MikeyPod

I’m a long time fan of Joy Askew, both as a musician and as a person. She’s a fantastic musician, a tireless activist, and a great friend. Joy has performed with some brilliant artists as well: Laurie Anderson, Peter Gabriel, and Joe Jackson, to name only a few.  We talked about the current climate for independent artists, both the good and the bad, our mutual appreciation of crowdfund...

Will Shishmanian is a fantastic singer/songwriter and one of my guests for the upcoming MikeyPod Live! event that I am producing for the Queerly Festival here in NYC. I just ran across Will’s music recently and am so proud to have him as my guest both at the Queerly Festival and here on the podcast. We cover a great range of topics from getting acclimated to being a NYC resident to writing s...

Duncan Pflaster is an award winning playwright and creator of The Naughty Jewish Boys calendar. He has appeared as a musician in several shows, and will be seen this July composing music for “The Social Avenger” by Lenny Schwartz in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. We have been internet friends since the LiveJournal days of old, and he has always inspired me with his steady fl...

Four days ago my pal Jill Strominger at New Amsterdam Records sent me Finnegan Shanahan’s new album, The Two Halves . She knew I would love and it she was right. I am fascinated by the fact that it is inspired by a map, and in love with the spirit and buoyancy of the music in this song cycle. The album is described as “part travelogue and part song cycle” and was commissioned and...

I came across Harris Markowitz on Snapchat some time ago. Though I don’t remember exactly how I discovered him, I do remember becoming an immediate fan. His snaps are ridiculously creative and compelling and, with his company A Cereal Production, he has created content for companies like Coca-Cola and Jolly Rancher. Whenever people tell me they “don’t get” Snapchat, I immed...

Rae Spoon is a musician, author, and speaker whose book,  First Spring Grass Fire,  was just named one of 10 best books by transgender authors featuring trans characters by The Guardian. Rae’s 8th album, Armor, was just released last month and it’s fantastic! I first met Rae a few years ago when I got to perform with them and Ivan Coyote. I actually was one of the opening acts for their show...

Dustin Harder  is the host and creator of the hit YouTube series The Vegan Roadie. A plant based personal chef and graduate of the Natural Gourmet Instiutute in NYC. I am a huge fan of both the series and the man. He’s crowdfunding the second season of the show on Kickstarter and you should absolutely support this! I have backed the project myself and believe in it wholeheartedly. Go there!...

Jasmin Singer is the co-founder and executive director of Our Hen House, a nonprofit multimedia hub working to change the world for animals. With Our Hen House, Jasmin produces an online magazine and a video production unit. She is a regular public speaker on the subjects of veganism and activism, and travels throughout the country (and beyond) to give workshops and keynotes at venues such as conf...

Raffaella Ciavatta and Lili Trenkova are the co-founders of Collectively Free, an activist community that works towards total animal liberation through anti-speciesist messaging, highly creative, non-violent actions, and pro-intersectional, empowering community building. I have participated in a number of actions with Collectively Free, and I have always walked away feeling deeply respectful of ho...

Carol J. Adams goes in the category of podcast guests about whom I thought, “it doesn’t hurt to ask.” I was delighted that she responded almost immediately to my interview request and she was simply lovely to chat with here. Ms. Adams wrote The Sexual Politics of Meat in 1990 and it has become a “bible of the vegan movement” according to The New York Times. I first ca...

I have been a big fan of Amanda Duarte and her monthly salon Dead Darlings for quite a while now, so I was really excited to talk to her on the podcast. Amanda’s Facebook rant about Planned Parenthood went viral recently, and she talks about the aftermath on the show. Amanda Duarte is a writer-performer who lives in New York City. Her writing has appeared in Marie Claire, Salon, Buzz Feed, a...

I was thrilled to interview cellist Noah Hoffeld on this week’s podcast. Noah has performed with Rene Fleming and Phillip Glass, and recorded solo cello for films including A Walk In the Woods and The Skeleton Twins . His debut solo album, Play Human, has been heralded by Baebel Music as “cello rock you never knew you needed.” We talked a good bit about Noah’s fantastic album, Pl...

On this week’s podcast, I interview composer/producer/drummer Ryan Rumery about his latest album, Riverside. We chat a bunch about our mutual love for Ableton Live music production software, and the process of creating work. I’ve still got some ello shirts to give away, listen to the podcast for details on that. So, listen, subscribe, review, like…all the things. Thank you, as al...

Julie Kathryn is the electronic artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist behind the project I Am Snow Angel who has been heralded as “enchanting alt-pop that fans of Imogen Heap and Enya will lap right up.” She’s the co-founder of a new musical collective, Female Frequency, which is dedicated to empowering women and girls in the music industry through the creation of media that is entirely femal...

Cynthia Hopkins’  The Alcoholic Movie Musical is running now until November 6th at The Bushwick Starr here in Brooklyn, NY. I first fell in love with Cynthia’s work a few years ago when I saw  This Clement World,  and I have been following her ever since. I was really thrilled to get to have this conversation with her and to share it with you. Get yourself out to see this show. It&#821...

Sherry F. Colb is Professor of Law and Charles Evans Hughes Scholar at Cornell University, where she teaches and writes about animal rights, criminal procedure and evidence. She has written the fantastic book Mind If I Order The Cheeseburger . I really love the conversation we had here. Sherry’s positive take on animal advocacy really gave me a fresh take and gave me fresh inspiration to con...

I met Gardiner Comfort a couple of years ago when he invited me to perform at his fantastic writer’s salon New Work New York. Through the magic of social media, we’ve stayed connected and I remain a fan of his work. I was thrilled to chat with him on the podcast about his new show,  The Elephant in Every Room I Enter, which details his week attending the Tourette Syndrome Association N...

A few episodes back when I talked with Scott Teplin I decided to share the podcast with our neighborhood listserv, thinking some of our neighbors might be interested in hearing the discussion and hoping to find some new creative folks in the neighborhood to chat with on the podcast. Soon after that I got an email from Spencer Gordon. I checked out his work, we had a brief email exchange and here w...

The video below is a exclusive from  luke kurtis , who is perhaps the most eclectic and active artist I know. We talk about his new installation “The Woods Are Watching,” his process with creating art and our collaborations together. Check out the podcast and especially the video above. Enjoy! Music: Gone (luke kurtis remix) – Michael Harren Seance – luke kurtis

I’ve been following Twintapes for quite a while now and count its founder, Pavel Rivera, as a inspiration to my music production self. It was really great to talk to him about his music and his growth as a producer. Check it out and be sure to stay till the end to find out how to win a t-shirt from Ello! Music Everyday Chemical Where Do We Go Painting Ocean Dreams Here’s a link to Pave...

Robin Fetter is a fantastic vegan blogger, hilarious backchannel Facebook communicator and now she’s entering the realm of vlogging and already kicking some serious ass. She and I have been internet friends for 6 some odd years so it was a real treat to chat with her here. Thanks for checking it out, and be sure to check out her website and YouTube channel as soon as you are done! Music: Sli...

I saw Ken Urban’s latest play Sense of an Ending  and really wanted to spread the word here on the ol’ podcast so here you go: a conversation with director Adam Fitzgerald. He directed the show (and mine, I’m proud to say) and he is a great friend. Listen and then go get your tickets to the show! Music: Hægt, Kemur Ljósið – Ólafur Arnalds Water From The Same Source –...

I’m so excited to welcome back my friend and former neighbor, Ann Karp. We were commune-mates at Koinonia Partners when I lived out there in Georgia. She is a painter, hiker, writer and all around awesome person who will be hiking the John Muir Trail and blogging (when she has internet access) about it on her blog, Sideways Gaze. I really love her writing so I was eager to remind you about h...

Competitive distance runner Scott Spitz joins me on the podcast this week to give me the scoop on his upcoming fundraiser in which he will run the entire length of Indiana. He will be running approximately 50 miles a day for one week and is aiming to raise $50,000 for Family Reach, a non-profit that financially assists cancer patients and their families during treatment. So happy to share this con...

Longtime listeners will remember Derek Nicoletto from his earlier appearance back in 2012 – an interview that remains among my favorites. I was really excited to talk to Derek again, this time about his new band Foam Ropes, which puts his solid songwriting in a fresh new framework.  Derek has a real gift for writing evocative lyrics and melodies. When coupled with his unique ability to commu...