Big Blend Radio

San Diego employment attorney Ward Heinrichs has been sharing California employment law updates on Big Blend Radio since 2014. For this special "Getting to Know You" episode, he sets the fine print aside for a fun, unscripted Q&A with host Lisa D. Smith. It's part of a series reconnecting with the Big Blend Radio family as Big Blend moves into its new home, the Big Blend Media House.Ward reveals that his lifelong spirit animal is the Wolverine: fierce, a little badass, and fitting for an attorney. Since he dreams of exploring North America by RV, he jokes that he'll need to tame his Wolverine before it can ride along. He also shares what makes him happiest, which is parking his RV somewhere beautiful and soaking up nature. His life lesson for the next generation is to keep your eye on your goal, don't sweat the small stuff, and be kind along the way.His bucket list includes editing the novel he's written and an epic RV and fishing trip through Western Canada and into Alaska, in search of salmon, giant halibut, and his favorite, lingcod. Ward also names the Toby Keith song he'd pick as his TV theme, admits there's no food he won't try, and explains why sashimi at Nobu tops his dinner wish list. When Lisa asks what he'd add to the Big Blend Media House, Ward picks a multimedia room and library, complete with a very big TV for sports. He also discovers what's hiding behind the library's secret bookcase door.Ward is back with new episodes of Big Blend Radio's "California Employment Law" Podcast every fourth Wednesday.LEARN MORE:Ward Heinrichs: https://bestemploymentattorneysandiego.comPodcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/california-employment-law-with-ward-heinrichsMagazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/california-employment-law-magazine"As Good As I Once Was" by Toby Keith: https://youtu.be/ldQrapQ4d0YBig Blend Media House: https://bigblendmediahouse.com

As America celebrates 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson has been claimed, reshaped, and rejected by every side of the political divide. On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Way Back When" History Show, Lisa D. Smith talks with historian Francis D. Cogliano, professor of American history at the University of Edinburgh. He is co-author with Peter S. Onuf of "Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time and Ours" (Liveright, 2026).This isn't a typical biography. Built from years of teaching seminars for American school teachers, the book's three essays, "Generations," "My Country," and "The People," look at Jefferson in his real historical context. Frank explains how Franklin Roosevelt and Donald Trump each invoked Jefferson toward very different ends. He talks about why the political left has largely stepped away from him this century, and how Jefferson's "Empire of Liberty" came at the expense of enslaved people and Indigenous nations.The conversation also goes to the heart of the book. Jefferson believed that "the earth belongs to the living." He thought the Constitution should grow with the country, and that every generation must confront its own challenges instead of being held back by the past. Frank shares the story of Jefferson's lukewarm reaction to Madison's Constitution. He also discusses the powerful slave trade clause Congress deleted from Jefferson's draft of the Declaration, and why Jefferson is "America writ small." Lisa brings in the kitchen table conversations the book sparked, including Jefferson's failings on women and the questions that still surround Sally Hemings.For Big Blend, the conversation hits close to home. The historic Jefferson Highway, the 1915 auto trail from Winnipeg to New Orleans, was named for Jefferson because it runs through the Louisiana Purchase.Frank also talks about teaching American history from Scotland and the Whiskey Rebellion podcast he co-hosts with fellow historian David Silkenat.RESOURCE LINKS:- Thomas Jefferson Survives: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324098072 - Francis D. Cogliano: https://franciscogliano.com - Check out more history and culture interviews in the Big Blend Media House: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/t/history-and-culture

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Global Adventures" Podcast, travel writer Debbie Stone takes us to the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania. Most people know the area for Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous house, but it's actually a mecca for Wright's work.Debbie starts at Polymath Park, a private conservation effort by Tom and Heather Papinchak. There, two Wright homes, Duncan House and Mäntylä, were taken apart piece by piece in Illinois and Minnesota and rebuilt in the Pennsylvania woods. She shares what it's like to actually spend the night in Mäntylä, living with Wright's design and his blurring of indoors and outdoors, and waking to a deer crossing the yard. She also describes dinner in a private treehouse-style dining pod at TreeTops Restaurant, with Heather Papinchak as chef.From there it's on to Kentuck Knob, one of Wright's last projects. It has an "invisible" window, a Woodland Walk with a piece of the Berlin Wall, and a British lord as its current owner. The finale is Fallingwater, the cantilevered masterpiece built over a waterfall so the Kaufmann family could hear the water throughout the house, and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Read Debbie's article:- https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/frank-lloyd-wright-laurel-highlands Plan your visit:- Polymath Park: https://www.polymathpark.com - Kentuck Knob: https://www.kentuckknob.com - Fallingwater: https://www.fallingwater.com - Laurel Highlands: https://www.golaurelhighlands.com Global Adventures with Debbie Stone:- Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/global-adventures-with-debbie-stone - Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/global-adventures-travel-magazine

Happy World Car Free Day! On this shared episode of Big Blend Radio's "Travel with Terri" Podcast, travel journalist Terri Guthrie kicks off a new series exploring Amtrak's Mardi Gras Train, joined by Knox Ross, Chairman of the Southern Rail Commission.Terri just rode the full route herself — from New Orleans, through coastal Mississippi, to Mobile, Alabama — and shares what stood out most about slow train travel along the Gulf Coast: the wide seats and legroom, alligator sightings from the window, and the walkable hotel scene waiting at every stop. Knox walks through how the route came back after two decades without Gulf Coast passenger rail service post-Katrina, the Mississippi-led push to fund it, and why it's become one of the highest-rated customer service trains in the entire Amtrak system, with 150,000 riders in its first year.Along the way: the best places to stay near each station, why downtown Mobile is quietly having a food-and-culture renaissance, what's in the café car, and the Facebook community of Mardi Gras Train superfans already planning their next trip.This episode kicks off Big Blend Radio's new Mardi Gras Train series — stay tuned for upcoming episodes diving deeper into Bay St. Louis and Mobile.Links & Resources- Amtrak Mardi Gras Service: https://www.amtrak.com/mardigras - Southern Rail Commission – Mardi Gras Service: https://www.southernrailcommission.org/amtrak-mardi-gras-service Listen to Terri's New Orleans Episodes:- The Roosevelt: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/the-roosevelt-new-orleans - Travel New Orleans: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/travel-new-orleans-with-terri Keep up with Terri's Podcast & Digital Podcast Magazine at https://www.travelwithterri.com/

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Food, Wine, and Travel" Show, in partnership with the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA), travel writer and photographer Sharon K. Kurtz reports live from the Riviera Maya, where she's a guest of Lomas Hospitality at the adults-only El Dorado Royale.Sharon shares what makes Lomas's More Inclusive concept different from a typical all-inclusive stay, from cenote swimming and horseback riding at the Bonanza Ranch to snorkeling with sea turtles and stingrays off Maroma Beach. She also talks culinary culture at the Fuentes Culinary Theatre, Grupo Lomas's 45-year story as a Mexican hospitality company, and the range across the resort collection, from family-friendly properties to the adults-only, over-the-water Palafitos bungalows.Along the way, the conversation touches on safe, hassle-free travel for U.S. visitors, sargassum-free beaches, destination weddings, and why this stretch of Caribbean Mexico has become one of the most talked-about travel regions in the world.Learn more:- Lomas Hospitality: https://www.lomashospitality.com/ - Sharon K. Kurtz: https://www.sharonkkurtz.com/ - IFWTWA: https://ifwtwa.org/ - Big Blend Radio: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/ 

It's Fall Y'all in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana! Big Blend Radio host/producer Lisa D. Smith is joined by Natalie Roblin of the Avoyelles Commission of Tourism, filling in for regular co-hosts Wilbert Carmouche and Mary Guillory, who are at the Jefferson Highway Conference in Joplin, Missouri. Together they explore why fall is one of the best times to visit the Centre de la Louisiane.Natalie shares the story of how Marksville got its start with a broken wagon wheel (hence Broken Wheel Brewery), what's happening at Paragon Casino Resort and the Fox Theater, and how fall in Avoyelles is marked by food: home-cooked church dinner plates on Sundays, cochon de lait, sweet potato harvest season, boudin, barbecue, and even gas station breakfasts you won't forget.Then it's time to roll the windows down. Explore Bunkie Trade Days, Griffin's, Hoover's Five and Dime and the retro full-service gas station along the Jefferson Highway; learn about National Hunting and Fishing Day at the Outdoor Education Center in Woodworth; and discover the Solomon Northup Trail, the Louisiana Colonial Trail, the Zachary Taylor Parkway, and the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area. Natalie also shares outdoor favorites including the Big Bend Museum and Sarto Old Iron Bridge, the Big Bend loop (LA 451), Spring Valley WMA, the Tunica-Biloxi Nature Trail, and Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge, plus a Louisiana music playlist of swamp pop and Zydeco.Events mentioned: National Hunting and Fishing Day (Sept. 26, free, 8:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Woodworth); Couillons of Comedy at the Fox Theater in Marksville (Oct. 3); Bunkie Trade Days (Oct. 3); church dinner plates and fairs throughout the parish in September and October.Plan your visit: https://TravelAvoyelles.com  Events page: https://TravelAvoyelles.com/events   Last Month's Fall Event Episode: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/fall-in-avoyelles-parish-louisiana-2026 New episodes of the Travel Avoyelles Podcast air every 3rd Sunday at 6pm CST on Big Blend Radio. Listen: https://travel-avoyelles.podbean.com/  

Debut novelist Tara Badstubner joins us on Big Blend Radio's "Toast to the Arts Podcast" as her first novel, "Every Room Remembers" (Sibylline Press), arrives on September 25, 2026. The novel follows SJ Monroe, an interior designer grieving the sudden death of her husband, and Wyatt, a ghost in a liminal state who must watch in silence as she mourns everything left unresolved in their marriage.Tara shares the three experiences that sparked the story: anxiety about losing loved ones during COVID, an accident across the street that drew her whole town to mourn, and an extraordinary haunting during a writers' visit to a house in upstate New York. She talks about why grief calls for treading lightly, how she wrote an imperfect marriage, and the animal signs that appear at pivotal moments in the book, including a black snake, a fox, green beetles, and a Carolina wren. She also tells the story of the bluebird that keeps tapping at her own windows, and takes us to the Osprey House restoration in Beaufort, South Carolina.Tara reads a passage from the book, and we talk about book clubs, reading through grief, favorite rereads, her writing habits, and advice for first-time novelists."Every Room Remembers" is available for pre-order now. A must-read for fans of "Remarkably Bright Creatures" and the film "A Ghost Story." Visit: https://www.tarabadstubner.com/ 

Today we're rethinking everything we thought we knew about Mary Cassatt. On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "World of Art" Podcast, host Victoria Chick and Lisa D. Smith welcome Mary G. Morton, curator and head of French paintings at the National Gallery of Art, to talk about her new book, "Cassatt Reconsidered," out this November from Getty Publications.2026 marks the centennial of Mary Cassatt's death (born May 22, 1844, died June 14, 1926), and Mary Morton makes the case for an artist who was bold, modern, and uncompromising. Cassatt's images of mothers and children are an extraordinary part of her work, but they're only part of the story. Mary explains how a narrow label took hold and what the fuller picture looks like.In this conversation:- How Cassatt built a career at a time when the École des Beaux-Arts did not admit women, and why selling her work mattered- The business-minded family that shaped her, and the role of dealer Paul Durand-Ruel in packaging her as "the painter of mothers and babies"- Why her maternity pictures were a realist break from the sentimental versions painted by men- Why the National Gallery holds the best Cassatt collection in the world, and why seven of its 12 oil paintings can't leave the building- The centennial exhibitions in Chicago, at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, in London, and in Boston- The cover painting, and how a woman's portrait that defies conventional beauty became the face of the book- Why the National Gallery belongs to all of us, and what a first visit to a great museum can do for a lifeMORE: - Get the Book: https://shop.getty.edu/products/cassatt-reconsidered-979-8887120508 - Victoria Chick: https://victoriachick.com/ - World of Art Podcast: https://worldofart-victoriachick.podbean.com/ - Southwest Regional Museum of Art & Art Center: https://www.southwest-art-museum.org 

Happy Global Company Culture Day! Company culture isn't what's written on your website or printed on a poster — it's how your people feel walking in the door on a Sunday night. On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Supervision Matters" Podcast, HR and organizational culture expert Rita Sever joins Lisa D. Smith to break down what culture actually is, how it's built (and eroded), and why it has to be intentional from day one.Rita walks through the three components of a healthy culture — Mission, Vision, and Values; how the work gets done; and how people are treated — and shares the story of a NASA janitor who told President Kennedy he was "helping put a man on the moon."Rita is the author of two books — "Supervision Matters" and "Leading for Justice." Links:🌐 Rita's website: https://supervisionmatters.com 📖 Supervision Matters Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/supervision-matters-magazine 🎙️ Supervision Matters Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/supervision-matters-podcast-with-rita-sever