Keep the Channel Open

Christina Riley is a photographer and musician currently based in Seaside, California. When I first saw Christina's 2014 book Back to Me , I was immediately blown away by the emotional power and authenticity of the photographs. We talked about Christina's experience with bipolar disorder, her photographic process, and what it's like to move from Ontario, Canada to a small coastal community in Nort...

Nicole Chung is a writer and editor. Nicole's debut memoir All You Can Ever Know was released this month. In it, she tells the story of her life growing up as a transracial adoptee, of eventually finding and connecting with her birth family, and of becoming a parent, herself. In our conversation, Nicole and I talked about her wonderful book, our common experiences as Asian Americans, and about how...

Tami Bahat is a fine art photographer based in Los Angeles, CA. Tami's Dramatis Personae photographs are a series of Renaissance-inspired portraits, depicting people interacting with a few carefully-chosen props or set pieces, and sometimes a live animal co-star. In our conversation we talked about Tami's recent solo exhibition of Dramatis Personae at Building Bridges Art Exchange, about how exper...

Franny Choi's chapbook Death By Sex Machine uses the framing of artificial intelligence to look at things like voicelessness, dehumanization, Asian fetishism, and more. In our conversation, Franny and I talked about her book, about the ethics of making art that uses other people's voices, about writing lines that surprise yourself, and about Asian American solidarity. Then in the second segment, F...

Ada Limón's latest book of poems, The Carrying , was just released this month by Milkweed Editions, and it's just beautiful. In this episode, Ada and I discuss the book, the power of naming, connection with the Earth, and her collaboration with poet Natalie Diaz. Then in the second segment, we talked about travel and artistic pilgrimages. (Conversation recorded August 17, 2018.) Subscribe: Apple P...

Natalie Eilbert's newest collection of poems, Indictus , was published in January of this year, and reading it is a profound and intense experience. In our conversation, Natalie and I talked about Indictus , making amends, and what audiences ask of artists who make work about trauma. In the second segment, Natalie chose social media as her topic. (Conversation recorded July 17, 2018.) Subscribe: A...

R. O. Kwon's debut novel, The Incendiaries , was just released last week, and it's one of the best books I've read this year. In our conversation, we talked about her new book, who the first readers she has in mind are, the inherent unreliability of narrators, and how the characters invent themselves for each other. Then in the second segment, R. O. talked about her other passion: rock climbing. (...

Blue Mitchell is an independent publisher, curator, educator, and photographer based in Portland, OR. Blue's work, both as the publisher of Diffusion and as an artist in his own right, focuses on what he calls "artfully crafted" photography—that is, photographic art where you can see the artist's hand. In our conversation we talked about Blue's photographs and his use of a wide variety of techniqu...

Leah Umansky is a poet, collage artist, and self-described Game of Thrones and Mad Men super fan. I recently read Leah's latest book, the full-length poetry collection The Barbarous Century , and was struck by the exuberant use of language—it brought me a lot of joy. In our conversation, Leah and I talked about her book, her fascination with pop culture, and the power of story. Then in the second...

Richard Georges is a writer, editor, and lecturer in the British Virgin Islands. In his new collection of poems, Giant , Richard gives us a portrait of the BVI through landscape, through its history and its present. In our conversation, Richard and I talked about his book, the aftermath of empire in the BVI, and the relationship between poetry and myth. For the second segment, Richard talked about...

Min Jin Lee is a writer based in New York. Earlier this year I read Min's latest novel, Pachinko , and it just blew me away. In our conversation, we talked about the book and it's journey to publication, and the importance of making art out of what's true. Then for the second segment we talked about persistence as a writer, dealing with rejection, and learning to be OK with looking foolish in the...

Hannah Cohen is a poet and editor based in Virginia. I recently picked up a copy of Hannah's new chapbook Bad Anatomy and the way that the poems encompass both vulnerability and strength really struck me, as did the self-deprecating perspective. In our conversation, Hannah and I talked about Bad Anatomy , about emotional truth in poetry, as well as her work as co-editor of the online poetry magazi...

Alanna Airitam is a portrait photographer based in San Diego, CA. In her series "The Golden Age," Alanna makes portraits of African Americans in the style of the Dutch Realism Golden Age of painting, images full of grace and beauty representing black people in a fine art context, a context from which they are all too often excluded. In our conversation we talked about that series, as well as her "...

Andy Burgess is a multidisciplinary artist based in Tucson, AZ. Known for his paintings of mid-century and modernist paintings, Andy's wide-ranging practice also encompasses collage, printmaking, and photography, and more recently he has become a publisher, having started his own photobook publishing company, Dark Spring Press. In our conversation Andy and I talked about his approach to painting a...

Morgan DeLuna is a photographic artist based in Southern California. In her Phenotype series, Morgan uses self-portraiture to explore her diverse genetic heritage. In our conversation we talked about that series, and the question that both of us have heard so many times: "What are you?" We also discussed her Extrospection photographs, a series of abstract bodyscapes documenting the topography of h...

Devin Kelly is a poet and teacher based in New York, NY. Devin's latest book of poems, In This Quiet Church of Night, I Say Amen was a recent favorite of mine, an elegiac, contemplative book about family, love, and the ways in which life is more about the search than the finding. In our conversation, we talked about Devin's book as well as several of his essays, and Devin also read his poem "Elegy...

Ty Franck is a writer based in Albuquerque, NM. Along with Daniel Abraham, Ty is the author of the bestselling science fiction series The Expanse . In our conversation, Ty and I talked about The Expanse , how it got started, and the process by which he and Daniel write the series. Then in the second segment, Ty asked the question: "Who owns the stuff in space?" (Conversation recorded February 6, 2...

Brenda Biondo is a fine art photographer based in Colorado. Brenda's work focuses on three distinct areas: constructed abstractions centered on atmospheric color and light; conservation and land-based issues; and the way cultural artifacts move from the past into the present. In this conversation we talked about her documentation of American playgrounds, her background in journalism, her interest...

Justyna Badach is a photographic artist based in Philadelphia, PA. Justyna's work examines the iconography of the masculine history of art in relation to her work as a female artist. In this episode we discussed several of her photographic series, including her Untitled Film Stills ,  Bachelor Portraits , and Land of Epic Battles  series, how she uses her work to insert herself into spaces from wh...

Linda Alterwitz is a photographic artist based in Las Vegas, NV. Linda's work brings science and technology together with art to make some visually striking and very human images. In this episode we talked about her creative process, including how she first became interested in using medical imagery to make art. Then for the second segment, Linda chose balance as her topic. (Conversation recorded...

Lisa M. Robinson is a fine art photographer based in Tucson, AZ. Lisa's conceptual landscape photography has been hugely influential to me as an artist, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to talk with her for the show. In our conversation we talked about her artistic process, the conceptual underpinnings of her new Chronos and Terrestra series, and why her work has meant so much to me. Then...

Chris Engman is a fine art photographer based in Los Angeles. I first encountered Chris's work when he gave an artist lecture at the Medium Festival of Photography a few years ago, and his work just blew my mind. Chris's work focuses on the nature of photography and human perception, and he uses his meticulously constructed photographs to explore themes of time, impermanence, and memory. We had a...

Daniel Gonçalves is a portrait, editorial, and commercial photographer based in Los Angeles. I met Daniel at this year's Medium Festival of Photography, where he was participating in the portfolio reviews and showing work from his "Second Amendment Cowboy" series. We had a great conversation for this episode about his work exploring American gun culture and his fascination with Americana. For the...

Courtney Balestier is a writer and the host of WMFA, a podcast where writers talk writing. I've been a fan of WMFA for several months now so I was very excited to collaborate with Courtney on this episode, which will be released jointly on both shows. In our conversation we took a behind-the-scenes look at both of our shows, diving into our interviewing processes and why each of us started our pod...

Eleonora Ronconi is a photographer originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, now a resident of the Bay Area. I first saw Eleonora's work via the Six Shooters project have followed her work ever since. Most recently I was pleased to see her work again at this year's Medium Festival of Photography, where she was showing her series "Serás Mis Ojos," a beautiful body of work about memory and family. In...