Good and Decent EP 10: From Old to New
Producer
In this episode, Grotto hosts Becky Rogers and Liz Colleran speak with Jacob Zumo, an artist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Becky is Grotto’s art director and Liz is our assignment desk manager, so they’re pretty hands-on in our creative process — the conversation they share with Jacob digs into storytelling with art. Jacob says he wants to paint images that are arrestingly beautiful, and that cause people to wonder, “What’s the story behind that?” Jacob is a bridge-builder as an artist — he’s classically trained, but also does paintings for rappers and athletes. He talks about “pushing the sacred” whenever he can — he honed his craft in Florence, Italy but brings a modern take to sacred art so that people feel connected to his paintings, especially people from underrepresented communities.
Good and Decent EP 14: Backstrokes and Headspins
Producer
In this episode, breakdancer Nimoy Vaidya and marathon swimmer Br. Matt Wooters, SJ, meet for the first time. We walk with them from a Chicago coffee shop, and then down to the lakefront, as they discuss their passions — and dive into how they started getting out of their comfort zones.
Good and Decent EP 13: Reaching Out
Producer
In this episode, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, the former captain of Notre Dame’s football team and an NFL hopeful, shares his journey through grief to find hope in his faith and caring for his mental health. Grotto producers Josh Long and Kevin DeCloedt talk about what it was like filming Myron’s story, and introduce a conversation Myron had with ND strength coach Matt Balis. Then we hang out with Myron and his roommate (and fellow ND teammate) Michael Vinson as they discuss grief, the pressures of college, caring for mental health, and finding faith as a glue to hold it all together.
Good and Decent Ep 8: Finding Home
Contributing Editor
Fresh off of a cross-country move, Adrienne is starting a family and looking to make his house a home. It’s a struggle to find a place — and the right people — where they feel like they belong. The conversation in the newest episode of our Good and Decent podcast uses some interesting stories to explore how we find “home.” Adrienne and Sara speak with Daniel Baker, a neighborhood carpenter who creates home furnishings without the use of any power tools. The craftsmanship he invests in his pieces connects him to his community in a deep way — he wants to be present to his neighbors “from crib to coffin.”
They also speak with Alan Graham, who founded a 27-acre community of tiny houses and homes designed to lift up off the streets the most “outcast, lost, and abandoned people” in Austin, TX: the chronically homeless.