Local author Ricky Dyson shares an original short story about a very special dog.

Denyse and Harrison are joined by Susan Vaslev from Enchanted Forest theme park in Salem, Oregon. As the eldest daughter of park creator Roger Tofte, Susan has tended the family business from its very first day through the challenges of COVID and beyond. In this casual chat, Susan shares details of the park's early days, her process for creating all the stage shows and music for the park, the role of the public domain, and more!  In this episode: The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Harrison shares a five-question true-or-false quiz about Smokey Bear, who turns 80 this year! In this episode: "Decades" Smokey Bear PSA

April is National Poetry Month! Denyse and Harrison share a few favorite poems and poets. Denyse serves an opaque, brown liquid. In this episode: "Beneath a Blue Umbrella" by Jack Prelutsky "8 Mile" dir. by Curtis Hanson "The Essential Rumi" by Jelaluddin Rumi (translated by Coleman Barks with John Moyne) "Follow the Recipe" by Marilyn Singer "A Maze Me" by Naomi Shihab Nye "Smoke From This Altar" by Louis L'Amour "Trees" by Harry Behn "The Wizard" by Jack Prelutsky

Harrison reads the humorous short story, "The Eyes Have It," by Philip K. Dick.

Harrison reads "The Bee-Man," by Alice Dunbar Nelson (née Alice Ruth Moore).

Denyse and Harrison share the cultural works that held their attention this week. Denyse dissects a pop star's corpus. Harrison loses an old game. Swifties affect the bead economy, and also the regular economy. A werewolf falls repeatedly. Bus drivers hit the jackpot. Danny's mysterious condition worsens.  In this episode: Killer Instinct (1994) Metalocalypse Taylor Swift

Denyse and Harrison celebrate Women's History Month with a selection of books for readers of all ages! In this episode: "Agent Sonya" by Ben MacIntyre "Amerlia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator" by Shelley Tanaka "Amazons of Black Sparta" by Stanley B. Alpern "Dangerous Jane" by Suzanne Slade "Daniela and History's Women Pirates" Susanna Isern "Finish the Fight!" by Veronica Chambers "Empress of the Nile" by Lynne Olson "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies" by Joyce Sidman "The Gutsy Girl" by Caroline Paul "The Greatness of Girls" by Susan Strong "Little Dreamers" by Vashti Harrison "Marjory Saves the Everglades" by Sandra Neil Wallace "Rising Above" by Gregory Zuckerman "The Story of Art Without Men" by Katy Hessel "Strong Female Lead" by Arwa Mahdawi "Young Queens" by Leah Redmond Chang

Denyse and Harrison discuss one of the 20th century's most fascinating cases of cultural exchange. No spoilers!   In this episode: "Chemirocha (I)" by Cherwo Arap Korogorem and Bekyibei Arap Mosonick "Chemirocha (II)" by Charondet Arap Ng'asura and Kipsigis men "Chemirocha (III)" by Chemutoi Ketienya with Kipsigis girls "In a Kenyan Village, A 65-Year-Old Recording Comes Home" (June 28, 2015) by Ryan Kailath, from NPR International Library of African Music "Konon (100%)" by Kipsang (Kalenjin afropop singer) -------------> The real Chemirocha!

Harrison regales Denyse with the story of the Antiqua-Fraktur dispute. A dog wears a crown. Hitler gets mad. Due consideration is given to Comic Sans, mechanical typewriters and Frumpy Tuba Guys. The Library has one fish. In this episode: Antiqua (Wikipedia) Fraktur (Wikipedia) Gothic Textualis (HMML School)

Denyse and Harrison share some books celebrating Black history and bid Deb a fond farewell. In this episode: "African Samurai" by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard "Afrofuturism" by Ytasha L. Womack "The Black Count" by Tom Reiss "Black is a Rainbow Color" by Angela Joy "Black Boy" by Richard Wright "Brother Robert" by Annye C. Anderson "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson "Carter Reads the Newspaper" by Deborah Hopkinson "Devotion" by Adam Makos "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds "How to Write About Africa" by Binyavanga Wainaina "Inciting Joy" by Ross Gay "Jackie & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure" By Dan Gutman "Long Way Down" by Jason Reynolds "Playing the Cards You're Dealt" by Varian Johnson "Sister Outsider" by Audre Lorde "Spike" by Spike Lee "A Voice of Her Own" by Kathryn Lasky "When Stars Are Scattered" by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed "Whoosh!" by Chris Barton

In this short episode, Deb and Harrison introduce the phenomenon of clandestine "bone music" in the Soviet Union, and also learn what "CoQ10" is. In this episode: X-Ray Audio - by the Bureau of Lost Culture

Deb and Harrison share their favorite "cozy" titles. In this episode: "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman "A Common Life" by Jan Karon "Crooked House" by Agatha Christie "Death of a Green-Eyed Monster" by M.C. Beaton "Espresso Tales" by Alexander McCall Smith "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling "The Haunt of Fear Vol. 1" edited by Daniel Chabon "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien "The Hunt for Red October" by Tom Clancy "The Last Bookshop in London" by Madeline Martin "Light a Penny Candle" by Maeve Binchy "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George "Mariel of Redwall" by Brian Jacques "Pilgrim's Inn" by Elizabeth Goudge "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Free Bin concludes its outsider art series with a lively discussion of a few notable outsider musicians. Discussed in this episode: "Cousin Mosquito #1" by Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker "Demon Angel: A Day and Night with Roky Erickson" (1984) "El Touchy" by Luie Luie "If You Have Ghosts" by Roky Erickson "Paralyzed" by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy "Rock N Roll McDonald's" by Wesley Willis "Roky Erickson With Will Sheff of Okkervil River" (2010) "Wesley Willis: Artist of the Streets" (1988) "Wesley Willis: The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll" dir. by Daniel Bitton (2003) "You're Gonna Miss Me" by the 13th Floor Elevators

Content warning: This episode contains discussions of hate crime and physical injuries. Happy New Year! Deb, Denyse and Harrison drink some cordyceps and explore the world(s) of outsider visual artists. In this episode: Hawkins Bolden Ferdinand Cheval's Palais Ideal (from Atlas Obscura) Mark Hogancamp Vivian Maier Joe Minter

Deb and Harrison introduce a new series on outsider art with a discussion of outsider literature. Along the way, they touch on psychobilly pioneers The Cramps, science fiction luminary Philip K. Dick, former United States Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, and the loaded implications of the term "outsider art" itself. In this episode: Henry Darger (from Down the Rabbit Hole) Philip K. Dick Friedrich Nagler "Naked Girl Falling Down the Stairs" by The Cramps "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2" by Marcel Duchamp "Outsider Art: Visionary Worlds and Trauma" by Daniel Wojcik "Outsider Art" by Kay Ryan

Deb and Harrison discuss the work of recently-departed author John Nichols, focusing on his novels "The Sterile Cuckoo" and "The Milagro Beanfield War," as well as their film adaptations. In this episode: "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols "The Milagro Beanfield War" (1988) directed by Robert Redford "The Sterile Cuckoo" by John Nichols "The Sterile Cuckoo" (1969) directed by Alan J. Pacula

Deb and Harrison discuss and debate  The awkward poetry most do hate And other flawful arts in turn That public ridicule did earn   Deb holds the line for formal writing standards as Harrison condemns laughing at bad writing (while also, kind of, totally doing it). Deb plays devil's advocate, and Harrison plays super-devil's advocate. What is bad writing? What are the consequences of putting down art that doesn't conform to accepted norms and standards? These and other questions go vigorously unanswered in this unplanned and unedited conversation.  In this episode: "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain "Big Shark" directed by Tommy Wiseau "The Disaster Artist" by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell "The Disaster Artist" (2017) directed by James Franco "The Eye of Argon" by Jim Theis (RIP) William McGonagall James McIntyre Julia A. Moore Robert "Romeo" Coates "The Room" (2003) directed by Tommy Wiseau Sister Rosetta Tharpe "Uncut, Pure" by Big Daddy Kane

Denyse and Harrison share some useful and informative books about cooking and culinary heritage. In this episode: "The Cooking Gene" by Michael W. Twitty "Fry Bread" by Kevin Noble Maillard "Hello, Cupcake!" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson "Honest Pretzels" by Mollie Katzen "Jubilee" by Toni Tipton-Martin "Meet the Latkes" by Alan Silberberg "100 Recipes from Japanese Cooking" by Hata Koichiro and Kondo Kazuki "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" by Samin Nosrat "Salt, Smoke, Time" by Will Horowitz "The Slanted Door" by Charles Phan "The Star Wars Cookbook" by Robin Davis and Lara Starr "Start Here" by Sohla El-Waylly

Deb and Harrison talk about Robin Hood ballads, from the traditional to Bryan Adams. Along the way, they encounter talking animals, a fraudulent decapitation, the Red Scare, Tex Cobb, and more!  "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) directed by Michael Curtiz "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads" (5 volumes) by Francis James Child "A Gest of Robyn Hode" "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyle "Raising Arizona" (1987) directed by Joel Coen "Robin Hood" (1973) directed by Wolfgand Reitherman "Robin and the 7 Hoods" (1964) directed by Gordon Douglas "Robin Hood and the Peddlar" (traditional) arranged and performed by Barry Dransfield