Finding Favorites with Leah Jones

Jen Michalski returns with a new short fiction collection (available for pre-order now) and how she found Outsiders by S.E. Hinton for the first time. We talk about S.E. Hinton's YA ouvre, the movies she inspired and the Outsider House Museum in Oklahoma. Keep up with Jen Michalski online http://jenmichalski.com/   https://twitter.com/MichalskiJen   https://jmwwblog.wordpress.com/   https://twitte...

Kevin Alves, a Chicago-based podcaster, performer and producer, joined Leah to talk about the Canadian shows Letterkenny with Shoresy before a deep dive into pirates. Kevin also turns the table and gets Leah to tell the whole story of how Jason Mantzoukas recommended Finding Favorites to everyone at the Chicago Theater on erev Halloween. Follow Kevin and Big Talk Podcasts online. BigTalkChicago.co...

Two guests for one topic - Monica Reida returns and John Morrison joins for the first time to talk with Leah about their shared love of Twitter. We talk about weird Twitter, Colonel Tribune Tweet-ups, Black Lives Matter, romance and so much more. As of today, Twitter still exists. Part 1: Monica Reida Elf Yourself David Carr Magic the Gathering Gapersblock Jewish Jerk of the Wrestling World Televi...

Jasmine Davila is back and she's ready to talk about things to do inside during winter in Chicago. We talk about special movie events at the Music Box, jousting in the suburbs and vaginal steams at Korean spas. Follow Jasmine online https://twitter.com/jasmined https://www.instagram.com/jasmined/ Show Notes Music Box Theatre the Logan Theatre   Medieval Times Medieval Times union efforts   Namit C...

Long Island-based author and humorist Matthew David Brozik is on Finding Favorites to talk about his favorite things - potato chips, sleeping and super heroes. More specifically, the last ten minutes of the 1992 movie Glengarry, Glen Ross. We also talk about REM, XTC and TMBG... and TLC. Matthew's new book Odder Space is available on Amazon in print and digital (though he'd really rather you choos...

Chicago-based author Eden Robins is celebrating the launch of her debut novel this week and came on Finding Favorites to discuss her favorite book - The Neverending Story. When Franny Stands Up will be available on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 and is available for pre-order. Follow Eden Robins online @ edenrobins on Twitter and MonkeyThumbs.com Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter . Rate a...

Chicago-based poet Benjamin Niespodziany, aka Neon Pajamas , joined Leah to talk about Surreal art including TV, movies, books and paintings. On the fly he designed a four-week community class on surreal appreciation that I think we would all enjoy taking. (Please run it on Zoom, Benjamin!) His debut collection NO FARTHER THAN THE END OF THE STREET is available through Okay Donkey and already show...

While host Leah Jones was visiting Israel, she met with long-time Facebook friend Plia Kettner to talk about Plia's lobbying to open the skies of Israel during Corona, her love of Kfar Saba, and her love of cats. Plia collaborated with other citizens with partners or family abroad who were stuck abroad during Corona and is now part of an international team who shares information on how to organize...

Jerusalem-based tour guide Joel Haber joined Leah to talk about Shabbat Stews ahead of the release of his ebook Chulent & Hamin: The Ultimate Jewish Comfort Food.  There is so much more to Chulent than beans and meat! Follow Joel on Instagram and his blog Taste of Jew . Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter . Rate and review on Apple Podcasts Show links The Red Lady Free Shabbat Stew Coo...

Leah is going on hiatus until October, until then please enjoy the archives of Finding Favorites and pitch yourself as an interview when she returns this fall.

Veronica Arreola is back to talk about the 50th anniversary of Title IX and how 37 words changed modern life for girls in the USA. We also talk about pay equity, Brittney Griner and the Chicago Sky. Follow Veronica on Twitter and Instagram and all around the internet . No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be sub...

Bill Tilley, co-host of Bill and Robs: An Excellent Adventure and social media lead for Greatest Generation, joined Leah to talk about the interesting buildings he's lived and worked in, before diving into his search for his next favorite thing. Find Bill online Bill and Robs Podcast Greatest Generation @BillTilley1973 on Twitter Bill Tilley Cards Show Links Stadium Residence Hall at The Ohio Stat...

Matt Zoller Seitz, an author, filmmaker and TV critic, loves the acclaimed David Milch HBO drama - Deadwood. Together with 130 contributers, Matt recently published The Deadwood Bible: A Lie Agreed Upon, which includes critical essays on every episode, original illustrations, a complete account of David Milch's life and so much more. He also shares some of the backstory of how Shopify stole the th...

Carolyn, a seminary graduate and chaplain, joined Leah to talk about one of her desert island movies - the 1998 animated, movie-musical from Dreamworks: Prince of Egypt. Starring Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, and Ofra Haza, the film covers the Exodus story by focusing on the brotherly relationship between Moses and Ramses. We talk about how she first found the movie...

Jessica, our intrepid traveling friend , is back with more stories from the road. Since we last talked to Jessica about her 18-month global trip, she has gone on a road trip to Charleston, Savannah and Ashville, then went on a trip abroad to Jordan, Scotland and ended in Londong for the Queen's Jubilee. We talk about lessons from group tours, exactly what canyoning is and navigating "work from any...

Anna Tarkov, podcaster and activist, joined Leah to talk answer the question - why did everyone get into F1 Racing all of the sudden? We go deep on Anna's personal history with sports as an immigrant, Drive to Survive documentaries, and finally spending weekends watching the 20 drivers of F1 racing. Follow and Listen to Anna on   Racing Incident Podcast and on Twitter Follow @findingfavspod on Ins...

Writer and comedian Tim Barnes loves behind the scenes documentaries and featurettes that flourished during Peak DVD. We talk about Lord of the Rings, Star Wars Episode 1, and wonder where the good footage has gone. We also talked about Tim's newest project: Maurice on Mars - an animated short that is being released weekly by Comedy Central on YouTube. Maurice on Mars follows the struggles of Maur...

No guest this week, just the story of how Spidey was the best cat for host Leah Jones for the last 20.5 years. Let's round up to 21 years, shall we? We'll be back next week with a full episode. Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter . Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Rob Schulte, a senior podcast producer, loves the art and comedy of making recap podcasts. We talk about his journey from Star Trek and war movie recaps on Max Fun to his current work on Parks & Recollection with Rob Lowe and Alan Yang. Rob shares his dream podcast co-host (calling David Hasselhoff, calling David Hasselhoff), what it's like to ask Ron Howard to fix his microphone, and we share our...

Humorist Mike Sacks loves the movie Over the Edge and had the unique privilege of writing an oral history that led to a DVD re-release with commentary tracks. We discussed the 1979 movie that featured first-time actor Matt Dillon, the DC culture that created Kavanaugh and teen culture in the 70s and 80s. Follow Mike Sacks on Twitter , his website or just send him an email. (No, really) Welcome to...

Author Christine Marie Eberle joined Leah to discuss her new book Finding God Abiding and how she has built her personal practice of prayer. We dive into the Ignatian traditions, volunteer fire departments, and the Leah shares some ideas from Jewish prayer. Follow Christine online and pre-order a signed book from her neighborhood bookstore . https://christine-marie-eberle.com/ Goodreads Instagram...

Playwright and journalist Victor Wishna loves a lot of things, but agreed to sit down and talk about "Weird Al" Yankovic this week. We also talk about how Leah's Facebook post about getting a Torah from Iowa to Paraguay inspired him to write a two act play - Tree of Life -  which is now competing in the Jewish Plays Project.  Follow Victor Wishna on twitter and vote for Tree of Life . Follow @find...

James Ziegenfus loves riding his bike, baseball, music, travel and ice cream and he's kept a meticulous spreadsheet of data on many of his favorites things. On this episode, Leah and James dive into the decades of data that James has kept about baseball games, live concerts, plane travel and his physical music collection. He shares tips on how to keep quantitative data, using apps to supplement hi...

Author, attorney and costume designer - Angelique Pesce love of reading is at the center of everything we talk about on this episode. Her first novel, American Pastime , is available for pre-order and ships on June 7, 2022. Follow Angelique on Twitter,   Facebook , and IMDB Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter . Rate and review on Apple Podcasts Show Notes Cost of standing vs sitting in...

This week author and retired teacher Anita K. Newman sat down with Leah to talk about her new children's book Clark the Colorblind Chameleon , illustrated by Asha Hossein. We also talk about her love of teaching kids through music, taking voice lessons as a lifelong learner, and finding time to get two additional degrees while teaching! Clark the Colorblind Chameleon will be published on May 24, 2...