Inciting A Riot

In my continuing quest to highlight professions that are overlooked or misunderstood, I'd like to introduce you to Shari Phippen. She has decades of experience as a city planner, which is one of the most important roles in determining where we live, how we live, and what we can do while we live there...but nobody seems to know what they do or how they do it. This also serves as the first teaser for my upcoming audiobook, Where Did Everybody Go?, coming out from Simon & Schuster Audio this November. Pre-Order Where Did Everybody Go? here: https://bydonmartin.com/where-did-everybody-go%3F Buy Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire here: https://bydonmartin.com/verity-vox-1 Social media links, contact form, & more here: https://bydonmartin.com/social-media Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Jennifer Hale stopped back by the podcast to discuss the nearly yearlong Voice Actors’ strike, forging your own  creative career, and becoming Verity Vox. Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire is available now from your library or  favorite bookseller. https://bydonmartin.com/verity-vox-1 Pre-order Where Did Everybody Go? Here: https://bydonmartin.com/where-did-everybody-go%3F Find Jennifer here: https://www.jenniferhale.com Social links: https://bydonmartin.com/social-media Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524

Superheroes dominate cinema and pop culture, and they have for a while now. Sure, there's been a shift in movie theater attendance post-COVID pandemic, but people still show up for superheroes. I wondered why, so I asked an expert on the subject why he thinks caped crusaders and teams of mutant misfits capture our imagination. Find  @BlerdWithoutFear over on his YT channel! Social links: https://bydonmartin.com/social-media Buy Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire: https://bydonmartin.com/verity-vox-1 Buy Where Did Everybody Go?: https://bydonmartin.com/where-did-everybody-go%3F Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524

The internet has become a place where we all perform for one another, where authenticity is both something to aspire to and something to be wary of. I sat down with Franchesca "Chescaleigh" Ramsey to discuss the role of the content creator, how it differs from an influencer, and what it means to exist on social media these days. Find Franchesca on her website at: https://www.franchesca.net/ Pre-order Where Did Everybody Go?: https://bydonmartin.com/where-did-everybody-go%3F Pre-order Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire: https://bydonmartin.com/verity-vox-1 For everything else: https://bydonmartin.com/social-media

If you are someone who has complained that every new piece of media is a sequel, prequel, remake, reboot, or a studio banking on pre-existing IP (intellectual property) to bring in audiences, this is the episode for you. We are kicking off 2025 with Nadira Goffe, a staff writer at Slate, who helps us contextualize this moment in pop culture as well as looking back at a time when media felt like "hope-ium". Links, books, and more at https://bydonmartin.com/

Grab your wieners, your marshmallows, your bad haircuts, and toss them all on the funeral pyre of 2024. Robyn Valentine, co-host of the Coffee & Cauldrons podcast and author of Magickal Tarot & The Apprentice Witch, joins me to review the highs, lows, personal triumphs, and things we'd love to leave behind as we BURN 2024 DOWN to prepare for a bright new year ahead. Hopefully. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524 YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire preorder links Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/

Ella Harrison is the author of The Book of Spells. She has a degree in anthropology and uses her social media platform to educate and entertain audiences on the topics of folklore, folk magic, and the history of holiday traditions. If you've ever wondered about figures like Krampus or Perchta, this is the show for you. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524 YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire preorder links Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/verity-vox-and-the-curse-of-foxfire-don-martin/21737256 B&

They say all politics is local, but that's difficult to believe when every single topic of conversation at our dinner table seems to have national stakes. From the books on our kids' shelves to who reads those books to them to the statues in our parks to who is allowed in our parks, every issue large and small feels like it's operating on some grand scale. It's hard to gain perspective, hard to know what information to trust, especially when some of our politicians are telling us not to trust what we've seen and heard with our own eyes and ears. That's where good journalists come in. Gregory Royal Pratt is an investigative reporter with the Chicago Tribune. He's made a name for himself covering corruption, triumphs, and everyday heroes in the third largest city in the country. We had a conversation about the power of local journalism, the influence of national politics in small town spaces, and why he wrote a book about Lori Lightfoot.  Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www

Thanks to the Make America Healthy Again movement, there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation on the rise about food, "chemicals", and whether what we eat is safe. Thankfully, Erin the Food Science Babe is here to help. Subscribe to Erin's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/FoodScienceBabe Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524 YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire preorder links Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/verity-vox-and-the-curse-of-foxfire-don-martin/21737256 B&N: https://www.

The mantel of the witch is one that has been worn by people for all sorts of reasons.  There are those who don the black hat for political purposes, as a feminist symbol, or a way for those who find themselves on the margins of society in one way or another to reach for the power they otherwise could never hope to have.  Then there are the people call themselves witches because they cast spells and divine the future and talk to the dead. And still there are others conjuring up new titles or resurrecting old ones all in an attempt to define a personal spiritual path that is inclusive, empowering, and allows for a spark of magic in the real world. I summoned three fabulous witches to help me call the corners, cast a circle, and chat all about how to walk the witches’ road in real life. Please support today's guests: Thorn Mooney Courtney Weber Mawiyah Bomani Order my books, The Dabbler's Guide to Witchcraft and Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire, here. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: In

Dr. Sam Montano is no stranger to combating conspiracy theories regarding emergency management. She’s been doing it since Hurricane Katrina. She holds a BS in Psychology, as well as Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Emergency Management and teaches the subject at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Her book Disaster-ology came out in 2021. I sat down with her to help parse fact from fiction on what FEMA is, the politicization of climate disasters, and how emergency managers are preparing for the next catastrophe.  Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524 YouT

A.J. Jacobs is a New York Times bestselling author known for his immersive, year-long experiments, including The Year of Living Biblically, The Know-It-All, and his latest book, The Year of Living Constitutionally. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524 YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

By all accounts Victoria Aveyard is both an outlier and also as close to the Hollywood version of becoming an author as it gets.  While the average age for a debut novelist is around 36, Victoria’s debut novel—Red Queen—was published shortly after graduating from college and went on to become a massive, runaway success. And so did all of the rest of her novels. In fact, every one of Victoria’s novels has been a New York Times bestseller, and she even made it onto the coveted Bestseller Series list which is rareified air indeed.  So it came as quite a shock to her readers when, earlier this year, she talked about having to go back out on submission this year with what will be her debut adult novel. They were even more shocked to learn that she received a number of rejections, thinking, of course, that past performance meant that every future book would automatically receive the green light from any future publisher.  I sat down with Victoria to have a long discussion about the actual job of being an author,

Charlie Sprinkman developed the app Everywhere Is Queer, which is quickly becoming one of the best, most comprehensive lists of queer owned and operated businesses.  Whether you’re looking for a travel agent, a craft store, a bakery, or a horse ranch, the Everywhere is Queer app is helping people realize that supporting queer owned and operated businesses in person and online might be easier and closer to home than people realize…just in time for you to divert those Brr month shopping dollars to a small business near you. I sat down with Charlie to discuss the app’s creation, the importance of speaking with your dollars, and why ally owned businesses aren’t going to be listed on the app anytime soon. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscri

Danny Hieber earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his B.A. in linguistics and philosophy from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Prior to and during graduate school he worked for Rosetta Stone’s Endangered Language Program to create language-learning software with Native American communities. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524 YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

Chris Copeland has worked on some of your favorite things. Invincible, The Witcher, Young Justice, and he made his directorial debut for Dreamworks on the series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. He’s had a long career that began here in Chicago as a nerd who loved superheroes and now gets to help bring them to life. We talked about how a storyboard artist is one of the first people to visualize what a writer has written, how animation kept Hollywood alive during a time of crisis, and how you know you’re ready for the next phase of your career.  Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMd

Roberta Blevins left the MLM world in 2017 and spent all of her time since then educating the public on the dangers involved in joining these barely legal pyramid schemes. She was a key witness in the case against Lularoe and was featured in the documentary LuLaRich which showcased how the billion dollar clothing company misled thousands of women. These days Roberta educates people via her podcast and social media platform titled Life After MLM where she helps people unpack the history, legality, and real world harm of multi-level marketing. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4

Clare Brown is a satirist and author of the new audiobook New Nigeria County. Her social media platform is famous for flipping gender and racial stereotypes while both educating and inviting her audience to laugh.  Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/headonfirepod Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524 YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

Even if you don’t play video games, Jennifer Hale is still probably one of your favorite actors…you just didn’t know it. As of this recording she is just shy of 500 acting credits on IMDb including numerous roles in the Star Wars universe, Mortal Kombat, DC, Marvel, Disney. Even Biker Mice from Mars…remember that? She’s been in DuckTales and Rick and Morty and The Little Mermaid and the Big Bang Theory and the PowerPuff Girls and Scooby Doo and Melrose Place. She’s been Ivy in Where on Earth is Carmen San Diego and Galadriel in Lord of the Rings and she’s played Jean Grey in X-Men more than any other actress. I spoke to the maven behind the microphone about her legendary career, the best advice for new voice actors, how she keeps finding new and interesting ways to bring characters to life, and what exactly is going to happen in the second season of X-Men '97.  Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTo

Maggie Tokuda-Hall is a children’s and young adult author who writes stories that help kids of all types see themselves on the page as the main character. She also writes books that help parents and kids have age appropriate conversations about the world we live in. One of those books, Love In The Library, became the centerpoint for exposing a longtime issue with a major children’s publisher and book distributor about the practice of quietly asking authors to censor themselves in exchange for visibility and placement. Maggie is also one of the founders of Authors Against Book Bans, an organization I’m proud to be a member of. We had a discussion about the importance of diverse books, the future of publishing, and mermaids.  Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.co