Volume 36

Program

Ali McGhee

Ali McGhee is the Director of The Enneagram School of Awakening. She has a PhD in English from the University of Rochester, is People Operations Manager for 6AM City, and is co-founder of Appalachian Psychedelic Society. Her writing has been featured in the MAPS Bulletin, Lucid News, Dark Mountain, Scallywag, and others. Recipient of a 2025 NC Artist Support Grant, she has been a speaker at Story Parlor, Woods & Wilds Festival, Craft with a Stranger, Listen to This, Psychedelic Culture, and Psychedelic Science. She lives with her artist husband and wild 4-year-old on the edge of the forest.

Marcia Mount Shoop

Marcia is an author, theologian, and pastor. She serves as Pastor/Head of Staff at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, NC. She facilitates in ecclesial, academic, and community contexts around issues of race, gender, sexual violence, power, and embodiment.

Corinne Duncan

Corinne Duncan has served Buncombe County since 2015. She was appointed Election Services Director in January of 2020 and prior to that her role was Elections Technical Specialist.

She is a North Carolina Certified Elections Director with a national CERA certification in elections administration. She has a master’s degree from
Oregon State University.

Corinne moved to Buncombe County from Oregon 15 years ago and is originally from Arizona. In her spare time, you can find Corinne outdoors, exploring the Asheville food scene, and visiting national parks.

James Davidson

I grew up in Flemington, NJ, the scene of the famous1935 Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial. The town of 3,000 people had over 50,000 show up the first week of the trial in which Bruno Hauptman was found guilty and eventually electrocuted. Early on, my parents said they went to a Hauptmann execution party in Trenton held at a local hotel. Over the years I got to know numerous people associated with the trial including Hauptmann’s attorney as well as the man who found the corpse of the little “eaglet.” Fascinated with Lindbergh, I have one of the largest memorabilia collections of the trial and has published three books on various aspects of the kidnapping. I have lectured extensively in the NY/NJ metropolitan area. Before moving to Asheville my 1750 house was located directly across from the Lindbergh estate where I frequently gave tours.

Megan Martell

Megan is an educator and writer with experience in operations and administration, advocacy, strategy, grant writing, and professional development. In addition to administering, advocating for, and strategizing around her children, she is the Development and Communications Director at WNC Food Systems Coalition. She also runs, plays soccer, and does a lot of little things here and there.

Dan Hettinger

For nearly two decades, Dan has worked at the intersection of sustainable technology and agriculture. Today, out of his small shop in Weaverville, Dan continues to develop appropriate technology for creating value from agricultural waste streams.  Additionally, Dan leads the Jounce High School environmental education and repair programs in Haywood County.  He’s an amateur gardener and artist, writes music for fun, and enjoys backpacking with his wife, Summer, and their two kids, Samuel and Sidney.  Since 2018, Dan has been the lead organizer for WNC Repair Cafe.

Von

Von (they/them) is a local performer known for founding Nerd Nite Asheville, where, along with many other fabulous things, audiences can learn more about Star Trek (whether they like it or not). Aside from threatening people with a good time, Von enjoys making things, doing drag, playing games, collecting fragrances, and learning about pretty much anything.