Episode 127: Prediction Machines, Bigfoot & a Hip Campus discusses the brain, the mind, memory and perception and a bunch of things that have to do with our noggins. Oh, and some Emily Dickinson in there, of course. Bill and Shaun are joined by Bill's great-nephew Evan, who is very good at cutting through the nonsense. Brain jokes and sketchy knowl…

In this episode of the On Adventure Podcast, I sit down with Joe Gray, an exceptional athlete who turned challenges into triumphs. Joe shares his journey from growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, and attending the Tennessee School for the Blind to becoming a world-class athlete. With the support of dedicated mentors and his unwavering determination,…

Episode 126: Down the Dirt Roads is a different WPL episode, as Bill is out of town, and Shaun welcomes Faith Phillips, author of a book that will be the first one in the poetry museum's fall CRIME, SHE SAID book club. We discuss growing up and walking down the dirt roads in Oklahoma and a true crime case here that she wrote the book Now I Lay Me D…

Episode 125: Swept Away in a Sweeping Sweep takes you on a journey through three poems recently left in the museum. Discussions about the muses, the sport of curling, line graphs, and more ensure.By Shaun Perkins

Welcome back to the On Adventure podcast! In today's episode, we have an inspiring and candid conversation with Pete Ripmaster. Pete, now a seasoned ultra-endurance athlete, shares his journey from the highs and lows of his athletic pursuits to his personal battles and triumphs. In fact, it all started with a Couch-to-Marathon run, and he kept goin…

Episode 124: The Cryptids are Coming! Rot-ro! It’s true, Scooby Doo, the 2025 exhibit at the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry will be about cryptids, the hidden creatures of our imagination, folklore . . . and occasionally, real life! Shaun and Bill discuss Bigfoot, Chuck Norris (not a cryptid . . . or . . . hmm) and more in this episode.…

Welcome back to another episode of the On Adventure Podcast, where I dive deep into the extraordinary tales of endurance and personal growth, probing why everyday explorers continue to push their own limits. In this episode, I reconnect with Van Fletcher, a dad, a real estate professional, and, oh yeah, a world class triathlete AND an ultraman comp…

Episode 123: On Not Vegetating in an Earth Corner takes Mark Twain's advice about travel and applies it to . . . traveling! and poetry! and pigs on the beach! and . . . well, just give it a listen!By Shaun Perkins

*Credit Elia Saikaly - Kenton on the Everest summit In this episode of the On Adventure Podcast, I sit down with Kenton Cool, a legendary high-altitude climber with an incredible record of Everest ascents and a storied career in mountain exploration. Dive into a conversation that explores not only the physical heights of the world’s most formidable…

Episode 122: Closets I Have Known is certainly about closets. Would we steer you wrong? Sweep you away? Lock you in? It's also about brooms and witches. And brooms. Sweep. Sweep. Sweep. Poetry and bad jokes, of course, abound.By Shaun Perkins

In this captivating episode of the On Adventure podcast, host Josh Self interviews Robbie Lenfestey at his remarkable retreat, Mandala Springs, located in the scenic mountains outside Asheville, North Carolina. Robbie, a man of profound wisdom and thrilling life experiences, shares his extraordinary adventures that have taken him from being kidnapp…

Shaun & Bill are joined by Gallery America's Robert Reid on a journey through couplets, spells, curses, advice, empty truck beds, limericks, and lots of stuff about barns. Also, we offer you tips on how to handle advice from 3-year-old Kate and her tent sign.By Shaun Perkins

I didn't know these fellas before our chat, but by the end it was clear we all come from the same tribe. In the latest episode of the On Adventure Podcast, we dove into a wild group conversation that ventured beyond the beaten path. Joined by Adam Hill, Shaun Pope, Ryan James, and Mark Looney, the dialogue unfolded amidst the rustic charm of Black …

Episode 120: Magical Petri Dish steers you headlong into a discussion of community message boards and the poetry and tragedy therein. Get ready to laugh or suffer or both.By Shaun Perkins

In today's episode of the On Adventure Podcast, we took a deep dive into the great outdoors with the remarkable Heidi Nisbet. Heidi is a friend of a friend, but by the end of the conversation, I felt like we had known each other forever. We gravitate toward a similar tribe. As someone who shares my passion for the Appalachian Trail, Heidi brought a…

Episode 199: The Mystery of the Second Person explores the case of the floating, ambiguous, ethereal, significant, impactful, and multifarious "YOU." If you don't know what we mean, YOU are who we mean. Yeah, something like that.By Shaun Perkins

In today's episode, we embark on a deeply personal journey with Tim Matthews, a seasoned adventurer and outdoor enthusiast who just happens to be a retired Navy one-star Admiral. In this conversation, Tim shares his profound insights and experience, both personal and professional, offering a glimpse into the transformative power of outdoor pursuits…

Episode 118: Cardi B Poetry isn’t about her, but it’s a shameless attempt to get people to this website to listen to 30-frickin’ minutes of high-class entertainment about cards, not WAP. Yep, you read that right: CARDS. GREETING CARDS. It’s something people used to do. And verse ensued and some poetry, too . . . sometimes, not too often . . . but h…

I can't say that I have spent enough time in a bike saddle to consider the merits of cycle touring. In fact, until I met my next guest, I really didn't understand cycle touring at all. Rick Steeves has it down to a science, though. What started as a time-filler during a gap year in college eventually turned in to a life long pursuit of adventure on…

Episode 117: What the Nose Knows explores the olfactory element of our lives, as it is found in poetry and in the wild and perhaps in wild poetry. We have a variety of smell tests, some bad couplets, and a few wonderful poems by Crystal Wilkinson, William Carlos Williams, and Emily Dickinson. Follow your nose and let your ears enjoy this 1/2 hour o…

Love these podcast conversations, but this one came home a little closer. This conversation is with my friend and business partner, Mike Perkins. Mike knows everyone. He has lived his life wide open, and has lots of stories about lots of different people because of it. He also has a huge heart. So the combo of being outgoing and a bleeding heart, i…

Episode 116: Bony Sodden Hulk features your favorite February furry creature, the groundhog, just in time for Groundhog Day. No, he's not a bony sodden hulk . . . well, not yet anyway. We'll all be there someday. Please to enjoy this entry with groundhog poems and lore and a wonderful impromptu limerick from Bill!…

Episode 115: Bring on the Belly Laughs celebrates Global Belly Laugh Day with poems by Billy Collins and a special hairdresser/jill of all trades guest Sandy.By Shaun Perkins

It is a treat to be surprised to learn something amazing and interesting about someone you have known for a long time. My hour or so conversation with Thom Asta fits this description perfectly. I have known Thom for going on 20 years but the things we discussed blew me away and gave me a new level of respect for a man that I had a ton for already. …

Episode 114: Poetry Out Loud & Zesty takes you into the world of poetry memorization and recitation, but wait, don’t run away . . . It’s an entertaining episode, too, wherein Shaun cracks Bill up and vice versa and the sublime and the ridiculous interact, as is the way that life is supposed to work after all.…

Episode 113: Boldly Fruity is a potpourri episode where hosts Bill and Shaun walk in not knowing what the other is going to discuss. A paper bag full of gum, a writer's toolkit, various poems and barbarism ensue.By Shaun Perkins

We are getting the second season of the On Adventure podcast off to a bang with my first conversation. Adventure can come at all ages, and I know my next guest knows this very well. Because he is my son, Eli. Eli is in his second year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the holiday break, we got to sit down for a couple hours…

Episode 112: Here you shall learn all you would want to know about messages in a bottle, or at least, a lot of cool stuff about them. Throw one in the Crutchfield Relief beside the poetry museum, and we'll be happy! Sign up with NASA and send your name in a bottle to Jupiter with a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limon!…

Episode 111: Purrrfectly Familiar delves into the concept of the witch's familiar and the various animals that have served this purpose, or at least, served it in someone's eyes enough to make the woman A WITCH! Crocodiles, ferrets and hedgehogs are all welcome, along with the traditional cats.By Shaun Perkins

Episode 110: Make Art--Eat Cereal takes you on a journey to a child's yard sale art stand to the origins of creativity, into cereal and foxes with tails on fire and creative play as a necessary component of everyone's lives. All in 30 frickin' minutes. Be in awe.By Shaun Perkins

I love all of these conversations, but I am particularly fond of this one because I have known Rachel for many years. I have watched her grow and mature in to the Everyday Explorer she has become, which has been fun. Rachel is an old soul. She has insight in to people, places and experiences that are unusual for someone her age. Some of this comes …

Episode 109: Feeding Two Birds with One Scone answers the age-old question of why we ever considered killing them instead. Tune in to hear how the poetry of language shall be ignored to our utter destruction as a civilization. Or just listen to the bad jokes.By Shaun Perkins

Episode 108: Potpourri for $200, Alex is our first potpourri episode, wherein neither host knows what the other is going to discuss before recording starts. Thus, you will hear about A.E. Houseman, Edwin Way Teale and nature poetry and the case for the poet/Jack the Ripper suspect. A potpourri for the senses!…

Episode 107: The Voluptuous Texture of Spells takes us into Wendy the Good Witch's Chant Closet at the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry, where we explore 3 chants left by visitors and also discuss wart spells and brooms and Hecate. All in 30-frickin' minutes. It's incredible, really.By Shaun Perkins

Episode 106: Barbie Boxed In delves into the shadow box art tradition, particularly those created by artist and podcast co-host Bill Guthrie for the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry's current exhibit Her Kind: The Witch in History, Popular Culture & Poetry. We chant about ekphrastic poetry and Barbie dolls, sailors and avatars and so much more. Plea…

Episode 105: Queen of Mystery & Magic allows us to escape to New Orleans for a time to explore the poetry surrounding Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen, who lived a life unlike many popular stories about her have led us to believe.By Shaun Perkins

Episode 104: A Woman Ferocious and Untameable delves into the folklore of Baba Yaga, the Slavic witch of folktale, literature and popular culture. We have frequent mentions of cannibalism also, without actually using the word “cannibalism.” We do not have the courage that Baba Yaga has! But you do so LISTEN!…

Episode 103: An Improper Witch is a fun little ride through the pop culture favorite "Bewitched," starring Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens. We start with a poem about her and go into some trivia and key moments from the show that are bewitchingly poetic.By Shaun Perkins

Episode 102: She’s a Witch! is the first episode in our series about witches that will accompany the opening of the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry’s exhibit on witches. In this episode we discuss Mother Shipton, and Bill also gives you his Top Ten Witchy Songs!By Shaun Perkins

Episode 101: A Little Comma-Raderie is a celebration of National Punctuation Day, which we turned into National Punctuation Week. Shaun, Bill and special guest Kathleen discuss punctuation in poetry, sing a punctuation song, and debate the Oxford comma. It’s scandalous stuff, but don’t take our word for it. Listen! The song at the beginning and end…

Episode 100: Excess Fowl Who Came to Earth involves a hullabaloo for our podcast’s 100th episode, including special guests Verla Fletcher and Les Kern, a discussion of the town’s Goose Grab and a review of the county police blotter, with poetic emphasis on Rocklahoma and a new version of our state song. It’s exhaustive . . . and highly entertaining…

Not many of us have spent near as much time below the Earth's surface as Dr. Ken Walsh has. Ken is a Senior Environmental Engineer at Leidos Inc., but that is not who he is. Ken is an Everyday Explorer at hear. He started his love of exploration under ground early in his life, and it has taken him deeper and deeper in to exploring the beauty that e…

Episode 99: Haiku Hit-Me Stance takes you on a journey into the world of tai chai, taekwondo, haiku, poetic truths and truths of everyday life. That’s right, dear listeners, this is some heady stuff, short on the wacky this time, but long on the enlightening bliss! Special guest: Master Paul Flaherty.…

Episode 98: The Dude Inside of You is about a dude hand poem left in the museum and much dudeness and macaroni, Yankee Doodles, bad singing, and the eternal ponderings of the universal human encased in skin with meat and skeleton.By Shaun Perkins

Episode 97: Fruit of the Unenclosed Land is a collage of broken things, with some fruit and goblins thrown in there, plus some anaphora and assonance and other a-words, such as acorns, along with a defense of pockets. Really, does it matter what we say in this description? Thank you to our fans Nora and Verla for the poem suggestion!…

Episode 96: To Ramble About Plundering includes discussion of one of the best poems we have received at the museum in quite some time. Check out Holly Van Auken’s “In Its Time” and then tolerate Bill and Shaun getting into aesthetics, strip malls, Barbie jokes and more.By Shaun Perkins

Episode 95: Barbie's Accumulating Emergencies borrows a phrase from Adrienne Rich, invites a Barbie Manifesto, discusses creativity in the young and rhapsodizes on the importance of creativity and nurturing the fragile growing mind. Yes, we did all that in 30 minutes. Listen and find out.By Shaun Perkins

Episode 94: Picnicking with the Dead is about cemeteries and poems about cemeteries and fears of being buried alive. Bad jokes from both Shaun and Bill., the Master of Metaphor who gets his appropriate birthday present. Enjoy!By Shaun Perkins

Episode 93: Tunnels I Have Known begins with a perfectly lovely poem written in cursive on blue paper and left on the NATURE wall in the museum and then becomes something about tunnels of love because Shaun can't get over Bruce Springsteen. Bill poses questions he knows the answers to, and more subtle wacky ensues. Enjoy.…

Episode 92: WWBD delves into the quandary of What Would Burt Do, meaning, in terms of swimming. What would Burt Lancaster of the 1968 film "The Swimmer," based on the sublime story by John Cheever, do in a situation. Or, in other words, what would a group of folks who gathered to celebrate Yevgeny Yevtushenko's birthday in the hamlet of 1,400 peopl…