{"podcast":{"title":"The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter","slug":"the-truth-in-this-art-stories-that-matter-1372723","podcast_index_feed_id":1372723,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-truth-in-this-art","website_url":"https://www.thetruthinthisart.com/episodes","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/nu3SKpIFFPlgkLoounIJyOuvwqK2UhqCswDkhN6Qe-g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85Y2U0/ZjJkMjUzNTFiYjlh/NTNkMDAxNzg0Y2Iy/ZWI5My5qcGc.jpg","author":"Rob Lee","episode_count":949,"summary":"The Truth In This Art with Rob Lee is a Baltimore-based arts and culture podcast where independent journalist Rob Lee goes beyond the highlight reel to uncover the truth behind the work—the creative process, the choices, and the stories that shape the people who make it. Through thoughtful conversations with emerging and established photographers, filmmakers, designers, musicians, chefs, writers, and other creative voices, each episode explores how artists build sustainable practices, stay connected to their communities, and create work that reflects the world around them. More than interviews, these are stories about what it takes to build a creative life—the challenges, choices, and experiences that make art matter. For makers, culture lovers, and the creatively curious.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T14:20:52.257530+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-truth-in-this-art-stories-that-matter-1372723"},"episode":{"title":"Alex Jennings","slug":"alex-jennings","published_at":"2026-04-23T04:02:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-truth-in-this-art-stories-that-matter-1372723/alex-jennings","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-truth-in-this-art-stories-that-matter-1372723","url":"https://www.thetruthinthisart.com/episodes/alex-jennings","audio_url":"https://op3.dev/e/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/prfx.byspotify.com/e/media.transistor.fm/b815b38d/20937759.mp3","summary":"In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Alex Jennings! Who is Alex Jennings: Author, poet, and former standup comedian who lived in New Orleans for nearly 20 years—now working on his second novel from Chicago. You might remember Alex from my New Orleans series where we discussed his book, The Ballad of Perilous Graves , here . In our conversation, Jennings talks through his new book Dead End Boys—set in an alternate New Orleans where communicating with the dead is the main industry. He connects the project to comedy and digs into how moving from Louisiana to Chicago reshaped his rhythm. As he puts it, the book is \"a chance to say something about blackness, about the pandemic and about the creep of fascism.\" He recalls discovering Henry Dumas and heading back to New Orleans for the Tolodano Comedy Festival. We get into living in one place longer than anywhere else, balancing graduate degrees with novel writing, and how that shift shaped his voice. Be sure to follow Alex Jennings to keep up with his work and future projects. Photo courtesy of subject The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund , the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore) . Host : Rob Lee Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis . Production: Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis Edited by Daniel Alexis Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor Photos: Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media. Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted. Support the podcast The Truth In This Art Podcast Fractured Atlas ( Fundraising ): https://www.fracturedatlas.org The Truth…","meta_description":"In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Alex Jennings! Who is Alex Jennings: Author, poet, and former standup comedian who lived in New Orl…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3061,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-truth-in-this-art-stories-that-matter-1372723/episodes/alex-jennings/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-truth-in-this-art-stories-that-matter-1372723/alex-jennings.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}