Across the Margin: The Podcast

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with guitarist and composer Bill Orcutt. Bill is one of experimental music's most influential guitarists, known for weaving melodic lines into a dense landscape of American primitivism, outsider jazz, and a stripped-down re-envisioning of the possibilities of the guitar. Bill’s jagged sound is utterly unique and instantly recognizable, compared with equal frequency to avant-garde composers and rural bluesmen. The New York Times has called him a "powerful musician" and a "go-for-broke guitar improviser." His most recent album — which is the focus of this interview — is entitled Orcutt Shelley Miller, a fiery release which finds him teamed with two other legendary, electrifying musicians, Ethan Miller and Steve Shelley. While Bill is known for his prolific solo work and his time with the band Harry Pussy (amongst many other projects), Steve Shelley is best known for his many years as the drummer of Sonic Youth, and Ethan Miller for his time with the bands Howlin Rain and Comets On Fire. Following in the footsteps of the high-firing free jazz and European outer-rock bands of the ‘60s and ‘70s and the Pacific Rim’s subterranean reimagining of “rock” form in the 90s, the teaming of these three powerhouses utilizes explosive group chemistry, focused intention, and the chance to pursue the creation of song in its rawest, purest form. Orcutt Shelley Miller is an exciting ride of an album brought to life three highly celebrated figures of experimental music, and in this interview with Bill you will learn more about the genesis of the album, how two days of studio improvisation brought the album to life, what life on the road with the album has been like, and much more.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Brooklyn- based independent singer and songwriter Charlie Kaplan. Charlie has released three solo albums to date, each excellent in their own right, and he is the bassist in the art-pop quartet Office Culture. Charlie also helms the independent record label Glamour Gowns Records. His latest album,  A Hat Upon The Bed, is the focus of this episode.A man pleads with the sky for Halley’s Comet to return. Washing the dishes devolves into a catastrophic anxiety spiral. Figuring out which key the microwave emits could foretell the secret of the universe. Messages of love extend to people who cannot receive them. These are some of the magical, everyday scenarios that singer-songwriter Charlie Kaplan weaves throughout his epic new album, A Hat Upon The Bed, all in service of surveying the unknowability of death. Drawing on the flood of love and pain that arrived during his “fatherless decade” — spanning the loss of his father in 2013 and the birth of his son in 2025 — the album pairs the strongest writing of Kaplan’s career with music that matches its untameable ambition and empathy.Order Charlie Kaplan’s The Hat Upon The Bed now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Brian Anderson, a Webby Award-winning senior features editor, writer, and producer at VICE. Brian was a science editor at The Atlantic, where he was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team for early pandemic coverage, and was later an editor at Vox. He lives in Chicago with his partner (and a piece of the Wall of Sound). Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection is his first book, and the focus of this episode. Loud and Clear is the first book to tell the full story of the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound,” an unprecedented and since unparalleled speaker system that was as tall as a school bus is long and more than a hundred feet wide. The band’s quest for a roaring yet crystal clear sound began after their formation in 1965, colliding with the ‘60s progressive social climate. Over the next few years, the Dead’s growing crew of sound-obsessed techies and eccentric roadies took their speaker system to new technological heights. But as the Dead’s relentless, drug-fueled touring schedule met this increasingly burdensome yet sonically perfect machine, in 1974, the Wall brought the band to its knees. The two years of “Wall shows” are legend among Deadheads, and Loud and Clear is the compelling character-driven tale about human ambition, achievement, and the limits of both on a larger-than-life scale. Brian Anderson interviewed hundreds of people associated with the band and the construction of the Wall itself, including band members, roadies, tech wizards, fans and many more. Loud and Clear is the fascinating inside story of one of the most legendary rock bands of all time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Adam Szetela, who earned his Ph.D. in English in the Department of Literatures at Cornell University. Before that, he was a visiting fellow in the Department of History at Harvard University. He writes for The Washington Post, The Guardian, Newsweek, and other publications. His latest release — That Book is Dangerous: How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing — is the focus of this episode. In That Book Is Dangerous!, Adam investigates how well-intentioned and often successful efforts to diversify American literature have also produced serious problems for literary freedom. Although progressives are correct to be focused on right-wing attempts at legislative censorship, Adam reasons for attention to the ways that left-wing censorship controls speech within the publishing industry itself. The author draws on interviews with presidents and vice presidents at the Big Five publishers, literary agents at the most prestigious agencies, award-winning authors, editors, marketers, sensitivity readers, and other industry professionals to examine the new publishing landscape. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Sean Enfield, an essayist, poet, bassist, and educator from Dallas, TX. Currently, he resides in Milwaukee, WI where he is a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of Permafrost Magazine. Now, he serves as an Assistant Nonfiction Editor at Terrain.org. His essays have been nominated for three Pushcarts and he was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered as a finalist for their Three Minute Fiction contest. His debut essay collection, Holy American Burnout!, — the focus of this episode — was the runner-up for the Ann Petry Award, a finalist for The Megaphone Prize, a finalist for River Teeth’s Literary Nonfiction Book Prize, and is available now. Threading his experiences both as a Texan student and later as a first-year teacher of predominantly Muslim students at a Texas middle school, Holy American Burnout! weaves personal essay and cultural critique into the historic fabric of Black and biracial identity. In it, Enfield intersects examinations of which voices are granted legitimacy by virtue of school curriculum, the complex relationship between basketball and education for Black and brown students, his students’ burgeoning political consciousness during the 2016 presidential campaign, and cultural figures ranging from Kendrick Lamar to Hamlet. These classroom narratives abounding in Holy American Burnout! weave around Enfield’s own formative experiences contending with a conflicted biracial family lineage, reenacting the Middle Passage as the only Black student in his 7th grade history class, and moshing in both Christian and secular hardcore pits. As Enfield wrestles with the physical, mental, and emotional burdens that American society places on educators, students, and all relatively conscious minorities in this country, he reaches for an education that better navigates our burnt-out empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with journalist, author, and an acknowledged expert in American right-wing extremism, David Neiwert. Neiwert has appeared on Anderson Cooper 360, CNN Newsroom, and The Rachel Maddow Show and is the Pacific Northwest correspondent for the Southern Poverty Law Center. His work has appeared at Mother Jones, The Washington Post, MSNBC.com, and many other publications. His previous books include Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us, And Hell Followed With Her: Crossing the Dark Side of the American Border (NationBooks: Winner of the International Latino Book Award for General Nonfiction), and Alt-America: The Rise of The Radical Right in The Age of Trump. He has won a National Press Club award for Distinguished Online Journalism and his latest book — The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault On American Democracy — is the focus of this episode. From a smattering of ominous right-wing compounds in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, to the shocking January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, America has seen the culmination of a long-building war on Democracy being waged by a fundamentally violent and antidemocratic far-right movement that unironically calls itself the “Patriot” movement. So how did we get here? In his book, The Age of Insurrection, award-winning journalist Neiwert — who been following the rise of extremist groups since the late 1970s, when he was a young reporter in Idaho — explores how the movement was built over decades, how it was set aflame by Donald Trump and his cohorts, and how it will continue to attack American Democracy for the foreseeable future. In this episode host Michael Shields and David Neiwert get to the bottom of exactly how dangerous the radical right is at this juncture of American history. They break down the components of Trump’s Army while pondering how extremism has gone mainstream in a variety of ways. They talk about Steve Bannon’s role in spreading authoritarianism internationally, how the police have been infiltrated by the radical right, how organized the alt-right attacks are on democratic institutions at every level including local, state, and federal targets, and so much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist singer, songwriter, and soul innovator Brittany Davis. Originally from Kansas City, Brittany began playing piano and organ at a young age. After relocating to Seattle about a decade ago, their exceptional songwriting caught the attention of Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam, leading to a deal with his label, Loosegroove Records, and the birth of two outstanding albums. Blind since birth, Brittany describes themself as a “vessel of sound,” experiencing music in spirit and colors. To Brittany, everything is an instrument — every sound, object, and moment holds musical potential. Their work spans genres, blending elements of soul, R&B, rock, and hip-hop. Her latest album, a stunner entitled Black Thunder, is the focus of this episode. Black Thunder is a profound, fully improvised, fully realized collection that recalls artists like Nina Simone and Roberta Flack in its immersive, incantatory spirit. Produced by Josh Evans, it features Davis on keys and vocals, Evan Flory-Barnes on bass, and D’Vonne Lewis on drums. The trio — who barely knew each other prior to recording together — improvised Black Thunder in a surge of interactive creativity across two days in the studio. The short window in which to work did away with overthinking and brought each musician’s A-game. Steeped in Black and Afrocentric cultural influences, this is Davis’s most poignant and cathartic work to date. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with acclaimed singer-songwriter Mason Jennings. Mason is a Minnesota-based artist who is well known for his simple yet catchy melodies, intimate lyrics, intensely literary and historical themes, and deep tenor’s voice. With the release of his latest album Magnifier (Loosegroove Records) — the focus of this episode — Mason has gifted the world with 20 excellent and deeply affecting albums. Recorded solo at his lake house in Minnesota with just vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, kick drum, and snare, Magnifier finds Mason at his most minimal and honest. The eight songs that comprise the album meditate on love, change, grief, and hope, crafted with the kind of quiet intensity and lyrical precision that has become his hallmark. Magnifier was co-produced by Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard, also his band mate in the genre-bending band Painted Shield. With Magnifier, Jennings circles back to his acoustic roots, crafting what may be his most personal and affecting album yet.Follow Mason Jennings on Instagram.Follow Mason Jennings on Youtube.Listen to and/ or buy Magnifier on vinyl here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Stephen Chung, an award-winning cinematographer with well over twenty years of experience in moving images. Stephen's career began as a stills photographer, working in the commercial, fashion, and music industries in Canada and Europe for over a decade. In the 90s, his photography evolved into cinematography, and his earliest credits were music videos for artists such as Feist, Broken Social Scene, Do Make Say Think, Buck 65 and Blue Rodeo. Stephen has worked with Viceland, HBO, Discovery, Nat Geo, History Channel, 20th Century Fox, and The CBC. His most recent documentary  — It’s All Gonna Break — is the focus of this episode. Imagine being a fly on the wall at the birth of a musical movement that would change indie rock forever. In early 2000s in Toronto, a group of young creative musicians collectively known as, Broken Social Scene, got together and soon became a worldwide phenomenon. It’s All Gonna Break is an electrifying and intimate documentary about the indie rock band that redefined the sound of a generation. Filmmaker and longtime friend Stephen Chung was there from the beginning, capturing the chaos, creativity, and camaraderie that fueled their rise and caught on camera the making of the iconic album You Forgot It In People. With never-before-seen archival footage and new interviews with Kevin Drew, Leslie Feist, Brendan Canning, Emily Haines, Amy Millan, and more, the film traces the band’s evolution from raw basement jams to global stages. A love letter to independent music, It’s All Gonna Break is a vibrant time capsule of a pre-digital era and a moving reflection on friendship, art, and the freedom to create on your own terms. Attend a screening of It’s All Gonna Break! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with the directors of Songs of Black Folk, Haley Watson & Justin Emeka. Songs of Black Folk is a documentary that explores the Pacific Northwest’s largest annual gathering of Black musical talent. At its heart is Ramón Bryant Braxton, who — alongside his uncle, Rev. Dr. Leslie Braxton — brings to life a powerful Juneteenth celebration that honors their family’s legacy. The film captures a vibrant, often-overlooked community and commemorates a pivotal chapter in American history. Songs of Black Folk reminds audiences of the vital role music plays in healing, uniting, and uplifting. By sharing this story, Haley and Justin aim to honor history, inspire pride, and ignite a deeper understanding of the enduring impact of Black artistry.Haley Watson (director and producer) is known for films exploring human experience. Her storytelling prowess was exemplified when she pitched the original story for the Oscar-winner The Queen of Basketball. In June 2024 she debuted the short documentary she directed, Motorcycle Mary, at Tribeca Film Festival. The film was acquired by ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Justin Emeka (director) is an award-winning filmmaker from the Pacific Northwest with over 25 years of experience as a theater director. He is especially known for blending classical works with Black cultural expression. In 2022, he received a prestigious TV/Film Directing Fellowship from the Drama League of New York, expanding his creative vision into screen storytelling. His first two original short films, BIOLOGICAL and Six Winters Gone Still, have screened at festivals around the world, earning acclaim for their poetic visual language and emotional depth. He is a tenured professor of Theater and Africana Studies at Oberlin College, where he teaches directing, acting, and Capoeira. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.