I met Joi Razinha, known professionally as Tamra Henna, in high school. I had a couple circles of friends, one that smoked, drank, skipped school, and got into other miscellaneous teenage hooliganism, and one that was artistic, academically successful, and sat on the edge of the pool talking about Sylvia Plath and whatnot. Joi was in that second gr…

I decided to try something different this time. I wanted to experiment with turning short stories I wrote into audio, and this is the first of several, I hope. The hard part for me is always asking other people to do something for me, like sitting for an interview, or in this case reading the story out loud into a recorder. As I explain in a conver…

It’s been a struggle staying active and healthy and creative as this pandemic stretches on and on and on, and I just haven’t felt much like writing or creating or editing and adding music to the audio I recorded with brooks back in January. Often the basics have felt like just too much work. But here it is! Just in time for new surges in hospitaliz…

I spoke to Andrea Rudnick, one of the founding members of Team Brownsville via Zoom in July. They are a group of Brownsville citizens who are doing necessary work in even more difficult circumstances now under the challenges of COVID-19 than they were facing over the last two years. If you are moved to support them, please do. They spend close to $…

I spoke to Alfredo Gomez after he spoke at a Circles of Men Project gathering. The theme was “If you know yourself, you can move past fear.” It was his first time at a Circles of Men gathering, and he was inspired to share. When I later asked if anyone would be willing to speak for a podcast, he contacted me to share his story in a little more deta…

I hope everybody out there is taking good care of themselves and each other through these strange days. This is our first episode since the COVID-19 madness sent us home, but I’m glad I had a chance to talk to Jonny Reynolds from inside Forbidden Fruit after hours before social distancing was a phrase I’d ever heard. Thank you so much, Jonny for yo…

Amy Haden-Knost talks about her military service during Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, online dating, same sex marriage before Obergefell v. Hodges, and becoming a grandparent. My thanks to Amy for sharing her time with me, especially since I don’t think talking is her favorite pastime. This was the first interview I’ve done long distance, so it was fun fi…

Today we have Clay Boykin, a Marine, a retired business executive, and a New Compassionate Male. He was called to servant leadership in his professional life and in retirement has made connecting and helping others connect on a heart level his mission. My favorite quote of his from this interview is, “And this whole idea that once one is committed …

I couldn’t resist another story from Steve Birch, one I cut from the last episode in the interest of time. I learned a new word from Steve in this one: Kenshō. For this story, recall that Steve is writing a book on discovering his family roots, a discovery that started with a family friend finding a photograph in a magazine of Steve’s great grandfa…

For a full transcript and music attribution, please see https://www.caterpillargooshow.com/. Many thanks to Steve Birch for sharing himself and a few of his stories. Thanks also to Flora Folgar for her support and her help with the editing.By Rod Haden

Full credits on caterpillargooshow.com with thanks to Audacity, Soundation, Looperman, Loop Loft, and The Internet Archive.By Rod Haden

For a full transcript and music attribution, please see https://www.caterpillargooshow.com/. Many thanks to Brad Clark for his time, his openness, and his vulnerability. Thank you to Flora Folgar for her time, support, and editing skills.By Rod Haden

A very Merry Christmas Eve to you all! Here is our last episode of the season, an interview with Curtis Myers, longtime Austin sound engineer and shredder. He’s the perfect person to represent goodwill toward men this holiday! I had a great time talking to him, and I’m grateful to get to work with him day in and day out. All of our best to you and …

Today we have a conversation with Brandon Foster, a coworker of mine. Brandon’s has a charisma and energy that I really like and admire. Despite everything he has been and continues to go through, he keeps a positive attitude and a focus on growth. As he says, he’s always grinding. Thanks for taking the time, Brandon. As always, please rate and rev…

Earlier this month, I told a story at the Austin Public Library’s live storytelling event. This whole project is having the desired effect of making me more comfortable with public speaking, and storytelling themes are a fun way to have a built-in writing prompt. I highly recommend it as a creative outlet! We have two more episodes almost complete.…

At the age of 27, Travis Mann got a crash course in Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a neurological disorder that started as what he thought was just a lingering respiratory infection. Suddenly, he found himself in a Critical Care Unit too weak to function. This is his story of facing his fears, the long, slow recovery, and the depression that followed. Ou…

Today, Flora shares her story of landing in America, shortly before her 9th birthday, with her grandfather holding one hand and her 5-year-old brother holding the other. Knowing only a handful of English words, she leaves the familiar and familial world of Dhaka, Bangladesh behind to start a new life in Queens, New York. Will she survive the cultur…

Will Taylor and Strings Attached shows have been a semi-regular part of my post-divorce life, and it was at one of their shows when Flora and I first held hands. We even had our first kiss that night. They are a wonderful part of the Austin live music world, and their skills with every instrument and every style of music, plus their improv and coll…

We're back for more! Our season 2 opener is a special story to me. My brother first told me a version of this story when we were on a more-or-less annual road trip across the state to watch some football. We live about 25 miles apart, but we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like. Busy work and family lives often get in the way of adult …

Welcome back for Season 2! We're excited about keeping this project rolling along, and we've made a couple of improvements along the way. First, I'm done trying to record on my laptop. I purchased a Zoom H5 recorder that I quite like, and I've just added a second microphone, a Shure SM48 microphone to use with the recorder so Flora can do the two-m…

Rod Haden Today we have an interview with Amy, talking about what she learned about herself, life, and love from marriage, divorce, and dating. She has style, charm, and humor, and it was a lot of fun hanging out and talking with her. Thanks, Amy! This is probably the last interview for a little bit of awhile, until we can find more people willing …

Flora Folgar I was an introvert. My son is an introvert. And after my ex-husband sent me this article, I'm thinking about ranges and spectrums and shades of gray.By Flora Folgar

Rod Haden I keep coming back in my mind to WNYC's On the Media and their interview with Mohamedou Ould Slahi. I haven't read his book yet, but I will. Maybe it will answer the question I have. I don't know what he went through, or how long and how much work it took for him to get to where he is now, but I wonder: how can he not blame? How can he no…

Rod Haden This week I performed in my third live storytelling event. It was for Testify, one of several different Austin area storytelling groups. This was the first time I had to pitch a story and work with producers. Kate Caldwell and Angela Maldonado gave me really useful feedback and helped me make the story better. The other storytellers were …

Flora Folgar I've been thinking about something universal to parenting in relative safety and comfort: that an easy life might not be the way that kids grow into strong, resilient, and creative people. And of course there's always the universal parenting fear that we're failing, even when we know we're not.…

Rod Haden Where is fancy bred? In the heart, or in the head? Wait, wrong question. I could do Wonka quotes all day. What? He was quoting Shakespeare? The hell you say! What about "Spring time, the only pretty ring time?" Shakespeare too? What are you saying to me right now??? Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah. How comes maturity to the …

February is a good time to throw away those New Years resolutions. Or is it?By Flora Folgar

Rod Haden In this episode, I sit down with Christopher Howell on squeaky chairs in a church conference room to talk about personal growth, spiritual exploration, addiction, work, cancer, and taking yoga out of the studio and onto the trail. He is doing what many people dream of doing: earning a living doing what he loves. Yoga Hike is a deeply sati…

Flora Folgar I’ve finally completed my interview with Rod. I’m grateful for his vulnerability. I think when we are honest and open about our life challenges, our insecurities, our fears, our mistakes, we enter a deeper, more meaningful relationship with everyone around us, including ourselves. This episode is about alcoholism. Rod's openness about …

Rod Haden While we wait for part the third of the epic interview that Flora conducted all about me and my love life and everything else, in which I use a lot of words and frequently forget before I'm done answering just what the question was, here's a little fun I had with some of the audio outtakes. Please to enjoy!…

Rod Haden I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season! I certainly am. Time is flying and my days are packed. This week we have a conversation with my father, Rudy Haden, a man who has fascinated me ever since I was a wee lad. He's that special kind of quiet that invites others to project onto him whatever they want him to be. Getting him t…

It's Rod talking about himself some more! His favorite subject. Flora's favorite part is our duet on "Last Christmas." This episode was produced and edited by Flora Folgar, and mixed by Rod, featuring outro music from Aiden Folgar. Here's the transcript: Rod: (con’t from Part 1) I thought if I continued to build my life back up again maybe someday …

I hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours, if you celebrate that sort of thing. Ours was filled with travel and family, new places and new people and new food. It was a joy! This time, we have my first time conducting an interview, and my first time recording an interview. The interview took place a couple of months ago now, and there was a key …

We're back for another round! Audio levels are better this week, the intro music is shorter, and Flora's in the house this time! She's so cute. I love her voice. My favorite moment of the episode is her saying, "Making babies!" Listen for it! This episode was produced and edited by Flora Folgar, and mixed by me, Rod Haden. Be warned, I do say "s***…

Rod's first experience with live storytelling, in which he recalls camping in a downpour and kayaking with a heron, and remembers that life-changing trip to Belize, long before he learned to settle for the safe and the comfortable. Our first story of transformation.By Rod Haden