Advertise on podcast: Stories from the Center of the Universe

I was fortunate to meet Bruce Priddy Spiller at her store, Miss Timmie's, a few weeks ago. On that visit I also met her brother, Sumpter Priddy. This episode is a conversation with Sumpter, author of "American Fancy, Exuberance in the Arts 1790-1840". We chatted about the book and other interesting aspects of his life.

Tracie Adams rejoins me in the Center of the Universe to chat about her second book, "Not Finished Yet, Essays on the Rhythmic Beauty of a Life in Flux". I have a signed copy, both signed by Tracie and her husband. We also chatted about her many varying experiences in New Zealand for her senior year of high school. I'm old enough to admit that one of her essays made me cry, TWICE. If you read that essay or hear her recite it in this episode, you will cry. If you don't, you should take a long look in the mirror. Having Tracie rejoin the podcast was an honor and a treat. So grateful for her recording with me a second time.

Football to basketball

More football

Conference Championships and a look ahead to Super Bowl LX

More football talk.

Paul has a 1on1 guest on for the first time since September of 2025. Paul welcomed a long time friend, Cliff Hyman, to the podcast. They talked about how they met and they started to talk about some story, but said they would come back to it later! Cliff told Paul something he didn’t know which is that he grew up just outside of Lynchburg in Amherst, Virginia. His family moved to the area and ended up settling in Rockville. Cliff lived in Rockville until eight years ago when he moved to Ashland. They talked about his childhood, some of his close friends growing up and the story they referenced earlier. It was about a baseball game they played in when they were on opposing teams … let’s just say it was a good day for Paul and the Ashland All Stars. They talked about Cliff playing baseball in high school, the changes from when they played and now and they spoke about how they played softball together. They next talked about Cliff and running. Cliff ran his first race in 2004 and then there was some off and on between him and running the next fifteen years. He has been running consistently since 2020 and has run in five marathons including having a great experience when he ran in the United States Marine Corps Marathon in the fall of 2025.

More NFL talk

The regular season ends. The playoffs begin.

More NFL as the regular season comes to a close and we look forward to the playoffs.

More NFL talk

More NFL talk

More football talk.

Zach, Rob and Jack join the podcast to chat more about the NFL.

Zach, Rob and Jack are back.