As Happy Chandler once said, “I never met a Kentuckian who wasn’t on his way home.” Tom Martin is native of Morehead, Kentucky and has come home after a long and illustrious career in radio broadcasting that went from Morehead to Washington DC to New York City and back to the Bluegrass. Tom has been a national news anchor, the substitute host for the legendary Paul Harvey and now is the producer and host of Eastern Standard on WEKU, the NPR affiliate that covers eastern, northern and central Kentucky. Tom and I talk about the power of radio, a and the way the news media has changed over the years. Tom is also an accomplished musician and tells the story of how his music and his life were forever altered the first time he heard R&B music on his transistor radio coming all the way from Nashville on WLAC. Tom has a beautiful, melodious radio voice and I could have listened to him tell his stories all day long.

Emily Hilliard is the folklorist at Berea College in Kentucky, and the co-owner of Spinster, a feminist record label. We talk about her lifelong passion for folk music and folkways and how it has evolved. We also discuss the power of folk music to create community bonds and bring people together in positive ways. Emily also talks about the future of folk, and her belief that it is a living, breathing thing and not just an artifact of the past to be preserved.

Dr Collis Robinson is the Dean of Labor at Berea College. He is the first in his family to go to college and earn a degree. We talk about the positive and powerful influence teachers and schools have had on his life and how the pursuit of education led him to opportunities he had never dreamed possible. We also muse on big topics like the struggles of boys in school the future of education in America.

Gary Price is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He is the co-founder and editor of Library Journal’s infoDOCKET. He is a nationally-known leader in the world of libraries, research and information science. What he really wants to talk about, though, is his experience being the father of an autistic child, his son, Matthew. We had an informative and moving conversation about autism and its effects, the trials and tribulations of finding the right services for a child with special needs, and, of course, the challenges and profound joys of simply being Matthew’s dad.

Dr Emmanuel Joshua Stokes—E.J.—wants to spread Beloved Community everywhere he goes. In this deep, meaningful and joyful conversation we discuss how to build beloved community, how to lift up those who bring light to our lives—the life lanterns as EJ calls them—and how EJ has promoted all of this through his work as the Director of Bera College’s amazing Black Music Ensemble. EJ discusses the impact that bell hooks had on his work and his thinking and how the intentional creation of beloved community is his, and hopefully everyone’s, life’s work.

Katie Startzman is the founder and owner of Native Bagel and Night Jar, two very successful eateries in Berea KY. She went from operating a food cart to running an amazing brick and mortar restaurant in spectacular fashion She is a member of the Berea City Council and a Business Coach with the Kentucky Small Business Development Center. She is also the author of the Knitted Slipper Book, an everything-you-need-to-know guide to making this exciting variation on the sock. But what she really wants to talk about is gardening and the magic of public gardens. We discuss the perennial movement, the transformative power of beautiful public green spaces, and we even begin to plan a garden tour of England.

Bill Littlefield is a retired radio host, writer, teacher, and public speaker.

He has written nine books, seven of which have been published. For 34 years he wrote and voiced commentaries for WBUR in Boston and NPR; for 25 of those years, he also hosted “Only A Game,” NPR’s fantastic weekly sports magazine program. Bill is also involved with the Emerson Prison Initiative, a program that makes a college education more accessible to people who are incarcerated.

In this episode we talk about Mercy, his second novel. In his graceful prose, Bill explores the multifaceted nature of mercy, forgiveness, and human connection, set in a suburban neighborhood grappling with the release of a dying mob boss from prison. We catch glimpses into lives of these neighbors seeking connection and working to to give mercy, especially the powerful kind we give to ourselves.

Cam McWhirter is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and the co-author of American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15. He feels strongly that we all need to know more about James Weldon Johnson. Johnson was a civil rights leader, lawyer, diplomat, writer and musician in the early 20th century. He was at the forefront of the Harlem Renaissance, and served as the first Black Executive Secretary of of the NAACP. He is perhaps best remembered for writing the lyrics to Lift Every Voice and Sing, often referred to as the Black National Anthem.

We discuss Johnson's life and achievements and even hear Johnson's own voice from an old recording of his poem,We To America.