This podcast is "serious cultural anthropology." I talk with Minneapolis artist Preston Drum!

Welcome to another episode of Teen People, the podcast that shares the stories of the real people who appeared in Teen People magazine!

My next guest is Preston Drum, an artist, musician and arts educator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Preston is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina. When he was 15, Preston appeared in Teen People, in a fashion spread featuring street style from Charlotte. Alongside other young folks—who were dressed in '90s staples like black nail polish, toe rings, camisoles and baggy jeans—young Preston was photographed wearing cat-eye frames, a second-hand t-shirt and a collection of beaded necklaces.

Now a dad, and husband, Preston spoke with me about the twenty years since he appeared in Teen People. He told me about his involvement with Carry On Homes, an artist collective that creates spaces for immigrants and marginalized communities to feel a sense of belonging and empowerment. https://carryonhomes.com/about

We also chatted about the joys of home ownership, aging parents, and life in the suburbs. We're not old, I promise. These are just some of the things we talked about.

We're not old.

Podcast Notes:

Preston and I had a spontaneous conversation about gardening. Preston spoke with me about his appreciation for Extension Services at American universities. These are services that provide accessible information for U.S. gardeners. Here's a page from the University of Minnesota: https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden. If you're in the U.S. you can easily find your nearest Extension Service with a quick online search.

Unfortunately, this isn't really a thing in Canada. Nonetheless, I regularly use the Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder to help me choose plants for my garden (Zone 6a): http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plantfinder/plantfindersearch.aspx.

Preston referred to Masanobu Fukuoka's "do-nothing" philosophy, which you can read more about in his book 'The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming'. Some of Fukuoka's principles (including seed bombing) are referred to in Mary Reynolds' book 'The Garden Awakening'. Her book discusses the role of ritual and folklore in landscape design, as well as practical design considerations, like understory and canopy planting, swales, and no-dig garden beds. http://marymary.ie/book-the-garden-awakening

For more information on re-wilding, check out this website from Kingston, Ontario gardener Joyce Hostyn: https://www.rewildmycity.com.

For more #GardenInspo from Canada, have a look at Tony Spencer's blog: https://www.thenewperennialist.com.

Find out why Buckthorn is worse than Crabgrass and Garlic Mustard combined (yes, I said it): https://www.ontario.ca/page/common-buckthorn.

Since Preston lives in Minneapolis, we talked about the aftermath of George Floyd's murder, and how he felt about Confederate monuments as a youngster in the U.S. South. "The Civil War was not that long ago," he said.

I told Preston about Canada's Indian Residential Schools, where Indigenous kids were forcibly removed from their homes, and moved to boarding schools. Abuse was rampant. The last of these schools closed in 1996. Read more: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools, and check out the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action: http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf

Find Preston: www.prestondrumstudios.com and on Instagram (prestondrumstudios).

Preston (and bébé Elvis) were photographed by Shun Jie Yong. https://www.shunjyong.com

I composed the intro music, while the outtro music is from Apple Inc., used on a royalty-free basis.

Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.