Nowhere

Audio in the episode from the memorial itself starts off rough for the first few minutes and then becomes more clear. I traveled down to New Orleans to attend to the annual memorial gathering where people come together to mourn those they lost over the last year. By a stroke of luck I was able to get audio from the gathering from a device that I was carrying that happened to turn on a few minutes before the memorial started and then recorded for an hour after my main device didn’t work. The memorial took place on the banks of the Mississippi river where we took turns taking cardboard gravestones, we had written our friend’s names on and threw them in the fire, while talking about the people we lost. It was a bit chaotic, which is to be expected. Here is a link to pictures of the permanent art memorial sculptures in the same area:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NVecc9oEr7m95yzfIPHsQv_MqWlRswOa?usp=sharingMusic by Robby Lascola (RIP) Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

This episode is a lot! I interview Tyler, who lived and grew up in Grand Junction CO and experienced homelessness there, about his experiences and knowledge of the Chicken Whackers. I have also included audio from an interrogation video I FOIAd from Grand Junction Police Department from an older case where a man convicted of a stabbing talks about him being set up and the existence of human sacrifices and ceremonial killers, saying that it is the Chicken Whackers. I include all the research I’ve done over time, and Tyler is actually able to inform me some about the origins of the Chicken Whackers. If this is all gibberish to you, this is in reference to an experience I had in Grand Junction while on the road, one that I was interviewed about on the paranormal podcast Otherworld. I can’t explain everything that happened to me that night, but I believe it involved this group that some say is urban legend—but others personal experience would say otherwise. The rumors are always the same: psychological warfare, rape and sacrificial murder, elaborate stalking, mysterious disappearances. This episode has a lot, including even a story or two from when Tyler was hopping trains and also personal paranormal experiences he has had not directly connected to the Chicken Whackers. This episode is a long one, but I edited it down as much as possible. Happy Halloween.We go over theories, actual events, and stories from other people. Listener discretion advisedHere’s my substack, and you can also donate to the podcast here. Also email me at keeganotwell94@gmail.com if you have any other tips, or your own experiences.https://www.northerncoloradohistory.com/noco-klan-timeline-1920s/https://95rockfm.com/grand-junctions-melrose-hotel/ Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

I interviewed Lolo, a former traveler who started the memorial gathering in New Orleans that is attended by people from the nomadic subculture I was part of, frequently referred to as “dirty kids.” A subculture full of train-hoppers, hitchhikers, rubber tramps, you name it. Many people in this community either aged out of foster care, were kicked out of their house for being queer as a teen, ran away from an abusive home, and survived many other adverse experiences to end up as a dirty kid. Usually something happens to make someone homeless, and then they run into dirty kids somewhere like their hometown and hit the road with them. Lolo talks about her own beginnings in this episode and the difficulties of trying to mourn the frequent losses of these makeshift family members that happen on the road. Overdoses are very common. Lolo explains how this inspired her to start the memorial gathering, which I will be driving down to New Orleans to attend and attempt to document with audio and video.Donate to the show here or subscribe at my Substack Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

Grant is the one on the left of the photo attached to this episode—(substack post)I’ve been working on this episode for a while. Originally, I was doing like a “memorial” episode, but instead I am just focusing on the only thing I can anyway, my experience with Grant. So, this is more of maybe an ode to him and the connection we shared than it is an attempt to memorialize his entire life. I was incredibly close with Grant for the 3 years that I spent most of traveling with him. Losing him was incredibly difficult. This episode has memories as well as writings and some poems I wrote shortly after I got off the road, when I was still processing the loss and in a lot of pain. I tried to include just moments with him, snapshots of what it looked like for us on the road, as well as a couple stories. This episode does jump around, you can think of parts of this episode as a kind of collage more than any chronological recounting of our time on the road, though I do cover meeting him of course and losing him. One of the main reasons I’ve been reluctant to share about my own experience of homelessness and moving around is because I felt like I needed to make this episode first, because Grant was the context for my travels, when I met him after the first five months or so of my traveling. I attempt to explain my unique connection to him from life on the road, and it feels as if it all falls a little short, but I tried my best.I end it on the story of us getting arrested and split up in Mexico. Thanks to all who listen.If you want to support the podcast, you can donate to my kofi account, or just subscribe and leave a 5-star review and share with your friends! MUSIC: Poison, by Stick and Poke (attempted cover done by me)Luke OtwellGuitar instrumental under poem: Rolling skies by Ollie_Elmes -- https://freesound.org/s/749660/ Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

This episode is about my own story, mostly looking back at the end of my traveling, when I got off the road, and then also looking back at the beginning. It is mostly about my time spent in Slab City. I keep forgetting in my effort to interview other people that I have my own story that I still haven’t really shared on the podcast, just kind of referred to it here and there. I hope to share more similar episodes soon. Unlike other episodes, I didn’t write this one out, I essentially just recounted these parts of my life through the perspective I have now. I figured with my trip coming up at the end of October to cover the dirty kid memorial gathering in New Orleans, it was as good a time as any to start looking back at the time in my life when I became part of that nomadic sub-culture. This episode kind of sets the stage for the rest of my time spent traveling. I’ve been reluctant to make episodes about these times because I know I would be mentioning Grant, and I wanted to give him his own episode with high production quality, so I’m back to working on that. All I can really do is talk about my experiences with him, so it will be about my own story but also Grant, because he was there for most of my traveling. I talk about this some in this episode, but I don’t meet him until after this time period. Want to support the show? You can subscribe to my Substack to receive emails when I post a podcast episode or write an article, you can donate to my ko-fi, or also subscribing on your podcast app of choice (apple podcasts, pocket casts, spotify) and leaving a 5-star review helps a lot! Please share with your friends! Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

This episode looks at national news around homelessness, from Oklahoma’s sweeps led by the state to the mass shooting at a Minneapolis homeless encampment. I also talk about other violence that I have heard of while doing outreach locally. In this episode I analyze this news and how it is portrayed and debunk claims that I often hear in person and that are perpetuated nation-wide from media and politicians on both sides of the aisle; like the idea that people choose to be homeless, and that they don’t want help. I also look at ideas in America that people need to somehow earn their right to exist, that it is our job to judge whether they are worthy of basic human rights, along with looking into US media’s portrayal of homelessness and total lack of any analysis that looks at systemic issues, always putting the impetus on the individuals. If you want to help support the show you can donate here Thank you so much for listening, a good way to support is to just subscribe on your podcast app of choice, leave a review, and/or share with your friends. <3Subscribe for free here for more episodes and access to my articles Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

As a continuation of my lil series on the commodification of human connection, we go to the next logical step, which is the automation of the human connection. You don’t even need the human! This is a fascinating interview with anthropologist Isabelle Fioroni from the University of Helsinki who has been doing an ethnography on individuals who use AI for different relationships. We talk about the history of mourning the dead and how we find new ways to do so, including AI versions of past loved ones, about romantic relationships, therapeutical relationships, and more. Her perspective as an anthropologist is fascinating. I think the important thing is to have compassion when looking at these cases, because who can blame anyone in this world for seeking connection wherever they can find it. That being said, we talk about the harms also. I will do another episode on AI that goes more into my own critique and analysis of these technologies as a whole, and looking into people’s more recent spiritual and religious connections to AI. click here to: DONATE TO THE PODCAST The best way to support is to subscribe and rate on your podcast platform of choice, and share with your friends! Thank you all! <3 Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

This episode is the first part of a very mini series I’m working on about technology and the commodification of human connection. I decided to do this episode because I wanted to try to define what we’re up against when we try to build community in the real world, and why it is more important than ever. A lot of research and writing went into this, as well as playing a little more with the audio form so I hope it’s a little entertaining.We’re told we’re more connected than ever, at the same time people are more lonely than ever. This is a look at how tech like social media and algorithms have addicted us, isolated us, all while selling the idea that they are actually connecting us. I look at the history of this technology into the modern day and how over time capitalism and monopolization has taken are desire to be together and used it against us, creating a disease of lonliness while at the same time selling us the “cure.” Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: a comprehensive 2023 study by the surgeon general, 72 pages Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

In the intro to this episode, I cover what ICE has been doing on a national level, how what has been happening is unprecedented, etc. If you want to skip to the interview, it starts at 8:30.In this episode I interview Nick about his resistance of ICE with a group of people in Portland. He has been arrested four times, maced, tear-gassed, flash-banged, attacked by counter-protesters, had his phone surveilled. We talk about the differences between what him and his friends are doing and protests like No Kings. We talk about what it has looked like on the ground there, and some of the logistics of a long-term resistance like this. We talk about what it’s like facing brand new ICE recruits, and the other local battles that are happening on the city council level to try to get ICE out of Portland. I think one of the most important take-aways from this is confirmation that we are not powerless, and also the importance of working with other people.HERE IS THE GO FUND ME LINK TO HELP THEM KEEP FIGHTINGAnd here is a link to Nick’s substack where you can find his writing on Accelerated Christian Education as well as videos of what has been going on in Portland. Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

Our Streets Collective protested homeless sweeps in Pittsburgh by camping alongside community members experiencing homelessness, after attempted collaboration with the city where they were mostly used for PR. In this episode I interview co-founder Sam Schmidt. They are a mutual aid collective that does not get government funding, or any grants of any kind. They advocate for those in need and help members of their community who are unhoused, incarcerated, or just hungry. “We’re just neighbors … there’s a difference between charity and solidarity,” as Sam says in the interview. They are part of a network of different mutual organizations, and they do a food distribution outside of the local jail to help people coming out, and they have even had people who were in jail do a sock drive for those unhoused. Most of all what they do is exist with the community, they give space and facilitate discussion for people to be able to share their personal experiences, and they fight for people based on those needs and what they are going through at that time. As a collective, they are doing something with and for the community every day of the week. LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO OF INTERVIEW“The only metric for success here is the experience of homelessness. So if my people are suffering, then we're going to keep showing up.” -Sam Here is a link to their website’s donation page if you want to help them, as well as their Patreon where you can subscribe and donate to access pieces written by members:Donate — Our Streets Collective Our Streets Collective | A mutual aid collective serving Pittsburgh's poor and unhoused | Patreon Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

Okay this one is a shorter episode with essentially a single topic, you guessed it. Trump said he is deploying the National Guard to DC and has plans to round up Americans experiencing homelessness and send them to an undisclosed locations. In this episode I talk about how the Supreme Court decision last summer is allowing this to happen, and how our good ol’ friend Joseph Lonsdale has been furthering this goal with his Cicero Institute, and the video in which Trump laid this out before he was even elected. Why? AI automation, smaller middle class, bigger wealth gap, larger poverty class, more people on the streets, they have to do something about it. Cheap exploitable labor? We’ll see. Criminalizing the existence of people experiencing homelessness along with Trump’s July executive order that makes it possible to involuntarily commit people has all been working towards this goal. Now ICE is tripling, bringing in new recruits as they get contracts with the military tech company Palantir (Joe Lonsdale co-founder), we didn’t think they would be using ICE on just immigrants did we? More in the latter part of the episode about how corporate media right-wing and left-wing has made things like this even more possible and laid out the authoritarian tools for any f*****g idiot to come along and pick up and use. Whups! Who knew that was the logical conclusion of dehumanizing an entire class of our fellow Americans?2023 Video of Trump on homeless policy:Agenda47: Ending the Nightmare of the Homeless, Drug Addicts, and Dangerously DerangedKlippenstein Nat Guard leak:https://substack.com/home/post/p-170741299Trump signs order to make it easier to remove homeless people : NPRAlec’s Copaganda Newsletter | Alec Karakatsanis | Substack Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

This episode goes off topic a bit here and there (my fault), discussing conspiracy theories and the KKK in Colorado, but mostly it is about Vachel Lindsay, a poet from my hometown who traveled the nation in the early 1900’s without money, trading poetry for room and board. Ian is actually a Vachel Lindsay expert, having been involved with tours at the Vachel Lindsay house since he was 11, as well as featuring in a documentary and other videos/interviews. I happen to be playing Vachel Lindsay in a local short play also. Vachel came up with a concept of the “Church of the Open Sky,” one that accepts all creeds and encourages one to travel far and wide and then come back to their home and put in work to make their own “hearth and neighborhood the most beautiful, the most democratic, and the holiest in the world.” The concept is not about God but the world around you, and for many reasons (some you might guess) I feel a kindred spirit with Vachel, and many of the things he wrote about over a hundred years ago are things I’ve been thinking about when it comes to local community. Here’s a link from a video where coincidentally my sister Rachel (then working for NPR) interviews Ian about Vachel as they tour the house: A Tour Of The Vachel Lindsay House with Ian Winterbauer Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a very exciting episode for me, I talk with Peter Hough, pastor at the Alton Mission in Alton, IL. I found Peter through searching for winter survival practices for people experiencing homelessness and found about the OWL program he helped launch (Overnight Warming Location). But in the first half of the episode he talks about what having a congregation of people in poverty and experiencing homelessness looks like, and also what building community WITH those members looks like. Peter speaks about the difference between the transactional nature of targeting people for a mission or to be fed and instead eating with his congregation. From that simple starting point, he has been able to build community around the Alton Mission. Peter also talks about the difficulties with starting OWLs, and how invoking the religious liberty and tradition of helping the poor helped him convince other pastors to open their doors to people experiencing homelessness on freezing nights. Even then he still struggled with police and the city trying to stop them. The whole conversation is a very inspirational look at what building community in such crucial ways can look like. Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode I talk with my friend Ian (poet/author/monk) about finding community locally. I speak about my own experience with finding community in recovery, and Ian speaks about the moments that led to him to seeking community at our local Buddhist temple. Ian has become involved there, working around the temple, driving monks to other temples for ordination ceremonies, and has received teachings from the Sayado and essentially become an assistant there. Issues with mental health led (along with a strange dream) led Ian there, and we wrap up the episode talking about mental health in our personal lives. Ian also explains the different Thai amulets made and worn by Buddhists (including himself) that can contain different pieces of human material, and how a symbiotic relationship with a ghost works. Please rate, review, subcribe, all that jazz. Find my writings at nowherepod.substack.com Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode we discuss recent events like the Bitcoin conference in Vegas attended by JD Vance, the SEC cases dropped on different crypto people and the open season of financial crime in the US, the United Arab Emirates welcoming Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto company and using it to pass 2 billion dollars through. Also: the Big Busty Bill and how it redistributes wealth to the rich while furthering the authoritarian reach of the government and their ability to control detention centers within our borders. We end with clips from an interview with Peter Theil, co-founder of Palantir, the first and largest military tech company that uses AI and data harvesting as surveillance and has been aiding ICE as well as the IDF in Gaza. He speaks on this and Armageddon, while also not being sure if he even wants the human race to endure. We further this discussion and talk a bit about Theil’s other talks he has given on the Anti-Christ as well as the wider eschatological views of Silicon Valley and powerful religious politicians, including the “Armageddon Lobby” that has supported the state of Israel because it is needed for the final battle of Armageddon, and a cow ranch in Texas that is trying to create the perfect red heifer for a ritual to fulfill a biblical prophecy of the end times. Peter Theil Interviewhttps://www.wired.com/story/as-trumps-family-crypto-business-gains-steam-ethical-concerns-mount/Article by Emile P Torres: https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-endgame-of-edgelord-eschatology/ New theme song is by me using an assortment of free sounds/musicWelcome to Season 2! Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

This episode starts off with a background on the ideologies of the far-right tech elite that have gained more and more power in our country, acting out decade’s long plans such as the “Network State.”Joe Lonsdale co-founded Palantir, the Silicon Valley tech company that has countless contracts with the US military and recently used AI to help the IDF automate genocide in Gaza. Lonsdale’s Cicero Institute has affected legislation across America, including the Supreme Court Grant’s Pass decision that removed constitutional protections of homeless people under cruel and unusual punishment. They offer law-makers a cut-and-paste template that takes funding away from housing first initiatives that are shown to work. Cicero-backed laws passed in Kentucky make it easier to involuntarily commit people, as well as extending “Stand your Ground” laws of firearm self-defense to cover people living in homeless camps, which could allow citizens to shoot people experiencing homelessness. Lonsdale’s 8VC firm has investments in private prisons and his Cicero Institute has advocated legislation that allows new private prisons to be built and empowers governors to bypass elected Attorney Generals and appoint their own “Special Prosecutors” to fight “public lawlessness.”First article talked about (not vox): Groups Confront Billionaire’s Institute Pushing Laws Criminalizing Homeless2nd Article: Inside the Right’s War on the Homeless Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode I interview Nicole, who was in foster care and became homeless at a young age. She was homeless in my local city Springfield, as well as a period of time where she traveled to Memphis and eventually made it back to Illinois. She talks about her struggles with addiction and the services that helped her in Springfield as a young mother, and how she was able to get through nursing school while in transitional housing with her son. We also discussed the stigma of homelessness, camping bans, and how community-based action is needed to help address the issue at hand. Nicole is co-host of the podcast Sunken Press, a podcast based in Alton that has had a focus on local issues including homelessness. Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode I speak with Colleen, who was Donny's fiance and lived with him on the street up to the night when he passed away from freezing temperatures. They were together for 12 years. We talk about how she is doing now, how rough it is trying to survive during the winter, and how she met Donny. We both discuss that there needs to be more done in the wintertime to ensure people have what they need to survive. To support the podcast, subscribe on your app of choice, leave a review, and share with your friends. Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

Donny tragically passed away from hypothermia a couple days before receiving housing and getting off the street. This episode revisits some clips from his interviews, and I interview Pastor Steve from the Washington St. Mission, the religious non-profit through which Donny was connected with a case worker that linked him with housing. Pastor Steve performed a memorial service for him, as he does for many others in the community. We talk about other recent deaths and the difficulty of navigating those as part of his job, his interactions with Donny, and more. Listen to the episode titled "Donny" first for his full story from his point of view.SUBSTACK: roaddogs.substack.commusic: Luke Henry on SpotifySupport by sharing this with your friends, leaving a review, and subscribing on your app of choice. Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode I cover the surge of homeless sweeps since the Supreme Court Decision that removed constitutional protection from being criminalized for being homeless. I talk about several different investigations that cover the multimillion-dollar private industry around sweeps in CA and also the deplorable conditions of shelters as well as the aggressive sweeps that even jail people for being homeless. It ends with an interview with the editor of The Challenger Street Newspaper in Austin, TX, and we talk about the importance of building community. Stop the Sweeps Flyer from itsgoingdown.orghttps://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2024/04/16/swept-homeless-sweeps/ Article covering millions in private contracts to carry out sweepsAtlanta City council votes moratorium on sweeps after Cornelius Taylor is killed in a sweepStudies on ineffectiveness of sweepsStudies about sweeps causing more overdoses and deathhttps://calmatters.org/housing/2025/02/california-homeless-shelters-purgatory/ Investigation into California Homeless Sheltershttps://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/02/california-homeless-encampment-sweeps/ Investigation into Sweeps in CAhttps://projects.propublica.org/homeless-encampment-sweeps-taken-belongings/ Propublica project "Swept Away" documents items lost Get full access to Nowhere at nowherepod.substack.com/subscribe