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The ability to improvise is an important skill for artists. Like all skills, it has to be developed through practice. Jazz musician and entrepreneur Jeff Ponders II talks to Seth and Becky about how artists can build their improvisational capabilities.

There are many different "lenses" that you can use when looking at the history of a city's culture. For example, you can look at Detroit's history through music, or food, or art. But a lens that people often overlook is cartography -- in other words, looking at Detroit through maps.  Alex B. Hill is the Geographic Information Systems Director at Wayne State University and the Project Director of the Detroit Food Map Initiative. He joins Seth and Becky to talk about what unconventional maps can tell us about Detroit.

Over and over again, we hear Detroit artists ask how they can take their passion and turn it into a full-time business that provides a livable salary. Laura Khalil, host of the Brave by Design podcast and business consultant, talks to Seth and Becky about how artists can make this dream a reality.

Up and coming artists are constantly asking how they can get booked at festivals. Jaime Wilkins is the Entertainment Director and National Stage Production Manager for Jonathan Witz & Associates, and it's her job to put together the lineup for the annual Arts, Beats & Eats Festival in Royal Oak. We asked her what artists who want to get booked should know.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many people, especially artists, to battle with depression. To deal with her anxiety, Catherine Tolbert-Wilson, a recent graduate of Central Michigan University, channeled her energy into the creation of the Good Day Selfie Museum in Ferndale. She talks to Seth and Becky about it.

New technologies are not only changing the way that people consume art, but are also changing the content of the art itself. Award-winning visual artist Wendy Popko designs and and paints outdoor murals. She joins Seth and Becky to talk about how virtual reality has opened up new possibilities for her art.

Often people are reluctant to try a new art form because it seems expensive or inaccessible to newbies. Javier Garcia, the Executive Director of Darkroom Detroit, talks to Seth and Becky about how he is welcoming new people to the art of photography.

Local artists always want to know how they can land a coveted slot performing at a festival. So what gets you the gig? And what turns bookers off? Kristin Lyn of the Hamtramck Music Fest explains what she looks for when putting together a lineup.

Some art forms are easy for newbies to embrace; other art forms can be intimidating for the uninitiated. Chuck Jackson Jr. is the Chairman of the Inclusion and Expansion Committee of the Michigan Wine Collaborative. He talks to Seth and Becky about how he's bringing more people -- and more diverse people -- into the world of wine drinking.

Some artists use their works to share their own stories. Others use their works to tell the stories of other people. Detroit photographer Scott Millington is in the latter category. He talks to Seth and Becky about the techniques he uses he uses to get his subjects to open up in ways that are candid and intimate.

Now free from prison, Detroit's infamous "White Boy Rick" is widely viewed as a victim of an overzealous criminal justice system and the FBI for whom he served as an informant. But that wasn't always the case. When he was sentenced to prison in 1988, Richard Wershe Jr. was incorrectly portrayed by the media as a drug kingpin. Investigative reporter Scott Burnstein, a leading expert in organized crime, spent years researching and writing about Rick's plight. During that time, new forms of media launched, which made it possible for Scott to get Rick's real story out. Scott wrote and produced the documentary film, "White Boy," which debuted at the Freep Film Festival in 2018. But it wasn't until the film premiered on Netflix during the pandemic that it brought international attention to the case. Scott joins Seth and Becky to talk about White Boy Rick and how new forms of media enabled the truth to come to light.

If you want to understand the current state of the Detroit arts scene, you need to know its history. Curator Malika N. Pryor is assembling an exhibition to tell the stories of two black women who were trailblazers in the Detroit arts community: Josephine Love and Dell Pryor. She talks to Seth and Becky about why their work was so important.

Greg Russell has interviewed hundreds of A-list celebrities like George Clooney, Denzel Washington, and Halle Berry for decades. What's the secret to conducting a fantastic interview? He tells Seth and Becky of The D Brief.

It's been tough to keep an existing business afloat during the pandemic -- imagine launching a new one! But Detroiter Lauren Facca did just that. She launched Harpy Liquor with the release of a limoncello based on her family's long-held recipe. And she did it while she being a full-time biomedical sciences student at Oakland University. She shares her story with Seth and Becky of The D Brief.

Some creatives excel in a well-established art forms. Others blaze a new trail. Professor Joo Won Park of Wayne State University is in the latter group. The computer musician, who won the Knight Arts Challenge Detroit and was awarded the Kresge Artist Fellowship in 2020, makes music from unusual instruments. He shares his sounds with Seth and Becky from The D Brief.

Former WDIV Local 4 anchorman Mort Crim is a Detroit broadcasting legend. His autobiography, Anchored: A Journalist's Search for the Truth, is out now. But during his conversation with Seth and Becky of The D Brief, he revealed a few more of his life secrets.

The COVID-19 pandemic gave many Detroiters enough down time to pursue creative endeavors. Teacher DaShuane Hawkins created a card game called It’s Up There: The Ultimate Detroit Drinking Game. She challenged Seth and Becky of The D Brief to play.

We know that the COVID-19 pandemic is a historic event that scholars will examine for decades to come. So how do we preserve stories and artifacts from the present to help future historians? Rebecca Salminen Witt, Chief Strategy And Marketing Officer for the Detroit Historical Society, joins Seth and Becky on The D Brief to talk about its new project, “Detroit Responds: Stories from the time of Covid-19.”

How do you train the next generation of Detroit artists and entertainers? Tim Finkel, a teacher by day and comedian by night, is teaching high school students the art of stand-up comedy at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle this summer. He shares his teaching tips with Seth and Becky of The D Brief.

The live event industry came to a standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Detroit event producers were forced to cancel, postpone, or take their events virtual. What was it like to be an event producer during the pandemic? We asked one of the best. Jon Witz, the producer of Arts, Beats & Eats, the Winter Blast, and Rock 'n' Rides Royal Oak joins Seth and Becky on The D Brief.