This is a storytelling podcast that celebrates the creativity in everything from the mundane to the extraordinary. Creativity knows no bounds, and Stories from Cold Springs nurtures the story in all of us.
Listening to the host, J Stephen Beam, makes you want to grab a cup of sweet tea and join him on a wrap-around porch in Mississippi. The hours feel like minutes and you can't wait for the next visit (episode).
Roots & Roads | Cary Hudson, Part One A town can look quiet until you learn what happened behind the storefronts and down the back roads. In Part One of our conversation with Mississippi musician and songwriter Cary Hudson, we travel from his childhood in Sumrall through the people, places, and stories that helped shape a creative life. Cary remembers growing up around family businesses, church, the school band room, and a small town with a colorful history of its own—experiences that wou...
7 Aug 2026
Reinventing The Dream
What do you do when the dream you've chased for years isn't unfolding the way you imagined? For Lana Larson, the answer wasn't giving up—it was giving herself permission to reinvent the dream. In this episode of Stories from Cold Springs, Lana traces an extraordinary journey from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to the stages of the University of Southern Mississippi, summer stock musicals, and the audition rooms of Los Angeles, where every actor carried a headshot, a résumé, and hope. She reflects ...
7 Jul 2026
Sandlots & Storytellers | Scott Ray - Texas Country Reporter
A writing life rarely follows the outline we imagine. Degrees don't guarantee careers, dream jobs arrive by unexpected roads, and sometimes the best stories begin with a change of plans. In this episode of Stories from Cold Springs, Stephen Beam sits down with writer and producer Scott Ray to explore a career built on reinvention. Growing up outside Memphis, Scott was captivated by magazines, television, and storytelling, but began college studying chemical engineering before realizing he mis...
7 Jun 2026
The Chili Paste Incident - Sam Lee Part 2
A jar of Korean chili paste doesn’t sound like a turning point—until you’re nine years old, moving through airports and customs, unable to speak English, and realizing your whole world is about to change. In Part Two of our conversation with Sam Lee, we follow the winding road from an immigrant kid in Mississippi to a marching band regular, a rock n' roll garage band member, an electrical engineer, a Silicon Valley chip designer, and a venture capitalist. Along the way, Sam wrestles with a qu...
7 May 2026
From Mokpo To Mississippi - Sam Lee Part 1
He’s ten years old, fresh from postwar Korea, and suddenly sitting in a Mississippi classroom with no English. That’s where Sam Lee’s American story begins and it’s nothing like the polished version we usually hear. We talk with Sam as he maps the world he came from: growing up in Mokpo, living with nightly curfews, shopping at traditional markets daily, and moving through a Korean education system built on exams, public rankings, and fierce competition. Then the real jolt hits. Sam sh...
7 Apr 2026
Art, Faith & a 21-Foot Jesus
A second-grade blessing. A kitchen table crowded with paint. A 21-foot Jesus mural Kym Garraway-Braley joins us to share how a childhood shaped by artists, a brave grandmother, and a winding Mississippi creek became a life of color, calling, and community. We trace Kym’s early start, brush in hand before age two, and the generations of creatives who came before her. She opens up about crooked teeth, tin-foil braces, and how art became a refuge when school felt hard. In college, a professor wa...
7 Mar 2026
Todd McCall | Forty Docs and a Playbook
A torn labrum closed one door for Todd McCall — and opened another that would shape the lives of thousands of athletes. In this episode, we sit down with Todd, now Head Athletic Trainer at Southern Miss, to trace his journey from small-town Alabama catcher to Division I leader. Along the way: powerhouse programs in Alabama, Marshall’s resilient football culture, the altitude extremes of Wyoming, and the quiet, relentless work that keeps college sports alive long after the stadium lights dim. ...
7 Feb 2026
From Stuck to Story | Kristen Illarmo
Send us your Stories The Scene That Stopped Her Cold: How Kristen Illarmo Writes Duologies That Burn Bright and Fast What happens when a character takes the reins, and you’re brave enough to follow? In this episode, YA sci-fi and fantasy author Kristen Illarmo reveals how a poetry-loving kid from South Carolina became a New Orleans novelist crafting propulsive two-book series with heart, heat, and high stakes. Kristen opens up about the scene that stalled her for years, and how she finally br...
7 Jan 2026
TIBBETT! They're naked!
Send us your Stories A life can be measured in songs cued, flags saluted, and nights under stadium lights. We sit down with radio mainstay Ted Tibbett to trace the winding road from a childhood spent in studios and parades to a draft notice in 1968, a detour to South Korea, and a homecoming that turned into four decades behind a high school press box mic. Ted’s stories are vivid and generous: a father who sang and read poetry on the air before World War II, a small-town talent show where Elvi...
24 Dec 2025
How Found Trees, Hitchhiking Soldiers, And Pranks Made Christmas Unforgettable
Send us your Stories This is a special (bonus) episode of Stories From Cold Springs. We've been asking our guest to share their favorite Christmas memories. Here are some of our favorites. A castoff tree becomes a masterpiece. A heaterless Ford carries a homesick soldier down a freezing highway. A prank chair turns a nervous daughter-in-law into family. These are the moments that define Christmas in our world: kindness at midnight, laughter that sticks, and simple gifts that outlast their ba...
7 Dec 2025
Father Tommy Conway: From Irish Farm Boy to Beloved MS Priest
Send us your Christmas Stories A priest’s journey rarely begins at the pulpit. Ours starts on a small Irish farm in County Galway, where thirteen children, a barter ledger at the grocer, and a windowless scullery kept life running without cash or convenience. Father Tommy Conway opens up about a way of life built on chores, prayer, and community—then shows how Ireland’s commitment to free education and EU investment vaulted a rural nation into a global workforce. The contrast is striking: hor...
7 Nov 2025
Alexis Frenette - Fiddling Through Life's Challenges
Send us your Christmas Stories What happens when a classically-trained violinist breaks her neck and loses her musical identity for over a decade? Alexis Frenette's remarkable journey takes us from a defining childhood moment in Connecticut to finding her place as a fiddle player in Mississippi. Alexis shares the pivotal experience of discovering her passion at just five years old during a school assembly featuring young Suzuki method violinists. "I remember the exact moment that I decided I...
7 Oct 2025
Farm Prone & Pulpit Ready - David Sellers
Ever wonder how a Sunday sermon lands so close to home, it feels like it was written just for you? Methodist minister David Sellers takes us inside that mysterious, surprisingly creative, and sacred process in this warm and insightful episode of Stories from Cold Springs. From his humble beginnings as a “surprise baby” in Mississippi to his hard-earned nickname “farm prone” (you’ll see why), Sellers shares a life shaped by calling, community, and quiet transformation. Whether he’s preaching t...
7 Sept 2025
Stubbs 2: Tailgates | Coons | Breakfasts
Courtesy Content Notice: This episode contains true stories about hunting, animal injuries/death, and butchering animals for food. It is not unnecessarily graphic, but may not be suitable for individuals who are not comfortable hearing about such topics. Please use discretion; we respect your choices. Stubbs (Lucus) returns to the Stories from Cold Springs podcast with a collection of vibrant tales that transport listeners to the backroads and rural communities of a bygone era. His natural st...
7 Aug 2025
Stubbs Lucus - Pea Patch to HGTV
Authenticity and craftsmanship shine through every moment of our conversation with Daniel "Stubbs" Lucus, whose remarkable journey from rural poverty to HGTV recognition captivates from start to finish. Stubbs (only his mamma calls him Daniel) takes us back to his childhood, where, at just 10 years old, he started his first business—growing and selling peas with help from his grandfather's mule. His entrepreneurial spirit defined his unconventional path through life. When traditional e...
7 Jul 2025
The Cello Chose Me
Cellist Garfield Moore recounts his unexpected path into music, inspired by a teacher's reveal, and shaped by his family's legacy in this interview with Stories from Cold Springs.
7 Jun 2025
Eat Pinto Beans to Get into Med School
J Stephen Beam recounts his journey from rural Mississippi to medicine, emphasizing the role of storytelling and perseverance, in an interview conducted by Dawn Beam.
27 May 2025
Stories from Cold Springs | Explainer
J Stephen Beam introduces his new podcast, Stories from Cold Springs, and shares his motivation for exploring storytelling and creativity in Mississippi.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 13 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
26
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
0
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