The Department of Homeland Inspiration

Art Ranger shares her appreciation of poetry generally, recording this on the last day of National Poetry Month. She highlights Mosab Abu Toha's "Things you may find hidden in my ear" as a different way to read the news. In addition she reads and deconstructs her favorite American Haiku by Jack Kerouac, from the book "Heaven & Other Poems".

Art Ranger launches season six of The Department of Homeland Inspiration with a taking of the pulse and a celebration of the poetry of the late Diane de Prima. She reads from the book, Revolutionary Letters, 50th Anniversary Edition. Relevant past episode War is a Racket

Art Ranger shares a favorite poem written by her dad in the nineties, "Sonnet to the Wilderness". While trying to get a grip on all the grieving that there is to do, outside and inside, she picks something near and dear to share. A previous podcast, called "Love Letter to the Constitution", features an essay by Bob, kept in his briefcase.

Welcome back to The Department of Homeland Inspiration after a year hiatus, wherein the Art Ranger re -states her mission. A brief overview of this project in its re-current re-boot, rekindle form. An artist's inquiry into inspiration, writings, and a growing sound emporium.

Art Ranger celebrates and reminisces about the life and work of poet, Jerome Rothenberg, who passed recently. He was a treasured mentor whom we admire forever. To learn more about Rothenberg's gigantic contribution to literature, read his NYT obituary . Our favorite of his books are "That Dada Strain" and "Shaking the Pumpkin". The title of this podcast comes from: SONGS &a...

Art Ranger shares a conversation that took place in the Art Gallery at California State University, Monterey Bay as part of an exhibit reflecting on the affects of COVID 19 and the role of music as healing. Participants include artist educator, Angelica Muro, musicians, Jeffrey Jones and Lanier Sammons. Other artists referred to in this podcast: Delia Salvidar of Radio Bilingue, Salinas and Amalia...

Art Ranger shares a recently discovered essay about the U.S. Constitution written by her father in the 60s. Have you ever tried to read the constitution? Well - dad breaks it down for us, and with passion, explains how it works. A crucial time to pay attention.

Art Ranger continues to perform a long poem inspired by a prompt from California Poet Laureate , Lee Herrick. Bits of life story are spliced with observations of place.

Art Ranger chews on the question "My California" posed by California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick. "What is your California?" How do you define your relationship to a state through writing about it? Before tackling the gargantuan topic, a personal narrative ensues which describes the way she first touched the Pacific edge of the continent.

Art Ranger sits down with poet, Daniel B. Summerhill , host of an open mic series in Seaside, California. As Monterey County Poet Laureate , Summerhill's leadership includes orchestrating a group poem involving everyone present in the room, whether they've shared at the mic, or not. The results are inspiring to witness, compositions only made possible by the particular people in the room c...

Art Ranger continues her series of podcasts that celebrate books. "Notes from the Field" are reflections from National Poetry Month as April melted into May, relishing the use of Notes and Voice Memo "apps" as creative tools. Also, If you enjoy literature, learning, and the meeting of minds, here are two excellent podcasts The Art Ranger has tuned in to during the past few year...

Art Ranger, along with her colleague Michael Sheridan , review "War is a Racket" by Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler. This highly decorated war hero becomes dogged activist and tours the country giving speeches about how he was in effect, a bully for the corporations, then quit.  Art Ranger and Sheridan share excerpts of the text as well as a piece of their minds. Sonic textures provided b...

Art Ranger shares a rant-with-reflection from those blurring Pandemic months, while paying more granular attention to the contents of her neighborhood, namely the several Little Free Libraries that reside within a mile radius of her corral.  Some riffs provided by our 2023 virtual band, Dirty Pens.

Art Ranger reads a passage from her great grandfather's book, "Across the Plains" An 1862 journey from Omaha to Oregon by William Smedley. The original palm-sized leather journal currently resides in a Colorado Historical Museum. This emblematic "Go west young man" story quest, contains raw struggles, dicey encounters with "Indians", descriptions of beautiful landscapes, and especially treacherous...

Adapted from a 2019 performance called, Mad 2 Go, and part of an art show named after the book, "Good and Mad". Now called, Madder 2 Go, the artist grapples with more recent slow-mo gutpunch, and flabbergasted anger and disgust over the churn of events concerning the assault on women's rights. Podcast vocal track is provided by the band, DIRTY PENS, a virtual anonymous set of noise making enthusia...

For this episode, Art Ranger performs a written work by the recently departed Claes Oldenburg . What Beat Poets were doing for the word and the freeing of spirits, Oldenburg and his visual artist contemporaries were embracing a shift toward everyday encounters, away from rarefied and toward a plug or a clothespin. "I am for an art ..." conveys this unmuseum (art is everywhere) enthusiasm that the...

A re-introduction to new and continuing listeners. This 3 minute description is Art Ranger's mission statement and quest to share her absurd way of being in the world, through the lens of art.  We compose our audio narratives and interviews alongside a homegrown soundscape. This podcast is attuned to creatives and curious folk who enjoy literature, images, and art making processes. 

A quick overview of what the listener may experience here at The Department of Homeland Inspiration. This is an audio art narrative brought to you by The Art Ranger. She watches out for art in its many forms, conducts interviews with cool people you've never heard of, creates audio portraits, writes essays, slams poems, rants about the absurdities of living, keeps an audio diary, and wishes to...

A conversation and soundscape featuring documentarist, artist and creator of Community Supported Film , Michael Sheridan .  This audio portrait contains parts of our conversation in a matrix of soundtrack clips from the collection. The collaborative works discussed and sampled herein have been created in Afghanistan, Haiti, and among new immigrant and refugee communities in the greater Boston...

Art Ranger delivers two spoken word pieces that came about due to a collaborative art show called Courage Within Women Without Shelter . Critical Ground is a collective of four women artists in Monterey, California who tackle the subject of "homelessness" using art workshops as a way to connect with the women, learn more about their circumstances, and to raise awareness and funds. If you wish to s...

Unearthed from a drawer, Art Ranger reads from - And Being, but an Ear, a 29 year old essay based on one Emily Dickinson poem, a poem that seems morbid but goes transcendental. She also reads selections from her copy of The Gorgeous Nothings ( 2013 ) , a generous art book displaying images of Emily's envelope poems, in her own hand upon slightly torn, butter-colored paper fragments of actual size....

In celebrating cool people you've probably never heard of, Art Ranger catches up with poet and entrepreneur Gerda Govine .  She's now completing her sixth book of poetry and you can find out more about the artist here. Gerda was born in St Thomas, raised in New York, and currently lives in Jamul, California. This episode is an audio portrait woven of Gerda's poems and our dialog, and she know...

Art Ranger's celebrates Bob Dylan's 80th birthday, in part due to Patti Smith, who declared this May: Bob Month. Herein we explore the affects of the early analog experience and how it can shape one's internal musical library throughout the decades.

The title of a poem from the book "Starting from San Francisco" by the late Lawrence Ferlinghetti interpreted by the Art Ranger. Welcome to season 2 of this podcast:  Homeland Inspiration is about discovering things that might have been there all along, stumbling upon them and taking note.  Due to a book falling off the shelf (and seeming oh so relevant) during Season 1, we read Tentativ...

Art Ranger reads a poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti that seems both current and historical, the first of three with permission granted by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Using various musical items lying around her studio, the Art Ranger gives it a certain contextual texture.