Dark Sky Twelve

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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Dacre Stoker is the Great Grandnephew of Bram Stoker, the author of the 1897 Dracula. Dacre is an international best-selling author and a Bram Stoker authority. He  joins me for this episode via phone. For over an hour we discuss Bram Stoker, Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, the vampire scares of the 1700s,  the hubris of the western world, Dacre’s familial connection with Bram Stoker, the contemporary interest in vampires, Van Helsing/Myth vs. Seward/Science, late Victorian anxieties, Spiritualism, blood transfusions in the 1890s, education, modern pentathlon, the 1980 Olympic boycott, Dracula’s 101 missing pages, and more.  

All opinions are mine and the guest's!

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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Who is scarier: Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft?

Episode 10/16 (our moon continues to wane!) provides my answer to that question. This is largely excerpted from the Mail Time #1 episode (which was removed due to audio glitches/mysterious tech problems beyond my "expertise"). It is presented here as a bit of a promo for the upcoming first Reader episode in which I will simply read you a scary story. This has been a request from quite a few listeners, so if the people want me to read them a story, and if time allows, I am happy to!

In the meantime, come out under the moon with me for about ten minutes for my thoughts regarding the relative scariness of King and Lovecraft. 

And, if I can find someone else to read you a scary story...perhaps someone who is an accomplished and internationally published author, then that might be a plan...stay tuned!

As always, all opinions are my own.

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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So I've been getting requests to do music-themed solo-casts. I improv-ed this song for a close friend today, so here you go. Only true musical shamans will make it through the entire 14-minute Odyssey.. I tend to get Lost in the Sky. 

In the meantime, you can contact me with questions, show ideas, solo-cast requests, and all feedback at www.lunarpodcast.com.

As always, all music is original and all opinions are my own. 

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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It's the November full moon. That means I have a gigantic and barely contained bonfire raging on my property this wild night and you, dear friends, have a new episode. 

This is episode 8/16, so not only is it the actual November full moon...it is also the full moon of the series, so to speak! We are half way home with this experiment, and I haven't broken anything yet. I shall remain focused. 

In this episode I spend the better part of an hour talking with Dr. Joe Wilferth, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. We discuss teaching and what it means to retain the heart of an educator, music, skateboarding and going fast, UTC, and much more. 

You can listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, GooglePodcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Podbean and some other places as well.

Bumper music provided by Moose Truck

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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Greetings, UTC students! Chattanooga, Tennessee has a nationally prominent rock-climbing scene, and this episode dives into it. Featuring Andrea Hassler, big wall climber and Exec. Director of the Southeastern Climbers Coalition, this episode was recorded live at the first campus session of The Lunar Forum held on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on 10/24/19. 

We watched the film “Valley Uprising: Yosemite’s Rock Climbing Revolution,” and afterward Andrea and I discussed all things climbing in front of an assembled student audience. 

She discusses climbing the nose route of El Capitan, the climbing culture in Chattanooga, the work of the SCC, the 1970s climbing counter culture in Yosemite Valley, the vagabond van life, women in climbing and much more. 

Check out the work of the Southeastern Climbers Coalition at www.seclimbers.org. 

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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Though I have created this podcast for the students of UTC, this episode is a quick shout out to the late-night listeners in Michigan, California, Arizona, Alaska, Texas and elsewhere. It has quickly become apparent that most of you early adopters of this show (about 70% of you) listen sometime between 11pm and 4am, your local time. I do most of the work for this show at night, and I am often awake and aware during the early morning hours. So I feel you. 

As I type by the light of the Hallowe'en moon, I wanted to let the night listeners know that I see you out there; I know you’re listening. I appreciate it. 

Other Things of Interest:

I have received several requests to do a few episodes where I read scary stories. Some people might find this an odd request. I think it sounds fun, so that might be in the works as well. 

Perhaps when you least expect it...maybe deep in the dead of this coming winter….

That’s it for now. 

Don’t stay up too late.

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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Dr. Tony Donen is the Principal of STEM School Chattanooga, an award-winning magnet school on the cutting edge in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This place is getting national attention, and it is atypical as can be. 

So I took my mobile moon rig down to the STEM School campus to see what I could see. We discussed things such as how he got into teaching, why homework is the worst, what the deal is with grades, project-based learning, problems with self-pacing, and other existential matters such as the dichotomous-y nature of current society, the necessity of Math teachers, and the problem with wanting to become an astronaut. 

Oh, and he also told me he is out to "break school." 

I think if I would have went to high school at STEM School Chattanooga, I wouldn't have skipped school so much to go rock climbing and meadow strolling. 

Check out STEM School Chattanooga at https://stemschool.hcde.org/

all opinions are mine and the guests...that is always the case! 

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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TOPICS: tattooing, skateboarding, Henry Rollins, the subjective nature of perceiving reality, and much more.

Well, this guy is the real deal. And it is difficult to explain what it was like to be in conversation with him for a few hours. Check out the episode to experience it for yourself. This one probably deserves a PG13 rating for mild language. So be warned!

[NOTE: this was recorded when the show was named "The Lunar Podcast." It is now "Dark Sky Twelve"]

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What a wild and rollicking conversation with Randy and Kris Whorton of Wild Trails on a beautiful fall day of the October Full Moon! 

I was fortunate to sit down and talk with Randy and Kris Whorton of Wild Trails about various things including competitive high diving, running hundred-milers, environmental destruction and reclamation, art, living without television, economics, likely death bed regrets and many other things. These two are as atypical as can be, and I am pleased that they were my very first guests on The Lunar Podcast. 

If the audio isn't so great on this episode (or any of them) it is simply because I don't know what I'm doing. But, I'm having a blast so far, and I hope to improve rapidly. Thanks for listening!