This podcast is billed as discussing “Disability, religion, politics, entertainment, and anything else I feel like talking about.” Typically I will do 4 or 5 episodes on a topic and then switch to something else. Sometimes I throw in a political rant. To help you find the topics that interest you, I’ve categorized them into this index. Enjoy!
Disability Issues
Because my disability affects every aspect of my life, the topic appears in nearly every episode. But this grouping are episodes specifically about disability issues such as ableism, social justice as related to disability, disability rights etc.
- Episode 1: “Introduction” and “Unintentionally Inspiring”
- Episode 2: “The Evils of Ableism” (First of 2 parts)
- Episode 3: “Ableism Accusations Overdone” (2nd in a 2-part series)
- Episode 4: “Devolution of Disability Terminology” (First of a two-part series)
- Episode 5: “Abusing Disability Terminology” (2nd of a 2-part series)
In April 2023, I made a presentation at the PATINS Assistive Technology Expo in Indianapolis accompanied by my friend Bill Binko founder of AT Makers. The presentation was titled “Assistive Technology – Gateway to Disability Rights.” I recorded the episode for YouTube. The presentation included a PowerPoint slideshow. To make this presentation listenable, I added some audio descriptions of the slides and photos but I still encourage you to watch the YouTube version of this presentation which I turned into a special episode of the podcast.
- Episode 18: “Assistive Technology – Gateway to Disability Rights”
- Episode 36 “Striving to be Obsolete” A tribute to my mother who was a fierce disability advocate and social justice crusader and how I got involved in disability rights issues myself.
- Episode 51: “The Last Picture Show” A poignant look at my ever evolving disability and the way it prevented me from doing ordinary things like going to the movies on my own.
- Episode 66: “I Was Nearly Murdered” The terrifying story of how an incompetent nurse nearly killed me in May 2024.
My Faith Journey
I was raised Roman Catholic. I quit participating in my late teens. I returned to the church in my late 20s and have been active ever since. In this series of episodes I chronicled my faith journey from my earliest memories of the church, through the reasons I left. I cover what I did while I was away and what drew me back.
- Episode 6 “The Little Boy That God Made”
- Episode 7: “Another Brick in the Wall”
- Episode 11: “Secular Humanism and Me”
- Episode 12: “Deconstructing Thomas the Apostle”
- Episode 13: “The Ascending View”
- Episode 14: “Faith and Reason”
I already told you I grew up Catholic, left the church, came back, and became heavily involved again. Here is more detail about my life of ministry in my local Catholic parish. It focuses on my efforts to computerize their record-keeping system and my work on the parish finance committee.
- Episode 37: “Putting the Deux in the Machina” The apps and downs of trying to computerize church records.
- Episode 38: “A Tale of Two Ladies” Not directly related to church. This episode discusses the contrast between two relationships I had with women. One was quite fulfilling and the other quite the opposite. It’s included here because one of them was someone I met at church. Highly recommended episode. One of my best according to my fans.
- Episode 39: “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus” The struggles of church finance.
- Episode 40: “The Prophet and the Sugar Daddy” I have a nervous breakdown over my parish’s financial struggles and the story of a clever solution to some of those issues.
- Episode 41 “Agreeing to Disagree” a tribute to our pastor Father Paul Landwerlen who is a great friend and spiritual director.
- Episode 42: “The Priest, the Nun, and the Miracle” A new pastor in my parish is so troublesome that I nearly move to a new parish.
School Days
From kindergarten through high school, I attended Indianapolis Public School #97 James E. Roberts School for the Handicapped. During my high school years, I went part time to the special education school and part-time to my neighborhood high school Northwest High School. Here is a long series of episodes about that experience. Naturally, it includes significant discussion of growing up with a disability so it is of interest to those following me for disability related issues.
- Episode 15: “More Normal Than They Thought”
- Episode 16: “Are We Safe?”
- Episode 17: “Scientific Pursuits”
- Episode 19: “Politics and Ponytails”
- Episode 20: “Life and Chess”
In 1987, Indianapolis Monthly Magazine published an autobiographical piece that I wrote and it won a major journalism award in its category. Because the article dealt mostly with my experiences at the special education school, I included the story of how I wrote the article in with the narrative of my school experiences. So although it isn’t directly related to my school days, it sets up the next episode in which I read that award-winning article titled “The Reunion.”
- Episode 21 “Life Online Before the Internet”
- Episode 22: “The Reunion” a reading of my award-winning article originally published in 1987 by Indianapolis Monthly Magazine
- Episode 23: “My Brief Journalism Career” not really related to my school days but it’s a follow-up episode about the impact of “The Reunion”
- Episode 24: “To All the Toys I Loved Before” again not directly related to school but more about how I spent my summer vacations as a child.
- Episode 25: “Ironsides Goes to High School” I begin attending regular high school part-time.
- Episode 26 “Academic Best of Times; Worst of Times”
- Episode 27: “Prom and Prejudice”
- Episode 28: “A Haunting Melody”
- Episode 29 “Cold Chills” a reading of a murder mystery I wrote for my high school English creative writing class.
- Episode 30: “Failed Experiments and Squandered Opportunities”
- Episode 31: “Party Like It’s 1973”
College Days
From the fall of 1973 through December 1977 I attended Indiana University – Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Sciences. Here are episodes about my college days. Includes stories of lifelong friends I made there and about my favorite teachers as well as the usual struggles of college life.
- Episode 43: “Getting into College”
- Episode 44: “Ce N’est Pas Facile Parlant Français” (It’s Not Easy Speaking French)
- Episode 45: “Earning a BS Degree” a tribute to my late friend Mike Gregory
- Episode 46: “My First Computers”
- Episode 47: “Uptown Girls vs Downtown Girls”
- Episode 48: “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” The story of the first nondisabled woman I ever dated.
- Episode 60: “Ghosts Writer in the Machine Language” A look at the first paid programming jobs I ever had.
- Episode 61: “Logan’s Run” A tribute to my college friends Rich and Kathy Logan who remain friends to this day.
- The Gersting Chronicles Part 1 – A series of episodes about my college mentors Drs. John and Judith Gersting.
- Episode 70: “Academic Arrogance” The rivalry between Computer Science and Computer Technology
- Episode 71: “Brotherhood” I pledged a service fraternity with mixed results.
- The Gersting Chronicles Part 2 – Dr. Gersting helps me get my first legitimate programming job.
- Episode 72: “What’s Your Diagnosis” My first job interview
- Episode 73: “Simulating and Stimulating Work” About my part-time job at the IU Department of Medical Genetics and a summer class I took with Dr. Gersting
- Episode 74: “Finishing at Last” My final semester at IUPUI and my graduation.
- Episode 76 – “The Quality of the Debate” Working at the Genetics Department full-time paid
- Episode 76a – “There is Always More to Learn” My obsession with telling the COMPLETE story.
- Episode 76b “Making Episode 76a Using AI Images” How I used AI-generated images in the previous episode. NOTE: YouTube version only. No transcript or audio version.
- Episode 77 – “Genetics 101” Explaining enough genetics that you understand my work at the genetics lab.
- Episode 78 – “Buz is Cool” A tribute to my late friend Roy Buzdor
- Episode 79 – “Last One Out Turn Off the Lights” The money runs out on our project just as my health fails. Final episode about my work and the end of the Gersting Chronicles.
Movie Reviews and Entertainment
I’m addicted to TV and movies. Part of this podcast is devoted to entertainment. TV and movies not only entertain but they educate, enlighten, and inspire as they hold up a mirror to the human condition. In other words, visual media are a way of contemplating life. Each year I try to see all 10 of the Oscar-nominated Best Picture films and provide a review. Although you can listen to these episodes, I highly recommend you watch the YouTube versions because I’ve included clips from the trailers and the films themselves along with my commentary. I spent way too much time editing these clips so please watch. Here are those episodes.
- 2023 Oscar Reviews
- Episode 8: “Oscar Embraces Blockbusters”
- Episode 9: “Oscar vs Western Union”
- Episode 10: “Oscar Keeping It Real”
- My History as a Movie Buff In preparation for my 2024 Oscar movie reviews, I recount my history as a movie buff from my earliest childhood memories through the present.
- Episode 51: “The Last Picture Show” A poignant look at my ever evolving disability and the way it prevented me from doing ordinary things like going to the movies on my own.
- Episode 52: “The First Picture Show”
- Episode 53: “What Makes Movies Special”
- 2024 Oscar Reviews My second annual review of the 10 Best Picture Nominated Oscar films.
- Episode 54: “Oscar 2024: Grumpy Academics” Reviews of “The Holdovers” and “American Fiction”
- Episode 55: “Oscar 2024: Alien Relationships” Reviews of “Past Lives” and “Anatomy of a Fall”
- Episode 56: “Oscar 2044: Revenge of the Robot Women” Reviews of “Barbie” and “Poor Things”
- Episode 57: “Oscar 2024: Also Nominated” Reviews of “Nyad”, “Rustin”, “The Color Purple (musical version), and “May December” which received major nominations but were not among the 10 best picture nominees.
- Episode 58: “Oscar 2024: Genocidal Husbands” Reviews of “The Zone of Interest” and “Killers of the Flower Moon”
- Episode 59: “Oscar 2024: Troubled Geniuses” Reviews of “Maestro” and “Oppenheimer”
- My Life as a Race Fan – One of my favorite forms of entertainment is watching auto racing especially the Indy 500 since I’ve been living less than a mile from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since I was three years old. Here is a special series on my life as a race fan including another article I wrote for Indianapolis Monthly Magazine.
- Episode 65: “30 Days in May”
- Episode 67: “Roger and Me and Mario”
- Episode 68: “Being There – Part 1”
- Episode 69: “Being There – Part 2” Reading of an article I wrote for Indianapolis Monthly Magazine perhaps which appeared in the May 1994 issue about the first time I attended the Indy 500.
- Episode 75 – “TV Reviews: Fall 2024 Part 1”
- Episode 80a – “TV Reviews: Fall 2024 Part 2”
- Episode 80b – “TV Reviews: Fall 2024 Part 3”
News and Politics
Along with my addiction to TV and movies, I’m also a news junkie. I never miss the evening news. I watch way too many hours of MSNBC. I’m a bleeding heart liberal Democrat with a deep passion for politics and social justice issues. Here are some episodes about the history I witnessed growing up, my reflections on that history, and my desires for the world to be a better place.
- Episode 33: “Witness to History” Reflections on 9/11 and the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK
- Episode 34: “Changing History” I outline a sci-fi/fantasy story about how I would change history if I could go back in time.
- Episode 35: “Not In My Wildest Fantasies” why the fantasy presented in the previous episode wouldn’t fix the sorry state of the world today.
- Episode 49: “You Have No Right to Vote for President” A political rant about the inequities of the Electoral College.
- Episode 50: “It’s Not Social Media’s Fault”
- Episode 62: “I’m a Coward” A reflection on how Trump has destroyed our judicial system.