Craft: Exploring Creativity

Parents are complicated. Over a lifetime, children watch them transition from the infallible arbiters of childhood into the frail collection of ailments endemic to old age. Phillip Lopate’s mother was an exceptionally complicated person. Two decade ago, Lopate interviewed her … Continue reading →

Imagine you’re a painter. Beyond needing natural talent, hard work, and technique, how do you find a subject? If you’re Andrew Wyeth, creator of the famous 1948 painting Christina’s World (below), you get lucky, kind of, in that your subject … Continue reading →

Ever wonder how many kinds of fish are in the sea? That’s easy compared to the task for the international Tara Oceans Expedition: what kinds of microorganisms infect those fish and other marine life? The three-year mission of Tara was to sample … Continue reading →

Ever lie under a bed as a kid, hiding from adults or siblings, looking for something to do? Jonathan Byrd did. But unlike many other kids, he started to play the bed springs, one weird ‘”plonk” after another in a … Continue reading →

Ever listen to a meditation or relaxation recording and wonder, “What do they really tell me while I’m relaxing? What if it’s something bad? How do I know I can trust being relaxed?” Yeah, maybe I’m a little paranoid. I … Continue reading →

Many of us grew up reading the Hardy Boys (me) or Nancy Drew, wondering who Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene were and how they could write so many books. Julie Rubini and Marilyn Greenwald had the same questions and did some … Continue reading →

Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Mark Erelli has released 16 CDs, 6 collaborative and 10 solo, including his most recent For A Song, his first solo album of original material in six years. During our conversation, we talked about the ways that crowdfunding is … Continue reading →

Nationally syndicated columnist Connie Schultz won a 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her work with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, teaches journalism at Kent State University, and is the the author of two books including … and His Lovely Wife: A … Continue reading →

It’s another A-lister on Craft: Mariah Carey! Listen in for exciting news on her new career in the Rockin’ New Year.   A HUGE thank you to the inestimable Shawn Gould and ayote&olympic hiphop hard by Annon (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under … Continue reading →

Singer-songwriter Jeff Black has a lot of fan; and some of them are policemen, at least according to his podcast, Black Tuesdays. He’ll be in Columbus on December 3 with Six String Concerts. Listen in for the path less traveled and … Continue reading →

I’ve got a lot of people to thank you for this episode: Interviews with Loreena McKennitt (CAPA), Craig Johnson (Thurber House), Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Rizzuto (Nest Theatre), Origins (The Ohio State University Department of History) And thank you to folks … Continue reading →

Guest host Maureen Metcalf, CEO of Metcalf & Associates, talks with Dr. Dale W. Meyerrose, Major General(Retired) about leadership and how to lead a group of people who may not have a direct reporting relationship to you. Meyerrose was the first … Continue reading →

What you’ve been fearing is finally here: the 2016 Craft Halloween special, with stories from around the globe and your neighborhood. Clown: Written and performed by Doug Dangler Pets I: Written and performed by Mallory Laurel, Cade Leebron, Neil Grayson, Meg … Continue reading →

Join Columbus Unscripted for the Columbus Improv Festival on October 20-24. On the show today, Barbara Allen and Bill Sabo talk to Kelly Buttermore from the podcast From Justin to Kelly about improv, life, and how a really bad show … Continue reading →

Bill Shkurti has lived a fascinating dual life at Ohio State University: as an undergraduate from 1964-68, he experienced life as a subject of the administration, but from 1990-2010 he was an important part of the administration. These two sides led him to … Continue reading →

Many authors have explored the Kennedy family, but one little-explored member is Rosemary, the disabled daughter who was kept away from the public eye for most of her life. Kate Clifford Larson remedies this situation with her book, Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy … Continue reading →

What’s a dog owner to do? You can live in one of the top 10 best places to live in the United States, Littlefield, and still not have freedom to let your dog off leash at the dog park. And … Continue reading →

There’s always that one guy you know in high school who has  questionably sane ideas. In my high school, that guy was Jay. He liked to play “The Knockout Game,” the object of which was to be knocked unconscious. He liked to … Continue reading →

Patty Larkin is renowned for her guitar skills, songwriting and singing prowess. She’s been a staple of the folk-urban scene, with 13 albums to her credit. She’ll be in Columbus with Six String concerts on September 17. Listen in for … Continue reading →

With over two dozen books, including the New York Times bestseller The Obituary Writer and The Knitting Circle, to her credit, Ann Hood, knows books. In her most recent novel, The Book That Matters Most, she asks readers to consider what … Continue reading →

Comedian Tim Northern is a featured performer for the 2016 Arch City Comedy Festival and he recently talked to Craft humor correspondent Samantha Tucker about his life, his comedy, and the best city for humor. Catch him here and then … Continue reading →

Most of us have done something we’d like to forget: that time you had a few too many and sang Karaoke or that time you demonstrated a dance move and split your pants. Columbus, Ohio, blogger and journalist Andrew Miller’s book If … Continue reading →

Noah Adams will bring his 30+ years of radio experience to Fort Hayes on July 26 for “An Evening with Noah Adams,” a benefit for WCBE, 90.5 FM. I talked with Adams about how he got his start in NPR, … Continue reading →

“Who is Donald Trump?” Mark Singer unsuccessfully (he says) sought the answer to this question in 1997 when assigned to write a profile for The New Yorker. His conclusion, that Trump “had aspired to and achieved the ultimate luxury, an existence … Continue reading →

“Weird Al” Yankovic’s Mandatory World Tour will tear the roof off the Palace Theater in Columbus on July 6. I got a chance to talk to the man behind “Eat It,” “White and Nerdy,” and tons of other songs that … Continue reading →