Big Blend Radio

Screenwriter-turned-mystery-novelist Jule Selbo joins hosts Matt Cost and BJ Magnani on Big Blend Radio's "Pets, Plots & Poisons" Podcast to talk about her award-winning Dee Rommel mystery series — a countdown series that just landed its fifth book, "Six Days."   The conversation covers building a lead detective with a below-the-knee amputation, the Falmouth, Maine coffee-shop friendship...

For World Patient Safety Day, Big Blend Radio's "Quality of Life" Show welcomes author Kenitra W. Dominguez to discuss her debut memoir, "Because I Deserve It: What Chronic Illness Taught Me About Finding My Voice in the Healthcare System" — out now. In 2021, a routine eye exam led Kenitra to an ER visit and, the next day, a diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) — a rare, incurab...

September is Pet Memorial Month, and on this shared episode of "The Pet Connection," Lisa D. Smith and co-host Angela Laws of TrustedHousesitters.com dig deep into how we remember the animals who shape our lives — personally, historically, and everywhere in between. From home memorial gardens and paw-print keepsakes to the extraordinary true stories of Old Sam (a Civil War artillery horse secretly...

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Lost Angel Travel Adventures" Podcast, travel writer Linda Ballou shares her latest adventure: six days rafting 89 miles of the Green River through Desolation Canyon, one of the largest roadless wildernesses left in the American Southwest.  Traveling with OARS Whitewater Rafting, Linda and a group of fellow outdoor enthusiasts — many of them retirees in t...

Travel writer and advisor Lisa Evans, host of Big Blend Radio's "Journey Jukebox" Podcast takes us to Yellowstone National Park — America's very first national park, marking 110 years of the National Park Service this year.  This episode picks up right where her Cody, Wyoming visit left off: after basing herself in Cody, Lisa spent a day and a half looping through Yellowstone by chartered bus...

Welcome back to another episode of Big Blend Radio's "Wanderers Compass" Podcast! Three years after Joelle's first truffle hunt in the pouring rain with a cooking group of sixteen women, she and Ryan return to Buzet, Croatia, to sit down with Višnja Prodan Jekić of Prodan Tartufi — a family truffle business now heading into its fourth generation. It started in the 1960s, when Višnja's grandparents...

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Jo Goes Everywhere!" Podcast, travel writer Jo Clark takes us to Greensboro, North Carolina — the third-largest city in the state and home to Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, site of one of the most consequential battles of the Revolutionary War. Jo digs into Greensboro's roots, from the Saura and Keyauwee peoples who lived there first, to the Germa...

In this episode of Big Blend Radio's "ABC's of Horses" podcast, World Champion horse trainer Christy Wood is joined by fellow rider Stephanie Callahan Clark for their annual look at the Chief Joseph Trail Ride — a thirteen-year progressive journey on horseback retracing the Nez Perce National Historic Trail across Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.  They cover this year's route, wildlife en...

Author and adventurer Inga Aksamit returns to this Big Blend Radio's "Food, Wine & Travel" show with the International Food Wine Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) — to take us snorkeling for two weeks aboard the MV Bilikiki in the Solomon Islands.  From a camouflaged crocodile fish and venomous sea kraits to a floating village market and the Coral Triangle's marine biodiversity, Inga sh...

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Quiltripping Travel" Podcast, travel writer and photographer Rose Palmer shares her epic month-long journey across Southern Africa with her husband — starting with wine tasting in Cape Town, riding the historic Rovos Rail into Zimbabwe, chasing wildlife and waterfalls at Victoria Falls, safari glamping in Botswana's Khwai Private Reserve and Okavango Delta, an...

Debut author Jane Brookwood joins Big Blend Radio's "Books & Authors" series with Books Forward to talk about her new tarot-themed cozy mystery, "The Hanged Man," out September 15, 2026. Jane shares how she built the fictional town of Pineridge Hollow, the real cat named Rosie who inspired Fiona's feline familiar, and how her own tarot practice — including a recurring relationship with the Dev...

Just 30 minutes from Portland, Tualatin Valley is Oregon's underrated wine country — home to 40+ wineries, one of the state's most ethnically diverse food scenes, tax-free shopping, and a 21-mile paved trail past a giant wooden troll.  On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Food, Wine & Travel Show," presented in partnership with the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association (...

Celebrate Intergeneration Month (September) with this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Travel with Terri" Podcast where travel journalist Terri Guthrie shares how Oklahoma City is a destination built for every generation — grandparents, parents, and grandkids alike.  Hear about the whimsical, hands-on art of Factory Obscura, the massive Science Museum Oklahoma, the newly refreshed Frontier City...

Blind musician, producer, and speaker Joey Stuckey joins Big Blend Radio's "Table & Compass" Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation rooted in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals on reducing inequality and building accessible communities.  Joey shares the story of surviving a childhood brain tumor, how his parents' insistence on travel and unrestricted access to knowledge shaped who he...

Happy Labor Day weekend! Instead of a new episode, we're digging into the archives for something special: this is the conversation from February 2021, on our Big Blend Radio Champagne Sundays show, where Shelley Whizin, transformational life coach and host of Big Blend Radio's "Soul Diving Sunday" Podcast, first joined us as an expert in the Big Blend family. Five years later, it still holds up be...

Celebrate Classical Music Month with this edition of Big Blend Radio's American Jukebox! Every first Sunday, award-winning singer-songwriter Johnny Schaefer joins Lisa D. Smith to explore the music, artists, and stories that celebrate America's rich musical heritage as part of the nationwide America 250 celebration. This month's playlist turns to classical and orchestral music, tracing its deep an...

Travel writer Linda Kissam — Big Blend Radio's own "Food, Wine & Shopping Diva" and host of "Sip, Savor & Travel" — pulls up a seat for a fun round of Getting to Know You.  Linda dishes on her spirit animal (koala, if you're wondering), the nonprofit she'd fund with a million dollars, her husband's boat-life drama in the Pacific Northwest, and her dream trips to England and Africa. Sh...

Donna George of The Peanut Patch joins producer Lisa D. Smith to spice up the fall season — from the spicy side of Donna's product lineup to seasonal gift and shipping ideas as The Peanut Patch gears up for its October 1st store reopening. Then it's on to the kitchen for five recipes from The Peanut Patch's collection: Soft Ginger Peanut Butter Cookies, Ginger Date Wontons, Spicy Date Nut Loaf, Do...

Wine culture starts long before the glass is poured — it's rooted in family, food, and the stories we carry with us. On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Wine Time with Peggy" Podcast, Peggy Fiandaca is joined by Julia Coney — writer, educator, speaker, consultant, and luxury travel advisor, and founder of Black Wine Professionals and co-founder of A Privé Journeys, a bespoke travel company speci...

Fall is teasing us across the country, and California's Sequoia Country — home to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Sequoia National Forest, the Giant Sequoia National Monument, and the welcoming communities of Tulare County — is right on the edge of the season's first cool breeze. In this episode of Big Blend Radio's "California Sequoia Country" Podcast, Sequoia Tourism Council members Suz...

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Wander the World" Podcast, travel writer Sharon K. Kurtz takes listeners on a personal Austin staycation, joined by fellow Austinite and travel writer Marika Flatt, travel editor and associate editor of Texas Lifestyle Magazine.  Staying right on the UT Austin campus at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, Sharon walked to the Texas State Capitol, th...

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Adventures in Asheville" Podcast, Steve and Karen Wilson chat with Dawn Bankson, owner of Star Watch Night Vision Tours, about exploring Asheville's night sky in a whole new way.  Using military-grade PVS-7 and PVS-14 night vision goggles, Dawn takes guests out to dark-sky locations around the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mount Pisgah to spot meteor showers, sa...

Award-winning journalist and author Michael J. Seidlinger joins Big Blend Radio's "Toast to The Arts" Podcast to talk about his satirical horror novella, "Brokeula." It's a story of James Sugre, a vampire who's been broke for centuries and finally cracks under the weight of it, launching a multi-level marketing scheme to turn humans into vampires for a fee.  Michael talks about flipping the c...

Jeannine Wolfe, CEO and founder of Soulmate Quest, joins us on Big Blend Radio to talk about what it really means to work with a professional matchmaker.  Jeannine shares how her own search for love after becoming single at 35 turned into a career, why she describes her process as "an executive search for your heart," and how she blends matchmaking with relationship coaching to help clients m...

Travel writer Eva Eldridge joins Big Blend Radio's "Parks & Travel Podcast to share her firsthand visit to Crater Lake National Park, Oregon's only national park and home to the deepest lake in the United States.  Hear how the caldera formed after Mount Mazama's eruption 7,700 years ago, why the lake has no inlet or outlet, the striking clarity and blue of the water, hiking trails around...