Ben interviews his brother Adam, also a grad student studying trees. Adam goes into how he's using cellular structure in oaks to reveal climate history. Along the way they talk grad school realities and other student job related stories.

• why oaks can extend climate reconstructions farther back in time
• sanding protocols, imaging, and AI for cell-level features
• grad school workloads, TA work, and lab culture
• work outside of grad school
• sponsor shoutout to Tiger Shark Industrial Abrasives

Send us a text

Support the show

We talk with Claire about moving from Minneapolis, how road trips to Taliesin and House on the Rock reshaped her eye, and why Kandinsky’s point-line-plane changed how she sees art, music, and daily life. Art theory turns into simple tools for empathy, spirit, and choosing what matters.

• moving from Minneapolis after 26 years and being closer to family
• Wisconsin travel memories of Taliesin and House on the Rock
• Kandinsky’s shift from law to color and meaning
• objective versus nonobjective art in plain language
• point to line to plane as a guide for choices
• art as therapy for self-knowledge and empathy
• spirit as everyday energy shaping words and actions
• music at the senior center and finding real color in performance
• heritage, work, and names connecting identity to craft
• small compositions in daily routines and aging with dignity

Send us a text

Support the show

We drive the Driftless after a late night with Umphrey’s McGee and let the road pull old stories loose, from bike crashes and basement slot cars to a wild cat named George and the quiet joy of becoming a grandparent. Along the way, Amish buggies, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the honest comfort of unpolished podcasts set the rhythm.

• festival glow at a grass amphitheater with Umphrey’s McGee
• why the Driftless landscape feels different and holds sound
• Hillsboro Brewing, Taliesin, and car-camping culture
• curiosity about Amish craft, parts, and Sunday routines
• the new cadence of grandparenthood and re-learning care
• bike freedom, concrete gutters, and gravel-pit adventures
• basement ping-pong, slot cars, and an orange VW dream
• George the cat’s wild streak and what he taught us
• walkie-talkies, voice as company, and low‑polish podcasts

Send us a text

Support the show