 "Settled...well that's a relative term..." says Michal Wisniowski, a young artist whose family fled Poland when he was 6, only to search for over a decade for a place to call home. Now an adult, Michal makes his living as an artist in San Francisco. You can see how being an outsider at a young age has had a profound influence on his creative work at his <a href="www.michalwisniowski.com">website.</a>

The Normal Podcast features stories about the unusual and unexpected human behaviors that may just be <i>normal</i> after all.

Image:
Eastern Block No. 6
Acrylic on canvas
18 in. x 24 in. 2012
by <a href="http://www.michalwisniowski.com/"> Michal Wisniowski </a>

The Normal Podcast - Episode 5: Home

She's been asking around. Time, I reckon, for her to get in touch with Tom and Peter.

Stumped

Free Download here: http://www.growingupsong.com 
http://youtu.be/6mhtJduoCZ0

I wish that I could say that I was in a “better place” when I found out the news.  It would make for a far more polished and respectable story.  But I think back to that night: praying on the floor at 2am as Tricia went to the bathroom to take the pregnancy test I’d just purchased from Walgreens.  I was scared.  Scared to start working on new music.  Scared of trying again and failing.  Scared of the process of staring at myself through a page and seeing someone that I wasn’t proud of.  Someone that I didn’t like.  Someone that wasn’t ready to be a dad.

I’ve always had some make-believe image in my head of who I would be as a father.  I held on to clear expectations of where I wanted be in my career, my age, my level of self-care, and my maturity.  I basically assumed that I'd have it all together.  But in actuality the hypothetical “dad" version of me looked completely different than the man whose heart was beating out of his chest on the carpet, praying to a god or spirit I hadn’t talked to in months.  When Tricia walked out of the bathroom, I knew. And I knew I had to change.

5 months later we were recording in a remote cabin away from the density that is Seattle.  I was finally having fun in the studio for the first time in years.  Songs were getting made, finally. I was going back to the city once a week to attend a birthing class with Tricia.  When I got back to the cabin the next day, Ryan had made a new beat that would eventually become the song you’re listening to.  Half of it is advice about growing up.  The other half is trying to figure out how to grow up myself.

When you try to escape yourself, life has an interesting way of creating situations that force you to come back.  To look at who you are.  This is why “Growing up” felt like the right song to re-emerge with.  It’s where I’ve been the last year, through all the ups and downs.   We didn’t want to do a big campaign or anything over the top with this.  We just wanted to put out good music, directly to the people that have been here since the beginning.  Thank you for your patience. Hope you enjoy.

And if you’re wondering…

Our daughter, Sloane Ava Simone Haggerty was born 2 months ago on May 29th.  There is nothing like the joy and happiness that comes from bringing a baby into this universe.  She has filled my heart in ways that I never knew were possible.  She is the love of my life.  This song is for her. 

-Ben

Credits

Performed by Macklemore
Produced by Ryan Lewis
Featuring Ed Sheeran

Written by: B. Haggerty; R. Lewis; E. Sheeran; J. Karp; O. Arunga; J. Rawlings

Bass by Joshua "Budo" Karp
Piano by Joshua Rawlings and Joshua "Budo" Karp
Guitar by Ryan Lewis and Joshua "Budo" Karp
Trumpet by Owuor Arunga
Trombone by Greg Kramer
Vibraphone by Susan Pascal
Group Vocals by Deshe' Brooks, Tanisha Brooks, Sherri Charleston, Josephine Howell, Dana Jackson, Karma Johnson, Russell Leonce, Shaunyce Omar, Sally Reavis, Austin Rickel, Francisca Shaw, Maelu Strange and Liah Walker

Mixed by Jon Castelli
Mastered by Dale Becker
Engineered by Stephen Hogan
Assistant Engineered by Dave West (London Bridge Studios) and Scott Cedarholm (Avast Studios) 
Engineer for mix Ryan Nasci

Macklemore Publishing (BMI)
Ryan Lewis Publishing (BMI)
Gutterfunk (ASCAP)
Arunga Music (BMI)
Joshua Rawlings (ASCAP)

Ed Sheeran Limited and Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK)
Ed Sheeran appears courtesy of Asylum Records UK Ltd

© 2015 Macklemore, LLC. All rights reserved.

FREE DOWNLOAD 

Growing Up (Sloane's Song) Feat. Ed Sheeran

Notes on an Imaginary Plaque...

http://www.downtownthesong.com
http://smarturl.it/DowntownTheSong
http://open.spotify.com/album/3MVL172L0WhFYwG9wvEyFr

Performed by Macklemore
Produced by Ryan Lewis
Featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz

Written by: B. Haggerty; R. Lewis; E. Nally, J. Karp; J. Rawlings; J. Dutton; E. Flory-Barnes; T. Haggerty; D. Asplund

Bass by Ryan Lewis and Joshua "Budo" Karp
Drum Programming by Jake One, Ryan Lewis, and Joshua "Budo" Karp
Piano by Joshua Rawlings
Keyboards by Joshua Karp and Swish
Guitar by Ryan Lewis and Joshua "Budo" Karp
Saxophone by Darian Asplund
Misc Percussion by Stephen Hogan
Toms by Aaron O'Neil
Trumpet by Owuor Arunga, Jason Chambliss, William Jones and Ahamefule Oluo
Trombone by Gregory Kramer
Group Vocals by DeShe' Brooks, Gena Brooks, Tanisha Brooks, Tyler Dopps, Stephen Hogan, Josephine Howell, Maelu Strange, Joshua "Budo" Karp, Ryan Lewis, Russell Leonce, Malaelupe Samifua and Sam Townsend
Additional Vocals by Tyler "XP" Andrews

Mixed by Jon Castelli
Mastered by Dale Becker
Engineered by Stephen Hogan
Assistant Engineered by Geoff Ott & Dave West (London Bridge Studios), Scott Cedarholm (Avast Studios), and Justin Long (Robert Lang Studios)
Engineer for mix Ryan Nasci

Macklemore Publishing (BMI)
Ryan Lewis Publishing (BMI)
Gutterfunk (ASCAP)
Joshua Rawlings (ASCAP)
Eric Sean Nally (ASCAP)
Darian Asplund (BMI)
Evan Flory-Barnes (ASCAP)
Tim Haggerty (BMI)
WB MUSIC CORP. (ASCAP) AND MOMO ELENA MUSIC (ASCAP) ALL RIGHTS ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND MOMO ELENA MUSIC ADMINISTERED BY WB MUSIC CORP.  

© 2015 Macklemore, LLC. All rights reserved.

This Unruly Mess I've Made

Downtown (feat. Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Kool Moe Dee & Eric Nally)

In 1860, a chance find at sea forever changed our understanding of marine habitats, sparking an unprecedented push to explore a new world of possibilities far below the surface of our planet's oceans. Deep sea life, previously thought possible down to a maximum depth of 1,800 feet, was found in the form of creatures attached to a transatlantic telegraph cable.
Raised for repair from its resting place some 6,000 feet down on the ocean floor, the line was covered with marine species. This paradigm-shifting revelation sparked the public's imagination, fueled global scientific research and propelled the eventual development of new submarine vessels, including the record-breaking Bathysphere.

179- Bathysphere

Every day in California, about nine people die by suicide. In fact, it is the 10th leading cause of death in the state, and in the nation. But, in Sacramento, there’s a unique partnership between Sutter Medical Center's emergency departments and a community clinic that takes a hands-on approach to this devastating problem. It’s a suicide prevention arrangement that targets people who have already tried to take their own lives and find themselves alive in Sutter's Emergency Room. The outreach program aims to get them immediate treatment and also reduce hospital readmissions. It is all done over the phone. And it's working.


Suicide Prevention: Martina Castillo's Story (KQED's State of Health)

When Trop first decided to have podcasts, one of our ideas was to record readings of Trop writers' short fiction. This was a pretty natural thought. We are, after all, a collective of fiction writers.

We had some other ideas too, though, and we've been focused on turning them into the best damn Tropcasts in the world.

But, last week, that old short fiction idea bubbled up again. Peter Nichols happened to be in town. He and I spent some time in a parked car together. And, next thing we knew, we were ready to launch that short fiction series. 

We’re calling it Four-Minute Fiction for two reasons. One, it's safer to call facts fiction than fiction facts. And, two, public radio stations think all stories should be exactly four minutes long. Now, I’m totally open to breaking these rules. If a story is true, nobody needs to know that. And if we find a great piece of writing that reads out to six minutes, six minus two is four, so we're covered.

Anyway, enough text. It's time for Security, which, to this pair of ears, is a story about fear, intimidation, improvisation, and Clint Eastwood’s America.

Four-Minute Fiction: Security

We're a fiction writing collective, but sometimes we don't write fiction. Sometimes we don't even write. Come see us at <a href="http://tropmag.com/">tropmag.com</a>.

Four-Minute Fiction: Security

tropmag.com

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