The Unruly Muse
Half hour-ish podcasts that feature songs, poems, stories, and patter built around a theme each time. Modaff and Miller are writers and stage/radio performers. Contemporary and classic writers, original stories and songs are performed.
- Update frequency
- every 31 days
- Average duration
- 37 minutes
- Episodes
- 51
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Monsters
SONG 1: "Boom" (composed and sung by John V Modaff, joined by Dan Modaff)
POEM 1: “War” by Hilda Raz. From List & Story. Also collected in Letters from a Place I’ve Never Been: Collected and New Poems…
Near Misses
SONG 1: Almost Blew My Face Off (composed and sung by jvm)
POEM 1: “If Only” by Jack Cooper. First published in Spectrum 2. Anthology edited by Don Kingfisher Campbell, 2016
Author of Across My Silenc…
Taking the Leap
Teasers by John Burroughs and Jane Francis
Song 1: "The Edge” (composed and sung by JVM)
Poem 1: “Why We Bought a Horse” by Mark Sanders. Mark lives in Nacogdoches, TX and teaches at Stephen F. Austin …
Hauntings
Poem 1: “Ghosts in my Pockets” by Julie Williams, author of Escaping Tornado Season and Drama Queens in the House.
Song 1: Chalk Marks (poem by Ivria Sackton of Austin TX, 1981, arranged and sung by …
Friends, Lost & Found
Song 1: Deaths Elsewhere (John V. Modaff)
Poem 1: “Her Brown Horse Must Rise from the Dead” by Marge Saiser. Originally published in bosque #6 literary journal. www.bosquepress.com
Short Story excerpt:…
What Is Offensive?
Song 1: “The Nasty Song” composed and sung by Dave Merrill with instrumental and vocal help from John V. Modaff and Vaughn Deel. (1984)
Poem 1: “Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home” by Mikki Aronoff. Fi…
Strange Encounters
Teasers: Ernest Hemingway, C.S. Lewis, and Heraclitus
Song 1: Grand Prize written and sung by JVM with Dan Modaff on lead guitar
Poem 1: “Window Shopping in Guatemala” by Kelly Jon Yenser, whose new bo…
What Is Magic?
Song 1: Magic Word composed and performed by John V. Modaff. Viola by Dave Merrill.
Poem 1: “Abracadabra” by Sarah Kotchian. Published in ABQ inPrint issue #3, 2019. www.bosquepress.com Her new book,…
Collecting
Teasers by Albert Einstein, Sylvia Plath, and Mackenzie Finklea
Song 1: Froney’s Museum (composed and performed by John Modaff with Dan Modaff on mandolin and solo guitar)
Poem 1: “The Invisible Woman…
Food For Thought
Teaser: Quotes from Ernestine Ulmer, Julia Child, and Maya Angelou
Song 1: Shaving Cream Eyes (Robert Hopper; played by JVM and Dan Modaff)
Poem 1: “One Toe Crooked” by Hilda Raz. Published in Lette…
Youth and Age
Teaser: Quotes from Oscar Wilde, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ernest Hemingway
Song 1: Generic Protest Song (by jvm, performed by John Modaff & Dan Modaff)
Poem 1: “Eleanor Can’t Sleep” by Susan Aizenberg, p…
MEMORY
Teaser: Quotes from Louise Glück and Milan Kundera
Song 1: “Two Trains” by written and performed by John V. Modaff and Good Enough from the CD More Than A Line(2018)
Poem 1: “All That Is Made” by Sarah…
FAITH
Teaser: Quotes from J.M. Barrie, Edgar Allen Poe, and the Buddha on faith and doubt.
Song 1: “To JC and the Boys” John V. Modaff (w/ Dan Modaff on banjo and mandolin.)
Poem 1: “Doubting Thomas” by Scot…
Closets
Teaser: Quotes by George Bernard Shaw, Henry Van Dyke, Jeremiah Brent, and Roald Dahl on closets and secrets.
Song 1: “Ballad of Mollie Bean” written and performed by John V. Modaff, with Dan Modaff o…
In/Sanity
Teaser: Oscar Wilde and Agatha Christie on in/sanity
Song 1: “Kind of Crazy” written and performed by JVM with Dan Modaff on mandolin
Poem 1: “Meditation“ by Hilda Raz. Published in Letters from a Pla…
The Country
Teaser: Opposite takes on the country by Emily Bronte in Wuthering Heights (1847) and from Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (stories written 1887-1927).
Song 1: “Saturday” (JVM with Dave Merrill …
Conversation
Teaser: Guy de Maupassant (1850-1853), master of the short story, on conversation.
Song 1: “Talking to Headstones” (John Modaff)
Poem 1: “Quickening” by Elise McHugh, Albuquerque poet and editor, pu…
Dreams
Teaser: Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), abolitionist and suffragist on Dreams.
Song 1: Just A Few of the Notes (Paul J. Nickels & jvm)
Poem 1: “Earth’s Shadow” by Claudia Putnam from THE LAND OF STONE AND…
Superstition
Thoughts on superstition from Hypatia, first documented female mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. Born 350-370––died 415 AD.
Song 1: Step On a Crack, written and performed by John V. Modaff (…
The City
Teaser: Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), American novelist, author of Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy, on New York City.
Song 1: “Old Joe,” written and performed by John V. Modaff.
Poem 1: “Halifax,…