The Overlook with Matt Peiken

This week's Story Parlor audio residency features audio from its "Gathering of the Bards" themed Story Mixer held on Saint Patrick's Day—an evening of art, stories, music, and poetry that paid tribute to the magic, mysteries, and muses of Celtic culture. Readings and performances come from author Julyan Davis, storyteller and vocalist Paula O'Brien and the musical duo Robi...

Susan Reinhardt's second novel, "The Beautiful Misfits," is a polemic against our system for treating those with drug addiction. The Burnsville author comes to the story through her own experience as a mother whose adult son seesawed between addiction and treatment. She talks with host Matt Peiken about her days as a journalist and humor columnist, her experiences of the addiction-t...

Despite Asheville’s leafy reputation, Western North Carolina doesn’t exactly have a robust farming industry for hemp. Daniel Walton, formerly a staff writer and now regular contributor to Mountain Xpress, talks with Matt Peiken about his recent coverage of the region's hemp industry, where the state legislature stands around the legalization of marijuana and how that legalization would affect...

Wildlife officials say the black bear population in Western North Carolina stands at about 8,000. That’s eight times the estimated total of just 40 years ago.  Karen Zatkulak, a reporter with WLOS-TV, was among the journalists who produced stories for the station’s recent “Bear Week.” We’ll talk about the factors leading wildlife officials to pivot from a strategy of boosting to curbing the region...

This week's Story Parlor audio residency pays tribute to National Poetry Month, featuring the works of local poets Lady Be and Juan Sánchez Martínez, along with select excerpts from Mildred Barya's recently released collection, The Animals of My Earth School . Support the show Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign ! Advertise your event on The Overlook . Instagram: AVLover...

Maggie Ullman is just several months into her first term on the Asheville City Council, but she brings years of work inside and alongside government, largely in sustainability and addressing climate change. She brings an unwaveringly positive approach to her role on City Council. We talk about her emphasis on what she calls finding the flow, working to build coalitions and the issues that matter t...

Kim Roney is in her first term on Asheville's all-female City Council, and she has established herself as the council’s torchbearer for progressive ideals. Her principles have left her alone, or nearly alone, in dissent on dozens of resolutions before the council. Roney talks with host Matt Peiken about how she sees her role on the council. She also talks through a range of issues the council...

It’s a challenging time to be a Democrat elected to statewide office when Republicans hold supermajorities in the North Carolina House and Senate. In the second half of our two-part conversation, NC Sen. Julie Mayfield and Rep. Lindsey Prather talk with Matt Peiken about their fight for women’s rights and voting rights, and also for progressive values at a time when democracy itself is under threa...

Republicans now hold veto-proof supermajorities in the North Carolina House and Senate. Where does that leave the Democrats elected to serve Asheville and other blue communities? In the first of a two-part conversation, NC Sen. Julie Mayfield and Rep. Lindsey Prather talk with host Matt Peiken about how they define and carry out their work in Raleigh at a time when they can’t hope to pass legislat...

In our continuing audio residency with Story Parlor, this week's episode spotlights the West Asheville venue's Story/Arts Residency program. Past artists-in-residence Gina Cornejo and Meta Commerse share a bit about their experiences, along with what they created for their residencies. Support the show Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign ! Advertise your event on The Ove...

Most people know little about Goodwill beyond their stores and donation centers. But the money spent in there funds a range of job training and social services for high schoolers, veterans, adults with disabilities and people needing second chances. Our guests today—Lance Crawford, Jordan Meeks and Samantha Randolph—are responsible for just some of the social service programming of Goodwill’s Nort...

Nearly three dozen volunteer boards and commissions advise Asheville City Council. Today's guest, Brooke Randle of Mountain Xpress, breaks down for host Matt Peiken how these boards and commissions work, the politics that can steer council away from their recommendations and what happened when city officials tried to drastically cut back on these commissions. Support the show Support The Over...

Joel Burgess of the Asheville Citizen-Times talks through his recent coverage of Asheville’s rental market, the forces that limit the power of local officials to directly address the issue and the creative methods some in local government are coming up with to try keeping Asheville affordable and livable.  Support the show Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign ! Advertise your event...

In our continuing audio residency with Story Parlor , we close out Women's History Month by paying tribute to local women artists and their work. Music, poetry, and prose in this episode come from Laura Boswell, Tracey Schmidt, Tina Collins, Ali McGhee, Jane Kramer and Alli Marshall. Support the show Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign ! Advertise your event on The Overlook ....

Asheville native Datrian Johnson is the new vocalist for the Asheville funk/soul band The Fritz. He and the band's founding guitarist, Jamie Hendrickson talk with host Matt Peiken about The Fritz's new album, "Take Your Time," Johnson's path through gospel and how the band and their new voice found kismet through improvisation. Support the show Support The Overlook by join...

Stephanie Monson Dahl, Urban Design and Place Strategies Manager for the City of Asheville, talks with Matt Peiken about the reimagining of Pack Square, keeping West Asheville pedestrian-friendly, the challenges of bringing North Merrimon Avenue into the 21st Century and using creative zoning to stem the effects of mushrooming development.  Support the show Support The Overlook by joining our Patr...

Four years ago, the board of Asheville’s nonprofit Mission Health system sold control of its six hospitals to the for-profit HCA Healthcare. Since then, more than 3,500 doctors, nurses and support staff have left the system. Patients and healthcare workers have sued HCA over quality of care and working conditions—complaints that continue in freeflow to this day. Talking about all that with Matt Pe...

Rob Thomas, executive director of the Racial Justice Coalition of Asheville, talks with Matt Peiken about the steps he helped pave toward a local reparations resolution, why some demands in the resolution are more challenging to achieve than others, and his advocacy for doing it right rather than doing it fast. Support the show Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign ! Advertise your...

This episode comes from Story Parlor's "Homeland" story mixer from January 2023, showcasing stories from local artists paying tributes to their homelands. Performances come from Jimmy Griffith, Adama Dembele and the duo of Gina Cornejo and Mar.  Support the show Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign ! Advertise your event on The Overlook . Instagram: AVLoverlook | Fac...

Many visual artists start by envisioning scenes or images, or they work from sketches, photos or memories. Kirsten Stolle has spent a decade taking artistic inspiration from agrochemical companies. She pulls and manipulates imagery and text to spotlight what she calls the greenwashing and troubled histories of Bayer-Monsanto and Dow Chemical. In this episode, Stolle talks with Matt Peiken about th...

Like all contemporary police departments, The Asheville Police face a range of challenges, both inside the department and with a growing range of issues on city streets. In the second in our two-part conversation with Asheville Police Chief David Zack, we discuss his frustrations at the salary ranges for his officers and with certain local nonprofits he sees as standing in the way of critical comm...

Much is made, at least anecdotally, about rising crime in Asheville. At the same time, the Asheville Police Department is down roughly 40 percent of its force. Citing both, Asheville Police Chief David Zack says the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 created a perfect storm his department is still struggling to recover from.  Our wide-ranging conversation spans so much territory,...

On Christmas night of 2021, Asheville Police descended on Aston Park to clear out a couple dozen people, their tents and other belongings after a city-imposed 10pm curfew. Among those arrested were two people wearing press passes from the Asheville Blade . They say they were in the park covering what had been billed to them as a protest about how the city treats its homeless. Now, Veronica Coit an...

In excitement for Story Parlor’s “Gathering of the Bards” Story Mixer, held on Saint Patrick’s Day evening, today’s episode is dedicated to art and stories that pay tribute to the magic, mysteries, and muses of Celtic culture, all from local artists here in Western North Carolina. Support the show Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign ! Advertise your event on The Overlook . Instagr...

In a town with a reputation for oddity, the annual Asheville Fringe Festival is a celebration of the most odd, the most outsider performance. My guest today is Erinn Hartley, director of the Asheville Fringe Festival . Next week’s festival will be the 21st Asheville Fringe. But this will be the first since the pandemic that’s completely back to unmasked, in-person performances. I talk with Erin ab...