The Season Three finale brings together two people whose practices appear very different.

Jessica Wan is an opera singer, a coach, and the creator of The Ampersand Manifesto. She has spent years exploring how the many parts of a human life can nourish one another rather than compete with one another.

Our second guest, writer Joel Beverly, has spent years listening in a different register. His journey eventually carried him around the world, but one of the deepest discoveries he shares has nothing to do with geography. It has to do with silence. Not silence as emptiness, but silence as readiness.

While Jessica listens through song, Joel listens through stillness.

One teaches us that a voice can become a gift.

The other reminds us that silence can become one.

Discover the benefits of participation in making creative culture within community. Listen to two conversations in one episode.--Cohegent's Sue Spolan on meeting Artificial Intelligence (AI) where you can grow as a person and artist followed by Nief Norf's Alex Dally on cultivating Experimental Music where you can expand your palette of listening.

Elysia Mann is a visual artist, printmaker, weaver, educator, and environmentalist with a distinct voice emerging from her sense of place in Knoxville and the New Creative South. In our most recent book review conversation with Ari, she shares her views on Immediacy, Anna Kornbluh’s most recent publication.

Born in Slovenia into a family devoted to crystal glass making, Maja Roy is now a Knoxville sommelier and wine travel guide who leads a creative ritual of wine appreciation and engagement. Through a transformational experience with biodynamic viticulture, she walks us through her studio kitchen and into her story.

Angela Hill is a choreographer, dancer, social worker, somatic therapist, and she also is the current president of Circle Modern Dance of Knoxville. In this conversation, Angela roots her leadership in the core values of community, inclusivity, and healing following a brief story of the ritual of life and death by Ira Orchin, a frequent contributor to the podcast.

Shakti Ma Michelle, creatress of Shakti Buffalo yoga, wants us to wake up to our creative nature. She relays her personal story as a yoga teacher today who spent many years as an artist in the theater of the absurd in New York City. While Larry Bilker shares his response to the interview with Cat Maguire on human-machine interactions, Noah Frere recaps his experience at the recent Big Ears Festival.

Not for the machines, definitely for us. Leading proponent of creative sovereignty, Cat Maguire shares her story as a dancer, choreographer, educator, and movement analyst working at the forefront of human-movement-machine interactions. As a creative counterpoint, Sarah Ledbetter shares a story of her vision of where humans and machines play together.

Not only was Big Ears a big hit this year, but Ari found the small niches of music that needed to be shared. From Gwenifer Raymond's self-taught guitar virtuosity, Deantoni Park's Technoself tracks, Small Medium Large (SML)'s triumphant new jazz sound, Cecile McLorin Salvant's sumptuous new-torch songs, Orcutt Shelley Miller's rocking jams, Miriam Elhajli's poignant songs and chants, Kishi Bashi's pop violin tunes, Cleo Reed's stirring soul songs, and Wu Fei's technical bravado on the guzheng, this episode will help you attune to the magic of Big Ears Festival.

Ari and friends share their Top 10 lists of artists they want to experience during the annual Big Ears Festival 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Despite rampant FOMO associated with this singular festival, Dan Talley, Emmy Carter, Ira Orchin, Amos Oaks, Ruth Horton, and Richard Goldstein defy the odds and overcome the obstacles.

In this episode of 'The Pause: Sanctuary for the Wild Ones,' Knoxville artists Jill Frere and Elysia Mann share unique narratives that blend personal journeys with storytelling. Jill delves into her recent explorations of multiple meditation paths, reflecting on the profound experiences and challenges they bring, especially as a new mother. Meanwhile, Ari humorously recounts his trip to Mexico City highlighting the unexpected physical challenges of high altitudes, from dried mucous membranes to a sudden awareness brought by slowed paces. Elysia then shares a book review of a cult classic from 1992. These narratives intertwine shared meditation, cultural exploration, and personal growth, offering an insightful journey through the ordinary and extraordinary.