Graham Griffith, also known as GG, is an open-source program designer and journalism missionary. He is a media strategist and audio producer who launched the award-winning national radio programs On Point and The Takeaway, as well as being part of the team that created Spotify's Sound Up, GG has developed a unique perspective on podcasting and radio specifically, and journalism in general. We have a deep and broad conversation about what journalism is and where it's going, and how we can all work and gather together to make sense of a complex and confusing world.

Mike Savage is the General Manager of WEKU, a public radio service of Eastern Kentucky University. WEKU serves Lexington, and much of Eastern, Northern and Central Kentucky. We dive right into a discussion about the role of the Federal Communications Commission in the light of its threat to pull ABC's broadcasting license in response to a joke Jimmy Kimmel made about the First Lady and the President. We also have a wide-ranging conversation about the current and future state of public broadcasting and the clear need for journalism in the public interest to survive and thrive.

Tony Crachiolo is the volunteer Director of the Berea Kentucky Food Bank. The organization's goal is that hunger never finds a home in Berea. In ten years the food bank has more than doubled the people they reach and help. Tony and his team have flipped the food pantry paradigm in crucial ways that have allowed the Berea Food Bank to serve many more people and to provide their clients with full, nutritious meals. This was a great conversation with a true community leader.

Dr Madeline Rogers is a virtuosic concert pianist and music educator. We have a lively conversation about connecting today's audiences to classical music and about how her musical journey has been marked by her faith and her belief in the power of music to bring people together. She also discusses her passion for highlighting contemporary composers.

Shaniqua Robinson is the Executive Director of The Association for Teaching Black History in Kentucky. We talk about her work helping teachers center Black History in the curriculum. Shaniqua also talks about reclaiming her roots as a Black Appalachian woman and about exploring the culinary traditions of Black Appalachia.

Rick is a writer and a native of Estill County, Kentucky. His debut novel, Turkeyfoot (Shotgun Honey Books), focuses on the influx of fentanyl in Appalachia. He lives with his family in Eastern Kentucky where he also serves as Berea College’s Appalachian Male Advocate & Mentor. Rick talks about his perspective on the opioid problem in Appalachia, writing his first novel and working with women in recovery through writing. Rick's clear and fluid voice--both in his writing and on this podcast--makes us all want to pay closer attention.

Sam Gleaves is a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and music instructor from Wytheville, Virginia. He began studying and playing old-time music as a teen. Sam has performed and taught Appalachian music throughout the United States and all over the world. He has released seven albums, including his debut Ain’t We Brothers (2015) and his most recent collaboration with Kay Justice, The Cabin Sessions (2026).

In this episode, Sam plays a couple of original songs and talks about the women who have had a powerful and positive impact on his life and music career.

Bruce Fraley is the 5th Mayor of Berea Kentucky. He is serving his second term and plans to run for a third. He is very excited about a program that will create new building sites in this part of the Bluegrass region designed to attract new business to Berea and beyond and generate perhaps more than 1,000 jobs. In this era of bitterly divisive partisan politics, I thought it would be good to hear from an elected official who is not driven by ideology or party loyalty, but by getting things done for the people in his city and in his state.

Jeffrey Sanderson is a painter based in Chicago where he has been engaged in an intuitive and exploratory home studio practice steadily for over 20 years. Jeff says. “My work depends upon and celebrates the remarkable sensitivity and uncanny memory that humans possess.” We talk about how his work can preserve marks and evidence of a conversation between a maker and a surface. His paintings are improvised which leads us to a wonderful conversation about how each mark or color or brush stroke leads to the next in the thrilling moments of creation. It leads us to talk about how great live music can also feel that way and even how life itself is often the decisions we make and steps we take upon realizing our plans may not meet the moment.

Christina Cornelison is the Director of the Madison County Public Library with branches in Richmond and Berea Kentucky. In a county with fewer than 100,000 residents her libraries welcome more than 300,000 visitors and circulate over a half million books each year. She is passionate about the role a library can play in encouraging early reading and language development and in providing a vast array of services to the community from 3D printing to GED classes--all for free. We have a great conversation about the importance of neutrality in a library where there should be no agenda, and the crucial role that libraries play in offering unfettered access to information to anyone who wants it. Christina makes it clear that libraries should be focused on books but also on the many ways they serve and educate all members of a community with no cost and no barriers.