Episodes
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157 ~ Psy-Kookiness!
Psykookiness!! What is it? And what does it have to do with that hot guy doing flips in West Side Story? What is its connotation to the most terrifying movie I ever saw at age 14? Get cozy with your Halloween treats, tune out the voices in the walls, and snuggle in for some psychological thrills...
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156 ~ You and Your Werewolves
Reverend Augustus Montague Summers! THAT was the guy’s name I couldn’t remember in this episode, so tuck that into your hat for later. Lo and behold, it’s another werewolf song, initiating a little werewolf break to pump you up for Halloween! It’s that marvelous time of the year again! Let’s talk...
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155 ~ Subjunctive Mood
Ok. Film noir, the psyche, and a bohemian walk into an English class…. I would request that they be cool about it … if I were you. It’s the subjunctive mood! A song inspired by a line in a detective novel! That’s what we like. Oh, but don’t worry. This episode quickly veers off-course from…
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154 ~ That Was a Terrible Opera
Opera of Life got you down? Well, perhaps it’s only a temporary setback—nothing that can’t be soothed by a little music—and television vampires—funny X-files—birthday art—-and what Kung Fu Panda did! It’s autumn at last—-school is back in session with a vengeance. I think it’s trying to kill me....
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153 ~ Abandoned Donut Shop
Time for another birthday episode? Can such things be? Did you guess that from the title? Sands through the hourglass! Join your September-birthday host for indulgence and celebration—with donuts! The passage of time! Three ghosts in an abandoned donut shop! Birthday superstitions and poetry!…
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152 ~ Archaic Curses
Huzzah, September! What better way to usher in the dying of the year than another song about chuckling vampires? OH, but they’re not chuckling this time! They’re going into battle! And sometimes, in a hunt to the death— as in giving birth—a little archaic swearing is absolutely required. Don your...
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151 ~Miniature Box
Whoa, hey, impromptu episode as the Muses deliver in the wee morning hours—again! Summer vacation dwindles now for us school-workers, so it’s cramming time! We got another vampire romance confession—we got a brainy Victorian-Edwardian Canadian TV detective—and yes, the miniature box phenomenon of...
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150 ~ Ask Not (What is a Beatnik?)
It’s Monster of the Week—and it’s BEATNIKS! Are they even monsters at all? No way! Cursed, perhaps, some of them, and writing through the pain!—but hey, 30 years ago, the Muses brought me this weird little poem-to-song, and at last, I’ve decided not to question it! So let’s dig into the Beats,...
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149 ~ Pudding Hands
Urban Legend? Cryptid? You decide as we explore the tale of the man with hands of pudding who LURKS—lurks with impunity, leaving all who witness his unusual features and confusing presence…unsettled. https://theonion.com/pudding-factory-disaster-brings-slow-creamy-death-to-t-1819565362/...
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148 ~ Kindergarten ISS (Romper Room Goes to Hell!)
In the School World, ISS stands for In-School Suspension—when you’ve done wrong enough to be shunned to the Behavior Room for a whole day—or three—where you must sit quietly and do your worksheets. Ever try it with kindergartners? A godless scene! Romper Room goes to hell!! Romper Room!...
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147 ~ Grandeur
Come hither, my grandeur, where art thou! How well we artists know the wild ride of the mind from complete certainty of our own radiance to the knowledge that we are no earthly good at all, and back again! How do we tame it? The grandeur cycle itself and the summoning of it? Plus, a quick foray...
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146 ~ Cigarettes Are Sublime
Cigarettes are sublime—but quite deadly, and how do we want to BE if we are granted a long life? Staggering, gasping, and frail? Or sage and silken, graceful and still singing? So the thing is to quit! But can we, before properly admitting our love for the vice? Cigarettes Are Sublime by Richard...
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145 ~ Lost Weekend
Have a piece of cake! It’s a lost weekend, commemorating my late mother’s birthday, followed four days later by the 10th anniversary of her death. So we cut loose–watch a little “Murder, She Wrote,” honor the incomparable Randolph Mantooth on his journey to the next world, and explore “Cakes Men...
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144 ~ The 28 Riddles
Riddle me this, my brother—Riddles! Can you handle it? The car-ride quip of a Favorite Anonymous Artist births a song that is a riddle unto itself! Plus, we explore an Ancient Greek riddle, The Riddler’s riddles from Batman, and a few sinister detective riddles from Granddad’s lamp-table copy of...
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143 ~ I Drink Your Wristbones
Well, as another National Poetry Month dwindles to a close, we take a deep lungful of Surrealist love poetry—with this weird love song! What better anniversary gift for the man who has it all—the wrist bones, the eyes, the eyelash mites…oh! So romantic. We drink ‘em right in, along with love…
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142 ~ The Poet Tells Many Lies
Poets tell lies? What?? Philosopher Plutarch sure thought so! And occasionally, Bjork! “Many lies the poets tell” said the philosopher—-We’ll dig into all that–AND revisit the 1989 film of films, Say Anything. It’s still National Poetry Month! WOOOT and huzzah! Poets Lie when They Cry—-Plutarch...
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141 ~ Vase of 100 Pens
Where did my vase of 100 pens go? It vanished! Was it burglars? Phroggers? Or did I stash it in the fridge in a poetic haze? OR did the ghosts desperately need pens to write their unearthly sonnets? This episode contains TWO songs on the subject—on autoharp--and will the vase ever reappear? A...
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140 ~ Lemon Cake (A Lost Poem)
National Poetry Month charges headlong into our hearts with a lost poem about a lemon cake—which leads us down the winding path from lost poetry to found poetry to cut-up poetry to Surrealist Automatism to 7-Up Cake! Grab your poetry hat, let’s go!! Transfusion Poetica https://a.co/d/0gy2iYMu…
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139 ~ Culture & Dream
What are the ingredients of poetry? National Poetry Month 2026 is here at last, so we’d best find out! Well, the ingredients of poetry are legion, but lets start with culture and dreams! Complicated front-yard gardens…dreams about jobs long abandoned…Kansas City as old-movie shorthand for...
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138 ~ The Third Time
The third time Phyllis saw him she exploded!!! What did THAT sculpture look like? Was the summer rather light on Podcast in A Minor episodes? That’s because I broke a little bone in my foot in June, and my healing leaned heavily on old 20th-century horror flicks—one of which germinated into this...
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137 ~ I Don’t Wanna Know
Ahh, the glamorous life of a substitute teacher! The twisting, turning, wholly unfamiliar hallways! The shame of mispronouncing a name! Settle in for substitute horror stories, sub-versive poetry, and a favorite cartoon substitute and her dollhouse murders! Substitute Horror Stories...
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136 ~ Fridays the 13th
It’s the second of two Fridays the 13th in a row! And one more to come this year! Will plague and tragedy ensue?? Enjoy this sinister little minor holiday with an impromptu little song, superstitious icons, eerie books to read, a Friday the 13th dinner menu, and several odd ways to thwart the bad...
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135 ~ The Future is Oatmeal
The future is oatmeal! And so is the past! It’s time for oatmeal whimsy---starring Oatmeal Hero Wilford Brimley, Alton Brown’s Emergency Oatmeal Kit, and what’s this? A 2014 horror movie with an oatmeal-ish theme! Jackpot! Weird oatmeal...
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134 ~ Sub: Versive
Substitute teachers! The backbone of the system! After all, there MUST be an adult in the classroom—and there must. Jump into this prequel-to-a-futuren-episode for substitute madness, student madness, poetry, and the terrifying question: what if your substitute teacher is a menacing alien? And...
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133 ~ (Not) In Love
Not in love this blessed February? Come sit by me! I may be in it up to my eyeballs now, but I spent many a year disdaining that loathesome heart-choked February “holiday.” Enjoy a haiku—some anti-Valentine’s conversation hearts… and a little Sean Connery, who always seems to pop up this time of...
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132 ~ A Chocolate Box
February again? Thank God! What with all those boxes of chocolate sparkling down the aisles of the grocery stores! A bright beacon in the winter of our world’s insanity. Chocolates in groovy flavors, stunning colors, and unexpected sassy shapes—all befitting a sort-of psychedelic tune. Let’s get...
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131 ~ Put on Your Lipstick
It’s February! Still rather a newish year—and will I break the habit of being the occasional sad sack? A chapbook I wrote for a poetry contest opened my eyes! So I’ll put on my lipstick and have a good time! Never better! Will Sarah Vowell do the same? Check out the youtube version for Put on…
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130 ~ Hey, It’s That Guy! (Frank Adamo)
Hey, it’s that guy! Time for some winter musings – it’s Frank Adamo, Dick Van Dyke’s stand-in and personal assistant–who appeared in something like 70 episodes of the Dick Van Dyke Show, back in the day! How did Frank inspire my poetry and haunt my nights? How did Nick at Nite enrich our lives…
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129 ~ Happy New Year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Impromptu song, podcast unscripted—packed with music, New Year’s doings, New Year’s memories—where were you during Y2K? Indulge in an eggnog-infused pudding for your pancakes! Read to your darling! And check out a new collection of poetry, “Am I A Poet in December,” born from the...
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128 ~ Christmas Ghosts
And it’s nearly Christmas Day! 2025! Let’s stir up old memories of loved ones departed—how easily we conjure the aromas of their breads and pies, we can hear their joyful, off-key singing! This, of course, leads us right into the old tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas. I’m sharing...
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127 ~ Poinsettia Cookie Jar
Let’s do it. Let’s open the mythical poinsettia cookie jar and see what flies out! Will it be soft, fat molasses cookies in star shapes? Sad poetry? Persona reinvented—again? Pull your plush futon up to the roaring fire and inhale the sweet spices and rum! Christmas cookie time!
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126 ~ Winter Skies ‘88
Christmas is coming! This time of year, don’t we all get flooded with memories! Indulge with me—in a tale of ice storms and cherry sour candies, precarious trips to the mall, a cat on top of the chimney, A Very Brady Christmas, and the pillowiest bangs a boy could ever have!
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125 ~ In Merry Measure
Follow me in merry measure….to a defunct pizza joint and a discovery of a coveted pie dish…on the trail of the Magi and the complicated, excited feelings they elicit—oh yes! It’s all in the song—a new Christmas banger, a destined classic! And no, I don’t believe for a moment it would make the…
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124 ~ Turkey Bowling
Turkey bowling? Did you ever?? I never did, but I’ve seen it on TV. An obscure rite of American Thanksgiving, where sport is king and it’s time for turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and pie, LOADS of pie! But we’re not talking pie in this here episode 124—we’re talking turkey bowling! To…
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123 ~ Chocolate Turkeys
Chocolate Turkeys! Let’s gorge on a super-smooth party favor for that most gluttonous of American holidays, Thanksgiving! Plus: a look at some kooky and expensive chocolate molds for homemade gift-giving, and the Ritz Cracker turkey recipe you know you need! The Bissingers Turkey...
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122 ~ Pie Bird
Pie birds! That most adorable and sassy of pie accessories as Thanksgiving sprints our way! Let’s explore some of these treasured pie tools—and how they tie into MOBY DICK, my favorite book! Oh, the air is electric around here, and filled with quirky tunes of Thanksgiving, that beloved American...
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121 ~ Halloween Blues Song
SEVEN HALLOWEEN SONGS this year! That’s more songs than trick-or-treaters ringing our original 1978 doorbell—a disappointing turnout. But on the bright side, my Christmas shopping is done! (spoiler alert—it’s leftover Halloween candy)
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120 ~ A Merry Hallowe’en!
A MERRY HALLOWE’EN! (as stated on a treasured cat-in-a-pumpkin mug my sister gave me years back!) It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year! Let us dive into American Halloween circa 1919 with Ruth E. Kelley’s Book of Hallowe’en—-then wallow in the atmosphere of Washington Irving’s The...
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119 - Bubblegum Zombies
Zombies! Another icon of terror as Halloween creeps ever closer! Bubblegum zombies? Well, you’d better get in here and find out! zombie cucumber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium GTTUPOD Secret Creepy Folder...
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118 ~ The Howling Fantods
Fantods! A feeling of deep unease! Or a little dragon creature from mysterious writer and illustrator of eerie stories, Edward Gorey. I also like to imagine them as wispy ghosts in the woods. Or star creatures. Take your pick. And what is it about their howling that makes it so much more...
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117 ~ Got the Morbs
Halloween draws ever closer! Got the morbs yet? The what? That’s a Victorian slang phrase meaning “to sit under a cloud of despondency.” But for our purposes, we’ll dwell on the definition of “morbid” pertaining to an unusual interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects, especially death and...
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116 ~ Candy Corn (A Love Song)
Candy Corn, oh dearest October paramour…. Some love it! Some hate it! But candy corn makes her dazzling appearance every autumn on display endcaps of food stores far and wide. Look, I’m a songwriter, not an internet troll. So when the anonymous despisers of the ’corn come out and disparage her…
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115 ~ Mylinga(r)
It’s that time of year again—the darkness is coming! Get ready for the spooky and the horrible as we dive into Mylingar, “the murdered ones,” that is, the spirits of children “put away” by their parents long ago in cold, difficult climates. One might encounter such an entity in a Time-Life...
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114 ~ Wig Closet
Hey, take a powder! Don’t blow your wig! Or do—welcome to the wig closet, your favorite place to hide out when the hostility of life gets out of hand. Or, a nice little nook for powdering your elaborate wig, if you happen to be a fashionable citizen of the 18th-century. Grab your bear grease and...
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113 ~ Birthday Pie
Happy September birthdays! This one goes out to my angel of a husband—and to my lonely inner poet—and to those buried under gravestones inscribed with their signature recipes! You heard me. Happy birthday to ALL of us!! https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gravestone-recipes...
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112 ~ Haunted Pants (Cryptid Campfire!)
Yep, haunted pants—what a wonderful world! Toast your marshmallows to new ditty about the mysterious “walking pajamas” of Fresno, California, et al: the Fresno Nightcrawler. Real? Fake? Certainly bizarre, and caught on camera! Dare we venture into the outdoors after dark? That all depends—upon...
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111 ~ Octopus Boot
Octopus boot? But yes, for a little tiny broken foot bone! What a fuss. Let’s dive into the basement stairs! The booting and crutching! Hey, I’ve been reading Anais Nin’s diaries—let’s voyeur into that. And the real cure for the metatarsal blues? Well, a blues song! But also: A Nightmare on Elm...
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110 ~ Weird Tumors
Yes, weird tumors, in song! A whole extra lifetime has passed since those little weirdies encircled my inside parts—that’s a blessin’! Get the story here, and how about a little callback to episode 75, “AI Art Song”? My skeleton foot, wearing flesh for a sock…🎵 Have you ever seen your skeleton...
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109 ~ Rainy Days and Urban Legends
What’s the least scary way to weather a tornado scare? Podcast right on through it! That wasn’t the plan, of course, when recording began. No, the rainy day seemed a golden opportunity to wallow in spooky stories — yes! And then the sirens wailed…. 27 Kinds of Loneliness https://a.co/d/7TALHCH…
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108 ~ Before and After
Happy Anniversary to my sweet gumdrop! I’m wearing your slippers right now—can you hear the magic? For the occasion, I’m dragging two old favorites out of the mothballs: “Death in the Afternoon” and “Hungarian Puzzle Box”—a little comparison of life before and after it got beautiful. Thank you…
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About this show
Hello! I’m an okay songwriter.Join me on a songwriting journey with songwriter insight, a little musical commentary, and a whole lot of life and weirdness. Hop in!
Hosted by
Amy Zoellers
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