The Perplextpat

Wil Pertz is a composer and a radical thinker.  Come get inside his brain with me as we talk music, technology, software, Richard Feynman, Charles Ives, and so much more.

Wait, the Daniel Springer? Danno? From the radio? Learn about Daniel Springer's Manchester, New Hampshire upbringing on Riverdale Drive and how his Chicago roots led him to be a real-life professional modern Radio DJ that broadcasts from an actual radio station in Gwangju, South Korea. Springer is the Writer, Producer, and Host of 'The Drop' on GFN 98.7 FM.  Danno and I worked the trenches of Kaplan Aspect Language Institute in Chicago and I knew he'd be the perfect guest because he was doing radio way back when and he is now and always has been a delight in person and on the mic. Join us as we talk Kazakhstan, Ozzie Smith, Aviation Sales, Itaewon, parenthood, deportation, Mark Twain, the joy of dogs, the Korea Times, Tajikistan, KMOX, WBBM, WNUR and so much more!  Oh and did someone fix the sound on this amateur podcast?  Thanks Danno!  Music outro from Wil Pertz. 

What was that whole Gwangju thing about? Students protesting or something?  My ignorance on the Gwangju Uprising needed to get sorted out so I took a little dive into the history of it.  To understand The Gwangju Uprising you need to know what was happening in May of 1980 in South Korea after an army general assumed power by consolidating the military and installing martial law.  Come dive in and be a little less perplexed about The Gwangju Uprising on The Perplextpat!  

Who is this Alla lady?  And where did this Garrett guy come from?  Listen this week and get the deets about Alla's magical photography and learn all about the Hohnstead! What's a Honstead? Come have a looksee!

Stephen Ostermiller is a music lover, cat guy, beer enthusiast, and Oakland A's fanboy.  Join us as Ostermiller picks up his guitar and belts out a couple of his favorite sad songs.  We talk about folksinging and why you should get into Katie Pruitt and John Prine.   We delve into Pootytang and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.  But most importantly we talk beer and get into the technical world of the microbreweries, west coast beer culture, the Korean microbrewery world, and what exactly is happening with those iso-alpha acids that leads to the magic of beer bitterness. Stephen's head is legally too handsome for TV, so join us from the safety of your earbuds and soak in a little Stephen Ostermiller on The Perplextpat.

Christopher Maslon is a bodybuilder, an artist, and a man of faith.  But he is so much more than that.  He is a friendly upbeat ray of sunshine in my life.  Come and learn about the epic long twisting and varied interests of the unofficial mayor of Daejeon, Christopher Maslon.

Gaia Bonsignore is a director and writer, known for the wonderful short film Stella Uno (2017) as wells as Live your Cinema! Austin Media Arts (2010), Beautiful, Radiant Things (2011) and The Hallway (2007).  Bonsignore lives in South Korea and teaches film and media arts at the University of Utah.  Join as we dive into Gaia's origin story of how she was forever changed by a trip to the cinema at the age of eight.  We love Gaia, listen to this, and you will too!  

Chicago born cartoonist Beatrice Nickolai lives in Daejeon with her annoying dad and is the creator of "The Annoying Dad".  This comic is an introspective look into the everyday annoyances of modern day life with a moderately annoying, though extremely handsome, father.  Join us as we talk Kipo, Shera, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Calvin and Hobbes, Raina Telgemeier, and Hayao Miyazaki.  Will her father confront her on 26 episodes of revealing horrible truths about the family's personal business and ongoings?  Will Beatrice continue to belittle and mock her father on air?  Come find out and have a little listen.  I'm talking to you, Grandma! (The other Beatrice....)

John A. Riley dives into a world of cinema, Russian culture, rural Georgian life, the Chernobyl exclusion zone, and the Merwolves of Blackpool.  Join us as examine how De-Stalinization and the Khrushchev thaw led to work of Andrei Tarkovsky.  Learn why you should watch Tarkovsky's 1979 masterpiece, "Stalker".  We also jump down the Lynchian rabbit hole of Twin Peaks Season 3 and the Trumpian connections of a nostalgia reimagining that wasn't.  In this episode we ask the tough questions like:  Why do we first think of Monty Python when we hear the word medieval?  Did Kubrick have a point or did he just sculpt cinematography on an intuitive masterful level?  Is it still okay to worship Zappa as a god?  Who did Alex Winter play opposite to in Bill and Ted's Most Excellent Adventure?  And was it Kanye West?  What was Terry Gilliam offering to the world in Twelve Monkeys?  Did we listen?  Did Bruce Willis listen? What's with Bruce and these time machine movies?  And will Joseph Gordon-Levitt start to look like Bruce Willis soon?  Listen now to find out - or remain in a cave of ignorance and darkness.  This week things get radioactive.  Only on The Perplextpat.

Hank Haddock speaks on his art in carpentry and street photography.  Son to a navy-man young Hank starts life in Spain and grows accustomed to hopping about the world following his dad's career.  Hank comes into carpentry at the age of 21 among the grizzled old craftsmen of that era.  Thirty years later - here he is still working in wood and wandering the alleys of Daejeon with his old-timey cameras always in stow. Join us as we dish about other carpenters like Nick Offerman, Harrison Ford, and Bernie Sanders.  What makes Hank so Hank?  And how do you get a complete stranger to agree to an on-the-spot street snapshot? Listen and find out on The Perplextpat.

Raphael Marsonet tells his saxophone journey.  He starts off as a young boy in Australia hiding his love of classical music and becomes a teenager with a gift for the saxophone traveling the world in the band.  Finally we come to know Marsonet as a man rediscovering his passions after a ten year hiatus and falling in love with this beautiful instrument all over again.  Join us as we yak about the Yakkety Sax, Bleeding Gums Murphy, that weird scene in Lost Boys, Baker Street, and Lenny Pickett. Why does the Saxophone have the reputation it does? And what exactly is a classical saxophonist?  Listen and find out on The Perplextpat.

Deported from Saint Louis and excommunicated from Chicago, this American artist, Kevin Nickolai, now lives in Daejeon, South Korea with his family.  Nickolai is  bamboozled by the oddities of Korean life and tries to make sense of all the weird encounters and random nonsense and joy that Korean life delivers.

Each week, Nickolai explores one aspect of Korea living and interviews other expats about their passions and how they seek balance in their life as they navigate their own Korean stories.  This podcast is a love letter to Korea from a perplexed expat.  Welcome to the Perplextpat.