Join us in the audio garden, to cultivate our collective wisdom, nurture creativity, and spread love.
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s3e35 Rewind – Remix Volume 6
Please enjoy this rewind during our holiday production break. Remix Volume 6 by Jay Rodriguez Sierra features Q.R. Hand jr., Martha Cinader, Genny Lim, Meredith Leigh, Donna Janell Bowman, Dorsía Smith Silva, Mary Oishi, Kellie Richardson, Eileen Tabios, Ozier Muhammad, Tony Robles, Megan Marshall, Kim McMillon and Alice Walker reads Zora Neal Hurston.
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s3e36 Remix Volume 7
Remix Volume 7 features Barbara Tran, Candelario Obeso, Eileen Tabios, Vi Khi Nao, Freda Epum, Martha Cinader, Hazel Smith, Megan Marshall, Monica Maconsantos, Mary Oishi, Vida Cruz Borja, Tony Robles, Olivia Eggena, Joseph Jason Santiago Lacour, Trinh Mai, Brian Kimmel, Cal Hoffman, Henry Dumas, Caroline Cabading, Blagovesta Momchedjikova, Pying Threadgill and Mosab Abu Toha
Our Reading List • Our Author List • Our Shop at Bookshop.org
The Listen & Be Heard Hour for Readers & Writers features authors, publishers, agents and others. Each week, we dig into craft. We explore paths to publication. We persist in resisting banning books and grow together in the audio garden. With our deep roots in poetry, storytelling and open mics, you can always expect to hear some spoken word.
Listen & Be Heard Network is entirely non-commercial. Please consider contributing to the cost of production. Thank you.


The Listen & Be Heard Hour for Readers & Writers streams on WLBH.org. with new episodes every Thursday. The show is also available to the Pacifica Affiliate Network and has been picked up by: WPVM 103.7 FM (Asheville, NC) on Wednesdays at 4pm, KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, NM), WXOX 97.1 FM (Louisville, KY), KKFI 90.1 FM (Kansas City, MO), KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, IA), KEPJ 96.5 FM (San Antonio, TX), KCXU 92.7 FM (San Jose, CA) and KMUD 91.1 FM (Redwood, CA), WLBH.org (Greenville, SC), WBDY 99.5FM (Binghampton, NY), KGHI 91.1FM (Westport, WA) and Community Growth Radio.
We can create show promos and mid-roll ID’s for your community radio station. Contact Editor@ListenAndBeHeard.net.
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s3e35 Remix Volume 6
Remix Volume 6 by Jay Rodriguez Sierra features Q.R. Hand jr., Martha Cinader, Genny Lim, Meredith Leigh, Donna Janell Bowman, Dorsía Smith Silva, Mary Oishi, Kellie Richardson, Eileen Tabios, Ozier Muhammad, Tony Robles, Megan Marshall, Kim McMillon and Alice Walker reads Zora Neal Hurston.
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s3e19 Rewind Culture from the Kitchen – Monica Macansantos
This week we take the opportunity to revisit this illuminating conversation between Monica Maconsantos and Tony Robles, originally aired on June 26, 2025. Our featured guest is essayist, Monica Macansantos, author of Returning to My Father’s Kitchen, interviewed by Tony Robles Our featured poet is Elizabeth Perlman. New music by Billy Harper, sung by Judy…
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s3e34 Remix Volume 5
Remix Volume 5: featuring our guests from Seasons 3 reading their poetry and stories. Deepika Singh, C.L. Willis, Billy Mills, Brett Cook, Andrew Lam, Zora Neale Hurston, Alejandro Murgía, Jonathan Thirkield, Dorsía Smith Silva, Suzette Clarke Bradshaw, Martha Cinader, Donna Janelle Bowman, Jay Rodriguez Sierra, Tony Robles, Elizabeth Perlman, Dao Strom, Judy Talaugon, The Cipher…
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s3e4 Rewind – American Anthropology – African and Asian American History, Sung and Told
This week we take the opportunity to revisit this illuminating conversation between Brian Kimmel and Martha Cinader, originally aired on February 13, 2025. Martha talks with Brian Kimmel about Blue Skies, Troubled Waters, a World War II account of an Indonesian American girl. We listen to Zora Neale Hurston sing and Tony visits her hometown…
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s3e5 – Rewind – Making Choices: Art Under Dictatorship, Hybrid Publishing
Martha talks with Eileen Tabios about The Balikbayan Artist, Venancio Igarta, who her Kapwa novel fictionalizes, artistic choices and Kendrick Lamar’s historic half time appearance at the Super Bowl. Also featured, Nick Courtright, of Atmosphere Press, a literary hybrid publisher with 1300 titles in its catalog.
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s3e24 Remix Volume 4
Remix Volume 4: a timely blend of some of our guests from Seasons 1 and 2, and new music and poetry from Jay and Martha. Our featured guests in order of appearance, Kim McMillon, Tony Robles, Joe Talaugon, Jen Soriano, Opal Palmer Adisa, Joan Gelfand, Mosab Abu Toha, David Jauss, Yvette Murray.
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s3e23 Slipping and Searching for Healing in the Streets of New York, Cal Hoffman’s Novel Memoir
Our featured novelist is Cal Hoffman, author of Easy to Slip. Our featured poet is Lan Duong, contributor to Watermark, a landmark anthology of Vietnamese American writing. New music and poetry by Jay Rodriguez Sierra and Martha Cinader.
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s3e11 Rewind – Infinity Pool, The Tribunal Project
Martha welcomes Jonathan Thirkield to talk about his new book of poetry, Infinity Pool. We welcome a new co-host, Judy Talaugon to the L&BH Hour and talk with her about The Tribunal Project. We persist in resisting book banning, and meditate on listening and being heard.
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s3e22 Garden Talk with Mark Talbert – New Music and Spoken Word
Our featured guest is Mark Talbert, author of Your Yard is a Garden. Our featured poets are Mary Oishi, Kellie Richardson, Josiah Luis Alderete, Homer Erotic and Blagovesta Momchedjikova. New music and poetry by Jay Rodriguez Sierra and Martha Cinader.
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s3e21 Preston Lauterbach on the Making of Elvis
Our featured guest is music historian, Preston Lauterbach, author of Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King, interviewed by Tony Robles. Our featured poet is Latasha Diggs. New music by Jay Rodriguez Sierra, and new poetry by Martha Cinader, also featuring Joseph Jason Santiago Lacour and Mary Oishi.
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s3e19 Culture from the Kitchen – Monica Macansantos
Our featured guest is essayist, Monica Macansantos, author of Returning to My Father’s Kitchen, interviewed by Tony Robles Our featured poet is Elizabeth Perlman. New music by Billy Harper, sung by Judy Bady, and a montage of words of music created by Jay Rodriguez Sierra, featuring poetry by Martha Cinader, Kahlil Gibran, Zora Neal Hurston,…
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s3e18 Addressing Global Warming, Hurricanes and Inheritance with Poetry
Our featured guest is poet, Dorsía Smith Silva, author of In Inheritance of Drowning. We also feature Wendy Loomis of COPUS, celebrating the CD, The Assignment, a tribute to poet Royal Kent. Elizabeth Perlman talks with young writer, Stella Pollock. New music by Jay Rodriguez Sierra featuring legendary percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo, and Martha’s new single…
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s3e9 – Rewind – Listen & Be Heard Remix One
Listen & Be Heard Remix Volume One: a timely blend of our guests reading from their work, and other highlights from previous episodes.
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s3e16 Bird Words – Poetry by Barbara Tran, Celebrating Malcolm’s B’day in Harlem
Our featured guest is poet, Barbara Tran, author of Precedented Parroting. We feature spoken word from Harlem, on Malcolm X’s 100th Birthday, from Jerome Heka, Will Succeed, Demi Divine, Elee James, Rayne, Untucked Shirt, Feyisayo and Mother of all Believers. Jay’s take on Blowin’ in the Wind with Jay on tenor saxophone, Victor Jones -…
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s3e15 A Gloomy Girl Memoir, Spoken Word and New Music
We feature Freda Epum, author of The Gloomy Girl Variety Show. Spoken word from Albert DiLorenzo, Judy Talaugon reading Mary TallMountain, and Martha Cinader. Also featured Jocelyn Grover, Jennifer Owen, children’s author, and a new arrangement of Let’s Just Kiss and Say Goodbye by Jay Rodriguez Sierra.
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s3e8 – Rewind SF Poet Laureate Genny Lim, Afro-Colombian Poets, We the People
We feature an interview with SF Poet Laureate Genny Lim, and listen to an archival reading from Alejandro Murguía . We learn about Afro-Colombian poet Candelario Obeso, and listen to Afro Peruvian poet, Victoria Santa Cruz. And The Transformative Power of Writing, We the People, Listening and Being Heard.
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s3e11 Infinity Pool, The Tribunal Project
Martha welcomes Jonathan Thirkield to talk about his new book of poetry, Infinity Pool. We welcome a new co-host, Judy Talaugon to the L&BH Hour and talk with her about The Tribunal Project. We persist in resisting book banning, and meditate on listening and being heard.
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s3e9 Listen & Be Heard Remix One
Listen & Be Heard Remix Volume One: a timely blend of our guests reading from their work, and other highlights from previous episodes.
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s3e8 SF Poet Laureate Genny Lim, Afro-Colombian Poets, We the People
We feature an interview with SF Poet Laureate Genny Lim, and listen to an archival reading from Alejandro Murguía . We learn about Afro-Colombian poet Candelario Obeso, and listen to Afro Peruvian poet, Victoria Santa Cruz. And The Transformative Power of Writing, We the People, Listening and Being Heard.
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s3e5 Making Choices: Art Under Dictatorship, Hybrid Publishing
Martha talks with Eileen Tabios about The Balikbayan Artist, Venancio Igarta, who her Kapwa novel fictionalizes, artistic choices and Kendrick Lamar’s historic half time appearance at the Super Bowl. Also featured, Nick Courtright, of Atmosphere Press, a literary hybrid publisher with 1300 titles in its catalog.
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s3e4 American Anthropology – African and Asian American History, Sung and Told
Martha talks with Brian Kimmel about Blue Skies, Troubled Waters, a World War II account of an Indonesian American girl. We listen to Zora Neale Hurston sing and Tony visits her hometown celebration. Also, Eileen Tabios on Kendrick Lamar’s half-time show, Henry Dumas’ “Love Song” as a chorale.
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s2e4 REPLAY Imagine Earth Without Capitalism
Martha Cinader speaks with author Laura Lengnick in this replay of our Winter Climate Special. The conversation ranges from alternatives to capitalism to Earth’s best practices. Laura is an award-winning soil scientist with 30 years of experience working as a researcher, policymaker, educator, activist and farmer to put sustainability values into action in U.S. food…
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s2e33 7th Filipino American Int. Book Festival, Moving on from SPD
Tony Robles speaks with authors Mae Respicio, Cleodia Martinez, Claude Tayag, Marivi Soliven and Randy Gonzalez at the 7th Annual Filipino American International Book Festival. The closure of SPD Part 2 with Diane Goettel, Eileen Tabios, Kate McMullen and Annie Groover. Spoken word by The Brkn Record featuring Yolanda Lear.
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REPLAY – Summer Climate Resilience Special with Laura Lengnick and Meredith Leigh
This week, as we come to terms with the catastrophic impact of hurricane Helene, we offer a re-run of our climate special with Laura Lengnick and Meredith Leigh, both of whom live in the devastated area of WNC. It offers some insight into regional resilience and how we
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s2e29 Eileen R. Tabios, Professor Jonathan Storm, Phil Talbot, Anne Marina Pellicciotto
Martha talks with Eileen Tabios, author of The Inventor, A Poet’s Transcolonial Autobiography, and, Professor Jonathan Storm, from USC of the Upstate, co-author of a free Field Guide to the Southern Piedmont. Poetry by Phil Talbot and Anne Marina Pellicciotto. And, we persist in pursuing publication and resisting book bans.
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s2e27 Reading, Writing, Publishing, Selling, Listening & Being Heard | Listen & Be Heard Podcast
Amy Williams, owner of As the Page Turns Bookstore, talks about the circle of community life in Travelers Rest. Tony Robles, reads from Where the Warehouse Things Are, his newest poetry collection from Redhawk Publications. We persist about Banning Books and publishing our writings, and listen to birds, bees and muscovies, in a Martha’s Kitchen…
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s2e26 Banning Books in Libraries & Schools, Paths to Publication
Books in schools and libraries are being used for target practice. We listen to poets, writers, teachers, a politician and others speak on resisting those efforts. Also, perspectives on publishing and paths to publication from writer Darren Todd, and publishers, Meg Reid and Crystal Simone Smith.
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s2e25 Summer Climate Resilience Special with Laura Lengnick and Meredith Leigh
We listen to highlights from previous climate resilience specials with authors Laura Lengnick, Resilient Agriculture, and Meredith Leigh, The Ethical Meat Handbook. Martha Cinader adds personal comments about changing behavior and recommends books. Poetry by Vanessa Lee Miller. Music by Baba Brinkman and DJ’s for Climate Action.
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s2e24 California Culture with Josiah Luis Alderete & Joe Talaugon
Tony Robles talks with JOSIAH LUIS ALDERETE, poet and operator of Medicine For Nightmares Bookstore in SF, and JOE TALAUGON, author of the memoir Mestizo Through My Eyes. Alderete shares his poem “Somos” and some choice words about banning books. Martha shares a garden update and thoughts on native wisdom.
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s2e23 Scott Kikkawa’s Hawaiian Noir and Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ Bogota Memoir | Listen & Be Heard Podcast
TONY ROBLES, talks to SCOTT KIKKAWA about his detective novel, Char Siu, set in postwar Hawaii, and INGRID ROJAS CONTRERAS, about her Bogota memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, curanderas and amnesia. Martha talks about banning books and public radio.
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s2e22 Crystal Cauley, Melissa Whiteford St. Clair, Shä Key, Steve Cannon | Listen & Be Heard Podcast
We celebrate the life of CRYSTAL CAULEY, a poet, mover, and shaker gone too soon, feature lightning poems from the L&BH open mic, and MELISSA WHITEFORD ST. CLAIR. From the archives spoken word from SHÄ KEY, and STEVE CANNON, and an update on the Muscovy chicks at Martha’s Kitchen Garden.
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s2e21 Jamaican Barrel Children, a Mermaid & the Slave Trade | Listen & Be Heard Podcast
Opal Palmer Adisa talks about “Pretty Like Jamaica”, a story about a “barrel child” in Jamaica living with her grandmother, and Lesley Ann Brown tells a counter story of the Little Mermaid that reckons with the slave trade in Denmark.
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s2e20 An hour of Listen & Be Heard Spoken Word from East, West and South
Listen & Be Heard has hosted open mics on the east coast and west coast and starting on Juneteenth, in the Carolinas. In this episode we sample spoken word from all those places as we look forward to seeing what grows on Wednesday nights in downtown Greenville, SC. We feature the late Q.R. Hand jr., …
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s2e19 Greeting Cards for All: Remembering Cleven “Goodie” Goudeau
We pulled up root crops for this show, from the west coast garden, we’ll hear poetry from REGINALD LOCKETT, and we dug up an interview with CLEVEN GOUDEAU, who created the first line of black greeting cards among many other accomplishments in a long career. From the east coast garden, we found more from RUTH…
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s2e18 Restorative Agriculture & Ruth Ozeki
Martha takes listeners on a tour of Martha’s Kitchen Garden, introducing the animals, plans for a radio station and ideas about regenerative agriculture and recycling garbage. She digs around and discovers an archival reading by RUTH OZEKI from her novel, My Year of Meats, and a play called Dis for Dat by STEVE CANNON.
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s2e17 Chitra Divakaruni from the Archives & Malcolm X’s B’day in Greenville
From the archives, for Asian Pacific Islander Month, a conversation Martha had with CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI back in 1999 on WBAI Radio, when Chitra’s novel, Sister of My Heart had just come out. At that time, she was a recent immigrant. They talk about the tug between individualism and traditional extended families, and her near-death…
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s2e15 Sharon Scott talks FM Radio for Dummies
Today in the audio garden SHARON SCOTT, author of Low Power FM for dummies contemplates the future with radio thriving in a tapestry of resilient regions across the continent known as Turtle Island. CAROLINE JULIA CABADING considers the past through a lens of poetry and music. ERNIE BRILL comments on banning books. MARTHA CINADER’s quest…
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s2e13 William Giraldi on manhood, sacrifice, body building and blood
It’s still poetry month here in the US and we are celebrating, with poetry brought to us by the People’s Poet, Tony Robles. Tony interviews WILLIAM GIRALDI, author of “Hold the Dark” and “The Hero’s Body.” Their conversation ranges from manhood, sacrifice, body building, John Keats disguised as the Bible, what you can’t get out…
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s2e12 Climate Resilience Spring Special
Martha Cinader goes into deepthink mode with Meredith Leigh, author of The Ethical Meat Handbook and thinker of thoughts still asking to be manifested. With the optimism that blossoms with Spring, the conversation focuses on alternatives to capitalism, honoring indigenous wisdom, revolutionary madness, books that inspire and more! This one-hour special is an ongoing seasonal…
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s2e11 Latasha Diggs Preaches Poetry
Martha speaks with Latasha Diggs author of her mind bending book of poetry, Village, talks about her process and her reads her five-part poem, Kombucha. In the second part of the hour, Amber Rose Crowtree reads from her chapbook Harboring the Imperfect, and a poem submitted by Ameera Shabazz. Martha revisits her journey to publication,…
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s2e10 Women of the Berkeley Revolution & Ancient Times
Martha Cinader speaks with Joan Gelfand, author of Outside Voices, A Memoir of the Berkeley Revolution, about her participation in second wave feminism in the 1970’s and what’s happening now. In the second part of the hour we listen to an archival interview with the late Dr. Leonard Shlain, author of The Alphabet Versus the…
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s2e9 Shizue Seigel Speaks on Craft
Tony Robles speaks with Shizue Seigel, Founder and Director of Write Now! SF Bay, in California. In the second part of the hour Tony speaks with author Vanessa Miller about her book The American Queen. We hear some thoughts from James Cruell, of Greenville, SC about banning books, and get a preview of an interview…
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s2e8 Speaking Unspoken, Learning Unlearning
We’ll hear Amy Reed, author of Tell Me My Name, one of the fifty most banned books in the country, and Kelly Kelbel from a live recording. Martha talks about how climate resilience is related to publishing. Tony Robles shares a virtual lecture on poetry, and Martha shares books she read, books she’s reading, and…
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s2e6 Paths to Publish & Counter Storytelling
Martha Cinader speaks with Meg Reid, Executive Director of Hub City Publishing, in Spartanburg, SC, about paths to publication. We also hear poetry from Alabian Landrum at Versers of Color Open Mic. In the second part of the hour we speak with Lesley-Ann Brown, Publisher of Bandit Queen Press, about counter storytelling and The Little…
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s2e5 Poet Laureates and Publishing in the South
Martha Cinader speaks with Glenis Redmond and Anna Castro Spratt, the first Poet Laureate and Teen Poet Laureate of Greenville, SC and they also share some poetry. We also speak with Meg Reid, Executive Director of Hub City Publishing in Spartanburg, SC about what kind of books they look for, and her upcoming workshop about…
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s2e4 Imagine Earth Without Capitalism
Laura Lengnick returns for our Winter Season Special for a conversation with Martha Cinader about alternatives to capitalism aligned with Earth’s best practices.
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s2e3 College Radio and American Culture
Kate Jewell joins Davyne Dial in the audio garden to talk about college radio then and now and in the future. Poet Laureates of Greenville, SC, Glenis Redmond and Anna Castro Spratt speak on Banning Books.
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s2e2 – Heritage and Pain
Jen Soriano on Nervous, Essays of Heritage and Healing, The Bluest Eye is the featured Banned Book, the value of Writing Groups and Spoken word by activist Bree Newsome and more…
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s2e1 Writing Resolutions
Welcome to Season 2 of the Listen & Be Heard Hour for Writers and Readers. The getting published aspect of writing is going to be my personal theme for the year. We appeal to our listeners for quotes about banned books, talk about writers’ responsibility to address climate change and dig up an L&BH open…
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S1E41 – Writers Reading part 3
In which we feature writers we interviewed during Season One reading from their books. Vanessa Lee Miller – Wai Luku, Lou Syquia – For Al Robles, Yvette Murray – Hush, Puppy, Avotcja – Oaktown Blues, Oscar Peñaranda – Followers of the Seasons, Glenis Redmond – The Listening Skin, Opal Palmer Adisa – Pretty Like Jamaica,…
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S1E40 – Writers Reading part 2
In which we feature writers we interviewed during Season One reading from their books. Featured Writers and Their Books: Oliver De La Paz-The Diaspora Sonnets, Anne Myles-Late Epistle, Karen Luke Jackson-Grit, David Cameron and Tabitha-Open Mic, Scott Kikawa-Char Siu, Nancy Sloan-The Gravel Driveway, Betty Ann Quirino-Every Ounce of Courage, Darren Todd-The Ugly Mug, Eric Nelson-House…
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S1E39 – Writers Reading part 1
In which we feature writers we interviewed during Season One reading from their books. Lesley-Ann Brown – Blackgirl on Mars, Keali’i McKenzie – Mana of Salt, Frank Gioia – The Mercury Man, Randy Gonzalez – Settling St. Malo, Tony Alderondo – Open Mic, Tony Robles – Thrift Store Metamorphosis, Rachel Barton, Connie Soper, Reika Reid,…
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S1E38 – Blackgirl on Mars
Martha Cinader speaks with Lesley-Ann Brown in Denmark, about her memoir, Blackgirl on Mars, a physical and spiritual search to discover home. The free-flowing conversation covers the mind of Carl Linnaeus, the waters of modern life and up-to-the-minute decolonization of our minds, and also how she got published and her thoughts on banned books. Also…
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S1E37 – A Song of Salt
Tony Robles speaks with poet, Keali’i MacKenzie, The Mana of Salt, and visits a reading in Greensboro, NC where he speaks to Caroline Cottom, love and nuclear testing and Ross White about EKG’s, poetry, and banned books.
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S1E36 – Writers on Writing
Podcast 36 – Fresh from the field Tony Robles, our own people’s poet, storyteller and radio reporter spoke to the Executive Director of the North Carolina Writers Network, who has a new book out, poets, historians, memoirists, publishers and a poet laureate, about the state of writing, the mental state of writers and their thoughts…
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S1E35 – Ancestral Foodway Holidays
As we head straight for the season of deep tradition and sharing, Laura Lengnick and Meredith Leigh share insights into the global food system and resilience thinking. They challenge the dominant technological narrative about climate crisis in favor of human rights and regional foodways.
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S1E34 – Community Poetry, Banned Poetry, and Multi-media Writing
Tony speaks with Randy Gonzales, Poet, Writer, Community Historian, about his latest book Settling St. Malo. In the second hour I return to a conversation I began with writer, Nilsa Rivera, back in Episode 5 of this season, before Listen & Be Heard ventured into broadcast radio at WPVM in Asheville. We talk about what…
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S1E33 – A Southern Thing with Ron Rash and Vinnie Vineyard
Tony Robles speaks southern author, Ron Rash, about about craft and sports. I speak with Vinnie Vineyard the director, producer and star of WJHC AM. Also supernatural Cherokee legend, Spearfinger, and Masque of the Red Death
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S1E31 -Oscar Peñaranda, Sharon M. Scott
In our first hour Tony speaks with reverence to his elder, poet, prose writer, historian, teacher, Oscar Peñaranda, author of the forthcoming mixed-genre book Follower of the Seasons, by Eastwind Books. The conversation is mixed up just a little bit with some spoken word from Tony, who will be reading from and signing his new book, Thriftstore Metamorphosis, by Redhawk…
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