Five Things

This week's guest on Five Things is an accountant who's finally figured out how to use her skills to support the things she believes in. Let me explain -- Dawn Howard has experienced a political transformation over the past few years. She describes herself as a former Republican who is now "super-left," as she says, and she says that change started when she broke her ankle while living in Ireland. (Listen to the episode to learn how that makes sense together.) She recently quit her job as a corporate tax professional to open her own consulting firm, and that led her to becoming a paid staffer for a political campaign: she's now the finance director for Dan Canon's Congressional run in Indiana's 9th District. Dawn is a friend of mine, and that's why I knew she'd be great in this context -- she's unusually open about her challenges in life, and she talks about serious things in a really smart, funny way. I'm so glad to share her story here.

Reshma Shetty and I met nearly 20 years ago in Lexington, Kentucky, when she had just moved to town for graduate school in music and I was working at the university. Later, we both lived in New York City, right around the corner from each other. I helped her practice her lines when she had an audition for a TV show that turned out to be her first big gig: the role of Divya Katdare on USA Network's Royal Pains. That show has now ended after 8 seasons, and Reshma had her first child a couple of years ago, so life is looking different for her these days.

NPR reporter Sam Sanders was one of the breakout stars of the 2016 election season. He's now the host of his own podcast (and radio show), called It's Been A Minute, in which he talks with newsmakers, artists, and other reporters about everything from music and television to a round-up of the week's news. It's been described as a show for people who are exhausted by the news but can't stop — which probably describes many of us these days. I was delighted to talk with Sanders recently, although he was in a studio at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., and I was in a studio in Louisville so we couldn't see each other. He sent me a couple of pictures of some of his items, including a compost bin that was part of a story he did very early in his career, a hat that looks like a pizza (yep), and his couch.

Will Russell founded Lebowski Fest, a yearly celebration of the Coen Brothers’ movie that then spread nationwide. He owned two stores, Why Louisville, that sold t-shirts and other work made by local artists. Then he got a big, ambitious idea -- around the same time that his mental health started to falter. After a very public meltdown that included several arrests, a declaration of bankruptcy, Will Russell is ready to talk about his experience -- what got him there in the first place, and what got him through.

This week’s guest is world-renowned opera singer Christine Brewer, a Wagnerian soprano who’s performed on just about every stage and with every company you can imagine: the Metropolitan Opera, The London Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and more. She’s collaborating with composer John Williams -- you know, the guy who wrote the Star Wars music -- on a new album. She's also delightfully down-to-earth.

My guest this week, Louisville-based musician Ben Sollee, has been recording and touring since 2008, so he's done a LOT of interviews over the years. He's good at talking about his music, how he makes it, why he does what he does, and the environmental and cultural issues he wants to advocate. But this exercise of selecting physical objects is a way to get someone like Ben out of the usual "artist interview" routine, and even if you've heard him interviewed before, this conversation was something different. He’s got a new album just out, called “Kentucky Native,” and a new baby on the way later this fall. And as you’ll hear, he’s taking stock of what’s important and thinking about what’s next.

Each week on Five Things, we meet a guest who has selected five physical objects that have been resonant or important in his or her life, and we learn about that person from those things. Usually we sit in a quiet studio at Louisville Public Media, but for this week’s interview, I went to visit Tom Edwards at his business, the MozzaPi cafe. It’s a huge brick and wood space, with giant doors that open onto a peaceful wooded area. So at various times in this conversation, you’ll hear a train going by, you’ll hear the cicadas and birds outside, and you’ll hear the whoosh of a massive fridge kicking on and then off again. The cafe is just one part of Edwards’ constellation of businesses: he also owns Louismill, which mills grain into flour and grits, an artisan bread-baking school, and a catering business. But he sees his business ventures as more than just a way to earn a living -- he's got a bigger vision about the way we interact with food, with the earth, and with each other.

A situation almost guaranteed to produce dread: when your friend says, "Hey, I'm performing the one-woman play that I wrote about my life, you should come!" I hadn't known Teresa Willis all that long when she invited me to come see "Eenie Meenie," but I wanted to be supportive, even though a solo autobiographical show sounded like a cringe-inducing couple of hours. As it happened, however, the show was terrific: smart, funny, self-deprecating, enlightening, and authentic -- much like Teresa herself. I'm so pleased to have Teresa as a guest on Five Things this week. We had a great conversation about her creative journey, her upbringing in Louisville, and how her famous cousin has impacted her life.

On this week’s episode of Five Things, our guest is writer Patrick Wensink, a novelist whose first-ever children’s book is coming out next week. "Go Go Gorillas” was inspired by Wensink's visits to the zoo with his young son, when he wondered why the gorillas were always sleeping during the day. The book suggests that maybe the gorillas are partying all night! Wensink has been based in Louisville for several years, and recently moved with his family to Portland, Oregon, so he can attend grad school. His 2015 novel, "Fake Fruit Factory," was on NPR's list of best books of the year, and his 2012 book, "Broken Piano for President" got some attention for its Jack-Daniels-inspired cover art. He talked with me about one of his collection of Johnny Mercer lyrics, which he used as inspiration when he was writing his rhyming book for kids, along with other objects of creative resilience.

On this week’s episode of Five Things, my guest is Matt Jones, the host of Kentucky Sports Radio and the co-founder of the New Kentucky Project. He’s best known for being a professional fan of Kentucky basketball, but he’s also an attorney with several years of practice under his belt. We talked about an experience in law school that changed his life, about how winning a golf tournament at age 10 made him feel, and about an important novel given to him by his childhood pastor.

This week's guest is a writer who first came to my attention when she performed at The Moth StorySLAM in Louisville (producing that monthly event is my other job). Tasha Golden seemed a bit nervous as she told a story of living next door to a couple who were obviously going through some domestic violence, and she didn't know what to do. She ended up winning the competition that night, and I wanted to know more about her. As it turns out, she had spent plenty of time onstage at previous times in her life, but usually as a singer, touring with the band Ellery. A few years ago, an episode of severe depression led her to get off the road, get an MFA in poetry, and pursue a public health degree, studying the effects of the arts and health. She also teaches writing workshops for young women who are incarcerated, and Ellery has just put out a new EP, their first release since 2010. Our conversation about the objects that are precious to her was funny and touching, and ultimately, it was about resiliency.

This week's guest is Kentucky author Silas House, who made his name as a novelist (Clay's Quilt, Eli the Good) and is also known for his essays and other writings on food, music and politics. He teaches writing at Berea College, so I made the drive to that lovely town and interviewed him at his dining room table. We had a great conversation about growing up in the small town of Lily, Kentucky, how he feels a little bit guilty living only 45 minutes away from there, and some of the people and experiences that have most influenced his writing life.

Emily McCay is known around Louisville as the Diaper Fairy, a fanciful name for the cloth diaper delivery service she runs. She also owns the Diaper Fairy Cottage, a shop that has become a community center. She's a recent survivor of acute myeloid leukemia, and she says her "five things" are very different now from what they might have been before her illness.

Our guest this week on Five Things is Diane Downs, a musician and a teacher who leads one of the most unusual performing ensembles you’ll ever hear. Picture it: 40 or so middle and elementary schoolers, with marimbas, cymbals, xylophones, timpani, keyboards, a drum kit or two -- that's the Louisville Leopard Percussionists. It sounds like utter madness, and sometimes it is. But it’s also a team-building, self-esteem-raising activity that kids love.

This week's guest is a familiar face and voice to Louisville-area TV viewers, as she anchors the evening news on WHAS, the local ABC affiliate. I’ve known about her for years, but when she really came to my attention was when she did an on-air opinion piece about hair. I know, it sounds silly, but it was terrific. We talked more about the hair issue in this conversation, along with how she got to where she is, and what she loves about her job.

Our guest is writer Shannon Stocker, who chose a risky experimental treatment in another country in a last-ditch effort to cure a painful disorder. It’s known as “complex regional pain syndrome,” or CRPS, and it’s tough to diagnose and treat. Stocker says she and her husband Greg had to work together to figure out how to help her, which ultimately led them to try a medically-induced coma in a Mexican hospital. She talked with me about how chronic pain can affect a person's mental health, why she loves her cheap wedding ring, and the woman in Mexico who predicted her daughter's birth.

Matt Wallace is the producing artistic director at Kentucky Shakespeare, which puts on the summer Shakespeare festival in Central Park along with outreach and education throughout the state. He also works with Shakespeare Behind Bars, where he directs an annual Shakespeare production with inmates at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in Oldham County. Plus, ask anyone about Matt Wallace, and they'll always mention how nice he is. (It's true, he really is.)

Our guest is Louisville musician Dennis Ledford. He’s been part of the Louisville music scene since the 1960s, and if you graduated from high school in Louisville in the 90s, he probably played your senior prom as part of Nervous Melvin and the Mistakes. He's got stories on stories to tell, and what really struck me about our conversation was that all of his objects were really about people.

My guest this week on Five Things is Joe Phelps, the pastor at Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. His church is known for being a progressive place, and we talked about the forces that have led him to the viewpoints he has now. He's experienced great loss along with great success, and he sees it all as a continuum.

Our guest is Anne Miller, who has a Ph.D in neuropsychology and is also the co-owner of Suspend Louisville, a studio that teaches circus arts like aerial silks, acrobatics, and juggling. You might be surprised to learn how much those two different paths have in common.