Big Blend Radio

Travel writer and photographer Sharon K. Kurtz, host of Big Blend Radio’s "Wander the World with Sharon" Podcast, turns the microphone around in this conversation with Lisa D. Smith. Sharon shares how a midlife pivot became a travel-writing career, why she’s been to about 70 countries and still walks out the door with no plan, and her advice for new writers: write from your heart, don’t mimic anyone, and sleep on it before you submit.Then it’s seven fun questions: her spirit animal, who she’d invite to a dream dinner party, what she’d never eat, and what she wants in the new Big Blend Media House. Along the way, Lisa gives a tour of the house, including the wine cellar, the travel mapping room, the speakeasy and the Cabinet of Curiosities.LINKS:- Read Sharon’s Success Insider Q&A: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/travel-writer-success-insider-sharon-k-kurtz - Explore more Wander the World with Sharon episodes:https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/wander-the-world-with-sharon - Visit Sharon’s website:https://sharonkkurtz.com - Check out the "Wander the World with Sharon" Digital Podcast Magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/gyoy/#p=1

Asheville’s music scene is so much more than fiddles and bluegrass. On this episode of Big Blend Radio’s “Adventures in Asheville” Podcast, producer Lisa D. Smith joins cohosts Steve and Karen Wilson (“Mr. and Mrs. Wild”), owners of The Lion & The Rose Bed & Breakfast in Asheville’s Montford Historic District, for a lively tour of where to hear live music in the Blue Ridge Mountains and why plenty of people plan a whole music week around it.Along the way they share:🎸 Where to catch a show: The Grey Eagle, Asheville’s longest-running live music venue, where you can stand right up at the stage; The Orange Peel and its great acoustics; Asheville Music Hall and The One Stop; Thomas Wolfe Auditorium; and the underground rooms Third Room, Eulogy and Revival.🍺 Breweries with music: Burial, Wicked Weed Funkatorium, One World West, Highland Brewing’s meadow stage, and shows at Sierra Nevada, in a city that’s earned the name Beer City USA.🎤 Famous Asheville names: Roberta Flack, Jermaine Dupri, Luke Combs, Warren Haynes, David Holt, Marcus King, Balsam Range and Bob Moog, plus a look at the Moogseum.🎄 Plan ahead: Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam on December 12 with Greta Van Fleet, The War on Drugs, Gov’t Mule, JJ Grey & Mofro and more, Billy Strings’ five nights in February, and Christmas at the Biltmore.🎨 The Orange Peel’s story: from roller rink to auto parts warehouse to famed music hall, and the Lionel Richie mural by Gus Cutty.💿 Vinyl, listening rooms and street music: Records in the RAD, the Joyful Noise listening lounge, Montford Porchfest, Hillbilly Jam, busking and the Friday-night drum circle.Whether you love blues, bluegrass, funk, jazz, hip hop or symphony, this episode is packed with ideas for planning your own Asheville music getaway.LINKS & RESOURCES:🧩 Piece together the online jigsaw puzzle of the Grey Eagle mural, and see the photos and venue links: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/asheville-music-scene 🛏 Stay at The Lion & The Rose Bed & Breakfast: https://www.lion-rose.com/ 🎤 More from Steve and Karen, their “Beyond the Stage” series: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/t/beyond-the-stage 🎧 Adventures in Asheville Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/adventures-in-asheville 📖 Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/adventures-in-asheville-magazine

Author Robin Rosenbluth joins Big Blend Radio’s “Table & Compass” Podcast hosts Joelle Machia and Ryan Slough of Wanderers Compass, and producer Lisa D. Smith, for a conversation about her new memoir, "Living with Strangers: Healing a Wounded Heart in a Distant Land" (She Writes Press).Robin was eight when her mother died. Her father placed her and her younger sister in foster care, even though relatives had offered to take them. With help from a high school guidance counselor and a few scholarships, she made it to college. At nineteen she traveled to Songa, a remote village in northern Kenya near Marsabit, to teach elementary school. She lived there for nine months among the Samburu and Rendille people, and found more connection than she had known with her foster family or her father.The conversation follows her story through the UN Sustainable Development Goals: quality education (SDG 4), clean water (SDG 6), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), and life on land (SDG 15). Robin shares:- the story of a boy who asked only for a jar of water;- the adult literacy class she started by candlelight;- what a cup of chai says about welcome;- how vulnerability mended a friendship;- the difference between tourism and connective travel;- what people misunderstand about Africa;- a message for older foster youth;- how the Northern Rangelands Trust brought Songa into its conservancy network.LINKS & RESOURCESl- Robin Rosenbluth: https://www.RobinRosenbluth.com - Robin’s Substack, My Jagged Journey as a Debut Writer: https://robinrosenbluth.substack.com - You Gotta Believe: https://www.yougottabelieve.org - Northern Rangelands Trust: https://www.nrt-kenya.org - UN Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals - Wanderers Compass: https://www.WanderersCompass.com New episodes of Big Blend Radio’s “Table & Compass” Podcast air every first Monday. Listen to more episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/table-and-compass

Join host Lisa D. Smith and co-host Johnny Schaefer, an award-winning singer-songwriter, who joins us every first Sunday of the month, for Songs for Positive Change on Big Blend Radio’s "American Jukebox," part of our America 250 celebration. Autumn is a season of change, and these songs remind us that change is inevitable, that ordinary people have real power, and that it all starts with love.We spotlight Nina Simone, Tracy Chapman, Blind Melon, Patti Smith, Aloe Blacc, the late Joey Stuckey, and Johnny’s own “Love Shines On,” plus a special interview with Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester about her song “‘Til We Remember Who We Are.”🎵 Hear the episode with every song, and enjoy both playlists, and check out all the links mentioned: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/american-jukebox-songs-for-positive-change🎙️ Keep up with Johnny Schaefer: https://hearjohnny.com/🎙️ Listen to all of our American Jukebox episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/t/american-jukebox

Have you ever scrolled past a gorgeous old stone house in Italy and thought, “I could live like that”? Our guest Debbie Levitt did more than dream. An American who now lives full-time on the island of Sardinia, Debbie is an Italian citizen who calls herself the Italian Inpat: an immigrant who came to Italy and found home, not an American who left.In this candid conversation on Big Blend Radio, Debbie shares what it really takes to make the move. She talks about how two days added to a 2017 vacation turned into a self-employment visa, five suitcases and a new life, and why she kept her move easy to undo for the first two years.You’ll hear about:- The difference between an “expat” and an “inpat”- The visa paths Debbie mentions, from self-employment to investment, retirement and digital nomad visas- Why citizenship takes years, and what Debbie understands about recent changes to citizenship by ancestry- Paperwork stories, including the flight to Rome to swear she is really herself- Why a geometra (a local surveyor) belongs on your team before you buy, and how zoning can surprise you- The truth about one-euro houses: distressed properties, hidden costs and villages with no grocery store- The residence permit (permesso di soggiorno) wait- Everyday life in rural Sardinia, from the village butcher to the driving school sagaToday closes out Italian American Heritage Month, and we’re marking it with the real story of moving to Italy.Debbie shares her personal experience and general information. This is not legal or immigration advice, so check current rules with an immigration attorney or official sources.Links:- Debbie Levitt, Italian Inpat (the first call is free): https://ItalianInpat.com- Follow Big Blend Radio on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BigBlendRadio

October is Blindness Awareness Month and Emotional Wellness Month, and this conversation fits both. Director and filmmaker Gina LeVay Goldstein joins Big Blend Radio to talk about "Blind AF," the award-winning documentary following blind Paralympian, Army veteran and world-record holder Shawn Cheshire on a 60-day, 3,600-mile solo bike ride across America.Shawn lost her sight to a brain injury in 2009 while working as a paramedic, and the film goes far beyond the miles. Gina explains how she met Shawn in 2015, how the story grew from an endurance ride into a film about trauma, healing and reclaiming your authentic self, and why trauma “tells no time.” She also talks about the filmmaking, the team behind it, and the moment on the road when a stranger reminded Shawn that blindness isn’t a disability, it’s a difference.Among others, Gina thanks executive producer Jeff Zimbalist, editor Michael Culyba, and cinematographers Cristobal de Alba and Benjamin Soto of Zenith Adventure Media."Blind AF" premiered at the Bentonville Film Festival, won Best of Fest at the 2025 Sedona International Film Festival, and is now streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Tubi and Documentary+.LINKS & RESOURCES:Watch the film: https://www.blindafdoc.comMeet the team: https://blindafdoc.com/the-teamShawn Cheshire: https://www.shawncheshire.orgBig Blend Media House: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com

The Congo Basin absorbs more carbon than any other tropical forest on Earth, yet it receives just 11 percent of international tropical forest funding. Professor Lee White, Special Envoy to the Science Panel for the Congo Basin, joins Lisa D. Smith on Big Blend Radio's "Nature Connection" Podcast just after New York Climate Week, where he launched a new brief on funding tropical forests.Hear why the Congo Basin and the Amazon are the two chambers of the Earth’s green heart, how trees keep cities cooler and kids healthier, why science funding matters, and how modern farming can protect the forest. Also what happens when ecosystems fall out of balance, and what each of us can do.LINKS & RESOURCES:- Science Panel for the Congo Basin: https://www.spcongobasin.org - Scaling Tropical Forest Finance brief (SDSN): https://www.unsdsn.org/resources/scaling-tropical-forest-finance-perspectives-from-the-amazon-basin-the-congo-basin-and-borneo/} ABOUT OUR GUESTProfessor Lee White CBE is Special Envoy to the Science Panel for the Congo Basin and an Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling. A joint British-Gabonese national, he has spent four decades working in tropical Africa. His roles include senior positions with the Wildlife Conservation Society, ten years directing Gabon’s National Parks Agency, and more than four years as Gabon’s minister of forests, environment and climate.Visit us for more episodes in the Big Blend Media House: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com

A demand letter lands on your desk, and your stomach drops. Now what? On this episode of Big Blend Radio’s "California Employment Law" Podcast, San Diego employment attorney Ward Heinrichs walks through a sample demand letter and what employers (and employees) should know.Ward breaks down the two very different kinds of demand letters: the records request, and the traditional demand letter that lays out claims and asks for money. He explains why a demand letter isn’t always an emergency, why settling early can be a smart business decision, and how often “you don’t have a case” actually works. He also covers why meal and rest period claims get thrown in so often, what a strong employer defense looks like, who can be personally on the hook, and whether a demand letter has to come by certified mail. You’ll also hear what happens if a company can’t pay and why both sides are better off with an attorney. There are also a few poker metaphors, because it really is a bit like a card game.LINKS & RESOURCES- Read the episode highlights and download Ward’s sample demand letter: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/demand-letters-what-employers-need-to-know - Ward Heinrichs’ Employment Law Office: https://bestemploymentattorneysandiego.com - California Employment Law Podcast:https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/california-employment-law - California Employment Law Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/california-employment-law-magazine This episode is for general educational purposes and is not legal advice. New episodes of California Employment Law air every 4th Wednesday on Big Blend Radio. This episode also airs on Big Blend Radio's "Success Express" Business & Career podcast channel.