The Storyteller's Tavern

Char Miller-King is a professional woodworking teacher at the Decatur Makers makerspace in Atlanta, GA. She has shared her teaching and woodworking skills across the country as well as online for folks like This Old House, Magnolia, Rockler, Home Depot, and Power Pro. We met Char unofficially as part of our Newbie Welcome to Workbench con, and got a chance to talk more in depth the first night. Wh...

Mush and Leigh recap Chapter 2: Queen City Makers and preview Chapter 3: Workbench Conference. Another mighty, heartfelt thank you to all of our storytellers and friends new and old from Chapter 2: Joel Bonasera (@makingthingsclt) David Taylor (@fablabdtaylor) Jacob Daugherty (@otherdogdesign) Madison Dunaway (@mk_dunaway) Super Daft Bros (@superdaftbros) Andrew Thiessen (@branchandfoundry) Jbird...

In which we discuss @nodabrewing's Cheerwine ( @drinkcheerwine ) Ale, order food, jump out of our skin when a crate of silverware gets dropped (5:00 minute mark, watch out), discuss what to do when wood smells like wood, talk about some more storied wood, the circular nature of time, and the oldest red hickory tree in the world.

In our final episode of this chapter, we talk with Grant Maginnis a woodworker and maker in Concord, NC. Perhaps more than any other guest we've had in the Tavern so far, Grant helps drive home the importance and power of the stories behind making, in this case, in the stories of the wood he uses in his pieces. As we talk, you can hear in his voice the love for the materials, and respect for t...

We let the mics roll with Jbird the Vandal. It's mostly about bands that we've played in! If you're listening via Spotify, you can give us feedback with the player, otherwise shoot us a DM or leave us a comment on Instagram to let us know your thoughts on these "Another Round" episodes.

We were introduced to Jbird the Vandal through Joel, another Queen City Maker who you may remember opened this whole chapter up. Joel described Jbird as a tinkerer, and indeed, his Instagram profile starts simply and all-inclusively with "I make things." Jbird has street art, murals, and graffiti all over Charlotte, and stories and skillsets that have taken him much further than just our...

Andrew Thiessen is a Charlotte area maker who makes wood and steel furniture & architectural accents with lumber milled from Charlotte trees. We talk about his bridge from landscaping to welding to woodworking, how "the medium doesn't matter", Neighbor Stan's basement, and when "trying is not enough." ...and we DON'T talk about bees. Much. More Andrew: Instagram YouTube Thanks as always to @ a...

The stuff that Ian & William of Super Daft Bros (@ superdaftbros ) make is hard to summarize in just a couple of sentences, so this is out of character, we've included some of their work in this post that you should check out before listening to this episode. Are they makers? Are they artists? Are they awesome? I mean, the answer to all of those is yes, and it's hard to pick which to list firs...

This episode is a little different than normal: Later this week Leigh and I are headed to Atlanta for WorkbenchCon 2023, the fifth gathering of its kind for makers and content creators. So to get maybe our only chance to talk with her in advance of the craziness of the weekend, we zoomed with Tiff Marchand, aka nightcarverdesigns, to hear about her story, and to get a sneak peak of what to expect...

Madison Dunaway (she/her) is an artist, leader, and self-professed ambiguity lover. She grew up in Charlotte and has created and run makerspaces for nearly a decade, most currently at Boston College. On top of all this, she is an official #friendofthepod. Normally we meander through a number of different themes in these stories, but our overarching topic this time around focused around the self-re...

Jacob Daugherty (@otherdogdesign) is a Charlotte area maker and serial hobby collector who is currently focused on 3d printing and lasers who will be the first to tell you that he loves to make stuff and is terrible at selling it. We tell some stories about nurturing a network, falling into flow, and the inextricable balance of making and sharing. Episode Shout-Outs: Grant Alexander @the_grant_ale...

David Taylor is a middle school Engineering and Computer Science teacher and Fab Lab instructor at Charlotte Latin School, where he's passionate about student-led design and developing an environment where students can learn through making and prototyping. We talked with David about the critical element of vulnerability in learning how to learn, and being OK with not knowing; the Kevin Baconing of...

Our guest in the tavern today is Joel Bonasera. He, like all our storytellers this chapter, is a maker based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. After spending over a decade in science and technology education, Joel turned his focus to digital fabrication to make things. Now, he spends his time on e-commerce sales, commissioned work, and ongoing support for educators and institutions interested in l...

Episode 11, in which we close out Chapter 1. Leigh and Mush look back on some of the highlights of this chapter, discuss our plans for what's next, and celebrate one last time with all our friends from Maker Camp '22. Much love to: Leigh Northrup ( @thetinkerteacher ) Lindsay Zeulich ( @wood_brain ) Jared Geddes ( @eveningwoodworker ) Brittney Carbone ( @brittneycarbone.art ) Dave Miao ( @3d_diy_d...

Our last story from Maker Camp 2022 comes from Brett Mcafee, an Artist, blacksmith, and fabricator of other beautiful things in and around the Joshua Tree region of California. We talk with Brett about the craft of teaching and its root in connection between humans; the best way we think there is to learn; and how maker camp helps fan the flame of hands-on tinkering. You can find Brett online at Y...

Two of our last storytellers from Maker Camp this year are Chad Grosklags of Mancrafting ( @Mancrafting ), and Jacob LaRocca of Rocket Props ( @RocketProps ). Chad is based out of Atlanta and is an all-around Maker, specializing in, among other things, powder coating, welding, woodworking, and knife making. Jacob hails from Boston and is an electrical and mechanical engineer, specializing in props...

Jon and Walter Peters are father and son woodworkers, makers, and YouTubers from Red Bank, NJ. They share an introspective look on their experiences with multigenerational making, reflect on the paths that got them to where they are and what might be next for them, and ways that the maker community comes together to create things larger than themselves. You can find them online: Jon is on YouTube...

Jimmy Diresta lives in in East Durham, NY and is affectionately referred to by many in the community as the Godfather of Making. Grant Alexander is a maker and Youtuber based out of Ottawa, and is the host of the Creating, Living, and Making Projects Podcasts - aka the Clamp Podcast. Jimmy and Grant visit the Tavern to talk about why and by whom they were inspired to begin making, the beauty and m...

Andrew Szeto is a maker and skateboarder who hails from Ottawa. During his time in the Tavern, he shares with us the challenges and joys of finding fellow Canadian Makers, celebrates the memory of his mentor Richard Scott, digs into the value of failure, and teams up with Leigh to hijack the episode to transform it into an ad hoc hockey podcast. You can find Andrew online: TikTok: @szetoszeto Inst...

Leah Hartman and Sam Ciferno Skidmore run The Hive, an open access makerspace at Lakeland Community College outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Leigh and I were excited to geek out with fellow educators and learn about how they introduce making to learners from three to ninety-five years old, how they dealt with the atmospheric and cultural whiplash that was introduced by Covid restrictions, and how they...

Dave Miao, or 3D DIY Dave is a maker from Long Island, NY, who spends a good deal of time playing in between the worlds of digital 3D  design and traditional hand-tooled woodworking. Dave tells us about the magical and practical elements of 3D scanning, rediscovering lost passion, and making friends for life in the woodworking and maker community. In this episode: Life-size 3D Printed Jimmy D...

Our stories this time come from Jared Geddes, AKA The Evening Woodworker , and Brittney Carbone, who shares her work as BrittneyCarbone.art . We talk about their similar entry touchpoints into the human side of Maker Community, the exciting world of Contact Dermatitis, the path from necklaces to nightstands, and share a thank you to the teachers who got them started on their journeys. A quick head...

Our storyteller this time around is Lindsay Zeulich, known as Woodbrain. She’s a mixed media maker and artist from LA, and you can find her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, Youtube, and all the things at Wood_Brain. Today she tells us about inventing her own art style, fighting about the dictionary, and the importance of having your homies’s backs. In this episode:  Lindsay's mosaic...

Leigh Northrup is a Makerspace Teacher at Cannon School in Concord, NC. Leigh shares with us about the journey from professional America to being a makerspace teacher, lighting Legos on fire, embracing the epic fail, and what you can learn from making quadratic sound diffusers that don't diffuse sound.

Welcome to the tavern! Here's what this whole thing is all about.