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look in
the cellar for archived webisodes from...
Ed Adler
Chris Arduser
Be Good Tanyas
Belleville Outfit
Blind Boys of Alabama
Rita Mae Brown
Kate Buckley
Laura Bell Bundy
Steven Carter
Peter Case
Brock Clarke
Sloane Crosley
George Cunningham
Jim DeRogatis
David Dye
Johanna Edwards
Kit Ehrman
Joel Feldman
Mary Gauthier
Tess Gerritsen
Sara Gruen
Beau Haddock
Mark Helprin
John Hennigan
Tony Horwitz
Marlon Hurst
Andy Offutt Irwin
Eilen Jewell
Melanie Johnson
Missy Johnston
Hillary Jordan
Carolyn Jourdan
Ted Kerasote
Greg Kott
Amos Lee
John Leland
Heather Lyons
Martie Majoros
Yann Martel
Nancy Martin
Archer Mayor
Antsy McClain
Brooke McEldowny
Erin McKeown
Bill McKibben
James McMurtry
Pam Oldfield Meade
Tift Merritt
Jonathan Miller
Joe Molinaro
Robert Morgan
Laura Moriarty
Darden North
Stephan Pastis
Mimi Pickering
Chuck Prophet
Carrie Rodriguez
John Sayles
Deirdre Skaggs
Michelle Slatalla
Karin Slaughter
Paul Slovak
Brandon Smith
Ben Sollee
Georgia Green Stamper
Garrison Starr
Victor Stenger
Vienna Teng
Tomislav Torjanec
Thrity Umrigar
Suzanne Vega
Dawn Ward
Bruce Warren
Sean Watkins
David Wilcox

reviews, essays,
winners galore
and more...



Music, books, and other merchandise from the artists on
tonic are often available through Amazon.com. Your Amazon purchase supports
tonic and WUKY

SURF COOL

tonic's theme was written and performed especially for the show by Melanie Johnson. Listen for her latest release,
Soul of a Spy, on WUKY.

www.melaniejohnsonmusic.com

the kitchen sink

There's even more art on WUKY's Curtains @ 8!


Check out these cool shows produced exclusively for WUKY:

Crossroads Radio
with Bobby Ray

Girls Night Out
with Anne Deck

Joe's Blues
with Joe Conkwright

Solo Shots
with Anne Deck

..as well as...
World Cafe
Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour
Grateful Dead Hour
Sound Opinions
American Routes
Putumayo World Music Hour
Blues Before Sunrise
Click here for air times

...plus...
All Songs Considered
NPR's online music show








WUKY's tonic is listener supported. Become a new member or continue your support. We can't do it without you.
Pledge now!
(and thanks)


This Week's New CDs
Listen this week for:

Dar Williams
Promised Land

Carrie Rodriguez
She Ain't Me


Jonatha Brooke
The Works


Search Adult Rock playlists here.



cool quotes

Painting is just another way
 of keeping a diary.

Pablo Picasso

Art is the only way to
run away without leaving home.

Twyla Tharp

 I don't paint things.
I only paint the difference
between things. 

Henri Matisse

 An artist cannot fail;
it is a success to be one. 

Charles Horton Cooley

All art requires courage. 

Anne Tucker

 Painting is easy when
you don't know how,
but very difficult when you do. 

Edgar Degas

 Anyone who says you can't
see a thought simply doesn't know art. 

Wynetka Ann Reynolds

 Great art picks up
where nature ends. 

Marc Chagall

 

 

In The Cellar
tŏn'ĭk
an invigorating, refreshing, or restorative agent or influence


pop culture | audio essays | what's this? | remembrances

Rita Mae's in the house

This polite southerner is as full of humor as her writing. Top mystery writer, poet, activist, big-time equine enthusiast, the wildly opinionated, extremely smart, and very funny, Rita Mae Brown is so enthusiastic it takes three episodes to absorb it all - she shares her views on just about everything from Hillary to horses!

              
                    part 1                       part 2  
 
     
              part 3







visit Rita Mae's website



 
Author Yann Martel did something unusual - he had a global competition for the artist who would illustrate his Man Booker Prize winning Life of Pi. In this extraordinary interview with tonic's Kopana, the author and the winning illustrator Tomislav Torjanac talk about Pi and the making of this exquisite book.



Click here to listen as Martel reads a passage from Life of Pi
Music: Robert Plant Ship of Fools; Lyle Lovett If I Had a Boat
Richard "Groove" Holmes
Groove's Groove; Keb Mo God Tryin' to Get Your Attention; Greg Ellis Form #8


 Stamping Grounds

Join tonic's Mike Graves,
Georgia Green Stamper,
and a host of others for a two-part discussion about the author and WUKY commentator's roots and how they led her to explore the history that shaped them.


Part 1           Part 2

georgiagreenstamper.com

 FACT:
The first child born in America was a Viking boy named Snorri.

And it only gets stranger from there...

tonic's Greg Davis speaks with author
Tony Horwitz
about his many voyages into the past.


 Going Beyond Growth

 "...masterfully crafted, deeply thoughtful, and mind-expanding."
- The Los Angeles Times
on Deep Economy



Author, educator, and environmentalist Bill McKibben discusses climate change, growth, and what it all means with tonic's Greg Davis.


 



 
 Wild Regions

"True to her Kentucky roots, Kate Buckley is a born storyteller with a poet’s transforming vision of the world’s details informed by loss and exile."

Julie Kuzneski Wrinn for the Betty Gabehart Prize, Kentucky Women Writers Conference

Hear tonic's Greg Davis chat with
Kate Buckley
about her book A Wild Region.


 
Said to be David Sedaris, Sarah Silverman, and Dorothy Parker rolled into one,
Sloane Crosley tells tonic's Kopana that would make her the best person ever.
In fact, Crosley's so smart, funny, and wildly creative she's available here in two parts!

                     
Part 1                           Part 2

sloanecrosley.com

PART ONE: Jerry Douglas - Ride the Wild Turkey; Rufus Wainwright - Do I Disappoint You; Ben Harper - Burn to Shine

PART TWO: Eric Johnson - Soulful Terrain; 3rd Force - Bridge of Dreams; LAGQ - The Cat Cow Reel



 The Sebold Challenge

 tonic's Tiffany Reisz struggled through the bestselling The Lovely Bones, cringed during portions of Lucky, and now she's set to conquer
Alice Sebold
's
2007 novel The Almost Moon.




 
 The Complicated South

Hillary Jordan,
author of
Mudbound,
talks with
tonic's Tiffany Reisz
about the book and what drew
her to the "darkness" of the South.





Carolyn Jourdan was a rising star Senate counsel in D.C. until a family emergency called from her East Tennessee mountain home. Listen to this hysterically funny, smart "uber-hick" tell tonic's Kopana about her journey. Oh, and if it sounds odd to you, just pretend Carolyn has called from a parallel universe. It will add to the experience.



 
carolynjourdan.com


 
Martie Majoros, research editor for The Old Farmer's Almanac's All-Season Garden Guide, took time out of her busy spring schedule to instruct us on the finer points of the annual magazine's offerings on garden design, veggies, fruit, and cool patio building tips!


Lots of great information about the magazine and much, much more can be found at The Old Farmer's Almanac website:



Many People Ask Him...

In his new memoir Born Standing Up,
Steve Martin
waxes nostalgic for his stand-up days. tonic's Tiffany Reisz unpacks the story of the bunny-eared, banjo-playing wild man of comedy.

 


   Humanizing the World


Acclaimed novelist and sometimes polemicist Mark Helprin
sometimes wishes he were more scared of the world. The writer opines to tonic's Greg Davis on war, love, and the state of modern literature.





www.markhelprin.com
Click here to listen as Morgan reads from Boone: A Biography



Bestselling author Robert Morgan dropped by the tonic studios to talk about his latest effort Boone: A Biography




robert-morgan.com

 
Music: Pat Metheny Map of the World
Barnett/Bell/Kosky/Spates East River of Shannon



THE MAYOR OF KELLY


He was no ordinary dog. Merle's Door author
Ted Kerasote

stopped in recently to talk about the biography
he wrote about his best friend


kerasote.com

An Address Book with 3000 Names

 
As the uniter of all things Beat, Allen Ginsberg became the Gandalf of the movement - creating, from his vast inner circle, a reservoir of rebellious artistic talent that would launch the counter-culture of the 50s and 60s. tonic's Tiffany Reisz tells the tale.











Hear Jack Kerouac read a selection from On the Road. With introduction by Joe Conkwright




- IN HIS OWN WORDS -

Why Kerouac Matters

Joe Conkwright talks with New York Times reporter and author John Leland about his research on the Beats.

                                   





ON THE ROAD
Turns 50


One long paragraph? On a scroll? Joe Conkwright asks Viking Press publisher Paul Slovak about the myth and lore surrounding Kerouac's most famous work.




Things I've learned from...

Things I've Learned from
Women Who've Dumped Me

tonic's Tiffany Reisz dives into the painful (and often funny) world of break-ups as she reviews a collection of essays from former Daily Show executive producer Ben Karlin called Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me.


 

 

God Bless You,
Mr. Vonnegut


The world became a little less interesting April 11th, 2007. tonic's Tiffany Reisz remembers the late Kurt Vonnegut
 


Irving comparative, Sara Gruen, was tonic's inaugural author to drop in for a spot of tea with Kopana. New York Times Bestseller, BookSense #1 novel, Quill Award General Fiction winner of 2006, and Entertainment Weekly nominee for Novel of the Year (2006), Gruen's third novel, Water For Elephants, is a spectacular international hit.
saragruen.com
 


 
tonic's Tiffany Reisz remembers
A Wrinkle in Time and its author,
Madeleine L'Engle,
who died in her Connecticut home in September.



  Bestselling author
Thrity Umrigar




dropped by the tonic studios and talked with Kopana about her latest release If Today Be Sweet,  colonial education, immigration, and being raised a Parsi - a small off-shoot of Zoroastrianism.



Burning Down The House


Seriously humorous author Brock Clarke talks about
writing a fictitious memoir as it climbs its way up the charts


 
Questioning God

In his latest book God: The Failed Hypothesis,
physics professor Victor Stenger joins a chorus of
nonbelievers who want to counter the rise of
fundamentalism with a dose of skepticism. 


 Prof. Stenger took some time
out from his tour to talk with

tonic's Josh James.

 
Anne Lamott Publisher Site
 
Grace, The Final Frontier

In her third book on faith, Grace (Eventually),
author Anne Lamott chronicles her disjointed
journey in Christianity.
tonic's Tiffany Reisz
has a review.



 
Christian in Japan

tonic's Tiffany Reisz delves into the work of Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo and finds an exploration of enduring religious questions.



"The Golden Rule" in Japanese  kanji symbols.



Vermont author Archer Mayor dropped in on tonic's Dr. Greg Davis. They had a lot to talk about. Like Davis, Mayor is a medical examiner...that is, when he's not a volunteer fireman, EMT, and part-time patrolman for the Bellow Falls Police Department. Before he took to writing fiction, Archer wrote history books and was the occasional scholarly editor. Listen to these two wildly smart and funny men share stories.                                       archermayor.com


         



A Doctor Whose Writing
You Can Read

Jackson, Mississippi physician
Darden North
likes to let his imagination get the best of him. The House Call author talks with
tonic's Kopana about his latest project, Points of Origin.



   

Writer and bookseller
Tiffany Reisz
explains why
Ian McEwan's Saturday isn't just the story of one day -- it's 24 hours in the life of the world. 




 
Kit Ehrman plants her latest mystery right in the heart of Kentucky - Churchill Downs. WUKY News' Kathleen Adams spoke with Ehrman earlier this month.


What's a little phone sex between friends?
tonic's Tiffany Reisz listens in on Nicholson Baker's
Vox
and files this report.




  It's About Imagination
Writer and bookseller Tiffany Reisz reviews Jennifer Egan's The Keep and explains why the New York Times Bestseller list ain't all that.



tonic's Kopana talked to author Steven Carter. Professor at Georgetown College and the author of critically acclaimed I Am Howard Hughes and more recently, Famous Writers School, Dr. Carter explains, among other things, why both books have writers as a central theme.




Michelle Slatalla arrived at the tonic studios with a big surprise - her mother...who just happened to be central to Slatalla's latest novel: The Town on Beaver Creek: The Story of a Lost KY Community The day quickly turned into something very different...and very special. Join Kopana for this trip down memory lane.



Success as a Romance novel writer opened the door for Nancy Martin to pursue her true passion- writing mysteries.  Listen in as this market-savvy, on-the-ball lady talks with tonic's Kopana.

                  
nancymartinmysteries

tonic's Tiffany Reisz has a crush on famed fictional detective Hercule Poirot and she isn't afraid to admit it. Here she muses on the legacy of Poirot's creator, beloved mystery writer Agatha Christie.


 

 
Tess Gerritsen said goodbye to her successful Honolulu medical practice in 1986. In this interview with tonic's Greg Davis, the doctor-cum-author explains what drew her into the world of fiction and how she came to discover her winning formula:

"
a happy ending for a heterosexual couple who struggle against evil and end up with each other despite almost overwhelming odds."





The steamy South is the setting for Karin Slaughter's life and work.  The Georgia native tells kopana how she develops her mystery and thriller novels, and shares a few stories from her childhood.


photo by Jerry Bauer
karin slaughter

For Wretched Writers Only
 
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, now in its 25th year, is a stinging indictment against "serious" writers who take themselves a little too... seriously. Take, for example, the 2007 grand prize winner:

"Gerald began--but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten percent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile radius of the eruption, not that it mattered much because for them "permanently" meant the next ten minutes or so until buried by searing lava or suffocated by choking ash--to pee."

Jim Gleeson
Madison, WI

Go, now, and give to the world your bad writing. bulwer-lytton.com

 Christmas Regifted

What's up with Christmas novels? Seriously. You know, those glitter-covered sapfests that clog book shelves every December.
Tonic's Tiffany Reisz recommends Haven Kimmel's The Used World,
a modern day retelling of the nativity story without the gimmicks.

Author Laura Moriarty dropped in for a spot of tea with tonic's Kopana and talked about The Rest of Her Life.


"Moriarty's honest novel...resonates like an emotional tuning fork."

           --Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes
  

 
 On Common Ground

No one can fault Kentucky's State Treasurer for lack of vision. As tonic's Greg Davis reveals, Jonathan Miller wants to recapture religion and faith from the political extremes and harness them to create a common morality. 



on the burner
Holy Smokes, Batman, summer is heating up!

Artists and Arts Activists
David and Janine Musser


Poet extraordinaire
Frank X Walker

Photographer
Jahi Chikwendiu

plus more music, art, and literary interviews from
Kopana

Josh James
Dr. Greg Davis
Stacy Yelton
Mike Graves
Rusty Sharp

Joe Conkwright

audio essays, pop culture, cinema, performing arts, obits and, of course

killer book reviews from Tiffany Reisz

 tonic
only online
only from WUKY

last call
KY7 Biennial
DEADLINE: JULY 24, 2008
a series of exhibitions, presented by the Lexington Art League, showcasing new work by living artists in Kentucky and any of its contiguous states including Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, celebrating the richness and variety of the visual arts in our region. All artists who have spent time during the last three years working in any of the above states are invited to submit images of their work, in any medium, along with an exhibition statement and resume for consideration by the selection committee. While all media will be considered, the exhibition will place special emphasis on contemporary art that uses new media or installation work. Eligibility and Media: KY7 Biennial. All media and styles will be considered. All artists, age 18 and older, having lived and worked in Kentucky or its contiguous states within the last three years are eligible.

For more complete information, visit lexingtonartleague.org

-------


2008 Comic Art Show
LexArts and the Comic Creators Group are requesting submissions for the 2008 Comic Art Show, to be held at the ArtsPlace Gallery August 8 - September 6, 2008. This exhibit will have two age categories: 18 and over and under 18. Please download and submit the appropriate application at www.lexarts.org
Deadline: 18 and over - Postmarked by July 21 or drop off by 5pm July 24; Under 18 - Drop off by 5pm August 4 *at least one submission by each under 18 applicant will be exhibited

-------

KENTUCKY WOMEN WRITERS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES WRITING CONTEST
New this year, the Gypsy Slam Poetry Prize honors writers ages 13—18 who have an interest in the art of poetry.
They will also award three Betty Gabehart Prizes in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
Entries must be postmarked by July 31
visit KWWC for more

-------

KENTUCKY WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS’ SEMINAR ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
Applications for Kentucky Women Playwrights’ Seminar (KWPS) are being accepted for seven Kentucky women writers who desire to explore the genre of playwriting and to dramatize issues that impact their lives and encourage positive social change
deadline for completed applications August 8th

Visit silvercreekwriters for more

-------

A ROOM OF HER OWN FOUNDATION INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR
2009 LITERARY GIFT OF FREEDOM AWARD
A Room Of Her Own Foundation is dedicated to helping women artists achieve the privacy and financial support necessary to pursue their art. The foundation annually provides an award of $50,000 to a woman writer.  The  foundation's 2009 Literary Gift of Freedom Award will be given to an American woman writer who is a U.S. citizen and will be living in the U.S. during the  grant period.  Acceptable genres for this grant are poetry, playwriting, creative nonfiction, and fiction.  The program requires a $35.00 application fee.

Click here to visit the foundation's Web site for complete program guidelines.
Deadline October 31, 2008

-------

The Nude
January 10 - March 1, 2009
ENTRY DEADLINE: OCTOBER 10, 2008

twenty-third annual Nude presented by the Lexington Art League.
Artists are invited to submit images of their work, in any medium, along with an exhibition statement and resume for consideration by the selection committee. All media will be considered. All artists, age 18 and older, are eligible to enter The Nude. All media and styles will be considered. No reproductions will be accepted. The artist must provide any necessary electronic equipment. All works must have been completed since January 2006 and not previously shown in any LAL gallery.

For more complete information, visit lexingtonartleague.org

-------

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2008 MOTIF ANTHOLOGY
Motif, a new anthology series to be published annually by MotesBooks of Louisville is seeking submissions for the first volume.  The theme is music, the working title is Writing by Ear. Submissions may be poems, short stories, song lyrics, short memoirs, essays, letters, creative nonfiction, or other forms.
  • Prose: Under 3,000 words
  • Poetry/lyrics: Up to 3 pieces
All genres, including combinations of forms will be considered as long as music is referenced in the works either directly or indirectly, and the presence of music figures significantly and artfully in the piece.

The submission deadline is August 5, 2008 with publication anticipated in November 2008.
For a complete description of specific submission guidelines visit MotesBooks.com or email MOTIF@MotesBooks.com

-------

COMIX
a Lexington Art League exhibition of comic and cartoon creations that range from conceptual sketches and finished drawings to printer's proofs, printed newspapers, and individual pages from comic books and graphic novels.
Deadline November 7, 2008
For more complete information, visit lexingtonartleague.org


--------------------------------------


RESOURCES







A.R.T. (Artist Resources and Tips) is available on the Kentucky Arts Council website artscouncil.ky.gov A.R.T. is published online every two months. If you are not on the arts council’s mailing list and wish to receive email announcements when new editions of A.R.T. are posted to the website, you must sign up for the arts council’s mailing list via the link on the front page of their website at artscouncil.ky.gov

--------

The Arts & Democracy website sponsored by the National Center for Civic Participation www.ccp.org
The site features:
  • twelve profiles of exemplary work in arts, culture and democracy
  • descriptions of more than 85 arts, culture and democracy projects along with contact information for these projects
  • a resource list with articles, websites and publications
  • a blog with highlights from the artist-activist gatherings
------------

ARTS ACROSS KENTUCKY
SEEKS INFORMATION AND PHOTOS OF KENTUCKY ARTISTS AT WORK
Kentucky artists are invited to send articles with “high quality images”  of their art as well as photos of themselves at work.  300 dpi (dots per inch) is the minimum necessary for print media and send them in large size. More information at
www.artsacrossky.com


---------

LESBIAN WRITERS FUND
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice works for social, racial and economic justice in the U.S. and internationally. Their grant making and philanthropic advocacy programs help lesbians and allied communities challenge oppression and claim their human rights. Astraea’s Lesbian Writers Fund was established to support the work of emerging lesbian writers, and to acknowledge the contributions of established lesbian writers to the lesbian movement and culture.
For more information: grants@astraeafoundation.org or astraefoundation.org

---------

Visual Dialogue
Rolling Deadline
The Lexington Art League (LAL) seeks proposals for Visual Dialogue, an exhibition in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG).  The mission of Visual Dialogue is to have visual art as part of the regular experience for those who visit the Mayor’s and Council Members’ offices and the Government Center; to encourage dialogue about creativity in our community among the elected officials, community leadership, staff and visitors to the Government Center; and to provide inspiration for new ways of seeing. Eligibility: Any artist 18 years or older living in Kentucky. Please note, due to spatial limitations of the Mayor’s Office and Council Members’ Offices, we will only be able to accommodate two-dimensional work.

For more complete information, visit lexingtonartleague.org

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TORCH: POETRY,PROSE, AND SHORT STORIES BY AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
Rolling Deadline
Please visit torchpoetry.org for guidelines

artists in the news
Around the Globe



A Rembrandt Original
Sold at a London auction in October as the work of an imitator or student of The Master, the painting turned out to be an original work by Dutch painter Rembrandt. Sold for $4.5 million, the self-portrait Rembrandt Laughing is estimated to actually be worth $30-40 million.


Death of the CD?
According to Canada's globeandmail.com, it will die sooner than later



40 years ago on a London stage Jimi Hendrix set his 1965 Fender on fire
It was one of only two Hendrix axes set afire.... the London conflagration has resurfaced and will be offered at auction at London's Fame Bureau September 14, 2008. It's estimated worth? 500,000 pounds or $999,000!

The U.S.



The Godfather of Soul on Sale
Christie's (New York City) is auctioning items from the James Brown Collection. Clothes, photographs, awards, instruments and hand-written letters are on the auction block July 17th, 2008. Did you know you can bid online!

Kentucky

The Winter 2007/2008 issue of The New Southerner profiles the work of Kentucky artist Dobree Adams including her work to help stop the abuses from mountaintop removal coal mining. Online at newsoutherner.com


UK (University of Kentucky, that is)

UK's Second Life Island opens Art Gallery



From UK News: With today's technology, members of the virtual world Second Life are getting a second chance to see some of UK's real world art exhibits that show at a new art gallery on the University of Kentucky Island in Second Life. Art Studio graduate student Melissa A. Schwartz became the first student to exhibit on the virtual island starting April 10, 2008. The art show was made possible by the work of a committee of administrators that organizes the virtual island's activities. The group created a surreal virtual art gallery with staircases and bridges transporting visitors to spaces on several levels. If you're in Second Life, visit Schwartz's exhibit here