The Quaintrelle Podcast

Tamara Madison is a poet, an educator and a true quaintrelle. She is the author of Moraine, Wild Domestic, Along the Fault Line, and the award winning, The Belly Remembers. Her work has been featured in Garrison Keillor’s, The Writer’s Almanac; and several other publications, including Chiron Review, Your Daily Poem, A Year of Being Here, Sheila-Na-Gig, and Nerve Cowboy. *Warning: Mature subject m...

In this part-2 of my episode with Chris Sullivan, photographer, writer, philosopher, citizen scientist, naturalist... Chris and I talk about everything from writing and journaling to photography. Raising Monarchs and how their seemingly imminent demise is a bigger message to humans about the impacts we are placing on the environment which put our own survival, as a species in danger. And, a messag...

Chris Sullivan is a deep thinker, writer, photographer, humanitarian, a truth-seeker, a steward to the planet, and an absolute treasure. He’s a former business analyst with degrees in philosophy, history, and Education. And, he became a brand-new grandfather this year. In this first of a two-part talk, we talk about the process of gaining awareness of our reactions to various stimuli, especially t...

Laura Helm is a jeweler and CEO of Three Pine Hill, as well as a computer technology instructor. In this second of a two-part talk, we talk about technology and the environment. Learn why you should clean out your email box. Also, using nature's cues to gauge weather and atmospheric conditions to better understand and appreciate our environment. I will also briefly touch on the decline of Western...

Laura Helm is CEO and jeweler at Three Pine Hill, an eco-friendly and affordable shop. She holds a degree in mathematics and computer science, which she uses to craft unique and custom made jewelry. She is also a coding teacher, having worked formerly in information and technical consulting, and aerospace engineering.   In this first of a two-part talk, we cover the science and math of jewelry des...

In this, Part II of my interview with the ever-fascinating, Brooke Applegate, we cover the things that make us humans thrive as a species and delve deep into museum facts and details such as Victorian death customs; with an anthropological perspective, of course. We talk about Dinosaurs (by the way, the dinosaur I couldn't remember is a Triceratops) and Giant Ground Sloths; Dire Wolves and Saber T...

Brooke Applegate holds a degree in anthropology. She is Director of Education at the Los Angeles Arboretum, urban tour guide, world traveler, professional Whimsey Maker, and deep thinking Joy Seeker. She is also one of my dearest friends. In this first of a two-part talk, we talk about world travel, museum workshops, connecting with children, connecting with bugs, urban tours, and so much more! SH...

Walter McKinley Lewis is a Retired Coast Guard Hospital Corpsman Senior Chief Petty Officer. Here his story of escaping the segregated south to becoming platoon leader at Boot Camp and continuing to follow his passion in the Coast Guard, where he was a helicopter SARs medic and “Doc” on the ice cutter, Glacier which travelled to Antarctica three times while stopping at  some of the world’s most am...

Soup Pha is a recording artist, entertainment TV host, Trusted Ambassador to the Royal Family of Cambodia, a humanitarian and historian of South East Asia. His father is a survivor of the brutal Khmer Rouge invasion of Cambodia, which Soup details in this episode. Warning: this episode is hard to listen to in its honesty and devastation of the Cambodian Genocide that occurred under Pol Pots dictat...

Melani Morose Edelstein is a librarian and information specialist, a former news journalist and Emmy winning television news producer, a current writer for Palos Verdes Magazine, and the CEO and personal historian of Legends and Legacies, a personal history service. In this episode we cover so much about news, its transformation from pre-24-hour networks to today's endless information streams from...

Summer's right around the corner and my friend, April McCarthy, a clinical esthetician with 25 years of experience talks skincare! Learn the difference between chemical and physical sunscreen and the rules to applying both; as well as how much protection the various SPF's offer and for how long. We will also talk skincare routines, the difference between microdermabrasion and microneedling and wha...

Ana Maron is my honorary Prima. I spent nearly a lifetime thinking that we were cousins. She is owner of Saints or Sinners Racehorses, LLC, in partnership with her husband, Hans Maron. She is an inspiration from her humble beginnings as a single parent scraping to get by to provide for her daughters while completing her education, to an entrepreneur that turned a home-based hobby, making personali...

Danny Miguel is a film writer, director, producer, and editor. In short, he is a filmmaker and he shares his process, along with some great stories about the art of cinematography.  SHOW NOTES: DANNY MIGUEL PROJECTS- Official Trailer: Mexican Express (in post production)- State of Ability Productions | YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ue_PfLwRME Official Trailer: Discredit (Silver Award...

Paul Napora is a historian of everything Lomita, a small city in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. He is also an educator, artist, and rock n' roller with some great stories from his pizza delivery days. He is the creator and curator of two pages on META (formerly FaceBook): Lomita's Distant Past w/Pictures and Old Postcards from Southern California. SHOW NOTES: LomitaCity.com: https://lomitacity...

We changed it up a bit in this episode of "Lists with Sofia," by bringing in special guest, Mike Acosta (episode 9) and using his list of things to rate as over-rated or under-rated. We take a deep dive into the subjects of specifically, Avocado Toast and Vegeterianism/Veganism; branching out into several subjects that affect our understanding of these subjects; while seeming to only scratch the s...

Jan Luke has a lifelong passion for cycling. She is a coordinator for cycling, running, duathlons, triathlons, and adventure runs in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Formerly from Southern California, Jan spent 10 years as the western regional coordinator for USA Cycling and another 16 years as a board member and past president for SCNCA, Southern California Nevada Cycling Association. Join us as we talk c...

Paul Spaur is the CEO of Spaur Group, an aerial mapping, 3D scanning (Digital Twins), and Uncrewed Aerial Systems (drone) business consultation company. The company is also pioneering new ways using Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) to interact with the data. He is also the CEO of METAGEO, a 3D GIS platform that brings data from these sensors into the digital world and connects it with the met...

Ken Kramer is a photographer, a traveler, wanderer of the American countryside, and a Navy Vet. He's a film buff, a foodie, a phenomenal cook, and an amateur interior decorator with an insatiable curiosity of life. Ken is also a survivor. He is 30 years HIV positive and healthy. In 2021, a routine MRI revealed a tumor in his brain, called an Acoustic Neuroma. In December of the same year, Ken unde...

Another "Lists with Sofia" with a film-heavy bent. We explore forming the best Zombie-fighting team and come to a realization that women will win the apocalypse. We talk favorite films, acceptable music volumes, fictional places and times we'd like to visit, books we love, textbooks we'd write, and bats... not the kind that turn into vampires. Foul language warning. SHOW NOTES: Because there are s...

Anthony Hromadka is an artist, photographer, former Assistant Park Ranger, gardener, nature enthusiast and a survivor of both a triple bypass surgery and ankle amputation in the past 12 months. We talk about Rustic Canyon and the former Nazi compound that was there, stewardship, and the major surgeries that he experienced this past year, overcoming depression and getting his health back, plus the...

An "In the Company of Friends" talk with Edd "Catfish" Kray on his role in decommissioning the Rocky Flats Plant which fabricated plutonium pits. We get "sciencey". The cleanup opened up the establishment of the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge. He is also an accomplished musician, having founded the Catfish Kray Blues Band. There's lots of environmental talk and music talk in this episode that you don...

Sofia and I review a list of things unique to Los Angeles. I also talk about oranges and more. Stay through the end notes to the bloopers at the end. I also pay a brief homage to the great peace activist and Zen Master, Thich Nacht Hanh who passed away on Friday, January 21st. Show Notes: Secret Los Angeles, "40 Things That Are Considered Totally Normal In Los Angeles...But Nowhere Else". https://...