Baskis 360: Recent Episodes
Steve Baskis
War veteran and adventurer Steve Baskis shares stories of strength, resilience and courage through 360° discussion, interviews and world travel. Don’t worry I also talk about the negative too...
Steve Baskis and Nate Allen share the story behind their original reggae-inspired song "She's My Reggae Lover," discussing songwriting, collaboration, live music inspiration, creativity, IGY6, and how AI tools like Suno are changing music production while keeping human emotion and connection at the center.
In this episode of Baskis 360, Steve hits record with no plan and ends up in a raw, unfiltered conversation with his friend Nate Allen. What starts as a casual hangout turns into a deep dive into music, vibration, and the way sound impacts how we think, feel, and connect. They explore how music can be therapeutic, the difference between listening and performing, and how certain frequencies and energy can influence mood and experience. Along the way, the conversation branches into everything from jam sessions and building a home studio to bigger ideas around resonance, science, and the unknown. This is real life—unscripted, unpredictable, and honest. Just two friends talking music, energy, and whatever comes to mind.
In this heartfelt episode of Baskis 360, host Steve Baskis welcomes two passionate advocates for veterans—April Heard and Amy Eifling—from the Welcome Home Alliance for Veterans in Montrose, Colorado. April, the Executive Director and an Army veteran, and Amy, the Volunteer Coordinator and a Marine Corps veteran, share deeply moving stories of community support, personal transformation, and the unique challenges faced by veterans returning to civilian life. Listeners will hear powerful reflections on moral injury, military sexual trauma (MST), housing insecurity, and the impact of peer-to-peer camaraderie. From music therapy retreats that turn veterans' stories into songs to annual events like the Blue Jean Ball and Memorial Day cookouts, April and Amy illustrate how their nonprofit uplifts veterans through meaningful connections and tailored resources. As a community-based organization unaffiliated with federal entities, the Welcome Home Alliance thrives thanks to the generosity and support of individuals who care. To learn more about their programs or to get involved, visit their website at https://www.whafv.org. If this episode inspires you to support their mission, consider making a contribution at https://www.whafv.org/donate.html Whether you're a veteran, a family member, or a community supporter, this conversation reminds us of the healing power of empathy, music, and volunteerism—and the difference a dedicated team can make.
In this special episode of the Baskis 360 Podcast, host Steve Baskis sits down with Les Williams and Jay Bob Bruce, two key leaders behind the Montrose Veterans Memorial Coalition (MVMC). They discuss the vision behind the Montrose Veterans Memorial, the progress made so far, and the challenges of bringing this lasting tribute to life.
The memorial will feature laser-engraved granite panels depicting military history from World War I through the Global War on Terror, creating a space for reflection, remembrance, and education. Les and Jay Bob share details about the new memorial location, the construction timeline, and how the local community, businesses, and donors can contribute to the project.
How You Can Support the Memorial:
• Donate or purchase a memorial brick to honor a veteran at MontroseVMC.us
• Contact MVMC for more information at (970) 765-2210
This episode highlights the emotional impact of building a veterans memorial and why it’s essential to preserve the stories of those who have served. Tune in to learn more about how you can get involved in making this tribute a reality.
Just a quick update for everyone. Happy New Year! Check out my personal blog if you get the chance. Find it at this link: https://baskis.com
Sometimes Steve creates demonstrations for blind or visually impaired individuals. This episode features Steve describing how a blind user can use Pro Tools to record midi drums. Steve goes over creating an instrument track, loading a virtual instrument, recording a simple rock drum beat, editing & navigating midi notes, selecting & splitting midi notes and finally quantization. Visit Baskis.com and fill out the contact form to get in touch with Steve Baskis if you have further questions.
Steve explains in more detail, how a blind or visually impaired individual scans physical mail.
A B360 Access Production...
The audio in this episode is connected to an article you will find on my personal website.
Have you ever wondered how a blind person can read mail. Well, in this episode I explained how ideal with physical mail and how I use technology to live an independent life. Check out the article I wrote on my blog at Baskis.com to learn even more.
Here's the link to my blog post:
https://www.stevebaskis.com/how-does-the-blind-deal-with-physical-mail/
#Baskis360 #AssistiveTechnology #B360Access
Steve Baskis, Nick Morris and Ali Shelley speak with Jeff Bornstein. Read more about Jeff below…
Jeff is a retired US Army, military intelligence, communication specialist who says the most intelligent thing he ever did was to marry his wife. His favorite hobby, he’s amateur radio (HAM) operator KM6OPI. After the Army he answered an ad in the newspaper for background actors for the movie "Rocky III". In 1989, he pursued one of his dreams - to become a Hollywood stuntman and to date, has been chased, beaten and shot at by the best. Jeff is an Award-Winning magician. In 1991 he became a performing member of the World Famous Magic Castle in Hollywood CA. In 2004, he was the only Comedy Magician invited to go overseas with five other comedians to entertain during Operation: Iraqi Freedom. They performed in five countries, 32 shows in 23 days! Today, he and his lovely wife perform for the USO, Corporate and High End Social Events, as well as producing their own military show, "Operation-Bravo", which entertains the U.S. Armed Forces both domestically and abroad.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bornsteins/ IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0097138/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Nick Morris and Steve Baskis speak about their war injuries, recovery and rehabilitation. Steve asks questions about Knicks mental perspective before joining the military, while serving during war and after physical trauma. Questions are asked about whether resilience training should exist or be improved, as well as whether or not military personnel worry about being seriously wounded during combat operations. If you have anybody in mind for the show, please fill out the form at Baskis360.com
Nick Morris and Steve Baskis discuss many topics in this episode. Please be aware we are still setting up some things in the studio and trying to figure out a format, we hope to redesign the show and have some sort of standardization moving forward. This episode is just us rambling about our opinions and what is going on in the world today. I have not interviewed someone in sometime now, so if any listeners have a request or someone they would recommend for the show, please visit baskis360.com and fill out the form. Please subscribe and share if you get a chance.
in this episode Steve Baskis and Nick Morris discuss a few random topics, ranging from the social media network giants to wildlife found in Colorado and other places. I dare you to give it a listen and try to stay on track. Nick talks a little bit about sports and specifically football teams he dislikes or admires. Please subscribe to the podcast or share on your social media networks.
In this episode Steve and Nick speak about a lot of different controversial subjects, racism, firearms, education standards and climate control to name a few. make sure you do your own research to locate credible sources of information about the topics we spoke about. Remember these are our opinions and we are having a unplanned conversation about current events that are affecting our country and citizens. Feel free to visit Baskis360.com and send us any questions you may have about the content of the show. If you have a person who you think would be a great guest for the show, let us know!
In this episode Steve and Nick speak about vaccine mandates, politics and Cova 19. Their goal was to talk about controversial subjects, but they rambled about many different things. ultimately both men have some issues with government mandates and regulation, so have a listen and find out what they had to say.
Steve Baskis and Nick Morris speak about war, trauma and politics in this episode. Feel free to subscribe and follow the show.
In this episode Steven Nick speak about trauma, war & politics. Nick may be my new cohost moving forward, so stay tune and subscribe to the show.
In this episode Steve speaks to a gentleman by the name of Ignasi Cambra. Ignasi is a professional classical pianist who performs all over the United States and Europe, but lives in Barcelona, Spain. he tells his story of how he chose to go to school in the U.S., how music has been part of his life from a very young age and contemplates whether Music will be his main focus in the future. be sure to look him up on Google and find his music which should be available through streaming services and on the Internet. #Music #ProTools #Baskis360 #Podcast
In this episode Steve speaks to Kevin Reeves a talented musician and instructor at I See Music. Kevin talks about some of the challenges he faces as a blind individual, how I see music was born, what it is like to work as a session vocalist and what it means to be adaptable. Kevin has published his music to the different major streaming companies such as Apple Music, Spotify etc. check them out if you get the chance. Visit ISeeMusic.com to learn more about the organization that helps teach blind and visually impaired people The art of recording audio and music. #Baskis360 #Podcast
In this episode Steve speaks to John Gunn a Blind musician who dabbles with audio recording and composing. #Podcast #BlindMusician #Baskis360
in this episode Steve speaks to Andre Louis a blind musician and music composer. They discuss different things about Andre‘s life, influences and where Music is taking him. We also discuss his involvement with the company Native Instruments and how some of their products are accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Here are some links Andre provided:
http://www.andrelouis.com/shorts/
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheOnjLouis/
A conversation with Steve’s father Who is a scientist that has developed a number of technologies. In this episode Steve talks to his father about life, his fathers influences and the work he has pursued over the years. visit this website to learn more about one of his companies: www.draconisextractiontechnologies.com
A conversation with Dr. Thomas Zampieri president of the Blinded Veterans Association. In this episode we discuss the changes that have occurred in July of 2020 on Capitol Hill for disabled veterans, specifically items related to the special adaptive housing grant. Visit: www.bva.org to learn more about how you can help Blind Veteran‘s.
Steve Baskis speaks about his experience with smart home technology and how it benefits him as a blind/visually impaired individual.
Dr. Fliesler is a SUNY Distinguished Professor, UB Distinguished Professor, the Meyer H. Riwchun Endowed Chair Professor of Ophthalmology, and Vice-Chair/Director of Research in the Department of Ophthalmology, State University of New York (SUNY)- University at Buffalo (UB). He also holds concurrent appointments as a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at UB, as well as being a Department of Veterans Affairs Research Career Scientist at the Buffalo VA Medical Center, VA Western NY Healthcare System.
Dr. Fliesler's research is focused on inborn errors of cholesterol metabolism and their impact on the development, structure and function of the retina, as well as blast injury to the eye, using animal models, and has published more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and reviews. His research program has been funded continuously for more than 35 years by multiple grants from the NIH and private foundations, as well as, more recently, MERIT
Awards from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Fliesler currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), representing the Retinal Cell Biology (RC) Section as well as being President of ARVO. He was inducted in 2009 as a Silver-tier Fellow of ARVO (FARVO) and, in 2014, became a Gold-tier FARVO. In addition, he is a past Councilor, Treasurer, and President of the International Society for Eye Research (ISER). Dr. Fliesler is the Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Eye Research and serves on six other journal editorial boards, including Molecular Vision and the Journal of Lipid Research.
If you would like to learn more about the topics discussed, check out the following websites:
http://grantome.com/grant/NIH/I01-BX002439-02
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29648979
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast-related_ocular_trauma
https://jneuroinflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1742-2094-10-79
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4842954/
https://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/retina-may-be-sensitive-gauge-of-blast-wave-pressure-injury
https://ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S0002-9440(17)30155-4/fulltext
https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2212696
Larry Carlin, a visually impaired veteran, shares some of his experiences during the Tour of the Canyons bike ride that he participated in 2018.
If you would like to watch the Tour of the Canyons Video presented on this podcast, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlOBL0icTI0
This year a group of blinded veterans will be participating in the MR340. Steve is on the phone with Danny Wallace, an Army Veteran that was wounded in Iraq and heavily involved with the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA).
Also on the call is Scott Mansker, Co-founder and race director for the Missouri River 340.
For more information about the MR340, visit https://rivermiles.com
Extreme-sports athlete Lonnie Bedwell is a National Geographic 2015 Adventurer of the Year. He has kayaked some of the most challenging whitewater in the world and is responsible for first blind descents of Africa’s fabled Zambezi River and West Virginia’s world-renowned Gauley River. Lonnie is best known for his first descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon — an effort successfully completed during 2013 as part of a team of boaters assembled by Team River Runner. A command performance in the Grand Canyon in 2014 resulted in the Adventurer of the Year nomination.
A former Navy Petty Officer, Lonnie was critically injured during 1997 in a hunting accident that instantly took his sight. Nevertheless, he raised three daughters as a single father, teaching them all to hunt and fish — and, against all odds, to drive. Once the girls graduated from high school, Lonnie continued to challenge himself, ultimately becoming a renowned extreme sports athlete. When the threshold for running the Grand Canyon was placed at 1,000 kayak rolls, he took his donated kayak to the pond on his farm and rolled it 1,500 times. The rest is history.
Lonnie has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, summited several of North America’s highest mountains, rock climbs, and is an avid downhill skier when he has time away from roofing work in his hometown of Duggar, IN.
Lonnie’s mission is to motivate and inspire others to embrace life with confidence and courage. Lonnie is dedicated to helping veterans and many others enjoy full lives and while he is an advocate for the blind, blindness does not define either him or his efforts on behalf of others. Lonnie has appeared on The Today Show and Steve Harvey and has been featured in countless publications. He’s the author of the award-winning book 226 (the length in miles of the Colorado River stretch through the Grand Canyon) and shares his passion for life and adventure with audiences around the country.
A conversation with a Surfer who accidentally became an Army Ranger. After military retirement Chaz found work as a Gunfighter, Corporate Business Owner, & Marijuana “Grow-Master” in an attempt to find a cure for PTSD.
May have to sit down and chat with Chaz again, but maybe next time on location in Hawaii...
Larry Carlin is an Army Veteran and visually impaired. He went ice climbing with Paradox Sports for their "Paradox Ice" event in Ouray, CO. After the event, Larry joined up with Steve to chat about military service, Vietnam, blindness, ice climbing and more.
To find out more about Paradox Sports, visit www.paradoxsports.org
Dr. Thomas Zampieri served as an Army Medic from 1972 until September 1975. After college he enlisted in the Army National Guard, retiring in 2000 as a Major after 22 years. His service included 13 years as a Military Aeromedical Flight Surgeon, logging more than 600 hours of flight operations.
Tom graduated from Hahnemann Medical University’s Physician Assistant Program in June1978. He obtained a Bachelor Science Degree from State University of New York and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Political Science from University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, in 2003. Dr. Zampieri completed his Political Science Ph.D. at Lacrosse University in December 2005. He was employed in April 2005 as the Director of Government Relations for BVA, presenting testimony before U.S. Congressional Committees on a variety of veterans’ issues.
Retiring from BVA in 2013, Tom currently serves on the Association’s Board of Directors and is chairman of BVA Government Relations Committee. Tom has 5 percent vision in both eyes resulting from degenerative retinal disease. He has volunteered since 2010 in planning an award-winning international exchange program with the Blind Veterans UK known as Project Gemini in eight year now. He has organized briefings with senior defense medical officials on military eye injuries, blast traumatic brain injuries with vision dysfunction, defense vision trauma research program, and rehabilitation services with both DOD, VA, and UK officials.
For More Information about the Blinded Veterans Association, please visit www.BVA.org
Jeff is a World Renowned Adventurer / Expedition Leader, Speaker / Facilitator, Author, Physician Assistant / High Altitude Medic, and Humanitarian.
Steve and Jeff chat about Jeff's life, service as an emergency medical professional, the No Barriers organization and of course, mountaineering.
You can find out more about Jeff at:
http://jeffbevans.com
Larry Gunter, Lonnie Bedwell and Steve Baskis are completely blind and are some adventurous guys. They discuss blindness, their adventures, military service and more.
In this episode Steve and Denise Van Koevering, Chief of Blind Rehabilitation at Hines VA Hospital, talk about the days when he went through Blind Rehabilitation after he lost his eyesight. They also cover what the Blind Rehabilitation Center is and who they serve.
https://www.hines.va.gov/services/blindrehab.asp
Join Steve as he chats with his “pod” about their recent trip down the Grand Canyon with the Team River Runner “Vision Team”. Eric, Mike and Ken were Steve’s “eyes” on the water and in this podcast they will share their experience of guiding, challenges and other stories.
Resources:
Team River Runner: www.TeamRiverRunner.org
Liquid Adventuring: www.LiquidAdventuring.com
Grand Canyon Video: https://youtu.be/WH9xGn5cIkQ
Blind veteran and adventurer Steve Baskis shares stories of strength, resilience and courage through 360° discussion, interviews and world travel.
First show premieres February 6, 2019.
Check It Out Every Wednesday, Every Week!