Author: Matthew Ussia

Ep. 95: I was a Weak Man. Now I’m a Bad Ghost

EW Harris is a musician who fuses sci-fi and folk, playing on upcycled instruments and cell phones. His new single “Bad Ghost” explores the ways in which our insecurities and regrets might just follow us into the afterlife. During the course of our conversation, we talk about how being born in the Rust Belt might just prepare you for the apocalypse. We talk songwriting and rush to cut the conversation short before I lose power again.

Check out the EW Harris Official Website. Listen to “Bad Ghost” on Bandcamp. Follow EW Harris on Facebook. Give him work on LinkedIn, or better yet let him write you a jingle. Subscribe to EW’s Patreon. And if you aren’t convinced, check out some thoughtful blog posts on “Bad Ghost” here and here.

Finally, there is swearing, and also a strange echo effect on EW’s mic until about 15 minutes into the podcast. I tried to use software magic to clean it up the best I could, but if it’s too annoying, skip to 16 minutes in. It will be worth it. This was one of my favorite conversations.

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Ep. 94: I Can’t Believe It’s Not a Digital Slumber Party

Anthony Kapfer and Amber Irish host an excellent comedy/variety talk show on Twitch TV every Monday night at 10 Eastern called Digital Slumber Party. Anthony also has a new comedy album entitled, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Better. We discuss both and why being buried alive is the worst way to die. Also, we get into what does it mean to be a comic in the pandemic era, and what makes good Zoom comedy.

You should tune in to Digital Slumber Party on the Comedy Hub Twitch Channel. Buy I Can’t Believe It’s Not Better on Bandcamp, or listen to it on a particular streaming service.

I think I forgot to tell Anthony and Amber they could swear, but I make up for it.

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Ep. 93: Gilded Age End Time Cheeseburgers

John Grochalski is a poet, novelist, editor, and junk wax collector. Not sure we talk about any of those things, but we do have a lively conversation about poo on pizza, 21st Century America, and people who poo in public in 21st Century America. It’s a well rounded convo, really. Eating a Cheeseburger During the End Times is already out and can be bought through Barnes and Nobel. The novel P-Town Forever will be out soon.

And we swear, a lot.

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Ep 92: Fr. Bede Hines TOR Memorial Poetry Reading with Dr. Matthew Ussia

In this extra special episode of We’re All Gonna Die. I’m sharing the audio of me reading my poetry at St. Francis University. St. Francis is a very special place to me, and I wanted to be able to share my reading while being respectful to the privacy of others, so I cut of the intro and the almost hour long Q&A after. I read from my book The Red Glass Cat, as well as some newer poems.

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Ep. 91: This Land is STILL Your Landfill

In the spring of 2020, The Homeless Gospel Choir released an album that is a quantum leap forward, just in time for the world to shut down. In this podcast, I talk to Derek Zanetti and Matt Miller about what it means to put out an amazing album that cannot be toured on. You really should buy This Land is Your Landfill on vinyl and CD, or if physical media isn’t your thing score This Land is Your Landfill on Bandcamp. We also discuss the transition of THGC from a solo acoustic project to finally realizing Derek’s dream of being in the Pixies. Along the way, we swear some, reveal the creepy Derek and Matt mind meld, and determine once and for all that December is worse than January could be.

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Ep 90: Imbibe the Eternal Grin

Judith and Charles Brice are a husband and wife poetry double threat. Together for 4 decades, they became poets as they neared retirement. On this episode, Judith and Charlie discuss their poetics and read from their new books. We talk about what how living with another poet enhances their craft and where their poetics differ. Charlie reads from The Broad Grin of Eternity, and Judith reads from both Imbibe the Air and Shards of Shadows: A Covid Diary. See what I did with the title of the episode there?

You can buy all these books from the Borg Internet Book Seller, but if you email Judy at JBriceMD[at]gmail[dot]com or Charlie at Charlie.Brice[at]gmail.com, you can score signed copies directly from the poets.

Charlie didn’t know you could swear on this podcast, but when he learned he could, he did.

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Ep 89: A Threadbare Universe

Jason Baldinger is our most frequent guest, and for good reason. He writes lots of books of poetry, reads those poems very well, and always has something interesting to say in-between. For this episode we talk about his newest collection A Threadbare Universe. We also discuss the state of our post-Trump world, and we get in depth into his writing process.

He says if you send him a message on Facebook you can get a copy of A Threadbare Universe mailed to you for $15. You should also check out Jason Baldinger’s Bandcamp Page.

As always, there’s swearing.

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Ep. 88 From the Back

James Benger is a fantastic poet from Kansas City, and his new book is entitled From the Back. From the Back is a collection of poems about the kinds of characters one could have found in every dive bar in every town in this country before Covid struck.

During the course of our conversation, we get nostalgic about bar life, and talk about the man-drama that often comes with being in a band. We discuss the importance of practicing one’s craft everyday if you can. James also wraps up The Bottom 5 with a tale of the WORST drive-in double feature combo that anyone could bring a young child to.

After listening to our extended conversation you are going to want to hear more of From the Back, and the best way to buy it is from James directly by emailing him at JamesBengerAuthor[at]gmail[dot]com. However, buy From the Back from a chain store if you must. You can also listen to James read his works on Bandcamp.

James uses his poetry for civic engagement. He is on the board of The Writers’ Place in Kansas City. He helps curate the Riverfront Readings series. He is proud to be a part of Words Save Lives. And the proceeds from the 365 Poetry anthologies he edits go to Operation Breakthrough.

I might swear like once.

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Episode 87: Stories We Never Tell

Janette Schafer stops in to the first podcast she ever listened to in order to talk about her new book Something Here Will Grow available from Main Street Rag. During the course of our conversation we talk about where poems come from, whether or not everything that makes it to a poem actually happened, and Janette reads 3 great poems.

It’s nice to be back from hiatus, and always there’s swearing.

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Ep 86: Halsey Hyer’s Turn to Drive

Halsey Hyer is a poet, activist, and student who is simultaneously working on a manuscript and synchronous communities dedicated to expression and harm reduction. They are active with the Goat Farm Poetry Society and Filler Zine and Distro, two communities dedicated to the power of the written word to change the world and to shape lives. Recently, Halsey’s poems were published in Blue Nib, and they are currently working on a poetry manuscript entitled Ritter’s Psychiatric Diner and Clinic.

Please check out the Goat Farm Poetry Society on Facebook and check out Filler Zine and Distro on Facebook. During the course of our conversation, we discuss why poetry and community are important, the power of memes, and Pizza Fiesta. Halsey reads for us, we discuss a 2002 Honda Civic, and we find out what book they would donate their skin to preserve. Also, we discuss why it’s important to write poems about sex.

This podcast is a recording of a landline phone call, which is why it sounds different, and of course we swear.

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