Nerdlandia

Eddie Bennett is a writer, cross-stitcher and municipal liaison for National November Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo). We talk about writing and cross-stitching, the mental health benefits of bullet journaling, and the nerdy inspirations behind their creations.

Connect with Eddie’s work on Facebook and Instagram.

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending music by Keith Wess. Cover art by Ellen Stubbings. Additional music by WELC0MEИ0 and Fupicat from Pixabay.

Liz McCue is a photographer and writer living in Lincoln who documents Midwest culture and identity in her work. 

We talk about her experience photographing RAGBRAI (one of the biggest annual bike events in the US) and her approach to capturing the complexity of the Midwest. Plus, she provides a sneak peek into her next creative project.

Connect with Liz’s photography on her website or through Instagram.

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending music by Keith Wess. Cover art by Ellen Stubbings. Additional music by Denys Brodovskyi and noCapXL from Pixabay.

Welcome to Nerdlandia for another bonus episode! (This one is more of a hybrid, technically.)

This conversation features Bert Gibbs, a Nebraska Certified Peer Support Specialist and the creator of the website and blog The Bipolar Path.

Writing from his experiences, Bert combines storytelling with resources to help individuals with bipolar disorder and their loved ones navigate this diagnosis. In this episode, Bert shares his background and reads an excerpt from the blog. 

Connect with The Bipolar Path: ⁠website⁠ | ⁠resources⁠ | ⁠contact⁠

Note: The contents of this episode should not be interpreted as professional psychological advice. While Peer Support Specialists are certified through training, they cannot diagnose mental health disorders.

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending music by Keith Wess. Cover art by Ellen Stubbings. Special thanks to Mark Bauer. Additional music by Yurii Semchyshyn, Dream-Protocol and BLACKBOX from Pixabay.

Lauryn Higgins is a freelance journalist based in Lincoln, Neb. When she’s not writing stories for national news and magazine outlets, she loves spending time in the kitchen making plant-based dishes.

We talk about Lauryn's experiences as a vegetarian in the Beef State, how gardening inspires her cooking and developing vegetarian versions of her favorite Southern comfort foods. She also dishes out hot takes on food in a lightning round segment!

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending music by Keith Wess. Cover art by Ellen Stubbings. Additional music by Olexy from Pixabay. 

Musician and LGBTQ advocate Lexi Storm shares the stories behind her music in another Nerdlandia open mic bonus episode! Lexi is a guitarist in the Lincoln-based band Estrogen Projection.

This episode contains themes that may be distressing to

Featured songs: “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” by Estrogen Projection and “Circles” by Lexi Storm.

Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Kate Laing is a a multidisciplinary fiber artist, as well as the founder and owner of Lionheart Canyon Studio in Omaha. Her work has been displayed in art shows and spaces including the Omaha Anthropologie, where she was the location’s first pop-up artist. 

We discuss creative community and mentorship, finding inspiration in wild spaces (especially the Southwest) and being a part of the Omaha art scene.

Connect with Kate's work on Instagram @lionheartcanyonstudio or follow her adorable studio pup @sagebiscuitandkate.

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending music by Keith Wess. Additional music by Vitaliy Levkin from Pixabay. Cover art by Ellen Stubbings.

We're mixing it up a bit for this episode! I check in with my friend Molly who moved to Germany with her husband and their cat six months ago. She talks about preparing for the move, adjusting to a new culture and the surprises she's encountered so far.

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending credit music by Keith Wess. Cover art by ⁠⁠Ellen Stubbings⁠⁠. Additional music by Sascha Ende.

Melo Rock 3 by Sascha Ende

Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/345-melo-rock-3

Melo Rock 1b by Sascha Ende

Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/359-melo-rock-1b

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license 

The second Nerdlandia open mic features Hannah Jensen! 

Hannah is a musician and composer based in central Nebraska. In today’s episode, she shares two original compositions inspired by paintings made by women artists, and provides insight into her creative process.

Connect with her work!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahvaun, 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/16pY6wr4u9xsLnlOBw4kKV?si=js4sH-WKTUKPokGmApKiFw  

About the artist: Hannah Jensen has been creating and performing music her whole life, and holds degrees in piano performance and music education from Hastings College. Hannah shares her love of music with more than 60 private piano, guitar, and ukulele students through her private studio. When not teaching private lessons, she can be found accompanying choirs and soloists, and working as the founder and executive director of the non-profit, Hastings Community Music Academy. Outside of Nebraska, Hannah has taught music in many areas of the Dominican Republic, and was a head instructor at P.L.A.Y. Music at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Hannah also writes and performs original music and her most recent studio album, Light as the Air, as well as recently released singles, are available on all major streaming platforms.

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending credit music by Keith Wess. Cover art by ⁠⁠Ellen Stubbings⁠⁠.

Happy Galentine’s Day from Nerdlandia! I called up my cross-country penpal Karen (a librarian living in North Carolina) to discuss a book we read together. Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill is a rivals-to-lovers New Adult romance set in the backdrop of a test kitchen.

We also discuss the importance of libraries, keeping penpal correspondence alive in this era and her stint as a florist.

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending credit music by Keith Wess. Cover art by ⁠⁠Ellen Stubbings⁠⁠.

Additional music: “Uplifted” and “Spring” by Sascha Ende

Websites: https://filmmusic.io/song/115-uplifted and https://filmmusic.io/song/161-spring  

Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license 

It’s a bonus episode! For the inaugural Nerdlandia Open Mic, we’re featuring music from an insanely talented artist.

Burning Witch Corpse combines heavy metal, storytelling through the lens of witchcraft, and a little satire to advocate for mental health and artistic expression. The soul of Argatha Glormwell, who was tried and convicted of witchcraft in England during the 14th, 15th or 16th century — take your pick! — now possesses the body of some random white guy in California, cursed to make heavy metal music through him and have it be judged by metal elitists the world over. 

The featured track “If You Love Me, Let Me Die,” is from Burning Witch Corpse’s first release, The Argatha Glormwell EP. This version is a completely re-recorded and remastered version of the original, which will be available in 2024 alongside a second project currently in progress.

Find all things Burning Witch Corpse at https://linktr.ee/burning_witch_corpse. For even more nonsense, Argatha’s mortal vessel (who also goes by the stage name Randall) is also in a band called Shrimp Money with his friend Josh. You can learn more about Shrimp Money at https://linktr.ee/Shrimpmoney. 

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Nerdlandia is hosted, produced and edited by Emily Case-Buskirk. Theme song and ending credit music by Keith Wess. Cover art by ⁠⁠Ellen Stubbings⁠⁠.