Lives Radio Show & Podcast with Stuart Chittenden

"Quilterpreneur" Celeste Butler talks about why quilting is in her blood and how she is carrying on the traditions passed down the generations. She speaks about the genesis of her creative fascination, some of the themes she explores - including the divine feminine and being authentically human - and the process of her artistic craft. Butler is a fiber and textile artist, Quiltologist, ceramicist...

Sociologist and entrepreneur Teresa Friesen talks about how her path to founding the business startup SheMate was not linear, but came after a professional career as a sociology college professor and after tragic personal losses in her life. Friesen shares her experiences as an entrepreneur founding a female-centric sports business in a historically male dominated landscape and we talk about...

Spoken word artist and educator Felicia Casher shares generously of her lyrical wisdom, life experience, and love for words and how we may discover more of our mutual humanity through creative play with language. Felicia Casher, artistically known as Withlove, Felicia is an American poet, educator, healing artist, actor, host, and curator. Casher, formerly Felicia Webster, has been commissioned by...

Publisher, journalist, and media entrepreneur John Heaston talks about the story that initially drew him into the media business, how his publishing career developed alongside a tumultuous media ecosystem, and why alternative news media is an essential part of our lives. Heaston also talks about the importance of citizen and community led news and what the future holds for the media more broa...

Ceramic artist Richard Chung talks about his artistic practice being one of perpetual discovery, informing and informed by his innate curiosity and humility. Chung shares how he became an artist, what draws him to clay in particular, and the themes he explores in his work. Chung also talks about his immigrant family history, existing at the edges, and how that as well as the practice and professio...

Advocate and human resources professional Ralph Kellogg talks about coming to terms with being gay, coping with mental health challenges, and advocating for others in the face of persistent prejudice and stigma. Kellogg also shares his grief at the death of a close teenage friend while at the same time learning about love. With over twenty years in the areas of human resources and people managemen...

Brenda Mainwaring, the President and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation, one of the region’s largest philanthropic organizations, talks about the Foundation’s work in supporting the community. She shares recollections from her early life, a career going from cultural anthropologist to CIA analyst to corporate leader, lessons learned for leadership and life, and the importance of people and philanthro...

Artist, army veteran, and Native-American cultural educator Steve Tamayo talks about being raised within a Mexican cultural heritage, deprived of his stolen cultural identity as a native American, and how, as he matured, he not only sought out his native American culture through language and art, but has become a respected culture bearer for his Sicangu Lakota and other native peoples. Tamayo is a...

Mikaela Yeager is an eating disorder survivor, certified eating disorder recovery coach, blogger, and founder of Bigger Than a Body . In the show, Yeager candidly shares how eating disorders began to emerge at the age of 4, how she battled them for years in complete secrecy, and what motivated her to seek help, culminating in Yeager being inspired to earn her eating disorder recovery coaching...

Jannette Taylor is the President and CEO of the Women’s Center for Advancement . In the show Taylor talks about a lifelong commitment to working with marginalized youth, including founding a gang intervention and prevention program, and the work of the Women’s Center for Advancement supporting people experiencing sexual assault, domestic violence, and trafficking. Taylor also shares how this work...

Christian Gray, the executive director of inCOMMON Community Development. In the show, we talk about housing as a human right and the nature of the American Dream. Gray also shares how the pursuit of a life of faith and purpose drives his passion for community development and that real meaning in life can be found in contributing to enriching the local and global community of people around us. Chr...

JoAnna LeFlore-Ejike is the executive director of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation. In the show LeFlore-Ejike talks about the lasting legacy and relevance of Malcolm X, who was born in Omaha in 1925, and his recent induction into the Nebraska Hall of Fame. LeFlore-Ejike also talks about the work of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation and shares more about her own life as a self-declared black histo...

Artist Catherine Ferguson reflects on her informal pathway into what has become for her a lifetime with an artistic practice. She talks about some of her particular exhibitions and pieces, such as work democratizing everyday objects, her installation in Barcelona, and the aesthetic design of the Opera Omaha production of Aida. Ferguson also talks about her fascination with alchemy and how in explo...

In this New Year’s Day conversation with coach, attorney, and end-of-life doula Susan Koenig, she talks about what she has learned from a life as one of eight children raised on the edges of poverty, experiencing the deaths of several people close to her, and the joy that can be found by being attentive to life. Koenig also shares how we might frame our aspirations for the year ahead in this seaso...

This Christmas Day on Lives a selection of highlights from this past year’s shows that have included guests from the worlds of culture, business, ethics, education, faith, and more. We’ll listen back to a reading from author Dave Mainelli; music from performers Mesonjixx, Edem Garro, and Marcey Yates; art curator Karin Campbell will talk about the emotional impact of contemporary art while guest M...

Father Keith Winton is the Rector at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Omaha . Ordained to the priesthood in 2019 in his late 50’s, Father Keith shares with us his journey in life from the inklings of faith in his childhood in rural Indiana, through his study of mathematics and theology at Wabash College, into his career as a software engineer, to his recent ordination. Father Keith and his wife...

Poet Trey Moody talks about some of the themes he explores in his poetry, the place of poetry in his and in our lives, and how we might make sense of the world through this craft. Moody also reads some of the poems form his book, Thought That Nature, and some other newer work. This episode of Lives was broadcast live on air on KIOS 91.5FM, Omaha’s NPR station and regular broadcaster of Lives Radio...

Author and journalist Leo Adam Biga writes stories about people, their passions and their magnificent obsessions. In the show he talks about the craft and the business of writing, what makes for a good story, and what he has learned about others and himself in his long writing career. Author, journalist, blogger, and public speaker Leo Adam Biga is an Omaha native known for his writing-reporting o...

Glenn Greet is the entrepreneur behind the British Market and Bakery, Chippy’s , and the first Musical Director of the Nebraska Brass Band . In the show, we talk about his early life in the pastoral landscapes of Yorkshire in England, what it means to be a British expat in America, and bringing some of the Old World to the New World - including the cultural heritage of brass bands and the consumer...

Furniture maker, woodworker, and sculptor, Todd McCollister, talks about his work engaging at the boundary between furniture design and sculptural art. McCollister shares his journey into this passion and business, the questions he explores in his pieces, and how he engages with the natural material. Not only do we chat in the recording studio, but spend some time with McCollister in his wood shop...

Meredith Fuller is a psychologist, psychoanalyst, a nationally published poet, and the author of the novel, Quarry. With her husband, Jim Luyten, Fuller recently returned from walking a part of the pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago (the Chemin de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle or the Way of Saint James), which Pope Alexander VI declared to be one of the three great pilgrimages of Christendom....

Bilgesu Sisman is a philosophy PhD candidate, cinephile, film maker, and community programming manager at Film Streams . Sisman talks about the power of film to influence societal conversations, film’s capacity for expressing her imagination and philosophical questioning, and her intentions on how to live life well through an aesthetic of experience. Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Bilgesu Sisma...

Musician and hip hop artist Marcey Yates shares his determination to grow as a musician and his own evolution as a leader. He also talks about the founding of Culxr House as a creative community hub, especially during the 2020 protests after the deaths of George Floyd and James Scurlock, and the album “Culxr House: Freedom Summer” that emerged as a response to the 2020 protests. Marcey Yates is a...

Journalist Sara Gentzler's motto is to “tell complicated stories simply.” Dedicated to opening up our seemingly inaccessible public entities, in the show, Gentzler shares some of the stories she has written holding government accountable to the people it serves and talks about the importance of journalism in her life and in ours. Gentzler's explorations extend into aspects of our lives that we sti...

Singer and performer Enjoli Mitchell shares some of the highs and lows of her life, talks about music as her purpose, how music brought her through the grief of her sister's death, and the energy she gets from performing. Not only will we be in conversation, but Mitchell sings a cappella live in the studio. Raised in north Omaha, Enjoli Mitchell has been singing since she was young, Enjoli is now...