What a fun crossover episode with the other Macon podcast, "Macon It." I had the chance to sit down with Olivia Walter and Edna Adams with Macon-Bibb County. Like Voltron, we brought individual powers together to form the ultimate Macon podcast. We talked about living in Macon, designed the perfect day in Macon, and talked about what we love about our community.

Joe Finkelstein has lived in Macon for 24 years and is an AI educator, columnist, and public speaker. He is also active in a variety of local organizations, causes and pickleball leagues.

This wide-ranging conversations weaves from the Philadelphia Eagles to pickleball to use of AI for travel planning.

For more information about Joe's work with AI, visit his website - askaijoe.com.

Photo credit: ChatGPT

Brad Williams is presently on his Growth Spurt Tour, and is coming to the Macon City Auditorium on May 31. We had the opportunity to talk about his comedy, being a dad, his extensive travels, and even taxidermy. This was a fun and funny conversation. Expect a high-energy show here or wherever you have the opportunity to see Brad on the road.

Tickets for the show are available at maconcentreplex.org.

Follow Brad at bradwilliamscomedy.com or find him on Instagram = @bradwilliamscomic.

Mayor Lester Miller's dynamic leadership has brought a spotlight to Macon-Bibb County, and he's working each day to make the community a great place for residents and visitors alike.

This episode features a fun and wide-ranging conversation, covering a variety of topics including his leadership and accomplishments, his vision for his second term in office, blowing up a building, the National Park, streets and sidewalks, music, and even baseball.

Cover photo courtesy: Lester Miller for Mayor Facebook

Macon will be attempting to set a new world record for the LARGEST KAZOO ENSEMBLE on March 28. Following the record-setting attempt, we will be featuring music from Diamond Dogs and stand-up comedy from Emmy Award winner Ian Karmel. Ian is the host of the "All Fantasy Everything" podcast. His memoir, "T-Shirt Swim Club" is a best seller. His brand new stand-up special, "Comfort Beyond God's Foresight" is available now on YouTube.

Everyone is welcome for the event. Tickets are just $5, and more information is available by visiting www.visitmacon.org/kazoo.

Follow Ian on social media - @Iankarmel on Instagram and TikTok, @iankarmel.bsky.social on BlueSky.

In honor of the 97th Academy Awards, we wanted to talk movies. Specifically, we wanted to talk about movies (and TV shows and commercials) that have filmed in Macon. Because there are too many to list, we decided to fantasy draft our favorites with some friends.

For more information about all the productions that have filmed here in Macon, check out www.maconfilmcommission.com and www.visitmacon.org. Also, the Tour Macon app has a guided tour with additional information about the productions that have spent time in Macon.

The Macon Christmas Light Extravaganza is an award-winning event and attraction entering its 8th year. We sat down with Bryan Nichols whose vision created the Extravaganza and whose work includes overseeing installation of more than one million lights in Downtown Macon. The Extravaganza begins Friday, November 29 with a live concert featuring Macon Pops and runs through January 5, 2025. There are shows every night of the week at 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 pm. Each weekend in December features visits with Santa and carriage rides along with additional special activities. And on December 21, live reindeer will be on site for photos.

More information is available at https://maconchristmaslightextravaganza.com/

Emmy Award-winning violinist Robert McDuffie was born in Macon and trained at Juilliard. He has performed worldwide as a soloist with some of the most premier orchestras in the world including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics; the Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Toronto and Jerusalem Symphonies; and all of the major orchestras in Australia.

This wide-ranging conversation covers McDuffie's early violin education; the invitation he received to start the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University; "A Night of Georgia Music" for which he won an Emmy Award; the violin he plays; and the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra.

The Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra begins its new season on October 21 at the Grand Opera House in Macon. More information about the Symphony, and for tickets, please visit Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra — McDuffie Center for Strings.

For additional information about The McDuffie Center for Strings, you can visit About Us — McDuffie Center for Strings (mercer.edu).

And for more information about McDuffie, visit Robert McDuffie

We've heard the name Newton (Newt) Collier several times over the first 19 episodes, and today we have the opportunity to hear from the musical icon and music historian himself. Collier grew up in Macon and began his musical journey on the piano. He picked up the trumpet at age 10, and after graduating high school, toured internationally with Sam and Dave. He also performed with Clarence Carter, Percy Sledge and many, many more.

Collier's musical career connected him with many other musicians who came through Macon, and his knowledge of Macon's musical history is incredibly vast, and this conversation flew by as he shared stories about his career and the careers of those whose paths crossed with his.

Content advisory: This episode contains discussion about anxiety, depression and suicide.

Carrie Genzel has appeared in numerous television shows and movies, including Watchmen, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, The Walking Dead, Supernatural and All My Children. She is presently writing and developing unscripted shows for production as well as working with Visit Macon as host of the new "Macon Beyond" series.

Carrie is mental health advocate, having launched the blog State of Slay, and working as a member of the advisory board for Attitudes in Reverse, an organization that provides anti-bullying and suicide prevention programming for students.