremost political commentators and commentators and the author of the bestseller We Have Now Begun Our Decent:  How to stop south Africa losing its way.   He has been a columnist for the Times in SA, and written for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian and the Financial Times. He now lives in New York.Jonny Steinberg is the author of several books about everyday life in the wake of South Africa's transition to democracy. He is a two-time winner of the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award, South Africa's premier literary prize, and an inaugural winner of the Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes. Until 2020, he was professor of African studies at Oxford University. He currently teaches part-time at the Council on African Studies at Yale University's MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies and is visiting professor at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) in Johannesburg.                  Alex Waters is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

Ann Kjellberg founded Book Post, a newsletter-based book review, in 2018. Book Post publishes short book reviews by distinguished figures in literature, history, science, social sciences, and the arts. Kjellberg also reports for Book Post on the book industry, journalism, and the state of writing and ideas. Her essays have appeared in The New York Review of Books, The Observer, The Browser, and LitHub. She was on the editorial staff of the New York Review of Books from 1988 to 2017, and from 1985 to 1987 she was an editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. She is the literary executor of the poet Joseph Brodsky and editor of several editions of his work. She  founded the literary magazine Little Star and has taught literary journalism at Bryn Mawr College. The Short Fuse Podcast  hosted and produced by Elizabeth Howard, are conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others who have a lens on contemporary thought and stir us to seek change. With their art, their music, their performances, and their vision they lead us through the social and environmental transformations sweeping across the globe.“Artists are here to disturb the peace.” James Baldwin.The Short Fuse is distributed through the Arts Fuse, a journal of arts criticism and commentary.Alex Waters is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

Jasmine Rice LaBeija  the International Godmother of the Royal House of LaBeija is  an iconic and respected entertainer. In 2017, she was one of the leading cast members in the documentary series Shade, Queens of New York City, on Fusion Network. She has been a  host of Dragged, which won a Shorty Award in Diversity and Inclusion for Verizon's network In the Know and she was the face of New York City's 2020 Pride. Jasmine is a graduate of the Juilliard School and made her opera debut at the Shell with the San Diego Symphony as a special guest soloist with Megan Hilty, Rob Fisher conducting. This year, she was invited back to the Guggenheim Museum for a solo recital and she appeared at Lincoln Center. Works & Process    Described by The New York Times as “an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process,” for 35 years as New Yorkers have been able to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed artists in the world, in an intimate setting unlike any other. Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to generations of leading creators and performers.Elizabeth Howard, host and producer of the Short Fuse Podcast. Alex Waters is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for The Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

Justice Malala is one of South Africa's foremost political commentators and the author of the #1 bestseller We Have Now Begun Our Descent: How to Stop South Africa Losing its Way. A longtime weekly columnist for The Times (South Africa), he has also written for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Financial Times, among other outlets. The former publisher of The Sowetan and Sunday World, he now lives in New York.

Kyle Dacuyan is a poet, performer, and translator. His poem have appeared in DIAGRAM, Lambda Literary, Foundry, and Best New Poets, among other places. He is the recipient of scholarships from Poets House, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the Academy of American Poets. Prior to joining The Poetry Project, he served as co-director of National Outreach and Membership at PEN America, where he led the launch of a nationwide community engagement fund for writers. Previously, he served as associate director at the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America.The Poetry ProjectAmerican Academy of PoetsSt. Mark's in the Bowery ChurchPoetry FoundationThe Paris Review O, MiamiAlex Waters is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

Joshua WhiteheadJoshua Whitehead is a Two-Spirit, Oji-nêhiyaw member of Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1). He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Calgary where he teaches Indigenous literatures and cultures with a focus on gender and sexuality.  His book of poetry, full-metal indigiqueer (Talonbooks 2017), was shortlisted for the inaugural Indigenous Voices Award and the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry.  His novel, Jonny Appleseed  (Arsenal Pulp Press 2018), established Joshua Whitehead as one of the most exciting and important new literary voices on Turtle Island.  Jonny Appleseed was long listed for the Giller Prize, shortlisted for the Indigenous Voices Award, the Governor General's Literary Award, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, and won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction and the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction. In Making Love With the Land  (University of Minnesota, 2022), a book of essays, he writes in prose that is evocative and sensual, unabashedly queer and visceral, raw,  autobiographical, and emotionally compelling. Whitehead shares his devotion to the world in which we live and brilliantly—even joyfully—maps his experience on the land that has shaped stories, histories, and bodies from time immemorial.   His work is published widely in such venues as Prairie Fire, CV2, EVENT, Arc Poetry Magazine, The Fiddlehead, Grain, CNQ, Write, and Red Rising Magazine. Robin Wall KimmererUniversity of Minnesota PressJohnny Appleseed by Joshua WhiteheadAlex Waters is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast, Con Confianza and The Stand Unshaken Podcast. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries.

Free Tasha Shelby is the website where you can learn more about Tasha's case. To support Tasha:Governor Tate Reeves: C  Governor's office,  call 601-359-3150/ email governor@govreeves.ms.gov.Lynn Fitch, Mississippi Attorney General:  601.359.3680/P.O. Box 220, Jackson MS 3920Valena Beety is a law professor, an innocence litigator, and a former federal prosecutor. She has exonerated wrongly convicted clients, founded the West Virginia Innocence Project, and obtained presidential grants of clemency for drug offenses. She served as an appointed commissioner on the West Virginia Governor's Indigent Defense Commission. She is currently a professor of law at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O' Connor College of Law and the deputy director of the Academy for Justice, a criminal justice center at the law school.VTasha Mercedes Shelby is a writer and an advocate for incarcerated women. Tasha was wrongly convicted of a crime that did not occur on June 16, 2000 in Biloxi, Mississippi. In her twenty-two years of incarceration, she has earned her GED, taken classes at Millsaps College through the Prison to College Pipeline, and developed as a writer and as an artist. She continues to fight her wrongful conviction and you can learn more about her struggle at Free Tasha Shelby.Alex Waters is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

Bloomberg Public Arts Challenge Audio used in the episode has been contributed by Bloomberg Philanthropies' Public Art Challenge. Artist David Best's Temple of Time brought the communities of Parkland and Coral Springs, Florida together on the one-year anniversary of the school shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.The Greenwood Art Project in Tulsa, Oklahoma commemorated the centennial anniversary of the 1921 massacre of a thriving Black community, known as Black Wall Street. The history of the massacre had been buried, and these art projects marked the community's resilience and recovery through installations by local artists who told the story of Black Wall Street's past, present, and future..Bloomberg Philanthropies believes in the power of arts and culture to inspire creativity and spark collaboration. The Arts program supports artists and cultural organizations and improves audience experience to strengthen the creative landscape and quality of life in cities around the world. These efforts include facilitating collaborations between artists and local governments to address civic issues, building capacity for small and mid-sized cultural institutions, and increasing and enhancing visitor engagement through the integration of digital technology.Data on projects over the five most recent Public Challenge Projects underscores their impact, including catalyzing more than $100 million in economic benefits for local communities. Cities can apply for Public Art Challenge grants until February 15, 2023. Stephanie Dockery brings more than 12 years of experience in arts management to her role as a member of the Arts Team at Bloomberg Philanthropies. Currently, Stephanie manages Bloomberg Philanthropies' Public Art Challenge, a national competition supporting temporary public art projects that address significant civic issues and demonstrate an ability to generate public-private collaborations, celebrate creativity, and strengthen local economies. She also manages partnership teams on the Bloomberg Connects portfolio app, a free app with guides to 160 cultural organizations. Elizabeth Howard  is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast. Alex Waters is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries.  

Diane Glancy is a poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and professor emeritus at Macalester College. Her works have won the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry. and the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center the Book, among other awards. In 2018, Publishers Weekly named her book Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the Trail of Tears one of the ten essential Native American novels.Turtle Point Press introduces readers to outstanding literature by classic and contemporary writers from around the globe. We promote the work of emerging and neglected authors alongside those who are better known. The mix creates a publishing program that is both iconoclastic and challenging, revealing lives not usually seen in books that are playful, poignant, and poetic. Our writers work with some of the best editors in publishing and are treated to exquisitely designed and produced books. We are especially dedicated to supporting women, the LGBTQ community, and writers whose first language is not English. Elizabeth Howard is the producer and host of Short Fuse Podcast.  She engages individuals in lively and provocative conversations around how the arts can affect social change.  As a creative director and communications consultant she is recognized for her creative approach in working with clients and assisting them in their messaging, branding and media, as they stride past boundaries in search of the new. Her portfolio includes authors, artists, and cultural organizations; business leaders, universities, nonprofit organizations; and professional service firms, including high-profile architectural and design firms, often with international practices.Alex WatersAlex is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

Diane AltersDiane Alters is a lecturer in journalism at Colorado College. She has worked as an editor or reporter for several publications, including the Boston Globe, the Sacramento Bee and the Denver Post and is co-author of Media, Home and Family (Routledge 2004). Her exquisite book of poetry, Breath, Suspended, (Finishing Line Press 2022.) was described by a critic as, “What it means to write at the aperture of grief.”Edward HirschEdward Hirsch is a beloved American poet. Gabriel: A Poem, published in 2014, is a book-length elegy for his son.  He has written 10 volumes of poetry and is the author of five prose books. His most recent book is 100 Poems to Break Your Heart. Edward Hirsch has taught creative writing and is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, a position he has held since 2002.Sarah J. PurcellAuthor, Spectacle of Grief, Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era and L. F. Parker Professor of History at Grinnell College.Alex WatersAlex is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

Valena Beety is a law professor, an innocence litigator, and a former federal prosecutor. She has exonerated wrongly convicted clients, founded the West Virginia Innocence Project, and obtained presidential grants of clemency for drug offenses. She served as an appointed commissioner on the West Virginia Governor's Indigent Defense Commission. She is currently a professor of law at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O' Connor College of Law and the deputy director of the Academy for Justice, a criminal justice center at the law school.VTasha Mercedes Shelby is a writer and an advocate for incarcerated women. Tasha was wrongly convicted of a crime that did not occur on June 16, 2000 in Biloxi, Mississippi. In her twenty-two years of incarceration, she has earned her GED, taken classes at Millsaps College through the Prison to College Pipeline, and developed as a writer and as an artist. She continues to fight her wrongful conviction and you can learn more about her struggle at Free Tasha Shelby. Alex Waters Alex is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

Amy D. Clark, PhD,Amy Clark is a professor of Appalachian and Communication Studies at the University of Virginia's College at Wise, where she is the founding co-director of the Center for Appalachian Studies, and founding Director of the Appalachian Writing Project. She is author and co-editor of Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community (University Press of Kentucky). Her work on Appalachian dialects has appeared in the New York Times and NPR, among other publications. She co-hosts the podcast Southern Salon: Culture and Communication Podcast  which includes a new series on Talking Appalachia. Jayne Moore WaldropJayne Moore Waldrop is a  western Kentucky native,   She is the author of Retracing My Steps, a finalist in the 2018 New Women's Voices Chapbook Contest, and Pandemic Lent: A Season in Poems. Waldrop's work has appeared in the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Still: The Journal, Appalachian Review, New Madrid Review, Deep South Magazine, New Limestone Review, Women Speak, and other literary journals. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.University Press of Kentucky  The University Press of Kentucky has a dual mission—the publication of academic books of high scholarly merit in a variety of fields and the publication of significant books about the history and culture of Kentucky, the Ohio Valley region, the Upper South, and Appalachia. The Press is the statewide nonprofit scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, serving all Kentucky state-sponsored institutions of higher learning as well as six private colleges and Kentucky's two major historical societies.The Short Fuse PodcastHosted and produced by Elizabeth Howard.  Learn more at Elizabeth Howard.The Arts Fuse   The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication's over 60 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.  Courtesy of Smithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people's engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others. Smithsonian Folkways is part of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.Alex Waters Alex is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries. 

 Meredith Hall Meredith Hall's memoir Without a Map was instantly recognized as a classic of the genre and became a New York Times bestseller. It was named a best book of the year by Kirkus and BookSense, and was an Elle magazine Reader's Pick of the Year. Hall was a recipient of the 2004 Gift of Freedom Award from A Room of Her Own Foundation. Her work has appeared in Five Points, The Gettysburg Review, The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, The New York Times, and many other publications. Hall divides her time between Maine and California.Godine PublisherGodine is an independent publisher located in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2020, with new titles that range from Shaun Bythell's memoir, Confessions of a Bookseller to Thomas W. Gilbert's groundbreaking history, How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed.  Founded in 1970, Godine is home to the Black Sparrow Press, founded in 1966 and relaunched in Spring 2020 with titles including Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems by Wanda Coleman, edited by Terrance Hayes, and Summer Solstice: An Essay by Nina MacLaughlin. The Portsmouth Athenaenum The Portsmouth Athenaenum is a library, gallery and museum founded in 1817 and located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Membership libraries were first created in the 18th century. While there were once hundreds of membership libraries across America and today there are fewer than 20. Today, the Portsmouth Athenæum maintains a library of over 40,000 volumes, an archive of manuscripts, photographs, objects, and ephemera relating to local history and sponsors exhibitions, concerts, lectures, and other educational and cultural programs. Alex WatersAlex is the technical producer and editor for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com with inquiries.    

 Mark Goldsmith, author of From Madison Avenue to Rikers Island: The Making of a Social Entrepreneur, is founder and CEO emeritus of Getting Out and Staying Out, a nonprofit that provides educational, vocational, job readiness, counseling, and other services to young men who have been incarcerated. Prior to his nonprofit work, Goldsmith was an executive in the cosmetics industry for more than 35 years, rising through the ranks at companies including Revlon, Yves St. Laurent, and Almay before starting his own company, Inventory Management Systems, specializing in trading excess inventories of well-known brand names for media time at similar values.John Gonzalez  was raised  and grew up in New York City (Washington Heights). He got involved with the wrong people, which changed the course of his life, and led him into the Criminal Justice System, from 1999-2005 on multiple occasions.  He met Mark Goldsmith in  2005 and got involved in Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO) which changed his life.   John went from Rikers, to 116th Street, where GOSO, was located. With Mark Goldsmith's support he was able to find employment, get married and begin a new life. He bought his first house at age 23 in Portland, PA. He is now  operations manager for a trucking company, in charge of 30 trucks in the Northeast, and has maintained his sobriety and a clean record since 2007.Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO).    The vision of GOSO is  world where neither a person's race nor contact with the legal system determines their future. The mission of GOSO is to partner with people impacted by arrest and incarceration on a journey of education, employment and emotional wellbeing and collaborates with NYC communities to support a culture of nonviolence.Alex Waters is a technical producer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at the  Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including  The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. Alex writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at:  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com

Gwendolyn Brooks: A Poet's Work in the Community opened at the Morgan Library on January 28 and will be on view through June 5, 2022.Comprising more than forty manuscripts, broadsides, and first editions, the exhibition explores Brooks's roles as a poet, teacher, mentor, and community leader. The exhibition traces the effect of the resulting relationships on her work and the work of other creatives, such as Dudley Randall, Sonia Sanchez, and Jeff Donaldson. It takes us through the story of Brooks as a young poet, her early published poetry and establishes her relationship with the Black arts and publishing communities of the 1960s and '70s. We learn of her contributions as a mentor to future writers through her children's books and self-published guides for young poets. Nic Caldwell's exhibition  comes at an important moment in our collective history, providing us with a blueprint for building community as an essential part of creative growth.The Poetry Project Thank you to the Poetry Project for allowing us to use the recording of Gwendolyn Brooks reading at  The Poetry Project in 1981. The  program included   Ntozake Shange, the American playwright and poet. best known for her play   For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf. The reading was just after the premiere. Library of AmericaEdward Hirsch's essay on Gwendolyn Brooks can be found in The Heart of American Poetry, published by Library of America.  Elizabeth Alexander edited wrote the introduction to The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks also published by Library of America.  DuSable Museum of African American HistoryStudent readersTimia McCoade is a senior at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. This recording was arranged through Alwin Jones, chair, the English Department and director of the Fieldston Summer Academic Program.  Alex Waters is a technical producer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at the  Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including  The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. Alex writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at:  alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com 

Charlie Bennet is a Swedish-born photographer based in New York City. He specializes in still life and lifestyle photography and has worked with editorial and advertising clients such as The New York Times, Nike and Wallpaper. Bennet has published five books prior to ON PAUSE and has exhibited his work both in the United States and Europe. Helena Gustavsson is a Swedish journalist based in New York. She reports mainly for Swedish media on politics, social issues, and arts and culture. Helena has covered two presidential elections and profiled a number of U.S.-based authors, including Salman Rushdie, Siri Hustvedt, and Colson Whitehead. She has written several pieces on how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted America and has also interviewed “Sweden's Dr. Fauci,” Anders Tegnell. Helena lives in Brooklyn, New York.https://www.onpausebook.comAlex Waters is a technical producer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at the  Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including  The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. Alex writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living.  He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at:  

Sumaya Hisham is a freelance photojournalist based in Cape Town. She is passionate about capturing images of people in their daily lives.  She covers news and cultural events for a variety of clients, including news agencies such as Reuters, the European Press Photo Agency, and Getty Images. Her work has appeared in Washington Post, LA Times, Times UK, Irish Times, Guardian, and Newsweek.  She works with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation to continue to share his legacy of compassion, forgiveness and resolving conflict through peaceful means.Eric Miller is a documentary photographer who has worked in South Africa and across Africa. He began his career during the struggle against Apartheid in the 1980's, working during that period for the progressive photo collective Afrapix, documenting Apartheid's oppression.  In the post-Apartheid period, he has worked across Africa on assignment for many publications in North America and Europe and has been widely  published in publications ranging from Time and Newsweek to newspapers including New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, among many others.The hymn used at the end of the conversation is "Thato ya hao."  We are told it was  Archbishop Desmond Tutu's favorite hymn. You can find a video  featuring Imilonji Kantu Choral on  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm9PlOz3MOE. Alex Waters is a technical producer  for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at the  Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including  The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn.  You can reach him  at alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com.

Jeannine Otis was born and raised in Detroit, and now lives in Staten Island, She has been a singular and substantial voice for four decades, drawing equally from jazz, classical, dance, gospel and pop genres.New York Times critic, Anthony Tomassini,  described Ms. Otis as a “show-stopper” in the role of Ella Worker in Downtown Music Production's staging of The Cradle Will Rock.She is a graduate of Wellesley College (Presser Music Scholar), the only African-American to win that award and she also holds a Masters Degree from Emerson College in Boston where she was a teaching fellow.She has toured as a vocalist with many distinguished artists including Donald Byrd, Grover Washington Jr., Vishnu Wood, and Arthur Prysock, among many others.  She is the music director of St. Mark's in the Bowery Church in New York City.Jeannine Otis would like to recognize:CHURCH PUBLISHINGChurch of the Heavenly RestSt. Mark's Church in the BowerySUNDOG Theater Family.The SOUNDTRACKS PROGRAMJewish Community Center of Staten IslandRURAL and MIGRANT MINISTRIESBruce Jones Dr. Theddia Jones JJe Susan Fenley, Victoria Collela, Ellen Petillo, and Poet Gold,( SUNDOG) and Ela Seeley ( JCC) Elizabeth Howard is the host and the producer of the Short Fuse Podcast. She has never had barriers between her life, work, art and writing. Experience, sense of place and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility, spontaneity and responsiveness in the projects she designs and engages with.  As the host of the Short Fuse she engages individuals in lively and provocative conversations around the arts: dance, theater, literature, music and film. Alex Waters is a technical producer  for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at the  Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including  The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn.  You can reach him with inquiries at alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com.

Simon Mundy is a journalist with the Financial Times. He is  currently the  Moral Money Editor – covering the push for a cleaner and more sustainable world economy for the award-winning Moral Money platform.  His career began in  Johannesburg, covering Southern Africa for the FT. After a stint as a corporate reporter in London he spent seven years in Asia, heading the FT bureau in Seoul and  Mumbai.Simon spent nearly two years traveling through six continents and visiting 26 countries to write Race for Tomorrow,  to tell the stories of the diverse cast of characters locked in this historic struggle – from communities hit by extreme physical shifts, to business leaders grappling with the implications for the world economy.  Race for Tomorrow is now on sale in 40 countries.  Follow Simon on Twitter: @simonmundy.comOn Instagram:   @simonmundyphotosBooks mentioned in this episode:A Sand County Almanac by Aldo LeopoldSilent Spring by Rachel CarsonThe Lost Gospel of the Earth by Tom HaydenThe End of Nature by Bill McKibbenA Life on Our Planet, My Witness Statement and A Vision for the Future by David AttenboroughElizabeth Howard is the host and the producer of the Short Fuse Podcast. She has never had barriers between her life, work, art and writing. Experience, sense of place and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility, spontaneity and responsiveness in the projects she designs and engages with.  As the host of the Short Fuse she engages individuals in lively and provocative conversations around the arts: dance, theater, literature, music and film.  Alex Waters is a technical producer  for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at the  Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including  The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn.  You can reach him with inquiries at alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com.

DTR Modern GalleriesHalim FlowersAutodidact, Halim A. Flowers (b. 1980, Washington, DC) visual artist, spoken word performer, businessman, and author of eleven published non-fiction works, is married to L. Patrice McKinney, raising a family in Washington, DC. A Member of the Board of Directors of The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice and Cultural DC, he is an ardent advocate for human rights and is best known for his quote, “Love is the Antibody”. In the short time since the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act of 2016 effectuated his 2019 release from prison, he has created a stunning spectrum of paintings and spoken word comprised of a benevolent mission forged and galvanized over decades in a pressure cooker.In 1997, as a minor, Halim A. Flowers was arrested and wrongfully sentenced to two life sentences in Washington, DC. His experiences aired on HBO in the Emmy award-winning documentary “Thug Life in DC”. Released under a new juvenile lifer resentencing law, Flowers' 2019 freedom was documented by Kim Kardashian-West's “The Justice Project” film. Upon release, he was awarded the Halcyon Arts Lab and Echoing Green fellowship awards. In 2020, Flowers' TEDx Talk, “Criminal Justice Reform”, and his prolific production and exhibition of his visual art, e.g., The Museum of Modern Art's “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” exhibit, continue to advance his mission to promote love among all humans. A beneficiary of Georgetown University's Prison and Justice Initiative, Flowers studied Government, Philosophy, Reparations: African-American Literature, and English 101 in a mentorship with academic advisor, Professor Marc Morjé Howard (2018-2019). More recently, as a grant recipient from the Art for Justice Fund, Flowers was featured as a “Justice Ambassador” in the film “Halim's Hope” (2020).Elizabeth Howard is the host and producer of the Short Fuse Podcast.  Elizabeth has never had barriers between her life, work, art and writing. Experience, sense of place and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility, spontaneity and responsiveness in the projects she designs and engages with.   As the host and producer of the Short Fuse Podcast, she engages individuals in lively and provocative conversations around how the arts can affect social change.Music for the Short Fuse PodcastJeannine Otis recorded the music for this episode of the Short Fuse Podcast. Music has always been a part of Jeannine's life.  Her mother was a musical director and her family  includes the Jones Brothers, Hank, Thad, and Elvin who formed the basis of exposure to music that began a career that started with Jeannine's debut as a vocalist with the Detroit Symphony with American Youth Performs at age 12.She has shared the stage with great musicians of every genre (especially jazz) who have served as mentors including Grover Washington Jr., Arthur Prysock, Kool and the Gang, Joe Chambers and Donald Byrd, Rudy Mwangozi, Saul Ruin, Stanley Banks bassist, Finnish Jazz composer Heikki Sarmanto and Vishnu Wood, bassist, and his band Safari East.She has been a featured vocalist at many jazz festivals including the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, JazzMobile with Safari East, and the Universal Temple of the Arts yearly jazz festival and trombonist Art Baron and Friends. Jeannine has also appeared on Broadway in THIS JOINT IS JUMPIN' at the Supper Club in the Edison Hotel with Larry Marshall and the Michael E Smith Big Band and the New York Big Band at Tavern on the Green.She has toured extensively worldwide as a featured vocalist, in theater, and with her own ensemble. Anthony Tomassini of the New York Times labeled Jeannine a “show-stopper” in a review of a Downtown Music Production's version of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK. As the STRAWBERRY WOMAN in Porgy and Bess, Jeannine toured extensively in Europe singing in many of the great opera houses in Europe including those in Rome, Cologne, Venice, and Modena—home of Luciano Pavorotti.Her “little” book THE GATHERING was made into a Musical Theater piece entitled WHO AM I, and debuted at The La MaMa Theater in 2014. She is an honors graduate of Wellesley College (BA) and of Emerson College (MA) and the Director of Music at Saint Marks Church, known for its progressive outreach programming through the arts. Alex Waters is a technical producer  for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at the  Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts such as The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn.  You can reach him with inquiries by emailing alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com.

Bryan Halperin is a co-founder and Producer of Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative, a new program of The Belknap Mill in Laconia, NH and the resident theatre company of the Colonial Theatre in Laconia.  Previously he was co-founder of The Winnipesaukee Playhouse.  From 2004 through 2014 Bryan was Executive Director of the Playhouse and besides his managerial duties was involved with the Artistic Director in the selection of all plays performed in the professional summer stock and winter community and youth theatre productions.  Bryan directed productions at all levels, acted in several community theatre productions, and wrote several youth theatre productions.  Bryan has written several plays and musicals, some to be performed for or with children and others for adults.  His play The Hairy Man won the Pestalozzi Prize in 2019 at the Firehouse Center for the Arts, was a semi-finalist for the Premiere Play Festival in 2019, and in 2020 was a finalist and received a reading at the JetFest in 2020.  For three years he was the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Theatre Awards, and for the past eight years he has directed the local Middle/High School drama program.  As a director Bryan has won 6 NH Theatre Awards and been runner up numerous other times.  Howard Sherman is the author of “Another Day's Begun: Thornton Wilder's Our Town in the 21st Century,” published by Methuen Drama. He has been executive director of the American Theatre Wing and the O'Neill Theatre Center, managing director of Geva Theatre, general manager of Goodspeed Musicals, and public relations director of Hartford Stage. He is the US columnist for The Stage newspaper in London and his writing has appeared in The Guardian, American Theatre magazine, Encore Monthly and LitHub, among many others. @hesherman on Twitter, Facebook and Insta. www.hesherman.comElizabeth Howard is the host and the producer of the Short Fuse Podcast. She has never had barriers between her life, work, art and writing. Experience, sense of place and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility, spontaneity and responsiveness in the projects she designs and engages with.  As the host of the Short Fuse she engages individuals in lively and provocative conversations around the arts: dance, theater, literature, music and film. The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication's over 60 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts.Alex Waters is a media producer and editor for the Short Fuse Podcast, a music producer, and Berklee College of Music student. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts such as The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He produces his own, as well as writes music and records for independent artists such as The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn.  You can reach him with inquiries by emailing alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com.

The South African Cultural Center, New York CityThe value of cultural diplomacy has long been acknowledged as a critical component in the projection of a nation's identity. On September 23, 2021, the South African Consulate General in New York opened a Cultural Center at 845 Third Avenue. The inaugural exhibition, celebrating South Africa's Heritage Day, was an exhibition in the  gallery of South African artist Zakes Mda's collection of collages, Washboards and Mirrors  Zakes Mda is the pen name of Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda. Born in South Africa, the writer, painter, and composer also has roots in Lesotho and Ohio. He holds an MFA (Theater) and an MA (Telecommunications) from Ohio University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town.He has published 22 books, 10 of which are novels and the rest collections of plays, poetry, and a monograph on the theory and practice of theater-for-development. His novel Cion, set in southeast Ohio, was nominated for the NAACP Image Award. His memoir Sometimes There Is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and was a New York Times Notable Book for 2012.Zakes Mda commutes between the US, where he is Professor Emeritus of English at Ohio University, and South Africa, where he is Extraordinary Professor of English at the University of the Western Cape; a beekeeper in the Eastern Cape (running a project he established in 2000 with rural women); and a director of NeoZane, a publishing house and animation film production company based in Johannesburg.Elizabeth Howard is the host and the producer of the Short Fuse Podcast. She has never had barriers between her life, work, art and writing. Experience, sense of place and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility, spontaneity and responsiveness in the projects she designs and engages with.  As the host of the Short Fuse she engages individuals in lively and provocative conversations around the arts: dance, theater, literature, music and film. The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication's over 60 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts.Alex Waters is a media producer and editor for the Short Fuse Podcast, a music producer, and Berklee College of Music student. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts such as The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He produces his own, as well as writes music and records for independent artists such as The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn.  You can reach him with inquiries by emailing alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com.

 Lynne Sachs is a Memphis born, Brooklyn based filmmaker. Since the 1980s, Sachs has created cinematic works that defy genre through the use of hybrid forms and collaboration, incorporating elements of the essay film, collage, performance, documentary and poetry. Her films explore the intricate relationship between personal observations and broader historical experiences. With each project, she investigates the implicit connection between the body, the camera, and the materiality of film itself.Over her career, Sachs has been awarded support from the Guggenheim Foundation, the NYFA, and Jerome Foundation. Sachs has made 40 films (including Tip of My Tongue, Your Day is My Night, Investigation of a Flame, and Which Way is East). Her films have screened at the Museum of Modern Art, Wexner Center, the Walker, the Getty, New York Film Festival, and Sundance. In 2021, Edison Film Festival and Prismatic Ground Film Festival at Maysles Documentary Center awarded Sachs for her body of work.Sachs is also deeply engaged with poetry. In 2019, Tender Buttons Press published her first book Year by Year Poems. In 2020 and 2021, she taught film and poetry workshops at Beyond Baroque, Flowchart Foundation, San Francisco Public Library, and Hunter.  Lynne's films are now available on the Criterion Channel. STEPHEN VITIELLO (MUSIC):Electronic musician and sound artist Stephen Vitiello transforms incidental atmospheric noises into mesmerizing soundscapes that alter our perception of the surrounding environment. He has composed music for independent films, experimental video projects and art installations, collaborating with such artists as Nam June Paik, Tony Oursler and Dara Birnbaum. Solo and group exhibitions include MASS MoCA, The High Line, NYC, and Museum of Modern Art.  ALEX WATERS (PRODUCER):Alex Waters is a media and music producer. He  has written and produced music for podcasts such as The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza, as well as for other independent artists. Alex lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two cats and enjoys creating and writing music independently and in collaboration with others. You can reach him with inquiries by emailing alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com.

Stephen Petronio is a choreographer, dancer, and the artistic director of the Stephen Petronio Company. Stephen has created over 35 works for his company and has been commissioned by some of the world's most prestigious modern and ballet companies, including William Forsythe's Ballet Frankfurt (1987), Deutsche Opera Berlin (1992), Lyon Opera Ballet (1994), Maggio Danza Florence (1996), Sydney Dance Company (2003, full evening), Norrdans (2006), the Washington Ballet (2007), The Scottish Ballet (2007), and two works for National Dance Company Wales (2010 and 2013). Over his career, Petronio has collaborated with a wide range of artists in many disciplines. Collaborators include some of the most talented and provocative artists in the world: composers Valgeir Sigurðsson, Nico Muhly, Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, and Peter Gordon; visual artists Robert Longo, Cindy Sherman, Anish Kapoor, Donald Baechler, and Janine Antoni; fashion designers Narciso Rodriguez, John Bartlett, Benjamin Cho, and Leigh Bowery.Stephen Petronio's  training originated with leading figures of the Judson era, performed Man Walking Down the Side of a Building in 2010 for Trisha Brown Company at the Whitney Museum, and performed his 2012 rendition of Steve Paxton's Intravenous Lecture (1970) in New York, Portland, and at the TEDMED-2012 conference at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, DC. Petronio received the distinction of being named the first Artist-in-Residence at The Joyce Theater from 2012 to 2014. He has been entangled with visual artist Janine Antoni in a number of discipline-blurring projects, including the video installation Honey Baby (2013), created in collaboration with composer Tom Laurie and filmmaker Kirsten Johnson, and most recently Ally, in collaboration with Anna Halprin and Adrian Heathfield, which premiered at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia in summer of 2016. Petronio and Antoni were the 2017 McCormack Artists in Residence at Skidmore college, where they showed their series of installations, Entangle. Most recently, he was commissioned by The Juilliard School to set a work, #PrayerForNow, on their fourth year students for the New Dances Edition 2019. Petronio's memoir, Confessions of a Motion Addict, is available at Amazon.com.  Movement Without Borders Festival - October 2, 2021 - Ernesto Breton performing Rudy Perez's Coverage Revisited. Fall For Dance - October 15 & 16, 2021 - New York City Center - SPC performing American Landscapes (2019). Petronio Punk Picks and Other Delights - November 18-21 - La MaMa - SPC revives a series of solos and duets from Stephen's formative days coming up in the East Village and invites Bloodlines(future) artist Johnnie Cruise Mercer to the stage. Alex Waters:Alex Waters is a media producer and editor for the Short Fuse Podcast, a music producer, and Berklee College of Music student. He has written and produced music for podcasts such as The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He produces his own music, as well as writing and recording for dependent artists such as The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two cats and enjoys creating and writing music. You can reach him with inquiries by emailing alexwatersmusic12@gmail.com.

Kyle Dacuyan is a poet, performer, and translator. His poem have appeared in DIAGRAM, Lambda Literary, Foundry, and Best New Poets, among other places. He is the recipient of scholarships from Poets House, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the Academy of American Poets. Prior to joining The Poetry Project, he served as co-director of National Outreach and Membership at PEN America, where he led the launch of a nationwide community engagement fund for writers. Previously, he served as associate director at the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America.The Poetry ProjectAmerican Academy of PoetsSt. Mark's in the Bowery ChurchPoetry FoundationThe Paris Review O, MiamiKyle Lee is a media producer for the Short Fuse Podcast as well as for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and has produced podcasts such as The Daily Arrow, a 2-season, 60-day podcast with devotional and meditative exercises to help navigate our current political climate through the lens of faith, spirituality, and mindfulness. He lives in Harlem with his wife and enjoys writing and performing poetry and spoken word in his spare time. You can reach him at @kyleburtonlee on Instagram and Twitter.Gilda Geist is an intern for the Short Fuse Podcast and a student at Brandeis University, where she is studying journalism, English, and political science. She is a senior editor of her university newspaper, The Justice, as well as a tutor for the Brandeis University English Language Programs. Gilda is based in Boston, MA and enjoys writing, bookbinding, and listening to podcasts. The Short Fuse Podcast is produced by the Arts Fuse.

Promise, Witness, Remembrance  (on view from April 6 to June 11, 2021) at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, was curated by Allison Glenn and reflects on the life of Breonna Taylor, her killing in 2020, and the year of protests that followed. The exhibition is organized around the three words of its title, which emerged from a conversation between curator Allison Glenn and Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, during the exhibition's planning.In "Promise," artists explore ideologies of the United States  through the symbols that uphold it, reflecting on the nation's founding, history, and the promises and realities, both implicit and explicit, contained within them. In "Witness," they address the contemporary moment, building upon the gap between what a nation promises and what it provides through artworks that explore ideas of resistance across time, form, and context. In "Remembrance," they address gun violence and police brutality, their victims, and their legacies.The death of Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker who was shot and killed by Louisville police officers in March 2020 during a botched raid on her apartment, has been one of the main drivers of wide-scale demonstrations that erupted in the spring and summer over policing and racial injustice in the United States.A grand jury in September indicted  a former Louisville detective involved in the raid, Brett Hankison, for wanton endangerment of neighbors whose apartment was hit when he fired without a clear line of sight into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor's apartment. He pleaded not guilty. No charges were announced against the other two officers who fired shots, and no one was charged for causing Ms. Taylor's deathStephen Reily served as the Director of the Speed Art Museum from April 2017 to June 2021. He is a successful entrepreneur, civic leader, lawyer, and supporter of the arts in building a stronger community. A longtime supporter of the Speed, he served on its Board for 10 years, including several years as Chair of both the Museum's Long-Range Planning Committee and its Curatorial Committee. For four years, Stephen served as Chair and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Creative Capital Foundation, a national grant maker in the arts. He has served as the Chair of the Greater Louisville Project and is a member of the Boards of the Louisville Urban League and the J. Graham Brown Foundation. He also founded Seed Capital Kentucky, a non-profit focused on building a more sustainable future for Kentucky's farmers.As an entrepreneur Reily foundeD IMC, a global leader in brand licensing that has generated over $3 billion in consumer product sales for the Fortune 500 brands it represents. He is also the co-founder of ClickHer, a mobile app publisher, and SUM180,  a digital financial planning service purchased by FlexWage. a national provider of financial wellness solutions. After graduating from Stanford Law School, Stephen clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court.  A native of New Orleans, he is married to historian Emily Bingham and they have 3 children.Promise, Witness, Remembrance contributing artists:Terry AdkinsNoel W AndersonErik BranchXavier BurrellMaría Magdalena Campos-PonsNick CaveJon P. CherryBethany CollinsTheaster GatesTyler GerthSam GilliamJon-Sesrie GoffEd HamiltonKerry James MarshallRashid JohnsonKahlil JosephGlenn LigonAmy SheraldLorna SimpsonNari WardHank Willis ThomasAlisha WormsleyT.A. Yero CuratorAllison M. Glenn is an Associate Curator, Contemporary Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Glenn works across the contemporary program at Crystal Bridges and the Momentary, a new contemporary art space and satellite of Crystal Bridges. Since joining Crystal Bridges in 2018, she has worked with artists at all stages of their careers around themes of history, temporality, language, site, and identity. Community Engagement Strategist and Chair of the National Steering Committee for Promise, Witness, RemembranceToya Northington graduated with a Fine Art degree from Georgia State University and also holds a MSc in Social Work from the University of Louisville. She has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in Georgia and Kentucky, and has recently been involved in a number of public art projects in Louisville. Working in mixed media and across disciplines, Toya speaks of her work as pushing back at societal expectations, as an act of resistance. As a feminist and social activist she states, “my work is an acknowledgment of traumas too often experienced by women and a means to foster healing and resilience from them.” Toya is the recipient of Art Meets Activism, Artist Enrichment, and The Special grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. In 2012 she founded artThrust a youth, art-based, mental health and social justice organization that empowers youth through art. She is currently the Community Engagement Strategist at the Speed Art Museum. Music for the Short Fuse PodcastJeannine Otis recorded the music for this episode of the Short Fuse Podcast. Music has been a part of Jeannine's life since she was born. Having a mother who was a Musical Director and a family that includes the Jones Brothers Hank, Thad, and Elvin formed the basis of exposure to music that began a career that started with Jeannine's debut as a vocalist with the Detroit Symphony with American Youth Performs at age 12.She has shared the stage with great musicians of every genre (especially jazz) who have served as mentors including Grover Washington Jr., Arthur Prysock, Kool and the Gang, Joe Chambers and Donald Byrd, Rudy Mwangozi, Saul Ruin, Stanley Banks bassist, Finnish Jazz composer Heikki Sarmanto and Vishnu Wood, bassist, and his band Safari East.She has been a featured vocalist at many jazz festivals including the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, JazzMobile with Safari East, and the Universal Temple of the Arts yearly jazz festival and trombonist Art Baron and Friends. Jeannine has also appeared on Broadway in THIS JOINT IS JUMPIN' at the Supper Club in the Edison Hotel with Larry Marshall and the Michael E Smith Big Band and the New York Big Band at Tavern on the Green.She has toured extensively worldwide as a featured vocalist, in theater, and with her own ensemble. Anthony Tomassini of the New York Times labeled Jeannine a “show-stopper” in a review of a Downtown Music Production's version of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK. As the STRAWBERRY WOMAN in Porgy and Bess, Jeannine toured extensively in Europe singing in many of the great opera houses in Europe including those in Rome, Cologne, Venice, and Modena—home of Luciano Pavorotti.Her “little” book THE GATHERING was made into a Musical Theater piece entitled WHO AM I, and debuted at The La MaMa Theater in 2014. She is an honors graduate of Wellesley College (BA) and of Emerson College (MA) and the Director of Music at Saint Marks Church, known for its progressive outreach programming through the arts. Behind the scenes of the Short Fuse PodcastKyle Lee is a media producer for the Short Fuse Podcast as well as for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and has produced podcasts such as The Daily Arrow, a 2-season, 60-day podcast with devotional and meditative exercises to help navigate our current political climate through the lens of faith, spirituality, and mindfulness. He lives in Harlem with his wife and enjoys writing and performing poetry and spoken word in his spare time. You can reach him at @kyleburtonlee on Instagram and Twitter.Gilda Geist is an intern for the Short Fuse Podcast and a student at Brandeis University, where she is studying journalism, English, and political science. She is a senior editor of her university newspaper, The Justice, as well as a tutor for the Brandeis University English Language Programs. Gilda is based in Boston, MA and enjoys writing, bookbinding, and listening to podcasts.  What to listen to nextIf you liked this episode, you'll like our host Elizabeth Howard's conversation with Gioni Massimiliano, Artistic Director of the New Museum. They spoke about the New Museum's exhibit "Grief and Grievance, Art and Mourning in America", which  features the works of 37 Black artists and was conceived of by the late curator Okwui Enwezor. Listen here.

New England Conservatory of MusicJason MaronNedelka F. PrescodThe Un-Silenced Voice ProjectDreaming Girls FoundationSouth African Institute of International AffairsNaledi Masilo is a vocalist, composer, educator and founder of the Dreaming Girls Foundation, a South African based non-profit. She grew up in Johannesburg  where she cultivated a love for music through backyard jam sessions and endless artistic curiosity. She graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Social Sciences  and received a degree in Jazz Performance from The New England Conservatory (June 2021). Naledi has been a resident at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC through Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead Program, where she was mentored by individuals including Dee Dee Bridgewater and Jason Moran. She was elected as part of the prestigious South African Standard Bank National Youth Band. Naledi moved to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory when she was awarded the Dean's Scholarship. At the Conservatory she played an important role in bringing forward Black voices as the president of the Black Student Union. She cemented the legacy of alumna Coretta Scott-King, wife of the late Dr. Martin L. King through three annual concerts held in her honor; served on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and earned various fellowships and grants from the conservatory.Naledi cultivated a strong relationship with The Boston City Singers (BCS), where she was their premier tour choir conductor and taught electives on vocal technique and South African music. She was also a program director at the YMCA youth center for a music and social justice program. Naledi currently teaches at BCS and Savannah Music Festival Jazz Academy. She also runs her own workshops on jazz, voice techniques and the history and music of South Africa.Naledi founded the Dreaming Girls  Foundation to help women and young girls become leaders and critically conscious members of society. In 2021, a generous grant by the New England Conservatory Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department allowed Dreaming Girls to expand their reach. They collaborated with Her Own Skin and The Unsilenced Voice Project to host a podcast series titled Wathint'abafazi that featured seven young women speaking on their experiences in the music industry. Kyle Lee is a media producer for the Short Fuse Podcast as well as for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and has produced podcasts such as The Daily Arrow, a 2-season, 60-day podcast with devotional and meditative exercises to help navigate our current political climate through the lens of faith, spirituality, and mindfulness. He lives in Harlem with his wife and enjoys writing and performing poetry and spoken word in his spare time. You can reach him at @kyleburtonlee on Instagram and Twitter.Gilda Geist is an intern for the Short Fuse Podcast and a student at Brandeis University, where she is studying journalism, English, and political science. She is a senior editor of her university newspaper, The Justice, as well as a tutor for the Brandeis University English Language Programs. Gilda is based in Boston, MA and enjoys writing, bookbinding, and listening to podcasts. 

Turtle Point Press House of AnansiBrooklyn Book FestivalLit & Luz FestivalWriters Bone Otherppl with Brad ListiPaul HoldengraberLauren Cerand is a  writer and  arts and literary publicist with twenty years of experience running her own thriving global communications consultancy, based in New York and driven by an intensive personal focus on each client's needs and desires, a vast network of relationships, and unparalleled expertise and creative ingenuity.Recent and current clients for strategic public relations campaigns and representation in 2021 include the authors Darien Hsu Gee, Charles Vidich, Jasmin Kaur, Arisa White, John Donohue, Melissa Scholes-Young, Kia Corthron, Jai Chakrabarti, Joy Castro, and the international independent publishers House of Anansi Press and Sandorf Passage.In July 2019, Lauren took a sabbatical year to immerse herself in the study of jewelry design and creation full-time in Florence, Italy, and learn more about the Italian language and way of life. Her writing while there was published in April 2020 in Dining in Place, the online food and culture magazine based in Melbourne, and shortlisted for the 2020 Mollie Salisbury Cup memoir writing competition, administered by the Garden Museum in London. She also wrote about her life with Toscano for a December 2020 feature at Girls and Their Cats.You can listen to podcast interviews recorded since September 2020 with Tranquility du Jour (”A Creative Leap”), Finding Favorites with Leah Jones (”Making Jewelry in Italy with Lauren Cerand”), and Lost Ladies of Lit (”Princess Marthe Bibesco –– The Green Parrot”).In April 2021, she was interviewed by Publishers Weekly about “Bookishness,” and was the inaugural guest on Rachel Syme's Instagram Live show, Running on Fumes. Her remembrance of her friend, publisher Giancarlo DiTrapano, was published online at Literary Hub and in print in the spring/summer issue of Northwest Review. Lauren serves on the advisory committee for Film Forum and the advisory board for Turtle Point Press in New York, and is a member of the City University Club in London. She holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University, a certificate in Jewelry Design & Marketing from Pratt Institute, and completed the first year of the two-year BFA program at Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School in Firenze. The music for this episode is from Karthik Nair.  He is a music producer attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creating music under the alias “Ashgreen." Karthik produces electronic music that explores the idea of imagining a space or moment through music. In this piece named “Forest Plucks,” Karthik paints the sonic landscape of a surreal forest captured in the dead of night. Photo: Girls and Their Cats. Web design: Bud Parr. Music: Forest Plucks by Karthnik Nair. All Rights Reserved. 

City Lights Bookstore Mary Beth Meehan and  Fred Turner launch Seeing Silicon Valley,  Monday, May 3, 2021, 6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 ET, through a virtual Zoom platform event hosted by City Lights Bookstore. Griffin Museum of Photography, Boston, Massachusetts Event on May 13, 2021 at 7:00 ETMary Beth Meehan, is a distinguished  photographer known for her large-scale community-based portraiture. Fred Turner   is the Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication at Stanford University and author of  From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism (Chicago, 2006) among other books.Read Peter Walsh's  review of Seeing Silicon Valley in the Arts Fuse.Nathan Moody  composed the music for this episode.  The song is  "Sonnenaufgang" from the album Future Rituals.   Buy the book!

 Jesse Kornbluth has written or collaborated on 14 books and a dozen screenplays. He has worked with Paul Newman, Robert De Niro, ABC, PBS, and Warner Bros.   After stints at The New York Times Magazine, New York and Vanity Fair, he discovered the Internet. In 1997, a few months after co-founding bookreporter.com, he became editorial director of America Online.   He launched Head Butler in 2004 as a cultural concierge “for people with more taste than time.” He admits he  thought he would write a few reviews and move on, yet  2,000 reviews later he is still sharing his favorite books, music and products through the week. He is finishing a novel.  His  most recent novel is JFK and Mary Meyer, A Love Story (Skyhorse Publishing, 2020).  

https://artsfuse.org/224483/visual-arts-review-letter-from-new-york-goya-grief-and-grievance/https://www.newmuseum.orgMassimiliano Gioni  is the Edlis Neeson Artistic Director of the New Museum and the director of the Trussardi Foundation, a nomadic museum in Milan  which organizes exhibitions by contemporary artists in forgotten buildings, public monuments and abandoned palazzos across the city.  He has curated numerous international exhibitions and biennials including the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), the 8th Gwangju Biennale (2010), the first New Museum Triennial (co-curated with Lauren Cornell and Laura Hoptman in 2009), the 4th Berlin Biennale (co-curated with Maurizio Cattelan and Ali Subotnick in 2006) and Manifesta 5 (co-curated with Marta Kuzma in 2004).At the New Museum Massimiliano Gioni has curated  both solo  and group exhibitions. In 2018 in London at The Store X Gioni organized “Strange Days – Memories of the Future”, an anthology of video works originally presented at the New Museum. In 2019 he curated “The Warmth of Other Suns,” a collaboration between the New Museum and the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, and at Museo Jumex in Mexico City he curated “Appearance Stripped Bare: Desire and the Object in the Work of Marcel Duchamp and Jeff Koons, Even”, the first exhibition to bring in dialogue the works of Marcel Duchamp and Jeff Koons – with nearly 500,000 viewers, the exhibition was the most visited in the museum's history.  Since 2015 he has organized the presentations of the Tony and Elham Salame Collection at the Aishti Foundation in Beirut. Gioni has contributed to many publications and magazines including Artforum, Flash Art (for which he served as US editor from 1999 to 2003), Frieze, Parkett, Tate Etc., among others. He co-founded the “Wrong Gallery” with Maurizio Cattelan and Ali Subotnick, with whom he has directed the independent art magazines “The Wrong Times” and “Charley”. He is the commissioning editor of “2000 Words,” a series of monographic books published by the Dakis Joannou Collection/Deste Foundation, with which he has frequently collaborated, co-curating numerous exhibitions in Athens.      

https://www.catapultopera.org/visionNeal Goren was the founder and artistic director of Gotham Chamber Opera, which popularized and legitimized the formerly ignored genre of chamber opera. Goren's newest opera venture is Catapult Opera, a new company dedicated to communicating the power of opera through unique internet-based media and world-class live performance. As a recital accompanist, Goren has concertized extensively with Leontyne Price, among others. He is an associate professor at Mannes College, The New School for Music, and a frequent judge of national and international vocal competitions. His writings on opera and the arts have appeared in numerous books and periodicals. Beyond the Aria:  Artistic Self-Empowerment for the Classical Singer: Why You Want It, Why You Have Been Denied It, and How to Achieve.   (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2020).  Beyond the Aria provides singers with the tools to develop an inquisitive and analytical mindset about the artistic details found in scores. Neal Goren takes readers through a careful reading of clues provided by the librettist and composer, informed by performance practice, and empowers singers to make their own valid artistic choices.  Sample analyses of six standard arias and songs are provided as a guide of characterization.   https://beyondthearia.com     

For more about Merli: https://www.merliguerra.com/Or check out the Luminarium Dance Co.: https://www.luminariumdance.org/Just ICYMI, The 2020 Fusical:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qdMBcEJtzoAnd, if you haven't had a chance to donate to this year's Winter Appeal, you can find that here: https://artsfuse.org/keep-the-fuse-lit/Stay healthy, safe, and have a Happy New Year!

The two critics discuss a pair of Steve's recent reviews, which can be found here: https://artsfuse.org/214258/film-review-toxicity-roulette-1969-2020-and-the-trial-of-the-chicago-7/ and here: https://artsfuse.org/216400/book-review-sittin-in-remembrance-of-jazz-clubs-past/. This episode also features an additional snippet from the 2020 Fusical; this time, musical guest Ryan Lee Crosby takes the stage.

Click here to donate to our Winter Appeal! And, click here to register for a free ticket to the Fusical on Friday, 12/4 at 7 PM!

Check out Teagan's music and merch here: https://www.teaganstewartofficial.comOr catch up with her on social media: https://www.facebook.com/TeaganStewartMusic + https://twitter.com/teagan_stewart + https://www.youtube.com/user/StarryRoss + https://www.instagram.com/teaganstewartmusicTaste of My Heartbreak is available now on all streaming platforms.

MusicDrive-in Concerts (https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/concerts/9379646/drive-in-concerts-list-coronavirus)Bubble Music Video (https://www.designboom.com/design/the-flaming-lips-huge-plastic-bubbles-concert-10-20-2020/)Livestream Concerts (https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9335531/coronavirus-quarantine-music-events-online-streams)Theatrehttps://www.playbill.com/article/schedule-of-upcoming-and-current-free-live-stream-broadcasts-com-322823https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/the-best-theater-to-watch-online-today-october-22-to-october-28FilmOnline Film Festivals/Markets (https://www.indiewire.com/2020/09/film-festival-market-2020-in-person-online-1202232252/)DanceDancing Alone Together (https://dancingalonetogether.org/watch/)Visual ArtVirtual Tours (https://upgradedpoints.com/best-virtual-museum-tours/)Lyrics to Obligated by Pretty ShanksBeaten down again, though I would prefer not. The options that are present, leave much to be desired. Still I have to take, what comes with these constraints. It's better to comply than to dwell about it, after all there must be consequences. Every action that you take, must be made with consciousness. It's so easy to just say, that it's you who's not to blame. But really who else would it be? Every time I think I couldn't possibly do wrong I go out of my way just to check myself, and I know that I don't, always catch every mistake. So much for thinking that I had control. It's up to you now, to yourself you are obliged. The choice is your's to make It always has been, why do you look so surprised? You have no room to talk when, there's been so many, opportunities. But you just sat idly by, thinking that there will always be a next time. Excuse after excuse, justifying, why I'm unable, to advance. It's so draining, admitting to yourself, that what you're doing, isn't working. As much as it pains me I can't keep erasing I can't keep evading. The fact that it's on me to adjust, if not now then when? Before any regrets, so I'll take my time. Just not any longer, just not any longer. Source: Musixmatch Songwriters: Vincent Tinsay Obligated Lyrics © Self Published Through Distrokid

Read the full articles here:Matt's Stooges Article- Rock Album: 1970s Live at Goose Lake - The Stooges Hitting Their Feral StrideLucas's Book Review- Book Review: “Murder and the Movies” — So Cinematic, the Spectacle of DeathUpcoming Events- Shelter in Place Attractions: September 20 through October 6Hear more by Whalesong on: Bandcamp and Spotify

This week, Deanna profiles seven famous singers who all have something to do with January 10 and 24. Five of them share the palindrome birthday with our host, who happened to celebrate her 24th with a lovely party just in time before the virus hit. The other two featured artists hit their stride and released masterpiece albums at the ripe old age of 24. Having been inspired by the aforementioned festivities, this episode was also recorded before the advent of the pandemic. After almost six months of living in varying states of quarantine, now feels like a good time to release a deep dive into nostalgic hits from the latter half of the 20th Century. Their number ones and stories to fame may surprise you! See below for links to the music mentioned in today's episode:Maggie May by Rod Stewart You Don't Mess Around With Jim by Jim CroceBusiness Time by Flight of the ConchordsHit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat BenatarWhat a Difference a Day Makes by Frank Sinatra Jr.Thriller (Thriller, 1982) by Michael JacksonSubterranean Homesick Blues (Bringing It All Back Home, 1965) by Bob Dylan

The pair have quite an exchange, often representing the opposing view on an artist or award winner as they chronicle the events of the evening. But! This episode is no standard award show recap. With Hailee's professional background in public health and cellar/molecular biology, the topic at hand strays from the performances to the realities of such a production during the Coronavirus crisis. This episode's featured song is "Crashing Down" by DYLIS, our theme music artist. In two weeks, we'll back with more oddities and observations from former hosts Matt and Lucas.

Before diving into current events, we're taking time in this episode to reflect on the health crises that were impacting the US during our absence. These issues will continue to weigh on all Americans to varying degrees, and we'll always do our best to respectfully take note of the reality of our current society. Music can provide a unique vehicle for self-expression, which is a power that Felicia Angeja Viator knows all about. Her diverse experiences and extensive knowledge come together to form a multifaceted view that is insightful and useful for all. This is part one of an interview that will be featured again later in the season. Our theme music guru DYLIS also returned to deliver a new full-length track, "Wonderland". Other upcoming episodes will include commentary on the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, updates from former podcast hosts Matt Hanson & Lucas Spiro, a State of the Arts with Fuse Founder Bill Marx, and so much more!

Recording entirely in dorms across Boston, Aaron Halford is an up and coming soul/R&B musician with an updated sound. The San Francisco native is influenced by artists such as Marvin Gaye, Anderson Paak and the Beach Boys. Halford's debut release “Before It Starts” features the young artist on four instruments: vocals, guitar, keyboard and bass. With the help of his long-time collaborator and friend Matty Michna; Halford's lyrics explore love, city life, his recent past, and his inner psyche. Halford hopes that he can provide a window into modern relationships with music that will withstand the test of time. The pair cover these topics and much more in their interview, and top off the half hour with a few of their favorite hits.

In this episode, we discuss Silver's filmography, his upcoming projects, and general philosophy of directing. The accomplished artist also has years of experience in higher education and the business world, making for a unique set of interests for his creative work. Tim's perspective as a fellow director allows him to ask pointed questions, driving a lively conversation along. Three clips are featured; the first is an interview between actors from Silver's 2018 film, Second Wind. The second is a trailer of his trilogy movies: Radio Cape Cod, Surprise Engagement, and Second Wind. Lastly, we are treated to a short preview of Silver's recent documentary, Profiles of Early Childhood Educators. Aaron Halford lends his new single, "Before it Starts". You can find his music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. Silver's complete filmography can be found here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/whoandwhatshapesus

Michael A. Costa, Anna Dollar, and DYLIS (Anna's man/our theme composer) gather 'round Deanna's mics to talk relationships. Specifically, the group discusses the challenges and benefits of having an artistic partner. The diverse pairs represent nearly all forms of media, and have been lovers of the arts all their (albeit, relatively short) lives. The couples also represent two vastly different stages of romance; this Valentine's Day is Anna and Dylis's first anniversary. For Michael and Deanna, this the eighth dance with Cupid. Later in the episode, we're treated to Dylis's most recent single. Deanna also keeps us up to date on the Coming Attractions, which can be found here: https://artsfuse.org/195102/coming-attractions-february-9-through-25-what-will-light-your-fire/