Mountain Magnolia's Podcast (2026)

10/12/2025

🎙️ NEW EPISODE — The Mountain Magnolia Show
Holiday Happenings at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts with John Hall

I had the joy of sitting down with John Hall — associate director at BMCA and a beloved actor, associate director, and arts advocate in our community. We talked deeply about all the incredible Holiday Happenings coming up over the next two weeks, and y’all… these events are something special.

Right here in our little town, we have world-class music, storytelling, comedy, and Appalachian traditions taking the stage. 🎭✨

Here’s a taste of what’s coming:

🎭 Reasonably Priced Babies — Improv Comedy
📅 Fri, Dec 12 | 6:30pm & 9pm | $20
An award-winning improv troupe bringing ALL the holiday fun — dreidels, cookies, Krampus… you name it. Two shows. Six original Babies. Pure joy.

🎶 Kellin Watson & Friends’ Holiday Special (ft. Aaron Price)
📅 Sat, Dec 13 | 7:30pm | $25
A warm, musical throwback to classic holiday variety shows — complete with surprise guests, local actors, and heart-filled storytelling.

🕯️ Tales of Chanukah
📅 Sun, Dec 14 | 2pm | $15
Three storytellers sharing luminous tales of love, light, and tradition. A beautiful celebration open to all backgrounds and ages.

🎻 Christmas in Appalachia — A Singin’, Strummin’ Family Show
📅 Dec 19–21
Fri & Sat 7:30pm | Sat & Sun 2pm
💵 $15 adults | $10 youth
Old-time music, storytelling, traditions, and sing-alongs — a heartwarming journey through Appalachian Christmas memories.

🎟️ Tickets for all events:
https://www.blackmountainarts.org/events

And beyond the shows, BMCA continues to be a home for:
• Dance classes
• Art and clay studios
• Private music lessons
• JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians)
• Swannanoa Valley Community Chorus
• Gallery exhibitions
…all supporting their mission of bringing art to the people and people to the art.

🕒 Hours: Mon–Fri, 10–5pm

🎧 Listen to the full conversation here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5t1jWli8Yk6inOrPU6etqu?si=056d3ada07be497c

John left us with a beautiful reminder:
“Be swift to love and make haste to be kind.”

Come experience the heart and soul of our community this holiday season. ❤️ 🌲

04/12/2025

Because loving Black Mountain is where it all started....

The Mountain Magnolia's Podcast.

Hi, if we haven't met...
I'm Mary Noble Braden - the creator of The Mountain Magnolia's Podcast and Co-Owner of Noble & Company Realty
Noble & Company Realty

Join me as we uncover the rich history and vibrant culture of the Swannanoa Valley in Western North Carolina.
My goal has always been to reveal the heart & soul of this beautiful community.
Subscribe now, sit back, and have a listen!

You can find Mountain Magnolia's Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen!
https://open.spotify.com/show/2KrerdQjdAyolMjy5SXm0D?si=56805a113e484987

29/11/2025

Hoping your Thanksgiving was wonderful.
This community brings me so much...my hope is that I can continue to shine light on the beauty and blessings all around us in this gorgeous valley.

Mountain Magnolia Podcast has evolved into something greater than me...I have so much gratitude for the opportunity to get to know more and more about the people that make up this area and spread their stories to you.

Let's keep this thing going strong!
Mary Noble Braden

21/11/2025

🌼 Mountain Magnolia Show — Episode 63 with Cathryn “The Grateful” Davis

🎧 Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2EvzXNlDmTF5KbUh6eESIw?si=EIuMmeJ3SrW20LRvmTFQ-g

Today’s episode is truly one of my favorites — and a milestone. It’s the first time I’ve ever recorded the Mountain Magnolia Show from home, and it felt sacred to welcome my friend Cathryn Davis (Cathryn The Grateful) into that space.

Cathryn is a filmmaker, minister, activist, and creative visionary… but she’s also one of the people who has done the deepest work to preserve and uplift the story of Black Mountain College, one of the most influential forces in Western North Carolina’s creative history.

🎨 Why Black Mountain College Still Matters to WNC

From 1933–1957, this tiny experimental college just outside of Black Mountain became a world-changing hub of art, community, and radical education.

Its impact shaped everything from modern art and dance to community-centered learning — and its spirit still lives in our arts community, our schools, our festivals, and our mountain creativity.

Some of the legends who worked or created here:

• Buckminster Fuller — first geodesic dome

• John Cage — first multimedia “Happening”

• Merce Cunningham — revolutionary dance

• Josef & Anni Albers — shaping modern art & design

• The Black Mountain Review — birthing Beat poets

• Early work-study ideas that influenced Warren Wilson

🎞️ Fully Awake — the Documentary

Cathryn co-created Fully Awake with fellow Asheville native Neeley House — gathering interviews, archival photos, and rare footage to illuminate BMC’s legacy.

It has screened everywhere from MoMA to film festivals around the world, and beautifully — right here at home at LEAF.

🌿 Cathryn’s Journey

Her story is rich and layered… born on sacred mounds in Macon, raised in Asheville, clowning and theater, Cultural Studies at UNC, and a single question in a NYC green room that led to 25 years of devotion to Black Mountain College.

Her life’s work continues through:

• Civic activism & justice work

• Sacred ecology & seed sovereignty

• Enough Pie (Charleston) — creativity vs. gentrification

• Housing advocacy

• Spiritual leadership

• Movement healing & dance medicine

She opened our episode with a quote she lives by:

“The place God calls you is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” — Frederick Buechner

This conversation is full of heart, history, wisdom, creativity — and the deep magic of our mountains.

🎧 Listen to Episode 63:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2EvzXNlDmTF5KbUh6eESIw?si=EIuMmeJ3SrW20LRvmTFQ-g

💛 fullyawake.org

30/10/2025

✨ The Mountain Magnolia Show ✨ I can't wait for y'all to hear this amazing guest and go ahead and grab your 🎟️ tickets in the link below for this one of a kind production only here in our beautiful town of Black Mtn!

“Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society.” — Augusto Boal

That quote sets the tone for this week’s Mountain Magnolia Show with playwright Mitch Emoff, whose new play Reconstitution will make its world premiere

Dates: November 14–16, 2025 at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts.

Fri & Sat 7:30 PM | Sun Matinee 2 PM

🎟️ Tickets: $20 Adults | $15 Students (ages 11–17)**

📍 225 W State Street, Black Mountain, NC

BlackMountainArts.org | (828) 669-0930

About the Play:

On the last day of school, a history teacher’s “experimental lesson” zaps four high-school students into the spirits of America’s Founding Fathers — Franklin, Washington, Patrick Henry, and Madison. Suddenly, the classroom becomes a battleground for ideas — freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, the three-fifths compromise, and freedom of speech — with a modern twist of TikToks and teenage cliques.

During our conversation, Mitch shared:

“All local talents. Many who want to go on after college and go into professional theater. We’ve been blessed with an incredible cast — some from the Black Mountain area, some homeschooled children, and some from Asheville High School, sprinkled all around. It’s been wonderful to watch them all bond and become like a family. By the end, everyone’s hugging and sad it’s over.”

And about the story’s origin:

“It was the first story I ever wrote, back in 2009. I had been writing before that, but I had this idea about the Founding Fathers coming back in time. My publisher in Chicago, Gittleman and Good Publishers, suggested I adapt it so they return as high school students — and that was brilliant. It let me explore whether our Constitution could still hold up in today’s world.”

🎭 About BMCA:

Founded in 1995 and opened in 2000, the Black Mountain Center for the Arts is dedicated to “bringing the arts to the people and the people to the arts,” serving Buncombe County and beyond.

🎧 Listen to our full conversation on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1DHqXvPgKOlsLPI7HvbXmY?si=MMJaXgNvQCWPXvXZ2cfv9w

17/10/2025

✨ New Episode of The Mountain Magnolia Show! ✨

Join me in celebrating Beatriz “Betty” Martinez-Sperry, chef and owner of Cousins Cuban Café in Black Mountain! For five years, Betty has shared her Cuban heritage and her heart with our community — one Cuban sandwich, one smile, one story at a time.

This Friday, October 17 from 5–8 p.m., Cousins Cuban Café will host a special 5-year anniversary celebration — an evening to honor the customers and community that have supported them from the start. Come enjoy mojitos, appetizers, and good company!

💬 Quote of the day “Food is a memory. Every flavor tells the story of where we come from and who we love.” Unknown

🎧 Tune in to the latest episode of The Mountain Magnolia Show featuring Betty:

👉 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/4TfrR7DFOZfLuj1W8fX9CO?si=827bcb61bd8d4a3d

🥪 Don’t miss her #1 menu item — the classic Cuban sandwich — and check out more at www.cousinscubancafe.com/menus

📺 Betty was also featured on PBS North Carolina!

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1FJxSKkJbv/?mibextid=wwXIfr

10/10/2025

✨ New Mountain Magnolia Show Episode! ✨

Please join me in welcoming Jennifer Pickering, Founder of LEAF Festival and Visionary Connector for LEAF Global Arts.

This fall, LEAF Festival celebrates 30 years — October 16–19 at beautiful Lake Eden in Black Mountain — and this year’s theme, “Live Life Like a Festival,” couldn’t be more fitting. 🌍💛

Jennifer and I talked about the festival’s early days — how it began with a dream to create a space where families could experience the best of Western North Carolina while connecting with world cultures through art, music, and community.

✨ “For someone who’s never been,” Jennifer says, “LEAF is a sanctuary — a beautiful blend of festival, camp, culture, and happiness. It’s its own little micro world of magic.”

She also shared the touching story behind the Luminary Ceremony, created by a mother who lost her two sons, Patrick and Logan. On Saturday night at 7 p.m., the festival pauses for a moment of silence — then hundreds of luminaries rise into the sky in remembrance, gratitude, and connection. 💫

💬 Jennifer reminds us:

“Stay curious and treasure those cultural traditions from your own family and others. That’s the sweetness of life.”

🏕️ Her favorite spot at Lake Eden during the festival?

“On top of the swimming platform — you can see a full 360° view of the festival from there.”

📍 2025 Fall LEAF Festival Poetry Slam

Hosted by James Navé in Eden Hall on Saturday, October 18th — celebrating one of the world’s longest-running poetry slams, first held in 1995

🎟️ Get your tickets → https://theleaf.org

🎶 View this year’s lineup → https://theleaf.org/leaf-october-festival/

🎧 Listen to our full conversation → Spotify Episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/64p5b9OkG2GBI8ugDObsGj?si=edf6ec82cdb64210

🌸 Come celebrate 30 years of community, creativity, and connection — right here in the heart of Black Mountain.

Now more than ever, it’s so important that we show up for our local community — the artists, musicians, and organizers who make this region such a vibrant, soulful place to live. By supporting events like LEAF, we’re helping preserve the very heart of what makes Western North Carolina special: our shared culture, our creativity, and our connection to one another. 💛

04/10/2025

New Mountain Magnolia Show ✨✨

This week I welcome Eve Stevens—spiritual coach, ordained minister, and priestess—whose journey reminds us that real transformation begins with naming what we want to change, and what we long to create.

Eve’s path carried her from seminary in New York to ministry in Charlotte, and eventually here to the mountains of Western North Carolina. Along the way, she shifted from long hours in the pulpit to blending nutrition, spiritual coaching, and emotional well-being into a holistic practice of healing.

💡 Her words stay with me:

“Coaching is making changes in order to heal, and therapy is healing in order to make changes.”

And from her own writing:

“Once I learned the names of what I wanted to change, the power to do so found me. Once I learned the names of what I wanted to create, new energy flowed into me.”

Eve’s story is an invitation for us all: to pause, to listen, and to honor what we feel by calling it by name.

🎙️ Listen to Eve's full story on The Mountain Magnolia Show—where we reveal the heart and soul of our WNC community: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4dB3rAq2iVgZKVvSoOvNB4?si=4EpA4yyaRB6ifTMRNefKaw

📑 Book a spiritual health coaching session/ sign up for her blog @ https://www.anatomyofchange.life

Mountain Magnolia's Podcast

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