ELEMENTAL

We're wrapping up Season 1 the same way we came in: with an extended interview from Subway Therapy's Matthew "Levee" Chavez. He gives us an update on where he's been since he became a viral success putting stickie notes on subway walls after the election. Sofiya and I discuss the series with him and attempt to answer our own question: is art now more important than ever? We still have lots of questions.

It's our season one finale! We're joined by Matthew "Levee" Chavez of Subway Therapy, who was also our first guest, and Sofiya Cheyenne is back! We discuss Keith's trip to the People's Climate March in DC and the necessity for free art and freedom of expression. The conversation was good so y'all are getting a finale to the finale, that we're calling the Epilogue, tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Vangeline, Artistic Director of Vangeline Theater and founder of the New York Butoh Institute discusses the importance of balance, impact, and effort. Her recent piece Wake Up and Smell the Coffee used upwards of 1000 used coffee cups collected around New York City to address the waste we generate and our loss of effort in the need to address the issue.

The sunflower grows rapidly, spreads quickly. They purify contaminated soil, replenishing a communities ability to provide healthy food. And they are beautiful beacons of hope: an apt metaphor for the coming People's Climate March. We're joined this week by Lani Fu of Superhero Clubhouse and arts organizers from 350.org including David Solnit, Rachel Schragis, and Jayeesha Dutta to discuss the role of the arts in the climate justice conversation.

James Leonard's The Tent of Casually Observed Phenologies is a place to ask the toughest questions about climate change. He'll answer with tarot cards.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invites an audience of Canadian diplomats to Come from Away on Broadway. Flanked by Ivanka Trump and Nikki Haley. We play his full speech and discuss in this extra episode: FRIENDSHIP

Artist Delano Dunn explores with vivid, contradicting color, moments in African American history filled with optimism. Jubilation abounds but are the expectations met? We're joined by guest host Sarah Ellen Stephens and Dunn after we visit the Long Gallery in Harlem showing his work No One Can Be This Tomorrow. We ask, "are we allowed to be optimistic?"

Where were you the morning of November 9, 2016? As artists, that moment was a moment of profound change. Primary Stages, an off-Broadway theater company, became one of the many to begin processing this moment through art, examining our need to mourn before we can move on. In this episode we talk with Artistic Associate Erin Daley and we hear from some of the cast of Morning in America: November 9, 9:00AM. They record their monologues for us, read live on February 18th and 19th, 2017 at Cherry Lane Theatre, in our studio.

Week 2 in Flint, Michigan. We're back at the home of the Flint Public Art Project for their Holiday Party. And, for a little something different, we're offering this entire episode featuring one interview with life long Flint resident Marijoyce Campbell. We ask her, "Is Flint beautiful?"

Recorded at Circle Round Dignity, Courage, & Survival featuring the music and voices of Morley and Tiokasin Ghosthorse, activist and member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota, shortly after the Muslim ban. There's now new, haunting resonance after the eviction of the water protectors from Standing Rock. Mni Wiconi.

Flint, Michigan. The myth and reality intersect as we dig to understand the water crisis and fractured economy through an artistic lens. Our hosts are the Flint Public Art Project who let us into their work and stories. This is part 1 of 2 on Flint. Next week: BEAUTY.

In April 2015, Rutland, Vermont mayor Christopher Louras announced their city would serve as host to Syrian families as part of the US resettlement program. Met with pushback ranging from jobs to preexisting opioid problems, Louras works to set up an art exhibit titled the Syrian Experience as Art all in an effort to allow the community to understand the human element behind the politics. We travel to Rutland to talk with the community, the mayor, and see the art. At the very end of the episode, we call Mayor Louras for an update after the new administration has imposed their new plans.

Season 1, Episode 1 of ELEMENTAL. In this episode we explore an essential element of art-making: PROTEST. Sofiya and Keith have an exhilarating, whirlwind trip to the Women's March on Washington. An inside look at the massive, world-wide march spanning six continents with an estimated two million participants. We were there, protesting.

At 5:30pm on January 19, 2017, hundreds of theaters in all 50 states came together to embrace all audiences for the next four years. Inspired by the tradition of leaving a "ghostlight" on in a darkened theater, in this extra episode we visit the element: LIGHT.

Keith and Sofiya buy their tickets for the Million Women's March in Washington DC on the air. We discuss activism and the importance of listening is art making and politics. Join us for the premiere episode of ELEMENTAL on Sunday, January 22 and hear all about the March. Music by Benjamin Weiner

An extra of the ELEMENTAL podcast. We check out "Cut Piece for Pants Suit" in Washington Square Park. Created by women theater artists and inspired by Yoko Ono, "Cut Piece" asks the audience to cut pieces of the power suit worn by the performers off and talk the pieces with them. We talk to some of the participants on the day of the Electoral College vote. Season 1 of ELEMENTAL premieres Sunday, January 22.

A new era has begun. A wall must be built. Though perhaps not the one you imagined. Artist Levee Chavez creates a piece in the Union Square subway terminal with a life of it's own. One than reflects a city mourning, a place transformed by political strife. With each participant The Wall grows. We talk to some of them and Chavez himself. The prequel to Season 1 premieres with The Wall on Sunday, December 4. Season 1 proper premieres Sunday, January 22. Donate today: www.elementalcast.com Hosted by Keith Paul Medelis and Sofiya Cheyenne Recorded and edited by Eben Mannes A podcast series of the Upstream Artists' Collective