Between the Levees

Mr. Anton Posner, the CEO of The Mercury Group, joins me on the show to discuss a few issues facing global supply chains that directly affect U.S. imports and exports, topics of discussion for which he recently appeared for a fourth time on Bloomberg TV to address. We talk through a journey that began at SUNY Maritime, his time as a Navy Reservist, time aboard ocean-going vessels, and a blossoming...

Captain Brandon Phillips, the first openly gay guest to appear on the show, joins me to chat through his career and the challenges faced in his life personally and professionally. He takes us on a meandering tour down the river from St. Paul, Minnesota to Cairo, Illinois and touches on the best spots to grab a bite along the way. Our conversation closes with his perspective on a few of the more co...

"Chaps" Baldridge and Kempton D., Jr., join me on the show to discuss their family's rich history on the waters of the United States and across the world. Chaps discusses his time with the military, chaplaincy, a sincere interest and appreciation for the industry we all know and love, and a personal project with which he found himself occupied over Covid. Kempton Jr. shares stories a...

Jessica Branham joins me on the show to discuss her early life in coal country, her introduction to the barge industry, a young career in barge fleet management, terminals, and logistics, and the budding new venture that recently began operations in the Memphis area for which she has been named CEO. If you enjoy this podcast, please rate, react, comment, share, subscribe, tweet, retweet, repost, a...

Charlie Kulage joins me again to continue our conversation about his life and career. He shares more industry memories and insights, a few more sea stories, and touches on personal traumas, substance abuses, and mental health as he bears his heart and soul for his son and for his friends in and out of the industry. *Viewer and Listener Discretion are strongly advised.*

This first of two visits with former Captain Charlie Kulage Sr. is immeasurably different from that to which my viewers and listeners may have become accustomed by now. In this episode, Charlie shares stories about a tumultuous childhood that ended on a US Navy ship in the North Arabian Gulf. He finds opportunity within the industry after being discharged from the Navy and navigates his way into t...

I present this candid moment with Charlie as a prelude to the 3-and-a-half hours of conversation we share that are due to publish this weekend. He touches on an array of topics that are discussed in depth in the full-length episodes. Please consider this a warning for language throughout as we explore some rather heavy topics. *Viewer and Listener Discretion are strongly advised.*

As we meander through a few more choice memories of his 47-year career on the water, Captain Greer shares with me a story he meant to tell in a previous meeting. We hear about the Professional Mates from the old steamboat days, and about flanking the Vicksburg Bridge. We close on a few final questions about Chief Engineers and Good Cooks. If you have any questions for Captain Greer, please email t...

Retired Captain David Greer, a true river historian passionate about nature, and with nearly five decades on the water, joins me on the show to share stories about a career that began after college in the early 70s and lasted until he stepped off the boat for the final time in 2020. He talks through the rich history of the industry and the physical geographies and engineering efforts that sustain...

As a prelude to a weekend featuring Captain David Greer's life and career, we touch here on the evolution of industry and technology since the late 40s in the United States and across the world, and the ways in which he's seen the human capacities for cognition and communication change over nearly 8 decades. If you have any questions for Captain Greer, please email the show @ whereyatstudi...

Training Specialist Jonathan Poulsen joins me on the show to tell about his journey from passenger vessels in Pittsburgh to the deck of an inland towboat, becoming a licensed tankerman, and making the jump shoreside into his present role in a very young career on the water. If you enjoy this podcast, please rate, react, comment, share, subscribe, tweet, retweet, repost, and follow wherever you fin...

Capt. Brian Brown, a SUNY Maritime graduate that got his start with Kirby 17 years ago, joins me on the show to talk through his life and career behind the sticks and in the ditch. Now with Enterprise Marine in the Houston area, he shares stories about storms, fog, time shoreside, and offers ideas about how his Alma Mater could better prepare American mariners for the brown water world. If you enj...

I'm joined on the show by the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, sitting President and Executive Director of Seamen's Church Institute. We discuss the history of SCI from its origins in New York Harbor in 1834 to what it has become today. He also shares a few stories about his time in the U.S. Navy and about his various introductions to, and professional experiences with, the many aspects of the Americ...

Captain Chad Leeper finally joins me on the show after about 8 months of my pestering off-watch from the lounge on the mighty M/V Dennis C. Bottorff. We discuss a familial connection established about 20 years ago, a 33-year career on the water with 30 of those in the wheelhouse, working as a deckhand at Darrow on his father's boat, and navigating a long and storied career through acquisitions, jo...

Special Release on New Year's Day Welcome to 2024 and Season 2 of the show! I hope you have a chance to watch and listen to my visit with Captain Joy Manthey that released yesterday. In this special release recorded on Christmas Eve, Captain David Greer shares additional insights about life on the water, and responds to a few comments and questions from a fan of the show before we address a nu...

Debuting 12/31/23 at 06:00 CST: Captain Joy Manthey joins me on the show to kick off Season 2. A hustler since childhood, she climbed onto a city bus one morning with her weekly allowance of fifty cents and found herself stuck at the foot of Canal Street in New Orleans. She made her way onboard the Steamer President at city front and went immediately to work in concessions. That same 10-year-old g...

Special Release on Christmas Day Retired Captain David Greer joins me again to dive back into history and discuss the conditions that led him to compose this poem about Dewayne and his Good Dogs... If you enjoy this podcast, please rate, react, comment, share, subscribe, tweet, retweet, repost, and follow wherever you find it. Thanks for playing along.

Captain Greer joins me for one last session of questions and answers. He talks about the Old River Control Structure, the imminent potential failure of some American ingenuities, and a developing family tradition that may be in jeopardy of finding a different way of life on land. Captain Greer's full-episode debuts 1/20/24. Hope you enjoy it!

Captain Greer joins me again to discuss his experiences transiting bridges in the wheelhouses of many towing vessels, some rich American industrial history, and even some Louisiana political history. There is an abrupt change in attitude as I read his poem, "Sunshine Bridge," but I thoroughly enjoyed these vignettes with Captain Greer. I hope very sincerely that you do too. Capt. Greer appears wit...

In this Between the Levees exclusive, Retired Captain David Greer joins me to discuss river history, his great grandson, and his evident passion and interest in the physical geographies that provide our way of life between the levees. There are brief interludes throughout as I read one of many poems he's composed in his retirement. Please enjoy "Walter and the Green Man" Captain Greer joins me for...

On the season 1 finale of the show, Mr. Ed Williams joins me to talk through the AEP acquisition by ACBL back in late 2015, his career on the water that began in the Twin Cities, the eventual jump to shoreside roles that led him to ACBL, and finally to retirement after 47 years. He talks a bit about his late wife and his personal life since retirement, and his hopes for continued innovation in an...

From running fleet vessels in St. Louis and piloting casino boats around the harbor up there to building a towboat and barge industry in South America, Mr. Jeff Stephens joins me for the second to last episode of season 1 to share stories about a career spanning nearly five decades that went off-shore for a time and has since culminated in an equipment brokerage role.

Coming to us from the Captain's Quarters on Marquette's M/V Charles Reid Perry, a 6600-HP Z-Drive boat, and waiting tug service at Darrow Fleet, Kevin Jackson joins me on the show. We get to know a bit about his vessel, his life, and his career to this point. He shares stories about the 15 years spent in the industry that changed life for himself and his family, the bond shared with all ma...

Newly-Retired Captain Gilbert Lamas joins me on the show to discuss a 59-year career that began in south Texas in the mid-60s. We discuss his roots growing up as a migrant worker, dropping out of school in the 8th grade and going to work on a dredge, his familial maritime and farming roots that were established two generations back in the late 1800s, a journey from deck to wheelhouse, Pilots Agree...

In this candid look at his personal life and professional experiences, for his second appearance on the show, Captain Mike "Beaver" Burkhart shares more stories about his family and early upbringing, his early career on the river battling with substances and bad company at home, a few more sea stories from the decades of life he's spent on the water, and more about his personal and p...