HarmonyTALK

Every October, tens of thousands of thrill-seekers descend on Reaper's Revenge in Northeastern Pennsylvania, waiting hours for a chance to have the living daylights scared out of them. But few know the man behind the monsters. Paul Kotran is the creator of Reaper's Revenge, a 65-acre haunted attraction in Scott Township ranked No. 3 in the country by USA TODAY. With six attractions, more than 300...

Avi Benichou came to New York City from Israel with no plans to stay. More than three decades later, he owns Lovella Salon on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. His journey began at 17, when a chance conversation led him to a hairstyling course. Years later, another spontaneous decision brought him to New York, where he struggled to find work before walking into a salon and convincing its owner to give...

Long before Carla McCabe became a media executive, she was watching history unfold outside her front door. Carla grew up in Belfast during the Troubles, when soldiers on the streets, bomb scares and curfews were part of everyday life. She also witnessed something very different: the beginnings of peace. Those experiences would follow Carla into a career built around telling stories and understandi...

Tucked into 400 acres in the Pocono Mountains is a place where tens of thousands of people have come simply to sit quietly. The Himalayan Institute has called Honesdale, Pennsylvania, home for almost 50 years. What began with yoga and meditation has grown into a global nonprofit devoted to wellness, education, humanitarian service and the belief that people can reach their fullest potential. But w...

On 100 acres in Dalton, Pennsylvania, nearly 200 rescued animals have found a home at Indraloka Animal Sanctuary. But something unexpected began unfolding there. Those who care for the animals all too often discover that the animals have something to offer them, too. That idea is at the heart of Indraloka and the life’s work of its founder, Dr. Indra Lahiri, an organizational psychologist who spen...

What happens when your dream job turns out not to be your dream career? For Jordan Mendal, the answer eventually involved The Rock, John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, nearly three decades at WWE, and one unforgettable run-in with Mick Foley’s Mr. Socko. But none of that was part of the original plan. On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Todd Stephens steps behind the curtain with Mendal, an award...

Growing up in Archbald, Pennsylvania, Marko Marcinko lived in a house where music was everywhere. His father was a professional musician. His entire family was rooted in the arts. And while other kids were discovering video games, Marko was discovering the instruments around the house. He thought they were his toys and so he started playing. What happened next would take that curious kid from Nort...

What does it really take to turn an idea into an independent movie? For filmmakers Sarah T. Schwab and Brian Long , the answer involves years of persistence, fundraising, creative risk, trusted collaborators, a willingness to hear “no” and, occasionally, getting very close to a tarantula. On this episode of HarmonyTALK , host Lisa Champeau sits down with the co-founders of Cardinal Flix , the inde...

Long before Marc Zumoff became the voice generations of Philadelphia 76ers fans welcomed into their living rooms, he was a sixth-grader in Northeast Philadelphia practicing play-by-play into a tape recorder. Now retired after a legendary broadcasting career, Zumoff can look back on the remarkable distance between that kid with a dream and the man who spent 27 seasons behind the Sixers microphone,...

How well can we ever really know our parents? For Nancy Head Thode, that question became the beginning of an extraordinary journey into the life of her mother, Ann Head, a once widely read mid-century writer whose fiction explored women, marriage, pregnancy, class and independence at a time when many of those subjects were still spoken about carefully, if at all. Ann Head was more than a novelist....

Before Liz Callaway sang “Memory” on Broadway, before she became the singing voice of Anastasia, before the Tony nomination, Emmy Award and Grammy nomination, she was a shy kid who waited for everyone to leave the house so she could sing. She knew she had a voice. She just wasn’t ready for anyone else to hear it. That began to change when Callaway discovered musical theater as a teenager. At a dif...

What happens when the future you've spent your entire life chasing disappears overnight? For Russ Cooke, that question became painfully real after a concussion during New York Jets training camp ended the football career he had spent years pursuing. One day he was preparing to play in the National Football League. The next, he was back home pumping gas, wondering how everything had changed so quic...

Just moments after closing Opening Night of the 2026 Harmony in the Woods concert season, Meghan Parnell and Dave Barnes of Bywater Call returned to the stage, not for an encore, but for a honest conversation with HarmonyTALK host Greg Frigoletto. The result is an interview that feels every bit as genuine as the band's music. Over the past several years, the Toronto-based, seven-piece band has qui...

When Dance Changes Everything: Rebecca Davis and the Children Who Learned They Matter Rebecca Davis thought dance would become her career. Instead, it became her calling. In this special HarmonyTALK encore presentation, host Lisa Champeau revisits one of the podcast's most inspiring conversations with the founder of MindLeaps, a nonprofit organization that has transformed the lives of thousands of...

Some dreams begin with a destination. Others become a lifelong way of leading. As a young girl growing up in Montville, New Jersey, Lindsey Chrismon set her sights on one place: West Point. It was an ambitious goal, one that would shape nearly every chapter that followed. In this encore presentation of one of HarmonyTALK's favorite conversations, host Greg Frigoletto sits down with Lindsey to expl...

Some of Broadway's biggest stars never step into the spotlight. They stand in the orchestra pit. In this encore episode of HarmonyTALK , host Lisa Champeau welcomes Dan Micciche, Music Director and Conductor of WICKED on Broadway, for a fascinating conversation about the artistry, discipline, and teamwork required to keep one of the most successful musicals in theater history performing at its hig...

The Harmony in the Woods summer concert opens its sixth season this weekend in Hawley, Pennsylvania, welcoming world-class musicians from around the globe to its intimate outdoor amphitheater nestled among the trees, including today’s HarmonyTALK guest Taylor Ashton. This year's 23-concert season, which opens Friday, July 3, with Toronto's acclaimed Bywater Call, runs every weekend through Septemb...

Most people spend a lifetime trying to balance their passions. Tannis Kowalchuk planted hers in the same field. In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with the artistic director of Farm Arts Collective and co-owner of Willow Wisp Organic Farm along Pennsylvania's Delaware River. A performer at heart, Tannis always knew she belonged on a stage. Then she met a farmer. What foll...

From Rural Pennsylvania to the World's Greatest Opera Houses For most kids who grow up in a small rural town, the world's great opera houses can feel unimaginably far away. For Melanie Henley Heyn, they became home. In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with the internationally acclaimed opera singer whose journey began at age ten in a production of Amahl and the Night Visit...

What Happens When a Reporter Stops Looking Away? For most people, curiosity lasts a few moments. For Matt Birkbeck, it became a life's work. Long before true crime podcasts dominated streaming platforms and documentary series filled television schedules, Birkbeck was chasing leads, knocking on doors, digging through court records, and asking questions others overlooked. His reporting led him deep...

The Harmony in the Woods summer concert opens its sixth season this weekend in Hawley, Pennsylvania, welcoming world-class musicians from around the globe to its intimate outdoor amphitheater nestled among the trees, including today’s HarmonyTALK guest Taylor Ashton. This year's 23-concert season, which opens Friday, July 3, with Toronto's acclaimed Bywater Call, runs every weekend through Septemb...

Before 911, Before Organ Donation Laws, Before Physician Assistants Imagine calling for help during a medical emergency in the 1960s and discovering there was no coordinated EMS system. Imagine lifesaving organs being lost because there was no legal framework for donation. Imagine overworked doctors without trained Physician Assistants helping bridge the gap in care. That was American healthcare b...

From 14 Straight Losses to National Coach of the Year: The Chris Ayres Story Chris Ayres knows what it feels like to struggle before things finally click. Long before becoming one of college wrestling’s most respected coaches, he lost 14 straight matches as a youth wrestler. Most athletes would have quit. Instead, Ayres stayed in the fight. In this inspiring episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigo...

When Music Becomes Common Ground: Harvey Price and the Peace Drums Project What if the path to peace started with children simply playing music together? In this moving episode of HarmonyTALK, host Todd Stephens sits down with renowned percussionist, jazz vibraphonist, educator and Peace Drums Project founder Harvey Price to explore how one unlikely instrument became a bridge across cultural and r...

All’s Well That Ends Well: Michael Bradshaw Flynn On Bringing Back the Bard Fifteen years ago, staging Shakespeare in Scranton sounded improbable to plenty of people, especially to some New York theater types. The original production was intended as a one-time public performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Nay Aug Park. Organizers hoped a modest audience would turn out for the celebrated Bard....