Driftwood Conversations

Musician, poet, and community organizer Palo Xanto joins Hilary Sloane for a conversation about creativity, music, and life in the California high 

desert.

Drawing inspiration from hip-hop, rock, poetry, and the desert’s unique culture, Palo discusses his evolution from a young rapper in Northern California to the frontman of a genre-blending band that combines conscious lyricism with groove-driven music. He shares how writing became his first creative language, why community matters, and how independent artists are navigating a rapidly changing creative landscape.

The conversation explores the desert as a source of inspiration, the role of creativity in finding one's voice, and the power of building authentic communities around art.

Learn more about https://paloxanto.com/home

Show Notes

Guest: Sean Kennerly

Sean Kennerly is a writer, musician, and founding member of the influential California punk band Samiam. He is also the vocalist for the Brooklyn experimental noise band Ice Balloons. His debut novel, Memoir of a Hyena, combines years of research with an imaginative first-person narrative that invites readers into the life of one of nature's most misunderstood animals.

In this episode, we discuss:

Learn more:

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In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I speak with Danielle Frank, author of A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting, a humorous yet surprisingly thoughtful book that uses the language of wine to explore kindness, empathy, and raising good humans.

But our conversation goes far beyond the book. Danielle shares her journey from the fast-paced world of Miramax Films in New York to a successful career in the wine and spirits industry, as well as the personal pivots that shaped her life. We talk about resilience, creativity, breaking away from expected timelines, choosing a path different from the one we imagined, and what it means to keep reinventing ourselves.

At its heart, this is a conversation about transformation, courage, and trusting that life's detours may be leading us exactly where we need to be.

Danielle Frank, author of A Wine Lover’s Guide to Parenting. To learn more about Danielle and her work, visit DanielleFrankAuthor.com. You can also find her on Instagram at @CreateAGreatStory.

This is the fifth and final episode of Writes of Passage: Stories of Service, presented by Mil-Tree Veteran Project. Produced by Dawn Davis, the series features conversations with participants in Mil-Tree's recent Writes of Passage program, which ran from February through June 2026.

Mil-Tree is a nonprofit organization based in Joshua Tree, California, that fosters community among veterans, service members, and civilians through the arts, dialogue, collaborative projects, and creative entrepreneurship.

Writes of Passage brought participants together for a weekend retreat, writing workshops, performance coaching, and live storytelling events, all offered at no cost through support from the California Arts Council Community Impact Grant and generous community donors.

In this final episode, Dawn Davis turns the microphone on me.

I share my experience participating in Writes of Passage and the story I chose to tell—an account of volunteering with Raleigh International in Tanzania. At sixty-eight years old, I found myself hiking through unfamiliar terrain, living in a rural village, and working alongside people from cultures very different from my own.

What began as an adventure became something far deeper. The experience challenged my assumptions, tested my resilience, and expanded my understanding of service. It also reminded me that meaningful human connection often begins when we step beyond what is familiar and allow ourselves to be changed by the people we meet.

In our conversation, Dawn and I explore storytelling as a form of service, the lessons I carried home from Tanzania, and why curiosity continues to guide both my work and my life.

Participating in Writes of Passage was a remarkable experience. I am deeply grateful to Dawn Davis, the Mil-Tree team, my fellow participants, and everyone who helped bring the program to life. The journey reinforced my belief in the power of storytelling to build understanding, connection, and community.

Driftwood Conversations is honored to support Mil-Tree and help share these stories.

Produced by Mil-Tree Veteran Project with support from the California Arts Council Community Impact Grant and generous community donors. Shared in partnership with Driftwood Conversations.

In this fourth episode of Writes of Passage: Stories of Service, presented by Mil-Tree Veteran Project, host Dawn Davis speaks with John Kalb, a Vietnam veteran, musician, actor, theater producer, and longtime supporter of Mil-Tree programs. John served in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany and shares the story behind his powerful Writes of Passage piece, Fire on the Water, which recounts the devastating 1966 shipboard fire that remains one of the deadliest tragedies in U.S. naval history. Through memory, reflection, and storytelling, John explores service, loss, resilience, and the lasting impact of experiences that shape a life. This series was made possible through support from the California Arts Council Community Impact Grant and generous community donors.

For more information about Mil-Tree and its programs, visit www.mil-tree.org.

Omar Columbus: Transforming Service Into Story

In this episode of Rites of Passage: Stories of Service, host Dawn Davis speaks with Omar Columbus, a twelve-year Air Force veteran, artist, photographer, poet, performer, and curator.

Growing up in a small town in North Carolina, Omar joined the Air Force in search of opportunity and purpose. His military career eventually led him to become an intelligence analyst responsible for briefing fighter pilots before combat missions during the Iraq War.

Today, Omar channels those experiences into creative work that explores identity, memory, service, and healing.

In this conversation, he reflects on:

Through his art, workshops, and community work, Omar reminds us that storytelling is not simply about remembering the past—it is about creating connection and building understanding.

Rites of Passage: Stories of Service is a five-part series presented by MIL-Tree Veteran Project and made possible through support from the California Arts Council Community Impact Grant and generous community donors.

To learn more, visit https://www.mil-tree.org/

The Stories We Carry | Brenda Littleton

What happens when we begin to reclaim the parts of ourselves we've left behind?

In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I sit down with writer, artist, educator, and depth psychology practitioner Brenda Littleton for a conversation that moves through story, creativity, healing, and personal transformation.

Brenda shares her journey from environmental activism on Vancouver Island to academia, Jungian psychology, and her current work helping artists, writers, therapists, and other creatives navigate periods of change and reinvention.

Together, we explore personal literacy, narrative therapy, active imagination, the unconscious mind, trauma, creativity, and the stories that shape who we become.

We also talk about environmental stewardship, intuition, pain as a teacher, and Brenda's belief that we don't choose the work—we listen for the work that is choosing us.

This isn't a conversation that moves in a straight line. It's an invitation to become curious about your own story and the pieces of yourself that may be waiting to be reclaimed.

There is one phrase from the interview that I think could become the anchor for the entire episode:

"You do not choose the work. The work chooses you."

For more information on Brenda, go to: https://www.brendalittleton.com/

In the second episode of Rites of Passage: Stories of Service, host Dawn Davis speaks with Renee "RA" Pickup, a Marine Corps veteran, writer, editor, artist, publisher, and longtime Mil-Tree facilitator. Their conversation explores military service, creativity, storytelling, and the ways people find meaning and connection through sharing their experiences. RA reflects on her decision to join the Marine Corps during the early years of the Iraq War, her experiences as a woman in the military, life as a military spouse during deployment, and the role writing and creative expression have played throughout her life. Together, they discuss the transformative power of storytelling and how programs like Mil-Tree's Rites of Passage create opportunities for veterans and civilians to build understanding, resilience, and community through the creative process.

Rites of Passage: Stories of Service is a five-part podcast series produced by Mil-Tree Veteran Project with support from the California Arts Council.

Rites of Passage: Stories of Service was made possible by a grant from

, supporting community storytelling, dialogue, and creative engagement.

Rites of Passage: Stories of Service — Mary Jean "MJ" Puckett

Mil-Tree Series

In this episode of Rites of Passage: Stories of Service, Dawn Davis speaks with Mary Jean "MJ" Puckett, a nurse, military spouse, and mother of a Marine whose life has been shaped by decades of service to others.

MJ reflects on her career in emergency medicine, public health, and child protective services, sharing stories that reveal both the challenges and rewards of caring for people during their most vulnerable moments. She also speaks about life as part of a military family, the emotional realities of deployment, and how participating in Mil-Tree's Rites of Passage program helped her explore memory, caregiving, and personal storytelling.

Through humor, compassion, and honesty, MJ offers a powerful reminder that service takes many forms and that storytelling can help us better understand ourselves and one another.

Writer, regenerative mentor, and Luna Arcana co-founder Rohini Walker joins Hilary Sloane for a thoughtful conversation about identity, creativity, healing, and the Mojave Desert.

Born in India and raised in England, Rohini shares how immigration, cultural displacement, and inherited trauma shaped her journey toward the work she does today. Together, Hilary and Rohini explore somatic awareness, decolonial perspectives, creativity as a healing practice, and the ways the desert landscape mirrors our own inner transformations.

 The conversation touches on stewardship, belonging, ecology, embodiment, and what it means to live in relationship with both the land and ourselves. It is an exploration of how personal healing and collective healing may be more connected than we realize.