The Wandering Pen: Writers, Historians, and Everyday Stories

  Names of the men 

It's been fifty years since the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was lost in Lake Superior during   a snow squall. Gordon Lightfoot's song "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" made the ship infamous. Lightfoot wrote the song becaus...

From the Appalachian Trail to the African savanna, this episode explores what it means to live between two wild worlds. Each year, military veteran, Brian N. Johnson leaves his home in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee and travels to Kenya to lead safaris, capture wildlife through his lens, and share the powerful rhythm of life where lions hunt, zebras run, and elephants roam free.

Brian is currently developing his ow...

Zoning might seem like a bureaucratic afterthought—but in truth, it's one of the most powerful forces shaping our daily lives. In this episode, we explore how zoning determines where and how we live, work, and gather. My guest is the author of Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World and the founder of the National Zoning Atlas, a groundbreaking tool that brings clarity to the often-invisible rules governing land use across th...

Why does autumn feel like a story we're living inside? In What Remains: Autumn, Memory, and Meaning, Christine weaves poetry (Keats, George Eliot), paintings (Van Gogh, Millais), and music (Neil Diamond's "September Morn," Mumford & Sons' "October Skies") with the psychology of nostalgia—how scent, colder air, and seasonal change stir memory, belonging, and meaning. A short, reflective listen about beauty and loss, and what lin...

What happens when a box of forgotten World War I love letters sparks a story too powerful to stay hidden? In this episode, author Patti Stockdale shares her twenty-year journey of transforming family history into historical fiction, marked by hope, faith, and perseverance. From balancing romance and history on the page to overcoming rejection and finding resilience in the writing life, this conversation will inspire writers, rea...

Before Washington crossed the Delaware… before the victory at Yorktown… there was William Thompson

 In June 1775, this frontier fighter from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, became the very first colonel of the United States Army—leading an elite Rifle Battalion whose skill, precision, and daring helped shape America's fight for independence.

Most Americans have never heard his name. My guest, Dr. John Bonin, is a ...

What happens when a journalist who’s spent decades covering real-life crime turns to fiction to tell the stories that linger? In this compelling episode of The Wandering Pen Podcast, host Christine Musser sits down with award-winning Patriot-News journalist and thriller novelist John Luciew.

John shares how his investigative reporting on the chilling Joey Miller case—a serial rapist and killer who terrorized Harrisburg, PA—shaped ...

n this solo episode, Christine Musser opens her heart to share a personal story of profound grief, layered over decades—the loss of her only sister, her middle brother at age 15, and her husband of 43 years. What begins as a reflection on loss becomes a compassionate offering to others walking the same path.

Christine explores what it means to carry grief not once, but over a lifetime—and how healing doesn't erase the ache, but sof...

What happens when poetry dares to tell the truth? This episode of The Wandering Pen dives into the raw, revealing world of confessional poetry—a groundbreaking literary genre born in postwar America that redefined poetic voice, vulnerability, and truth-telling.

Hosted by writer and educator Christine Musser, this 30-minute literary exploration traces the movement’s evolution from Robert Lowell’s revolutionary Life Studies to the h...

What makes a story worth preserving? This episode reflects on the power of oral storytelling, honoring the guests who’ve shared their voices on The Wandering Pen Podcast. Christine shares her vision, her gratitude, and her mission to reach 1,000 listens by July 31—one story at a time. Join the journey, press play, and pass it on.

Featuring episode highlights from Cristen Hemingway Jaynes and Cynthia O’Neil.

#PodcastEpisode  #Storyt...

What happens when you walk 500 miles alone—carrying nothing but a backpack and the weight of grief?

This episode explores the transformative power of pilgrimage, the search for renewal after loss, and the unexpected healing found on the Camino de Santiago. Christine Musser talks with author and artist Maryanna Gabriel about her book Walking the Camino: On Earth As It Is.

Maryanna shares her raw story of grief, the creative process ...

What stories lie beneath forgotten headstones, behind the silence of a covered bridge, or along the curve of an old back road?

In this episode of The Wandering Pen Podcast, we meet a historian, folklorist, and storyteller who’s made it his mission to uncover Pennsylvania’s forgotten past—one cemetery, mystery, and legend at a time.

Together, we explore haunting tales of unsolved murders, lost grave markers, roadside ghost stories, ...

In this poetic solo episode of The Wandering Pen Podcast, host Christine Musser invites listeners into a world before paved roads and power lines—a time when the Endless Mountains were sacred ground to the Iroquois, Lenape, Delaware, and Shawnee peoples. Through mist and memory, rain and rhythm, Christine reflects on the spirit trails, sacred waterways, and ancestral stories that shaped this land. From Loyalsock Creek to hidden hun...

Join Christine Musser as she delves into the creative and academic worl of Nancy Jean Ross, a distinguished poet and literary translator. Our conversation unravels the intricate tapestry of Nancy’s work, where poetry, research, and translation converge to preserve and celebrate female voices across cultures and eras.              

Nancy shares her journey from the lyrical exploration of motherhood in her award-winning ...

         In this heartfelt episode of The Wandering Pen Podcast, Christine Musser sits down with writer Cynthia O’Neil. From the moss-covered hills of Western North Carolina, Cynthia shares her journey as a triracial writer, her deep bond with horses, and how land, resilience, and ancestral memory shape her voice.

Together, they explore Cynthia’s roots in Massachusetts, her experiences as a teenage mother, loss, her Native herit...

In this heartfelt solo episode, host Christine Musser pauses to reflect on the growth, gratitude, and genuine connection that have defined the first 21 episodes of The Wandering Pen. What began as a podcast rooted in vulnerability and storytelling has blossomed into a meaningful space for authors, historians, artists, and everyday people to share their truths.

Christine opens up about her challenges with anxiety and finding her voi...

Today’s episode tells the story of a trailblazing Pennsylvania family who challenged expectations and left a powerful legacy.

Based in the Harrisburg area during the early 1900s, this family defied societal norms: a mother who began a professional singing career at 50, a daughter who became one of the highest-earning women of her time and later led the National Girl Scouts, anoth...

In this episode of The Wandering Pen, host Christine Musser welcomes historian and author Shannon D. Smith, President of the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society, for a compelling conversation about the life, work, and enduring legacy of Mari Sandoz—one of the most powerful voices of the American High Plains.

Born in 1896 in a sod house in northwest Nebraska, Mari Sandoz faced relentless hardship, rejection, and personal sacrifice on he...

In this heartfelt episode, author Julie Burtinshaw joins host Christine Musser to explore the healing power of writing through personal loss and life’s most challenging moments. Julie opens up about her journey back to writing after deep grief, sharing how creativity can be both a refuge and a path to renewal. Together, Christine and Julie reflect on resilience, the challenges of staying motivated, and finding hope even when lif...