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Nice Work

Most Recent Episode

a book cover in blue and red shows a hand picking up a rotary phone in scribbled font the title reads "Controlled Conversations" a novel.
Igor Andrić
Author Karol Lagodzki on Controlled Conversations, A Printing Fest, and the Tiny Desk
This week on Nice Work we talk with writer Karol Lagodzki about his novel Controlled Conversations, set during a period of martial law in Poland in the early 1980’s. We check in with one of WFIU’s Local Favorites from the NPR Tiny Desk Contest: Bloomington band The Foolins, and we preview the Mini Midwest Print Fest.

Stories

About

Hosted by Kayte Young, Alex Chambers, and Tyler Lake, Nice Work explores the arts, culture, and imagination of south central Indiana. Each episode is a joyful invitation into the stories that nourish us — and what comes next.

Each time I’ve finished listening to an episode of Nice Work, I feel deep gratitude that I get to live in Bloomington with other artists and creative people. I have especially enjoyed some of the more time sensitive elements of the show... It feels a bit like I have curated fieldtrips now…

And Alex, Kayte, and Tyler have such great chemistry!"

—Claire Miller, Bloomington, IN

More Stories
  • A work of felted art representing uterine endometrium migration is displayed under a glass case in the Grunwald Gallery
    The Personal Made Visible
    Kayte Young
    In the Grunwald Gallery MFA Thesis show this spring, there was an exhibition by Sookyung Augustin called (in)Visible Identity: All the Little Things. Moved by Augustin’s work, Kayte Young reflects on art and connection.
  • A poster for "Your Name Means Dream" at Jewish Theater Bloomington
    Jewish Theatre Bloomington's Latest: Your Name Means Dream
    Alex Chambers
    Jewish Theatre Bloomington's upcoming production,Your Name Means Dream, tackles our relationship with technology, specifically AI chatbots. Alex Chambers sits down with director Martha Jacobs, and one of the two actors, Diane Kondrat.
  • A man in a gray suit stands, with a half smile and looking up toward his right, in front of old-fashioned scientific posters of human body systems
    Bullseye's Jesse Thorn on Interviewing
    Alex Chambers
    Jesse Thorn never went to journalism school. So, after he'd been a professional interviewer for years, he decided to do a series of interviews with interviewers about interviewing. Jesse and Alex discuss what he’s learned about interviewing—from those interviews and from doing it for a quarter century.
  • Three people in a coffee shop smiling at the camera. There's an artificial, purplish hue to the picture, and the letters KMST in the bottom foreground.
    Kismet, Bloomington’s Newest Literary Magazine (as far as we can tell)
    Alex Chambers
    Kismet started because its publishers had noticed a lacuna in the world of speculative fiction magazines. Alex Chambers talks with some of its staff about the story of its founding, what they hope to accomplish, and why developmental editing is such an important part of their mission.
  • Two men on a snowy mountain peak in climbing gear hold a banner between them that says "Common Ground Films"
    Common Ground Films
    Jonah Ballard
    Bloomington filmmakers Kevin Weaver and Mitch Hannon created Common Ground Films to combat commercial expectations for documentary film and tell the stories of individuals who otherwise would not have their stories told.
  • Sunset over a sprawling landfill in black and white with a video game cartridge in the foreground
    Atari Landfill
    Tyler Lake
    Writer and educator Raiford Guins tells the story of how a ton of gaming cartridges from the early 80’s ended up in a landfill in the southwest.
Full Episodes
  • A man in a grey suit stands in front of a blue background with a red, blue, black, and cream target. A black text box reading "Bullseye with Jesse Thorn" is in the foreground.
    Jesse Thorn on Interviewing, Speculative Fiction in a Magazine, Medical Specimens in Art, and AI On Stage
    This week Alex Chambers talks with Jesse Thorn, host of the public media show, Bullseye, about preparing for interviews by possibly not preparing. We hear about a local literary magazine called Kismet, the upcoming show from Jewish Theatre Bloomington, and from Kayte Young about work from a recent MFA show at the Grunwald Gallery.
  • Rania Matar with hand on hip standing next to Leila Reichert in front of red wall with photograph of a woman reclining on a red couch in an apartment with hair in front of her face and a bouquet of flowers in front of her.
    Rania Matar’s Portraits of Lebanese Women
    Rania Matar’s photography is shaped by Lebanon’s history; Common Ground Films makes movies that are hard to fund; and old Atari games turn up in a landfill.
  • A man in a denim jacket standing against a tree and strumming a black banjo
    Bluegrass, Counterpoint, and Other Stylistic Standpoints
    Alex Chambers talks with composer Gabriel Jenks about bluegrass, Schoenberg, and long drives to harp lessons.
  • a grid of consumer goods on a billboard
    Radio
    Beyond product design
    Tyler Lake talks with design developer and educator Debra Pearson about taking great ideas from designs to actual products you find on the store shelves.
  • A woman holding an electric guitar and smiling with the words GIRLS ROCK BLOOMINGTON in bright lettering behind and across her, and a border of wavy orange, pink, and yellow
    Girls Rock Bloomington, Voces Novae, and R.E.M.(ish)
    Girls Rock Bloomington: how it started, how it’s going. How Voces Novae expands what choral music can be. And an R.E.M. cover band that’s better than a cover band.
  • A book hovers in a black and white grid, it has an around glow around it. On the book is written "King Pong: How Atari Bounced Across Markets to Make Millions" by Raiford Guins.
    The Cabinet Creates the Experience
    This week on Nice Work we take a deep dive down the coin slot with author Raiford Guins and his new book about PONG. We hear all about the conceptual work of artists “Puppies, Puppies", and we talk to the Organizers of the Bloomington International Film Festival - just in time for this year’s screenings.
  • a woman in brightly colored, loose-fitting clothes, with a half-smile and brightly colored lipstick, sitting in a wheelchair with a breathing tube going from her neck to the back of the chair
    Radio
    Alice Wong came from the future
    History Professor Ellen Wu talks about Alice Wong-- their friendship and Alice Wong's life and work as a disability justice advocate.
  • Essence London standing in front of exhibit with process images from Yet Another Lit Mag game in black and white and yellow.
    Yet Another Literary Board Game?
    This week on Nice Work Kayte Young talks with cross-genre artists Essence London about her new game Yet Another Lit Mag, we turn up the lights on the IU Library’s Moving Image Archive and hit the hard court to hear all about bike polo.