Best Roger Ray Bird Podcasts (2024)

1
Introducing: What's Ray Saying? 35:38

12d ago35:38

35:38

Meet Ray Christian. Some people call him a storyteller, historian, father. Shoot, if you’ve got the time, he could fill you in on everything he’s been called. But first and foremost, he’s a Black veteran from the rural South who finds himself floating between life in academia, public speaking, storytelling, parenting, and tending to the goats in hi…

1
Introducing: We Disrupt This Broadcast 33:13

22d ago33:13

33:13

We Disrupt This Broadcast, a new podcast from The Peabody Awards and the Center for Media & Social Impact, features intimate interviews with award-winning television creatives shaping the future of entertainment with disruptive new narratives and fresh approaches. Join us as we explore how our favorite critically-acclaimed TV shows are re-imagining…

1
Episode #28: TODAY I am 35 years old, 35 Years Drug-Free TODAY. Recovery Rocks! 12:39

2M ago12:39

12:39

This topic here feels way too big to even address, dang, it’s huge. Earlier this week I planned a half-hearted attempt to do something about it, but then stopped. With the subject looming overhead, I tried to just move on with my daily activities, you know, staying busy and trying not to think about it. Alas I could not escape, I had no choice. A f…

1
Episode #27: Depression, Breaking the Chains of this Dark Daemon 1:21:21

3M ago1:21:21

1:21:21

How do we even begin to define depression? Well, from where I sit it appears to be an unsettled emotional state that crosses over into a physical ailment, brought on by a belief of being held down or pushed aside. Under mild conditions we are perhaps agitated, self-loathing, and unhopeful. Advancing then to moderate levels, a helplessness arrives, …

1
Episode #26: Co-host Shequila Hoye...growing up without a mother, stopping the cycle of generational substance abuse, accidental overdose, the stages of personal change, depression, love queries aftermath ... 2:07:04

4M ago2:07:04

2:07:04

There is so much adhesive hardship in life, aka trauma. Within this vibrant episode, my dear gal pal Shequila and I discuss substance abuse, poor mental health, and more. Shequila knows the all-consuming grip of addiction too-too well, having witnessed her mother's struggle with abusing heroin and other substances for three decades. She shouldered …

1
Introducing: Monumental - Whispers in Wilmington 52:12

5M ago52:12

52:12

For listeners of Studio 360, we’re featuring an episode from the new PRX podcast Monumental. The landscape of public memory is shifting. As we re-examine the plaques in our parks and the sculptures on our streets, we grapple with what to do with them. Once we learn the stories these objects tell about who we are, will tearing down statues and renam…

1
Episode #25: Free CHAPTER TWO audio reading from the ADDICT book 1:11:56

7M ago1:11:56

1:11:56

The complete CHAPTER TWO audio recording, read by Roger. CHAPTER ONE can be found in the previous pod episode #23. Chapter Two excerpt: (a poem) Mirror-Mirror Why Do You Hate Me So? Yes I see, yes Mirror I see the glass is clear yes I see… Yet Mirror, why always same-same the seeing? Storm clouds shower thy under-roof’s nest Sans shelter, sans safe…

1
Episode #24: LIVE event. Madison communal symposium on substance abuse. Nov 15, 2023 Madison Wisconsin 1:59:04

7M ago1:59:04

1:59:04

Over 100 friends packed the room, and in excess of 250 joined the FB livestream. Without discussion, we sit amidst an opioid and fentanyl epidemic. National suicide rates have reached true crisis levels. Alas, addiction and poor mental health casts their anguish upon us all. Eager to transcend the torment, chiefly we lack the comprehension of where…

1
Episode #23: Free CHAPTER ONE audio reading from the ADDICT book 35:16

8M ago35:16

35:16

A read-aloud of chapter one from the new book. Partial text: My scars represent my best lessons…my stumbles hurt me, while teach me. Growing into the learned weathering of up’s and downs, aka residing in the middle, this my greatest challenge awhile my greatest opportunity. I try, I really try, I try to remain honest that even when low, an up perio…

1
Episode #22: Leaving the shitty life behind, all of it...the self-doubt, the depression, the drugs, and instead...the hope, the faith, the dreams, and the sunshine. PLUS, a book reading. 30:51

8M ago30:51

30:51

Attempting to begin my life anew, I recognized the biggest challenge is overcoming the worst parts of myself. Beginning to claw my way up and out of that shitty hell, I found the need to silence the defeating voice in my head and go, just go. Dissecting the value of friends in my life, I also share a reading from my new book Daddy Why Were You A Dr…

1
Episode #21: Writing a book with Sarah Young...losing weeks of writing...starting over...staring down life's trauma...printing...binding...hybrid publishing. 1:14:15

2y ago1:14:15

1:14:15

Coach Sarah and I discuss the might of the written word…and what about the value of our stories shared anyway? Both regarding the writer awhile the reader, we consider the realities of publishing our life’s experiences…personal and professional. How to do it…self-publish, hybrid publishing, or working with a formal publisher? What happens after wri…

1
Episode #20: WTF is going on? Stuck...depressed...needing change...wanting a new life...well then, how? Here I get real...hyper-real, and bare all. I hold back nothing. 26:01

2y ago26:01

26:01

Stuck? Needing change? Wanting a new life. Well then, how? Here I get real. Hyper-F'ing real and bare all. I hold back nothing. Is it possible to get something else out of life...is it possible...is it really? Could I try something different? Could I even f*cking try to try? The book: Daddy, Why Were You A Drug Addict?: Winning the War Amid My Ange…

1
Episode #19: Co-host Charles. Keeping his sanity as a black man in America experiencing homelessness...mental health...Jim Crow...and mass incarceration. 1:51:28

2+ y ago1:51:28

1:51:28

Charles won conference three times as a wrestler in high school and went on to wrestle in college. He graduated with a management degree from University of Wisconsin and achieved success in corporate America before getting divorced and experiencing homelessness. Charles, aka Pops, is an amazing thinker and speaker, explaining how he was always a pl…

1
Episode #18: Co-host TJ. Self-reinvention...OxyContin...Heroin addiction...recovery & overdose...Len Bias Law prison time...finding our way. 2:06:22

2+ y ago2:06:22

2:06:22

This one goes deep and fast: addiction, recovery, overdose, and self-reinvention. TJ and I are both addicts and share some of our experiences. Comparing ourselves to ourselves, not others. Find our purpose, our personal truths, some blabber about striving, competing, and the balance between inner freedom and gaining acceptance to fuel our dirty ego…

1
Episode #17: Hard times...depression...darkness...suicide. Possibilities...sunshine...hope...getting up. All that is the Rollercoaster Puzzle Game, aka life. 21:20

2+ y ago21:20

21:20

I am engaged in a battle to make my own life. We all are. I attempt to live more like I desire, and less like I do not. We all do. Our frightening memories haunt us, we bleed quarts from past pains. The chain of yesterday is incarcerating, dragging the weight of days gone by with us wherever we go. Maybe we are teetering precariously, clinging to t…

1
S360 Extra: Nixon at War - Ep 1 October Surprise 41:21

3y ago41:21

41:21

Hello Studio 360 fans! We're sharing the first episode of a new podcast project, Nixon at War, hosted by Studio 360's Kurt Andersen. Nixon at War is a seven-episode history, a fresh new kind of chronicle about how Richard Nixon turned Vietnam into a war at home… that we’re still fighting today. Most accounts of the collapse of Richard Nixon’s presi…

1
Episode #16: Co-host Matt Halpern. Rockstar drummer for PERIPHERY...deep thinker...avoiding a drug addiction...parental problems...master of intentional living. 1:37:59

3y ago1:37:59

1:37:59

Matt Halpern, an incredibly savvy and accomplished businessman at the well-versed age of 38, ridiculously focused and disciplined since four years old, and hyper-talented with almost every one of his varied pursuits. As legit rockstar drummer with his progressive metal mates in their band Periphery, Matt and I have a deep conversation about his int…

1
Episode #15: Co-host JT Frank from Consequence of Habit podcast. Alcoholism...is there more to my existence than I'm living right now? 1:54:22

3y ago1:54:22

1:54:22

Episode 15 features JT Frank, on loan from his podcast show “Consequence of Habit”. JT challenges us all with his statements, “Is there more to my existence than I’m living right now?” and that we are “Harming ourselves by making ourselves feel good in the short-term”. The conversation runs the full spectrum in this episode: Shame. Fear. Deception …

1
Episode #14: Co-host Brian Ehrlich from SOULCRAFT podcast. Living with intention and truth. 59:51

3y ago59:51

59:51

Living with truth and intention. Brian Ehrlich and I discuss a multitude of deep life topics during this recent chat on his SOULCRAFT podcast. We may miss the opportunity to stay balanced in the middle of our life's struggles, either in conflict against what we think is wrong, or running from what scares us. We may strive to construct the perfect l…

1
Episode #13: In between the hardship is goodness...behind the clouds is the sun. 23:04

3+ y ago23:04

23:04

This episode is dedicated to my buddy Tyler and my friend JP. Two amazing young men, with endless possibilities but currently struggling to find their way… My heart goes out to you guys and all the guys and girls like you… It’s hard, it’s always going to be hard. But in between the hardship, there is goodness. It’s hard, it might even suck, and we …

1
Episode #12: Co-host Spencer Ploessl. The River of Life...business branding, marketing, and social media...simplifying life...prioritizing life paths. 2:17:48

3+ y ago2:17:48

2:17:48

The River of Life, Episode #12 with co-host Spencer Ploessl. If you have never listened to our podcast before, I will give a brief overview: my varying co-hosts flip a coin that decides who asks the first question. We then go back and forth and anything goes, the deeper the better. And when I say “our podcast”, I mean it, this is not my show, this …

1
Episode #11: Co-host Speedy Pete Laubmeier. Doing right by his family, helping others, and off-road motorcycle racing. 1:59:00

3+ y ago1:59:00

1:59:00

I am thrilled to welcome Speedy Pete Laubmeier as my co-host for episode #11. Speedy Pete is one of the deepest and most caring humans I know. Pete always puts his family first, then helping others second, and third, his dirt bike motorcycle. Speedy recognizes his #1 job in life as doing right by his family and with his wife Rachel, instilling resp…

1
Episode #10: Co-host John Stamstad. One of the most pioneering and accomplished ultra-athlete on the planet. Depression...addiction...alcoholism...re-inventing thyself, and trying to be mindful of it all ... 2:10:14

3+ y ago2:10:14

2:10:14

There are people who run and/or cycle, and then there are runners and cyclists. There are runners and cyclists, and then there are racers of those two demanding sports. There are racers running and cycling who are competitive, and then there are those racers who win. There are racers who win, and then there are those successful athletes who are des…

1
Episode #9: Co-host Dennis Dodson. Part two conclusion after his 2,500- mile bike ride fundraiser. 1:36:07

3+ y ago1:36:07

1:36:07

There are those people who are thinkers, and then there are others who are doers. Dennis Dodson is both, but there have been many ups and downs along the way. With a master’s degree in Cultural Sociology and enough life adventures to fill a small library, Dennis continues to share his thoughts and his stories in this final part of our conversation …

1
Episode #8: Co-host Dennis Dodson. Part one after his 2,500 mile fundraiser bike ride to Washington DC benefitting for Native causes. Trauma...life hardship. 1:40:18

3+ y ago1:40:18

1:40:18

Dennis and I reconnect after his 2,500-mile bike ride where he attended the BLM march in DC and raised money for Native causes. Dennis speaks of the multiple levels of adventure he had as well as a few ugly moments along the way. But he is home safe and sound almost three months later. Additional topics include the simple life, mental health, homel…

1
Episode #7: Co-host Ray Petro. Self reinvention...living a new life from a wheelchair as a quadriplegic. Addiction...Cocaine...alcoholism...carpentry...Ray's Indoor Mountainbike Parks...making a difference ... 1:32:39

4y ago1:32:39

1:32:39

We all face our own trauma. There is no measurable comparison of pain. I started this podcast show to openly discuss the harsh realities of life rarely spoken of. Ray lived a happy-go-lucky life in his younger years, but his alcohol and drug addictions were keeping a meaningful life out of reach. Ray then decided to take his life back from the forc…

1
Episode #6: Co-hosted with Sarah Young. Integrity, personal truths, lies, work, and happily ever after. 1:49:07

4y ago1:49:07

1:49:07

We discuss our collective ability to have conversations, engaging with others who hold different views, and the concept of divine discontent. Much of the talk focuses around integrity and truth as we push and strive to succeed, both for the benefit of our employers and optimizing our own success at home and in our work, even if we work for ourselve…

1
Episode #5: Co-hosted with David Tambeaux. Mental health...kids...work crap...home crap...living our best damn life. 2:12:10

4y ago2:12:10

2:12:10

Episode #5 features my co-host and Baltimore buddy, David Tambeaux. We discuss taking a head-on approach to life, relationships, and work, as well as the critical nature of a solid foundation of truth and great communication. David shares his struggles of helping with the poor mental health of a family member and how he tries to stop short of enabl…

1
Episode #4: Co-host Laird Knight: Vietnam...Heroin...Alcoholism. Sharing our purpose to the world. TRUE LOVE: fact or fiction? Pushing through the pain and trauma to our best lives. 1:54:41

4y ago1:54:41

1:54:41

My co-host Laird Knight is a husband, father, works as a realtor in Morgantown, WV USA, he invented 24-hour mountain bike racing in 1992, and he is in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. Laird grew up as an Army Brat to a father who was a Vietnam combat officer and an alcoholic. Laird and his wife Barbara adopted three children of color from Ethiopia w…

1
Episode #3: Co-host Dennis Dodson. Mental health...racism...depression...suicide...ground-level on 9/11...addiction...solidarity...systemic injustice...Baltimore. 2:19:12

4y ago2:19:12

2:19:12

My big-hearted and white-skinned cycling friend Dennis Dodson is an artist, has a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the New School for Social Research with a focus on culture and ethnography. His journey has been interesting, as he grew up in a racist working-class neighborhood of North Baltimore. Dennis claims he has been obsessed with cycling sin…

1
Episode #2: Co-hosted with Jim Ahearn. Grief...losing a spouse...racism...f*cking cancer...single fatherhood...long bike rides. 2:45:30

4y ago2:45:30

2:45:30

In March 2020, our Cottage Grove, WI neighbor and friend Jim Ahearn lost his dear wife Ann to aggressive cancer. Ann was a gorgeous and vibrant 42 years young when she passed. Ann left her two darling children, both under 12 years old and both who are adopted kids of color, to live with their white and newly-widowed single dad. Jim is a super-aweso…

1
Episode #1: With SuperStarSarah Young, aka Coach Sarah. The Cool$hit ToolKit...tools for living despite the trauma and challenges brought upon us. 1:29:09

4y ago1:29:09

1:29:09

A rebroadcast of an interview between me and my business coach Sarah Young. We discuss my crazy life story and share a few of my life tools that I fabricated out of necessity to help me save my own life from myself. At five years old, my three sisters and I lost our mother to mental illness. At 13 years old I became a drug addict and a junkie with …

1
The final episode 51:26

4+ y ago51:26

51:26

After 20 years, Studio 360 is switching off the ON AIR light one last time. Alec Baldwin conducts Kurt Andersen’s exit interview and they listen to some of Kurt’s favorite moments with guests. Since it’s this show’s finale, Kurt talks with TV showrunners David Mandel and Warren Leight about the art of writing a finale — and some of their favorites …

1
Studio 360 Extra: American Icons: The Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence 1:10:43

4+ y ago1:10:43

1:10:43

From 1910 to 1970, 6.6 million African Americans migrated from the rural south – a dramatic movement that would permanently change the social, political and cultural fabric of our nation. In 1941, Jacob Lawerence’s iconic series The Migration of the Negro (now generally referred to as The Great Migration) rocked the art world with its depictions of…

1
Studio 360 Extra: Aural History: How Studio 360 Got Started 36:17

4+ y ago36:17

36:17

Studio 360 broadcast its first episode on November 4, 2000, just before we elected George W. Bush as President and we all learned what a “hanging chad” was. Fittingly, that first program was an exploration of art and politics hosted by a newcomer to radio, author and journalist Kurt Andersen. Originally produced out of WNYC Radio, and most recently…

1
Public Enemy’s groundbreaking album, Maya Angelou’s classic memoir and Angie Thomas on TLC 50:36

4+ y ago50:36

50:36

How Public Enemy brought the revolution to hip-hop with “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.” Plus, our Americans Icons segment on Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” which broke boundaries when it was published and still profoundly resonates with readers today. And Young Adult author Angie Thomas on how the late TLC perfor…

1
Extra: New York Icons: Kaufman Astoria Studios 34:14

4+ y ago34:14

34:14

New York was the original center of American moviemaking. But soon filmmakers figured out it was cheaper and simpler to work in California’s open spaces and good weather. With the westward migration, however, certain types of filmmakers were still drawn to New York. They found a home at Paramount’s “Big House,” a grand movie studio built by Adolph …

1
Delilah, the making of Yanni and loving ‘Sweet Valley High’ 50:36

4+ y ago50:36

50:36

Where do you turn when you’re heartbroken in the dead of night? Delilah, of course. Her radio call-in show pairs romantic advice with the perfect song. Plus, how Yanni, John Tesh and others discovered an improbable vehicle to ‘90s stardom: the PBS pledge drive. For our Guilty Pleasures series, the writer and “This American Life” producer Bim Adewun…

1
The Oscar episode 51:01

4+ y ago51:01

51:01

It’s all about the Oscars. Kurt talks with Thelma Schoonmaker, the longtime editor for Martin Scorsese who’s up for an Academy Award for “The Irishman”; Adam Driver, who’s a contender for his performance in “Marriage Story”; Quentin Tarantino, nominated for his film, “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”; and Antonio Banderas, nominated for his performa…

1
Extra: This Woman’s Work: ‘Black Gold’ by Nina Simone 35:22

4+ y ago35:22

35:22

This Woman’s Work is a series of stories from Classic Album Sundays and Studio 360, highlighting classic albums by female artists who have made a lasting impact on music and pop culture. This time: the Grammy nominated live album “Black Gold” by singer and pianist Nina Simone. It was recorded in front of a packed audience at Philharmonic Hall in Ne…

1
‘12 Angry Men’ and the music of Cuphead 51:25

4+ y ago51:25

51:25

For our latest installment of American Icons, Studio 360’s Sam Kim explores “12 Angry Men,” the courtroom drama that has inspired jurists — and Hollywood script writers — for decades. And how Kris Maddigan, a first-time video game composer, wrote a 3-hour long jazz album for the popular indie game Cuphead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me…

1
Wynton Marsalis and Kate Bush 51:20

4+ y ago51:20

51:20

He’s a jazz icon, but Wynton Marsalis has always been drawn to classical music as well. Marsalis talks with Kurt Andersen about composing symphonies and performing with orchestras. And the newest installment in our series about influential albums by women, This Woman's Work, features “Hounds of Love” by Kate Bush, with performers as varied Outkast’…

1
Extra: ‘BoJack Horseman’ creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg 22:55

4+ y ago22:55

22:55

The final eight episodes of “BoJack Horseman” — Netflix’s animated series about a washed-up ’90s sitcom star living in the Hollywood Hills — will be released on January 31. Its protagonist is half-horse, half-man, and its tone is half-jokes, half-existential-angst. That’s a study in contrasts that seems inexplicable—until you talk with the show’s c…

1
Images of New York: ‘West Side Story’ and Garry Winogrand’s ‘Central Park Zoo’ 50:03

4+ y ago50:03

50:03

Six decades after it premiered on Broadway, “West Side Story” is everywhere again, with a revival on Broadway and a movie in the works. But many still are troubled by the way Puerto Ricans are depicted. Plus, the story behind Garry Winogrand’s 1967 photo, "Central Park Zoo," which featured a white woman and a black man holding chimpanzees dressed i…

1
Tig Notaro’s case for Nickelback, Ranky Tanky live, and Jamie Barton’s bisexual spin on classical music 50:08

4+ y ago50:08

50:08

Ranky Tanky performs live in our studio, and explains to Kurt Andersen how their music is rooted in the regional Gullah culture — descendants of West African slaves who lived on isolated islands along the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas. For our Guilty Pleasures series, comic Tig Notaro says why she loves the widely loathed band Nickelback, esp…

1
Extra: New York Icons: ‘Central Park Zoo’ by Garry Winogrand 22:16

4+ y ago22:16

22:16

Garry Winogrand was a master of street photography, even though he disavowed that label. He photographed across the United States, including Texas and California, but his hometown, New York City, remained his greatest inspiration. His 1967 Central Park Zoo photo, of a white woman and a black man holding chimpanzees dressed in human clothes, is one …

1
American Icons: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ — Part Two 49:59

4+ y ago49:59

49:59

A half century later, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” is still shaping our future. With no help from CGI, the movie predicted private space travel, artificial intelligence and much of Apple’s product line. It showed the promise and perils of technology and explored life’s biggest mystery: Are we alone in the universe? In Part Two of our l…

1
American Icons: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ — Part One 50:30

4+ y ago50:30

50:30

A half century later, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” is still shaping our future. With no help from CGI, the movie predicted private space travel, artificial intelligence and half of Apple’s product line. It showed the promise and perils of technology and explored life’s biggest mystery: Are we alone in the universe? In Part One, we look…

1
Extra: Human Intelligence: A Holiday Tale 23:31

4+ y ago23:31

23:31

Kurt Andersen’s version of a Christmas story doesn’t have your typical talking snowman or mistletoe. Instead, this holiday tale involves extraterrestrial surveillance and melting polar ice caps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy PRI

1
Jukebox heroes 51:21

4+ y ago51:21

51:21

Our latest New York Icons segment is about Midtown Manhattan’s Brill Building era, when songwriters like Carole King, Ellie Greenwich and Cynthia Weil churned out hit after hit for artists like The Shirelles, The Crystals and Little Eva. And producer Evan Chung investigates the strange story of a song from that era about a craze that was most defin…

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