Backstory Sessions

NEW EPISODE — ROLL WITH IT

This week on Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives, Cat Goguen and Ryan Dunn have a candid conversation about disability, capability, identity, independence, and what it means to truly be seen.

Both Cat and Ryan navigate life using wheelchairs and mobility devices, but this episode goes far beyond the equipment they use. We talk about assumptions people make, the difference between offering help and underestimating someone, accessibility, humor, frustration, resilience, and the everyday realities that don’t always get talked about.

We also explore how disability is perceived from the outside, why representation matters, and how much a person can be missed when others see the wheelchair before they see the individual.

There are serious moments, funny stories, honest reflections, and a lot of perspective.

Because sometimes life changes the route.

Sometimes the road looks different than you expected.

And sometimes, you simply have to Roll With It.

🎧 Listen now to Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives.

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Producer Ed Accura (Blacks Can't Swim,Blacks Can't Swim: The Sequel, Blacks Can't Swim: REWIND, Changing The Narrative) didn't learn to swim until adulthood. That single fact, and the unease it left behind, is the spark for No Lifeguard. This new feature documentary that turns one man's late, hard-won relationship with water into a wider story about who actually keeps us safe when we get in. The film is directed by Mysterex and filmed across Ghana, Sri Lanka and London.

 

Drowning remains one of the most under-discussed causes of preventable death worldwide, and disproportionately affects children, low-income communities and those with limited access to swimming lessons.

 

It is a deceptively simple thought, delivered with real warmth. A lifeguard, the film argues, shouldn't be one person in red and yellow watching from a chair. It should be all of us, starting with ourselves. No Lifeguard builds that argument through testimony rather than statistics, travelling to two of the regions hit hardest by drowning anywhere in the world.

🎙️ NEW EPISODE TONIGHT — BACKSTORY SESSIONS

Tonight on Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives, we sit down with Marlon Hargis of Exile for a look back at more than six decades of music, memories, and staying power.

Marlon takes us back to his own musical beginnings, how he became part of Exile, and what those early years were like before the band’s breakthrough. We talk about the song that changed everything — “Kiss You All Over” — Exile’s transition into country music, the hits that followed, and what has allowed the band to remain together and continue creating for so many years.

We also bring the story back home to Kentucky, including Exile’s recent recognition by Governor Andy Beshear, and talk about what that honor means after a career rooted so deeply in the Commonwealth.

And Exile is far from finished. Marlon gives us a look at the band’s new album, Look Out, Heart, arriving October 23, and shares what longtime fans can expect from this next chapter.

There’s history, reflection, plenty of laughs, and even a few “Which Exile member is most likely to…” questions along the way.

🎧 Listen tonight to Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives.

#BackstorySessions #MarlonHargis #Exile #KissYouAllOver #LookOutHeart #KentuckyMusic #CountryMusic #ClassicCountry #MusicHistory #GovernorBeshear #KentuckyProud #BehindTheMusic #ConversationsWithCreatives #NewEpisode

🎙️ NEW EPISODE — BACKSTORY SESSIONS

This week on Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives, we sit down with filmmaker Chris Schwab, director of Dracula: The Night Around Us.

Chris takes us behind the scenes of his modern reimagining of Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire story, sharing how the film came together, what drew him to Dracula, and how he approached putting his own creative stamp on one of horror’s most iconic characters.

We also talk about Chris’s own backstory as a filmmaker, the challenges of directing horror, the visual style of the movie, audience reaction, and what it means to bring the film to Tubi FrightFest 2026.

It’s a conversation about horror, storytelling, filmmaking, creative risk, and why Dracula continues to fascinate audiences generation after generation.

🎧 Listen now to Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives.

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🎙️ NEW EPISODE — BACKSTORY SESSIONS

If you’ve listened to Backstory Sessions for any length of time, today’s guest may already have a familiar voice.

This week, we turn the microphone toward Matt Rifenburg — writer, podcaster, storyteller, and co-author of Love and Jello — to find out a little more about the man behind that voice.

And, as we discover during the conversation, Matt is a bit like an onion: there are a lot of layers. We peel back a few of them as we talk about the many places he’s lived, starting over, podcasting, writing, creativity, resilience, and the difference between being seen as an inspiration and actually writing the complicated truths of your own life.

We also revisit Love and Jello, talk about how those stories continued to evolve through other creative projects, and look ahead to what Matt is writing now.

📚 And there’s more to come!

Matt has new books on the way, so stay tuned for release information about:

❤️ Heart Shaped Box
🍻 Bar Stories

I’ve said this before, but it deserves repeating: Matt is the author who made me love reading. There is something unmistakably his about the way he tells a story — the humor, the honesty, the observations, and all those layers underneath.

So if you recognize the voice, now’s your chance to learn more about the person behind it.

🎧 Listen now to Backstory Sessions: Conversations with Creatives.

#BackstorySessions #MattRifenburg #LoveAndJello #HeartShapedBox #BarStories #Author #Writer #Podcaster #Storyteller #BooksComingSoon #WritersLife #BehindTheStory #ConversationsWithCreatives #NewEpisode #CreativeWriting