Mississippi Arts Hour

Larry Morrisey visits with photojournalist and native Mississippian Kate Medley. She has just published Thank You Please Come Again, a book of photography that documents life and culture at the southern service station. The book includes photos and stories of many Mississippi businesses, including Betty’s Place in Indianola. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast

Kristen Brandt talks with Jennifer Beasley, the artistic director for the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet. She trained with the Twin City Ballet in Monroe, Louisiana and at the University of Kentucky. She has contributed to the dance community in Mississippi both as a professional dancer with Ballet Mississippi and as a dance instructor by founding the Mississippi Metropolitan Dance Academy. Tune in to learn about the upcoming performance of The Nutcracker Ballet by the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet company which marks the company’s 30th anniversary performance of this holiday classic. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast

David Lewis speaks with Ebony Lumumba, Chair of the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival. They discuss her career in literature, early influences in the arts, and her role in the historic Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival.. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast

Lauren Rhodes talks with musician Andrew Bryant about his new album PRODIGAL. They discuss how Andrew’s lived experiences and Mississippi roots turned into songs. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast

Poetry is alive and thriving in the Magnolia State! On the Mississippi Poetry Podcast you’ll hear poets sharing their work, telling their stories, and offering tips to help listeners flex their poetic muscles. In this episode, poet Nadia Alexis joins host and Mississippi Poet Laureate Catherine Pierce to talk about revising our lives through poetry, why the best writing comes from questions, and which vegetable has the worst texture. A resource for teachers or community leaders can be found here: https://arts.ms.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Podcast-Supplement_Alexis.pdf

Lauren Rhoades talks with C.T. Salazar, a Latinx poet and librarian from Mississippi. Their debut collection, Headless John the Baptist Hitchhiking, was published in 2022 with Acre Books. They also edited Mid/South Sonnets, a poetry anthology released this summer with Belle Point Press. C.T. is also the 2020 recipient of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award in poetry. He lives in Cleveland, Mississippi, where he is a Reference Instructional Services Librarian and Assistant Professor at Delta State University. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast

Leslie Barker talks with painter, multimedia artist, musician, and storyteller Anthony Thaxton, restauranteur, author, philanthropist, and international travel guide Robert St. John and Mississippi College President Dr. Blake Thompson about the Institute of Southern Storytelling at Mississippi College. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast

Maria Zeringue talks with Meg Cooper, coordinator of the Great Delta Bear Affair festival in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. During this hour, Meg and Maria discuss the types of programming visitors can expect at the festival and how the town of Rolling Fork is recovering from a devastating tornado that hit the area this past March. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast

Larry Morrisey talks with saxophonist Adam Estes. Estes is a professor of music at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and a founding member of the Assembly Saxophone Quartet. As part of the celebration of their 20th anniversary this year, the group is releasing their third recording, which includes their arrangements of music by the contemporary composers Avner Dorman, Alfred Schnittke, and Bill Ryan. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast