The Overlook with Matt Peiken Matt Peiken

Nabil El Jaouhari grew up in a village outside of Beirut, Lebanon. Even amid post-war cycles of sectarian violence, Nabil followed a path of artistic expression. His fine art studies eventually led him to the United States. Since moving to Asheville, about eight years ago, he has regularly shown at Mark Bettis Gallery in the River Arts District. In today's conversation, we learn about his life in Lebanon, how moving to the U.S. affected his art and his explorations of memory through visual collage.


SPONSOR: "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is the holiday production from Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre, with performances Dec. 1 and 2 at the Bebe Theatre in downtown Asheville.
SPONSOR: Compass Realty is a full-service residential and commercial real estate firm and pioneer of non-traditional services with a focus on investment properties.
SPONSOR: Mars Landing Galleries in Mars Hill is lowering the prices of all artwork 15 percent through the end of the year through its 'Artful Impact' program, with the savings coming entirely from the gallery's commission.
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The Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song," comes courtesy of the Asheville band The Resonant Rogues.

Podcast Asheville © 2023

It took the formation of Thrive AVL, a relatively new nonprofit here, to formally connect tourism and affordable housing—and the policies and practices around them—as affecting one another.

Casey Gilbert and Kate Pett of Thrive AVL go into in detail about what’s called sustainable tourism—that is, encouraging tourism that enhances all avenues of life. They also dissect a recent Thrive AVL study that, among other surprises, found that much of the affordable housing initiatives in Asheville leave out those who need help the most.


SPONSOR: "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is the holiday production from Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre, with performances Dec. 1 and 2 at the Bebe Theatre in downtown Asheville.
SPONSOR: Compass Realty is a full-service residential and commercial real estate firm and pioneer of non-traditional services with a focus on investment properties.
SPONSOR: Mars Landing Galleries in Mars Hill is lowering the prices of all artwork 15 percent through the end of the year through its 'Artful Impact' program, with the savings coming entirely from the gallery's commission.
Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!

Advertise your event on The Overlook.

Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlook

Listen and Subscribe: All episodes of The Overlook

The Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song," comes courtesy of the Asheville band The Resonant Rogues.

Podcast Asheville © 2023

The Hospital Corporation of America purchased the nonprofit Mission Hospital four years ago in a deal shrouded in secrecy. Since then, hundreds of doctors, nurses and support staff have resigned. North Carolina’s attorney general has joined them in protesting what they see as an unflinching profits-over-people business model. 
The Asheville Watchdog has written many stories detailing much of the decimation of Asheville’s once-vaunted hospital. Recently, the Watchdog’s executive editor, Peter Lewis, wrote an extensive column that asks “What can be done?”
Lewis walks us through a purchase that, from every angle, appears nefarious. We talk about HCA’s anti-competitive actions and some missed opportunities to place certain quality-of-care guardrails on the sale. We also run through a range of ideas and options for influencing how HCA manages Mission Hospital.



SPONSOR: "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is the holiday production from Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre, with performances Dec. 1 and 2 at the Bebe Theatre in downtown Asheville.
SPONSOR: Compass Realty is a full-service residential and commercial real estate firm and pioneer of non-traditional services with a focus on investment properties.
SPONSOR: Mars Landing Galleries in Mars Hill is lowering the prices of all artwork 15 percent through the end of the year through its 'Artful Impact' program, with the savings coming entirely from the gallery's commission.
Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!

Advertise your event on The Overlook.

Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlook

Listen and Subscribe: All episodes of The Overlook

The Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song," comes courtesy of the Asheville band The Resonant Rogues.

Podcast Asheville © 2023

Asheville guitarist-songwriter David Wilcox has been at the vanguard of American folk music since the late 1980s. His observational storytelling and lyrical turns of phrase have earned him a loyal following throughout this country and beyond. Sixteen studio albums into his career, he’s still finding new things to say.

Today, we go deep with Wilcox about his songcraft, his vein of inspiration through the pandemic and the range of emotion he mined for his newest record, “My Good Friends.” We also get into his obsessive compulsion about a particular make and model of motorcycle. 

Wilcox celebrates the release of his latest record with a solo performance Nov. 24 at the Grey Eagle. 



SPONSOR: "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is the holiday production from Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre, with performances Dec. 1 and 2 at the Bebe Theatre in downtown Asheville.
SPONSOR: Compass Realty is a full-service residential and commercial real estate firm and pioneer of non-traditional services with a focus on investment properties.
SPONSOR: Mars Landing Galleries in Mars Hill is lowering the prices of all artwork 15 percent through the end of the year through its 'Artful Impact' program, with the savings coming entirely from the gallery's commission.
Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!

Advertise your event on The Overlook.

Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlook

Listen and Subscribe: All episodes of The Overlook

The Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song," comes courtesy of the Asheville band The Resonant Rogues.

Podcast Asheville © 2023

Asheville city leaders have had a “Complete Streets” policy in place for more than a decade—that is, a commitment to make streets as friendly to cyclists and pedestrians as they are to cars and trucks.

We’ve seen that policy take shape in the form of so-called road diets along Charlotte Street and North Merrimon Avenue and the Riverside Drive Greenway. It’s also the reason College Street and Patton Avenue are about to each lose a lane of automotive traffic to make room for bike lanes.

And predictably, city officials are hearing a chorus of protests from people who envision apocalyptic traffic.

Jessica Morris is the assistant director of the city’s transportation department. She talks with us today about the coming changes downtown and how they’re tied to the city’s master plan. We get into how the city prioritizes and funds these projects. Jessica also does her best to make sense of projects that, to many, don’t seem to make sense at all.
SPONSOR: "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is the holiday production from Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre, with performances Dec. 1 and 2 at the Bebe Theatre in downtown Asheville.
SPONSOR: Compass Realty is a full-service residential and commercial real estate firm and pioneer of non-traditional services with a focus on investment properties.
SPONSOR: Mars Landing Galleries in Mars Hill is lowering the prices of all artwork 15 percent through the end of the year through its 'Artful Impact' program, with the savings coming entirely from the gallery's commission.
Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!

Advertise your event on The Overlook.

Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlook

Listen and Subscribe: All episodes of The Overlook

The Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song," comes courtesy of the Asheville band The Resonant Rogues.

Podcast Asheville © 2023

We often hear about the lack of affordable housing in and around Asheville. But there’s a flipside to the coin that is often overlooked—overdevelopment is having a devastating effect on agriculture.

Today's guest is Gina Smith, the features editor with Edible Asheville. She has reported and written a two-part series of stories titled "Losing Ground." where she examines the loss of farmland in Western North Carolina, its broad impacts and efforts to address the trend. Only the first story was published at the time of posting this episode.
 
We dig through her reporting, including one of the more interesting developments—young farmers forced to lease land from more established farmers, and the arrangements don’t always go as hoped.


SPONSOR: "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is the holiday production from Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre, with performances Dec. 1 and 2 at the Bebe Theatre in downtown Asheville.
SPONSOR: Compass Realty is a full-service residential and commercial real estate firm and pioneer of non-traditional services with a focus on investment properties.
SPONSOR: Mars Landing Galleries in Mars Hill is lowering the prices of all artwork 15 percent through the end of the year through its 'Artful Impact' program, with the savings coming entirely from the gallery's commission.
Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!

Advertise your event on The Overlook.

Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlook

Listen and Subscribe: All episodes of The Overlook

The Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song," comes courtesy of the Asheville band The Resonant Rogues.

Podcast Asheville © 2023