What People Do

52: Gene Maxwell chills out with his music

Veterinarian Dr. Gene Maxwell remembers someone coming up to him after a show in his town where he’d played some easy-going tunes on his guitar, influenced by folk, country, bluegrass, jazz, whatever. And she said his music was relaxing. He was elated inside. Because that’s what sitting and playing guitar does for him today: The tones of the guitar relax him like a feedback loop of calm.  
He says everyone’s life at the veterinary hospital is better if he gets 20 minutes of guitar time in before showing up. And he’s never felt the pull to make his life all about the music. The guitars and the equipment to make those heart-pleasing tones sit around his house, and they’re there when he needs them. 
Find out what music on the side feels like to this practice-owning animal doctor. Have you neglected that little itch inside to get some deep-down healing from a strum, a blow, a hum, a chant, a thump? 
To Feed Further Curiosity: 
You can listen to the first album from the band that included Dr. Maxwell, The Company I Keep on Spotify and other streaming services right now. If you want a physical copy of that CD or the follow-up album, they're available $10 each from Dr. Maxwell himself; email him at imbcreative@yahoo.com It would mean a LOT to me if at LEAST one listener bought them the way I did. They're some of the last CDs I bought and held onto  ...   
Dr. Maxwell has very helpfully put his released solo stuff from the past few years on ReverbNation here. 

51: Gregory McBrayer studies Xenophon

I mean, he doesn’t just study Xenophon. Dr. Gregory McBrayer teacher political philosophy and international relations as Director, Core Curriculum, and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Ashland University.  
I’ve been on a kick lately reading excerpts from late-19th-early-20th century series. (Find my writing here.) And each time I wrap up a thinker, I thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be neat if I talked to somebody who knows that thinker better to see if my impressions were right, what I missed, and what cool rabbit trails other people fall down when it comes to that thinker?” 
And Dr. McBrayer very kindly agreed to answer some of my questions about Xenophon. The thinker seemed the most modern and readable to me, and Dr. McBrayer agrees. He loves Xenophon, which made this interview pop with enthusiasm for me. Especially interesting is his perspective on the ancient Greek. See, Xenophon was used by students for many, many years to learn and translate from. Why? It’s straight-forward. But Dr. McBrayer says, hey, sure, it’s straightforward and direct. And other folks think Xenophon was the “dumb jock” at the ancient Greek thinker table. But is there more to Xenophon than meets the eye? He sold me on it. Listen to the episode, and maybe you’ll be sold, too. We also talk American politics, touch on Plato and Aristotle, and have a good old time …  
To Feed Further Curiosity: 
A series of translations (Cornell University’s Agora Editions) of ancient and medieval works includes two Dr. McBrayer mentions. One is edited by him. The other he calls out as his favorite translation of Xenophon’s semi-fictional tale of Cyrus the Younger, which he recommends as folks’ gateway drug to the ancient Greek: 
The Shorter Writings by Xenophon, edited by Dr. McBrayer with one selection translated by him 
The Anabasis of Cyrus by Xenophon, translated by Wayne Ambler. 
Dr. McBrayer co-hosts a podcast with two scholarly friends titled The New Thinkery. The discussion wanders from sarcastic ribbing, funny philosophical observations, and very in-depth looks at both philosophy most would consider obscure (medieval Islam, for instance) as well as takes on more familiar films and literature. If you like smart-people-discussion podcasts and don’t mind lots of philosophical digressions and wanderings, then scroll through the titles and find a book, movie or topic you’re interested in and try it out. Dr. McBrayer’s co-hosts include David Bahr (editor of The American Mind) and University of Colorado, Boulder, professor Dr. Alex Priou.  
Dr. McBrayer is involved with the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, “an independent, non-partisan nonprofit with the mission of restoring and strengthening the capacities of the American people for constitutional self-government.” The website teachingamericanhistory.org eats up some of Dr. McBrayer’s time in his quest with others to offer primary documents of American history and government for the world to read online. 

50: Greg Kindred does commercial photography

This is my big Episode 50. That’s, like, a milestone, right? And it’s with a nice guy I know, so I like it even more.
I worked with Greg for years at a veterinary publishing and event company. Now, he’s working on revving up his business in commercial photography, which I think is interesting. What is commercial photography? In Greg's case, he specializes in tabletop product pics, headshots, and pet portraits. You know, not artsy-fartsy photographs (although he takes those, too, and they’re real purty), but work for businesses. The kind of shots that leave you smiling at an executive’s facial expression, or curious about a new beer, or intrigued by packaging of just about anything.
In this interview, he drops some tidbits about two basic mistakes people make taking amateur pictures at the end, so stay tuned  …
Audio note: Greg’s audio is a little crackly sometimes. Hey—nice guys and gals agree to record interviews with me remotely, and I don’t harangue them about their setup, alright? ALRIGHT? Love you all! :)
To Feed Further Curiosity:
You can find Greg Kindred Photography here. He takes good pictures of anything, he stays calm and collected, and he’s creative.
Here’s a pic of me and Greg with ex-co-workers with that company. I found it in the set of “Events" pics Greg has on the above website. He’s the tall guy in the shades far left. I’m the tall guy in the middle back with the mostly shaved head. We both have foam fingers because we rule. He looks about the same years later. I’ve chonked
Greg is planning to crowd-fund publishing costs for a book of Kansas City breweries. He’s already got interest from local retailers to sell it. I’ve seen the proof-of-concept book, and it’s awesome. I don’t care about beers or Kansas City that much (I’m from Cali, so sue me), but the book is really pretty and interesting. Hurry up, Greg.

49: Nick Grabbe knows David Grayson’s secret

I stumbled onto the writing of David Grayson as I reflected on my (sometimes) daily reading of The University Library. Grayson's way of seeing the good in people and letting curiosity turn his feelings of urban oppression into natural wonder were inspiring. Open, curious conversations with people are kind of what this podcast is about. 
So, I went on the hunt for someone to talk to about the guy whose method of talking to people was so inspiring. 
And I found Nick Grabbe (grab-AY). Nick worked for decades as a journalist in Amherst, Massachusetts. Born in Washington, D.C., and custom-built to work as a big-city journalist, Grabbe turned to what he calls “simple living” in the small Massachusetts town he moved to. That’s what Grayson himself extolled for many years in his columns written for newspapers in the early 20th century. 
But, it turns out … there was no David Grayson. It was a pseudonym. Who was this Grayson guy? Grabbe will explain. And along the way he’ll tell us about journalism and the appeal of a less hectic way of life—both of which held Grayson’s attention, too, as you’ll discover ... 
More to see: 
Want to learn more about a simple-living, small-town-focused journalist’s career? Buy Nick's self-published Print and Privilege: Newspaper Writer Tells His Story (2021, Off the Common Books). 
Do you want to try out a David Grayson book, or an essay or character study or two?
Gutenberg’s offerings (website)
Internet Archive’s offerings; just ignore the ones that look newer (website)
Read more from David and his wife on the simple-living blog Adventures in the Good Life.
If we have titillated your curiosity, you can learn more from an online exhibit about Grayson and an event Nick spoke at. The website features photos and letters like the ones Grabbe references in this podcast.
Read Nick’s entire essay/speech/presentation on Grayson he delivered at the event referenced above.

48: Noah Aronson makes musical moments

I met Noah when he came to a big synagogue in the Kansas City Metro and spent a weekend with us there. I was teaching kids songs every Sunday, so he trooped around with me and my brilliant guitar-playing assistant and interacted with every age group with us during the day. He says in this podcast that he loves getting down with the kids on the ground and interacting with them in the moment, and that is exactly what I remember most about his presence: He was right there with you. 
I still play a few of his songs, old and new, at my current Sunday School gig, and I always loved his energy and … really, his being he brings during music. And that’s funny, because he plays with my opening question. I tell guests, “You’ll start with, ‘I’m BLAH, and I do BLAH.’” And, well, he takes me literally. But then he gets on a philosophizing train in the moment about how “I am” can be so powerful—what we tell people about ourselves, how we feel about ourselves, what we really are. And he comes to a much wider statement when he gets to the end of it here, and I dug it. 
Then we go on to talk about how Noah got into music, got into Jewish music, got into and out of rabbinic school, and got into his current place. He still makes Jewish music. He still visits and works with synagogues. But he’s dipped back into his old love of theater recently, and he took the COVID break from shul-touring to make a new, different kind of music, which he’ll talk about here. 
Anyway, I always wanted to find out how Noah got started and why he does what he does in his way. And he very kindly told me. And now you.  
If you like his vibe, you'll also like him here: 
> M.O.V.E., a BeMajor Production by Noah Aronson, on Apple Music, Spotify, or in his album release concert on YouTube 
> The BeMajor Podcast, with links here 
> BeMajor, which offers Noah’s guidance on music in wellbeing, music theory, songwriting, and more 
He doesn’t market these in this podcast, but I wanted you to know, if you like him, there’s more to like. 
P.S. This is two podcasts in a row where something was a little wonky about the audio. In this case, Noah sounds fabulous, and I sound scratchy/staticky. Thankfully, I shut my piehole most of the podcast. 
P.P.S. My old boss in her new career as kick-ass executive coach is thinking about healthy feedback right now, and so my last question was about feedback. His answers were great. Thanks for the question, Marnette. 

Episode 47: Jeremy Black on Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, and more

Recently retired history professor Jeremy Black was very gracious in allowing me to interview a while back about something I was curious about: war. Black has written many, many books, and a darn big pile of them specifically about military conflicts. His historic perspective—looking at how many common narratives about why wars start and how they’re won are often wrong—was amazingly refreshing, but … we’re not here to talk war. 
We’re here to talk morality. Religion. And detective fiction. 
Black has just published two new books on Sherlock Holmes (The Game Is Afoot: The Enduring World of Sherlock Holmes; Rowman & Littlefield, 2022) and Agatha Christie (The Importance of Being Poirot; St. Augustine's Press, 2022). Any fan of either, or detective fiction in general, surely will delight in the perspective of a history-trained literary appreciator (is that a word?) of the books. I’ve read a little Arthur Conan Doyle and none at all of Christie, but talking to him for a little while inspired me to do more of both and to take seriously the visions of society, morality and theology inside the works and, for sure, inside the writers’ own intentions and lives. 

Episode 46: Deana Weibel, PhD, studies space and religion

Two things everywhere around us: Religion. Space.
But most people don’t bring them together.
Scientists unhappy with religion shake their head at our species’ small-minded tribal violence that bubbles up in religious conflict or old-fashioned “sky daddy” thinking. Religionists unhappy with science shake their head at scientism’s obsessive materialism and lack of answers and responses to our very human needs to understand, to be comforted, to be awed.
Now that the two strawmen/women are out of the way, most of us can acknowledge religion doesn’t end at the atmosphere, and space is as even more of a wild testimony to the universe’s wonder and the necessity of the “why?” questions that, sometimes, are best discussed and studied in the social sciences. 
Blah blah blah, from me. Let’s talk Deana Weibel, PhD (DEE-nuh WHY-bull). She’s a professor in both the Anthropology and Religious Studies departments at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. She studies sacred spaces, including sacred spaces and people’s relationships to those places. She came up to me at Spaceport America as a visiting anthropologist observing and asking questions of folks like me there, who were waiting to see if their friends’ and family members’ remains would go up on a rocket. They didn’t. She wanted to ask me a few questions about Judaism and space (I didn’t have good answers). But I snuck her my card to interview her for my podcast, because when you’re confronted with an anthropologist who studies religion and space, you want to know more. 
Cool claim to fame: Dr. Weibel wrote a paper about what she calls the ultraview effect. The Overview Effect is one name for what astronauts say they experience when they look out at Earth from above and get a new, powerful perspective on humanity and our small planet. Weibel heard another astronaut talk about an experience of fear and awe that came with looking out at the stars in the other direction, causing “a transformative sense of incomprehension and a feeling or shrinking or self-diminution.” Anyway, the Brit-rock band Kasabian recorded a song called “T.U.E. (The Ultraview Effect),” which appears on their 2022 album. And the lyrics do talk about perspective, so it sounds like song and idea are intertwined. We get into the ultraview effect, but not the song, in this podcast. 
So, settle back and let’s study the stars … or strap in, we’re going for a rocket ride … whatever metaphor you like … where does religious yearning meet with space exploration … ? 
P.S. There’s a tinny vibration in some of the audio here. Apologies. Don’t hate me. I can’t afford this genius for every podcast, alright? 

Episode 45: Georgios on the novel-like stories of Thucydides

Last month, we heard from academic Joel Schlosser on Herodotus, inspired by my own blog on some excerpts.
Now, a nice Redditor, Georgios from Greece who's read all of Thucydides agreed to discuss the ancient historian with me. We wander close to Thucydides and far afield, but most of all his enthusiasm, enjoyment and sense of humor about the principal characters and events from these old battles and political intrigues made our chat sparkle.
Interested in slowly reading ancient works with Georgios? Check out his Aristotle Study Group here.

Episode 44: Joel Schlosser on how Herodotus can help us today (and other lessons from the ancient Greek historian)

I have started reading a new set of old excerpted classics, this one gathering writers’ bits and baubles into generally geographic volumes: Greece, Rome, the British Isles, etc. I also write about them. (I write about another set here.)
The first selection in the first volume comes from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. (You can read my thoughts here.) 
Much sharper than my own thoughts, however, are the thoughts of political theorist and Bryn Mawr professor Joel Schlosser, writer of Herodotus in the Anthropocene (The University of Chicago Press, 2020). Schlosser explores exactly what I felt reading Herodotus and what I hope anyone exploring the ancients today wants: something relevant to them now. 
In our chat, Joel answers burning questions I had about Herodotus, his own personal experience discovering the ancient historian, and, most important, what we can learn right now about how we think about the world and our place in it. 
Herodotus tried to figure out how the ancient Egyptians dug canals, built great buildings, and won and lost wars. And, most of all, why his Greek world was the way it was after the great battles between Persians and Greeks. Be just as curious as Herodotus! Listen ... 
P.S. If you’re taken by Schlosser’s observations, buy his book and enjoy, also, a few of his blog posts from the past few years as he worked on it: 
“While I imagined myself in conversation with Herodotus, wondering what he’d make of the anarchists’ message of radical equality – was it an update of Herodotean isêgoria, the equal voice he viewed as central to Athens’ flourishing? – I gazed upon the Acropolis with humbled amazement.” (link) 
“Herodotus writes for an audience. He wants us to lose ourselves in the story and then to its comedy.” (link) 
“Herodotus talks of the phoenix, which immolates itself only to be reborn from its ashes, as well as crocodiles and the special burials Egyptians give to their victims.” (link) 
“Herodotus exemplified a form of inquiry that was broad-minded and imaginative in ways Thucydides simply wasn’t.” (link) 

Episode 43: Kit Smith is an early childhood educator

Kit Smith is one of the most confident, stable and exuberant kindergarten teachers I've had the pleasure to work with. (We cross paths in a local synagogue's Sunday School).
She's now eyeing a well-deserved retirement from decades of educational work at a private school and her regular Sunday School gig with me.
I absolutely needed to talk to her about how she became a teacher, what teaching means to her, what her teaching philosophy is, what is most exhilarating about working with small children, and what has been the toughest part (hint: not the kids).
If you're interested in education and little kids, this is a must-listen.