The Overlook with Matt Peiken

The Overlook with Matt Peiken

Matt Peiken

Local newsmakers, civic leaders, journalists, artists and others in the know talk with host Matt Peiken about the growing, complicated city of Asheville, N.C. New episodes are available Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Parker Pfister | He Finds Art on Both Sides of His Lens

Parker Pfister | He Finds Art on Both Sides of His Lens

Twenty years ago, when Parker Pfister moved to Asheville, he made his living shooting photographs at the weddings of celebrities. Over the ensuing years, Pfister has explored his own curiosities, both through his viewfinder and in the darkroom. His manipulated images resonate with dualities that convey multiple meanings and emotions. He’s a prolific photographer, and yet it’s surprising that only now is he seeing his first solo gallery exhibition, through Mars Landing Galleries in Mars Hill. The

Oct 24, 2024 • 29:46

Amanda Edwards | Candidate to Chair the Buncombe County Commission

Amanda Edwards | Candidate to Chair the Buncombe County Commission

While Hurricane Helene disrupted virtually every life and way of life in this region, at least one thing is happening as scheduled—the 2024 election. Today, I talk with Amanda Edwards, a member of the Buncombe County Commission who is running to succeed the departing Brownie Newman as chair.Here, in a conversation that took place weeks before Helene struck, Edwards talks about her motivations for entering electoral politics and the issues that motivate her today. Our conversation runs through af

Oct 10, 2024 • 41:27

Nina Kawar | Hurricane Helene Swept Away Her Livelihood and Life's Work

Nina Kawar | Hurricane Helene Swept Away Her Livelihood and Life's Work

Amid thousands of people in Western North Carolina who’ve lost so much, scores of artists with studios in the River Arts District, in Swannanoa, and in downtown Marshall saw their livelihoods and life’s work washed away.I begin my coverage of Hurricane Helene's impact and aftermath with a conversation with ceramic artist, jewelry maker and my friend, Nina Kawar. For the past eight years, she has had a studio on the first floor of Marshall High Studios, on Blannahassett Island in downtown Ma

Oct 7, 2024 • 29:32

Sage Turner | Asheville City Council Candidate

Sage Turner | Asheville City Council Candidate

Sage Turner first came to a seat on Asheville City Council through her fight for more affordable housing in the city. She has since become well-versed and conversant on a spectrum of issues that come before council, but she’s never dropped the torch to help develop more affordable living in Asheville.Today is the last in a six-part series of conversations with every candidate for City Council. Turner is one of two incumbents on the ballot, and she speaks with a depth of insight that can only com

Sep 27, 2024 • 42:01

Kim Roney | Asheville City Council Candidate

Kim Roney | Asheville City Council Candidate

Pick an issue, and voters are likely to view it as yes/no, black-and-white question. They want to know whether their elected officials are for or against something. But Kim Roney has served on the Asheville City Council long enough to learn that behind every yes or no vote, there’s subtext and context.My series of episodes spotlighting every candidate for City Council continues here with current sitting councilperson Kim Roney. We talk about the nuances and complexities of policy decisions and w

Sep 25, 2024 • 36:58

Tod Leaven | Asheville City Council Candidate

Tod Leaven | Asheville City Council Candidate

Tod Leaven doesn’t dwell on the details when he speaks of his twin sister, who he says was battling addiction and chronic homelessness in the early 2000s when she was killed. But it isn’t a reach to see the connection with his sister, in part, fueling Leaven’s career as an attorney, his community service and his current run for a seat on Asheville’s City Council.My conversation with Tod Leaven continues our series of episodes devoted to every candidate for City Council. Today, Tod Leaven talks a

Sep 23, 2024 • 38:13

CJ Domingo | Asheville City Council Candidate

CJ Domingo | Asheville City Council Candidate

CJ Domingo has a particular insider’s vantage of the challenges facing Asheville—until relatively recently, he worked for the parking division of the city’s transportation department. He cites low morale among some city staff as a symptom of a larger void within city leadership.  Today, in our continuing series looking at every candidate for city council, Asheville native CJ Domingo shares his views on a range of city issues, including frustrations with deferred infrastructure maintenance and hi

Sep 20, 2024 • 35:25

Kevan Frazier | Asheville City Council Candidate

Kevan Frazier | Asheville City Council Candidate

Kevan Frazier can probably put his knowledge of Asheville history up against anyone’s. But the city native and tour guide, entrepreneur and educator hopes his encyclopedic recall of Asheville’s yesteryear can shape his approach to the city’s tomorrow. He’s one of six running for two seats on City Council.Today, in our continuing series talking with every candidate for city council, Frazier tells us about his backstory and frames his approach to all the hot-button issues atop Asheville’s list of

Sep 18, 2024 • 36:35

Bo Hess | Asheville City Council Candidate

Bo Hess | Asheville City Council Candidate

This episode begins our six-part series of interviews with each candidate for Asheville City Council.Most candidates for state and federal offices started in politics at a local level. Bo Hess took a different approach. In 2020, he says, he ran for a U.S. Congressional seat as a training ground for what he wants now—a seat on Asheville’s City Council. He talks about his varied background—as a social worker, addiction specialist, therapist, law enforcement trainer, community activist, part time t

Sep 16, 2024 • 29:52

Judicial Values | Martin Moore, Candidate for NC Court of Appeals

Judicial Values | Martin Moore, Candidate for NC Court of Appeals

No matter how attuned you believe you are to the upcoming election, there’s a strong chance you have no idea who’s running for the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Today’s episode should help solve that problem.Martin Moore moved to Asheville in 2015 when he took his first job as an attorney, working as a public defender in Buncombe County. He has since opened a private practice in Asheville while serving on the Buncombe County Commission. Moore sees these as steppingstones in a life calling tha

Sep 5, 2024 • 33:52

Running Uphill | Caleb Rudow and His Campaign for Congress

Running Uphill | Caleb Rudow and His Campaign for Congress

Caleb Rudow is attempting to do something no Democrat has done in more than a decade—represent North Carolina’s 11th District in the US House of Representatives. A gerrymandered map has seemingly kept this district comfortably in Republican hands, but Rudow sees a lot in his favor as he campaigns against the incumbent, Chuck Edwards.Rudow currently represents North Buncombe County in the State House. Here, we talk about his campaign, the challenge of hurdling the gerrymandered math of this distr

Sep 3, 2024 • 40:16

PART 2: Sub-Mission | State Sen. Julie Mayfield, Retired Dr. Bruce Kelly, Chaplain Missy Harris of Reclaim Healthcare WNC

PART 2: Sub-Mission | State Sen. Julie Mayfield, Retired Dr. Bruce Kelly, Chaplain Missy Harris of Reclaim Healthcare WNC

In the second half of this two-part conversation, founders of the coalition Reclaim Healthcare WNC talk about their pressure campaign with HCA Healthcare to dramatically and demonstrably improve conditions for patients and staff at Mission Hospital. My guests are State Senator Julie Mayfield, retired physician Bruce Kelly and Missy Harris, who recently left Mission Hospital after five years there as a chaplain. They talk about the potential for competition with Mission in the regional healthcare

Aug 15, 2024 • 32:29

PART 1: Sub-Mission | State Sen. Julie Mayfield, Retired Dr. Bruce Kelly, Chaplain Missy Harris of Reclaim Healthcare WNC

PART 1: Sub-Mission | State Sen. Julie Mayfield, Retired Dr. Bruce Kelly, Chaplain Missy Harris of Reclaim Healthcare WNC

So much has been written and said in the five years since the corporation HCA Healthcare purchased Asheville’s nonprofit Mission Hospital. Doctors, nurses and other staff have fled amid what many see as the company’s push for profits over people. North Carolina’s attorney general has filed lawsuits. Nobody involved in the original deal has spoken candidly about how this sale even made it across the finish line.Today is the first in a two-part conversation with leaders of a new coalition called R

Aug 13, 2024 • 37:43

State of the City | Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer

State of the City | Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer

Esther Manheimer is serving her third term as Asheville’s mayor. The challenges this city faces today—and the strategies deployed to tackle them—have evolved a lot during her time in office.Today, we check in with Mayor Manheimer around a variety of issues—homelessness, affordable housing, enforcing the city’s policy on short-term rentals and property tax increases, along with boosting the salaries for police officers and firefighters. We also get her assessment of how this council has performed

Jul 31, 2024 • 41:29

Fighting the War at Home | Asheville chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace

Fighting the War at Home | Asheville chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace

Jewish Voice for Peace is a nonprofit with chapters in Asheville and around the U.S. and beyond. Except for the name of the organization, you won’t find much about Judaism on their website or in their talking points.** They're focused on peace in the Middle East and, to JVP, that means the liberation of Palestinians. My guests are Anne Craig, Rebecca Croog and Said Abdallah from the Asheville chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. You’ll learn about their varied backgrounds and what led them to

Jul 29, 2024 • 52:42

A Building Block of Community | Jefferson Ellison

A Building Block of Community | Jefferson Ellison

Jefferson Ellison is the first to say he grew up with privilege. His father was Asheville’s vice mayor and ran his own law firm for 40 years, and his mother holds two master’s degrees. Still at 31, Jefferson isn’t taking shortcuts with his own career or place in the city. He sits on the boards of the Asheville Downtown Association and the Downtown Commission, and he’s a voice of influence on The Block Collaborative, which is working with city leaders on the revisioning of Pack Square.Today, I ta

Jul 23, 2024 • 37:27

The Brunt of Ballet | Heather Maloy of Terpsicorps

The Brunt of Ballet | Heather Maloy of Terpsicorps

Like most leaders in the arts, Heather Maloy spends far more time raising money, hunting for rehearsal spaces and recruiting dancers than she does immersed in the work she’s so committed to—cultivating the ideas and creating the dances that are the signature of her Asheville-based company, Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance. For 21 summers, Terpsicorps has fielded troupes of young professionals from all over the U.S. and beyond, who put their feet to the fire of Maloy’s imagination. I met with Maloy j

Jul 16, 2024 • 36:57

Telling it Like it is | Storyteller Carolina Quiroga

Telling it Like it is | Storyteller Carolina Quiroga

Carolina Quiroga moved to Asheville only about a year ago, but she’s already a distinctive storyteller here, blending folk tales and her own experiences from her native Colombia with newer stories born from observations of her newly adopted home.On July 11, she begins a residency of three weekly performances at Story Parlor in West Asheville. Today, we talk about straddling the line between her father’s expectations and her own desires, her self-appointed mission to educate certain people in the

Jul 10, 2024 • 34:07

Passing the Torch | New Asheville Fire Chief Michael Cayse

Passing the Torch | New Asheville Fire Chief Michael Cayse

Michael Cayse has only been Asheville’s Fire Chief since the start of the year, but he came here with more than three decades of experience in Cincinnati and, as part of that, working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.Asheville firefighters received a pay raise in the new fiscal year budget of nearly 9 percent, but that still puts them behind where they’d like to be. My guest today, Chief Cayse, tells us about the other ways Asheville works to be a department that attracts and keeps t

Jul 8, 2024 • 32:23

Hear Here | Detective Blind in performance and conversation

Hear Here | Detective Blind in performance and conversation

Who says rock music is dying out? A trio of sisters from Asheville are doing their part to bring rock to a new generation. Detective Blind takes the spotlight in the second episode of The Overlook drawn from our May 28 evening of Hear Here,  a performance and podcasting series co-presented with Citizen Vinyl. The series is designed to elevate conversation around local rock and indie music. The sisters in Detective Blind are ages 17, 14 and 12, but they already show off a confident musicianship a

Jun 26, 2024 • 42:05

PART 2: The RAD's Uneven Flow | Hedy Fischer, Gail McCarthy, Stephanie Monson Dahl

PART 2: The RAD's Uneven Flow | Hedy Fischer, Gail McCarthy, Stephanie Monson Dahl

This is the second half of my conversation with Hedy Fischer and Gail McCarthy, who along with their artist husbands bought buildings in the River Arts District early on and are committed to keeping those buildings open and affordable for other artists. They’re joined here by Stephanie Monson Dahl, the city’s manager of Urban Design, Place Strategies, and Long Range Planning.If you missed Part One, dial back in your podcasting app to listen to that first before tuning in here. In today's ep

Jun 20, 2024 • 33:02

PART 1: The RAD's Uneven Flow | Hedy Fischer, Gail McCarthy, Stephanie Monson Dahl

PART 1: The RAD's Uneven Flow | Hedy Fischer, Gail McCarthy, Stephanie Monson Dahl

Hedy Fischer and Gail McCarthy have been in Asheville since the late 1970s and, along with their artist husbands, played critical roles in the evolution of the River Arts District from a neglected, polluted wasteland of warehouses into the thriving arts and commerce destination it is today. They also have thoughts on whether the scales of progress for the neighborhood have tipped too far.Today is the first in a two-part conversation with Fischer and McCarthy, along with Stephanie Monson Dahl, th

Jun 18, 2024 • 34:57

Hear Here | O•VAD•YA in Performance and Conversation

Hear Here | O•VAD•YA in Performance and Conversation

Hear Here is a performance and podcast series designed to elevate conversation around local rock and indie music.  I invited two all-female bands to the May 28 evening of Hear Here at Citizen Vinyl. The bands Detective Blind and O•VAD•YA come from different generations. Detective Blind are three sisters—the eldest is only 17—while most of the members of O•VAD•YA are in their 50s and 60s. Still, the bands made fast friends with each other at soundcheck and the good energy between them continued w

Jun 13, 2024 • 49:27

The Queen Bee of Pollination | Phyllis Stiles of Bee City Asheville

The Queen Bee of Pollination | Phyllis Stiles of Bee City Asheville

There are about 400 Bee City USA programs across 47 states, all with a mission to sustain pollinators by increasing native plants and nest sites while reducing the use of pesticides. The entire Bee City movement started in Asheville 12 years ago with the efforts of Phyllis Stiles. During the thick of a month of pollination celebration here,  I talk with Stiles about her path to pollination through beekeeping and the start and growth of Bee City Asheville and Bee City USA.We talk about how to res

Jun 10, 2024 • 37:53

The Lens of Reflection | Pete Candler, Author, Photographer and Filmmaker

The Lens of Reflection | Pete Candler, Author, Photographer and Filmmaker

Pete Candler wears many creative hats. He’s a photographer and maker of short films—all of it self-taught—and he’s also an author and recovering academic.His new book, titled “A Deeper South," is both an internal and external travelogue over 25 years of road trips through the American South. We’ll also talk about leaving a tenured professorship at Baylor University to pursue his creative impulses, why he has always been drawn to photographing places rather than people and his discovery of a

May 31, 2024 • 28:30

Authoring Mid-Life Shifts | Madison Brightwell and Don Silver

Authoring Mid-Life Shifts | Madison Brightwell and Don Silver

Madison Brightwell and Don Silver are local novelists who don’t know each other but have similar creative trajectories. Both spent early years behind the scenes—Brightwell in film production, Silver working for music mogul Clive Davis—before turning to more conventional careers. It wasn’t until their 40s that both leaned into writing fiction. Silver’s new generation-spanning, coming-of-age book is titled “Scorched.” Our talk is the second half of today’s episode. We begin with my conversation wi

May 29, 2024 • 41:38

Reading the Room | Literacy Together

Reading the Room | Literacy Together

Most people reading or listening to this likely take their literacy for granted. But for thousands of youth and adults throughout Buncombe County, literacy is a hurdle impacting nearly every element of life.My guests are executive director Amanda Wrubleski and program directors Rebecca Massey and Erin Sebelius with Literacy Together. It’s an Asheville nonprofit training and teaming reading tutors with struggling youth, immigrants, people emerging from prison and many others. Literacy Together is

May 27, 2024 • 37:28

Hear Here | Caged Affair in Performance and Conversation

Hear Here | Caged Affair in Performance and Conversation

April 27 marked the debut of "Hear Here," a series presented in tandem with Citizen Vinyl to elevate conversation around local rock and indie music. The premiere featured talk and performances with the bands Pink Beds and Caged Affair.This episode is all about Caged Affair, a vocalist-guitarist son and his drumming father from Waynesville, whose music is shaped by '90s bands such as Nirvana, Weezer and Everclear.The next "Hear Here" evening is an all-female lineup Tuesda

May 17, 2024 • 40:49

Spaced Out | ArtsAVL Town Hall on Affordable Arts Workspaces

Spaced Out | ArtsAVL Town Hall on Affordable Arts Workspaces

We all know the impact of Asheville’s skyrocketing housing costs. What we don’t hear nearly as much about is how artists and arts organizations are finding it more challenging to do their work in Asheville.Affordable workspaces was the topic of the latest ArtsAVL Creative Space Town Hall. Matt Peiken moderated a May 10 panel at Asheville Community Theater and recorded it to bring it to you here.Joining Matt on stage were DeWayne Barton (Blue Note Junction), Ashleigh Hardes Koslow (Lexington Glas

May 15, 2024 • 43:11

Babies Need Bottoms | Meagan Lyon Leimena and Alicia Heacock

Babies Need Bottoms | Meagan Lyon Leimena and Alicia Heacock

We hear a lot about pervasive social issues in our community—homelessness, addiction, racial inequities, affordable housing, liveable wages. All of those play roles in one particular need we rarely hear about—diapers.My guests today are Alicia Heacock and Meagan Lyon Leimena, co-executive directors of Babies Need Bottoms, an Asheville nonprofit diaper bank that distributes about 40,000 diapers every month to partner organizations across 16 Western North Carolinas counties.Alicia and Meagan say d

May 13, 2024 • 44:44

'Hear Here' May 28 Preview | Detective Blind and O•VAD•YA

'Hear Here' May 28 Preview | Detective Blind and O•VAD•YA

It’s a female-powered, multi-generational, one-of-a-kind lineup for the next Hear Here—Tuesday, May 28, featuring the Asheville-area bands Detective Blind and O•VAD•YA.Listen here for clips of their music. Advance tickets are just $12.Help "The Overlook with Matt Peiken" podcast reach its very reachable goal: Just $1,000 in monthly contributions by Election Day. Membership at our Patreon campaign starts at just $5/month. Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!A

May 12, 2024 • 3:13

Hear Here | Pink Beds in Performance and Conversation

Hear Here | Pink Beds in Performance and Conversation

April 27 marked the debut of "Hear Here," a series presented in tandem with Citizen Vinyl to elevate conversation around local rock and indie music. The premiere featured talk and performances with the bands Pink Beds and Caged Affair.This episode is all about Pink Beds, a quartet shaped by disco, old-school pop and contemporary rock. You’ll hear the episode with Caged Affair next Friday, May 17. The next "Hear Here" evening is an all-female lineup Tuesday, May 28, at Citizen

May 10, 2024 • 45:00

Two Artists, Two Journeys | Heather Hietala and Nava Lubelski

Two Artists, Two Journeys | Heather Hietala and Nava Lubelski

Asheville artists Heather Hietala and Nava Lubelski have already tasted success commercial success. Now, their new work in separate exhibitions marks new ground in their personal and artistic evolutions.In the first half, I talk with Hietala, whose response to her mother's death takes shape in the two- and three-dimensional canoes and boats that are metaphors for personal journeys. After the break, we meet Lubelski, who was an emerging success in New York City’s gallery scene before she to

May 8, 2024 • 39:41

Dance Dance Evolution | Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart

Dance Dance Evolution | Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart

Gavin Stewart and Vanessa Owen have spent many years building lives for themselves in contemporary dance. Not long ago, they believed they largely had to perform and teach around the country to make it sustainable. Now, fueled by artistic residencies in Western North Carolina and the embrace of the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, the couple hopes Stewart-Owen Dance can become a fixture for Asheville dancers and audiences.This conversation happened just after a rehearsal inside the Wortha

May 6, 2024 • 28:53

The Sage of Retirement | Playwright, poet, novelist David Brendan Hopes

The Sage of Retirement | Playwright, poet, novelist David Brendan Hopes

David Brendan Hopes has written more novels, poems and plays than he can count. The river of writing hasn’t slowed at all since his retirement from UNC-Asheville, where Hopes taught English and creative writing for more than three decades.Hopes’ newest play is titled “A God in the Waters.” The Sublime Theater in Asheville is premiering it May 9-18 at the Bebe Theater. We’ll talk about the play in the second half as part of a larger conversation on answering the call of creativity. But first, we

May 3, 2024 • 29:38

PART 2: None of Your BIDness | Critics of a Proposed Downtown Business Improvement District

PART 2: None of Your BIDness | Critics of a Proposed Downtown Business Improvement District

Talks of establishing a business improvement district in downtown Asheville stretch back to the 1980s. But over the past year, those talks have gained a lot of momentum, and some civic leaders are lobbying city council to approve it before the start of the next fiscal year.A chorus of critics are also reaching a crescendo with their opposition, pushing back against what they see as vague details, a lack of accountability and oversight and a process they say has been anything but thorough and inc

May 1, 2024 • 26:18

PART 1: None of Your BIDness | Critics of a Proposed Downtown Business Improvement District

PART 1: None of Your BIDness | Critics of a Proposed Downtown Business Improvement District

There’s seemingly a full-court press from certain civic leaders to push Asheville City Council to approve a business improvement district for downtown. This BID would tax property owners, and by extension downtown commercial and residential tenants, to pay for a supplemental workforce to help the city’s efforts to clean up downtown and make it safer for the people who live, work and visit downtown.Amid this push, a pushback is developing steam from people with deep histories and stakes in the ci

Apr 29, 2024 • 29:49

The Song Remains the Same | Asheville Symphony Chorus and Asheville Youth Choirs

The Song Remains the Same | Asheville Symphony Chorus and Asheville Youth Choirs

Choral groups were among the hardest-hit and slowest to rebound from the pandemic. Two of the region’s enduring choirs are still finding their footing both artistically and in the wider public.Today, we hear from the choirs’ two artistic directors—Kyle Ritter of Asheville Symphony Chorus and Emily Floyd of Asheville Youth Choirs. They’re performing together April 27 at First Baptist Church. We talk with the choral directors about the challenges of surviving and rebounding from the pandemic. Kyle

Apr 19, 2024 • 29:59

A Voice in the Huddle | Katie Cornell of ArtsAVL

A Voice in the Huddle | Katie Cornell of ArtsAVL

Just as Asheville’s arts community has evolved, so too has ArtsAVL. It changed its name just a year and a half ago from the Asheville Area Arts Council and, even before the pandemic, refocused its mission from service to advocacy. My guest today is Katie Cornell, executive director now in her fifth year with ArtsAVL. We talk about that mission shift and the work that goes into gathering the data to inform her advocacy with elected officials at the city, county and state.We also talk about where

Apr 17, 2024 • 38:47

Field Trips | City Facilities Manager Chris Corl

Field Trips | City Facilities Manager Chris Corl

Want to know what’s happening with McCormick Field, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium and the Western North Carolina Nature Center? My guest has the answers.Chris Corl is General Manager and Director of Community & Regional Entertainment Facilities for the City of Asheville. We go into detail about the upcoming trip around the bases for McCormick Field’s renovation, including what’s being done to turn the stadium into a year-round facility. We also go through changes at the nature center, the city’s m

Apr 15, 2024 • 33:05

The Enduring Vinyl Revival | Harvest, Static-Age, Earth River Records

The Enduring Vinyl Revival | Harvest, Static-Age, Earth River Records

Asheville is very much a music town—not just for musicians, but also for fans, as evidenced by the six record stores dotting the city. As we approach the annual Record Store Day, April 20, we talk with Mark Capon of Harvest Records, Jesse McSwain of Static-Age Records and Morgan Markowitz of Earth River Records. We talk about the evolution of their shops—for instance, Static-Age is now also a bar/restaurant and live music venue—the risky and speculative nature of the vinyl record business and th

Apr 12, 2024 • 49:45

Placing a BID on Downtown | Hayden Plemmons, Zach Wallace, Dana Frankel

Placing a BID on Downtown | Hayden Plemmons, Zach Wallace, Dana Frankel

Downtown business owners, workers and residents spent a lot of 2023 imploring Asheville officials to get a handle on crime, trash and vagrancy. All along, many were pressing to take matters into their own hands by working with city leaders to form what’s called a business improvement district.A business improvement district—or BID—is a tax assessment that pays for services on top of what cities and counties already provide. Talk of a BID has been in the Asheville air for decades, but could well

Apr 10, 2024 • 41:22

A New Season of Parks and Rec | Director D. Tyrell McGirt

A New Season of Parks and Rec | Director D. Tyrell McGirt

D. Tyrell McGirt says his career path was blazed as a 10-year-old in Greensboro, when his mother signed him up for a lifeguarding class. He ran parks and recreation departments in Alabama, Arizona and Alaska before moving two years ago to lead the department in Asheville.In this conversation, McGirt talks through his department's recent decision to keep Malvern Hills Park Pool closed this year and balancing the needs of pickleballers and tennis players. We also talk equity, tracking park us

Apr 8, 2024 • 30:22

(Re)Happening Happening | Claire Elizabeth Barratt and Swannatopia

(Re)Happening Happening | Claire Elizabeth Barratt and Swannatopia

Seventy years ago, Black Mountain College was a petri dish for experimental art, sound and performance. It was also the birthplace of so-called “happenings”—events where practitioners strived to transcend the bounds of existence and expression.Today, the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center throws an annual “(Re)Happening.” The 12th (Re)Happening is April 20. Artists who embody the ethos of old are descending on the former college campus at Lake Eden for a day and night of hard-to-defin

Apr 5, 2024 • 37:41

Finding the Missing Middle | A Housing Panel Discussion from Mountain True

Finding the Missing Middle | A Housing Panel Discussion from Mountain True

Middle housing is all the rage in planning and urban development circles—that is, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, clusters of homes with no garages but maybe a shared park, in walkable neighborhoods close to transit. Basically, it's housing with many of the functions of traditional single-family homes but developed with equity, the environment and affordability in mind.This past week, the Asheville nonprofit Mountain True convened a panel to discuss what’s called the "missing middle&q

Apr 3, 2024 • 53:08

The Politics of Prosecution | Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams

The Politics of Prosecution | Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams

The Buncombe County District Attorney’s office prosecutes dozens of cases every week, from capital murder to trivial infractions. But DA Todd Williams seems at least a bit frustrated by the public’s lingering interest in what, on paper, resulted in guilty verdicts for misdemeanor trespassing. Some are holding up the charges as veiled attacks on freedom of the press.Williams, in his 10th year helming the office, talks in depth with me about the charges leveled at two people who produce work for t

Apr 1, 2024 • 37:46

Post-Traumatic Theater | Poet and Storyteller Barbie Angell

Post-Traumatic Theater | Poet and Storyteller Barbie Angell

Barbie Angell is a poet and storyteller, children’s book author and emcee. Threading all of it, she’s a survivor. She’s candid about the range of abuse she experienced throughout her youth, and a quarter-century of ongoing psychological abuse she alleges from a domestic partner.The last few years have been particularly difficult for my guest today. While the pandemic brought its own fears and isolation for  Angell, recent health issues have taken a toll. In the week before our conversation, she

Mar 22, 2024 • 30:22

The Front Lines of Violence and Abuse | Jackie Latek of the SPARC Foundation

The Front Lines of Violence and Abuse | Jackie Latek of the SPARC Foundation

If the nonprofit world awarded medals for bravery on the battlefront, the counselors and volunteers for the SPARC Foundation could be the most decorated in Asheville. SPARC works with people who’ve committed child abuse, domestic abuse and street violence to find other paths of behavior.My guest today is Jackie Latek, the founding executive director of the SPARC Foundation. We get granular about how she and her team work to change behaviors that can span generations. Latek talks about racial and

Mar 20, 2024 • 39:41

Asheville City Schools' Deficit and Decisions | Greg Parlier of Mountain Xpress

Asheville City Schools' Deficit and Decisions | Greg Parlier of Mountain Xpress

Just last week, Asheville City Schools voted to merge Montford North Star Academy into Asheville Middle School. The move will reduce the district’s $4.5 million budget shortfall by as much as half, but it also raised a lot of anger, sadness and questions from affected parents. My guest today is Greg Parlier, a reporter who covers education for the Mountain Xpress. We look backward and forward at this decision, along with underlying trends that loom large for public schools everywhere. We talk ab

Mar 18, 2024 • 35:50

Catching Plein-Air | Landscape Artist Chris Jehly

Catching Plein-Air | Landscape Artist Chris Jehly

Chris Jehly says he used to mock artists who painted the natural landscape. At the time, he was a graffiti artist inspired by BMX and metal music. Since his move to Asheville, he’s become one of the artists he used to dismiss.The plein-air paintings documenting his local hikes and other sojourns into the woods are on through the end of March at Tyger Tyger Gallery, in the River Arts District. We talk about his path from graffiti artist to plein-air landscapes and how he sees himself as documenti

Mar 15, 2024 • 28:42

The Beauty in Death | Performance Artist Edwin Salas

The Beauty in Death | Performance Artist Edwin Salas

Watch any of his performances or study his visual art, the easy takeaway on Edwin Salas is he's one disturbed artist. And how could he not be?When I profiled him in 2019 for Asheville's public radio station, he told me about the rape he suffered 30 years earlier and about the murder of his mother when he was just 5 years old. Indeed, much of his creativity blooms from what he labels his “dark happy place” and is directly shaped by those traumas. The Asheville Fringe Festival is just ar

Mar 13, 2024 • 32:37

Won't You Be My Neighbor? | One Couple's Path Through Eminent Domain

Won't You Be My Neighbor? | One Couple's Path Through Eminent Domain

Last year, the North Carolina Department of Transportation began the process of claiming properties through eminent domain for the widening of Interstate 240 and construction of the I-26 Connector. Rob and Sarah Shearan noticed the NCDOT offering their neighbors full replacement value on their properties. Not so for them. While the project maps show construction and expansion happening within mere yards of their property, NCDOT right-of-way agents said they only need a “partial take," offer

Mar 11, 2024 • 32:15

Strings Attached | Violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley

Strings Attached | Violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley

Noah Bendix-Balgley is a revered violinist—concertmaster with the Berlin Philharmonic and a soloist who performs with orchestras internationally. He’s also a native of Asheville.I talk with him about the details on his ambitious, weeklong residency with the Asheville Symphony, beginning March 11. We  talk about his training and career path and how his Jewish roots play into his music-making. We also talk about his long connection to ASO music director Darko Butorac and the personal significance

Mar 1, 2024 • 20:30

PART TWO: City Council Candidates | Iindia Pearson, CJ Domingo, Kim Roney

PART TWO: City Council Candidates | Iindia Pearson, CJ Domingo, Kim Roney

This is the second of two episodes recorded from the Feb. 20 Asheville City Council candidates mixer at Citizen Vinyl, thrown by the Asheville Downtown Association. You'll hear my short conversations with candidates Iindia Pearson, CJ Domingo and Kim Roney.The previous episode, posted Monday, features my conversations with candidates Bo Hess, Kevan Frazier and Sage Turner.Three seats on the council will be filled in November’s general election, but to get there, we need to first get through

Feb 28, 2024 • 32:19

PART ONE: City Council Candidates | Bo Hess, Kevan Frazier, Sage Turner

PART ONE: City Council Candidates | Bo Hess, Kevan Frazier, Sage Turner

Three seats on Asheville’s City Council will be filled in November’s general election, but to get there, we need to first get through a small-stakes primary. I say small stakes because of the seven candidates on the ballot, only one will drop off after the March 5 primary.Still, that didn’t keep locals from packing Citizen Vinyl last Tuesday for a casual mixer thrown by the Asheville Downtown Association. Six of the seven candidates showed up, chatted up prospective voters and sat down with me f

Feb 26, 2024 • 30:28

Mission Control | Andrew Jones of the Asheville Watchdog

Mission Control | Andrew Jones of the Asheville Watchdog

Andrew Jones of the Asheville Watchdog is so busy covering Mission’s past, present and future, he has nine bylined stories about the hospital so far in February alone. I talked with him just yesterday to get the latest, including details of alarming findings from the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the so-called Immediate Jeopardy Mission faces in potentially losing its ability to receive Medicare and Medicaid payments.We talked about Mission’s formal plan of correction in resp

Feb 23, 2024 • 35:17

Priming the Polls | Voter Outreach in Western NC

Priming the Polls | Voter Outreach in Western NC

The North Carolina primary election is March 5 and early voting is already underway. But the Republican supermajority in the stage legislature has passed laws making voting more difficult.My guests today are Robin Lively Summers of Indivisible Asheville and Leslie Boyd of the Poor People’s Campaign. They’re part of a coalition of nonprofits working to educate and engage prospective voters in Western North Carolina. Others working in this effort are the YWCA of Asheville, Just Economics and Ashev

Feb 21, 2024 • 28:25

Psychedelic Evolution | Asheville Journalist Daniel Walton

Psychedelic Evolution | Asheville Journalist Daniel Walton

It should surprise no one that Asheville and other parts of Western North Carolina have become launching pads for a nascent industry of psychedelics. What is surprising is the recent state-sanctioned research into psychedelics and the legislative openness to legalization.My guest today is Daniel Walton, an Asheville journalist who reported and wrote an engaging story about this for the online publication The Assembly of North Carolina. We talk about how the culture around psychedelics has evolve

Feb 19, 2024 • 32:33

Hugging Community | Artist and Activist Dewayne Barton

Hugging Community | Artist and Activist Dewayne Barton

Dewayne Barton is an artist, activist, social entrepreneur and voice of vision—all from the vantage of uplifting his Burton Street community. He escaped the scourge of crack cocaine while growing up in D.C., moved to Asheville after time in the U.S. Navy and devoted his life to building up community. He co-founded the nonprofit pathway to employment called Green Opportunities. He developed Hood Huggers International and the Peace Garden in his beleaguered Burton Street neighborhood.His latest in

Feb 14, 2024 • 33:03

Wage Against the Machine | Vicki Meath and Jen Hampton of Just Economics

Wage Against the Machine | Vicki Meath and Jen Hampton of Just Economics

If you’re not earning at least $22.10 an hour, you can’t afford to live in Asheville. That’s according to Just Economics of WNC, which last month updated its living wage rate for Buncombe County. It climbed $2 an hour in less than a year.My guests today are Vicki Meath, Director of Just Economics, and Jen Hampton, the organization’s Housing and Wages Organizer. Just Economics has a living wage certification program that only a fraction of local employers participate in. We talk about the struggl

Feb 12, 2024 • 38:41

PART 1: Restoring Better Healthcare in WNC | An Asheville Watchdog Forum

PART 1: Restoring Better Healthcare in WNC | An Asheville Watchdog Forum

The exodus of doctors and nurses, the mountains of complaints from patients, the lawsuit from North Carolina’s Attorney General. Those are just the broad areas of fallout in the five years since HCA Healthcare purchased Asheville’s formerly not-for-profit Mission Hospital.The Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit investigative news outlet that has been out front on the local reporting on this. A few hundred people came out Jan. 23 for a Watchdog forum at A-B Tech designed to answer a single question

Jan 30, 2024 • 54:26

PART 2: Restoring Better Healthcare in WNC | An Asheville Watchdog Forum

PART 2: Restoring Better Healthcare in WNC | An Asheville Watchdog Forum

What Can We Do to Restore Better Healthcare in WNC? The nonprofit investigative news outlet the Asheville Watchdog posed that question in a Jan. 23 public forum at A-B Tech. In this episode, Watchdog editor Peter Lewis moderates a panel with Drs. R. Bruce Kelly and Clay Ballantine, Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof, nurse and patient advocate Karen Sanders and Democratic State Senator Julie Mayfield of Asheville.The opening comments at the forum from the same panelists are featured in a separate epi

Jan 30, 2024 • 29:02

A New Moon Bride | Singer-Songwriter Carly Kotula

A New Moon Bride | Singer-Songwriter Carly Kotula

Carly Kotula is an Asheville singer-songwriter who has gone through two name changes in the time I’ve known her. First to her married name—she first made her way in music as Carly Taich—and now to her new artistic persona, Moon Bride.We talk with Carly here about her new album, “Insomnie,” and preview some songs from it. We delve into the motivations and symbolism behind her name change, the eclectic and personal nature of her music and how she’s expressing her music visually. We also talk about

Jan 27, 2024 • 26:38

PART 2: Demand Over Supply | Childcare in Buncombe County

PART 2: Demand Over Supply | Childcare in Buncombe County

There’s a childcare crisis in the United States. First, the cost is enormous. Second, parents of infants are meeting waitlists of many months, even up to a year, just to land openings. In Buncombe County, where incomes are pretty modest, parents often weigh whether they can afford to go back to work.My guest today is Jenny Vial, Director of Child Care Resources at Buncombe Partnership for Children. We go through the growing demand and dwindling supply for quality childcare providers. We talk abo

Jan 24, 2024 • 33:51

PART 1: Demand Over Supply | Foster Care in Buncombe County

PART 1: Demand Over Supply | Foster Care in Buncombe County

There are far more young people in need of foster homes than there are homes to take them in. This is true all over the country, but it’s particularly acute in Buncombe County.More than 100 local youth are now in homes outside the county because there’s such a shortage of spaces here. The challenge is greater when two or more kids from the same family need homes. These siblings are often separated for months at a time or even longer.My guests today are Amy Hunstman of Buncombe County Health and

Jan 22, 2024 • 40:34

Nativity Seen | Jared Wheatley of the Indigenous Walls Project

Nativity Seen | Jared Wheatley of the Indigenous Walls Project

Jared Wheatley will tell anyone who asks, he is Cherokee. But it took him decades to begin the deep exploration of what it means to be Cherokee—the history of his people, his family, and how to live his layered lineage and heritage in the world today.Wheatley’s quest led him to create the Indigenous Walls Project. He and other Native artists he has invited have painted more than 15,000 square feet of outdoor walls in Asheville with Native syllabary and other cultural symbols and imagery.In this

Jan 19, 2024 • 47:13

There Goes the Neighborhood | Reclaiming the Southside from 'Urban Removal'

There Goes the Neighborhood | Reclaiming the Southside from 'Urban Removal'

Before there was a South Slope or River Arts District, those neighborhoods were wrapped into a swath of Asheville called Southside. Southside still exists, but its formal boundaries are tighter, separated from more prosperous neighborhoods.People fighting for Southside’s identity and relevance are asking city leaders for something some might find audacious—to roll the French Broad Association, South Slope and River Arts District back into the branding of the Southside.Shuvonda Harper and Sekou C

Jan 17, 2024 • 38:26

PART 2: Homegrown Leadership | APD Interim Chief Mike Lamb

PART 2: Homegrown Leadership | APD Interim Chief Mike Lamb

The Asheville Police Department hasn’t had a homegrown chief in 20 years. Local native Mike Lamb hopes that soon changes. Lamb grew up in Asheville and has been on the force since 1997. In December, city officials named him the interim chief with the sudden retirement of Chief David Zack. This is the second half of my conversation with Interim Chief Lamb. Part One posted January 10. Today, we bore into the often-stated statistic that Asheville Police is down 40 percent of its budgeted officers.

Jan 15, 2024 • 27:39

Farm to Funny | Improvisational performer Joe Carroll

Farm to Funny | Improvisational performer Joe Carroll

Joe Carroll is a one-of-a-kind comic talent in Asheville: Part Charlie Chaplin, part Robin Williams, part Don Knotts. He's on the eve of his first solo theatrical production, called “Quality Service.” It runs Jan. 19-21 at the Masonic Temple.We’ll talk with Joe about his upbringing on a rural North Carolina farm, the personal exploration he’s making in the new show and why he has chosen to build his stage career in Asheville.Help "The Overlook with Matt Peiken" podcast reach its very reacha

Jan 12, 2024 • 23:54

PART 1: Homegrown Leadership | APD Interim Chief Mike Lamb

PART 1: Homegrown Leadership | APD Interim Chief Mike Lamb

Mike Lamb grew up in Asheville and joined the city’s police department in 1998. Over the years, he worked under six different chiefs until last month, when he was named the interim chief with the sudden and surprise retirement of David Zack.Today, I begin a two-part conversation with Interim Chief Mike Lamb. He tells us about his path to law enforcement and what he believes he brings to leadership atop the Asheville Police Department. We also talk about how a carousel of leadership has affected

Jan 10, 2024 • 25:53

To Flip a District | NC State Representative Caleb Rudow vs. Congressman Chuck Edwards

To Flip a District | NC State Representative Caleb Rudow vs. Congressman Chuck Edwards

From one perspective, Caleb Rudow is relatively new to public office. Only two years ago was he first appointed to his current seat and, later in the year, won his first state house election, representing NC’s 116th District. But from another perspective, Rudow has spent much of his life in public service. So the North Asheville Democrat says he sees it as a natural step to challenge first-term Republican Chuck Edwards for his seat in the U.S. Congress.Today, we talk with Rudow through his path

Jan 8, 2024 • 38:49

Celebrating Our First Year | 'The Overlook' Returns Jan. 8

Celebrating Our First Year | 'The Overlook' Returns Jan. 8

Since launching The Overlook with Matt Peiken this past February, I produced 118 episodes enlightening you about the news, arts, issues and trends of Asheville, NC. I’d like to think I give to my community with every episode. If you’d like to show your appreciation in return, please consider supporting the show through my Patreon crowdfunding page.  I’ll be back with fresh episodes Monday, January 8.Help "The Overlook with Matt Peiken" podcast reach its very reachable goal: Just $1,000 in monthl

Dec 18, 2023 • 1:43

PART 2: Antisemitism and the American Left | A Discussion with Asheville's Jewish Leaders

PART 2: Antisemitism and the American Left | A Discussion with Asheville's Jewish Leaders

This is the second half of my conversation with four leaders in Asheville's Jewish community: Rabbis Batsheva Meiri of Congregation Beth HaTephila and Mitchell Levine of Congregation Beth Israel, along with Frank Goldsmith, who is on the steering committee of Carolina Jews for Justice; and Sharon Fahrer, who has documented much of Asheville’s Jewish history.In the vapors of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel and the ensuing war, we delve deeper into the impact on local Jews, the documented rise

Dec 15, 2023 • 35:32

PART 1: Antisemitism and the American Left | A Discussion with Asheville's Jewish Leaders

PART 1: Antisemitism and the American Left | A Discussion with Asheville's Jewish Leaders

In the days after Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, some of the fiercest criticisms in this country were directed at Israel, from self-identified liberals and progressives. At the same time, I heard nary a whisper of outrage directed toward Hamas for the attack, its treatment of hostages taken that day and their use of civilians in Gaza as shields.This is the first episode in a two-part conversation with local Jewish leaders: Rabbis Batsheva Meiri of Congregation Beth HaTephila and Mitchell Le

Dec 13, 2023 • 34:50

Solidarity from Afar | The Islamic Center of Asheville

Solidarity from Afar | The Islamic Center of Asheville

Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Islamophobia and antisemitism are on the rise across the United States. That inspired me to reach out to leaders of the Islamic Center of Asheville and two of Asheville’s synagogues. I’m devoting this week’s episodes to those conversations.Today, I speak with Nasser Ostah, who moved from Jordan a little over a year ago, to become the imam of the Islamic Center of Asheville. Joining us is longtime center member and community leader Khalid Bashir.From both th

Dec 11, 2023 • 40:09

Heavy Mettle | Singer-Songwriter Hannah Kaminer

Heavy Mettle | Singer-Songwriter Hannah Kaminer

Asheville singer-songwriter Hannah Kaminer has established a pattern of processing and naming the heaviness in life through her music. On the heels of her previous album, “Heavy Magnolias,” comes “Heavy on the Vine,” a new collection of lush music underscoring lyrics born from personal turmoil and evolution.Today, Hannah guides us through her departure from organized religion and her societal observations born through song. We’ll also talk about tacklung her anxiety by studying and performing th

Dec 8, 2023 • 32:19

Beer Smart | A-B Tech's Craft Beverage Institute

Beer Smart | A-B Tech's Craft Beverage Institute

Tourism officials want people to think of Asheville as Beer City, USA. Never mind that breweries now dot the downtowns of even the smallest of cities. Still, there are only a handful of schools in the country like Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast, on the campus of A-B Tech.Today, we talk with Jeff “Puff” Irvin, the institute’s director. Every semester, people from throughout the South and far beyond study at the Craft Beverage Institute, many pursuing a career change. While the school t

Dec 6, 2023 • 31:47

This Land is My Land |  Eminent Domain and the DOT

This Land is My Land | Eminent Domain and the DOT

One of Asheville’s iconic concert venues will vanish in the coming years—not because of poor business, but because of eminent domain. Salvage Station on Riverside Drive is on the map of businesses that will be forced to sell and give way to the I-26 Connector. A number of homes are also on the map for clearance.Nathan Moneyham, a division construction engineer based in Asheville for the NC Department of Transportation, talks about eminent domain and how today’s DOT works with affected communitie

Dec 4, 2023 • 31:33

The Collage of Memory | Visual Artist Nabil El Jaouhari

The Collage of Memory | Visual Artist Nabil El Jaouhari

Nabil El Jaouhari grew up in a village outside of Beirut, Lebanon. Even amid post-war cycles of sectarian violence, Nabil followed a path of artistic expression. His fine art studies eventually led him to the United States. Since moving to Asheville, about eight years ago, he has regularly shown at Mark Bettis Gallery in the River Arts District. In today's conversation, we learn about his life in Lebanon, how moving to the U.S. affected his art and his explorations of memory through visual

Dec 1, 2023 • 30:38

Two Issues, One Nonprofit | Can Thriving Tourism and Affordable Housing Co-Exist?

Two Issues, One Nonprofit | Can Thriving Tourism and Affordable Housing Co-Exist?

It took the formation of Thrive AVL, a relatively new nonprofit here, to formally connect tourism and affordable housing—and the policies and practices around them—as affecting one another.Casey Gilbert and Kate Pett of Thrive AVL go into detail about what’s called sustainable tourism—that is, encouraging tourism that enhances all avenues of life. They also dissect a recent Thrive AVL study that, among other surprises, found that much of the affordable housing initiatives in Asheville leave out

Nov 29, 2023 • 35:00

Mission Inhospitable | HCA, NDAs and For-Profit Healthcare

Mission Inhospitable | HCA, NDAs and For-Profit Healthcare

The Hospital Corporation of America purchased the nonprofit Mission Hospital four years ago in a deal shrouded in secrecy. Since then, hundreds of doctors, nurses and support staff have resigned. North Carolina’s attorney general has joined them in protesting what they see as an unflinching profits-over-people business model. The Asheville Watchdog has written many stories detailing much of the decimation of Asheville’s once-vaunted hospital. Recently, the Watchdog’s executive editor, Peter Lewi

Nov 27, 2023 • 37:59

Writing on Two Wheels | Asheville Folk Musician David Wilcox

Writing on Two Wheels | Asheville Folk Musician David Wilcox

Asheville guitarist-songwriter David Wilcox has been at the vanguard of American folk music since the late 1980s. His observational storytelling and lyrical turns of phrase have earned him a loyal following throughout this country and beyond. Sixteen studio albums into his career, he’s still finding new things to say.Today, we go deep with Wilcox about his songcraft, his vein of inspiration through the pandemic and the range of emotion he mined for his newest record, “My Good Friends.” We also g

Nov 17, 2023 • 36:49

Where the Streets Have One Lane | Asheville's 'Complete Streets' Policy

Where the Streets Have One Lane | Asheville's 'Complete Streets' Policy

Asheville city leaders have had a “Complete Streets” policy in place for more than a decade—that is, a commitment to make streets as friendly to cyclists and pedestrians as they are to cars and trucks.We’ve seen that policy take shape in the form of so-called road diets along Charlotte Street and North Merrimon Avenue and the Riverside Drive Greenway. It’s also the reason College Street and Patton Avenue are about to each lose a lane of automotive traffic to make room for bike lanes.And predicta

Nov 15, 2023 • 34:22

Farmers Losing Ground | Gina Smith of Edible Asheville

Farmers Losing Ground | Gina Smith of Edible Asheville

We often hear about the lack of affordable housing in and around Asheville. But there’s a flipside to the coin that is often overlooked—overdevelopment is having a devastating effect on agriculture.Today's guest is Gina Smith, the features editor with Edible Asheville. She has reported and written a two-part series of stories titled "Losing Ground." where she examines the loss of farmland in Western North Carolina, its broad impacts and efforts to address the trend. Only the first

Nov 13, 2023 • 29:37

Peering into Support | Sue Polston of Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness

Peering into Support | Sue Polston of Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness

Sue Polston’s story is a screenwriter’s dream. Raised in a dysfunctional home, she became a mother while still in high school, and fell into a crack addiction. Today, Polston is the executive director of Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness.We talk about how Sunrise operates as a peer support network helping those with mental health and substance use disorders, experiencing homelessness and incarceration. We also explore the stigmas that challenge people in her circle and learn about Pols

Nov 10, 2023 • 32:25

PART 2: Housing the Unhoused | Homeward Bound's Compass Point Village

PART 2: Housing the Unhoused | Homeward Bound's Compass Point Village

There are high hopes in Asheville for two former hotels converted into permanent housing for the chronically unhoused. The first of them up and running is Compass Point Village, developed and managed by the Asheville nonprofit Homeward Bound. The second, due to open in mid-2024, is a private, for-profit development that will convert a former Days Inn into a 115-unit complex called Step Up.   Today's guests are David Nash, the interim executive director; and Jenny Moffat, permanent supportiv

Nov 8, 2023 • 33:01

PART 1: Housing the Unhoused | Asheville's Homeless Strategies

PART 1: Housing the Unhoused | Asheville's Homeless Strategies

Asheville's homeless strategy division has invited the public into a three-part educational course that dives deep into the actual causes of homelessness, the array of solutions at play and how we, as individuals, can play a critical role.Today's guests are Emily Ball and Debbie Alford, two-thirds of the city’s homeless strategy division. We talk about the prevailing myths around homelessness and the contradictory evidence. We also talk about two permanent housing developments—remodele

Nov 6, 2023 • 40:46

Taxing Representation | Artist Hannah Cole

Taxing Representation | Artist Hannah Cole

Hannah Cole is an Asheville artist who translates her everyday observations into her studio craft. These observations started out as external. Now, partially inspired by the incursion of artificial intelligence, Hannah's newest body of work sees her turn her gaze inward.Here, I talk with Hannah about what representation by human hands means in the era of AI. We also talk about Hannah’s turn to accounting and personal finance and building a career helping other creatives manage their money.

Nov 3, 2023 • 30:56

Check Your Head | All Souls Counseling Center

Check Your Head | All Souls Counseling Center

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that people bottled up their mental health struggles or got real about them only with a therapist, if at all. Today, much of the stigma is lifted but, for many, access to quality mental health care remains elusive.My guests today are Meredith Switzer, the executive director; and Brendan Hughes, the development director, for the nonprofit All Souls Counseling Center. We talk about how the demand for counseling has climbed with and since the pandemic, how the circ

Nov 1, 2023 • 34:49

Lower Costs for Higher Ed | UNC-Asheville's 'Access' Program

Lower Costs for Higher Ed | UNC-Asheville's 'Access' Program

Until this current school year, student enrollment at UNC-Asheville had dropped in each of the previous five years—down 25 percent from where admissions officials want it to be. The drop mirrors national trends.My guests today are Marcio Moreno, UNC-Asheville's associate vice chancellor of admission and financial aid; and Michael Strysick, head of the university’s communications and marketing. We talk through the university’s Access Asheville program, which waives all tuition and fees for N

Oct 30, 2023 • 38:39

Harmony at Home and on the Road | The Resonant Rogues

Harmony at Home and on the Road | The Resonant Rogues

The Resonant Rogues allowed The Overlook to use their "Maker's Song" as the show theme. It's only fitting to have Sparrow and Keith, the heart of the band, as guests for the show's 100th episode—closing a week of episodes recorded Sept. 27 in front of an audience at the Tina McGuire Theatre, inside the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.Here, Sparrow and Keith tell how two itinerant musicians stopped in Asheville long enough to find each other and build lives togethe

Oct 20, 2023 • 32:36

Beyond the Baton | Darko Butorac of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra

Beyond the Baton | Darko Butorac of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra

We continue our week of episodes recorded in front of an audience at The Overlook Live with Asheville Symphony Orchestra music director Darko Butorac.We talk about how the orchestra pivoted this season after city officials deemed Thomas Wolfe Auditorium uninhabitable because of outdated and nonfunctional infrastructure. I ask why this orchestra only performs monthly programs and why he and other symphonic orchestra directors don’t look to collaborate more with contemporary rock (special nod to T

Oct 18, 2023 • 31:53

Ruminations on Reparations | Dr. Dwight Mullen, Torre Garrison and Rob Thomas

Ruminations on Reparations | Dr. Dwight Mullen, Torre Garrison and Rob Thomas

We launch a special week of episodes recorded from The Overlook Live with a deep dive and dissection into Asheville’s commitment to racial reparations. Three years after city leaders committed to a formal reparations resolution, the commission tasked with drafting specific proposals is still debating what reparations even means. My guests are Dr. Dwight Mullen, a retired UNC-Asheville history professor who co-chairs the city’s reparations commission, Torre Garrison of the Reparations Stakeholder

Oct 16, 2023 • 46:29

'Polaris' and 'Palimpsest': Violinist Andrew Finn Magill and Horror Writer Jamieson Ridenhour

'Polaris' and 'Palimpsest': Violinist Andrew Finn Magill and Horror Writer Jamieson Ridenhour

Violinist Andrew Finn Magill  has an eclectic, genre-crossing new album called “The Polaris Project.” Horror writer Jamieson Ridenhour is the writer and co-creator of the popular fiction podcast "Palimpsest." The two Asheville artists split this episode of The Overlook. Ridenhour and “Palimpsest” actress and co-creator Hayley Heninger celebrate the upcoming fifth season of their show with a performance Oct. 26 at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. Magill launches his album with an

Oct 13, 2023 • 39:43

Tending the Roots of Literacy | Read 2 Succeed

Tending the Roots of Literacy | Read 2 Succeed

Just last year, roughly four out of five Asheville-area Black children tested below grade level in reading proficiency.  My guests today are Ashley Allen and Jess McLean, co-executive directors at Read 2 Succeed, one of a handful of Asheville nonprofits supplementing the reading education happening at under-resourced schools. Read 2 Succeed is particularly focused on closing what it calls “the race-based opportunity gap—not an achievement gap—through community-powered literacy programming.”We ta

Oct 11, 2023 • 38:06

Mishandling Panhandling | Chase Davis of Mountain Xpress

Mishandling Panhandling | Chase Davis of Mountain Xpress

You’d have to be a shut-in not to notice the prevalence of panhandling in Asheville. It’s become so visible along Interstate on-ramps and off-ramps that, early this summer, a committee of city councilwomen proposed penalizing sympathetic motorists who stop to give money to panhandlers.A public outcry compelled them to walk back that proposal and soften other language in a pending update to the city’s panhandling ordinance. But Asheville’s civic, business and tourism leaders still see a crisis of

Oct 9, 2023 • 29:08

Bridge Over Troubled Water | Andrew Scotchie and the Music of Pain

Bridge Over Troubled Water | Andrew Scotchie and the Music of Pain

Andrew Scotchie is one of Asheville’s homegrown musical successes. He was an active busker, he played in local clubs long before he was old enough to legally get in the door and even started his own successful knockoff of the popular Bonaroo Festival, called Barnaroo. A few months ago, Scotchie released his fifth album of eclectic Appalachian music, called “Love is Enough.”Scotchie talks here about his early life in music, recounts the classic years of his Barnaroo Festival in Weaverville and th

Oct 6, 2023 • 31:19

PART 2: School Boards Under Scrutiny | Leaders of Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools

PART 2: School Boards Under Scrutiny | Leaders of Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools

Social politics are making inroads into public schools. State legislatures, particularly those controlled by Republicans, are mandating that elections for school boards become partisan, and they’re drafting legislation to censor books available in school libraries, the curricula taught in classrooms and even classroom conversations.This is the second in a two-part conversation with board members George Sieburg and Amy Ray of the Asheville City Schools, and Ann Franklin and Amy Churchill of Bunco

Oct 4, 2023 • 32:01

PART 1: School Boards Under Scrutiny | Leaders of Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools

PART 1: School Boards Under Scrutiny | Leaders of Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools

There’s no glory in serving on a school board, at least not in North Carolina. State legislatures control your policies and purse strings. Parents sling arrows at you online and at public meetings. There are efforts to turn school board elections into overtly partisan affairs and pass legislation forcing teachers away from certain books, curricula and even classroom conversations.This is the first in a two-part conversation with board members George Sieburg and Amy Ray of the Asheville City Scho

Oct 2, 2023 • 36:47

Duo Movement and Goddess Rap | Stewart Owen Dance and Luciya

Duo Movement and Goddess Rap | Stewart Owen Dance and Luciya

In this dual episode, we have separate conversations with dancemakers Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart and emerging rap artist Luicya.Stewart Owen Dance makes duets, dances for larger ensembles and outdoor pieces, and collaborates with other artists. They're in residency next week at Trillium Arts in Mars Hill and performing next April at the Wortham Center in Asheville. We discuss how the pandemic changed their approach to their art and careers. You won’t find much online from the emerging l

Sep 22, 2023 • 37:23

Finding Their Collective Voice | The Steep Canyon Rangers

Finding Their Collective Voice | The Steep Canyon Rangers

The Steep Canyon Rangers embody and evangelize the Asheville sound as much as any musical artist. They’ve certainly had success with it.Their collaborations with the actor, comedian and banjo player Steve Martin put them on the national map, and they won a Grammy Award on their own 10 years ago for best bluegrass album. Now, more than two decades into their career, the departure of co-founding vocalist and guitarist Woody Platt has pushed the Steep Canyon Rangers into new territory and compelled

Sep 20, 2023 • 37:58

Asheville is Her Life's Work | Libby Kyles, Educational and Nonprofit Leader

Asheville is Her Life's Work | Libby Kyles, Educational and Nonprofit Leader

If Asheville crowned a reigning native queen, Libby Kyles would certainly fall into the city’s royalty. She has lived all over the city, led educational efforts here as a teacher, administrator and nonprofit leader and been an unwavering voice around inequities she pins on race. In this conversation, she explains how the Asheville of today is different than the city of her youth. We get her thoughts on the city’s reparations process and run through her life’s work as seen through the vital progr

Sep 18, 2023 • 40:03

Middle Housing | Asheville Planner Candra Teshome

Middle Housing | Asheville Planner Candra Teshome

It’s no secret—Asheville has a housing crisis. Among the strategies to combat that, city planners are looking more closely at developing what’s called “middle housing.” These are townhouses, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and smaller apartment complexes—essentially almost anything other than traditional single-family homes.My guest today is Candra Teshome, a longrange planner for the City of Asheville. We talk about an extensive study the city conducted this year that looked at middle housing,

Sep 15, 2023 • 25:57

Tennis vs. Pickleball | Volleying for Space on Asheville's Limited Courts

Tennis vs. Pickleball | Volleying for Space on Asheville's Limited Courts

One of the most pitched rivalries in all of sports is probably taking place in your neighborhood: Tennis players vs. pickleball players. Outdoor public courts that tennis players had to themselves since the dawn of history are now the site of community turf wars.Today's episode features representatives from the Asheville Tennis Association and Asheville Pickleball Association. There are only 11 asphalt tennis courts in Asheville’s parks and recreation system. Pickleballers have made those c

Sep 13, 2023 • 39:55

The Song Remains the Same | Rebekah Todd Talks About Misogyny in the Music Scene

The Song Remains the Same | Rebekah Todd Talks About Misogyny in the Music Scene

Rebekah Todd is a seasoned songwriter and performer who moved from Wilmington to Asheville two years ago. On Aug. 22, she posted a video to social media talking about unwanted communication from an unnamed festival promoter, the blame he placed on her for the festival's cancellation and the avalanche of backlash that came her way. Hundreds of people commented on and shared it.Even before this episode, Rebekah made social media posts going back to March touching on other experiences she had

Sep 11, 2023 • 35:51

NC Betting on Sports Gambling | Justin McGuire of Mountain Xpress

NC Betting on Sports Gambling | Justin McGuire of Mountain Xpress

North Carolina legislators recently legalized sports betting in the state. Once enacted, that could funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue each year to the athletics programs of UNC-Asheville and Western Carolina and Appalachian State universities.Justin McGuire, a reporter with Mountain Xpress who has covered this development, talks about the forces that led to legalization and how concerns about gambling addiction shaped it. We also talk about the broader cultural tipping point of

Sep 8, 2023 • 25:56

Passenger Rail on Track | Daniel Walton of Mountain Xpress

Passenger Rail on Track | Daniel Walton of Mountain Xpress

Passenger trains haven’t rolled through Asheville since 1975, but there’s a serious plan from the North Carolina Department of Transportation to bring them back. Daniel Walton's recent story for Mountain Xpress connects the tracks between three decades of studies and recent federal infrastructure funding to a planned 140-mile route from Asheville east to Salisbury. We talk about the environmental and cultural factors playing into the rekindled interest in passenger rail, how the proposed li

Sep 6, 2023 • 22:48

Wrapping Paper | What Happens to Canton After Pactiv Evergreen Closure?

Wrapping Paper | What Happens to Canton After Pactiv Evergreen Closure?

When the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill sounded its final whistle on June 8, 115 years of continuous operation in Canton came to an end. 1,100 jobs were lost and some heavy questions remain about what will happen to those people, along with the 185-acre site and its buildings. Cory Vaillancourt and Holly Kays, reporters with the Smoky Mountain News in Waynesville, have led local coverage of the plant’s closure. We talk about the business trends that led to the closure,  the environmental impacts an

Sep 4, 2023 • 38:55

The Overlook Live | Join the Audience For Our First Live Event

The Overlook Live | Join the Audience For Our First Live Event

The Overlook Live with Matt Peiken is my show's first event in front of a studio audience. It happens Wednesday, Sept. 27, inside the Tina McGuire Theater at the Wortham Center. I’ll be recording three episodes in one night:The Resonant Rogues talk about and preview songs from their upcoming album.A panel discussion lays out where we are and aren’t when it comes to reparations for Asheville’s Black community. Asheville Symphony Orchestra music director Darko Butorac talks with us about an u

Aug 9, 2023 • 1:15

Indulging Her Musical Sweet Tooth | New playwright Marcy Gallagher

Indulging Her Musical Sweet Tooth | New playwright Marcy Gallagher

Marcy Gallagher and her husband owned Kilwin’s Fudge and Ice Cream in downtown Asheville for 13 years before handing the store off during the pandemic. Then Gallagher did something a little crazy: She wrote a piece of musical theater from scratch. She found a composer, a director and a cast, then booked a theater. “At the Cafe” premieres inside the McGuire Theater at the Wortham Center Aug. 18-27.We’ll talk about Gallagher’s commitment, investment and bringing her vision to reality. We’ll also g

Aug 4, 2023 • 30:33

A Wolfe in Cheap Clothing | Chris Corl on Fixing the Auditorium

A Wolfe in Cheap Clothing | Chris Corl on Fixing the Auditorium

The renovations needed at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium were well-known for many years to anyone who’s worked or performed there. Now, with the heating and air conditioning system out of order, the auditorium is closed at least until next spring and possibly longer. That’s forced a scramble to move some shows into the neighboring Harrah’s Cherokee Center. Still, the economic impact of lost shows is expected to be in the millions.Chris Corl, Director of Community and Regional Entertainment Facilities f

Aug 2, 2023 • 36:50

The Over-Under on Taxation | Joe Minicozzi of Urban 3

The Over-Under on Taxation | Joe Minicozzi of Urban 3

Homes and land with the highest market values are systemically under-assessed and under-taxed, while properties at the lowest market values are over-taxed. That's at the heart of findings uncovered by Asheville urban planner and consultant Joe Minicozzi.  His research shows that’s true in Buncombe County and the 17 other counties in Western North Carolina. We walk through Minicozzi's research, the responses he says he received from county officials and the financial and social costs of

Jul 31, 2023 • 43:17

Fiction with a Mission | Lauren Yero, author of 'Under This Forgetful Sky'

Fiction with a Mission | Lauren Yero, author of 'Under This Forgetful Sky'

In college, Lauren Yero found a way to marry up her interests in creative writing and ecological science. A handful of years later, Yero wed both those commitments into her debut novel for young adults, titled “Under This Forgetful Sky.”Yero lives with her husband and two young kids on a budding hobby farm in Madison County. We talk about threading her concerns with climate change into a near-future fantasy set in Chile. We also get into the thick of her creative process—turning disparate kernel

Jul 20, 2023 • 28:19

A Side of Union Rings | Asheville Food Service Industry Organizers

A Side of Union Rings | Asheville Food Service Industry Organizers

In 2022, less than 3 percent of North Carolina workers belonged to a union. Only South Carolina had a smaller percentage. Still, in Asheville, food and beverage workers are organizing and seeing momentum. My guests today are Jen Hampton of Asheville Food and Beverage United; and Ariana Lingerfeldt, a chef at Green Sage Cafe South Asheville, who this past March led a successful effort to unionize that staff. We talk about their separate paths toward organizing,  overcoming anti-union propaganda a

Jul 19, 2023 • 42:31

PART 2: The Shroud of Tourism | Vic Isley of the TDA

PART 2: The Shroud of Tourism | Vic Isley of the TDA

The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority just approved a budget of nearly $40 million for the next fiscal year. By state law, the TDA will steer about a third of that into a sort of discretionary bucket called the Tourism Product Development Fund. Many in the community have different ideas for how that money should be spent.This is the second half of our two-part conversation with Vic Isley, president and CEO of the TDA. We dig into that TPDF. I ask Isley why hoteliers and other vacatio

Jul 18, 2023 • 23:34

PART 1: The Shroud of Tourism | Vic Isley of the TDA

PART 1: The Shroud of Tourism | Vic Isley of the TDA

This is the first in a two-part conversation with Vic Isley, president and CEO of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority.  We roll out Isley’s own background in tourism marketing, the TDA’s evolving priorities and how Isley sees the TDA as a partner in diversifying Asheville’s economy. I push back on Isley’s definition of who encompasses Asheville’s creative community. Isley also addresses this question: Can there be too much tourism in Asheville?Wake Up, Asheville! and ¡Despierta Ash

Jul 17, 2023 • 30:58

Making it in Asheville | Voices from The Big Crafty

Making it in Asheville | Voices from The Big Crafty

The Overlook spent last weekend at The Big Crafty. Matt Peiken roamed the floors and talked to local artisans, asking "How do makers make it work in Asheville?" A handful of makers offer up their stories, lessons learned and advice for other makers considering a move to Asheville.Voices in this episode are Jen Toledo, Mary Labianca, Kimberly Obee, Ashley Gandiza, Laura Wood, Edwin Salas, Bill Green, Maxx Feist and Cara Steinbuschel.Here are their Instagram handles: @jentoledoart, @infi

Jul 14, 2023 • 24:26

Voicing Appalachian Women | Author Meagan Lucas

Voicing Appalachian Women | Author Meagan Lucas

Hendersonville author Meagan Lucas is an emerging voice in the literary niche called Grit Lit.  Her newest collection of stories is titled “Here in the Dark.” Much like her earlier work, these stories center on Appalachian women of simple means and complicated lives. We talk about Lucas' drive to portray women of this region with truth, dignity and complexity. Meagan also talks about how her own traumas play into her writing and how she maintains relationships with family members who aren’t

Jul 13, 2023 • 26:43

Partisan School Board Elections | Andrew Jones of AVL Watchdog

Partisan School Board Elections | Andrew Jones of AVL Watchdog

The North Carolina legislature has voted to turn school board elections into partisan affairs. That means, in Buncombe County, future candidates will have to run in specific districts as opposed to one at-large pool, likely diluting Asheville’s core advantage of population. Andrew Jones of AVL Watchdog, my guest today, breaks down the coming changes and their potential impacts. We talk about how new district maps could be drawn and also pull the lens back to the broader incursions by social cons

Jul 12, 2023 • 27:48

Happy Trails | Carolina Mountain Club, Conserving Carolina, Friends of the MST

Happy Trails | Carolina Mountain Club, Conserving Carolina, Friends of the MST

2023 is the North Carolina Year of the Trail. It’s also the 100th anniversary of the Carolina Mountain Club. So the timing is right for this gathering of leaders of three local trail advocacy organizations to talk about their work, their challenges and what’s ahead. My guests are Tom Weaver, president of the Carolina Mountain Club; Rebekah Robinson, the assistant director of programs for Conserving Carolina; and Marcia Bromberg, president of the board of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail

Jul 11, 2023 • 35:55

A False Head Start? | Advocating a Funding Boost for Pre-K Education

A False Head Start? | Advocating a Funding Boost for Pre-K Education

Asheville’s public school teachers and staff are in an existential battle for greater pay. That fight is also happening with pre-K childcare and education, where wages are often comparable to the fast-food industry. Throughout Buncombe County, a coalition of learning centers, nonprofit advocacy groups and business interests hopes to boost regional and state funding.Today's guests are Marcia Whitney, president and CEO of Verner Center for Early Learning; and Greg Borom, Director of Advocacy

Jul 6, 2023 • 33:42

Sovereign Remedy | Jennifer Emert of WLOS-TV

Sovereign Remedy | Jennifer Emert of WLOS-TV

North Carolina hasn’t legalized the growth or sale of marijuana yet, but the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, on the Qualla Boundary, are a sovereign nation. Two years ago, the Tribal Council approved the growth and sale of medicinal marijuana for Tribal members and just last month opened their program to anyone living in North Carolina, though its dispensary hasn't opened yet.Jennifer Emert, an investigative reporter with WLOS-TV, recently produced a three-part series for the station abou

Jul 5, 2023 • 33:48

Managing On and Off the Field | Nate Shaver of the Asheville Tourists

Managing On and Off the Field | Nate Shaver of the Asheville Tourists

On the U.S. Independence Day, we fittingly turn to baseball and our first conversation with Asheville Tourists manager Nate Shaver. We talk about his path from having aspirations on the field to his current aspirations in the dugout. He details the day-to-day role of managers at his level, what personnel directors with the Houston Astros dictate from above and how he and his coaching colleagues strive to support their players in ways that aren’t necessarily reflected in their stats. Also, Shaver

Jul 4, 2023 • 28:15

Respect or an Insult? | Schools Association reps Lissa Pedersen and Timothy Floyd

Respect or an Insult? | Schools Association reps Lissa Pedersen and Timothy Floyd

Local teachers and staff had asked Buncombe County commissioners for a 7 percent pay raise. Commissioners recently approved a budget that gives them a 2 percent bump. My guests today are Lissa Pedersen, an art teacher at Leicester Elementary School and vice president of the Buncombe County Association of Educators; and Timothy Lloyd, a custodian at Asheville Middle School and incoming president for the Asheville City Association of Educators.Pedersen and Lloyd talk about their reactions to the b

Jul 3, 2023 • 33:33

Healing Journey | Michael Hayes of Umoja

Healing Journey | Michael Hayes of Umoja

Michael Hayes was serving his fifth term in prison when an epiphany struck. He had never acknowledged the trauma he grew up with, let alone worked through it. The process of doing so changed his life, and he focused on helping others do the same.Hayes founded Umoja Health, Wellness and Justice Collective, a Black-run nonprofit in Asheville devoted to disrupting generational trauma for people in and out of prison, along with school-age youth. In this conversation, he details his "healing jou

Jun 22, 2023 • 37:47

Course Correction | Karen Peerson and Juan Holladay of Buncombe Alternatives

Course Correction | Karen Peerson and Juan Holladay of Buncombe Alternatives

Scores of Asheville minors get into legal trouble every year, and Buncombe Alternatives is working to keep them out of the judicial system and put them back on a positive track. Karen Peerson, the executive director; and Juan Holladay, director of program services and community development, with Buncombe Alternatives. We’ll talk about teens who come to them from inside and outside the court system, the details of their community service through this program and how restorative justice looks thro

Jun 21, 2023 • 32:57

Unholstering NC Gun Laws | Karen Zatkulak of WLOS-TV

Unholstering NC Gun Laws | Karen Zatkulak of WLOS-TV

Investigative journalist Karen Zatkulak produced a recent three-part series on North Carolina's evolving gun laws for WLOS-TV. We talk about the magnitude of the North Carolina legislature doing away with any required permits to purchase a handgun. We go through the efficacy and differing approaches to background checks, the influence of the NRA and the absolutism of those who regard the Second Amendment of the US Constitution as sacrosanct.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining ou

Jun 20, 2023 • 33:17

SPECIAL EPISODE: Congressman Chuck Edwards' 'Anti-Crime Summit'

SPECIAL EPISODE: Congressman Chuck Edwards' 'Anti-Crime Summit'

Asheville's rising rate of violent crime inspired US Congressman Chuck Edwards, a Republican representing Western North Carolina, to convene what he billed an 'Anti-Crime Summit.' The forum happened this past Friday at Ferguson Hall, on the main campus of A-B Tech.The Overlook brings you this edited version, focusing largely on voices from Asheville. The complete, two-hour forum is available to our Patreon supporters. You’ll hear about the roots and underlying causes behind the sp

Jun 19, 2023 • 1:12:45

Audubon's Story in Song | Musical Theater Creator Lorrie Pande

Audubon's Story in Song | Musical Theater Creator Lorrie Pande

Lorrie Pande has spent her career in the scenes and behind the scenes of the performing arts, mostly in the theater. And for reasons that, even now, aren’t entirely clear, Pande felt compelled to create a theatrical musical about the life of artist and naturalist John Jay Audubon. “The American Woodsman” premieres June 23 at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. Pande talks about her path from Chicago to South Florida to Asheville, what led her to Audubon’s work and story and marshaling he

Jun 15, 2023 • 28:35

Fighting the Real Estate Market | Affordable Housing Officer Sasha Vrtunski

Fighting the Real Estate Market | Affordable Housing Officer Sasha Vrtunski

Affordable housing is an increasingly rare commodity in Asheville, but city staff working in housing are turning to one weapon in the fight to develop affordable homes—land the city owns. Sasha Vrtunski, Affordable Housing Officer with Asheville's Community Development Division, breaks down the city's recent $4.3 million investment in five affordable housing projects. She also talks about updating the city’s affordable housing plan and the criteria for selecting buyers and renters outs

Jun 14, 2023 • 30:32

Getting Technical | Terry Brasier of A-B Tech

Getting Technical | Terry Brasier of A-B Tech

About 23,000 people take classes every year through A-B Tech. As tuition and student debts everywhere rise hand in hand, students across the demographic spectrum are turning to technical and community colleges. Today’s guest is Terry Brasier, who has spent 10 years as the college’s vice president for student services. We talk about how A-B Tech has evolved to meet the broadening backgrounds and goals of today’s students, its partnerships in a variety of industries to produce employment-ready gra

Jun 13, 2023 • 29:55

Not For Teacher | Greg Parlier of Mountain Xpress

Not For Teacher | Greg Parlier of Mountain Xpress

Hundreds of teachers, school staff and board members, parents and even students rallied at Buncombe County Commission hearings as recently as last week. They’re calling on county officials to meet living-wage standards by raising local supplements to match other North Carolina districts with high costs of living. Greg Parlier, a recent addition to the reporting staff of Mountain Xpress, breaks down the stalemate over salaries within Asheville City and Buncombe County school districts, the politi

Jun 12, 2023 • 31:57

Between Two Worlds | Novelist Nathan Ballingrud

Between Two Worlds | Novelist Nathan Ballingrud

Nathan Ballingrud, a 1989 graduate of Asheville High School, is a venerated dark fantasy novelist with two collections of short stories and a novel adapted into a movie. His new novel, “The Strange,” is set almost a century ago but in a world—or, rather, worlds—we can only envision. Ballingrud talks about his path to writing, setting the futuristic elements of “The Strange” in our familiar past and how an author in his 50s took on the vantage and voice of a teenaged girl as the book’s central ch

Jun 8, 2023 • 27:53

Downtown Dysfunction | Tom Fiedler of AVL Watchdog

Downtown Dysfunction | Tom Fiedler of AVL Watchdog

The Asheville Watchdog has published a series of stories dissecting various issues plaguing downtown. One of the best in the series is from journalist Tom Fiedler, our guest today. His story probes why law enforcement, city officials and nonprofits face such a challenge with the effects of meth and fentanyl addiction. Among other elements of our conversation, Fielder gets to the crux of what he sees as a key roadblock for Asheville—questions of leadership and its state-mandated form of governmen

Jun 7, 2023 • 34:26

PART 2: Leader with an Asterisk | Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer

PART 2: Leader with an Asterisk | Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer

In the second of our two-part conversation, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer addresses her take and the city’s approaches to a number of big challenges. We also talk about Asheville’s formal commitment to reparations and where the city is in its assessment of the water outages Asheville experienced last December. Help "The Overlook with Matt Peiken" podcast reach its very reachable goal: Just $1,000 in monthly contributions by Election Day. Membership at our Patreon campaign starts at just $5/mo

Jun 6, 2023 • 28:11

PART 1: Leader with an Asterisk | Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer

PART 1: Leader with an Asterisk | Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer

By North Carolina constitutional law, mayors count as just another vote on the city council and have no singular authority to enact initiatives or manage the city. But residents and city staff expect their mayors to show leadership and vision, along with an authority that goes beyond their constitutional purview. And when things go wrong, mayors are often the first target of outrage.In the first of a two-part conversation, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer defines her leadership when all the lega

Jun 5, 2023 • 34:21

His Body is His Voice | Street Dancer Melvin AC Howell

His Body is His Voice | Street Dancer Melvin AC Howell

Melvin AC Howell traces his obsession with hip-hop street dance as early as 9 years old. His parents couldn’t relate to it, nor could anyone in his hometown of Morganton, NC. But when he found himself living out of his car not all that long ago, Howell said he climbed his way out through dance. Now living in Asheville, Howell is about to stage new work through a residency with Trillium Arts in Mars Hill. We talk about his instinctive, improvisational approach to movement, building self-confidenc

May 25, 2023 • 33:48

Highway Bound | Jason Sandford of AsheVegas

Highway Bound | Jason Sandford of AsheVegas

The I-26 Connector carries the long promise of a clean, multimodal, locally dedicated artery. Today's guest is Jason Sandford of the AsheVegas Hot Sheet. He’s well-versed on the detours and delays, promises and politics of I-26. He’ll fill us in on the history of the Connector and where the project stands, the economic interests at play and how community feedback and pushback have shaped its direction.Support the Show.Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event

May 24, 2023 • 30:36

Spreading Their Wings | Lew Bleiweis of the Asheville Airport

Spreading Their Wings | Lew Bleiweis of the Asheville Airport

The Asheville Airport is at high altitude these days. The airport served more than 1.8 million passengers in 2022—a record-breaking year by 29 percent—and is about to begin construction to expand its terminal from seven to 12 gates. Lew Bleiweis, in his 14th year as the airport’s president and CEO, talks with host Matt Peiken about the airport’s booming business and coming expansion. We also discuss how complicated it is for regional airports to add destination cities and why the Asheville Airpo

May 23, 2023 • 33:58

Whose Trash is This? | Jessica Wakeman of Mountain Xpress

Whose Trash is This? | Jessica Wakeman of Mountain Xpress

The trash dotting Asheville’s streets, riverbeds and freeway underpasses has seemingly grown so bad, even TV news is devoting time to it. But no local reporter has dived deeper into the proverbial dumpster than today's guest, Jessica Wakeman of the Mountain Xpress. We discuss what she found in her reporting, beneath the surface of the trash we see to root out the myriad sources, the disparate agencies and people tasked with cleaning it up and some of the social and cultural forces at play.S

May 22, 2023 • 31:08

Thank You to Story Parlor | 'First Look' Newsletter

Thank You to Story Parlor | 'First Look' Newsletter

Two quick items in this bonus episode: A huge thank-you to our Story Parlor and founder Erin Hallagan Clare for holding down our first audio residency. Also, we're launching a quick-hit daily newsletter of local headlines called "First Look." Subscribe for free at podavl.com/newsletter.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: A

May 19, 2023 • 1:50

Creating From Chaos | Chelsea Labate, Poet and Songwriter

Creating From Chaos | Chelsea Labate, Poet and Songwriter

Chelsea Labate is an incredibly gifted and giving songwriter and poet. Even before the pandemic, she began experiencing psychotic episodes that required hospitalization. They eventually compelled her to sell her Asheville home and move in with her parents in Florida. She also has made an array of music and poetry inspired and ignited by her struggles. Now back in Asheville, Labate talks with host Matt Peiken about how her episodes have fed her creativity and performs some of her newer work.Suppo

May 18, 2023 • 29:14

Yes in My Backyard | Asheville For All

Yes in My Backyard | Asheville For All

Asheville For All is a new nonprofit run by volunteers, but it’s addressing a need in Asheville that goes back decades—developing more affordable housing. Andrew Paul and John DeRusso, two of the founding volunteers behind Asheville For All, talk about their political advocacy, the resistance to add more housing often coming from existing homeowners and how they’re making the case for investment from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority.Support the Show.Support The Overlook by joini

May 17, 2023 • 31:12

Part 2: Having vs. Seeking Conviction | Todd Williams, Buncombe County District Attorney

Part 2: Having vs. Seeking Conviction | Todd Williams, Buncombe County District Attorney

Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams He won’t discuss the Aston Park case directly because it’s still active. But in the second of a two-part conversation, Williams does talk in broad policy and gives an analogy about a case his department handled several years ago. We also talk about the evolution of Williams' approach to the job, including his view on seeking the death penalty, and Williams lends context to how his office handles charges related to vagrancy.Todd Williams provid

May 16, 2023 • 25:41

Part 1: Having vs. Seeking Conviction | Todd Williams, Buncombe County District Attorney

Part 1: Having vs. Seeking Conviction | Todd Williams, Buncombe County District Attorney

It's rare when an elected official, let alone someone in the position of district attorney, initiates an interview with a journalist. But Todd Williams isn't the stereotypical prosecutor. In the first of a two-part conversation with Matt Peiken, Williams talks about his path from social justice attorney to prosecutor and discusses perhaps his most controversial case since winning office in 2015—the assault of Johnny Rush at the hands of Asheville Police officer Christopher Hickman and

May 15, 2023 • 34:46

Story Parlor Residency | Jazz Hybrid

Story Parlor Residency | Jazz Hybrid

This week's Story Parlor residency invites local poets Sebastian Matthews and Marie Harris to share some of their work, and a bit about their collaborative and creative processes, in advance of the May 11 event, Jazz Hybrid Presents: An evening of poetry and music.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of The OverlookThe O

May 11, 2023 • 32:00

Her Paintbrush is a Torch | Artist Margaret Curtis

Her Paintbrush is a Torch | Artist Margaret Curtis

Margaret Curtis’s paintings are gorgeous and lush and haunting, filled with allegory, historical references and connections to what she calls cultural collapse. In this episode, we talk about the personal and communal trauma informing her work, her subversive commentary as torches for feminism and climate change and the balancing beam she walks in her work between darkness and beauty. Curtis lives in Tryon and has a solo show running through May 27 at Tracey Morgan Gallery in Asheville’s South S

May 10, 2023 • 31:45

His Daddy Taught Him That | Keynon Lake

His Daddy Taught Him That | Keynon Lake

Keynon Lake is a third-generation Asheville native and the founding director of My Daddy Taught Me That. It’s a nonprofit born from the values Lake attributes to his father, Bennie Lake, and a mission to pass them down to Black youth. Keynon Lake talks about what he learned from his parents, his program’s evolution and growth and the challenges of instilling the bedrocks of his father’s influence to the Black youth of today.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Adv

May 9, 2023 • 34:48

The Legacy Stops Here | Ellen Gaddy, granddaughter of Jesse Helms

The Legacy Stops Here | Ellen Gaddy, granddaughter of Jesse Helms

For 30 years in United State politics, North Carolina US Senator Jesse Helms set the bar for this country’s social conservatism. Helms was unabashed in his opposition to civil rights, gay rights, disability rights, environmentalism, feminism, affirmative action and access to abortion. Today, one of his granddaughters lives in Asheville and is doing what she can to rebuke his legacy.Ellen Gaddy is using the Helms lineage as a pulpit to fight for causes her grandfather opposed—chiefly women’s bodi

May 8, 2023 • 30:29

New episodes return May 8 | Story in this week's Mountain Xpress

New episodes return May 8 | Story in this week's Mountain Xpress

We aren’t posting new episodes this week. The Overlook returns May 8. Among upcoming episodes: The granddaughter of infamous senator Jesse Helms is reclaiming the family legacy for liberal ideals, a look into efforts to curb the city’s growing trash problem, Keynon Lake of My Daddy Taught Me That and a two-part conversation with Buncombe County attorney Todd Williams. In the meantime, open this week's issue of Mountain Xpress to read a profile about Matt Peiken and The Overlook.Instagram: AVLove

May 1, 2023 • 0:48

Story Parlor Residency | Gathering of the Bards

Story Parlor Residency | Gathering of the Bards

This week's Story Parlor audio residency features audio from its "Gathering of the Bards" themed Story Mixer held on Saint Patrick's Day—an evening of art, stories, music, and poetry that paid tribute to the magic, mysteries, and muses of Celtic culture. Readings and performances come from author Julyan Davis, storyteller and vocalist Paula O'Brien and the musical duo Robin Bullock and Sue Richards.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Adve

Apr 27, 2023 • 30:06

Fiction with a Mission | Author Susan Reinhardt

Fiction with a Mission | Author Susan Reinhardt

Susan Reinhardt's second novel, "The Beautiful Misfits," is a polemic against our system for treating those with drug addiction. The Burnsville author comes to the story through her own experience as a mother whose adult son seesawed between addiction and treatment. She talks with host Matt Peiken about her days as a journalist and humor columnist, her experiences of the addiction-to-treatment pipeline and her ideal alternative, as laid out in her novel.Support the showSupport The

Apr 26, 2023 • 28:07

Weeding Out an Industry | Daniel Walton of Mountain Xpress

Weeding Out an Industry | Daniel Walton of Mountain Xpress

Despite Asheville’s leafy reputation, Western North Carolina doesn’t exactly have a robust farming industry for hemp. Daniel Walton, formerly a staff writer and now regular contributor to Mountain Xpress, talks with Matt Peiken about his recent coverage of the region's hemp industry, where the state legislature stands around the legalization of marijuana and how that legalization would affect the hemp and CBD retail markets.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaig

Apr 25, 2023 • 26:39

Don't Feed the Bears | Karen Zatkulak of WLOS-TV

Don't Feed the Bears | Karen Zatkulak of WLOS-TV

Wildlife officials say the black bear population in Western North Carolina stands at about 8,000. That’s eight times the estimated total of just 40 years ago.  Karen Zatkulak, a reporter with WLOS-TV, was among the journalists who produced stories for the station’s recent “Bear Week.” We’ll talk about the factors leading wildlife officials to pivot from a strategy of boosting to curbing the region’s bear population. We’ll also talk about findings in her reporting she found surprising and get det

Apr 24, 2023 • 23:47

Story Parlor Residency | National Poetry Month

Story Parlor Residency | National Poetry Month

This week's Story Parlor audio residency pays tribute to National Poetry Month, featuring the works of local poets Lady Be and Juan Sánchez Martínez, along with select excerpts from Mildred Barya's recently released collection, The Animals of My Earth School.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of The OverlookThe Ov

Apr 21, 2023 • 26:03

Even Flow | Maggie Ullman of Asheville City Council

Even Flow | Maggie Ullman of Asheville City Council

Maggie Ullman is just several months into her first term on the Asheville City Council, but she brings years of work inside and alongside government, largely in sustainability and addressing climate change. She brings an unwaveringly positive approach to her role on City Council. We talk about her emphasis on what she calls finding the flow, working to build coalitions and the issues that matter to her most as the city sets its next budget.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patr

Apr 20, 2023 • 21:06

Standing on Principle | Kim Roney of Asheville City Council

Standing on Principle | Kim Roney of Asheville City Council

Kim Roney is in her first term on Asheville's all-female City Council, and she has established herself as the council’s torchbearer for progressive ideals. Her principles have left her alone, or nearly alone, in dissent on dozens of resolutions before the council. Roney talks with host Matt Peiken about how she sees her role on the council. She also talks through a range of issues the council looks to address in current budget talks, including her approach to community safety, and her vote

Apr 19, 2023 • 31:13

Part 2: Minority Report | NC Sen. Julie Mayfield and Rep. Lindsey Prather

Part 2: Minority Report | NC Sen. Julie Mayfield and Rep. Lindsey Prather

It’s a challenging time to be a Democrat elected to statewide office when Republicans hold supermajorities in the North Carolina House and Senate. In the second half of our two-part conversation, NC Sen. Julie Mayfield and Rep. Lindsey Prather talk with Matt Peiken about their fight for women’s rights and voting rights, and also for progressive values at a time when democracy itself is under threat. We also talk about the push to give cities like Asheville more local control in a state where the

Apr 18, 2023 • 32:01

Part 1: Minority Report | NC Sen. Julie Mayfield and Rep. Lindsey Prather

Part 1: Minority Report | NC Sen. Julie Mayfield and Rep. Lindsey Prather

Republicans now hold veto-proof supermajorities in the North Carolina House and Senate. Where does that leave the Democrats elected to serve Asheville and other blue communities? In the first of a two-part conversation, NC Sen. Julie Mayfield and Rep. Lindsey Prather talk with host Matt Peiken about how they define and carry out their work in Raleigh at a time when they can’t hope to pass legislation coming from their own desks. They also about building relationships behind the scenes, the battl

Apr 17, 2023 • 29:09

Story Parlor Residency | Gina Cornejo and Meta Commerse

Story Parlor Residency | Gina Cornejo and Meta Commerse

In our continuing audio residency with Story Parlor, this week's episode spotlights the West Asheville venue's Story/Arts Residency program. Past artists-in-residence Gina Cornejo and Meta Commerse share a bit about their experiences, along with what they created for their residencies.Support the Show.Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All ep

Apr 13, 2023 • 26:24

Beyond Donations and Stores | Goodwill Industries

Beyond Donations and Stores | Goodwill Industries

Most people know little about Goodwill beyond their stores and donation centers. But the money spent in there funds a range of job training and social services for high schoolers, veterans, adults with disabilities and people needing second chances. Our guests today—Lance Crawford, Jordan Meeks and Samantha Randolph—are responsible for just some of the social service programming of Goodwill’s Northwest North Carolina chapter. They’ll talk with host Matt Peiken about the community needs their wor

Apr 12, 2023 • 19:54

Volunteers Needed | Brooke Randle of Mountain Xpress

Volunteers Needed | Brooke Randle of Mountain Xpress

Nearly three dozen volunteer boards and commissions advise Asheville City Council. Today's guest, Brooke Randle of Mountain Xpress, breaks down for host Matt Peiken how these boards and commissions work, the politics that can steer council away from their recommendations and what happened when city officials tried to drastically cut back on these commissions.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Fac

Apr 11, 2023 • 26:35

The Rent is Too Damn High | Joel Burgess of the Citizen-Times

The Rent is Too Damn High | Joel Burgess of the Citizen-Times

Joel Burgess of the Asheville Citizen-Times talks through his recent coverage of Asheville’s rental market, the forces that limit the power of local officials to directly address the issue and the creative methods some in local government are coming up with to try keeping Asheville affordable and livable. Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscri

Apr 10, 2023 • 27:43

Breaking for Spring Break | Returning April 10

Breaking for Spring Break | Returning April 10

The Overlook is spending the week working behind the scenes on the next batch of episodes. When new episodes begin April 10, I’ll explore Asheville’s escalating rents and the city’s struggle to fill vacancies on advisory boards. I also interviewed the granddaughter of the late social conservative US Senator Jesse Helms. She lives in Asheville and has broken away from her family’s legacy to fight for reproductive rights.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen a

Apr 3, 2023 • 1:00

Story Parlor Residency | Women's History and Currency

Story Parlor Residency | Women's History and Currency

In our continuing audio residency with Story Parlor, we close out Women's History Month by paying tribute to local women artists and their work. Music, poetry, and prose in this episode come from Laura Boswell, Tracey Schmidt, Tina Collins, Ali McGhee, Jane Kramer and Alli Marshall.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of

Mar 31, 2023 • 33:50

Putting on the Fritz | Datrian Johnson and Jamie Hendrickson

Putting on the Fritz | Datrian Johnson and Jamie Hendrickson

Asheville native Datrian Johnson is the new vocalist for the Asheville funk/soul band The Fritz. He and the band's founding guitarist, Jamie Hendrickson talk with host Matt Peiken about The Fritz's new album, "Take Your Time," Johnson's path through gospel and how the band and their new voice found kismet through improvisation.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLov

Mar 30, 2023 • 23:58

Zone Defense | Asheville City Planner Stephanie Monson Dahl

Zone Defense | Asheville City Planner Stephanie Monson Dahl

Stephanie Monson Dahl, Urban Design and Place Strategies Manager for the City of Asheville, talks with Matt Peiken about the reimagining of Pack Square, keeping West Asheville pedestrian-friendly, the challenges of bringing North Merrimon Avenue into the 21st Century and using creative zoning to stem the effects of mushrooming development. Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twi

Mar 29, 2023 • 33:20

Mission Hostile | Barbara Durr and Andrew Jones of AVL Watchdog

Mission Hostile | Barbara Durr and Andrew Jones of AVL Watchdog

Four years ago, the board of Asheville’s nonprofit Mission Health system sold control of its six hospitals to the for-profit HCA Healthcare. Since then, more than 3,500 doctors, nurses and support staff have left the system. Patients and healthcare workers have sued HCA over quality of care and working conditions—complaints that continue in freeflow to this day.Talking about all that with Matt Peiken are AVL Watchdog journalists Barbara Durr and Andrew Jones. Their deep reporting has documented

Mar 28, 2023 • 37:52

Reparations | Rob Thomas of the Racial Justice Coalition

Reparations | Rob Thomas of the Racial Justice Coalition

Rob Thomas, executive director of the Racial Justice Coalition of Asheville, talks with Matt Peiken about the steps he helped pave toward a local reparations resolution, why some demands in the resolution are more challenging to achieve than others, and his advocacy for doing it right rather than doing it fast.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Su

Mar 27, 2023 • 36:50

Story Parlor Residency | 'Homeland' Mixer

Story Parlor Residency | 'Homeland' Mixer

This episode comes from Story Parlor's "Homeland" story mixer from January 2023, showcasing stories from local artists paying tributes to their homelands. Performances come from Jimmy Griffith, Adama Dembele and the duo of Gina Cornejo and Mar. Support the Show.Support The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of The OverlookThe Overlook t

Mar 24, 2023 • 34:32

Anti-Chemical Warfare | Artist Kirsten Stolle

Anti-Chemical Warfare | Artist Kirsten Stolle

Many visual artists start by envisioning scenes or images, or they work from sketches, photos or memories. Kirsten Stolle has spent a decade taking artistic inspiration from agrochemical companies. She pulls and manipulates imagery and text to spotlight what she calls the greenwashing and troubled histories of Bayer-Monsanto and Dow Chemical. In this episode, Stolle talks with Matt Peiken about the seeds of her artistic inquiry, the heavy research fuelling her work and the line she straddles bet

Mar 23, 2023 • 22:58

Part 2 | Asheville Police Chief David Zack

Part 2 | Asheville Police Chief David Zack

Like all contemporary police departments, The Asheville Police face a range of challenges, both inside the department and with a growing range of issues on city streets. In the second in our two-part conversation with Asheville Police Chief David Zack, we discuss his frustrations at the salary ranges for his officers and with certain local nonprofits he sees as standing in the way of critical community partnerships. We also broach the arrests and trespassing charges against two people working fo

Mar 22, 2023 • 28:27

Part 1 | Asheville Police Chief David Zack

Part 1 | Asheville Police Chief David Zack

Much is made, at least anecdotally, about rising crime in Asheville. At the same time, the Asheville Police Department is down roughly 40 percent of its force. Citing both, Asheville Police Chief David Zack says the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 created a perfect storm his department is still struggling to recover from. Our wide-ranging conversation spans so much territory, The Overlook is breaking it into two parts (Part 2 is tomorrow's episode). Here, Chief Zack dis

Mar 21, 2023 • 25:21

Journalists or Trespassers? | David Forbes and Matilda Bliss of the Asheville Blade

Journalists or Trespassers? | David Forbes and Matilda Bliss of the Asheville Blade

On Christmas night of 2021, Asheville Police descended on Aston Park to clear out a couple dozen people, their tents and other belongings after a city-imposed 10pm curfew. Among those arrested were two people wearing press passes from the Asheville Blade. They say they were in the park covering what had been billed to them as a protest about how the city treats its homeless. Now, Veronica Coit and Matilda Bliss face an April 19 court date on charges of trespassing.Bliss and Asheville Blade found

Mar 20, 2023 • 29:07

Story Parlor Residency | Celtic Culture

Story Parlor Residency | Celtic Culture

In excitement for Story Parlor’s “Gathering of the Bards” Story Mixer, held on Saint Patrick’s Day evening, today’s episode is dedicated to art and stories that pay tribute to the magic, mysteries, and muses of Celtic culture, all from local artists here in Western North Carolina.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of The Ov

Mar 17, 2023 • 30:57

City with the Fringe on Top | Erinn Hartley of the Asheville Fringe Festival

City with the Fringe on Top | Erinn Hartley of the Asheville Fringe Festival

In a town with a reputation for oddity, the annual Asheville Fringe Festival is a celebration of the most odd, the most outsider performance. My guest today is Erinn Hartley, director of the Asheville Fringe Festival. Next week’s festival will be the 21st Asheville Fringe. But this will be the first since the pandemic that’s completely back to unmasked, in-person performances.I talk with Erin about the evolution of Fringe as an idea, how this festival weathered and emerged from the pandemic and

Mar 16, 2023 • 24:24

Two Forests, One Plan | Jack Igleman of Carolina Public Press

Two Forests, One Plan | Jack Igleman of Carolina Public Press

If you hike, bike, hunt, hammock, picnic, forage or just otherwise like to wander around the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests, you care about how these forests are managed. And the history and culture of this region play into the mistrust some people feel about management at the hands of federal officials. Today's guest is Jack Igleman. When he’s not teaching economics courses at Warren Wilson College, he’s the lead environmental reporter for Carolina Public Press. He recently wrote ab

Mar 15, 2023 • 36:08

Why Asheville Lacks High-Paying Jobs | Jonathan Brown of UNC-Asheville

Why Asheville Lacks High-Paying Jobs | Jonathan Brown of UNC-Asheville

Today's episode began with a question: Why does Asheville struggle to attract large corporations and the thousands of highly paid, highly skilled jobs that come with them? For answers, we turn to UNC-Asheville assistant professor of economics Jonathan Brown. Our conversation spans the region’s history, culture and livability amid a heavy dependence on tourism. We also talk about how remote working is changing the equation. This conversation took place before the announcement that the Pactiv

Mar 14, 2023 • 32:26

McCormick Field | Pay Ball!

McCormick Field | Pay Ball!

Owners of the Asheville Tourists baseball team insist McCormick Field needs $30 million in renovations. If Asheville and Buncombe County leaders don’t agree to carry most of that cost, the team is threatening to leave Asheville. Our guests today say that’s an age-old play: Owners of pro sports teams leveraging cash-strapped cities for new or improved stadiums.Today's guests have studied this issue on a local and national level: Justin McGuire is a reporter for Mountain Xpress; Jonathan Brow

Mar 13, 2023 • 33:42

No New Episodes This Week | Returning March 13

No New Episodes This Week | Returning March 13

I'm taking March 6-10 to focus on behind-the-scenes business of The Overlook, but I'll be back March 13 with fresh episodes. Topics on the near horizon include reparations, the public stakes of forest service management plans and public financing for proposed renovations of McCormick Field.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of The OverlookThe Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song," comes courtesy of the Asheville band The Resonant

Mar 6, 2023 • 1:00

Story Parlor Residency | Big Beautiful Crankie Project

Story Parlor Residency | Big Beautiful Crankie Project

This week's Story Parlor audio residency features an interview with the creators behind The Big Beautiful Crankie Project—a multidisciplinary arts collaboration utilizing a unique and timeless form of storytelling. Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of The OverlookThe Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song,"

Mar 3, 2023 • 23:06

Not So Secret | Lena of Secret Shame

Not So Secret | Lena of Secret Shame

Secret Shame is a young Asheville band that has already caught waves of national attention. The songs are built around the darkened headspace of vocalist Lena, who says her battles with mental illness have been a double-edged creative sword. In this episode, Lena talks at length with host Matt Peiken about the difference between expressing herself on paper and reliving her traumas every night in performance. She also relates her feelings when fans tell her how deeply her lyrics affect them. In t

Mar 2, 2023 • 29:10

Unaffordable Housing | Panel Discussion

Unaffordable Housing | Panel Discussion

Are you wondering why Asheville lacks affordable housing? For answers, step into the February gathering of the Goodwill Industries Business Advisory Council. The Overlook brings you the illuminating Q&A session, featuring panelists are Robin Cape of EXP Realty; Andy Barnett, the executive director of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity; and Anna Zuevskaya, executive director of Asheville-Buncombe Community Land Trust.Photo credit: St. Louis Habitat For Humanity.Support the showSupport The Ov

Mar 1, 2023 • 25:12

Hotel Room Boom | Jason Sandford of AshVegas

Hotel Room Boom | Jason Sandford of AshVegas

New hotels are blooming in and around Asheville like wildflowers in the spring. Some are new construction. Other projects, particularly in the River Arts District, plan to repurpose older buildings. But the connecting thread is undeniable—this city’s dependence and deference to tourism is only deepening. Today’s guest, Jason Sandford, is the founding journalist of AshVegas, who now channels most of his work through the AshVegas Substack newsletter. He talks with host Matt Peiken about the politi

Feb 28, 2023 • 36:05

Homecoming | Sarah Honosky of the Citizen-Times

Homecoming | Sarah Honosky of the Citizen-Times

Sarah Honosky, the city government reporter with the Asheville Citizen-Times, has extensively covered the varied angles of homelessness in Asheville. In this conversation with host Matt Peiken, Honosky details the goals of city and county officials to cut the city’s growing population of the unhoused by half. We also go through a report calling for major structural change in how local officials handle the issue and talk about the status of plans to convert former hotels into permanent housing.Su

Feb 27, 2023 • 25:59

Story Parlor residency | Kelly Morris, Mildred Barya, Jasmin Morrell

Story Parlor residency | Kelly Morris, Mildred Barya, Jasmin Morrell

Our Friday audio residency from the stage of Story Parlor, in West Asheville, continues honoring Black History Month with performances from Kelly Morris, Mildred Barya and Jasmin Morrell.  Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of The OverlookThe Overlook theme song, "Maker's Song," comes courtesy of the Ashevill

Feb 24, 2023 • 28:28

Artistic Revelation | Luzene Hill

Artistic Revelation | Luzene Hill

Luzene Hill didn’t think of herself as an artist until well into midlife. Today, she’s untethered by discipline in her feminist and Native American matrilineal expression. Hill is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians living in Cullowhee. A series of recent drawings and a new performance video are at the core of “Revelate,” an exhibition of Hill’s work on view through May 15 at the Asheville Art Museum. In today’s episode, Hill talks about her formative years in Atlanta, her

Feb 23, 2023 • 24:53

Food for Thought | Flori Pate & Marisha MacMorran of Food Connection

Food for Thought | Flori Pate & Marisha MacMorran of Food Connection

It can be frustrating to think these two problems coexist in our community — food scarcity and food waste. Food Connection is an Asheville nonprofit addressing both sides. Today’s guests are founder Flori Pate and Marisha MacMorran, the executive director. They call their work food rescue, delivering prepared foods to residential centers and individual homes. We talk about the details of that work, their creative pivot during the pandemic and their ongoing struggle to meet the community’s needs.

Feb 22, 2023 • 25:55

Behind Closed Doors | Sally Kestin of AVL Watchdog

Behind Closed Doors | Sally Kestin of AVL Watchdog

Sally Kestin of AVL Watchdog has done extensive reporting showing Asheville City Council members have skirted the spirit, if not the letter, of North Carolina’s open meetings laws for years by holding closed-door sessions in groups of two or three. I talk with Sally Kestin about her reporting on this issue, what’s potentially happening in these meetings outside of public view and the effects on a public kept in the dark. City Council just last week announced they would begin holding so-called “w

Feb 21, 2023 • 28:56

Police Restrained | Daniel Walton of Mountain Xpress

Police Restrained | Daniel Walton of Mountain Xpress

Asheville Police have been public about their challenges recruiting and keeping officers. Daniel Walton, today’s guest, has covered the travails of the Asheville Police as a reporter and city editor with Mountain Xpress. Host Matt Peiken talks with Walton about the department’s checkered history both on the streets and within its ranks. Walton also details some of the factors keeping Asheville from making more headway in its recruitment and the department enlisting outside help.Support the showS

Feb 20, 2023 • 29:18

Story Parlor residency | Glenis Redmond

Story Parlor residency | Glenis Redmond

The Overlook is devoting Friday episodes to the Asheville community in the form of "audio residencies." Our first block of Friday episodes are curated by Erin Hallagan Clare, the founding director of Story Parlor. It's a West Asheville that opened in 2022 and has quickly become a go-to hub for storytelling in a variety of stripes. In this first episode of the residency, Clare spotlights poet Glenis Redmond in a performance from the Story Parlor stage in December 2022.Stay tuned to

Feb 17, 2023 • 24:05

Happyland | Zach Knox and Brayden Dickerson

Happyland | Zach Knox and Brayden Dickerson

In the pantheon of rock operas, “Tommy,” “The Wall” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” come first to mind on the list of classic titles. Could we someday add to that list “Happyland?” Host Matt Peiken talks with Zach Knox and Brayden Dickerson, the Asheville creators of “Happyland,” an ensemble-cast musical premiering this month at the Magnetic Theatre. We talk with about the theatrical nature of their band, Smooth Goose, the creative evolution of the “Happyland” music and how this project is influenc

Feb 16, 2023 • 18:30

Living with Dying | Aditi Sethi and Hannah Fowler

Living with Dying | Aditi Sethi and Hannah Fowler

Hospice care in the United States is largely defined and shaped by health insurers and Medicare. The Center for Conscious Living and Dying, set to open this spring, is a new nonprofit in Swannanoa driven to reposition hospice as a communal passage. Host Matt Peiken talks with Dr. Aditi Sethi, the center's founding director; and Hannah Fowler, a registered nurse and the center’s director of education. We talk about their vision of the fusion of life and death and how, through the center, the

Feb 15, 2023 • 25:56

Beyond Cars | Mike Sule of Asheville On Bikes

Beyond Cars | Mike Sule of Asheville On Bikes

If you travel Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville with any regularity, you probably have a strong opinion about it. The road diet of last fall cut four driving lanes to two with a center turn lane and new bike lanes on the margins. Host Matt Peiken talks with Mike Sule, the founding director of Asheville on Bikes. Some people applaud the lobbying he and his group did to bring the road diet forward. Others left fuming in midday single-lane traffic jams likely hold a different view of Sule’s effort

Feb 14, 2023 • 31:11

Chronic Water | John Boyle of AVL Watchdog

Chronic Water | John Boyle of AVL Watchdog

For every question Asheville officials have answered about what happened with the city's water system over the holiday calamity, another hangs in the air, unanswered. Host Matt Peiken talks with AVL Watchdog's John Boyle, the dean of shoe-leather journalism in Asheville, about the checkered history of the city’s water system; how the city handled public communications in the latest failure, which left tens of thousands of residents and businesses without water over Christmas week; and

Feb 13, 2023 • 30:37

Trailer: The Overlook with Matt Peiken

Trailer: The Overlook with Matt Peiken

Imagine two of public radio’s most popular shows—The Daily and Fresh Air—come to Asheville, N.C., meet up with a doula and have a baby. That baby is The Overlook, a new daily podcast all about Asheville, from award-winning journalist Matt Peiken.Support the showSupport The Overlook by joining our Patreon campaign!Advertise your event on The Overlook.Instagram: AVLoverlook | Facebook: AVLoverlook | Twitter: AVLoverlookListen and Subscribe: All episodes of The OverlookThe Overlook theme song, &quo

Jan 31, 2023 • 1:02

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