Episodes

Just moments after closing Opening Night of the 2026 Harmony in the Woods concert season, Meghan Parnell and Dave Barnes of Bywater Call returned to the stage, not for an encore, but for a honest conversation with HarmonyTALK host Greg Frigoletto. The result is an interview that feels every bit as genuine as the band's music. Over the past several years, the Toronto-based, seven-piece band has quietly become one of the most exciting live acts on the international roots music scene. Blendin...

When Dance Changes Everything: Rebecca Davis and the Children Who Learned They Matter Rebecca Davis thought dance would become her career. Instead, it became her calling. In this special HarmonyTALK encore presentation, host Lisa Champeau revisits one of the podcast's most inspiring conversations with the founder of MindLeaps, a nonprofit organization that has transformed the lives of thousands of vulnerable children around the globe through dance and education. Rebecca's journey began in...

Some dreams begin with a destination. Others become a lifelong way of leading. As a young girl growing up in Montville, New Jersey, Lindsey Chrismon set her sights on one place: West Point. It was an ambitious goal, one that would shape nearly every chapter that followed. In this encore presentation of one of HarmonyTALK's favorite conversations, host Greg Frigoletto sits down with Lindsey to explore an extraordinary journey defined not simply by achievement, but by purpose. That pur...

Some of Broadway's biggest stars never step into the spotlight. They stand in the orchestra pit. In this encore episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau welcomes Dan Micciche, Music Director and Conductor of WICKED on Broadway, for a fascinating conversation about the artistry, discipline, and teamwork required to keep one of the most successful musicals in theater history performing at its highest level, night after night. For more than nine years, Dan has helped guide the musical he...

The Harmony in the Woods summer concert opens its sixth season this weekend in Hawley, Pennsylvania, welcoming world-class musicians from around the globe to its intimate outdoor amphitheater nestled among the trees, including today’s HarmonyTALK guest Taylor Ashton. This year's 23-concert season, which opens Friday, July 3, with Toronto's acclaimed Bywater Call, runs every weekend through September 5th and celebrates roots, rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Americana, global music and more. Taylo...

Most people spend a lifetime trying to balance their passions. Tannis Kowalchuk planted hers in the same field. In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with the artistic director of Farm Arts Collective and co-owner of Willow Wisp Organic Farm along Pennsylvania's Delaware River. A performer at heart, Tannis always knew she belonged on a stage. Then she met a farmer. What followed was a remarkable journey that combined two seemingly different worlds into one life's ...

From Rural Pennsylvania to the World's Greatest Opera Houses For most kids who grow up in a small rural town, the world's great opera houses can feel unimaginably far away. For Melanie Henley Heyn, they became home. In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with the internationally acclaimed opera singer whose journey began at age ten in a production of Amahl and the Night Visitors and eventually carried her from Wayne County in Northeastern Pennsylvania to stages acros...

What Happens When a Reporter Stops Looking Away? For most people, curiosity lasts a few moments. For Matt Birkbeck, it became a life's work. Long before true crime podcasts dominated streaming platforms and documentary series filled television schedules, Birkbeck was chasing leads, knocking on doors, digging through court records, and asking questions others overlooked. His reporting led him deep into stories involving organized crime, political corruption, missing persons, financial...

Before 911, Before Organ Donation Laws, Before Physician Assistants Imagine calling for help during a medical emergency in the 1960s and discovering there was no coordinated EMS system. Imagine lifesaving organs being lost because there was no legal framework for donation. Imagine overworked doctors without trained Physician Assistants helping bridge the gap in care. That was American healthcare before identical twin brothers Fred Sadler, M.D., and Blair Sadler, J.D. started working to...

From 14 Straight Losses to National Coach of the Year: The Chris Ayres Story Chris Ayres knows what it feels like to struggle before things finally click. Long before becoming one of college wrestling’s most respected coaches, he lost 14 straight matches as a youth wrestler. Most athletes would have quit. Instead, Ayres stayed in the fight. In this inspiring episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto speaks with the New Jersey native about resilience, leadership, and the unlikely ...

When Music Becomes Common Ground: Harvey Price and the Peace Drums Project What if the path to peace started with children simply playing music together? In this moving episode of HarmonyTALK, host Todd Stephens sits down with renowned percussionist, jazz vibraphonist, educator and Peace Drums Project founder Harvey Price to explore how one unlikely instrument became a bridge across cultural and religious divides in the war-torn Middle East. After decades as a music educator and director ...

All’s Well That Ends Well: Michael Bradshaw Flynn On Bringing Back the Bard Fifteen years ago, staging Shakespeare in Scranton sounded improbable to plenty of people, especially to some New York theater types. The original production was intended as a one-time public performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Nay Aug Park. Organizers hoped a modest audience would turn out for the celebrated Bard. Instead, more than 1,000 people packed into the park. In this episode of HarmonyTALK, hos...

From the Black Forest to Honesdale: A Story Grown by Hand What does it look like to build a life slowly, intentionally, and with your hands in the soil? In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with Gudrun Feigl, founder of Mount Pleasant Herbary, whose journey from Germany’s Black Forest to Northeastern Pennsylvania is rooted in memory, creativity, and quiet persistence. Gudrun did not set out to become an entrepreneur. Trained as a social worker, she arrived in the U...

Scranton: The City Fans Thought They Knew How did an architect end up reshaping a city’s pop culture identity? In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Todd Stephens sits down with Michele Dempsey, architect, entrepreneur, single mom, and one of the creative forces who helped turn Scranton’s connection to ‘The Office’ into something no one expected: pride, tourism and a renewed identity. Set as the backdrop for the cult NBC sitcom, Scranton risked becoming the butt of national jokes. But Mich...

Following a Different Beat: From State Trooper to Global Travel Guide What happens when the thing you’ve always loved becomes the center of your life? In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto sits down with Matt Kizis, whose journey reflects a powerful shift toward alignment and possibility. After years of service as a dedicated Pennsylvania State Trooper, Matt traded in his badge for a passport, deciding to follow his passion for travel and turn it into his life’s work. Toget...

Inside George Magazine: Lisa DePaulo on JFK Jr., Journalism, and Getting the Story Right That second call brought the Dunmore, Pennsylvania, native into one of the most influential media spaces of the 1990s. DePaulo shares what it was like to work with JFK Jr. as an editor, how he shaped her approach to reporting, and what he understood about the balance between access and restraint. She reflects on the culture inside George, where politics and celebrity met, and where strong journalism still...

What happens when a story you love becomes the life you choose? In this powerful episode of HarmonyTALK, host Todd Stephens sits down with Scranton native Mike Kunda, founder of the Yo, Philly! Rocky Film Tour and one of the most recognized Rocky impersonators in the world. As a child, Mike faced bullying, insecurity, and a deep sense of not belonging. Then he discovered Rocky. What began as escape became identity. What began as imitation became transformation. Mike shares how he turned...

How many ceilings can one woman break? Pat Mitchell stopped counting. In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with a true original. A woman who did not just rise through the ranks of media, she reshaped them. Pat Mitchell is a serial ceiling smasher. The first female president of PBS and CNN. The first woman to own and host a nationally syndicated daily talk show. And long before the titles, she was a young woman willing to risk everything to build a life that did not ...

Chef Von on Hustle, Reinvention and Building Something Real What does it take to bet on yourself when there’s no backup plan? In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto sits down with Chef Ryan Von Smith, known as Chef Von, a self-taught chef whose journey spans Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Macau. After leaving Scranton, Pennsylvania, in search of something bigger, Chef Von worked his way from the door - as a bouncer - at Tao Asian Bistro into high-pressure kitchens acro...

Beyond the Tank: When the Real Entrepreneurial Journey Begins Many entrepreneurs dream of appearing on Shark Tank. But what happens after the cameras turn off? In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with Scranton native and inventor Kim Meckwood, founder of Click & Carry, the simple but ingenious device designed to make carrying grocery bags, paint cans, sports equipment, and everyday loads dramatically easier. Kim’s idea began with a familiar frustration. While ha...

What happens when the people you are studying ask you to stand beside them instead? In this powerful episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau interviews Judy Frater, a Pennsylvania-born Fulbright Scholar, Ashoka Fellow, design educator, author and founder of India’s first design school for traditional textile artisans. After moving to Kutch, India, more than 30 years ago, Judy’s academic research took an unexpected turn when an artisan asked her a life-altering question:”Instead of study...

How do you choreograph change when life shifts beneath your feet? On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto sits down with internationally acclaimed choreographer, creative director, educator and podcast host Cherice Barton to explore what it means to move through evolving seasons with grace, humor, and purpose. With a career spanning Broadway, Cirque, television, ballet and global immersive productions, Cherice understands discipline, scale and creative leadership. At home, she...

Jeff Braverman joins HarmonyTALK to reflect on 30 years of leadership at Camp Nesher and the unexpected decisions that helped shape one of its most meaningful legacies. What began as a dream to create a vibrant summer camp experience centered on community and faith took an unexpected turn when he was approached by a parent who asked if their wheelchair-bound child with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy could be accommodated and welcomed at camp. Braverman’s decision to move forward would become ...

How do you scale a bold idea into a movement? In this HarmonyTALK podcast episode, host Lisa Champeau interviews Dakota Kate Isaacs, the first U.S. employee at DECIEM and former Director of DECIEM USA. Dakota helped grow The Ordinary into one of the most disruptive beauty brands in the world, expanding to more than 2,500 retail locations across North America. She discusses scaling disruption, working alongside founder Brandon Truaxe, executive producing the documentary The Abnormal Beauty ...