If you discovered the importance of your relationship with art as someone coming of age in Lima, Ohio in the late 90’s and 2000’s, odds are good that you have Sally Windle to thank for that. Is that a bit too hyper specific of a demographic to entice you? Well how about a story about how Bill Gates is responsible for derailing the direction of a school system over a million dollar “buyout”? It’s pretty wild.

But in all seriousness, my high school art teacher, Ms. Windle was kind enough to spend an afternoon over the recent holidays reminiscing through her journey as an arts educator and how that impacted the arts and arts education in a small Ohio city often written off as nothing more than uncultured, flyover state “MAGA country”.

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The pea to my pod, the corn to my field, the needle to my thread… whatever all that means, today’s guest is Brendan Davis, a fellow “Renaissance Creative” (I just labeled us with that term) who can’t stop himself from trying to do it all. In this interview we focus mostly on his work in long-form sketch comedy video production with his production and writing crew Mazel Tov Cocktail. He’ll take us through the journey of leaning on creativity and comedy during long-term health struggles to forging his own path toward working independently with a creative team he loves in Savannah, Georgia’s burgeoning improv and comedy scene.

Oh and we also have this other podcast we do together called Yeti or Not. Did we mention that?

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Poet and Rapper, Wonder Brown’s compelling and vulnerable story-telling about his journey of discovering himself and his love for words is full of so many fascinating ups and downs that will surely aid any creative person in their pursuit to grow and get better. We discuss his struggles of abuse in a young marriage, finding escape in rap music after an upbringing that left him feeling unsafe and struggling for connection, finding his connection through words and poetry… and all the ups and downs that came along even after that. Not to mention what should be obvious to everyone at this point: That Kendrick Lamar is a much better role model and more thoughtful artist than Ye. We all already knew that a long time ago I hope. Right?

Don’t be afraid or dissuaded by the runtime on this episode! We’re building the anti-Joe Rogan Experience over here on Get Better. We’re exploring the idea of men getting vulnerable and nuanced in long form recorded conversation in a way that reconstructs healthy masculinity instead of turning young men into uninformed, arrogant, self-righteous reactionaries. At least I hope thats what comes across. Anyway, share this with your brother, your boyfriend, your nephew, your dad, or whoever.

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In her own words, Terra K hit rock bottom during the pandemic in 2020 and decided the thing she wanted to try to dig her way out was stand-up comedy… famously a good exercise for growing one’s self-esteem (that part is a joke.) But for her, it seems to have worked. You can find her doing mics all over Cincinnati almost every week and killing with her brutally honest bits. Stick around long enough and you’ll also have the chance to hear her pry into my personal and dating life!

Check her out on Instagram to keep up with her show schedule: @terraklaugh

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A bit of a break of form for this episode as I’m traveling and haven’t finished production on upcoming episodes I’ve recorded. I was invited to join a discussion last week on the MLM and cult-like nature of the online wellness industry and the nature of online branding and content creation at large by my friend Ben Jarvis who has found himself at conflict with some of the teachings of Yoga Teacher training he has been working through the past few months. Joining us in the discussion is Colorado based Acupuncturist, Ben Hawes.

Worth noting, our own cultural connection to each other is a sub-Reddit community, r/AcidMarxism, which as best as I can describe is a community of folks preparing for and seeking a more compassionate, cosmopolitan Marxist political alternative to the current model of neoliberal capitalism we see on a trajectory for mass extinction. It’s not a cult… I swear. (Or is it?) The group spawned from the “GrillPill” philosophy ramblings of, Matt Christman, a host of the leftist comedy podcast Chapo Trap House. GrillPill is an extremely online way of explaining to extremely online people that we can’t change the world by being extremely online.

All of this is a long way to say, we have some contextual language built in to our relationship and discussion you can probably disregard while still getting the bigger picture. Just roll with it.

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This weeks guest has been a creative partner of mine for over a year and yet, this is the first time we’ve spent more than 30-seconds face-to-face together. It’s Actress, Improviser, and Writer, Claire Jane who I was lucky to catch in-between her transition from Chicago back to New York City for a conversation on our upcoming Season 2 launch of the Yeti or Not improv comedy podcast we’ve been working on together as well as her journey through the acting world to discovering herself as a “sharer of emotions.”

Subscribe to the Yeti or Not podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or try your own online improv with our partner Ooze Bear!

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Finding one’s way into theater and comedy can be a difficult journey full of bizarre twists and turns. Patricia Mullins is Director and Producer of Cincinnati’s all female comedy sketch and improv troupe Alphas, and she is a case study in how those journey’s can look completely unique for everyone looking to get on a stage. From auditioning for her first community role with no previous theater experience to studying improv and comedy online with a worldwide cast of fellow students due to the global pandemic a few years back, her journey’s been fascinating. And it finally landed on a regularly sold out comedy show of all female written, produced and performed comedy Alphas (@alphas_improv.)

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While he will only humbly credit himself as a “cooker of dinner”, Adam Walsh has worked in top kitchens in Chicago and around the world in environments I know would bring me to my knees crying in no time. This influences our conversation as we discuss how folks with middle/upper class backgrounds could reframe their thinking about kitchen labor and those who commit their lives to making our dinner for us. We also examine the community that keeps people going in such a high stress, low pay environment as well as some of the factors that need to evolve and change in a workplace whose old guard has developed a machismo reputation for being cutthroat; do-or-die. Along the way we discuss the “rights of passage” of cooking in France and Denmark (at noma) while managing to only reference FX’s The Bear once in an hour interview with a Chicago cook covered in dumb ass tattoos! (His words. Not mine.)

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Regardless of what she’ll tell you, self-described pianist, collaborator, and educator, Brianna Matzke really does it all. We discuss how working on her ongoing series The Response Project during Covid expanded her roles and experience beyond anything she’d originally planned. We also talk about letting your work be derivative of whatever the thing is you can’t get out of your head whether it’s 1960s German experimental electronic composition or late 90s Japanese power-pop. Just go for it. Check out more of Briana’s work and connect to the projects discussed in the episode at her website: briannamatzke.com

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Is it okay to explore joy and beauty through art in a world that feels so dismal all around us? I get to explore this question and so much more in my chat with visual artist, Lindsay Nehls. We also enjoy getting pretty nitty-gritty about the details of the life sustaining natural world around us and how to better tune into it. To follow along with some of her visual work we discuss, check out Linda’s website: ldnehls.com

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