He experienced one tragedy that nearly cost him his arm and witnessed a second, fatal, tragedy. The incidents forced Bert Gilbert to assess his life. He opted to dive deep into his untapped reservoir of creativity. He was a construction contractor by day (now retired) and an artist and poet in his spare time. Gilbert now devotes all his days to making art in a variety of media. Several of Gilbert’s sculptures are on display at the Sculpture Trails Outdoor Museum near Solsberry.

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

Minka Wiltz will be telling a story this coming Saturday at The Hundredth Hill’s Tale Blazing fireside storytelling event. Sponsored by MDWST Fable, Tale Blazing will feature five creative raconteurs moving around campfires for an evening of woodsy community and Fall frolic. Wiltz, originally from Georgia, has experience as an opera singer, a composer, an actor, a standup comedian, and so much more.

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

She wondered, Why couldn’t the visual artists of Bloomington, in all their different genres, get together for a community-building exercise? So, Babette Ballinger founded the Bloomington Paint Out. Artists of any level of proficiency, from professionals to wannabes, will gather Saturday at Bryan Park for the fourth annual celebration of en plein-air painting, drawing, watercoloring, and any other medium to create images of the town. Ballinger was a successful apparel designer, now retired, and is a member of several local artists’ groups.

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

The folks at Stages Bloomington take the old movie line, “Hey kids, let’s put on a show,” seriously. Stages is a local nonprofit that specializes in bringing young people — elementary and high school aged — into the theater. Annalise Cain has been hired as the organization’s teen programming coordinator. Cain, a former theater kid herself, works hand-in-hand with teens to develop and refine theatrical productions. Stages will present a new musical workshop presentation, “Nevere’s Love Potion,” Friday & Saturday, October 3rd & 4th.

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

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.