The Burning Castle Podcast

Zach Obront is co-founder of Scribe Media, a company he and his partner, Tucker Max, built into a category-creating business. From the beginning, Scribe was focused on giving authors the power to achieve creative freedom—the theme at the heart of The Burning Castle Podcast. And, if you check out the Scribe website, you’ll see it’s really succeeded.

Zach could have optimized this success, scaling Scribe and reaping the fruit of much hard labor. But instead, he climbed down the hill (to borrow a term from Chris Dixon), and is now in the midst of doing something few would expect the head of a book-related business to do: he’s taught himself to code web3 technologies, like blockchain, and is exploring the frontier of an uncharted technology.

That sounds daunting. And it is. But, as you’ll hear on the episode, the spirit of creativity and exploration that Zach brings to his radically different new endeavor makes what could be an enormously difficult lift into something that sounds…dare I say, fun?

Check out this episode and don’t forget to forward this email, or share it on your favorite attention-gobbling social media platform, so we can spread the good gospel of creative freedom.

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Sharmaarke Mohamed was born in a country where virtually all of the things we taken for granted—food and water, education, and, most of all, stability—are in short supply. But Somalia gave Sharmaarke other things, like a deeply rooted sense of community, a feeling that family is a pillar of his individual existence, and, maybe most of all, a burning need to (re)create his own future.

On this episode of The Burning Castle Podcast, Sharmaarke and I speak about this drive to create your own destiny—in his case, virtually from scratch. We talk about how Sharmaarke used his passion for soccer (he was a pro player in Somalia) to lever himself into a new life as an actor developing and producing his own projects in the US.

We also talk about something that many artists toiling away in small rooms miss—the importance of nurturing a community of likeminded people around you, who share your interests, ambitions and challenges as a creator. This is what the great British musician Brian Eno called scenius—the genius of a being part of a scene—and it’s what makes all the difference in the often lonely life of the arts.

I hope you enjoy this episode. As a reminder, the podcast—like The Burning Telegraph newsletter—is free. We work hard to keep it that way, so a share by you with someone in your network—by email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even the boring old word of mouth method—is hugely appreciated.

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In this episode of The Burning Castle podcast, I speak with opera singer Gideon Dabi about drew him to the opera from a young age, why he think there’s a future in one of our most enduring and deeply rooted art forms, and how opera can unlock new creative horizons for artists and music lovers alike.

As you’ll hear on the episode, Gideon’s onstage charisma translates offstage too. He’s a big presence with the kind of joie de vivre that sits at the very heart of the opera.

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Thomm Jutz is a German-born American singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist based in Nashville, Tennessee.He has worked with folk singer Nanci Griffith (as a member of her Blue Moon Orchestra), Eric Brace & Peter Cooper, Mary Gauthier, Mac Wiseman, Bobby Bare, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, David Olney, Otis Gibbs, Kim Richey, Bill Anderson, Amy Speace,[1] Milan Miller and Marc Marshall.[2]

His songs have been recorded by Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Kim Richey, Junior Sisk, Kenny and Amanda Smith, Balsam Range, Buddy Melton, Milan Miller and Terry Baucom.[3]Jutz co-wrote the top two singles of 2016 listed on the Bluegrass Today Airplay chart. Jutz signed with Mountain Home Music Company in 2019. New albums "To Live in Two Worlds – Vol 1 & 2" were released in 2020. Singles "Mill Town Blues", "I Long to Hear Them Testify", "Hartford's Bend" and "Jimmie Rodgers Rode a Train" were released in 2019. He also signed as a writer with Asheville Music Publishing in 2018.[4] "To Live In Two Worlds, Vol 1" was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award in the Bluegrass category.[5]

Awards:Grammy Nomination for Best Bluegrass Album 2020, IBMA Songwriter of the Year 2021, Recipient of two SESAC Awards, Nominated for IBMA Songwriter of the Year in 2017, 2018, 2019, Nominated for IBMA Album of the Year in 2017

Teaching:Lecturer in the Songwriting Department at Belmont University in Nashville

For more on Thomm's work: https://thommjutz.com/home

Follow him on social: @THOMMJUTZ

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David Francis, based in Los Angeles, is the author of The Great Inland Sea, published to acclaim as Agapanthus Tango in seven countries, Stray Dog Winter, Book of the Year in The Advocate, winner of the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Prize for Literature and a LAMBDA Literary Award Finalist, and most recently Wedding Bush Roadpublished by Counterpoint Press in 2018. His short fiction and articles have appeared in publications including HarvardReview, The Sydney Morning Herald, Southern California Review, Best Australian Stories, Australian Love Stories, Los Angeles Times and The Rattling Wall.   His book and film reviews have appeared in publications including Los Angeles Review of Books and The Advocate. Film rights to The Great Inland Sea and Stray Dog Winter have been optioned in France and the United States, respectively. David began his legal career in 1983 with Allens, an international law firm based in Australia, and recently retired from the Los Angeles office of the London-based firm, Norton Rose Fulbright. He is Chair of PEN America in Los Angeles and a board member of PEN International. 

For more information go to www.davidfranciswriter.com.

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An American writer now resident in the UK long enough to nearly qualify as National Treasure, Lionel Shriver has published one story/novella collection and fourteen novels, including the bestsellers The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047, Big Brother, So Much for That (a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award and the Wellcome Trust Book Prize), The Post-Birthday  World (Entertainment Weekly’s 2007 Book of the Year), and the Orange-Prize winner We Need to Talk About Kevin (a 2011 feature film starring Tilda Swinton).  She won the 2014 BBC National Short Story Award. Her most recent novel is Should We Stay or Should We Go (2021). Her fiction has been translated into over 30 languages. Also a prolific journalist with a fortnightly column in The Spectator, Shriver has written widely for the New York Times, the Guardian, the London Times, Prospect, the Financial Times, Harper’s, and many other publications.  Her Harper’s piece “Semantic Drift” appears in Best American Essays of 2020. Her forthcoming collection of essays is scheduled for autumn of 2022.

 

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Jack G. Hyman is a playwright, director, actor, and teacher who has written for stage, television, and magazines. He wrote for the Cable- TV series, THE ISLANDERS and is a produced playwright on the NY stage. His children’s book (BREAKFAST WITH THE BIRDS) has recently been made into a musical for kids. Additionally, Jack has been a writer/performer for the long-running PBS kids show, BLOOPY’S BUDDIES and a freelance associate producer at ESPN. He is currently writing the sequel to his children’s book along with the book and lyrics of a grand new musical based on the life of a 19th century French artist. Jack graduated from Emerson College in Boston and did his grad work at NYU. He is a native Texan, now living in NYC and Florida.

For all of Jack's work: jackghyman.com

His first  book Breakfast with the Birds

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Dino Stamatopoulos is the creator of Moral Orel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole, and High School USA. He has written comedy for Mr. Show, TV Funhouse, Mad TV, The Dana Carvey Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

He is part-founder of Starburn Industries: https://www.starburnsindustries.com

Follow him on social:

Instagram - @dinostamatopoulos

Studio Instagram - @starburnsind

Band Instagram - @sorryabouteverythingsae

His Podacast wtih Dana Snyder, called "Dino and Dana's Safe Space" can be streamed on all podcast platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/3zcYvfbx91ZhPcsTdlY3So?si=44mBljmwT_aRYnDuusJBZw

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Kate Schutt is an award-winning singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer whose voice NPR calls “glassily clear and glossily sweet.”Americana Highways names her new album Bright Nowhere “Superb...one of the year’s best.” American Songwriter calls it “illuminating” and “the work that ought to bring her the wider recognition she so decidedly deserves.” Kate’s songs have won top honors from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and ASCAP, and she’s shared stages with Terri Lyne Carrington, Bill Frisell,  Julian Lage, Scott Colley, and Bernard Perdie, to name only a few.

 

Find Kate on social media:

- Instagram @kateschutt

- Facebook @kateschuttmusic

- Twitter @kateschutt 

 

Her TEDx Talk:  Links

 https://linktr.ee/kateschutt

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Stacey Rozich is an artist, illustrator and occasional muralist. She constructs figural vignettes in watercolor that combine elements of folk art and American pop culture. Her storybook world is brought to life through lush patterning, symbolism, and dynamic color palettes. She was born and raised in Seattle and now resides in Los Angeles.

 Follow her IG Page: @staceyrozich

Check out all of her work: staceyrozich.com

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