Let's Have a Renaissance: The DateKeepers Podcast with Itto and Mekiya Outini

In this episode, we speak with poet and journalist Christopher Merrill about being stranded at the US embassy in Kabul, why creativity depends on mortality, a memorable run-in with Gabriel García Márquez, and why you should never hire a menopausal Ukrainian to drive your van. For twenty-five years, Christopher conducted cultural diplomacy missions on behalf of the US State Department, traveling th...

In this episode, we speak with multimedia artist Lesley Dill about the nature and function of language, the enduring power of Emily Dickinson, life in India, the difference between loneliness and isolation, and what it’s like to grow up with a paranoid schizophrenic father. For decades, Lesley has worked at the intersection of language, sculpture, printmaking, performance, and installation. She’s...

In this episode, we speak with composer Bobby Ge about linguistic and cultural hybridity, how to pass off anything as “American,” and what to do when you see a businessman carrying a Hello Kitty parasol. Bobby’s compositions, described by  The Financial Times  as “expressive and gripping” and by  CityNews CBR  as “exciting, frenzied, and unpredictable,” explore themes of communication, hybridity,...

In this episode, we speak with visual artist Shiri Mordechay about surviving neglect on three continents and fashioning a rich creative practice out of the raw materials of trauma. Shiri is a painter and occasional sculptor whose work translates visceral and disturbing realities into the visual language of childhood dreams. Born in Israel to Iraqi parents and raised in Nigeria, she now lives and m...

In this episode, we speak with author Connie Squires about how to balance thematic unity with differentiation in a story collection, the vapidity of middle-class suburban fiction, and what constitutes “gritty realism.” Connie is the author of three novels:  Along the Watchtower  (Riverhead/Penguin, 2011),  Live from Medicine Park  (University of Oklahoma Press, 2017), and  Low April Sun  (Universi...

In this episode, we speak with composer Ray Lustig and audio engineer Maximilien Hein about the importance of trust, the productive symbiosis of creativity and technical skills, and their latest collaboration, an opera about the revolutionary 19th-century obstetrician Ignaz Semmelweis. Ray is a classical composer and rock musician with a background in molecular biology and a persistent interest in...

In this episode, we speak with painter Julie Heffernan about getting lost in the woods with a baby, the Winchester Mystery House, the hidden wisdom encoded in paintings, flowers, nutmeg, Amitav Ghosh, volcanos, and the secret about spirituality that Vermeer was trying to expose. Julie’s work has been described by Rebecca Solnit as “a new kind of history painting” and by  The New York Times  as “ir...

In this episode, we speak with poet and art writer Dean Rader about the convergence of the visual and verbal arts, what makes a poem, and the fraught relationship of critic to audience. Dean has authored or contributed to thirteen books, which range from the poetic to the scholarly, including the debut collection  Works & Days , which won the 2010 T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize; and he’s earned suppo...

In this episode, we speak with author and MacDowell fellow John Dalton about marketing excellent novels that seem to lack mass appeal, emergent developments in AI writing, and the future of authorship. John is the author of two novels:  Heaven Lake , which won the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Barnes and Noble Discover Award for fiction in 2004, and  The I...

In this episode, we speak with painter Kati Gegenheimer about one of her favorite subjects, luck: what it is, whether it exists at all, and what role—if any—it plays in residency applications. Besides luck, Kati’s work also deals with love and time. She’s been supported by residencies at Pollock-Krasner, The Goldey House, Elizabeth Murray, the Edward F. Albee Foundation, and others and has partici...

In this episode, we speak with Cape Cod artist Sheryl Jaffe about the art of papermaking, the properties and uses of various organic materials, and how to think more productively about invasive species in a mixed-up and mongrelized world. Sheryl also has extensive teaching experience, both domestic and international, and her work has been supported by residencies at Yellowstone National Park and t...

In this episode, we speak with Super Lawyer Elissa D. Hecker, who takes on several common misconceptions about intellectual property, trademark, and copyright law and shares what she thinks every writer and artist needs to know. Elissa has been recognized as one of the best lawyers in America for copyright law. She’s edited three books,  Entertainment Litigation – Know the Issues and Avoid the Cou...

In this episode, we speak with oil painter David Molesky about the importance of legitimate alternatives to college, the role of AI in the breakdown of higher education in the West, and the threat potentially posed to visual artists by AI image generators. David’s compositions deal with themes such as masculinity, tragicomedy, heroism, and the tension between organic abstraction and mythological f...

In this episode, we speak with composer Anthony Gatto about the evolution of music in the 20th century, imitation vs. innovation, whether the American dream is still alive for immigrant artists, and what he learned from studying under giants like Ornette Coleman and Harold Bloom. Anthony’s compositions for film, theater, opera, and the concert hall engage dynamically with literature and the visual...

In this episode, we speak with poet Michele Wolf about rebuilding communities in the wake of the pandemic, the importance of in-person readings, why emerging poets are struggling to publish debuts, and her own latest collection,  Peacocks on the Streets  (Broadstone Books, 2025). Michele is also the author of two other collections and a chapbook:  Immersion  (The Word Works, 2011),  Conversations...

In this episode, we speak with Kamala Sankaram, creator of the world’s first virtual reality opera, about online reading habits, comic books, tree growth, and data mining. A composer, a classically trained sitarist, and the leader of an award-winning Bollywood surf ensemble, Bombay Rickey, Kamala makes a compelling case for the importance of crossover projects that bring together highbrow and popu...

In this episode, we speak with poet and educator Peter Kline about the psychological and social functions of poetry, compare strategies for dealing with writer’s block, and discuss which sorts of literature AI can produce and why. Peter is the author of two poetry collections,  Deviants  (Stephen F. Austin State University Press, 2013) and  Mirrorforms  (Parlor Press/Free Verse Editions, 2020). Hi...

In this episode, we speak with our friend and fellow MacDowell alumna, Helen O’Leary, about growing up on the margins, surviving disaster, the role of absurdity in the creative life, and the importance of self-love. Helen spent her childhood on a farm in rural Ireland, where she learned self-sufficiency and how to work with her hands. She’s been a practicing visual artist since the late 1980s and...

In this episode, we speak with choreographer Nami Yamamoto about making and dancing with puppets, what it means to lose a future memory, and how her creative practice has evolved as she’s aged. Nami has received support from the Jim Henson Foundation, City Artist Corps, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Movement Research, the New Dance Alliance, the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreogra...

In this episode, we speak with our friend and fellow MacDowell alumnus Steve Chang about writing, thinking, masking, code-switching, genre-bending, emojis, and Camus. Enjoy!

In this episode, we speak with author Alexia Nader about the challenges of writing a first novel, techniques to sustain reader engagement across sections of a multigenerational novel, and how to overcome the fear that writing is a waste of time. Alexia’s debut,  The Meaning of Daughter , is due out from the University of Iowa Press in 2026. 

In this episode, we speak with pianist and composer Ben Krause about where and how to find opportunities as an aspiring composer, the productive tension between composers and performers, and whether music industry jobs are vulnerable to AI automation. Ben holds degrees in composition from Rice University and the University of Oregon, and he’s received awards, residencies, and commissions from the...

Anne Harris’s drawings and paintings have been exhibited or are held in permanent collections at The New York Public Library, The Yale University Art Gallery, The Fogg Museum, The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Garden, and elsewhere. She’s also the originator of  The Mind’s I , a collaborative drawing project that’s been exhibited at venues around the world, from Los Angeles, California to Santiag...

Thea Chacamaty holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan and has received support from the Steinbeck Fellowship, Writing by Writers, the Tin House Workshop, and others. In this episode, we discuss her affinity for short fiction, the novel upon which she’s tentatively embarked, and how to find your way in life after growing up broke in California. 

Josue Bessiake is a painter with an interest in material science and the structure of things. He’s presented work at the National Gallery of the Bahamas, the Chautauqua School of Visual Arts, the Charles Wright Museum, and elsewhere. His work has been supported by several residencies, including the Edward F. Albee Foundation. In this episode, we discuss his interest in the nature of material reali...