Arts Educators Save the World

Poets Jason Morphew & Joe Wenderoth

This one's for all you poetry stans out there! On this episode, Erica sits down with two very singular gentlemen of letters, each of whom both teach and write poetry for a living. They discuss what poems are, what people are, and how to connect with students today in such a niche literary field. Jason Morphew is the author of the collections Eject City (Poets Wear Prada, 2024) and dead boy (Spuyten Duyvil, 2018) and the chapbooks What to deflect when you’re deflecting (Poets Wear Prada, 2017) and In Order to Commit Suicide (Floating Wolf Quarterly, 2012). His poems have been published in Seneca Review, Lana Turner, Bellevue Literary Review, and Smartish Pace, among other journals.  Joe Wenderoth is an American writer, performer, teacher, and film-maker. He has published seven books: five books of poetry, an epistolary novel (Letters to Wendy's), and a book of essays. His work is widely  anthologized, and has been published in collections and periodicals such as Harpers, The Nation, The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, Best American Poetry 2007, Best American Essays 2008, Poetry 180, The Next American Essay, The Best American Poems: From Poe to Present, The Body Electric, The New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology, and American Poetry: Next Generation. He and his work has a notable mention in The Best American Essays 2011.

LIVE at the Comic Con Museum: Anjali Bhimani & Owyn P Taylor

In this live podcast, Arts Educators Save the World podcast hosts Dr. Erica Halverson and Alek Lev will interview the actor Anjali Bhimani (Ms. Marvel, The Legend of Vox Machina, Overwatch, Apex Legends) in conversation with her mentee Owyn P Taylor about the role of arts learning in her success as a multi-hyphenate actor . Using stories from Bhimani’s career and her role in Owyn's development, this conversation will highlight how Bhimani draws upon her training as an actor to adapt her work across multiple forms of media, including television, film, Broadway, and gaming – and how her connection with Owyn inspired his unlikely but undeniable creative emergence.

LIVE at the Comic Con Museum: Joshua Pruett & Scott Peterson

In this live podcast, Arts Educators Save the World podcast hosts Dr. Erica Halverson and Alek Lev will interview Emmy Award–winning writer Joshua Pruett (Phineas and Ferb, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Doctor Who, The Last Comics on Earth) alongside his mentor, Emmy Award–winning head writer and co-producer Scott Peterson (Phineas and Ferb, The Last Kids on Earth) about the role of learning as an ingredient of artistic success. Using real stories, this conversation will showcase the invaluable impact of mentorship and continuous learning on creating and sustaining successful creative careers.

Emily Deschanel & Scott Weintraub

No “Bones” about it, this episode features the great Emily Deschanel, waxing nostalgic with high school pal and Arts Educators Save the World Executive Producer Jamie Salka and their high school drama teacher, the great Scott Weintraub! Scott is a true polymath, professional actor, teacher and director of students k-12, and responsible for mentoring Emily and many other household names to television and film success.

How They Met Each Other: Craig Thomas and Rob Greenberg REDUX

Revisiting another Oldie-But-Goodie this week while we're recording new episodes at the Comic Con Museum in San Diego!! More to come soon!! Our dear friend Craig Thomas, working at the highest levels of network television, is proof positive that mentorship doesn't end at graduation. Craig is the co-creator of CBS's smash sitcom HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, which received 30 Emmy Award nominations in its nine-season run. His prose has been published in The Iowa Review, The Boston Globe, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and the Weekly Humorist. In this episode, he joins us in conversation with Rob Greenberg, who, as a writer/producer on FRASIER, won three Emmys, and a Writers Guild Award. Rob was an executive producer for the pilot of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, where he remained as consulting producer -- and mentor to Craig and co-creator Carter Bays -- for the show's first six years. At the time of this recording, he and his partner, Bob Fisher, are writing, directing and producing the second season of ANIMAL CONTROL for Fox.