78 - Dante's New South (June 2026)

June 2026 New SouthAlain Johannes: Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, vocalist, and producer Alain Johannes has spent over four decades at the center of adventurous rock music. Born in Santiago in 1962, he began in the early Los Angeles punk scene alongside future Red Hot Chili Peppers members Hillel Slovak, Flea, and Jack Irons before co-founding the alternative rock band Eleven in 1990. He has collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Chris Cornell, PJ Harvey, Arctic Monkeys, Mark Lanegan, and Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players. A master of numerous instruments, his acclaimed solo albums include Spark (2010), Fragments and Wholes (2014), and Hum (2020).Website: www.alainjohannes.com Instagram: @alainjohannestourChristopher Macken: Christopher “SUG” Macken began his career in a small-town Georgia salon, developing a passion for transformation and style that led to a global career in fashion, beauty, and media. He rose to become a Global Creative Director for major international cosmetic brands and built a reputation as a celebrity stylist and television personality. Today he is the founder of SUG BRANDS, including SUG WEAR, SUG MEDIA, and SUG SKIN (launching Summer 2026). Based in Barcelona, Spain, Macken continues to inspire audiences with his blend of European sophistication and bold personal style.https://www.instagram.com/mansionsandmascara/ https://www.facebook.com/MisterMacken/ http://www.sugwear.com/Ariana Benson: Ariana Benson’s debut poetry collection, Black Pastoral (University of Georgia Press, 2023), won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. A finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Leonard Prize and the Library of Virginia Prize in Poetry, the collection explores ecology, Black history, love, and the American landscape. Benson has also received a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship, and the Furious Flower Poetry Prize.https://arianabenson.wordpress.com/about/ https://www.instagram.com/extraordin_arie/Michael Temple: Michael Temple is the founder of Climb Higher®, and a relationship and identity reconstruction coach specializing in heartbreak recovery, attachment wounds, and personal rebuilding. Through coaching, speaking, and social media, he helps people develop self-respect, emotional clarity, and healthier relationships. He is also an ordained pastor, law enforcement chaplain, host of The Inner Boardroom podcast, and creator of the upcoming Climb Higher Podcast launching in June 2026.https://Stan.store/michaeltothemaxAdditional Music Provided By: Alain Johannes: www.alainjohannes.com Documentary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc-_u2UmFF4&t=517sMuch Love to Our Advertisers: The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Lucid House Publishing: www.lucidhousepublishing.com Benheart: www.benheart.it/?srsltid=AfmBOoprk-KdotEwiA3Wv--bxJbwn8qWKoEqOtF1Gh7nSPA8UwZh79eqSpecial Thanks: Alain Johannes for the original score featured in this show: www.alainjohannes.comHost Clifford Brooks’ The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available wherever books are sold. Learn more at: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order