Our introduction bumper that we put in front of all of our podcasts says we're "focused on all things Atlanta and sometimes elsewhere." This is another of our "sometimes elsewhere" episodes, and I think it's one of our better interviews.

The subject is Peter Hughes, PhD, who is from Augusta, Ga. One of his great passions is to document the life and times of Henry Shultz.

Shultz is an interesting historic figure for a variety of reasons, including:

• Building the first successful bridge across the Savannah River, which connected Augusta to South Carolina, against formidable odds when others had failed
• Founding the town of Hamburg, South Carolina (which no longer exists) out of spite for Augusta
• A reputation of being both a shrewd entrepreneur and a violent megalomaniac.

Hughes has a section of his web site dedicated to the life and time of Shultz, which is one of only a few Internet sources that mentions Hamburg or Shultz at all (aside from a few sources about the Hamburg Massacre, which was after Shultz's time). We discuss what led him to create it, and Hughes shares several stories about this colorful historic figure.

This is the second part of my two-part interview with Bobby Blackwolf, host of The Bobby Blackwolf Show. You can listen to the first part here.

We discuss the Atlanta gaming industry, the politics of the gaming industry, and other topics. This is part of our Meet Your Affiliates series.

In this episode I speak with Bobby Blackwolf, host of The Bobby Blackwolf Show. It's the first in what we hope will be a series of several more Meet Your Affiliates interviews over the next few months with Georgia Podcast Network affiliates.

The interview is broken into two parts, of which this is the first. Here we discuss the history behind Bobby's show, the Nintendo Wii, our shared esteem for Super Mario Bros. 2, and a few other topics.

In the second part, which is posted here, we mostly talk about the Atlanta game industry and the politics of gaming.

This interview was recorded at Charis Books and More, before a screening of Bailey Barash's new documentary, The AIDS Chronicles - Here to Represent. Bailey is an Atlanta native who spent 19 years at CNN before starting her own production company. The AIDS Chronicles is the result of almost five years of work documenting the impact of HIV/AIDS on the urban black community in Atlanta.

Bailey and I discussed media representation of AIDS, its impact on Atlanta in contrast to other areas of the country, some of the challenges of making a documentary about a sensitive subject matter, and more. (I feel I should apologize to all you listeners for saying "uh-huh" so much in this interview. I usually don't do that!)

The film, by the way, is amazing. It deserves all the accolades it's receiving and many more. Don't pass up the opportunity to see it!

This is our second live show (here's the first), and it was very exciting because we actually had several chat room participants, and a caller! Jen, use your $20 Inserection gift card wisely.

Things discussed:

• Voicemails from Nobilis, Jen, and Tony. Thanks y'all, and keep 'em coming. Drunk-dialing is accepted and encouraged. My favorite was Tony's voicemail about Northside Drive, so maybe he should get the other Inserection gift card, and you two can buy something extra-special.
• Our thoughts on CBS' new show, Swingtown. We are brimming with opinions about this show. We didn't get around to talking about the possible anachronisms, but perhaps next time. I'm guessing the chances are pretty good that there will be a next time, since we're already planning to watch at least the third episode.
• I read a ridiculous ad from Xcitement Magazine, and rant semi-coherently about becoming discouraged about the adult industry ~8-10 years ago.

We love voicemail! Call us at 678.389.9441. Add Rusty as a Twitter friend here, and me here. E-mail us at info@gapodcastnetwork.com.

Grace Buford is a metro Atlanta musician and music teacher who plays folk music in venues around the city, as well as in Second Life under her alter ego Cylindrian.

I interviewed her last Saturday, June 7, 2008 at Java Monkey in Decatur.

This interview is broken into in two parts, with a musical interlude featuring a pair of Grace's songs.

In the first half of the interview, which lasts about 14 minutes, we discuss her music career and the differences between playing in real venues vs. virtual venues.

In the second half, which lasts about 16 minutes, we continue that discussion, and also talk about legal issues in the music industry, marketing on Twitter and MySpace, and teaching music.

The songs featured in the interlude are An Open Door from Grace's album River, and This Dream from her album Virtually Live.

Also, I play excerpts of Mattie's Runaway Train from River in the background of some of the bumpers.

In our second video episode, we bring the camera along with us on one of our road trips and point out some things you can look for while traveling through Southern towns. This trip took us through Middle Georgia, including Columbus, Thomaston, Warm Springs and Greenville along with a few others that didn't make it into the video due to space considerations.

We love voicemail! If you know of anything else people should look for when traveling to Southern towns (there are a few we know of we didn't get time to capture for the video, like masonic lodges and terrazos), call us at 678.389.9441. Chances are excellent we'll include your thoughts in our next talkie, which as of now will be podcast-after-next.

We've just returned from Balticon; in this talkie, we discuss our experience there (and a few other topics).

Some more detailed notes:

• Another voicemail from Nobilis. He is podcast voicemail Jesus.
• Answers to questions sent via Twitter.
• Thoughts on the "Don't Be That Guy" session at Balticon - the good, the bad, the ugly, the poorly planned, the psychosomatic reaction inducing.
• Here are a few links about Nice Guys™:
  • Nice Guys We Can Do Without
  • How to be a Real Nice Guy
  • The Nice Guy That Wasn't
  • Not specifically Nice Guy™ focused, but very relevant: An Open Letter to Geeky Guys
• We offer a few suggestions for next year's Balticon, including an idea for a panel.
• Rusty's review of Magical Clothes.
• We're going on a road trip to Columbus, GA next weekend. What should we do there?

Some Balticon photos:

If you were at Balticon (or even if you weren't!) please share your thoughts in the comments, or call 678-389-9441 to leave us a voicemail.

Another talkie episode, wherein we discuss several things: Read more »

• Most obviously, we have a snazzy redesigned web site. We talk briefly (ha!) about the awesomeness and how we'd love to hear from you about it. Or, how I would at least.
• Sex 2.0 was a rousing (and... you thought I was going to make an "arousing" joke, but I'm not going to) success. We offer a postmortem.
• We're heading to Balticon in a couple of weeks! Amber will be a panelist, which is very exciting.
• Finally, my dirty thirty is coming up in November. I have no fucking clue how I'd like to celebrate. Help me out with ideas by leaving us a voicemail at 678.389.9441 or emailing info@gapodcastnetwork.com

In this episode we talk with Stacia Farabee, Realtor to Atlanta's kink community. Check out her web site, MyKinkyAgent.com.

I know I probably got a little repetitive in the interview, but I just love this idea. It really shouldn't be a revolutionary thing to market one's services within one's own community, so why aren't we seeing more self-proclaimed kink-friendly professionals? I'm envisioning a possible social network around this concept; like FetLife except for business!

Music by Jonathan Coulton. Happy First of May!

Length: 20:28 minutes
File size: 14.1 MB