_

This is Greenleaf & the Black Blade, a serialized adventure podcast. My name is Andrew Israelsen, and I am the creator and primary writer of the series. This story began as a tabletop RPG played by myself, my wife Shannon Israelsen, and our friends Nick Smith and Patrick Grafton-Cardwell, some years ago. We are now working in collaboration again to present an expanded version of the story we created together in audio-visual form.

I love traditional high fantasy and weird fiction, with a special admiration for the old masters: Tolkien, Eddison, Peake, Lewis, Lovecraft, Machen, and Smith, as well as newer giants like R.A. Lafferty and Gene Wolfe. I have an M.A. in philosophy from Loyola Marymount University, and a PhD in philosophy from Purdue. I have taught at a variety of institutions of higher learning, and my main areas of interest and research are Kant and German Idealism. I also like neon lights, heavy rainfall, synthesizer music, the 1980s, Porsche 944s, and Los Angeles.

The Cast:

I narrate the story and do most of the NPCs (non-player characters). I also do the sound effects, and some initial editing and mixing.

Shannon Israelsen created and wrote the character of Nima Greenleaf, and she voices various minor characters throughout the series. An accomplished scholar in physics and history, Shannon's interests of late have been theological in nature, with a special interest in St. Thomas Aquinas.

Nick Smith created and wrote the character of Johannes Bruckner. He voices General Aleksander, and Inquisitor Xavier Heartstone. Nick is a friend of mine from Romania. He's fairly taciturn, so it's hard to say what he likes. He just agreed to do this.

Jared Israelsen voices the characters of Johannes Bruckner and King Hector Janessin. A recent graduate in physics from Utah Valley University, Jared will soon begin a PhD program in physics at the University of Oklahoma. Jared also enjoys reading, Greek mythology, and anime.

Penny James voices Nima Greenleaf. An accomplished linguist, Penny is fluent in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and is currently learning Korean. She is an adept volleyball player, and a great lover of K-pop and K-dramas.

Z. Tanner voices Toril. Z. is an accomplished man in the fields of metalwork and mechanical fabrication. He enjoys weapons of all sorts, fringe music, and tabletop rpgs.

Patrick Grafton-Cardwell does the music, as well as additional sound design, and final sound mixing. An avid mountain climber, father to three growing girls, and teacher extraordinaire, Patrick earned his PhD in philosophy from UMass Amherst, with an emphasis in metaphysics.

The background picture is one I took at the raceway at the Bonneville Salt Flats, in Utah. The pic below is of Lake Louise--I took it a few years ago, during a summer when wildfires had filled the whole region with smoke.