The Cornerstore spoke with Columbia College Chicago Film Professor Michael Caplan about the Premiere of his Nelson Algren documentary on WTTW, the journey of entering the creative world and finding true fulfillment in the arts, and more.

The Cornerstore spoke with Columbia College Chicago Film Professor Michael Caplan about the Premiere of his Nelson Algren documentary on WTTW, the journey of entering the creative world and finding true fulfillment in the arts, and more.

• Used in Chicago’s Nelson Algren — copyright 2007 Seven Stories Press
  Image Courtesy of Michael Caplan

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Dan and Eric talk about how tired they tend to get every April; Toobin's reporting on William Barr (is he just doing Trump's bidding?  All signs point to yes.); Jonathan Dee's excellent review of a Nelson Algren biography; Pat Barker and her harrowing yet witty short story; the Isaac Chotiner/Bret Easton Ellis interview that went viral; and Hilton Als' very critical review of Sam Gold's production of King Lear.

Mary Reynard is a longtime actor and acting coach living in Los Angeles. Phil Circle and Mary met through the Chicago Actors Studio, where she was teaching for some time and whose founder is a student of Mary's late husband, the great Ted Liss. 

After Mary gives a little run down of her fascinating history surrounded by icons, she and Phil move into a discussion about music and acting, coaching in these professions, and ultimately how the techniques learned to master these performing arts can be beneficial to performing well in life as a human being.

This was recorded over dinner at Corky's Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California, after Mary spent the afternoon observing Phil's recording session for a new album with Ted Wulfers (Episode 3). This was recorded on March 6th, 2019.

The album Phil was recording released the following month. The song Mary was watching Phil and Ted work on was Lava.

If you're enjoying Phil Circle's discussions, check out his award-winning book,

The Outback Musician's Survival Guide: One Guy's Story of Surviving as an Independent Musician, available in all formats.

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This week, as we continue our adventure through the 90s, we're discussing both the winner and runner-up stories from 1991's Nelson Algren Prize, sponsored by the Chicago Tribune. Tom Barbash won for his story, "Howling at the Moon," and Patricia Stevens came in second for her story, "Leaving Fort Ord." Barbash would go on to publish a few books, while Stevens seems to have mostly left fiction behind.

Also this week, we revisit a piece by Jacob Weisberg that called out a couple big-name editors for not doing their jobs--which caused some serious blowback in the publishing industry. Plus a mysterious death, a big year for video games, and much, much more.

Thanks for listening!