Documentary filmmaker Mitch Teplitsky discovered Spencer in Owen County one day as he and his wife took a Sunday drive. He was drawn to its picturesque square and its civic-minding people. Then he learned about Spencer Pride and the town’s reputation as a rural center for LGBTQI people and their allies. He’s approaching the finish line for his documentary on the people and the town.

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

The second half of our conversation with Peter Lopilato, founder of The Ryder magazine and the Ryder Film Series. Peter died in March this year and will be long remembered for his contributions to the Bloomington arts and culture scene. Peter joined us in 2016 in the WFHB studios for an interview that became part of a short feature for the Daily Local News. We spoke for an hour and so now are able to present that entire conversation in this two-part Big Talk.

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

The founder of the Ryder magazine and the Ryder Film Series, Peter Lopilato helped define Bloomington’s arts and culture scene for nearly half a century. Peter died in March, 2024. He visited the WFHB studios in 2016 to record a short Daily Local News feature. Now, we present that entire interview, nearly an hour long, this week and next. This two-part Big Talk will explore the life and times of Peter and the history of the magazine and the film series. Join us next week for Part 2 of our conversation.

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

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Breckenridge  gazed into the heavens at night in Bloomington a century and a half ago. She scanned the vastness of space and contemplated an infinity of possibilities after completing her daily work as the paid domestic servant and nanny for the Wylie family. (Theophilus Wylie was a professor at Indiana University and a minister.) Abegunde, the first person ever to receive a doctorate in African American and African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University, worked with the Wylie House Museum, Dr. Raymond Wise of the Jacobs School of Music, and the African American Arts Institute to create a digital exhibit exploring the life and dreams of Lizzie Breckenridge.

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

They hope to connect songwriters with audiences, audiences with songwriters, and songwriters with other songwriters. The Cosmic Songwriter Festival is all about connections. Founded by Fuentes and McDermott in December 2021, the nonprofit Cosmic Songwriter, Inc. has staged monthly showcases at the Orbit Room since then. Now, the two are working feverishly to produce the second annual Cosmic Songwriter Festival this month. Over a four-day period, they’ll pair national acts with local acts, with two acts appearing on the same stage at the same time. The acts will alternate playing songs, will comment and converse between tunes, and perhaps even come up with something entirely new and different.

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

As part of our effort to create a comprehensive history of WFHB, Bloomington community radio, we are gathering a library of oral recollections. Among the recordings is that of Richard Fish, a long-time audio engineer and old-time radio program archivist. Fish was in on the development of WFHB as far back as the late 1970s. His voice has been heard on WFHB since our first day on the air in January, 1993. Keep up with our ongoing series of blog posts on WFHB’s history here.

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

Named the director of the Monroe County Public Library system in May 2022, Grier Carson knew he’d face some daunting challenges. But he was surprised by the news he received when he woke up on January 15th this year, The brand new, award-winning Southwest branch building had suffered extensive damage thanks to an overnight flood. The facility has been closed since then as all the parties involved sort out liability issues. Meanwhile, the system’s main library and Ellettsville branch remain humming. Carson oversees a library system facing an uncertain future in the shadows of the internet and rapidly changing information systems.

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

Like the robin and the crocus, Trashion Refashion is a sign of spring in Bloomington. This year’s runway show at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater is the 15th annual exhibition of clothing designs made of repurposed materials. Molecular biologist Bettina Kehoe is typical of the amateur designers who dabble in recycled  couture. They join artists and trained designers in producing more than 50 looks on display this year. Stephen Hale is president of the Center for Sustainable Living, the financial beneficiary of the fundraiser.

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

She taught herself how to play the guitar and now she wants to help young girls, trans kids, and those questioning their assigned gender learn how to play music too. Amy Oelsner, known to many around Bloomington as Amy O and leader of two bands, one named for her and the other called Brenda’s Friend, is more interested in working with young folks than becoming a star. Winner of the 2020 Indiana Governor’s Emerging Artist award and a veteran of the late, lamented Rhino’s Youth Center, Amy founded Girls Rock Bloomington in 2019.

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

Audrey Heller, co-founder of the Jewish Theatre of Bloomington, has said it took a lot of chutzpah to start the stage company in South Central Indiana. The organization launched in 2005 and is reprising its very first production, “Another Antigone,” by academician and playwright A.R. Gurney. This iteration will be a staged reading with multiple performances in April. Directed by Martha Jacobs, “Another Antigone” dramatizes a test of wills between a college professor and a creative student. Heller aims to retire at the end of this year.

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