Podcasts
As the language of humanity, art tells stories of inspiration, hope, and healing even as it acknowledges the hurt and despair that afflicts us all.
Fake News and Truth, Faith and Irony: Jay Tolson Discusses the Big Questions of our Culture
Jay Tolson is editor of the award-winning journal The Hedgehog Review, published out of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He’s also a journalist and scholar, who wrote Pilgrim in the Ruins, a biography of writer Walker Percy. Tolson discusses our current political climate, the war in Ukraine, and the deleterious impact of “PR politics.” Say something enough, true or not, and people will believe it. He also discusses the impact of Walker Percy on his thinking about art, and the way forward (the hope) Percy’s work opens, namely a connection with others through symbols.
Shakespeare and the Arts during the time of Plague and War
Austin Tichenor is an actor, comedian, writer and editor. Part of the world renowned “Reduced Shakespeare Company,” Tichenor discusses the “leveling quality” of humor, his insistence on not taking himself too seriously, and the ubiquity of storytelling. We all tell stories for work, love, and play. But as we “mature,” we somehow forget story’s (and art’s) enlivening power and push them aside. Rediscovering laughter in so-called “high-brow” endeavors, he maintains, can open new paths to healing.
Music, Connection, and Joy: Alicia Olatuja and the Presence of Voice
Alicia Olatuja is a vocal artist and life coach, who, the New York Times says, has a “luscious tone and amiably regal presence.” As the soloist at Barack Obama’s second inauguration, Olatuja discovered that she needed to align her head, heart, and voice to connect not only with her audience, but to discover a more authentic self. Now she not only performs, but also shares her experience from the stage with those seeking their own voice. Finding this voice, Olatuja contends, offers a way past the doubts and traumas we face in our troubled times.
The Mastery of Craft and the Healing Expression of Art
Mohammed (Momo) Al Shaibani is a comic artist from the United Arab Emirates. He earned an MFA in sequential art (comics) from Savannah College of Art and Design. Momo discusses the art scene in the UAE, the importance of craft, and the marriage of illustration and story-telling that comics demand. A sometimes marginalized medium, the comics, Momo finds, provides as much a salve to ills of contemporary life as music or song.
In Our Era of Loss, Imbalance, and Malaise, Bach's Music Recenters, Restores, and Heals
Sean Duggan, OSB, is a monk of Saint Joseph Abbey in Covington, Louisiana, and a Professor of Music at SUNY Fredonia. He’s also a world-class pianist with a passion for J.S. Bach. Duggan discusses his attraction to Bach, the balance Bach offers to our topsy-turvy world, and Bach’s insistence on continually pointing away from himself to “something higher.” In this self-abnegation, Bach offers a clue to overcoming our contemporary sense of loss and malaise.
Telling Stories with Images: Memory and the Quest of History
Vincent Valdez, an artist based in Houston, has gained widespread critical acclaim for his provocative works that go against the grain of most contemporary art. Valdez discusses the “trauma of living in 21st-century America,” the challenge of being an American artist, and the solitude necessary to produce works that recover history and memory.
Reconnecting with Beauty in a Post-Pandemic World
Rene Paul Barrilleaux, Head of Curatorial Affairs at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, sees first-hand the impact of art on viewers. He talks about his struggles with words as a child, his turn to images, and art’s ability to “transport” viewers to a fuller reality, particularly after the constraints imposed by the worldwide pandemic.