Episode 224, Jen Jones
Jen Jones, Jen Jones, "...gonna walk around..." Jen Jones, Jen Jones, "...gonna..."
Ho, boy, if dad jokes just aren't the bees knees.
What a great guest for Episode No. 224, though!
Jen Jones is a daughter, a sibling, an educator, and so much more.
For example, she helps put together the monthly R.A.W. storytelling open-mic night at The Black Box in Kansas City (1060 Union Avenue), and the upcoming installment is this Monday, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Their Instagram handle is @raw_storytellingkc, and The Black Box's is @theblackboxkc.
Jen also turned me on to cool things like the Missouri Writing Projects Network, the Greater Kansas City Writing Project (@gkcwp), and the Show Me Literacies Collaborative (@moliteracies). I could carry on and tell you about how cool her professional-educator's week is (roughly) shaped, or how organically she provided some cool storytelling tidbits in our conversation, but I wouldn't want to gloss over the amazingness that is her as the recipient of the 2025 Missouri Teacher of the Year award.
Lots of good reasons for you to give this one a listen, and to add to it, we talked about a few of Jen's favorite albums, which were these:
Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982)
Rent, the Original Broadway Cast Recording (1996)
Counting Crows' Across a Wire: Live in New York City (1998)
When the Pawn... (1999), Fiona Apple
Many thanks to Jen for the time and the talk. And many thanks to all of you who support the show. Also: I can't remember if it was Jen's episode or Emma Jo's, but I meant to correct myself on the Saving Private Ryan dirt-jar writing; pretty sure I goofed it.
copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio clips contained within this episode. They are snippets from the epic Phil Collins* tune, "Another Day in Paradise," which comes from his 1989 release, ...But Seriously, c/o Philip Collins LTD, under exclusive license to Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company.
* If you're a Phil Collins hater, you're not wanted here and should hastily find some rocks to kick.