Shows
Imagination & JunkEpisode 25: Ghosts in the MachineThis week we're talking about the things that aren't there. Plus: Trash drafts, Parrot Face, the dog that didn't bark, well-dressed clowns, empty piazzas, terrible silence, Mike Birbiglia, and the smell of space. (It smells like steak, apparently.)
This is the last episode of Season 3. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. In the meantime, keep your ears peeled for two Very Special Episodes™️ of our between-seasons experiment I Might Be Wrong But… , in which one of us tries to convince the other that some fringe cultural artifact he inexplicably loves is actually — y’know: Good?
2024-10-1633 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 24: Cynicism and CoffeeHow do you know if what you're creating is any good? This week: Juggling the internal and external critics. Plus: Humility, shouting at clouds, Idiots vs. Fools, marrying up, Baby Shark, shame, brainwashing, sometimes it's harder to suck, The Well of Metaphor, fact checkers, and getting the brushes back out.
2024-10-0231 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 23: Fred and GenePeople like to say the great ones make it look easy, but what are we really looking at when we see a great creator showing what looks like effortlessness? Plus: Spectacular failures, concerned murmurs, Jenny from the block, beautiful aliens, Henri Matisse, rubber band balls, drifting toward the abyss, ha cha cha and hot dogs by the sea.
2024-09-1834 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 22: Watch Out For The ShoeThis week we're talking about doing what you're bad at. Why do some people charge blindly full speed ahead, and others try to shrink into their own shoes? And what's to be gained from what can be a traumatic experience? Also: Noble pain, sociopaths, Norma Desmond, tinnitus, bad steak, Christmas island, horrifying plunky sounds and more Mel Cooley.
2024-09-0433 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 21: Somebody Hold Me BackThis week we're looking at limitations in creative work. When do they hurt? When can they help? And how can we become more agile creators by learning how to work with them, rather than around them? Also: Fake expertise, low ceilings, ukuleles vs. bowling balls, rich idiots, guitar control, speed wounds, bourgeois sharpnress, and I Kid Because I Love.
2024-08-2133 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 20: BrigadoonishThis week we're looking at a part of the job that comes hard for many creative people -- self-promotion. Is there a way to be an effective promoter without feeling awkward and cheap? We suggest that there is, and tell you a way forward. Also: Big asks, mug's games, the SEO scam, wide boys, Chelmsford, crying in coffee shops, lost luggage, bonbons and juggling for Jesus.
2024-08-0735 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 19: LessIt's one of the paradoxes of creative life: the longer you do it, the more tools you acquire, the more it becomes the goal to get simpler. To do less. This week we're talking about the quest for simplicity, and about finding the sweet spot between brevity and clarity. Plus: Slow TV, phantom limbs, Robot Thatcher, greening, a blow to the head, Wesley Van Wesleyson, promises and threats, and content cubed.
2024-07-2433 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 18: Salad BarEvery creator likes think they're shiny and golden, dancing with their muse in a singular act of invention. But is that true? Is that how it works? Or is all creativity an act of remix? Are we inevitably treading on ground others have walked before us? And if there's no such thing as originality -- why do we bother? Also: Brain fizz and sparky fingertips, Woz, falling down, Pinwright's Progress, high blood pressure, how to breathe, grand larceny, DJ Kool Herc, Muskification, and 400,000 years ago (a Tuesday).
2024-07-1031 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 17: Stupid o'ClockThis week we're looking at one of the hardest decisions a creator can make: When is it time to admit an idea isn't panning out and move on? It can be agonizing to put aside a piece of work in which you've invested time and care and effort, but sometimes it's not just the best choice, it's the only one that makes sense.
Plus: Loud noises, Labrador footwarmers, Italian getaways, toboggans of regret, beans on toast, the world's longest putt, unconscionable delays and a big steely swan-like metaphor in the sky.
2024-06-2632 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 16: Plagiarism RobotWhen Apple announced its plans for artificial intelligence earlier this week, the presentation failed to make a minor point: AI, as currently constituted, doesn't work very well. Also, not for nothing, it's theft on a grand scale. So: Here comes the future, we guess?
This week, we're kicking off our third season with a deep dive on the role of artificial intelligence in creativity. Auto-summarized version: You can keep it.
Plus: Eliza, angry ducks, carnies, strike snacks and idea smoothies, rat snakes, juggling fatalities, bullet-headed Bond villains, clean smart data, the Eternal Return and alt-right...
2024-06-1235 min
Imagination & JunkBonus Episode: I Might Be Wrong, But... (Ch.2)This week, in the second of two Very Special Episodes™️, we're wrapping up our mini-series "I Might Be Wrong, But... " with a look at the 1973 blaxploitation demi-classic "Willie Dynamite." Bill takes the position that it's worth a second look; Mat argues the contrary, taking the classic dialectical stance he identifies as "Nuh uh." Wherever you come down on this cultural question, surely we can all agree on one thing: This episode is 33 minutes long. Imagination & Junk returns for its third season on June 12.
2024-05-2934 min
Imagination & JunkBonus Episode: I Might Be Wrong, But... (Ch. 1)Join us, won't you, as we clear our throats before Season 3 with a Very Special After School Episode of Appointment Listening we're calling "I Might Be Wrong, But... " In this first of two bonus installments we're kicking around the idea that Steven Seagal's 1991 magnum opus "Out For Justice" is actually kind of... good? Yes, we've lost our damn minds, but only temporarily; we'll be back with another full season of the usual fast, funny, probing conversations about creativity on June 12. In the meantime: Here's this thing!
2024-05-1528 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 15: MousetrapIn the last episode of Season 2, we're recalling the worst things that ever happened to us as creative people, and trying to excavate whatever lessons we can from the wreckage. Featuring: Murder in Encino, and a near-international incident in Beijing.
We'll be back with a new season of Imagination & Junk after a short break.
2023-08-1634 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 14: The Gorgeous Notebook StoreIn this episode we're talking about tools of the trade. Every creative trade has them. But they function in a variety of ways: As tools, yes, but also as signifiers of membership in a group, and as objects of desire. Also: Man purses, puppies, promiscuous scribbling, snappy suits, Japanese dining tables, Toots Thielemans, custom juggling balls and cricket.
2023-08-0232 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 13: Six Feet From GeniusHere's a creativity brain puzzler: Is it better to break new ground or to keep polishing the same act until it gleams? It depends, to a degree, on for whom you create in the first place. Also: Jackie Chan, treading water, private eyes, the changeup pitch, Eurovision, litigation, the verdict of history, singularity, space shoes, The Shipping Forecast and quite a bit, actually, about the eternal villainy of The Beach Boys' Mike Love.
2023-07-1933 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 12: Chaotic PlaytimeThis week we're looking at Getting Things Done, and at the cult of productivity that's sprung up around David Allen's original GTD methodology. It looks good, it sounds good -- but is it an aid to creative work or the exact opposite of what creativity calls for? Once again, we have thoughts. And this time we've put them in a nice list, with checkboxes. Also: Raccoons, stone tablets, Starfighters, making a mess and tidying up, disresepcting the Bing, shallots and where to put them, things that are too good to check, and the night Bobby Flay made a mockery...
2023-07-0530 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 11: Super AutoCan creativity be malign? Or is it always just... creativity? In this episode we're looking at what researchers call "dark creativity," or the use of creative tools to gain an unfair advantage over another person. And yes: We have thoughts. Also: Con artists, hammers, work snacks, spoon-bending, Bond villains, Stevie Wonder Wednesday and the trouble with ponds.
2023-06-2131 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 10: Buzzing NeonThis week we're talking about criticism, including the trickiest kind: Self-criticism. We'll also look at the buzzing neon sign hanging outside the hotel room of your mind that spells out your own doubts and insecurities, and how to filter it out. Plus: Humility and its plodding cousin experience, spoons, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, sleeping policemen, fixed-rate mortgages, the magical power of putting things in drawers, and the worst heckle ever. (Seriously. The all-time worst.)
2023-06-0732 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 9: Catch Me If You CanIn this episode we're looking at Impostor Syndrome, the conviction that you've been faking it and are always just inches away from being unmasked. We have a theory about where it came from (hint: it was the '70s), and some thoughts about how it can be turned to creative people's advantage. Plus: Penn & Teller, non-apology apologies, fresh batteries, a ridiculous excess of materials, and the Moscow Philharmonic. (Or were they?)
2023-05-2432 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 8: The Lede (and how to swing it)How do you get your audience in the tent? And how do you send them home happy at the end? Journalists have the lede and the kicker; entertainers have the opener and the closer. But they're not the only creative people with tricks. Every art form has them, and if you dig into them you can see some of the wiring that holds all creative work together. Also: Coco Chanel, Spot is a dog, a bowler hat with a chess piece on the top, and that time Bill had a chance to alter the course of history and declined...
2023-05-1031 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 7: Struck by LightningHow do we measure success in creative work? Is it about the reception the work gets, or is the scale more elusive? Answering this question takes some clarity of thought and a good grasp of expectations. This week, in the first episode of season 2, we're talking about meter-setting. Also: Explosions, sleepy Labradors, and coffee with butter in it.
2023-04-2632 min
Imagination & JunkSeason 2 premieres April 26, 2023Imagination & Junk is coming back! Season 2 premieres Wednesday, April 26. For our listeners in the UK, that's Wednesday, 26 April. (Bill here. I'm the American one, and am pretty sure those are the same day, but why take chances?)
We've been working hard on the new season and we hope you like it. If you do, please subscribe. And if you care to help us spread the word by any of the usual means, we'd sincerely appreciate it. See you soon!
2023-04-1901 min
Podcast Junkies - Storytelling Interviews & Conversations with Podcasters Podcasting Passionately277 Bill Barol & Mat Ricard - Creators Respecting CreatorsHarry welcomes to the show, co-hosts of the Imagination and Junk podcast, Bill Barol & Mat Ricardo. Bill is a writer and podcast creator who has gained critical acclaim for his work on the podcast HOME: Stories from L.A. Mat is a performer, modern-day vaudeville and one of the greatest variety artists working today. This unlikely duo met and formed a friendship during the COVID-19 pandemic, where they came up with the concept of Imagination and Junk, a freewheeling transatlantic conversation about creativity -- what it is, where it comes from and why it matters.In this...
2021-10-1358 minImagination & JunkEpisode 6: Elephants in roomsIs it frivolous to do creative work when the world seems to be falling apart around you? Or can it be a palliative -- for both the creator and their audience? In the last episode of Season 1 we're looking at creativity in hard times, and peeling back the curtain on some decisions we're made about how to approach the hulking coronavirus-shaped elephant in the room. Also: Way too much talk about how to get an elephant out of a room.
Season 2 comes your way in 2022.
2021-09-0628 minImagination & JunkEpisode 5: Angry playtimeA decade ago a group of Dutch researchers postulated that anger may under some conditions be an effective spur to creativity. We’re unpacking that eccentric idea this week, and comparing it with our own histories as creators. Do anger and other negative emotions unlock creativity? Also: How and when can arrogance be useful? Plus: Bad sitcoms, toxic bosses, Jetskis and a standup desk you definitely did not want to explore.
2021-08-2324 minImagination & JunkEpisode 4: Stupid, stupid genius"Forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable." -- Octavia Butler
It's almost impossible to get creative work done without discipline, but not all of us are naturally disciplined creators. That's where habit and routine enter the scene -- they're ways we impose discipline on ourselves. And they're more important skills to develop then ever before in a world where the old structures propping up creative careers have fallen away. This week we're looking at ways habit and routine help keep us on track -- and at some ways in which they don't. Also: Mat recalls working a street...
2021-08-0930 minImagination & JunkEpisode 3: Gorilla positionStyle is the beautiful face we put on what we do. It goes hand in hand with technique, but the way they inflect each other is a complicated dance -- technique without style can be dull, but style without technique is something worse; it shreds the all-important trust that has to exist between a creative person and her audience. In this episode we talk about what style is, that critical distinction between style and technique, and how style helps a creative person stake her claim on a place in the lineage of people who do what she does. Also...
2021-07-2624 minImagination & JunkEpisode 2: The squeezeThere's a misconception that creativity means coming up with ideas. But ideas are one thing, results are another, and the distance between them can only be traversed by work. How do creative people sort ideas, develop them and emerge on the other end? That's where process and technique enter the picture. Also: Mat makes the first of several references to professional wrestling, and Bill explains why if you're a comedy writer, the name "Nakamura" gives you night sweats. For more information, visit the web site.
2021-07-1227 min
Imagination & JunkEpisode 1: Just startThere are a million possible ways to start a new creative project, but they can all be reduced to one: Just start. In the premiere episode of Imagination & Junk you’ll meet your hosts: Bill Barol, a longtime professional writer in just about every medium, and Mat Ricardo, a variety performer who’s toured the world for decades, playing every kind of venue from street corners to theaters and festivals. Locked down by COVID in their respective home countries (the US for Bill, the UK for Mat) they begin a transatlantic correspondence that attempts to get at some basic ques...
2021-06-2529 min
2017-11-2702 min2017-11-2702 min
HOME: Stories From L.A.Goodbye (for now)I started this podcast in the fall of 2015 with a notion to tell stories of the many ways people think about home. For 27 episodes, that’s what I’ve done. I don’t think that going in I ever conceived HOME as a project that would go on in perpetuity, and now, in the fall of […]
2017-11-2700 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 26: Going TinyHGTV and glossy magazines have sparked a boomlet of interest in tiny homes, but they’ve also made them look fun, cute and easy. The realities of a tiny lifestyle can be more daunting. Municipalities often don’t know what to make of tiny houses,
2017-08-1816 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 26: Going TinyHGTV and glossy magazines have sparked a boomlet of interest in tiny homes, but they’ve also made them look fun, cute and easy. The realities of a tiny lifestyle can be more daunting. Municipalities often don’t know what to make of tiny houses, and living in one legally is, in many places, challenging. There’s a […]
2017-08-1800 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 26: Going TinyHGTV and glossy magazines have sparked a boomlet of interest in tiny homes, but they’ve also made them look fun, cute and easy. The realities of a tiny lifestyle can be more daunting. Municipalities often don’t know what to make of tiny houses,
2017-08-1816 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 25: Lost Heroes and Miniature Histories“The best historians in L.A. are storytellers. They’re gangsters in east L.A., they’re ex-cons, they’re guys who worked in their garage their whole life, they’re guys who’ve worked at one business for forty years,
2017-08-0220 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 25: Lost Heroes and Miniature Histories“The best historians in L.A. are storytellers. They’re gangsters in east L.A., they’re ex-cons, they’re guys who worked in their garage their whole life, they’re guys who’ve worked at one business for forty years, people who’ve lived on one street for forty years… “ “All Night Menu” started with a question: What is a well-known […]
2017-08-0200 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 25: Lost Heroes and Miniature Histories“The best historians in L.A. are storytellers. They’re gangsters in east L.A., they’re ex-cons, they’re guys who worked in their garage their whole life, they’re guys who’ve worked at one business for forty years,
2017-08-0220 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 24: Life, Death, Ego and EternityThe original Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in the hills above Glendale, may be best known outside California for inspiring the sledgehammer satire of the 1965 cult comedy “The Loved One.” For tourists and curiosity-seekers, it’s the gonzo life’s work of Hubert Eaton, who memorialized himself as The Builder in the park’s every corner. For the families […]
2017-07-1900 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 24: Life, Death, Ego and EternityThe original Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in the hills above Glendale, may be best known outside California for inspiring the sledgehammer satire of the 1965 cult comedy “The Loved One.” For tourists and curiosity-seekers,
2017-07-1920 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 24: Life, Death, Ego and EternityThe original Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in the hills above Glendale, may be best known outside California for inspiring the sledgehammer satire of the 1965 cult comedy “The Loved One.” For tourists and curiosity-seekers,
2017-07-1920 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 23: The Last House On MulhollandHow will we live in 20 years? Or 50? Or 100? A one-of-a-kind, only-in-LA plot at the very end of Mulholland Highway inspired some of the world’s best designers to think hard about the home of the future, in Los Angeles and beyond.
2017-07-0527 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 23: The Last House On MulhollandHow will we live in 20 years? Or 50? Or 100? A one-of-a-kind, only-in-LA plot at the very end of Mulholland Highway inspired some of the world’s best designers to think hard about the home of the future, in Los Angeles and beyond.
2017-07-0527 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 23: The Last House On MulhollandHow will we live in 20 years? Or 50? Or 100? A one-of-a-kind, only-in-LA plot at the very end of Mulholland Highway inspired some of the world’s best designers to think hard about the home of the future, in Los Angeles and beyond. MUSIC: “One More Time,” by Quincy Jones Theme from “The Jetsons” “Hollywood […]
2017-07-0500 min
The Podcast DigestTPD 149 - FLASHBACK - Bill Barol from HOME: Stories from L.A.A replay of my great conversation from May of 2016 with Bill Barol from HOME: Stories from L.A. Season 5 launches this week! ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES: Bill Barol from HOME: Stories from L.A. is my guest this week! Bill tells the story of his previous career from print to television and to his current project with HOME! Now a part of the Boing Boing podcast network, HOME is a show we can all relate to, regardless of where or what you call Home! Bill is just getting started and this is a show you should su...
2017-07-021h 022017-06-3001 min2017-06-3001 min2017-06-3000 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Update: The Future of HOMEJoin me, won’t you, as I peel back the curtain on this podcast and kick around some thoughts about its future. (TL;DR: I’m slowing the production cycle a bit to make the project sustainable over the long haul. New season is coming this spring. Also, if you’re a social media wizard and would like to help me flack this thing, drop me a note. )
MUSIC:
* “Tiptoe Through The Tubas,” by Sam Fonteyn
* “Alien Village and Flute Solo,” by Podington Bear
* “The Spy Set – Closing 2,” by R. Sharples
* “Requiem For an Elevator,” by Steve Combs
* “Jackie,” by Podington Bear
Photo: Cape Tow
2017-02-2506 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Update: The Future of HOMEJoin me, won’t you, as I peel back the curtain on this podcast and kick around some thoughts about its future. (TL;DR: I’m slowing the production cycle a bit to make the project sustainable over the long haul. New season is coming this spring. Also, if you’re a social media wizard and would like to help me flack this thing, drop me a note. )
MUSIC:
* “Tiptoe Through The Tubas,” by Sam Fonteyn
* “Alien Village and Flute Solo,” by Podington Bear
* “The Spy Set – Closing 2,” by R. Sharples
* “Requiem For an Elevator,” by Steve Combs
* “Jackie,” by Po...
2017-02-2506 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Update: The Future of HOMEJoin me, won’t you, as I peel back the curtain on this podcast and kick around some thoughts about its future. (TL;DR: I’m slowing the production cycle a bit to make the project sustainable over the long haul. New season is coming this spring. Also, if you’re a social media wizard and would like to help […]
2017-02-2500 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Update: New Season ComingHOME is going on a between-seasons hiatus, but will return in the New Year. Sköl!
2016-12-1501 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Update: New Season ComingHOME is going on a between-seasons hiatus, but will return in the New Year. Sköl!
2016-12-1501 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Update: New Season ComingHOME is going on a between-seasons hiatus, but will return in the New Year. Sköl!
2016-12-1500 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 22: Kodachrome, Pt. 2Who were we? How did we live, and what did it look like? The vast archive of castoff slides captures, in vivid colors, images of the American family at midcentury. But the stories that go with the pictures are most often lost, and we’re left to create our own, and reflect on millions of conscious decisions to untie the knot of memory.
(Click slides to embiggen)
MUSIC by Podington Bear:
* “Motivate”
* “Poise”
* “Wilt”
* “Aria Area”
* “Arp Arc”
* “Gymnopedie 2”
Thanks once again to Charles Phoenix.
2016-12-0213 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 22: Kodachrome, Pt. 2Who were we? How did we live, and what did it look like? The vast archive of castoff slides captures, in vivid colors, images of the American family at midcentury. But the stories that go with the pictures are most often lost, and we’re left to create our own, and reflect on millions of conscious decisions to untie the knot of memory.
(Click slides to embiggen)
MUSIC by Podington Bear:
* “Motivate”
* “Poise”
* “Wilt”
* “Aria Area”
* “Arp Arc”
* “Gymnopedie 2”
Thanks once again to Charles Phoenix.
2016-12-0213 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 22: Kodachrome, Pt. 2Who were we? How did we live, and what did it look like? The vast archive of castoff slides captures, in vivid colors, images of the American family at midcentury. But the stories that go with the pictures are most often lost, and we’re left to create our own, and reflect on millions of conscious decisions […]
2016-12-0200 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 21: Kodachrome, Pt. 1Color slides were once the state of the art in family photography — vibrant, immersive, ubiquitous. So ubiquitous, in fact, that millions, maybe billions of them survive. This week it’s a conversation with midcentury pop culture expert Charles Phoenix: What can we learn from the vast shadow world of orphaned slides about the way we used to live in our homes?
Music:
“Leaves In The Pool,” by Podington Bear
“Diamond Bossa Nova,” by Francesco de Masi
“Clog Dance,” by Dick Walter
“Spills,” by Blue Dot Sessions
“Kingbeat 9,” by Podington Bear
Thanks to Charles Phoenix, whose “Disneyland’ Tour of Downto...
2016-11-1720 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 21: Kodachrome, Pt. 1Color slides were once the state of the art in family photography — vibrant, immersive, ubiquitous. So ubiquitous, in fact, that millions, maybe billions of them survive. This week it’s a conversation with midcentury pop culture expert Charles Phoenix: What can we learn from the vast shadow world of orphaned slides about the way we […]
2016-11-1700 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 21: Kodachrome, Pt. 1Color slides were once the state of the art in family photography — vibrant, immersive, ubiquitous. So ubiquitous, in fact, that millions, maybe billions of them survive. This week it’s a conversation with midcentury pop culture expert Charles Phoenix: What can we learn from the vast shadow world of orphaned slides about the way we used to live in our homes?
Music:
* “Leaves In The Pool,” by Podington Bear
* “Diamond Bossa Nova,” by Francesco de Masi
* “Clog Dance,” by Dick Walter
* “Spills,” by Blue Dot Sessions
* “Kingbeat 9,” by Podington Bear
Thanks to Charles Phoenix, whose “Disneyland’ Tour of Downtown Los...
2016-11-1720 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 20: Everything Must GoSome stories don’t end when you think they do. Some stories just pause. And then they sneak back around and whap you across the back of your unsuspecting head. So here’s one I didn’t expect to revisit, although maybe I should have: Part 2 of Episode 7, “Unmaking A Home.” Music: “Driftwood,” by Podington Bear […]
2016-11-0300 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 20: Everything Must GoSome stories don’t end when you think they do. Some stories just pause. And then they sneak back around and whap you across the back of your unsuspecting head. So here’s one I didn’t expect to revisit, although maybe I should have: Part 2 of Episode 7, “Unmaking A Home.”
Music:
* “Driftwood,” by Podington Bear
* “Trailing Comma,” by Blue Dot Sessions
* “Something In The Distance,” by Scott Holmes
* “Empires,” by Scott Holmes
* “Bless,” by Podington Bear
* “Busy Life,” by King Palmer
* “Hard Won,” by Podington Bear
* “By Grace,” by Podington Bear
Special thanks to Ellen Barol, Peter Clark and Jennifer Cecil.
2016-11-0317 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 20: Everything Must GoSome stories don’t end when you think they do. Some stories just pause. And then they sneak back around and whap you across the back of your unsuspecting head. So here’s one I didn’t expect to revisit, although maybe I should have: Part 2 of Episode 7, “Unmaking A Home.”
Music:
* “Driftwood,” by Podington Bear
* “Trailing Comma,” by Blue Dot Sessions
* “Something In The Distance,” by Scott Holmes
* “Empires,” by Scott Holmes
* “Bless,” by Podington Bear
* “Busy Life,” by King Palmer
* “Hard Won,” by Podington Bear
* “By Grace,” by Podington Bear
Special thanks to Ellen Barol, Peter Clark and...
2016-11-0317 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 19: Almost UtopiaWhat happens to a utopia that never got off the ground? Bits and pieces of one, an experiment in postwar living for the masses, are hiding in plain sight in the hills above Sunset Boulevard. Architect and author Cory Buckner talks about Crestwood Hills, a Modernist vision for a cooperative future that never quite arrived. MUSIC: “Melange,” by Podington Bear […]
2016-10-1900 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 19: Almost UtopiaWhat happens to a utopia that never got off the ground? Bits and pieces of one, an experiment in postwar living for the masses, are hiding in plain sight in the hills above Sunset Boulevard. Architect and author Cory Buckner talks about Crestwood Hills, a Modernist vision for a cooperative future that never quite arrived.
MUSIC:
* “Melange,” by Podington Bear
* “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive,” by Johnny Mercer
* “Bargains Galore,” by Stuart/Crombie/Dennis Barry
* “Solan,” by Podington Bear
* “Pink Gradient,” by Podington Bear
Thanks to Cory Buckner, whose excellent book on Crestwood Hills is available here.
Video: The Siegel family moves into their brand-new Crest...
2016-10-1921 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 19: Almost UtopiaWhat happens to a utopia that never got off the ground? Bits and pieces of one, an experiment in postwar living for the masses, are hiding in plain sight in the hills above Sunset Boulevard. Architect and author Cory Buckner talks about Crestwood Hills, a Modernist vision for a cooperative future that never quite arrived.
MUSIC:
* “Melange,” by Podington Bear
* “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive,” by Johnny Mercer
* “Bargains Galore,” by Stuart/Crombie/Dennis Barry
* “Solan,” by Podington Bear
* “Pink Gradient,” by Podington Bear
Thanks to Cory Buckner, whose excellent book on Crestwood Hills is available here.
Video: The Siegel family moves into t...
2016-10-1921 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 18: Cooking With MihretteWhat happens when you bring a kid from the other side of the world into your home forever? How does it change what home means to her? And to you? This week it’s the story of one mom, the daughter she chose, and the way they keep Ethiopia alive in the home that’s now theirs. […]
2016-08-3100 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 18: Cooking With MihretteWhat happens when you bring a kid from the other side of the world into your home forever? How does it change what home means to her? And to you? This week it’s the story of one mom, the daughter she chose, and the way they keep Ethiopia alive in the home that’s now theirs.
PROGRAM NOTE: This is the last episode of Season 3. See you back here in October for Season 4. Subscribe to the newsletter for updates and between-seasons bonus content.
Music by Podington Bear:
* “Poppyseed”
* “Pink Gradient”
* “Airlift”
* “Windy”
http://www.homestoriesla.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_4932.TRIM_.m4v
2016-08-3120 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 18: Cooking With MihretteWhat happens when you bring a kid from the other side of the world into your home forever? How does it change what home means to her? And to you? This week it’s the story of one mom, the daughter she chose, and the way they keep Ethiopia alive in the home that’s now theirs.
PROGRAM NOTE: This is the last episode of Season 3. See you back here in October for Season 4. Subscribe to the newsletter for updates and between-seasons bonus content.
Music by Podington Bear:
* “Poppyseed”
* “Pink Gradient”
* “Airlift”
* “Windy”
http://www.homestoriesla.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_4932.T...
2016-08-3120 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 17: Dancers In The HouseA roving, shifting company of dance and performance artists is nudging its audiences to think about home differently — by bringing one-off, site-specific performances to houses, live-work spaces and tiny apartments all over the Los Angeles area. Meet homeLA. Music by Podington Bear: “Tuxes” “Happy Transit” “Osprey” “By Grace” At top: Flora Wiegman, Swimming Laps, at the […]
2016-08-1700 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 17: Dancers In The HouseA roving. shifting company of dance and performance artists is nudging its audiences to think about home differently — by bringing one-off, site-specific performances to houses, live-work spaces and tiny apartments all over the Los Angeles area. Meet homeLA.
Music by Podington Bear:
* “Tuxes”
* “Happy Transit”
* “Osprey”
* “By Grace”
At top: Flora Wiegman, Swimming Laps, at the home of Chloë Flores and Tim Lefevre in Mount Washington. Performed by Flora Wiegman
Here’s a gallery of photographs from past homeLA performances.
All photos by Andrew Mandinach for homeLA.
For more information about the Rose Hills performance on September 24, visit homeLA.
2016-08-1718 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 17: Dancers In The HouseA roving. shifting company of dance and performance artists is nudging its audiences to think about home differently — by bringing one-off, site-specific performances to houses, live-work spaces and tiny apartments all over the Los Angeles area. Meet homeLA.
Music by Podington Bear:
* “Tuxes”
* “Happy Transit”
* “Osprey”
* “By Grace”
At top: Flora Wiegman, Swimming Laps, at the home of Chloë Flores and Tim Lefevre in Mount Washington. Performed by Flora Wiegman
Here’s a gallery of photographs from past homeLA performances.
All photos by Andrew Mandinach for homeLA.
For more information about the Rose Hills performance on September 24, visit homeLA.
2016-08-1718 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 16: TV DreamlandWhen TV producer Phil Savenick started collecting vintage TVs and TV memorabilia, he didn’t anticipate that he’d end up with what he now calls a “dreamland of televisions” in the living room of his West Los Angeles home — or that he’d end up helping the family of the man who invented TV heal some old wounds.
See more of Phil’s TV Dreamland here.
You can learn more about Philo T. Farnsworth here. I also recommend Jeff Kisseloff’s excellent oral history of the early days of television, “The Box.”
Music by Podington Bear:
* “Puzzler”
* “QuasarGroove”
* “Towl”
* “Hard Won”
* “Crow”
* “Wellness”
Th
2016-08-0319 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 16: TV DreamlandWhen TV producer Phil Savenick started collecting vintage TVs and TV memorabilia, he didn’t anticipate that he’d end up with what he now calls a “dreamland of televisions” in the living room of his West Los Angeles home — or that he’d end up helping the family of the man who invented TV heal some old wounds.
See more of Phil’s TV Dreamland here.
You can learn more about Philo T. Farnsworth here. I also recommend Jeff Kisseloff’s excellent oral history of the early days of television, “The Box.”
Music by Podington Bear:
* “Puzzler”
* “QuasarGroove”
* “Towl”
* “...
2016-08-0319 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 16: TV DreamlandWhen TV producer Phil Savenick started collecting vintage TVs and TV memorabilia, he didn’t anticipate that he’d end up with what he now calls a “dreamland of televisions” in the living room of his West Los Angeles home — or that he’d end up helping the family of the man who invented TV heal some […]
2016-08-0300 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 15: Belushi, Bette and Beverly HillsThe process by which one place stops being home and another starts — it’s a mysterious thing. It happens, most often, when we’re not paying attention. And sometimes, as it did for comedy writer and transplanted East Coaster Janis Hirsch, it happens in stages. First she started to feel at home in Los Angeles; but it was only later, after a series of addresses and a run-in or two with Bette Davis, that she landed in the exact place that would be, finally, her home.
HOME is a member of the Boing Boing Podcast Network.
NEW: The HOME mailing l...
2016-07-2020 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 15: Belushi, Bette and Beverly HillsThe process by which one place stops being home and another starts — it’s a mysterious thing. It happens, most often, when we’re not paying attention. And sometimes, as it did for comedy writer and transplanted East Coaster Janis Hirsch, it happens in stages. First she started to feel at home in Los Angeles; but […]
2016-07-2000 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 14: Rose, Mercedes and The Days Of The DeadActress/writer/artist Rose Portillo lives in the house she was born into, in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles. It’s the annual scene of her legendary Day Of the Dead parties, and it was the setting for her family’s story of ascension, assimilation and culture clash — as well as the long, wary dance of accommodation, spanning life and death, that Rose has performed with the formidable spirit of her grandmother, Mercedes Mendoza Portillo.
Music:
* “Los Chucos Suaves,” by Lalo Guerrero Y Sus Cinco Lobos
* “Pachuco Boogie,” by Cuartato Don Ramon Sr.
* “Solido “Joaquín,” by Dacita &a...
2016-07-0628 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 14: Rose, Mercedes and The Days Of The DeadActress/writer/artist Rose Portillo lives in the house she was born into, in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles. It’s the annual scene of her legendary Day Of the Dead parties, and it was the setting for her family’s story of ascension, assimilation and culture clash — as well as the long, wary dance of […]
2016-07-0600 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 13: A Pod To Call Your OwnNot a hotel, not a dorm, not quite a hostel, open by design and communitarian in spirit — Los Angeles-based PodShare is something else. And, potentially, something bigger: An affordable way to foster community in a city that’s increasingly stratified by class. This week, to start Season 3, it’s the story of one young entrepreneur […]
2016-06-2216 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 13: A Pod To Call Your OwnNot a hotel, not a dorm, not quite a hostel, open by design and communitarian in spirit — Los Angeles-based PodShare is something else. And, potentially, something bigger: An affordable way to foster community in a city that’s increasingly stratified by class. This week, to start Season 3, it’s the story of one young entrepreneur […]
2016-06-2200 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Updates: New Season June 22, and Opening It Up To The RoomHere’s an audio update on the upcoming season. In extra bonus content — and let me stress that this is 100% free of cost to you, the home audience — I beg for your help! (That is, if you’re a social media or business development ninja.) Music: “Frosted Glass,” by Podington Bear
2016-06-1402 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Updates: New Season June 22, and Opening It Up To The RoomHere’s an audio update on the upcoming season. In extra bonus content — and let me stress that this is 100% free of cost to you, the home audience — I beg for your help! (That is, if you’re a social media or business development ninja.) Music: “Frosted Glass,” by Podington Bear
2016-06-1400 minThe Podcast DigestTPD 90 - Bill Barol from HOME: Stories from L.A.Bill Barol from HOME: Stories from L.A. is my guest this week! Bill tells the story of his previous career from print to television and to his current project with HOME! Now a part of the Boing Boing podcast network, HOME is a show we can all relate to, regardless of where or what you call Home! Bill is just getting started and this is a show you should subscribe to now to see what great things are coming next! If you like this show, please consider supporting TPD on Patreon! Thank you to...
2016-05-0859 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 12: Home With A Side of FriesIt looks like a Hopper painting plunked incongruously down on a busy commercial street in West Los Angeles — The Apple Pan, home to freshly-baked pies and what hamburger aficionado George Motz says may be the best burger in America. But the affection Angelenos have for The Apple Pan only starts with the food. It’s […]
2016-04-0914 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 12: Home With A Side of FriesIt looks like a Hopper painting plunked incongruously down on a busy commercial street in West Los Angeles — The Apple Pan, home to freshly-baked pies and what hamburger aficionado George Motz says may be the best burger in America. But the affection Angelenos have for The Apple Pan only starts with the food. It’s […]
2016-04-0900 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 11: The View From The RoadThe crowning paradox of the touring comic’s life may be this: You have to leave home to make a name, but without the grounding and security of home you may not have anything to say. This week, three experienced comedians on striking the tricky balance between the road and home. Music: “Sophistication,” from the Complete […]
2016-03-2300 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 10: A Life At Sea, On LandHow far would you go to rescue the remains of a bygone world you’ve loved since you were a kid? Peter Knego went to Alang, India, and then did it again and again, to save what he could of the great ocean liners being scrapped there. But he didn’t just want to save the ships. […]
2016-03-0900 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 9: A Home Away From HomeSuppose you wanted to design a home away from home. What would you put in? What would you leave out? What kind of seating would you have? (Soft? Hard? Low? High?) What kind of tables — big working slabs or intimate little two-tops? A good “third place” may seem casually homey, but its design is […]
2016-02-2400 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 8: A Home, A Murder, A Mystery (or two)Up in the manicured hills of Los Feliz, a neighborhood that boasts at least three famous murder houses, the one with the weirdest history may be the Perelson house… where, deep in the night of December 6, 1959, a husband and father of three lost his fragile grip and went terribly, shockingly crazy. But the story […]
2016-02-1000 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 7: Unmaking a HomeWhen an elderly parent dies after a long life of lovingly acquiring things, she leaves behind more than memories for her kids. She leaves something much more tangible: The things. So many, many things. Is it things that make a home? This week, to kick off Season 2, it’s a story of life, death, memory, […]
2016-01-2700 min
Podcast Junkies - Storytelling Interviews & Conversations with Podcasters Podcasting Passionately070 Bill Barol | Defining the Meaning of Home, One Story at a Time
Bill Barol is the host of HOME: Stories From L.A. and the author
of Thanks for Killing Me. He is also a journalist and has written
for various web sites such as Forbes, Huffington Post, and others.
Although Bill’s podcast is relatively new, it really stood out to
me because of its high quality. Bill talks on how he came up with
the theme for the podcast and why he decided to use podcasting as
the medium. This episode is a bit longer than usual, so get
comfortable and enjoy the show!
Show Highlights
00:05:35 – I ta...
2015-12-291h 39HOME: Stories From L.A.Update: Season 2Season 2 of HOME comes your way in January. Subscribe today and new episodes will automagically fly through the aether to you more or less the very second they’re released. And if you get a moment between now and the start of the new season to tell your friends about the show, or even better, to […]
2015-12-0300 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 6: Ghosts of The CarlottaThe venerable Villa Carlotta — home to show business A-listers in the Golden Age, and later to a generation of young actors, writers and musicians — sits, a hollowed-out shell, on Hollywood’s Franklin Avenue. It may or may not be about to undergo a transformation into an upscale hotel. What happens to a community when it’s […]
2015-11-1700 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 5: Growing Up 818There’s the San Fernando Valley, the one you can find on a map… and then there’s The Valley, the one that exists in the culture, whose notoriety far outstrips its size. How did that happen? How did it come to be that you can mention The Valley to people in Milwaukee or Toronto or Tokyo […]
2015-11-0400 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 4: A Monk in VeniceAndy Puddicombe left college at 22 and spent a decade tramping the world before returning to the UK and landing, eventually, in Los Angeles. He’s lived in so many countries that he has trouble recalling them on demand. How did his travels, and his training in Buddhism, alter the way he thought about home? This week on […]
2015-10-2000 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 3: One Man’s TownThis week it’s a story about Amboy, CA, a ghost town 30 miles from anywhere on the old Route 66, and the chicken magnate who’s spent a fortune trying to keep it from collapsing into the desert sand. Can Albert Okura really hold back both history and nature? Read more about Amboy here and here. You can […]
2015-10-0700 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 2: In Their RoomOn a warm May day in 2005 a crowd gathered near a freeway embankment in Hawthorne, CA and turned its gaze to a house that wasn’t there. Nobody knows where inspiration comes from — but was the little house that once stood at 3701 West 119th St. the one place above all others that made […]
2015-09-2300 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 1: The House On The HillHerman Stein contributed music to more than 200 films, including some of the 1950s’ best-known monster movies: Creature From The Black Lagoon, This Island Earth, It Came From Outer Space, The Mole People, Tarantula and The Incredible Shrinking Man. He also composed for television, most memorably the Family Theme for “Lost In Space.” He was […]
2015-09-0800 minHOME: Stories From L.A.Episode 0: IntroductionA story about home, and place, and donuts. Music by: Mongo Santamaria (“Mother Jones”) Wintergatan (“Starmachine2000”) Roger Roger (“Slippery Sid”) Bobbi Humphrey (“Harlem River Drive”) Nick Jaina (“Man Without A Head”) Podington Bear (“Tweedlebugs”) Cosmic Rough Riders (“Morning Sun”)
2015-09-0300 min