Author: Ian Casselberry

Asheville’s WISE Sports Radio is now streaming

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rko_radio

Here’s an exciting, long overdue development to share: The local sports talk radio station in Asheville, WISE Sports Radio, is now streaming online! That means anyone interested in hearing my weekly segments on The WISE Guys show can now listen in throughout the country.

I’ve appeared on the show to talk baseball (and movies) for nearly five years now, for which I’m grateful to Pat Ryan and his former co-host Bill McClement. But it’s been disappointing that friends and colleagues (or prospective employers) haven’t been able to hear the stuff I do on local radio, so I’m glad that’s now going to change.

The WISE Guys is on Monday to Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. I appear on the show Tuesdays and Thursdays to talk baseball at 4:25, and Wednesdays at 3:40 with a movie review.

You can listen to the live stream (which also includes Fox Sports Radio programming throughout the day) by clicking on the image below:

WISE_logo

Hope you can tune in! Don’t hesitate to provide feedback. And if you need someone for some baseball (or sports media and pop culture) talk on your radio show or podcast, contact me at iancass [at] gmail [dot] com.

Baseball chatter with Jim On Things podcast

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redsox_ws2018

I don’t write about baseball as much as I once did, and that means I don’t talk about it on radio or podcasts as much either. So I was grateful when Jim Irizarry invited me on his new podcast, Jim On Things, to talk about the upcoming MLB season and baseball’s woefully slow offseason.

You can listen to the show below, at the Jim On Things website, or through just about every podcast provider available, including Anchor FM, which I’m eager to learn about from Jim. We recorded the show via Zencastr, which provided some excellent sound (maybe too good, when you hear me loudly draw in a breath frequently).

https://anchor.fm/jimonthings/embed/episodes/7—Requiem-for-the-Hot-Stove-e37rab/a-aaj23d

Next time, maybe we’ll get into some of MLB’s proposed rules changes. And of course, we’ll have actual baseball to talk about in a couple of months. Or I’ll try to add to whatever stress Jim is experiencing about his upcoming wedding.

It was always great fun with Jim and Craig Williams (who I knew from one of his previous radio gigs) on their Maximus and the Bartender podcast talking baseball and pop culture. I could talk to those guys for nearly an hour and it felt like 10 minutes. I was bummed out when they had to shutter the show, but I certainly understand when life takes precedence over fun and hobbies, and they had to move on. I’m glad to hear Jim get back in the ring, though.

As someone who’s tried his hand at podcasting and may want to expand what I’m doing there, I’ll be following Jim to see what he does with his new show — not just in terms of content, but distribution. It gets easier each day to find a podcast and listen to it on whatever device you choose. Jim’s not trying to fit in a niche; he just wants to talk about whatever is on his mind and tell stories from his life. I’m intrigued by that.

Overzealous Recycling 006: Is this as far as we got?

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peanuts_reading

During the past couple of years, I’ve looked to the past to try and make the present happier. Getting back in touch with the things that once brought me joy could bring joy once again. Maybe that’s a form of regression. Maybe it’s a futile attempt to reminisce about simpler, more care-free times.

— If you missed the last Overzealous Recycling, you can read it here —

This has been on my mind for quite a while, but Meghan Daum’s recent essay on Medium got me thinking about it more. At 47, two years after her marriage ended, Daum is living much like she did as a 27-year-old. Is that always who she was, deep down, even when she tried to follow the path — career, marriage, etc. — to which we all aspire?

Maybe Rust Cohle was right. Time is a flat circle.

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Amusement Park Podcast 026: The True Cost of Streaming and Mr. Rogers Still Has the Right Idea – and bonus thoughts

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mcfeely_rogers

With the Mister Rogers documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, debuting on both HBO and PBS last week, we thought it would be fun to talk about on the Amusement Park Podcast. I saw the movie last summer and thought it was one of the best movies of 2018, but Chris is just coming around to it now.

We also talk about the ideal streaming setup as more networks and studios create their own over-the-top services to compete with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. If you want to (or already have) ditched cable or satellite, which are the best services to sign up for that provide the content you’ll want to watch?

https://soundcloud.com/casselberry/true-detective-doom-patrol-and-we-mourn-the-punisher

I’m probably long overdue to make some decisions on streaming subscriptions. I’ve basically signed up for everything, yet still maintained a cable subscription. Whenever I think Hulu is something I could live without, they launch an original series or documentary that gets me thinking it’s worth keeping. I also subscribe to DC Universe and the upcoming Criterion Channel. I’ll surely sign up for Disney+ once that launches.

Where I’ll probably make a cut is with sports. I shouldn’t admit this as someone who’d still like to work in sports media, but I don’t watch as much baseball as I used to and the Detroit Tigers likely won’t be worth many of summer hours, so I’ll probably ditch MLB.TV. That almost seems inconceivable to me (and I wrote it off as a work expense). But that’s nearly $150 I can save right there.

Please leave a review and rating on iTunes for us and a like on our Facebook page to help spread the word. You can subscribe to the Amusement Park Podcast everywhere you find podcasts:

You can also give us feedback at amusementparkpod@gmail.com and find us on Twitter and Instagram. We’d love to hear from you! Thanks for listening!

Overzealous Recycling 005: This world would be unlivable without art

/ Ian Casselberry / 1 Comment

idea_missing

— If you missed the last Overzealous Recycling, you can read it here —

We usually save something inspirational for the end of these (not a) newsletters. But Steven Soderbergh has been doing quite a bit of press for the release of his new film, High Flying Bird, on Netflix. (I hope to post a review this coming week.) And in one interview, he responded to his 2001 Academy Award acceptance speech being used by Oscar telecast producers as an example for the ideal acknowledgement for winners.

— Steven Soderbergh talking to Bill Simmons is a fascinating conversation —

If you haven’t seen it, here’s the speech Soderbergh gave upon winning the Academy Award for Best Director. (Traffic was the film that earned him the honor.)

Weekly Affirmation

Succinct and to the point. It’s definitely a good example for other Oscar winners to follow. Here’s the key passage, the one which really spoke to me and so many others:

“I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating. I don’t care if it’s a book, a film, a painting, a dance, a piece of theater, a piece of music — anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us. I think this world would be unlivable without art, and I thank you.”

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