Tag Archives: On-Air

My Syllabus Launch – Episode 1: International Workers Revolution

I launched a YouTube channel called My Syllabus this week. While I have no idea what I’m doing I want to figure out this medium and hopefully you’ll provide feedback as well so it gets better and more useful. To start I’m planning it to be an exploration of ideas that interest me, from poetry to politics, motorbikes to mischief.

Each topic I cover will include an essay I’ve written along with a collection of additional readings and links to online resources for you to explore, if you care to – in other words this is My Syllabus.

Thanks for your attention and participation.

Episode 1 Essay

My curiosity about international struggles is based around what it takes for the working class citizenry to finally say enough is enough and demand equality and justice. My interest is born out of how many tragedies of violence and disparity we’ve witnessed in the U.S. over recent years. Most spectacularly being those of primarily black males murdered by the police, and how even with overwhelming evidence and outrage not only was justice denied, but a general malaise seems to have beset people across all class and color lines. So much so that not only has neither a racial nor a class based movement swept the leaders who have upheld inequality and injustice, but ultimately we elected a white-nationalist huckster with fascist tendencies as our next President. Continue reading →

Eduardo Pavez Goye Book Review

One of my favorite YouTube creators is the Chilean playwright, author, musician and photographer Eduardo Pavez Goye. If you’re unfamiliar with him then I highly recommend that you subscribe to his channel when you visit the video below. A month or so ago I sent him a copy of If Only The Names Were Changed as a thank you for all of the amazing content he’s been putting out into the world. I was thrilled to find he’d given my book a very positive, brief review on his 2016 year-end video. While this video may not be his norm – they’re usually about photography instead of books – I love to hear what other writers are reading and really loved his list.

Besides the video, he sent me his first self-published book of photography titled A Parade of Strangers that has some poems and reflections in it from a project he undertook called 30 Rolls in 30 Days (you can click through to those videos as well). It is a beautiful piece of work and I hope he might consider a second pressing so that I can recommend you pick up a copy – as for now though, they’re all sold out.

So how about you, what are you reading these days?

Pro-choice Agitation in Ohio

What began as an off-the-cuff idea I posted to Facebook has turned into a movement getting some serious news coverage. Here in Ohio our legislature has used the last days before the holiday recess to pass some very controversial laws regarding guns as well as women’s health choices. These laws have been previously found unconstitutional and will likely have to be revised or revoked if they take effect; the calculus being that a Trump SCOTUS appointment may overturn Roe v Wade via an attack like this one.

If Gov. John Kasich chooses to sign the legislation into law, or chooses to not take any action before Dec. 17, these bans will become law. So our hope is he will veto the bans, or line item veto them out of the otherwise no controversial parts of the legislation.

After days of calls into his office being ignored it felt as though something more visual and visceral needed doing. My thought was that we use the most gruesome image of the pre-Roe days; the wire hanger as abortion tool. In a similar manner as the pro-life movement parades photos of bloody fetal tissue to shock people into action, why don’t we shock our Governor into action. Perhaps reminding him of his youth prior to Roe; perhaps reminding him that he has daughters of his own.

More than anything, I wanted to take action for my own daughter’s future.

Since posting the idea to Facebook on Friday afternoon fellow pro-choice agitators gravitated to it. My friend Jess Matthews spread the word and by Saturday we had hundreds of wire hangers adorned with heartfelt messages pleading for the Governor to veto the so called Heartbeat bill.

Wob & organizer Andrew Miller with activist Jess Matthews

Saturday night the hangers were taken but activists quickly replaced them on Sunday as well as marching en mass with the media paying attention. Then again on Sunday night the hangers were once more removed but this time several of the activists reacted with a brilliant plan to order up hundreds of wire hangers to be delivered to the Governors office.

The list of local and national media coverage is growing but the short list below is what I’ve been involved in:

NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/opinion/rolling-back-abortion-rights-after-donald-trumps-election.html

NY Magazine: http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/12/people-are-protesting-ohios-abortion-ban-with-coat-hangers.html

WSYX ABC-6: http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/protesters-use-wire-coat-hangers-to-protest-heartbeat-bill

A-plus: http://aplus.com/a/ohio-heartbeat-abortion-bill-wire-hanger-protest-veto-john-kasich

ThinkProgress: https://thinkprogress.org/the-coat-hanger-comes-of-age-c592682a987#.z2g46kyp7

This is a link to the original Facebook event page I had setup that included more photos and commentary: https://www.facebook.com/events/357579031278485/?ti=icl

Columbus Open Studio & Stage

I’m honored to have been asked to participate in three different Studio & Stage presentations this coming weekend, Oct 8-9, and I hope you might make it out to one of these events.

Join me and some of my fellow central Ohio writers for a weekend of the arts put on by the GCAC and tons of local artists and organizations.

My first reading will take place at 1 p.m., Saturday, at the Upper Arlington Concourse Gallery (3600 Tremont Rd.).

The second reading will take place at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, at Wild Goose Creative (2491 Summit St.) which is part of an all-day event to launch their new project – The Flyover Library.

Finally, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, I’ll return to the Upper Arlington Concourse Gallery for a final reading.

I’ll have books and zines on hand at all three readings for sale and signing, some come on out and support your local writers and artists!

Craft – The Show interview

Very thankful to Doug Dangler for interviewing me about my life and new book, If Only The Names Were Changed for his show Craft on 90.5 WCBE. You can listen to the full interview online here or better yet, subscribe to the podcast and catch not only my interview, but great interviews with a lot of amazing writers, musicians, and artists. Click the Craft icon below to be taken to the iTunes podcast page. Finally, if you’re local to Columbus, make sure and come out to the book launch on Aug. 18 – details for that can be found here.