Feel Free to Deviate

Episode 21 of Feel Free to Deviate features award winning high school English teacher Michael Switek. Michael is beloved by his students, and valued by his peers, some of whom were former students.
How cool is that?
The kids love him, and he loves his work. We talk about job satisfaction and school life during covid and take a peek behind the high school curtain to see how students and teachers seem to be dealing with the volatility of whatever normalcy in the education world has become. He also shares his observations about the state of the student psyche in the days of covid, and much more.

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app or visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 20 of Feel Free to Deviate features Gretchen Licata. Gretchen is the facilities director of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District in western Massachusetts. She’ll tell you exactly what that entails, but I will tell you that it’s a big job with lots of responsibilities, and she is an unsung hero, working behind the scenes to make sure that everything works the way it should. She makes the things that most people take for granted happen. 

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 19 of Feel Free to Deviate Features Thomas Margolf. Some know him as chip music artist firestARTer, or as Frau Holle, but now he is mostly know as the owner and proprietor of XOR Electronics and maker of NerdSeq. What is that, you ask? As the XOR website says, it “is a tracker based cv and trigger sequencer module (32HP) for Eurorack systems.” It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what that means. All you need to know is that Thomas quit his day job to design and manufacture electronic music equipment, which is an act that requires a great deal of bravery and confidence. We talk about his early days experimenting with electronics, chip music, and what it’s like to be the guy behind NerdSEQ. You can find Thomas’s company and Nerdseq at the XOR Electronics website https://xor-electronics.com/.

He’s also on social media: https://www.instagram.com/thomasmargolf/
https://www.instagram.com/xorelectronics/

https://www.facebook.com/xorelectronics

https://www.facebook.com/Nerdseq/

For the old school blippity chip music flavor check out http://www.firestarter-music.de/



Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 18 of Feel Free to Deviate features Dr. Kei Otsuki. We met when I first moved to the Netherlands, and we were students in the same Dutch class. Her title is Associate Professor in International Development Studies at Utrecht University, but she tells me that she views her role as bringing awareness and trying to find a bridge for communication between interested parties. As an intermediary in social, economic, and ecological issues her approach is balanced and she attempts to spark incremental change, or at least understanding, without vilifying either party. Although it can be hard in practice, I think we could all use a little less vilification, and she trains eager young minds how to do this as well.

Check out Kei's most recent project here - https://infront.sites.uu.nl/

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 17 of Feel Free to Deviate features x-ray technologist Jason Kelley. He lives in Portland, Oregon and happens to be an old friend of mine. I think this episode is a fine example of a searcher finding what he was looking for. Jason worked with food, movies, music, and arts during his illustrious career, and he grew a lot along the way. Most importantly, he learned when, and when not to throw a desk. As an added bonus we also talk a bit about working in healthcare during Covid times.

You can find examples of Jason’s work at his “woefully ignored” Flickr account https://www.flickr.com/photos/photoboothprojects/

While you are online, pop over to Instagram to like, follow, and comment on my posts @feelfreetodeviate. 

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 16 of Feel Free to Deviate features Scott Patrick Wiener, but I usually call him Scott or Ween. He works for an organization called YouthBuild that focuses on teaching young people construction skills and facilitates the building of houses in their neighborhoods. It’s pretty cool. Like many of the other guests on Feel Free to Deviate, Scott has an art background. He is a photographer/artist with a fancy degree, and he has a long history of continually making art, yet like most artists I know he relies on his job to pay the bills. His story is another take on how to reconcile one’s passions with financial needs and obligations. It’s also about how sometimes those things collide and result in something that is not just livable, but satisfying. 

•  Instagram: @spwiener_studio
• Work website: https://youthbuild.org/
• Portfolio website: https://scottpatrickwiener.com/

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 15 of Feel Free to Deviate features Anna Wronsky. She is the Dean of Teaching and Learning at a school in Istanbul, but she’s also been an art teacher and a costume designer for the opera. I met her when she was a student at the University of Massachusetts, and even as an undergraduate she had a confidence about her work that I am still amazed at when I think about it today. Also, she was super fun to hang around with! We talk about how she turned internships into meaningful employment, and how she decided to abandon costume design to get into education. 

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 14 of Feel Free to Deviate features Judith Black, but I call her Judy because I know her. Judy was the photography professor at Wellesley College for 25 years, including the 7 years that I worked there. She’s a great photographer whose work centers around home and family life, and since Corona she’s released two books, Pleasant Street and most recently Vacation, and has become one of the darlings of the photo book scene. She is associated with prestigious institutions of higher learning, has received one of the most competitive grants in the art world, and I bet she even has one of those “World’s Best Mom” mugs. I describe her as a compulsive mentor, because she seems to thrive when teaching or guiding people, but she’s humble enough to acknowledges the people who supported and encouraged her along the way. While we were talking, she attributed much of her success to luck. Yeah, she’s had some luck, but luck is not the whole story. She also said, “You work hard to get lucky sometimes.” Sound Wizard Ed suggested that should be the subtitle of Feel Free to Deviate. Maybe they are both right. 

You can find a bazillion Judy pictures on her website:
 https://www.judithblack.me
Or buy her book Vacation on the Stanley Barker website.
https://www.stanleybarker.co.uk/products/vacation
https://www.stanleybarker.co.uk/collections/books/products/pleasant-street
And here are a ton of “press clippings” about how great she is.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/sep/02/judith-black-best-photograph-family-fathers-day-1983#comments
https://aperture.org/editorial/judith-black-all-american-summer-vacation/
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/aug/18/judith-black-vacation-friends-family-american-road
https://www.1854.photography/2021/07/a-mothers-record-of-road-tripping-with-her-children/https://an-tics.com/Collected-Tales-The-Journal-Of-Grievances 

She’s also on Instagram @judithblackphoto 
https://www.instagram.com/judithblackphoto/
 

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Also go to https://feelfreetodeviate.com/feel-free-to-donate if you are feeling generous and want to contribute to the production of Feel Free to Deviate. No pressure. Uh… Not much pressure. 

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 13 of Feel Free to Deviate features Giuliana Funkhouser. Giuliana is a trans-disciplinary artist who “combines digital code and synthesized audio with field recordings to produce story-driven installations.” I met her long ago when I first started working at Wellesley College in 2001. She  was one of the students who worked for me, but since those days G has been busy working in the gaming industry, in advertising, making art, and continuing her education. She is constantly putting herself out there, and it’s working for her. It’s quite extraordinary. This is a fast paced episode, and it jumps around. That said, all the jumps call back to something pertinent eventually. We talk about leaving the corporate world for art, starting a B&B in Puerto Rico, and helping a deaf friend “hear” with a giant parabolic steel hearing aid. It’s a fun episode, so strap in. 

You can find Giuliana on Instagram @biodigitaljazzhands & @ctlt_sound

Also on Twitter @oagatopargo 

Her website has bio information and examples of her work. That’s https://gfunkhouser.net.

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Also go to https://feelfreetodeviate.com/feel-free-to-donate if you are feeling generous and want to contribute to the production of Feel Free to Deviate. No pressure. Uh… Not much pressure. 

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 12 of Feel Free to Deviate features Ben Licata. He’s an old friend who currently makes his living as a tattoo artist. We talk about how his illustrious career began in the tobacco fields of Hadley Massachusetts, and how he’s always found ways to grow and learn whether working in a sweltering plastic bag factory or making instructional videos with distinguished tattoo artists. He says that he’s at a point in his life where he is content with what he has and where he is, and I admire that. He finds opportunities that are based on his interests, and isn’t afraid to do whatever needs to be done to make a living. Also, he’s a great bass player.

You can see Ben’s work at https://www.benlicata.com or https://www.oxbowtattoo.com. He’s also on Instagram and Pinterest @burnbridge
Search for his band Problem With Dragons on Spotify and Bandcamp. 

https://www.instagram.com/burnbridge/

https://www.pinterest.com/burnbridge/

https://problemwithdragons.bandcamp.com 🤘

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0UJtCfi9lT3GmCBAUI4yGT?si=xeN7-rE_SI6FJ046j1jNvA

Feel Free to Deviate is the podcast about people, their careers, and their relationships with success. My name is Jim Turbert, and I am the host. Find Free to Deviate on your favorite podcast app, and new episodes are released every other Thursday. Visit https://feelfreetodeviate.com for more information. Feel Free to Deviate and host Jim Turbert can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @feelfreetodeviate. 
https://instagram.com/feelfreetodeviate
https://jtfanclub.com
https://jimturbert.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/turbert/

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected]

Also go to https://feelfreetodeviate.com/feel-free-to-donate if you are feeling generous and want to contribute to the production of Feel Free to Deviate. No pressure. Uh… Not much pressure. 

Sound editing and post production by Ed Mubarek at https://boomkaas.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.