BPL Podcast

In this episode, WIR Cynthia Amoah sits down with Ghanaian-American poets Claudia Owusu and Tasha Lomo for a layered conversation about language, place, and what it means to write and create from the in-between. Together, they explore how heritage shapes creative voice, the role of poetry as both resistance and refuge, and the ways they each build community through art—from spoken word albums to filmmaking to advocacy for Black women. Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary Host/Guest Bios Cynthia Amoah is a Ghanaian-American poet, national speaker, and teaching artist. She received her MFA from The New School, where she was cited for Excellence in Poetry. Cynthia has been featured on three TEDx stages, The Lincoln Theatre, and the United Nations Information Center in Accra, among others. She is currently serving as the 2025 Inaugural Writer-in-Residence at the Bexley Public Library and the 'Arts in the Parks' Coordinator with Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Her writing and performances often explore questions of identity, belonging, displacement, migration, and uprootedness. Cynthia’s chapbook 'Handrails' was published by Akashic Books in Fall 2021. She resides in Columbus, OH with her family and facilitates workshops in poetry, positive thinking, confidence-building, and using our voice as instruments for strength and social change. Learn more at www.cynthiaamoah.com. Tasha Lomo is a Ghanaian American poet, writer, and community advocate. She currently serves as the Program Manager for The Giovanni Collective; a collective dedicated to the advancement of Black women writers and poets, and has performed her work across the central Ohio community. She has received training through the Lincoln Artist Incubation Program, the Wexner Center for the Arts, and Writerz and Scribez based in London, England. She uses her work as a platform to explore themes of identity, culture, and self actualization.  Claudia Owusu is a Ghana girl through and through. As a writer and filmmaker, her work divulges the nuance of Black girlhood through a personal and collective lens. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Ninth Letter, Bellingham Review, Indianapolis Review, Vogue, Narrative Northwest, Akoroko, and Brittle Paper. Her films have screened internationally at Aesthetica, the New York African Film Festival, Urbanworld, and Blackstar Fest. She is the author of the chapbook, In These Bones I Am Shifting, by Akashic Books. Her documentary film in progress "This is the House: If I Don't See You, I Love You" is the winner of the 2025 Julia Reichart award. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from The Ohio State University.

Dr Jack Marchbanks and Gamal Brown sit down with us to talk about the legacies of Four Women: Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry, Abbey Lincoln, and Nina Simone. These icons of African American artistic achievement, activism, courage and vision will be highlighted at the Lincoln Theatre’s Community Conversation on March 6th at 6pm! Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary

Happy New Year! Explore the Y2K scare with technology librarian, Josh, as he interviews Marley Mcdonald and Brian Becker, directors of the HBO documentary Time Bomb Y2K. We'll revisit the global panic, technological fears, and lessons learned from the turn of the millennium. More about Time Bomb Y2K As the clock counted down to the 21st century, the world faced a potential technological disaster: a bug that could cause computers to misinterpret the year 2000 as 1900. Crafted entirely from archival footage and featuring first-hand accounts from computer experts, survivalists, scholars, militia groups, conservative Christians, and pop icons, Time Bomb Y2K is a prescient and often humorous tale about the power and vulnerabilities of technology.

We are excited to invite Hanif Abdurraqib back to the podcast to discuss writing, building community around art, and basketball! Hanif is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio whose new book "There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension" is both an Indie and New York Times bestseller.  Hanif will return to the library on June 6th, in conversation with poet and essayist Franny Choi, as a part of Bexley Centennial Author Series. We hope to see you there! Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary

The first part of this episode is an interview with Dr. Wayne Schlingman and Dr. Stephan Frank from the OSU Astronomy Department to talk about the eclipse: the science, the history, and general coolness of having a eclipse past through our backyard!  The second part is a discussion between BPL Director Ben Heckman and the first American woman to conduct a spacewalk, Astronaut Kathy Sullivan. She discusses her new children's book, How to Spacewalk: Step-by-Step with Shuttle Astronauts and being the "the world's most vertical woman!" Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary

The best of 2023!  Timestamps Adult Fiction (:24) The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldtree System Collapse by Martha Wells Even though I knew the End by C. L. Polk Adult Non-Fiction (7:38) Birth: Three Mothers, Nine Months and Pregnancy in America by Rebecca Grant  Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara Youth (14:11) Just Because by Matthew McConaughey and Renée Kurilla  The Moonwind Mysteries series by Johan Rundberg Four Eyes: A Graphic Novel by Rex Ogle and Dave Valeza Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross Movies (19:44) Past Lives A Thousand and One Shortcomings You Hurt My Feelings Persian Version Joy Ride Video Games (25:31) Honorable Mentions: Dead Space Resident Evil 4 Remake Star Wars: Jedi Survivor Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Titles discussed: Baldur's Gate III Alan Wake II Dredge The Last Clockwinder Music (33:42) Nickel Creek - Celebrants Noname - Sundial Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary

Banned Books Week is an annual celebration of the freedom to read. The theme for Banned Books Week 2023 is “Let Freedom Read” and it’s being celebrated from October 1-7. A PEN America report for the first half of the 2022-2023 school year tracked 1,477 instances of individual book bans that have affected 874 unique titles. Book bans disproportionately target authors of color, LGBTQ+ authors, and other marginalized groups. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, and history have been removed from library shelves across America. In today’s episode, we talk to Sabrina Baêta from PEN America and author Grace Ellis about the current state of book banning in America, the impact that book bans have on creators, libraries, and young readers, and what we can do to stand up against book bans and protect the freedom to write, read, and access information. Grace Ellis will be at the Bexley Public Library on Wednesday, October 4 at 7:00 PM for a Conversation on Censorship to celebrate Banned Books Week. Grace Ellis is a New York Times-bestselling, GLAAD Media Award–winning author and script writer. Born and raised in Ohio, she studied theater and journalism at The Ohio State University. Her graphic novels include the much-lauded "Lumberjanes," the long-running "Moonstruck," and several pieces for DC Comics. Her latest book, "Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith," was a New York Times Notable Book of 2022 and won the 2023 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work. In 2022, Grace was given an Ohio Individual Excellence Award in playwriting for "Holding It Together," a site-specific play for high schools. Her next DC book, DIANA AND THE HERO’S JOURNEY, is out this fall. In 2023, she wrote the play “EXPLICIT CONTENT FOR TEENS,” about the fall out of a play’s censorship in a public highschool. Grace lives in Columbus, Ohio, where she can often be found eating ice cream or petting a cat. Sabrina Baêta is a Program Consultant with Freedom to Read at PEN America. She engages in research and awareness-building around censorship attacks on public K-12 education, especially as it relates to literature accessibility in libraries and classrooms. Sabrina graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Music in Voice. She earned her Masters from the University of Central Florida in Nonprofit Management. She is a poet, essayist, and writer and prior to PEN America, worked in educational publishing and in a variety of performing arts and education nonprofits. Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at BexleyLibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across social media platforms @bexleylibrary  

Ohio State Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor, Ness B. Shroff, and BPL Technology Librarian, Josh Bryant, discuss the fascinating world of artificial intelligence (AI), including its history, applications, ethics, and future implications. Whether you are a complete newcomer to the world of AI or a seasoned expert, there will be something for everyone in this enlightening and informative discussion. Watch Dr. Shroff take the AI quiz here! Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at BexleyLibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across social media platforms @bexleylibrary

For Holocaust Remembrance Day we pulled an episode from one of our most recent author events with Elizabeth Petuchowski. Elizabeth Petuchowski shares her life story growing up as a young Jewish girl in Germany amidst the rise of Nazism and mandatory antisemitism. She reflects on the effects these universally known events had on her life and read from her memoir, Where From and Where To: One of the Last Self-Told German Jewish Life Stories.    She is joined by Robin Judd, Associate Professor in The OSU Department of History with expertise in Jewish History and Immigration History, who facilitated the conversation.   Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at BexleyLibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across social media platforms @bexleylibrary

A celebration of Toni Morrison with two of Ohio’s most revered poets and authors as Hanif Abdurraqib and Dionne Custer Edwards discuss the influences of Toni Morrison’s work on their own and celebrate the importance of her legacy as writers and Ohioans. Toni Morrison Day is celebrated on February 18th in Ohio, commemorating the birth of the literary giant and possibly “the greatest Ohioan we’ve ever had,” as Hanif Abdurraqib remembers her. Morrison often used Ohio as a setting for her novels, from examining the influences and disparities of White and Black families living in post-Depression era Lorain in The Bluest Eye to exploring the insidious reach of slavery over the Ohio River in Beloved. Toni Morrison’s writing shed the white gaze and centered stories that explored the terrors, hopes, and dreams of Black lives and communities.  Hanif Abdurraqib - a 2021 MacArthur Genius' Grant Recipient - is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American, and various other journals. His essays and music criticism have been published in The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. He is the author of the poetry collections The Crown Ain't Worth Much, a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Prize, and A Fortune For Your Disaster, which won the 2020 Lenore Marshall Prize, and the essay collections They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, named a best book of the year by Buzzfeed, Esquire, NPR, Oprah Magazine, Paste, CBC, The Los Angeles Review, Pitchfork, and The Chicago Tribune, among others; Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest, a New York Times Bestseller, a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, and longlisted for the National Book Award; and A Little Devil In America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, which was shortlisted for the National Book Award. He is a graduate of Beechcroft High School. Dionne Custer Edwards is a writer, educator, and the Director of Learning & Public Practice at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Her work in the arts and education spans 25 years, including nearly two decades at the Wex where she pioneered several groundbreaking education programs that include Pages, an art and writing program serving hundreds of high school students a year from across central Ohio. Dionne has received acknowledgments and awards that include professional fellowships with Americans for the Arts, the Jefferson Center for the Arts, and a GCAC Arts Educator of the Year. Dionne is co-editor of a forthcoming book series by Ohio State University Press, On Possibility: Social Change and the Arts + Humanities, with the first issue due out in 2023. Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at BexleyLibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across social media platforms @bexleylibrary

The best of 2022!  Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary   Here is the list of highlighted items from the BPL staff: Fiction Books Olga Dies Dreaming - Xochitl Gonzalez Flung Out of Space - Grace Ellis The Fervor - Alma Katsu You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty - Akwaeke Emezi This Time Tomorrow - Emma Straub Non-Fiction Books I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jeanette McCurdy Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial - Corban Addison Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries - Rick Emerson Youth 0-3 yrs The Hair Book - LaTonya Yvette and Amanda Jane Jones 3-6 yrs My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! - Emma Hunsinger and Tillie Walden Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps - Charlotte Sherman and Geneva Bowers  Sports Heroes: Inspiring Tales of Athletes Who Stood Up and Out - Mia Cassany and Iker Ayestaran  Middle graders  A Taste of Magic - J. Elle A Duet for Home - Karina Yan Glaser Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl - Julie Kagawa Teen Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao Honorable Mentions We Made It All Up - Margot Harrison Once Upon a K-Prom - Kat Cho Loveless - Alice Oseman Board Games Builders & Biomes Draftosaurus Movies The Batman Everything Everywhere All at Once Top Gun: Maverick Nope Video Games Elden Ring Raft Stray Music Madison Cunningham - Revealer Wilco - Cruel Country Natalia Lafourcade - De Todas las Flores Julian Lage - View with a Room

Vampire Week is here! Plucked from our blog, Julianna tells us about her favorite vampire movies and everything the library has to offer this week. Julianna mentions some of her favorite vampire movies. Here’s a list of them:  Interview with the Vampire Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust The Lost Boys A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Nosferatu Only Lovers Left Alive Let the Right One In Hotel Transylvania Bram Stoker’s Dracula Let the Right One In Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at BexleyLibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across social media platforms @bexleylibrary

Owen dives into the history of banning books, reasons books are challenged, and he even recommends his favorite challenged title. Here is a list of all the books Owen mentions: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Looking for Alaska by John Green Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at BexleyLibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across social media platforms @bexleylibrary

Pamela Espinosa de los Monteros, Assistant Professor and the Latin American, Iberian, and Latino/a Studies Librarian at The OSU University Libraries, and Patti Vocal, The OSU Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) Outreach Coordinator, discuss the importance of bringing authentic Latinx and Latin American stories into K-12 classrooms through children's literature. Pamela and Patti talk to us about the CLAS BookBox project and share tips on how we can all celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month which is celebrated annually from September 15 - October 15. Discover more Hispanic Heritage Month resources here. Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across social media platforms @bexleylibrary

Jack Marchbanks sits down with Dionne Custer Edwards, Scott Woods, and Is Said for a discussion about Black poetry using James Weldon Johnson's groundbreaking anthology The Book of American Negro Poetry as a springboard. Dionne Custer Edwards is a writer, educator, and the Director of Learning & Public Practice at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Scott Woods is a poet, writer, and the founder and director of the performing arts organization Streetlight Guild, and Columbus poetry legend Is Said, has received the King Arts Complex Legends & Legacies Award and was inducted into the Lincoln Theater Hall of Fame.  This program is generously funded by Jack Marchbanks and The Kridler Family Fund at The Columbus Foundation. Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary

Ohio State University Eastern European experts, Theodora Dragostinova, Marianna Klochko, and Mykyta Tyshchenko, to try and make sense of the evolving crisis in Ukraine following the Russian invasion. The panel discussed the history and progression of the conflict, the ensuing humanitarian crisis, and the international repercussions of the events. Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary

The best of 2021!   Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary   Here is the list of highlighted items from the BPL staff: Books American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappears by Farah Stockman Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer's Guide by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead The Guncle by Stephen Rowley The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois By Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Youth/Teen Books Woodland Dance by Sandra Boynton B is for Bison! by Greg Paprocki  Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty Every Little Kindness by Marta Bartolj  Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham  Dog Man: Mothering Heights by Dav Pilkey Max and the Midnights by Lincoln Peirce Super Sidekicks by Gavin Than Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters, by Chris and Laura Samnee Lotería by Karla Arenas Valenti Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori Lee Tristan Strong Keeps Punching by Kwame Mbalia Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds The Infinite by Patience Agbabi Don’t Breathe a Word by Jordyn Taylor The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzie Lee Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer Movies Loki Falcon and the Winter Soldier Wandavision Black Widow Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Eternals Jungle Cruise Cruella Suicide Squad Godzilla vs Kong Army of the Dead Red Notice The Harder They Fall Malignant Quiet Place Part Two Candyman Halloween Kills Luca  Mitchells vs The Machines Space Jam: A New Legacy No Time To Die Roadrunner Judas and the Black Messiah Minari Cry Macho Dune Green Knight Music Moontype - Bodies of Water Sarah Jaroz - Blue Heron Suite Genesis Owusu - Smiling with No Teeth Aaron Frazer - Introducing…

New York Times best seller, Natalie D Richards, sat down with Josh to talk about Five Total Strangers becoming a Big Library Read, her book Seven Dirty Secrets coming out this month, and the inspiration for her writing. Visit her website, instagram, and twitter for up-to-date information about her work. Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary

Kristopher and Gretchen Armstrong sit down with Josh to talk about their literary journal Tomorrow and Tomorrow, how it highlights artists from Bexley, the importance of mixtapes, and ghost stories that are too unsettling for the campfire.  Join writers and artists highlighted in Tomorrow and Tomorrow's "Ghosts" issue at Austen & Company (or virtually!) on November 4th for an evening of readings and conversation! Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon Neat" for the podcast! Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.org Follow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary

LC Johnson, founder and CEO of Zora's House, shares her journey from the dream (literally!) of a co-working-community-space for women of color in Columbus to the bright future ahead for Zora's House. LC talks about how she, with the support of community, made it through one of the most challenging and uncertain times of her life.    Follow Zora's House across platforms @zorashouse614 and at https://zorashouse.com/ Follow LC Johnson @no1doesitlikeLC Find out about upcoming Bexley Public Library events at https://www.bexleylibrary.orgFollow Bexley Public Library across platforms @bexleylibrary