Three Song Stories

Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter whose work has helped lead to convictions of Klansmen for the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers, the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church that killed four girls, and the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers. His work also led to the 2016 conviction of Felix Vail — the oldest conviction in a serial killer case in U.S. history.  He was depicted in t...

David Brown is the Co-Founder and President of Family Initiative , a nonprofit organization which serves children and adults diagnosed on the autism spectrum, along with families engaged by the child welfare system. David is also actively involved in leadership positions for multiple state agencies focusing on the empowerment of foster families. David has worked in the field of child welfare for o...

Grant Billings is cofounder of the Southwest Florida Steinway Piano Society's Young Artist Piano Competition and the president of the local Steinway Piano Society, in addition to owning the Steinway Piano Gallery. Born into a multigenerationally musical family - Grant made his instrument the turntables. He DJ’d for more than 25 years, starting all the way back in high school. Last year we offered...

Jamie Kuser and his wife are the owners and operators of Happenings Magazine and Lee Family News magazine for the past 17 years. Jamie leverages his family's multi-generation history in journalism to cover the arts scene in Southwest Florida. As he puts it, "If you can’t find good art in our town, you’re looking in the wrong place - here’s a magazine!" He’s also co-founder and co-chair of Fort Mye...

Benjamin Murray is a filmmaker, director, cinematographer, and producer who has taken home best director and best cinematographer from festivals like the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards, the Chain NYC Film Festival, UK Film Festival, UK, and the Independent Horror Movie Awards. After an injury ended his baseball aspirations Ben took up making videos, and by the age of 16 he was dead s...

Jeff Cull is Florida Weekly’s executive editor and is responsible for all content and management for nine newspapers with a combined circulation of more than 90,000, and is co-founder and managing partner of Florida Media Group LLC, publishers of Florida Weekly. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy. He flew the Navy’s carrier-based S-3 Viking and retired as a Commander. Jeff...

Mariapia Malerba is a multidisciplinary artist who was born in Puglia , a region in Southern Italy.  She has created textile designs Dolce Gabbana and Versace. She is now Senior textile designer for White House Black Market, and her work has been showcased in various galleries in all over Italy and America.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marie Heisler leads PR and communication efforts at Mercola, a global brand that provides natural health information and biodynamic and organic supplements. Marie sits on the board of the Cape Coral Chapter of the FGCU Alumni Association and is active with the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wherein Mike and Meg launch their 1-minute rock tumbling podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meg Favreau is a filmmaker, writer, and artist whos worked primarily on animated series for Netflix, Hulu, Warner Brothers Animation, Hasbro, and Mattel. In 2020, her short film Hot Dog Steering Wheel won Best Short Short at the Fort Myers Film Festival. Meg has also worked in food writing, often focusing on weird and forgotten recipes. In 2011, she published the cookbook Little Old Lady Recipes:...

Buffalo “B.” Stille is a Grammy Nominated musician, and vocalist for the Nappy Roots, an American alternative Southern rap quartet, best known for their hit singles "Awnaw", "Roun' The Globe" and "Good Day". They were the best selling hip hop group of 2002. In 2019, Stille completed his bachelor’s degree University of Louisville, and is sharing his back-to-college experience in hopes of inspiring...

Dean Davis. Dean is Vice President of the Foundation Board of Directors, at the State University of New York College at Oneonta. He’s also a retired senior instructor at FGCU, and his early efforts at the university laid the foundations of the communication department. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joseph Hall is a third year Journalism student at FGCU, and is “Joe the sound guy” on  the Razzle Dazzle podcast (hosted by our own Jared "the Intern" Gonzalez) as well as the How To Cry Monster podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Wilson Bradshaw served as FGCU’s third president for a decade beginning in 2007. During his tenure, the university’s student body grew from about 9000 in 2007 to about 15000 when he retired; and the faculty grew by 50% over that time. Dr. Bradshaw also managed the transition to Division 1 athletics, and the FGCU Eagles have won 54 conference and tournament championships in eight years, includi...

Kyle McCurry is Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communication at FGCU. He’s been a television journalist, a radio program director, and host of Classic Rock Insider , where he got to interview guests like Joe Perry, Mick Fleetwood, Huey Lewis, and Tommy James. He ended up becoming James’s publicity and media relation manager after their meeting. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Will Prather is the Executive Producer and Owner of Prather Productions - he operates Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Fort Myers, Florida; the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; along with Prather Touring and Apex Touring which are national touring companies that bring productions around the country and across the world. Prather Touring is currently producing Summer: The Donna...

Andryanna Sheppard is the Consumer Reporter at WINK News in Fort Myers, where she’s been a reporter since February of 2020. Before moving to Southwest Florida, she was a nightside reporter at KDRV in Medford, Oregon, where she was also the go-to breaking news reporter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ryan Boland is Chief Business Office at Mercola Market, and was was recently named a 40 Under 40 honoree by Business Observer. Originally from New York, Ryan began his career in the food and restaurant industry selling ingredients to restaurants but later transitioned to natural health formulations, working for a supplement manufacturer.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jack Massing formed The Art Guys in 1983 with Michael Galbreth - it was a conceptual art collaboration that ended after 37 years in 2019 when Michael passed. Their “direct to the public” methodology often circumvented the established art world and incorporated a wide range of not-so-conventional materials and activities in an effort to make art more accessible and to challenge notions about percei...

Dr. Glenn Whitehouse has taught philosophy and religious studies at FGCU ever since it opened its doors in 1997. He's now the Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and director of PAGES, a career program for liberal arts students at FGCU.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brian Weaver is a street artist and co-founder of Artsemble Underground which was created to help local businesses attract traffic with murals, sculptures, or art events. He owns a gallery of the same name with fellow artist Cesar Aguilara .  Artsemble Underground gallery is where the current “Battle of The Arts” is held, every second Saturday of the month. Brian and Cesar consider this event less...

Patrick Pereira is a student at FGCU majoring in Journalism with a minor in Creative Writing. He is a reporter for ENTV and Co-host of Razzle Dazzle. He also currently works as a production assistant at WINK News, a helping hand for his parents remodeling company, and a freelance model. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doug Berman  is Executive Producer of  Car Talk ; and Creator and Benevolent Overlord of  Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! A two-time Peabody Award-winning producer, Doug began his career in news while still in college, serving as a production assistant for NPR's All Things Considered and Morning Edition. It was at WBUR that Doug met and became friends with Tom & Ray Magliozzi brothers, who were doi...

Sean Milchan Channel Partner Program Executive at BlueCrest - he said that means he’s a salesman.  He’s been many things through his life, a missionary, a carpet-store worker, and a mailing equipment salesman - that last one stuck. Sean went from almost being fired his first year, to being the number one salesman in the U.S. within 4 years with no college degree. See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

Mike Patella is the business director for Eagle Media on FGCU's campus, where one of his main jobs is creating the Eagle Radio Music Festival every year, an event that brings live local music to FGCU’s campus. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who plays drums, guitar, bass, ukulele, and vocals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.