4.5 - Take Long Walks With Ben Niespodziany

Spring is actually here, and we're all taking long walks. But you have to sit down eventually, and we did in front of microphones. Chris and Brendan discuss how getting outside helps creative practice, Chris interviews poet, small press publisher, reading series runner, and Chicagoan Ben Niespodziany, and then Chris and Brendan salute a man who saw the U.S.'s carpocalypse coming back in the 70s. ABOUT BEN Originally from Mishawaka, Indiana, Benjamin Niespodziany is a Chicago-based poet, curator, editor, folklorist, and music marketing manager. A former Peace Corps Volunteer and Olive Garden waiter, his work has appeared in Indiana Review, Fence, Bandcamp, Conduit, Complex, Bennington Review, and elsewhere. He’s been included in the Wigleaf Top 50 and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction, and Best of the Net. He hosts a bi-monthly reading series at The Whistler in Chicago and is the founder and editor of Pizama Press. When he doesn’t have poetry on the brain, he assists the music industry with creative campaigns and occasionally releases SoundCloud mixes. LISTEN TO THE NEW SHIPWRECKED SAILOR RECORD https://shipwreckedsailor.bandcamp.com/album/burgers-or-tacos-3 MORE L&E https://www.lazyandentitled.org/