Born and raised in the middle of Siberia, Daryana Antipova comes from a singing family. Her family band, Vedan Kolod, has played throughout Russia and the rest of Europe. She co-founded an influential Russian folk music organization and is the author of three published young adult novels. Antipova was bound and determined to come to the United States and spent years and plenty of money trying to do so before finally settling in Bloomington.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

She’s appeared before audiences since she was three years old, when she dashed onstage, unbidden, during a Shakespeare production in Leningrad. Kate Weber arrived in Bloomington from Russia and other outposts, including a 15-year stretch in New York City theater. She, her husband Jeremy Weber, and Konnor Graber have co-founded Eclipse Theater Productions here. Kate is directing a production of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” at the Constellation Playhouse. The show closes this weekend.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

Was it just luck that his given name is a mash-up of two Bloomington streets? Woodlawn is becoming this town’s Matt Groening, taking real people — politicians, sports stars, entertainers, and more — and fictionalizing their foibles. He’s the editor-in -chief of the local satiric website, Limestone Ledger, and has been lovingly skewering people, places, and events around these parts since 2023.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

Author Julia Karr has been presenting a series of writers workshops at the Owen County Public Library in Spencer, Indiana. Karr wrote the XVI trilogy, dystopian fantasy novels set around the year 2150. These young adult books portray a world where teenaged girls are told their only worth is as sex objects. One girl attempts to undermine that message. Karr offers exercises, tips, and guidance for both brand new and experienced writers.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

Science isn’t just for scientists. That’s what Erika Biga Lee realized during a scientific conference some 20 years ago. The IU Luddy School senior lecturer on computer technology with interests in journalism and education learned about Cafe Scientifique at the conference and decided to bring the informal, public discussion of scientific matters to Bloomington. Europe’s Cafe Scientifique morphed into the US’s network of Science Cafes in cities from coast to coast. Biga Lee claims Bloomington’s version is the second oldest in the country.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

Like many creative folks in recent years, LuAnne Holladay felt a need for comfort and relief from the unending stream of disturbing world and national news. She hoped to create a simple, collaborative project that would allow people to create, to breathe. She came up with “Give Your Word,” a crowdsourced, ephemeral accordion book on which people riff and draw on a series of single words. The idea for the book came together during Holladay’s participation in a “9×9” daylong retreat at The Hundredth Hill.

This episode aired Thursday, February 19, 2026.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

The co-founders of MDWST Fable, “a benevolent conspiracy aimed at promoting more interaction and collaboration across arts, ideas, and media in Southern Indiana,” are staging an interactive exhibit probing the ways artists and the community seek solace and comfort in these turbulent times. Trista Newyear is an author and historian and is the lead writer for Rock Paper Scissors. Matt Rice is a  creative director for Blueline Media. The two last fall staged the second annual Tale Blazing event at The Hundredth Hill. Their Solace exhibit will be at the Pillar Arts Alliance Center in the College Mall in April.

This episode aired Thursday, February 12, 2026.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

One of Bloomington’s beloved and definitive characters, Dan “Carp” Combs died suddenly at home earlier this month. We sat with the long-time Perry Township trustee in November 2016. The last of a breed who describe themselves as “FDR Democrats,” he was a teacher, a public servant, and a refreshing straight-talker. Combs viewed himself as a raconteur and a “hilljack.”

This episode aired Thursday, January 22, 2026.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

Not only is the nation gripped by polarization these days but so are the worlds of science and higher education. Traditional scientists tend to thumb their noses at those who call for scholarly inquiry into subjects such as astral projection, extrasensory perception, hauntings, UFOs, seances and mediumship, and so many more. The two Indiana University professors hope to bridge the gap with a three-evening series of events called Weird Academia later this month. Ford has co-hosted the podcast Weird Science for eight years and Foster co-directs both The Center for Possible Minds and the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.

We remember a Bloomington titan.

Hosts Michael Glab and Tristra Newyear chat with Bloomington’s most fascinating people.