Retrospective: The Podcast

​"I was a classroom teacher for so many years, and feeling like I wasn't allowed to be an artist because I was a classroom teacher. And people would ask me, 'Are you an artist?' And I would say, 'I'm a classroom teacher.' So I'm growing into being able to say, 'I'm a scholar and I'm an artist and I make things and do these other things as well.' . . . I'm allowed to have these other pieces of myself." --Micaela Blei

​In this episode of Retrospective, scholar, artist and educator Micaela Blei shares:

• what working with children has taught her about being herself
• what storytelling on stage and having a conversation have in common
• what she tells vs. the image Georgia O'Keefe gave her for what stays "in the vault"​
• ​how her work and studies now weave all her interests together, even as she creates what's next

MICAELA BLEI is a storyteller, teacher, writer and scholar. She's appeared onstage at

Click the player above to listen, or listen in iTunes.​

"I feel like storytelling shows get real sweater vesty, like if you have too many people, like, talking about their difficult childhoods at a time, my ass starts to hurt pretty fast--my mind's ass starts to hurt. Then, burlesque shows--you get too many of those folks in the same room and it gets skanky after about an hour. And then comedy shows can get too mean. I want to take all that and mix it all up." --Jeff Simmermon

Jeff Simmermon is a live performer whose hallmarks are originality, daring and heart. In this conversation, Jeff shares about: what he learned from having a ska metal band as a teenager, the performers who inspired him, creating since toddlerhood, love in his 30s, and what no one told him about hosting a live show.

You can read one of my favorite posts by Jeff here:

One Year After: When the Curtain Calls for You

JEFF SIMMERMON is a writer and storyteller who regularly appears at shows around New York. He has written for Vice Magazine, appeared onstage at The Moth's GrandSlam, on the Moth's podcast, and on This American Life. He produces, hosts and performs in And I Am Not Lying, a comedy storytelling burlesque sideshow that has appeared around NYC, at SXSW 2012 and most recently at the Black Cat in Washington, DC. The show is based on a blog packed full of stories, art, and other weirdness at www.andiamnotlying.com. And even though he's been writing for years, he never gets any better at doing these bios.

"As an independent, you really have to decide: what is enough? What is success for you? And there's, of course, a part of you that still wants to be Beyoncé, or sell a gazillion records but is 100,000 gonna be enough? That would be incredible--a hundred thousand records as an independent? You will end up making more money then you did on major Blah Blah label. And you will have done it yourself and you will have had control, you will have made all the decisions. You will have chosen the artwork. You will have paid for the record, and yes, your pockets are not as deep as Warner Brothers, but it's yours." 

   --Jonatha Brooke 

In this episode of Retrospective, we follow the journey so far of acclaimed singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke. Click the player below to hear all about:

Click the player above to listen, or listen in iTunes.

Jonatha Brooke has been writing songs, making records and touring since her early days in Boston with her band The Story, which released two albums, Grace in Gravity and The Angel in the House, on Elektra Records. In 1995, Jonatha released the first of two solo albums on MCA/Universal, Plumb, followed by Ten Cent Wings in 1997. In 1999 she started her own independent label, Bad Dog Records and has since released six more albums. Her latest, The Works, combines previously unheard, unpublished Woody Guthrie lyrics with her own music and arrangements. Jonatha has written for three Disney films, has had songs included in many television shows and composed the theme song for Joss Whedon's television series Dollhouse. Currently she is working on two theatrical musical projects - Quadroon, with legendary contemporary jazz pianist Joe Sample; and My Mother Has Four Noses, a multi-media musical play that is an intimate account of her experience caring for her mother who endured dementia.

Aaron Wolfe, ​photo by Jeff Simmermon

How does a boy who dreams of being a rabbi end up making films for the big screen? In this episode of Retrospective, we catch Aaron just after his return from the Los Angeles Film Festival, where his short film "Record/Play" was premiered.

He shares:

Aaron Wolfe is a writer and award-winning storyteller. Aaron has won multiple StorySLAMs at "The Moth." In January 2012, he won the prestigious Moth GrandSLAM and was featured on the popular Moth podcast. 

Aaron's screenplays have been finalists in multiple competitions including "BlueCat Screenwriting Competition" and Francis Ford Coppola's "American Zoetrope." His short film "Record/Play" was premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Recently, Aaron's essays have appeared in multiple publications including Tablet Magazine, UFR, and Praxis; and he was recently featured on therumpus.net for his blog "Autonomika, Autonomika!" in which he combines cover songs and true stories from his life.

Aaron also crafts stories as the producer/editor of several feature documentary films, including "Isaiah's Children" (2011) and "Saving Hubble" which is currently being turned into a multi-media road-show that will begin touring Summer/Fall 2012.

Play It: Click the link at the top to listen, or listen in iTunes.