Best Miguel Bright Podcasts (2025)

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51 Laps 34:17

5M ago34:17

34:17

I discuss some of my strategies for being a good guy. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Interview with Miguel Reyna at Actors' Theater 37:59

1+ y ago37:59

37:59

I sat down with Miguel Reyna to talk about his production of The Thin Place at the Actors' Theater in Santa Cruz. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Summer Soul 59:52

2y ago59:52

59:52

Juneteenth, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Solstice, and more!This may be my best solo podcast yet.I discuss the Juneteenth event organized in Santa Cruz by Thairie Ritchie. I delve into the issues surrounding the Black Lives Matter mural that was defaced in front of the City Hall and Abi Mustapha's search for meaningful reconciliation.I talk about my vis…

1
A Bright and Hopeful Future 59:34

2y ago59:34

59:34

In this podcast, I discuss the power of supporting local businesses, artists, and media. If we want to build a bright and hopeful future, we must start at home by supporting the efforts of those within our own communities. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support…

1
BIG, BOLD, AND BEAUTIFUL: 2023 LITTLE MERMAID REMAKES A DISNEY CLASSIC INTO AN OSCAR WORTHY FILM 9:07

2y ago9:07

9:07

The Little Mermaid’s remake as a live action movie improves upon the original in several important respects. The racial diversity of the movie not only helps to invite more people into the fantasy, but it also makes it a more interesting story and one that is truer to life. The ocean scenes are rendered more realistically, are sure to please ocean …

1
Liftoff at Radius Gallery 6:24

2y ago6:24

6:24

SJSU’s MFA program held an opening for their exhibition “Liftoff” at Radius Gallery on Thursday and will participate in First Friday Santa Cruz on June 2nd 5-8:00pm with Artist Talks scheduled for Sunday the 4th at 3:30pm. 13 recently graduated artists are showing some of their work at one of the most compelling contemporary art galleries in Santa …

1
ANDREW PURCHIN AND THE ELEPHANT WITH NO ROOM 2:17

2y ago2:17

2:17

MAKING THE UNCONSCIOUS VISIBLEThe Radius Gallery at the Tannery in Santa Cruz recently hosted a group show entitled “What’s Home” organized by Andrew Purchin. This important and elegant exhibition sought to generate a conversation about one of the biggest problems in Santa Cruz County and beyond: housing. The inspiration for the show came from a pa…

1
White Noise and Silent Auction 19:54

2+ y ago19:54

19:54

I start the podcast out listening to a couple of minutes of Fog Machine by White Reaper from their new album "Asking for a Ride." Next, I read a little bit from Don DeLillo's novel White Noise, recently made into a movie on Netflix that eerily foreshadowed the events that have taken place in East Palastine, Ohio. Finally, I share some stories and i…

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New Year, New Me: 2023! 20:14

2+ y ago20:14

20:14

I have three big announcements to make. 1. I am moving from the Westside of Santa Cruz after 8 fun-filled years of living here. 2. I am clean and sober having given up alcohol and cannabis. 3. My dear sweet father sadly passed away and I have been grieving. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support…

1
A Message from my Dad: WATER 10:46

2+ y ago10:46

10:46

Today, there is a crisis in the world. Well, actually there are lots, but I just want to focus on one to begin with. A solution to this particular crisis might offer auxiliary positive results for other problems. Drought is an existential problem in much of the world. In California, and probably elsewhere, we are mostly advised to conserve. I'm sor…

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Fair, Kind, and True: Shakespeare's Sonnets 101-105 23:02

3y ago23:02

23:02

This is the most important sequence so far. In these poems, the poet delineates a poetics. In their description of form, the poet discusses the idea that less is more in the expression of love. This has been consistent throughout the poems. Consistency is the strongest attribute of the collection, and at its core is this idea that describes the bel…

1
Wolf Love: Shakespeare's Sonnets 96-100 23:06

3y ago23:06

23:06

The separation is complete. The poet speaks about the reputation of their beloved being both good and bad for the same reasons. They are praised for their youthful easygoing ways and criticized for them too. The poet meditates on what it is like to live without their beloved. The changing of the seasons is full of shadows of memories. --- Support t…

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Deception, Delusion, and Belief: Sonnets 91-95 26:47

3y ago26:47

26:47

This sequence of sonnets goes into the questionable relationship between appearance and reality, between beauty and goodness. He is still dependent upon the beloved for a sense of value, of self worth and in order maintain his own will to live he willingly allows himself to be deceived. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/s…

1
Love, Loss, and Self-Posession: Shakespeare's Sonnets 86-90 29:19

3y ago29:19

29:19

In this sequence, the poet is coming to terms with the finality of their separation. In the first poem, they discuss a recent writer's block and what caused it. Very specifically it was NOT the quality of his rival's poetry. In fact, they go to great pains to discuss how the rival poet relies upon other writers to craft their poems. One of those, h…

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Art, Jealousy, and Death: Shakespeare's Sonnets 81-85 26:44

3y ago26:44

26:44

The poet turns a corner and shares their thoughts about their worth in relation to other poets. The premise is that the poet believes they are superior in relation to other poets because they recognize the true worth of the beloved. A person so full of beauty doesn't need embellishment. We can see that the poet has become more accustomed to their s…

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Truth in Poetry: Shakespeare's Sonnets 76-80 29:13

3y ago29:13

29:13

This sequence delves into the poetics contained within this collection. It is here in the moment of recognizing the death of a relationship, after meditating on his own mortality, when the poet crystalizes their view of what matters most in poetry. It is not literary technique that matters most, but the truthfulness of the love the writing contains…

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Mourning, Moaning, and Selflessness: Shakespeare's Sonnets 71-75 20:18

3y ago20:18

20:18

This cycle of sonnets delves into some thoughts of death, or uses thoughts of mortality to describe the process of breaking up. The poet spins out a bunch of metaphors describing their own exhaustion, the end of their time. They meditate on their own death as a way of bringing into focus what remains important. The poet doesn't want their name to b…

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All's Not Well: Shakespeare's Sonnets 66-70 26:56

3y ago26:56

26:56

The poet reaches a truly dark place in this section of sonnets. Sonnet 66 begins with a suicidal pronouncement. The poet says "Tired with all these, for restful death I cry." And, following this terrible sentiment they issue a list of complaints. He is over it. The wrong people have power and if it were not for their beloved, the poet would leave t…

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Self Love, True Love, and Anti-Love: Shakespeare's Sonnets 61-65 25:26

3y ago25:26

25:26

Shakespeare can teach you how to survive the emotional dangers of love. The sonnets are instructive as much as they are beautiful. They are about how a poet can rise above their status through truthful expression. Love is a driving force, but it has many dangers and downsides. The first most important thing to know about love is that the love of se…

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Poetry, Regeneration, and Serving the Muse: Shakespeare's Sonnets 56-60 25:26

3y ago25:26

25:26

Thanks for tuning into another episode of the Dialogic Podcast, the Changing the Conversation series. If you want to follow along, you can find the sonnets for free online at the Folger Shakespeare Library's online edition. In this sequence, Shakespeare begins with a call for moderation. He suggests that greed spoils love, and that it is possible t…

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True Beauty and Greek Dreams: Shakespeare's Sonnets 51-55 23:57

3y ago23:57

23:57

Thanks for tuning into another episode of the Dialogic Podcast, the Changing the Conversation series. If you want to follow along, you can find the sonnets for free online at the Folger Shakespeare Library's online edition. This sequence starts with the second poem using a horse as a metaphor for leaving a love. It is a slow horse and the poet sugg…

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Conflict, Reconciliation, and Recognition: Shakespeare's Sonnets 46-50 35:23

3y ago35:23

35:23

This cycle of sonnets begins with an image of the poet at war with himself. Heart and Eye are conflicted about the beloved. The eye is cautious, the heart demands connection and argues for the case. The conflict is staged as a kind of court case and the jury is made up of thoughts. There is a moment of harmony, as the heart and the eyes find a way …

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Obsessive Love, Jealousy, and Depression: Shakespeare's Sonnets 41-45 29:57

3y ago29:57

29:57

The poems take a dark turn as the poet wrestles with news of his beloved's infidelity. Understanding that his beloved is sleeping with a former lover, the poet is left to grapple with the emotions left behind. Depression results from their disconnection and is remedied by news of their beloved, which then turns quickly again to sadness. The darknes…

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Forgiving and Loving Vicariously: Shakespeare's Sonnets 36-40 29:01

3y ago29:01

29:01

In this sequence of poems, the persona addresses the infidelity of his beloved. He manages to always find a way to negate anything negative about their relations through the power of imaginative transformation. By claiming that they are united by the bond of love, the persona of the poems is able to enjoy what would otherwise be torturous. That's t…

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Universe, Metaverse, Polyverse: Shakespeare's Sonnets 31-35 33:30

3y ago33:30

33:30

References to sex abound in Shakespeare's sonnets. The persona of the poems is in love with a youth. It is mostly framed as an unrequited love story, due in part to Shakespeare's lower status. However, there are references that suggest they have shared the same lovers. More interesting than the admission of promiscuity is the way the persona handle…

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Fame, Jealousy, and Love: Shakespeare's Sonnets 31-35 33:30

3y ago33:30

33:30

What feels worse than unrequited love? Being slighted by your beloved. At least the persona of the poems seems to think so in this cycle of sonnets. Still, he finds a way to forgive his beloved and to justify their actions. One reason I have chosen to read these sonnets, is because they require careful study to figure out what they mean. That is ex…

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Mental Illness and Health: Shakespeare's Sonnets 26-30 25:44

3y ago25:44

25:44

This series of sonnets describes something about how the mind works. This meditation on memory in part explains mental illness. The mental impressions of pain are self reinforcing. The only thing that successfully combats that cycle of agony is a counterpart of attraction, the transformative power of love. Love is the cure for depression, the recom…

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Five Metaphors Your Kids Will Love and Other Lies: Shakespeare's Sonnets 21-25 37:47

3y ago37:47

37:47

Shakespeare was a marketer. What can I say? He knew how to get the reader to pay attention. One of his best tools: the metaphor. In this group of sonnets, I delve into the mechanics of metaphoricity. What makes a metaphor work? How does Shakespeare use negation in metaphors to amplify the hyperbole effect? In these sonnets, Shakespeare uses the fol…

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Changing the Conversation: Shakespeare's Sonnets 16-20 24:05

3y ago24:05

24:05

I want to change the conversation. I'm tired of all of the fighting about things that are out of our control. I want to invite you to have a listen to some sonnets, for the sake of something different. Even after studying only the first 20 sonnets, there is a noticeable difference in how I read the plays. The sonnets are tightly condensed and requi…

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Trans Poetics: Shakespeare's Sonnets 11-15 58:44

3y ago58:44

58:44

Was Shakespeare Gay? Who knows, but his poetry sure as heck is. It's uber gay in the best of ways. Was Shakespeare Trans? That is a bit of a reach, but the best way to describe his writing is, as the best writing always is, polyamorous. Has there ever been a more well rounded expression of all of human experience? None that I know of, which is why …

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Time, Natural Beauty, and Reproduction: Shakespeare's Sonnets 5-10 34:38

3y ago34:38

34:38

I'm going through the Sonnets methodically, and sharing my thoughts with you as I go. I absolutely love Shakespeare's plays, and this is the first time I'm really studying the sonnets as a whole. The first thing right out of the gate that is surprising is how pro life Shakespeare's narrator is. The persona of the poems, the voice speaking, consider…

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Becoming Jakespeare: Shakespeare's Sonnets 1-4 26:05

3y ago26:05

26:05

In this podcast, I look at the first four sonnets in Shakespeare's collection. I begin by talking about how Chad and JT were riffing about Shakespeare on their latest podcast episode. Shoutout to Joe Marresse for his cool ass reading of Hamlet's monologue. I'm digging into the sonnets because they are a perfect form for social media. Each sonnet is…

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Most High Thoughts 54:16

3+ y ago54:16

54:16

Credit is an interesting idea. Who gets credit for our successes? Who do we blame for our failures? A satisfying rant on the nature of credit in relation to efforts and ownership. Do you believe in self-reliance and accountability or in a higher power?--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support…

1
Seaside Life 35:05

3+ y ago35:05

35:05

Learning about the people who live and work in Seaside is at the core of the Facing Seaside project.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Elements of Composition 40:07

3+ y ago40:07

40:07

Continuing the Facing Seaside project, learning film, and talking about the elements of composition in photography.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
My Cyanotype 22:05

3+ y ago22:05

22:05

The camera is only one small part of what makes photography great. It’s also critical to make prints. Making prints is more than a way to deliver the final product, it is an integral part of the process. When you understand your printmaking process it changes your shooting process, too. We are going to be doing portraits and making Cyanotype prints…

1
Calendar Your Content 23:54

3+ y ago23:54

23:54

Getting organized is key to executing successful content marketing plans. Break your year into quarters and set some concrete goals. Outlining your content calendar will give your work direction and clarity of purpose.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support…

1
Projecting Freshness 37:57

3+ y ago37:57

37:57

In this episode, I discuss three upcoming art projects! Enjoy!--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Choose to Move 35:50

3+ y ago35:50

35:50

I sat down with Nadzeya Stokes to talk about being Belarusian, the importance of bodily awareness, the chiropractic arts, and art in relation to the unconscious.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
13 Moons 27:25

3+ y ago27:25

27:25

In this episode, I describe a photographic project I started during the shutdown at the start of the pandemic.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Basic Dude 51:33

3+ y ago51:33

51:33

New Year’s is a great time to get back to the fundamentals! Enjoy this rant about what matters most. Priorities!--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Express Yourself 25:15

3+ y ago25:15

25:15

Hip-Hop, the mystery of voice, and more! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Film, Digital, Filmital 45:04

3+ y ago45:04

45:04

Things continue to get more interesting at the Weston Collective. Film and digital are merging through multimedia experiments. Today, I discuss some of the differences and similarities between film and digital photography. I also sketch out the carbon printing process and explain why it is important and relevant. I also began my Taco Taste Test Tou…

1
Create to Choose to Create 37:07

3+ y ago37:07

37:07

A satisfying rant on creative choice, authorship and collaboration.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Path to Epiphany 58:27

3+ y ago58:27

58:27

If you are not entirely sure of the one photograph or idea you create during a creative session, then you didn’t make one. When you get the shot, you know it. If you don’t know what you did, you didn’t. It’s that simple. You either know your shit or you don’t have shit.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/…

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A Team with a Solution 13:00

3+ y ago13:00

13:00

Being a part of the solution is where the good energy can be found. Find me in this episode on the road waxing about the Bay.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Rolling Hills of Corralitos 24:08

3+ y ago24:08

24:08

Some places are too beautiful to believe. Yesterday I visited one such setting and I ranted about it and my love for the region. Enjoy!--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/support

1
Collecting Westons 36:06

3+ y ago36:06

36:06

Working with Zach Weston is rad. If I were an art collector, I would be buying everything the Weston’s release. Amazing to be collaborating with an artist I genuinely enjoy. Check out Zack’s latest print of the month: https://www.kimweston.com/zcw-portfolio/sacrifice--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake-j-thomas/sup…