The Juice with Jeff’s Podcast

The Juice with Jeff - THE PILOT EPISODE

On this very first ever episode of The Juice with Jeff, Sarah Swanger conducts/co-produces a really fun and pretty entertaining interview with me in person. This is the very first time that I have ever had a podcast recorded/produced and it's also the first time (beyond testing) I used my Zoom H4n Pro handheld digital audio recorder/mic. The audio recording levels were set a little too high when we recorded this interview and it was a really windy day outside that day but thanks to my applying the Limiter/Normalizing effects with Audacity during my re-mixing and editing of the podcast, I was able to make the audio sound not quite as horrendous and a little bit better. 

Sarah was also at Valley High School - WDM during 2 or 3 of the four years that I was there during the early to mid 1990's, so a good chunk of the interview focuses on our days at VHS. During the interview, Sarah asks me to talk about things like: Who were my favorite teachers and classes during our VHS days, relationships I had with women, favorite memories I have from the VHS days, and funny things that my two dogs (Scandi and Lissie) do. I also perform a bunch of my voice impersonations for Sarah and I share with her a couple punny jokes. I shared with Sarah my love of listening to and putting together parodies, and so she asks me to talk about a pretty sophisticated play that I wrote for the holiday of Purim back in spring 2017. Sarah and I end the podcast my talking about our friendship and how we're happy that we have reconnected with each other after so many years.

 

This interview was recorded outdoors somewhere at Gray's Lake in Des Moines on June 18, 2017, and it lasts for about 23 minutes. As is the case with all of the "Jeff's Friends Interview Him" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #100

On this episode of The Juice with Jeff, Ali Harms conducts and co-produces a fantastic and outstanding interview with me in person. 

 

During the first four minutes of the podcast, Ali and I expressed our excitement on how great it was for both of us to see each other in person for the first time in almost two years, and also how excited we are to be able to have this interview be done in person.

 

Then Ali starts off the next part of the interview by mentioning how we both have something in common through our being part of the Drake University community, Ali was a Drake staff member for 14 years and I was a student there in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication majoring in Radio/TV Production between Fall 1994 and the end of 1998. Ali asks me to talk about any teachers/faculty/professors I had and/or classes that were my favorites during my Drake years that I wanted to share my memories and experiences with those. I talk in depth with Ali about this subject for about 30 minutes of the podcast, I first talk about my favorite professors/faculty and classes from the Fine Arts/other non-major areas (Fine Arts was my "Minor"/Area of Concentration at Drake), and then I delve into talking about the J School and Radio/TV courses, professors/faculty, and extra-curricular activities I had during my 4-1/2 years at Drake. This part of the conversation takes up between 35 to 40 minutes of the podcast. During the part of the discussion about the Fine Arts/non J-School courses, I talk about one Theater class where we watched several films including the original 1957 version of the film 12 Angry Men and the original 1979 French version of the film La Cages Aux Folles and how I became sort of a fan of these films. During the part of the discussion about the J-School and Radio/TV courses, I talked about several video productions I produced during those several years including a 11 minute promotional video for an organization in central Iowa called The Homestead (now called Balance Autism).

 

Then Ali spends a minute talking about the 14 years that she was on Drake's staff and how much she enjoyed being part of the Drake community and meeting the students. Following this, Ali asks me where I get my news and information from and I share with her for about three minutes the sources that I use for getting the news. I stress with Ali that accuracy is extremely important to me and I usually rely on sources like NPR and Media Bias Fact Check.

 

Then I spend about eight minutes performing the following voice impersonations for Ali:

Bob Edwards (former host for NPR's Morning Edition between 1979-2004), David Greene (former co-host for NPR's Morning Edition)

Steve Inskeep (one of the 4 current co-hosts on NPR's Morning Edition)

NPR newscasters: Korva Coleman, Dave Mattingly, Lakshmi Singh, Jack Speer, and Giles Snyder.

Ira Glass (Host of "This American Life")

Susan Stamberg (longtime reporter/host for NPR's news programs)

Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Chuck Schumer, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris.

 

Then for the remaining nine minutes of the podcast, Ali asks me that if I had to pick a specific topic or two that I could just learn everything about and talk about, what would those topics be. I talk with Ali about these multiple topics that I'm very passionate about and I also talk about how these podcasts are really special and extremely important to me.

 

There is lots of two way conversation throughout the podcast. This interview was recorded on the Drake University campus inside an upper level lobby area in their Olmsted Center building on November 18, 2021, and it lasts for 1 hour and 3 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #99

On this episode of the podcast, Heather Hamilton conducts/co-produces an awesome audio interview with me thru Zoom, and this is the first time that Heather makes her debut as an interviewer/co-producer in The Juice with Jeff family.

 

After Heather and I spend one minute giving our introductions and expressing our excitement on our having a real-time conversation for the first time in 29 years where we hear each other's voices, the following topics are brought up:

 

Heather asks me to talk about why I started these "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts and how I got involved with audio production. I discuss with Heather the details about the history and origins of these podcasts and I talk with her about how I've had an interest in electronics and audio production since I was a kid, how I was involved for two years with the radio station at the high school (Valley High School in West Des Moines, IA) I went to and talking about my learning about audio and video/TV production during the 4-1/2 years I was at Drake University. We spend the first 30 minutes of this episode discussing these topics.

 

Then Heather asks me what are my favorite things to do or what would make a day amazing for me. I discuss with Heather about how each day does differ for me, the things I do to wind down after busy days, how I can only handle so much going on at a time and how I end up going into "shutdown" mode if I'm pressured to do things I'm unable to handle, and then I do talk a little bit about my being autistic. And a few other things that are relevant to this part of the discussion.  This part of the episode lasts around eight minutes.

 

And then Heather and I spend the next 16 minutes sharing memories and highlights from the days we were at VHS during the first half of the 1990's.

 

For the last 8 minutes of the podcast, I perform the following voice impersonations for Heather: Fat Albert, Mushmouth, Michael Buffer ("Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!"), the talking version of Barry White o.b.m., Audrey II the Plant from "Little Shop of Horrors", Forrest Gump, Robin Leach o.b.m, former President Trump, former President Obama, former President G.W. Bush, Ernie, The Count, and Fred Rogers o.b.m. And Heather and I give our closing thoughts at the end of the show.

 

This interview was recorded thru Zoom on Saturday November 13, 2021, and it lasts for 1 hour and 3 minutes. As is the case with all of the "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #98

On this episode of the podcast, Sarah Pritchard conducts and co-produce a fantastic and superb interview with me in person. After Sarah and I expressed our excitement on how great it was for both of us to see each other in person for the first time in almost two years, we began our conversation where we talk about the subject of restaurants for almost the entire interview. There is lots of two way conversation throughout the podcast.

 

1.  During the first thirteen minutes of the podcast, Sarah and I share our thoughts on the trials and tribulations of restaurants and how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected restaurants, how restaurants and the hospitality industry have been creative and open in finding new ways to offer hospitality over the last almost two years, and how it has been and still is possible for restaurants (and other similar places) to operate/do business in a relatively normal fashion and at the same time follow the public health mitigation measures during the pandemic.

 

2.  Beginning at around the 13 minute mark, we then shift gears and spend about eight minutes talking about/discussing the fun aspects in terms of enjoying restaurants as well as the economic/creativity aspects of restaurants in general. Sarah and I talk about our favorite local restaurants and examples of favorite meals we've enjoyed from various restaurants. We talk quite heavily about the local restaurant scene in the Des Moines/Clive/West Des Moines/Urbandale/central Iowa area.

 

3. Then starting at the 21 minute mark for most of the remaining five minutes of the interview, Sarah talks about a new company that she works for in the Des Moines area called Sunday Night Foods; and Sunday Night Foods offers three different silky and rich signature sauces that blends very high quality chocolate with a handful of the fine pure ingredients (with no artificial ingredients used at all).

 

This interview was recorded on November 10, 2021 and it lasts for a total of 27 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #97

On this episode of the podcast, Leeat Cribbs conducts/co-produces an excellent audio interview with me thru Zoom, and this is the first time that Leeat makes her debut as an interviewer/co-producer in The Juice with Jeff family.

 

After Leeat and I give our introductions, the following topics are brought up:

 

1. Leeat asks me to talk about what am I looking forward to during the next year. I start answering her question by talking about how my 47th birthday went (which was several days prior to when this episode of the podcast was recorded). I talk with Leeat about how I need to take things day by day, especially given all of the issues and problems that we are dealing with both within the United States and worldwide. And then we spend the first 27 minutes of the podcast having discussion about where we are with the Covid-19 pandemic, Democracy, and Voting Rights.

 

2. Then starting at the 27 minute mark of this episode, I talk about how one of my goals over the next year is to have more episodes of this podcast produced/recorded. I discuss with Leeat how we are just 4 episodes away from having 100 episodes of the podcast, how I have been involved with audio production and recording the voices of friends throughout my life beginning from my high school days, and I discuss with Leeat more about the history of these podcasts and how we got to the point we are at now in terms of The Juice with Jeff.

 

This interview was recorded thru Zoom on Friday October 22, 2021, and it lasts for 48 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #96

On this episode of the podcast, Andrew Pass conducts/co-produces an awesome audio interview with me thru Zoom, and this is the first time that Andrew makes his debut as an interviewer/co-producer in The Juice with Jeff family.

 

After Andrew and I give our introductions during the first 3 minutes of the podcast, we brought up the following topics:

 

1. Andrew brings up the subject of bullying and shares a story about how he was bullied as a kid. Then he asks me to talk about how I have dealt with people throughout my life who have seen differences which we have and somehow have been intimidated by those difference. I discussed with Andrew about how I was bullied frequently by a small number of people as a kid. And Andrew asks me what kind of advice I would give to an 11 year old kid who is bullied. I offer my thoughts on bullying, the importance of self-esteem, how extremely important it is for us to speak up and speak out against bullying/bigotry/etc... and how crucial it is that we love/accept/respect someone as they are for who they are. And during this part of the interview, I talk about my being autistic, how it has affected my life, how important it is that we promote Neurodiversity and Autism ACCEPTANCE (Not Autism Awareness).

 

2.  Then beginning at the 16 minute mark of the podcast, we then talk about our Camp Ramah in Wisconsin days. Both Andrew and I were a part of the Ramah Wisconsin community for a while, and Andrew starts off this part of the podcast by talking about how the best experience he has that has shaped who he is professionally and that helped him build his business is being a staff member at Ramah Wisconsin. Andrew asks me to talk about my Camp Ramah in Wisconsin experience and what impact my years at Ramah Wisconsin has on my life. I talk with Andrew about how being at Ramah Wisconsin as a camper (between the summers of 1989-1992) and as a staff member (between the summers of 1994-1997) has given me the opportunity to: a. make additional friends and improve my social skills, b. how Ramah is one of the main factors that has led me to take my Judaism seriously every day of the year at all times and how it helped me make the decision to become a religiously observant Jew, and c. how working at Ramah those 4 summers shaped the skills I have with what I do for a livelihood. Even though the job I had at Ramah Wisconsin didn't involve any management or supervisor requirements, it did shape what kind of style I tried to follow in doing my job and interacting with the camp community where I did my best to maintain a balance between being "Polite" AND being "firm". This portion of the podcast lasts around 16 minutes.

 

Then for about two minutes, Andrew asks me to talk about if there are aspects of my daily life today that are similar in terms of maintaining policies where I sometimes have to say NO for the good of the whole. And I explain how there are plenty of times where I have to say No to people and maintain a balance between helping out/caring about others and practicing self-care. I also mentioned during this part of the podcast about how I work for a sleep medicine clinic in the Des Moines area as the Chief Medical Records Scanner.

 

d. And then we spend the remaining 14 minutes of this episode talking about these "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts. Andrew asks me to talk about various aspects of the podcasts including: What are my goals for The Juice with Jeff, the history of the podcasts and how they came to exist, and about the funding I get from a couple people to financially afford being able to continue having these podcasts produced/recorded. I also talked during this part of the show about how I had experience in audio/video production by being on KWDM radio at Valley High School during the 2nd half of my high school years, by being in the J-School at Drake University for 4-1/2 years and having a significant amount of opportunities and experience in working on both audio and video productions. And I elaborate on how doing these podcasts allows me to continue to use my audio production skills.

 

This interview was recorded thru Zoom on Monday October 11, 2021, and it lasts for 50 minutes. As is the case with all of  "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #95

On this episode of the podcast, Jarad and Lilianna Bernstein conduct and co-produce a fantastic and outstanding interview with me in person. This is the third time that Lilianna has done an interview with me for the podcast, and this is the first time that Jarad makes his debut as an interviewer/co-producer in The Juice with Jeff family.

 

After we all expressed our excitement on how great it was for the three of us to see each other in person for the first time in 19 months, there are several different topics that Lilianna and Jarad ask me to talk about, Lilianna conducts the interview during the first 32 minutes of the podcast and asks me to talk about the following:

 

1.  How my life has changed with the Covid-19 pandemic over the last 18 months (since March 2020). I talked with Lilianna about new ways of doing things, more about these podcasts, learning how to use and master the Zoom for these podcasts (especially during the 13 months between the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and the time I was declared fully vaccinated in late March 2021). I also talked about how things have changed with me significantly in terms of priorities, friendships, and other things over that 18 month period.

 

2.  Then Lilianna asks me to share any stories or favorite memories I have from my childhood and teenage years. As part of this, I talked about some memories I have from my childhood and teenage years, including how my interest in audio equipment and production led to my being on the radio station at Valley High School - West Des Moines during my last two years of high school and also to my majoring in Radio/TV Production in the J School at Drake University during my college/university years. And then it segues into my talking about my J-School days during my 4-1/2 years at Drake.

 

And then at the 33 minute mark, Jarad then takes over the interviewing and he asks me to talk more about what Jewish Life was like in the Des Moines area during my childhood, teenager, and university/college days. I go into great detail discussing with Jarad about the differences in the Des Moines/central Iowa Jewish community between the earlier years of my life and now; and even what things were like in terms of Jewish life in Des Moines and Iowa even before I was born. This part of the interview lasts up thru the 1 hour mark of the podcast.

 

And then for the remaining 8 minutes of the interview, I have Lilianna talking about her perspective on the pandemic, memories she has from when she was in the J-School at Drake, and on their first child that will be arriving toward the end of 2021.

 

This interview was recorded outdoors at Campbell Recreational Area in Clive, IA on Sunday October 10, 2021, and it lasts for 1 hour and 7 minutes. As is the case with all of the "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #94

On this episode of the podcast, Sarah Graf conducts and co-produces an outstanding and fantastic audio interview with me in person. This is the second time that Sarah has done an interview with me for the podcast.

 

There are several different topics that Sarah and I talk about including: How we have both been handling the Covid-19 pandemic, our thoughts on what's going on with the pandemic these days, a few things and tidbits concerning the podcasts, how Sarah and I have both learned quite a lot about Zoom over the last 18 months.

 

Sarah asks me to talk more about Neurodiversity and my being autistic, and I spend a few minutes talking about this. Sarah herself talks a little bit about being a trauma survivor and how it has affected her during this part of the podcast. I also address the importance of being able to engage in what's called "Stimming" whenever I need to, along with how important it is that we love, accept, cherish, and respect everyone as they are for who they are. And we define what real friendships are during this part of the podcast as well.

 

I also talk with Sarah about how music helps me deal with stressful situations and go into detail describing what my favorite kinds of music are. Both Sarah and I each talk about a couple things we've done over the last 18 months. For instance, for my birthday last year on October 19, 2020; we did that birthday celebration on Zoom where 22 of my friends joined me for that. 

 

Starting at around the 45 minute mark, Sarah spends about 15 minutes or so talking about several of the things she's done during the Covid-19 pandemic, and then she also goes into detail talking about the trauma she has gone thru, what she has learned about trauma, and advice she has for people in dealing with trauma (including recommendations for books that she believes can help guide people on handling trauma). Then we talk for 18 minutes about the importance of us needing to speak up and speak out about multiple issues such as social justice, doing all we can to get the Covid-19 pandemic under control, and several other extremely important issues.

 

And then for the last 15 minutes, I perform the following voice impersonations for Sarah: Fat Albert, Mushmouth, The "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" announcer, the singer/composer Barry White o.b.m., Audrey II the Plant from "The Little Shop of Horrors", Tom Bodett, former President Trump, former President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris, U.S. Senate Minority Leader McConnell, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer, the late Jim Morrison (The Doors), Fred Rogers o.b.m., King Friday, X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, Lady Elaine Fairchilde, and Mr. McFeeley. And then Sarah and I share our last thoughts to wrap up the podcast.

 

This interview was recorded outdoors at Riverview Park in Des Moines, IA on Sunday September 26, 2021, and it lasts for 1 hour and 33 minutes. As is the case with all of "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #93

On this episode of the podcast, Stephanie Hankenson conducts a fantastic and outstanding audio interview with me thru Zoom.

 

Stephanie and I went to Valley High School - WDM together at one point in time. While we have been staying in touch thru Messenger and each other's FB posts, the recording session for this podcast was the very first time in 30 years that Steph and I have gotten to have a real time conversation and hear each other's voices live!! 

 

Here are the topics that Stephanie and I brought up during this interview:

1.  After we did our introduction and shared how excited we were to talk with each other and hear each other's voices for the first time in 30 years, we spend 2 or so minutes sharing thoughts concerning the horrific and tragic events that occured on 9/11/2001.

 

2.  Then we spent nearly the entire rest of the interview talking about friendships, various things regarding the podcast, and sharing memories from our VHS days.

 

There is quite a lot of two way conversation during the interview and Stephanie shares her thoughts on some of the topics that are brought up.

 

This interview was recorded on the night of September 11, 2021 and it lasts for a total of around 1 hour and 27 minutes. As is the case with all of the "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!

The Juice with Jeff #92

On this episode of the podcast Laura Grisamore conducts and co-produces an outstanding and fantastic audio interview with me thru Zoom, and this is the third time that Laura has done an interview with me for the podcast.

 

We did this interview thru Zoom, and there are several different topics that Laura and I talk about on the show:

 

1. We start off the podcast by my talking with Laura about how the whole podcast series is now part of a non-commercial, non-profit organization called The Juice with Jeff Inc. As part of the new organization, there is a 9 member Board of Directors and Advisory Committee that helps and guides me with suggestions for questions the friends who interview me should ask me about during the interview recording sessions if the friends interviewing me or I need additional ideas for topics, PR/Marketing suggestions in terms of how to market my podcasts, names of additional friends they think would be interested in interviewing me for the podcasts, and things like that concerning my podcasts. Laura herself is one of the 8 really good friends that is on The Juice with Jeff Inc.'s Board/Advisory Committee.

 

2.  Then Laura and I share some thoughts concerning the podcasts.

 

3.  Laura then talks about some fun and exciting things that she's been up to. I talk with Laura about my dogs and the things they have been up to.

 

4.   Laura asks me to talk about several Jewish religious holy days and festivals that I will be observing over the course of the three weeks following the production of this podcast. I explain to Laura in as "Layperson" a way as I can about these Jewish holy days and festivals and it takes up 50 minutes worth of the podcast.

 

5. And then we spend the remaining 25 to 30 minutes of the podcast talking a little more about these podcasts (i.e. The interviews for these podcasts being conducted in person versus the interviews being conducted thru Zoom), and then various thoughts both of us have concerning where we are in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

There is quite a bit of two way conversation during the interview and Laura shares her thoughts on some of the topics that are brought up.
This interview was recorded on September 3, 2021 and it lasts for a total of around 1 hour and 40 minutes. As is the case with all of the "The Juice with Jeff" podcasts, funding for this podcast is provided by Realty With Ahart and RandomKid. Enjoy!!