1980’s racism is what’s on tap on our look back podcast this time around. Specifically how it played out in two spots on the globe: the city of Chicago and country of South Africa. Our guests remember the sad ugliness and inspiring triumphs of humans during those times. To hear on iTunes, click here!

The 1980's are back, at least in our minds. This time around we rap re-issuing early Hip-Hop, dreams of meeting Lena Zavaroni, flying high in the US Air Force and slaming that one Polynesian pop group we loved. To hear on iTunes, click here!

Author Lisa See comes Back by the Woodpile to talk about her new title The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, which centers around a Chinese ethinic minority woman’s destiny as tied to her people’s particular strand of tea, both sacred and highly sought after in the outside world. Added to this is the woman’s longing to find her lost daughter, adopted away on the other side of the planet in America. While digesting the story, we’ll get to learn a lot about tea, Chinese adoptees, identity and how to dance with happenstance. To hear this on iTunes, click here!  

Trying to learn another language is frickin' hard! But since rocking along to sweet music ain't no chore, why not bop and cram at the same time? That's what we try to do by learning some of the key words of our favorite Spanish language songs by Carlos Vives, Kika Cayito y Mike, Tito Puente and Climaco Sarmiento.  To hear on iTunes, click here!

Chilly fradulent fuzzy worms, Darwinistic romantic calculations, Salvation Army pickings, Cover Your Hind End Insurance...it's all here as Roxy Forest, Nick McNasty and Corey McFly wander around their hometown looking for cassingles, scratch-n-sniff stickers and their purpose in life!   To hear on iTunes, click here!    To hear episode I, click here! Episode II Episode III Episode IV Episode V Episode VI Episode VII Episode VIII    

Snapshots into the lives of ordinary Chinese folk, ranging from doctors to students to the spiritually minded.   To hear on iTunes, click here!

The walls do speak- and sometimes wail- of which musicologist and tour guide Phil Pospychala can hear them. So on this episode of In the Corner Back by the Woodpile we talk jazz records, breweries, recording studios, the St. Valentines Day Masacre, Bix Beiderbech, Earl Hines, Black Patti Records, Fat Babies and so much more! To hear on iTunes, click here!

Come to find out Gina McGaha is a lying tease! But she does put our heroes onto a mystery and cash reward involving someone wiping their filthy mouths on the brand new clothes featured at the Opossums and Pinafores boutique. Along the way they run into broken hearted and crusty footed teenagers, a journalist from Tiger Beat and local legend Filthy Fingers Farnsworths. All here on Legend of the Like Totally Epic Journey Quest! To hear on iTunes, click here!   To hear episode I, click here! Episode II Episode III Episode IV Episode V Episode VI Episode VII Episode VIII    

Corey McFly has finally cornered the iron pumping boyfriend of the object of his affection- Gina McGaha- on the town square lawn. This encounter somehow leads he, Roxy Forest and Nick McNasty into hiding in a Salvation Army dropbox, climbing fences to check out purported beauties, a hot pizza trivia battle and very powerful Sony Walkman. It's all here on Legend of the Like Totally Epic Journey Quest!  To hear this on iTunes, click here!   To hear episode I, click here! Episode II Episode III Episode IV Episode V Episode VI Episode VII Episode VIII      

Philosophical banter, this time around inspired by the words of John Hughes spoken by Leah Thompson, Mary Stuart Masterson & Eric Stoltz via 1987’s Some Kind of Wonderful. Alienation, class envy, complacentcy in relationships and prejudice all get a look-see jaw-jack Back by the Woodpile! (To hear on iTunes, click here!)  

The crew are in town and have acquired some mysterious Scratch n Sniff stickers, cassingles and Rubiks cube. Corey McFly is ready to give his heart to Gina McGaha but he's first got to retrieve her class ring from Buddy Childress. Our hero is detirmined to do what it takes to snag the prize, whether it's rumbling with godless heathens, completing a bear claw recipe or protecting an innocent soda machine, with help of course from his comrades foxy Roxy Forest and nerdy Nick McNasty.    To hear on iTunes, click here   To hear episode I, click here! Episode II Episode III Episode IV Episode V Episode VI Episode VII Episode VIII    

Nick McNasty is still imprisoned in his bedroom, Roxy Forest is trapped between a wall of fists and a radio full of ghosts, Skirdette is still drunk dancing in the front yard, all while Corey McFly is playing with a remote control that activates who knows what? The adventure continues complete with more Rush-inspired pitfalls, mysterious pinafore boutiques and sultry ladies trying to lure boys + 1 into their Mercedes.  To hear on iTunes, click here!   To hear episode I, click here! Episode II Episode III Episode IV Episode V Episode VI Episode VII Episode VIII    

  A role-playing game set in the 1980's! Music lover/aspiring dancer Roxy Forest, football jock Corey McFly and computer geek Nick McNasty join gamemaster Spun Counterguy for a trek into the heart of the neon decade. Join them as they seek love, music and liberation from tyrannical older sisters! To hear on iTunes, click here!  (courthouse photo courtesy of Ken Alvey/graphics by Mindub)   To hear episode I, click here! Episode II Episode III Episode IV Episode V Episode VI Episode VII Episode VIII   To hear on iTunes, click here! And for Stitcher, here!   

Thoughts, words and responses are flung here and there on this latest edition of Tryna Herd Cats, the philosophical dialogue podcasts Back By the Woodpile! This time around we talk alibis for failure, so empty nothing can offend, laying down metaphorical arms and getting mind punched by David Carradine.   (To hear on iTunes, click here!)

1980's artists fogotten, neglected or never heard in the first place. This time John J. Thompson of True Tunes fame helps us remember The Alarm, After the Fire and Steve Taylor! To hear this on iTunes, click here!

In the lead up to the world being plunged into a second world war, the Japanese invaded China and subjected the country to a living hell of destruction, mass rapes and deaths. A small group of Americans volunteered to become members of the Chinese Air Force and became known as飞虎队 or The Flying Tigers. Lead by US General Claire Chennault, the airmen with shark faces painted on their plane noses destroyed 296 enemy aircrafts in less than a year while only losing 14 of their own pilots.   Sally Fee comes back by the Woodpile this week to talk about her cousin Leonard M. Butsch Jr. who was a member of the Flying Tigers. Also known as "Mish", the serviceman’s adventures is told in a book called “Leonard M. Butsch, Jr: An Airman’s Story”, put together by Fee and another cousin named Robert McClure. Sally gives us not only some insight into Mish’s experiences and character but also of her own memories of the heroic man.   And we also end up talking bout Sally’s jazz record collecting! (To hear on iTunes, click here) (Mish with a young Sally)

Philosophy throwdown! Somehow between sneaky neighbors, withered trees, unaware beauty, unaware virtue, Chinese sages and missing axes, we find a little insight.    To hear on iTunes, click here!

78 RPM quests, Bix Beiderbecke’s mystery trail, Joe Bussard’s basement Mecca, digitizing history and making-me-blush blues songs. It’s all brought here by this week’s guest Back By the Woodpile, Jackson Garrison! To hear on iTunes, click here!

  A whole village under the thumb of one snake, avenging a father one never knew, the safety in being useless, piting lions against each other, yanking at crops to get them to hurry up... All of these stories and more are told to us back by the woodpile by kids and young folks in China. Learn a little culture and hopefully wisdom at the same time on this episode!   (To hear via iTunes, click here)

  Nashville, Tennessee is famous for the country music industry, hot chicken and a ton of colleges. But it's also full of individual stories, of which this episode's guest Back by the Woodpile- Reckless Dave we'll call him- tells us during his tour of the city. There's Mid-Town record store characters, helping musician Daniel Johnston buy comic books, Bordeux cats named Shadowboy and Pantera, Watkins film school dreams and the self reflection we all go through.    (To hear on iTunes, click here)

1980's are back, at least in our reminiscing. This time around: high school hard boiled press hounds, fist fighting everyone from Tennessee to Chicago, club Medusa and Little Debbie's fudge round.

Solitude, books, gardens, shady trees, being defined by enemies, honesty and man-children! It's all here and discussed in our latest philosophical dialogue podcast!

Jack Teagarden, Louis Jordan, Ukulele Ike and Percy Mayfield are all names that aren't heard much on the lips of folks these days. But musicologist David D. Duncan heads back to the Woodpile to correct all of that! Join us as we talk jazz trombones, black cowboy dreams, the science of cole slaw, split skulls, singing crickets and much more! 

Unconnected stories! From the back of the recording drawer we’ve got folks talking about inventing an Amiga computer for the domestic engineer, the blossom and decay of Schenectady, New York, how an adorable couple finally got it together to get together, the bottom of shoes being gathered for souls and how a relic of the final Russian Czarist family ended up in Middle Tennessee. 

We're back over in China's interior for another lesson in the ways of the Taoism. This time around we're talking with a "Mr. Wu" who discusses his own history with the Tao in addition to moving mountains, extending one's life, the Tao of Victor Hugo and much more.  

Foxy Chinese lady spirits, a mud-faced mexican witch, meat rain, prison haunts,oujia manipulations, Sudanese brotherly betrayals and tunnels from of the dead offsprings of fornicatingclergy. It's all down at the haunted In the Corner Back by the Woodpile! Featuring guest authors Lisa See, Steve Asher and many more.

More Patches From a Second-Hand Planet stories! These two called "When you went away" and "Worse in it's absence" involve travelers and the ghosts they pick up along the way.

Southern Gospel is an oft ignored genre that's been around since the early 20th Century and still alive and well in certain regions of the American South. One such regional act that was rocking the hills and hollers of Mid-Western churches was a group starting out named The Collegiates and eventually morphing into The Good Time Singers. One of the group's vocalists, Ronnie Vaughn, came back by the Woodpile to tell some of the band's both high and low points, Both hilarious and heartwarming, Vaughn shares stories about terrible recording sessions, discovering hairspray, Mennonite fanbases, theology showdowns and opening for The Oak Ridge Boys and Andre Crouch.  To hear this on iTunes, click here!

  Mr. Mister's liturgy, Margaret Thatcher's reign and reflections on school life in the 1980s! It's all here on our 1980's podcast, Fluorescent Decade on a Hill! 

To some Falun Gong is just way to exercise or meditate, to others it's brought them great inner peace and then to others it somehow poses a threat to their monopoly of political power. A Falun Gong practitioner in Southern Indiana comes back by the Woodpile to share her own story and experience as well as educate us on the faith's history and current persecution in Communist China.   

Half of this episode will be in the ocean depths and the other half will be over in China; and a guy we'll call ShuǐXià LaoWai will be our guide to both. This gentleman has spent a good part of his life as a deep sea diver repairing oil platforms and other submerged machinery and another part working and having misadventures in the Middle Kingdom. You'll be guaranteed to learn a few things, get grossed out, have few laughs and cross off certain career paths.  To hear on iTunes, click here!

Miami Vice, mullets, shoes but no socks, a video game starring the members of the band Journey, Flock of Seagull hair, Mexican female bodies stuffed inside gringo jeans, Hefty parachute pants, the dominance of the synth and lots and lots of fashion. It's all here on another look-back at our favorite decade! To hear on iTunes, click here

Been a long time since you strained your brain? Come join us Back by the Woodpile for more word wrestling as we discuss saints, sinners, opposition groups within democracy, fear of power, fear of losing power, the recipe of failing nations and pop songs banned in Burma.  To hear on iTunes, click here!

Welcome to another dig through the often overlooked music of the 1980s! This time around journalist and author John J Thompson of True Tunes fame joins us to talk about the quiet but pure impact of artists The 77's, The Call, Ideola and Tonio K, of whom were within the personal and professional circles of such giants U2, Simple Minds, Peter Gabriel and many other 80's icons. Lots of great history and personal stories shared! To hear on iTunes, click here!

While at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors, music enthusiastic Phil Oldham talks about the state of Indiana's contribution to Jazz music. Hoagie Carmichael and Gennett Records top out the list as well as a slew of other related subjects including Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, King Oliver, Hitch's Happy Harmonists and much more.  

Dr. Ming Wang is an Ophthalmologist and scientist who’s pioneered both the fields of health technology and molecular biology, having published research papers and written textbooks on a variety of subjects and helped thousands of people regain their sight. He’s also a dancer and musician, those latter skills having landed him on Dolly Parton’s record “Those were the days” playing the Chinese erhu instrument. In the film ‘God’s not dead’ the character of Martin Yip is based on Wang’s own experience at Harvard University.     Dr. Wang has just released an autobiography called ‘From darkness to sight’, chronicling his journey from hopelessness and poverty in Chairman Mao’s China to eventually finding his place in America. Dr. Wang came back by the woodpile to talk further some of the stories and ideas covered in his book. 

Thieves have stolen all the arms and legs of a sweet child's baby doll collection! Who would do such an inconsiderate thing? We're not sure but they were seen running into a nearby cave, into which detectives Noodle & Macaroni are headed. Spun Counterguy becomes a game master to his niece and nephew, where these young adventurers encounter a demon fish, lacking cheeseburgers, talking doors, a constipated cat and Taylor Swift.  

DJ Ron Slomowicz has been pumping dance beats out onto the club floors, airwaves and media avenues for over 20 years now. In a moment of career reflection, Ron invites up into his DJ booth to share with us his stories, observations and his favorite records. 

  Another flip through our 1980s back pages, this time around: interning at one of the first hip hop radio stations ever, getting that first kiss at vacation Bible school, living around the corner from CBGBs in New York City, trying to be a punk in rural Tennessee, trying to be a punk as a dwarf and trying to waltz, while also trying to be a punk.  

More philosophical tango, this time around touching on suppression of speech, everyone getting offended, riding on the fumes of past dreams, unheard words, thoughts missed at the stop light and being fired by really famous people. Also, the source of the quotes comes on to explain what he was really trying to say. 

As Jews, Geralda & Yuri Zhislin's parents miraculously survived the Nazi invasion of the Ukraine only to next feel the persecution of the Soviet Union's systematic anti-semitism. But the family endured until they were finally allowed to leave out from the Iron Curtain in the late 1980's. Having to completely rebuild their lives, the Zhislins now live modestly but happily in Tennessee. The sweet couple come back by the woodpile to share their stories and their witness to history. 

  Tito Puente was considered hands down the "King of the Mambo", pushing and molding the genre of Latin jazz known by many names over time. To Puente whether it was called Afro-Cuban, Cubop, Cha-Cha, Boogalo or Salsa, it was all the same to him: great dance music. Jim Payne author of Tito Puente: King of Latin Music comes back by the woodpile to discuss the master's life and their time together. 

Even when Charlie Coleman was a kid, hot jazz was fading from the mainstream public's musical preferences. But knowing great music when he heard it, Coleman continued to dig, collect and support the art form. Some 80 odd years later, Charlie comes Back By the Woodpile to share with us his favorite finds and something about his own life, always in orbit round the first musical genre America could claim as creating.

Master Hu is Taoist scholar who discusses the relationship between the philosophical and religious spectrum of Taoism, the attempt to incorporate Confucianism, making pilgrimages and his inspiration in ancient poet Li Bai.

More highlighting of overlooked artists from the 1980's decade. Including Pseudo Echo, The Lazy Cowgirls, the Roxanne Roxanne answer records, 鄧麗君, 15 60 75 Numbers Band, Judson Spence & X Japan. Also a quick tribute to the film Kung Fury.

This episode features a guy named Steve C who's had a lot of disappointment in his life. Date-killing bad memory and bowels, opening for a puppet, cock roaches in the drawers and hauling lots and lots of sand. Come- let's laugh at Steve!

Another philosophical discussion, this time around on such light subjects as martyrdom, socialism, forgiveness, failure and spilling huckleberries.

More tripping backwards to the 1980's where this time around we chat about The Kinks doing it again, a Tennessee Waltz crush in Zimbabwe, hanging in a dragon's park, watching sci-fi writers compose at a window and swim team follies.

Joe Torre has been around the computing block both in soft and hardware since the 1970's. By taking advantage of his luck and pushing discipline on himself, Mr. Torre rose in the ranks of the emerging computer industry, ultimately getting to live the dream by scoring a gig at Amiga Computers in the 1990s. We get to hear all about this and more on this week's In the Corner Back by the Woodpile!