In this episode, explore the high-spirited world of sign spinning and the history of Las Vegas’ Historic Commercial Center District. Later, hear Vi Khi Nao and Daisuke Shen discuss Nao’s new collection of short stories, titled Vegas Dilemma.

In this episode, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil discusses art and simulation with her father, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil; poet Vi Khi Nao takes listeners through a sound walk in Las Vegas; novelist Lisa Ko and visual artist Toisha Tucker reminisce on virtual karaoke nights in early quarantine; and writer Elena Passarello presents an essay on puppets and the legacy of Elvis Presley.

In this episode, performance artist Brent Holmes explores the origins and myths of the American cowboy. Meanwhile, businesswoman Anna Bailey shares pieces of her life as one of the first African-American women to hold a gaming license in Nevada. Writer Sam Forbes brings us an account of being invisible while working as a dancer in a Las Vegas strip club. Plus, BMI Fellows Ahmed Naji and Jordan Kisner discuss how living in exile has changed Naji’s writing and life.

Attorney Dayvid Figler grew up near the famous Las Vegas Strip in a hard-gambling family. Decades after becoming a lawyer, Dayvid meets Nann, a problem gambler who would become his client. In this episode, Dayvid and Nann unpack the emotional and life-altering effects of Nevada’s most lucrative industry. You'll also hear poet-performer-librettist Douglas Kearney and Afro-electronic musician Val Jeanty discuss the ways they surrendered to experimentation in the name of artistry while making their live album Fodder. Plus, novelist Walter Mosley presents a contrarian perspective on race and the color white in an excerpt from his 2015 lecture at BMI.

In this episode, writer Soni Brown sets out to reconsider what’s left of the Mint 400, an elusive made popular by Hunter S. Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, LeVar Burton transports listeners into an engine oil-infused dust storm as he reads an excerpt from Fear and Loathing. Inspired by Octavia Butler, writers Megan Stielstra and Erica Vital-Lazare unpack the question: What specifically did the desert teach me? Poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil and essayist Jordan Kisner discuss Aimee’s latest book, a collection of 28 essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.⁣⁣

In this episode, writer Elissa Washuta describes a moment where she spotted her future self walking around Seattle; writer and anthropologist Elizabeth Greenspan shines a light on the work of architect and educator Denise Scott Brown; and Izzy Santillanes sits down with his former workshop teacher Shaun Griffin to talk about how poetry transformed and saved his life.⁣⁣

In this episode, essayist Niela Orr finds a home in Toni Morrison’s words. Then, poet Fred Moten and cultural historian Josh Kun discuss James Baldwin, extraordinary listening, and–for Moten–what it was like growing up in Las Vegas.  

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This special pilot episode features interviews, an oral history from the Vegas Valley, an essay adaptation from The Believer, and a lot of heart.⁣

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