February 10, 2023
Jack and Seigen
Jack was studying vocal performance when he met Seigen at the local Zen center. They became good friends. They took walks, stopping to look at every tree. Then Seigen asked Jack to drive him to an execution.
January 27, 2023
Comic Books and Billboard Charts, Collecting and Ranking
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.
January 13, 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.
January 6, 2023
Censorship and Freedom
Three stories. One about the challenges of accessing books in prison. One about how overlooking a neighborhood’s history has affected the place. One about a comic book artist who has yet to experience writers’ block.
December 23, 2022
Mothering on Two Sides of the Atlantic
A conversation with novelist Jacinda Townsend about her new novel, which tackles the subject of motherhood from two perspectives on different sides of the world.
December 30, 2022
A Graphic Novel about the Medicalization of Death and Dying
The graphic novel Headland is about a woman in a hospital, the wilderness she visits in her mind, and the tortoise she meets there. It’s also about the medicalization of death and dying. This week, we talk with the author, Kate Schneider. Plus, Midwestern Movies, with Alicia Kozma.
December 16, 2022
Indiana's Oil and Gas Boom Still Echoes Today
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.
December 2, 2022
Who Makes Decisions At Work
A lot of people who’ve quit jobs lately thought they were sticking it to the man. But their employers - and coworkers - apparently didn’t realize. This week, anthropologist Ilana Gershon on power in the workplace and what it means for democracy. Plus, a conversation with singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams.
November 25, 2022
Replay: Rock Opera and Other Border Crossings
Graham Reynolds has composed for film, ballet, theater. He also leads a band that puts on great live concerts. And he wrote a rock opera about Pancho Villa. This week, we talk about all that with Graham. Plus, poet Ross Gay, delighted.
November 11, 2022
Replay: Love and Citizenship in the Heartland
It was a summer day when Nancy and Kim found out they could get married. They both had other plans for lunch, so they waited till 3. Stories of love and citizenship, this week on Inner States.
October 28, 2022
Replay: 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. Plus, a review of Ian Woollen’s Sister City.
October 21, 2022
Ross Gay on Inciting Joy
Ross Gay’s new book of essays, Inciting Joy, comes out this week. On this episode, we talk about his new book, about masculinity and grief, teaching and survival, and how joy and sorrow are completely, inevitably, intertwined.
October 14, 2022
Who to Remember and How (Updated)
A walk among memorials and public art pieces in the fall of 2021. We talk with creators, participants, and passers-by about the meaning of public art, about Native presence in a state named for Indians, about immigration, Christopher Columbus, Columbus, Indiana, who we choose to remember, and how.
October 7, 2022
Felt Thoughts, TaB, and more
Fiber artist Fafnir Adamites about textiles, repetitive processes, and making space for intergenerational trauma. The closing of a TaB. And producer Anna Grimes’ grandmother’s memory.
