Lives Radio Show & Podcast with Stuart Chittenden Stuart Chittenden

A listen back to a show from 2017 on the theme of Quiet. My guests in that two-part conversation were Orenda Fink, a musician, writer, and Jungian Depth Coach, and the Benedictine monk, Brother James Dowd. In the second part of the show we’ll hear from Orenda Fink on her music and career, dream analysis, and how a health condition requiring the quiet of complete voice rest impacted her sense of self.  First, we’ll hear from Brother James Dowd on his path from New York theater to Nebraska monastery, contemplative life, and embracing silence.
Brother James Dowd of the Order of the Holy Cross is the founding Prior of the Incarnation Monastery and the Community of The Benedictine Way, which was founded in 2018 in north Omaha. It is the first Benedictine monastery in the history of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska. At the time of our 2017 conversation, Brother James had recently joined the staff of the Diocese for a two-year position as “Monk in Residence.” His ministry focused on enriching the community’s prayer and spiritual life, and discovering and building better ways to befriend the poor in our communities. Prior to entering the monastery, Brother James lived in his home town of New York City, where for 20 years he worked as a director of more than 100 theater productions and numerous live events for television.
Orenda Fink is a well known musician, performer, and songwriter. She has been writing, recording, and touring for critically acclaimed records since 1997. Fink got her start in Birmingham, Alabama, with the pop rock group Little Red Rocket. In 2000, she formed the ethereal folk duo Azure Ray with longtime friend Maria Taylor. Their music has regularly featured in film and television programs and Fink has collaborated widely on numerous other music projects. Currently residing in California’s Mojave desert, Fink is a certified Jungian Depth Coach with a specialization in shadow work and dream interpretation. Later this year I’ll be in conversation with Fink about her new memoir, “The Witch's Daughter: My Mother, Her Magic, and the Madness that Bound Us” which will be available in August. At the time of our 2017 show on the theme of Quiet, Fink reflected back on her musical origins, self-reflection brought about by emergency surgery to correct a misdiagnosed heart defect, and the implications for her sense of self in the world when she was required to take an extensive period of complete voice rest.

Laura Roccaforte, an organizational development consultant and leadership coach, talks about her many decades working globally to develop individuals and leadership teams and her passion for helping people create environments that are authentic, supportive and inclusive. We also talk about the recent death of her husband from the neurodegenerative disease ALS, what she experienced, and what comes next.
Laura Roccaforte has for decades worked globally with individuals and leadership teams who want to develop and grow. Originally from Sacramento, California, Roccaforte has lived in Nebraska for over 30 years with her late husband, Rich, and holds a BA in Organizational Communication from California State University, an M.Ed from the University Nebraska Lincoln, and is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources.

Conservation biologist and science writer Conor Gearin talks about the science and the wonders of the natural world, especially how birds may connect us with the joy of nature, and how we humans may live sustainably with the wildlife around us. Gearin also talks about uniting his passion for writing with the science of the natural world as a way for us to see more completely and more strangely.
Conor Gearin is a writer from St. Louis living in Omaha. He's the Managing Producer of BirdNote, a daily radio program and podcast. Gearin’s work has appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2019, The Atlantic, UnDark, The Millions, The New Territory, New Scientist, and elsewhere. He received an S.M. in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Biology at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where he completed thesis research on grassland bird conservation. Gearin is a member of the Audubon Society of Omaha’s board of directors.

Poet Carolina Hotchandani talks about themes of identity, belonging, and loss in her debut poetry collection, The Book Eaters, as she explores her own lived experiences as a new mother, a daughter whose father is in cognitive decline, and a woman of mixed global heritage as well as the power of language to make and unmake us. Hotchandani also reads some of her poems.
Carolina Hotchandani is the author of The Book Eaters, 2023 Perugia Press Prize Winner, which was one of the ten debut poetry books featured in Poets & Writers Magazine’s 2024 debut poets issue. Hotchandani’s poetry has appeared in The Atlantic, AGNI, Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, and various other journals. She is a Goodrich Assistant Professor of English at the University of Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska, where she lives with her husband and daughter.

Autumn Pruitt is the founder of Hardy Coffee Co. We talk about the vision Pruitt has for Hardy Coffee as a source of rhythm and ritual in people’s lives. She shares her entrepreneurial journey, the lessons and experiences encountered on the way, and how, like the business, she has grown to meet that aspiration.
Autumn Pruitt and her husband moved back to Omaha and started a small bakery in 2010. Soon after subleasing a kitchen and tiny storefront from Aromas Coffeehouse they purchased that coffee shop. In 2015, they began roasting their own coffee under the brand Hardy Coffee Co. and later brought every piece and location of the business under the unified name of Hardy – Autumn Pruitt’s maiden name. Since its first shop, Hardy Coffee has opened three additional locations and grown to nearly 70 employees today, with an ethos of striving to create connection in the community.

In conversation with actor, writer, and secular chaplain, Elizabeth Morton. With Mass as her earliest performative expression, Morton talk about her twin vocations of acting and chaplaincy, and their similar characteristics, such as curiosity, deep listening, and personal surrender. Morton shares what people are seeking from her ministry and spiritual direction, and how her non-dogmatic chaplaincy supports others in their spiritual seeking.
Raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Morton is an actor and writer living in New York. She's a graduate of the University of Evansville's celebrated theatre department and a member of the Actors Center. Morton is also fascinated by the spiritual dimensions of life and has pursued a vocation in ministry and spiritual direction, accompanying people on the life journey as a self-titled secular chaplain.