Frederick Livingston lives in the liminal space between experiential education, sustainable agriculture, and peacebuilding. His work has appeared in numerous literary and scientific journals, public parks, and bathroom stalls.SRTN podcast

Multi Media Artist Shannon Kringen grew up in San Diego California and Whidbey Island Washington. She is a self taught photographer with a background in Graphic Design. She has worked as a figure model in Seattle since 1992. She completed her BA degree in Arts and Literature from Antioch University in 2013. She sees her creative expression as a tool to connect with community and a way of increasing self awareness and tap into a deeper wisdom within.We talked about HundertwasserMusic! SRTN Website

Aranea Push is a digital illustrator and comic artist living in the PNW. Aranea blends rich illustration with sharp attitude, creating a style she lovingly refers to as ‘Effin’ Adorable’. In 2023, she published her first graphic novel “Coffee & Wine” which you can read in its entirety here!\SRTN WebsiteBrowser's BookstorePopular Culture and Philosophy Series

It was a pleasure to talk to Olivia Dolphin about her deep literary and musical talents back in Episode 116 Providence, Rhode Island’s Olivia Dolphin brings a deep and gritty honesty to her lyrics that captures an audience. Whether it’s a song about embracing your imperfections, being ghosted, or challenging yourself, Dolphin’s vulnerability pulls you in.Enjoy the single "Quiet Girls" and this talk about life, magick, art, literature and the things we live for . . . Olivia siteSRTN Site

Sara McGrath is an illustrator and author of "Garage Girls" and lives in Los Angeles.About "Garage Girls" - - - Sara & Chloe are best friends, roommates, & co-hosts of garage girls, a weekly talk show that airs at an inconvenient time on Los Angeles' public access channel, a station no one watches. And yet, they become wildly famous and popular. Can you even Believe?Sara's website SRTN Website

Ilya Popenko is a multi-disciplinary artist who was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to the US at the age of 16. He is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer as well as a songwriter and a performer. In 2011, he formed a band called Mad Meg who play in an eclectic style they themselves haphazardly identify as “Punk-Chanson-Noir”. Based out of New York, Mad Meg has toured extensively in Russia and the former Soviet Bloc, including tours that covered close to 30 cities throughout the vast, frozen expanse of Eastern Europe, and in the course of which they shared the stage with such luminaries as Nogu Svelo!, Rasputina, and Emir Kusturica and recorded a live album in a female prison in Lithuania. While Mad Meg is on hiatus, Ilya works on his solo songs, one of which he’s proud to present today.SRTN Website

Spencer Fleury is the author of I Blame Myself But Also You and other stories  (Malarkey Books, 2024) and How I’m Spending My Afterlife (Woodhall Press, 2021). He lives in San Francisco.Spencer Fleury Website SRTN Website

Lauren graces the show again to talk more about her exciting solo play "Lolo's Boyfriend Show." It was such a thrill to talk to Lauren about art, the development of Lolo, taking risks on the stage and the hopes and dreams we all need : - )We also talk about so many costume changes, fashion and design!Bunch of John Leguizamo love at the end.Here's a little pshow review here from Broadway WorldThis is Lauren on the SRTN Fringe Episode This is SRTN

Ross McMeekin the author of The Hummingbirds (Skyhorse, 2018.) His short fiction has appeared in literary journals and magazines such as Virginia Quarterly Review, Shenandoah, Redivider, and X-R-A-Y. He has won fellowships from Hugo House and Jack Straw Cultural Center in Seattle. For the last ten years, he has served as editor of the literary journal, Spartan. McMeekin's Below the Falls is a collection filled with passion, tenderness, love, and peril.Two climbers in the North Cascades risk their friendship and lives ascending a frozen waterfall. The girlfriend of a famous comedian in Greenwich Village must decide whether she wants to raise a child in the spotlight of fame. A mysterious Bird of Paradise makes daily overtures to an elderly widow in the frigid Midwest. A Texas fracking mogul struggles to find the love his money prevents. The deeply rendered American landscapes of these stories emerge as a vital background for characters faced with conflicts that cannot be easily resolved, illuminating interior worlds filled with contradiction.You can find him at www.rossmcmeekin.comSRTN Website

Matthew Kyle Levine is a filmmaker and cinematographer based in New York City.  His short films have won awards and played at numerous film festivals throughout North America, including the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival and the Canada Shorts Film Festival, most notably for his short film “Miss Freelance”.Watch 'Caleb and Sarah" and other short films on Mathew Kyle Levine's Vimeo:MKL VimeoSRTN Website

Paul Luikart is the author of the short story collections Animal Heart (Hyperborea Publishing, 2016), Brief Instructions (Ghostbird Press, 2017), Metropolia (Ghostbird Press, 2021), The Museum of Heartache (Pski’s Porch Publishing, 2021), the 11th installment of Belle Point Press' Prose Series, and The Realm of the Dog (J. New Books, 2024.) He serves as an adjunct professor of fiction writing at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He and his family live in Chattanooga, Tennessee.Paul's Website

The Ill-Fitting Skin is layered with surreal storytelling but remains an extraordinarily realistic read, in the sense that even the most solid realities of life—and death—tend to blur and shimmer at their raw edges. The talkative bird that nests in a woman’s womb is as real as the “previous tenant.” The love of a mother for her uncontrollable son is as real as the wildness that is in her too. The women of The Ill-Fitting Skin are real women—who work and grieve and create and destroy, who love and do not love, whether at the roll of the dice or because “the pages are paths, and you will have to choose among them.”Shannon Robinson’s debut short story collection, The Ill-Fitting Skin, is winner of the Press 53 Award for Short Fiction (forthcoming with Press 53 in May 2024). Her writing has appeared in The Gettysburg Review, The Iowa Review, Joyland, Water-Stone Review, Nimrod, failbetter, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in fiction from Washington University in St. Louis, and in 2011 she was the Writer-in-Residence at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Other honors include Nimrod’s Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction, grants from the Elizabeth George Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts, a Hedgebrook Fellowship, a Sewanee Scholarship, and an Independent Artist Award from the Maryland Arts Council. She teaches creative writing at Johns Hopkins University and lives in Baltimore with her husband and son. www.shannonrobinson.org

Morgan Parker is a poet, essayist, and novelist. She is the author of the young adult novel Who Put This Song On?; and the poetry collections Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé, and Magical Negro, which won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, winner of a Pushcart Prize, and has been hailed by The New York Times as “a dynamic craftsperson” of “considerable consequence to American poetry.”Parker’s debut book of nonfiction, You Get What You Pay For   is available at your favorite bookstore.

Ruby Roth’s work is defined by the female form and depicts the inner lives of women through emotionally visceral representations of the bodies they inhabit.For the past several years, amidst a radical transition from a decade of familial life as a best-selling children’s book author-illustrator to self-determined independence as a single female artist, Roth has explored the deep end of the feminine spectrum and its archetypes.Roth’s work often features solitary women navigating inner and outer wildernesses. In vast emptiness, surrounded by hints of nature, her wild women and “girl gods” find their way through physical and spiritual dimensions of darkness and light, bondage and freedom, apocalypse and utopia, life and death, transmuting nourishing or toxic forces into usable means.Roth has been a keen observer of the body since childhood, having been diagnosed with scoliosis, which required 13 years of aggressive and painful treatment. Rooted in academic anatomy and pop surrealism, her artwork——often created in live-model sessions——exaggerates and distorts female forms to reflect them as vessels of powerful, feminine processing.Roth is based in Los Angeles, CA.SRTN Website

Mark Ostler joins the show to kick around comic books - specifically his work Ivar the Boxer and Waltzing Carpet JulietteWe also talked about Warning: Danger! Mark Ostler is a comic book writer and publisher.  In 2023, he wrapped up a 4 issue mini-series titled, “Waltzing Carpet Juliette” about the dangers of consumerism.  In 2024, he began a new self-published comic book series titled, “Ivar The Boxer”.Mark Ostler can’t draw comics.  Thankfully, he’s got talented friends who are skilled artists.  Thus far, 37 different illustrators have contributed artwork to these collaborative comic books.  What began as a creative daydream has blossomed into an incredible comic book community.  Together, we’re creating “Waltzing Carpet Juliette” and “Ivar The Boxer”.Mark is also the lead singer of “WARNING: DANGER!” – a Seattle based punk band.  They have released 7 different albums, embarked on 3 West Coast tours, produced 4 different videos, featured on 2 compilation albums and 1 movie soundtrack.  Check out WARNING: DANGER!’s music on all major streaming platforms.Sometime soon, a major publishing house might pick up Mark’s comics or music.  Check out Episode 265!!!SRTN

This episode is very different than others. Jim LaBelle, this episode's featured guest, passed away recently. I wish, hope and pray that our conversation gives tribute to Jim's contributions and advocacy. Thank you and farewell Jim. Host Ken Volante"There are certain individuals that go under the radar their entire lives despite being one of the most resilient people in the room, and that is without question Jim LaBelle. A father, world traveler, lawyer, disability advocate and professor, Jim’s story isn’t well known to many, but we hope to change that. A quadriplegic since 1969 and passing on April 21st, 2024, he was paralyzed for nearly 55 years and showed a life can be well lived in spite of paralysis." Spinalpedia Blog"For over fifty years, I have been pushing my chair. I graduated from law school and passed the bar exam in three states. My travels took me to twenty-three countries. My story is not an inspirational anecdote; it's about finding love, losing love, grief, joy, and single parenthood.Don't call me 'bound' or 'confined' to my wheelchair. My chair gives me freedom.A wheelchair user today has more rights than one did fifty years ago. Yet there are still many obstacles in finding housing, transportation, employment, and medical care.I am not trying to be a role model, just a possibility. There are obstacles, and people may not always treat you properly, but there is progress."Jim LaBelle

Blend a background in fast-paced PR, political campaigns, and a lot of roll-up-your-sleeves energy, and you've Stuart Collective founder and CEO Kathleen Stuart.Kathleen founded Stuart Collective in 2017. With a crystal-clear mission to support changemakers in securing progressive wins, Kathleen works every day to win campaigns, pass high-profile legislation, and influence public opinion.Kathleen brings over a decade of on-the-ground political work in campaigns and leading PR strategies. As a result, she advises leading progressive organizations that impact all the spaces — from healthcare to housing to infrastructure and more — that Stuart Collective shares with its clients.Stuart Collective

Ivana Yellowback is a member of Manto Sipi Cree Nation – God’s River (maternal family) and a relative to Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (paternal family). She is both Asiniskow Ithinew ekwa Muskego Ininew (High Rock and Muskeg Cree).Ivana an Associate Producer, Writer, Cree host, and English co-host of Eagle Vision’s and APTN’s 7TH GEN Home (7thgen.ca) \ Cree Webisodes | 7TH GEN (2022/2023/2024). She has also acted as principal characters in “DJ Burnt Bannock” (2021) The Team — DJ Burnt Bannock, along with “Little Bird” (2023) 'Little Bird,' From Fremantle, Rezolution: Jennifer Podemski Talks - Variety.Ivana holds a 4-year Bachelor of Arts HONOURS degree at the University of Winnipeg (4-Year Honours BA: Sociology, Minor: Conflict Resolution Studies), and a Bachelor of Social Work degree at the University of Manitoba. She is also starting her Masters of Social Work degree this upcoming Fall at the University of Manitoba.Ivana holds 10+ years of experience in social services work, spanning from program development and implementation, facilitation, and workshop trainings (various), youth mentorship and leadership, and social advocacy and counselling.Ivana is an Executive Training Facilitator (with Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc.), an executive board member for sakihiwe festival, and is an oskâpêwiskwew (helper) member of the Indigenous Helpers Society.  She is also a trained Traditional Family Parenting facilitator, a Grief and Loss Facilitator, and Indigenous Life Skills Coach. Ivana’s most important roles and work is being an aunty, pipe carrier, lodge carrier, drum carrier and singer.SRTN Website

Teghan Hammond and Mel Hammond are sisters who grew up punching each other whenever they saw a P.T. Cruiser, dying their hair blue together, and fabricating a fake band in which their middle brother was (allegedly) the lead singer. Writing Lucy, Uncensored was their first time co-writing. Unless you count the summer they spent scribbling down recipes for the strangest sandwiches you’ve ever heard of, like the Tax Exemption Wrap (Teghan) and the Nail Gun Sandwich (Mel).Today, Teghan lives in northern Indiana, where she drinks excessive amounts of coffee and volunteers for LGBTQIA+ causes. When she’s not tearing down gender norms, Teghan is probably watching cartoons or gaming. Mel lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where she writes books in a rainbow-painted room. Besides writing, she loves walking in the woods and eating dairy-free ice cream. Between the two of them, Teghan and Mel have four adorable cats.www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/750113/lucy-uncensored-by-mel-hammond-and-teghan-hammond/Folks can also preorder from their local indie bookstores. ISBN is 9780593814055.Publisher is Knopf Books for Young ReadersWebsite: www.melhammondbooks.comTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hamtasticduoMel’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamsandwichmel/SRTN Website

Special Spring 2024 NYC Fringe Festival episode with three dynamic creators!Lauren O'Brien presents Lolo’s Boyfriend Show - a new comedic solo show, the writer is also the performer;Suzanne Bachner presents Conversations with My Divorce Attorney - the playwright also directs the two hander play which she started writing many years ago when she was getting a divorce. Her current husband stars as her divorce attorney;Jude Treder-Wolff presents FASTER - real life therapist and playwright wrote a new show about how technology is speeding up our lives. She also performs the play.SRTN WebsiteNYC Fringe