The Juice with Jeff

The Juice with Jeff #106

On this episode of the podcast, Dana (Ellison) Mitchell conducts and co-produces an excellent interview with me thru Zoom.

 

After Dana and I give our introductions and express our excitement at being able to hear each other's voices in real time for the first time in 26 years, we proceed with this episode of the show as follows:

 

During the podcast interview, Dana asked me the following questions on several topics:

1.  What's something that you still carry with you from our Camp Ramah in Wisconsin days? I spend around 10 minutes or so discussing my thoughts on this.

 

2.  Do you think that the fact Ramah was a Jewish camp and that we did have regular meaningful discussion about ethics or religion, do you believe that helped facilitate really close friendships because we were talking about such deep things together?

 

3.  After you made the decision to become a religiously observant Jew, did you have any challenges in terms of trying to become more observant in your life?

 

4.  What have you been doing to still feel like a member of your synagogue during the earlier portions of the Covid-19 pandemic?

 

5.  Dana asked me to talk more about my Mister Rogers wardrobe and also about how I became more intensely interested in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and everything related to Fred Rogers o.b.m.? I spent about 8 minutes talking with Dana about this. 

6  Where can one get great Hamantaschen in the Des Moines, IA area? Hamantaschen are these special triangular shaped cookies with certain fillings in the middle that are traditionally served on the Jewish holiday of Purim.

 

7.  What's something you want to do or want to learn more about?

 

8.  What did you do over this past Shabbat (Friday nights at sunset thru Saturday nights at dusk)?

 

9. After the first 45 minutes of the podcast were spent answering these questions and our having plenty of two way conversation on all these topics, Dana and I spent the remaining 30 minutes of the show sharing memories and our favorite moments from our Ramah Wisconsin days, and I also share with Dana a couple tidbits/trivia items about the history of Ramah Wisconsin's buildings and the roads which led to camp.

We had plenty of two way conversation throughout the interview. This interview was recorded on March 13, 2022, and it lasts for around 1 hour 18 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 #39: The Transition to Pandemic Episode

On this episode of the podcast, Cheri Lyon and I have a really informal conversation about several topics:  An awesome dinner we had at Cool Basil Restaurant in Clive, IA; my thoughts on how Covid-19 has been declared a pandemic and just became widespread in the community on the night we recorded this podcast; spring being around the corner, my dogs and Cheri's chickens, any concerts planned, the two photo shoots I did with me dressed up in my Mister Rogers wardrobe (complete with red cardigan sweater and Sperry Top Sider laced shoes), and an abbreviated version of my story about how I got intensely into Mister Rogers Neighborhood and everything related to Fred Rogers o.b.m.

 

To wrap up the chat, I also performed about a dozen more of my voice impersonations for Cheri. This episode of the podcast is historic because it marks the transition to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it would be the last time I'd be able to have these podcasts produced/recorded in person for a 13 month period. To emphasize the transition that was taking place with the pandemic and uncertainty we would be dealing with in our lives, I have kept this episode almost totally raw and unfiltered as it was recorded that night, with the exception of adding the funding credits at the beginning and reducing the length of my monologue to Cheri about Mister Rogers.

 

This episode of the podcast was recorded on March 12, 2020, and it lasts for around 20 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 #105

On this episode of the podcast, Kelly Flynn conducts and co-produces an outstanding interview with me thru Zoom.

 

After Kelly and I give our introductions, we proceed with this episode of the podcast as follows:

 

During the first 18 minutes or so of the podcast, Kelly asks me to talk about how I've been doing with everything over the last couple years, where we are in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic, how we can stress the importance of mental health and living life with a healthy balance, and how I think that social media impacts our mental health.

 

Then 19 minutes into the podcast, we proceed to spend the rest of the podcast talking about several really fun topics. Kelly asks me to discuss what I would do if I won ten million dollars. We then proceed to talk about where are my favorite places that I have traveled to are, and I talk about travel experiences I've had in places like Sioux City, Iowa; Richmond, Virginia; the land of Israel; spending 7-1/2 summers in northern Wisconsin to be a camper or staff member at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin; and a 4 day 3 night cruise I once took on the Monarch of the Seas Cruise line. The "What would I do if I had 10 million dollars" and traveling segments take around 35 minutes of the podcast.

 

And then Kelly and I spend the last 15 minutes of the podcast reminiscing about our Valley High School (West Des Moines, Iowa) days.

 

We had plenty of two way conversation throughout the interview. This interview was recorded on March 6, 2022, and it lasts for around 1 hour 11 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 #104

On this episode of the podcast, Stephanie Toms conducts a fantastic and outstanding interview with me thru Zoom.  This will be the 2nd time that Stephanie has been on the podcast with me.

During the podcast interview, Stephanie asked me a whole bunch of questions focusing on ROMANTIC LOVE and how this topic would affect people like me who are autistic.  She asks me questions such as:

 

Have you ever felt romantic love, a crush or wanted more than friendship from another person?

 

How did the experience of romantic love go and how is this different for you from a friendship with someone?

 

Are you still open to romantic love still?

 

Is there any type of community groups in the Des Moines area for people who are autistic to go to for meeting other people for romantic love, deepening friendships, get togethers, etc....

 

How would that (romantic love, going steady with someone, etc...) look to you and how would you incorporate that into your current living situation, life?

 

Would you get married?

 

At various points of the show, I also bring up Autism Acceptance and how  extremely important it is for us to accept everyone as they are for who they are. And at the end of the podcast, I did my Audrey II (from the Little Shop of Horrors musical and movie) voice impersonation for Stephanie!! After the Audrey II, we talk for a few minutes about the Little Shop of Horrors movie.

 

Stephanie and I had lots of two way conversation throughout the interview along with quite a bit of laughter. This interview was recorded on January 28, 2022, and it lasts for around 37 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 #103

On this episode of the podcast, Micole Van Walbeek, Micole's daughter Ava, and Micole's mom Carrie England conduct and co-produce a fantastic and superb interview with me thru Zoom.

 

After we give our introductions; Micole, Ava, and Carrie then ask me the following questions:

 

a. Have you ever done an interview with three people at once (let alone three generations?

b. What were you like as a child?

c. Who in your family are you most like and why?

d. Have you ever interviewed anyone from your family for the podcast?

e. If you had "all the money in the world", what would you do with it?

f. What are three qualities that you like about yourself?

g. Did your mom ever tell you to make sure that you always wear clean underwear in case you're ever in a car accident?

h. What are your favorite things to own?

i. Are you familiar with the TV show "Love on the Spectrum"?

j. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

 

I discuss and share my thoughts on all of these topics with Micole, Ava, and Carrie; we had plenty of two way conversation throughout the interview. This interview was recorded on January 16, 2022, and it lasts for around 35 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 #102

On this episode of the podcast, Lauren Campbell conducts and co-produces a fantastic interview with me thru Zoom.

 

After Lauren and I give our introductions, we proceed to talk about the following topics: my love for the Iowa State Fair, various things concerning where we are in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic, hobbies or interests I've developed since the pandemic began including how I've learned how to use and master Zoom, some tidbits about these The Juice with Jeff podcasts, how I handle cooking, the job I have at DSM Sleep Specialists, how I keep Judaism's dietary laws called Kashrut/Kosher and how I handle eating out at restaurants, supporting local restaurants whenever possible, and what things I'm planning on looking forward to during 2022.

 

There is lots of two way conversation throughout the podcast. This interview was recorded on January 14, 2022, and it lasts for 1 hour and 10 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 #101

On this episode of the podcast, Rachel Graham conducts/co-produces an excellent interview with me thru Zoom.

 

After Rachel and I give our introductions, we start the podcast off by spending around 12 minutes talking about various things that are related to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Then I talk with Rachel about the two animated spin-offs of Gilligan's Island called The New Adventures of Gilligan and Gilligan's Planet, tidbits about a company that made cartoons for several decades called Filmation, and then Rachel and I have a discussion about cartoons and what our favorite Saturday morning TV shows were during the 1980's when we were kids. We spend about 15 minutes of the podcast talking about cartoons and TV nostalgia.

 

Then I spend several minutes talking with Rachel about my favorite books and what I enjoy reading, such as the entire Harry Potter 8 book series, and Rachel shares her thoughts on the Harry Potter series.

 

And then starting at around the 34 minute mark, Rachel and I spend the vast majority of the rest of the podcast sharing our memories from the days we were at Crossroads Park Elementary and Indian Hills Jr. High School together; I do bring up other topics off and on at various points such as my being Autistic, the times we were at Springbrook State Park in Iowa, and our really close friendship.

 

There is lots of two way conversation throughout the podcast. This interview was recorded on December 9, 2021, and it lasts for 1 hour and 16 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 - 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!!