In the worlds of audio and podcasting, Julie Shapiro is a bit of a thing. She was co-founder and artistic director of the vaunted Third Coast Audio Festival. She was executive producer of the podcast Ear Hustle, which won critical acclaim for taking listeners behind prison walls and humanizing the inmate experience. She’s held creative leadership positions in several big audio houses. And she is co-founder of a super cool audio art project called Audio Flux, which asks contributors to create three-minute audio pieces and has taken inspiration from - among other themes - pets. It turns out pets have always been a part of Julie’s life and she just added TimTam, a year-old rescue pup, to the family. She talks about the “happy chaos” that now reigns with the pup’s arrival and how he has made her listen differently; about Thurston, the dog who came before TimTam and set such a high bar; and about the story behind “Fluxy,” the feline face of Audio Flux. Plus, Julie takes us behind the scenes of the Audio Flux "circuit" called Pet Sounds and you’ll hear one that so poignantly captures the role of a pet in our lives. (Bring a Kleenex) Julie also shares the theme and prompts for the upcoming circuit of Audio Flux so if you fancy yourself a storyteller - or just want to contribute to a cool art project - make sure to listen to the end. Submissions are open now.

For more information on the latest Audio Flux circuit, go to www.audioflux.org or @audiofluxing on Instagram

Listen to the rest of the Pet Sounds Audio Flux circuit here

Julie talks about artist Ben Lenovitz’s pet paintings, which inspired the Pet Sounds circuit. You can find him and his work here

Magnus the Maine Coon, the Fluxwork we played in this episode, was produced by Jasmyn Morris, who can be found here

Magnus the Maine Coon was produced by Jasmyn Morris

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TimTam's Mom (aka Podcasting Guru Julie Shapiro)