Suburbural Tongue

Rich Falvo is the chairman of the board at Craftwork Studios as well as an employee safety specialist at PENNDot and a lifeguard at the YMCA. Enjoy!

Ezekiel's Cherubim is a two-piece acoustic/electric guitar group with members Ron & Clint. In this episode we talked about their history together as friends and musical collaborators, the various bands they've been in, their songwriting methods, their faith, and more. Enjoy!

Robbie Ward is back for another episode! He is the sole artist and creative mind behind the AMAZING "Animal Math", as well as other projects in both the arts and music spheres, and is, therefore, worth you checking out!

Thomas Smith is the principal at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, PA. He has worked at various schools in the area, and has coached wrestling and football teams along the way. I was initially interested in talking with Thomas to learn more about McCort's new Bright Futures Fund, an alumni-created fund to provide tuition assistant for high performing students. Our conversation touched on this and many other aspects of his administrative work with the school as well as past schools, where he hopes to take the school moving forward, and most importantly, how faith plays into the curriculum and atmosphere of Bishop McCort. Enough summary, enjoy the episode!

Frank is a political activist, organizer, and communicator for the Pittsburgh branch of the Party for Socialism & Liberation.   This was a fun one, this is the first time I've had an explicitly politically themed episode. This is meant as the first step for conversation, no matter your own beliefs or ideologies

William (Bill) Thwing is a musician, poet, pastor, and environmental activist. He has written several memoirs and books of haiku poetry. This was an incredible episode - Bill shared so much wisdom even in the short hour we got to talk. Enjoy! Check out more of Bill's work: His music Link to his books on Amazon

In this episode I talked with Duncan Ellinwood, an Oregon-based carpenter, chocolate maker, and folk educator.   Check out Duncan's work below: Substack Website

I talked with Richard Jimenez, a California-native turned Johnstown-resident who has been helping with the arts and poetry scene in our area. He himself is a writer, poet, and aspiring environmental scientist. Enjoy! I know, it's been a LONG break. What started as an extra week for the New Years became a month, but we're back at it. Expect new episodes every three weeks, with a special one thrown in bi-weekly here and there!

Clare Welsh is a PA-based photographer, artist, musician and writer. Check out her work at: https://www.instagram.com/cwn_annwn_/ and her Substack: https://substack.com/@clarewelsh  

Stoker is a producer, news anchor, singer/songwriter, and photographer. Check out his work at his Website & Instagram

Alex Ragsdale is a New Jersey turned Johnstown, Pennsylvania based poet, musician, and event organizer. I met Alex earlier this year when he was setting up the Bardstock festival to commemorate Gazebo Park in Johnstown before its reconstruction by spotlighting poets, musicians, and artists from all around the country. This will be the first of many of his appearances on the podcast!

Robbie Ward is an artist, animator, musician, and the sole mind behind the stop motion short, "Animal Math". Robbie was awesome to talk to, and I'm really excited for you all to get to listen to this conversation!

Matthew Orr is the creative director at Wet Ink Games, the creators of games such as "Into The Cess & Citadel", "heckin' good doggos", "Garbage and Glory", and more! Check out Matt and team's work at their website: https://www.wetinkgames.com/

Josh Putnam is the author of Heavy Metal History and is ex-Army, where he served from 2011 to 2020. I had a great time recording this episode with Josh, his passion for the history that inspired heavy metal is really inspiring. Check out his book! https://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Metal-History-Lesson-ebook/dp/B0DQLP97L5 Josh's Substack: https://substack.com/@joshputnam    

Sam is a freelance and commission artist. His art has appeared in Wet Ink Games' new release "Garbage and Glory", Ohio-based brewery Gemüt Biergarten's products, various writing and grammar textbooks, his original prints, and more! Check out his work at: https://www.brieckdraw.com/ or his Instragram @brieckdraw

Ryan is a spiritual thinker and teacher who posts vlog-style videos on YouTube going over these concepts. This was an incredible interview! We had our share of scheduling and technical problems, but, out of all of that we got a really deep, insightful conversation out of it. Enjoy! Check out Ryan's talks on his Youtube channel, ryan robinson.

Ryan is a reference librarian at the Cambria County Library. He also is a street photographer, writer, filmmaker, AND musician! We didn't get to touch on all of those sides of his life in this episode, but luckily, we will have him back on in the future for more conversations! I met Ryan through his work at the library, and we are teaching a podcasting class together starting in August 2025!

Wow! This episode was an absolute joy to make! Adventure Time has been in my life ever since I was a kid, and Jesse's involvement in that show as well as his other projects have influenced me an indescribable amount throughout my creative journey. I hope you enjoy this episode, and thank you again to Jesse for making time to have a TWO HOUR conversation with me ranging from art to music to creative drive to his interest in the Tarot. Enjoy!

Welcome back to another episode! Today I sat down with Stephanie, a photographer and business-owner based in Johnstown. We met officially whenever she took the photos for my piece in the Johnstown Magazine about my book "To House A Mouse", but we had actually known each other beforehand and I had just not realized! This was a great episode, I hope you enjoy it!

This was such a great episode to get to record! I loved getting to sit down and talk with Vic Mietus, a Canadian artist, about her creative process. Enjoy!

Welcome back to another episode! This week I talked with Lauren from Butterfly Crafts. She makes and sells decals, stickers, and other specialized crafts; as well as is a substitute teacher and coach. I hope you enjoy!

In this episode I talked with Creedence Questions about faith, the creation account and how it pertains to science, "The Chosen" television series, spiritual warfare and the broader spiritual realms, Jesus and how his earthly mission disrupted Satan's control over the earth, and if there is any validity in the doctrine of predestination. You can find Creedence at: https://www.youtube.com/@creedencequestions https://substack.com/@creedencequestions   Sources to Key Points of the Episode: John 14:25-29 ~ Jesus promising the Holy Spirit in his absence Matthew 28:17 ~ references how some disciples doubted Jesus even as he was ascending to heaven "Light of the World" movie by Salvation Poem Project "King of Kings" movie by Seong-ho Jang Disciple's ages: https://ac3.org/2017/04/how-old-were-the-disciples "Paradise Lost" by John Milton Angelology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy_of_angels "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri Michael Heiser "The Unseen Realms" Revelation 12 ~ the angels' battles in heaven The Books of Enoch Deuteronomy 32 & Psalms 82, 89 ~ referring to God and his heavenly assembly Luke 3:8  ~ John the Baptist speaking to the crowds about Abraham Acts 17:26-27 ~ God portioning out the nations so that people will find him Creedence's Video on pagan gods Luke 10:18 ~ Jesus saying he saw Satan fall from heaven 1 Corinthians 2:8 ~ the rulers would not have crucified Jesus if they had known its impact Genesis 1:26 ~ God makes man in his image Ephesians 3:9 ~ God's secret plan "The Two Powers in Heaven" Michael Heiser Ezekiel 28 ~ King of Tyre is compared to Satan Gehenna Hell in the Bible Revelation 21:1 ~ new heaven and new earth Matthew 17:1-11 ~ Jesus' transfiguration Mt. Hermon Romans 1 ~ the attributes of God Wes Huff on "Flagrant" podcast Galatians 4:4-7 ~ fullness of times Ephesians 2:10 ~ we are God's creative work Ephesians 2:22 ~ we are a living tabernacle   Enjoy the episode!  

In this week's episode I talked with Pastor John Lawley, the lead pastor of Emmanuel Church in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. We talked about the Mosaic Law, Christ's fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, his life leading up to and involving ministry, and the past and future of the global church. Enjoy! Some verses we talked about but didn't quote exactly: Ephesians 4:11-13 : "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherd and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God..." Acts 17:26-27 : "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him." 2 Corinthians 12:9 : "But he said to me, "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" 1 Corinthians 9:21 : "To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law." Genesis 3:21 : "And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them." Galatians 4:4-5 : "But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons." Galatians 3:24-25 : "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."  

In this episode I got to talk with Scott Schlichter, founder of Warrior Poet Games and co-owner of Task Automation Partners. I say this about every episode, but this has to be one of my favorites so far, Scott is an awesome guy, and was such a great, insightful guest to have on the show. Check him out at: Warrior Poet Games: https://linktr.ee/warriorpoetgames Task Automation Partners: https://www.taskautomationpartners.com/   Links to some of our other talking points: David Lynch's writing method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yngWNmouhP0 Stephen King's writing routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhwLqRQ8unM    

I'm excited to welcome David and Andrew back to the podcast for another laid back, no real questions kind of episode! I've been sitting on this episode for a month or so, so some of what we talked about will be a little bit outdated at this point, but overall we had a great time recording this one!

In this episode I talk with Lyrical Capo, a fellow Johnstown native who is actively working with others to help them develop themselves and their brand We had a great conversation, and though the room noise is still audible in the recording, the library was super kind to allow us to use their space!

This episode was super fun to record! It's a small world when you drive to another city to record an episode and find out that your guests grew up in the same town as you. Check out their music, they're a great songwriting duo!

I'm very excited to get to welcome Russell Shorto onto the podcast! He is an author from Johnstown who currently lives in New York City, and has published multiple critically acclaimed historical narratives. His new book "Taking Manhatten" is released the day this podcast is coming out, so go grab yourself a copy! Russell's Website: https://www.russellshorto.com/ Order "Taking Manhattan": https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393881164/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

I talked with Collin Fluke in this episode, a photographer and archaeology major who I've known for a few years and was very happy to get to talk with, even in this brief episode. Links to Collin's Work: Website: https://people.rit.edu/clf8924/portfolio/Pages/photo-genres.html Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfluke.photos/  

I'm pumped for this episode! I know him better as Mr St. Clair, he was my history teacher in high school, and even though I was only in two of his classes, his love for teaching, history, and theatre has a major effect on my life. I was super excited to be able to host this episode at my apartment, this is only the second episode so far I've done that for. I hope you all enjoy!   Some Things We Talked About: Dungeons and Dragons "Brave New World" Aldous Huxley 

I took it off the beaten trail a bit with this one; I got together to talk with David and Riley who host a sports podcast, and I was definitely out of my comfort zone on the topics we discussed, especially with the UFC, but I think we got something special from it!

What a way to kick off the New Years! I loved getting to sit down with Andrew for this episode, he's been a good friend for quite a while now, so what better way to start off 2025. I hope you all enjoy!! Some Things We Talked About: Nosferatu Twilight (reluctantly) Beowulf (Jim Henson Company) Dune The Lighthouse 28 Years Later It Comes At Night Hamlet (1990 with Mel Gibson) Artic Monkeys

Hello everybody! This week I talk to Kate Davis, my theatre director from high school, who has been a big inspiration in my creative life. Aptly, we spoke in a theatre, and hopefully that atmosphere carried over into our conversation. I had a great time talking with her and I hope you all will enjoy!   Some things we talked about: “The Canterbury Tales" Geoffrey Chaucer "Twelfth Night" Shakespeare "Hamlet" Shakespeare "She Kills Monsters" Qui Nguyen Samuel Beckett "Not I" Samuel Beckett Bertolt Brecht Henri Matisse

I talked with Christopher Orozco this week, also known as wizardillustrator online! He's a great artist and had wonderful insights all throughout the episode. I loved the way he was able to compress the poorly worded, quasi-complex ideas I was throwing at him into super digestable concepts and applications -- check him out at... wizardillustrator on Instagram wizardillustrator2 on Tiktok and his projects at linktr.ee/wizardillustrator   Things We Brought Up Throughout the Episode Bug Boys - Laura Knetzger Chris' "Mythic Ink" project that he is revitalizing!  

This is a seminal episode for the show - I talk to Mike Messina, a good friend of mine and owner of Chameleon Bookstore, whose work with the Johnstown Culture Crawl inspired me to start this podcast. This is one of the best (I love them all equally, but it's a good tagline)!!   Books We Mentioned: The Bible, Colossians 3:23-24: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." "The Good War" Studs Terkel

Welcome back to Suburbural Tongue! Strap in with some snacks for this episode, we hit the one hour mark! I loved getting to talk with Jeremy, he was a great host letting me come to his apartment to record this episode - I hope you all enjoy!   Some of the books we talk about (I think I missed a few): The Gospel According To Luke "Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail" Ray Dalio "The Abundant Community" John McClain "Ishmael" Daniel Quinn (I think this is what Jeremy was talking about, but he didn't give an author) "Man's Search For Meaning" Dr. Viktor Frankl "The New Jim Crow" Michelle Alexander "Leaders Eat Last" Simon Sinek "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" Malcolm X with Alex Haley Malcolm Gladwell "Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World" Adam Grant "10% Happier" Dan Harris

This is one of my favorite episodes so far (that's a trick, they're all my favorite, but really, this one is super good)! I got to talk with Morgan Overton of the Pittsburgh Public Theater, CreatePA, as well as a solo art career, and political activist work; so needless to say, we had a lot of bases to cover, I hope you all enjoy! Some of our interesting talking points to look into yourself:    James Baldwin (author/activist)    Pittsburgh Art Council - Creative Hive    Belle Hooks (author/social critic)    Jean Michel Basquiat's Essential Reading List:         // Symbol Sourcebook - Henry Dreyfuss         // Flash of the Spirit - Robert Farris Thompson    August Wilson (playwright)    Hozier “Butchered Tongue”  

Autumn is here and so is another episode of Suburbural Tongue! In this one, I talked to Pamela Rossi-Keen who works with the Genesis Collective in Aliquippa, PA: an organization that helps local artists get funding and to get their work seen in public places. Pamela is also a big advocate for social and racial injustices, which we talk about in the episode as well. Words to live by from Pamela: "If you're surrounded by imagination, you start to trust your own imagination."

Back for another episode, this week with Phoenix Stratemeier of Morgainz Elite Cycle! Phoenix is a wonderful guy, his energy in this episode was very contagious, so much so that he might have just convinced me to switch gyms! While editing this episode, I was reminded over and over of Dr. Viktor Frankl's philosophy, expressed in Man's Search for Meaning, which can be summed up beautifully with a line early in the book that I'll leave for you to think over; "Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Enjoy the episode!

Hi everyone! This is the first episode of Suburbural Tongue. My guest today is Troy Bugosh, co-owner of Cafe Dodie. Enjoy!