Nerve Ascending Podcast Justin Burkett and Oliah Fall

Our 9th episode guest is Bishop Randall.  He is a poet and glass artist, a student of Zen, a father and storyteller as well.   Bishop emphasizes the importance of knowing our history and cultural inheritance which are shaped by our "place" or environment.  He has learned much about his place on the Motezuma Ridge of the Yuba watershed in Nevada City, California both from his own explorations and also from his mentor and friend Gary Snyder who first taught him to know the four directions.

Bishop's soon-to-be-released book of poems, “Animal Droppings,” has been described as,
“Drawing from spirit, a resurgence of collective thought...the ending of a time, forgotten tools, medicine, songs of healing, the vision of what might come next through the lens of everyday life.”
While we sit around Bishop's kitchen table, we talk of Bears and Zen, shadows and Indigenous culture, and Bishop reads some of his poems and recites stories. Local poet Will Staple, neighbor and friend, also joins us for a lively discussion about life on the ridge and beyond. Bishop's contact info is below. And if you are in the Nevada City area this weekend, Saturday (April 22, 2023), come check out the Sierra Poetry Festival Event "Poetic Crossings" at the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center. Both Bishop and Will will be reading poetry--Bishop will read a selection of Lew Welch's poems and Will is going to read some of his friend Allen Ginsberg's poetry. It'll be a memorable event not to be missed! Hope to see you there!




Links :

Check out Bishop's Instagram

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Our 8th episode features Mike Seeba who is a bit of a legend (esp. in our town Nevada City, California).  He is a wonderful sitar player who studied at the Ali Akbar College of Music in California.  In addition to the sitar, he also plays ukulele and sings.  He's a writer who has published a novel called Cat in the Rye and is currently working on another one.  He performs stand-up comedy, is an outstanding tie dye artist, and meme lord.

We have a long talk with him about his studies and travels in India, sitar and ragas, his book Cat in the Rye, his writing process, A.I., art, and consciousness.  What a dear humorous character he is.

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Check out his tie dye productions Dirt Shirts

Get his book, Cat in the Rye  by contacting him on his facebook page.

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Tosh Berman is the author of the wonderful memoir TOSH : Growing Up in Wallace Berman's World. Tosh is the son of Shirley and Wallace Berman, central figures of the underground Beat-era art scene in Los Angeles from the 1950s thru 1970s. Wallace was a well-respected experimental artist whose friends included many famous artists, musicians, actors and poets of that time including Allen Ginsberg, the Rolling Stones, Dennis Hopper, Ramblin'Jack Elliot, Dean Stockwell and the list goes on. So young Tosh grew up around all these famous characters of the LA arts scene and his book shows that world thru the eyes of a child and teenager.

It was great to talk with Tosh about his book and about life in L.A. then and now. We discovered that Tosh is also an actor who co-starred in several experimental art films with the GoGos drummer Gina Schock. He also hosted a tv talk show in the late 1980s called Tea with Tosh interviewing various artists and musicians, most notably composer Philip Glass. More recently he puts out a video series called Tosh Talks where he discusses literature, music and culture.

In addition to his TOSH memoir, he has also published a book of his poetry called The Plum in Mr. Blum's Pudding, and a memoir of his experiences following the band Sparks in London and Paris called Sparks-Tastic.

Tosh is an editor and publisher as well. His publishing house TamTam Books focuses on 20th century international literature, specializing in the works of Boris Vian, Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Mesrine, and Sparks.

Order a signed copy of his memoir TOSH here

or get a copy from City Lights Books

Check out & subscribe to /Tosh's writings on substack  

Explore Tosh's publishing house

and his Tam-Tam Books Blog

check out Tosh's vinyl and CD Collection with his reviews

watchTosh Talks and Tea with Tosh and subscribe to his You Tube

See the experimental film he co-starred inwith Gina Shock.

listen to Tosh's wife Lun'na Menoh's unique band Les Sewing Sisters

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Clarity is a spoken word poet and host of The Muse Exchange open mic series. He began The Muse Exchange nearly a decade ago in a small backyard on Long Island, NY. The event has grown into a bi-coastal extravaganza hosted in three locations.

He got into poetry and spoken word thru hip hop and was in the hip hop group Conceptual Elements. As a performer, Clarity has honed his voice behind the microphone at countless venues around the world, sharing the stage with notable poets such as Saul Williams and Buddy Wakefield. His style continues to evolve, testing conventional boundaries around what poetry is meant to be.

We talk with him about all kinds of stuff, from open mics and poetry, to growing up in the 80s & 90s (VHS rentals), and psychedelics, consciousness, meditation, vipassana retreats, ketamine therapy, travel...

Read Clarity's poetry
Like the Muse Exchange on Facebook


Follow Clarity on Instagram

Listen to Clarity's tracks on bandcamp

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Our 5th episode features Eugene Alliende, MFT, marriage and family counselor, meditation teacher, environmentalist, Yogi well-versed in Tantra, psychonaut, and an avid explorer of consciousness. Prior to our conversation with him we read his wonderful book Dimensions of Being : An Explorer's Guide to Consciousness, which takes the reader on a journey thru the levels of consciousness in space-time from before the Big Bang to the present day. We talk about consciousness, evolution, quantum-physics, meditation, entheogens, Tantra, technology, the environmental crisis, bodhisattvas and love.

Learn more about Eugene and his work at the global healing arts clinic


Get his book, Dimensions of Being: An Explorer's Guide to Consciousness  from Bookshop.org to support your local or non-local independent bookstore.


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This episode features Helen Stickney, PhD, a former linguistics professor, who now is a death doula, grief counselor and meditation instructor. She talks with us about her journey from academia to becoming a death doula. She has many interesting experiences and insights to share. She mentions that death has been a kind of “advisor” to her with deep lessons to teach.

Learn more about Helen and her work with Pittsburgh Death Collective

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