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Freedom to Read Week: Letter from the Free World

Kurt Vonnegut famously said, “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anyone tell you different.” Well, I just …

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Freedom to Read Week: Letter from an Indianapolis Jail—Friends I Made in Prison

Listen: While I’m writing this, an awesome jazz band is playing over the sounds of a dozen interesting conversations, and earlier I heard Aleta Hodge, …

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KVML Freedom to Read Week: Letter from an Indiana Prison – “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Last night’s Freedom to Read program at the Kurt VonnegutMuseum and Library (KVML) featured a group of intelligent and passionatespeakers on writing from prison …

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KVML Freedom to Read Week: Letter from an Indiana Prison – Hurray for Our Team!

As I’m living in the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library (KVML) this week, I thought I would let Kurt start my ramblings today with two …

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KVML Freedom to Read Week: Letter from an Indianapolis Jail – Poets Deserve to Be Banned, Too!!

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] There aren’t very many works of poetry on the Banned Books List, and I think that’s a shame! I mean, Shel Silverstein made the …

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Rachel’s Suggested Vonnegut Reading Order

This blog was written by Rachel Kisken, one of our summer interns in 2017. It never got published when she was here, but we’ve decided …

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Musician Charlie Ballantine

Join us as we talk to musician Charlie Ballantine. We discuss capturing the mood of Vonnegut’s work through music, retaining childlike wonder, chicken wings in …

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Artist Beatriz Vasquez

Join us as we talk to artist Beatriz Vasquez. We discuss how Kurt’s creative process has influenced Beatriz, what papel picado is, why being an …

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Robert Montgomery and Kevin Finch

Join us for a talk with musician Wes Montgomery’s son Robert Montgomery and filmmaker Kevin Finch. We discuss the Indianapolis roots of both Wes and …

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How Jon Fishman’s Soul Grows

Join us as we talk to Phish’s Jon Fishman. We discuss the Vonnegut novel that destroyed religion for Jon, dealing with fame, playing the vacuum …

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How Christina Jarvis’s Soul Grows

Join us as we talk to author and professor, Christina Jarvis. We discuss how Christina’s book stealing led to finding Vonnegut, the correct pronunciation of …

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How Author Ginger Strand’s Soul Grows

Join us as we talk to the author of The Brother’s Vonnegut, Ginger Strand. We discuss how she found Vonnegut through cloud seeding, what surprised …

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How Musician Rhett Miller’s Soul Grows

Join us as we talk to musician and lead singer of the Old 97’s, Rhett Miller. We discuss how Rhett has passed down Vonnegut’s work …

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How Musicians Jared and Joshua Thompson’s Soul Grows

Join us as we talk to musicians Jared and Joshua Thompson. We discuss Vonnegut’s love for jazz, the ways writers influence music, Hoosier creativity, and …

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How Comedian Lewis Black’s Soul Grows

Join us as we talk to comedian Lewis Black. We discuss how he discovered Vonnegut working at a parking lot, why he wanted to be …

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How Comedian Gary Gulman’s Soul Grows

Join us for the inaugural and ephemeral episode of The Vonnecast (whatever that means) with comedian Gary Gulman. We discuss how Gary found Vonnegut, Dutch …

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KVML Freedom to Read Week: Letter from an Indianapolis Jail – Why Am I Here?

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Welcome to Freedom to Read Week at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library (KVML) in Indianapolis. As most of you know, this annual event …

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The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library just got even cooler.

On what would have been Kurt’s 99 th birthday this year on November 11, world-famous actorand comedian Lewis Black was named the new chairperson of …

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Kathi Badertscher, PhD

Director of Graduate Programs at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
Kathi Badertscher, PhD, is Director of Graduate Programs at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Dr. Badertscher teaches a variety of BA, MA, and doctoral courses, including Applying Ethics in Philanthropy and History of Philanthropy. She has participated in several Teaching Vonnegut workshops and is a member of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. Dr. Badertscher has been a guest speaker on ethics in philanthropy, including at the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners – Indianapolis Council; Association of Fundraising Professionals – Indiana Chapter; and Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin, China. In 2019 she received IUPUI Office for Women, Women’s Leadership Award for Newcomer Faculty. In 2019 and 2020 she received the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Graduate Teaching Award.
Dr. Badertscher’s publications include “Fundraising for Advocacy and Social Change,” co-authored with Shariq Siddiqui in Achieving Excellence in Fundraising, 5th ed., 2022; “Insulin at 100: Indianapolis, Toronto, Woods Hole, and the ‘Insulin Road,’ co-authored with Christopher Rutty, Pharmacy in History (2020); and three articles in the Indiana Magazine of History: “A New Wishard Is on the Way,” “Evaline Holliday and the Work of Community Service,” and “Social Networks in Indianapolis during the Progressive Era.” Her chapters on social welfare history will appear in three upcoming edited volumes on the history of philanthropy, including “The Legacy of Edna Henry and Her Contributions to the IU School of Social Work,” Women at Indiana University: Views of the Past and the Future, edited by Andrea Walton, Indiana University Press, 2022 (forthcoming). Dr. Badertscher is also the Philanthropy and Nonprofits Consulting Editor for the forthcoming Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, edited by David J. Bodenhamer and Elizabeth Van Allen, Indiana University Press, 2021. Dr. Badertscher is an active volunteer in the Indianapolis community. At present, she is a Coburn Place Safe Haven Board Member and a Children’s Bureau/Families First Brand and Marketing Advisor. Dr. Badertscher holds the MA in History from Indiana University and the MA and PhD in philanthropic studies from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

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