Podcasts about Ringling

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In this sacred conversation, we explore the deep wisdom of the body, the healing power of meditation, and the quiet medicine that lives within us all. Our guest, Dr. Sharon Juraszek, is a doctor of Ayurvedic Medicine, founder of Fermentlicious, and the visionary behind Happy Bellies Mater INC. She shares her personal healing journey, including reversing Hashimoto's, and her passion for the mind-gut connection, conscious food practices, and the transformative power of presence.Sharon speaks to how meditation became an anchor on her healing path, helping her listen to her inner whisper and align with a deeper sense of purpose. From cultivating gut health to building mindful communities, she reminds us that true wellness begins within.About Sharon:Fermentlicious - The best sauerkraut!Sharon's Ayurveda PracticesHappy Bellies MatterFollow Fermentlicious on InstagramResources discussed in this episode:What is Saturn Mahadasha?What is Vedic Astrology?We are made of more bacteria cells than human cells.Germ theory vs. Terrain theoryWhat are the Ayurveda Doshas?What is Hashimoto's Disease?Who is Donna Gates?"All disease begins in the gut" - HippocratesCalifornia College of AyurvedaWhat is Panchakarma?The history of Ringling brothers, circus, and SarasotaHow to live your Dharma (purpose)Ways to connect with Masako:Let's meditate together on InsightTimer!Why not meditate? FB Groupwhynotmeditate.podcast IGmasakozawa_coaching IGWebsiteSupport the show

This ain't the Moran commission anymore: The Sarasota County commissioners yesterday voted to strip builders of funding for an education program.Next: Homeowners in a posh subdivision near North Port are learning the hard way that developers wield a lot of power - even after they sold you the home they built. Suncoast Searchlight brings us this story.Then: How did New College hire a politically connected figure after he appeared in three local police reports? Suncoast Searchlight is trying to find out.Next: Four hundred people crowded into a town hall organized by opponents of a takeover of the Ringling Museum of Art by New College. Farah Vallecillo was there.Next: It took Venice city councilmembers barely five minutes to decide how to fill the seat abandoned by Joan Farrell two weeks ago. Ramon Lopez reports.Finally: A decision on a controversial skyscraper project has been delayed - because of a missing green-yellow sign. Gretchen Cochran explains.

Yesterday, Sarasota County commissioners surprised their critics and campaign donors again. In a narrow vote, they postponed a decision on a key part of a major development, prompting the developer to huddle with neighbors who are trying to stop the project. Ramon Lopez reports. Then: The governor is setting in motion a takeover of yet another iconic institution in Sarasota. But the resistance is taking shape. Next: Next month, City of Sarasota commissioners are expected to take key decisions regarding the future of the Purple Cow. One of them is whether to seek a historic designation for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center. Gretchen Cochran reports.Finally: Activists are planning a nationwide economic blackout this Friday. We explain what's behind the idea.

Cellist and composer Dorothy Lawson is one of the founding members and Artistic Directors for ETHEL, ‪ a string quartet celebrating 25 years of setting the standard for contemporary concert music. In this episode, you'll hear about many fascinating and meaningful collaborations with musicians including Alllison Loggins-Hull, Robert Mirabal, and Layale Chaker. It was really inspiring to hear how they got started with adapting the concert experience into something less-predictable, and ways to connect with new audiences. Dorothy also shared her insights into playing and teaching the cello and staying healthy. We also talked about many of the long-term relationships with the Metropolitain Museum, Denison College and the Grand Canyon Music Festival's Native American Composer Apprentice Projecct. You'll be hearing excerpts from 3 of ETHEL's recent albums, including wonderful music by Leilehua Lanzilotti, Sam Wu and Migiwa “Miggy” Miyajima, and everything is linked to ETHEL's website: https://ethelcentral.org/ Transcript and YouTube video of this episode: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/dorothy-lawson-ethel This is my final podcast for this year, Episode 51 of Season 4, and Season 5 starts in a couple of weeks in January. Please check the links for different ways to support and follow this independent podcast. I really do need the help of my listeners; I do all the many jobs of research, production and publicity. Can you buy this podcaster a coffee to support this series? ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠ Thanks! Follow me on Social Media: ⁠https://linktr.ee/leahroseman⁠ Merchandise: https://www.leahroseman.com/beautiful... Newsletter sign-up Complete Catalog of Episodes: https://www.leahroseman.com/about Transcript and podcast on all the platforms linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/... You may be also interested in my episodes with: the Euclid Quartet https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/... the Cheng2 duo https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/... Meg Okura https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/... Martha Mooke https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/... Rebeca Omordia https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/... Pat Irwin https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/... Frank Horvat https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/... Timestamps:  (00:00) Intro (02:19) ETHEL string quartet, Persist project Allison Loggins-Hull (07:29)how and why ETHEL got started, Mary Rowell, Todd Rundgren, Joe Jackson (13:32) Persist album, Sam Wu composer (14:56) excerpt from Terraria by Sam Wu on the Persist album (16:54) composer Leilehua Lanzilotti, Hawaii history and culture (19:14) excerpt from We began this quilt there by Leilehua Lanzilotti from album Persist (20:33) composer Migiwa Miyajima (23:18) clip from Reconciliation Suite by Migiwa “Miggy” Miyajima from album Persist (24:11) Allison Loggins-Hull, about Persist (26:41) excerpt from Perisist by Allison Loggins-Hull (28:50) multi-media shows, Docuamerica (33:02) collaboration with Ringling museum for Circus: Wandering City show (37:21) other episodes that will interest you and different ways to support this series (38:06) the name ETHEL, members (46:09) Robert Mirabal, Grand Canyon Music Festival (56:41) excerpt from trailer for the Red Willow project with Robert Mirabal (58:46) Layale Chaker violinist composer, new album Vigil (01:01:58) excerpt from Vigil with Layale Chaker (01:05:07)Dorothy's approach to teaching cello, avoiding injury, strategies for staying healthy (01:10:45) Metropolitan Museum collaboration (01:17:47)Denison University residency, city universities in New York Macaulay Honors

We are excited to bring you another episode dedicated to answering student questions! This time, we're thrilled to feature students from Ringling College of Art & Design's Entertainment Design program. Jamie DeRuyter, the program's department head, helped us gather questions that several of our Falcon's answered. Whether you're interested in theme parks, exhibitions, or immersive experiences, the advice from our team will provide valuable insight on how to be a successful themed entertainment professional. Turn it up and give it a listen!

Send us a textEnjoy this deep dive into the history of circus tents - how they are set up, torn down, and all the the bonkers man power that it all requires and intricate logistics involved . We also discuss the history of Ringling's TOP tent maker, tent design and its evolution from the Golden age of circus to present.VIDEO LINKS:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg5JuVFxljchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ejO1yOeZOjkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t02mTJbh1HICheck our Instagram @circus.stories to view images we discuss during the episode!*This podcast contains explicit language that may not be suitable for young childrenSupport the show+Follow Us on IG @circus.stories+Email us: circusstoriespodcast@gmail.comRate, Review and Subscribe where ever you Listen!Thanks for Listening + Check those Boilers !!

On July 6, 1944, an estimated 7,000 people, mostly women and children, gathered at the Barbour Street fairgrounds in Hartford, Connecticut to see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Baily Circus. Inside the big top tent, the lion show had just ended, and the Flying Wallendas were getting ready to begin their performance when the tent caught fire, sending the large audience into a panic as the spectators and performers rushed to get to safety. The tent, which had been coated in paraffin wax, was quickly engulfed in flames and by the time the fire was put out, 139 people were dead and hundreds were badly injured. In the weeks that followed, another twenty-eight would die from their injuries. At the time, the Hartford circus fire was one of the worst fires in American history, and it remains one of the biggest tragedies in the state's history. Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!ReferencesCavanaugh, Jack. 1994. "The Hartford fire, 50 years later." New York Times, July 3: CN1.Daily Boston Globe. 1945. "7 Ringling officials held responsible by coroner for Hartford circus fire." Daily Boston Globe, January 12: 12.—. 1950. "Circus holocaust, 4 N.E. murders laid to N.H. man." Daily Boston Globe, Juky 1: 1.—. 1950. "Psychiatrist to examine youth who thinks he set Hartford circus fire." Daily Boston Globe, May 21: C29.Davis, John. 1944. "Circus Fire is described by witness." Hartford Courant, July 7: 3.Ensworth, Bob. 1944. "Quick-witted show folks saved many, soldier declares." Daily Boston Globe, July 7: 1.Glaberson, William. 1991. "Our towns." New York Times, August 2: B2.Hartford Courant. 1944. "113 children, mothers not yet located." Hartford Courant, July 7: 1.—. 1944. "'Flying Wallendas' on high wire when flames swept through tent." Hartford Courant, July 7: 1.—. 1944. "Negligence facts found says Alcorn." Hartford Courant, July 8: 1.—. 1944. "Panic and blaze trap hundreds." Hartford Courant, July 7: 1.—. 1944. "Thousands attracted by circus here." Hartford Courant, July 6: 1.—. 1944. "Tossed cigarette blamed for fire by ushers, police." Hartford Courant, July 7: 1.Kelley, Robert. 1945. "The strange case of Little Miss No. 1565 still baffles police." Daily Boston Globe, July 16: 1.Linscott, Seymour. 1944. "136 die in circus fire." Daily Boston Globe, July 7: 1.Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. 1950. "Quiz firebug suspect in '44 circus tragedy." Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, May 19: 1.Morning Edition. 2007. Remembering the Horror and Heroes of a Circus Fire. July 6. Accessed July 2, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2007/07/06/11768511/remembering-the-horror-and-heroes-of-a-circus-fire.New York Times. 1950. "Arson killer sane, psychiatrists find." New York Times, November 2: 47.—. 1950. "Arsonist imprisoned; admitted 172 deaths." New York Times, November 4: 34.—. 1944. "Children caught in frenzied mass." New York Times, July 7: 11.—. 1950. "Some doubts raised in arson confession." New York Times, July 2: 27.Ross, Leonora. 1944. "Hartford tragedy leaves cricus artisits staggered." Daily Boston Globe, July 8: 2.Skidgell, Michael. 2019. The Hartford Circus Fire. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing.Smith, John Henry. 2024. 80 years ago, a gas-soaked roof and WWII created a perfect storm for the Hartford circus tragedy . July 1. Accessed July 1, 2024. https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-07-01/80-years-ago-a-gas-soaked-roof-and-wwii-created-a-perfect-storm-for-the-hartford-circus-tragedy.Tuohy, Lynne. 2004. "Back to the circus." Hartford Courant, May 16: 69.United Press. 1942. "Scores of animals killed in $125,000 circus fire." Brooklyn Citizen, August 4: 1.Wallenfeldt, Jeff. 2024. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. May 31. Accessed July 1, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ringling-Bros-and-Barnum-and-Bailey-Combined-Shows/Ringling-Bros-and-Barnum-Bailey-Combined-Shows.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What's the role of wonder in experience design? What can the circus teach us to make our exhibitions better? (Spoiler alert: a lot.) Could being “with it and for it” be the secret to success for museum projects? How much technology is too much? Can we really design for all five senses? Can an exhibition be a high-wire act — literally? Jennifer Lemmer Posey (Tibbals Curator of Circus at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to teach some inspirational “Circus Lessons for Museum Professionals”. Along the way: popcorn, a wall of clowns, and that special smell of elephants.Talking Points:1. Build a team that is “with it and for it”2. Engage all of the senses3. Technology shouldn't steal the center ring4. Wonder is in the details5. Create opportunities for shared experiences6. Design a space that can be ever-changing, never-changing How to Listen:Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311  Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G  Everywherehttps://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/  Guest Bio:As the Tibbals Curator of Circus at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Jennifer Lemmer Posey oversees the interpretation and care of objects and ephemera related to the history of circus. With more than twenty years of experience, Jennifer serves as a liaison to the international circus community and facilitates academic study of circus arts. A leading scholar in American circus history, her work has been included in numerous books, catalogs, and journals. Jennifer served as editor for Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society and was an Advisory Scholar in Circus Arts for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2017.About MtM:Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com Show Links:About Jennifer:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferlemmerposey/ https://www.instagram.com/wonderfilled_curator/ About the Ringling:https://www.linkedin.com/company/theringling https://www.instagram.com/theringling/ https://www.facebook.com/TheRingling From Point 1 - Building a team that is “with it and for it”:Behind the scenes of the Howard Bros. Circus model - museum staff programhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxntny_wC_M Wagon Wheel installationhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgF8__NDnJQ From Point 2 - Engage all of the senses:The Ringlinghttps://www.ringling.org Wonder Symposiumhttps://www.ringling.org/wonder-symposium/ From Point 3 - Technology shouldn't steal the center ring:The Greatest Show On Earth Gallery at The Ringlinghttps://www.ringling.org/event/the-greatest-show-on-earth-gallery/ Manage This Podcast – My Project is a Three Ring Circushttps://www.velociteach.com/manage-this-podcast/my-project-is-a-three-ring-circus/ From Point 4 - Wonder is in the details:Howard Tibbals & the Howard Bros. Circus Modelhttps://www.pbs.org/video/wedu-arts-plus-311-howard-tibbals/ Smithsonian Folklife Festival – Wonder Is  by Albert Tong and Hae-Yang Changhttps://festival.si.edu/blog/wonder-is-circus-arts Circus Museum Collection Highlightshttps://emuseum.ringling.org/collections/5163/circus-highlights/objects From Point 5 - Create opportunities for shared experiences:The Ringling's Collecting Recollections series features fascinating people with fascinating stories to tell about their lives, the Museum, the Circus, Sarasota – and more. I recommend Dolly Jacobs, Kenneth Feld, Jackie LeClaire, Peggy Williamshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLctJhityCmSnHNtgDWP6uWK3Nf0l7Pkr1 From Point 6 - Design a space that can be ever-changing, never-changing:The Circus Museum at The Ringlinghttps://www.ringling.org/visit/venues/circus-museum/ To learn more about circuses:Federation Mondiale du Cirquehttp://www.circusfederation.org Circus Historical Societyhttps://circushistory.org Circus Sarasotahttps://circusarts.org Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baileyhttps://www.ringling.com MtM Show Contact:https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger alger@cgpartnersllc.com  https://www.cgpartnersllc.com  Newsletter:Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

We're in Sarasota, Florida, with Tracy McHugh of ChasingWonderful.com. We talk about touring the Ringling Circus Museum, walking through the Marie Selby Gardens and looking for manatees while kayaking.  Show notes & our 1-page guide are at https://WeTravelThere.com/sarasota Acorns invests your spare change automatically on every purchase and earns Found Money at participating retailers. It's a great way to save for travel. For a limited time, sign up at wetravelthere.com/acorns & we'll both earn $5.

10 de julio de 1915. En una urbanización de Filadelfia se declara un incendio y cuando los bomberos consiguen entrar en la casa encuentran a una pequeña de como muchos dos años presa con cadenas dentro de un armario. No habla, no llora, es inquietantemente extraña y parece tener algún tipo trastorno cognitivo. La pregunta es quién y porqué han querido matarla. Un mes más tarde Frank y Sylvie Lentini (El hombre de las tres piernas y la mujer barbuda), componentes del circo de los hermanos Ringling, oyen hablar de la pequeña niña maldita a la que nadie quiere adoptar. Desesperados por ser padres, acogen a la pequeña Mara en su hogar, pero nadie los ha preparado para todo lo que esta extraña niña va a desatar en sus vidas. Mara habla con los que ya no están y sus mensajes desde el más allá son día tras día más agresivos e inquietantes. Freak shows, videncia, rituales mágicos y vudú se aúnan en una historia que recorre gran parte de la costa este de Estados Unidos y nos lleva hasta Nueva Orleans para descubrir los oscuros secretos que se ocultan tras la familia de la famosa reina vudú: Marie Laveau.

The onetime circus performer, who stood 8  ½ feet tall, was known at various times as "The Texas Giant", "What-a-Man-Tarver", and “Texas Jim” (he grew up in Franklin, Texas). 

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 1145, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Wacky Math 1: Strings on a standard guitar times the Oscars won by Pauly Shore. 0. 2: Number of "golden rings" in a Christmas song plus the number of rings in Ringling's circus. 8 (5 3). 3: Days in a leap year minus the title "route" number of a TV show starring Martin Milner. 300 (366 - 66). 4: Joe Namath's Jet uniform No. divided by the title number of a TV police car driven by Martin Milner. 1 (12/Adam-12). 5: No. of "islands" in a mayo-based salad dressing plus a "baker's dozen" of cookies made by Martin Milner. 1,013. Round 2. Category: Who Sang It First? 1: "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" that before Marvin Gaye's version hit, this singer and her Pips took the song to No. 2. Gladys Knight. 2: This song was a hit for Ben E. King in 1961, for John Lennon in 1975 and for Ben again in 1986. "Stand By Me". 3: Manfred Mann made "Blinded By The Light" a hit after it was introduced on a 1973 album by this rocker who wrote it. (Bruce) Springsteen. 4: On their "Mother's Milk" album, the Red Hot Chili Peppers covered this Motown great's "Higher Ground". Stevie Wonder. 5: In 2004 the White Stripes had a U.K. hit with a live version of her "Jolene". Dolly Parton. Round 3. Category: Let'S Go For A Swim 1: A swimmer kicks twice with one leg for each stroke of the opposite arm in the "Australian" this. crawl. 2: Simultaneously bring both arms out of the water in forward, circular motions to do this stroke. the butterfly. 3: World Book says it's "a restful stroke because your face is always out of the water and breathing is easy". the backstroke. 4: This stroke is made in the prone position using both hands simultaneously and doing a frog kick. the breaststroke. 5: Your head rests on your lower arm, extended with the palm turned downward in this stroke. the sidestroke. Round 4. Category: Beastly Movies 1: 1988:Sigourney Weaver battles primate poachers. Gorillas in the Mist. 2: 2000:"blank Ugly". Coyote. 3: 1980:Robert De Niro battles his way to the top of the middleweight boxing world. Raging Bull. 4: 1978:Robert De Niro battles post-Vietnam stress. The Deer Hunter. 5: 1986:Paul Hogan faces the jungle of New York City. Crocodile Dundee. Round 5. Category: Surprise! 1: A striking disclosure, or the final book of the New Testament; it should come as a.... revelation. 2: We've found it! It being this exclamation of finding something, perhaps its namesake California city. Eureka. 3: Proverbially, this type of pitch mastered by Bert Blyleven is a deceptive trick. a curveball. 4: It can mean a sudden burst of electricity and it rhymes with an electrical unit of measure. a jolt. 5: It can be an experience resulting in a sudden realization and also an early A.M. drink of liquor. an eye-opener. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/ AI Voices used

Dustin Portillo joins QSR editorial director Danny Klein to discuss a journey unlike any other we've had here on QSR Uncut. From becoming the third-youngest person in Ringling's 147-year history to being promoted to “Boss Clown” to portraying Ronald McDonald at The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to leading community relations at one of the top McDonald's franchises in America, Portillo has traveled one of the most unique roads in the industry. And he's now sharing with the world why it's more than OK to be an IDIOT (we'll explain).

Check out this weeks KICK ASS PODCAST with ya boy QPC and special guests KENMAN and Jimmie Nimble ... It's more fun than the crane kick, I PROMISE !!! LOL !!! Topics discussed: Kerry King band, Other backing tracks in live music, Female rappers, Ringling brothers, "Woke" X-Men 97, Costco AI, Figs, Early drum kits and soooooooo much more ... You're gonna LOVE THIS SHOW !!! CHECK IT !!!

Spelunking. Recording a mine shaft. The modularity of both circus and casino game music. RV's flying apart while in transit. Awkward job interviews. In this episode I talk to Gabe Romero and Dan Glynn, both former circus musicians for Ringling, and both sound designers for Konami here in Vegas. They are also the founding members of the band Greybag, whose latest album is called Never Meant To Stay.Greybag's website:https://www.greybagmusic.com/Never Meant To Stay on Bandcamp:https://greybagmusic.bandcamp.com/album/never-meant-to-stay

Have you ever heard someone claim their anger is “righteous”? I’ve got an example of my righteous anger this week. Last Wednesday, driving to church down Tuttle, I came to the best-designed intersection in human history. You know the one where there’s a red light for Ringling, then 26 inches further is a red light for Fruitville Road? A beloved fellow motorist cut me off at Ringling, He made it through the light, forcing me to wait on red. I prayed, “Heavenly Father, don’t let Fruitville turn green before, so I may pull up beside to instruct in righteousness.” God answered my prayers. I pulled up, directing the driver to roll down his window so I could declare my truth. With GraceLife hat in full view, he complied. For the full 90-second light cycle I preached truth, and demanded repentance! After revealing the severity of his moral failure. He apologized and was grateful for my anger. He repented right there. But I felt the need for one more memorable object lesson, On green, I sped in front & cut him off before the next light. In my rear view, I saw him give me one of these & mouth “Thank you for making me a better, righteous person”. None of that happened, except for being cut off at Ringling. The rest is how it played out in my heart & mind. I can’t ever remember my road rage making people better drivers. Can you? That’s the problem with human anger. James 1:19-21 "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls."

Like many people, Lauren Irving first experienced the circus as a child. “I remember watching the trapeze act, and the smell of the popcorn and just the lights, you know, everything and how I felt. I felt so inspired,” Irving said. Little did she know, years later, that she would be helping to lead that show. She told Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on Florida's Fourth Estate she is one of three people who helps to guide the audience through the experience. She plays the character of Aria but said she gets to bring a lot of her personality into the role as well. She said her experience doing a Broadway show on the Norwegian Cruise Line, and performing at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando prepared her for the position. Beyond her current role, she said she is also trying to learn to juggle because she is inspired by all of the talent around her. The show — which used to feature a variety of animals, including elephants — has changed its act and now focuses on what Irving called “human ability.” She said it brings together people from dozens of countries pushing themselves to their limits to bring a smile to the people who come out and watch them perform. The acts include a record-breaking unicyclist, musicians, tightrope walkers, jugglers and more. Irving said she loves to see how much everybody is enjoying it, much like she did as a young girl. “You see people who you can tell they have been to Ringling before and then they are bringing their children,” she said “The Greatest Show on Earth” will be in Orlando at the Kia Center from Jan. 12-15. Tickets are on sale starting at $25. To learn more about the woman helping to keep the new and re-imagined circus running smoothly, and about Matt's secret skills that could qualify him as a circus performer check out Florida's Fourth Estate. You can download the podcast from wherever you listen to podcasts or watch it anytime on News 6+. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Hayward talks to us about coming to the US from England when he got a job with the Ringling brothers circus doing Footwork for elephants, as well as training both elephants and chimps, and what running his farrier business is like now. https://www.farriermikehayward.com/ Episode Sponsors: https://www.stablemix.com/ https://www.blackhoundequestrian.com/

In Sarasota, Florida, there is a historic home, an art museum, and two buildings dedicated to the circus all in one property. We dive into the Ringling, looking for clowns and trains and the incredible history of the Greatest Show on Earth. Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here!   Check out the Ringling and plan your visit here!   All of the music was originally composed.

Ringling College of Art & Design has produced several Illustrators of the Future winners. This interview is with two of the reasons why. James Martin, professor of illustration in the illustration dept. He's been an illustrator, mostly in the movie industry, and worked on movies like "Titanic." Dominic Avant majored in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. He worked in movie animation at Disney on many feature films including "Mulan." He has been at Ringling for 17 years. I first saw Dominic in a TV interview as one of Zaine Lodhi's (Illustrator winner) teachers. So when attending the Tampa Comic Con, I asked if I could interview both of these gentlemen and they graciously accepted and I trust you will enjoy what they had to say as much as I did! www.ringling.edu/

Ringling College of Art & Design has produced several Illustrators of the Future winners. This interview is with two of the reasons why. James Martin, professor of illustration in the illustration dept. He's been an illustrator, mostly in the movie industry, and worked on movies like "Titanic." Dominic Avant majored in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. He worked in movie animation at Disney on many feature films including "Mulan." He has been at Ringling for 17 years. I first saw Dominic in a TV interview as one of Zaine Lodhi's (Illustrator winner) teachers. So when attending the Tampa Comic Con, I asked if I could interview both of these gentlemen and they graciously accepted and I trust you will enjoy what they had to say as much as I did! https://www.ringling.edu/

Jason mentioned that when checking out a story on the world's most dangerous jobs he discovered that topping the list - human cannonball. Peter then informed Jason that one of his very good friends just happened to be Ringling Brothers human cannonball…Really, no really! Why put your life and limb on the line 12 times a week for your profession? What drives a Ringling clown to defy the clearly defined circus caste system and attempt to join the prestigious, aristocracy acts by being shot out of a cannon, traveling high above an audience and landing hundreds of feet away? For 25 years Jon Weiss worked with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a Ringmaster, Clown and "Human Cannonball" – with over 5,000 notches in his cannonball belt. You also might know him as a contestant along with a fellow clown, on CBS' The Amazing Race 4. BONUS: Peter surprised Jason with an in-studio appearance of a potentially even more dangerous job – The Human Torch! Ray Wold has been performing in Cirque du Soleil's “O” show in Las Vegas for more than 24 years, completely engulfing himself in flames as he casually sits on a chair reading a newspaper. Really, no Really! In this episode: The things that motivate people to take dangerous jobs. What it takes to become the human cannonball. The secret circus caste system, clown college & circus sabotage! What it feels like to experience 12G's and deadly mistakes. Jason's failed attempt at fire eating. How the human torch learned to fully engulf himself in fire. How the King on Monaco made Ray's career. Dangerous jobs Jason and Peter contemplate taking. Holding an allegator's mouth closed…hard or easy? Why woodpeckers peck? The definitive answer. More clowns and fire: this is Jason's favorite Seinfeld bit!   Follow Jon Weiss the Human Cannonball: YouTube Facebook Follow Ray Wold the Human Torch: Instagram YouTube Facebook   Follow us: www.reallynoreally.com Instagram YouTube TikTok Facebook Threads X (Twitter)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the kickoff episode of The Dogmen Podcast, hosts Ed Barnes and Tanner Herr catch up with Carter Shultz of Boars-N-Broads in Ringling, Oklahoma at the September Mudcreek Hog Bay. The group gets some insight into Carter's start with hog dogs and where he is today. They also discuss the past, present and future of hog baying as a sport. Carter sprinkles hunting stories, smoke shows and run-ins with the law into the mix as well as real dog insight. It is a light hearted, funny conversation among friends. Enjoy “The Dogmen” only on the Houndsmen XP Podcast Network. Topics discussed: Woods class hog baying Starting hog hunting The start of Boars-N-Broads Origins of his dog pack Heirloom tomatoes, Grandma and a smoke show Fishing for giant stripers And much more.  www.houndsmanxp.com Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content! SPONSORS: Joy Dog Food  onX Cajun Lights Go Wild 1TDC WorksoWell dogsRtreed Freedom Hunters Rough Cut Company Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the kickoff episode of The Dogmen Podcast, hosts Ed Barnes and Tanner Herr catch up with Carter Shultz of Boars-N-Broads in Ringling, Oklahoma at the September Mudcreek Hog Bay. The group gets some insight into Carter's start with hog dogs and where he is today. They also discuss the past, present and future of hog baying as a sport.  Carter sprinkles hunting stories, smoke shows and run-ins with the law into the mix as well as real dog insight.  It is a light hearted, funny conversation among friends. Enjoy “The Dogmen” only on the Houndsmen XP Podcast Network.Topics discussed:Woods class hog bayingStarting hog huntingThe start of Boars-N-BroadsOrigins of his dog packHeirloom tomatoes, Grandma and a smoke showFishing for giant stripersAnd much more. www.houndsmanxp.comCheck out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!SPONSORS:Joy Dog Food onXCajun LightsGo Wild1TDC WorksoWelldogsRtreedFreedom HuntersRough Cut Company

On the kickoff episode of The Dogmen Podcast, hosts Ed Barnes and Tanner Herr catch up with Carter Shultz of Boars-N-Broads in Ringling, Oklahoma at the September Mudcreek Hog Bay. The group gets some insight into Carter's start with hog dogs and where he is today. They also discuss the past, present and future of hog baying as a sport.  Carter sprinkles hunting stories, smoke shows and run-ins with the law into the mix as well as real dog insight.  It is a light hearted, funny conversation among friends. Enjoy “The Dogmen” only on the Houndsmen XP Podcast Network.Topics discussed:Woods class hog bayingStarting hog huntingThe start of Boars-N-BroadsOrigins of his dog packHeirloom tomatoes, Grandma and a smoke showFishing for giant stripersAnd much more. www.houndsmanxp.comCheck out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!SPONSORS:Joy Dog Food onXCajun LightsGo Wild1TDC WorksoWelldogsRtreedFreedom HuntersRough Cut Company

Caught My Eye reveals that 20% of US men prefer to sit when doing number 1. Also, the last newsstand in Philadelphia's 30th Street Station has stopped selling newspapers. John Ringling is our business birthday this week. Ringling is one of the 5 brothers that started the Ringling Brothers Circus and went on to buy every traveling circus in America, including Barnum and Bailey. Our Road to Pride segment visits with OutRight International.We're all business. Except when we're not.Apple Podcasts: apple.co/1WwDBrCSpotify: spoti.fi/2pC19B1iHeart Radio: bit.ly/2n0Z7H1Tunein: bit.ly/1SE3NMbStitcher: bit.ly/1N97ZquGoogle Podcasts: bit.ly/1pQTcVWPandora: pdora.co/2pEfctjYouTube: bit.ly/1spAF5aAlso follow Tim and John on:Facebook: www.facebook.com/focusgroupradioTwitter: www.twitter.com/focusgroupradioInstagram: www.instagram.com/focusgroupradio

LISTEN FIRST MONTANA Listen first. It is what all great leaders do. Episode 44: Indigenous Immersion Initiative Mini-Series episode 7 For this 7th installment of our mini-series focused on Leadership Montana's newest program, the Indigenous Immersion Initiative, we're featuring a conversation recorded in January of 2023 on Flathead Nation between Nancy Schlepp of Ringling, MT, and Chantel Schieffer.  Nancy shares her favorite lessons from the program so far, including the ideas that are deepening her feeling of connection to the land, both on her family's ranch and across Montana.  Chantel and Nancy also discuss what gives them hope for the future, Nancy's core value of spirituality, and why they value their friendship despite their political differences.

Mia Caress is a New York based actress who hails from 3 generations of circus performers. Her great grandparents had a dog act, and her grandmother, Ala Naitto was a famous tight wire walker who is featured in circus history books and museums. Her mother was raised on the road and trained in circus arts on Ringling, left the show, and became Miss Massachusetts.She has appeared in hundreds of commercials, and you can hear her voice on the radio, on TV, and online for hundreds of brands. She has had the good fortune to work in TV, appearing in shows such as: ‘Law and Order'; ‘Billions'; ‘The Blacklist'; ‘Person of Interest'; and most recently, ‘The Equalizer'.Mia has been a performing artist her entire life and can't imagine a business she could love more.https://www.miacaress.com/

THE RETURN OF RINGLING BROTHERS BARNUN & BAILEY CIRCUS The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which shut down in 2017 after a storied 146-year run of three-ring entertainment around the world, could be making a comeback.  Officials from Florida-based Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus operation, said during a recent panel discussion that a new version of the circus without animals is expected to make its debut in 2023. Many observers believe that animal rights protests targeting Ringling Bros. contributed to a decline in ticket sales that led the company to cease operations. It grew famous on the strength of animal trainers like Gunther Gebel-Williams, among others, working with lions and tigers. The company dropped elephants from its shows in 2016 and said at the time that ticket sales declined more than expected. For years, PETA representatives and other groups claimed the circus mistreated the elephants, tigers, lions and other animals featured in its shows. While Ringling Bros. struggled before it shut down, the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil exploded with dozens of shows around the world, all without animals. CLOSING ACT The "Greatest Show on Earth" is getting its curtain call. Feld Entertainment, owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus said in a statement that the show will end is 146-year run in May. The iconic circus declined in recent years due to high operating costs and long, costly legal battles with animal rights groups, such as the one to eliminate elephant acts. Ticket sales had already fallen, but they dropped more significantly than anticipated after the elephants were retired last May, according to the statement. The company's two circus shows, Out of This World and Circus Xtreme, have 30 shows left, including appearances in Atlanta, Brooklyn and Boston. The final shows are May 7 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., and May 21 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. "This was a difficult business decision to make, but by ending the circus tours, we will be able to concentrate on the other lines of business within the Feld Entertainment portfolio," said Juliette Feld, chief operating officer. "Now that we have made this decision, as a company, and as a family, we will strive to support our circus performers and crew in making the transition to new opportunities." The company broke the news to circus employees Saturday night after shows in Orlando and Miami, The Associated Press reported. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a major critic of the circus for its treatment of animals, celebrated the announcement. THE NEW CIRCUS Reimagined Franchise, Complete with a New Look, Set to Bring Fun and Excitement to Families Around the World Global Auditions Currently Underway for All-New Live Performance of The Greatest Show On Earth®, Coming Fall 2023   PALMETTO, FL., May 18, 2022 – Feld Entertainment®, a family-owned company and worldwide leader in live entertainment experiences, announces the long-awaited return of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®. The American icon emerges as a dynamic, multi-platform entertainment franchise, providing families the opportunity to connect in fun, engaging ways. The live production of The Greatest Show On Earth® will debut fall 2023. The Ringling franchise will include a broad consumer products and licensing program featuring toys, games, packaged goods, collectibles and more. In addition, brand extensions such as theme park attractions and touring exhibitions are currently in development. To immerse fans more thoroughly into the world of Ringling, a documentary is also being produced that will take the audience backstage to meet the cast and crew and learn what it takes to be part of The Greatest Show On Earth.  “As passionate stewards of Ringling, we are committed to creating a lifestyle brand that connects with families and sparks real fun 365 days a year through live performances, digital content, consumer products, school curricula, youth circus arts programs and more,” said Kenneth Feld, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Feld Entertainment. “We are innovating all aspects of the live show and modernizing the franchise to create an engaging property that is built for today's families and will last another 150 years.” The refreshed look of Ringling, as conceptualized in a new logo, has been designed to evoke the brand's rich heritage while also creating feelings of wonder, discovery and joy. The “R” in Ringling combines the inquisitiveness of a question mark, along with the punctuated excitement of an exclamation point.  This unique design creates the Ringling interrobang, which is a perfect symbol to punctuate the “WOW” and curiosity of the brand.   “The new Ringling logo illustrates the essence of the brand combined with modern simplicity,” said Juliette Feld Grossman, Chief Operating Officer of Feld Entertainment and Producer of The Greatest Show On Earth. “The logo is designed to flex and adapt across any brand communication. The contemporary look will invite curiosity and captivate families as they discover more ways to become a part of the awe-inspiring world of Ringling.” The live production of The Greatest Show On Earth will celebrate amazing talent from around the world, displaying incredible feats that push the limits of human potential and create jaw-dropping moments. New technologies and a 360-degree experience will break down the barriers between the performers and attendees. Additionally, each show will incorporate interactive elements that engage the audience, ensuring that every performance is unique. A global search for the best acts in the world to bring the show to life is currently underway. The creative team is not only looking for exceptional talent, but also larger-than-life personalities whose stories of commitment and dedication to their craft will create powerful connections with the audience. Auditions for The Greatest Show On Earth are now taking place in countries including Ethiopia, France, Mongolia, Argentina and the United States. More than 1,000 applications and digital submissions have already been received.   

Wilder's work at the North Pole continues; Tumnus' project develops; Dr. Ringling struggles in the lab. Content Warning: Physical distress and injury Transcript here: https://monkeymanproductions.com/2023/02/mto-s4-e9-transcript/ Today's episode featured Danyelle Ellett, Evan Tess Murray, Tina Daniels, Jen Ponton, Rissa Montañez, Cass McPhee, Alicia Atkins, Anna Godfrey, Hazel Stapp, and Dallas Wheatley. Written by D.J. Sylvis; Cass McPhee is our audio engineer. Our theme music is “Star” by the band Ramp; our cover art is by Peter Chiykowski.  Looking for more great audio fiction? Check out Eliza: A Robot Story - it's a dark near-future sci-fi fairytale that talks about abusive relationships in some very important ways.  Our Exectutive Producers are Sarah Müller and Beka B, and our associate producers are Marty Chodorek, June Madeley , Timothy LaGrone, Marilyn Reid, Marissa Robertcop and Linda Boyer. Today's shout-out is for Kate Taylor.  Thank you guys so much for your support, and helping and trusting us to bring this story to life. We love what we've done with it and we can't wait for you guys to hear all the work the cast and crew has put in, and we hope you love it as much as we do. And speaking of your support: everything helps, from leaving us a great review and subscribing on your podcast app of choice to sharing your feelings with us on Twitter and telling your friends about our show. For behind the scenes updates and early access to every episode, we would love to have you join us on Patreon. Visit us at MonkeyManProductions.com to learn more (and to visit our store if you need an En-Soy-Ment sticker or a T-Shirt featuring your favourite doggos!) But beyond all of that, we are so glad that you're listening and sharing in this story with us. Thank you. And, as always, keep watching the moon. Network: https://fableandfolly.com/ Twitter: @MoonbaseThetaOu and @MonkeymanProd Discord: https://discord.gg/6NAhrG5 Facebook: Monkeyman Productions Merch: http://tee.pub/lic/zUb0YN1_6mw Music & Sound Effects Attribution (including dynamic ads): https://monkeymanproductions.com/sound-effects-credit/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, we're back! After an extended holiday break, Joseph and Jess have returned to discuss the latest Grady Hendrix novel, How to Sell a Haunted House, which throws generational trauma, grief, puppets and Charleston into a blender to see what happens. Joining us for this episode is our colleague Derrick, a superfan of both horror novels and horror movies, to discuss the popularity of comical horror, how horror helps readers explore serious themes in a safe way, and Jess's deep discomfort with puppets and dolls. We're also digging a bit into the rules of magic as a logical part of writing speculative fiction, primarily what happens when the rules are broken. Also, Jess would like to say that aside from her stressful moments near the puppets in their Circus Museum, she had a great time at the Ringling and her encounter with the property's Banyan trees is also a core memory.

Ringling brothers, UniverSoul... they aint got shit on us ! Episode 81 we pay slight homage to all the Jalen Rose's out there that get shitted on. This episode was quite the laxative, as the fellas got they shit off in regards to Comedians, some football talk, and of all things on our podcast... battle rap. whos catch was really that much better, Odell or Justin Jefferson's ? We broke that down. Shake got to do the buttons this week (I had a great time) as Beamen and the rest of the gang were still shitting out their leftovers. Zig and BDT walked the tightrope teetering on being insightful and being insane. If you cant tell by now im tryna make the decription a doodoo circus just like the episode was, solely to piss mista off when he read this, but anyway... TAP IN !!

20 Year Plan 2005-2025   It is a working document that was last updated in 2013 so it's time to re evaluate where we are and how to get where we are going.  I inaccurately predicted that by 2014 we would have passed the Big Cat Act.  I originally thought we would have it introduced by 2010, but it was 5/21/2013 before we managed to get in introduced and my new prediction is that it will pass in the 2019-2020 session.   Turns out I was way too optimistic about having Florida, the worst state in the union when it comes to big cat ownership, pass a law to ban private possession by 2009.   The next worst state, Ohio, did pass such a law in 2012 and the third worst state, Texas, finally did require that owners register and be overseen by local authorities, but no one really does that.  Howie has had the facts, for many years, to prove that legislators CAN pass a bill to ban private possession in Florida (despite the Florida Wildlife Commission's claim to the contrary) but we put it on a back burner because the federal ban will make that point moot.  Recently Howie has been working more on the Florida constitution issue by engaging the Florida Bar Animal Section.   My new prediction is that Florida will pass such a ban after the federal bill passes in the upcoming session, just to save face.   I had predicted that the circus would meet with its demise in 2011, so I was off by 7 years if you consider Ringling's closure this year to be the death nell in the U.S.  For the past several years similar bans have been passing in 40 other countries.  I think by 2020 it will be gone everywhere.   I thought we could end fur farming and trapping by 2007 with our campaign that focused on “Fur makes you smell bad and look fat.”  The photo is me in 2005 protesting in front of Westshore Mall on Fur Free Friday (an annual November event).  2018 turned out to be the year that fashion turned its back on the barbaric use of fur and it became a shameful act of selfishness to wear fur.       In some ways, I'm glad to have been wrong in my prophecies, because in 2005 I thought that by 2012 all wild cat species would be in such peril that they would all be on the IUCN Red List.  I thought that the resultant protections for wild counterparts would result in such intensive inbreeding in zoos that they would not be able to breed and exhibit big cats by 2013 or any species of exotic cat by 2015.   Where I was sadly wrong is that I thought people would be so much better educated by then that they wouldn't patronize zoos.     Zoos have been around for 190 years under the auspices of furthering our education and concern for preserving habitat starting with London's Regent's Park in 1828. Zoo attendance had started to decline but lately is increasing.  I'm not too concerned though because I think it's more a matter of zoos changing their business model from jail cells full of languishing wildlife to theme parks with roller coasters and rides to be playgrounds for children to run wild.  I think zoos are uniquely positioned to make the most of 360, immersive, virtual reality and will transition from prisons to edu-tainment meccas.  For big cats; I am going to predict that none will be displayed in zoos by 2023 and smaller cat species will no longer be held captive in zoos by 2025.   Given my overly optimistic projections in 2005, where I thought exotic cats would no longer be held in private possession, zoos or circuses by 2015, I had reasoned that all of them in cages would have died out by 2025.  Now I have to push that back a bit so here is my updated timeline:   2020 - Ban on private ownership results in most captive cats going into sanctuaries where they will die out by 2028.  Fur farming and fur trapping will end because 2018 saw massive adoption of a NO FUR policy across most popular designers and brands, with some cities even passing bans.    2023 - Zoos ditch the last of their big cats to make space for more lucrative experiences on that valuable real estate.  Those cats end up in sanctuaries where most will die out by 2031.  Since there are currently about 800 big cats in AZA zoos and maybe another 1000 in non accredited zoos, there are plenty of sanctuaries who can manage the cast off cats.    2025 - Zoos ditch the last of their small cats to make space for more lucrative experiences on that valuable real estate.  Those cats end up in sanctuaries where most will die out by 2033.   Since small cats are not a big draw in zoos, I believe their numbers to only be about 1/3 of the big cat census.  There are very, very few small cats in private possession and plenty of sanctuary space for them.  Heck, Big Cat Rescue alone could probably take in all of the currently possessed for the rest of their lives.     Hunting wasn't a topic I'd included in the original 20 year plan.  Hunters and anglers combined are 3% of the population and although I couldn't find exact stats, I believe that hunters are only about 1% of our population.  Recent reports based on hunting permits indicate a 1% net loss in hunters as fewer begin hunting and more stop hunting.  What will cause those 3-3.5 million (mostly men) from killing for sport?  Public opinion.  As new fathers fail to introduce their children to the concept of killing animals for fun, it will die out within the next generation.  I think sport hunting for cats will be a thing of the past by 2024.  Yesterday Apple News listed their top 6 stories for the day and one was the public outcry at a hunter killing a cougar.  We are on our way. But will it be in time to save them in the wild?   At our current rate of poaching, tigers will be gone in the wild by 2024.  Leopards will be gone by 2027 and lions will be gone by 2030.  I could begin backdating from those inevitabilities with plans to change the outcome, but climate change may make that all pointless.  Most scientist now concur that by 2030 we will already be experiencing the point of no return, with oceans dying, sea levels rising above coastal cities, and our food sources being wiped out due to the loss of bees, uncontrollable fires and droughts.    The world has warmed more than one degree Celsius since the Industrial Revolution. The Paris climate agreement signed on Earth Day in 2016 hoped to restrict warming to two degrees. The odds of succeeding, according to a recent study based on current emissions trends, are one in 20. If by some miracle we are able to limit warming to two degrees, we will only have to negotiate the extinction of the world's tropical reefs, sea-level rise of several meters and the abandonment of the Persian Gulf. The climate scientist James Hansen has called two-degree warming “a prescription for long-term disaster.” Long-term disaster is now the best-case scenario. Three-degree warming is a prescription for short-term disaster: the loss of most coastal cities (Tampa).  Four degrees: Europe in permanent drought; vast areas of China, India and Bangladesh claimed by desert; Polynesia swallowed by the sea; the Colorado River thinned to a trickle; the American Southwest largely uninhabitable. The prospect of a five-degree warming has prompted some of the world's leading climate scientists to warn of the end of human civilization.   If human beings really were able to take the long view — to consider seriously the fate of civilization decades or centuries after our deaths — we would be forced to grapple with the transience of all we know and love in the great sweep of time. So we have trained ourselves, whether culturally or evolutionarily, to obsess over the present, worry about the medium term and cast the long term out of our minds, as we might spit out a poison.  As Jim Hansen said, “From a technology and economics standpoint, it is still readily possible to stay under two degrees Celsius.” We can trust the technology and the economics. It's harder to trust human nature. Keeping the planet to two degrees of warming, let alone 1.5 degrees, would require transformative action. It will take more than good works and voluntary commitments; it will take a revolution. But in order to become a revolutionary, you need first to suffer.   The earth is now as warm as it was before the last ice age, 115,000 years ago, when the seas were more than six meters higher than they are today.  We can't just cut back on emissions to stop the race toward our own extinction.  We have to extract more carbon dioxide from the air than we contribute to it.  Stats from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/01/magazine/climate-change-losing-earth.html     I believe that people will save the tiger when they won't think about saving the planet.  The two are intricately interlinked because healthy wild tiger populations can only happen where there are healthy forests and drinkable water.  Some people may think I have a very limited focus and have mis spent my life protecting exotic cats when our planet may soon be uninhabitable, but I've always believed we have to save the tiger to save our own life support system.

Howie Summarizes Cub Petting for Ad Campaign CUB PETTING PROJECT   BACKGROUND   Growing public awareness of captive animal issues. In the last few years we have increasingly seen that public awareness of captive exotic animal issues has been growing at an accelerating rate. It has become widespread enough to impact businesses that exploit animals by reducing attendance to a point where they had to either close down like Ringling or change their ways dramatically like SeaWorld.   For more on this accelerating trend see an article I wrote for Encyclopedia Britannica at http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2018/10/how-is-the-struggle-for-womens-suffrage-100-years-ago-like-the-battle-to-stop-abuse-of-big-cats/ .   Cub petting drives the breeding. The vast majority of the breeding, particularly of tiger cubs, is to create a steady stream of cubs in order to charge the public to hold and pet them, take photos with them, even swim with them.  The cubs are only useful for a few months so a steady supply is needed.   This cub petting trade is a horribly abusive treatment of these animals because:   • Cubs are ripped from their mothers at birth to make them more manageable because if they are left with the mothers for even a month they become the equivalent of feral cats and not useful. This separation at birth is a torment to any mammal mother and offspring. • The cubs are physically punished in order to diminish their natural tendencies to play roughly, which nature builds in as part of their training to be successful tigers in the wild. • The cubs are deprived of the mother's milk that has immune qualities that bottle formula cannot duplicate. The cubs' immune systems are further impaired by sleep deprivation, because the cubs, who normally would sleep the largest part of the day, are kept awake as long as there are customers willing to pay. They are often awakened from sleep in order to be used for petting. • These tiny cubs with weakened immune systems are then exposed to being handled by hundreds of people who may be carrying disease either themselves or from pets at home. Cubs with raging diarrhea and ringworm have continued to be used by the cub petting operations. • There is no tracking of how many cubs die in the process. There is no tracking of how many that survive are raised until big enough to slaughter to supply the illegal trade in their parts because there is no tracking of what these few breeders do with the cubs once they are too big to pet. The ones that can be tracked end up with miserable lives with the females being unhealthily bred constantly instead of the natural 2-3 year cycle that occurs in nature because it takes that long for the mother to teach the cubs to hunt and for the cubs to reach sufficient maturity to be on their own.   There are about a half dozen significant cub petting breeders in the country. Some are in relatively small markets, at least one in the larger SE Florida market.  However, their customers come from all over the country, particularly if they are in vacation destination areas. The rest of the country's zoos operate without cub petting.   Our goal is not to put any zoo out of business. Our goal would be to create such awareness of the misery caused by cub petting that people would (a) Not patronize it and (b) Call out those few zoos who do it to a point where the reduced revenue and negative publicity would cause the zoos to change their ways and join the vast majority of zoos who are successful without doing cub petting.   BCR Financial Position. We have had a series of good years that has allowed us to (1) fully fund the “pension liability” that insures we can care for the cats to the end of their lives if another 9-11 or other event caused donations and visitors to stop and (2) we have made most of the major capital improvements needed on the sanctuary property. The puts us in a position where, if we thought we could have a meaningful impact on public awareness of cub petting that would cause people not to patronize it we could spend as much as $1 million over the course of a year.   Digital marketing. I asked Liz that we consider all kinds of traditional media, not just digital, and expressed some reservations about digital based on our one experience. The cub petting video PPK produced and geo-fenced to the Capitol area was off the charts successful in terms of 70+% of people who viewed it watching it to the end, versus the norm of only a few percent. But, despite the geo-fencing, in our limited questioning of congressional aides, none had seen it. So it did not accomplish its primary purpose.   QUESTION FOR PPK   The question I discussed with Liz is whether with this kind of a budget we could have a meaningful impact, i.e. build awareness to a point where patronage dropped, and if so how. Below are the bullet points I took away from our half hour conversation taking notes as fast as I could while we talked, so they may not be accurate.   • Budget too small to have national impact. • Newspaper is older demographic. • Circus is a much more broadly known issue. If I understood correctly, Liz felt many people do not even know there is cub petting, so it may be harder to educate them. My subsequent thoughts: We do get a lot of calls at the sanctuary from people asking if we have cubs to pet. Even if people have not heard of it, it is a simple concept captured in two words pretty vividly. And in the case of the circus, this is a practice that was widely accepted by our society for over 100 years so the advocates had to reverse people's thinking. Therefore I might argue that people having not heard of cub petting gives us the benefit of no preconceived bias to overcome. Also, “tiger selfies” have been pretty broadly in the news and social media, with Tinder instituting a policy against them, so I am not sure there is as much lack of awareness as Liz seemed to think, if I understood her correctly. • Should strongly consider digital & social media (I am not sure if there is a difference unless digital is referring to having info on a website we send people to?). • With our budget we could do enough to have impact in a smaller market like Myrtle Beach, SC by geo-fencing and filtering. If it worked in one market, we could over time replicate in others. • Probably not use banner ads like we did in DC because it requires people seeing them 8-9 times before they click. Use more interruptive digital techniques that send people to a web page. Our current page is bigcatrescue.org/cubs. It is very thorough, but very long. So I am thinking we need a video at the top that concisely and compellingly covers it. Because people may not want to see any vivid mistreatment of cubs and we have limited undercover video to show, Carole came up with the idea that for this page and what we push on Facebook we might use animation to tell this story. She is experimenting with that. • Not sure if I got this right, but I think she said that with Facebook ads we could set a filter for people who had done Google searches on terms like “tiger cub petting” or “cub petting.”  So could capture people in Myrtle Beach who had searched for cub petting before coming.  However, if people coming on vacation bought tickets in advance it would be too late. Subsequently it occurred to me that if our goal is to catch people who search on cub petting and get them to a website, we could we do that by pouring money into keywords so our website comes up when they search. But, when I do that search, the top results already are people like us opposing cub petting. Despite this, the cub petting operations still thrive. • Liz talked about using Facebook to create material that people would want to repost, gaining exponentially more unpaid views and having people who “get it” influence others. So the alternative to Google ads based on the searches would be boosting these posts hoping to reach a lot of people and have them repost to others.   NOTE: in contrast to Carole, I have limited understanding of the Facebook marketing so some of my notes above my reflect that.   Hi, I'm Carole Baskin and I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk  

Shaquille O'Neil Supporting Cub Abuse? We asked XX to look into how we can best approach Shaq to convince him it will destroy his brand to be part of Jeff Lowe's new version of the GW Zoo. The last thing big cats need is for someone as prominent as Shaq, with his 13-million plus online followers, to be openly endorsing cub-petting, roadside zoos, or "pet" tigers. And even worse is that Shaq has deep ties with many major celebrities, corporations, and media companies, and he seems to be leveraging that into promoting Lowe's scheme. Since Shaq was brought onboard, Lowe appears to be getting much more business and publicity, with Shaq being filmed at the zoo for an upcoming episode of a "very popular TV show", news outlets running stories about his visits, and rumors that "one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country" has booked his tiger cubs for photo shoots (Lowe is being very cryptic about that last one to avoid protests). I believe Shaq was involved in the ‘90s with David McMillan of Tiger's Eye Productions in Oviedo, FL. (I'm pretty sure west coast tiger exploiter Brian McMillan is David's brother. Brian trained under Gunther Geble-Williams at Ringling and has many Gunther stories, including that he was a horse training genius. Brian, now retired, also owned and ran an animal film rental business which he has since passed on to an East Coast guy he trained.) One of Shaq's shoes was displayed on the mantle in David's home and he said Shaq was a friend and frequent visitor to his tiger training camp. The only legal trouble I ever had with USDA was when I went on camera as a rebuttal witness to USDA's position that beating a lion, in a transport wagon, with a baseball bat was "standard training procedures" and thus not a violation of the Animal Welfare Act. That landed me in court facing a bunch of bogus allegations, which were all thrown out and the case dismissed. Even though he has a long history of bad judgment when it comes to captive big cats, I think we can apply enough pressure to put an end to it. Hi, I'm Carole Baskin and I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views. These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story. The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/ I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story. My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet. You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

Join us on a wild journey as we track the very early beginnings of the 5 Ringling Brothers and their incredible rags to riches success story.   An origin story that truly has   everything.  All the tenacity of the Little Rascals and the business sense of Barnum, without the humbug. For all things Ringling:https://www.ringling.org/Support the show

Big Cat Act Summary for our Bill Sponsor HR1818 S2990 This letter to the aide for our bill sponsor was so good, I thought I'd put it here as it details our struggles since the 90s to end the rampant breeding and exploiting of big cats:   Thanks so much for the work on the draft letter, on Father's Day no less, wow!   I'll review the letter later but for now let me address your question about FWS. At the risk of TMI, I'd like to give you a complete an understanding as best I can.   FWS does NOT track captive tigers.  FWS effort is primarily under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  There is an international treaty known as CITES and ESA is the US implementation of that treaty.   Under the ESA, one is not supposed to breed, buy, sell endangered species without a permit from FWS. There is language about not "taking" endangered species, which is defined more broadly than the usual hunter's term "take" which means killing.  It includes harassing the animals etc.   A permit to breed, buy, sell, import an endangered species (like tigers) is supposed to be issued ONLY if the applicant can show that the activity has conservation value.  FWS has a large department whose job it is to process the large number of applications. As an example, right now, we are trying to rescue 9 tigers from Guatemala. So we have to apply to FWS for an import permit.  Three years ago we rescued a tiger from Peru under an FWS permit.   Now, the 2014 issue.  In 1998 FWS issued what is called the "generic tiger rule."  Generic tigers are those where the subspecies cannot be identified.  The ONLY tigers where the subspecies CAN be identified are those that reside at the large AZA zoos.  Those zoos track the genetic history of the cats and, under something called the Species Survival Plan (SSP), they only breed cats tigers who are of the same subspecies AND they are careful to insure they are genetically diverse, i.e. the do not "inbreed" tigers who are related.  There are only about 300 tigers at the AZA zoos who are of pure subspecies.   In contrast, ALL of the thousands of tigers at roadside zoos and in back yards are "generic" tigers, aka "mutt" tigers or "junk" tigers.  There is no tracking of genetic history, they are of mixed subspecies (mostly Bengal with some Siberian blood) and these breeders often breed within a family unit. For instance, one of our tigers was bred to his mother.   In the bill, in the conditions under the USDA exemption, you will see breeding only allowed if it is pursuant to a science based breeding plan. This is aimed at this rampant inbreeding. The AZA SSP would be in compliance.   OK, back to 1998.  At that time, FWS, we believe simply to lighten their work load, said that you did NOT have to follow the ESA requirements to get a permit to breed generic tigers. This as you might guess contributed enormously to the rampant untracked breeding.   We and other animal welfare groups started in 2011 to urge FWS to rescind this rule. If I recall correctly, when FWS posted it for comment, we collectively generated over 100,000 comments in favor.  The very modest number of opposing comments all came from the roadside zoos.  I am not sure where the reference to 2014 comes from, they may have first posted the proposed rescission then, but in 2016 FWS did finally rescind the rule.   We thought this was going to be significant. Unfortunately FWS has made absolutely no effort to enforce the ESA on generic tigers since then, i.e. require the breeders to get a permit.  When I have asked why, I am told by a person who talks to FWS that it is simply a matter of triage of resources. The department that processes applications does not do enforcement. They just process whatever comes to them, they do not look for people who fail to ask for a permit.  The department that does enforcement devotes their resources to illegal trafficking, mostly illegal import of endangered species, and simply judges that to be a better allocation of resources than stopping captive breeding done without a permit, so they allocate no one to enforcing the rule requiring permits to breed. This is their decision, even though the rampant breeding is obviously a huge potential source of illegal trafficking and would be very easy to identify.  But, no efforts to document trafficking in captive tiger parts in the US has been successful.   So, the rescission of the generic tiger rule, if enforced, could have dramatically reduced the rampant breeding.  But, it has had no effect because they do not enforce it.  It would not have resulted in knowing where all US tigers are, although it would have at least created records of the breeding.   One last important point.  The ESA says that to get a permit you have to show that your request has conservation value.  The way FWS has dealt with this for decades is called "pay to play."  For instance, if we want to import these tigers from Guatemala, it does not count that we would use their story to educate our visitors about conservation.  In fairness to FWS, they argue that if they viewed it that way, circuses and roadside zoos would also claim they are educating. In fact, Ringling used to make that claim, which in their case of course is ridiculous.   So, in order to get an import permit for the Guatemala tigers, or for the Peru tiger three years ago, FWS wants us to donate money to organizations doing conservation of the tiger in the wild.  Even though there is no connection between these particular tigers and that donation, they view that donation as a quid pro quo that helps conservation. In the Peru case, the then head of the department, Tim Van Norman, now retired, accepted our application only after we donated $5000 to the Corbett Foundation who build fences around ground level wells in India that tigers other big cats fall into at night chasing prey and die.  However, I am told by someone who has done a number of imports that FWS has more recently made it clear they prefer donations to their own Rhino and Tiger Conservation Fund. So, in the upcoming application, that is what I will propose.   I hope you are still awake and this is helpful.   I think it is important to understand that:   1. the bill does NOT change anything USDA does now or transfer ANY duties of USDA to FWS. 2. the ONLY people who have to register their cats are those who choose under the grandfather clause to keep their current animals but not acquire or breed more. So, this would be pet owners and perhaps some exhibitors who decide they will only continue to exhibit big cats as long as their current ones live. This registration is ONE TIME, for the sole purpose of being able to know if those who elect the grandfather exemption are complying, i.e. not breeding or acquiring.  The only way to know if they are complying is to know the animals they start with.  There is no privacy issue.  FWS would promulgate regulations dictating what information they need. All they really would need for each big cat is species, age, name, maybe a photo, micro chip # if there is one, and the location.  This information would take almost no effort or time to gather because it is one time - a simple spreadsheet would hold it. 3. In enforcing the bill, FWS would simply do what it already does in ESA cases, it would occasionally ask USDA to send over inspection reports.  The bill does not change the way USDA and FWS work together at all. To determine if an exhibitor was in violation of the requirement not to have serious repeat violations within 12 months, FWS would simply either access online or ask USDA for inspection reports for a particularly exhibitor.   It took me a long time to sort out some of this and you are having to basically dive into a crash course. If you have any questions, any of above not clear, please feel totally free to ask. Happy to help in any way I can. If I don't know the answer, I can get it.   Howard Baskin Advisory Board Chairman Big Cat Rescue   Hi, I'm Carole Baskin and I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

Nilah Magruder is an absolute joy and an uber-talented author and artist. She was the first Black woman to write for Marvel, illustrated all of the Heroes of Olympus covers for Rick Riordan's books, and worked extensively in animation. Not to mention the books that she is the sole creator of, which have proven to be legendary in my home.Jarrett: Nilah Magruder. How are you? [00:00:03] Nilah: I'm doing pretty good. How are you? [00:00:06] Jarrett: Hangin', it in there Nilah, you will forever and ever be iconic in my home because your picture book, "How to Find a Fox" has been read so many times. So many times. In our home that it is held together by like scotch tape and like bubble gum.[00:00:29] Our son, we must have read that so many times. [00:00:32] Nilah: Oh my God.[00:00:32] Jarrett: Huge home run pal and I remember we met at Comics Crossroads in Ohio and we were tabling next to each other and, like we just were chatting the whole day and I'm always looking for something to bring home to the kids to make up for being gone.[00:00:45] And wow that book, man, I'm telling you like, iconic like that, that we will read that. I will read that to my grandkids, my wife and I will be reading that to our grandkids someday. So thank you for stop and a chat with us. But of course I what the show is all about of [00:01:01] course is about getting to know how creative people in comics got to be doing what they're doing.[00:01:09] And so I like to start at the very beginning cuz I, I love the idea and I also love the idea of imagine. A young author, an artist and getting to, to hear those stories directly from some of your favorite creators. My first question for you and it might really be the only question I ask and then we're gonna get into a conversation, but what was life like for you as a kid?[00:01:29] What was your home like? What was your family set up? What kind of art and stories were you consuming? What sort of laid the groundwork to create Nilah Magruder? [00:01:39] Nilah: My home life as a child, I grew up in a house in the woods in a small community back in a time where it was largely forest and largely rural.[00:01:53] And I think that had a lasting impact on how. I think visually in how I view story, the sort of stories that I'm interested in. A lot of the things I was interested at interested in as a kid were very pastoral and natural. I loved anything featuring animals and, honestly, I was isolated for a lot of my childhood.[00:02:20] This is something that you and I have in common. I had an alcoholic parent and as a kid, I didn't like to bring friends home because then they would see my dad and, whatever state that my dad was in, it was really unpredictable. I never quite knew what I was bringing friends into. So I didn't, bring friends here very much.[00:02:44] And I didn't go to friends' houses very much. And so a lot of my time was spent at home, but we were surrounded by this woodland, all of these trees and animals and so much nature. And that's really where I spent my time as a kid. Now, what I was interested in, like what I was ingesting, we had a small video rental store in the community, and this was long before Netflix.[00:03:18] This was even before Blockbuster. We didn't have a Blockbuster within driving distance. I'm not even sure if Blockbuster existed back then. And so we had this local mom and pop rental store and they would bring in videos from all over the world. A lot of imported... movies and television series.[00:03:43] And as a kid, I was interested in anything animated. If it was a cartoon, if it was drawn, I was there. And so like any cartoon that they had, I'd be like, mom, can we get this please? And I remember once I showed her one video that I hadn't watched yet, and I was like, mom, can we get this? And she looked at it, she looked at the cover and was like, no.[00:04:05] And she put it back and we never spoke of it again. and years later, like I was an adult on the internet and I saw this title called when the wind blows and I was like, oh, that's familiar. And I looked at the summary. I looked at the art from the movie and I was like, oh my God, that's it. That's that one movie that my mom wouldn't let me watch.[00:04:27] And so when the wind blows is a British animated film about nuclear fallout, And it's about it's about this couple. I think it's like a rural couple and there's this big catastrophe in England. And the government sends pamphlets out to everyone and is every, they're just like, don't panic everyone. It's fine.[00:04:54] Just stay at home. And so basically this couple they're older, they're very trusting. They're like the government knows what's best. So we'll just stay home. And eventually radiation reach reaches them and they get sick and die. [00:05:11] So... [00:05:11] Jarrett: what a prude! What a prude! What a...[00:05:14] Nilah: I know wouldn't let me. And then another time she was also a teacher and one day she brought home the animated Animal Farm.[00:05:22] Jarrett: Wow. Yeah.[00:05:23] Nilah: And, my thing is animals, of course. And she looks at me and she's do not watch this. And then she leaves it out. [00:05:32] Jarrett: Oh... [00:05:33] Nilah: And so one day when she wasn't there, I popped it in the VCR and watched it. And I think I was like nine or 10 at the time. And I loved it. So all that to say when I was a kid, I would just watch anything.[00:05:49] And so I was, and we had this rental store that would bring over anything. And so I was getting to watch animated movies from Japan and England and Russia and Canada, like Canada had a really great experimental animation program that was supported by the government. [00:06:07] Jarrett: Yeah.[00:06:07] Nilah: And so they were producing just like wild animated shorts and half the time, I didn't understand what I was watching, but because it was moving pictures, moving drawings, I was fascinated.[00:06:21] And a lot of the stuff that I look back on that I loved as a small child, it's very experimental and dark. And then I lived in this woodland that was also creepy, a lot of animals lived here and also a lot of people in the community were like fascinated cuz our home was situated secluded.[00:06:45] And so people would come drive through late at night just to, see the house or they'd, walk through, like it was a public park here. [00:06:55] Jarrett: Oh. [00:06:55] Nilah: So I had this experience as a child of just like constantly our space just constantly being invaded by strangers. And it was like scary, you're in bed at night....[00:07:11] And headlights reflected on your wall. Yeah. And you're a little kid and you're just like, oh my gosh. [00:07:19] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:07:19] Nilah: I have this, like I have this just this little, knot from my childhood, that's very, just creepy and wild and mysterious. And then I write children's books. [00:07:34] Jarrett: Yeah. It's not easy to be a creative kid who then you when you have worries, because then your creativity, which I've only realized now as an adult, like your imagination really creates scenarios in your head.[00:07:50] Nilah: Yeah![00:07:50] Jarrett: And I wanna point out to the listeners that it's remarkable. That you had access to VHS tapes of cartoons from other countries in that time period. Sometimes when I'm book touring and I talk to readers and they said; "did you love anime when you were a teenager?" And I didn't really have access to it.[00:08:10] I grew up in a suburban, urban area and my rental shop, which was another mom and pop rental shop. They didn't have that creative, curated collection. So how remarkable that, whoever it was that was down the street from you who had this, you know, who had an appetite for this flavor of creative cartoons, because otherwise you would've just been seeing like just Disney and nothing else.[00:08:35] That's, this kinda was the only game in town back then. [00:08:38] Nilah: Yeah. [00:08:39] Yeah. It is like looking back on it. I think that too, it's very odd. [00:08:44] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:08:45] Nilah: Like, how we had so many dubs at the time, but also that this little, this little spot in rural, Maryland was getting all of these videos and yeah, it was pretty, and this was before cable too.[00:09:01] Like we didn't have cable at the time, a lot of my access to animation was through this little rental shop. [00:09:11] Jarrett: Wow. Wow. And so did you love to draw before or after? Can you, or was it simultaneous love of animation and drawing for you? [00:09:21] Nilah: I think the animation came before and I always tell people that I was.[00:09:27] Bad at art at that age. And I'm talking about when I was in kindergarten, so five or six , who's good at art at that age? But it was this I was really bad at coloring in the lines. [00:09:39] Jarrett: Oh, that showed, that did show - sorry to cut you off - but all that did was show promise.[00:09:44] Nilah: Yeah.[00:09:45] Jarrett: All that did was show promise in your work. So it sounds like you had someone somewhere to say, no, you're supposed to color in the lines. And then you're like, oh, what?[00:09:53] Nilah: It was my peers, I remember sitting at a table in kindergarten and I'm coloring. And one of the little girls next to me was like, "Nilah, do you want me to do that for you?"[00:10:04] And that, that devastated me. [00:10:07] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:10:08] Nilah: And so from a very young age, I was like, wow, I have to get better at this cuz that's embarrassing. And so from five or six years old, I was just making this conscious effort to study and practice and be better at art. And my first subjects were animals cuz that's what I was interested in.[00:10:30] We had this magazine series called ZooBooks. And it was full of photos and illustrations of animals. And I would copy these, copy this art and learn animal anatomy from that. Later we got cable and I would watch discovery channel. And then I could see like animals in motion, and I love the Peanuts.[00:10:53] I love Charlie brown and Snoopy taught me how to draw animal toes. As a kid, I was, I would draw them wrong. And I knew they looked wrong, but I didn't know why. And so I would look at Snoopy's feet and how Charles Schultz drew Snoopy's feet. And I started drawing my feet more like that.[00:11:15] And... eventually, I came to understand why the way I was drawing feet before was wrong, anatomically and like that really, that really helped me take my drawings to the next level.[00:11:30] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:11:30] Nilah: And so it wasn't until much later that I really made the connection between animation and my own drawing, I just like watching cartoons and, I also love to draw.[00:11:42] And so as I got older, I, I did process drawing as a storytelling tool and would start drawing, drawing my own stories. And much, much later I got into anime, and... Also Disney started putting out those, like "Making-Of" specials [00:12:07] Jarrett: Yes! [00:12:07] Nilah: Where they talked about how they made animated films.[00:12:11] And that's when I started to learn; " Oh, people are drawing these movies." And that made, that kind of bridged things for me that you can, like that people make comics, people make animated cartoons, like people make children's books. And, I didn't understand where those illustrations came from or anything, but like seeing the process helped me connect the dots like; "Oh, I, as a person can also do this. I can, create stories with art."[00:12:44] Jarrett: And so growing, coming up then. You had art supplies you were drawing and what were your parents' reaction to that? Do they, they thought it was cute and then you'll outgrow it? Or what was that? What was that dynamic like for you? [00:13:05] Nilah: Oh, they thought it was real cute. My dad actually was known as an artist for a while.[00:13:10] He was in the military and I think... I'll have to ask my mom this. I think the story is that he actually considered going to college for art and he went into the military instead. And...[00:13:27] Jarrett: Those are two vastly opposite things![00:13:29] Nilah: Yeah. [00:13:30] Jarrett: Right?[00:13:30] Nilah: Yeah. And so he could draw as a kid, I found some of his some of his old sketches.[00:13:36] And he had a life drawing book, and he did a mural down in the basement that terrifies my nieces, now! It's this pirate face on this cinder block wall in the basement. And I guess when my nieces were growing up, this terrified them and they still don't like it. But so my dad drew and that's something I learned a little later.[00:13:59] It's not really people saw me drawing and they were like; "Oh, your father drew too." And so I learned about it that way. [00:14:07] Jarrett: Wow. [00:14:07] Nilah: My mom was a teacher, and so she would bring home reams of paper for me, and pencils, and drawing was a way to keep me quiet. So when we're at church or when we're out in public, she would just hand me and my brother like drawing supplies and we would go to town and, we would...[00:14:30] Be behaved. And so she, she liked that aspect of it. And then I got a little older and I would keep drawing and that fascinated small children. So it also kept other children quiet.[00:14:49] Everybody, everybody was like; "Yeah, Nilah! Keeping the peace, keeping everyone disciplined!" And that's all, it was for a long time until I was in high school. And I said; "Hey, I think I wanna go to art school." And then things took a turn [00:15:02] Jarrett: And they were like; "Wait a minute."[00:15:03] No, exactly. That's always the interesting thing, where it's supported. And then and it, what I've come to, to learn since years have passed since I was that age, that it comes from love. It comes from fear. Which is love for the kid of how is this kid gonna grow up to support themselves?[00:15:24] Nilah: Yeah. [00:15:24] Jarrett: Especially if it's a world that the parent or caretaker doesn't fully understand or know. Where and maybe and could be read between the lines, but, I don't never knew your dad never didn't know his childhood, but he chose what you know, was more, would be a more practical path.[00:15:39] So while that, that, like history was echoing in you then getting to that age and you went to art school, did you went to college to study art? [00:15:47] Nilah: I did. Yeah. [00:15:48] Jarrett: What, and what was your study? What did you study when you were there? [00:15:51] Nilah: Computer animation. [00:15:53] Jarrett: Oh yeah. And so animation was your... animation was like, that was your goal then?[00:15:58] Nilah: Yeah. [00:15:58] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:15:59] Nilah: Yeah. That was ever since I was 13. That was the end game for me. [00:16:04] Jarrett: And then, so you went to, you went to college and then you graduate from college and I'm sure your parents were like; "And now do you go to work at an office? Do you get a pension? Do you get a, do you get a 401k?" [00:16:16] Nilah: Yeah they didn't understand it for a long time.[00:16:19] And it didn't really materialize for a long time. And my mother was always very honest that she could offer me no advice. Cause vice cause when she was growing up, a black woman in the forties and fifties and sixties, she would say there were three options for us. Be a nurse, be a house cleaner or be a teacher.[00:16:41] And she picked teaching. Nowadays women and black women in particular have so many more options. And I would call home about my internal struggle about what I should be doing. And she'd be like; "Yeah, that sounds hard." [00:16:57] Jarrett: But she's, " I have nothing for you because I haven't walked that path,[00:17:00] other than, being a black woman who's dealt with society." And so... Right. Exactly. And so there, so yeah, there must have been so much fear. Obviously eventually... Oh yeah. You assuage those fears because you became very successful.[00:17:13] You became the first... [00:17:14] Nilah: So... [00:17:15] Jarrett: Yeah. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. [00:17:16] Nilah: Yeah. Yeah. [00:17:16] The thing, so basically, my, my parents could never stop me. From doing what I was gonna do. And they both knew that. So they put the pressure on, but ultimately, the reason I ended up going to art school is... So we, we tried an animation, like an art trade school, art institutes, and that didn't work out.[00:17:42] And so I went with my mom's plan and did the whole four year college thing. I actually studied journalism and public relations. And when I finally went to Ringling College and studied animation, like I was an adult, I, at that point had a job. I had my own money. I had my own credit. And at this point my parents couldn't stop me.[00:18:06] So I went to art school under my own power and they just had to sit back and wait and see how things turned out. And yeah, there was a lot of fear and totally legitimate fear because we live in this culture that really doesn't support the arts as a career. [00:18:26] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:18:26] Nilah: Even now it's really hard to be an artist because, it's hard to get paid what we're worth. We're, we're still fighting this like societal image of artists as poor and free loaders and just an unnecessary expense. We're in a society where the arts in schools and arts foundations are constantly being defunded, and people don't really understand how much art and design impacts their everyday lives.[00:18:58] And and then, on top of that I think when you're a marginalized person, like your parents are always looking at where, what are the jobs? Where are the careers that people that look like us are thriving. And. That was not entertainment for black people. You don't see, you didn't see black people in those Disney specials. You... And nevermind that I was growing up on the east coast and we really didn't have an entertainment culture here, at least not in TV and film. Yeah. It's different in if you're growing up in California and you're surrounded by studios, who's working in those studios, but here, like there was no window to see where somebody with an animation degree could get a job.[00:19:43] Jarrett: And it's all, it is also, different when you're white, like growing up, I never had a search for characters that looked like me. I never had a search for seeing those specials. And so even though I was on the east coast, I was like; "Oh that's something I can do."[00:19:57] Nilah: Yeah. [00:19:58] Jarrett: But when growing up obviously that's ingrained if you don't see it. And because of your parents lived experience, there were, so there was, so the odds were so stacked against their daughter's favor and they want you to be happy and they want you to be healthy and they want you to succeed.[00:20:13] But you were UN you were unstoppable, you were just kept at it. And you had this love of art and story and you said, you, you said you studied journalism as well. So was like, what was your first paid gig as someone who put words on a paper? Was it journalism? Was it for a newspaper.[00:20:31] Nilah: It was journalism. It was, I think it was a food review. I think it was a restaurant review. Yeah. I worked toward the arts and entertainment department of a Western Maryland newspaper chain, which no longer exists sadly. But I got this job while I was in college. They were looking for interns and I got the internship.[00:20:52] And while I was interning the, the editor who hired me was like; "By the way, do you wanna do some writing?" And, looking back I'm like, what was the other part of this internship? Cuz all I remember is the writing. Like they, they definitely asked me to write in addition to interning, but I don't remember what the interning part was.[00:21:15] I do remember. The early writing gigs. And she was just like; "Hey, why don't you try doing a couple of food reviews?" And that was really cool. I got to go to restaurants and review, write a review. [00:21:27] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:21:27] Nilah: And then that summer there was there, was like a regime change at the paper and my editor rage quit.[00:21:37] And I was like; " I guess that's it for that job!" And so I was like that was fun. I worked for the newspaper for a few months. And then the editor who took our place called me and was like; "Hey, so I found your name on this list of freelance writers. Do you wanna keep writing for us?" And I was like; "Yeah, sure!"[00:21:59] and so he kept feeding me jobs and I didn't review restaurants again, but he would send me out to review gallery openings and to talk to local musicians and I speak to like local, owners of dance companies and theater companies and just this wide array of things. And I, my mom bought me a car cuz it was freaking her out.[00:22:24] I was basically walking around town at night to get to these jobs. And so she bought me a car. So I wouldn't do that. And so I was driving all around, Maryland, reviewing, like writing for this paper. And I did that for two years, through my junior and senior year of college. And then after I graduated and I did it up until the point that I got a full time job and just didn't have time anymore.[00:22:49] And yeah.[00:22:51] Jarrett: Moms are gonna mom forever. Never not gonna be your mom. Never not gonna be your mom looking out for you. And so you know that - granted you were pursuing degrees, but... it sounds like that was also like a whole other master's degree in, in learning about the arts. So you were studying... [00:23:08] Nilah: Yeah.[00:23:08] Jarrett: You were studying the stories of so many people who were you self-employed or making a go at, making a living via a non-traditional means. It's true. You must have met so many interesting people. I can't even, I'm sure that just yeah. Soaked into the fabric of who you became.[00:23:24] So what was your fulltime job? You said you had a full-time you said you had a full-time job. So you left that. What was your full-time case? [00:23:30] Nilah: I was a marketing writer for a health nonprofit. [00:23:34] Yeah. Sounds exciting. Was that super exciting? [00:23:38] Yes... [00:23:39] Jarrett: No? [00:23:39] Nilah: It was amazing. No, it was. So it was in like the DC Metro area and the commute was very long.[00:23:47] It was 70 minutes, one way. Ooh. On the DC beltway. And I'd have to leave home at, what, 4:30, 5 in the morning to get there before rush hour. And it was, it was a fine gig. This nonprofit runs a trade show. I think they do it every other year in Chicago. So while I was there, I got to go to Chicago and help coordinate this giant trade show which was actually that part was really cool.[00:24:17] It was, it was a fine job. It taught me, about the corporate space. It was pretty close to what I went to school to do. And they paid me well for a nonprofit. Like I had a competitive salary. It was, it was my first taste of money. [00:24:36] Jarrett: Yeah. Which is important to pay for things.[00:24:39] Nilah: Yeah.[00:24:40] Jarrett: like your basic needs and enjoyment for sure. [00:24:44] Nilah: And, at the time I was outlining this future and marketing and PR and that was gonna be it. But wow. I still, I still had this bug where I wanted to draw and write and working in marketing wasn't fully fulfilling it. And so I decided I wanted to give it another go.[00:25:06] I wanted to, I started just like poking at, looking at art programs, just, experimentally and ended up applying a lot faster than I thought I would and ended up going a lot faster than I thought I would. [00:25:25] Jarrett: And is that for a master's degree? Is that...[00:25:28] Nilah: No, a bachelor's. [00:25:29] Jarrett: For oh, for a bachelor's![00:25:31] Nilah: I have two bachelors and it feels so pointless.[00:25:35] Jarrett: Oh, here I am thinking like... Oh, I, my, like I'm always concerned. I'm not being a good listener... No, you went and got a second bachelors. [00:25:43] Nilah: I went and got a second. No one needs two bachelors. [00:25:45] Jarrett: Nilah Magruder. How are you? [00:25:49] Nilah: I'm doing pretty good. How are you? [00:25:52] Jarrett: Hangin', it in there Nilah, you will forever and ever be iconic in my home because your picture book, "How to Find a Fox" has been read so many times. So many times. In our home that it is held together by like scotch tape and like bubble gum.[00:26:14] Our son, we must have read that so many times. [00:26:18] Nilah: Oh my God.[00:26:18] Jarrett: Huge home run pal and I remember we met at Comics Crossroads in Ohio and we were tabling next to each other and, like we just were chatting the whole day and I'm always looking for something to bring home to the kids to make up for being gone.[00:26:31] And wow that book, man, I'm telling you like, iconic like that, that we will read that. I will read that to my grandkids, my wife and I will be reading that to our grandkids someday. So thank you for stop and a chat with us. But of course I what the show is all about of [00:26:47] course is about getting to know how creative people in comics got to be doing what they're doing.[00:26:54] And so I like to start at the very beginning cuz I, I love the idea and I also love the idea of imagine. A young author, an artist and getting to, to hear those stories directly from some of your favorite creators. My first question for you and it might really be the only question I ask and then we're gonna get into a conversation, but what was life like for you as a kid?[00:27:15] What was your home like? What was your family set up? What kind of art and stories were you consuming? What sort of laid the groundwork to create Nilah Magruder? [00:27:25] Nilah: My home life as a child, I grew up in a house in the woods in a small community back in a time where it was largely forest and largely rural.[00:27:38] And I think that had a lasting impact on how. I think visually in how I view story, the sort of stories that I'm interested in. A lot of the things I was interested at interested in as a kid were very pastoral and natural. I loved anything featuring animals and, honestly, I was isolated for a lot of my childhood.[00:28:05] This is something that you and I have in common. I had an alcoholic parent and as a kid, I didn't like to bring friends home because then they would see my dad and, whatever state that my dad was in, it was really unpredictable. I never quite knew what I was bringing friends into. So I didn't, bring friends here very much.[00:28:30] And I didn't go to friends' houses very much. And so a lot of my time was spent at home, but we were surrounded by this woodland, all of these trees and animals and so much nature. And that's really where I spent my time as a kid. Now, what I was interested in, like what I was ingesting, we had a small video rental store in the community, and this was long before Netflix.[00:29:04] This was even before Blockbuster. We didn't have a Blockbuster within driving distance. I'm not even sure if Blockbuster existed back then. And so we had this local mom and pop rental store and they would bring in videos from all over the world. A lot of imported... movies and television series.[00:29:29] And as a kid, I was interested in anything animated. If it was a cartoon, if it was drawn, I was there. And so like any cartoon that they had, I'd be like, mom, can we get this please? And I remember once I showed her one video that I hadn't watched yet, and I was like, mom, can we get this? And she looked at it, she looked at the cover and was like, no.[00:29:50] And she put it back and we never spoke of it again. and years later, like I was an adult on the internet and I saw this title called when the wind blows and I was like, oh, that's familiar. And I looked at the summary. I looked at the art from the movie and I was like, oh my God, that's it. That's that one movie that my mom wouldn't let me watch.[00:30:13] And so when the wind blows is a British animated film about nuclear fallout, And it's about it's about this couple. I think it's like a rural couple and there's this big catastrophe in England. And the government sends pamphlets out to everyone and is every, they're just like, don't panic everyone. It's fine.[00:30:40] Just stay at home. And so basically this couple they're older, they're very trusting. They're like the government knows what's best. So we'll just stay home. And eventually radiation reach reaches them and they get sick and die. [00:30:56] So... [00:30:57] Jarrett: what a prude! What a prude! What a...[00:31:00] Nilah: I know wouldn't let me. And then another time she was also a teacher and one day she brought home the animated Animal Farm.[00:31:08] Jarrett: Wow. Yeah.[00:31:09] Nilah: And, my thing is animals, of course. And she looks at me and she's do not watch this. And then she leaves it out. [00:31:17] Jarrett: Oh... [00:31:19] Nilah: And so one day when she wasn't there, I popped it in the VCR and watched it. And I think I was like nine or 10 at the time. And I loved it. So all that to say when I was a kid, I would just watch anything.[00:31:34] And so I was, and we had this rental store that would bring over anything. And so I was getting to watch animated movies from Japan and England and Russia and Canada, like Canada had a really great experimental animation program that was supported by the government. [00:31:52] Jarrett: Yeah.[00:31:52] Nilah: And so they were producing just like wild animated shorts and half the time, I didn't understand what I was watching, but because it was moving pictures, moving drawings, I was fascinated.[00:32:07] And a lot of the stuff that I look back on that I loved as a small child, it's very experimental and dark. And then I lived in this woodland that was also creepy, a lot of animals lived here and also a lot of people in the community were like fascinated cuz our home was situated secluded.[00:32:30] And so people would come drive through late at night just to, see the house or they'd, walk through, like it was a public park here. [00:32:41] Jarrett: Oh. [00:32:41] Nilah: So I had this experience as a child of just like constantly our space just constantly being invaded by strangers. And it was like scary, you're in bed at night....[00:32:57] And headlights reflected on your wall. Yeah. And you're a little kid and you're just like, oh my gosh. [00:33:04] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:33:05] Nilah: I have this, like I have this just this little, knot from my childhood, that's very, just creepy and wild and mysterious. And then I write children's books. [00:33:19] Jarrett: Yeah. It's not easy to be a creative kid who then you when you have worries, because then your creativity, which I've only realized now as an adult, like your imagination really creates scenarios in your head.[00:33:36] Nilah: Yeah![00:33:36] Jarrett: And I wanna point out to the listeners that it's remarkable. That you had access to VHS tapes of cartoons from other countries in that time period. Sometimes when I'm book touring and I talk to readers and they said; "did you love anime when you were a teenager?" And I didn't really have access to it.[00:33:55] I grew up in a suburban, urban area and my rental shop, which was another mom and pop rental shop. They didn't have that creative, curated collection. So how remarkable that, whoever it was that was down the street from you who had this, you know, who had an appetite for this flavor of creative cartoons, because otherwise you would've just been seeing like just Disney and nothing else.[00:34:21] That's, this kinda was the only game in town back then. [00:34:24] Nilah: Yeah. [00:34:24] Yeah. It is like looking back on it. I think that too, it's very odd. [00:34:29] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:34:30] Nilah: Like, how we had so many dubs at the time, but also that this little, this little spot in rural, Maryland was getting all of these videos and yeah, it was pretty, and this was before cable too.[00:34:47] Like we didn't have cable at the time, a lot of my access to animation was through this little rental shop. [00:34:56] Jarrett: Wow. Wow. And so did you love to draw before or after? Can you, or was it simultaneous love of animation and drawing for you? [00:35:06] Nilah: I think the animation came before and I always tell people that I was.[00:35:13] Bad at art at that age. And I'm talking about when I was in kindergarten, so five or six , who's good at art at that age? But it was this I was really bad at coloring in the lines. [00:35:25] Jarrett: Oh, that showed, that did show - sorry to cut you off - but all that did was show promise.[00:35:30] Nilah: Yeah.[00:35:31] Jarrett: All that did was show promise in your work. So it sounds like you had someone somewhere to say, no, you're supposed to color in the lines. And then you're like, oh, what?[00:35:38] Nilah: It was my peers, I remember sitting at a table in kindergarten and I'm coloring. And one of the little girls next to me was like, "Nilah, do you want me to do that for you?"[00:35:50] And that, that devastated me. [00:35:53] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:35:53] Nilah: And so from a very young age, I was like, wow, I have to get better at this cuz that's embarrassing. And so from five or six years old, I was just making this conscious effort to study and practice and be better at art. And my first subjects were animals cuz that's what I was interested in.[00:36:16] We had this magazine series called ZooBooks. And it was full of photos and illustrations of animals. And I would copy these, copy this art and learn animal anatomy from that. Later we got cable and I would watch discovery channel. And then I could see like animals in motion, and I love the Peanuts.[00:36:39] I love Charlie brown and Snoopy taught me how to draw animal toes. As a kid, I was, I would draw them wrong. And I knew they looked wrong, but I didn't know why. And so I would look at Snoopy's feet and how Charles Schultz drew Snoopy's feet. And I started drawing my feet more like that.[00:37:01] And... eventually, I came to understand why the way I was drawing feet before was wrong, anatomically and like that really, that really helped me take my drawings to the next level.[00:37:15] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:37:15] Nilah: And so it wasn't until much later that I really made the connection between animation and my own drawing, I just like watching cartoons and, I also love to draw.[00:37:27] And so as I got older, I, I did process drawing as a storytelling tool and would start drawing, drawing my own stories. And much, much later I got into anime, and... Also Disney started putting out those, like "Making-Of" specials [00:37:52] Jarrett: Yes! [00:37:53] Nilah: Where they talked about how they made animated films.[00:37:57] And that's when I started to learn; " Oh, people are drawing these movies." And that made, that kind of bridged things for me that you can, like that people make comics, people make animated cartoons, like people make children's books. And, I didn't understand where those illustrations came from or anything, but like seeing the process helped me connect the dots like; "Oh, I, as a person can also do this. I can, create stories with art."[00:38:30] Jarrett: And so growing, coming up then. You had art supplies you were drawing and what were your parents' reaction to that? Do they, they thought it was cute and then you'll outgrow it? Or what was that? What was that dynamic like for you? [00:38:51] Nilah: Oh, they thought it was real cute. My dad actually was known as an artist for a while.[00:38:56] He was in the military and I think... I'll have to ask my mom this. I think the story is that he actually considered going to college for art and he went into the military instead. And...[00:39:12] Jarrett: Those are two vastly opposite things![00:39:15] Nilah: Yeah. [00:39:16] Jarrett: Right?[00:39:16] Nilah: Yeah. And so he could draw as a kid, I found some of his some of his old sketches.[00:39:21] And he had a life drawing book, and he did a mural down in the basement that terrifies my nieces, now! It's this pirate face on this cinder block wall in the basement. And I guess when my nieces were growing up, this terrified them and they still don't like it. But so my dad drew and that's something I learned a little later.[00:39:45] It's not really people saw me drawing and they were like; "Oh, your father drew too." And so I learned about it that way. [00:39:52] Jarrett: Wow. [00:39:53] Nilah: My mom was a teacher, and so she would bring home reams of paper for me, and pencils, and drawing was a way to keep me quiet. So when we're at church or when we're out in public, she would just hand me and my brother like drawing supplies and we would go to town and, we would...[00:40:16] Be behaved. And so she, she liked that aspect of it. And then I got a little older and I would keep drawing and that fascinated small children. So it also kept other children quiet.[00:40:35] Everybody, everybody was like; "Yeah, Nilah! Keeping the peace, keeping everyone disciplined!" And that's all, it was for a long time until I was in high school. And I said; "Hey, I think I wanna go to art school." And then things took a turn [00:40:47] Jarrett: And they were like; "Wait a minute."[00:40:49] No, exactly. That's always the interesting thing, where it's supported. And then and it, what I've come to, to learn since years have passed since I was that age, that it comes from love. It comes from fear. Which is love for the kid of how is this kid gonna grow up to support themselves?[00:41:09] Nilah: Yeah. [00:41:10] Jarrett: Especially if it's a world that the parent or caretaker doesn't fully understand or know. Where and maybe and could be read between the lines, but, I don't never knew your dad never didn't know his childhood, but he chose what you know, was more, would be a more practical path.[00:41:25] So while that, that, like history was echoing in you then getting to that age and you went to art school, did you went to college to study art? [00:41:33] Nilah: I did. Yeah. [00:41:34] Jarrett: What, and what was your study? What did you study when you were there? [00:41:36] Nilah: Computer animation. [00:41:39] Jarrett: Oh yeah. And so animation was your... animation was like, that was your goal then?[00:41:43] Nilah: Yeah. [00:41:44] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:41:44] Nilah: Yeah. That was ever since I was 13. That was the end game for me. [00:41:50] Jarrett: And then, so you went to, you went to college and then you graduate from college and I'm sure your parents were like; "And now do you go to work at an office? Do you get a pension? Do you get a, do you get a 401k?" [00:42:02] Nilah: Yeah they didn't understand it for a long time.[00:42:04] And it didn't really materialize for a long time. And my mother was always very honest that she could offer me no advice. Cause vice cause when she was growing up, a black woman in the forties and fifties and sixties, she would say there were three options for us. Be a nurse, be a house cleaner or be a teacher.[00:42:27] And she picked teaching. Nowadays women and black women in particular have so many more options. And I would call home about my internal struggle about what I should be doing. And she'd be like; "Yeah, that sounds hard." [00:42:43] Jarrett: But she's, " I have nothing for you because I haven't walked that path,[00:42:46] other than, being a black woman who's dealt with society." And so... Right. Exactly. And so there, so yeah, there must have been so much fear. Obviously eventually... Oh yeah. You assuage those fears because you became very successful.[00:42:59] You became the first... [00:43:00] Nilah: So... [00:43:00] Jarrett: Yeah. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. [00:43:01] Nilah: Yeah. Yeah. [00:43:02] The thing, so basically, my, my parents could never stop me. From doing what I was gonna do. And they both knew that. So they put the pressure on, but ultimately, the reason I ended up going to art school is... So we, we tried an animation, like an art trade school, art institutes, and that didn't work out.[00:43:27] And so I went with my mom's plan and did the whole four year college thing. I actually studied journalism and public relations. And when I finally went to Ringling College and studied animation, like I was an adult, I, at that point had a job. I had my own money. I had my own credit. And at this point my parents couldn't stop me.[00:43:52] So I went to art school under my own power and they just had to sit back and wait and see how things turned out. And yeah, there was a lot of fear and totally legitimate fear because we live in this culture that really doesn't support the arts as a career. [00:44:12] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:44:12] Nilah: Even now it's really hard to be an artist because, it's hard to get paid what we're worth. We're, we're still fighting this like societal image of artists as poor and free loaders and just an unnecessary expense. We're in a society where the arts in schools and arts foundations are constantly being defunded, and people don't really understand how much art and design impacts their everyday lives.[00:44:44] And and then, on top of that I think when you're a marginalized person, like your parents are always looking at where, what are the jobs? Where are the careers that people that look like us are thriving. And. That was not entertainment for black people. You don't see, you didn't see black people in those Disney specials. You... And nevermind that I was growing up on the east coast and we really didn't have an entertainment culture here, at least not in TV and film. Yeah. It's different in if you're growing up in California and you're surrounded by studios, who's working in those studios, but here, like there was no window to see where somebody with an animation degree could get a job.[00:45:29] Jarrett: And it's all, it is also, different when you're white, like growing up, I never had a search for characters that looked like me. I never had a search for seeing those specials. And so even though I was on the east coast, I was like; "Oh that's something I can do."[00:45:43] Nilah: Yeah. [00:45:44] Jarrett: But when growing up obviously that's ingrained if you don't see it. And because of your parents lived experience, there were, so there was, so the odds were so stacked against their daughter's favor and they want you to be happy and they want you to be healthy and they want you to succeed.[00:45:59] But you were UN you were unstoppable, you were just kept at it. And you had this love of art and story and you said, you, you said you studied journalism as well. So was like, what was your first paid gig as someone who put words on a paper? Was it journalism? Was it for a newspaper.[00:46:16] Nilah: It was journalism. It was, I think it was a food review. I think it was a restaurant review. Yeah. I worked toward the arts and entertainment department of a Western Maryland newspaper chain, which no longer exists sadly. But I got this job while I was in college. They were looking for interns and I got the internship.[00:46:38] And while I was interning the, the editor who hired me was like; "By the way, do you wanna do some writing?" And, looking back I'm like, what was the other part of this internship? Cuz all I remember is the writing. Like they, they definitely asked me to write in addition to interning, but I don't remember what the interning part was.[00:47:01] I do remember. The early writing gigs. And she was just like; "Hey, why don't you try doing a couple of food reviews?" And that was really cool. I got to go to restaurants and review, write a review. [00:47:12] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:47:13] Nilah: And then that summer there was there, was like a regime change at the paper and my editor rage quit.[00:47:22] And I was like; " I guess that's it for that job!" And so I was like that was fun. I worked for the newspaper for a few months. And then the editor who took our place called me and was like; "Hey, so I found your name on this list of freelance writers. Do you wanna keep writing for us?" And I was like; "Yeah, sure!"[00:47:45] and so he kept feeding me jobs and I didn't review restaurants again, but he would send me out to review gallery openings and to talk to local musicians and I speak to like local, owners of dance companies and theater companies and just this wide array of things. And I, my mom bought me a car cuz it was freaking her out.[00:48:10] I was basically walking around town at night to get to these jobs. And so she bought me a car. So I wouldn't do that. And so I was driving all around, Maryland, reviewing, like writing for this paper. And I did that for two years, through my junior and senior year of college. And then after I graduated and I did it up until the point that I got a full time job and just didn't have time anymore.[00:48:35] And yeah.[00:48:37] Jarrett: Moms are gonna mom forever. Never not gonna be your mom. Never not gonna be your mom looking out for you. And so you know that - granted you were pursuing degrees, but... it sounds like that was also like a whole other master's degree in, in learning about the arts. So you were studying... [00:48:54] Nilah: Yeah.[00:48:54] Jarrett: You were studying the stories of so many people who were you self-employed or making a go at, making a living via a non-traditional means. It's true. You must have met so many interesting people. I can't even, I'm sure that just yeah. Soaked into the fabric of who you became.[00:49:10] So what was your fulltime job? You said you had a full-time you said you had a full-time job. So you left that. What was your full-time case? [00:49:15] Nilah: I was a marketing writer for a health nonprofit. [00:49:20] Yeah. Sounds exciting. Was that super exciting? [00:49:24] Yes... [00:49:24] Jarrett: No? [00:49:25] Nilah: It was amazing. No, it was. So it was in like the DC Metro area and the commute was very long.[00:49:33] It was 70 minutes, one way. Ooh. On the DC beltway. And I'd have to leave home at, what, 4:30, 5 in the morning to get there before rush hour. And it was, it was a fine gig. This nonprofit runs a trade show. I think they do it every other year in Chicago. So while I was there, I got to go to Chicago and help coordinate this giant trade show which was actually that part was really cool.[00:50:03] It was, it was a fine job. It taught me, about the corporate space. It was pretty close to what I went to school to do. And they paid me well for a nonprofit. Like I had a competitive salary. It was, it was my first taste of money. [00:50:22] Jarrett: Yeah. Which is important to pay for things.[00:50:25] Nilah: Yeah.[00:50:25] Jarrett: like your basic needs and enjoyment for sure. [00:50:30] Nilah: And, at the time I was outlining this future and marketing and PR and that was gonna be it. But wow. I still, I still had this bug where I wanted to draw and write and working in marketing wasn't fully fulfilling it. And so I decided I wanted to give it another go.[00:50:52] I wanted to, I started just like poking at, looking at art programs, just, experimentally and ended up applying a lot faster than I thought I would and ended up going a lot faster than I thought I would. [00:51:11] Jarrett: And is that for a master's degree? Is that...[00:51:13] Nilah: No, a bachelor's. [00:51:15] Jarrett: For oh, for a bachelor's![00:51:16] Nilah: I have two bachelors and it feels so pointless.[00:51:21] Jarrett: Oh, here I am thinking like... Oh, I, my, like I'm always concerned. I'm not being a good listener... No, you went and got a second bachelors. [00:51:28] Nilah: I went and got a second. No one needs two bachelors.  [00:00:00] Jarrett: So hold up, you went and got a second bachelor's degree. Like...[00:00:05] Nilah: I went and got a second bachelor's.[00:00:07] Jarrett: And in what? So your first bachelor, your first bachelor's was in computer animation. [00:00:12] Nilah: My first bachelor's was in... Communications. [00:00:17] Oh...[00:00:18] Yeah.[00:00:19] Jarrett: I see. Then yeah. Two bachelors, but they're completely different.[00:00:22] Nilah: Completely different. [00:00:23] Jarrett: And what a different experience too, of being, an older student you're not fresh out of high school, you I'm sure you, your approach to the academics and what you were learning were so different, right? [00:00:35] Nilah: Yeah. Honestly, I was an older student both times.[00:00:39] I, I skipped a year when I when I graduated high school, me and my mom fought over the art school thing. And then I ended up not going to college that first year. And so I was older when I went to that first four year college, hood college. It was actually a women's college at the time.[00:00:56] So I was entering, I think at 19 instead of 18. And then when I went to Ringling, I was 25. So I was... Much, not the oldest adult student there, but I was older than all the 18 year olds coming in. Yeah. And it, it definitely, it's a different perspec- perspective for sure. This was not my first career attempt, it wasn't, at 18, like there's so much pressure to choose a career, choose it now and go to college for that career and stay in that career.[00:01:28] So you can pay back those student loans. And I didn't have that. I, animation was like I had my plan B already. I had my fallback career. Like I had my degree in marketing that I could always fall back on if the animation thing didn't work out. So animation was just like a fully like personal choice that I was making.[00:01:52] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:01:53] Nilah: Everything I did at that point, I, I did it as, a fully consenting adult. [00:01:58] Jarrett: And you, so then you had your second graduation and your family; "Didn't we do this seven years ago?" And... [00:02:05] Nilah: Yeah. [00:02:05] Jarrett: So you're like launching into the world a whole second time. That's like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly twice.[00:02:12] Yeah. [00:02:13] Nilah: Yeah. It was very it was very interesting. [00:02:16] Jarrett: Yeah! [00:02:16] Nilah: But... [00:02:17] Jarrett: Yeah so you, but you wow, but amazing that you had the foresight to say; "Okay, let me reset. Let me really follow the passion." Like you...[00:02:27] Nilah: Yeah. [00:02:27] Jarrett: And you learned a lot in that corporate space too, because we're artists.[00:02:31] But we still have to deal with the corporations who publish the work or help promote the work. So what was your, so then what was your first paid gig after getting a degree in animation? [00:02:42] Nilah: My first paid gig was in publishing because I couldn't get an animation job. I entered Ringling at the start of the recession.[00:02:50] Leading up to 2006, 2007, all of the feedback coming out of Ringling was come to this school and you'll get a high paid job in animation and... [00:03:06] Jarrett: Speaking of marketing. [00:03:10] Nilah: Right. And then I entered Ringling that, that year, 2007, And like we're in school, we're just watching on the news, all the jobs dry up.[00:03:24] Jarrett: Oh. [00:03:24] Nilah: And so it was basically for all of us, it was like this three or four year, wait to see, will there be jobs when we get out. And for me there wasn't. So my first job out of Ringling, I graduated in 2010, was a publisher in Maryland. And I was falling back on my previous career for that, I had, because of my earlier experiences, I had the credentials for this job.[00:03:56] I stayed for seven months. It was, it was a position that ended up being, not as advertised. And... [00:04:06] Jarrett: Yeah, yeah. [00:04:07] Nilah: And during this year that I was home was, it was difficult. My aunt died that year. And so my family needed me at home, but also so it reignited that fear my mom had of me leaving.[00:04:24] And so I was really trying to stay in Maryland. And at the same time, like there was just this thought in my head that I hadn't given animation, like a full try. Like I was trying to find work while being at home. Cuz I, I had nowhere else to go knowing that all of the work was in California. And no one would hire me here in Maryland, because most places they wanted someone right away.[00:04:59] And like, why hire someone in Maryland and wait for them to move out when you can just hire one of these thousands of people hanging around LA looking for work. So I ended up just packing all my things into my car and moving to LA that summer 2000 that fall 2011. And so at this point I'd been out of school for over a year and still did not have a job in animation.[00:05:31] And I was writing completely on my savings and the savings. Once I got to LA the savings dried up very quickly, I was completely broke and I was applying everywhere. And getting, getting nowhere. I got so desperate that I was applying for retail and that wasn't working out either. I couldn't, it was so dry.[00:05:55] I couldn't even get a retail job. I applied for a, an unpaid internship and I didn't get that either. I couldn't even get a job where I worked for free. And I was ready to throw in the towel, but I didn't have enough money to afford to move back home.[00:06:20] Jarrett: You couldn't afford to even buy the towel to throw it at that point.[00:06:23] Nilah: Yeah. [00:06:24] Yeah. Like my mom start, my mom was paying my rent. [00:06:27] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:06:28] Nilah: And she could have barely afford that. Like my parents were both retired and in January, 2012, I... I happened to see a listing on Ringling's job website for a little company in Burbank. And I got an interview there. They were, they did mostly live action work, but they were hiring their first in-house artist.[00:06:58] And the company was run by Florida state alums. I think it's Florida state. I can't remember now wow it's been a while, but oh, that's embarrassing if they watch this. But they had this Florida connection. So they, when they were hiring for this position, they decided to put a listing on the Ringling job site because Ringling is also in Florida, and I got the job.[00:07:26] Jarrett: Yes![00:07:26] Nilah: And that was my first LA job. It was the company is called Soapbox Films. and at the time they were doing a lot of like marketing and live action production, mainly for Disney. So if you ever heard of like Movie Surfers in like the early two thousands, I think they, the Disney channel had this program called Movie Surfers and Soapbox, like back in that day, Soapbox was the one developing that.[00:08:01] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:08:02] Nilah: They do a lot of production with the Muppets. They're one of a handful of studios in LA that are equipped to work with the Muppets. [00:08:10] Jarrett: Whoa. That's not an easy thing to get.[00:08:13] Nilah: Yeah, and they do what is called toolkit for animated films. Toolkit is like just it's a package of assets that the studios will use to advertise their animated films and to develop toolkit.[00:08:32] You need a storyboard artist and that's what they hired me for. [00:08:39] Jarrett: That's fantastic. So now you're getting paid to draw pictures that tell stories. [00:08:44] Nilah: Yeah. [00:08:44] Finally getting paid, just draw pictures. [00:08:47] Jarrett: You're on your way moving right along Fozzie and Kermit saying as they're driving across country. [00:08:52] Nilah: Yeah. [00:08:53] Jarrett: Oh man. And so that must have, that must have led to other things, right? [00:08:57] Nilah: It allowed me to stay in LA. [00:08:59] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:08:59] Nilah: They were, this was this was the conflict My time at Soapbox was great. I stayed there for three years, but it wasn't, it allowed me to tread water in Los Angeles, but it wasn't a stepping stone really to the next thing, because everything that I did there was so specific to what Soapbox did.[00:09:24] It didn't translate well to other jobs at other studios. So I couldn't use anything I was doing there in my portfolio. So if I wanted to, if I wanted to work in TV and film, which was still the goal, I had to develop my portfolio pieces outside of work. At this time I was, I had my day job at [00:09:50] Soapbox, but I was also still figuring out what is my career though.[00:09:55] Yeah. And there were times like I'd go through this cycle at Soapbox where I would try really hard to get out. So I'd be submitting my storyboarding portfolio to other studios and nothing would materialize. And I'd give up after six months and I'd say, you know what, let me just hunker down and focus on my time here at Soapbox.[00:10:17] And maybe this can become a long term career. And so I would really like put all of my energy into being like the best Soapbox employee I could be. And then after six months, I'd be like; "I can't take this. I can't do this anymore. I have to get out." And so I'd re-up and put all of my energy into storyboard portfolio stuff and try again.[00:10:43] And I did this for three years and meanwhile I fell into comics in children's books a little bit. Cause at this point, I was so desperate for money I was so desperate. Like I was just like clinging on by my fingernails. And I just needed something to work. And so I was, utilizing the skills I had, which were basically writing and drawing.[00:11:11] And I started a web comic and I started, I joined society of children's book, writers and illustrators, so I could learn how to make children's books. And I was doing picture book dumies and trying to write novels and looking for an agent and drawing this web comic in my spare time outside of Soapbox.[00:11:34] And, also, putting storyboard portfolios together. And so I did this for three years and then finally in 2015, everything changed. I submitted my web comic to the Dwayne McDuffy award for diversity and won that. I... [00:11:55] Jarrett: And hold on. You were the inaugural winner too! [00:11:58] Nilah: I was the inaugural winner.[00:12:00] Jarrett: You were the first person ever to win that award. [00:12:02] Nilah: It was bonkers. Yeah. I, and I was so used to losing at that point that and the competition was so stiff. I was like, I got nominated. And I was like that was a fun experience, but I'm never gonna win a little web comic with a very small following is not gonna win against all these like actual comics.[00:12:28] I was up against Ms. Marvel, and I believe Shaft by David Walker, and Hex 11. And I was just like, that's the end of the road. And, but it won MFK one. [00:12:41] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:12:41] Nilah: And it, it was the start of a very different... It was the start of things for me. [00:12:47] Jarrett: Yeah. Yeah. And and I do think film, and graphic novels, they do have a lot in common.[00:12:53] I look to film to inspire how I, I write my graphic novels and yeah. I have to say so a couple months ago, I was just, just binge watching some shows on Disney plus and they have this show that's about the history of Marvel. And then there was one episode about the women of Marvel and the women who've written for Marvel and how certainly they were there in the beginning, but they weren't necessarily writing the stories.[00:13:18] They were, they, it was everything back then in the world of comics, like most of the world too, and most of the country was, chauvinistic. And so I'm just watching and I'm so fascinated hearing these stories of these pioneers. And then you pop up on the show. I was like, wait a minute.[00:13:36] I don't need to see the, I didn't need to see the little name at the bottom. Like I know that's Nilah. And you became the first black woman to write for Marvel comics. [00:13:47] Nilah: Isn't that bonkers, like... [00:13:50] Jarrett: It is bonkers! Tell me about that. Tell me about your mom's reaction because there is something you said in something you'd said in the show was something about your back in the day.[00:14:05] Was it like your mom's was your mom's friends giving her flack or something? [00:14:09] Nilah: Oh yeah. [00:14:10] Yeah. I don't even know if I've told my mom that I'm the first black writer for Marvel, because some things I say about my career just mean nothing to her. [00:14:18] So... But... [00:14:21] Jarrett: Like I said: moms are gonna, mom.[00:14:23] Nilah: Moms are gonna mom.[00:14:24] Jarrett: No matter what.[00:14:26] Nilah: But, I didn't realize the extent of this coming up, but when I decided to go down this path like my mom's older black lady, friends in, Maryland middle class, Maryland were really judgey about it. And like one of them once asked me because I, the art school thing had not yet materialized.[00:14:46] And she was like; "Oh, so are you finally over that art hobby yet?"[00:14:51] Jarrett: Oof. [00:14:53] Nilah: And I, I didn't realize this either, but there's this other family friend that we don't speak to anymore. And I thought that we just drifted apart, but turns out like going to art school was like a point of contention for her.[00:15:08] Jarrett: Wow. [00:15:08] Nilah: And. And it's such a weird thing to think about that she would distance herself from our entire family over, over a personal choice that I made. [00:15:17] Jarrett: It's not witchcraft! It's not witch... I mean like sacrificing rabbits on the full moon or something. I don't...[00:15:24] Nilah: Right.. It's, yeah, but... [00:15:27] Jarrett: Wow. Wow. [00:15:29] Nilah: So like my mother, wasn't telling me about this.[00:15:33] She wasn't telling me that like her friends were coming down hard on her and she had to defend me [00:15:41] Jarrett: Wow![00:15:41] Nilah: And defend my choices. But when I started working for Dreamworks and Disney, she finally got her vindication, cuz she would say; "Hey, my kid works at Disney now." And they understood that. [00:15:55] Jarrett: Yes they, they certainly did.[00:15:57] Nilah: Yeah. [00:15:57] Jarrett: And run us through some of your credits of, cause I know you from the book world and I know that you've done stuff for Dreamworks and Disney, but what kind of jobs have you done over these years? [00:16:07] Nilah: So I was a storyboard revisionist on Dino Trucks at Dreamworks, and Dino Trucks is a Netflix show.[00:16:17] You can watch it on Netflix. It's just what it sounds like. It's dinosaur trucks. And it's based on a children's book.[00:16:23] Jarrett: And it's based on a children's book. You can't escape now. We're bringing you over just the same. You're in this publishing game too! [00:16:32] Nilah: At Disney, I hopped onto Tangled, the series. [00:16:36] Jarrett: Oh.[00:16:37] Nilah: Which is based on the movie. [00:16:38] Jarrett: Yeah. We love that show in my house. What did you do then? [00:16:41] Nilah: Yeah. [00:16:41] Jarrett: What did you do on the show? [00:16:43] Nilah: I was also a storyboard revisionist there. And so storyboard revisionists... They're basically the support team for storyboard artists. So they, the storyboard artists do their thing and storyboard revisionists help make sure that the storyboards are ready for the next process in the pipeline.[00:17:04] Jarrett: Okay. [00:17:05] Nilah: So we it's a lot of drawing. It's a lot of support drawing just to, to tighten things up for the animators. God what happened next? I was a writer for Cannon Busters produced by LaSean Thomas. [00:17:21] Jarrett: Wow.[00:17:22] Nilah: I was a writer for Polly Pocket.[00:17:27] Jarrett: Nice. [00:17:27] Nilah: Which is based on... [00:17:29] Iconic!. [00:17:30] Yeah. Yeah. Poly pocket is still around [00:17:33] Jarrett: Iconic. That's wild. Yeah. And you illustrated the Rick Riordan and Heroes of Olympus books too. [00:17:42] Nilah: Yeah![00:17:43] Jarrett: Goodness like that is huge. For you, you don't get bigger in publishing than Rick Riordan. [00:17:50] Nilah: It's true. Yeah.[00:17:52] Jarrett: And, And animals and fantasy. And you illustrated the covers for our friend Daniel Jose Older, the Dactyl Hill Squad books.[00:18:01] Nilah: That was my first time drawing dinosaurs in my life. [00:18:05] Jarrett: Really? I, would've never known that. I had never known that. [00:18:08] Nilah: Aside from Dino Trucks, but that was a very different thing. [00:18:11] Jarrett: Yeah. Those are more trucks than dinosaurs, right? Yeah. [00:18:13] Nilah: Yeah. It was wild. Like I had to learn dinosaur anatomy. [00:18:18] Jarrett: And so where in, where did all of that did Marvel come calling? [00:18:21] Nilah: So back in 2016, I think it all happened very fast. This was after the Dwayne McDuffy award and I never got a clear answer on how they found me. It might have been Twitter, but an editor from Marvel reached out one day and said; "Hey, would you like to write a short story for us on this new series called the Year of Marvels?" And they pitched a Rocket Raccoon -Tippy-Toe Squirrel team up and of course animals.[00:18:59] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:19:00] Nilah: So...[00:19:00] Jarrett: It's your wheelhouse! [00:19:01] Nilah: Yeah. Yeah. So I took it of course. And that kind of got things rolling. Once you're, once you write for a Marvel you're in the Marvel family. So...[00:19:09] Jarrett: Yeah. [00:19:10] Nilah: I didn't, I did that and didn't, work with them for a long while after that. And so it just so happened. I didn't know this at the time I was completely unprepared. But that ended up being their first writing credit by a black woman. And so 70 years into Marvel's history and it was just this little short di

Florida isn't serious about water quality, if it were, it wouldn't keep allowing developers to install septic tanks.Our guest this week is Jennifer Lemmer-Posey, an author of two books about the circus as well as a curator at the Circus Museum at The Ringling in Sarasota. Jennifer tells us how the circus came to Sarasota for its winter quarters and what the future of the circus is.This episode of "Welcome to Florida" is presented by Visit Sarasota, home to The Ringling. John Ringling's presence and incredible wealth are a big reason why Sarasota has such an outsized arts community for a city its size from performing arts, to visual arts and museums. Explore Sarasota's cultural offerings and begin making plans for your next visit.

  Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at TDAgiantslayer@gmail.com    Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain't for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com   A PASSION FOR THE GOSPEL A PASSION FOR THE LOST   Its not about what you can do - its about who you can reach!  Luke 10:20 Rejoice when your name is written down in the book of life.   The disciples go out and are doing amazing things… Jesus says what is really amazing is when your name gets written down in the book of life - YOU WANT TO GET MY ATTENTION… SAVE THE LOST       Luke 15:7 Heaven will erupt in joy when a sinner comes to Jesus  *NOT WHEN YOU HEAL, CAST OUT DEMONS, GIVE WORDS OF PROPHECY, GIVE MONEY, ATTEND CHURCH       I want to make God laugh   I wan to make God laugh  Not just a chuckle where the teeth roll over each other like waves I want to make God laugh  The gut bubbly jocular tumble of fat the ricochets of the belt I want him to wipe the tear from his eye as he sucks in more air  Blasting out more chortles and snorts then a sparkler in the hands of a 4 year old I want a cool sweat to break out as his face reddens and his cheeks tighten Smiling so hard that his face cramps, his dimples harden and he hopes you stop with your Ringling brother behavior (but only for a moment)   I want to make God laugh When he mentions my name I want it to shoot out with stories  The way he shot the stars into the sky  From his own mouth as if he can't stop thinking of new tales… even as he tells his best I want the one true Deity to wheeze with mirth as he says no more… no more… I am going to wet my pants Toss those yellow shorts down into hell along with 3 feathers There will be more   I want to make God laugh I want God to laugh in the presence of others while they all laugh together, laughing at my spiritual heroics with only their laughter being heard. Laugh if you will But I want the heavens to break their silence as God squeals and squawks and boisterously gets his own little giggle on   Is there a little girl now in charge of the universe?…no, its God laughing again   I want angels wings to ruffle as they hear God Laugh Wishing they knew this garth, small “g”, this man, a mere mortal?  How is he wired to have this effect on God?   Another soul Another building project Will mansions never cease? God's laughing again At his big table with his guests and the wine poured Waiting… expecting… trusting Boom there goes another party Sin the punch line of another joke Laughter erupts the ground ripples and another notch is carved into the belt of hope All this for one sheep All this for one coin All this for one boy All this… and more   I want to make God laugh I want to pull my proverbial finger from the proverbial hole in the oh so real damned-nation I want the laughter to roll bursting over the rocks creasing through every pebble I want to drown in Gods joy   Some want to BE God,  PLAY God,  CURSE God  As if it matters  Some just want to swerve oh so close to him as if he were an orange pylon marking a pothole in the universe But it's no laughing matter  I just want to make God laugh (Written by Garth Heckman) 

Even when you know it's the right thing to do, it still hurts   Even though Will got ten more years of doting attention by his keepers, than nature would have given him, it's still hard to say, “good bye.”   When Will was found in August 2007 he was only a month old, but we knew right away that something was seriously wrong with him.  We hoped it was just that he was sick and starved; abandoned by his mother, and that with a little TLC he'd recover into the hissing spitfire that all wild bobcats are.  He gained weight and grew a glossy coat to match his beautiful, shiny eyes, but he never developed a bobcat personality.   We thought he was blind because of his docile, non inquisitive nature, so experts in neurology and ophthalmology visited with him over the years.  The function of his eyes was fine, but there was just something missing in the translation to his brain.  He would walk into walls and just always seemed to be in his own little world.   That worked for him until about a year ago when his health began to decline.  Vets tried every imaginable combination of drugs and supplements to keep him strong, but in these last few weeks, we have had to start poking him with needles to keep him hydrated and while he tolerates it, he doesn't like it.  Who would?   If we keep him in the Cat Hospital he will eat enough of the watery gruel we make to keep him hydrated, but when he goes back outside he won't eat well enough to survive.  We have been watching him closely, with CCTV, to make sure he isn't suffering and what we have found is that we just can't know how much pain he's in because he just doesn't behave like a normal cat.   What we do know is that we've exhausted every course of veterinary care for him and he's never going to get better.  If his whole life is comprised of living in a small cage, where his irritable bowel syndrome results in soiled bedding every couple hours, then that's just not a life worth living.  Coming to the decision that it was time to end his suffering was especially hard because he does eat OK, in that environment.  The issue is that we just can't tell what his experience is because he doesn't show any emotion.   To touch him was to make the final decision for him.  He isn't grooming and he's just skin and bones, despite his food consumption.   You could just feel the lifelessness in him and cutting the fine cord that bridged the difference in this world and the next felt like the right thing to do.   Will has always been “special” and like Mrs. Claws, who also isn't quite right in the head, it makes us feel that much more protective of them.  Letting go is hard and leaves us all feeling like there must have been something more we could have done.   Why did we cooperate with a zoo? This is Howie's version of my letter, which became the public record.  Good thing I have such an excellent press secretary.   Some of you think I've lost my mind, or lost my way, and have asked me to explain why we would accept Manny Jaguar and Nat Leopard from a zoo and not require them to give up having any exotic cats.  I wish I could say this in a sound bite that's easy to share with those asking you this question, but like most things that are important, it just can't be explained without painting the full picture.   In the last issue of our Big Cat Times we published an article talking about the accelerating and exciting positive evolution of how society is viewing the treatment of exotic animals. We drew an analogy to the decades long struggle for women's suffrage 100 years ago that started with a few “crazies” who were ridiculed, beaten, and jailed. Over a period of 72 years support at first grew slowly, then accelerated.  Finally their ideas became mainstream and they prevailed with the 1920 Constitutional Amendment.  The article talked about how this same pattern was repeating itself in the arena of animal welfare and gave examples.    The AZA is slowly becoming part of that evolution. While there are unfortunate exceptions, in general they are enormously different from the unaccredited roadside zoos in the quality of animal care.  But what is more important is that within their ranks are zoos that are becoming more and more progressive.  A very brave early example was the dramatic conclusion by the Detroit Zoo that the limited space they had available was not a suitable environment for elephants and the decision, very controversial within the zoo community, to move their two elephants to the PAWS sanctuary in California in 2005.   Other examples include (1) AZA finally in 2011 adopting a formal position against breeding and acquiring white tigers, a position Big Cat Rescue had been a leading proponent of for over a decade, (2) Oakland Zoo taking in rescued animals, and, (3) IMPORTANTLY, AZA officially endorsing the Big Cat Public Safety Act for the first time this year. That being said, when there are zoos within AZA we view as bad actors like the Houston Aquarium where four tigers reportedly have no outdoor space, or Columbus Zoo taking animals onto late night talks shows, we will speak out aggressively.   Our vision continues to be a world where big cats do not live in cages.  We have just recently embarked on an exciting effort to create virtual reality video of big cats that we hope over time will be an experience that people will so much prefer to gawking at animals in cages that there will be no market incentive to keep big cats in cages.  But, in the meantime, we need to remember the historical examples of how societal change occurs by persisting over time to build momentum and keep fostering the evolution that we do now see so dramatically accelerating.   Even within the good sanctuary community there are different philosophies and practices.  What has been wonderful to see in recent years is the good sanctuaries focusing not on those differences, but on what we have in common, and working together. It has helped foster the accelerating evolution we are seeing in society's perception of captive exotic animals.   My goal is a world where all wildcats live free. The lesson of history is that the kind of major change in societal thinking that is required to make that happen takes place in gradual steps. Despite clear differences between sanctuaries and AZA zoos, working with the more progressive zoos on areas we have in common and establishing relationships and dialog with those zoos, both on our federal bill and in specific instances like the need for a home for Manny and Nat, is just one more way to help foster that evolution. While at first glance to some it understandably appears to be an exception to our normal practice, when you look at the bigger picture, it is entirely consistent with achieving our long terms goals for the cats.   This is the article Howie wrote about women's suffrage:   WHY IS THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE 100 YEARS AGO LIKE THE BATTLE TO STOP ABUSE OF BIG CATS? By Howard Baskin   Frequently in this publication or on our website or in our email newsletter and alerts you learn about victories in our war against exploitation and abuse of big cats. We report a local, state or federal law that passed, or report how your help emailing a company or a venue caused them to stop allowing cub petting on their property or stop using big cats in an advertisement for their products. In this issue I'd like to take a moment to stand back and look at what is happening from the “30,000 foot” level because what is happening is very exciting and it is easy to get lost in the weeds of the individual victories and not think about the bigger picture.   First let's set aside the big cat issue for a moment and think about how a society's values evolve over time. If we look at past examples, what do we find? We find a tiny minority, often led by one or more driven, persistent, and sometimes charismatic people, who give voice to a viewpoint that is not the prevailing view. We see them ridiculed, castigated, arrested and/or subjected to physical violence. Usually the small band of “crazies” grows slowly, sometimes over decades. Then, somewhere along the way, there is a tipping point. The number of people who share their viewpoint starts growing exponentially until it becomes the new, different view of the society.   Today of course we take a woman's right to vote for granted.  It is almost hard to imagine in our society today a time when it was not so. But we tend to forget that it was less than 100 years ago, i.e. 1920, that a Constitutional Amendment granted that right to vote to people that opponents of suffrage called “irrational.”   The struggle to earn the right to vote for women seems to me to be a vivid example of how a society's values evolve. The first women's rights convention organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott in 1848 is generally cited as the beginning of the movement. In the 1890's the movement picked up steam. Toward the end of the century and into the 1910's a few states granted women the right to vote. Opposition was fierce, including opposition by many women. The rest is history. While there will always be a minority view on any issue, today it is hard to imagine anyone arguing against the right of women to vote.   It was a movie about a different societal change that actually first got me thinking about this. The movie is Amazing Grace and if you have not seen it, I strongly encourage you to do so. Not the movie, of course, for those who need a car chase and gunfire to like a movie.  ☺   Amazing Grace is the decades long story of the campaign by William Wilberforce to end slavery in the British Commonwealth. In it you see exactly what I mentioned above – a small band of “crazies” ridiculed, persistent in the face of what seems at times to be no progress, the idea catching on and accelerating, and his eventual acclaim as a hero.   What has all this got to do with captive big cats? When we stand back from the individual victories and look at the big picture, what we at Big Cat Rescue feel we are seeing is that we have reached the tipping point. We are seeing example after example that shows that the view that exotic animals should not be exploited for profit and entertainment is not now just a view held only by a minority of animal advocates.  It is rapidly becoming the mainstream belief of Americans everywhere.  It is following the pattern of past societal changes like women's suffrage. If that trend continues, and we have no reason to believe it will not, we are not far away from becoming a society where the vast majority of people believe that these animals should not be exploited and mistreated in the way that was viewed as acceptable in the past.   One data point in this trend that happened just recently was really the trigger for this article – it happened on a popular dating website called Tinder. For many years tiger cub exploiters have incessantly bred tigers in order to use the cubs for a few months to make money charging the public to pet them, take photos with them, or even swim with them.  The cubs are ripped from the mothers at birth, a torment to mother and cub, used for a few months, and there is no tracking of what happens to them after that, although we know that many are destined for life in small barren cages, frequently used to breed more cubs for this trade.   The cubs are of course adorable, the breeders tell people they are somehow helping conservation, and many otherwise caring, well meaning people are taken in by the experience and the lies. In the modern age of the phone camera cub petting and tiger exhibits translated into tiger selfies.   Those of you who have followed us over time know that educating the venues and the public about the evil back story behind this cub petting trade has been a huge part of our advocacy work. So imagine the fist pumping here when Tinder announced just this past week that it was urging members to delete photos of themselves with tigers, i.e. tiger selfies, because of the exploitative nature of cub petting and exhibition and, importantly, this was picked up in a positive way by virtually all of the major news media! You cannot get much more “mainstream” than that.   But Tinder was not an isolated event.  It was part of a trend, a trend that demonstrates the rapidly growing public awareness and sentiment about use of exotic animals. Last November TripAdvisor and its Viator brand announced it would discontinue selling tickets for specific tourism experiences where travelers come into physical contact with captive wild animals or endangered species, including but not limited to elephant rides, petting tigers, and swim with dolphin attractions.  Then in July 2017 Expedia announced they would identify and remove tours and attractions that involve wild animals such as tiger interactions from their online travel sites. These are all mainstream entities, not animal welfare organizations, who are responding to the accelerating change in how our society views the exploitation of exotic animals. Feel the momentum?   Among the most compelling examples in my mind that indicates we are at the tipping point is the demise of the circus. I recall my personal elation as a child in the 1950's when my aunt announced she was taking us to the circus. Back then, for the most part only the “crazy” animal activists thought about what it was like for a tiger to be carted around the country spending a likely 90% of the time in a tiny transport wagon.  When elephants swayed and shifted their weight from one foot to the other we just thought that was how elephants behaved.  I was over 50 years old and new to the exotic animal world when big cat veterinarian Dr. Kim Haddad explained to me that this swaying and weight shifting was stereotypical behavior indicating stress.   For years there were small protests when Ringling came to town, but people kept flocking to the circus ignoring the “crazies”. For the longest time it seemed like little if any progress was being made. But there was progress.  Advocates worked tirelessly to educate the public and public officials about one of the most egregious practices in animal handling, the bullhook.   When I first heard about a bullhook ban, I was baffled.  Ok, I thought, if they cannot use the medieval looking sharp pointed instrument called a bullhook why don't they just use some other sharp pointed instrument? I had the good fortune after that to meet Ed Stewart, President and Co-Founder of the fabulous PAWS sanctuary for elephants and tigers in California. I asked him why exhibitors did not just use a spear instead of a bullhook. He explained that the sharp point was not really the deterrent. Young elephants were beaten with the bullhook and learned to fear that particular shape. They would not fear a different shape, even if it had a sharp point. And it was not safe to exhibit a full grown elephant without this tool that they feared.   As the recognition of this cruelty became well known, municipality after municipality passed laws banning the bullhook, which effectively meant the circus could not display its elephants. Other communities passed even broader bans against exhibiting wild animals that showed even more public recognition of the evils of the circus. First it was smaller municipalities.  The number steadily grew, showing that this change in societal values was not isolated to a few communities. Then, just a few months ago in June, despite vigorous lobbying by the exploiters, New York City joined the many other communities banning use of wild or exotic animals for public entertainment.   Think about that – these are elected officials responding to their voters. The societal norm in these communities had gone from excitement that the elephants were coming to town to a widespread recognition of the cruelty that is inherent in the use of elephants and other wild animals in entertainment! Like women's suffrage or banning slavery in the British Commonwealth, it had taken decades, but it was happening!   Then, imagine the joy here and among all animal advocates when Ringling announced it was closing down due to dwindling attendance.  Of course, the news stories quoted some people bemoaning the loss of the circus. But increasingly in just the last few years we heard people saying they would never go to the circus, that the circus was NOT what they wanted to teach their children about animals. Some claim that the drop in attendance was due to the many other options children and adults have today for entertainment. Maybe that was part of it. But, if it was the critical factor, why hasn't Cirque du Soleil closed too?   And of course there was the movie Blackfish in 2013 that so credibly educated so many people about the cruelty inherent in keeping these intelligent, normally wide ranging social animals in tiny swimming pools. SeaWorld at first defended their exhibit. But, like what happened with the circus, the public voted with their feet and attendance dropped. I think Blackfish did  much more than result in changes at SeaWorld. Because it was so widely viewed and publicized, my sense is that it got people thinking more broadly about how other animals are treated and helped change the public perception of the circus.   I'll close with one last example that comes from Big Cat Rescue's advocacy work that I feel shows the acceleration of the awareness. Back in 2010 when we began in earnest to contact venues like shopping malls about allowing cub petting displays or other big cat displays, when we asked our supporters to email the venue to show them that many people found such displays to be cruel, about 500 people would email. Now when we ask for your help to demonstrate the public opposition to such abusive activities, sometimes 6000 of you email!  And we see venues and companies responding positively to your emails.   As mentioned above, back in the couple decades on either side of 1900, a few states passed laws granting women the right to vote.  Nationally support grew to be so overwhelming that in 1920 the Constitution was changed.   There are still a few states that have no laws governing ownership of big cats. Most states have some kind of law, but the laws are generally not effective due to enormous loopholes and the fact that trying to “regulate” how the cats are treated just does not work. What is encouraging is that a few states have passed really good laws, recognizing that big cats should neither be pets nor be exploited for exhibition.   Now is our 1920. It is time to pass the federal Big Cat Public Safety Act.  Since our last issue we have added more cosponsors in the House. We now have over 100 members of congress as cosponsors supporting out bill. The progress is heavily due to your emails and calls to your Representatives.  Persistence and determination resulted in the vote for woman and ending slavery in Britain. It can do the same for ending abuse of big cats but only with your help. Please call or email your Representative today.   We make it very easy to both call and email.  To make the call, you don't have to go researching your Representative's phone number.  Just follow these easy steps:   Step One: Visit BigCatAct.com on your computer or from your mobile phone text CATS to 52886. (Message and data rates may apply. Text Stop to cancel/opt-out. Text Help for help.)   Step Two: Simply input the required information so it can identify your Representative and then click the brown “Call Me” button. You will receive a call on your mobile phone from a 202-phone number and hear a short-recorded message.   Step Three: You will then be automatically patched through to your U.S. Representative. One of their aides will answer. If you prefer, you can call at night or on the weekend and just leave a voice message. Phone calls are ENORMOUSLY effective because so few people call Congress! Simply say the following or something similar: “Hello. My name is _______________ and my zip code is _________. Please ask your boss to cosponsor the Big Cat Public Safety Act. Thank you!”   EVERY CALL HELPS! If enough constituents (VOTERS) call, legislators will take notice. Legislators have many bills coming at them. The best way this bill will get their attention is for them to know that MANY of their constituents care. The only way they know you care is through your calls.   On behalf of the cats, thank you so much!

This week we are joined by my father, Kenneth Posner for a WONDERFUL Father's Day Special! We did this last year, so let's make it a tradition! Now the Associate Dean of Students for Housing & Residence Life at @Ringling College of Art and Design much has changed in his life since last year! With over 30 years of professional experience, Kenneth has become a powerhouse in the College world, transforming schools to be leaders in student life. Winner of the regional Jim Scott Award in 2006, a prestigious higher education award, Ken has a track record of purposeful solutions to painful problems. Addressing the needs of students not just at his college of employment but also setting standards nationwide for what student life looks like on and off campus. Graduating from @Michigan State University in 1980, and 1982 with his masters, and eventually his Ph.D from the @University of South Florida in 2016 in Higher Education, Dr. Posner, allegedly, bleeds Green and White. But no, seriously, he went to college and never left. Dedicating his life to helping others no matter where he may end up. Oh yeah, he is a pretty awesome dad as well. With so much experience dealing with students of all ages, maybe he was better prepared than most for not 1, but 2 boys, identical twins, 10 years into his career. Here is a snippet of what Ringling had to say for his announcement: I am extremely pleased to announce that Dr. Ken Posner has joined the Student Life Department as Associate Dean of Students for Housing and Residence Life. Dr. Posner brings to us a multitude of experiences and years of successful leadership in higher education. He has served in senior student life leadership positions at Rollins College, Hollins College and most recently, at Saint Leo University where he served as Assistant/Associate Vice President for Student Affairs since 2008. He has vast experience in Housing and Residence Life Administration, Mail Room Operations, Campus Dining Services, Student Conduct Administration, Greek Life, Health and Wellness Services, Safety and Security, Emergency/Crisis Management, Orientation and First Year Experience Programs, Leadership Programs, Student Activities and Engagement, Parent and Family relations, Title IX, Veteran's Services, and much more. At SLU, Dr. Posner was also responsible for numerous renovation and construction projects, including a new residence hall complex that encompassed a 1200 gallon aquarium featured on Animal Planet's "Tanked" TV series. Dr. Posner has additionally been very involved and recognized in numerous leadership roles within higher education professional associations such as ACUHO-I, NASPA, SACS-COC, and SACSA. His educational background includes a Ph.D in Higher Education Administration from the University of South Florida, a M.A. in Higher Education Administration and B.A. in Business and Office Administration, both from Michigan State University. ____________________________________ Keep up to date by following us here! Website: https://3DMusketeers.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/3d_musketeers Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3DMusketeers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/3dmusketeers/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/3dmusketeers Email: Youtube@3Dmusketeers.com #Fathersday2022 #kenposner #podcastwithfamily #familypodcast #fathersday #kennethposnerringling #kennethposner FTC Disclaimer: A percentage of sales is made through Affiliate links --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/3dmusketeers/message

On December 2nd, 1936 John Ringling died. He had $311 in the bank. His estate was officially appraised at $23,500,000. Today, that would be almost half a billion dollars.Members of the Ringling family controlled the circus until 1967 when they sold it to the Feld family, who kept the name. In 2017 The Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus closed out it's last tour, and walked off the lot for the last time ever.Follow:• @bloodandbusiness on tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@bloodandbusiness?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc• @bloodandbusiness on instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/bloodandbusiness/• YouTube channel:https://youtube.com/channel/UC2gwWBmXHWF6P5zMHcMs98gInstacart - Groceries delivered in as little as 1 hour. Free delivery on your first order over $35. SeneGence Our fave anti-aging skincare & makeup that lasts all day. Ethically & sustainably sourced in the US.Instacart - Groceries delivered in as little as 1 hour. Free delivery on your first order over $35.SeneGence Our fave anti-aging skincare & makeup that lasts all day. Ethically & sustainably sourced in the US.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

M. Brunsdale, Special Collections Librarian at Illinois State University in Normal Illinois shares a story which describes a thrilling feature of life under the circus tent.  She  co-authored a book with Mark Schmitt, The Bloomington-Normal Circus Legacy, the Golden Age of Aerialists (History Press, 2013)      mbrunsdale@ilstu.edu She co-authored  a book with Mark Schmitt, The Bloomington-Normal Circus Legacy, the Golden Age of Aerialists (History Press, 2013) https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2012/09/circus-legacy-found-inside-milner-librarys-vault/. By Ryan Denham) It is used without permission.There aren't a lot of places on the Illinois State campus where, at 9 a.m. on a weekday, a visitor has to be buzzed in through a locked door to reach a room called “The Vault.”This is where Maureen Brunsdale and Mark Schmitt '96 call home. They run Milner Library's Special Collections and Rare Books department, comprised of four unique collections, including the Historical Textbook Collection and Children's Literature Collection and the Lincoln Collection of Harold K. Sage.But their busiest collection – the one that brings in researchers from around the world and has landed on ABC News, the Huffington Post, and the New Yorker – is the Circus and Allied Arts Collection.“It's a collection with a lot of depth,” said Schmitt.Brunsdale is head of Special Collections and Rare Books. During a recent tour for a first-time visitor, her passion for the circus collection was clear as she moved between the narrow stacks of The Vault, rattling off individual stories about an impressively large chunk of more than 100,000 items in her care.Otto Ringling's letter to his brothers.She pulled out a letter written in 1907 by Otto Ringling to his brothers – yes, those Ringling Brothers – suggesting they all consider buying their competitors, Barnum & Bailey. The brothers ended up doing just that later in 1907, though they didn't operate them jointly until 1919. No one else has Otto's letter – not the Ringling-themed Circus World museum in Baraboo, Wis., and not the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Fla.“The beginning of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is right here!” Brunsdale said.Milner Library and the Wisconsin and Florida museums are the three largest circus history research facilities in the U.S. Milner's circus collection stood at 2,100 items in 1963 but now has more than 100,000 items – from 490-year-old books to canceled checks from 20th century circus companies. The single largest collection of items came via donation from Sverre Braathen, a collector from Madison, Wis., who befriended many in the circus community and did legal work for them.Milner got the bulk of his collection after his death in 1974. Brunsdale only took over as Special Collections chief four years ago, and it had been 20 years since someone at Milner had the job full-time. Schmitt, a former student worker at Milner, joined her in Special Collections in 2010, and they've been organizing the massive amount of materials ever since.“Once word got out that these things (from Braathen's collection) were here and they were accessible, then it really started blossoming,” said Brunsdale.You might be wondering: Why the circus?That's because Support the show

Otter-ly Incredible, Ringling's Return, Gas Pain, Surprise Swimmers, Colin's Choice and Women's Soccer Scores! 

On today's show Josh and Lyndsay announce the cast and tour route for their open air summer circus Stars Above, big news from a rebranded Ringling, and review the book Shanghai Acrobat. Later in the episode Josh calls up husband and wife duo Simone and Trey Key who own and operate Culpepper Merriweather Great Combined Circus out of Hugo, OK. Trey is the general manager and performs a big cat act, Simone is the ringmaster and trapeze artist. If you enjoy the episode please share it with a friend!

After a five-year hiatus, Manatee County-based Feld Entertainment is bringing back the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, this time with no animals and a focus on human performers. We talk with the Circus' producer, Juliette Feld Grossman, about their new entertainment and business model and impact on Florida and the west coast, which has had ties to the circus going back a century.

Washington Post: Many countries ban circuses with wild animals. These lawmakers want the U.S. to follow suit.   Mexico, Peru and several other Latin American countries have banned or restricted the use of animals in traveling circuses in recent years. Performing animals are even rarer in Europe, where many nations prohibit them.   There is no such federal law in the United States. But dozens of local bans, as well as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's recent decision to fold its tent, have some lawmakers hoping the American political terrain might now be fertile enough to send all circus elephants, tigers and bears to retirement.   U.S. Reps. Ryan Costello (R-Penn.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) appeared on Capitol Hill this week to introduce a bill that would prohibit wild or exotic animal performances in traveling circuses. Flanked by television actors Jorja Fox and Eric Szmanda, the representatives argued that the Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act — known by the unwieldy acronym TEAPSPA — would end the suffering of creatures that profit-motivated humans force to perform unnatural behaviors and live in cramped conditions.   “I don't think that those practices have any place in the fabric of our society,” said Costello, who added that his constituents are keenly interested in animal welfare issues.   [One problem with shutting down the circus: Where will the animals go?]   The question is whether they and lots of other Americans are interested enough to push for a nationwide ban on circus animals. The bill is only the latest iteration of a proposal that's been introduced in Congress several times before but has never gotten far. Also at the Hill event was former U.S. representative Jim Moran of Virginia, who noted that he was “sorry” it had never passed before but said the idea “did make some inroads.”   There's little question that public sentiment about performing and captive animals, particularly those considered highly intelligent, is changing. The Ringling Bros. announcement in January, which cited a decline in ticket sales, came after local laws and pressure from animal protection groups prompted the show to retire its elephants. Last year, SeaWorld decided to stop breeding orcas, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore is planning to move its dolphins to a sanctuary.   And animal welfare issues, as Costello suggested, have far more bipartisan support than many topics under consideration in Washington.   [Ringling's elephants are retiring. Will their lives be better?]   What's more, backers of the bill say, the Trump administration's zeal for cost-cutting could work in their favor. Circuses with animals are subject to federal inspection under the Animal Welfare Act. Retiring the animals would therefore reduce spending on inspections, making it a “win-win” for the government and for the creatures, said Jan Creamer, president of Animal Defenders International, whose campaigns helped drive the Latin America bans.   “There's an immediate budget cut,” Creamer said. She said a ban would affect 19 traveling circuses with about 300 animals.   A trainer moves a dromedary during a show at the Cedeno Hermanos Circus in Mexico City in 2015, before a ban in that nation took effect. (Henry Romero/Reuters) But there's also an anti-regulatory zeal these days in Washington, and many lawmakers are loathe to dole out sweeping new restrictions to industries — and that includes circuses. One opponent of TEAPSPA is the Cavalry Group, an advocacy group for “animal enterprise,” which last year said the idea “would deprive countless Americans the ability to experience endangered animals up close, such as elephants and tigers.”   The company that runs Ringling Bros., of course, has also lobbied against the bill in the past. Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, indicated it would no longer be a priority now that the circus is closing. But, he said, it remains a bad idea premised on inaccurate information about how circus animals are trained and cared for.   “This is clearly driven by animal rights groups, rather than being based in any factual information or talking to people who work with exotic animals,” Payne said. “There are exceptions for film, television, advertising and rodeos. This is clearly driven by these organizations who are targeting circuses.”   Moran and Creamer, for their part, seemed to acknowledge that the idea is not very likely to sail through Congress, though Moran said a lot of “grass-roots activity” would help. In other words: Public pressure — plus a plethora of competing entertainment options — helped bring an end to the 146-year-old Ringling circus, and it would probably take a whole lot of public pressure on lawmakers to lead to a national ban.   Creamer seemed unfazed. Bills her organization has pushed in other countries have gone through “three, four or more evolutions,” she said. The political landscape, she added, “does need to evolve.”   Hi, I'm Carole Baskin and I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk  

Dr. Rhiannon Paget is the curator of Asian Art at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida. Ms. Paget joins me on The Unfinished Print to discuss the life and times of mokuhanga printmaker Saitō Kiyoshi, war print production of the later 19th Century and early 20th Centuries and she speaks on kabuki prints through the years.  These topics are framed through the three shows which Dr. Paget was involved in, Saitō Kiyoshi: Graphic Awakening (March 14 -August 15, 2021 @ The Ringling), Conflicts of Interest: Art and War in Modern Japan (October 16, 2016 - January 8, 2017 @ the St. Louis Art Museum), and Kabuki Modern (November 13 -July 27, 2021 @ The Ringling) Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own print work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints Twitter @unfinishedprint, or email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase. Dr. Rhiannon Paget PhD - curator of Asian art at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art own Sarasota, Florida. She was also a A.W Mellon Fellow for Japanese Art from 2015-2017, and wrote for The Japan Times.  The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art - This museum is dedicated to the arts, Western and “non-Western”from all periods of human history, focusing on education, and conservation. More info, here.  Saitō Kiyoshi (1907-1997) - was a Japanese woodblock printmaker and artist who worked in the sōsaku hanga style of mokuhanga. HIs fame outside of Japan was fairly comprehensive with his peak fame being in the 1950's and 1960's. For a comprehensive book on his life and times, Saitō Kiyoshi: Graphic Awakening published by The John & Mable Ringling Museum is an excellent source. Can be found, here. Lecture by Dr. Paget about Saitō can be found, here. Cleveland Museum of Art - founded in 1913 and opened in 1916. It has an online collection, and open access to its works in its collection. More info, here.  Honolulu Museum of Art - dedicated to art and education focusing on arts from around the world and Hawaiian culture itself. More info, here. Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) - was a U.S born sculptor and designer who traveled the world to understand his own works. He collaborated with many artists from all over the world. More info, here.  Kiyoshi Nakashima -  an artist and designer who designed woodblock prints, in the 1980's. His most famous are his melancholy women prints. Some can be found, here.  Karl Bickle (1881-1972) - an ex newspaper man at the turn of the 20th Century Bickle who retired in Sarasota, Florida in 1935. He was influential in the opening of the Ringling Museum in 1945. More info, here. Onchi Kōshirō (1891-1955) - originally designing poetry and books Onchi became on of the most I important sōsaku hanga artists and promotor of the medium. His works are saught after today. More info, here. Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903) - self taught artist, ex-stockbroker, travels to Brittany, France in 1886 where he sows the seeds of  his Symbolist Movement. He is famous for his works made in Tahiti, perhaps now seen as a bit naïve and privileged, these works, were expressed through painting, woodcuts and the written word. He also painted self portraits, and landscapes searching for the spiritual via colour and form. The National Gallery has a very good history of Gauguin here. François Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) - a sculptor of the human form, Auguste Rodin was a French artist who's work took off when he was commissioned by the French government in 1879. One of his most famous works is “The Gates of Hell” a commissioned work for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, a museum which was never built. For more information about Rodin,  The National Gallery has a biography, here.  mokume - is a woodblock printing technique where, by using heavy pressure on wood which contains a heavy grain, the artist can reveal the grain in their work.  Kiyoshi Saitō Museum of Art - located in Yanaizu, Fukushima, Japan this museum is dedicated to the art and works of Kiyoshi  Saitō. Opened in 1997, the museum holds rotating shows connected to Saitō's works. Museum website can be found, here. Boston Museum of Fine Arts - a museum with a rich history with Japanese artwork, especially woodblock prints. It holds the largest collection of Japanese art outside of Japan. Many of their woodblock prints are held online, here. A video on YouTube found, here, describing the MFA's history, and its collections.  Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art - opened in 1984 in Fukushima City, Fukushima, this museum contains works from Japan and all over the world. The website is in both Japanese and English, and can be found, here.  Ms. Paget uses the Japanese words for certain woods which mokuhanga printmakers can use. They are:  kiri - a paulownia wood keyaki - Japanese zelkova tree Steady Gaze - is a print which Saitō produced in 1952, with two cats staring in different directions with two different backgrounds, one red (Animal)  and one blue (Two Cats).  I found another Steady Gaze cat print from 1950 and sold as a scroll. It can be found, here.  Edward Munch (1863-1944) - was a painter from Norway who is collectively famous for his painting, The Scream, painted in 1893. More info can be found, here.  Pieter Cornelius Mondrian (1872-1944) - a Dutch artist who's work helped found De Stijl in 1917, a group of Dutch painters who helped codify Mondrian's abstraction and industrial design. Mondrian has a wide spectrum of works and styles created throughout his career. More information can be found, here from the Guggenheim. Aizu, Fukushima, Japan - is a geographical area located in West Fukushima Prefecture, , Japan. It has a long history and is one of the nicest areas in Japan that I have visited, Tourist information can be found, here.  Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900) -  was a Japanese woodblock designer of the Utagawa School of artists. His work flourished in the Meiji Period (1868-1912) of Japanese history, a period of immense change politically, economically, and industrially. Some of Kunichika's works can be found, here.  Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) - was a woodblock print designer famous for his war prints on the First Sino-Japanese War (July 25, 1894- April 17, 1895). More info, here. Toshihide Migita (1863-1925) - a woodblock designer known for his own print designs of the First Sino-Japanese War, kabuki portraits, bijin-ga, and landscape. More info, here. Pearl Habor woodblock prints - are a series of woodblock prints produced in 1942. One such print, found here, was designed by Hasegawa Sadanobu III (1881-1963).  Russo-Japanese War (February 8, 1904 - September 5, 1905) - was a war between the Imperial Russian and Imperial Japanese military taking place in China. Information about its background can be found here at history.com, and here.  Andreas Marks - is a scholar and Mary Griggs Burke curator of Japanese and Korean Art and Director of the Clark Center for Japanese Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  print panels - artworks, like woodblock prints, can come in various numbers of panels. Single panels is one print, diptychs are two panels, triptychs are three panels, quadriptych his four panels, pentaptych is five panels.  Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) - was a woodblock designer who began his art life as a painter.  He worked predominantly with Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885-1962) designing some of the most famous woodblock prints from the Watanabe atelier such as Winter Moon over Toyama Plain, here.  Ogata Gekko  (1859-1920) - was a woodblock print designer during the Meiji Period (1868-1912) of Japanese history. Famous for his war prints of the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895.) more info, here. Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958) - was a Nihon-ga painter who exhibited around the world. His work, such as Mount Fuji in Japan has been deemed to have been nationalistic and proto-fascist. A great book on the subject is, “The Politics of Painting: Fascism and Japanese Art during the Second World War (University of Hawai'i Press, 2019) Hitler Youth - was a  a youth organization formed in 1922 to indoctrinate children in Nazi propaganda, to be better prepared  to fight in the German military. More info, here.  Teiten - started in 1919 until 1934, Teikoku Bijutsu Tenrankai, was one of several  (Bunten, Shin Bunten, Nitten, and Shin Nitten) Japanese Fine Arts Exhibition's held yearly in Japan. Teiten was famous for creating a platform for creative woodblock printing. Minami-za - is a kabuki theatre located in. Kyōto, Japan. more, info here. Yamamura Kōka (1885-1942) - was a woodblock print designer and artist who helped design many prints for Watanabe as well as for his Publishing Committee for Yamamura Kōka's prints. more info here. Yotsuya Kaidan -  ghost play, predominantly performed in kabuki. Staged for the first time in 1825. It has been performed steadily in kabuki since its first performance. more info, here. Heron Maiden (Sagi Musume)- is a Japanese folk-tale which is a very famous kabuki dance expertly performed by Bandō Tamasaburō V.  Watch, here. Bromide photography - is a type of early Twentieth Century commercial photography found in Japan , usually photos of geisha, kabuki actors, and sports people. Junichiro Sekino (1914-1988) - was a woodblock printmaker and illustrator who studied with Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955).  More info, here. Yakusha-e - is a Japanese word for kabuki actor prints. More info, here. First Thursday Society - started by Onchi Kōshiro in 1939 to develop sōsaku hanga. more info from Ronin Gallery, here.   opening and closing credit music - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers  - Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll (1976) Gone Gator Records © Popular Wheat Productions logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André Zadorozny  Disclaimer: Please do not reproduce or use anything from this podcast without shooting me an email and getting my express written or verbal consent. I'm friendly :) Слава Україну If you find any issue with something in the show notes please let me know. ***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular Wheat Productions.***