The Short Fuse Podcast

The South African Cultural Center, New York City

The value of cultural diplomacy has long been acknowledged as a critical component in the projection of a nation's identity. On September 23, 2021, the South African Consulate General in New York opened a Cultural Center at 845 Third Avenue. The inaugural exhibition, celebrating South Africa's Heritage Day, was an exhibition in the gallery of South African artist Zakes Mda's collection of collages, Washboards and Mirrors

Zakes Mda is the pen name of Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda. Born in South Africa, the writer, painter, and composer also has roots in Lesotho and Ohio. He holds an MFA (Theater) and an MA (Telecommunications) from Ohio University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town.

He has published 22 books, 10 of which are novels and the rest collections of plays, poetry, and a monograph on the theory and practice of theater-for-development. His novel Cion, set in southeast Ohio, was nominated for the NAACP Image Award. His memoir Sometimes There Is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and was a New York Times Notable Book for 2012.

Zakes Mda commutes between the US, where he is Professor Emeritus of English at Ohio University, and South Africa, where he is Extraordinary Professor of English at the University of the Western Cape; a beekeeper in the Eastern Cape (running a project he established in 2000 with rural women); and a director of NeoZane, a publishing house and animation film production company based in Johannesburg.

Elizabeth Howard is the host and the producer of the Short Fuse Podcast. She has never had barriers between her life, work, art and writing. Experience, sense of place and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility, spontaneity and responsiveness in the projects she designs and engages with. As the host of the Short Fuse she engages individuals in lively and provocative conversations around the arts: dance, theater, literature, music and film.

The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 60 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts.

Alex Waters is a media producer and editor for the Short Fuse Podcast, a music producer, and Berklee College of Music student. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts such as The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He produces his own, as well as writes music and records for independent artists such as The Living. Alex lives in Brooklyn. You can reach him with inquiries by emailing [email protected].

The pair have quite an exchange, often representing the opposing view on an artist or award winner as they chronicle the events of the evening. But! This episode is no standard award show recap. With Hailee's professional background in public health and cellar/molecular biology, the topic at hand strays from the performances to the realities of such a production during the Coronavirus crisis. This episode's featured song is "Crashing Down" by DYLIS, our theme music artist. In two weeks, we'll back with more oddities and observations from former hosts Matt and Lucas.

Amy D. Clark, PhD,

Amy Clark is a professor of Appalachian and Communication Studies at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, where she is the founding co-director of the Center for Appalachian Studies, and founding Director of the Appalachian Writing Project. She is author and co-editor of Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community (University Press of Kentucky). Her work on Appalachian dialects has appeared in the New York Times and NPR, among other publications. She co-hosts the podcast Southern Salon: Culture and Communication Podcast which includes a new series on Talking Appalachia.

Jayne Moore Waldrop

Jayne Moore Waldrop is a western Kentucky native, She is the author of Retracing My Steps, a finalist in the 2018 New Women's Voices Chapbook Contest, and Pandemic Lent: A Season in Poems. Waldrop's work has appeared in the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Still: The Journal, Appalachian Review, New Madrid Review, Deep South Magazine, New Limestone Review, Women Speak, and other literary journals. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

University Press of Kentucky

The University Press of Kentucky has a dual mission—the publication of academic books of high scholarly merit in a variety of fields and the publication of significant books about the history and culture of Kentucky, the Ohio Valley region, the Upper South, and Appalachia. The Press is the statewide nonprofit scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, serving all Kentucky state-sponsored institutions of higher learning as well as six private colleges and Kentucky’s two major historical societies.

The Short Fuse Podcast

Hosted and produced by Elizabeth Howard. Learn more at Elizabeth Howard.

The Arts Fuse

The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 60 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people's engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others. Smithsonian Folkways is part of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Alex Waters

Alex is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living. He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at [email protected] with inquiries.

Diane Alters

Diane Alters is a lecturer in journalism at Colorado College. She has worked as an editor or reporter for several publications, including the Boston Globe, the Sacramento Bee and the Denver Post and is co-author of Media, Home and Family (Routledge 2004). Her exquisite book of poetry, Breath, Suspended, (Finishing Line Press 2022.) was described by a critic as, “What it means to write at the aperture of grief.”
Edward Hirsch

Edward Hirsch is a beloved American poet. Gabriel: A Poem, published in 2014, is a book-length elegy for his son. He has written 10 volumes of poetry and is the author of five prose books. His most recent book is 100 Poems to Break Your Heart. Edward Hirsch has taught creative writing and is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, a position he has held since 2002.

Sarah J. Purcell

Author, Spectacle of Grief, Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era and L. F. Parker Professor of History at Grinnell College.

Alex Waters

Alex is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living. He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at [email protected] with inquiries.

Ann Kjellberg founded Book Post, a newsletter-based book review, in 2018. Book Post publishes short book reviews by distinguished figures in literature, history, science, social sciences, and the arts. Kjellberg also reports for Book Post on the book industry, journalism, and the state of writing and ideas. Her essays have appeared in The New York Review of Books, The Observer, The Browser, and LitHub. She was on the editorial staff of the New York Review of Books from 1988 to 2017, and from 1985 to 1987 she was an editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. She is the literary executor of the poet Joseph Brodsky and editor of several editions of his work. She founded the literary magazine Little Star and has taught literary journalism at Bryn Mawr College.

The Short Fuse Podcast hosted and produced by Elizabeth Howard, are conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others who have a lens on contemporary thought and stir us to seek change. With their art, their music, their performances, and their vision they lead us through the social and environmental transformations sweeping across the globe.

“Artists are here to disturb the peace.” James Baldwin.

The Short Fuse is distributed through the Arts Fuse, a journal of arts criticism and commentary.

Alex Waters is the technical producer, audio editor and engineer for the Short Fuse Podcast. He is a music producer and a student at Berklee College of Music. He has written and produced music and edited for podcasts including The Faith and Chai Podcast and Con Confianza. He writes, produces and records music for independent artists, including The Living. He lives in Brooklyn can can be reached at [email protected] with inquiries.