Finding Favorites with Leah Jones

The joys of making art with Michele Weldon

Michele Weldon, a Chicago-based author and journalist, loves to paint and sketch. She joined me from her art-filled home to talk about the joy she has found in oil painting, pastel sketching and not turning a beloved hobby into a side-hustle.
Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts
Follow @MicheleWeldon on Twitter
Show Links
Michele Weldon's website
Act Like You're Having a Good Time  (and additional books by Michele)
Op Ed Project
En plein air
Continuing studies at School of the Art Institute of Chicago
92Y pastels classes
Jason Diamond writes about Routines
 

BONUS: Jazz Festing with Aaron Gadiel

Last weekend, I got on Zoom with Aaron Gadiel and realized that if I edited fast - you could learn about the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in time to tune in to Jazz Festing in Place on WWOZ.
Aaron Gadiel, creative coach and principal of Gadiel Group, has loved Jazz Fest since he went for the first time in 1997. We talk about how to get a Jazz Fest mentor, what weekend to go, and escaping FOMO in the Crescent City.
Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts
Catch up with Aaron Gadiel on LinkedIn
Show Links
HowAhYah Shirts
Fashion of Jazz Fest
Creative Sage Cottage in Union Pier
Acorn Theater in Three Oaks
Jazz Festing in Place on WWOZ
Galactic & Tipitinas
Bruce Springsteen at Jazz Fest

Caroline Conner loves fantasy novels

Caroline Conner, better known as Wine Dine Caroline, is a wine educator based in Leon, France, who loves wine and fantasy books. We dive into how she started her career in the wine trade (spoiler alert - she won the 2009 Varsity Blind Wine Competition between Oxford and Cambridge). Get your Bookshop.org shopping cart ready, because she's got books for you to read.
Learn about wine with Caroline (take her online courses, hire her for a private tasting on Zoom) and start with her Food and Wine Pairing Guide.
Find Caroline on Instagram and YouTube
Follow Finding Favorites on Twitter and Instagram
Show Links
Varsity Blind Wine Challenge and Wikipedia list of winners
Masters of Wine
Damn Fine Bookstore in Leon, France
Books and Authors to Read
Once and Future Witches - Alix E Harrow
Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon
V.E. Schwab
Sabaa Tahir - Ember in the Ashes Trilogy
N.K. Jemisin - The Broken Earth Trilogy
Hugo Awards
His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
Normal People - Sally Rooney
Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Robin Hobbs - Realm of the Elderlings
KJ Parker - Engineer Trilogy
Grishaverse - Leigh Barduga

The only man for Briana Haas is Manhattan

Briana Haas, co-host of the podcast Jobs Blow, loves New York City. No, really, love at first sight, 5th floor Upper East Side walk-up, Balthazar scones, L-O-V-E New York City. We talk about our surprising shared history of stand-up comedy, working together and getting laid off from the same marketing agency, and how she knew that New York was her one and only city.
New! Follow Finding Favorites on Instagram and Twitter
Subscribe to Jobs Blow podcast and follow on Instagram and Twitter.
Show notes
Comic Strip in NYC
Balthazar
Cindy Gallop on Jobs Blow
S.E. Hinton on Twitter
Legendary Talk Magazine launch party and how it was seen 10 years later
Liz Smith obituary
Lizzie Grubman crash

Jen Kling loves NKOTB again

Jen Kling loves New Kids on the Block. Jen takes me through her teenage crush on Joey and becoming a fan all over again when the band reunited in 2008. Concerts, meet & greets, and cruises - Jen loves all of it and hopes that one of these days she can sit down with Joey for coffee.
Follow Jen on Twitter
Peloton Links
Wilpers Bike Fitting
Peloton Christmas Ad
Ryan Reynold's response Ad
NKOTB Links
NKOTB website
Jay Leno Sixth Sense Parody
NKOTB on Today Show 2008
NKOTB on Kimmel 2010
NKOTB Cruise 2020
Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts
Jen  0:00  Hi, I'm Jennifer Klang. And I love New Kids on the Block (NKOTB).
Announcer  0:05  Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast, where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones.
Leah Jones  0:16  Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites -- it is actually still Saturday, but you'll be hearing this on Sunday. I recorded this episode today, and we'll get it posted before I go to bed because Sunday is vaccine number two day for me. I'll be driving back down to Springfield, Illinois, for my second Pfizer shot. I'd originally thought when I went down to state for the shot, that I would be one and done with Johnson and Johnson. That wasn't the case, and so I am heading back down state for shot number two. I'm very excited, because then everyone in my generation in my family and above will be vaccinated. I feel like it'll be a little bit safer to spend some time together this summer. And I'm very excited for that. 

Kevin T. Porter really loves Bruce Springsteen (repost)

Note: I made a rookie mistake with copyright infringement the first time around and the clips of the Boss I used weren't short enough for fair use according to Apple and YouTube. This is a Bruce-free version of the episode, while still being 100% Bruce.
 
Kevin T. Porter, host of the Good Christian Fun, Gilmore Guys and Inside Voices, makes podcasts about things he's interested in, but he loves Bruce Springsteen. We talk about how he experienced love at first note watching a PBS pledge drive, the kindness of fellow Bruce fans, and how there is a Bruce for every season. And yes, we also talk about the Jeep commercial.
Follow Kevin T. Porter on
Instagram
Twitter
KevinBakin cookies for LA County folks
Show Links (there are so many)
The mindmap and blog post that I talk about
Kevin on Don't Get Me Started talking about Bruce
Out in the Street - Kevin's love at first sight video
Seeger Sessions playlist
Rolling Stone top 500 - Born to Run is #21
Roy Orbison and Friends playlist
New York Serenade
Open All Night
Jamie Loftus on Andy' Richter's 3 Questions talking about her Lolita Podcast
The Queerness of Bruce Springsteen
Trouble in the Heartland - the concert after Reagan's election
141
Kevin T Porter  0:00  Hi, my name is Kevin T. Porter, and my favorite thing is Bruce Springsteen. He's a singer-songwriter. He's kind of old now, but he has some good songs, and I like him a lot.
Announcer  0:14  Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast, where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones. 
transcript follows

Pam Rose loves HDTGM, Jason Mantzoukas and very bad movies

Pam Rose, an amateur puppeteer in Rhode Island, and I share a love of the podcast How Did This Get Made and improv comedy's favorite bearded fellow, Jason Mantzoukas. Lucky for Pam, she's engaged to Jason, "because of some Greek thing." We know each other through the fandom and spent a couple hours on Zoom talking about HDTGM, the fan group we're in, movie watch parties and the joy in picking a "so bad it's good" bad movie to watch with friends.
Find Pam online: @sockgirlie
The Dating Game on Thursdays with Rob and Paul (Pam is Burger King and Leah is the cat)
Friendzone (Paul Scheer's Twitch channel)
Hanging with Paul Scheer (Discord)
HDTGM Discord
Largo in LA
Greg Sestero (The Room)
What is Happening for Dummies t-shirt
The Baby
The Pit
Pam and Hanson for On Milwaukee
Listen to Sassy
 

Seth Yavit mixes Interpol and oil paints

Seth Yavit, a DC-area therapist and artist, joined me on Finding Favorites to sketch out his path from Second City to becoming an art therapist. Seth and Leah met in writing classes with Kim Clark, founder of The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks Michigan.
Show Links
Seth Yavit Paintings
New York Stories
Interpol
Longwave
Palette 22
The Sacred and the Profane
Learn more about Art Therapy

Veronica Arreola loves Women's Soccer and pay equity

Veronica Arreola, a professional feminist and host of the Feminist Agenda, joined me in February to talk about professional women's soccer, pay equity and supporting the things we want to see in the world. We also talk about Wandavision a lot, so jump to 29:00 to skip to the Soccer Talk with Leah and Veronica.
Subscribe to The Feminist Agenda
Follow Veronica on Instagram and Twitter
Las Ganas at UIC
Wandavision Spoilers: Pietro Easter Eggs
Season tickets to the Chicago Red Stars
Women's World Cup Final 1999
Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan
US Soccer HQ
Alex Morgan
Billie Jean King vs Bobby Riggs
Women's Sports Foundation
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - fundraising for Atlanta victims
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - bystander training
 

Kristal Milazzo's guide to the Mary Tyler Moore Universe

Kristal Milazzo, a designer, writer and improviser based in Dallas, Texas, loves the Mary Tyler Moore universe of TV shows. She traces her love of all things MTM Enterprises to noticing Mimsie the Cat in the closing credits of WKRP and then again on Newhart. We talk about the impact of MTM Enterprises on NBC, comedy tropes and how she portrayed working, child-free women to America.
Find Kristal online
Dallas Comedy Links
Dallas Comedy House shuts down for good
Four Day Weekend
Stomping Ground Comedy Theater
Other Comedy and Podcast Links
Ron Funches wants you to make a vision board
Classes at Annoyance Theater
Jackie and Laurie Show
Blank Check with Griffin and David - This is my life
How Did This Get Made
Lucille Ball and Star Trek
Mary Tyler Moore Enterprises
Closing scene of St. Elsewhere
Mary Tyler Moore Show (Chuckles the Clown Funeral)
Rhoda
Phyllis
Lou Grant
WKRP in Cincinnati
St. Elsewhere
Hill Street Blues
The Bob Newhart Show
Newhart