One Step Beyond

Michael Anthony is the 36-year-old author of the new graphic memoir JUST ANOTHER MEAT-EATING DIRTBAG, published by Street Noise with art by Chai Simone. While Michael describes his new book as essentially a ‘love story’ between two seemingly distinct characters with different outlooks on life and death in the human and animal kingdoms, it draws in part – as did the entirety of his first two books, Mass Casualties and Civilianized – from his experiences serving in the US Army in Iraq in the 2000s and the PTSD he suffered upon release from duty. After penning his way out of his troubles, which included additional substance and drug abuse, Anthony became a writing mentor to other Army veterans so that they too, can learn to live with their experiences by putting them on paper. In this discussion with host/fellow author Tony Fletcher, the pair tackle all manner of subjects: the merits of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bloody field hospital operations that Anthony assisted in, the sense of failure knowing that Iraqi lives saved in surgery were likely lost once the Americans left, the cowardice and deception of certain military ‘leaders’, the prevalence of PTSD and suicide among veterans, how writing can help, how writing directly from experience can help even more, how Anthony came to pen a graphic memoir, and the all-important role of the illustrator. Especially, he discusses the relationship, detailed in Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag, with the love of his life, ‘Coconut’, a vegetarian and animal rights campaigner who Anthony describes as having a soul like ‘exposed nerve endings’. As their relationship develops, the memoir follows Anthony’s attempts to go ‘under cover’ by becoming a vegetarian in the hope of converting Coco, who had been fat-shamed by her mother as a child, back to meat. The conversation wraps up with a discussion about slaughterhouses in the food industry and on the battlefield, the surprising prevalence of vegetarianism among 'bad-ass army dudes', the movie The Game Changers, and the difficulties of giving up life-long habits, from meat to cigarettes. It is, believe it or not, an upbeat conversation!More info about Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag, including links for purchase: https://www.streetnoisebooks.com/just-another-meateating-dirtbagMichael Anthony is at https://masscasualties.com/ He can also be contacted directly through his website.Street Noise is at https://www.streetnoisebooks.com/Chai Simone is at https://www.instagram.com/limina_1999/One Step Beyond on socials:Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcastFacebook is One Step Beyond with Tony FletcherTwitter is OneStepBeyondP1Theme song is 'Yes Men' by The Dear Boys. Listen in full here.Logo by Mark Lerner. Logo photo taken at Arte Sumapaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.

What it's like to climb Mount Kilimanjaro? Your host Tony Fletcher documented his own experiences climbing to the Roof of Africa, as narrated in real time, alongside interviews with fellow climbers and guides, and on-the-mountain 'field' recordings; these were then combined with detailed historical and contextual studio narrative to form a four-part documentary with which One Step Beyond was originally launched. On this special episode, those four parts are edited together for the first time, their repetitive introductions and credits eliminated, and presented as one lengthy but complete documentary that you will hopefully find educational, entertaining, informative and, who knows, maybe inspirational. Here's what I wrote back at the launch:In August 2019, I set off from Kingston, New York, with four friends and a Tanzanian-born guide, to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. At 19,341 ft, or 5895 meters above sea level, Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa, and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. About 50,000 people a year attempt the summit; not all of them make it. The intense demands on the body in ever-thinning air cause many people to give up before they can reach the peak.I’m a writer and broadcaster by trade, so I brought my recording devices along with me for the journey up the mountain. Over the course of this mini-series, it’s my hope that you’ll be able to experience a little bit of what it’s like to go on an adventure like this, and that by the time we are all done, you’ll be ready to embark on one of your own.The starting time for each episode is given in the summary below. Feel free to pause and come back. And if you want to join us on a trip some time, make contact: details at the bottom of the show notes! EPISODE 1 (3:30): Meeting, planning, getting to know each other - Tony, Tim, Gwen, Steve and Marie, plus tour guide Protus - and heading out from Arusha to Mawenzi and the base of Kili itself.EPISODE 2 (33:30): Phallic trees, a first sighting of Kibo, an encounter with the Spice Girls, and a serious attack of altitude sickness.EPISODE 3 (1:01:30): Shrinking glaciers, blistering winds, sudden snow, and a two-hour nap at extreme elevation before an attempt on the Kilimanjaro summit.EPISODE 4 (1:30:10): Our team wrestles with a seemingly endless overnight slog up the side of a volcano, serious attacks of altitude sickness, and a long and desperate slog on the last stretch to the roof of Africa. Do we all make it to the summit? Let's put it this way: there are celebratory dinners and dances at the end of it all.E-mail the show with questions or comments.Subscribe to the newsletter.Find us on social media:InstagramFacebookTwitterUse of 'One Step Beyond' by Madness with permission. Logo by Mark Lerner of Rag & Bone Shop.And your host can be found here:tonyfletcher.net

Claire Yandell is a 27-yr old traveler and artist who has managed to take her art on her travels and even have it help pay for her travels. She and Tony met in October 2021 at Arte Sumapaz in Colombia (check Episode 7 of One Step Beyond for more about Arte Sumapaz), a country with which Claire fell in love and lived for eighteen months, until just recently. (She intends to return in the New Year of 2023.) In this ‘reunion’ conversation, the American-born Claire tells Tony about her extensive travels since the age of 18, why she abandoned art school, how she fell in love with Colombia, the attractions of the country, its people, its geography and its culture, and how she has bartered art for accommodation and otherwise taken commissions on her way to painting approximately 20 murals across Colombia to date. Understanding that traveling means lowering one’s financial expectations, Claire has volunteered as a cook, a yoga teacher, an artist and in the fields, and chosen to stay with local families rather than in hostels, all as a means to live economically and to better understand the culture. She and Tony also talk about their time at Arte Sumepaz, how to eat successfully in a country like Colombia as a non-meat-eater, visa problems, plus the recent Presidential Election and what it means for the future of this convoluted country. Claire Yandell can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/claire_yandell/, where she shows and periodically sells her art in various forms and mediums.Episode 7 of One Step Beyond: From the Catskills to Colombia, can be found at: https://shows.acast.com/onestepbeyond/episodes/ep-7-from-the-catskills-to-colombia-and-backColombia Calling podcast is at https://colombiacalling.co/Baggage Claim podcast is at https://www.instagram.com/baggageclaimpod/Washington Post article on the challenges facing the new President Gustavo Petro: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/petro-colombia-marquez-election-farc-peace-environment/Questions/comments/suggestions? Email Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net.Find One Step Beyond at:Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcastFacebook is One Step Beyond with Tony FletcherTwitter is OneStepBeyondP1Theme sons are 'Yes Men' and 'Action' by The Dear Boys. Listen in full here.Logo by Mark Lerner. Logo photo taken at Arte Sumapaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.