Confessing Animals

*Content Warning* We discuss abortion & miscarriage

In this episode Beth Maggard talks with us about her pregnancy journey & identity. Beth is curious. She has worked her entire adult life in nonprofit organizations, from public information to the arts, she loves to write, think about communicating, and most of all, to read.

“An informed public is an endangered species.” – Beth Maggard 

Instagram @bmaggardhelen

MENTIONS:
Mid-America Arts Alliance
Octavia Butler
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel by Ocean Vuong
The Night Watchman & The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

The Losses We Share by Meghan Markle

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro & music provided by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

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Mr. Smith is a writer, performer, musician, and educator currently based in Kansas City, MO. 

We discuss the intersection of theater and social wellness, the new hero’s journey, searching for symbolism in fairy tales, second acts, and the love of reading.

Mr. Michael Presents on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX_FBTBsmDsPbaUrfkEekDA 

MBird music https://www.youtube.com/user/MBIRDmusic

Mentions
Planned Parenthood & Dr. Ruth!
The Coterie Project Daylight 
https://thecoterie.org/project-daylight
The Dramatic STD/HIV Project 
https://thecoterie.org/dramatic-health-education-project#.YDwS7-BMHOQ

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro & music provided by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

Support the show

Writer. Mom. Wife. Teacher. Reader. Crafter. Creator. Human: flawed & miraculous. 

“Beyond the love of my family and my love of life in general, there are words. Words fill me up and bring all my loves to life.” - Libby 

https://kochelizabeth.wixsite.com/author
Twitter: LibbyKoch1
IG: libbykochwrites
FB: Libby Lindgren Koch

Mentions: 
Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
Diana Gabaldon, Outlander 

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro & music provided by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Follow us on Instagram: confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

Support the show

Joshua Draves-Kellerman is a bassoonist, personal chef, and poet living in Kansas City, Missouri. He wants people to feel comfortable in the spaces they’re in and wants to be the one to create that space. 

www.facebook.com/josh.draveskellerman/

Mentions
Taneycomo Festival Orchestra, Branson MO
https://www.taneycomofestivalorchestra.org/

Shelf Life, Curated by David Wayne Reed
www.shelflife.club.

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro provided by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Music provided by Josh Draves Kellerman/Saint-Saens

Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

Please forgive the sound quality, we are working on getting better equipment to better serve your listening ears! If you want to get extended videocasts, extra readings from guests, and to see what we are wearing, please consider supporting this show! 

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&&& Poet. Musician. Speaker. Educator. Friend. &&&

 Melissa Ferrer-Civil, formerly known as Missy T. Ferrari, belongs to no one place in particular. She lives in Kansas City but her home is in the Spirit. She is a renegade with hippie tendencies. Her spoken word poems and songs are mostly meditations and responses to the world around her and her own internal journey. Through poetry, music, space holding, and workshop facilitation she seeks to provide a sense of solidarity to all people, encourage people to act unto peace and love, and foster community among both like and unlike minded people.

Her debut chapbook Birthing Pains is available through 8th Street Publishing Guild. https://www.8thstreetpublishing.com/

 www.melissaferrerand.com
IG: @mamma_orso7 
FB: @melissaferrer.bb 
Twitter: @melissafpoet

Mentions:
This Is Us TV Show
Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Documentary
Be A Lady They Said https://girlsgirlsgirlsmag.com/
Maya Angelou

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro & music provided by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

Support the show

Lexi Dickens is an artist, photographer, storyteller, and a memory keeper. She is always looking for the best in you. She says her job is “loving the world.” Her camera aids in that endeavor, as she tends to fall in love a little bit with every face she photographs. 

http://brightonroadphotography.com/

IG @justmelex
IG @brightonroadphotography

Mentions:
Mary Oliver, “My Work Is Loving the World”

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro & music provided by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

Support the show

Translating the story of sustainability with Abigail Dahlberg. Master translator and lover of nature, Abigail discusses the importance of claiming your own space and finding your own voice.

IG @greener_words
https://greenerwords.com

Mentions:
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro & music production by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

Support the show

Ayah is a storyteller from the Midwest. Her first published indie novel is titled Paint. She is now pursuing an MFA in Screenwriting at USC. Ayah writes about lonely women faced with comically metaphysical problems. We discuss the balance of institution & rebellion, and the fight for the privilege to be yourself.

https://shethewriter.com
youtube.com/shethewriter
IG @shethewriter
medium.com/@shethewriter

Mentions: Mentions:
Brandon Sanderson
Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Arthur Rimbaud
Hasan Minhaj, Patriot Act
Bjork

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro & music production by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

Support the show

Episode 1 features a conversation with Ash Parsons, a memoir writer of prose, essays, and letters exploring love, body, faith, birth, loss, mystery, motherhood, and the creative life.

All things Ash Parson can be found on her website www.ashleyparsons.com and on Instagram @fromashparsons 

Mentions:
Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Intro & music production by Ashley Raines
www.ashleyrainesmusic.com

Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
www.confessinganimalspodcast.com

Support the show

Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco want you to know exactly WTF is WWKC before you meet our guests! 

The Writing Workshop Kansas City, hosted by Poet Jen Harris
https://www.poetjenharris.com/workshops

Check out the videocast and teasers over on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/confessinganimals

Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. In Season One of Confessing Animals podcast, co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. The theme for Season One is Translation. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?

Support the show