Mark Smithivas

Pastor Amy Wiegert

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 02:39:06 +0000

My interview with Amy, who is the senior pastor at Faith Lutheran church in Homewood, Illinois.

Pam

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 23:50:14 +0000

I interviewed Lane Tech mom Pam about her two sons, one of who got accepted into MIT.

Kirsten

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 23:47:09 +0000

I spoke with Lane Tech mom Kirsten about her senior's plans for early applications this month and college visits.

Colleen

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 22:52:18 +0000

Colleen is a parent at my son's high school. I spoke with her about the senior college application process.

Recap and What's Next

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 19:28:40 +0000

Well here it is. The final episode. I learned a lot and had a blast during this month. I got to re-connect with a lot of old friends, some new friends, and a chance to play around with a bunch of nifty audio production tools. This final episode was crafted using Descript. A full transcript can be found here.

I'm hoping to take what I learned and apply it to some new projects I've got brewing in 2022. Thanks for listening!

Shannon Skinner

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 06:00:09 +0000

My final interview for this month. Shannon is someone I met via Twitter this past year. She's a great speaker, host, and author on a number of topics including wine, travel, and personal improvement. We recorded this via Twitter Spaces, a live audio platform. Our theme was "advice for your teenage self". Listen to what Shannon had to say on that topic.

Zion National Park

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 06:00:08 +0000

I stitched this audio piece together from some video and audio fragments I made over the summer while camping at Zion National Park. In between two very calming moments hanging out at the Narrows trail, we had some camping challenges amidst 100+ degree heat inside the park. It's tough enough camping with your own family, much less two.

Awkward Thanksgiving

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 20:30:35 +0000

What do you say when there's nothing to be said?

Taos Earthship

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 06:01:26 +0000

This past summer we made an epic roadtrip out west. Along the way, we stayed in an incredible home - an earthship on the outskirts north of Taos, New Mexico. This is an audio extraction of a video tour I made of the place. You can view the entire video here on my Vimeo page. I'm using a bunch of cool tools this month, and the ability to splice and dice audio into video and vice versa is giving me some nifty tricks for my projects in 2022.

26th and California Tour

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 18:09:02 +0000

This is a follow-up to my previous episode with LD Chukman. Lou takes me on a tour of the Cook County criminal courts building (Leighton) at 26th and California in Chicago. This complex of buildings, including a massive jail, has been the home to many notorious cases, judges, lawyers, and defendants over the years. I get a peek into the press room and we chat about the architecture and history of the place. I'm hoping to do more in the 'true crime' space next year so stay tuned!

Amy Guth

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 06:00:12 +0000

I caught up with noted radio personality Amy Guth a few weeks ago. We covered a lot of ground: her podcasting day job, sports betting, being a film producer, yogi, and even a "nature model" of sorts. Best of all she's a truly kind person, role model and supporter of the arts community.

Bryan Sanders

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 12:00:11 +0000

Twitter Spaces! This was recorded live on Twitter. I spoke with educator Bryan Sanders on the topic of "Could Minecraft be a School"? Bryan and I are fierce advocates for Minecraft and its potential to transform how our kids learn 21st century skills.

Yunuen Rodriguez

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 00:21:47 +0000

I had an inspiring chat with Yunuen, who is a first-year doctoral student in social work at University of Chicago. Her younger sister is a freshman in high school. I interviewed her about being a first-generation college graduate, the path she took from her neighborhood high school to a top program, her journey as an undocumented (DACA) Latina and proud advocate for others in similar circumstances.

Maureen Kelleher

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 16:40:13 +0000

Maureen and I share professional and personal interests in education as both parents and observers of the state of public education in Chicago. I catch up with her about upcoming choices for her daughter in the year ahead, and we touch upon free schools, un-schooling, and radical new ideas about learning. Enjoy!

Grand Canyon North Rim

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 16:22:36 +0000

Spontaneous audio recorded inside our camping tent on a dark and stormy night on the north rim of the Grand Canyon during our epic roadtrip out west this past August. This is part of my Point of No Return audio project which I've uploaded some bits of earlier this month. Listen to hear about our "vacation of pending disasters".

Sandy Wong

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 00:51:09 +0000

I catch up with a dear friend whom I've known for many years since arriving in Chicago. Sandy now produces the St. Tim's Coffeehouse , a local showcase of folk and singer songwriters from around the country. We talk about the impact of COVID-19 on live shows, and the pivot to Zoom concerts.

LD Chukman

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 03:22:13 +0000

LD (Lou) is a veteran courtroom sketch artist, having covered numerous trials over the years. I caught up with Lou after he took me on a tour of the press room at the Chicago federal courthouse, where we also looked up some case files. Lou looks back on some of his predecessors and notable cases he sketched.

Advice for your 17-year old Self

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 04:31:15 +0000

This is an intro to a more personal reflection about my own life. Here I describe the set of essay questions pertaining to the Common App which many high school seniors now use to apply to colleges. There are seven of them, and in future episodes I want to do a deeper dive into my own take on them, 30+ years after graduating myself with a Bachelor's degree.

Point of No Return

Sun, 14 Nov 2021 06:00:09 +0000

Recorded in our car during our epic road trip out west this summer to the Grand Canyon and beyond. This episode pairs well with episodes 6, 7, and 8 previously. I must have had a vivid dream during our stay at the Denver AirBnB and this was my recollection of it. It's a foreshadow of the long and often stressful 14-day trip where we hit up three national parks, four AirBnBs/hotels, an Earthship, and drove almost 5000 miles.

Supermarket Sweeps

Sat, 13 Nov 2021 06:00:07 +0000

This didn't turn out like I had expected. I used Twitter Spaces to record myself watching a new ABC game show called Supermarket Sweeps. One of the people I follow on Twitter was a contestant on the show and I had hoped he would drop into my room to discuss the episode while it was on air. Didn't happen so it was a bust. I'd like to try this again during a live telecast event.

Monico Yadao

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 06:00:13 +0000

Full disclosure: I recorded this interview with Chicago teacher Monico Yadao back in April of 2020, right when schools shut down due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. I never did anything with the recording until now so using it for the 30-day challenge. I'm looking forward to a follow-up conversation with Monico this month to check-in and get an update on life as a teacher.

Getting the Band Back Together (AI Voices)

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 06:00:13 +0000

Here's another blog post I wrote back in March of this year. I converted it to audio format using AI voice processing software. What do you think? Does it sound natural and realistic? I love playing around with the idea of using artificially generated human voices. AI is playing a larger role in our lives, and in the content creation arena, it gives us some nifty tools to convert text-to-speech, and vice versa. Creepy? A little bit. Enjoy!

Keegan Bowman

Wed, 10 Nov 2021 06:00:15 +0000

In today's episode, I interview Keegan Bowman, who graduated from the MS-LOC program at Northwestern University and is now living out east. We talk about career transitions, the future of work, and life as a parent post-pandemic. I first met Keegan when I worked at NU prior to becoming an at-home-parent back in 2003.

David Cole - OurOffbeatLife.com

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 06:00:15 +0000

I interview former Chicago Stay-At-Home Dad David Cole, who is now living in Mexico with his wife and son. They blog on OurOffbeatLife.com, documenting their nomadic world travels. David and his partner Brodi sold all their belongings prior to the pandemic and moved to Asia. Then the pandemic hit. Listen to this episode to hear what happened next.

Lost at Sea (AI Voices)

Mon, 08 Nov 2021 06:00:13 +0000

I originally wrote this essay a few years ago during a summer road trip out east to visit friends on Long Island, NY. For #NaPodPoMo 2021, I'm re-conceptualizing it as an AI synthetic voice piece. Enjoy!

College Mail

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 23:21:32 +0000

A quickie I recorded while waiting in my car to pick up my son after school. We get a LOT of college-related mail these days, but one non-college letter really stood out.

Knife's Edge part 2

Sun, 07 Nov 2021 05:00:06 +0000

A more creative edit of recordings I made while walking along a trail in Mesa Verde National Park at sunset. It didn't go like I had hoped.

Day 1 Travel

Sat, 06 Nov 2021 05:00:06 +0000

I think I'm going to mix it up and post more personal essays rather than all interviews this month. Here's one that I wrote earlier this summer as we prepared to depart Chicago for a long road trip out west to the Grand Canyon. First stop: Omaha, Nebraska.

Knife's Edge

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 05:00:07 +0000

A bit of a changeup for today. I decided to record an audio version of a blog post I wrote this past summer but forgot to publish. I think I like it better hearing it than reading it. What do you think?

Tammy Green

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 05:00:12 +0000

Another great interview with an old Chicago friend, now relocated to the Pacific Northwest. I catch up with Tammy, and we discuss her nomadic travels, her new digs on an island with her dog and SO, life as an introvert post-COVID, and more. Tune in!

Derek Mehraban

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 05:00:14 +0000

Very cool opportunity to catch up with my old friend Derek who was attending the Michigan - Michigan State football game in East Lansing, Michigan. Derek called in via phone during the halftime break, so the audio isn't as good as it could be, but I'll take it! I love this real-time, "in the moment" opportunities to speak to people.

Gordon Dymowski

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 16:28:58 +0000

Gordon and I discuss comic book lore, especially focused on the Batman character, how it evolved over the years, and whether Bruce Wayne is a "good" billionaire.

Karen B

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 16:30:10 +0000

What an honor to kick off this month long odyssey of sound than with my old partner in crime, Ms. Karen B from down south. We talk about a lot: pets, poop, college planning, and finding time to do more fun stuff.

30 Day Podcast Challenge

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 00:00:18 +0000

Introduction to me and the upcoming #NaPodPoMo challenge in November 2021. The goal is to create one podcast post per day next month.

Two Friends Part 2

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 03:14:08 +0000

Interview with my friend Gordon about two songs that influenced him over the years.

Two Friends Part 1

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 03:11:25 +0000

Interview with my friend Tony S. about three songs that influenced him.