The Eardrum

The Ear Community

The Eardrum features interviews with artists and writers about their craft and is produced by the staff of Irvine Valley College's The Ear, a creative writing publication featuring fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, photography and visual art from Orange County and beyond.

  1. 10/23/2025

    Lee Herrick - California's Poet Laureate

    Episode Notes Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of four books of poems: In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems (Gunpowder Press, September 2024); Scar and Flower, finalist for the 2020 Northern California Book Award; Gardening Secrets of the Dead; and This Many Miles from Desire. He is co-editor of The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit (Orison Books 2020) and Afterlives: An AGNI Portfolio of Asian Adoptee Diaspora Writing. His poems appear widely, in The Poetry Foundation, Academy of American Poets, The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems from the San Francisco Bay Watershed, Indivisible: Poems of Social Justice with a foreword by Common, HERE: Poems for the Planet, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, and Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy, among others. Herrick serves on the advisory board of Terrain.org and Sixteen Rivers Press. He co-founded LitHop in Fresno. He has taught in Qingdao, China, and for Kundiman in New York City. He was born in Daejeon, Korea and adopted as an infant. He lives with his family in Fresno, California and served as Fresno Poet Laureate from 2015-2017. He teaches at Fresno City College and in the low-residency MFA program at University of Nevada Reno at Lake Tahoe. He is the 10th California Poet Laureate, and the first Asian American to serve in the role. In April 2025, he became the first California Poet Laureate to be officially reappointed to a second two-year term. Read about Our California, Lee’s first term CAPL statewide project. Read the full press release from the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom here.

    57 min
  2. 04/11/2025

    Ashley Hernandez

    Episode Notes Emmy Award-winning bilingual journalist and communications strategist, Ashley Hernandez, leverages over 15 years of experience to deliver impactful results. At CBS News, she currently leads creative and editorial strategies, reaching an audience of 15 million+ through social media platforms, streaming, and traditional broadcast channels. Ashley has a background in high-pressure news environments, including roles in line and field producing, feature writing, and coordinating live coverage of critical events. This has honed her expertise in crisis management, logistical planning, and compelling storytelling. Ashley’s MBA in Organizational Leadership and Management complements her media experience, providing her with a unique ability to conduct thorough research, distill complex data, and drive strategic solutions. She excels in project management, cross-cultural communication, and leading teams in high-stakes situations. This combination of skills has enabled her to successfully expand into corporate communications, where she has served as a strategist and consultant for national and international companies. Ashley is passionate about using her communication skills to make a positive impact, with a proven track record of crafting data-rich, character-driven narratives. This in turn resonates with diverse audiences, including consumers and investors, and drives engagement for organizations, including those in the non-profit sector. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

    1h 5m

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

The Eardrum features interviews with artists and writers about their craft and is produced by the staff of Irvine Valley College's The Ear, a creative writing publication featuring fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, photography and visual art from Orange County and beyond.