He has designed a public scratching post made of pumice and a time capsule encased in 10 pounds of beeswax. Artist and industrial designer Maxwell Fertik came from heavily forested New England and, there, learned to appreciate and love natural materials. He specializes in transforming material from local biota into usable items and art that celebrates the environment. Fertik’s co-exhibit with painter Meg Lagodzki, no_innocent_landscape, runs from September 5th through October 31st at the Process Gallery in IU’s Cook Center.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

A hot August week 57 years ago. Thousands of protesters took to the street during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. They faced off against thousands of Chicago police officers and Illinois National Guardsmen. Blood was drawn as the whole world watched. Aaron Cohen, a 15-year-old from the comfortable suburb of Winnetka was there, along with two siblings, brought by their parents. It was his parents’ way of teaching the kids civics as well as the imperative to stand up for what is right. It wouldn’t be the last time Cohen took to the streets.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

The five scariest words in Bloomington: The students are coming back!

Author, artist, and PR maven Tristra Newyear joins us on Big Talk to discuss the coming 2025-26 school year at Indiana University. We ponder a complaint seemingly common to every lecturer and professor — students can’t read or write anymore. Is traditional literacy being replaced by a new type of communication, one based on visual  cues or some other as-yet recognized way of getting ideas across? Plus, we riff on the usual litany of townie grievances and grousings at this time of year: parking, obstacle course driving, packed stores, and more.

This episode aired Thursday, August 21, 2025.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

We turn the tables this week as author, historian, artist, and PR maven Tristra Newyear interviews Big Talk producer and host Michael Glab. They discuss the July 10th, 2025 benefit celebration for WFHB at The Bluebird. It’s been 50 years since Mark Hood and Jeffrey Morris staged the first benefit at The Bluebird for Bloomington community radio. Newyear and Glab also talk about the WFHB history project, a book-length retelling of the radio station’s story.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

The Busman’s Holiday boys, Lewis & Addison Rogers, have released a new album, Table Talk, this past June. Now in their 20th year performing together, the Busman’s boys will stage a gala album release show in September with special guest bestselling poet and author Ross Gay. The Rogers sibs’ music takes a bit of a turn this time around as they get a little more blues–y and rock-y.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

She realized how inadequate her formal sex education had been when she took a Biology & Culture of Women’s Bodies course at Indiana University. Indiana schools prioritize abstinence over information when it comes to school sex education classes. Christine Brackenhoff, a nurse formerly with the Monroe County Health Department’s now-closed Futures Family Planning Clinic, interviews people about their sex education experiences in a new podcast, Hoosier Sex Talks.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

We pick up our conversation with Dave Askins, citizen-journalist and the outsider on the inside, who has resurrected his B Square Bulletin. He hopes to create a 21st century online daily local newspaper employing reporters and photographers covering a wide range of beats. He aims to establish a nonprofit corporation so he can solicit financial support for his operation.

This episode aired Thursday, June 19, 2025.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

He thought he’d had enough back in December 2024, so Dave Askins quit publishing his daily B Square Bulletin. After two months, he was back on the beat with an idea for a bigger, better online local news publication. Now publishing two or three times a week, Askins aims to fashion a more comprehensive daily online “newspaper.” He’s hiring interns, putting out the call for other citizen journalists, and hopes to create a nonprofit corporation to help finance his proposed operation. This is part one of a two part interview. Tune in next week for part two.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

For decades now, public libraries have been more — much more — than places where you can only borrow books. Libraries’ collections now include items from baking dishes to pickleball sets and even to seeds for your garden. The Monroe County Public Library’s Library of Things (its formal title) is the repository of the almost innumerable such stuff. Lisa Champelli is the Collections Manager for MCPL and must curate the library’s veritable warehouse of things.

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

It was a silly film but Ian Mair was inspired by it. The Linton, Indian native saw “Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein” when he was a third grader. He’s been making movies ever since. Mair and his school chum James Stevenson went on to found Moonlight Films, a cinema factory that’s put out more than 20 movies so far. Armed with a new national distribution deal, Mair and company aim to be recognized, “The Kings of Micro-Budget Horror.”

Host Michael Glab chats with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.