Storybeat with Steve Cuden

New York Times bestselling and multi-award-winning author, Wanda E. Brunstetter, is considered one of the founders of the Amish fiction genre. Wanda’s written more than 100 books, with over 12 million copies sold, and her work has been translated into 4 languages. Wanda’s stories consistently earn spots on the nation’s most prestigious bestseller lists. 

 Wanda’s ancestors were part of the Anabaptist faith, and her novels are based ...

Qin Sun Stubis is a newspaper columnist, poet, and author of the award-winning historical saga, Once Our Lives, the remarkable true story of four generations of Chinese women who struggled to survive war, revolution, and the eerie power of an ancient superstition that seemed to change their lives for nearly 100 years.

Born in the squalor of a Shanghai shantytown, Qin overcame poverty, starvation, and the political persecution of her...

Animation Director Bill Kroyer was nominated for an Academy Award for his short film Technological Threat, the first film to combine 2D and CG animated characters. He’s perhaps best known for directing the popular animated film, Ferngully, The Last Rainforest, as well as working on dozens of commercials and animated feature film credit sequences. He is also known for having developing the computer generated Lightcycles in the origi...

The highly popular documentary filmmaker, Rick Sebak, is a native Pittsburgher, who’s worked at Pittsburgh’s PBS station WQED since 1987.

Rick’s created dozens of local TV documentaries known collectively as The Pittsburgh History Series, including: “Kennywood Memories,” “What Makes Pittsburgh Pittsburgh?” and “Right Beside The River” as well as many more. He’s also produced 15 national programs for PBS including “A Hot Dog Program,...

David Arnoff’s career kicked off with the photos for the Cramps’ Songs the Lord Taught Us album. Since then, he has contributed to dozens of releases by artists including the Dream Syndicate, X, Ramones and the Gun Club.

A collection of his work, Shot in the Dark, has been published in the U.S., U.K. and Spain. He has had solo exhibits in Berlin, London, Tokyo, Den Hague and Los Angeles, as well as group shows across the States and ...

Ed Driscoll is joining me for the second time on StoryBeat. Ed’s an Emmy Award-winning comedian, writer and producer who’s worked with some of the biggest stars in the entertainment industry including: Billy Crystal, Joan Rivers, Michael Bublé, and Dennis Miller to name just a few! Ed’s produced material for variety shows, sitcoms, movies, and live theater. And he’s been a stand-up comedian for over 25 years. 

Ed’s authored five cri...

Lady Dhyana Ziegler is currently President and CEO of Z/Creators, LLC and Professor Emerita of Florida A&M University. She’s worked in the field of higher education and technology for more than 35 years as a professor and administrator. 

Dr. Ziegler is the author of four books, more than 60 scholarly publications - including book chapters - and has produced more than 100 videos and other multimedia works. She most recently publi...

Samuel A. Simon started his career in Washington, DC as a lawyer for Ralph Nader’s first advocacy group, becoming part of the infamous Nader’s Raiders. He then spent 25 years as the head of a public affairs firm. In that work, he was often in the news, appearing on Face The Nation, The Phil Donahue Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and many more. 

Sam subsequently became a playwright and calls his playwriting and t...

Marcia Peck is an award-winning writer and accomplished musician, celebrating over 50 years as a cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra. 

Inspired by the rhythms and sounds of music echoed in language, her debut novel, Water Music: A Cape Cod Story, combines all her passions – music, writing, and Cape Cod. The book has received critical acclaim and numerous book awards, including Literary Titan Gold, National Indie Excellence, New Eng...

Steven L. Sears began his career as an actor. He moved on to become a writer, story editor, producer and creator in TV, film, digital media, and animation. He’s worked on such TV series as: Riptide, Hardcastle & McCormick, The A-Team, Stingray, Walker-Texas Ranger, The Highwayman, Hollywood Detective, Grand Slam, Jesse Hawkes, Superboy, S.H.E. Spies and other popular favorites. 

 He produced Swamp Thing for the USA Network, Rave...

For our 350th episode, we present to you the fantastic, world-renowned Rock ‘n Roll singer-songwriter-musician-poet and author, Suzi Quatro, who happens to be making her second appearance on StoryBeat. Suzi’s been writing and performing music since she was in her teens and is widely considered to be one of the most influential rock bassists and singers of her generation.

Suzi has sold over 55 million records, putting out such hits a...

Writer-director Jonathan L. Bowen started a film review site in high school, which he continued into college, ultimately posting more than 600 movie reviews. After moving to L.A. to pursue a film career, he started making independent music videos, then established a production company, JLB Media Productions, that specializes in business-to-business marketing and web videos. 

His music videos, short films, and features have been scre...

Christian Schu is a dedicated filmmaker who sees filmmaking and advertising as storytelling arts. Since becoming a commercial filmmaker in 2015, he’s focused on creating narratives that deeply engage viewers through emotion.

Christian’s career includes working in virtual studios, sporting events, and collaborations with popular German business speakers. 

Since 2019, Christian has been producing visually stunning content for top hi-fi...

Kiesha Lalama is an internationally recognized dancer, choreographer, and teacher who has created works for stage, film and TV. She is currently Point Park University’s interim Dean of Theatre, Film and Animation, and the Executive Producer of the Pittsburgh Playhouse. 

Kiesha co-founded and has choreographed 15 years of Broadway’s the Jimmy Awards, which has reached over 120,000 students annually. 

She choreographed the feature film...

Bestselling historical fiction author Sharon Virts is a successful entrepreneur and visionary who, after more than twenty-five years in business, followed her passion for storytelling. She’s received numerous accolades for her commitment to historic preservation, earning national recognition for both her business achievements and philanthropic endeavors.

Beyond her business acumen, Sharon is a gifted visual artist, intertwining her ...

Drew Brody is an award-winning writer and producer whose films, web series, stage plays, and other live events in Los Angeles and New York have featured Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Jenny O’Hara, Bill Pullman, Sara Rue, Martin Sheen, James Gammon, and French Stewart, among many others. Drew has produced dozens of world premieres for the stage including two plays by Pulitzer Prize winning playwrights: It Wasn’t Proust by Sam Shepard, and...

The journalist Richie McGinniss has always craved action. As a reporter he’s found it – and a lot more – in the chaos of the streets, embedding himself with protestors to cover the most divisive and violent demonstrations in American history.

Richie may be a media professional of the new era, posting his intense, on-the-ground videos on social media, but he brings an old-school newsman’s credibility from his extensive professional e...

Cleo Childs released her spoken word poetry album, “Moving With” in May 2024. And her book, also called “Moving With,” is soon to be released. 

Both projects are the culmination of years of writing about the journey of grief Cleo experienced after losing her mother to Alzheimer’s when she was 28 years old. 

Cleo’s mom was an English major in college and her grandmother, who is also one of her editors, was an English teacher for 30 ye...

Gabby Gruen spent most of his professional life as a writer-producer inside the country’s most prominent ad agencies. 

After twenty years of elevating the brands of some of our most prestigious advertisers, and with the help of a Screenwriting MFA from UCLA, Gabby started writing screenplays. His original scripts found homes inside a major motion picture studio and on assignment for several less prominent purveyors of the cinematic ...