November 24, 2023
Two Rivers, One Watershed
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.
October 13, 2023
Comedy and Conspiracy on Welcome to Night Vale…and Other Panics
Welcome to Night Vale co-creator Jeffrey Cranor on making of one of the most popular fiction podcasts ever. A group of high schoolers panic in France. And the guilty pleasure of a dating podcast for the rich and famous. Or rich, at least.
October 6, 2023
Hector Loves Water Treatment
Hector wants to run the best wastewater treatment plant in the country. He seems to be inspiring the people he works with in that direction, too. Then, whether we should feel guilty about guilty pleasures.
September 29, 2023
Family Policing with Micol Seigel
We think of the foster care system as being about care. Micol Seigel says within the system people do care for each other. But it’s primarily about policing.
September 8, 2023
Vets Do Art
Todd Burkhardt is a veteran, and he’s started asking other veterans to do needle felting with him. And drawing. And making masks. This week, what happens when vets do art.
September 3, 2023
Mixtape (fixed)
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.
September 1, 2023
Mixtape
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.
August 25, 2023
If My Hands Could Look Like Hers
First, a conversation with artist Honey Hodges about collages, immigrating to the U.S., and the opportunity to care for someone who has always taken care of you. Then, naturalist Jim Eagleman reminds us why we should go outside in the winter, and at night.
August 18, 2023
Joyce Jeffries and the Cutters
Limestone work used to be quite dangerous. Joyce Jeffries remembers workers, including her grandfather, dying or getting injured. It’s gotten safer though. This week, Joyce, and others, on limestone.
July 21, 2023
The Funny Times Keep Coming, and a Cat Disappears
Why does a print newspaper full of funnies still have tens of thousands of subscribers? When my friend lost her cat, why did so many strangers decide to help? This week: The Funny Times, and Chapter 1 of our lost cat saga.
July 14, 2023
Comic Books and Billboard Charts
Malcolm Mobutu Smith on comic books, collecting, and the exhibit he just put together based on that collection. Then, Bill Carroll uses the quantitative skills he developed as a chemist to analyze the billboard charts of the 1960s and 70s.
June 30, 2023
Ross Gay on Joy and the Ends of the Earth
Ross Gay and I talk about his new book, Inciting Joy, about masculinity and grief, teaching and survival, and how joy and sorrow are completely, inevitably, intertwined.
June 23, 2023
Don't Go Pro
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.
June 16, 2023
Postcard from Paoli
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.
