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We talk with Ross Gay about his new book (more delights!), how writing a sentence helps us see how we change, and protecting the sanctity of one’s interiority. Read More »
First, a conversation with artist Honey Hodges about immigrating to the U.S., and the opportunity to care for someone who has always taken care of you, and making collages. Then, naturalist Jim Eagleman reminds us why we should go outside in the winter, and at night.
Intellectual freedom, the future of narrative, and what libraries are for in the 21st century, with Monroe County Public Library director Grier Carson
Scholar and writer Ava Tomasula y Garcia tells the story of the Calumet Region, how the gas boom started with a bang, brought major industry and new racial dynamics, and why “the Rust Belt” is a bit of a misnomer.
Is classical music in trouble? Pianist Orli Shaham believes most people, “given half a chance,” will seek out deeper art forms at some point in their lives. This week, Orli Shaham on helping people find their way to classical music, and more.
It’s a mixtape! Five songs (okay, stories), by five different producers. Three are about being behind the scenes. One’s about your dad retiring. And an investigation into love.
Critic Eric Deggans says TV offers him a wide canvas for engaging with culture, and comedian Sara Schaefer decides Twitter isn’t the best place to address sexism in comedy. So she makes video sketches instead.
Yalie Saweda Kamara’s first full-length poetry collection, Besaydoo, has been getting attention – and for good reason. This week, we talk about the book, how moving to the Midwest changed her, and how teaching keeps her honest.
Radiolab founder Jad Abumrad has been interviewing interviewers lately: journalists, therapists, conflict mediators, salespeople. We talk about what it takes to have a meaningful conversation.
On this week’s Inner States, producer Violet Baron takes us to rural southern Indiana, where Danny Cain still makes fishing nets by hand. Then we listen to a 2016 interview with Peter LoPilato, who founded the Ryder Magazine and Film Series. He passed away on March 7.
This week, Inner States presents Episode 3 of Fire!: An American Burning. Inferno at Whiting is about the 1955 Whiting Refinery fire in Whiting, Indiana. It’s also about how oil – and fire - are at the heart of the modern world.
Comedian Mohanad Elshieky explains the difference between comedy and therapy, and novelist Tess Gunty tells us why she set her National Book Award winning novel in Indiana.
A walk in the woods with botanist Ellen Jacquart about 25 years in the future. And a conversation with the director of the new documentary, Major Taylor: Champion of the Race.
This week, a profile of the alien who roams downtown Bloomington, a werewolf, two witches, and the childhood that led to an article about the secret government facility under Bloomington's water treatment plant. Plus, a discussion about how shapeshifters help us think about gender.
When Iryna Voloshyna started a Slavic choir at IU in 2021, she didn’t realize it would be a local expression of a political situation halfway around the world. But then, in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and suddenly the choir was in high demand.
It’s easy to want to fight our political enemies, but it’s often more effective to out-organize them. On this week’s Inner States, we look back to a time – not so long ago – when Midwesterners did just that. Historian Cory Haala tells us about Progressive Populists in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sam’s day job involves removing invasive plants and restoring native ones. Fire is one of the ways he does that. He’s a lifelong hunter, too - that’s what got him into landscape restoration. This week, a walk in the woods with Sam Shoaf.
Diana Hong practiced for 13 years to become a professional golfer. But at the last minute, she became a stand-up comedian instead. This week, stories about people who almost achieve their dreams, and then hook left.
This week on Inner States, a postcard from Paoli, Indiana, where a tomato products warehouse has been transformed into a community space and enhanced the already existing magical realism of the town.
Jack Lindner reminds us why we should watch old movies on film. Then IU Cinema Director Alicia Kozma talks about how to approach movies that have, shall we say, "outdated" attitudes about social issues.
In January 2021, Freda Love Smith started quitting things. She temporarily gave up alcohol, then sugar, followed by cannabis, caffeine, and social media. Then she wrote a book about it. WFIU’s David Brent Johnson spoke with her about the book, I Quit Everything.
Christmas has so many traditions. One of those, it turns out, is worrying about how commercial it’s gotten. That goes back at least as far as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. We continue it with five attempts to do things differently.
Leah Johnson writes romance novels. But not that kind. They’re award-winning YA books for queer Black kids and others. We talk about drag shows, making a living as a writer, and more. Then producer Avi Forrest takes a drive with comedian Katie Bowman.
Even after doing the March Trilogy with Congressman John Lewis, artist Nate Powell thought social progress was inevitable. Then came the 2016 election. His new book of graphic essays reckons with what that meant as a parent and citizen.
Parapraxis is a new magazine that examines the psychic mechanisms of our social lives. This week, a conversation with its founding editor, Hannah Zeavin, about the magazine, gender panics, fears of discussing whiteness in a psychoanalytic context, and more.
Indiana doesn’t touch the Mississippi River, but it’s still bound up with it. This week, we talk with Monique Verdin, Liz Brownlee, and others, about those connections.