Catching Babies with Mary Helen Ayres (part 1)
Bloomington Stories
Mary Helen claims that we are all celebrities in Bloomington. And yeah, she’s got a point. But, c’mon, she is one of the few local celebrities who can claim that, on a regular basis, she goes into a home and leaves after another human has magically appeared. In this episode, we get to talk about one of our favorite subjects: screwing life up in your teens and twenties. We also discuss Russian literature, Led Zeppelin, the fight to legalize midwifery in Indiana, Tom Donahue of TD’s CDs and LPs, and much more. We also get a rollicking Mellencamp moment, courtesy of James Robinson. Thank...
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Josh Got Effed and Chris Effed Up: A Summer Check-In
Bloomington Stories
We’re on vacay but couldn’t resist throwing together an ep so we don’t break our 26 episode streak. So, that leaves you having to hear us on our bullshit again with no guest to redeem us. In this lil bitch chat, we discuss falling utility poles, mustaches, customer service, Facebook Marketplace deals gone very wrong, falling limbs, and so on. The only redemption this episode enjoys are jokes from Jon Hancuff and a Mellencamp Moment with Dason Anderson. Happy July and eff you. Thank you to our sponsors, Gretchen and Ruth Nall and for their support of the pod. And thanks as usual to ...
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Tom Shelton, Hoosier Artographer
Bloomington Stories
In a 1999 song, Tom Waits persistently asks, “What's he building in there?/ What the hell is he building in there?” In his humble garage art studio, Tom Shelton has been making magical “pictures,” often landscapes, rendered through the ordered lens through which he sees the world. In fact, a piece on Journey Indiana describes him as a “system painter.” Not only did we discuss his paintings but also his childhood, partially defined by his mother’s alcoholism, and his circuitous and beautiful life path. Episode links: (documentary mentioned in episode) Thank you to our...
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Stacy Bridavsky - Side A: Internet Cat, Side B: Cold Case
Bloomington Stories
Most of us have that event in our life that seemed insignificant at the time but ultimately defined the trajectory of our life. For Stacy Bridavsky, it was an internet cat film festival after an exhausting day of orientation for a new job at an art museum in Minneapolis. It was here that her future husband Mike, also known as Lil Bub’s dude, fell head over heels for her. In less than a year, she was living with him (in sin) in Bloomington, which was where she learned of the heartbreaking and suspicious 2015 death of IU student Joseph Smedley, who was found dead in Griffy Lake with 66 pounds...
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The Many Faces of Anurag Bhat
Bloomington Stories
Anurag Bhat has been a policeman in India and a mosh pit participant at the Bishop. He has abandoned his childhood home under the cover of the night in Kashmir and facilitated a heat mapping study under the glare of the sun in Bloomington. In our conversation with this IU grad student, we talk about everything from ice water to climate change. He may not be long for Bloomington, but this episode can serve as a time capsule for his time in our town. Thank you to our sponsors, Gretchen and Ruth Nall and for their support of the pod. And thanks as usual to Designed by and sponsored by ....
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PowerPoint Love with Bloomington Singletons
Bloomington Stories
Mallory Elver was tired of sitting on her couch, swiping left and right to look for love. Then, her pal Nicole Bennett discovered an alternative to internet dating in Indianapolis, and was born. Months later, Nicole was standing in the front of a private room at Heartworks Brewery, pitching her friend Mallory to a crowd of live humans. Josh and Chris were on the scene, interviewing so many fascinating attendees — including the emcee, pitchers (one from Trinidad!), pitchees (including a standup comedian), and other gawkers and spectators. In the immortal words of so many 80s newsletters,...
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Pam Thrash Pities the Fool Who Doesn’t Listen to This Episode
Bloomington Stories
The voice of Pam Thrash has been part of the soundtrack of so many of our lives in Bloomington. Currently the host of the popular Retro Lunch Hour on B97, Pam has been broadcasting tunes and joy on the radio waves for over thirty years. An ice-skating injury as a child sparked her DJ journey and began a wild ride of a life. Pam Thrash is living proof that, if you’re lucky enough to find the thing you love, you’d better hang onto it for dear life and be willing to pretend like you know how to do the things that will get you in the door. And did we mention that Mr. T once sent her flowers?...
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&#%!@ in the Wind with Josh and Chris
Bloomington Stories
Well everybody, we didn’t have time to interview an official guest because Josh is heading to Spain with Virginia to hang with her badass family. But we did get some excellent Mellencamp stories from our friend, Angie Cannon, who is a real-deal townie. Other than that, unfortunately for you, what you are getting here is the kind of episode that gives podcasts a bad name: a couple of dipshits talking about nothing and having the audacity to invite you to put your earbuds in and enter their void of absurdity. That said, we twa hae run about the braes, and pou'd the gowans fine; But we've...
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So Many Cigarettes with Maria Douglas
Bloomington Stories
Maria Douglas is one of those people who really holds down the fort for Bloomington. She is badass social worker-community servant-activist, currently serving the Monroe County Women’s Commission, NAACP Youth Council, and Hoosier Asian American Power, which she helped found. During all of this, she has been on an intense journey, making sense of her experience as a transracial Korean adoptee. Last but not least, if you were around in the 90s in Bloomington, you may have wandered around town drunk with her, probably smoking too many cigarettes. Episode links: Maria contact...
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It Was the Best of Times. It Was the Wurster of Times
Bloomington Stories
We highly recommend that you go back and listen to our episode if you have not already. Jon Wurster is the drummer for The Mountain Goats and Bob Mould. He was the drummer for Superchunk for over three decades. He is also a comedy writer and performer, known best for his hilarious characters in The Best Show, including Ronald Thomas Clontle, the fictitious author of the book, Rock, Rot & Rule. Clontle claims that his book is the ultimate argument settler when it comes to deciding whether famous bands and musicians rock, rot, or rule. This interview brings to a close a story that has been...
info_outlineRusty Peterson is the drummer in our band, The ShackUps, and the mysteriously sexy voice behind the Bloomington Stories intro. He is also a master carpenter and owns Rusty Peterson Construction. But we don’t like to dwell on the things people are good at. In this episode, Rusty tells us about his experiences with nature, nudity, yoga cults, 10 gallon buckets of dumpster pie, and sinking boats. If you don’t believe us, why don’t ya just take a listen for yourself, ya lil bitch.
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Content Warning: It is never our intention to hurt or offend people, and we plan to be mindful about not punching down. We are always open to feedback about this because we want to keep growing and evolving until we croak. However, we do like to joke around and we are middle-aged, so our sense of humor may not be for you.