At Night I Fly: Recent Episodes
AT NiGHT I FLY
A show to help you give a shit about poetry … or just give a shit.
Diving inside and outside of prison to get to some weird and hard truths At Night I Fly inspires awe through interviews, poetry, field pieces, and a deep array of original music and sound design. Equal parts Ear Hustle, Radiolab, Planet Money, and Ten Things that Scare Me.
Spoon Jackson is a poet and journalist from Barstow CA currently 42 years into a life sentence. In the show we read a poem — maybe you like it — then we dive into the history, context, and themes. At the end we re-read the poem and maybe this time — god damn it — you do like it.
Spoons radio work has appeared on The Pulse, Reveal, and his own show Uncuffed. He has multiple poetry books and a memoir. Matthew Schneeman is a radio/podcast producer who has been featured on public radio, podcasts, and his own show Your Eulogy.
Email us! - atnightiflypodcast@gmail.com
Piece made for KCRW's 24 2020 Radio Race. Team Name: Fadio Face
Matthew Schneeman - I submitted before adding my team mates Jamie Lerner - not registered Nathan Miller - not registered Emily Scott - not registered
Subjects: Marvin Mutch Paul Redd
mcschneeman@gmail.com jamielerner11@gmail.com nathangfmiller@gmail.com emily@radiofreebrooklyn.org
Music/Ambi by Matthew Schneeman
The confluence of Spoons poetry, philosophy, and life all come together in this final episode. Spoon and his brother Abe both talk about how their dad effected them and how they've moved on. Matthew spends six months with a moving company collecting interviews with his (overly) manly coworkers, and Spoon bids us farewell with one last piece of advice, 'When you find your niche embrace it and go full speed with it.'
The penultimate episode. This one is one of my favorites. Not just because it features my favorite poem Spoon wrote but because Spoon does a great job laying down some of his philosophy. It was supposed to be a lighter episode, but by letting our guard down it ended up being fairly deep. In this episode, I visit the blooming of the corpse flower, Spoon describes what time is like in prison, and out, and Spoon talks about losing his friend and mentor earlier this year.
This mini episode starts with Spoon talking about all the famous people he's met and worked with: Samuel Beckett, John Goodman, Gloria Steinem. After we get all that name dropping out of the way we dive into the meat of the episode. Relationships behind bars.
Spoon tells us about his marriages and relationships he's had while in prison. The are obvious physical barriers and difficulties involved, but also the emotional weight Spoon, and the people he's been with, have had to carry.
This episode is about forgiveness ... well, not really. Is it? Sure, but it's also about the balance of nature. in this episode we talk to someone who saves pigeons from cowboy hats, I hunt a flock of pigeons in Brooklyn, Spoon talks all about growing up hunting pigeons -- and somehow all of this relates to the central theme of balance and forgiveness.
But this episode isn't all non sequiturs. Spoon and Abe directly address todays theme by talking about forgiving their dad who wasn't the greatest dad in the world.
The update to this episode is a section where a friend gives me feedback this episode's feature. Basically, I come off as a bit of a jerk and he tells me so.
A sick snowy owl at Rikers Island, a friendly family of geese at Lancaster State Prison, and the song birds at my grandmas nursing home -- this episode is all about birds.
Spoon tells some charming stories about the birds he has met in prison (and one messed up story), the corporal abuse he suffered growing up, and I (matthew )visit a bird rehab facility and my grandma.
Mini Episode
(This episode has been updated to include an excerpt from a draft for an article Spoon is writing on the coronavirus.)
If you're a fan of this show you're probably worried about Spoon. Why? Because a level two prison is a terrible place to be during a pandemic. Combine dorm settings, hundreds of people sharing a bathroom, and poor health conditions and you get a very vulnerable population.
From a skeptic to an advocate for the prisoners health Spoon went from complaining to me on the phone to being featured on NPRs Reveal with his Uncuffed cohosts. Here's that story.
One thing I didn't didn't understand about prison is that so many things can be taken from you. Not just physical things or obviously freedoms, but also things I take for granted: education programs, visiting rights, the kind of food they serve ...
... and Star Trek.
Spoon loves Star Trek. On this episode Spoon talks about when his TV was taken from him, he reads a poem about space, I visit a queer Star Trek fan club, and Spoon tells us who he'd dress up as at Comic Con.
This episode features Spoons collaborations, both willing and unwilling. The willing ones are beautiful and inspiring. The unwilling one is a weird story and also inspiring, but for different reasons. It involves Jamie Foxx and a 30 year old poem.
This episode is brief detour in our eight part journey. Spoon answers questions from fans like: What's your schedule like? Is it hard not being in a gang? One question I don't have tape of, but I was curious about, is: What tv do people watch in the day room? Answer? Mostly sports.
This second episode is all about dogs.
From Spoon hanging out with Common to me hanging out at a dog spa this episode wrestles with the domestication of dogs. The featured work is an excerpt from a play Spoon wrote. It's a speech from the perspective of a dog and this dog is NOT your best friend.
Spoon also talks about the one thing he'll miss in prison (that is, if his life sentence gets commuted.)
This first episode is about growing up. Instead of hitting you over the head with Spoons famous collaborations (Ani DiFranco, Jamie Foxx...) we thought it'd be better to set the scene with where Spoon comes from: Barstow CA, the desert.
Spoon reads a poem about a pig and maggots, talks about growing up, I talk to my parents about how I didn't go to prison, and Spoon ends with a wonderful poem about his mom and deer that came to dinner.
Introducting AT NiGHT I FLY. An eight-part series with Spoon Jackson about his life and poetry. In this series we dive intro the complicated nature of being locked up and yet still growing. We then dive into the same themes but on the outside -- connecting our two worlds.
YOUR EULOGY IS DONE
But a new show called At Night I Fly is coming next. It's a great show about poet, prison, people, plants, and even non-alliterative nouns!
Here's a radio doc I made about a Minneapolis property management company.
Things weren't up to code, people got pushed around, tenants united, perjury happened, protests, secret business deals, revelations, bugs, freezing temps, all of that plus a mysterious disappearing bathtub.
Hope you like it.
photo by Steel Brooks http://www.steelbrooks.com/
Aiai Lin is a friend and gave, hands down, the funn-est interview to date. But the interview is also very serious and sincere. Like, don't pollute! Don't kid shame people!
Aiai is a teacher at a chinese emersion school and from Taiwan. She's great.
John Gebretatose is a comedian and so I asked him to talk about a bunch of stuff that ISN'T funny! But he still made it fun. Wait ... maybe that's just what comedy is anyway?
He tells us about growing up with one parent with schizophrenia and the other with alcohol abuse. John performs standup all of the twin cities (minnesota) and teaches and performs at HUGE Improv theater in Minneapolis. (I even performed with him once on the open night ... which went alright, kinda.) and also he's a founding member of BLACKOUT, a black and poc centered improv group. https://www.blackoutcomedy.org/
I met Carolyn in S. Korea. We were both ESL teachers. After leaving, as it generally happens, we returned to very different lives. But what she returned to was, in time, her dad's diagnosis of early onset alzheimer's disease.
Carolyn talks about her dad's body being donated to science, caregiving, and some other sad and beautiful things.
Big Moe, or Moses Hubert, is a jolly charming man. This interview took some time to set up because his life's rather busy right now. Nothing but hustling 24/7 it seems. But he made some time for me so we met at the central library in downtown Minneapolis and recorded a dope interview.
Check out his music at https://www.feelgoodmusicinc.com/
Katey DeCelle is a co-director for 94.1FM WFNU, a community radio station for Frogtown St. Paul, Minnesota.
Along with programming and running a radio station she works with developmentally disable people to make radio segments. She's my neighbor, relatively speaking, and I'm happy to have her literally giving voice to the voiceless ... maybe not literally, though she may have done some work with people who are mute. Whatever, she's great and this interview was fun.
My friend Luther Bangert is a wonderful person and has had an exciting life. As the title states, he's a Guinness Record holder, tied with Space Cowboy for most balls juggled while swallowing a sword.
But he also memorized pi to a lot of digits. Not a Guinness record level of course. There are some really pi savants that have done it to like 100,000 digits. But still, he's a fascinating person.
Dasia Anderl is bi-polar, queer, trans, and a bunch more that makes up her arrestingly funny personality.
This episode is wonderful. Dasia talks about attempted suicide, finding her love, pushing forwarded, and being stone cold cool. Also, she's really funny and deep.
My high-school friend tells me what it was like being black (multiracial) in a very white high school.
He also tells me the beautiful story about how he was adopted and how he found his birth mother.
In this episode Chef Laura Ford of Innate Foods (online vegan pop ups, hopefully a bakery in the next year) made herself even more interesting by colliding with another figure skater and suffering a brain injury.
She tells us what recovery was like. Also she tells us about vegan cooking and why we should become vegan before it's mandated by oncoming environmental devastation.
https://squareup.com/store/innatefoods/
Jamez is a friend and a beautiful person. He's got an edge! But in a good way. Some things we DIDN'T talk about are how he's a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of joy spreading drag nuns and what it's like to be a black gay transplant living in Minnesota (Born in AL then moved to NJ, CA, WA, back to CA then finally here in MN). But we DID talk about comics, his dad, a weird story about when he was in the military, and his wonderful pastiche of spirituality.
I have my doubts in regards to alternative medicine, homeopathy, and my guest's area naturopathy. But in sitting down with her for half an hour or so she showed me the motivations and the practices that make this form of healthcare useful.
Also, I have a nice long intro where I overindulge in a long explanation of my thoughts on the false binary of science-based medicine vs whatever the hell naturopathy is. (i'm joking, Dr Kristin Becker does a fine job explaining it.) Enjoy!
Mark Rivard was a sponsor for Sharpie, a ski bum, and is an artist, an educator and an entrepreneur! He also fell off a cliff years ago.
He's a motivated dude and I ask him about that! We talk about suicide, mental health, free will, and that bit where he fell off a cliff.
http://www.rivardarteducation.com/home
Tomorrow (the tomorrow of feb 18th 2019) Thao Xiong turns himself in to the country workhouse. Thao is a complex figure. Addiction to drugs, meth in particular, can hurt a person and those around them - they haven't been great for Thao as well. We talk about getting arrested and his family's refugee story. This interview is about hope and regret, so something in it for everyone! Ha ha.
Sara Glesne lost her dad, which is hard regardless. But what made it worse was while he was in the ICU he developed delirium which made everything worse for everyone.
Sara speaks with honesty and emotion and even tells us a little about France! Hell, even her eulogy is in french!
Here's a little piece I did on the Twin Cities Death Cafe. What is a Death Cafe? Listen to the episode to find out, duh!
Robert Hale is great! In this episode he tells me about PTSD, the war in Vietnam, his crazy ancestors (one ate the neighbor's dog), and more.
This is an interview with a goth lady name Juliet!
She's dope. She talks about quitting meth, loosing someone to gun violence, how evil lives on the internet, and much much more...not really, these interviews strive to be fairly focused.
Learning to use my new keyboard so made this song and put it to my favorite poem. W.H. Auden Law, like love
this is a wooooonderful skype interview with my friend and super comic artist James Harvey. Seriously, check him out. If you're into him, you're really into him. If not, you're still like, 'that's stirring. hmm...'
we're funny in this one, but james also opens up about having autism and a crazy dad. also, he tells a story about how he got in a fight defending my honor (seriously.)
Type in 'james harvey comics' or follow this link: http://james-harvey-pe49.squarespace.com/#new-page
Beatrice Adenodi tells me about how drama keeps knocking at her door but now ... SHE'S READY! What are you doing when you're doing something you don't even know that you're doing? Habits and shit, that's what we're talking about today. It's great. Have a listen. Here's her insta: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorink360/
An early interview in the history of Your Eulogy (like four or five months ago) but still, considering I hadn't done that many interviews I think I did a good job. Not that Randy Furst make it hard. He's a thoughtful person and has hard a great career, and continues to do so. Check out his latest in the Star Tribune.
His eulogy is great, HE DOESN'T DO ONE! but he shares some beautiful words about the death of his first wife.
Tiffini Flynn Forslund has done many things. She is many things. So, it's a shame that I chopped this interview down to 20 mins. Tiffini's a badass mom, grandma, and teacher. An abuse victim herself, she has dedicated her life to protecting kids and helping the communities she's lived in. But she's no saint! While running for city council in Minneapolis she got evicted, rendered homeless, and got a pulled over for drunk driving and driving without a license multiple times. But always looking up she continues to move forward as a community member, advocate, teacher, and grandma to two cool little twins who, halfway through this interview, make it known that they have to go to the bathroom.
In the belly of the Target Center in a small office next to the giant walls of computers, cables, and screens that send out the images of basketball across the universe (or just minnesota / america)... in that belly i interviewed Brave Crow. My friend and guest.
They talk about being Lakota, Two Spirited, and an introvert. They gave some good advice in regards to emotional labor, in Crow's words, 'If you're gonna be asking your friend about genocide, at least buy them some tacos.'
We also talk about Brave Crow's beautiful new marriage and at the end Crow delivers a dope poem about making genocide palatable.
I forgot to ask them about WIllie Nelson, Crows hilarious dog. Sorry. But maybe that wouldn't interest you, seems a bit of an inside topic.
I should've had this one be part 1 because the story beginning is the most enjoyable segment in this three-part series.
Graci Horne talks about going to too many funerals with her grandma as a kid. She also talks about some sad realities of unnatural deaths within the native/dakota/lakota communities. But, as wonderful people can do, she still radiates a certain life affirming philosophy and helps pull the world forward into a hopefully bright future.
This is part one of a three part series with Graci Horne. In this episode she talks about being a native parent, the invisibility of not being black nor white in America that sees people as black or white, and the love hate relationship people have with native people and culture.
Plus you get to here a baby in the background!
This is a sonic experiment. Bass and drums to stitch together a two hour argument between my housemate and I about whether or not there's a cosmic force subtly influencing people throughout their lives.
It's also about mental illness.
Beautiful interview with my friend. He tells me about the verbal and physical abuse he's received in his life. Oh course, with interviews we trend to focus on the sad sensational stuff, this interview is no exception. For that I'm sorry, I hope you all remember that we focus on the traumatic outliers of our lives to, hopefully, keep them as outliers.
This weeks interview is with a Unitarian minister Janne Eller-Isaacs. What is Unitarianism? She tells us! (it's cool) She talks about the grieving process and how if you don't go through all the 'stages' of grief, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT! She also talks about when her son had cancer, spoiler: he doesn't die. I recorded a really cheesy song to use in the episode as well, so that's a treat.
Why my coworker hasn't listened to this podcast. It's a fun(ny) conversation about why my podcast is doomed and not as interesting as a podcast where two dudes talk about their favorite REM albums.
This week i talked with (well, a couple weeks ago. but it goes up this week) TJ. I met TJ at an intro to acting class and thought he was interesting... turns out he is! He has autism, he loves the anime Rurouni Kenshin, and he was depressed his whole life but now that he's started practicing ethical non-monogamy he feels a little better.
This week is an interview with Brigid McDonald, an octogenarian peace activist and nun. She has had an incredible life fighting the good fight against fighting. From getting arrested multiple times while protesting arms manufacturers to a weekly peace vigil, she has dedicated her life to promoting that word I keep using in this intro... peace. But she's also just great to talk to, which is kind of important for an interview show.
special episode, no eulogy
This is the first in the three part series with Dennis McKenna. He talks about his brother Terrence McKenna's death. Also, after I take five minutes to ask one question (embarrassing) he explains what the stoned ape theory actually is and, though it's kinda far out there, it's a great idea and will make you ravel in the magical synesthetic ability we employ when we use even the simplest of language.
special interview no eulogies.
This is the second of a three part series with Dennis McKenna. In this episode he talks of how the earth is trying to tell us, with the use of iowaska and other psychedelics, that we're destroying the planet. We also debate consciousness, i think it's overrated, and he explains why he thinks it's much more than just knowing that you're thinking.
special episode, no eulogy.
This is final episode of the three part series with Dennis McKenna. In this one he talks about the default mode we are generally in, or what he calls 'the reality illusion'. Also, he speaks on some family trouble he has, it's a little raw, but then again, so are families.
Here's a supplementary piece Joey Peters edited from our interview with Dennis Mckenna. It tells you how to safely and effectively do psychedelics.
This podcast is still new enough that i still have special episodes where I interview people I admire and love. (i won't run out of people i admire, but i will run out of close personal friends!) This is one such episode.
Monica (kenyan name jepkosgei) is a bad ass cool lady that works a ton and sends a bunch of money home to help out her family (she sent so much money home the IRS audited her). She's as cool and calm as you'd have to be to work as much as she does, 'cause if you weren't you'd physically break down.
Enjoy! Thanks Monica!
Erik Fratzke taught me bass lessons when i was a teen and also happened to be in some of the greatest bands I've heard, let alone seen play live. My personal favorites are: Zepulon Pike, Happy Apple, and The Gang Font. But he's in, and has been in, many different groups like The Auto Body Experience and Dave King Trucking Company.
This interview Erik Talks about loosing a friend and bandmate when he was just thirteen and why he loves metal. Wonderful interview annnnnnd I get to use really music which makes it dynamic as shit!
Natasha is a big feeler and she gives a grrrrrreat interview about what it's like to be overly empathetic while getting a bunch done (as an educator and a housing rights organizer/activist)
She lost a wonderful friend and speaks to that beautiful relationship, she is part-white, part-Guatemalan, part-mystery (literally) and she speaks to how that influences her life in the mid-west, and she is a wonderful person and the world is better for having her in it.
Today's episode is with my friend. We talk about how he lost his dad to suicide as a kid, how it was like growing up gay in wisconsin, and other non-sad shit! We shall not be defined by the most interesting things about ourselves! (but that is what i'll interview you about.)
This weeks episode is with Joey Peters a journalist from the twin cities and my friend. We chat about some stories he’s working on, alien sightings, and ghost hunting. (this sounds like he reports on the paranormal, he doesn't really. But it's what was on his mind a couple months ago.) It’s a more relaxed interview, I recorded it a while ago, tell me what you like, dislike, and whatnot. Please leave ratings and reviews if you can! Some stuff about Joey (or just type him into da search engine.) https://www.pri.org/people/joey-peters
This is one of my favorite episodes. Angela Woosley, my guest today, is a funeral director, embalmer, mortician, and teach for the University of Minnesota. She is a great person and if you've just lost a loved one she's just who you need to get through the strange process of planning a funeral. She seems more like a death-doula than a funeral director. Whatever, I'm being unnecessarily glib. Thanks Angela!
My landlord, but a bit more interesting than that. I mean, I wouldn't upload an interview with a boring landlord, right? Tony has done many cool things: started his own alt. newspaper, was an editor for City Pages, currently publishes a neighborhood newspaper (does your neighborhood have a newspaper?!), and has a wonderful family full of admirable people.
Lameesha takes the time to talk to me about being a black woman in minnesota and having a mother with a difficult mental illness. As a white interviewer I may not have done the best job. For example, we talk about racism but i don't think i left any room to focus on what's great about being black. Sorry, for the myopic representation. Lameesha is charming and a beautiful person and had so many good things to say that this interview went a little long.
This is just the music I use. Sometimes I do music specifically for an episode and that's not recorded separately, thus it's not on this playlist. For you nerds out there: everything but the two guitar tracks are recorded using GarageBand's keyboard feature where i play the keyboard as a ... well, keyboard. There are some synth pads that make this sound cooler than I am able, but you can generally tell what is my playing/composition and what is a preprogrammed effect from GarageBand.
Josiah is my co-worker at the group home i work at. He's a bit older than me and begrudgingly has me call him 'uncle' instead of 'grandpa'. This interview is a nice little example of me, as always, trying to draw blood from a stone and the stone saying, 'hey, i just live my life... there's no hidden deeper meaning!' But Josiah, the stone, does give us a beautiful description of how to love you family, your friends, and get joy out of helping people - something he's done his whole life.
First interview! Minnie Blanco, aka Victoria Seymour, is a cool-ass cat. This interview was fun and we got to some interesting stuff. For example, she had six grandparents! Imagine that thanksgiving dinner... well, i guess they all didn't go to the same thanksgiving dinner but still, the image is funny. There is some of her music in the episode and at the end, so that's a nice little treat. Here's a link to the album it came from: https://soundcloud.com/minniebluntz.
Floyd Williams is a unique person and strong presence. I mean this with no disrespect, but if anyone else told me about auras and ear candling and whatnot I'd blow them off for spouting pseudo-science. But Floyd communicates an intention and honesty about his Kemetic yoga practice and reiki in a way that keeps you from rushing to judgment. here's his website: http://www.thoughthealing.info/
This weeks interview was with a modern day pagan, that's how wikipedia defines Wiccans. (Which isn't witchcraft but more like observing the moon and nature! But, if you are, like, a classic witch feel free to contact me for an interview.) We also talk about depression, loss, and doggies. Linds is a great person and I really enjoyed talking with them.
This one is a littler rambling at the beginning but, turns into a very good interview with an old friend. Josh tells some stories about studying mortuary science and interning at a funeral home. He also tells us what it's like to have crohn's disease.
Part one of a three part series where I talk to my cousins and uncle about the sudden deaths of a couple family members. In this interview I talk to mj my little cousin. She is a great interview and tells me some cool stuff from a perspective far from my own.
Part two of a three part series where I talk to my cousins and uncle about the sudden deaths of a couple family members. In this interview my cousins Seamus tells me some cool greek myths that have to do with death and tells me how much he loves his little brother.
Part three of a three part series where I talk to my cousins and uncle about the sudden deaths of a couple family members. In this one I talk to James, my uncle (in-law?) about the death of his brother and dad. James was very open and insightful and gave a wonderful interview. I'm happy to be related to him.
Interview with Danielle my sister-in-law. Very nice interview with a insightful lady. Briefly her kids chime in, they're cute and nonsensical. Danielle tells me about how having control over everything in her life is GREAT!!!... except it doesn't always work out that way. She also talks about her miscarriages and how hard that was. Very nice lady and a smooth interview.
Inspiring interview with Arianna Feldmen. We talk about housing rights, community, her parents (one's an opera singer) and other cool stuff.