Lives Radio Show & Podcast with Stuart Chittenden

Poet Katie Marya talks about the themes explored in her debut full length poetry collection “Sugar Work,” including womanhood, intimate relationships, the body, divorce and desire. Marya also talks about the experiences that have shaped her life and sense of self. As well as discussing the imagery within and the structure of her book Sugar Work, Marya reads some of her poems. Katie Marya&nbsp...

Rebecca Deterding, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Omaha, talks about the YMCA’s history; its intentional culture today of making all feel included; her approach to being a leader, and living up to her purpose in serving others. Rebecca Deterding is the President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Omaha , an organization she had served as CFO since 2015 prior to stepping into the CEO role in...

Rabbi Batsheva Appel is currently the interim rabbi at Temple Israel in Omaha, Nebraska. In the show Rabbi Appel talks about her journey into the rabbinate, having first studied science and working in the corporate world. Rabbi Appel also talks about the nature of her faith and her own personal passions. Rabbi Batsheva Appel has served congregations in a variety of different roles, as a...

Soprano, musician, performer, and singing teacher Shelby VanNordstrand shares her love for singing and her passion for expressing stories through music. As well as her classical background, VanNordstrand also creates and performs avant garde music, including r u ok (created with Seth Shafer) which they performed at the 2022 Omaha Under the Radar Festival . You can watch a video of that performance...

Author Dave Mainelli talks about his short story book collection How to Be Lonely and how the stories test the limits of the human condition and our occasionally tenuous grip on a life well lived. Mainelli also shares how his writing has bridged from the truth of his own experiences with ill health to inspire some of the challenges facing his protagonists. Dave Mainelli teaches creative...

Fontenelle Forest’s Matt Darling talks about the wonders of nature and our essential human need to embrace it. Matt Darling is the executive director of Fontenelle Forest , one of the largest nature centers in the country. Fontenelle is made up of two properties and multiple ecosystems, 24 miles of trails, a high ropes course and 2,100 acres of forest, prairie and wetlands. Prior to this role...

Set jetter Robert Patterson talks about his passion for set-jetting – visiting the sites and scenes captured in movies, tv shows, and music videos – and the documentation of the many locations he captures, the scenes he recreates, the people he has met, and the experiences that he shares through his website . As the Executive Director of the nonprofit Kids Can Community Center in Omaha, Nebraska,...

Legendary musician Dereck Higgins is my guest in this week’s show. He talks about his life at the vanguard of musical creativity, his origins in a musical family, music as a form of spiritual expression, and his personal journey with grief and with depression through the healing power of music. Inducted into the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame in 2019, Dereck Higgins is a self taught music creator and...

Former Nebraska State Poet Twyla Hansen declares that "poetry can save you." In the show, Hansen talks about making sense of the world and of herself through poetry, her affinity for the sacred, wild, and wondrous places around us, and how poetry can be a salvation in the face of pain and grief. Twyla Hansen was born and raised in northeast Nebraska on the farm her grandparents had purchased as im...

Communications professor Jay Leighter shares some personal and professional perspectives on making sense of life through the practice of communication, research and insights into communication, community, and culture, including work with the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and the ongoing social and ecological consideration of the Nebraska Sandhills, and his own family’s efforts towards creating...

Scott Jones is the Senior Minister for First Central Congregational Church . In the show, Jones talks about his childhood aspiration to be a preacher, his faith journey, the implications of the pandemic on his ministry and personal life, coming out as a gay man within the church, life advice from his son, and more. Scott Jones grew up in a small town in Oklahoma knowing since the age of five that...

Edem Garro is a singer, songwriter, and self-taught multi-instrumentalist who performs as Edem Soul Music. In this show, Edem not only talks about the place of music in her life and the themes she shares through it, but also performs a couple of songs for us live in the studio.  Edem is a 12 times Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award nominee, a 2018 OEAA winner for Best Soul, and a 2020 and 202...

Jacob Dahlke is a clinical ethicist and the Director of the Office of Healthcare Ethics at Nebraska Medicine . In this show, he talks about ethics and how they are applied in a healthcare setting, especially in the context of the pandemic and the moral injury and trauma suffered by healthcare workers and himself. Jacob also talks about his own life as an art teacher and his journey to clinical eth...

Karin Campbell is the Phil Willson Curator of Contemporary Art at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha. In the show, Campbell shares her first memorable encounters with art, her role as a curator in catalyzing public conversation and the emotional impact of art in and on her life. Since joining the museum in 2012, Campbell has curated several major exhibitions, including 30 Americans, Word/Play: Prints,...

Since Lives launched in January 2017, its focus has been on authentic conversations with fascinating people covering a diverse range of issues. This summer, the show will evolve in terms of content and broadcast platform. Season three will focus on the art of living, asking questions like, what is a good life? Why are we here? How might we feel more connected? These and other big questions about h...

CEO and a fifth generation owner of Omaha Steaks , Todd Simon talks about the family legacy, leadership, the nature of the business, and how it and Todd has changed over the years. We also talk about the importance of community and lessons Todd has learned along the way. Todd Simon is a 5th Generation owner of the Omaha Steaks group of companies, currently serving as Chairman and Chief Executive O...

CharDale Barnes and Teddy Young are the two founders of the brand design firm Stable Gray . In the show, they share how their individual creative talents came together as entrepreneurs dedicated to building a company that adds value to their community as well as to the businesses they serve. Stable Gray was founded in 2015 by north Omaha natives, CharDale Barnes and Theardis “Teddy" Young to help...

Ashley Kuhn is the cofounder with Maranda Adams of the 100% woman owned and 100% minority owned Real Estate and Construction company, Blair Freeman. In our conversation she talks about the childhood experiences that sparked her fascination with real estate, the community-minded ethos behind Blair Freeman's work, and the business and life lessons Kuhn has learned along the way. Ashley Kuhn has spen...

Chanda Chacón is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha. In the show Chacon shares how a car accident as a child influenced her life and stoked a passion to serve in the healthcare field. Chacon also talks about leading an organization during the pandemic and energizing its commitment to caring for every child and for the whole child, within th...

Jay Warren Teamer is an Omaha native who has spent her personal and professional life serving our community. In August 2020, she was appointed as the inaugural Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, where she drives the diversity, equity and inclusion strategy for the company and also oversees the company’s corporate social responsibility and wellness effort...

A thread running through Dr. Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado’s life is a desire to leave the world better, whether or not his involvement is visible to others. As well as discussing his long career as an educator, nuclear non-proliferation analyst, and community activist, we talk about inclusion, identity, his experience growing up as the son of migrant Mexican farm workers, joining the Navy, and much...

Billy Estes is the executive director of the historic Midwest Theater and of the Midwest Skyview Drive-in Theater in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. We talk about the historic theater and its role in the community during COVID, Billy’s love for the arts and the creative spark of Burning Man, entrepreneurship and his other life as a farmer, and much more. Billy Estes has been part of the Friends of the Midw...

Pam Alfrey Hernandez is the entrepreneur and leader who created The Right Reflection in February 2015 after a distinguished and groundbreaking career at Omaha-based Woodmen Life, a non-profit financial services organization with $10 billion in assets and 1500+ employees/sales agents. We talk about her current work and the coaching needs she observes in the leaders she supports and about her role a...

Chancellor Joanne Li talks with me about being a maverick, her epiphany about the larger opportunities in the world, being a first generation college student and how that shapes her empathy for students today, her plans for the University of Nebraska at Omaha as an urban college, and much more. Dr. Li is the first woman of color to serve as UNO's chancellor and the first Asian-American in the hist...

Omaha native Tony Veland is not just a two-time National Champion and Superbowl Champion as a trophy winning former Nebraska Cornhusker and a Denver Bronco, he is a committed advocate for community and youth. Tony talks with me about how his experiences on and off the field have shaped who he is today, his commitment to community, and his work supporting opportunity for youth. Tony is the Director...