The Voice Mail page. (This is the weekly podcast — for free samples, click on the episodes without the miniature padlocks.)
Mike’s ability to spin his 20+ books and wide range of life experiences into humorous and heartfelt live presentations have put him in great demand as a public speaker. In addition to his one-man theater shows, Mike has delivered entertaining keynote addresses at conferences for software companies, hospitals and health care organizations, fire and EMS providers, farming and agricultural groups, national and regional utility cooperatives, business and economic development entities, governmental agencies, mental health organizations, dental hygienists, faith-based organizations, logging conventions, book festivals, MFA programs, libraries, and countless others. If you’re interested in retaining Mike for your event, please contact his booking agent here.
The mailing list signup (explained very specifically). We hope you’ll consider joining; it’s old-fashioned but way more loyal than social media. It’s also the best and most direct way to know when Mike’s got something new or is performing near you.
Unless I slip and fall and break my larynx, I’m about to record the 300th episode of Michael Perry’s Voice Mail. We fired the first episode into the atmosphere on July 31, 2020, and have been putting one out pretty much once a week ever since. What is it, exactly? A mini-podcast? An email? A photo album? An audio essay? I know when I first conceived of it, I named it Voice Mail because I wanted it to come through like a call a friend left on your answering machine (the pioneer version of voice mail). Informal and relatively brief (10-15 minutes, give or take some either way), yet still worth your time. I wanted some of it to be polished, and I wanted some of it to be off the cuff. I wanted to include some behind-the-scenes stuff that gets at the day-to-day of what life as a self-employed writer/yapper/whatever-this-might-be is like. And I also wanted it–for lack of a more artful term–to be “value-added.” That is, sharing material that doesn’t appear in my books or on our other social media platforms. Sometimes that’s a peek at early drafts of a book or an essay in progress. Sometimes that’s a phone recording of a new song that’s still in the “figuring it out” stage. Sometimes it’s me digging into a box in the pole barn and revisiting a poem or a magazine piece or a pizza commercial I wrote back when I was still “Michael Ryan.” Over time we’ve also added what I call the “Marginalia” section, where we drop annotated excerpts from books I’m reading, or photos related to the audio or the essay, or just random moments of goofiness or peace.
At the end of the day, I’m a writer. No matter what form it takes, none of it happens if I don’t sit down alone and practice that craft. The Voice Mail project grows from that, and I hope serves to both uplift and expand the experience of the folks who subscribe and listen. Each week when I sit down to the microphone I imagine we’re at the kitchen table or cafe counter together, visiting.
Links to all the free episodes below, but first an example of recent Marginalia:
Thinking about highlighting random bits and pieces to suit/inform my reference and feeling dumb or inadequate that I do not/cannot pull it all together and present in whole form as does the scholar, I realize that is not my forte nor my ability but that my child-eyed granular take may be the way in for other non-scholars like myself who nonetheless hunger for & value these knowledges and insights*. (This after a Packers game and the woodstove with my little family that is so kind to me despite all my distant headspace.) *self-cultivation
“Michael Perry’s Voice Mail” is subscription-based but once a month or so there is a free episode. For ease of access we have collected all the free episodes to date in one spot. Please click on any or all of the links below to listen to any and all of the free episodes. If you enjoy the episodes and would like to listen to the paid episodes for a month free on us, please send an email to [email protected].
From Mike: In my last-ever interview with Wisconsin Public Radio legend Larry Meiller, we discussed fatherhood, Population 485 being optioned for a Broadway musical, the power of empathy and kindness, the surprising success and deep connections of Forty Acres Deep, and the improbable mentors who showed us the path before the path was clear…including Larry’s anecdote about the mentor who gave him advice about how to talk on the radio that led to a 59 year career.
Larry reminisces with Wisconsin author Michael Perry. Then, we celebrate the music of 1967 — the first year Larry was on the radio — with Tom Wilmeth, a recurring guest and music aficionado.
Telling stories about life in Wisconsin
The most touching and humorous stories are often those about everyday life. Whether it’s the joys or challenges of parenting, working or spending time with friends and neighbors, those tales speak to us on a very human level. Few people have more of an eye for that than Michael Perry. We catch up with this Wisconsin author.
The year of 1967 is often referred to as the “Summer of Love.” That spring, Larry made his debut on the WPR airwaves! We travel back to that moment in time with our friend Tom Wilmeth, who has a playlist of hits from 1967. Find Tom’s 1967 playlist here.
Michael Perry’s Final Visit to The Larry Meiller Show
Michael Perry recently joined Scott Morfitt of the “Who’s This For?” podcast for a discussion on writing, mentoring, farm boy antics, and John Prine. Michael’s latest book Improbable Mentors was also in the mix.
“No video games? No smart phones? Not even a TV? Weren’t you bored?”