On this episode of “Inspired Belonging” on Writing Re:mix, hosts Dan Dissinger and Stephanie Renée Payne talk with Dr. M. Shadee Malaklou, the Founder and Director of the bell hooks Center at Berea College. Back in the summer of 2023, Dan & Stephanie had the honor of bringing their “Inspired Belonging” workshop to the first-everContinue reading "117. Inspired Belonging w/ Dr. M. Shadee Malaklou"

In this solo episode of Writing Remix, Dan brings the audience along for a reflective stream-of-consciousness evening walk. This is a raw and unedited episode to capture the essence of the environment, his thoughts, and humanity of conversation. Dan reflects on the changing landscape of podcasting and how it’s gone from being an accessible PunkContinue reading "116. Walking with Dan: Podcasting, Creativity, & AI"

The second episode of “Inspired Belonging” on Writing Remix, hosts Dan Dissinger and Stephanie Renée Payne reflect on their personal and pedagogical relationships with the work of the late scholar, poet, speaker, & teacher bell hooks. This is a deeply vulnerable conversation on hooks’ impactful work on engaged pedagogy, love, community, and self-actualization, specifically fromContinue reading "115. Inspired Belonging: Diving into the Work of bell hooks"

In this solo episode of Writing Remix, Dan Dissinger reflects on the end of the 2025 Spring semester at USC. He shares what he changed and what worked in his classroom, the impact of creating meaningful and accessible assignments, student reactions to and experiences reading Exile & Pride by Eli Clare and All About LoveContinue reading "114. Spring 2025 Semester Reflection: Meaningful Teaching, Student Engagement, & Well-being"

Dan Dissinger celebrates National Poetry Month with the West Hollywood Poet Laureate, Jen Cheng. They talk about Jen’s multi-hyphenate creative journey, her dedication to blending East-West influences in her writing and workshops, her role as the creator of the Palabras Literary Salon, and the importance of “artist dates.” Dan asks Jen to explain why sheContinue reading "113. Creating Joy and Community Through Poetry w/ West Hollywood Poet Laureate Jen Cheng"

Dan Dissinger welcomes back his former professor Dr. Steve Mentz, chair of the Saint John’s University English Department, to discuss his latest book of poems Sailing Without Ahab and the Blue Humanities. They dive into (no pun intended) Dr. Mentz’s writing journey in and out of the poems in Sailing Without Ahab, the interconnected writing process and relationship between the creative space of poetry and academic scholarship when it came to creating Sailing Without Ahab, his personal and scholastic history with water, teaching Moby-Dick, and the challenges of writing in the voice of Ishmael. Steve also reads several poems from Sailing Without Ahab and discusses some of the more intricate details about these pieces. This is such a rich episode both for writers and scholars alike, and being on the precipice of National Poetry Month, this is a great way to start it off.

Dan Dissinger welcomes Tony Stubblebine, CEO of Medium.com, to talk about the power of authenticity in writing online and how Medium’s platform helps to create a space where authors of all levels can find and cultivate an audience. Tony dives into how he went from software engineer to the CEO of Medium.com. He shares his goals for Medium to create an online community where people create and share meaningful content and how Medium is a place where all people get to be teachers and students. The conversation touches on the transformative power of writing, the challenges posed by AI-generated content, and the importance of human connection in the digital age. This is the type of episode Writing Remix is all about, so sit back, take notes, and get inspired to put pen to paper (so to say). Share this episode with someone in your life that is an aspiring writer.

Dan & Stephanie Renée Payne start a series of podcast episodes called “Inspired Belonging” on Writing Remix. On this inaugural episode, Dan & Stephanie explore their thoughts and understandings of belonging, it’s connection to writing, and how the late great bell hooks plays such a deep role in Inspired Belonging workshops, presentations, and pedagogy. TheyContinue reading "110. Introducing Inspired Belonging"

Dan welcomed his colleagues in the USC Writing Program Dr. Leah Pate, Dr. Tamara Black, & Dr. Rory Lukins to do a deep dive into their project “Reimagining Assessments: Contract Grading’s Untapped Benefits for Learning, Teaching, and Well-Being.” This conversation covers the results of their research and the impact contract grading has on student writingContinue reading "109. Reimagining Assessments: Exploring the Untapped Benefits of Contract Grading w/ Dr. Leah Pate, Dr. Tamara Black, & Dr. Rory Lukins"

Dan welcomed back Dr. Danielle Lee to Writing Remix last year for the fifth annual Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival, which was focused on ‘Politics and Rhetorics, Navigating Civility, Culture, and Crisis.’ Their conversation went deep into the need for a civility in the current political landscape, how the lack of civility is escalating dehumanization fromContinue reading "108. Exploring Civility, Discourse, & Hope w/ Dr. Danielle Lee"

Dan welcomes Dr. Meghan P. Nolan back to Writing Remix to discuss preparing for the Spring 2025 semester and some of the ways she’s looking to expand, shift, and reimagine approaches to writing instruction. Meghan also talks about the balance between her duties as a writing professor and the Chair of the Sam Draper HonorsContinue reading "107. Preparing for Spring 2025 w/ Dr. Meghan P. Nolan"

In this solo episode of Writing Remix, Dan discusses how to effectively convert academic conference presentations into engaging podcast episodes. He shares personal experiences and lessons learned from shifting his traditional conference approach to a more interactive and participatory format using his multiple podcasts. Dan emphasizes the importance of recording and archiving presentations, networking, andContinue reading "106. How I Leverage My Podcast at Academic Conferences"

Dan invites Dr. Bailey McAlister, sommelier, Rhetoric & Communications professor, & pop-culture critic to talk all about how she merges her love of wine and the wine community with her PhD research, the impact that 2020 had on the wine & beverage industry, how sommeliers are using personal narratives to introduce people to wine, community building in the world of wine, how she teaches process-oriented writing to her students, and so much more. So, grab a glass, your favorite beverage, and settle in for another Writing Remix!

Dan recorded LIVE from the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference in Albuquerque, NM w/ USC colleagues Jen Sopchockchai Bankard & P.T. McNiff of the Long Take Review podcast. Shoutout to SWPACA, the tech guy who helped make this happen, and everyone that came out to support! Their presentation, “Between Two Scholastic Worlds: Teaching, Blogging, andContinue reading "104. LIVE! from The Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference w/ The Long Take Review Podcast"

Content Warning: This episode has discussions about mental health issues, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, & suicidal ideation. Dan invites artist Dr. Ally Zlatar to talk about the imperative role artists & art play in the world to communicate empathy, create community, & as a tool for empowerment. This is such a deep episode with aContinue reading "103. Being an Artist w/ Dr. Ally Zlatar"

Dan invites Saint John’s University alum and the Founder & CEO of Your Instructional Designer Dr. Nicole Papaioannou Lugara. On this episode, Nicole reflects on her journey from PhD to CEO. She talks about creating and launching an instructional design company, what she believes the role of instructional design is in today’s world, some ofContinue reading "102. Digital Social Learning Solutions w/ Dr. Nicole Papaioannou Lugara"

Dan invites Nancy Stohlman back on Writing Remix to discuss recording the audiobook for her award-winning book Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction, the growing genre of Flash Fiction, the importance of building a creative community to recover from burnout, doing promotion for her book during COVID-19 quarantine in 2022, and so much more.Continue reading "101. Growing Flash Fiction w/ Nancy Stohlman"

On this special episode of Writing Remix, Dan celebrates the 100th episode talking about some of the lessons he’s learned about himself as a writer, teacher, and podcaster. He reflects on the decision to pivot the focus of Writing Remix during the COVID-19 pandemic, how major news events impacted the podcast, how his understanding ofContinue reading "100. What I Learned After 100 Episodes w/ Daniel Dissinger"

Dan welcomes Leah Rubinsky, PhD candidate at the University of Washington and podcaster, to dive deeply into the grad student experience, confronting academic writing genres and styles, writing workshops and feedback, and the challenges of subverting the dissertation style to fit one’s research. Leah also talks about her research on “bad” mothering in Colombian andContinue reading "99. Bringing the Grad Student Perspective w/ Leah Rubinsky"

On this special episode, Dan speaks to participants at the 2023 SWPACA (Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference) in Albuquerque, NM. In just twenty-three and a half minutes you’ll hear about the Roswell event, making art on scratchboard, the interesting cultural history of the pink flamingo lawn ornament, decolonizing flavors, coffee, and so much more. SpecialContinue reading "98. Writing Remix at SWPACA 2023 in Albuquerque, NM"