I've always liked telling stories. 

I grew up with fiction, with movies and picture books and a fascination with the sharing of what life is like for other people. True stories, untold stories, wild and crazy stories: all of them interest me. So when I was asked about the possibility of starting a podcast series for the Mormon Arts Center, I put my nervousness in my back pocket and agreed to give it a try. I want to tell the story of Mormon Arts from the vantage point of the people making it.

There was no way I'd be able to do it without help, and I had some great resources from the start. Richard Bushman pushed me into it, and Brad Pelo (whose career is about as interesting and varied as one can possibly be) was an early and earnest champion. Not that I knew how to do any of it. We consulted friends at the Maxwell Institute about their successful podcast and asked about best practices, and we found a marvelous sound engineer in New York, Robert Willes, who's getting his PhD in studio recording technology. He's been amazing.

I hoped that the graphic design of the podcast could get across the dynamism of a project that seeks to interview artists and scholars from the full range of creative disciplines--both contemporary and historical. For that, we turned to Connor King, who developed our podcast logo.

The title of it? Mormon Arts Center's Studio Podcast. Maybe it's not the sexiest title in the history of communication, but it fits us. And as I sat down with the podcast's first guest, a charming young composer who prepared a fascinating history of his grandfather, the first thing out of my mouth was a joke that we were coming from the studio in New York, meaning, my studio apartment. 

The monthly series of podcast episodes is on iTunes, Google Play, and a couple of other platforms. You can also tab over on our website and take a listen. Please do. You can subscribe as well. I plan to do an episode each month, at the least.

And I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. My email is glen.nelson.nyc@gmail.com