Podcast appearances and mentions of anderson center

A caregiver at the Anderson Center for Autism has been sentenced to prison after a shocking video revealed the mistreatment of a non-verbal autistic teenager.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode we sit down with Margaret Juhae Lee, author of Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, and explore what it truly means to come home—to a place, to a history, and to oneself. Margaret's journey began as an exploration of her grandfather's past, but along the way, it became something much deeper: a reclamation of identity, heritage, and belonging. Originally conceived as a journalistic exploration, her book evolved into something far more personal. Margaret shares how tracing her ancestry helped her understand where she comes from, and is a gift for her children, giving them a foundation that honors the past while making space for the future. This conversation is about finding home within ourselves, embracing the stories that shape us, and carrying them forward with intention. Bio: Margaret Juhae Lee is the author of Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, which was published in 2024. A former editor at The Nation magazine, she received a Bunting Fellowship from Harvard University and a Korean Studies Fellowship from the Korea Foundation. She attended the Tin House and Writer's Hotel writing workshops and was awarded residences at Ragdale, Mesa Refuge, Anderson Center and the Mineral School. Her articles have been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, Writer's Digest and The Rumpus. She lives in Oakland with her family and Brownie, a rescue dog from Korea.

This weekend's 1 in 36 guest is Ashlie Symer. Ashlie is the Clinic Coordinator at Anderson Center Clinic (ACC) in Latham, NY. ACC is committed to providing quality services to individuals with autism and an ongoing integrated support network for their families and guardians, while partnering with community stakeholders. ACC uses evidence-based practices to guide their assessment, treatment, and service provision. Their team of experts includes Licensed Behavior Analysts (LBA), Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT), and Behavior Technicians (BT). Tune to learn more about Anderson Center Clinic and Ashlie! If your loved one is in need of services, visit: https://www.andersoncenterforautism.org/anderson-center-clinic/ or call (518) 641-1119

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what's exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above.  Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Click here. Winona wondersStephanie Lynn Rogers is the executive and artistic director of Anderson Center at Tower View in Red Wing, and a visual artist in her own right. Amid preparations for this weekend's Red Wing Studio Tour, she pointed listeners to Winona to see Judy Ofronio's exhibition “Deep Dive” at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum.  Stephanie says: It's an absolute must-see. Judy has had a phenomenal impact on Minnesota's arts community over the past 50 years, and she's one of the artists I respect most in our state. She's reinvented and reinvigorated her artistic style multiple times over a storied career, which takes guts and vision. This exhibition is not a retrospective, but it is definitely a very broad survey of the last two decades, going from colorful mosaic works from the early 2000s, through works that Judy made out of bones and bone castings that were more monochromatic in the 2010's. And in the last two years, her work has exploded back into this colorful three-dimensional collage that is one of her most known styles. I'm also really excited about the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in general. They've been through a leadership and programming transition in the past few years, and they're really hitting their stride with top notch exhibitions. I also think they do family-friendly museum experiences better than any other museum I've seen that isn't focused just on kids. For me, the expansion of their rotating exhibition program has changed MMAM from “must see when in Winona” to “Must plan to visit Winona so I make sure I see these shows.” — Stephanie Lynn Rogers Energetic ecosystemsVisual artist Pete Driessen of Minneapolis recently traveled north to Park Rapids to see the new exhibits at the Nemeth Art Center, which he recommends. The two solo shows each take a look at the natural world. Wayne Gudmundson's exhibit “What Stillness Has to Offer” encompasses large-scale photographic prints that zoom in close on forest scenes. Gudmundson is a retired art professor from Moorhead State University. Madeleine Bialke's exhibit “The Long View” consists of landscape paintings. Both exhibits run through Sept. 28. Pete says of Madeleine Bialke's work: The vibrant acrylic works, recently created during her residency at the Nemeth, are highly energetic and expressive works, with brilliant use of color. Her works have a unique idiosyncratic style, visually embracing the natural beauty within the gentle shapeshifting that occurs in our local ecosystems and environments. Of particular interest to me as a viewer is how Madeleine captures the transitional glowing light qualities of sunrises, sunsets, moonscapes and how that light filters through flower petals, long grasses, tree leaves, or branches in a dense forest. Whether it's a becoming pinecone, wiggly birch or pine branch, the tipped Big Dipper, or night lights in cottage windows on side of lake, the body of work electrifies our innate and subtle connections with rural bucolic countryside.— Pete DriessenShakespeare squashedTheater artist Stephanie Kahle saw Jackdonkey Productions' staging of “The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)” when it was at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis, and she thought it was hilarious. The show now heads to Stillwater, presented by the Zephyr Theater, July 25-27. The performance is at the Washington County Historic Courthouse at 7 p.m. Billed as London's longest-running comedy, the high-energy show features three actors attempting to squash all of Shakespeare's works into two hours. Stephanie says: It is so fun. It has three really talented actors who are very smart in their playfulness and very committed to the silliness of the show, and is just a treat to see new and young artists taking new approaches to the classic arts. And I think that Zach Christensen, the director, has also given a lot of freedom to modernize and make it local and fresh, so not only is it really fun as a script, but I think their interpretation is also really fun.  Not only is it completely local talent who are amazing actors, but they take a lot of of modern social media trends. For example, they have an entire bit featuring chamoy pickles [referencing a TikTok trend.]— Stephanie Kahle

Today, we hear from Colwill Brown whose debut novel, WE PRETTY PIECES OF FLESH, is forthcoming in 2025. We'll be talking about the art of sentences and how Colwill had to wrangle with their own to make the unique voice of the book work.Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Brown's debut and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Colwill Brown is the author of the novel We Pretty Pieces of Flesh, forthcoming in 2025 from Holt/Macmillan (North America), Chatto & Windus (UK & Commonwealth) and Sellerio (Italian trans.). Born and raised in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK, Colwill holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Texas at Austin and an MA in English literature from Boston College. Recipient of a James A. Michener Fellowship, scholarships to the Tin House Summer Workshop and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, a 2022 Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award, and top-fifty placing in the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award, Colwill's writing has also received awards and support from Hedgebrook, the Ragdale Foundation, the Anderson Center, and elsewhere. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

In this engaging episode of IDD Health Matters, Dr. Craig Escude welcomes Patrick Paul, a dynamic leader in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities, at the New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation conference. Patrick, the seasoned Executive Director/CEO of Anderson Center for Autism, and shares his comprehensive journey from being a CPA conducting audits for the organization to leading it. He delves into the challenges and successes faced by those with autism, particularly around accessing healthcare and the risk of diagnostic overshadowing—a critical issue highlighted by a recent Joint Commission alert. Throughout the discussion, Patrick outlines the extensive services his organization offers, from residential schooling for children to international training programs that attract professionals worldwide. He emphasizes the importance of integrated care and the need for medical professionals to understand and swiftly respond to the health needs of non-verbal individuals. Closing the episode, Patrick shares inspiring insights and experiences, emphasizing the potential within crisis to drive innovation and change in healthcare for individuals with developmental disabilities.

In this engaging episode of IDD Health Matters, Dr. Craig Escude welcomes Patrick Paul, a dynamic leader in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities, at the New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation conference. Patrick, the seasoned Executive Director/CEO of Anderson Center for Autism, and shares his comprehensive journey from being a CPA conducting audits for the organization to leading it. He delves into the challenges and successes faced by those with autism, particularly around accessing healthcare and the risk of diagnostic overshadowing—a critical issue highlighted by a recent Joint Commission alert. Throughout the discussion, Patrick outlines the extensive services his organization offers, from residential schooling for children to international training programs that attract professionals worldwide. He emphasizes the importance of integrated care and the need for medical professionals to understand and swiftly respond to the health needs of non-verbal individuals. Closing the episode, Patrick shares inspiring insights and experiences, emphasizing the potential within crisis to drive innovation and change in healthcare for individuals with developmental disabilities.

This weekend's 1 in 36 guest is Elaine Kayhan. Elaine is an Occupational Therapist in Anderson Center for Autism's Children's Program. Elaine recently published a self-help book titled 'Sensory Meditation for the Overactive Brain: Empowering People with ADHD or Focus Issues to Meditate Twice as Deep in 1 Week. Elaine's book can be purchased on Amazon.com! Tune in to learn more.      

RadiOrtary co-hosts Kathy Kruger and Jonah Triebwasser interview Eliza Bozenski about autism and the Anderson Center. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/radiorotary/support

This weekend's 1 in 36 guest is Abby Edwards. Abby is a sophomore at Marist College studying Elementary/Special Education. This year she will be hosting her 8th annual Autism Awareness Pajama Day Fundraiser! All funds raised will be donated to Anderson to help us in our mission to optimize the quality of life for individuals with autism. Donate $3 or more to make a difference, and wear your pajamas on Friday April 12th! In her own words "I have been coordinating an annual Pajama Day fundraiser with the incredible participation of school districts across the state, and support from friends, family, and community members. Over the past 7 years, together we have raised over $51,000 in honor of my brother Riley, supporting Anderson Center for Autism and promoting Autism Acceptance."  Click here to donate Checks can be made out to: Anderson Foundation for Autism, Memo – Pajama Day Mailed to: Abby Edwards, 19 East Moriches Boulevard, East Moriches NY 11940 RSVP on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/events/7818308254852648/ Learn more: https://www.andersoncenterforautism.org/calendar/8th-annual-autism-acceptance-pajama-day-fundraiser/

This weekend's 1 in 36 guest is Jamie Bishop. Jamie is a brewmaster and co-owner of Mill House Brewing Company (MHBC) in Poughkeepsie, NY. He is also a long time friend of Anderson Center for Autism, as this is the 10th year MHBC is brewing Mr. Anderson Ale for us. "A Century of Impact, a Decade of Beer" is the theme for this year's Mr. Anderson Ale launch!  Following the launch event on April 4th, $1 of every pint sold by Mill House Brewing Company during April (Autism Acceptance Month) will be donated back to us! Mill House will also be offering a select amount of sixtel kegs to help spread awareness and raise additional funds. We'd like to also thank these participating businesses: Decicco's, Brewster | Farmers & Chefs, Poughkeepsie | Jason Patrick's, Poughkeepsie | Green Growler, Croton on Hudson | Half Time, Poughkeepsie & Mamaroneck | Mahoney's Irish Pub, Poughkeepsie | Ole Savannah, Kingston | Climbing Wolf, Dobbs Ferry | Spettro, Poughkeepsie | Cosimo's, Poughkeepsie. We thank MHBC for their dedication in helping raise autism awareness and acceptance. Tune in!   

Welcome to the TeachHER Podcast Powered by The Innocent Brown Girl Project. Our mission is to convey strategies for Grit & Grace with educators and advocates of African American and Latina Girls. Thank you for joining us today. Today, our guest is Stacey Allen. Stacey Allen is an award-winning performance artist, curator, and advocate for arts education, all while being a wife and mother to three beautiful children. Maintaining her artistic practice while navigating Motherhood has come with challenges, but integrating the art of mothering with her insistence on telling Black stories through movement and material culture has been worth the while. She is the founder of Nia's Daughters Movement Collective and also serves as the Director of Artistic Programming at Anderson Center for the Arts. The Fairytale Project” premiered Summer 2022 and toured in Summer 2023. Nia's Daughters Movement Collective received Congressional Recognition for their work telling stories of Freedom in August 2023.  Social Media: TeachHER Podcast (Instagram) The Innocent Brown Girl Project (Instagram) The Innocent Brown Girl Project (Website) Guest Social Media Info: Nia's Daughters Movement Collective (Instagram) Nia's Daughters Movement Collective (Facebook) Stacey Allen (Instagram) Websites Mentioned:  Stacey Allen (Website)  

This weekend's 1 in 36 guests are Ellen Pikula and Will Smith. Ellen is the Mid State Regional Director for Special Olympics NY. Will is a program and development specialist, as well as an athlete and member of the Athlete Leadership Council. Special Olympics New York provides inclusive opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to discover and unleash the champion within. Anderson Center for Autism and Special Olympics have worked together for many years to coach, train, and maximize athletes' potential, all while having fun competing! Interested in getting involved? Sign up to become a volunteer or coach today: https://www.specialolympics-ny.org/get-involved/become-a-coach/ 

#BRNAM #1622 | A new ‘calming space' for neurodiverse travelers |  Kathleen Marshall, Director of Program Services, Anderson Center for Autism | #Tunein: broadcastretirementnetwork.com #JustTheFacts

This weekend's 1 in 36 guest is Tracy Schober. Tracy is the Director of New Program Development at Anderson Center for Autism. She is also the driving force behind the Resources for Autism & IDD Information Sharing EXPO (RAISE). The second annual Resources for Autism & IDD Information Sharing EXPO will be held on Sunday, October 1st at SUNY Albany's Campus Center from 11AM to 2PM. This FREE event brings community members together to learn about resources that can benefit individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. New at this year's event we're offering free learning sessions for attendees and a private meet & greet for our exhibitors prior to the public event. Tune in to learn more about the event, or visit https://www.andersoncenterforautism.org/raise/

This weekend's 1 in 36 guest is Susan Angeles. Susan is an Anderson parent, trustee, founder of Anderson Family Partners, artist and more! Susan has been connected to Anderson Center for Autism for 20+ years, her son receives services in our adult program. Since 2020, Susan has become a full-time artist with her own website, she donates 5% of all proceeds from her art to ACA. Tune in to learn more about Susan, and view her artwork at: https://www.susanangelesart.com/

Jessica Q. Stark is the author of Buffalo Girl (BOA Editions, forthcoming April 2023), Savage Pageant (Birds, LLC, 2020) and four poetry chapbooks, including INNANET (The Offending Adam, 2021). Savage Pageant was named one of the “Best Books of 2020” in The Boston Globe and in Hyperallergic. Her poetry has most recently appeared or is forthcoming in Best American Poetry, Poetry Society of America, Pleiades, The Southeast Review, Carolina Quarterly, The Boiler, Tupelo Quarterly, Glass Poetry Journal, among others. She is a Poetry Editor at AGNI and is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Florida. She co-organizes the Dreamboat Reading Series with Dorsey Craft in Jacksonville, Florida. Interviewer Dorsey Craft is the author of Plunder, winner of the May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize. Her work has received support from the Sewanee Writer's Conference and the Anderson Center at Tower View. Dorsey's poems have appeared recently or are forthcoming in Blackbird, Cincinnati Review, Copper Nickel, Pleiades, Poetry Northwest, and elsewhere. She currently serves as Assistant Poetry Editor of AGNI and teaches composition and creative writing at the University of North Florida. JESSICA RECOMMENDS Top three poetry books on my shelf: Dorothy Chan's Babe Carmen Jimenez Smith's Be Recorder Diane Seuss' Frank: Sonnets Semi-secret favorite haunts in Jax: Light on the Sugar bakery for phenomenal Asian pastries and creme puffs Trent's Seafood for the best low-key seafood in town Camp Chowenwaw Park for unique, treehouse camping just outside of town  --- Sign Up for Library U to hear about the latest Lit Chats and catch them live! — https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/library-u-enrollment Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: jplpromotions@coj.net 

This weekend's 1 in 36 guests are Joseph & Teresa! They are both scholars in Anderson's International Program - Anderson Center International (ACI). Joseph received his BA in sociology & psychology from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He has been in the ACI program for 6 months. Teresa is from India, and holds a Bachelor's degree in special education, and a Master's degree in Social Work. She is currently a PhD scholar at Christ University in Bengaluru, India, and she is doing her research in the field of Autism & Special Education! She has been in the program for almost 12 months! Tune in to learn more about these scholars and the Anderson Center International program, or visit: https://www.andersoncenterforautism.org/aci      

Debra J. Stone's poetry, essays and fiction can be found in Brooklyn Review, Under the Gum Tree, Random Sample Review, Green Mountains Review (GMR), About Place Journal, Saint Paul Almanac, Wild Age Press, Gyroscope, Tidal Basin, and forthcoming in other literary journals. She's received residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Callaloo, The Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, New York Mills Arts Residency and is a Kimbilio Fellow. Sundress Publishers nominated her essay, Grandma Essie's Vanilla Poundcake, Best of the Net, judged by Hanif Abdurraquib in 2019 and in 2021 her poem, year-of- staying–in place, was nominated Best of Net and Pushcart nominated. www.debrajeannestone.com Anna Farro Henderson is a scientist and artist. She served as an environmental policy advisor to Minnesota Senator Al Franken and Governor Mark Dayton. Her publications have appeared in Kenyon Review, River Teeth, The Rumpus, The Common, The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review, Seneca Review, Water-Stone Review, Cleaver Magazine, Punctuate, The Normal School, Bellingham Review, and Identity Theory. She is a recipient of a Minnesota State Art Board grant, a Nan Snow Emerging Artist Award, an Excellence in Teaching Fellowship at the Madeline Island School of the Arts, and a Loft Literary Center Mentor Award. She founded The Nature Library art installation that was up in the Landmark Center in Saint Paul for several months in 2019. She teaches creative process at the Loft Literary Center. www.eafarro.com

Scientist and visual thinker Temple Grandin helps us understand and appreciate how people on the autism spectrum think and learn. Eliza Bozinski from the Anderson Center for Autism encourages us to be more aware. Do you think in pictures?

This weekend's 1 in 36 guest is Fahim Ferdoush. Fahim is a scholar in Anderson's international program. Fahim is from Bangladesh, he received his bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Dhaka. His passion for working with individuals with autism started during his internship for BRAC, where he worked with many different individuals with different disorders. Fahim joined Anderson Center International in June 2022, and has been gaining knowledge and training in the autism since field since then. Tune in to learn more about Fahim & ACI!

This weekend's 1 in 44 guest is Chuck Benfer. Chuck is the Chief Operating Officer at Pamal Broadcasting, he has been working in the radio industry for over 30 years! He began as a radio salesperson and worked his way up over the years. Chuck notes that it is important to support the communities in which Pamal operates in. They are long-time supporters of Anderson Center for Autism, namely our annual gala and our team member appreciation dinner. Tune in to learn more about Chuck & what's new at Pamal Broadcasting!  

This weekend's 1 in 44 guests are Jordan Odongpiny and Sayma Pata! Jordan and Sayma are international scholars in the Anderson Center International program. Jordan is originally from Uganda, and Sayma is from Bangladesh. Jordan & Sayma will spend 12-18 months at Anderson Center for Autism learning more about autism spectrum disorder and how to support individuals on the spectrum. Tune in to learn more or visit: https://www.andersoncenterforautism.org/international  

This weekend's 1 in 44 guest is Jamie Bishop! Jamie is a co-owner and brewmaster at Mill House Brewing Company (MHBC) in Poughkeepsie, NY. Anderson Center for Autism (ACA) & MHBC have partnered together for the past 9 years for Autism Awareness/Acceptance month. Each year MHBC brews the Mr. Anderson Ale, "beer with a cause!" and they donate $1 of each pint sold back to ACA! We also annually host the Mr. Anderson After Hours event to kick off Autism Awareness/Acceptance month at MHBC. This years event is open to the public - tickets can be purchased at: andersoncenterforautism.org/mranderson. Tune in to learn more about this lovely collaboration! 

Patrick Paul (@Anderson Center for Autism) is the CEO of the Anderson Centre for Autism which is a non profit organization dedicated to providing the highest quality programs possible for children and adults with autism.   We discuss how lives are effected by autism and what we can do as supporters and the public to help people with autism.   You can find out more at www.andersoncenterforautism.org/   Fill out the quick form here: https://forms.gle/AH1tusHRXkC3N5yM6 and be in with the chance of winning an Amazon Gift card   Get your 2-month free trial of my Inner Circle here https://bit.ly/InnerCircle2MTrial   Join the FREE Facebook group for The Michael Brian Show at https://www.facebook.com/groups/themichaelbrianshow   Follow Mike on Facebook Instagram & Twitter

This weekend's 1 in 44 guest is Kathleen Marshall! Kathleen is the Director of Program Services at Anderson Center for Autism. Recently, our Consultation Department unveiled a new brand for their consulting and training programs - Anderson Center Consulting and Training (ACCT). ACCT is deeply committed to empowering all service and training recipients with tools and strategies that can help carry out Anderson Center for Autism's mission of optimizing the quality of life for people with autism. Trainings & Services include: Educational Consultation Services, Family Services, Autism Supportive Programs which includes: Autism Supportive Environment℠ (Autism Supportive First Responder & Autism Supportive Healthcare), Autism Supportive College, and Autism Supportive Community and MORE! Tune in to learn about Anderson Center Consulting & Training, or visit: https://www.andersoncenterforautism.org/autism-community/consulting-services

This weekend's 1 in 44 guest is Anderson team member Tracy Schober. Tracy is the Senior Admissions Administrator at Anderson Center for Autism as well as the ECHO Autism Lead. She has been with the agency for over 10 years! She joins us on 1 in 44 to discuss Anderson's upcoming Resources for Autism & IDD Information Sharing (RAISE) Expo. The RAISE Expo will be held at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, NY on Tuesday January 24, 2023 from 2PM - 6PM! We encourage all to attend - school district personnel, service providers, families, care managers, social workers, psychologists, special education teams, and more! One of our goals is to provide resource awareness in the capital region of NY, as well as help families and providers to find appropriate resources in their community! Admission to the fair is free - there are many opportunities for paid sponsorships as well as vendor exhibition registration. Tune in to learn more or visit www.andersoncenterforautism.org/raise.  

Martina Reisz Newberry is the author of 7 books of poetry. Her most recent book is Glyphs, available now from Deerbrook Editions. She is also the author of  Blues for French Roast with Chicory, available from Deerbrook Editions, the author of  Never Completely Awake ( from Deerbrook Editions), Where It Goes (Deerbrook Editions), Learning by Rote (Deerbrook Editions), Running Like a Woman with Her Hair on Fire (Red Hen Press), and Take the Long Way Home (Unsolicited Press).  Newberry has been included in The Cenacle, Cog, Blue Nib, Braided Way, Roanoak Review, THAT Literary Review, Mortar Magazine, and many other literary magazines in the U.S. and abroad. Her work is included in the anthologies Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Moontide Press Horror Anthology,  A Decade of Sundays: L.A.'s Second Sunday Poetry Series-The First Ten Years, and many others. She has been awarded residencies at Yaddo Colony for the Arts, Djerassi Colony for the Arts, and Anderson Center for Disciplinary Arts. Passionate in her love for Los Angeles, Martina currently lives there with her husband, Brian, a Media Creative. Glyphs - Deerbrook Editions Amazon.com: Glyphs: 9781736847763: Reisz Newberry, Martina: Books

On this week's show the boys welcome on Dr. Ken Anderson, MD from the Anderson Center for Hair in Atlanta. They discuss the different treats that are available to keep or maintain a full head of hair. They also discuss the importance of hair in society and the confidence it can create in all aspects of life. Enjoy the show and Yeah C'mon!   Learn more and Dr. Anderson:    Dr. Ken Anderson | Anderson Center for Hair Atlanta & Alpharetta, GA (atlantahairsurgeon.com)

Jonathan Escoffery is the author of the debut story collection If I Survive You, available from MCD/FSG. If I Survive You is a National Book Award Nominee, an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence Nominee, a New York Times Editor's Choice, and an Indie National Bestseller.  Escoffery is the winner of The Paris Review's 2020 Plimpton Prize for Fiction and is the recipient of a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts (Prose) Literature Fellowship. His story “Under the Ackee Tree” was among the trio that won the Paris Review the 2020 ASME Award for Fiction from the American Society of Magazine Editors, and was subsequently included in The Best American Magazine Writing 2020. His stories have appeared in The Paris Review, Oprah Daily, Electric Literature, Zyzzyva, AGNI, Pleiades, American Short Fiction, Prairie Schooner, Passages North, and elsewhere. Jonathan has taught creative writing and seminars on the writer's life at Stanford University, the University of Minnesota, the Center for Fiction, Tin House, Writers in Progress, and at GrubStreet in Boston, where, as former staff, he founded the Boston Writers of Color Group, which currently has more than 2,000 members. He has received support and honors from Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, Aspen Words, Kimbilio Fiction, the Anderson Center, and elsewhere. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Creative Writing MFA Program (Fiction) and attends the University of Southern California's Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature Program as a Provost Fellow. He is a 2021-2023 Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Launched in 2011. Books. Literature. Writing. Publishing. Authors. Screenwriters. Etc. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  YouTube Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This weekend's 1 in 44 guest is David Melby! David is a longtime friend of Anderson Center for Autism, with 20+ years of impactful longstanding service. He is a Vice President at NFP, a leading commercial insurance agency providing services across the United States, Canada, Europe and Puerto Rico. NFP has been a corporate sponsor/supporter of ACA throughout the years. Tune in to learn more about NFP and David's meaningful board service to Anderson. NFP can be found online at: https://www.nfp.com  

Karen Mary Davalos, professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, suggests a visit to see Dougie Padilla and Xavier Tavera's new work at Anderson Center at Tower View in Red Wing. Titled “Frontera Liminal,” the show investigates borders both physical and spiritual. Padilla's series of screen prints forge a connection with his great-grandmother, whom he never met. Among his images are ghost prints, the second, third, or more pulls on the same inked plate of a printing press, that produce ethereal remnants of the original image. Even the hanging of the images is ghostly, said Davalos. The images hang free from the ceiling, allowing them to move in the breeze and adding a sculptural element to 2-D images. Tavera is a photographer who has been traveling to the Mexican border for more than six years. He's interested in the intersection of Catholic and Indigenous spiritual practices, creating images that Davalos calls “charged and emotionally compelling.” The exhibit runs through Nov 5. and is capped with an artist talk and closing reception at 1 p.m. that afternoon. Beverly Roberts of Homewood Studios appreciates the intricate felted creations of Susan J. Sperl. Sperl's latest exhibit, entitled “Voices from the Water,” showcases her detailed, colorful sea creatures with such enticing names as warty frogfish, leafy sea dragon, wolf eel, Tasmanian sawshark. Many of these creatures face challenges due to plastics and pollution in their ocean environments. Courtesy of ABSPhoto Susan J. Sperl's "Leafy Sea Dragon" is one of the intricate felted sea creatures on display in her show "Voices from the Water" at Westminster Gallery in Minneapolis. Bringing these ideas closer to home are the cartoons about local water conservation and clean-up efforts, created by Winter Crenshaw and Donte Beck, students at Plymouth Youth Center's Arts and Tech High School. Together, the exhibit is part inspiration and wonder, part encouragement to protect our water, from Minneapolis storm drains to ocean depths. The show runs through Nov. 20 at the Westminster Gallery, located within Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis.  There's an artist reception Sunday from 2 - 4:30 p.m. Ilene Krug Mojsilov has long admired the work of sculptor and painter Dodie Logue and she highly recommends a visit to see her show “Color Thoughts” on display at One Division Art in Buffalo, Minn. Mojsilov recalled visiting Logue's studio this summer and looking out through the open barn doors at the restored prairie in full bloom. The prairie's color and texture infuses Logue's abstract paintings, whose grids and dots always deserve a closer look. Mojsilov explains Logue's work celebrates “the unexpected poetry of hard and soft…the interactions between color and texture.” The exhibit runs through Oct. 22. The gallery is open Friday 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Courtesy photo "Lullaby" on canvas by Dodie Logue.

Karen Mary Davalos, professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, suggests a visit to see Dougie Padilla and Xavier Tavera's new work at Anderson Center at Tower View in Red Wing. Titled “Frontera Liminal,” the show investigates borders both physical and spiritual. Padilla's series of screen prints forge a connection with his great-grandmother, whom he never met. Among his images are ghost prints, the second, third, or more pulls on the same inked plate of a printing press, that produce ethereal remnants of the original image. Even the hanging of the images is ghostly, said Davalos. The images hang free from the ceiling, allowing them to move in the breeze and adding a sculptural element to 2-D images. Tavera is a photographer who has been traveling to the Mexican border for more than six years. He's interested in the intersection of Catholic and Indigenous spiritual practices, creating images that Davalos calls “charged and emotionally compelling.” The exhibit runs through Nov 5. and is capped with an artist talk and closing reception at 1 p.m. that afternoon. Beverly Roberts of Homewood Studios appreciates the intricate felted creations of Susan J. Sperl. Sperl's latest exhibit, entitled “Voices from the Water,” showcases her detailed, colorful sea creatures with such enticing names as warty frogfish, leafy sea dragon, wolf eel, Tasmanian sawshark. Many of these creatures face challenges due to plastics and pollution in their ocean environments. Courtesy of ABSPhoto Susan J. Sperl's "Leafy Sea Dragon" is one of the intricate felted sea creatures on display in her show "Voices from the Water" at Westminster Gallery in Minneapolis. Bringing these ideas closer to home are the cartoons about local water conservation and clean-up efforts, created by Winter Crenshaw and Donte Beck, students at Plymouth Youth Center's Arts and Tech High School. Together, the exhibit is part inspiration and wonder, part encouragement to protect our water, from Minneapolis storm drains to ocean depths. The show runs through Nov. 20 at the Westminster Gallery, located within Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis.  There's an artist reception Sunday from 2 - 4:30 p.m. Ilene Krug Mojsilov has long admired the work of sculptor and painter Dodie Logue and she highly recommends a visit to see her show “Color Thoughts” on display at One Division Art in Buffalo, Minn. Mojsilov recalled visiting Logue's studio this summer and looking out through the open barn doors at the restored prairie in full bloom. The prairie's color and texture infuses Logue's abstract paintings, whose grids and dots always deserve a closer look. Mojsilov explains Logue's work celebrates “the unexpected poetry of hard and soft…the interactions between color and texture.” The exhibit runs through Oct. 22. The gallery is open Friday 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Courtesy photo "Lullaby" on canvas by Dodie Logue.

This weekend's 1 in 44 guests are Anderson team members Tracy Schober & Ashley Velez. Tracy & Ashley are both apart of Anderson's ECHO Autism Best Practices Hub. Tracy is the ECHO Lead Facilitator/HUB Team Parent Advocate, Ashley is a Clinic Coordinator. ECHO Autism Best Practices is a virtual learning network of autism specialists that allows for real-time access to experts in autism and other developmental disorders. Anderson's ECHO aims to support school personnel in New York State, and beyond, in the education and support of school-age children with autism through case-based learning. Tune in to learn more, or visit https://www.andersoncenterforautism.org/echo to register for the next virtual session!

You will fail. You will have difficult times. When hard times come your way, what will you do? Today on Conflict Managed, Randy Boyd, University of Tennessee President, encourages us to persevere in the face of hardship. He tells us the four things he has discovered successful businesses do, settling disputes with win/win/win in mind (you'll have to listen to find out what the extra win is!), and a great program, The Birthday Lunch and Listen, where people from across the organization are celebrated and listened to as well as creating an opportunity for employees to network with each other. Randy Boyd was appointed as the 26th president of the University of Tennessee System by the UT Board of Trustees March 27, 2020, following a 16-month period as interim president. Boyd founded Knoxville-based Radio Systems Corporation, a company that produces over 4,000 pet related products under the brand names PetSafe, Invisible Fence, ScoopFree and SportDOG. The company employs more than 1,400 people with offices in six countries around the world. Boyd Sports, LLC, owned by Randy and Jenny Boyd, owns the Greeneville Flyboys and Tennessee Smokies.  The company also owns the Johnson City Doughboys, Elizabethton River Riders and operates the Kingsport Axmen. Boyd also served the state of Tennessee in numerous roles, including serving as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and as the governor's special advisor on higher education where he was the architect for Tennessee Promise and Drive to 55. He is also the founder and chairman of the non-profit Tennessee Achieves. Randy and Jenny Boyd have dedicated their lives to giving back. In 2018, the couple formed the Boyd Foundation to further promote youth education, mental health, the arts and animal welfare. Among the Foundation's many philanthropic commitments is the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research and the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation's Boyd Venture Challenge seed grant program for student entrepreneurs, both through the Haslam College of Business at UT Knoxville. Boyd is the first in his family to graduate from college. He earned a bachelor's degree in business with an emphasis on industrial management from UT Knoxville. He also earned a master's degree in liberal studies with a focus on foreign policy from the University of Oklahoma. The Boyds live in Knoxville and have two children and two grandchildren. You can find Randy Boyd online at utpresident@tennessee.edu. Conflict Managed is hosted by Merry Brown and produced by Third Party Workplace Conflict Restoration Services. Contact us at 3PConflictRestoration@gmail.com. Our music is courtesy of Dove Pilot.

This weekend's 1 in 44 guest is Jay Perez! Jay is an artist, and a new friend of Anderson Center for Autism. Jay grew up and currently resides in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. He began creating art at a young age focusing on comic and graffiti art, and also creating custom denim jackets. He attended the School of Visual Arts in NYC after high school, and later joined the New York Police Department. Jay was on the force for 27 years, eventually becoming a sketch artist within the department. Jay recently connected with Anderson Center for Autism when he re-worked our Anderson Blue Knights Logo. This logo is now on the new Anderson food truck, which you can see out and about in our local community at events! Tune in to learn more about Jay or visit his shop:  https://www.redbubble.com/people/jayperez/shop  

Links Referenced:Spark Innovation Center: https://www.tnresearchpark.org/spark/ TranscriptRickey McCallum: Welcome back to The Research Park Chronicles podcast, where we're documenting the exciting innovations of the University of Tennessee Research Park. I'm your host, Rickey McCallum. For this episode, we're looking into the progressive and inspiring work being done at the Spark Innovation Center, which is currently housed inside the university's Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Facility at the Research Park. Spark Innovation Center focuses on entrepreneurship development and commercialization of regional technology-based startup companies. With a focus on clean technologies, a space in which Knoxville was rated as the 16th cleantech hub in the country, Spark has quickly become a significant contributor to the efforts here in the East Tennessee region.The Spark Innovation Center is designed to be a place where selected startups come to meet some of their fundamental needs, primarily those looking for wet lab space, or sophisticated prototyping shops, with capabilities for providing high-level mentorship in business model development, financial planning, and investor readiness at its core. As a result, these young startups have access to some of the best entrepreneurial leadership the university has to offer. One of the leaders in the center is Tom Rogers, CEO of the UT Research Park, who sat down with us to give an overview of the Spark Innovation Center, its mission, and its purpose.Tom Rogers: I became completely convinced that working with entrepreneurs, helping them find ways to take new ideas to the marketplace is a key to success in our local economy. We're blessed with a national laboratory, our Research 1 university, a culture of ideas being valued, and putting together a support structure around that has really great potential for the future of this region. So, I think a lot of the challenges that entrepreneurs face is interaction with potential customers, spending time doing customer discovery, understanding, will the dogs eat the dog food? We have a lot of great technology around here and I've seen hundreds of would-be entrepreneurs talk with great passion about what they do and their little gizmo, and ‘look, it works' without ever considering, does it solve a need in the marketplace? And that's really one of the primary things that we emphasize, not just here at Spark, but in the other business accelerators in the region as well. Try to get real. Try to understand that your idea may be the greatest thing in the world, but if customers aren't going to buy it, it's not going to be a successful company.Rickey McCallum: With a passion for getting early tech companies off the ground, the Spark Innovation Center and its programs are proving to be the perfect place for the region to manifest itself as a leader in tech. Another key figure in this regard is John Bruck, the director of the Spark Innovation Center. John's history of success in engineering and his commitment to the Knoxville area, as well as his role as mentor and investor puts him at the cutting edge of helping the startups that are associated with the center and his two primary programs to ensure its success.John Bruck: I am drawn to tech-based companies that are in their earliest stages. And there are really what has grown to be a hub of technological innovation and entrepreneurship here in Knoxville. I think one of the popular business journals has ranked Knoxville as the 16th largest innovation hub in the country, and that's because of programs that have grown out of the University of Tennessee, that have grown out of Oak Ridge National Lab.Rickey McCallum: An integral part of the local technology community, there are a handful of programs across the region in different organizations that have contributed assistance to help foster these young startups. One notable program is the Innovation Crossroads, housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and most recently Techstars, which is a co-sponsored program between ORNL, TVA, and the University of Tennessee, all of which are working in collaboration with the Spark Innovation Center to create the ideal environment for tech startups to grow and hopefully call East Tennessee home.John Bruck: Along with the Innovation Crossroads program, and particularly at UT and now the Research Park, we are positioned to really be a focus for early-stage tech-based companies and that's specifically what has drawn me here, this particular region—specifically Knoxville region—along with the many sources of high intellect and innovation. The challenge that it faces is one of being able to provide the space that's required by tech startups—and by that, I mean laboratory space—and tech-based mentorship and access to tech-oriented capital. But what we saw was the need for those things to match against companies that were growing out of the University of Tennessee and graduating from the University of Tennessee, companies that were graduating from the Innovation Crossroads program, and being able to place those companies into space that met their needs, was affordable, that was readily available, and could provide them with the other kinds of support that they needed to make the company successful. So, if they need programming, for example, a series of workshops on leadership or financial modeling or customer discovery, we're equipped to help those companies, along with providing them with physical space that matches their needs. So, what I think Spark did that is turning out to be quite successful is matching what we offer with what our customers really require, which truly is even less than that we teach to our startups themselves. So, the Spark Innovation Center is an early-stage organization, and it has begun to really meet those needs.Rickey McCallum: Within the Innovation Center, there are two major programs that help early startups get the assistance that they need to flourish in their respective areas of expertise. The first is the Spark Innovation Center, and the second is the Spark Cleantech Accelerator. Both programs bring specifically crafted support for cleantech startup companies in various stages of growth. Let's look at the Spark Innovation Center, Spark's flagship program.This incubator is meaningfully crafted for early tech startup companies who must identify a clear need in cleantech marketplace and are producing a product that demonstrates a solid product-market fit. Companies in the program often build a working prototype before engaging with initial customers, of which there are some pretty interesting ones, to say the least. The incubator is designed to allow these companies the room to scale, both in terms of product and in capital. While this program serves as a catalyst for helping these young companies, at the end of the day, it's the companies themselves who need to strive for excellence. For John, those companies need to demonstrate certain strengths and attributes.John Bruck: The programs need to be collaborative. In fact, I like the mantra, “Collaborate first.” And we do. So, the three technical hubs which are Innovation Crossroads is the oldest, Techstars, and the Spark Innovation Center. The directors of those organizations are actually very close, they know each other, and we collaborate on things like how to increase our number of applications and the quality of our applications.Rickey McCallum: With an emphasis on collaboration at the forefront, John fills us in on what companies can expect once they get accepted into the program.John Bruck: Typical laboratory requirements are made available that aren't really available in any other spaces. First and foremost, there is wet lab space, there is fume hood availability, there are higher than normal power resources that are available, there are gases that can be made available, benchtops, sinks, and DI water sources, all that stuff's available. We're sitting in one of the most sophisticated research labs, probably, in the world. So, that's tremendous to have. In addition, there is day-to-day mentoring and there is periodic programming that falls into the workshops that I mentioned before.Probably the most valuable resource that we provide are connections. And by connections I mean, we can strike up conversations, develop relationships with our strategic partners. So, we have tax experts, we have audit experts, we have energy experts. One of our primary supporters is TVA. We have experts that are in all sorts of supportive supply chain kinds of roles for our companies. We've got quantum computing simulation, and we have pharmaceutical molecular programming, and just, you name it and the connections are possible for us to make and to help the companies out. And then ultimately, we want to connect with customers and we want to connect with investors. So, those connections I think broadly are the biggest resource that we can offer.Rickey McCallum: With all of the support that the Spark Innovation Center provides, it is crucial to see that companies in this program scale, strive, and succeed. Of the current lineup of companies housed in Spark, there are two that are notable. The startups are exemplary cases for the reason, Spark exists to begin with: they identified an area in cleantech where progressive leaps and bounds needed to be made. The result is some of the most exciting work to come out of the Spark Innovation Center so far.I recently caught up with Dr. Anna Douglas, the CEO and co-founder of SkyNano, whose potential contributions to the future of cleantech are limitless in vision. SkyNano made headlines recently with some very exciting news. Anna and her team were named as a finalist in Elon Musk's 100-million dollar XPRIZE carbon removal. Naturally, the work that Dr. Anna Douglas is doing is certainly pushing the cleantech envelope.Dr. Anna Douglas: My name is Anna Douglas. I serve as the co-founder and CEO of SkyNano. SkyNano was really born out of my PhD research at Vanderbilt. So, I went to Vanderbilt to pursue a degree in material science. I primarily studied battery technology as an early graduate student, and I just kept coming across the challenge that the way we synthesize and mine battery materials today is not very sustainable. It puts a huge upfront carbon burden on a battery to last for a very long time in order to actually get the benefits of batteries being clean energy technologies.And so, we started to think about how can we better make materials that go into batteries? Carbon is used in every kind of battery and every kind of next-gen beyond lithium-ion batteries. And so, we started to look at how else can we make carbon structures that are important for these technologies? That's really kind of where the ethos of SkyNano's core technology came from. Once we started to realize, hey, we could make a business case out of this, that's really where that project evolved from just a science project and part of my dissertation into a startup company.Rickey McCallum: When we asked Dr. Douglas about why she chose to apply to the incubator program, her response spoke volumes to the benefits of working at the exceptional facilities at the UT Research Park.Dr. Anna Douglas: So, I think one thing that's unique to hardware-based startups is the need for specialized space. When you're talking about a software startup or an app, you can do that from basically anywhere, you know, laptop, couch, in someone's basement, you got a company. That's not the same for hardware startups, we need very specialized space, we need lab equipment, we need very specialized utilities, waste disposal, things like this. And you can't find that everywhere.And so, for us, really space was the biggest thing we were looking for as we exited the Innovation Crossroads program, you know, looking for a residency program, essentially. And Spark is the only program around that offers that, and there's very few programs like Spark really across the country where space is a part of being a part of the program. The added benefit, of course, is the community and the mentorship that you get alongside of that, but I think the real asset that we were really looking for was space. And this is a pretty second-to-none space you could be in.Rickey McCallum: A second-to-none space. This is exactly the kind of support that Spark wishes to provide to its startups. We asked Dr. Douglas what exactly second-to-none encompassed and what attracted her to the facilities that Spark Innovation Center could provide.Dr. Anna Douglas: Yeah, so we currently rent, we share a lab with Eonix, which is another local Knoxville company. And so together, we lease about 600 square feet. So, SkyNano is 300, Eonix is 300. The really unique capacity of that space is—so SkyNano has a fume hood in that space, so we can do work with chemicals that require ventilation.We have great electrical power. SkyNano is now looking for more electrical power, but for now, this has been really amazing electric capacity. Waste handling and disposal—EHS—comes once a week to come pick up chemical waste, just general good lab ventilation. So, the lab air is replaced six times an hour with fresh air from the exterior. It's basically like working outside without any of the elements.And so, for us, those things are really important and you can't find them anywhere. So, that has been really where Spark has been amazing. Of course, then there's the added benefit of being right on the river, having access to all the walking trails, being close to downtown and all the amenities here. For us, it's been a great recruitment tool [laugh] as we show people where we're located. We've brought on more people since we moved to Spark, and I do think our location has been a factor in that.Rickey McCallum: SkyNano was the perfect fit for the Spark incubator, and with a focus on decarbonization, SkyNano is unprecedented in its timing and application. But it begs to question, what exactly is decarbonization? And how is SkyNano making that happen? Dr. Douglas explains.Dr. Anna Douglas: [electrification 00:15:22], decarbonization, making materials for batteries. I would say, you know, in terms of decarbonization, one thing that has been really tough in industry is finding solutions that can deal with a wide variety of CO2 sources, right? Anything from really high purity carbon dioxide to more industrial sources like what comes out of, you know, a natural gas power plant, which is only, like, four-and-a-half percent by volume CO2, all the way to direct air capture, which is 412 ppm or so.One of the really cool things that SkyNano is doing is we're actually able to address pretty much the whole spectrum of CO2 sources. And so, we can really work with essentially any kind of industrial client or customer who wants to decarbonize their operations, provide a solution for them to get to net-zero on their chemical emissions, but with that, actually make a valuable product. So, it's an overall profitable operation, it kind of helps everyone. And this is a way that a free market solution can win because there's such demand for the end products and there's demand for people who can offtake different types of CO2.Rickey McCallum: The complexity and technical detail of decarbonization are well beyond the reach of what we can offer here, but at the end of the day, it is a technology that can take significant measures to decrease carbon emissions across our society. With the climate crisis—an ever-looming threat and reality—it becomes more crucial with every passing day. But SkyNano is still a company and that company needs to sell a product. So, who exactly is their target customer, and what are they trying to sell?Dr. Anna Douglas: So, we have a solution that is really important to two different types of people. On the CO2 emitter side, right, a lot of, particularly, energy production is trying to move towards a decarbonized economy. So, onboarding things like renewables, nuclear, things like that, to replace our existing coal and natural gas infrastructure. One of the challenges with that, though, is the intermittency, right?And so, the sun's not always shining, the wind's not always blowing, and we don't have enough nuclear sites licensed to just move to nuclear. And so, if we were to onboard pretty much all renewables, that would make the everyday consumer's electric bill just skyrocket. So, when we think about the transition towards a cleaner energy economy, carbon capture and utilization is a very important piece of that because we're actually able to partner with a local utility and decarbonize their operations without the everyday consumer's energy bill going up. Energy pricing influences everything from heating and cooling your house to the cost of your food to the cost of goods, all of it. And so, that's a really important piece.The other way that we really can touch the everyday consumer is just through your materials and devices performing better. So, the materials that we're making, carbon nanotubes, they really should be used in all kinds of things, in your batteries and your tires, in your coatings. If anyone's ever sat on a tarmac waiting for their plane to be de-iced, it's a nightmare. Just a tiny coating of carbon nanotubes on the exterior of planes could de-ice planes in a matter of minutes. The reason that they're not is because of their price today; they're just way too expensive.So, SkyNano's solution really is a way to make these materials at a much lower cost in a way that decarbonizes heavy industry and provides just better technology solutions to everyday consumers.Rickey McCallum: Dr. Douglas and SkyNano's work is but one of many companies housed in the Innovation Center. Another rising success in the incubator program is Eonix. We were joined by its co-founder and CEO Don DeRosa, who spoke to us about how Eonix is changing the game when it comes to the future of battery technologies. Their focus is to make them safe, more stable, and usable across a wide spectrum of markets. Don fills us in on how, as a graduate student, he had a small side hustle that ended up serving as his ignition for his entrepreneurial spirit.Don DeRosa: When my adviser found out, he was actually shocked because he was very entrepreneurial himself as well. So, he thought I was, kind of, a pure-play scientist and when he discovered this, he was like, “You should start using these talents for something else.” So, he gave us an opportunity to commercialize some molecules out of the university that showed a lot of merit for energy storage at the time. He showed us the initial steps to building a hard tech company, and that was fantastic. I don't think we would have been able to do it without him.You don't go from repairing water-damaged iPhones in a one-bedroom graduate school apartment to an electrolyte company right out of the gate. But yeah. So, that was the initial inception. So, around 2013 to 2014, we founded the company.Rickey McCallum: Don has to keep the company secrets close to his chest, so he could not provide us with a technical deep-dive into what exactly he does. But ultimately, Eonix has one major objective.Don DeRosa: We look to commercialize two molecules. We received about a half-a-million dollars in grant funding right out of the gate. And although the two molecules showed a lot of merit in the lab, it took quite some time to figure out how they perform in commercial devices. And that's really the first pivot for our company where we decided that the real problem when it comes to developing materials for energy storage devices, such as lithium-ion batteries, it's not the material you don't have—it's not the absence of some novel, super-crazy compound—it's the fact that it takes years and typically millions of dollars to determine if it's even worthwhile. So, our goal at that time was to develop a technology that could reduce the time and cost it took to comprehensively evaluate a material for new batteries.We eventually were accepted into the Innovation Crossroads program at Oak Ridge National Lab, and we were able to build out this system. And then somebody at the lab was like, “You have this phenomenal system for evaluating materials. Why aren't you using them for lithium [laugh] ion batteries? That's a massive market.” And he was completely right. So, that was the second major pivot. First, it was determining that we really needed a quicker, cheaper way to look at materials, and then we should have focused on a much larger market.Rickey McCallum: With their initial project gaining momentum, Don and Eonix needed to tap into the next stage, they needed scale, and they found the right place to do so.Don DeRosa: That eventually brought us to the Spark Innovation Center at the conclusion of Innovation Crossroads program where we were able to take that system, scale it up, deploy it towards discovering materials for lithium-ion batteries. And honestly, once we came into Spark, we got funding from the US Army, we were able to develop a nonflammable lithium-ion battery electrolyte within four months. So, it's a very quick process. We're currently going through the commercialization and scale process with it. And yeah, that's where we're at today.Rickey McCallum: The business of Eonix aside, Don and his team also needed to find some more practical support that Spark provides.Don DeRosa: To fabricate a battery, you need a lot of materials that aren't necessarily very safe, independently of being packaged in a battery. And they present a lot of environmental health and safety complications. So, out of the gate, you need a facility that recognizes that level of safety is necessary and then has the infrastructure available to account for handling those materials, bringing them in safely. Safety is the most important part when it comes to handling these kinds of materials. And the Spark Innovation Center located at this facility has all of the infrastructure necessary so that we can safely experiment with new materials, we can build batteries here in an environment where we don't have to be concerned with faulty [laugh] infrastructure or endangering anybody.So, that's the first issue. So, Spark Innovation Center, we came in, we were up and running within a month. It was a very smooth process. Smoother than we've had in a traditional academic environment or in a government lab before. So, it was very startup-friendly.Rickey McCallum: With all those needs met, Eonix began to work on their primary focus, which was on making lithium-ion batteries more stable and safe.Don DeRosa: With our system, our screening system that we developed, we were able to in a phase one project, develop materials that were nonflammable substitutes in four months. So, it's like, essentially the Diet Coke of lithium-ion batteries. It's the nonflammable lithium-ion battery. Same exact device—looks the same, manufactured the same—but it just doesn't have any of the flammability in it. And that's a market-specific application. That's just for the defense industry.There are going to be different applications that we're going to target from a materials perspective. So, we're going to rapidly design materials for electric vehicles where you have different concerns than the battery in your cell phone or the battery that might be in your Apple Watch. They're all lithium-ion batteries, but they have different needs and as a result, different materials would perform better. Just takes a really long time to find them. And we're trying to shrink that process.Rickey McCallum: Another core objective for the Spark Innovation Center, especially when it comes to fostering these young entrepreneurs, is to create a gateway to collaboration. Ultimately, we want to extend this beyond the Research Park and university as well as the greater Knoxville area and across the state of Tennessee. Don offers up an excellent take on how this is happening.Don DeRosa: This is actually a great win-win opportunity for our company and the university. We're looking for talent all the time, and the university is looking for workforce training opportunities and giving their students the best possible education for them to either work at a company like ours or work in that field. Now, what's fantastic is we're in the lithium-ion battery space and this market is starving for people to jump into this career in terms of research, manufacturing, all this stuff. And we're looking to hire as well. So, we're able to offer UTK students internships where they can help learn about what's going on at our company, we can get a feel for the roles that we want to explore in the future as well because we're a growing company and we're trying to figure out what direction to grow in.And that's really a win-win opportunity. There's poised to be thousands of manufacturing lithium-ion battery jobs, so that gives them insight to how a battery is fabricated, what materials go in there, what are the safety precautions associated with fabrication, and just gives them a huge leg up in terms of going out and pursuing these careers and landing great jobs. So, in either outcome, we get a great individual to work with us, the university has a great employment track record and graduates a student that's very capable to go out in the job market. And then there's the whole R&D phase where evaluating new materials for lithium-ion batteries is a very big publication space right now. So, any university professor that has a new material, we're able to quickly evaluate it, so something that might take them a few months, maybe even a year, we're able to do in a few weeks.Rickey McCallum: The focus on collaboration is shared by Dr. Douglas as well. Much like Eonix, SkyNano is another excellent relationship to foster for both the Research Park and the local community. Dr. Douglas has already interacted with UT students and she shares her own hopes for the role that collaboration can play.Dr. Anna Douglas: Yeah, absolutely. And I think if I had been exposed to entrepreneurship as a potential career path earlier, perhaps it would have been a bit of an easier transition. And so, I think as a student, that would be a really cool opportunity.So, SkyNano has collaborated a little bit with the university. We've helped support proposals, we've been a subcontractor on some proposals with different faculty across campus, including some in [unintelligible 00:27:15], some outside of [unintelligible 00:27:16]. You know, for us, we can provide a solution in a variety of ways. We have electrochemistry experts on staff, just due to our technology, but certainly, we're also making materials, so we've actually provided carbon nanotube samples that we've made in the lab to a professor on campus to use in an application that we would never have thought of on our own. We've had students come by and look at the lab and help get inspired to think about entrepreneurship as a potential career path. And for us, that's just been a really exciting opportunity because it's not something you get in just a general commercial space.Rickey McCallum: The Research Park and Spark Innovation Center are postured to serve as pillars within the local community, to act as that gateway for collaboration. Following the example of SkyNano and Eonix, there are untold opportunities in the future of other companies to collaborate, contribute, and to become local figures. So, the question is, what's next for our innovators and entrepreneurs? Where do their hopes lie for the future of their companies?Dr. Anna Douglas: On the five-year horizon, we would be looking at actually installing SkyNano plants co-located with heavy-emitting industries—so whether that's energy industry, chemical production, et cetera—and actually serving a pretty significant market with the carbon materials that we're making. On the ten-year horizon, I would imagine every carbon additive material that goes into your tire, your battery, your paints, coatings, whatever is made from carbon dioxide.Don DeRosa: What we do from the materials perspective is we look at what a real pain point is for the application that we're targeting. In the instance of the defense industry, the most paramount thing that they're concerned with is mitigating risk and safety in their system. It's a huge liability to have a lithium-ion battery in a lot of the environments that they work in. I think that's a very compelling market. And it not only offers peace of mind for people installing large grid storage battery systems that would help manage, let's say, wind or solar, but there's definitely an element of cost reduction there as well.So, there's potentially a 20 to 25% CapEx savings out of the gate that you could get on the commercial side for grid storage. And if anybody thinks of anything else, they could feel free to email me. We are always looking places to sell stuff.Rickey McCallum: Let's turn back to John, the director of the Spark Innovation Center. With the great potential of companies like SkyNano and Eonix, John is enthusiastic about the cleantech initiatives that are coming out of the Spark and its incubator and accelerator programs.John Bruck: Those are two programs that work pretty well together and they're very different. One is a two-year program, one is a 12-week program. The longer-term vision I think is that we are able to support, contribute to the advanced energy and high tech business community in the region and in the state. If you look, for example, at the global advanced energy market of $1.4 trillion, the state of Tennessee contributes percentage-level component to that global market.So, we're in the 45 to $50 billion a year range. That's huge. The state of Tennessee has 400,000 employees in the advanced energy space, 20,000 companies. So, when you look at the big picture economy in this space, I think what the dream for the Spark Innovation Center is to work to help the earliest stage companies grow to eventually enter into that space, financially sustainable, and from a business standpoint, very competitive.Rickey McCallum: The stories of Eonix and SkyNano are only the beginning. The Spark Innovation Center is positioned to become a leader in cleantech and an integral part of the Research Park future. Here's the Research Park CEO Tom Rogers again with some thoughts about the role of the Innovation Center.Tom Rogers: The university is a Research 1 university and they've picked up on this momentum in the entrepreneurial world as well. So, the college of business has an Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The College of Engineering teaches entrepreneurial courses. The College of Law has a business clinic that teaches law students how to work with startup companies. The UT Research Foundation hires interns that help them look at intellectual property and decide what to pursue in terms of patenting.There's entrepreneurial activity all over this campus. And what we've done collectively—not the Spark Innovation Center so much as the entire region, whether they're part of the university or not—become part of the community and succeed here in Knoxville.Rickey McCallum: The possibilities for what is to come for the Spark Innovation Center and its programs and the future of cleantech are exciting to say the least. The Research Park in collaboration with its member organizations are working hard to stand above the crowd as examples of progressive entrepreneurial spirit. This is a story that is just in its beginnings and the best is still, without a doubt, yet to come. Thank you for joining our brief look into the exciting work being done within the UT Research Park and the Spark Innovation Center. The Research Park, with its history rooted in agriculture and the rise of the fundamental ideas of the Park to the advancements being made within its walls, the atmosphere around the Research Park is only becoming more electric.In our next episode, we'll turn our attention to the Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, where some incredible work is being done in the world of material sciences. Check out the next episode for an extensive and exciting look at the mind-boggling science being done there.Rickey McCallum: Thank you for listening to The Research Park Chronicles with Rickey McCallum. Keep up with the latest episodes by subscribing on Apple or Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever fine podcasts are found.

Jordan talks with Jessamine Chan about the ways having a kid changed her writing, about the difficulties mothers face in America, and about the one very good day of writing that led to The School for Good Mothers. MENTIONED: "Where is Your Mother?" by Rachel Aviv (The New Yorker) Cost of Living by Emily Maloney SCOTUS draft decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization The Ragdale Foundation Jessamine Chan's debut novel is The School for Good Mothers, an instant New York Times bestseller. Her short stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Brown University. Her work has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Jentel, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the Anderson Center, VCCA, and Ragdale. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This weekend's 1 in 44 guests are Michael Campbell and Brandon Drescher. Michael is the Regional Market Impact Representative for MHVFCU and Brandon is the Branch Manager for the Red Hook and Rhinebeck locations. MHVFCU is the first credit union in our local area to become an Autism Supportive EnvironmentSM (ASE). Also, MHVFCU visits Anderson's campus to meet with our newest team members in orientation and discuss financial tips, wellness, and more. Anderson Center for Autism & Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union have a wonderful and unique partnership, tune in to learn more!

In this episode, Melanie and Dawn talk with featured writer, Jessamine Chan, about her New York Times bestselling novel The School For Good Mothers, publishing your first novel after 40, writing envy, motherhood, art and social change, “unlikeable” women in fiction, and more!Join our Patreon at the $5 Prickly Pear level for access to an upcoming bonus segment from this episode, in which Jessamine talks in more detail about her novel (with spoilers!).CW: forced parent child separationJessamine Chan's short stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University. Her work has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Jentel, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the Anderson Center, VCCA, and Ragdale. Her first novel, The School for Good Mothers, is a New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter. LinksJessamineChan.com“Where Is Your Mother?” by Rachel Aviv: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/02/where-is-your-motherWriters to ReadChloeCooperJones.comCatherineChung.comRachelJYoder.comLearn more about Plume at PlumeforWriters.org! 

Join Town Hall Seattle Writer-in-Residence Sarah Salcedo, author John Wiswell, and author Ross Showalter for a virtual-only event as they share their short fiction and discuss the power of stories, creative processes, and the beauty and difficulties inherent in bringing their disabilities into their own work. Sarah Salcedo is an award-winning filmmaker, illustrator, and author. Her writing has been published in Luna Station Quarterly, Hobart After Dark, Not Deer Magazine, Pacifica Literary Review, The Future Fire, Hypertext Magazine, Words & Sports Quarterly, and elsewhere. Her poetry has been featured at The Daily Drunk and their Marvelous Verses anthology. She is the Spring 2022 Writer-in-Residence for Town Hall Seattle and attended the 2022 Tin House Winter Workshop. John (@Wiswell) is a disabled writer who lives where New York keeps all its trees. He is a winner of the Nebula Award for Best Short Story for “Open House on Haunted Hill,” as well as a finalist for the Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Awards. His work has appeared at Uncanny Magazine, the LeVar Burton Reads Podcast, Tor.com, Lightspeed Magazine, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, among other fine venues. Ross Showalter is a Deaf queer writer based in the Pacific Northwest. His short stories, personal essays, and critical pieces have been published in The New York Times, Electric Literature, Strange Horizons, Catapult, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. His work has been a finalist for the Best of the Net anthology, included on Entropy Magazine's Best of the Year lists, and supported by the Anderson Center and Deaf Spotlight. He earned his BFA in creative writing from Portland State University and he currently teaches creative writing courses in UCLA Extension Writers' Program. Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here. 

Miles Taylor of Wood Lake, Minn. is a burlesque DJ and visual artist with a particular interest in glitch art. He admires the innovative work of Autumn Cavender, a Dakota artist and midwife. Her art finds a common thread in digital media and traditional Dakota quillwork and hide processing. Courtesy of Autumn Cavender Autumn Cavender's artwork is of the digital form of the sounds of her son's birth. A year ago, she recorded the sounds of the birth of her second son. Cavender turned those sounds into a digital image which Taylor says bears striking similarities to her quillwork. “Wowicakekage: Dakota Art Encoded” is currently at the K. K. Birge Gallery through May 7, and then it will travel through the summer. The exhibit will be at the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council in Marshall May 12 through June 17, then spend August at the Crossing Arts Alliance gallery in Brainerd. Adam Wiltgen, residency coordinator and development director at the Anderson Center at Tower View, is enjoying the ongoing collaboration between Minnesota artists and poets through nearby Red Wing Arts. This year is the 21st annual juried Poet Artist Collaboration, which asks artists to illustrate selected original poems. The result, Wiltgen said, stretches visual artists outside their comfort zone to create something new. Wiltgen recommends visitors check out Jacob Yeates's visual response to Casey Patrick's poem “Medusa,” where the hyper-realistic image changes and morphs; and Cole Redhorse Jacobson's “provoking artwork” in response to Gwen Westerman's poem on the significance of the Mississippi River for our wildlife and our collective wellbeing. Courtesy of Red Wing Arts Jacob Yeates illustrates a poem by Casey Patrick. The exhibit is on display at Red Wing Arts through May 15, with Thursday night poetry readings running through that date. Red Wing Arts has created a chapbook of this year's collaborations. A reception of the participating poets and visual artists will be held Friday starting at 6 p.m. at the St. James Hotel in downtown Red Wing and is open to the public. Amy Garretson of the Rochester Arts Center has her tickets for the Mid West Music Fest in Winona Friday and Saturday. The two-day event offers a full line-up of artists from the region performing indie rock, pop synth, classic folk and more on multiple outdoor and indoor stages. Garretson said it's a great opportunity to discover the bars, coffee shops, and other venues in the Mississippi River town on a spring weekend. She's looking forward to catching headliners Polica, Haley, and Bad Bad Hats. Proof of full vaccination or negative PCR test within 72 hours of event start is required. Garretson offers a  tip: VIP tickets to this Mid West Music Fest also include admission to a sister event in LaCrosse, Wisconsin in September. 

This week we are honored to have Martina Reisz Newberry return to the show. We discuss her poem Glyphs in the Canyon from her new book Glyphs. We reflect on life's questions of reincarnation, thoughts, dreams, and perceptions. Martina Reisz Newberry is the author of 7 books of poetry. Her most recent book is GLYPHS, due out in May 2022 from Deerbrook Editions. She is also the author of BLUES FOR FRENCH ROAST WITH CHICORY, available from Deerbrook Editions, the author of NEVER COMPLETELY AWAKE ( from Deerbrook Editions), WHERE IT GOES (Deerbrook Editions), LEARNING BY ROTE (Deerbrook Editions), RUNNING LIKE A WOMAN WITH HER HAIR ON FIRE: Collected Poems (Red Hen Press), and TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME (Unsolicited Press). Newberry has been included in The Cenacle, Cog, Blue Nib, Braided Way, Roanoak Review, THAT Literary Review, Mortar Magazine, and many other literary magazines in the U.S. and abroad. Her work is included in the anthologies Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Moontide Press Horror Anthology,  A Decade of Sundays: L.A.'s Second Sunday Poetry Series-The First Ten Years, and many others in the U.S. and abroad. She has been awarded residencies at Yaddo Colony for the Arts, Djerassi Colony for the Arts, and Anderson Center for Disciplinary Arts. Passionate in her love for Los Angeles, Martina currently lives there with her husband, Brian, a Media Creative. THE GLYPHS IN THE CANYONS I've forgotten those times between                                        wakefulness and dozing and sleep. I know something happened,  but I can't recall what it was. It's like trying to recall where  I was just before I was born.   My friend tells me that this is the                                            reason I should never fear death.  She says, “You don't know where you  were before you were born, so why  fret about where you'll be after  you die?” This is wisdom I can  acknowledge, but from which I glean                                     no comfort and it is comfort  I want more than nearly any thing. I want the great eyes of God to turn my tears to opals and the  great tongue of God to tell me that    life and death are the same--that I                                         will keep loving and making love, and  walking and humming, and wanting and holding, and will never lose  my appetite for joy or for potato chips and onion dip and ice cream.   Between wakefulness and dozing                                          and sleeping, what is there to know? Who do I serve awake/asleep? Who do I honor when I doze? And why is wakefulness the stain on all this embalmed paradise? Her previous episode on Poetic Resurrection can be listened to here. (We are part of the Amazon Associates program and proceeds go back into the podcast) Glyphs is available on Amazon Her other books are also available on Amazon and other book retailers.

Alex and Lindsay talk with Jessamine Chan (The School for Good Mothers) about writing and rewriting her novel, her love of experimental fiction, Lydia Kiesling as our fave parent influencer, the silent scream inside gentle parenting, being an instant bestseller, and more! Jessamine Chan's short stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Brown University. Her work has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Jentel, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the Anderson Center, VCCA, and Ragdale. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This weekend's guests are Nyasha Sibindi and Rhoda Nassolo. Nyasha & Rhoda are fellows in the Anderson Center International (ACI) Fellowship Program. Nyasha is originally from Zimbabwe, Rhoda is from Uganda. Both are excited to take the information and skills they are learning here at Anderson, back home to help individuals with autism in Africa. Tune in to learn more about Nyasha and Rhoda or visit www.andersoncenterforautism.org/aci for more information regarding ACI. 

Tune in to learn more about the Admissions Department at Anderson Center for Autism! Eliza is joined by long-time team members Tracy Schober, Senior Admissions Administrator and Tom Hamill, Admissions Assistant. Tracy and Tom discuss national outreach, the admissions process for families, parent relationships, the "Anderson Family", and more! Visit us online at: https://www.andersoncenterforautism.org/prospective-families/admissions 

Lynn Youngs, Senior Lecturer & Executive Director of the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at The University of Tennessee joined John & Jimmy on SportsTalk to discuss NIL and more.

This weekend's guests are Michelle & Connor Wohlfahrt! Michlle & Connor are a mother and son duo, and longtime friends of Anderson Center for Autism. In conjunction with Connor being a 2021 Henrik Lundqvist Foundation Young Ambassador (HLFYA) and a player on the Lagrange Gunners soccer team, he came up with a special fundraiser for ACA last spring. Saves For Anderson was Connor's way of giving back to ACA, through pledges from family, friends, peers, and community members. Tune in to learn more about Michelle & Connor and why they choose to give back to ACA!    

Tune in to hear from another wonderful Anderson Center for Autism parent. In this episode, Eliza talks with Ed Hussey. Ed's son was placed in ACA's childrens program over 10 years ago, since he has graduated, and is now in our adult program! Learn more about Ed, his family, and his experiences with ACA!

Pancreatic cancer expert, Dr. Anirban Maitra, is the first Co-Director and Scientific Director of M.D. Anderson Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at the University of Texas in Houston. As well, Dr. Maitra is the center's Deputy Division Head of Academic Science and a Professor of Pathology and Translational Molecular Pathology. His time at both John Hopkins and the University of Texas has solidified his position as a leading expert in the field of pancreatic pathology. Dr. Maitra's passion is to improve patient's survival by discovering and developing ways to detect and treat pancreatic cancer. His conversation is candid, personal, and showcases the widespread effects of this illness. To see Dr. Maitra speak on the importance of progress in the pancreatic cancer research community, follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crt1wvXZN3Q.