S4E18 - A Conversation with Walt Michael of Common Ground on the Hill

<p>Do you know how to combine music, traditional arts, and conversation to create a space where diverse groups of people come together to learn and share with one another? We don’t. But Walt does. </p><p>Walt Michael is the Artist in Residence at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland and the founder and Executive Director of Common Ground on the Hill, an international arts organization which seeks to promote interracial harmony through the traditional arts. Walt is a composer and musician who is known as a virtuoso of the hammer dulcimer. He has produced fourteen albums and performed throughout the world, including on live coverage of the 1980 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremonies in Lake Placid, NY and at the White House in Washington, DC. </p><p>In this podcast we talk with Walt about his love of music, his passion for bringing people together, and his work through Common Ground on the Hill and, even more recently, Common Ground on the Border. A special treat for us is that Walt gave us permission to use “Snowblind,” which he performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1980 Winter Olympics, as the closing background music for this podcast.</p><p><strong>Learn More:</strong></p><p><a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5671977-2026-political-storms-ahead/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">⁠</a><a href="https://www.waltmichael.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Walt Michael</a><a href="https://www.commongroundonthehill.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Common Ground on the Hill</a> <br><a href="https://www.commongroundonthehill.org/experience/programs-and-workshops/common-ground-on-the-border/common-ground-on-the-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Common Ground on the Border</a> - <br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songcatcher" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Songcatcher</a> (2000 Film)<br><a href="https://www.wartowisdom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">From War to Wisdom</a> (2017 Documentary)<br><a href="https://youtu.be/G6FuWd4wNd8?si=pU2Z-s_mcVp91PwY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bad Bunny’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show</a> </p><p><strong>Time is Counting Down to Thanksgiving and our Annual Acts of Kindness Podcast </strong></p><p>Thanksgiving is less than 3 months from now. We are looking for acts of kindness from you…our listeners, viewers, and followers…to highlight in our Thanksgiving podcast. Please take just a couple of minutes to share an act of kindness with us. It can be one you performed, one your received, or both. Click on this link to our <a href="https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Google Forms Acts of Kindness Survey</a> or copy and paste this address in your browser: <a href="https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5</a> Or, you can just click on the button below. How you get there doesn’t matter. What matters is that you share your story to inspire others. </p><p>Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.</p><p><strong>How We Check Ourselves</strong></p><p>Fact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.snopes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em>Snopes</em></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.factcheck.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em>FactCheck.org</em></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.politifact.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em>Politifact</em></a></p></li></ul><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em>RealClearPolitics</em></a></p></li></ul><ul><li><p>