A Line Around Your Thoughts

• Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of ⁠⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠⁠.
• Engage with ALAYT on ⁠⁠⁠Mastodon⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠.

Colin Manikoth, an assistant professor in the Department of Design at Eastern Washington University, joins us this week.

The discussion touches on Colin's field of user experience (UX) design in addition to universal design principles, human-centered design and, of course, AI.

• Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of ⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠.
• Engage with ALAYT on ⁠⁠Mastodon⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

This week, we're talking with printmakers Reinaldo Gil Zambrano and Madeline E. Goolie (aka MEG).

We explore their processes, their inspiration as well as the many ways that the public can engage with printmaking locally. That includes, among many other things, the upcoming Spokane Print Fest (Apr. 4–18, 2026) and MEG's "UNTAMED" exhibition at the Entropy Gallery in May.

33 Artists Market returns to the podcast, now under the stewardship of this week's guests, Scott and Irene Kelly.

The pair shed some light on why the popular multi-vendor event has changed hands and what they've got planned for the future — including their upcoming March 28, 2026 market.

As artists themselves, Irene and Scott also talk about their respective backgrounds in weaving and digital art.

• Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of ⁠our Patreon community⁠.
• Engage with ALAYT on ⁠Mastodon⁠, ⁠Bluesky⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠.

This week we're in conversation with Greg Bem, a poet, community college librarian and the founder of Carbonation Press.

Carbonation is a small, local literary publisher with a catalogue of about 20 titles so far. Two recent titles get special focus here: the bilingual poetry anthology Somos ajolotes (We Are Axolotls) and the Spokane-centric poetry anthology Down River, Deep Root.

We also make a brief foray into another of Greg's ventures, the multidisciplinary event series called Foray for the Arts.

• Join the conversation and support A Line Around Your Thoughts as part of our Patreon community.
• Engage with ALAYT on Mastodon, Bluesky and Instagram.

This week we're on location at the Eastern Washington University Art Gallery to chat with visiting textile artists Meagan Smith and Allyce Wood.

Meagan weaves using modern digital tools to create visually striking pieces, whereas Allyce often incorporates materials and methods in her work that have personal or traditional significance.

Their joint exhibition "Tidal Loop" runs at the EWU gallery until April 3, 2026.

The two artists discuss some of their exhibition pieces and weaving as a practice before fielding Lightning Round questions on heaven and lame superpowers.

• Keep these conversations going by becoming a part of the ALAYT Patreon community.
• Interested in becoming an episode or season sponsor? Reach out to us via our website.

This year's Spokane International Film Festival (SpIFF) runs from March 6 to 8, 2026.The festival includes over one dozen feature films plus live interviews and blocks of themed programming like Worlds of Animation, Queer Shorts, Best of the Northwest and the new Docs and Donuts series.Aaron Spickelmire, a longtime SpIFF planner and coordinator, talks about some of this year's special premieres and events.

Liz Hooker and Dave Aaron join us for this week's episode. Liz is the vice president of marketing and programming for the Downtown Spokane Partnership, and Dave is a local visual artist.They came in to talk about a new initiative that the DSP launched earlier this year called First Friday Face-Off.The monthly event has two artists independently create an original themed work in front of a live audience over the course of about two hours. The audience votes in real time for their favorite piece.Liz talks about the event itself, and Dave speaks to his unique experience in the inaugural First Friday Face-Off back in January.The next First Friday Face-Off is coming up on March 6. Its theme is "Women of Spokane History."

Time's running out, so be sure to vote for A Line Around Your Thoughts as Best Local Podcast in the Inlander's Best of 2026 poll before February 17!

This week we're sitting down with Tanya Morton, the executive artistic director of Spokane Children's Theatre.

In her role, Tanya has been working to cultivate a positive environment for kids, collaborate with other theaters and expand SCT's programming as well as its footprint. And she has some big news to share on that front.

Tanya also talks about upcoming SCT shows and the prep that the theater is doing for its 80th season.

On this week's episode, Spokane Poet Laureate Mery Noel Smith assures us that the kids are alright.

During her two-year tenure so far, she's spearheaded several programs to get poetry into the hands and hearts of children as well as young adults — including her most recent initiative, the selection of Spokane's first-ever Youth Poet Laureate.

Mery sheds some light on some of those programs and discusses unconventional spaces that have proven good platforms for poetry, such as farmers markets and an upcoming Inland Sessions performance on KSPS.

Support A Line Around Your Thoughts on Patreon! Visit ⁠our Patreon community⁠ to learn more.

Our guest this week is the Sandpoint-based singer, songwriter and visual artist Dario Ré.

Dario performs locally both under his own name and with the ensemble Heat Speak. His music is an eclectic and inventive mix of chamber folk, world fusion, indie pop and, of late, electronic.

We talk about that melange, including some recent singles and albums, as well as the growing divergence between his solo and band music. We also get into a frank discussion about his preferred mode of support, the patronage model.

Dario performs with Heat Speak at the Listening Room on March 28, and in June he has an exhibition at the Entropy Gallery in downtown Spokane.