Episodes & Show Notes

Season 2

  • Poet & Spoken Word Artist Leroy D Bean
    On this episode, host Rodney Veal speaks with Leroy D. Bean, a poet & spoken word artist native to Dayton, about the journey of his career and how his love for the English language helped him travel to Paris to present his work to the locals.
  • Artistic Director Emily N. Wells
    On this episode, host Rodney Veals talks with Emily N. Wells, the Artistic Director for The Human Race Theatre Company, about the importance of art, storytelling, & access as well as how Emily’s origins tie back to the city of Dayton.
  • Stand-Up Comic Jesse Nutt
    On this episode, host Rodney Veals sits down with stand-up comic Jesse Jutt to discuss the importance of writing, sacrificing your darlings, and how comics have to navigate the tricky, ever-changing landscape of a gig-based career. To quote Jesse himself: “I love that we live in a country where people have the freedom to put pineapple on a pizza, hot sauce on donuts and pancake […]
  • Artist & Activist Audrey Davis
    One this episode of Rodney Veal’s Inspired By, our host sits down with special guest Audrey Davis, an artist, a social activist, and teacher here in Dayton, OH. She and her husband, renowned artist Bing Davis, have spent their lives fighting for change and a more beautiful future for people everywhere. Hear her story and learn what Rodney thinks makes her so iconic.
  • Photographer Glenna Jennings
    Headshot is by Shon Curtis On the Season Two premiere of Rodney Veal’s Inspired By, our host sits down with his friend Glenna Jennings, a photographer who teaches as an Associate Professor of Photography and Social Practice at the University of Dayton, an Artist in Residency at the Hanley Sustainability Institute, and a co-founder of the Desert Kitchen Coalition.

Season 1

  • Jazz Musician Keigo Hirakawa
    In this special Summer Break episode of Inspired By, host Rodney Veal speaks with Keigo Hirakawa, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Dayton, about how he blends his life in education with his passion for jazz music.
  • Playwright Michael London
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal speaks with Michael London, a director & playwright, about his career spanning over 40 years and his residency with the Benjamin Franklin House in London.
  • Visual Artist Cedric Michael Cox
    On a new episode of Inspired By, host Rodney Veal speaks with Cedric Michael Cox, is best known for his paintings and drawings that merge surrealism and representational abstraction.
  • Production Designer Hannah Beachler
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal talks with Hannah Beachler, an award-winning Production Designer, who has worked on films such as Fruitvale Station, Moonlight, and Marvel’s Black Panther, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Production Design.
  • Fiber Artist Mychaelyn Michalec
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal talks with Mychaelyn Michalec, a fiber artist and painter working in Dayton, who shares stories about how having a family has impacted her career as an artists, and how her residencies helped build her relationships with the rest of the art community.
  • Mosaic Artist Jes McMillan
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal talks with Jes McMillan, an artist and owner of The Mosaic Institute of Dayton whose passion for the art of mosaics has developed into a career spanning over two decades.
  • Broadway Producer Joey Monda
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal talks with Joey Monda, a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer and theater manager, about how his time at Wright State helped shape his future in the business side of live theater.
  • Abstract Artist & Journalist Ron Rollins
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal talks to Ron Rollins, an abstract artists and retired editor/writer for Dayton Daily News, about his background in the world of journalism and how a chance happening brought him and his wife to Dayton.
  • Visual Artist Amy Deal
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal talks to visual artist Amy Deal about her rural upbringing, how her family supported her passion for the arts, her relocation to downtown Dayton and how the pandemic helped her evolve her work and try new things.
  • Filmmaker Jonathan McNeal of The Neon
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal talks to filmmaker, philanthropist and general manager of The Neon, Jonathan McNeal about his passion for film, ways The Neon helps promote and grow independent films, how the pandemic has impacted the industry and what’s next for film.
  • Dancer and Choreographer Countess V. Winfrey
    In this episode, host Rodney Veal talks to choreographer and dancer Countess V. Winfrey about her origins in dance, growing up loving art, working with family, and the importance of seeing and feeling representation in the world of dance.