Big Blend Radio

Sasha Waters, director and producer of the new American Masters documentary "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World," joins Big Blend Radio to talk about bringing the life of one of America's most beloved and most private poets to the screen.Mary Oliver was a bestselling poet and Pulitzer Prize winner whose work — including "Wild Geese" and "The Journey" — has reached readers far beyond the usual poetry audience. Waters discusses how Oliver's decades in Provincetown, Massachusetts shaped her writing, the restorative power of nature and dogs in Oliver's life, and her four-decade love story with photographer Molly Malone Cook. The conversation also explores how the film balances intimacy with the privacy Oliver so fiercely protected, the process of bringing in voices like John Waters, Steve Buscemi, Helena Bonham Carter, and Stephen Colbert to read her work, and why Oliver's message about paying attention to the natural world feels more urgent than ever.This episode also lands right in the middle of American Artists Appreciation Month — a fitting time to celebrate a filmmaker telling the story of one of America's great literary artists.The film premiered as the opening selection at True/False Film Festival this year, and has since screened at the Berkshire International Film Festival and Provincetown Film Festival. It's out now in theaters — including IFC Center in New York and Laemmle theaters in LA — and expanding nationwide, with a digital and home video release coming August 25th. "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World" also premieres nationwide on PBS Tuesday, August 25 as part of American Masters.🎬 Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/B7bfYkgotBM  📺 More on PBS/American Masters: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/mary-oliver-documentary/37967/  🎟️ Theaters, showtimes & booking: https://kinolorber.com/film/mary-oliver-saved-by-the-beauty-of-the-world  

Lance Laber, Executive Director of DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, joins Big Blend Radio's "Tales of Southwest Artist Ted DeGrazia" Podcast to preview two new fall exhibits opening Friday, September 4th at 5pm: "The Midnight Sketches of Ted DeGrazia" and "Saint Francis of Assisi." Both exhibits run alongside the current "Ted DeGrazia's Painted Ponies" exhibit through January 27, 2027.The Midnight Sketches, created between midnight and 5am on prepaid U.S. Mail postcards and envelopes from 1955 through the mid-1970s, offer a rare look into DeGrazia's late-night creative process. The Saint Francis of Assisi exhibit spans nearly three decades of DeGrazia's work in drawings, prints, sculptures, and paintings.DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun is a 10-acre National Historic Landmark featuring over 15,000 original works of art, including paintings, ceramics, sculptures, and more. Learn more: http://www.degrazia.org  🎙️ New episodes air every 4th Sunday. Follow the podcast: https://ted-degrazia.podbean.com  

It's National Park Week! Every fourth Sunday, Joey Stuckey joins Lisa Smith on Big Blend Radio's Music Talks — and this time they're diving into the music inspired by America's national parks and public lands. Recorded right at the start of National Park Week (August 22–30, 2026), the conversation marks the National Park Service's 110th birthday and the 250th anniversary of American independence.Joey and Lisa dig into seven songs, starting with Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" and moving through Doreen Taylor, John Denver, longtime Big Blend guest Wally Lawder, Joey's own "Oceanside," Ed Tree's "Chaco," and closing with Yusuf/Cat Stevens. Along the way they talk studio gear, accessibility in the parks, bald eagles and the Endangered Species Act, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and Hawaii memories — but they also get real about what's currently threatening these places: renewed oil, gas, and mineral leasing pressure around Chaco Canyon, a mining threat facing one of the largest bald eagle gatherings in the world near Haines, Alaska, and the border wall construction fight at Big Bend National Park.📖 Read the full episode write-up with action links, songs, and more: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/music-for-our-parks-joey-stuckey 🎵 Listen to the full "Music for our Parks" playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6td2w1P7IEUuyVSYsjEvyz 🌐 Visit Joey Stuckey's website: https://joeystuckey.com/ 🎙️ Joey Stuckey joins Big Blend Radio every fourth Sunday for Music Talks. Listen to more episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/t/joey-stuckey 

Forget the Christmas Carol postcard version of Charles Dickens. On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "English Connection" Podcast, Glynn Burrows digs into the real story — a childhood shaped by his father's debtor's prison, a stint in a blacking warehouse, and a writing career so prolific it basically invented the serialized soap opera decades before television existed.Along the way, he digs into what Victorian England was really like for the poor, why Dickens' novels mattered as social record as much as entertainment, and the genuine mystery still surrounding his personal life — including a young actress named Ellen Ternan and a sister-in-law who moved in three years after his separation. Glynn also makes the case for why doing your own research matters, whether you're tracing Dickens' story or your own family history.It all wraps up with where you can actually go in England today to walk in Dickens' footsteps — from his Portsmouth birthplace to his grave in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner — and a reminder that gratitude looks a little different once you know what people were living through less than 200 years ago.📖 Read Glynn's article, "A Dickens Tour of England: From Portsmouth to Poets' Corner": https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/dickens-tour-of-england 🌐 Visit English Connection: https://EnglishConnection.uk 📚 Explore Glynn's English Connection Digital Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/english-connection-magazine 🎙️ Listen to more episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/english-connection-podcast 

What's better: a glamping dome in the woods, or a five-star hotel on the boardwalk? Travel journalist and certified sommelier Darla Hoffmann didn't have to choose — she did both, fifty minutes apart, in Nova Scotia.On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Food, Wine & Travel" Podcast with the International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA), Darla takes us inside Nalu Retreat, a geodesic dome on the North Shore with a hot tub, a fire pit, and a chef-prepared dinner waiting in the fridge, before heading into Halifax for the total opposite: Muir, a five-star hotel in the Queen's Marque District with a hidden speakeasy you have to knock to enter, an on-site restaurant called Drift, and boardwalk views from every room.Along the way, we talk Nova Scotia wine (crisp Tidal Bay whites, a standout red from the Lucie Kuhlmann grape), local food (buttery Wolffish, a proper Halifax donair), and the city's history, from Citadel Hill to the 1917 Halifax Explosion. Darla also shares how a career in wine led her into travel writing, what she's working on next, and news on her upcoming book — a multi-year project pairing one wine with one signature dish from all fifty U.S. states.READ DARLA'S HALIFAX ARTICLES:- Salt Air, Scenic Hikes, and a Vibrant Food Scene: https://fwtmagazine.com/salt-air-scenic-hikes-and-a-vibrant-food-scene-halifax-nova-scotia/ - Nalu Retreat: Your Next Serene Getaway Awaitshttps://luxebeatmag.com/nova-scotias-glamping-escape-into-nature-nalu-retreat/ RESOURCE LINKS:- More About Darla: https://www.aboutwineinaz.com - Learn more about IFWTWA: https://www.ifwtwa.org/ - Follow the Food, Wine & Travel Podcast: https://food-wine-travel.podbean.com/ - Big Blend Radio's "Travel Food & Wine: Digital Podcast Magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/ekxy/#p=1 

In this episode of Big Blend Radio’s SUPERVISION MATTERS Podcast, organizational coach and author Rita Sever exploreS what it really means to create an inclusive workplace culture — and why building a real team is healthier than thinking of coworkers as a “work family.”Rita explains why employees who feel included and connected are more engaged, committed, and likely to stay, while organizations that foster community are better positioned for innovation, teamwork, and change. She and Lisa discuss the warning signs of exclusion, from workplace cliques and isolated employees to meetings where certain voices never get heard.The conversation also explores how leaders and HR professionals can create a culture where everyone has an opportunity to contribute, including introverts, neurodivergent employees, new hires, and people whose experiences or perspectives may differ from the majority.Rita emphasizes that inclusion isn't just about having policies in an employee handbook. Leadership has to put those policies into action. She shares practical ideas for more inclusive meetings, communicating expectations, recognizing hidden workplace rules, watching retention patterns, supporting employees through individual supervision, and creating an environment where people feel safe speaking up.Rita also compares workplace teams to sports teams — where different people bring different skills, support one another, take ownership of both wins and losses, and work toward a shared goal.Because a strong workplace community doesn't just improve the employee experience. It can ripple outward to customers, clients, retention, innovation, teamwork, and the overall success of an organization.📌 Resources & Links🔹 Rita Sever / Supervision Matters: https://supervisionmatters.com/ 🔹 Supervision Matters Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/supervision-matters-magazine 🔹 Listen to all Supervision Matters episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/supervision-matters-podcast-with-rita-sever 

Filmmaker Casey Carter joins Big Blend Radio to talk about his feature documentary debut, "To Use a Mountain," which traces the search for a permanent U.S. nuclear waste repository back to the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Casey and Lisa dig into the six candidate communities featured in the film — in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Nevada — and the farmers, miners, tribal leaders, and citizen scientists who fought back when their land was marked as a possible dumping ground for the nation's most dangerous waste.The conversation traces a direct line from that 1980s fight to today's headlines: Casey explains how the current data-center boom and a so-called "nuclear renaissance" are reviving interest in new reactor sites, including small modular reactors proposed for underground placement near data centers. Lisa connects the dots to ongoing battles over public lands, from Chaco Canyon to Bears Ears, and asks what it means for communities asked to carry this burden for 10,000 years with no lasting solution in sight."To Use a Mountain" opens theatrically at DCTV in New York on Friday, August 21st, and arrives on VOD through Grasshopper Film in early 2027.Learn more: https://www.touseamountainfilm.com 

It's the very first episode of "Pets, Plots & Poisons" Podcast! Mystery authors Matt Cost and BJ Magnani launch their new Big Blend Radio show with the story of how they met (a New England Crime Bake conference), what they're each writing now, and a secret collaboration between their characters.BJ shares her latest Dr. Lily Robinson thriller, "We'll Always Have Poisons," sending her poison-toting protagonist to Cape Town, Sydney, and Brussels. Matt talks through "EveryThing vs. Max Creed,: book two in his Modern-Day Chronicles of Max Creed series — and reveals he and BJ already crossed universes once, co-writing a novella with Curt Wendelboe called "Death on Out to Sea Island," where Lily Robinson meets one of Matt's own characters: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/curt-wendelboe/death-on-out-to-sea-island.htm They dig into the craft side too: Matt's plotting formula (a major turn every 12.5% of the book) versus BJ's "pantser" approach of plotting in thirds. Both trace their mystery obsession back to childhood favorites like The Black Stallion, Hardy Boys, and Trixie Belden, and talk about why pets make such rich material for crime writers — from cadaver dogs to serial killers' pets.And BJ delivers the first-ever Poison of the Month: aconitine, a cardiac toxin from monkshood (wolfsbane) that can kill within minutes.Next month: screenwriter-turned-mystery-author Jule Selbo joins the show.Learn more about the hosts:- BJ Magnani: https://www.bjmagnani.com/ - Matt Cost: https://www.mattcost.net/ - Explore the Pets, Plots & Poisons show page (and subscribe): https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/pets-plots-poisons-podcast 

In Part Three of her “Lessons Learned from Travel” series, travel writr Linda Ballou takes us into the wilds of Alaska and Canada for a powerful story about adventure, wilderness, and environmental stewardship.In this episode of Big Blend Radio’s “Lost Angel Travel Adventures” Show, Linda reflects on her journey down the Tatshenshini River, also known as Raven’s River, which begins near Haines, Alaska, travels through Canada, and flows toward the Gulf of Alaska. She shares an excerpt from her book "Lost Angel Walkabout: One Traveler’s Tales," describing the river’s glaciers, wildlife, birds, salmon, and breathtaking wilderness—and the profound effect the journey had on her.But this adventure became much more than a rafting trip. Linda explains how experiencing this pristine wilderness transformed her from an “adventure junkie” into an environmentalist and inspired her to become involved in the fight against the proposed Windy Craggy mine. She also discusses the current threat of the Palmer Project in the Chilkat River Valley, the importance of the region to the Tlingit people, and its significance as habitat for salmon, bears, and thousands of bald eagles.Linda also explores what travelers can learn from rivers: letting go, unplugging from the outside world, being fully present, listening to nature, and finding your own “inner river” or current during times of change.The conversation ultimately becomes a call for environmental stewardship and citizen action, reminding us that travelers are temporary members of the communities and landscapes they visit—and that protecting wilderness requires a constant vigil.🌎 American Adventures Month: This episode celebrates the spirit of exploring and protecting America's extraordinary natural landscapes.RESOURCE LINKS:🎧 Listen to the new audiobook edition of Lost Angel Walkabout: One Traveler's Tales: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Angel-Walkabout-Travelers-Tales/dp/ 🌍 Linda Ballou:https://www.LindaBallouAuthor.com https://www.LostAngelAdventures.com 🎙️ Subscribe to Lost Angel Travel Adventures Podcast:https://lost-angel-travel-adventures.podbean.com 📖 Explore the NEW Lost Angel Travel Adventures Digital Podcast Magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/podcast-retrospective/