Ohio State Professor Nick White had a secret, one he didn’t want to tell himself or anyone else: he was gay. But, like most secrets, it eventually came to light, for him in a surprisingly hopeful way. The protagonist of his new novel travels a similar path but with a much more tragic outcome, being sent to a conversion camp as a youth. Listen in to hear more about the book and Nick White’s life.
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A nightmare scenario: cheap Nordic prices and a wild population. Join us.
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Columbus comedian Leslie Battle is no stranger to struggle. What makes her special is the ability to make others laugh with her at life’s trials and oddities. Listen in as we discuss the decidedly unfunny event that led her to comedy, why her son’s friends may see her in a new light, and what unexpected crowd she scores big with.
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Ohio State University Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Theatre Jennifer Schlueter is a playwright and her latest, Patience Worth, premiered in March in St Louis and will have a two-day run on May 19-20 at Ohio State.
We talked recently about the play, its background, and how historical documents can tell their own stories, sometimes with just a little technological boost. Listen in to get the full story of a Ouija board psychic and the character who spoke to her.
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Life is made up of surprising coincidences. Examples: Colson Whitehead was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for fiction on April 11 for his book Underground Railroad, and he’s in Columbus on April 28 with the Bexley Library.
AND he’s this week’s guest on Craft. Wild, huh?
When I spoke with him, Colson had not yet been awarded the prize but he had already garnered plenty of awards and impressive sales. Listen in to hear what it’s like to carry a big book secret (“Psst, Colson: Oprah picked your book for her book club but don’t tell anyone for a few months”) and why he waited for years before beginning to write this book.
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Character riggers create digital puppets for animation, the code that brings to life your favorite personalities like Po in Kung Fu Panda or Toothless in How To Train Your Dragon.
Cara Malek worked as a rigger on both of these films and will share her experiences on April 23 as part of Science Sundays at the Ohio State University.
Listen in to hear how Cara and her team overcame technical hurdles like how to “zip” together the two-headed Hideous Zippleback dragon (Barf and Belch) in How To Train Your Dragon or whether Shrek’s bodily odors should be colorless or not (we aim high on this podcast, people).
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Linda Kass at 2017 Ohioana Book Festival
I had a great talk with author and bookstore owner Linda Kass at the 2017 Ohioana Book Festival. Her book, Tasa’s Song, is a fictionalized version of her mother’s life during World War 2. Kass is also the owner of Gramercy Book, new in Columbus, Ohio, so check both her book and bookstore out!
What drives an assassin? What makes someone break past societal barriers and kill a president?
Jennifer Chiaverini , author of Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, The Spymistress, and Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule, explores this territory in Fates and Traitors, a fictional history of John Wilkes Booth, before and after the assassination of President Lincoln. She focuses on four of the women closest to Booth: his mother, sister, secret fiance, and Confederate confidant.
Chiaverini will be a guest author in Columbus for the Ohioana Book Festival on April 8, 2017.
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