Spring is here, after a long, hard winter. More trees will be will be growing leaves in Bloomington this year, thanks to Canopy Bloomington’s regular schedule of planting as well as its new Cool Corridors program. Staffers, board members, and community volunteers for the nonprofit were out in force in the Crestmont neighborhood this past weekend, digging holes, putting in trees, and educating neighbors on care and maintenance for the new plantings. Canopy faces reduced federal funding this year but Hartman and Vickers remain optimistic that its goals can be reached.

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

Artists need help — and who better to help them than other artists? That’s one of the goals of the Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington. Charles Pearce was named the organization’s first executive director in December and it holds its annual meeting tomorrow at Fountain Square. The public is invited and will get the chance to see what the AAGB is up to and to meet and network with artists from many disciplines.

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

Singer/songwriter Krista Detor so enjoyed her experience at Hedgebrook, the women artists’ retreat on Whidbey Island, that she was inspired to create something like it when she got back home to Bloomington. She and musician/sound engineer David Weber set about the task of creating a small complex of rooms and studios for creative types of all genders and identities on their 50-acre tract of wooded land north of the city. The Hundredth Hill will host a wide variety of residencies including writers, musicians, actors and many more this year.

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

Their three-year term leading Indiana University’s Cultural Studies Program is coming to an end. Rebekah Sheldon and Tess Given are going out with a bang with Bikini Kill guitarist and self-described “cultural instigator,” Erica Dawn Lyle, speaking at their February lecture series installment. They’ve organized a two-day Cinema and Extinction Symposium this month as well. The lecture series and the symposium are open to the public and free. Sheldon and Given both like to explore ecological futures through the lens of speculative fiction and scifi.

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

She started out on a lark to design an outfit, never expecting her entry to be accepted, and soon found herself on stage, modeling her own creation. Sophia Wang designed and modeled in 2023 and 2024 and this year is handling social media management and marketing for the Trashion Refashion runway show. The 16th annual event this year will take place April 13th at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. We also include a snippet of conversation from our 2022 conversation with artist David Ebbinghouse, himself a regular participant in the festivities.

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

A formally-trained singer in her own right, Suzanne Ryan-Melamed has guided Bloomington Early Music since 2022. Since that year, the annual Bloomington Early Music Festival has embraced a variety of worldwide cultures and populations that aren’t commonly associated with medieval, Renaissance, or Baroque music. This year’s fest, featuring live performances, artists’ discussions, and educational workshops, focuses on Early Music in the African Diaspora.

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

Inspired by his mother, 1980s disco hitmaker Roni Griffith, Caleb Ely dropped out of college to pursue a music career. Beginning as a DJ and then taking on audio production duties, he created streaming hits that have garnered millions of clicks. Ely (pronounced EE-lee) taught himself how to play musical instruments even as he mastered the hardware and software to produce digital sounds. Ely has authored the book, “100 Million Streams: How to Break Into the Music Industry.”

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

A stained glass window in an historic York cathedral inspired Shannon Gayk to devote her studies to Middle English literature. She found that the people who lived nearly a millennium ago in what became modern-day England were concerned with ecological disaster and climate change just as the people of 2025 are. Her new book, “Apocalyptic Ecologies: From Creation to Doom in Middle English Literature,” was published by the University of Chicago Press last month. An Indiana University professor of English, Gayk (rhymes with bike) introduces drama, humor, and irony in her classrooms demonstrations.

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

When he first came to Bloomington, Peter Dorfman didn’t much care about day-to-day neighborhood issues. Then he heard of an outside consultant’s recommendation that would completely transform the community that drew him here in the first place. Dorfman was inspired to start Bloomington Dissident Democrats, an informal citizen-based advocacy and venting group. BDD has since taken up new conflicts like annexation.

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

We conclude our look back at last year’s guests as we revisit our conversations with Pam Raider of the Brown County Hour; Jill Vance, interpretive naturalist at Lake Monroe; Terry Sloan, guerrilla publisher of Poetry to the People; and author Claire Arbogast.

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