Book Review: Kelly Blewett reviews What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life by Rutgers University Poetry Professor Mark Doty.

David Lewis shares the story of Sam Ash , not the name on the music stores, but the 19 th century Campbell County-born recording pioneer and movie actor.

Tracy Wilson has seen tremendous changes in Cincinnati’s arts community and the neighborhood surrounding Music Hall in her 35 years with the Cincinnati Opera . She’s with our Anne Arenstein for a conversation about her career and her current work as their Director of Community Engagement and Education.

Geoffrey Woolf is the Dean of Humanities and Sciences at Cincinnati State and Technical College and a published poet. His newest collection is called Fontaine's Golden Wheel Fortune Teller and Dream Book , published by Dos Madres Press, and he joins our Barbara Gray for a conversation about these new poems.

Starting a new arts initiative during a pandemic and civil unrest may seem incongruous, but local actor Candice Handy saw an opportunity to showcase some of the best local talent in an online forum. She’s with Rick Pender to talk about the Cincinnati Black Theatre Artist Collective ’ s mission and online offerings.

Book Review: Roberta Schultz reviews Kentucky native J. Todd Scott’ s newest crime novel, Lost River .

Stuart Holman is not only one of Around Cincinnati's contributors, but also an accomplished guitarist. In this commentary, Stuart shares the inspirational story of how he, as a beginning guitarist, idolized Lonnie Mack and his legendary guitar style, and later got to perform on stage with him.

Since 1979, musician Mickey Foellger of the band Wheels has been in possession of tapes from the band’s performances at Shipley’s in Clifton. Now, with the help of his bandmates, they’ve mastered these tapes into a double album that’s scheduled for release on August 1. Elaine Diehl talks with Mickey and Jeffrey Seeman about the Wheels days, and the story behind Wheels Backstage: LIVE 11.3.79 .

Anne Arenstein welcomes Sheila Williams , a Northern Kentucky-based author and librettist. She talks about her latest novel, The Secret Women , and the opera “Fierce,” that will be presented by the Cincinnati Opera in 2021.

Don Heinrich Tolzmann is a local historian and author of four books on our area’s long, rich brewing heritage. He shares some of the stories of the beer barons and their brews in this conversation with Rick Pender.