The Burning Castle Podcast

Sharmaarke Mohamed was born in a country where virtually all of the things we taken for granted—food and water, education, and, most of all, stability—are in short supply. But Somalia gave Sharmaarke other things, like a deeply rooted sense of community, a feeling that family is a pillar of his individual existence, and, maybe most of all, a burning need to (re)create his own future.

On this episode of The Burning Castle Podcast, Sh...

In this episode of The Burning Castle podcast, I speak with opera singer Gideon Dabi about drew him to the opera from a young age, why he think there’s a future in one of our most enduring and deeply rooted art forms, and how opera can unlock new creative horizons for artists and music lovers alike.

As you’ll hear on the episode, Gideon’s onstage charisma translates offstage too. He’s a big presence with the kind of joie de vivre th...

Thomm Jutz is a German-born American singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist based in Nashville, Tennessee.He has worked with folk singer Nanci Griffith (as a member of her Blue Moon Orchestra), Eric Brace & Peter Cooper, Mary Gauthier, Mac Wiseman, Bobby Bare, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, David Olney, Otis Gibbs, Kim Richey, Bill Anderson, Amy Speace,[1] Milan Miller and Marc Marshall.[2]

His songs have been recorded by Nanci...

David Francis, based in Los Angeles, is the author of The Great Inland Sea, published to acclaim as Agapanthus Tango in seven countries, Stray Dog Winter, Book of the Year in The Advocate, winner of the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Prize for Literature and a LAMBDA Literary Award Finalist, and most recently Wedding Bush Roadpublished by Counterpoint Press in 2018. His short fiction and articles have appeared in pub...

An American writer now resident in the UK long enough to nearly qualify as National Treasure, Lionel Shriver has published one story/novella collection and fourteen novels, including the bestsellers The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047, Big Brother, So Much for That (a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award and the Wellcome Trust Book Prize), The Post-Birthday  World (Entertainment Weekly’s 2007 Book of the Year), and the Orange-P...

Jack G. Hyman is a playwright, director, actor, and teacher who has written for stage, television, and magazines. He wrote for the Cable- TV series, THE ISLANDERS and is a produced playwright on the NY stage. His children’s book (BREAKFAST WITH THE BIRDS) has recently been made into a musical for kids. Additionally, Jack has been a writer/performer for the long-running PBS kids show, BLOOPY’S BUDDIES and a freelance associate produ...

Dino Stamatopoulos is the creator of Moral Orel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole, and High School USA. He has written comedy for Mr. Show, TV Funhouse, Mad TV, The Dana Carvey Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

He is part-founder of Starburn Industries: https://www.starburnsindustries.com

Follow him on social:

Instagram - @dinostamatopoulos

Studio Instagram - @starburnsind

Band Instagram - @sorryabouteve...

Kate Schutt is an award-winning singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer whose voice NPR calls “glassily clear and glossily sweet.”Americana Highways names her new album Bright Nowhere “Superb...one of the year’s best.” American Songwriter calls it “illuminating” and “the work that ought to bring her the wider recognition she so decidedly deserves.” Kate’s songs have won top honors from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and AS...

Stacey Rozich is an artist, illustrator and occasional muralist. She constructs figural vignettes in watercolor that combine elements of folk art and American pop culture. Her storybook world is brought to life through lush patterning, symbolism, and dynamic color palettes. She was born and raised in Seattle and now resides in Los Angeles.

 Follow her IG Page: @staceyrozich

Check out all of her work: staceyrozich.com

In this episode I talked with co-founders  Natasha Leporé and Niharika Gajawelli of the startup Voxel Healthcare. Their MD in that space, Justin Low, also joined us. 



Natasha Leporé is one of the founders and the CTO of Voxel Healthcare, where we develop software to automate clinicians’ tasks and provide quantitative assessment of medical images to help in their daily functions. They focus particularly on clinica...

Kyle Coroneos is a professional freelance writer, music journalist, and critic. As a popular music and cultural commentator, he has been interviewed, quoted, and profiled by The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, CNN, Fox News, and many other outlets. Along with his website SavingCountryMusic.com, he has previously written for Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, and multiple other periodicals.


If you would like ...

Yohan Caunegre has been a barista, and more generally involved in the specialty coffee industry since 2010. He’s lived and worked in many different countries including the states, Uk and Australia.He is a partner and GM / Head of training at L'Alchimiste in Bordeaux. L'Alchimiste is a specialty coffee roastery and cafés , who focused on terroir coffees with very high traceability and great social values. They put a lot of...

Born in Ramat Gan, Israel, in 1967, Etgar Keret is the most popular writer among Israel's young generation and has also received international acclaim. He has been published in The New York Times, Le Monde, The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Paris Review and Zoetrope, among others. In 2010, Keret was awarded the prestigious French Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres decoration. He has twice been a finalist for the O'Connor S...

John Dyer is a photographer, novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of Conjunto(University of Texas Press, October,2005) El Vaquero Real, The Original American Cowboy (Bright Sky Press, September, 2007) and San Antonio Hidden Treasures (Private Commission, 2011), Edge of Texas was shot in 2019 and is yet to be published.

John has exhibited his photographs at a wide variety of museums and galleries and is represented by Heidi Va...

David Liss is the author of fourteen novels, most recently The Peculiarities. His previous books include A Conspiracy of Paper which was named a New York Times Notable Book and won the 2001 Barry, MacAvity and Edgar awards for Best First novel. The Coffee Trader was also named a New York Times Notable Book and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the year’s 25 Books to Remember. Many of his novels are currently be...

Mark Daumail is a singer, songwriter and  founder of the band Cocoon. He is prevalent in the French music scene and signed a record deal early on in his career that most musicians only dream of. His path of music success hasn't always been a straight line, but recently things are starting to come full circle for him in a very interesting way.  

Ben Freeman is a Jewish leader, a Jewish thinker, and a Jewish educator

Born in Scotland, Ben is a gay Jewish author, internationally renowned educator and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion specialist focussing on Jewish identity, combatting Jew-hatred and raising awareness of the Holocaust. His first book,Jewish Pride: Rebuilding a People, was released in February 2021, to great international acclaim. He is currently workin...

Amelia Green-Dove is an LA-based documentary filmmaker. She is the producer of award-winning documentary film “Watchers of the Sky” and has served as archival producer on numerous films, including “Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton” and “Without a Net: The Digital Divide in America” and “Above and Beyond: NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow.” Amelia is currently producing a documentary about iconic Southern California surf-rock ba...

Jericho Green is a man of many talents. You could call him  activists critic, or just one pissed off dude from California. But to me, Jericho is something of a video columnist. In his hundreds of videos, which he usually films on the way to work, Jericho presents a stinging critique of some of the worst of what we see unfolding in America today. He's unapologetic, but deeply thoughtful. The best place to find Jericho is on his...