When Anna Stamm was a little girl, she watched B-movies on TV with her father. She wondered how and why TV stations picked movies to air. Her curiosity has led her to pursue her doctorate in local broadcast history. Bloomington was home to one of the key figures in television and radio, Sarkes Tarzian. Stamm talks about his role in media history.

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

The second part of our conversation with minister, activist, antiwar protester, and advocate for death row inmates, the Rev. Bill Breeden. He earned national notoriety when he swiped an Odon, Indiana street sign honoring President Ronald Reagan’s national security advisor and Odon native, John Poindexter. Breeden began evangelical preaching at the age of 15 and eventually became a pastor in Bloomington’s Unitarian Universalist Church.  Retired now, he’s working on his memoir titled “Billy Pilgrim and the Black Female Jesus.”

This episode originally aired May 15, 2025.

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

He went from being a teenaged country preacher to protesting war and ministering to death row prisoners. Now retired, the Rev. Bill Breeden has lived a wild, loving, socially conscious life. He’s spent time in American jails and a foreign dungeon. He’s stolen street signs and lived in a tepee. None other than Kurt Vonnegut dubbed him a “holy clown.” Part 2 will air next week.

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

We began to explore the iconic musician, producer, engineer, and anti-star’s Bloomington roots and his sojourns to Los Angeles, New York City, and New Orleans last week. Bingham’s back in town now, having served in a “musical boot camp” while performing at the Orbit Room this spring. This edition of Big Talk originally aired Thursday, May 1, 2025.

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

He’s back in Bloomington, for the nonce, after sojourns through Los Angeles, New York City, and New Orleans, among other ports of call. The one-time member of the storied Bloomington prog-rock band, Screaming Gypsy Bandits, former principal of the innovative, experimental Bar-B-Q Records label, and a key figure in the origin story of WFHB, Bingham has spent a lifetime tilting against the celebrity-driven music industry even as he made a living recording — and playing with — some of its biggest stars. Part 2 of our conversation will air next week.

This edition of Big Talk aired Thursday, April 24, 2025.

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

The co-founder of Ledgemule Press, Dave Torneo, has published Cincinnati poet Matt Hart’s latest volume of verse, Falling Fine, under the Pickpocket Books imprint. The book’s release party will feature an imaginative overhead-projector puppet show by artist and educator Johanna Winters, as well as music performed by several local players. Winters’ puppetry will explore the feelings of embarrassment and pleasure in women who enter middle age.

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

She’s Bloomington’s Trans-dimensional Diva. She lives in the vestibule of a North Walnut Street portal to other realities. And she’ll be hosting the Alternate Dimension Mill, Saturday, April 19, at the Monroe County Public Library auditorium. McGee, a veteran of stage and small screen, has immersed herself in the imaginary Bloomingtons created by MDWST Fable, producer of the event that will feature performers and speakers representing a myriad of possible Bloomingtons. They’ll riff on how creatives and imagineers can work together to create a hopeful, more productive town.

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

The former guest host of Big Talk is wearing a new hat these days. Tying together his love for comedy, sports, and Bloomington, Alex Ashkin has organized a fundraising event to benefit both Middle Way House and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington. He has reeled in Jared Thompson of the Comedy Attic, New York and LA comedian Tom Thakkar, and the people who run the new Dave & Buster’s on the east side for the event April 22nd. Participants pay an entry fee to compete in a basketball free throw shooting contest. All proceeds will be split evenly between the two long-standing local social service organizations.

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

A Bloomington tradition now in its fourth year, the Bloomington Indiana International Film Festival will draw cinephiles to Redbud Books and The Bishop Bar Thursday through Saturday, April 3-5. Matt Rice, who wrangles the filmmakers and emcees panel discussions between showings, joins Big Talk this week. Founded by local hero Byron Jordan Wolter, the BIIFF this year attracted some 200 entries from around the world.

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

This week’s Big Talk is a sheer gabfest with retired Indiana University professor and internationally recognized expert on movies, James Naremore. He’s written countless books on cinema and has appeared on numerous Criterion Collection editions, analyzing and commenting on such classics as “Citizen Kane” and “The Magnificent Ambersons.” Naremore has written and lectured extensively on film noir even as he admits he cannot really define the genre. He also admits he was afraid to take a shower for a long time after seeing “Psycho” on the big screen.

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