Prose & Cons

Hope's new book of poetry, Traveling the River, is coming soon! We talk about pomes, life stuff, and some nitty-gritty details of starting an independent press!!

Lydia has become a personal favorite artist of ours so why not have her back once again! This time she brought her friend Morgan Potts who performed during the Women in Radio fundraiser, both of them did an excellent job despite the general disarray and calamity within the bar. This week we were able to have calmer discussions about their work and what they had prepared. There were talks of dreams, coincidence, waitress culture, and more. Let's not forget that we had special guest host stand in Sumerth providing fresh and semi-profound insights. A very special episode, check it out!

What's the only thing better than four fantastic spoken word poets performing live? Four fantastic poets performing live as part of a fundraiser for the Sister Radio Documentary project. If you were not fortunate enough to attend this stellar event at Castleburg Brewery, never fear! We got you.

Hampton Sides is a visionary author who writes primarily narrative non-fiction. His most recent book, On Desperate Ground, about the Battle of Chosin Reservoir–the most infamous battle in the Korean War–is out now. I currently reading it and this book rocks my socks. And it makes for a great last minute xmas gift! Mr. Sides was so … Continue reading Hampton Sides →

Nerds, assemble! Let your geek flag fly, I say. Prose & Cons is cool and all, but how would you like to be transported to a world where anime is the sole source of entertainment? Where hentai, fan service, and camera angles are praised and condemned in the same sentence? Where whimsical tangents frequently derail the conversation and quickly devolve into uncontrollable fits of giggling? Fear not, child: you have arrived.

Once in a generation, the greatest poetic minds converge into a single evening. It is a beautiful gathering of precious souls and creative spirits, the likes of which will never be seen again. Until the next time. Word Nerds! is the brainchild of Ben and Dom, a Prose & Cons live event hosted by the … Continue reading Word Nerds! →

Who loves anime? Nerds love anime! And yeeeees, we are giant nerds. Although, to clarify, Dom, Douglass, and I are not the cool kind of nerd that has come into vogue in recent years (you kids don't know how good you have it!), we're slightly grown up versions of our even-more-awkward pimply tween selves who hid our manga collection and anime addiction from our cooler "friends." Dom, Douglass, and I are still the raging dorks we once were, and that is something worth celebrating!

This book offers inspired clarity on a topic that makes many of us uncomfortable just to think about, let alone try to solve. Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day! (That doesn't have anything to do with institutional bias but I just thought I'd pepper in 1-2 historical fun facts.) Enacting real change in the world of systemic prejudice takes a constant intentional effort. That may be why so many lame-o CEOs are too reticent to try! Or maybe it's because they're reaping the rewards from a corporate structure that's been actively designed to benefit them? Who knows!

Here's a tidbit of info you might not know: there's a bleep-ton of murals in our fair city! There are many of them, and they are awesome. Now, FOR THE FIRST TIME, a collection of these murals has been curated by one of Richmond's most celebrated muralists, the Night Owl (aka Mickael Broth). Dom and I sat down with Mr. Owl to chat about how he started off as a lad, tagging walls, and the unjust consequences he ultimately faced. We even touch on the US prison industrial complex! Oh yeah, we also talk about murals. It's mostly about murals.

What to say about these four precious souls? Young. Enthusiastic. Bright futures, all. AND SMERT AF [To be read in Stefon's voice] If you just stumbled out of the ICA, high on life and just a smidge of salvia, this episode is for you. Radio's hottest show is Prose & Cons. This podcast has everything: holographic poems, group telepathy, and milfs! LEt' s throw down some art SUBSCRIBE TODAY Come to our first ever live event, WEDNESDAY 11-7 at Stir Crazy roundabout 7 (please).

Get it?? This week's episode is all about Richmond's favorite (adopted?) son, Edgar Allen! Dom conducts an informative AND entertaining interview with Tyler Minx of the Richmond Poe Museum and even manages not to screw it up too bad. Good job, Dom! Also, I spent WAY too long having fun with the intro and outro, so please, respect my art...

Are you a nerd? Do you love Japanese comics as much as we do? Good! This episode is for you. You, specifically. We have tailored this episode to your exact specifications, [insert name here]. Crows & Pawns is where we get even more ridiculously self-indulgent and instead of interviewing guests who are smart about things, we interview... ourselves?! Top 3 manga galore, enjoy!

Life in 10 Minutes is a collection of stories that are brave and true. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious. Usually a bit of both. L10 founder Valley Haggard is the recipient of this year's Emyl Jenkins Award for the outstanding work she has done for her ever-growing village. This episode is dedicated to her.

We all have to go on our personal odysseys for growth and money or whatever, but it's not until we return home that we see how much we've grown...or regressed. Melissa's Mount Pleasant series shows us the life and times of Iris and her father Henry after she leaves the big city lights for simpler rural times. We talked about the second book in the series "Every Now and Then" and her plans for addressing racial tension in a time where compassion amongst races seems to be waning. Ben was off larping or planting microgreens so Dom handled this biz. Give it a listen..or don't! The least you could do though is check out Melissa's work. Enjoy.

Surprise! We're huge nerds. Dom and I chat with young Douglass "Dougie Fresh" James about our top three favorite anime SHOWS of all time.

Dixon, Alec, Josh, and Akin join us for talk of condiments, jingles, and some guy named Colin Kaepernick! VCU’s Brandcenter is a nationally recognized program and we wanted to showcase the talent and brains that go into something that isn’t typically included in high and mighty discussions of “art.” I didn’t get a chance to … Continue reading Brandcenter →

Mr. King did not disappoint! You'll learn about the enigmatic wildman John Muir, father of our national parks. You'll hear tell of 30 women, crazy enough and strong enough to follow Mao's army thousands of miles across the nightmarish terrain Northwest China. What's not to love? This guy's an adventurer and a damn good writer.

Are you one of 99.4% of Americans who believe that grammar is a dusty old subject best left for Elizabethan geezers and Second-Grade teachers? Do you cringe at the letters M-L-A? Do you think words are boring? Well, then listen up, you friggin' troglodyte! Dom and I were honored and thrilled to welcome esteemed guest Kris Spisak back to the show, this time with her groundbreaking grammar-based game show, Grammartopia. Author of Get a Grip on Your Grammar: 250 Writing and Editing Reminders for the Curious or Confused and a popular blog, Kris is out to change the world. The world of words.

People don’t Die in the Comics Anymore What does that mean? Is that true? What does anything mean?? Is there such a thing as objective truth? You decide! Dom and I sat down to chat with spunky up-and-coming local filmmaking duo Austin and Dewey, of Remember Tommy Productions. The two met at film school, and … Continue reading Austin Lewis and Dewey Collins →

Andrea is an author, choreographer, performance artist, and former Richmonder! Her new novel Eden is about two sisters twenty years after getting kidnapped as children. With an opportunity to testify against their childhood kidnapper, Hope sets out to find her off-the-grid titular sister.