Gravy Creators & Guests

Tina Antolini is a Peabody and James Beard Award-winning journalist and audio producer.

Naben Ruthnum is a writer. He has published under both his own name and the pen name Nathan Ripley.Previously, Ruthnum was a National Post books columnist, and has written book reviews and cultural criticism for the Globe and Mail, Hazlitt, and the Walrus.Ruthnum's crime fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Joyland. His first book, "Curry: Eating, Reading, and Race," was published in 2017.He won the Journey Prize in 2013 for his short story "Cinema Rex", and has since published the books Curry: Reading, Eating and Race (2017), a non-fiction essay collection about immigrant cultural identity in food and literature, and two literary thriller novels, Find You in the Dark and Your Life is Mine. Ruthnum's current novel, A Hero of Our Time, was published in January, 2022 and a novella, Helpmeet, was published in May, 2022.Originally from Kelowna, British Columbia, Ruthnum is of Mauritian descent. He has a master's degree from McGill University, where he wrote his thesis on the role of Oscar Wilde in the development of the ghost story in British literature.Outside of his literary work, Ruthnum is also a former musician, most notable as the founding guitarist for Bend Sinister, a Vancouver-based progressive rock band.

Gabe Bullard is a freelance journalist, writer, and audio producer. His work largely focuses on nostalgia and popular culture. He is interested in how culture and technology shape our identities and our perception of time. Currently, he is a managing producer for the NPR and WBUR show "Here & Now."Bullard received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Webster University and his M.A. in Literature, Culture, and Technology from American University.

Laine Kaplan-Levenson is a producer and reporter for NPR's Throughline podcast.Previously, Kaplan-Levenson was the host and producer of WWNO's history podcasts "TriPod: New Orleans at 300" and political podcast "Sticky Wicket."Before that, Kaplan-Levenson was an environmental reporter, covering land loss, fisheries, water management, and other issues of the Louisiana coast for WWNO's Coastal Desk.Kaplan-Levenson has contributed to NPR, This American Life, Marketplace, Latino USA, Oxford American, Here and Now, The World, 70 Million, and Nancy. They served as a host and producer of Last Call, a multiracial collective of queer artists and archivists, and freelanced as a storytelling and podcast consultant, workshop instructor, and facilitator of student-produced audio projects.Kaplan-Levenson is also the founder and host of the live storytelling series, "Bring Your Own." They like to play music and occasionally DJ under the moniker DJ Swimteam.Kaplan-Levenson received their B.A. in American Studies, Film Studies, and Music from Brandeis University, where they also worked at the college radio station.