We Don't Even Know

WE DID IT! We created 100 Episodes - which mean we stuck together for 100 months celebrating people from all walks of life, the comedy found in our lives and world, the amazing art created by those in our community and the voices of a wide array of inspirational people.  We are proud and we are not shy about saying we are excited about what is yet to come.  We open with the WDEK crew in different cities: Shonali in DC, Christian in Palm Springs and Justin in Brooklyn.   Christian reveals his first "Daddy" t-shirt.   When we look back over our 100 Episodes, we give shout outs to the many performers who delivered brilliant character performances throughout the years including (but not limited to): Alan Yaspan who played the Russian Hacker; Theo Koppel who played WDEK Dance Choreographer; Becky Chicoine who played Rhonda The Dog Trainer; Roy Koshy who played NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere; Jordan Clifford who played the Grumpy Holiday Guy; Nat Towsen who played the Podcast Protestor; Matt Hunziker who played Mitch The Enthusiasm Coach; and Matt Little who played Gary the (Bad) Vampire.   In this celebratory episode, we celebrate the work and career of our long time friend, illustrator and musician Marcellus Hall. Our own Justin The Intern aka Justin Joseph Hall was the director via his Fourwind Films and worked with Marcellus in creating a documentary series titled Marcellus Hall An Artist in New York City.  For the first time we presented a virtual screening of a documentary and later interviewed and had a Q&A with the artist himself. Listen and enjoy!  We discuss the artistic interplay that Marcellus brings together in his music and illustrations, his approach to life not just music, his reaction to the pandemic as an artist and what's on the horizon for Marcellus including his upcoming Leestavall recording session - for which you should pre-order now!  Marcellus Hall's vibrant illustrations can be found throughout well-known periodicals and books including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Time, and The Cow Loves Cookies (Simon & Schuster 2010). Also an indie musician with his bands Railroad Jerk (Matador Records), White Hassle (Glacial Pace Records), and his solo project, he starts his career in New York City and falls deeply in love with it, intoxicated by its never-ending inspirations and possibilities. He's recorded the city as well as the ups and downs of his personal life for years through his art and music, which are featured seamlessly throughout episodes. This award winning short series documents his creative journey from being seven-years-old drawing pictures to a successful working artist, and all the stages in between. Thanks to all of you for supporting us over the years!  Here's to 100 more Episodes together! For more info on how to view the documentary Marcellus Hall An Artist In New York City sign up for the Fourwind Films Newsletter !

Happy New Year!  Justin, Christian and Shonali are together again virtually for their 99th episode. 99 months together and they start the year out with a bang. Insert - Shonali's video of a downpour in her apartment.  Christian coins the term twinergy.  Our first guest is stand-up comedian, writer, actress Subhah Agarwal (Late Night with Lilly Singh, Westworld, The Jim Jeffries Show.)  She's bicoastal which we find out is not as not as glamourous as you might think.  She started doing stand-up when she was 17 years old bc as she says, she was a "bizzarre" child! Subhah is getting married this year and is having an Indian wedding.  To her fiancé's delight, there will be no "big robes" used during the ceremony.  Follow Subhah on her socials and catch her live on a stage near you! For the first time ever Christian  shares his singing talents in singing his recent collaboration with Adele! It's an emotional performance. One you might want to watch for yourself on YouTube or FB Live.  Our last guest of the evening is actor, writer extraordinaire Michael Cyril Creighton (Only Murders In The Building, Dexter, Spotlight, High Maintenance.)  We find out what "character bleeding" means. Do you remember how self-centered we all were before the pandemic began? We discuss Michael's dream job working on Only Murders In The Building and what he's looking forward to in 2022.  Be on the lookout for Michael in the upcoming final season of Dexter.  Please join us next month for our 100th Episode of We Don't Even Know! It will be SPECIAL! 

Christian and Shonali are back with two celebrations under their bigger belt lines - Halloween AND Thanksgiving!  Our special guests are NYC comedian, actor, host Rashad Bashir and for the first time ever, Christian's twin sister Julie Felix, an expert leader in diversity, equity and inclusion join us on the show.  Don't tell us you can't figure out what Shonali and Christian's 2021 Halloween costumes are.  They discuss pandemic weight gain in the chest area AND the stress of Thanksgiving leftovers. Julie Felix, Christian's twin sister joins us for the first time on WDEK!  We delve into Christian and Julie's childhood which started out in the womb together.  Womb Wars Julie Christian illustration by Jasper Patch.   The two grew up in Deerfield, Illinois in which Julie says they were "99.9% of the 1% of diversity in Deerfield."   Shonali and Julie unite in their throat scratchers status which Christian hates.  Julie shares her pet peeves about her brother.  Can you guess what they are? Our next guest is comedian, actor, host Rashad Bashir!  We discuss Thanksgiving and Christmas with the Bashirs.  Don't get Rashad started on cooking.  He is also known as Chef Bashir in his home and we want some of his honey glazed brussel sprouts NOW.  Rashad can dance too, just ask his fiancée! We talk about the beginnings of Rashad's comedy career,  Dave Chappelle's recent controversial comedy special, and the show We're Here.   Rashad teaches us how to be better business people.  His Venmo, IG and PayPal QR codes are shared here.  Don't try to steal his Listerine flavored masks idea from him!  Follow Rashad on IG at @rbashir_comedy and/or see him regularly at Harlem Nights Bar - every Monday night at 6PM or on Saturday at 7PM EST.   We are taking December off to be with our families!  Happy Holidays and we will be back in 2022!

It's October and the creepy crawly mood is upon us.  Shonali has her jack-o-lanterns lit. Christian says there's a chance that he'll be an N95 mask for Halloween.  Justin and his family will be "Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti" (3 Happy Dead Guys!)  Our special guests are former actor turned public servant,  Assessor-Recorder of San Francisco Joaquín Torres and comedian, actor, writer Jordan Carlos.  You ever consider what it would be like to leave your current occupation to embark on a journey as a public servant? Our first guest has done that. Joaquín Torres explains how attending the Obama inauguration in 2008 inspired him.  He quickly transitioned from a professional actor who received an MFA from NYU to working for a San Francisco mayoral campaign within no time.  Now he is occupying his first job title for which he will need to win an election as Assessor-Recorder of San Francisco. He explains that the acting bug never leaves you but the education that comes from acting always stays with you. Learn more about Joaquín at JoaquinTorresSF.com! Shonali's Game Changer this month emerged from the trauma of wearing a jumpsuit.  Christian endorses the fanny pack!  Writer / journalist Mickey Rapkin sends in a #GameChanger via text! Comedian, writer, actor Jordan Carlos joins us after putting the kids to bed and walking the dog.  Jordan loves history as it is a predictor for the future. We discuss grappling with what our roles are in the conversation surrounding race today.  For this conversation, Jordan puts on his glasses and shares his personal evolution as someone who was seeking white approval to someone who currently is only working on projects helmed by Black peers.  Check out Jordan's work on Tha God's Honest Truth with Charlamagne Tha God on Comedy Central on Fridays; his podcast #Adulting with Michelle Buteau which is coming back and Phoebe Robinson's upcoming 1/2 hour comedy Everything's Trash.   Jordan and his family have their Halloween costumes DOWN. Listen to Ep. 97 for the details.      

It's September! Fall has arrived and WDEK is not looking forward to the pumpkin spice lattes signage that will soon be everywhere!  Justin the Intern joins us from Duluth, Minnesota.  Christian and Shonali have just returned from visiting their parents in Chicago and Nashville.  They discuss the Jedi mind tricks of their respective parents.    The brilliant Lizz Winstead, comedian, co-founder of the Daily Show, founder of Abortion Access Front and co-founder of Air America amongst joins us from her abode.  Find out how a 16 year old Lizz Winstead's life experience is directly connected to her activism today as the founder of Abortion Access Front.  Do you know about the thousands of fake "clinics" in the US used to intimidate and spread misinformation to women regarding abortion?  We discuss destigmatizing abortion and how men should contribute to the conversation surrounding reproductive rights.   Follow Lizz on Twitter here! She's doing shows in Portland and San Francisco in November - you lucky West Coasters! Per her Twitter profile our second guest Saidah Blount describes herself as a music industry maven, corporate goth, Sonos Senior Manager, Global Content. She joins us along Game Changers! This is the first time ever we bring our guests together to share trivial tips and/or life lessons which have changed their lives.  We have some great ones for you this month including TSA Tips, bubble wrap tips, peeling egg tips, identity theft tips and more! Also Saidah's use of the term "frothed up" is a new one for Christian and Shonali.  As a woman of color who has worked in the music industry for years, we asked Saidah about her feelings regarding the long awaited conviction of R. Kelly in a NYC courtroom just the day before this show was taped.  Have you heard of the saying "Dance now.  Deconstruct later."?  Saidah contemplates whether "music is too big to fail."  Topics of discussion include the "shady" music industry, the non-stop work of a working performing artist, being the only WOC in the workplace, recently being "sweethearted,"  the the over-usage of the term "cancel culture" used as a "dog whistle."  We get into it!  We also have lots of fun. Saidah shares what brings her joy these days which is a new concept being that she's a workaholic. Christian shares an urgent urban wildlife PSA.  And Saidah shares some hot music tips including Serpent With Feet and NAO.  We could talk forever as you clearly can here!  Enjoy your September and we will be back with another episode live on October 26, 2021 - 8PM EST!      

Justin The Intern is the father of a month old baby! Whoa! Christian was mask shamed in Justin's home state.  Shonali learns what "bussin" means.  It's US Open Tennis Tournament time in NYC and we needed this!  Our guests are comedian, performers, writers Merrill Davis and Táhlia Audrí! Merrill currently lives in Los Angeles.  She generously shares her expert napping techniques with us.  She's a pro napper and she and Christian may go into business together!  Merrill answers our questions about her experiences as a person with ADHD.  Merrill has been doing a solo show on the challenges she has faced and the misconceptions about ADHD called Merrill Means Well.  Follow her on IG to make sure you see her perform!!   Táhlia Audri, originally hails from Charleston, SC but came to NYC to fulfill her dreams as an all around performer. She shares the joy of drinking from a green goblet.  Táhlia is relatively new to cycling in NYC and loves it.  We talk biking attire and the videos she's been making while on her treks in Central Park! Táhlia sings, acts, writes and she performs a song live on our show. She's in search of the perfect hair care products for her 4C hair - she "needs more options."  So go to her Twitter and share your advice if you will!  Tahlia's QT 2020 musical comedy parody about quarantine life can be found here!  Special shout out to the Prospect Park Monarch Butterfly cyclist. If you know her, please let her know we love her. Special shout out to Duane Harriott - former guest, former co-host and dear friend to WDEK!  Today is his last day on the air doing the #DUANETRAIN show - a legendary show on #WFMU which weekly has brought us joy, good vibes, grooves and happiness for years!  We love you Duane! Follow Duane on Soundcloud here! 

Congratulations to Justin the Intern and his fiancée Laura on the birth of their baby boy Zachary! While Justin is having a baby, Jason Lam takes over introduction honors.   Within a month, tides have turned and Covid-19 (Delta variant) is back.   The "normalcy" we discussed last month is no more.  Shonali attended her first super spreader event and Christian has a new nickname "Big Man!"  Everyone PLEASUHHHHH get vaccinated!  We are excited to talk to Helen Nwosu!  We met Helen at a mutual friend's dance birthday party just after we were fully vaccinated and thought we could be "normally" social again.  We were taken by her energy, humor and intellect.   Helen left a long standing career in fashion to start her own non-profit called Science Couture and it's "chief mission is to help consumers and fashion brands contribute to a more sustainable fashion system."  We also discuss upstate living;  youth activism; The Olympics - sexist double standard fashion, the athlete's' stories which pull at your heartstrings, the metal scoreboard & nationalism. Most importantly Helen gives us a rundown what we can do as consumers to align with sustainability in fashion! Christian promises to break fashion rules & wear a white bikini after Labor Day.  You heard it here first. Christian comes to us from his mother's bedroom in Chicago.  While he describes his time there, he gets shushed by his mom because he is LOUD!  We introduce our brand new segment Game Changers with a heavy metal jingle by Jason Lam. Shonali, Jason & Christian share very personal stories involving each of them learning a small lesson which forever change their life.  In this episode, we cover how to open a plastic bag in the produce department, how to get through YouTube videos more quickly, and how to use Google Maps while walking...DUH!   Oooh, it's also noteworthy that the words "culottes" and "gauchos" are used on WDEK for the first time in this episode.  Special shout out to the U.S. Capitol Police who offered  devastating and compelling testimony during the House Investigation Hearing on the Jan. 6 th Insurrection! They include Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, Officer Michael Fanone, Officer Daniel Hodges, and Capitol Police Pfc. Harry Dunn.  Surprise guest Justin The Intern stops by Shonali's WDEK studio (her apartment) to take a shower as his baby was born (the day before) in the hospital across the street and he has not left his wife's side which is the right thing to do. Notice here how Justin's baby's hair is exactly like his (courtesy of Jason Lam.)  Special note - Christian only got shushed twice by his mother during the show, or was it three times?  Christian let us know.     

Happy Pride Everyone!  We celebrate our friends and our fashion icon former guest Jack Dwyer!  June was the first month in a year and a half that we were social in a seemingly "normal" way.  Shonali's exhausted already. Our first guest is Cisco Bradley!  He's an Author, Professor of Cultural & Social History, Free Jazz & and Experimental Music Aficionado!  Just what is "cultural production?"   Cisco has just published a book about the genius free jazz bassist William Parker, titled Universal Tonality. We dig deep into the philosophy and inspiring music & words of this influential artist whose career has spanned over 5 decades.  We tie together Mr. Parker's philosophy of life and art to the current state of the world.  Cisco says "...the history of the United States is the history of racism and the struggles against it..." We discuss underappreciated artists in America & Shonali brings up Shannon Wright, our former Ep. 61 guest! Turns out Cisco is also her fan! Cisco knows what's up!  Father-to-be Justin The Intern gets his own Get It Off Your Chest segment and he surprises us all with what is annoying him today. We are all injured.  Christian insists everyone must get Zoom First Aid Kit.  Our second guest is comedian, former SNL writer, actress LaKendra Tookes!  LaKendra does not discount out all catcallers! She shares what is acceptable.  LaKendra gives us an honest account of her times down time during this pandemic.  She has decided "she only wants to do work that uplifts & celebrates black people and black joy." She is resilient and radiates hope! LaKendra shares her guilty pleasure - reality tv! Did you know LaKendra and her dog Savannah are not scared of rabid squirrels?!  And we leave you with the fresh summer dance hit by comedian Greg Barris! Check it out here on YouTube- Galimmimus! Enjoy and stay safe, mask up everyone.  The variant is surging across America! 

The warm weather has arrived, masks are slowly coming off and Christian comes out HOT.  Shonali is in Nashville, Tennessee doing yard work and Justin The Intern is prepping for his role as a new father.  George Floyd's murder was a year ago to the day.  We discuss the importance of the moment surrounding the pandemic and social justice.  Will we be forever changed or suffer from amnesia?  Comedian and film critic Brandon Collins comes to us on the high of interviewing Lin Manuel Miranda just the day before.  Brandon is from Ann Arbor, Michigan but has been in NYC for over a decade. He's doing cool things such as being a member of the African American Film Critics Association, hosting the Medium Popcorn podcast, a one man show called It's Not Going to Work Out.  We talk movies including White Christmas, A Quiet Place 2, and Sonic The Hedgehog.  Brandon is hosting his live comedy series, Drunk Black History on Juneteenth at The Bell House which will also be livestreamed! Don't miss it.   Shonali and Christian catch up! Find out why Christian takes a 30 mile bike ride and why does he wear athletic shorts called Chubbies? Comedian, writer, miniaturist Sara Schaefer joins us from her closet in Los Angeles!  Sara's Conspiracy Theory bit from her 2019 Comedy Central Special resonates even more today than it did in 2019.  We talk "reality", "both sides", the Q documentary and "what the hell does it all even mean?"  Sara has always been a hobbyist and is currently making a miniature comedy club called the Haha Hole which is blowing our minds.  Sara shares her creative journey in the past two years in which she has "gotten quieter" due to harassment on Twitter.  Focusing on creative work with her hands has made Sara think even more deeply about her creative work and her place in comedy.  We are fans of Sara's voice and the teaser for her new podcast truly has raising the roof!  Don't miss Sara's new podcast The Schaefer Shakedown.  For the first time within the WDEK Virtual age, Shonali performs her pandemic healing anthem, I'll Be Your Therapy.  You can get the recorded version with all kinds of strange drum loops on Bandcamp. Special thanks to Shonali's longtime friend Wes Adams, who donated his lighting, home and wine spritzers in a Mason Jar to Shonali & WDEK for taping the show in Nashville, TN.  Enjoy the sun and stay safe.  

Shonali got her wisdom teeth pulled.  Justin got a sun tan and Christian shares new (not exactly accurate) CDC guidelines.  As more of us are vaccinated and we start to venture out more often, nature is not ready for us.  We warn Christian not to watch last week's viral rabid bobcat video in which this brave husband in North Carolina rescued his wife. Shonali loved it.  Christian as you all know is terrified of urban wildlife.  Our first guest is an award winning playwright, poet & actress Stefani Kuo!  Stefani makes powerful and compelling art which often features stories from the Asian American community.  She describes her recent work The Conservation of Parity about a brilliant female Chinese physicist, Chien-Shiung Wu who immigrated to America and worked on the atomic bomb.  Stefani shares her thoughts on the state of American theater, the general lack of awareness Americans have regarding the Asian American community, Andrew Yang's candidacy for NYC Mayor, and great hiking spots in the NYC vicinity!   Christian comes out of the Croc closet!  We discuss his new love of this controversial footwear and how far he is willing to take this new ugly journey.  Our musical guest is singer-songwriter Meghan Linsey! You may know her from either her time as half of a duo Steel Magnolia which hit  #3 on the country music charts or her runner up win on The Voice Season 8. Shonali met her at honky tonk night in Nashville years ago, not knowing any of the above and just thought she was a lovely person she wanted to stay in touch with.  As we all have had rough years, Meghan is no exception. Her studio was hit by the Nashville tornados, her wedding had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, and there has been illness within her family - yet she manages the stress with a "go with the flow" attitude.  We discuss Nashville, feeling like an outsider, kneeling during the National Anthem at a NFL game, standing up for social justice, Alaska, and having a green thumb!   Check out Meghan Linsey and Tyler Cain's duet Nowhere With You.  It's so beautiful! Congrats to #JustinTheIntern Justin Hall for winning the Platinum Remi Award for short film drama at the Houston International Film Festival as director, also written by our friend Piper Werle!  Lastly thank you for being with us! Follow us on @wdekpodcast on all socials! Also Christian Felix is high maintenance! Love you! 

We are officially now a year into the pandemic! We are thankful for vaccines, our health, friends, family and this show.  Catching up on the heavy: Anti-Asian Hate, Chauvin trial, voter suppression & the good stuff: seafood enchiladas, the beach and puppy time!  Check out StopAAPIHate.org for ways to support the Asian American community now.  Our first guest is our longtime friend & acclaimed science writer Roxanne Khamsi and notably she has focused her writing on viruses for years.  Roxanne moved to Montreal, Canada just over a year ago from NYC. We discuss where we are at with regard to conversations surrounding the coronavirus, washing vegetables, empathy, soaking cilantro and Canadian living.  Christian gives guidance on some of his favorite Montreal spots.  Our second guest is currently Los Angeles based comedian and writer Rae Sanni who misses her hometown of NYC very much. Rae was a former staff writer for shows like The President's Show, The Good Place, A Black Lady Sketch Show.  We talk hoarding, comedy gigs during the pandemic, the virtual writer's room, & Rae's journey to making comedy a career choice.  Rae is OBSESSED with Reality TV.  She breaks down for us just why she loves certain reality tv shows over others.  Rae even makes Christian & Shonali want to become new audience members of the RHWOSLC (yes, there is now a Real Housewives of Salt Lake City!) When we get back to live performances, make sure you see Rae on stage!  In honor of Women's History Month, we suggest you watch the new Tina Turner Documentary.  As Christian says, Tina Turner is a shero. Her remarkable strength, grace, will and her perseverance through her life's struggles is inspiration to us all.   To all stay diligent, enjoy the sunshine & thanks for supporting us all these years!  Follow us on our socials.  

We are celebrating a full month of having a new POTUS in the White House, Shonali's new jumpsuit, expectant father Justin the Intern and comedian Anuvab Pal guest joining us all the way from the UK where it is 2AM.  Anuvab is a comedian, screenwriter, playwright, author among many other things.  We discuss finding humor in the complicated history between Indian and Great Britain, the emerging Indian comedy scene, millenials and history, Zoom yoga, surviving the pandemic in India & the great Bollywood Classic Disco Dancer.  Our longtime WDEK friend & bartender Lori Schwarz joins us from the Red Room our old stomping grounds before the pandemic.  She teaches us how to make a Flirtini: 2 oz Vodka, 3/4 oz Chambord or any raspberry liqueur, 2 oz pineapple juice.  Make sure to listen to her shaker shaking techniques!   Musician Bryan Malone joins from Atlanta, GA!  Bryan is the frontman of the band The Forty-Fives and Bad Spell & pre- pandemic was the club booker/promoter for the legendary Star Community Bar.  He currently hosts the Post-Apocalyptic Malone Show weekly on Thursday nights on FB Live.  Bryan has come up with a way of staying creative &  connected to friends and the outside world during a time when we have all been trapped at home.  Christian reminds us of the importance of hygiene during the pandemic.   Bryan performs one of his Bad Spell songs called Wastin' Time On You.  Check them out on Bandcamp! and don't miss him every Thursday night 8PM EST on The Post-Apocalyptic Malone Show.  The WDEK Crew regroups to congratulate Justin The Intern on the big news! Justin and his fiancee Laura are expecting a little boy this year!  We will consider changing his nickname when he becomes a father to Justin the Father Intern.  

Happy New Year! We survived 2020 y'all! Sure 2021 has already brought us an insurrection and an inauguration BUT here's some joy for you! Christian got a new 2021 couch (see couch background filter) and Shonali is resolute in her plan to make no 2021 New Year's resolutions.  She insists you do the same! To start out 2021, we introduce you to a bright light - Kadine Anckle!  She is an accomplished creative: showrunner, writer, producer, director and more!  We talk the rarity of showering during the pandemic along and the accumulation of stuff in a NYC apartment, hair issues in Zambia & gardening in NYC.  Kadine shares her pride as a creator and an Afro-Latina woman from Panama.  We Get It Off Your Chest with WDEK crew member Jason Lam. Shonali has roommate issues with her husband.  Christian discusses the casual usage of the word "slave" by friends.  Jason Lam, one of the most annoyed people we know - but today he surprises us all! Musician Greg Humphreys comes to us live from his NYC music room. Greg is the former leader of the bands Dillon Fence and Hobex and now leads The Greg Humphreys Electric Trio. He also currently records his own solo acoustic music.  We discuss the grind from non-stop touring over the years, time with family in NYC and  recording his own music at home with The Rig. We are lucky enough to hear him perform one of his unreleased new songs Take A Trip.  WDEK lost two friends unexpectedly in December, musician & Love As Laughter leader Sam Jayne and comedian Catie Lazarus.  Both were infectious spirits who brought us so much joy. They are gone too soon and we are so thankful for them being in our world.  All of you whom have experienced loss this past year, we are with you and extend our condolences.  We hope you will continue to celebrate these humans throughout your life as we will Sam and Catie.  Happy New Year all! Check out Christian's t-shirt from high school! "Who Got Big Lips?" Only Christian knows the answer to that question!  

We end this grueling 2020 year with two awe-inspiring guests & Covid-19 survivors: Activist for the Homeless & Writer Shams DaBaron a.k.a. Da Homeless Hero and drummer extraordinaire & style guru Ramsey "Satellite" Jones with a special introduction by Jason "the Elf!"  He discusses his flex spending account issues.  Justin The Intern is here but is having wi-fi issues! It's tit for tat at WDEK headquarters! Shonali & Christian discuss pandemic peer pressure, dogs in first class & Trump fatigue (note this is taped pre-insurrection!)  We are so honored to have lifelong New Yorker, activist/writer Shams DaBaron a.k.a. Da Homeless Hero be our guest.  We discuss his path towards activism on behalf of the homeless while experiencing homelessness himself; his brush with death while suffering from the Coronavirus; the biggest misconceptions surrounding those who are experiencing homelessness; how as a  foster child he later found his identity through hip hop; and his vow to not waste another minute of his life.  Follow Shams on all social media platforms at @DaHomelessHero !   Our second guest is another lifelong New Yorker, drummer extraordinaire, record collector and style guru Ramsey "Satellite" Jones!  Ramsey was raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn which you may already know is were Murder, Inc. started. Ramsey's love of music started as a kid when he discovered Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles. We discuss what it's like to be considered "the weirdo" in the family (his younger brother is Russell Jones a.k.a. Ol' Dirty Bastard"/ODB, his cousins are RZA & GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan.) Ramsey also suffered from Covid19 and was at home for 4 months straight.  We discuss his love of all music, being a performer during the pandemic, various obscure records and bands such as the Electric Prunes & Aphrodite's Child, Ramsey's always in 10 projects including his hard core band Rebelmatic.  Check out his Rebelmatic video Blood & Gold & their new album Ghost In The Shadows.   Follow Ramsey on all social media platforms @SatelliteJones65 ! Jason The Elf learns a lesson today from Da Homeless Hero!  And lastly we have the perfect ending to a our pandemic Christmas show, a great new catchy song/video by the Blockton Brothers (Jesse and Adam) - Covid Christmas! ENJOY!!!  Happy New Year! 

In our final edition, Part 4 of the WDEK Election Special Episode, comedian Katie Compa shares with us ways she copes with ongoing Election Day anxieties.   Musician Brad Lauretti brings us the fire.  We talk the John Lewis graphic novel, existential threats & good people believing false propaganda. He gives us his Election Day predictions along with performing his song Dumb It Down.  Find out how comedian & weed smoker Nimesh Patel's father voted on the NJ legalize marijuana referendum.  Have you ever heard of the Indian beverage bhang? Let Nimesh and Shonali explain.  Go now to check out Nimesh's new half hour comedy special  online at Patel2020.com. Musician Maggy Adeleye shares her beautiful voice with us by performing her song Fullstorm.  Christian has fro jealousy.  We talk voter unenthusiasm & invisible voices.    Jason's twin brother Jiminy makes a special appearanceo on WDEK also the WDEK crew loves each other. Our final guest is one of our first ever WDEK guests; comedian, actor, & activist John Early.  He comes with a beard! You have seen him on Search Party as Elliott Goss, but most recently you may have seen John work his ass off on behalf of the Marquita Bradshaw for Senate campaign in Tennessee.  We discuss politicization of bread & butter issues, his sweater & for the first time ever, he announces his candidacy to the world. His Twitter is @bejohnce! Make sure to watch this comedy classic Sardines Out of A Can. WE DID IT EVERYONE! That's it for the 4 part Election Day special. We hope our marathon show provided some comfort, fun and silly nonsense to soothe your minds as it did ours!   

Part 3 (of 4) of our Marathon Special Election Day Ep. 86 opens with the Godfather of Alt-Rock Tyson Meade who has been cited by Kurt Cobain as one of his influences. Tyson performs Feel Like A Drugstore in front of Midway Grocery in Oklahoma City, OK.   Writer, comedian, actress Negin Farsad joins us from NYC. She celebrates Election Day by purchasing lots of desserts. Christian and Shonali approve.  Why isn't Election Day a festive national holiday? Negin makes many "astute points" regarding the ease with we should make voting in the United States.  17 year old Singer-songwriter Emmrose discusses her feelings on  being too young to vote.  From talking with her, she seems more prepared to vote than many of the thirty somethings we know. Emmrose sings one of her newest releases Grass Is Greener.   Corn Mo is a multi-talented musician and songwriter.  Have you ever met an accordianist before? His hat collection may top David Cross'. He's been saving money by performing on livestream shows and not having to catch cabs these days.  We are lucky to have him perform the beautiful song Superman  about a man waking up his son to watch Superman with him on tv.  For the first time ever, NXVM cult leader "Keith Raniere" (played by actor/comedian Roy Koshy) gives WDEK an exclusive interview from prison.  Christian and Shonali are SPEECHLESS.  We talk volleyball, magical semen, fortune cookies, and the presidential election!  Hang in there everyone!  Ep. 96 Part 4 & Ep. 87 on its way.  

We continue with Part 2 (of 4) of Ep. 86 our Election Day marathon special begins with the wonderful Kendra Cunningham. She's a comedian, actress, writer who voted on Election Day. We discuss her new Brooklyn apartment with a BACKYARD, Kendra look-alikes, and making a lot of money.   Our 2nd guest is restaurateur and children's book author Jeff Goldstein out of Charleston, SC.  He has some "bones to pick" with our prior guests. He also gives us some expected bad news regarding SC election returns but also surprises us with some promising news about dirty politics.  Comedian Eric Slovin joins us from his abode in Brooklyn.  Eric is a lifelong New Yorker. He not only shares his astute observations regarding NYC, but also answers not one but two "How Democracy Works" trivia questions correctly.  Most impressively, for the first time ever, Eric Slovin reads his poem written just for WDEK, titled "Brooklyn Bridge." A match made in WDEK heaven and by WDEK heaven, comedian Chelsea White & musician Tash Neal share their brilliance as a duo for the first time performing NYSNC's "It's Gonna Be Me."  Let's hope 2021 brings us a brand new Cheltash show called "Couch Karaoke!" In response to Christian's problems with urban wildlife, and the albino squirrel sightings in Park Slope, Justin The Intern reports back to us that our audience member, Michael, also Christian's cousin has heard of an albino deer sighting.  Congrats to Matt Arnold (our earlier guest) and Michael Terrell Ford III answers our WDEK trivia question correctly!   Our last guest of this segment is comedian, professional ice skater and IG star Tommy Do!  Tommy sent us a sweet video from his bed regarding voting.  He also graciously let us in on his very personal list of favorite things. Do you know what a #ThirstTrap is? Tommy makes fun of them on IG and he's so good at it.   Alright y'all that's it for Part 2 of 4 of our Election Day Special. Thank you all for voting and listening! Part 3 & 4 coming soon!  

WDEK Election Day Special: Please Vote America was a special episode with comedy, music, guest pop ins from across the country, videos and chat all in place. Our guests include John Early, Tash Neal, Chelsea White, Kendra Cunningham, David Cross, Cocoon Central Dance Team, Jon Glaser, Marcellus Hall, Tommy Do, Katie Compa, Negin Farsad, Nimesh Patel, Katie Compa, Eric Slovin, Tyson Meade, Marcellus Hall, Maggy Adeleye, Brad Lauretti, Emmrose, Matt Arnold and more!  We celebrate voting! In Part 1 of 4, our guests include Marcellus Hall, Jon Glaser, Matt Arnold, Cocoon Central Dance Team & David Cross.  Our first guest is musician, illustrator Marcellus Hall joins us performing a brand new tune off his forthcoming album called The Kitchen Sink Blues.  Comedian Jon Glaser appears in his most amazing Detroit Pistons attire. We divert our thoughts on voting to discuss #urbanwildlife and Jon leaves us with #moreproof of why Christian's fears of squirrels are warranted.  Matt Arnold of The Iowa Idea Podcast joined us from Iowa, duh. He gave us the lowdown on Iowa demographics and voting patterns.  He also is our first guest to own a laminate WDEK press pass. Check out his friend Andre Wright's #HumanizeMyHoodie movement/ Cocoon Central Dance Team (Sunita Mani, Eleanore Pienta, Tallie Medel) shared their talents with us via video! For those of you who would like to SEE these wunderkinds in action - check out our video of the show at 45:37 on Facebook and 45:29 on YouTube! Our next guest is comedian, actor, writer David Cross. He takes a break from his hat modelling side hustle gig to talk to us about all things including Covid19 travel, voting, James Patterson vs Rob Pattinson, makeup skills, skincare & pondering with us on just WTH are Trump voters thinking.   David along with us thank all of you who have been working as first responders, voting workers, volunteering to get out the vote, and those of you who voted! Looks like 2021 may be looking up for us!  Stay tuned for parts 2-4!    

WDEK Election Day Special: Please Vote America is a marathon event with comedy, music, guest pop ins from across the country, videos and chat all in place. Our guests include John Early, Tash Neal, Chelsea White, Kendra Cunningham, David Cross, Cocoon Central Dance Team, Jon Glaser, Marcellus Hall, Tommy Do, Katie Compa, Negin Farsad, Nimesh Patel, Katie Compa, Eric Slovin, Tyson Meade, Marcellus Hall, Maggy Adeleye, Brad Lauretti, Emmrose, Matt Arnold and more!  We celebrate voting! In Part 1 of 4, our guests include Marcellus Hall, Jon Glaser, Matt Arnold, Cocoon Central Dance Team & David Cross.  Our first guest is musician, illustrator Marcellus Hall joins us performing a brand new tune off his forthcoming album called The Kitchen Sink Blues.  Comedian Jon Glaser appears in his most amazing Detroit Pistons attire. We divert our thoughts on voting to discuss #urbanwildlife and Jon leaves us with #moreproof of why Christian's fears of squirrels are warranted.  Matt Arnold of The Iowa Idea Podcast joined us from Iowa, duh. He gave us the lowdown on Iowa demographics and voting patterns.  He also is our first guest to own a laminate WDEK press pass. Check out his friend Andre Wright's #HumanizeMyHoodie movement/ Cocoon Central Dance Team (Sunita Mani, Eleanore Pienta, Tallie Medel) shared their talents with us via video! For those of you who would like to SEE these wunderkinds in action - check out our video of the show at 45:37 on Facebook and 45:29 on YouTube! Our next guest is comedian, actor, writer David Cross. He takes a break from his hat modelling side hustle gig to talk to us about all things including Covid19 travel, voting, James Patterson vs Rob Pattinson, makeup skills, skincare & pondering with us on just WTH are Trump voters thinking.   David along with us thank all of you who have been working as first responders, voting workers, volunteering to get out the vote, and those of you who voted! Stay tuned for parts 2-4!   

Out the gate, our show gets down to the real. Shonali & Christian break it down regarding snuggle buddies during covid, cult leaders and unique social distancing philosophies. The description "Hobbit Ball" was invented in this discussion. Our first guest is John Feal, inspirational activist and founder of The Feal Good Foundation.  He was a 9/11 responder and is responsible for enacting 13 pieces of legislation which provides & protect the healthcare of 9/11 and first responders injured and/or currently sick caused by their heroic work.  He has partnered with Jon Stewart for years doing this work and they are currently working to pass legislation to provide healthcare for veterans sickened by their work near burn pits. The best description of why John is so successful is that he calls bullshit when he sees it.  You must follow him on Twitter @JohnFeal1 (The Real John Feal) to witness this. He was suspended on Twitter for a few days because he is so real. There's so much important here to listen to but takeaways are "America needs a break," "Help a stranger," "Everyone can get involved."  Special announcement! We are hosting our own WDEK Election Day Special livestream on Nov. 3rd with special guests from across the country including David Cross, Tash Neal, Jon Glaser, Negin Farsad, John Early and many more.   Our final guest is writer, comedian, actress Keisha Zollar. She is the founder of the first UCB all black sketch comedy group, The Astronomy Club which also got its own Netflix series.  She has spent the better part of the pandemic in her time working in her studio apartment which she shares with her husband and her dogs, Johnny Cash (just passed away), Loretta Lynn and Hank Williams Sr.  Listen to find out what gives Keisha hope these days and how she fulfills the notion of being authentic.  Check out her work currently on the reboot of the British satirical television puppet show, Spitting Image and she's working with Lilly Singh on her upcoming special!  Stay strong all and catch us on our Election Day Marathon Special on Nov. 3rd on YouTube Live or Facebook Live here.   

During these pandemic times and social unrest, we are so thankful for our time together on We Don't Even Know.  We are especially thankful for Christian's first time reading of a letter he may or may not have received from his white family.  It is very touching. Our first guest is artist Rodney White.  Rodney is an artist originally from August, GA who now lives Brooklyn, NY.   Rodney explains how his gear line Black On Black BK was created as a way to process trauma.  We talk what gives him hope in these times, multi-hyphenates &  how work makes a statement and starts a conversation!  See Christian & Shonali wearing their' Black on Black shirts on the show.   Our own Jason Lam is a tech wizard who often warns his friends as to how AI may be used in evil ways in the future! Here he shares his gorgeous AI children with us. See the video on YouTube  For the first time ever Christian & Shonali make a wardrobe change in honor of their friend and guest singer & dancer Jack Dwyer!   Singer, actor, dancer along Jack Dwyer and his Scandal wine goblet explains to us how he made the most of his Covid summer.  We had no idea that there is a gay Quidditch league in NYC. Jack is a gay man who does not play in it.  Jack continues to bring Christian & Shonali much joy and sings a beautiful rendition of Adele's Daydreamer for us. Go to ItsJackDwyer to enjoy more of his delightful spitfire-self!

  Pandemic times are still something that we are still getting used to. Stay diligent everyone as the fall approaches us.  Christian and Shonali appreciate each other a little more on this day. Christian learns an important lesson from Shonali.  Shonali is thankful that Christian is honest with her. Did you know that bicycle theft and self haircuts are on the rise during a pandemic? Our guests are comedian & scientist Raj Sivaraman, and musician K. Michelle DuBois. Our first guest is virologist (someone who studies viruses) and comedian Raj Sivaraman who recently moved from NYC to Arizona.  Things are very different in Arizona.  We discuss mixed messaged, the neck gator controversy, the coronavirus being like the Goldilocks scenario of virus scares, being from Kentucky, In and Out Burger and we quiz Raj on his knowledge of conspiracy theories.  You will not find Raj Sivaraman doing virtual open mics BUT you should follow him on Twitter.  Shonali's husband - artist & mural painter Jasper Patch joins WDEK for the first time for Get It Off Your Chest! We cover mix-tape friend listening etiquette, call & response Zoom etiquette, Julia Louis Dreyfus as host of DNC, buyer's remorse for presidential candidacies AND the deli getting your order slightly wrong.   Our final guest is Shonali's longtime best childhood friend and longtime musical collaborator K. Michelle DuBois.  Michelle comes to us from Atlanta, Georgia.  It's a wonderful journey through the friendship of two childhood friends who discovered music together as little kids and who made their dreams become real life adventures as adults.  Christian takes Michelle and Shonali through a photographic roller coaster ride from Baskin Robbins, to hip hop and ultimately to the rock and roll stage which they have never left.  Christian quizzes Michelle on this journey and asks about her podcast Zen Noodle Pie.  Laughter is a constant.  Michelle has her upcoming (fourth) solo album coming out in early 2021 called "The Fever Returns."  She performs a new song "Becoming Real" live on our show.  Go to KMichelleDuBois.com to hear more of her fantastic music! 

Christian Felix, Shonali Bhowmik and Justin The Intern celebrated their 8 Yr. Anniversary with special guest comedian Shalewa Sharpe on 7/28/20.  Christian and Shonali chose  highlights from their over 80 episodes to discuss with Shalewa.  Topics covered include pandemic fashion, sanitizing body parts, your only black friend, mask culture, white activism, NYC sex guidelines, marijuana laugh, roasting skills, the "good guy" syndrome, BLM, holidays personified as people, hardwired for hope, job security, Mr. Show, fart punctuation and Jason Lam & Jiminy.  Shalewa was hilarious & gracious as usual, sharing with us her unique innate wisdom and  says "Even I didn't know I was that deep."   We shared highlights from our prior shows with guest appearances by Chelsea Peretti, Kenice Mobley, M. Lamar, Jeremy O. Harris, Patrick Waldo, Nore Davis, Sean Patton, May Jeong, Melena Ryzik, Felice Rosser.  Even Shonali's husband Jasper Patch makes an appearance.  You can check out the video version of the show on Facebook here! 

Special guests comedian Hannibal Buress and musician Nicole Atkins join WDEK tonight! Christian, Shonali and Justin The Intern are still in their apartments in NYC.  This has been an especially rough week for everyone.  WDEK's mission is to spread the love with its first Garbage Giveaway including a hand me down tracksuit  and an ancient fondue set.  Congrats to our winners!  As this is a Zoom recording, please bear with us as there are some small hiccups in the sound due to the video freezes.  Comedian, actor & rapper Hannibal Buress joins us from Gas Station, Arizona!  He explains how he got his comedy career started at the mini mart behind him. The man does it all, everything from rap to play all star celebrity basketball.  His new hit  Judge Judy is available now on iTunes.  Check it out! The song comes from the view of a person who was on the show and who is willing to get "roasted by Judge Judy."  All the way from California, Nate Pierce joins us for Get It Off Your Chest!  Christian has some choice words for his friends.  Shonali  and celeb quarantining clickbait stories do not go together. Nate has issues with the passive aggressive pooper scoopers in his hood.  Musician Nicole Atkins comes to us live from her attic in Nashville, TN. Nicole has a brand new album, Italian Ice which was just released on May 29, 2020 and available now.  Nicole's new release is a feel good album inspired by her NJ beach days and the boardwalk vibes of Asbury Park.  Nicole has come far from the days when she booked intimate shows in the small back room of Radio Perfecto in the East Village, NYC. She performs Domino live in her attic complete with sparkly curtains and disco lights.   Thank you for your support and subscribe to us on iTunes. If you'd like to see our faces you can see our show on FB livestream here.  We also are on Youtube!  Stay safe everyone.  

We come to you with our 2nd ever Live from the Epicenter of the Pandemic episode.We once again want to recognize and thank all of our first responders who are risking their lives for our communities. You are amazing!  Christian & Justin coincidentally both have a book about Assholes.  Hear who the assholes of this pandemic are today.  This pandemic is taking a toll on all of us especially those of us in NYC and we are eager for fellowship with friends new and old w guests comedian Chelsea Peretti and hip-hop artist Jabee.  We bring back one of our most popular segments #GetItOffYourChest with guests Carrie Imberman and Susie Cangelosi!   Note if you are watching the video version of the show, their zoom backdrops are gorgeous.  Carrie let's you know how she feels about "pandemic homework" and Susie's apartment has become a WeWork!  Shonali has some strong words for new sourdough bread bakers. Christian notes new dating tactics during this pandemic.  Our first guest is our longtime friend, comedian, actress, writer and songstress Chelsea Peretti who is staying at home in LA.   Her new EP Foam and Flotsam, a concept album about her obsession with coffee was released last week and it brings us so much joy! Christian, Chelsea & Shonali talk about her new video Oatmilk,  TP, wearing masks, cooking, Variety Shac and dog grooming. Our final guest is hip-hop artist and actor, Jabee (Williams).  He comes to us from Oklahoma City along with DJ Reaper.  Jabee is an Emmy award winning prolific artist.  We discuss his sold out musical theatrical performance about his life, throwing his kids birthday parties during a pandemic and how Chuck D is his fan.  Jabee's upcoming album which due to the pandemic is probably going to be released in June 2020.  Support Jabee on Spotify via the Covid19 Artist fund which directs donations on behalf artists directly to the artists themselves.  Jabee performs two tunes for us live, Hands Up and Hope from his new upcoming album.  Thanks to all of you! Follow our socials @wdekpodcast and stay tuned for our next episode on May 26! For those of you who would like to see our faces during the show we have a few options!  Our live on FB fell episode version is https://www.facebook.com/372997412788760/videos/677139976190753/ Get It Off Your Chest: Interview with Chelsea Peretti Interview with Jabee For those of you not on FB our YouTube link (Subscribe to us)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKpVb8GbPt8 Everyone stay at home!  Stay safe! We are still in the beginning of this! 

WDEK notes the seriousness of these times and our hearts are with all the first responders and health care workers working on the frontlines during this pandemic. You are our heroes. We have friends that are sick with Covid-19 and we are thinking of you and send love your way.  We hope that our show provides a little bit of lightness, fun, connection and somewhat of an escape for you in this time of crisis.  For the first time ever, We Don't Even Know w Christian Felix Justin Hall and Shonali Bhowmik did a Self Isolation FB Live Stream show. Thanks to everyone who was with us and special thanks to our brilliant guests - Andrea Rosen Brian Bahe and Chris Maxwell!  Christian, Justin and Shonali come to you from each of their self isolation abodes in NYC.  They discuss their coping methods and their own do's and don'ts during a pandemic.  Also Christian is giving away a fondue set. Our first guest is actress, comedian and Shonali's Variety Shac sister Andrea Rosen!  Andrea did not wash her hair or shave her armpits.  We discuss why self isolation with young children in LA is much better than self isolation in NYC.   Other topics include making a horror film with her husband John Gemberling and her kids.  Hopefully we'll get to see it on Vimeo along with her new film The Rain Poncho.  Our second guest is comedian Brian Bahe who is self isolating in Ridgewood, NYC.  He has newly dyed hair and comes from Arizona.  Have you ever been a part of a dad comedy scene?  Well Brian came to NYC to avoid doing just that.  Brian has a unique voice in comedy in that he is Native American and gay. We talk family, fetishes and  coming out.  Look for Brian's IG show "R U OK?"  It's so great!   Our final guest is singer, songwriter and guitar god Chris Maxwell who is isolating with 3 women (his wonderful wife Kelly and two former WDEK musical guests Ambrosia Parsley & Holly Miranda)and 2 kids in Woodstock, NY.  That's what you can do in the country.  Chris has just released a beautiful full length release called New Store No.2.  He is a longtime friend of Shonali's and she can't stop talking about that.  He is a sharp dressed man and is "good with the ladies."  He performs two songs in his studio live with the help of his friends Ambrosia and Holly, 1) Most of What I Learned I Learned from Women and 2) Away We Go.  For those of you who'd like to see our amazing faces:  Here's our FB Live Version of the show: https://www.facebook.com/WDEKPodcast/videos/250355722765374/ Here's our YouTube Version of the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpN3H0qRo6E Everyone Stay Safe and Stay At Home!  Let's face it, we will be in self isolation a month from now - so we will live stream again.  See you there. 

At a time when the breaking news includes the coronavirus pandemic, Barney's shutting it doors, Harvey Weinstein sentenced to jail; We Don't Even Know Ep. 78, February 2020 starts out with even more important breaking news. Shonali & Christian completed the Whole 30 without cheating and Christian Felix has gotten lasik surgery! Most importantly they have another fantastic show with great guests along with real people sitting in a room communing together in real time.  First guests include former guests who found love on We Don't Even Know: Chelsea White and Tash Neal.  Find out what chicken tenders and gas have to do with being in love! Super personal questions are asked and answered by this beautiful twosome who unexpectedly hit it off during the July 2019 live recording of WDEK.   We discuss cat enthusiasm bonding and having to be on the DL when it comes to being in love in NYC.  Shonali gifts Christian with an "therworldly fragrances for earthbound souls” called the Tower by The Phoenix and The Fool. She's "full of love." Comedian Matt Wayne comes to WDEK married but ringless. He's starting a ringless movement.  Shonali won't have it.  Until now, Christian and Shonali have never met a former line-cook and park ranger from Buffalo turned NYC comedian.  Matt shares his deep love for NYC and Christian talks elaborate fare evasion. See Matt Wayne and Doug Smith's new comedy show, Cancel Commission at the Stand starting March 21. Mia Juhng joins Christian and Shonali for #GetItOffYourChest.  Topics include the need for lasik surgery support, food sharing parameters and gym membership recruitment tactics. Our final conversation is with with musician, visual artist, teacher & activist JD Samson!  JD tells us about her time at Sarah Lawrence as a student, how she stumbled into music (Le Tigre) and her surprising struggle with being on stage and dealing with panic attacks.  Christian and Shonali are inspired by JD's activism which centers around sincerity.  Songs discussed are Tres Bien (Le Tigre) and Making Art (Men).  JD is now a teacher at Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music (NYU Tisch) and is excited to help propel her students into the industry.  JD's superstar student Grace Ludmila performs two songs live at Red Room, Special and The Director.

Happy 2020!  Christian and Shonali roll into 2020 with tales of hunger and dogs gone wild.  Have you ever tried the Whole30? Christian and Shonali start the year out with another amazing lineup of guests.  Christian and Shonali are obsessed with all of them.  Their first guest is award winning choreographer, director, artistic director Raja Feather Kelly.  He is the artistic director of his own theater media dance company The feath3r theory.  How did a young man from Houston, TX with an obsession for pop culture, musical theater, dance and Andy Warhol become the critical darling of the uptown theater world?  His work as a brilliant choreographer is featured in works like Fairview and Strange Loop and his last performance as a dancer was a solo show, 2 years ago in Ugly at The Bushwick Star.  Go see his Kelly's upcoming works, Wednesday by the feath3r company and We're Gonna Die which he is directing at 2nd Stage premiering Feb. 4 and opening in February 25, 2020.  See why Raja's been featured in the New York Times so many times this past year.  Shonali has hopes of Christian getting a dog when times get lonely and has brought Rhonda the Dog Trainer (comedian & actress Becky Chicoine) from Pittsburgh to give him some dog training lessons.  The audience at home, should pay special attention to her words, because although you have no idea what Rhonda is doing, you can try these tricks at home with your own moves.   WDEK's second guest of the evening is comedian and writer Alex English.   Alex is black, from Detroit and recently started making friendships with white people.  Alex shares his astute observations regarding dating, weddings and eating brunch with white people.   He also has special words for comedians who can't turn it off.   Make sure to check out Alex at his monthly show Dad, happening at the Jane Hotel, the first Monday of the month.  His next show is Feb. 3, 8:30PM.   Jack Dwyer joins us from work in his gorgeous black velvet suit for this month's #GetItOffYourChest.  Topics include haircuts, relatives, salad bar hoverers and imaginary friends.  What is yours? WDEK's final guest is dancer, singer, songwriter, comedian and choreographer Adira Amram. Adira's unique brand of song, dance and collaboration is all about having a good time.  She has been performing with Maresa D'Amore-Morrison and Jessi Colon  (The Experience) for 12 years.  Adira claims that her work comes from the child inside of her.  She has released an album called Hot Jamzs for Teens.  Adira is the daughter of legendary composer and multi-instrumentalist David Amram.  Adira explains her dad had creative parenting techniques and how at 89 he's still continuously looking forward to the next gig.  Adira performs two of her tunes for our live studio audience: 1) 17 Signs You Are Having A Midlife Crisis (The Condensed Version) and 2) I Want You to Be You Only Different.  Look for Adira at her upcoming show this spring with Ophira Eisenberg, Ophira & Adira at Union Hall! Thank you all for supporting us for over 6 years!  For enjoying a noncommercial experience that is about heart and soul! 

We welcome back Christian Felix aka Mr. Cardigan to the show.  Shonali & Christian discuss their preparations for the holiday season and seeing friends vs family over the holidays.   Our first guest (00:08:45) is comedian & filmmaker Kenice Mobley.  Kenice is from North Carolina and came to NYC via Los Angeles and Boston MA.  Kenice has only been in NYC for the past 2 1/2 years and she has already made a big impact on the NYC comedy scene.  Kenice tells us about a time when she received a "high volume" of Richard pics from men. Find out how she dealt with them.   Kenice has a podcast called Love About Town w co-host Rohan Padhye discussing love, sex & relationships.  Christian and Shonali lobby to be on her show.   Our second guest (00:26:50) is actress Angelline Chung who also happens to be a Julliard graduate thanks to her parents in Singapore. Angelline hails from Singapore and was on a television show there called Shall We Talk?  Her dream role is one which would deal with issues of mental health.   Angelline discusses how although Hollywood is doing it's best, it still needs to do more  regarding inclusivity and white washing Asian culture.  Angelline educates us as to exactly what "yellow fever" is.  She explains how this mindset and behavior is detrimental to everyone involved especially Asian women.  We #GetItOffYour Chest (00:59:03) with former Ep. 21 WDEK guest, Pete Miser.  Christian and Pete have a heated conversation regarding chicken vs turkey for Thanksgiving.  Shonali is the Judge Judy of this debate.  Also don't loudly restate your partner's name over and over in a condescending way on a flight so that the entire flight feels bad for your partner.  Our final guest (00:59:03) is cinematographer, filmmaker and photographer Hope Hall. She is currently Senior Road Videographer for Senator Elizabeth Warren 2020 Campaign. She was President Obama's Principal Videographer in the White House.  Hope is one of the most positive people we have had on the show.  Yes, her name is fitting.  We ask Hope what makes working for Senator Warren so special. We discuss Hope's unusual career transition into filmmaking and photography.  We share (1:35:21) some of Hope's helpful tips on mindfulness and getting through the tough times.  We are lobbying her to have a weekend seminar on these tips so we can all be as powerful a force as she is. Another year winds down for We Don't Even Know.  We wish you the peace and joy during this holiday season and we will be back next year, for our live taping on January 28, 2020.  Love, Shonali & Christian  

We are 75 Episodes old as of of tonight, October 29, 2019.  Our guest co-host is choreographer, teacher, tennis fanatic and trivia master Joe Celej. Joe joins Shonali Bhowmik to discuss all things horrific.  Joe and Shonali are joined by guests artist Trish Tillman, comedian Clare O'Kane, Gary The Vampire and performer, musician, comic Lauren Maul.   Trish Tillman is a visual artist who lives currently in NYC and in one of Oscar Wilde's former residences.  We discuss the plight of an artist - working all alone for hours on end and not talking to anyone; having multiple jobs to supplement your income as an artist and making art as a child in Washington, DC.  Shonali is convinced Trish's sculptures are influenced by the art residency she did in India in terms of the colors, decorations, materials and simple forms she uses. We discuss Bollywood horror films, slackers & Trish's solo show opening at Aysa Geisberg Gallery in Chelsea on Thursday Nov.7.  Go to her opening party from 6-8pm to see her gorgeous work up close!  Thomas Kelsey joins us from the audience to play the game, Name That Mystery Candy!  We blindfold him and find out how many candies he named correctly after Joe inserts the candy into Thomas Mouth. Congrats to Thomas who won some seriously wonderful gifts!  Clare O'Kane is a comedian from San Jose, California. We discuss opening for the emo punk band Jawbox, being a newlywed, DNA testing and how she's changed as a comedian in the past 9 years.  Make sure to check out her comedy album, Let It Be and her work as a writer on the second season of Shrill. Be on the lookout for Clare in a comedy club near you!  Gary The Vampire (aka comedian Matt Little) makes a surprise appearance at WDEK.  He's really loud and was born in the 1600's before NYC became edgy.  He quickly let us know, he's not into Halloween and we commiserate with him.  Did you know that Vampires wear jean jackets?   Our final guest of the night is performer, creator, musician, comic and all around do everything artist Lauren Maul. She calls herself a good witch and hosts her own show called Gathering of the Coven during the full moon. She fills us in on her latest project, an album of love songs which come from her recent agreement with her husband to have an open marriage.  It turns out initially it wasn't easy for Lauren's husband to go along with Lauren's request, but a year later accommodated for her.  Lauren performs two original songs in the Red Room live, 1) With A Witch and 2) All Her Things. We hope you enjoy. 

While Christian is traveling for work, we are pleased to have Duane Harriott, join us as Shonali's guest co-host.  Duane is a wedding DJ, a legendary DJ on WFMU, a composer AND one of the stars of the Other Music Documentary which was released over the spring of 2019.  Shonali and Duane discuss the power of the wedding DJ and strangers eating your food.  Their first guest is writer Tamara Best. (Timecode at 10:33) Her articles have been published in the New York Times, Time Out and The Daily Beast. She is the assistant managing editor of The Daily Beast.  Her work centers on the intersection of identity and culture for communities of people of color.  Tamara is of West Indian descent and also lived in Atlanta as did Shonali. They discuss Tamara's success in NYC as a writer and her parents' pride.  Tamara specifically shares her insight as to the urgency of the work (Fairview, Slave Play, Strange Loop, What To Send Up When It Goes Down) of a slew of African American playwrights who have recently burst onto the theater world. She and her husband a psychologist have healthy intellectual sparring matches. He happens to be in the audience and we notice his facial expressions throughout the night. HA! Tamara is in the process of writing her own play titled Hindsbury Hill, a tribute to her family. We look forward to seeing it when it is finished! Our next guest is comedian Rob Cantrell   (Time code 31:52)  Rob so graciously performs some stand up for our studio audience in which he kills the Red Room.  Notice the two Bhowmik sisters laughing on both sides of the room. (Time code 42:06) Duane and Shonali talk to Rob about the "magic trick" of comedy and bombing.  He grew up in DC later moved to small town Virginia and eventually started his comedy career in San Francisco.  Duane and Rob bond on both being parents and Scorpios.  Rob is a very successful comedian who toured with Tracy Morgan this summer.  His tour story will blow your mind. Highlights include gyros, a blue turtleneck and leather shoes.  (Time code 52:40 - 59:01) Duane also has a Tracy Morgan story! #OtherMusic  (Time code 59:40)  Our last guest is composer, teacher & musician Chris Opperman.  His Wikipedia page is outrageous.  Chris realized he wanted to be a composer when he first heard the music of Frank Zappa. He went to Berklee and he came up with his indie hit song Ain't Got No Beef as a result of a homework assignment after a visit to Taco Bell.  Check out his orchestration for a 54 piece orchestra for Steve Vai's For the Love of God here.  Duane and Chris have some Frank Zappa talk on which Shonali is clueless. Chris performs for the first time performs two piano pieces by other composers.  The first song (1:18:17) is Ann Southam's Pond Life.  His second performance is Ellen Zwilich's Lament (1:22:27).  If are interested in learning more about classical music, Chris has hundreds of Spotify playlists which he made for his students at Montclair State University. Check them out. Also stay tuned for Chris' Chamber Music from Hell project which is based on the concept of "What would Aliens write if they made BeBop music?"  What a show! Thank you all!  Our next show is October 29, 2019 with comedian Clare O'Kane, artist Trish Tillman and music by Lauren Maul.  See you there!  Also please share our podcast with your friends and family.  They will thank you. Follow us on all social media @wdekpodcast

It's the end of summer 2019 and beach time for Christian. Shonali & Christian's friendship is unique.  Their Episode 73 guests include playwright Jeremy O. Harris, comedian Nore Davis and musician Bianca Espinal aka BIA.E. This is an extra special double edition show.   Christian and Shonali are so excited to have playwright Jeremy O. Harris join them just as his hit play Slave Play makes its way to Broadway! Their in depth conversation (00:07:56 - 01:08:20) includes topics such as Harris' Color Purple book report in the 6th grade, his mom, Club Monaco, his Rihanna interview, the relationship of fashion to theater, Aleshea Harris, black erasure, colonialism, white attention, being considered a "polarizing figure", academic probation, The 1619 Project, art criticism and his appreciation of Mr. Show.  Jeremy O. Harris will be the youngest black man to ever be on Broadway and is having a big party on the first night of previews for Slave Play on September 10th.  His Broadway premiere is on October 6th.  Get your tickets now.    Comedian Nore Davis grew up in Yonkers, NY and quit college to do stand up. (at 1:08:40-1:36:08)  He grew up with a police officer dad and a controlling mom. Nore's upcoming comedy tv special is called "Too Woke" and he explains the many burdens which come with being "too woke."  We discuss toxic masculinity, respect for the stand-up Gods, job security and being on late night tv on Conan twice. Christian asks about Nore's use of the N word.  Nore has already released an Amazon comedy special called "You Guys are Dope" and his upcoming Comedy Central 1/2 Hour Special "Too Woke" comes out on November 8 at 11:30 PM. Check it out.  He has a regular show at Union Hall with his girlfriend comedian Nash Rose called Stellar Underground.  Get It Off Your Chest (at 1:36:33) is BAAACKKKK with audience member and former WDEK guest JJ Sasnowski joining Christian & Shonali onstage.  Their problems range from cologne, road rage and unwritten NYC rules.   WDEK's last guest of the evening is musician Bianca Espinal (01:44:45) aka BIA.E (Be Infinite Anywhere Everywhere.)  Bianca is Dominican and grew up in Harlem. She started busking on the subway platform with her father at 17 years old.  She also auditioned American Idol and The Voice where Pharrell gave her the best advice. She received the semi-final position in Tengo Talento Mucho Talento, a Hispanic International televised show. Atlhough her sultry voice is unique to herself, you can hear Espinal's many influences like Lianne La Havas, Amy Winehouse, and Dusty Springfield when she sings.  She sings two of her original songs Anytime (at 2:03:21) and Time (at 2:07:00).  Look for B.I.A.E on IG to find out about her upcoming shows.  Enjoy! Thank you all!  See you next month! Follow us on all social media @wdekpodcast

The Red Room has new air conditioning and WDEK is soaking it up. Christian and his washcloth went to a nude beach. Shonali is feeling like a real New Yorker.  Their guests on July 30, 2019 are magician Greg Dubin - "The Great Dubini," Comedian Chelsea White and Musician Tash Neal.  Shonali thought Greg Dubin aka "The Great Dubini" was a comedian when she met him but found out he was much more than that - he's funny and he's also a professional magician! He does tricks for us at the top of his interview and even Shonali & Christian who are standing beside him can't figure them out.  Greg started out doing magic as a kid, went to magic camp and stuck with it.  Find out how he avoids feeling like a hack.  Greg was born on the same day (not year) that Houdini arrived in America.  Do you know what Houdini's real name is AND what Greg's worst line is during his magic routine? Go see Greg perform his one hour show at The Slipper Room on September 4th.  Shonali went to San Diego to visit a family immigrant shelter run by Jewish Family Services of San Diego. She was moved and saddened after hearing stories from families who have been in detention.  She was also moved and inspired a week later in Atlanta when out of the blew she got to meet Rep. John Lewis.  She pleads everyone to get involved and to react to injustice by calling it out which was requested by Rep. Lewis. In his words, we must "make good noise."  Christian and Shonali's second guest is a comedian, host, writer and producer Chelsea White  She is wearing the loveliest jumpsuit and sandals.  Chelsea hosts a podcast called "Ghosted" offering up stories of being ghosted and being a ghoster.  She dated a self-titled "recovering sociopath" for a second. She also hosts Adulting, a web series show on Bravo which features Bravolebrities (first time we've heard of that term.) Chelsea shares a tip on how to break up with a toxic friend. She loves cats and has a web series show called Show Me Ur Kitty.  She produced MTV's Girl Code.  But Shonali's most excited about the fact that Chelsea met a superstar from the show Dateline at Crime Con.  Who could that be? Look for Chelsea's Instagram Live talk show coming out in September called What A Delight with Chelsea White! Shonali and Christian's last guest is phenomenal musician Tash Neal.  Tash's parents are super talented.  His mom is an opera singer who sings with the Philharmonic and his dad Michael Neal can play 27 instruments.  Tash tries to keep up with them. He's performed with his band The London Souls for about 10 years and is now going by Tash Neal. Listen to Tash describe his favorite NYC public access show with THE guy with the record player and a single camera and let us know if you know THE guy!  It sounds so good. We need him on this show. Tash knows Slash!  Tash tells us about a horrible car accident he was in 7 years ago which caused him to be in a coma. He's lucky to be alive! We are lucky he's alive!   Tash performs two songs, Isabel and Sweet Cup and boy is it SWEEET!!! Go see Tash perform at Pianos on August 29th. 

It's the beginning of the real summer of NYC.  Its time to bus out your washcloths y'all!  Christian and Shonali went to Mexico City and must poll the audience on flip flops. The first guest of WDEK Ep. 71 is accomplished actor Ato Essandoh.  Christian starts reading off his IMDB which is way too long to list here but check it out for yourself. Currently he's one of the television stars of CBS' The Code, was the star of Netflix' Altered Carbon and HBO's Vinyl; also holding roles in movies such as Django Unchained, Blood Diamond, Jason Bourne and so many more. Ato shares his journey from being a chemical engineering student at Cornell to becoming a professional actor.  Christian and Ato get educated as to the new national dance craze, The Git Up by Shonali. Ato is refreshingly humble for being such an accomplished actor.  He comments on luck in the business and his obligation to help others out.  By all accounts Meryl Streep is perfection in a human.  Shonali shares a personal story about her love for Bigfoot and shares and special email she received about Bigfoot from her friend Steve in Savannah, GA. WDEK's second guest is comedian Sam Morrison.  He too went to Cornell as Ato did.  Who knew artists graduated from Cornell? Sam is more interested in having a conversation with Ato than Shonali and Christian but they lock him down and find out that within two years of graduating and living in NYC, Sam's comedy career has skyrocketed. Shonali wants to call his mom Pam to explain his success. Sam came out as a gay man on stage mostly because he was bombing.  Sam won the Make Me Laugh Comedy Contest and his solo show Hello, Daddy! is previewing from July 12 - July 27, 2019 at 59 E. 59 before he goes to Edinburgh.  Check it out!  Christian tells a story which makes him look bad when the show is interrupted by Theo The Choreographer.  Theo claims the "show is off the rails."  Theo who was hired by Shonali and Christian instructs them as to how to improve the show. Shonali & Christian promise they will work harder.  WDEK's last guest is soul singer-songwriter musician and animator Kendra Morris. Kendra is from Florida as is our guest Sam Morrison. Kendra comes from a family of musicians. She quit after one semester of college to focus on her music career and partying. After quitting her "shitty' all female band which she moved with to NYC and in which SHE confesses was the problem, Kendra shares how she gained perspective in NYC and also specifically gained inspirational insight from her old friend Anton of Brian Jonestown Massacre.  Kendra was recently featured on both last year's Czarface Meets Metalface and this year's Czarface Meets Ghostface albums.  Catch Kendra on tour this coming fall!  Thanks to our guest appearance by Theo The Choreographer, aka Theo Koppel. Our next show is on July 30, 2019. See you there and follow us on all socials at wdekpodcast ! 

Christian is back in the Red Room for Ep. 70 of We Don't Even Know.  Shonali and Christian can't help but spread the word of the phenomenal soul r&b pop hip hop artist Lizzo after seeing her live show just a few days earlier. We quickly move from self-love to self-mutilation - you sort of could call it that - waxing is not so popular these days is it? That's the question.  Bushes are back in  - well that's what Shonali thinks.  Shonali and Christian's first guest is writer Jamela Zahra (@ 00:12:35).  She explodes on to the podcast with an unpleasant waxing story.  Jamela grew up with MTV and always wanted to be a VJ. Her dream was to kick a blunt with Janet Jackson.  We believe that dream will come true.  Jamela has a website called HighHowAreYou.com geared to women who smoke cannabis, especially women of color.  Jamela's ultimate goal is to break down the stigma of smoking pot for black people.  After saying she herself should have her own brand of weed, she confessed she would like to have her own cookie company.  Mackenzie Besos if you're listening, we've found a good cause for you to support.     Our second guest is Kate Willett (@00:38:37) is from the Bay Area in Cali and Shonali has flashbacks of rope sandals, unflushed toilets to when she lived in Santa Cruz, CA.  Kate just made an appearance on Stephen Colbert which we will all get to see later this summer. Do you know what makes social media enjoyable? Kate has been spending time working on art she cares about, such as a book about contemporary masculinity with the working title "Good Guys."  We can't wait to read it.  The convo moves from deep hippie state to hookup culture - the good, the bad, the ugly. Kate is and has been doing great things including touring in India, China and Australia. Kate's brand of comedy in India blows Shonali's mind.  Check out Kate's special on Netflix!  We #GetItOffYourChest (@1:02:00) with WDEK's great friend Mike Stuto! Christian would like to have the ear of his periodontist.  Shonali explains what is supposed to happen in "the Quiet Lounge" at a spa.  Mike Stuto will not have it anymore with the pretentiousness of vinyl lovers, which means he's talking about Shonali.  Our last guest is writer, singer, rocker Lenny Zenith, (@1:13:28) originally from NOLA and currently a long time New Yorker.  As a kid, Lenny went to school at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts along with fellow students such as Wynton and Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. Lenny explains that even though his music has roots in new wave and punk rock, the aforementioned jazz artists were deeply influential on him, in terms of witnessing their talent, persistence and work ethic.  Lenny is transgender and shares with WDEK an inspirational story of transitioning as a 14 year old in New Orleans.  Lenny moved to NYC ready to rock and was a member of Jenifer Convertible, Tenterhooks and RZA.  Only recently has Lenny been recording under his own name, Lenny Zenith.  Lenny sings two of his songs during this episode, including a brand new unrecorded tune and one on his latest record What If The Sun called The Wish.   Thanks to our WDEK crew, Daria Huxley our photographer, Justin The Intern  - Justin Hall for our great intros, Ezana Million our sound engineer and Lori Schwarz our Red Room hostess and bartender! Special thanks to Lenny who sold CDs after the show with proceeds going towards trans people of color.  Thank you ALL! Follow us on all social media @wdekpodcast !  

Special guest co-host comedian Courtney Fearrington joins Shonali as they celebrate the taping of Ep. 69 with special guests comedian Rufat Agayev, musician Deah Harriott and atmospheric scientist Campbell Watson.   Courtney and Shonali start it all out on a serious note discussing  Nashville, the bachelor and bachelorette party capital of the country. We put our guest atmospheric scientist & surfer Campbell Watson on the spot and asked him to tell it to us straight. Are we going to die tomorrow? Campbell is from Australia and we can't figure out is he saying algae or alga blooms? We did learn about the good things that humans have done in fighting climate change. Make sure to find Cambpell's artistic and performative work either on stage or online and stop using plastic bags at the grocery.  Our second guest is comedian Rufat Agayev, who moved to NYC 8 years ago by way of Florida where he went to college and "trickled down to sociology" as a major.  There he started to perform as a rapper opening up for big names such as Wiz Khalifa and Dead Prez.  Rufat is part Azerbaijani and part Armenian. Rufat talks about loving comedy as a craft, including his early years in comedy getting his "ass kicked" doing open mics.  Go see Rufat's show Hell Fucking Yeah at Lucky 13 Saloon. Our Get It Off Your Chest audience performer is John Uhlenhake. He's a loyal supporter of WDEK.  Shonali talks about germaphobes making it germier for the rest of us.  John alarms us with what he sees people doing while riding their bikes.  Courtney talks walking protocol in NYC.  Get it together walkers! Our last guest is a singer, pianist and music teacher Deah Harriott . If that's not enough Deah is also the Minister of Music at Bethany Baptist Church, (Rev. Al Sharpton's church) and Music Director at Marble Collegiate Church.  Deah can't get over Shonali's husband's name "Jasper Patch."  Shonali goes on and on about Deah's impressive family BUT she's the one who was called a child prodigy at age 2.  Deah is proud to come from Lincoln, Nebraska.  Who knew?  All of our guest members want to go to Deah's church with her.  Deah blows us away with her renditions of Time After time by Cyndi Lauper and Still I Rise by Yalonda Adams.   Thank you all!  See you at our next live show May 28th at Red Room.  Make sure you go to Courtney's live show Som Like It Hot Saturday afternoon June 1st at Caveat where he pairs up wines with his favorite comedians.  

It's March, it's springtime and it's still cold in NYC but we'll warm you up with our fabulous guests.  Nice, huh?  Special guests include painter, video artist Samantha Nye; stand up comedian Courtney Fearrington; illustrator and writer Jemima Williams; and performer, musician, playwright Benjamin Scheuer!   Christian and Shonali discuss spring attire in the cold and Christian's ability to draw random people towards him wherever he goes.  Could it be it's his name? The first guest is painter and video artist Samantha Nye.  She started had a professional career as a little girl which was being a child model.  When the work dried up, she found her way to art after leaving a massage therapist instructor career behind.  Samantha's art is powerful, compelling and lesbian focused. She delves into family relationships and the inherent sexuality found within those relationships.  Find out how she crossed the line with her supportive parents via her provocative art....she was an undergrad at the time. Check out Samantha's work at SamanthaNye.com Christian and Shonali discuss Women's History Month and the invisibility of women's work. Shonali wants everyone to know Sister Rosetta Tharpe.  Look her up now.  Also some data points regarding the amount of women vs. men's leisure time.  The second guest is comedian and writer Courtney Fearrington. Maybe you saw him on a new Boost Mobile commercial that came out a few weeks ago.  He has on some great Air Max sneakers bc it's Air Max day.  Courtney is a former Marine  who found his way to stand-up comedy during security briefings.  Shonali and Courtney  connect on the concept of not allowing friends to waste your paper towels. 2019 is the year of Courtney's most honest self. Are you honest?  Courtney has a show called Somm Like It Hot which is a wine tasting paired with a favorite comic.  Go to his shows!  Our hostess bartender at Red Room, Lori Schwarz joins us for Get It Off Your Chest!  Christian has issues w Shonali's lack of Facetime etiquette. Shonali realizes that her inclination to always embrace the elderly may not be on point.  Find out what happens to Lori when she commiserates with a bar patron about a #MeToo story about his wife. Our final guests are married couple, new parents and artistic collaborators Jemima Williams and Benjamin Scheuer. Jemima Williams is an illustrator and writer. Benjamin Scheuer is a musician, playwright and performer.  They recently collaborated on a children's book called Hibernate With Me which was published in February 2019. Jemima is from England and moved to NYC to be with Benjamin.  Her transition from giving up her life in England to living in the US  did not go as smoothly as she expected.  It was this that inspired Benjamin to write the song Hibernate With Me for Jemima.  We discuss divorce o'clock, the credit given to a dad vs a mother for carrying a baby and their upcoming children's book. Benjamin sings 3 songs for us, Hibernate With Me, a song from his Drama Desk Award winning musical solo show The Lion called Weather The Storm, and Hello Jemima.            

2019 continues to be better than we thought it would be. Our Ep. 67 guests are stand-up comedian, writer, actor Sean Patton; actor, writer, producer Eric Lockley; and musician, comedian, artist Caitlin Cook.   It's February, the month of love, Black History Month, the month of the sauna and the red carpet for Christian and Shonali!  Our first guest of the night is Eric Lockley, an actor, writer, producer and a winner of the Amateur Night at the Apollo as a seven year old! Eric is one of the founders of the Movement Theater and a Producing Artistic Leader.  Eric was one of the producers of a powerful interactive experimental theatrical hit show called What To Send Up When It Comes Down by Aleshea Harris which was created to honor the black lives lost to “racialized violence."  We talk collective truths, comedy in drama, how much fish is too much fish and Jennifer Lewis as next year's Oscar Host. Watch Eric's web series Blacker here! For the first time ever in WDEK history, audience members, Catherine and Brad, have a lover's quarrel in the middle of our show. Shonali and Christian as love experts, naturally decide to bring them up on stage to discuss their problems. Shonali takes lead as a couples therapist. Christian is a skeptic.   Our second guest is comedian, writer and actor Sean Patton.  You've seen him on Comedy Central, Fallon, Conan.  Sean has Shonali's back regarding her comment about her husband's fart sounding like a question mark.  Sean is from the wonderful city of New Orleans. Shonali got married there.  We talk the Howling Wolf, Hurricane Katrina and Sean is emphatic that Spike Lee should have won an Oscar for When The Levees Broke .  What joke does Sean tell when a stranger who finds out he's a comedian asks him to tell a joke?? Lucky for you we did not edit it out of this episode although we thought about it!  Sean just returned from performing in China. Who do you know that has done that?  Check out Sean's new podcast coming out later this month along with our next guest Caitlin Cook called Five Words.   We Get It Off Your Chest with audience member Jako Borren.  Shonali does not appreciate strangers passing off their unfunny stories to her as a gift to her to use for on the stage. Christian talks about proper gifting techniques for clothing.  Jako has not one but two GIOYC's regarding Black History Month and Valentine's Day.   Our final guest is musician, comedian, and artist Caitlin Cook. She happens to also be Sean Patton's girlfriend.  The show comes full circle, we talk about love and what sealed the deal for Caitlin regarding her relationship with Sean.  Caitlin has a master's degree in maritime archeology. Find out why Shonali is flipping out over who Caitlin's grandfather is. Although she wrote her first song at 4 years old, she never really felt the urge to perform due to growing up in LA where every kid is in show biz.  Now that Caitlin has a code of conquering fears, she performs often to get over her stage fright.  She performs her music under the moniker Candid Bandit to distinguish  from her comedy music.  Caitlin is preparing to perform her one woman show in Edinburgh this summer.  Her new EP Bridges to Burn release party is on April 5th at Rockwood. Go see her!  She performs a beautiful cover of Eiffel 65's Blue and an original titled Howl from her new EP.  Enjoy!    

We start out 2019 with an explosion not a bang. Our guests are award-winning investigative journalist May Jeong, award-winning writer/stand up comedian Josh Gondelman and singular blues punk rock n’ roll bad ass musician Shilpa Ray. Along with special surprise guest Mitch The Enthusiasm Coach and Megan Fitzpatrick Gets It Off Her Chest. Christian and Shonali catch up on the holidays, mom talk, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Schulz' signature and the opportunity which 2019 will hopefully bring. Their first guest is investigative journalist May Jeong.  May is a wunderkind.  She's spent years living in Afghanistan covering the war and received high accolades for reporting from there.  We discuss her courage, smarts and as she calls it being "young and dumb" in terms of saying yes to every opportunity to get the real story.  Look for her upcoming work in the New Yorker regarding another explosive ground breaking story. Shonali's new 2019 positive attitude is due to the new man in her life, Mitch The Enthusiasm Coach.  Mitch who also wears two headbands at one time shows Christian how to get inspired about the year and take charge of his life.   The second guest in the lineup is award winning writer and stand up comedian Josh Gondelman.  He was a former writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and currently write for the new late night show on Showtime with Desus and Mero.  What Christian and Shonali find most interesting about Josh is that he is from Boston, has no accent AND was a former preschool teacher. 2019 is going to be a big one for Josh.  He just recorded a one hour comedy live special and has written a new book "Nice Try - Story of Best Intentions and Mixed Results" to come out this year. Oh and Desus and Mero's show debuts on February 21st.  Get It Off Your Chest with audience member Megan Fitzpatrick.  She comes forth with martini in hand.  Our problems stem mostly from the weather and inconsiderate people.  Whew, don't you feel better.  Our last guest is the amazing multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter punk rock blues musician Shilpa Ray.  Wow.  Shonali bonds with Shilpa on being Bengali Female Desis who play rock n' roll.  Unbelievably she had a music pageant dad who had to force her to practice her harmonium and vocals at a young age.  Believably he also still wants her to go to med school.  Shilpa says she is actually shy which is shocking.  Shilpa kindly answers Christian's template musician question beautifully.  Please go see Shilpa play live at El Cortez on February 8th with James Chance to find out why people call her god. Shilpa performs two songs live on piano in the Red Room, 1) Same Sociopath and 2). Cry For the Cameras  Enjoy!  Happy New Year! Also special thanks to Matt Hunziker for coming in a crushing it as Mitch the Enthusiasm Coach!

Our 2018 WDEK Holiday Episode 65 was taped in Shonali's apartment in front of a live audience w special guest co-host Shalewa Sharpe and guests comedians Sharron Paul, Chris Laker and musician James Harvey.  This is a re-taping of our brilliant October 2018 show for reasons you will learn when you listen to Ep. 65.  The cider was flowing and the holiday spread was spread out.   Shonali and Shalewa's friendship began way back in the ATL.  Cover your ears mom for the first 5 minutes of this conversation.  Christian, Shalewa and Shonali talk cornbread WET dressing and fried turkey.  Comedian, writer, producer, side hustler (aren't we all) Sharron Paul joins the party. They discuss holiday travel, improv passenger actors and using what Shalewa calls "fun airlines."  Have you ever heard of ice cream theft? Exciting news ya'll! Make sure to check out Sharron's adult novelty website called TheNastyAmerican.com . Comedian Chris Laker joins us in his festive socks and all around good shirt. We talk male Spanx, family (non) responsibilities, moving to Los Angeles and performing at the Fringe Fest.   Look for Chris walking in the streets of LA bc he would rather not drive.  Our Get It Off Your Chest with Delmira "Dee" Lemus gets serious.  Christian shocks us with his GIOYC.  Shonali complains about herself.  Shalewa has had it with bodega workers ruining her snack cake experience.  Fortnite problems are messing with Dee's bank account.  Pretty sure WDEK is the only podcast in which you will hear a serious conversation regarding Alfonso Ribeiro, Fred "Rerun" Berry AND pajama wear. Pianist, composer, musical comedy performer James Harvey sock game is tight.  Seeing Little Shop Of Horrors as a kid sparked his interest in writing musicals.  He performs the five stages of grief from his one man show, The Bald Faced Truth.  James is currently working on his new musical Amazon-The Musical, and it's not about the rainforest.   Happy Birthday to Jason Lam!  He filled in for Daria Huxley as photographer. Also make plans to attend Shalewa's live album taping is January 27th at Union Hall in Brooklyn - two shows 7PM & 9:30PM! 

How many meals did you have on Thanksgiving? Well for one of our hosts, that answer is more than one.  It's the holiday season and in Episode 64 (is actually Ep. 65 BUT we unfortunately had issues with the audio recording for that show from October 2018 with Sharron Paul, Shalewa Sharpe, Chris Laker and James Harvey and will be sharing their voices with you next month.) Christian and Shonali must catch up on all things food and family related.  They are joined by guests photographer (our own in house WDEK photographer) and world explorer Daria Huxley, professional figure ice skater, comic actor & filmmaker Tommy Do and musician & writer Maggy Adeleye.   Daria Huxley moved to NYC from St. Petersburg, Russia for an internship only 3 1/2 years ago.  She admits to enjoying our Russian hacker WDEK Episode 57. Daria's photos are very much like paintings in that she transforms images of architecture into beautiful abstract compositions. Christian teaches us about the "not safe for work setting" for photos on Tumblr. Daria brought two books to the show to share with the audience including 300 ft Under a book about St. Petersburg subway and Geometria, about fine art architecture.  Daria enjoys mostly taking photos of people and explains what its like to put a camera into a stranger's face.  She also enjoys surfing in the Rockaways.  Check out Daria's work on 500px.  Tommy Do is the first professional figure ice skater we have had on our show.  He just performed at Barclays Center which for you out of NYC towners is a really big arena.  He works for a family friendly company which involves a mouse.  He also is a comedy filmmaker and stars in his own film called Masc Only written by him which focuses on queer friendships and masculinity in gay culture. Tommy says "It's hard for people to hear they are gay sometimes."  Tommy is the child of Vietnamese immigrants and says there isn't much he can do to compare to the amazing feats his parents have accomplished. Want to go to Philly over the New Year to see Tommy perform?  Christian and Shonali are going.   We #GetItOffYourChest with audience member Anthony Lathon.  Topics include Black Friday, subway non-strap hangers and Facetiming during the holidays. Let it all out ya'll. Our final guest is musician & writer Maggy Adeleye.  She moved to NYC from Houston via LA in 2017. She has made the decision to focus on creative pursuits and is now a musician and writer, and no longer a financial analyst. Maggy suffers from a chronic illness called endometriosis and is spreading the word surrounding the heft of this illness while also creating a support network for others who suffer from this disease. Maggy's emotive vocal style and acoustic finger picking style are her own but she is inspired by artists like Emeli Sande and Ed Sheeran.  Maggy admits that because of her look she is often pigeonholed as an R&B musician, but she is a soulful modern folk-pop songwriter and is currently putting together a band.  Are you a drummer, cellist or fiddler?  Listen to her perform two of her original songs for us in the studio, Tonight Will End and The City.  Look for Shonali's band Tigers & Monkeys to hit the stage in Atlanta on 12/8, Birmingham on 12/9 and Memphis on 12/10! Happy Holidays!

Shonali Bhowmik and Christian Felix co-host a chat, music, variety talk show with guests comedian and oversharer Calvin Cato; humorist, cartoonist, artisanal pencil sharpener and tv host David Rees along with music by Tigers and Monkeys. Christian Felix is back in his co-hosting seat after a trip to Singapore where they know how to deal with the heat.  Calvin Cato, a self professed oversharer, explains how as a premed major, he made his way into the world of comedy.  Calvin wrote an open letter to his white male friends and WDEK endorses his sentiment.  Get It Off Your Chest with audience member Martina Potratz.  If you ever wondered, strangers really do yell things out at pregnant women in the streets.   David Rees is a master of many trades including a fact checker, an artisanal pencil sharpener, the creator of the cartoon Get Your War On, the host of a tv show called Going Deep (find it online) but one of his most important works was his Financial Transparency - Journey Into Hell presentation. Both David and Christian protect themselves from the heat with help of a handkerchief. Tigers & Monkeys, a band led by WDEK's own Shonali Bhowmik just released their third full length album titled Saturday Destroyer. Shonali along with bandmates Jason Lam, Anthony Cangelosi and Russell Dungan perform stripped down versions of their songs Over The Sun, Magic Marker and Dinosaurs Surrender.   

  We Don't Even Know Ep. 62 live at Red Room hosted by Shonali Bhowmik and guest co-host comedian Greg Johnson with special guests comedian Maeve Higgins, comedian Hari Kondabolu and musician Camille Harris. Get It Off Your Chest with our audience member Maggy Adeleye.   Special guest co-host comedian Greg Johnson joins Shonali to host Ep. 62 of WDEK Live at Red Room while Christian Felix is away on the hottest night of the year so far.  Greg, Shonali and Christian met while working on a huge case at a Manhattan law firm which is why the word "chron" makes them giddy.   Greg was our Ep. 17 guest 5 years ago on 9/10/13. Greg Johnson's #1 is the first stand-up comedy album to be released by Little Lamb Recordings, Shonali's label.  Our first guest is comedian, author and actress Maeve Higgins.  Maeve first impressed Shonali with her sparkly sandals but Maeve's undeniable wit and intelligence are what sealed the deal in their friendship.  We discuss Maeve's new book Maeve In America along with worldly topics like vagina extensions, M&M world, mental illness, Irish America and the seduction of being white. Comedian Hari Kondabolu FINALLY is a guest on WDEK live.  The discussion starts out light regarding signing autographs and wet t-shirt contests and things get serious when Shonali confesses she was a prom queen and mathlete in high school.  Hari has a new Netflix special out called Warn Your Relatives and TruTV documentary The Problem With Apu.  Most importantly, Hari and Shonali both have brilliant mothers.    Our audience member Maggy Adeleye joins us for our Get It Off Your Chest segment.  We discuss using the word "sweetie", saying you are "color-blind" and being asked to be co-host for WDEK on a day when the heat index is 99 degrees in NYC. Our final guest is Camille Harris!  She is a musician, writer, teacher, comedian and actress.  Camille came to NYC as a former prom queen and international baccalaureate. Prom queens unite! She wrote a musical called Muffin Man and has been recently working on a children's album called Silly Jazz with Camille.  She is not on social media. Impressive, right? Camille performs two songs in the Red Room, Trying Something New and Baby On The Subway. Also Shonali has a band called Tigers and Monkeys which has a new album coming out on Sept. 17, 2018.  It is called Saturday Destroyer.  Tigers and Monkeys will be the musical guest on the September 18th WDEK Live show.    

Guest co-host Jordan Clifford joins Shonali for Episode 61 while Christian Felix is in Singapore doing who knows what. Jordan helps Shonali analyze her disgusting dream.  Our first guest is actress, dancer, comedian Sunita Mani. Shonali and Sunita are family friends. Jordan and Sunita were in the same crew together in college at Emerson College.  Jordan tried to make Sunita cry once.  We discuss Sunita's success as an actress (Mr. Robot, GLOW) and if it has gone to her head. Look for Sunita in No Activity.  Out of nowhere, a podcast protestor interrupts our show!  Our second guest is comedian, writer & producer Myka Fox.  Myka just celebrated her birthday and Shonali forces Myka to tell a depressing story about a specific past birthday. Find out whether Myka ever had an ex-boyfriend help her move?  Myka has the best Twitter account & you must follow her.  Check out Myka's Friday night weekly show at the Cobra Club called Live From Outer Space.  Sidenote: Have you seen the PBS documentary on Maya Angelou? It's on Netflix now.  Ep. 61 Get It Off Your Chest is with audience member Ricky Trabucco.  We have some good ones: airplane boarding eagerness, people with clipboards & purchasing lottery tickets.  Our final guest is musician Shannon Wright.  Shannon is a guitarist, pianist, singer-songwriter and her performances are raw, emotional, breathtaking and powerful all at one moment.  Shonali & Shannon are long time friends who just discovered they both sold ice cream and were accused of stealing as adolescents.  Shannon is shy.  Shannon is a prolific artist who is starting work on her 11th solo album.  She is adored by the likes of Jordan Clifford, Steve Albini, Yann Tiersen and recently composed the music for  French director Guillaume Nicloux's To The Ends Of The World.  Listen to Shannon Wright perform Avalanche live at We Don't Even Know.

We celebrate our 60th episode of We Don't Even Know with special guests comedian and family documentary photographer Ahna Tessler; comedian, writer, actor and director Jon Glaser; and improv musician and comedian Rebecca Vigil.  Shonali & Christian applaud the  awesome audience in attendance at WDEK Live for getting out of the fetal position and making it to the show while the news cycle continues to kick all of our asses.  Our first guest of the night is comedian, actress and photographer Ahna Tessler.  She is also a mother and we all agree doesn't get enough attention these days.  We told her she could swear as much as she wanted during the taping.  Ahna's longtime comedy partner Lauren Engle was in attendance at the show.  They are legends. Ahna has made so many fantastic videos which she calls 'dumb' but we call hysterical.  There was a little controversy surrounding Ahna's breastfeeding video.  Check out Ahna's beautiful family photography. She is humble and doesn't brag about it bc she is a woman.  Our next guest, Jon Glaser is a comedian, actor, writer and star of Jon Glaser Loves Gear and also the Adult Swim show Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter. Jon is a powerhouse in the comedy world.  As you expected, Jon has lots of gear.  We get the low low low low down on how Jon came up with the idea for the show Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter.  It's so dumb.  We love it.  Shonali and Jon used to jam together and after you hear Jon's new summertime hit tune you will understand why they are ready to take the show on the road. During #GetItOffYourChest with audience member Michael McMenamin, we learn that you must make sure the washing machine is fully drained before putting in your clothes.  Christian uses the words 'fecal air.' Gross. Shonali's rants about unnecessarily expensive fashion choices.  Our final guest of the evening is improv musician and actress Rebecca Vigil .  Rebecca went to 13 different schools and still sings about love.  She's remarkable for many reasons, but we are super impressed with her big winnings while on a game show. Two of our lucky audience members, Sergio Douglas and Maggy Adeleye were interviewed by Rebecca on stage and then ....well listen to see what happened, will you?

Welcome to our 59th Episode of WDEK Podcast. Justin the intern starts the live show on a Tuesday night at the Red Room in NYC! Christian just returned from father's retirement party in Chicago. Shonali just returned from Nashville where she kept up with the news about a racist crazy tv star and her tweets. What's it like to have your creative work rejected in person to your face over and over?  We ask our first guest that question. She is cartoonist, illustrator, writer and performer Emily Flake.  She has "cobbled" together a living as a cartoonist for a long time now. She's come a long way from being an ad sales person for alt weekly New York Blade to becoming a successful cartoonist who has had hundreds of her works featured in the New Yorker.  She's written a book about parenting called Mama Tried. She's a parent who refreshingly doesn't think being a parent is the MOST awesome thing in the world. How cool is that? Look out for her upcoming YA (Young Adult) book she's working on now, a fictional fanzine from 1992.  Our second guest is H. Jon Benjamin, a comedian, actor and writer probably most famous for his work as the voice of Bob in Bob's Burgers and the voice of Archer in Archer.  Benjamin as Shonali calls him (they are old friends) used to host a comedy show in the East Village called Midnight Pajama Jam. It was the best. JB's written a book that just came out called Failure is An Option: An Attempted Memoir.  Shonali's been listening to the audiobook and loves it.  She is intrigued by Jon Benjamin's love for disco, roller skating and disco balls.  Jon explains what the main take away from his book is in two words. We Get It Off Our Chest with illustrator musician Marcellus Hall who refuses to rap with us. Our final guest is musician, singer, songwriter Rob Townsend.  Rob is originally from Spartanburg, SC.  He's also a part time sailing instructor and may be the only gay sailing captain on the Hudson. We like the idea of a gay sailboat. We discuss the difficulty of selling music during an era where everyone gets their music free.  Rob moved to NYC from Austin, TX where he was in a folk band.  His music has changed drastically.  He is humble and self deprecating but we think he's awesome. He sings an original song called Clatskanie and a Randy Newman tune called Short People! Welcome to our new sound engineer Ezana Million! ENJOY!!! Photo by Daria Huxley.

Episode 58 was taped on April 3, 2018 - the 50th Anniversary of MLK's" I've Been to the Mountaintop" final speech.  Shonali & Christian have been traveling.  When was the last time you stayed in a hostel.  Our first guest is actor, writer & director Sanjit De Silva who recently closed out a run at New York Theater Workshop starring in the play An Ordinary Muslim written by Hammaad Chaudry.  After working for 15 years as an actor, the play was his first time to be in a majority brown people cast. We talk breaking our parents hearts and the glamorous life of a working actor. Pat Alvarado joins us for our Get It Off Your Chest segment or does he? Our second guest is comedian & writer Alison Leiby.  Alison wrote for Comedy Central's The President Show and currently writes for Jordan Klepper's The Opposition. Find out what Alison thinks about Christian's solar system shirt.  She shares her recent dealings with Twitter trolls and how a near death experience led her to comedy. Alison has great advice for up and coming female comedians.  Our impromptu Get It Off Your Chest guest Tim Ewing also has words for Christian's shirt. Our final guest is musician Graham Norwood. Graham, who is legally blind, started to focus on his own solo project only two years ago after spending 15 years working on the music of other artists.  Outside of music, Graham is the Director for the Foundation and Corporate Relations for the Partnership for The Homeless.  Wow! Graham sings two songs for us including Collapses to Zero and Lazarus Avenue.  

  While we've been mourning the close of our former WDEK podcast home, the HiFi Bar we are excited to host our first show of 2018 at Caveat, a new speakeasy space in LES which showcases "intelligent nightlife." Yeah, we know what you are thinking.  Let us be delusional for a little while, will you? Christian and Shonali discuss good (not so good depending on who you are talking to) times had at the MLK tribute at BAM, the NYC Women's march and Barry's Bootcamp. Below is the pic we shared of Christian from the Women's March during the show.  Our first guest is New York Times reporter Melena Ryzik.  Melena is a bad ass NYC bicylist.  Find out why she had to get fingerless gloves.  Melena is a journalist at the forefront of covering the MeToo movement and sexual harassment in the entertainment world (Louis CK, Russell Simmons.)  We get into it.  Christian says he wants to listen .... let's see how long.  Our second guest is a Russian Hacker* Eugeny Smith who happened to be in our audience during the show just as Shonali suspected.  He not only confesses to reading Shonali's emails but he reads them to the world. So embarrassing.   Our third guest is multi instrumentalist, composer, producer, visual artist Emily Wells.  Emily's work is stunning.  She describes growing up with a Music Minister father, building a world around her during her performance, choreographer Pina Bausch and her love of what she does. Purchase Emily's music asap!  Emily performs two songs for us at the end of the show.  Uta Seibicke joins us for Get It Off Your Chest!  Man of The Woods, adults charmed by their young children's bathroom breaks, and the subway are our topics of conversation. Our last guest is Danielle Gray, former Obama Cabinet Secretary and Senior Adviser to President Obama. Kudos to her for making it to the show on what was for her a very tough night (listen to Ep to find out why.)  Danielle tells us what is was like for her working at the White House. She also gives us some insight as to how during this past year she stays focused on causes she believes in and stays a good distance from social media.  Have you heard of 3 Card Monte? Danielle a real New Yorker knows what it is.   Our Russian Hacker is played by Alan Yaspan. 

Episode 56 is a momentous occasion, with the news that HiFi will close at the end of October 2017, this is the last time we will tape our show in our beloved home space.  Currently we are looking for another home and expect to return to a new space live in front of an audience in January of 2018. Christian & Shonali open the show with quality conversation about bunions, butts and adult day care. Our first guest is lawyer, environmental activist and national carryout bag expert Jennie Reilly Romer.  After helping San Francisco and Los Angeles enact laws on plastic bag policy, Jennie moved to New York with the mission of doing the same thing here.  She came really close!  Jennie explains why these thin plastic bags are so problematic, what we can do to help (plasticbaglaws.org); who is lobbying against the policy and how Christian did the wrong thing by putting the plastic bags in the recycling bin.  We salute Jennie on her work and look forward to her to running for New York City Council! Go Jennie.   With the news that HiFi will close at the end of October, we are excited celebrate the man who created this safe haven for indie rock n roll bands in the mid 90's, East Village neighbors in the 2000's  and podcasters and comedians in the late 2010's.  Here is a special interview with the owner of HiFi (formerly the legendary East Village rock club Brownies) Mike Stuto.  Find out about Mike's time as a club owner who had do idea what he was doing. There were good times (David Bowie, Debbie Harry, Mel Brooks) and bad (Sugar Ray, Milemarker) but Mike has always managed to this day to bring together a community that is heavily indebted to him for giving them a space to create, learn, unite, celebrate and collaborate.   After listening quiz: What band made Mike want to work in rock n' roll?  Our final guest is Grammy nominated singer and storyteller Chaney Sims.  Like Mike, Chaney is a native New Yorker and the East Village was her playground.  She is the daughter of a great blues musician, Bill Sims Jr. with whom she performs with in the Grammy Nominated Heritage Blues Orchestra.  Her recent solo performance of songs written from her Haiku 365 project at Joe's Pub was with a string orchestral accompaniment by Root Stock Republic.  The performance will be released as a live album recording soon. Listen to Chaney blow you away with her performances of Leadbelly's Go Down, Old Hannah and Nina Simone's C-Line Woman.  Have a great rest of the year and until our next show, do yourself a favor and binge on the many earlier episodes of We Don't Even Know.   

Welcome back Christian! The news today bummed us out to no end so we had to talk about it.  Christian went to Haiti and all he brought back was the Missing Key Story.  Our first guest is comedian, writer and Employee of the Month talk show host Catie Lazarus.  Catie is an expert on germs in the gym. Christian is one on airplane germs.  Catie grew up in DC with a Public Policy White House advisor father and a peace activist brother. Find out how a doctoral student becomes the "funniest resident of NYC."  Shonali and leftovers don't go well together. Comedian George Gordon is from Virginia. He currently supports his comedy by bartending. What makes a great bar patron? Comedian Doug Stanhope changed George's life. He's good at doing a "tight five." #GetItOffYourChest is back with audience member and former WDEK guest Alan Yaspan! Our last guest is musician Lori Scacco.  Lori and Shonali are old friends who both started their music careers in Atlanta, Georgia. Lori currently has many musical ongoing projects including her own music which she calls "highly orchestrated computer music" and her collaborations such as Storms.  She recently composed music for the Joyce Theater Ballet Festival for dancer Gemma Bonds.  We discuss creative identity, Atlanta, family and the legendary Clermont Lounge.  Lori has an upcoming live show in October. You must go! We play an excerpt from the ballet called The Giving and the first song on her full length Storms album called Wolves and Bells. 

Shonali's special guest co-host is comedian Danny Cohen, her favorite FB live video maker! Guests include scientist Kelly Reidy, filmmaker Heather Fink and musician Miyuki Furtado.  "The Summer of Shonali and Danny" thus far has included a trip to a cemetery in the Berkshires and eating lots of snacks. Danny was banned from Facebook.  WDEK's first guest is scientist & indie songstress Kelly Reidy.  Say "theoretical condensed matter" three times real fast. Kelly is a Museum Hack tour guide and recently gave Rob Lowe and his family a Natural History Museum tour.  We talk ghost sex (it's a thing) and ghost attire.  Follow Kelly @drunkascheese on Twitter and Instagram. Danny and Shonali discuss DuckFace and why it still exists? Our second guest is filmmaker, actress, director, comedian Heather Fink.  Heather took a leap of faith and changed her career path from stand-up to filmmaking. We talk believing in yourself, rejection, getting dumped and her first feature length film Inside You which will be screened in NYC on August 6th at Kew Gardens Cinemas Festival. It's a body switching sex comedy in which Heather is lead actress and director. How did she do it? Here's the Inside You trailer!  Our regular segment #GetItOffYourChest is back!  Thomas Kelsey joins Danny & Shonali to vent.  In no particular order we vent about A capella singing, littering, and angling (walking diagonally) while you walk. Our last guest is musician Miyuki Furtado.  We discuss growing up in Hawaii, being a member of the Kiss Army, his former band The Roger Sisters and his current solo project Divining Rod.  He releases a Double A side single on July 28th which showcases some of his psychedelic southern roots which will be included in his upcoming album.  Miyuki brought his suitcase kickdrum & guitar and performed 3 of his original songs including Love Come Tumbling, Darling Down the Road, and Hemlock Blues.  They are brilliant. Enjoy!  Also Christian is to be back with us on August 15th!