Between the Levees

Charlie Kulage joins me again to continue our conversation about his life and career. He shares more industry memories and insights, a few more sea stories, and touches on personal traumas, substance abuses, and mental health as he bears his heart and soul for his son and for his friends in and out of the industry.

This first of two visits with former Captain Charlie Kulage Sr. is immeasurably different from that to which my viewers and listeners may have become accustomed by now. In this episode, Charlie shares stories about a tumultuous childhood that ended on a US Navy ship in the North Arabian Gulf. He finds opportunity within the industry after being discharged from the Navy and navigates his way into the wheelhouse and through a 26-year career. He resigned his position and left the industry about 4 years ago for reasons covered in great detail herein.

I present this candid moment with Charlie as a prelude to the 3-and-a-half hours of conversation we share that are due to publish this weekend. He touches on an array of topics that are discussed in depth in the full-length episodes. Please consider this a warning for language throughout as we explore some rather heavy topics.

As we meander through a few more choice memories of his 47-year career on the water, Captain Greer shares with me a story he meant to tell in a previous meeting. We hear about the Professional Mates from the old steamboat days, and about flanking the Vicksburg Bridge. We close on a few final questions about Chief Engineers and Good Cooks.

Retired Captain David Greer, a true river historian passionate about nature, and with nearly five decades on the water, joins me on the show to share stories about a career that began after college in the early 70s and lasted until he stepped off the boat for the final time in 2020. He talks through the rich history of the industry and the physical geographies and engineering efforts that sustain the industry we all know and love. It seems he remembers more than I've ever known, and offers a great many insights on a vast array of industry topics.

If you have any questions for Captain Greer, please email the show @ [email protected].

As a prelude to a weekend featuring Captain David Greer's life and career, we touch here on the evolution of industry and technology since the late 40s in the United States and across the world, and the ways in which he's seen the human capacities for cognition and communication change over nearly 8 decades.

Training Specialist Jonathan Poulsen joins me on the show to tell about his journey from passenger vessels in Pittsburgh to the deck of an inland towboat, becoming a licensed tankerman, and making the jump shoreside into his present role in a very young career on the water.

Capt. Brian Brown, a SUNY Maritime graduate that got his start with Kirby 17 years ago, joins me on the show to talk through his life and career behind the sticks and in the ditch. Now with Enterprise Marine in the Houston area, he shares stories about storms, fog, time shoreside, and offers ideas about how his Alma Mater could better prepare American mariners for the brown water world.

I'm joined on the show by the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, sitting President and Executive Director of Seamen's Church Institute. We discuss the history of SCI from its origins in New York Harbor in 1834 to what it has become today. He also shares a few stories about his time in the U.S. Navy and about his various introductions to, and professional experiences with, the many aspects of the American maritime industry. We close with a look ahead to what's in store for the industry in the years to come.