Tiwa Topia made a whole stained‑glass thesis about how to put Black skin into stained glass, using experimental techniques so light can do the heavy lifting. Tiwa flipped the usual “light-to-dark” idea and sculpted where the light hits to get depth and warmth for darker skin tones — clever, stubborn, and gorgeous.

Tiwa’s show is at The Yards (at the Public Market) with a closing ceremony on Saturday the 26th from 11am–2pm (go see it in person — photos don’t do the light justice), and you can follow their work on Instagram at @awit.glass (Tiwa backwards dot glass).

We chat about how stained glass is both a craft (all those tools and cuts and lead) and an art (how the sun becomes the final artist), why texture and double‑rolled glass like Kokomo or Youghiogheny give that depth, and how being self‑taught meant a lot of trial, error, and obsession.

We also dig into the story behind the work: Yoruba/Ifa references, family proverbs about Agemo, and the messy love of celebrating culture while calling out the parts that exclude people.

Oh, and we nerd out about glass news — Kokomo stopping production and UK safety rules around lead — because materials and maker safety actually matter when you care this much. Come for the color and the craft, stay for the big, complicated, joyful conversation Tiwa’s putting into glass.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Roasters

Visit joebeanroasters.com to get fresh roasted specialty coffee either by the bag or with a Perpetual Joy subscription!

We're putting the spotlight on The Old Ball Game — Jared Engel's live-scored baseball silent films, coming to the Rochester Fringe Festival at the George Eastman Museum's Dryden Theater on September 26 (11am and 1pm).

Check out the episode on Just Can't Not wherever you get your podcasts or on Lunchador.org!

https://player.captivate.fm/episode/dcb9dc3d-75d9-40df-a90b-866e439dbafb/

I chatted with Jared — a Brooklyn musician/filmmaker originally from Brighton — about how the show works: we take vintage baseball film clips (and Jared's own new silent shorts) and compose and perform original music live, basically turning the movie into a one-night-only concert-plus-movie soundtrack. Jared walks us through the origin story — during the pandemic he and other musicians formed a sandlot team called Fumble (formerly unemployed musicians), and that communal, nostalgic baseball vibe morphed into making performances and eventually actual silent films. We get the whole hilarious historical anecdote behind Day of the Catch — the 1915 Greenwich grapefruit-drop prank that reads like perfect slapstick and maybe even birthed the nickname "Grapefruit League" — and hear how that became a 16-minute film he scored in a frenzy. He also teases a newer piece, The Mascot Race, and shares how these projects let him perform in fresh ways (also: yes, we once scored a screening on a Jumbotron before a Mets game — because why not?). Tickets are $15 at rochesterfringe.com and you can peek at more project details at theoldballgame.net, so if you like live music, baseball nostalgia, and goofy physical comedy, come hang with us — I promise we’ll bring the soundtrack and the puns, you bring the peanuts.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Roasters

Visit joebeanroasters.com to get fresh roasted specialty coffee either by the bag or with a Perpetual Joy subscription!

We're previewing the ROCHESTER FRINGE FESTIVAL and plugging EGO AND THE ORACLE — come see us at the Blackfriars Theater on September 25 at 10 PM and September 26 at 8 PM (tickets $20 at rochesterfringe.com). I sit with Jim from Jim's Big Ego and Sean Peters as we walk through the show's vibe: think musical divination — part fortune telling, part musical improv, and part group therapy, all rolled into an hour and fifteen minutes of delightful chaos.

Check out the episode on Just Can't Not wherever you get your podcasts or on Lunchador.org!

https://player.captivate.fm/episode/55f37104-71ee-4563-9df4-beae4cad6d70/

The process is simple and beautiful: everyone writes a real question, someone spins a wheel of Jim’s songs, the band plays the chosen track, and Sean interprets what the music and lyrics reveal — equal parts comedy, tenderness, and occasional spooky accuracy. We also riff about the Question Clown, the “question poetry” Jim stitches together from the unread cards, and why the whole thing resonates so well with an earnest Fringe crowd (our audience skews delightfully neurodivergent and deeply into the weird). If you like being seen, hearing great songs that span folk, electronica, and unpop anthems, and watching live creativity teeter on the edge (then catch itself), this is the show for you. Come for the music, stay for the revelations — grab your tickets at rochesterfringe.com and we’ll see you at EGO AND THE ORACLE.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Roasters

Visit joebeanroasters.com to get fresh roasted specialty coffee either by the bag or with a Perpetual Joy subscription!