This Podcast Will Change Your Life.

A Different Story was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). A Different Story is read by Dr. Mike McClelland (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIOLike Sharon Stone and the zipper, Dr. Mike McClelland is originally from Meadville, Pennsylvania. He has lived on five different continents but now resides in Illinois with his husband, two sons, and a menagerie of rescue dogs. He is the author of the short fiction collection Gay Zoo Day and teaches creative writing at Eastern Illinois University. His fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, WIRED, Boston Review, Vox, The Baffler, Fairy Tale Review, and a number of literary magazine

We Were All Here was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). We Were All Here is read by Mallory Smart (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIOMallory Smart is a Chicago-based writer and the Editor-in-Chief of the publishing house, Maudlin House. She also talks about music and literature on the podcast, Textual Healing. Her first novel, The Only Living Girl in Chicago, was released from Trident Press. https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast

This episode stars Gogo Germaine, a.k.a. Erin K. Barnes (Glory Guitars). It was recorded over the Zoom between the This Podcast Will Change Your Life home studio in Chicago, IL and Germaine's home in the wilds of Colorado in April 2023.

What We Talk About When We Talk About The Flood was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). What We Talk About When We Talk About The Flood is read by Christian Winn (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIOChristian Winn is a fiction writer, poet, teacher of creative writing, and literary event producer living and working in Boise, Idaho. He is the author of the story collections NAKED ME and What's Wrong With You is What's Wrong With Me, and has two novel manuscripts and a collection ready to roll out into the world in 2023. He is the cofounder and Director of Storyfort and Story Forward and served as the State of Idaho's Writer in Residence from 2016 - 2019. His work has appeared in Mc

Vision was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). Vision is read by Adam Lawrence (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIOResiding in New York City’s Lower East Side, Adam Lawrence works for brands, documentary filmmakers, and anyone else who stumbles across his Music Supervision, Footage Research, and related Licensing/Clearance services. Classically Gen-X. Informal post-formalist. Recent enthusiastic convert to planking. Husband, Father. Doer of photos and assorted multidisciplinary art stuffs. Adam can be found on Twitter (@madaecnerwal) & Flickr (flickr.com/photos/adamlawrence/). https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast

Freddie's Dead was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). Watching And Waiting is read by Robert James Russell (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIORobert James Russell is the author of the forthcoming graphic memoir Hard Body: A Personal History of My Form on Display (Simon & Schuster, 2024). He is the founding editor of the literary journal CHEAP POP. His illustrations and writing have appeared in print and online at NPR, The Rumpus, The Offing, Shenandoah, Gulf Coast, New South, and Passages North, among others. A native of Michigan, Robert lives and works in Lincoln, Nebraska. You can find his art and writing at robertjamesrussell.com, or on Twitter/Instagram at @robhollywoo

This episode stars Noah Michelson (HuffPost Personal). It was recorded over the Zoom between the This Podcast Will Change Your Life home studio in Chicago, IL and Michelson's home in the borough of Brooklyn in March 2023.

This episode stars Timothy Gager (Best of Timothy Gager: Poems, Essays, and Stories,  The Thursday Appointments of Bill Sloan, Short Street, and as you will learn, much, much more). It was recorded over the Zoom between the This Podcast Will Change Your Life home studio in Chicago, IL and Gager's home in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (the second episode in a row originating from the Commonwealth might I add) in March 2023.

Watching And Waiting was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). Watching And Waiting is read by Pete Anderson (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIOPete Anderson is the author of the novel Wheatyard and the short story collection Where the Marshland Came to Flower. He has lunched and drank with Ben Tanzer for fifteen great years. He once drove through Binghamton on a long road trip, but, unable to find a diner for breakfast, kept going without stopping, and finally settled for Hardee’s along the interstate.  https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast

The Runner was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). The Runner is read by Ray Charbonneau (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIORay Charbonneau is the author of a number of books on running. That number is currently five. His work has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, Marathon & Beyond, and other publications. He's also the host of Tardis Jukebox on WMFO-FM, a show that's been called "the best hour of radio in the Boston area." Ray has run more than thirty marathons and ultramarathons, including one and a half 100 mile races, without winning a single one. But there's always tomorrow. Find out more at y42k.com. https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-th

Untrammeled was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). Untrammeled is read by Gerald Brennan (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIO Gerald Brennan earned a B.S. in European History from West Point and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. He's the author of Resistance, which Kirkus called “an extremely impressive debut,” and four space books including the forthcoming Alone on the Moon, which prompted one blurbist to dub him "the poet laureate of the desolation of space." His writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Newcity, and he was on the latter's 2019 Lit 50 list of notable literary Chicagoans; he's also the founder of Tortoise Books, a Chicago-based independent p

This episode stars Shannon Downey (Badass Cross Stitch). It was recorded over the Zoom between the This Podcast Will Change Your Life home studio in Chicago, IL and Downey's current home in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in February 2023.

God's Work was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). God's Work is read by Barry Graham (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIO Barry Graham is a writer and a gambler from Pennsylvania Dutch Country.  https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast

Barely Breathing was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). Barely Breathing is read by Tim Walikis (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIO Tim Walikis aka [OMIT], Timo, Slick Wilson, etc…is an artist, sculptor, musician, and Art Dept. Scenic artist for films. Member of local 829. He has exhibited his art in New York and California. Tim has played guitar bass and sang in multiple bands in New York and California. He has been in the Buffalo band Monkey Wrench since 1989. Tim is from Upstate NY, but has lived in San Diego, Los Angeles, Lake Tahoe and Buffalo. https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast

Stabbed In The Back was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). Stabbed In The Back is read by Leesa Cross-Smith (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIO Leesa Cross-Smith is a homemaker and the author of half a dozen books: Every Kiss A War, Whiskey & Ribbons, So We Can Glow, This Close To Okay, Half-Blown Rose, and the forthcoming Goodbye Earl. She lives in Kentucky with her high school sweetheart husband and their two teenagers. https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast

This episode stars Paul Lamb (One-Match Fire). It was recorded over the Zoom between the This Podcast Will Change Your Life home studio in Chicago, IL and Lamb's home (albeit, and sadly, not his cabin) somewhere in the greater Kansas City area (which is yes, home to the recent Super Bowl winning Chiefs) in December 2022.

How It Works was published as part of the short story collection After the Flood, which was released by CCLaP in 2014. The collection represents Part Three of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). How It Works is read by Leland Cheuk (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIO Leland Cheuk is an award-winning author of three books of fiction, most recently NO GOOD VERY BAD ASIAN. Cheuk’s work has appeared in publications such as NPR, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, among other outlets. He’s been awarded fellowships at MacDowell, Hawthornden Castle, Djerassi, and elsewhere. He is the founder of the indie press 7.13 Books and lives in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter @lcheuk and at lelandcheuk.com.  https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast

This episode stars Daniel Nester (Harsh Realm: My 1990s, Shader, The Incredible Sestina Anthology). It was recorded over the Zoom between the This Podcast Will Change Your Life home studio in Chicago, IL and Nester's home in New York state's greater Capital Region in December 2022.

No Nothing was published as part of the short story collection So Different Now, which was released by CCLaP in 2011. The collection represents Part Two of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). No Nothing is read by Ryan W. Bradley (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIO Ryan W. Bradley is a sometimes writer/artist and a full-time Marketing Manager for a 15-branch library system. He has written too many books and abandoned just the right amount.  https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast

Goddess was published as part of the short story collection So Different Now, which was released by CCLaP in 2011. The collection represents Part Two of the linked short story collection UPSTATE re-released in 2020 by Tortoise Books (and originally released under the title The New York Stories by CCLaP in 2015). Goddess is read by Glen Binger (BIO below). INTRO/OUTRO music is Drinking of Me and was generously provided by Monkey Wrench. READER BIO Glen Binger is an author, teacher, and coach from by-the-beach, New Jersey. He hosts the podcast Betterism and his most recent books are Head Games: The Novel and Darren's Journal.  https://www.tanzerben.com/blog/upstate-the-podcast