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Giovannie Espiritu's identity is inherently political: A bisexual, once-undocumented immigrant Filipina mom who spent time in a Biblical doomsday cult as a teen. Her first short film, “Ultra-Feminist,” got an Honorable Mention at Outfest:Fusion, and her second film, “ALLY 3000,” won over 12 awards at film festivals mainly in scriptwriting and social justice. Her newest short doc film, “Legacy,” won the Hyundai Evolve Innovation Award is in the film festival circuit. It has exhibited at the OutMuseum, and will be showing in the New Americans Museum in San Diego. Most of her work has taken aim at dismantling the patriarchy, healing generational trauma, and exposing systems of bias with humor. Her IRL and reel life mantra is to “Break Hearts Wide Open and Create More Moments of Joy.” As an actor, she was once nominated alongside Academy Award nominees Alfre Woodard and Amy Irving for Best Supporting Actress, but she didn't know what to do with that information other than put it on her business card. Her primetime credits include a recurring role on Young Sheldon, ER (NBC), Bones (FOX), Gilmore Girls (ABC), and Trauma (NBC). She can be seen as the lead in the Amazon series, “Dyke Central,” which was featured in After Ellen, BuzzFeed, Bust Magazine and Curve Magazine as a top LGBTQ series to watch, Nancy on the Tubi Original “Titanic 666,” alongside AnnaLynneMcCord and will be on Season 4 of 911 Lone Star as Joni. In her spare time, she rock climbs and advocates for Domestic Violence Awareness/Prevention and LGBTQ equality. She has served on the Board of Directors for C.O.R.A. (a Bay Area domestic violence hotline and agency) and been awarded a Certificate of Recognition from the Senate and California Assembly for her community service. She was recognized as one of 23 "Most Influential Filipina Women in the World" in the Innovator & Thought Leader category by the Filipina Women's Network. She is a proud member of the Alliance of Women Directors and the Producer's Guild of America. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bravemaker/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bravemaker/support
This episode is built on the connection between wolves and wilderness. Featuring Ellen Hawkins, a North Shore resident who had an extraordinary wolf encounter in 1985, that has shaped the way she thinks about wolves, wilderness and humans too. After Ellen's story about "the wolf in the window," Giselle Narvaez Rivera from the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN offers some perspective on wolf-human interaction, based on the work being done at the Center to educate others about the lives, behaviors and history of wild wolves. We also have a fresh segment of "Keep it Wild," our monthly check-in with the U.S. Forest Service. The topic of discussion is "Leave No Trace" principles in the winter season, when everything is covered in snow and ice. Photo of a timber wolf near the Sawbill Trail in Tofte, by Clare Shirley.
Matteo Lane and Pat Brown visit Friends and discuss Matteo's new self-owned comedy special, the problems with Media on LGBTQIA2S+ issues, gender neutral bathing suits and more with host Marina Franklin. Matteo Lane Named one of Variety's Top Ten Comics to Watch, stand-up comedian Matteo Lane performs to sold-out crowds all over the world. Matteo's meteoric rise is reflected in his constantly expanding fanbase, with over 2.5 million followers across social media. He has shared the stage with the likes of Chelsea Handler, Aziz Ansari, Hasan Minhaj, and Bob the Drag Queen, and is currently on an international theater tour, THE AL DENTE TOUR. Matteo can be seen in Netflix's queer stand-up special STAND OUT as well as THE COMEDY LINEUP and has been a guest on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!, THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT, and LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS. A skilled artist and pasta aficionado, Matteo has also painted a mural for the Obamas' headquarters in Chicago and trained as an opera singer in Rome. New Special on YouTube: Mateo Lane: Hair Plugs and Heartaches Pat Brown has been seen on CBS's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse's Uproarious, Axis's Gotham Live, NBC's Comic's Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne's made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her set on Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
Pat Brown, Vanessa Fraction, and Onika McLean visit Friends and discuss protection of children. Onika McLean, born in North Carolina, and raised in East New York Brooklyn, is a single mother of two, legal professional, and a sharp comedian whose no-nonsense perspective on life, love, single motherhood, and her mid life crisis is taking the comedy arena by storm. She was the fan favorite on Bravo Television's, The Single's Project. She is the winner of the Sloshed Comedy Competition and the Rising Stars Comedy Competition in London. Onika performs regularly at LOL and Times Square and passed at Comic Strip Live and has Dangerfield's, New York Comedy Club, New York Stand, Broadway Comedy, Village Underground, and the. She runs a monthly show entitled Cosmic Comedy. Vanessa Fraction: Currently, Ms. Fraction is a Co-host with THE NAPPY BOY RADIO PODCAST hosted by; Rapper, Producer TPAIN. She is also an Analyst for THE COMEDY HYPE NEWS SHOW. Additionally, Vanessa (aka Action Fraction) is a certified Self-Defense instructor and teaches a class, “Kicks & Comedy”, That empowers women with life-saving self-defense skills and lifts spirits by infusing comedy. Born in St. Louis and raised in Chicago, this mother of two has over a decade of experience captivating fans around the world with her one of a kind storytelling talent. Whether you see her on stage, television or hear her on the radio, Vanessa is on a mission to empower her audience to overcome their struggles while laughing at hers. These can be hilarious tales of being a single mother paying child support or revealing anecdotes on the battle of being a strong, successful black woman. Her television credits include appearances on Comedy Knock Out and Laff Mobb's Laff Tracks (TruTV), Tales (BET), and a recurring role on BounceTV's Mann and Wife. Vanessa's hilarious and bold stand-up comedy has been showcased on many shows such as HBO's Def Comedy Jam, 1st Amendment Standup (STARZ) and Mike Epps Live at Club Nokia. As a writer she has worked on The Arsenio Hall Show (CBS), 106 & Park and The Mo'Nique Show (BET). Her film roles include Barber Shop 2: Back in Business and Kim Field's Holiday Love: The Rebirth. Her quick wit and sharp humor is featured when she guests hosts on entertainment shows like DishNation (FOX) When you "do the math" Vanessa Fraction equals One Very Funny Lady! Pat Brown has been seen on CBS's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse's Uproarious, Axis's Gotham Live, NBC's Comic's Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne's made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her set on Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
From 2010 - Ellen Rogers, author of "Kasey to the Rescue: The Remarkable Story of a Monkey and a Miracle." After Ellen's son Ned was left paralyzed by a tragic car accident, the family was able to adopt a pet monkey that made an enormous difference for the better in Ned's life.
Kanithea Powell is a woman on a mission. As the CEO and founder of QFN TV, she is determined to provide a platform for diverse voices in the world of film and TV. In our conversation, she stressed the importance of seeing things through to completion. For Powell, this is not only a business principle but a personal one as well. She believes that if you start something, you owe it to yourself to see it through to the end. This is a mindset that has served her well in her career and one that she is passionate about sharing with others. Here is an excerpt of our conversation "I have never felt more joy and excitement when I'm opening up my first box of books to hold it physically in my hand; it was amazing. There's something to be said about having an idea following through with it to completion and getting a product in your hand. Now you allow the world to come in and help you promote it, help you get it out there because when you create something beautiful, the world is just as excited about it as you are. But they can't promote it if you don't complete it. So I will say, if you're gonna start something, see it through to completion, can you say that again? Yeah. When you start something, see it through to completion. " Watch the Full Episode here: A Conversation With host Floyd Marshall Jr. -Kanithea Powell Kanithea Powell BIO Kanithea started her career as one of the founding members of the Orlando Black Theatre, the first African American theatre company in Orlando, Florida. There, she directed, produced, and performed in several plays before moving to Atlanta and starting a career as a television producer for a local TV station. In Atlanta she formed Qwest Films Network, and dove head first into the world of film - “Finding Juliet”(accepted in 28 film festivals, winner best short), “Two Minutes Two Seconds” (winner for best screenplay), "For Sale”(winner for best short film), "Humanity" (Winner for Best Short Film, best Makeup and wardrobe, best editing and is still on its film festival run). After making several successful films and winning a few film awards, she moved to DC and released her first book “BUTCH, Never Judge a Butch By Her Cover”. Butch has been featured in several national and global publications like Huffington Post, NY Times, Buzzfeed, Diva, and After Ellen-just to name a few. Butch can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and in over 23 countries. Now, Kanithea resides in Los Angeles and is the CEO/founder of the new streaming platform QFN TV. QFN is an on-demand streaming platform offering a curated selection of films, tv series and original works from diverse voices you know and a few you have yet to discover. QFN's content is available online at www.qfntv.com and via app services including iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku. ========================== Submit Your Film to Our Film Collective: ifapfilmcollective.com Connect With Floyd Marshall Jr: instagram.com/floydmarshalljr tiktok.com/@floydmarshalljr0 Youtube: FlodyMarshallJr --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aconversationwithfm/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aconversationwithfm/support
Onika McLean, born in North Carolina, and raised in East New York Brooklyn, is a single mother of two, legal professional, and a sharp comedian whose no-nonsense perspective on life, love, single motherhood, and her mid life crisis is taking the comedy arena by storm. She was the fan favorite on Bravo Television's, The Single's Project. She is the winner of the Sloshed Comedy Competition and the Rising Stars Comedy Competition in London. Onika preforms regularly at LOL and Times Square and passed at Comic Strip Live and has Dangerfield's, New York Comedy Club, New York Stand, Broadway Comedy, Village Underground, and the. She runs a monthly show entitled Cosmic Comedy. Hollie Harper is a comedy nerd from South Jersey. She is currently the creator and co-exec producer of Hella Late! with Hollie Harper on BRIC TV and a co-host of the nationally trending Twitter Storytelling Chat “BlerdDating.” Hella Late! with Hollie Harper was recently in the 2021 NYC Web Fest where she was nominated as Best Actress.Hollie was a semi-finalist in the 2019 NBC Standup Competition and has been featured on NY1, and in Black Enterprise Magazine, Thrive Global, Confessional Magazine and Black San Diego Magazine. Her popular sketch comedy show AMERICAN CANDY has played the Comic Strip, Gotham Comedy Club, BAM Café as well as the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival. Time Out Chicago named them one of the five groups to watch. Hollie is a regular host for West Side Comedy Club in NYC and works with Gold Comedy and Stand Up Girls, two programs that empower young women by teaching them standup comedy. She was recently the talent coordinator and casting for “Blood Lassi” on Spotify, written by Pratima Mani, and moderated the panel for the Emmy Award winning, WOC editing team of Black Lady Sketch Show for The Black TV and Film Collective. She is also the Creative Consultant for the very successful Black Women in Comedy Laff Fest. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse's Uproarious, Axis's Gotham Live, NBC's Comic's Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne's made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her set on Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
When Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet publicly on her hit TV show in 1997, it rocked the media. Her popular sitcom received parental warnings and ratings declined until it was cancelled the following year. Many wondered if Ellen, who was at the peak of her comedy game, would ever work again. We all know how that story played out. But for the LGBTQ+ community at the time, Ellen's "I'm gay" moment was monumental, and open the floodgates for representation in mainstream media. Meanwhile, as the World Wide Web was taking shape, many in the gay and lesbian community began to find each other online. AfterEllen.com became a hugely important Web forum and review site for people coming to terms with their sexuality in a media landscape that was still hostile to them. Alli and Lindsey speak with Sarah Warn, the founder of After Ellen, about how the LGBTQ+ community found a voice online before the days of Google and modern social media. Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join the 2G1P Discord community: http://discord.gg/2g1p Join the 2G1P Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2girls1podcast/ Email us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.com Call the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Author Malinda Lo sits down with Cameron to discuss her work on AfterEllen, her book LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB winning the National Book Award, and experiencing wins.
It's that time of year again! The latest instalment of The Best Lesbian Erotica series is here, and Kris and Tara are thrilled to be joined by the collection's editor, Sinclair Sexsmith. Together, they discuss why writing queer erotica is a radical and political act, the healing potential of reading erotica that reflects your identity and desires, and the case for expanding the definition of the word "lesbian." Buckle up, friends. It's an important and enlightening conversation. If you enjoy this episode, please consider buying Kris & Tara a Ko-fi! Works Discussed The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab Cunt: A Declaration of Independence by Inga Muscio Steven Universe (Cartoon Network) The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater Hurts so Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose by Leigh Cowart Transcript coming soon! About Sinclair Sexsmith Sinclair Sexsmith (they/them) is “the best-known butch erotica writer whose kinky, groundbreaking stories have turned on countless queer women” (AfterEllen), who “is in all the books, wins all the awards, speaks at all the panels and readings, knows all the stuff, and writes for all the places” (Autostraddle). Their short story collection, Sweet & Rough: Queer Kink Erotica, was a 2016 finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, and they are the current editor of the Best Lesbian Erotica series. Find more of their work at sugarbutch.net. Listen to the episode
Episode 53: Malinda Lo is the bestselling author of the National Book Award finalist Last Night at the Telegraph Club, which received eight starred reviews and was named by Oprah Magazine as one of the 50 Best LGBTQ Books That Will Heat Up the Literary Landscape in 2021. Malinda's debut novel, Ash, a Sapphic retelling of Cinderella, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Lambda Literary Award for Children's/Young Adult, and was a Kirkus 2009 Best Book for Children and Teens. Before she became a novelist, Malinda was an economics major, an editorial assistant, a graduate student, and an entertainment reporter. She was awarded the 2006 Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for Excellence in LGBT Journalism by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association for her work at AfterEllen. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and has master's degrees from Harvard and Stanford Universities. She lives in Massachusetts with her partner and their dog.Support the show (http://whyyounodoctor.com/podcast)
Robin Cloud is an award-winning writer and director working in television and film. As a member of the 2020 Class of the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women, Robin wrote and directed the short film 2 Dollars that premiered at the BFI Flare Film Festival in London. During its festival run, 2 Dollars earned several audience and best of the festival awards. Her first narrative short, Out Again, was executive produced by Refinery29 as part of their Shatterbox Anthology and premiered in March of 2017. Out Again has screened at film festivals throughout the world. Her docu-series, Passing: A Family in Black & White, executive produced by Topic/First Look Media, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019. In 2020, Robin wrote and directed This Old House which premiered on Hulu as part of their Bite-Size Halloween Series. Cloud is a 2021 Alliance for Women Directors Black Directors Advancement Initiative Fellow, a 2017 Kickstarter Creative Fellow, and a graduate of Lena Waithe's Hillman Grad mentee program. Robin has been featured in The New York Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post, Diva Magazine, and GO magazine's “Top 100 Women We Love.” Her production company, Cloud Creative Media, was launched in March of 2016 and focuses on creating independent narrative and documentary films and series. Leighann Lord is a veteran standup comedian who has appeared on ABC, HBO, Comedy Central, and is a former co-host of StarTalkwith Neil de Grasse Tyson. She has performed for the troops in the Middle East and was a national finalist in the American Black Film Festival-HBO Comedy Wings Competition. Leighann received the AHA Humanist Arts Award and recently re-released her comedy album, I'm Not Urban. I'm Urbane is available and streaming. Leighann is the author of several humor books including: Dict Jokes and Real Women Do it Standing Up, available on Amazon. Her special, "I've Got Connections" can be seen on Dry Bar Comedy. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse's Uproarious, Axis's Gotham Live, NBC's Comic's Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne's made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
After Ellen experienced a profound reading for her recently adopted pup Norm, we knew we had to talk to Jaime Breeze, a spiritual medium and animal communicator, about her special gift in connecting us with the animals in our lives. Jaime told us the story of how she came into her gifts as a young child, her ability to remember past lives she had had, her deep bond with her dog Breeze, the extreme grief she experienced when Breeze transitioned, and how she was able to work with Breeze's spirit to find her again after she reincarnated. Our jaws were on the floor – we couldn't get our questions out fast enough. Find out more about Jaime at jaimebreeze.com and on IG @themountainmedium .
Pat Brown has been seen on CBS's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse's Uproarious, Axis's Gotham Live, NBC's Comics Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne's made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! MeMe Simpson is a writer, comedina, and producer who has performed at The Laugh Factory, The Comedy Store, The Comic Strip, and the Apollo Theater. She currently hosts Laugh Gas, a virtual comedy showcase. This June, she is headlining the Black Women In Comedy Laff Fest. Gina Brillon is a standup comic born and raised in the Bronx, New York. Her first one hour special, ‘Pacifically Speaking,‘ was produced by Gabriel Iglesias. She's made appearances on Comedy Central's Live at Gotham, E!'s Chelsea Lately, AXS' Gotham Comedy Live, The View, and was the first Latina winner of NBC's Stand up for Diversity Showcase. Gina is also an accomplished singer, writer, and poet, with pieces in the New York Post and Daily News among others. Her most recent comedy special: "The Floor Is Lava" is available on Amazon and check out her audition on America's got talent! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Hysterical at FX on Hulu, Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
Coming out in the 70s, Gaye made her way from Arizona to California to work in a non-traditional trade as an electrician. Now as an electrical inspector and part owner of AfterEllen, she addresses the changes in the lesbian community. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/beth-maples-bays/support
Naz Perez is a TV host, producer, and podcaster. She got her start interning on the Ellen show! After Ellen, Naz, went on to produce for E! Live From The Red Carpet & E! True Hollywood Story, as well as 5 SEASONS of The Bachelor! She eventually left reality TV to follow the biggest dream on her heart: on-camera hosting. Today she is a full time host and has worked for Clevver News, Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, The Los Angeles Dodgers, T-Mobile AND for E! Live From The Red Carpet- where she had one of her first gigs as a PA at the beginning of her Hollywood journey. From this conversation you’ll learn: Assimilation vs preservation of culture Why we need to start talking about money without shame (and HONESTLY) How to find community through heartbreak Why starting with an internship can be better than a fulltime job The importance of prioritizing your dream over your job How to divorce yourself from the status of a job How traveling alone helps you get to know yourself How to recover from creative heartbreak How to practice radical acceptance The importance of knowing WHEN TO LEAVE How staying in a comfortable situation is stifling your potential The importance of finding self-worth outside of external validation The self-love journey and where to start Detaching happiness from outcome How to find community in heartbreak What your friends DON’T want to hear after a breakup And so much more! Check out Heartbroken Anonymous: heartbrokenanonymous.com Download Therapy Here: FFM.TO/LaurenLoTherapy Follow the show @unleashYourInnerCreative Follow me @LaurenLoGrasso --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/unleashyourinnercreative/message
Nonye Brown-West is a Nigerian-American comedian and writer. She has been featured in the Boston Globe's Rise column as a Comic to Watch, NPR, PBS, ABC, Sway In The Morning, and the New York Comedy Festival. In 2019, Nonye made her acting debut in The Sympathy Card. Look out for her two new web series, Fairytales with Nonye and Gayby Jesus, coming in winter 2020. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Vanessa Fraction - Born in St. Louis and raised in Chicago, this mother of two has over a decade of experience captivating fans around the world with her one of a kind storytelling talent. Whether you see her on stage, television or hear her on the radio, Vanessa is on a mission to empower her audience to overcome their struggles while laughing at hers. These can be hilarious tales of being a single mother paying child support or revealing anecdotes on the battle of being a strong, successful black woman. Her television credits include appearances on Comedy Knock Out and Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks (TruTV), Tales (BET), and a recurring role on BounceTV’s Mann and Wife. Vanessa’s hilarious and bold stand-up comedy has been showcased on many shows such as HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, 1st Amendment Standup (STARZ) and Mike Epps Live at Club Nokia. As a writer she has worked on The Arsenio Hall Show (CBS), 106 & Park and The Mo’Nique Show (BET). Her film roles include Barber Shop 2: Back in Business and Kim Field’s Holiday Love: The Rebirth. Her quick wit and sharp humor is featured when she guests hosts on entertainment shows like DishNation (FOX) When you "do the math" Vanessa Fraction equals One Very Funny Lady! More info at www.vanessafraction.com Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Hysterical at FX on Hulu, Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Vladimir Caamano -With the name “Vladimir,” few people expect a Dominican from The Bronx to take the stage. His comedic style is the fruit of an immigrant Dominican family living in the cultural mecca that is New York City and is described as an elegant combination of urban grit and intellect. He began polishing his wit in the concrete jungles of The Bronx and Washington Heights and after graduating from Wesleyan University launched into Standup Comedy. After his stand out performance at Just for Laughs (JFL) in 2015, Vlad entered into a put pilot development deal to co-write, and star in a pilot based off of his comedy for NBC with Bill Lawrence and WB supervising. Vlad co-wrote the script with UNDATEABLE writer, Adam Styzikiel and recently shot the pilot directed by Phill Lewis. Vlad was the only one of his New Faces class to be chosen to perform as part of the CW Gala hosted by Howie Mandel. In 2016, Vlad was named one of the Top 10 Comics to Watch by Variety and was honored at JFL. In 2017 Vlad made his late-night standup debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and performed again at the prestigious Just for Laughs Gala hosted by Lilly Singh. Vlad has been seen on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Marvel’s Runaways, and NBC’s Superstore. He is currently developing television shows with top comedy producers and networks. Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
We're back with more goodness from the folks involved with Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year Volume 5. In this episode, you'll hear highlights from our conversation with some of the contributors and editor of the anthology. We cover whether kink is the norm in queer and lesbian relationships, why lesbian erotica matters, and whether erotica equals sex or something greater. - Rain Degrey, a writer, advice columnist, podcaster and educator whose work has taken her from Kink.com to Harvard University. - Mary P. Burns whose first novel, Forging a Desire Line, was published by Bold Strokes Books in May 2020. - June Amelia Rose, an anarchist leatherdyke fiction writer and submissive transsexual femme living in Brooklyn. - Sinclair Sexsmith, “the best-known butch erotica writer whose kinky, groundbreaking stories have turned on countless queer women” according to AfterEllen.com. Follow Feminist Erotica on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and email us with questions/comments/concerns at feministerotica@rebelliousmagazine.com. This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast.
Hear excerpts from three stories found in the Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year, Volume 5, as well as a bonus excerpt from the anthology editor, Sinclair Sexsmith. You'll hear from: - Rain Degrey, a writer, advice columnist, podcaster and educator whose work has taken her from Kink.com to Harvard University. - Mary P. Burns whose first novel, Forging a Desire Line, was published by Bold Strokes Books in May 2020. - June Amelia Rose, an anarchist leatherdyke fiction writer and submissive transsexual femme living in Brooklyn. - Sinclair Sexsmith, “the best-known butch erotica writer whose kinky, groundbreaking stories have turned on countless queer women” according to AfterEllen.com. Stay tuned next Friday for highlights from our interview with these writers.
Rachel Feinstein is a nationally touring comedian and actress. Huffington Post called her “the only comedian we’ve seen who can go from embodying her grandmother in one breath and a predatory guy on the street in the next and be equally convincing at both.” She has had three Comedy Central specials, including the most recent one hour special ‘Amy Schumer Presents Rachel Feinstein: Only Whores Wear Purple’. Rachel recently recurred on the Steven Soderbergh Amazon series RED OAKS and on Judd Apatow’s HBO comedy CRASHING. Her past credits include TRAINWRECK, TOP FIVE, THE NIGHTLY SHOW WITH LARRY WILMORE, HBO’s LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER, co-hosting THE VIEW on multiple occasions and several appearances on INSIDE AMY SCHUMER. You may also remember Rachel co-hosting alongside Shaq on UPLOAD WITH SHAQUILLE ONEAL. Feinstein has also lent her voice to Adult Swim’s VENTURE BROTHERS and the phenomenally successful GRAND THEFT AUTO video game franchise. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Von Decarlo is a New York based stand up comedian, producer, and author of the book, Speak Fluent Man. She performed at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal for Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, JFL Present’s LOL Live, and has been a featured comedian on Tru TV’s, Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks, the Jerry O Show on FOX, and CNN’s year end wrap up special, All the Best/All the Worst, BET, Comedy Central, and more. She is a graduate of the UCB improv program, as well as a UCB diversity scholarship recipient, and her one woman show Lasagna debuted at The People’s Improv Theatre to a full crowd and rave reviews. She was the first woman, and first comedian to host her own show on the Sirius XM NBA channel, and you can listen to her Coach Von Podcast as well as her Grown AF Podcast to get a dose of uncensored truth with lots of giggles. Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Irene Bremis is a comedian, radio host and podcaster. A regular on Sirius XM, she also is the cohost of Mother May I Podcast With Frank & Irene on youtube & #Suckittt with Jennifer Esposito & Irene Bremis everywhere where pods live. You can also get her album Unladylike out now everywhere! http://800pgr.lnk.to/Irene Isis Millward is a former investigator of police misconduct. For six years she owned and operated a small hotel in the Afro-Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Today she is a social worker in Chicago and working toward having a private psychotherapy practice. Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
Today on the AfterEllen podcast we talk Lesbian Loneliness -- you KNOW what we're talking about--that longing unique to lesbian culture. We talk the pitfalls of online dating, Artemis' plans for our future happiness, and how we're womanifesting the imminent arrival of our girlfriends/wives. Quarantine times are extra lonely, but we're coping.
Today we salute the English orphan girl who wrote her own destiny with science fiction writing. We also remember the English gardener who is still ghosting us after many decades. We revisit a letter from Elizabeth Lawrence to her sister Ann. We'll celebrate National Potato Day with some Potato Poems. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a gorgeous book about Dahlias. And then we'll wrap things up with the birthday of a beloved American creator of light verse. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Behind the Winning Design: Q&A with Michael Drolet | FlowerMag Here's an excerpt: “When Michael Drolet submitted his vibrant vision for a Paris apartment for the Virtual Design Challenge, “we were all immediately impressed and drawn to his colorful and technically accurate proposal,” said Cass Key, creative director at Woodbridge Furniture, one of the contest sponsors along with Taylor King and KingsHaven. “He set the stage beautifully and let the story unfold like a professional, and the true plot twist came when we realized that he was a student, looking to start his career in the fall. He pushed the boundaries by using a Taylor King fabric as a wall covering and imagining the outdoor space, which is exactly the type of inventive creativity that should be rewarded today and always, said Key." Wallcovering: Taylor King's 'Secret Garden Passion' floral textile Today is National Potato Day. Here are some fun Potato facts: The average American eats approximately 126 pounds of spuds each year. And, up until the 18th century, the French believed potatoes caused leprosy. To combat the belief, the agronomist Antoine Auguste Parmentier single-handedly changed the French perception of the Potato. How did Antoine get the French people to believe that the Potato was safe to eat? Good question. Antoine cleverly posted guards around his potato fields during the day and put the word out that he didn't want people stealing them. Then, he purposefully left them unguarded at night. As he suspected, people did what he thought they would do; steal the potatoes by the sackful by the light of the moon. Soon, they started eating them. And Marie Antoinette wore potato blossoms in her hair. The Idaho Potato, or the Russet Burbank, was developed by none other than Luther Burbank in 1871. Today is also World Photography Day! So, head out to your garden and take some photos. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1807 Today is the birthday of Jane Webb, who married the prolific writer of all things gardening: John Claudius Loudon. Together they became magnificent partners in the world of botanical writing and publishing. Jane was an extraordinary person. She was a fantastic writer in her own right, but she also possessed an inner determination; she was a survivor. When her father lost the family fortune and died penniless when Jane was only seventeen, it was the beginning of her career writing Science Fiction. Along with Mary Shelley, Jane was an early pioneer in science fiction writing. It's hard to believe, but this endeavor would set her on her life's path to garden writing. Jane's book The Mummy was published anonymously, in 1827, in three parts. In her writing, Jane incorporated predictable changes in technology and society. For instance, she predicted that women of the future would wear pants. And, Jane also featured something agricultural that she imagined would come to pass: a steam plow. Jane's vision of easier and less laborious farming is what attracted the attention of John Claudius Loudon - her future husband. Loudon wrote a favorable review of her book, but he also wanted to meet the author. Loudon didn't realize Jane had written the book using a nom de plume of Henry Colburn. Much to Loudon's delight, Henry was Jane; they fell in love and married a year later. If you enjoy Victorian illustrations, you'll positively swoon for the frontispiece of Jane's 1843 publication Gardening for ladies: with a calendar of operations and directions for every month in the year. It shows a mother and her young child standing on either side of a lush arbor, and they are both holding garden tools. Jane's garden books were very popular. She connected with her fans because she was always earnest and genuine. Jane wasn't raised as a gardener. She learned it as an adult. When it came to gardening, Jane was a conscious competent - and it made her an excellent gardening teacher. Jane was aware of this when she wrote, “I think books intended for professional gardeners, are seldom suitable to the wants of amateurs. It is so very difficult for a person who has been acquainted with a subject all his life, to imagine the state of ignorance in which a person is who knows nothing of it…Thus, though it might, at first sight, appear presumptuous in me to attempt to teach an art of which for three-fourths of my life I was perfectly ignorant, it is, in fact, that very circumstance which is one of my chief qualifications for the task.” Today, people often forget that Jane was not only a wife but a caretaker. John's arms stopped working as he grew older, after an attack of rheumatic fever. As a result, Jane became his arms, handling most of his writing. As with all of the trials she faced, Jane managed John's challenges head-on and with pragmatism. As for those who felt gardening wasn't ladylike, Jane wrote, “…a lady, with the assistance of a common laborer to level and prepare the ground, may turn a barren waste into a flower garden with her own hands.” Eventually, John's right arm got so bad that surgeons needed to amputate it. They found him in his garden when they came to perform the surgery. John replied he intended to return to the garden immediately after the operation. Two weeks before Christmas 1843, Jane was helping John write his last book called, A Self Instruction to Young Gardeners. Around midnight, he stopped dictating and suddenly collapsed into Jane's arms and died. True to form, Jane completed the book on her own. The orphan girl who never knew financial security, Jane Loudon, is remembered with affection to this day for her beautiful illustrations and garden writing for the people. 1858 Today is the birthday of Ellen Ann Willmott, who was an English horticulturalist who lived in Brentwood. Ellen was the oldest in her family of three daughters. In 1875, her parents moved to Warley Place, which was set on 33 acres of land in Essex. Ellen lived there for the rest of her life. Now, the entire each member of the Willmott family enjoyed gardening, and they often gardened together as a family. Ellen once wrote, “I had a passion for sowing seeds and was very proud when I found out the difference between beads and seeds and gave up sewing the former.” The Willmott's created an alpine garden complete with a gorge and rockery. They also created a cave for their ferns. This was an activity that Ellen's father had approved to commemorate her 21st birthday. When her godmother died, Ellen received some pretty significant money. And, when Ellen's father died, Warley Place went to her. With her large inheritance and no love interest save her garden, Ellen planted to her heart's content. It was a good thing that Ellen had so much money because she sure liked to spend it. She had three homes: one in France, Warley Place, and another in Italy. Given the size of Warley Place, it's no wonder that Ellen hired over 100 gardeners to help her tend it. Now, Ellen was no shrinking violet. She was very demanding and impatient. She had a reputation for firing any gardener who allowed a weed to grow in her beds. And, she only hired men - at least before the war, that is. There's a famous quote from her that is often cited, “Women would be a disaster in the border.” Ellen's gardeners worked very hard - putting in twelve hours a day. And, Ellen made them wear a uniform that included a frog-green silk tie, a hat with a green band, and a blue apron. She could easily spot them as they worked in the garden. Ellen's favorite flower was the narcissus, and she asked her gardeners to let their children scatter them all around the garden. With such a large staff and maniacal devotion, Ellen's garden at Warley Place was revered, and her guests included Queen Mary, Queen Alexandra, and Princess Victoria. Ellen delighted in novel plants, and to acquire them, and she also paid for plant hunting expeditions. As the financier of these ventures, the plants that were discovered on these expeditions were often named in her honor. For example, Ellen sponsored the great Ernest Henry Wilson. When he returned, he named three plants after her: blue plumbago (Certostigmata Willmottianum), a yellow Corylopsis (Corylopsis Willmottiae), and a pink rose (Rosa Willmottiae). When Ellen received the Victoria Medal of Honor in 1897, she was honored alongside Gertrude Jekyll. This was a significant accomplishment for both women during this time. Yet, at the end of her life, Ellen died penniless and heartbroken. She had spent her entire inheritance on her gardens. After Ellen died, the house at Warley Place was demolished, but Warley Place, along with its grand row of 17th-century chestnut trees, managed to stay protected and became a nature preserve. And, there's a little story about Ellen that I thought you would enjoy. Ellen always carried a handbag. Now, in this handbag, She allegedly always carried two items: a revolver and thistle seeds. Obviously, the former was for protection, but the latter was put to far more sinister use. Allegedly, when Ellen would go to other people's gardens, she discreetly scattered thistle seed about the garden during her visit. To this day, the giant prickly thistle has the common name Miss Willmott's ghost. 1934 On this day, Elizabeth Lawrence wrote a letter to her sister Ann. In the letter, she mentions their mom, Bessie, who shared both her daughters' love of the garden. "I am so happy to get back to my rickety Corona; Ellen’s elegant new typewriter made anything I had to say unworthy of its attention. The Zinnias you raised for us are magnificent. There are lots of those very pale salmon ones that are the loveliest of all, and some very pale yellow ones that Bessie puts in my room. The red ones are in front of Boltonia and astilbe (white). I knew how awful the garden would be. I have come back to it before, and I knew Bessie wasn’t going to do anything by herself. But that doesn’t mitigate the despair that you feel when you see it. I worked for two days and almost got the weeds out of the beds around the summer house. There isn’t much left. There has been so much rain that the growth of the weeds was tropical." Unearthed WordsToday is National Potato Day. Here are some poems about the humble Potato. Three days into the journey I lost the Inca Trail and scrambled around the Andes in a growing panic when on a hillside below the snowline I met a farmer who pointed the way— Machu Picchu allá, he said. He knew where I wanted to go. From my pack, I pulled out an orange. It seemed to catch fire in that high blue Andean sky. I gave it to him. He had been digging in a garden, turning up clumps of earth, some odd, misshapen nuggets, some potatoes. He handed me one, a potato the size of the orange looking as if it had been in the ground a hundred years, a potato I carried with me until at last I stood gazing down on the Urubamba valley, peaks rising out of the jungle into clouds, and there among the mists was the Temple of the Sun and the Lost City of the Incas. Looking back now, all these years later, what I remember most, what matters to me most, was that farmer, alone on his hillside, who gave me a potato, a potato with its peasant's face, its lumps and lunar craters, a potato that fit perfectly in my hand, a potato that consoled me as I walked, told me not to fear, held me close to the earth, the Potato I put in a pot that night, the Potato I boiled above Machu Picchu, the patient, gnarled Potato I ate. — Joseph Stroud, American poet, The Potato In haste one evening while making dinner I threw away a potato that was spoiled on one end. The rest would have been redeemable. In the yellow garbage pail, it became the consort of coffee grounds, banana skins, carrot peelings. I pitched it onto the compost where steaming scraps and leaves return, like bodies over time, to earth. When I flipped the fetid layers with a hay fork to air the pile, the Potato turned up unfailingly, as if to revile me— looking plumper, firmer, resurrected instead of disassembling. It seemed to grow until I might have made shepherd's pie for a whole hamlet, people who pass the day dropping trees, pumping gas, pinning hand-me-down clothes on the line. — Jane Kenyon, American poet, Potato Grow That Garden Library Dahlias by Naomi Slade This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is Beautiful Varieties for Home & Garden. The dahlia is a fabulous cutting flower for the home garden. Cut one bloom, and ten more appear on the plant. Blooming late summer to the first frost of autumn, this native of Mexico provides explosions of color in home gardens. Naomi Slade is a biologist by training, a naturalist by inclination, and she has a lifelong love of plants. Georgianna Lane is a leading garden photographer whose work has been widely published, and she's one of my favorites. This book is 240 pages of delicious dahlias - a gorgeous gift from Naomi and Georgianna. You can get a copy of Dahlias by Naomi Slade and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $10 Today's Botanic Spark 1902 Today is the birthday of Ogden Nash. Ogden is the American poet, who said, "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." He also said, "Parsley is Gharsley." Ogden wrote several poems about gardening and flowers. His poem called My Victory Garden is a standout favorite with gardeners. Today, my friends, I beg your pardon, But I'd like to speak of my Victory Garden. With a hoe for a sword, and citronella for armor, I ventured forth to become a farmer. On bended knee, and perspiring clammily, I pecked at the soil to feed my family, A figure than which there was none more dramatic-er. Alone with the bug, and my faithful sciatica, I toiled with the patience of Job or Buddha, But nothing turned out the way it shudda. Would you like a description of my parsley? I can give it to you in one word--gharsley! They're making playshoes out of my celery, It's reclaimed rubber, and purplish yellery, Something crawly got into my chives, My lettuce has hookworm; my cabbage has hives, And I mixed the labels when sowing my carrots; I planted birdseed--it came up parrots. Do you wonder then, that my arteries harden Whenever I think of my Victory Garden? My farming will never make me famous, I'm an agricultural ignoramus, So don't ask me to tell a string bean from a soy bean. I can't even tell a girl bean from a boy bean.
On this episode of the AfterEllen podcast, editor in chief Jocelyn Macdonald and sports writer Gaby Alejandro review the latest in women's sports.
Sara Contreras, a top female comedian, actor, and writer since 1995—and one of Showtime’s 2008 ALMA-nominated (Best Comedy Special) Original Latin Divas of Comedy—continues to be a comedic showstopper at premier comedy clubs and venues across the country. Sara will be touring as part of the Latin Divas of Comedy 10th Anniversary tour in Florida in June and a Texas tour is yet to be announced. She will be sharing the stage with legendary comedian Paul Rodriguez and Last Comic Standing Winner Felipe Esparza in Honolulu. Sara regards her performance as part of the Not That Time of the Month all-female comedy tour in Iraq/Kuwait in March 2011 as the most rewarding experience of her professional life. She is the Head Writer for Manhattan Neighborhood Network’s Colors of Rhina and has appeared as a commentator and writer for MTV3. Sara received an impressive N.Y. Times review for her work as a writer/monologist in the off-Broadway production Jose Can Speak in 2005. Her first screenplay Searching for Sosie is under consideration as a 6-part television mini-series, and her highly regarded one-woman show Lifelines was part of the NYC ONE Festival in 2012. She was also a creator and writer for Lugar Heights, a Latino animated series featured on Galavision. Sara was cast for the television web-series All My Children in 2013. Television credits include Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, 4 episodes on NBC’s Law & Order: SVU, Third Watch, and Conviction; Comedy Central’s Comic Groove; Metrochannel’s New Joke City; A& E’s American Comedy: What’s So Funny; ABC’s The View and New York Comedy Festival; SiTV’s Funny is Funny; and TNC’s Que Loco. Sara taped with Marlo Thomas for the web-series Auntie Marlo & Kate and Univision’s Spanish-language stand-up comedy special Los Locos y Revueltos. Film credits include Nick the Doorman (2012) with Nick Turturro and Close Your Eyes (2013), which was part of the Tribeca Film Festival. Sara was a featured radio personality for the WRKS 98.7 Kiss Morning Show and has been a featured comedian for nationally syndicated radio personalities Luis Jimenez and Wendy Williams. Commercial work includes Mastercard and Fleet Bank. She can be seen performing on The Comedy Jump-Off and Only in The Hood DVDs, as well as Original Latin Divas of Comedy on Netflix. Sara was a participant in the Latin Producers Academy of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP). Sara has performed at the New York Comedy, Marshalls Women in Comedy, Urban Comedy, and the Toyota Comedy Festivals. She has been critically acclaimed for her work with the N.Y.-based “Sistas Doing Comedy,” D.C.-based “DiverCity,” and the L.A.-based “Hot & Spicy Tamales” comedy troupes. Mia Jackson is a New York based comedian originally from Georgia. In 2017, Jackson was selected as a New Face by the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival and Atlanta's Creative Loafing named her the Critic's Choice Best Stand-Up in the city. She has toured nationally with Amy Schumer and is a featured comic at festivals and clubs across the country. Her first stand up special aired in October 2018 as part of Unprotected Sets on EPIX. Jackson has appeared on NickMom's Night Out, Viceland, Comedy Central's This Week at the Comedy Cellar and was a semi-finalist on Season 9 of NBC's Last Comic Standing. Her Comedy Central half hour special debuted in November 2019. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her stand up on Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
Sports writer Gabrielle Alejandro and Editor in Chief Jocelyn Macdonald talk the latest sports news. We talk Last of Us Part II, the lesbophobic dumpster fire. But in happier news, some of our favorites are coming back, albeit to empty stadiums. In light of Covid, sports have been pretty much postponed, but in late June/July, both NWSL and WNBA are making a comeback with limited seasons.
Subhah Agarwal has brought an honesty to her comedy that is refreshing, and at times a bit disturbing... but in a good way. Trust me. Subhah has written for"The Jim Jefferies Show"on Comedy Central, and "Comedy Knockout" on TruTv, amongst others. You can also catch her jokes live at stand up comedy clubs across the country. If you don't want to leave your couch, you can see her late night debut on NBC's "A Little Late With Lilly Singh." She will also be appearing on season three of HBO's "Westworld", as Ichtaca on TruTv's sketch comedy "Friends of the People", and as herself on MTV2, Comedy Central, and Gotham Comedy Live. Dr. Christina Greer is a writer and professor of political science at Fordham University Lincoln Center, and was the 2018 McSilver Institute Fellow at NYU. She is the author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream, and has been published in several print outlets and academic journals. She is the featured educator in six Ted-Ed lessons, one of which, “Does Your Vote Count? The Electoral College Explained,” has over two million views, as well as videos on Ida B Wells Barnett, James Baldwin, and Bayard Rustin. She is the host of The Aftermath and The Counter on ozy.com, and cohost of FAQ-NYC, a NYC centered podcast. She also makes appearances on MSNBC and NPR's WNYC. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
Vanessa Fraction - Born in St. Louis and raised in Chicago, this mother of two has over a decade of experience captivating fans around the world with her one of a kind storytelling talent. Whether you see her on stage, television or hear her on the radio, Vanessa is on a mission to empower her audience to overcome their struggles while laughing at hers. These can be hilarious tales of being a single mother paying child support or revealing anecdotes on the battle of being a strong, successful black woman. Her television credits include appearances on Comedy Knock Out and Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks (TruTV), Tales (BET), and a recurring role on BounceTV’s Mann and Wife. Vanessa’s hilarious and bold stand-up comedy has been showcased on many shows such as HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, 1st Amendment Standup (STARZ) and Mike Epps Live at Club Nokia. As a writer she has worked on The Arsenio Hall Show (CBS), 106 & Park and The Mo’Nique Show (BET). Her film roles include Barber Shop 2: Back in Business and Kim Field’s Holiday Love: The Rebirth. Her quick wit and sharp humor is featured when she guests hosts on entertainment shows like DishNation (FOX) When you "do the math" Vanessa Fraction equals One Very Funny Lady! More info at www.vanessafraction.com Erin Jackson is one of the fastest-rising comedians in New York City. She works nightly in the city’s top comedy clubs, and has appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, CONAN, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, This Week at the Comedy Cellar, truTV’s Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks, Last Comic Standing, and Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. Erin's debut comedy album, Grudgery, was released in 2018 and debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes comedy charts. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
Judith Fiona Joseph M.D., M.B.A (http://judithjosephmd.com/) is a Board Certified Psychiatrist, with additional expertise in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Family Therapy, in New York City. Dr. Judith helps people from all stages of development including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood in a collaborative treatment to identify and achieve individual and family goals. Dr. Joseph is a clinical assistant professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center. She is a television consultant, career coach and a sport's therapist. You can see her regularly on the Dr. OZ show! Denise M. Williams is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, licensed through the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, and is a member of the California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists. She holds a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University, where she completed most of her clinical training with and for women of color and the LGBTQ+ community. Denise has been serving clients in private practice since 2015. Prior to transitioning to a mental health career, Denise worked in logistics, management, and event production for sports and entertainment facilities and large-scale events across the United States. Drawing on her personal experience, academic study, and clinical research – which all showed strong connections between Black women’s lack of positive self-care practices and negative health outcomes – Denise designed “Me First: The Art of Self-Care”, an interactive program designed to teach women to use self-care practices to improve their wellbeing. Since 2008, she has offered workshops, experiential events, one-on-one coaching, and online activities that help women improve their mental, emotional, and physical health. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
Jerod Haynes is an award-winning actor from Chicago. Haynes has appeared in multiple TV shows such as NBCs “The Village”, “Empire”, “Sense 8”, “Crisis”, and currently on the History Channel in Robert Zemeckis’s show “Project Blue Book”. Haynes has appeared in such independent films such as “Consumed” and “Animals,” as well as Sundance hit “Southside with You”. Haynes co-wrote and produced “Blueprint” which tackles the trauma a young man encounters once his best friend is murdered by police. Jerod was honored in 2015 with the Jeff Award for his performance in a principal role in the Chicago play “Native Son,” in which he reprised his role at Yale Rep in Fall 2017. He recently starred in Netflix and Blumhouse Production “Benji.” In 2019 he also appeared in HBOs production of Richard Wright’s “Native Son,” directed by Rashid Johnson. Jameel Mohammed is the founder and creative director of Khiry, an Afrofuturist luxury brand which he founded in 2016 as a political science student at the University of Pennsylvania. After launching the brand with a Kickstarter campaign that raised $25,000 in less than a month, a bevy of press features followed, including in The New York Times Gift Guide, Teen Vogue, Essence, Vanity Fair and the September issue of Vogue, and the collection was worn by prominent women worldwide including Solange Knowles, Serena Williams, Yara Shahidi and Michelle Obama. Mr. Mohammed's line has been carried by preeminent luxury retailers including Barneys New York and Moda Operandi, and he has worked as a freelance designer, designing jewelry for brands like Tory Burch. He has also started Negritude, a digital platform for creatives exploring Art, Style, and Power throughout the global African Diaspora. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
Guest Daria Berenato - We chat with WWE 's first out Lesbian superstar AKA Sonya Deville about life as a professional wrestler during quarantine, her clothing line Rainbow Love, her YouTube channel Damandyz Dontz and why these things are so much more than just fashion and entertainment. An exclusive interview, only on the AfterEllen.com podcast.
Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Yamaneika Saunders has been captivating audiences with her dynamic stage presence for over a decade and across the entire country. Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Yamaneika has since tackled both the New York and LA comedy scene by combining her high energy improv skills with a unique vulnerable perspective on life. This mix forces her to go beyond the typical humor one would expect to hear, and allows her to connect to audiences from any background. A semi-finalist on Last Comic Standing, one of the stars of Funny Girls on Oxygen and panelist on The Meredith Vieira Show, Yamaneika is finally bringing her talents to the world stage; let’s just hope they can handle her….Prior to that Yamaneika was a series regular on Comedy Central's animated online series In Security. Yamaneika has been a guest star on shows including but not limited to HBO’s Crashing, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Comedy Central's The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, and TruTV shows Comedy Knockout and Friends of the People. Her voiceover work can be heard on Inside Amy Schumer. A former panelist on The Meredith Vieira Show, her stand-up has been featured on NBC's Last Comic Standing and Netflix, Season 2 of Jeff Ross's Roast Battle on Comedy Central. Yamaneika has comedy specials on Comedy Central and Netflix’s “Degenerates” , and you can get her new comedy album: “Damsel In Distress”! You can also hear her on her weekly podcast Rantin' and Ravin'. Zainab Johnson, a stand-up comedian, actress, and writer is quickly being propelled as one of the most unique and engaging performers on stage and screen. Zainab was named one of Variety’s Top 10 Comics To Watch in 2019, she is currently one of the host for Netflix's new show "100 Humans", she can be seen as a series regular on the new upcoming series from Greg Daniels a half hour comedy titled “Upload” an Amazon original series premiering May 1st, and she made her first late night stand up appearance on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers. Zainab had a breakout appearance on HBO’s All Def Comedy (2017) and has made appearances on NBC’s Last Comic Standing (2014), Arsenio (2014), BET’s Comic View (2014), AXSTV’s Gotham Comedy Live! and just recently starred in a new web series titled Avant-Guardians. She is a regular at the Improv Comedy Club in LA and the Comedy Cellar in NY. Zainab has performed in the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival as one of the 2014 New Faces of Comedy and returned numerous times since. She also had a breakout performance at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2018. Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime), Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf
is an acclaimed actress known for her provocative performances in a wide range of memorable roles on film and television. She has starred in over 20 feature films and many TV shows and has earned a loyal, international following. She is also a seasoned voice-over artist. Perhaps best known to mainstream film audiences for starring opposite Albert Brooks in Warner Bros’ LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD, Sheetal has become a favorite in the independent film world. She won 3 Best Actress nods in the festival circuit for THE WORLD UNSEEN, one for her role in WINGS OF HOPE, and most recently for GRIN, which she also produced. In 2012, fans voted her ‘Favorite Movie Actress’ in AfterEllen’s Visibility Awards. She is currently in post-production on the feature, HUMMINGBIRD, which she produced as well.
Chaunte Wayans as seen on her 2019 Netflix comedy special ‘They Ready’ produced by Wanda Sykes and Tiffany Haddish, Chaunte Wayans is a voice to be heard. Wayans is a nationally touring headlining comedian and actor and has toured with Tiffany Haddish, Katt Williams, Russell Peters, and appeared on AJ and The Queen on Netflix, Wild N’ Out, and Laff Tracks. As a stage performer, Wayans was in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production, Collective Rage: 5 Betties In A Play alongside Lea DeLaria, Dana Delaney, Ana Villafane, and Adina Verson. She has appeared on WTF with Marc Maron, The Breakfast Club, The Lez Factor, Riffin with Eric Griffin, Girl Talk and more. She’s been featured in Essence, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times, The Grio, to name a few. Wayans is a proud member of the Wayans family legacy. She grew up in New York City and currently resides in LA with her dog Shiva. Follow them on @ instagram @cwayans Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, HBO's Two Dope Queens, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. JACKIE FABULOUS, is a gut-busting, writer, producer, speaker, and headlining comedian who uses comedy to simultaneously entertain, encourage and empower audiences. Having survived her fair share of loves, tragedies, lessons and embarrassing moments, Jackie channels all of that energy into hilarious sets and inspiring keynotes. More than just a funny lady, she is on a mission to inspire and empower women all over the world to Find The Funny In Their Flaws. When Jackie is not on tour, you will find her giving amazing keynote speeches and breakout sessions at corporate events and conferences or as a semi-finalist on season 14 of America’s Got Talent. A lawyer in her past life, she understands the plight of the working woman. Her signature talks and upcoming book within her hilarious “Find Your Fabulous” series will leave audiences feeling encouraged, uplifted, and inspired to conquer the ups and downs of life and work. Her diverse style of comedy has allowed her to work with comedy legends like Roseanne Barr and Wanda Sykes and on the OWN Network, NBC, CBS, and FOX to name a few. Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female, Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, HBO's Two Dope Queens and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. Jenny Saldana is a writer, actress, and stand-up comedian and a Breast Cancer Rock STAR and all around hotness. She wrote, produced and starred in Happy Cancer Chick, a web series inspired by her own battle with breast cancer. Her video series, The Little Brown Girl Show can be found on Youtube and Facebook Live. Danielle Randle - Originally from Chicago and intern to Friends Like Us! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female, Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
We're joined by lesbian feminist activist Brenna Jessie to discuss the life story of Stormé DeLarverie, a true icon from LGBT history remembered today for her role in the uprising at the Stonewall Inn in 1969.Follow Brenna on Twitter: @brennajessie_Follow TIE on Twitter: @tiecampaignJoin in the conversation using #TIEtalksFor further reading:An interview with Lesbian Stonewall Veteran Stormé DeLarverie, AfterEllen (2010): https://www.afterellen.com/people/77167-an-interview-with-lesbian-stonewall-veteran-storm-delarverieStonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, David Carter (2010)The Jewel Box Revue, Queer Music Heritage: http://queermusicheritage.com/fem-jewl.htmlSupport the show (http://www.tiecampaign.co.uk/donate)
Carlton Spence is a Celebrity Fashion Stylist and Adjunct Professor at LIM College. He has recently helped rejuvenate Grammy Award nominated gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds. Spence continues to capture the attention of celebrities, executives and contemporaries with his brand of “classic avant-garde” style on stage, television and red carpets. Whether it is in the classroom, the boardroom or the red carpet, no look he creates is ever the same. His versatility as a fashion guru is what makes him unique. Von Decarlo is a New York based stand up comedian, and author of the book, Speak Fluent Man. She performed at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal for Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, JFL Present’s LOL Live, and has been a featured comedian on Tru TV’s, Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks, the Jerry O Show on FOX, and CNN’s year end wrap up special, All the Best/All the Worst. She was the first woman, and first comedian, to host her own show on Sirius XM NBA radio, which derived from her podcast, the Coach Von Podcast, in which she used sports to anchor into real life discussions about love, life, politics, and much more. She is a graduate of the UCB improv program, as well as a UCB diversity scholarship recipient, and her one woman show Lasagna debuted at The People’s Improv Theatre to a full crowd and rave reviews. You can catch her in global ad campaigns and national commercials for GNC, Disney’s Aladdin, and Carnival Cruise Lines. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Danielle Randle - Originally from Chicago and intern to Friends Like Us! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female, Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
Sonja O'Hara is a multi award winning actress and filmmaker. She is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Sonja was featured as one of INDEPENDENT Magazine's “10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2017”, chosen by a jury from MovieMaker Magazine, the Sundance Institute and Austin Film Festival. Sonja created and stars in the series DOOMSDAY (The Spectator's "7 Series To Binge Watch."), which qualified for the 2017 Emmy award and was nominated for "Best Indie Series" at the Streamy Awards. Sonja was also awarded the prestigious “Best Director” prize at The New York Television Festival out of 4000 pilot submissions. She is a four time semi finalist for the Sundance Labs. Sonja has been featured on panels at SXSW, SeriesFest, The BAFTA's, HBO's ITVFest, NYU Tisch, and The Nordic Film Festival.As an actress, Sonja was awarded the Indie Soul Special Recognition Award at the Boston International Film Festival for her lead role in the feature film OVUM (“Best Picture” at The Big Apple Film Festival) which she also wrote and produced. The film was released this spring by Sony's The Orchard and can be watched On Demand or on iTunes here. It will be re-released by the prestigious Tribeca Shortlist in the spring of 2018. Sonja can also be seen playing Lauren in the feature film CREATIVE CONTROL (opposite Nora Zehetner of IFC's MARON) which won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW Film Festival and was released internationally by Magnolia Films & Amazon.Sonja is originally from a fishing village in Nova Scotia, Canada. She attended Marymount Manhattan College and is a graduate of the two-year Meisner acting program at the New York Conservatory For Dramatic Arts.As a filmmaker, her work has been hailed as, “deeply unsettling” (Splash Report), “provocative” (After Ellen), and “whip smart” (Rogue Cinema). Like Brit Marling and Greta Gerwig before her, Sonja is committed to creating diverse and female-driven boundary pushing content."One of the many things I love about my recurring gig as a moderator for SAG-AFTRA Foundation Q&As, like my recent chat with Jessica Chastain, is getting to meet up-and-coming actors...One such rising star, Sonja O'Hara — like Chastain, a wildly talented redhead — breaks out this week in two newly released movies." -Bruce Fretts/ The New York Times "O'Hara is as smart and funny as she is attractive with a real knack for writing that's sure to get her discovered sooner rather than later." ComingSoon.netYou can view her work here: https://www.sonjaohara.com/reelSpeaking to Sonja was truly inspirational. Also, you can check out my documentary The People of Brixton, on Kwelitv here: www.kweli.tv/programs/the-peopl…xton?autoplay=trueDamien Swaby Social Media Links:Instagram www.instagram.com/damien_swaby_video_producer/Twittertwitter.com/DamienSwaby?ref_src…erp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorFacebookwww.facebook.com/Damien-Swaby-213…7/?ref=bookmarksI love iPhone filmmaking, my latest short film shot on one, you can view it here! vimeo.com/348228831
Sonja O'Hara is a multi award winning actress and filmmaker. She is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Sonja was featured as one of INDEPENDENT Magazine's “10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2017”, chosen by a jury from MovieMaker Magazine, the Sundance Institute and Austin Film Festival. Sonja created and stars in the series DOOMSDAY (The Spectator's "7 Series To Binge Watch."), which qualified for the 2017 Emmy award and was nominated for "Best Indie Series" at the Streamy Awards. Sonja was also awarded the prestigious “Best Director” prize at The New York Television Festival out of 4000 pilot submissions. She is a four time semi finalist for the Sundance Labs. Sonja has been featured on panels at SXSW, SeriesFest, The BAFTA's, HBO's ITVFest, NYU Tisch, and The Nordic Film Festival. As an actress, Sonja was awarded the Indie Soul Special Recognition Award at the Boston International Film Festival for her lead role in the feature film OVUM (“Best Picture” at The Big Apple Film Festival) which she also wrote and produced. The film was released this spring by Sony's The Orchard and can be watched On Demand or on iTunes here. It will be re-released by the prestigious Tribeca Shortlist in the spring of 2018. Sonja can also be seen playing Lauren in the feature film CREATIVE CONTROL (opposite Nora Zehetner of IFC's MARON) which won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW Film Festival and was released internationally by Magnolia Films & Amazon. Sonja is originally from a fishing village in Nova Scotia, Canada. She attended Marymount Manhattan College and is a graduate of the two-year Meisner acting program at the New York Conservatory For Dramatic Arts. As a filmmaker, her work has been hailed as, “deeply unsettling” (Splash Report), “provocative” (After Ellen), and “whip smart” (Rogue Cinema). Like Brit Marling and Greta Gerwig before her, Sonja is committed to creating diverse and female-driven boundary pushing content. "One of the many things I love about my recurring gig as a moderator for SAG-AFTRA Foundation Q&As, like my recent chat with Jessica Chastain, is getting to meet up-and-coming actors...One such rising star, Sonja O’Hara — like Chastain, a wildly talented redhead — breaks out this week in two newly released movies." -Bruce Fretts/ The New York Times "O'Hara is as smart and funny as she is attractive with a real knack for writing that’s sure to get her discovered sooner rather than later." ComingSoon.net You can view her work here: https://www.sonjaohara.com/reel Speaking to Sonja was truly inspirational. Also, you can check out my documentary The People of Brixton, on Kwelitv here: www.kweli.tv/programs/the-peopl…xton?autoplay=true Damien Swaby Social Media Links: Instagram www.instagram.com/damien_swaby_video_producer/ Twitter twitter.com/DamienSwaby?ref_src…erp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Facebook www.facebook.com/Damien-Swaby-213…7/?ref=bookmarks I love iPhone filmmaking, my latest short film shot on one, you can view it here! vimeo.com/348228831
Dr. Christina Greer is a writer and professor of political science at Fordham University Lincoln Center, and was the 2018 McSilver Institute Fellow at NYU. She is the author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream, and has been published in several print outlets and academic journals. She is the featured educator in six Ted-Ed lessons, one of which, “Does Your Vote Count? The Electoral College Explained,” has over two million views, as well as videos on Ida B Wells Barnett, James Baldwin, and Bayard Rustin. She is the host of The Aftermath and The Counter on ozy.com, and cohost of FAQ-NYC, a NYC centered podcast. She also makes appearances on MSNBC and NPR's WNYC. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed BET‘s ComicView, and Two Dope Queens on HBO! Her Movie appearances include: TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. Danielle Randle - Originally from Chicago and new intern to Friends Like Us! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female, Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
A Sordid Tale of AfterEllen with Former Content Contributor Karen Frost First of all, for people who might not know… What is AfterEllen? For the Generation-ZERS AfterEllen was founded in 2002. Prior to its founding, there hadn’t really been a queer women-specific site that focused on queer female representation in the entertainment industry. AfterEllen flagged for readers when there was a queer female character on TV, offered movie reviews, and conducted interviews with women in queer roles. Over time, the site went through several sort of cosmetic variations, to include video logs and sock puppet re-enactments of “The L Word,” but for 17 years it’s stayed true to its original ideology of identifying and promoting queer female visibility on TV and in movies. Show Notes: Before the Intro - 15 secs What About Dat? Is a Podcast Queens Production, Sponsored by Archetype Footwear. Archetype Footwear OVER MUSIC INTRO - 30 - seconds Jen - Welcome Back to another episode of What About Dat? A podcast where I talk about socially relevant television and speak with thought leaders who want greater visibility and representation in film, television, and digital publication for women, lgbtqia, and their allies. Today on the podcast we are joined by arm-chair TV-Pundit, former content contributor for AfterEllen, Lez Watch TV, and Tello Film Productions. The Queer Queen of analytics and data and Young adult novelist of the upcoming, “Daughter of Fire Series,” Book 1. Conspiracy of the Dark. The lovely Karen Frost. Jen - Thank you so much for joining me today, I’ve been a huge fan since you decided to eat your sandwich next to me at Clexa Con. Karen - Thank you for having me. Jen - What did you do before writing for AfterEllen? What compelled you to reach out and become involved in the publication? Karen - I’d read the site since probably a few months after its founding. Every day, I would go on and see if there was a new article. Frankly, back in the early 2000s there was so little representation that there were only new articles a few times a month. The site was absolutely pivotal to my formation of a queer identity as a teenager, and I’d always dreamed of contributing, so when a call went out for writers in 2015, I hoped I’d be picked. Jen - Of your 182 articles what is the piece you are most proud of? Karen - Let me preface my answer with a bit of a story. In 2016, there was a MASSIVE uproar in the queer female community after the character of Lexa on the CW show “The 100” was killed. Without getting into fandom-specifics, one of the things to come out of it was the feeling, “Why are our characters always being killed off?” For the first time, someone put together the data on it, and we discovered that 25-30% of all queer female characters have been killed off on TV shows. That’s a rate orders of magnitude larger than straight characters. Put another way, there was a statistically significant tendency of shows to kill off our characters. But had no one done the math, that knowledge would have remained in the realm of “feelings” rather than “data.” Because of work to highlight this problem, the next two years saw a plummeting in the number of queer female characters who were killed. Now, to get back to your question of what article I’m most proud of, I would say that the articles that I’m most proud of are the ones that used data to make a point about representation, for example showing that an actresses’ best chance of getting an Oscar nomination and winning since 2002 has been to play a queer character. I believe that it’s hard to convince Hollywood to have more representation using just “feelings,” but if you use data to show the profitability, then it’s hard for Hollywood to say no. Jen - At ClexaCon, you briefly mentioned a mass exodus from AfterEllen? What happened? Why did so many writers cease their involvement with the publication? Karen - The mass exodus happened in September 2016 when then-editor Trish Bendix was fired after six years at her position. Evolve Media, who owned AfterEllen at the time, announced it could no longer keep a full-time editor given that AfterEllen wasn’t meeting revenue goals and that it would be reducing the amount of content produced. The relationship between Trish and Evolve immediately soured, and all the writers but me chose to leave in solidarity with Trish. Anyone interested in those dynamics should read an article Trish posted about the dying queer media and the struggle to monetize it. She had a first row seat for years in seeing how the entire media landscape was affected, not just AfterEllen. Jen - You wrote an article entitled “Why I stayed,” which was a compelling counter-argument for why you were going to continue to contribute articles to AfterEllen during a time when other people were leaving. Why did you stay? Karen - As I mentioned before, AfterEllen was an absolutely pivotal part of my identity formation as a teenager, and I realized that the site would continue to exist whether all the writers stayed or left. It would continue to be a global platform with the ability to create positive impact for young women coming to terms with their sexual orientation. Girls in Bangladesh, Kenya, South Korea, Argentina, and even in the US wouldn’t know about the backstory with Trish. Two or five or however many years later, they would log onto the site and I wanted them to have something to read that would help them. I think we often become very myopic and Anglo-centric when we think about the world just because we write in English, but there is SO much of the world that is also impacted by what we write. Jen - What was your turning point? What made you finally leave? Karen - After Trish, Evolve Media hired Memoree Joelle as the new editor. Memoree came to the site with some baggage in the sense that she had expressed what were perceived to be anti-transgender comments in the past. We writers knew about those sentiments, but for the first several years, she kept the sentiments behind those comments private and off the site. In late December 2018, however, when it became clear that Evolve Media was looking to sell AfterEllen and would no longer be monitoring whether she was publishing anti-trans rhetoric, she began to publish that rhetoric through the AfterEllen Twitter handle. That’s actually a bit of an over simplification in the sense that Memoree would argue that she’s not “anti-trans” per se but rather that she feels that as the LGBT community has focused on trans issues, it has come at the cost of lesbian issues and therefore she seeks a more equitable balance of resources and energy. However, the delivery of that message came across as extremely anti-trans. By December 2018, I could no longer remain with AfterEllen. As someone who doesn’t share Memoree’s ideology, it was impossible to continue to be associated with it. As much as I believed in the spirit of AfterEllen’s mission, to have stayed any longer would have been to condone that sort of bigotry, which I don’t. Jen - What are some of your takeaways from working at AfterEllen? Karen - I would say the biggest takeaway is that Hollywood is changing. Often we get impatient at the pace of change, but in 2002 we might see three queer female characters in movies a year and in 2019 we’re talking about whether Valkyrie and Captain Marvel will date in massive, billion dollar grossing Marvel movies. The amount and quality of representation today is unbelievable compared to two decades ago and earlier. I’d like to believe that some of that is a result of the great work done by people at AfterEllen, Autostraddle, and other sites. The other takeaway is that yes, queer media is dying. That’s for a variety of reasons, but one thing that I would flag is stovepiping in our community. For a decade, readers would come to sites like AfterEllen or Autostraddle and they would read about all the queer content on TV. There was a unified base of knowledge that was shared among the community. Everyone knew, for example, the ten shows that had queer characters. Now people seem to be falling into a few fandoms and not paying attention to what’s happening outside those few. Readership for sites like AfterEllen is dying in part because rather than going to AfterEllen, viewers are going to show-specific sites. But if we lose these universal or aggregative sites, then we lose a really good repository of knowledge. Book Trailer - 1min + Jen- “Conspiracy of the Dark” - Is really different from the deeply analytical articles you’ve put out into the world. Where did the inspiration for the project come from? How did you find your story? Karen - I’ve always loved Young Adult fantasy. Ever since I was a kid, that’s always been my favorite genre. But there really haven’t been a ton of queer protagonists in mainstream books. When I was a teenager, there were three: Malinda Lo’s “Ash” and “Huntress,” and then Tamora Pierce’s “The Will of the Empress.” So with “Conspiracy of the Dark,” the inspiration was just to write a good and interesting story, but also to create more content for young queer women. We need stories of our own, and if mainstream publishers aren’t particularly interested in giving it to us, then we have to write it and disseminate it any way we can. Jen - Being that you write high-fantasy, what kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book? One of the luxuries of high fantasy is that no research is necessary! I love it. You just open up your computer and go. Jen - What does literary success look like to you? If you could have it all, what would it look like with journalism and writing, what does success look like for you? Karen - I would say that literary success for queer content looks very different from straight content. Here’s what I mean: JK Rowling has made a billion dollars off the Harry Potter series and merchandising. If you’re going to write straight content, that’s success. Success is fame and fortune. But queer content will never sell like that. No one will be getting rich off queer content, and in fact I only know of one queer female writer who makes enough to do it full-time. To me, success in our genre is impact. If someone reads my book and says, “Wow, this is fantastic. I’ve never before seen myself portrayed as a knight or a mage,” then that’s success. All I want to do is put out the content that didn’t exist when I was a teenager. Let’s fill figurative libraries with the content that the mainstream has denied us for centuries. It’s largely the same with journalism: success is about creating impact. It’s almost impossible to know if the articles that I write have caused anyone in Hollywood to re-evaluate how they do representation, but I hope they have. Ultimately, fame is fleeting and subjective. Here today, gone tomorrow. But if an article plants the seed where Hollywood says, “Hey, maybe Captain Marvel CAN be gay,” then that’s impact forever. Jen - What’s the most difficult thing about writing queer characters? Karen - There’s nothing difficult about writing queer characters…if you’re already queer yourself. I think where we see more difficulty is when straight people are writing queer characters. Jen - How does your background in queer pop-culture effect the way you write characters? Karen - Not exactly. I will say, however, that there was a queer couple on TV whose dynamic I really liked so I used their dynamic as the basis of the romantic pairing in my book. Jen - What was your hardest scene to write? Why? Karen - The opening few pages of my book. In the initial draft, I wanted the description of my character’s world to be very detailed so that readers would feel immersed in it. I immediately realized, however, that it was too much and no one would get past those pages. They would stop reading. So I had to go back and cut. Jen - What was the pitch process like trying to sell your concept to literary agents? Karen - The way publishing works is that for mainstream publishers, normally you get a literary agent and the agent then tries to market your book to publishers like Harper Collins. So in essence you have two barriers to get over: finding a literary agent and then finding a publisher. Literary agents post online what they’re looking for: cook books, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. I ended up querying 17 literary agents, all of whom specifically said they wanted LGBT content and fantasy content. Every single one of them turned the book down. Then I tried Bella Books, for which you don’t use a literary agent, and also was turned down. The truth is that mainstream publishing really doesn’t want queer female YA content right now, and the two or so books a year that come out with it feel like a miracle. For me, I was also hurt by the fact that to date, queer women haven’t shown an interest in YA fantasy as a genre. The most popular genre is contemporary romance. So for any publisher taking on the book, it’s a risk. It could turn out that neither gays nor straights want to read it. Jen - How did you connect with Ylva publishing? Karen - I sent my manuscript to them using the website instructions. To be honest, it was my last effort. If Ylva hadn’t taken it, I would have given up. Ylva has been wonderful to work with, and I really, really am glad they believed in the book and decided to take a chance on it. Jen - Moving forward what do you think will happen to queer digital publications? Do you think you will ever return to journalizing or has that ship passed? Karen - I think we’re seeing an atomization of queer digital publications. The revenue structure that supported blogs and websites in the mid to late 2000s is gone. There’s just not the money in it, and that hurts websites. When they can’t stay monetized, they fold, and that trend impacts not just the queer sites, but everyone. For queer content, what pops up are small, personal websites run by one or two people. The problem with sites like that is it’s hard to direct traffic to them. With so many, how do readers know to go to them? It’s not that they’re bad, but rather it’s hard for them to promote themselves. For myself, I love writing about queer topics, particularly in the entertainment field, but frankly, my ability to return to that field isn’t contingent on me. With this atomizing, people feel like they want to run their sites themselves without outside content. What that’s meant is that I can’t get anyone to take my free articles. So while I have lots of ideas for articles, I have no place to publish them. Jen - This has been an interview with Karen Frost, thank you so much for being here today. Your presence elevates the podcast. Please come back soon. Be sure to follow us on twitter @whatabout_dat. Music Outro
Nina Daniels is an actress and producer, known for Shameless, The Last O.G., Notorious and Maron. She is also the creator of Models Diet Series coming to Instagram and "My Man Is A Jewmaican". She can be seen regularly at comedy clubs and alt rooms around the country. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Sam Jay is an Emmy Nominated Writer for “Saturday Night Live” and frequently appears in sketches. In 2018 she made her Netflix debut on “The Comedy Lineup” and released her Debut Album “Donna’s Daughter.” She wrote for the “2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards” and has a recurring role on TV Land’s “Nobodies”. In 2017, Sam was a standout of the “Just For Laughs: New Faces.” She was the host of “Ricking Morty”, the Rick and Morty post-show on Adult Swim and she was a cast member of MTV’s “SafeWord.” Sam made her late night television debut on ABC’s Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel and her half-hour stand-up special premiered on Comedy Central. She was named to the Comedy Central “Comics To Watch List” in 2015, and has since performed at the Vodafone Dublin Comedy Festival, Bumbershoot Festival, 208 Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival, Portland’s Bridgetown Festival, The Laugh Your Asheville Off Comedy Festival, Boston’s Women In Comedy Festival, and the list goes on. Her credits also include a part in the award-winning film “Pinsky”, Starz’ “Take My Wife”, Comedy Central’s “White Flight”, “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail”, as well as Viceland’s “Party Legends” & “Flophouse.” Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female, Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
Suzette Simon is the founder of NYLaughs (NYL), a 501(c)3 performing arts nonprofit dedicated to enriching the lives of New Yorkers through laughter and deepening an appreciation of stand up comedy as a unique NY cultural asset by producing free comedy programming in public spaces. For the past 13 years, NYL has offered live comedy performances to diverse audiences in welcoming, accessible public spaces to target populations that might not otherwise have access to or experience with premier live artistic comedic entertainment. It's signature summer series, "Laughter in the Park," is the only program of its kind and NYL estimates having entertained over 25,000 New Yorkers and visitors. Each year it creates a vital space for residents to come together using comedy to explore the most critical issues of our city and times. Connecting through comedy improves the mental and physical health of New Yorkers and acts as a community-building opportunity for those who need it most while also encouraging comedy's next generation and providing greater opportunities for comedic artists to grow their audiences and influence. Kenice Mobley is a comedian who performs stand up around the country and has participated in the Women in Comedy Festival, San Francisco Sketchfest, and the Bridgetown Comedy Festival. She also appeared on Laughs on FOX and SiriusXM. She hosts Love About Town, an interview and relationship podcast available as part of the Women In Comedy Podcast Network and the Brain Machine Network. Kenice produces The Lab: An Very Black Experimental Comedy Show, The Pasta Show, and Nothing Important Stand Up in Brooklyn. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female, Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
This week on Two Dykes and a Mic, hosts Rachel Scanlon and McKenzie Goodwin sit down with fellow lesbian comedian Mav Viola to discuss touring with each other, sex stories, and the After Ellen disaster. Follow @MavViola @TwoDykesAndAMic @RachelSafety @McKGoodwin For more info and live show dates - www.TwoDykesAndAMic.com
Lean the F*ck Out | Fempreneurs | Women Entrepreneurs | Female Business Owners
In this episode of Lean the F*ck Out, we talk with Lindsay White about leaving a corporate career to make music full time and how that journey brought her to starting Lady Brain Collective, a supportive and collaborative group of local women pursuing careers in the arts. Lindsay shares tips on making a career as an independent artist, and supplementing with a side hustle when you need to. She talks about her mental health journey and her experience as a caregiver to a partner dealing with mental health issues. Lindsay also discusses grief and loss and the perspective it has given her. Lady Brain Episode Highlights: Watch for your moment to leap. Look for the moment when the universe is tipping the scale. If you lean out you have to be willing to work your ass off. Starting out as an artist, your side hustle is key. Be genuinely kind. You never know what people are going through, be compassionate. Show yourself grace and compassion like you would those you are care taking. Loss gives us all perspective, no one is immortal. As a society we need to talk about trauma, grief and death more, the discussion will make us a more compassionate . Loss is a unifying experience. Always have honest conversations with yourself, about your mortality. What do you want to get out of this life? Lindsay White You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll call your therapist. With influences ranging from Bob Dylan to Ani DiFranco, Lindsay White's songwriting has earned recognition from Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, and American Songwriter. Her latest record Lights Out chronicles the experience of losing her estranged mother to brain cancer. The record debuted #2 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter charts, was named #1 Album of the Year by Global Texan Chronicles, and earned her the 2018 San Diego Music Award for Best Singer-Songwriter. White was recently named one of "15 Lesbian/Bi/Queer Musical Artists You Need to Know" by AfterEllen.com. She has opened for notable acts such as The Lone Bellow, David Crosby, Steve Poltz, Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles), Raining Jane ft. Jason Mraz, and more. White is a queer intersectional feminist, mental health advocate, grief support advocate, and writer. She has led songwriting workshops for Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls San Diego, participated in Pride events throughout the country, and independently published a narrative essay called "Love by the Numbers: What to do (and not to do) when your Bipolar partner thinks she's Jesus." Recently, she organized the Lady Brain Collective, a supportive and collaborative group of local women pursuing careers in the arts. White relies on support from, Lindsay's Corner, an exclusive community of dedicated friends and fans who always make her journey as an independent artist feel like a group effort. You can find Lindsay online at: Website: lindsaywhitemusic.com // ladybrainpresents.com Patreon: patreon.com/lindsaywhitemusic Instagram: instagram.com/lindsaywhitemusic // instagram.com/ladybrainpresents Facebook: facebook.com/lindsaywhitemusic // facebook.com/ladybrainpresents Youtube: youtube.com/lindsayannwhite Twitter: twitter.com/listentolindsay Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/lindsayannwhite Lindsay White Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/4kdJU3sybstAXUhWzZNRT1 Lady Brain Presents Spotify Playlist: open.spotify.com/user/1211221790/playlist/00RpoDN5SJe6qTV7scOqLO?si=ldfdgRhiSny-h7ABwrZ8yg iTunes: music.apple.com/us/album/lindsay-white/1238408015?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit. Music: Sunshine by The Icicles
Calise Hawkins is the new host of the popular HQ Trivia game and has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Gotham Live, Stand Up in Stilettos, Nickmom Nite Out. She has written for MTV series Totally Clueless and Girl Code, Comedy Central’s @midnight, Charlemagne’s Uncommon Sense, Hood Adjacent with James Davis, was a cast member of Oxygen’s Funny Girls, and worked as a consultant on Aisha Tyler’s “Unapologetic”. Kyle Grooms is a comedian, actor, and writer. He has had his own Half-Hour special on Comedy Central, Made an appearance as “Lyle” in film “I Feel Pretty!” starring Amy Schumer, and has made multiple appearances on VH1, NBC , BET and famed “Chappelle’s Show.” His first comedy CD, “The Legend of the Jersey Devil,” was named one of iTunes’ Top 100 Comedy CD’s of 2009. He has been featured on several television, radio and internet broadcasts, such as P-Diddy’s “Bad Boys of Comedy,” Jamie Foxx’s “Laffapalooza,” “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn,” “The Byron Allen Show,” “BET Comic View,” and “Red Carpet Fashion.” Having even brought his act overseas, he performed at the “ Grande Journal” in France and has made several appearances in national TV ad campaigns for companies including T-Mobile, Sears, Career Builders and Holiday Inn Express. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Fun Fact: Pat was voted “most humorous” in high school. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Ms. Pat with a comedy career of over 13 years, this powerful woman brings an honest, in your face, and hilarious perspective to her shows. She has appeared on TV Guide Network’s “Standup in Stilettos”, and Nickelodeons “Mom’s Night Out”. She is a regular guest on the syndicated Bob and Tom Radio Show, and appeared on Katt Williams DVD “Kattpacalypse”. She has become a Podcast celebrity with appearances on TalkinS hit with Eddie Ifft, WTF with Marc Maron, The Joe Rogan Experience, Ari Shafir’s Skeptic Tank, The CrabFeast with Ryan Sickler and Jay Larson, and Your Mom’s House with Christina Pazsitzky and Tom Segura, the Bertcast with Bert Kreischer, and now FriendsLikeUs. In January of 2015, she appeared on Comedy Central’s “This is Not Happening” and NBC’s “Last Comic Standing." In July of 2016, Ms. Pat performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival appearing in Kevin Hart’s “LOL”, and Jeff Ross “Roast Battle” for Comedy Central. In November she made her initial appearance on the syndicated show “Harry” with Harry Connick. Her memoir Rabbit, published by Harper-Collins, was released in 2017. Ms. Pat currently resides with her husband and three children in Indianapolis. Dante Nero His podcast “The Beige Philip Show, presents Man School”(“beige” was used as a reference to Dante’s complexion. It advocated credibility empathy and progressive self worth. He then renamed itin 2017 “Manschool 202” which exemplified an advanced instructional element expanding advice to women as well. In one year, ”Man School 202” was ranked number 15 on iTunes, emerging as a modern day “Dear Abby” with a constant and consistently growing listenership. Email questions flooded which forced Dante to create a phone consultation service. So if you have a problem, call Dante or listen to Man School 202. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Fun Fact: Pat was voted “most humorous” in high school. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can watch her on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Fun Fact: Pat was voted “most humorous” in high school. Von DeCarlo is a stand-up comedian, actress, and author of the book Speak Fluent Man. She completed two seasons as a talking head comedian on BET/Centric’s relationship-based show, According to Him + Her, and is featured on Tru-TV’s hit comedy show, Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks. In addition, she performed at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal for Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, JFL Present’s LOL Live. You can catch her in national commercials for GNC, Disney’s Aladdin, and Carnival Cruise Lines. You can also catch her on the 2018 year-end wrap up special for CNN’s AC360. Her one-woman show, Lasagna, debuted at the People’s Improv Theatre to a full crowd and rave reviews. She is the first female to host her own show on Sirius XM NBA Radio called, Coach Von's Corner, where comedy meets sports, and you get everything on and off the court in the NBA. Her podcast, Coach Von Podcast, is available on iTunes and uses sports to anchor into fun, yet honest, conversations about life, love, and relationships. Fun Fact: Her name is a double first name, and, yes, her mother named her after Lily Munster. Jenny Saldana is a writer, actress, and stand-up comedian. She wrote, produced and starred in Happy Cancer Chick, a web series inspired by her own battle with breast cancer. She’s penned four plays and had a principal role in The Dictator. Her video series, The Little Brown Girl Show can be found on Youtube and Facebook Live. Jenny also does advocacy work for young cancer survivors, who often face social or medical problems later in life, and often have trouble with insurance during their treatment. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Judah Friedlander has made late night appearances on Conan O'Brien, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, He has appeared in over thirty films and countless television shows- he is well known for his role as Frank Rossitano on the NBC hit series 30 Rock. Judah earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards for his part in the Sundance Award-winning film American Splendor. Friedlander also appeared in Meet the Parents, Zoolander and Along Came Polly, He had a starring role in the 2005 independent comedy Full Grown Men and a supporting role in the 2008 drama The Wrestler. You can even read Judah’s best-selling books, entitled How To Beat Up Anybody or If The Raindrops United a book of drawings. Judah’s recent comedy special is on Netflix, “America Is The Greatest Country in The United States” Go watch it and then check out his new tour dates at http://judahfriedlander.com/judah-tour/ Derek Gaines is a New York based comedian who brings a unique perspective to growing up African American in the suburbs. His first break came when he reached the semi-finals of Bill Bellamy’s Who’s Got Jokes in 2010. Derek was also a finalist in Philadelphia’s Phunniest Person Competition. Derek made his standup comedy television debut in 2014 when he appeared on AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live and was selected by the Just For Laughs Festival as part of their New Faces showcase. He has been a contributor to VH1’s Morning Buzz and TRU TV’s Greatest Ever. He starred in Morgan Spurlock’s docuseries “Connected”. Derek was also a cast member of MTV’s Joking Off and the co-host of MTV’s Broke A$$ Game Show. Derek plays the role of Jaybird in the hit Tracy Morgan’s series THE LAST O.G. for TBS. He was one of the lead roles in the NBC comedy pilot RELATIVELY HAPPY opposite Jane Lynch after coming off a very successful dramatic appearance on ABC’s TRAINING DAY. You might recognize Derek from his break out role on Will & Grace. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can see her soon on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Limor Garfinkle is a commercial photographer in NYC who has worked with some of the biggest names in comedy today like Tracy Morgan, Jim Gaffigan, Lewis Black, and our host Marina Franklin! She started her career in advertising but after she was laid off from the ad agency she worked for during the recession she decided to make a career change and become a photographer. Limor started shooting environmental portraits of comedians at the end 2015 and in November of 2017, Carolines Comedy Club and TBS hosted and sponsored her first gallery fundraising event as part of the NYCF lineup, which auctioned those portraits to benefit the Mount Sinai Division of ADHD, Learning Disabilities and Related Disorders. She is now photographing more comedians and has another fundraiser planned for the end of this year. Originally from Israel, she came to New York after her IDF military service. Agunda Okeyo is an activist, writer, producer, and filmmaker. Her writing has been featured in The Daily Beast, Okay Africa, NBC, Curve Magazine, O Magazine, The Progressive Magazine and Women’s Media Center. She is the producer of Sisters of Comedy at Carolines on Broadway, the only all-black women showcase at any of the top comedy clubs in NYC. Okeyo has been featured as a rising producer and activist in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Essence, The Root, Black Enterprise, Forbes, Huffington Post, and NBC. In 2016 she was named a Progressive Women’s Voices fellow by the Women’s Media Center. And in 2017 she served as Comms Chair for the March for Racial Justice (M4RJ) in Washington, D.C. & Nationwide plus NYC Co-Chair. She is also a core member of Women’s March NYC and Time’s Up NYC. Fun Fact: Sisters of Comedy is turning FIVE this year! Anniversary production details soon. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can see her soon on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Fun Fact: Pat was voted “most humorous” in high school. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Pat Brown: Seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can see her soon on the new season of Two Dope Queenson HBO! Fun Fact: Pat was voted “most humorous” in high school. Calise Hawkins: appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Gotham Live, Stand Up in Stilettos, Nickmom Nite Out. She has written for MTV series Totally Clueless and Girl Code, Comedy Central’s @midnight, Charlemagne’s Uncommon Sense, Hood Adjacent with James Davis, was a cast member of Oxygen’s Funny Girls, and worked as a consultant on Aisha Tyler’s “Unapologetic”. Fun Fact: Calise’s “Late Night Fight” Comedy Show has found a new home at Union Hall. The next show will be at 8pm on January 29th. Abbi Crutchfield is an actress and comedian best known for the film You, Your Brain, & You, the tV series Co-operation, and has been featured in the TV show Broad City. She is currently the host of TruTV’s You Can Do Better. She is also listed under the Huffington Posts “18 Funny Women You Should Be Following On Twitter”. Fun Fact: She’s a new mom! Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Pat Brown: Has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been described as “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. You can see her soon on the new season of Two Dope Queens on HBO! Fun Fact: Pat was voted “most humorous” in high school. Subhah Agarwal: is a comedian, actress, and writer. She is currently writing for The Jim Jeffries Show on Comedy Central and has additionally appeared on and written for TruTV and MTV. Fun fact: When she was in school, one of her teachers gave up on pronouncing her name and decided to call her “happy.” This did not make Subhah very “happy.” Erin Jackson: can be seen nightly in many of New York City’s top comedy clubs, and made her late night debut on CONAN in 2018. Her standup has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Comedy Central and truTV. She co-hosted three seasons of “Exhale,” a panel talk series on the ASPiRE television network, and has appeared on MSNBC, NFL Network, truTV, VH-1, and TV Guide Network as a panelist on numerous sports and pop-culture shows. Fun fact: Her album Grudgery is on sale now on all platforms! Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Terri Lynn Martin Spent 20+ years as a TV News/Entertainment Producer and Executive Producer before becoming a strength trainer and lifestyle/talent coach. She infused her hard-core show business career experience and discipline into her clients, many of who are television, film and stage talent. Teri Lynn is now her own boss, as an independent business owner and health fitness expert at Teri Lynn Life LLC. Fun Fact: Terri trains many of New York's on-air news and entertainment talent, comedians. Pat Brown: Has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been called “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. Fun Fact: Pat was voted “most humorous” in high school. Check her out in the new season of "Two Dope Queens". Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Wendy Sheridan, Mary McGinley, and Robin Renée do a fair amount of discussing media on The Leftscape, but rarely have they all watched or listened to the show that is the topic at hand. This time, everyone did their homework. Wendy has been watching the new She-Ra and the Princess of Power, and she found what she took for some real talk in Episode 11, "Promise." Does Catra's dialogue with Adora point out some of the most uncomfortable truths about white feminism? Listen in to the Leftscape conversation, watch She-Ra on Netflix, and post your thoughts. This week, Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, and Maria Butina are all making big news. According to the Washington Post, some lies have been repeated so often, they warrant a new rating: The Bottomless Pinocchio. Queer Twitter is calling out TERFs of AfterEllen.com and debating about how Pink News dealt with a Pansexual Pride article that misdefined "bisexual." Patricio Manuel's debut and win as the first professional transgender male boxer is reason to celebrate. Other reasons to celebrate: Las Posadas (Dec 16th -24th), Saturnalia (Dec 17th - 23rd), Winter Solstice/Yule (Dec 21st), National Hard Candy Day, and the birthdays of Edith Piaf, Alyssa Milano, Jennifer Beals, and Richard Leakey.
Do barista's spell your name correctly when they write it on a coffee cup? I get some variations. Jenny. Genie or Jean. And even though some think my name is denim, I wonder if Zoie Palmer goes through similar experiences?Most known for her role as Dr. Lauren Lewis on the drama Lost Girl, we throwback to Zoie stopping by Rise Up Radio to talk about: - Tips on how to get on the infamous LGBT site AfterEllen.com - Lilly Boots is her coffee cup name - She may name her child Lamp PostHave a happy Thursday! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Calise Hawkins has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Gotham Live, Stand Up in Stilettos, Nickmom Nite Out. She has written for MTV series Totally Clueless and Girl Code, Comedy Central’s @midnight, Charlemagne’s Uncommon Sense, Hood Adjacent with James Davis, was a funny girl of Oxygen’s Funny Girls, and worked as a consultant on Aisha Tyler’s “Unapologetic”.Calise’s “Late Night Fight” Comedy Show has found a new home at Union Hall. The next show will be at 8pm on January 29th. Jenny Saldana is a writer, actress, and stand-up comedian. She wrote, produced and starred in Happy Cancer Chick, a web series inspired by her own battle with breast cancer. She’s penned four plays, and had a principal role in The Dictator. Her video series, The Little Brown Girl Show can be found on Youtube and Facebook Live. Jenny also does advocacy work for young cancer survivors, who often face social or medical problems later in life, and often have trouble with insurance during their treatment. Jenny just returned from her trip abroad where she visited Cuba, Rome, Poland, Budapest, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been called “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. Pat is tours with Tracy Morgan and will be taping 2 Dope Queens for HBO. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Calise Hawkins is a stand-up comedian and writer. She has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Gotham Live, Stand Up in Stilettos, Nickmom Nite Out. She has written for MTV series Totally Clueless and Girl Code, Comedy Central’s @midnight, Charlemagne’s Uncommon Sense, Hood Adjacent with James Davis, was a cast member of Oxygen’s Funny Girls, and worked as a consultant on Aisha Tyler’s “Unapologetic”. Calise’s “Late Night Fight” Comedy Show has found a new home at Union Hall. The next show will be at 8pm on January 29th. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been called “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. Pat is currently on tour with Tracy Morgan and will be doing a show on November 30th in Verona, New York. Erin Jackson can be seen nightly in many of New York City’s top comedy clubs, and made her late-night television debut on “CONAN” in June . She was a semifinalist on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” stand-up on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Comedy Central’s “This Week at the Comedy Cellar” and “Live at Gotham,” AXS TV’s “Gotham Comedy Live,” OWN’s “Wanda Sykes Presents Herlarious,” and TV Guide Network’s “Standup in Stilettos.” Erin co-hosted three seasons of “Exhale,” a panel talk series on the ASPiRE television network, and has appeared on MSNBC, NFL Network, truTV, VH-1 and TV Guide Network as a panelist on numerous sports and pop-culture shows. Erin’s debut album, "#Grudgery" came out November 13th and is now available for purchase or streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Tidal, and more! Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Balls and Wendi double-team tonight’s episode, as their cohort makes his way to NYC. But who better to fill the Paco-shaped hole than Baltimore comedian Rose Vineshank?? Rose joins the gang for a recap of the latest comedy nights and to talk about her recent experience performing at Roadie Joe’s. Tune in for stories of accidental home invasions, geriatric alcoholics, and more Freudian slips than you can shake a stick at. Then stick around for Rose and her razor-sharp wit in one of the most memorable hot seats of all time! Tags: Rose Vineshank, Svedka, Roadie Joes, geriatric alcoholics, Elizabeth Taylor, E-lez-abeth Taylor, Home Invasion, DC Draft House, Blue Iguana, NPR, Diane Rehm, dating, LGBTQ, AfterEllen, Burlesque, Spaghetti, Use To Be Pete, R. Lee Townsend
Salone Monet Johnson is a New York City-based entrepreneur. Salone studied shoe making in Brooklyn where she made her first pair of nude heels. This then propelled into Pedestals NY, Salone’s clothing company specializing in nude heels for women of color. Each pair of Salone Monet heels is designed in New York and handcrafted in Italy. Fun Fact: After receiving a degree in Communications from American University in Washington, DC, Salone created digital content for the federal government and trade associations while working in shoes and accessories. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been called “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. Calise Hawkins is a stand-up comedian and writer. She has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Gotham Live, Stand Up in Stilettos, Nickmom Nite Out. She has written for MTV series Totally Clueless and Girl Code, Comedy Central’s @midnight, Charlemagne’s Uncommon Sensse, Hood Adjacent with James Davis, and was a funny girl in Oxygen’s Funny Girls. She recently worked as a consultant on Aisha Tyler’s “Unapologetic”. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Episode 9: Personal Best Sports! This week, we're digging into the surprisingly good 1982 movie Personal Best starring Mariel Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly and some more dudes we hate! Of course Sarah is super excited about a movie involving runners who are queer women because that is her exact wheelhouse, but this movie has a surprising amount of nuance and interesting storytelling (even though it was, obviously, made by white dudes). It's still from the 80s so it has its problematic elements, but join Alicia and Sarah as they dive into this almost-forgotten classic to talk body diversity, the portrayal of intimacy, tropes they don't like, soundtrack and cinematography, and pure athleticism! Articles mentioned: 'Personal Best,' Olympic Love by Vincent Canby Review of 'Personal Best' on AfterEllen by Sarah Warn
Sarah Cooper is a writer, comedian, speaker, and author of the bestselling book, 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings. She built her comedy career in between working as a user experience designer for companies like Yahoo! and Google. She is the creator of satirical blog TheCooperReview.com, which has been viewed by millions around the world and featured in The Washington Post, Forbes, Fast Company and countless others. She was named as one of the 20 Hottest Bay Area Innovators by 7×7 Magazine. Sarah’s third book, How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings, comes out October 30th. Dr. Christina Greer is a writer and Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University Lincoln Center, where she specializes in American and black ethnic politics, and urban politics, quantitative methods, and public opinion. She is the 2018 McSilver Institute Fellow at NYU. She is a contributing writer at TIME, and the author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream. Dr. Greer is the featured educator in four Ted-Ed lessons, one of which, “Does Your Vote Count? The Electoral College Explained,” has over two million views. She is the host of The Aftermath on ozy.com, and makes occasional appearances on MSNBC. Dr. Greer will be appearing at a panel discussion and poetry reading of “The New Colossus” at the Center for Jewish History on 9/26 at 7pm. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView, TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, and the web series UNREQUITED. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Her critically acclaimed album “The Pat Brown Sex-Tape” has been called “provocative and conceptual” by Laugh and is streaming on all platforms. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing
Janus Adams Host and Co-Executive Producer of “The Janus Adams Show,” pioneer of issue-oriented women’s programming, former NPR correspondent, Janus Adams is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and scholar of women’s and African-American history. A northern school desegregation pioneer and mother, she is founder of BackPaxKids. A frequent on-air guest, she has appeared on ABC, BET, CBS, CNN, Fox News, NBC’s The Today Show, and NPR’s All Things Considered. She sparred with Ann Coulter, Sally Kohn, Katherine Parker, and Carol Swain at the Comedy Cellar’s knockout Election 2016 debate, “Conservatism and Progressivism” which aired on CSPAN. She has been featured in Essence and Ms. Magazines, The New York Times, Newsday, USA Today, and The Washington Post. Her syndicated column ran in the Hearst Newspapers for sixteen years. Her commentary has been broadcast on CBS and NPR, and published in the Huffington Post where her “Open Letter to Paula Deen” went viral. Her book, “Glory Days: 365 Inspired Moments in African American History,” was licensed by McDonald’s and reached more than 3 million readers. Engaged by history since childhood, a northern school desegregation pioneer at 8, she was one of the four children selected to break New York’s “de facto” public school segregation in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. A classically-trained pianist, she is a graduate of New York’s High School of Performing Arts. Her master’s is the nation’s first graduate degree in Black Studies. Her doctoral chair was author and composer Shirley Graham Du Bois (widow of Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, the “Father of Pan-Africanism” and co-founder of the NAACP). Dr. Adams was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Shaw University. Her websites are: www.JanusAdams.com and www.BackPaxKids.com. Adams tweets from @janusadams. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView , TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Most important: Check out her critically acclaimed album THE PAT BROWN SEX-TAPE Erin Jackson is a standup comedian who recently made her late night debut on CONAN, and has appeared on the Ellen Show, Last Comic Standing, Live at Gotham and Wanda Sykes’ Herlarious. She'll be releasing her debut album, "Grudgery," this fall. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing.
Vanessa Fraction Vanessa Fraction is a standup comedian, actor, credited television writer and television personality. Her credits include: HBO’s Def Comedy Jam , Nick Jr’s Nick Mom’s Night Out, Mike Epps- “Live at Club Nokia”, Martin Lawrence’s 1st Amendment Standup on (STARZ), and released her own comedy special “A Fraction of the Truth”. As an actress, Vanessa has appeared in “Tales”, BounceTV’s “Mann & Wife”, Barber Shop 2: Back to Business, and Kim Field’s Holiday Love: The Rebirth. She has written for The Arsenio Hall Show , 106 & Park and The Mo’Nique Show. She frequently sits in as a panelist/ guest host for FOX’s Dish Nation and Chicago’s Windy City Live . Look for her upcoming shows: True TV’s Comedy Knockout, and Laff Tracks! As well she has started self-defense classes for women called: “Kicks in Comedy” An hour of comedy and an hour of real self-defense. Pat Brown has been seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis’s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView , TVOne’s made for TV movie-WHITE WATER, the independent film SOMEBODIES, She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. Most important: Check out her critically acclaimed album THE PAT BROWN SEX-TAPE Calise Hawkins is a stand-up comedian and writer. She has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Gotham Live, Stand Up in Stilettos, Nickmom Nite Out. She has written for MTV series Totally Clueless and Girl Code, Comedy Central’s @midnight, Charlemagne’s Uncommon Sensse, Hood Adjacent with James Davis, and was a cast member of Oxygen’s Funny Girls. And recently worked as a consultant on Aisha Tyler’s “Unapologetic”. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, and HBO's Crashing.
Yamaneika Saunders is known for Last Comic Standing, ShowTimes “Nasty Show”, Comedy Central Presents: Half-hour, her podcast “Ranting and Raving w/ Yamaneika and Friends”, and will be on the upcoming season of Laffmob Laff Tracks on TruTV. She is the Co-host of Kandi Koated Nights on Bravo, and has a soon to come 30 minute Netflix special as part of Netflix’s “The Degenerates”. Alvin Irby is a former kindergarten teacher turned award-winning social entrepreneur, comedian, and author. He is founder and chief reading inspirer at Barbershop Books, a literacy program that creates child-friendly reading spaces in barbershops and provides early literacy training to barbers. His work connecting reading to male-centered spaces and involving men in boys’ early reading experiences earned him the National Book Foundation’s 2017 Innovations in Reading Prize. He has a hilarious children's book called Gross Greg and his new comedy album comes out Friday, August 10th. Pat brown is a New York based comedian that can be seen on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis”s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView for multiple appearances.In 2016, Pat released her critically acclaimed album THE PAT BROWN SEX-TAPE. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. She can also be seen in TVOne’s made for TV movie, WHITE WATER, starring as“Ms Sophia”. Pat has also starred as wise-cracking “Aunt Agnes” in the independent film SOMEBODIES which received critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival. Afterwards, Pat reprised the same role, as a season regular for the TV version of SOMEBODIES on BET as its first scripted sitcom. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
Sam Jay she has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, She has a half-hour stand-up special that aired on Comedy Central’s as Stand Up Presents. She is currently a writer on Saturday Night Live. Most recently, you can her 15 minute stand-up special on Netflix in “The Comedy Lineup”. Ayanna Dookie - She is a stand-up comedian, writer, and storyteller based in Brooklyn, New York. The daughter of immigrants, Ayanna's humor is reflective of growing up brown, woman, and first generation American. She is the 2014 winner of the She-Devil Comedy Festival, a 2016 writer for NBC's Scene Showcase, and a recipient of UCB's diversity scholarship. Ayanna has been featured on truTV's Laff Tracks, 2 Dope Queens on WNYC, Fox’s Laughs, and AXS TV's Gotham Comedy Live. Her writing can be seen on BET's 50 Central. Pat Brown CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fuse’s Uproarious, Axis”s Gotham Live, NBC’s Comic’s Unleashed and BET ‘s ComicView for multiple appearances. In 2016, Pat released her critically acclaimed album THE PAT BROWN SEX-TAPE. Pat has won both the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and The She Devil Competition. She has been featured in Time Out Magazine, After-Ellen, Splitsider and Punchline Magazine. She can also be seen in TVOne’s made for TV movie, WHITE WATER, starring as“Ms Sophia”. Always hosted by Marina Franklin- Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
Fact: teachers make up 75% of the lesbian population – at least the lesbian population that Carolyn knows personally. We are thrilled to be joined by the incredible Pat Brown for this episode! She’s been on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, has been featured on AfterEllen.com, and has an amazing comedy album out now. We talk about the role of teachers in our lives and in the current political climate. Should they have guns at school? Do they know which kids are gay? Should they have guns at school knowing which kids are gay??? We also talk about Pat’s time attending the Grammy Awards! If we could have Pat on every week, we would. Take a listen and you’ll understand why.Keep the podcast alive and gay by donating to our Patreon.For related content, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Leave Us a Review if you like what you hear!And if you love our theme song, check out the duo who created it, There Is No Mountain.
Recode's Kara Swisher and The Verge's Casey Newton talk with Zach Stafford and Trish Bendix, the editor in chief and managing editor of Into — a queer lifestyle magazine published by the dating app Grindr. They talk about why LGBT people have historically been early adopters of tech, why Grindr was more readily adopted by men than women and how the company is trying to change that as it branches out into media. Stafford says Into has been able to tap into Grindr's killer feature, knowing the location of its users, to push out regionally-specific stories to the people who will be most affected by them. Bendix, who recently joined Into after ten years at After Ellen, says she is working to make sure the magazine is more inclusive to women, nonbinary people and trans people; Into needs to reach them as well, she says, to tell stories about everything "through a queer lens." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
With Vee out of the picture things seem to be returning to normal at Litchfield Penitentiary. Alex is back after Piper dobbed her in for breaking her parole and Caputo has stepped into Fig's old role to finally run the prison right, right? Oh, and Australia's own androgynous beauty Ruby Rose joins the cast. Does season three of Orange Is The New Black return to the heights of the first, or is the show still cursed with last seasons short comings? Join hosts Brod and Damask as they catch up on all of OITNB in time for the fast approaching fifth season!SHOW NOTES:'Why I'm Not Watching Season 4 Of "Orange Is The New Black"' - Lindsay King-Miller at After Ellen: http://www.afterellen.com/tv/492879-im-not-watching-season-4-orange-new-blackCONTACT USEMAIL: huntingseasonspodcast@gmail.comFACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/huntingseasonsTWITTER: www.twitter.com/huntingscastBroderick Gordes: www.twitter.com/bgordesDamask Leary: www.twitter.com/maskymooCREDITSHunting Seasons Logo and Graphics: Sean Kirkpatrick - www.seankirkpatrickdesigns.portfoliobox.netHunting Seasons Theme Song: Jordan Kalyvas - www.soundcloud.com/classicjrex See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
#99: Are We Innately Driven to Serve Others With Matt Kidd Jenn T Grace: You are listening to the Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional Podcast, episode 99. Introduction: Welcome to the Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional Podcast; the podcast dedicated to helping LGBTQ professionals and business owners grow their business and careers through the power of leveraging their LGBTQ identities in their personal brand. You'll learn how to market your products and services both broadly, and within the LGBTQ community. You'll hear from incredible guests who are leveraging the power of their identity for good, as well as those who haven't yet started, and everyone in between. And now your host. She teaches straight people how to market to gay people, and gay people how to market themselves. Your professional lesbian, Jenn - with two N's - T Grace. Jenn T Grace: Well hello and welcome to episode 99 of the Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional Podcast. I am your host, Jenn Grace, and I am almost stunned that we are at episode 99 and the next episode will obviously be 100, that will be the last one of 2016 and it's almost a big monumental time to be hitting this 99th episode before going into the triple digits. So as I have been doing for the last couple of months, I have another interview to share with you and it's with Matt Kidd, and he is the Executive Director of Reaching Out MBA which is an organization that is focused on LGBTQ folks who are pursuing MBAs, and we really just had an amazing conversation that kind of went back and forth between LGBT culture and some of the challenges that we see, and personal brands, and how people can be change makers, and advocates, and really it was just a very fascinating conversation to be had. So per usual I will not dilly dally here with the introduction and we can just dive right into today's interview with Matt, and I will see you in episode 100, but for today please enjoy this interview with Matt Kidd, and if you would like to find information about this episode, see a transcript, any of that, you can do so at www.JennTGrace.com/99 for episode number 99. Thanks so much and enjoy the interview. Okay so I want to start off with just having you give the listeners a little bit of a background about yourself, maybe what you've done in the past, what your current position is, and then we can just kind of dive into other interesting topics from there. So why don't you just kind of take it away. Matt Kidd: Sure so my name is Matt Kidd. I'm currently the Executive Director of an LGBT organization called Reaching Out. A lot of people know us also as ROMBA, and the organization itself is effectively the now global organization for LGBT MBA both students and professionals. And it's something that I've been in this role now for a little over three years, but prior to that was on the board. So I've been involved with Reaching Out now probably for- gosh going on about eight years. But I would say for me being part of kind of the LGBT community is something that has gone on really since I was a teenager in some ways, which I can talk a little bit about later, and I have to say as I came to this role it really was because I was at a time in my life where I started really thinking about what difference can we make in the world? To be honest I'd gone through my own MBA business school experience, I was working at Tech Startup, and about two, three years after I'd been at that company I was number one kind of getting a little bit bored and I was thinking about what do I want to do next? But number two, I actually lost my mother and so at that point I'd lost both my parents. And when you go through something like that I think it forces a lot of self-reflection and kind of thinking about what is your purpose in the world? Why are you doing this? What really matters? And I think that was one of those moments. And so it was kind of probably about a year after that, that the organization was going through this big change where it went from what was effectively an all-volunteer model with a volunteer board, and using students to run basically one event to an organization that really wanted to have a larger scope, wanted to run year round, and [Inaudible 00:04:33]. And I vividly remember we were sitting in a room with some consultants that we were working with and one of them pulled me aside and said, "Hey would you consider raising your hand for this," and my gut reaction was, "No that's ridiculous." And then I think I went home and thought about it, and a couple weeks went by, and I just kept coming back to it. It was this really interesting part of me, 'What can we do with this? Like if I did this, why would it be interesting and why should I do this?' And it all kind of came back to in a weird way- I view my time at Reaching Out really in a weird way is working with some sort of startup or something entrepreneurial because I came in and it had been this established product which was this conference that's been going on now for nineteen years, but it really didn't do much else. And so it kind of gave me a blank slate to come and then say, 'Well what do we want to do? What impact do we want to do?' And as soon as I kind of had some of the conversations that made it clear that we really would be able to move forward quickly rather than kind of in the traditional slow nonprofit way, I threw my hat into the ring and lo and behold three years later we've built up a staff of three, we're doing probably close to twenty events a year, we have a scholarship program that's giving away over a million dollars a year to LGBTQ students in business school. So we've been able to accomplish a lot, but that's kind of how I got to where I am, and kind of a little bit about what's going on in my world. Jenn T Grace: Do you think with your kind of gut reaction of like, 'Oh hell no I don't want to go down this path,' and then somehow that being the path that you end up on, do you think that like if you look back it's just kind of really kind of changed the trajectory of your ability to make- create purpose and change kind of in your life? Matt Kidd: Yeah I do. The reality is I probably won't be in this role forever. Some people do ask me, "What are you going to do next?" And I think in a weird way this role has made me really reflect on what would make me happy in life, and what would not? And I think some of that has to do with the type of organizations that you work for. I think there's something inherently nice about working- for me at least, for a small to mid-sized organization rather than kind of a giant corporation. I think it tells you a little bit about kind of the impact that you can have. I think particularly when you're talking about a nonprofit or a v-corp or something like that, then I think in those cases you're doing more than just having an impact on the business line, you're having an impact on kind of the greater community. I think at this point- and I think it's- I alluded to this before, I think it's been true really since I was much younger, but now I consciously think about what can I be doing to make somebody else's life better at the end of the day? And I think some of that comes from mission driven work, and where you work, but some of that just becomes frankly how you treat people, how you talk, how you position yourself, and I think being in a role like this makes me hyper conscious of that and that's something that regardless of what I'm doing next, I that's had just had a tremendous impact really on my life. And like I said it can be just something as simple as how are you talking to other people? Are you kind of taking into consideration their priorities, their needs, how can you help them, how might they be at a disadvantage to you? Every conversation now in some form, that goes through my thinking. Jenn T Grace: Yeah and I know that you have kind of information from early back as we were talking before we hit record, do you think that for people to come to the realization that like their purpose in life is to really kind of serve others? Because that's really at the crux of what you're talking about, is serving others. Do you think that it requires some kind of pivotal moment to cause that? Or do you think that's innate to some people? Like what are your thoughts on that, and then of course how did you realize that about yourself? Matt Kidd: Yeah I think it's ultimately at the end of the day in everyone. I think there probably are varying degrees of it, but I do think it takes something in somebody's life really to kind of recognize it. And so what we were talking about before we recorded today is October 12th and so it's the eighteenth anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard, and I really vividly remember an experience when I was probably a junior or so in high school, and this was in Memphis, Tennessee so fairly deep south in kind of the late nineties, and I remember this experience, and I apologize for my language here but there was a teacher who kind of came in and basically said, "That faggot deserved it. He probably had Aids anyway." And you know, at the time I was not really out at that point, I would say I was exploring my sexual identity in some capacity and I think some people probably suspected, but I just remember that just first of all making me feel so little, but then I think the more I reflected on it, it started to make me angry. And a couple years ago I had the pleasure of sitting down with Judy Shepard, and we were talking, and my comment to her was the murder is obviously horrible, and I think everybody would go back in time and change it if they could, but there is a silver lining that comes of horrible incidents like this, and that's I think it gets a lot of people to reflect on their own purpose and kind of have a reaction. And so I would say if you look at a lot of my peers, particularly in the LGBT social justice faith now, a lot of them would say a moment to them where they realized that this was something that was important to them, something that moved them that made them care, was Matthew Shepard’s death. And so for a lot of us, kind of my generation, so people who are in their mid-thirties, I think that was a moment that sparked this idea of, 'This is wrong and I want to change that.' Now how people went about doing that, I think it takes a lot of different paths. And sometimes you'll see have you multiple encounters, like for me a second spark really was my loss of both my parents, that a moment where for me it was like, 'Well why am I on this earth? Like what am I meant to do?' And so I think you do have those points, and I think it's what you decide to do with them that really matters. Jenn T Grace: So I have a friend of mine who's writing a book, and it's really about what you're talking about of really kind of taking that challenging situation and turning it into that silver lining. And there's a whole concept around it called post-traumatic growth, and it's really that we grow from those really traumatic experiences that we kind of face. Do you think- because I too am in my mid-thirties looking back at Matthew Shepard, and that being in 1998, and I was also a junior in high school. I remember it really vividly as I think most people our age do, and do you think that there- because I think that Judy Shepard really, really made it her life's mission to use that incident and her experience as a grieving mother to really be a catalyst in so many ways across the board for LGBT equality. Do you think that because it was 1998, if we look back Ellen had come out a couple of years before, LGBT was so not on the forefront as it is now. If we look at something like what happened in Orlando in June, do we look at that as possibly one of those pivotal moments for people now? Like because I know for us, like I definitely- of course we all had a reaction to Orlando, but do we think that that is actually one of those defining moments for maybe the youth? Especially as you- with reaching out working with students, I'm curious just kind of your perspective and hearing stories that you might have heard from any of the students that you work with. Matt Kidd: Yeah you know I think at some level it did, I think that there are certainly differences kind of as you alluded to. In the nineties, LGBT- obviously being LGBT, being out, much less acceptable than it is now. And I think in many ways, Orlando in particular exposed people to this concept of we're still vulnerable. I think one of the things that I see in a lot of students, and it's a little bit horrifying for me to see some students who are kids now getting into the nineties, but some of them have never grown up in an age frankly without Internet, which I think for a lot of LGBT people kind of opened a community, opened kind of access to free communication that you might not otherwise have, and I think they've grown up in an environment thanks to people like Kevin Jennings where a lot of them have seen GSAs in their schools and stuff like that. And so they've always grown up in this environment where it's been acceptable, and I think that there's always this danger that people become a little bit complacent, and so I think it moved a lot of people to think, 'Okay there's still a lot of work to do.' Because I hate to say this, but let's be honest, the fact that not all states have workplace protection for example, it's actually not as sexy to at least a lot of my students because most of them are going to go work for corporations or multi-nationals who regardless of whether the state they're in has work protections or not, they're going to be protected by their companies. And so they're not really impacted by something like that so it's not as sexy. But this idea that there are people out there who want to do you harm, and it's like this in other places in the world, and that particularly is something that I think [Inaudible 00:14:00] people start to get with something like Orlando, I think it gets them to move, to act a little bit and it does spark something like that. I mean my true thought, and we saw this last week, we had our annual conference last weekend, and one of the speakers was this guy Darnell Moore, and Darnell Moore is kind of at the intersection of queer and Black Lives Matter as a lot of the Black Lives Matter are themselves. And he really talked about kind of the racial inequality within the LGBT movement and there were a lot of conversations following that, and I think that in a lot of ways Black Lives Matter is kind of the equivalent to some of the LGBT rights issues that we saw in the nineties, including the Matthew Shepard murder, and I think that's actually going to spark a lot of people towards just kind of general social justice movement. So it may not be precisely LGBT focused, but I think that there's a broad- if people are not being treated equally, that's a problem that people are starting to get in tune with, in part because of Black Lives Matter actually. Jenn T Grace: Yeah I feel like it's a collision- there's definitely a colliding of the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ movement all kind of boiling to a point at the same time, which if we look back just from a historical context, obviously I think it goes without saying that the Black Lives Matter should not be where it's at right now, this should not even be a movement currently. And I think there's a lot of power in the two communities trying to kind of raise one another up. I'm sure there's plenty of problematic areas too of we're all trying to fight for the same thing, but I think more often than not there's definitely a synergy, and a harmony if you would even want to call it that, of it's just injustice across the board, equality across the board, and I think that seeing these two different vantage points is actually I think helping one another in some degree from a media standpoint, or at least what's kind of being talked about because I think maybe the first time in history that these two things are so on the forefront every single day in any media outlet that you look at. Matt Kidd: I'd add gender equality to that as well, I mean if you look at what's going on with the whole Trump campaign kind of implosion if you will, a lot of that centers around gender equality. And I think that the fact that people are more attuned to this- you really can't talk about people like that, you really have to treat people equally. If that wasn't going on I feel like unfortunately this wouldn't be as big of an issue as it's turned into over the last week or so. Jenn T Grace: Yeah I feel like there's just so much going on, the political landscape. By the time this airs I think we will be post-election, and who knows what exactly that will look like. Good God let's all hope here, and I'm sure anyone listening to this is on the same page, I can't imagine that I would have any listeners who were not, but who knows. In looking at just kind of maybe how even just the election cycle has kind of gone in terms of opening awareness to all of these mass amounts of issues. Because I really feel like there's a lot to attribute to the Trump campaign of just kind of raising the collective consciousness of, 'Wow there are so many problems.' Whether or not there's any kind of resolution to anything that's been brought up over the last year and a half, who knows? But it will be interesting to kind of see how this all plays out as it relates to any number of disenfranchised communities. Obviously LGBT being kind of the one that we're discussing. Matt Kidd: Yeah the Trump campaign on LGBT has just been frankly very confusing, I mean to me as the whole Trump campaign has been. But I do think that it is kind of forcing people to really look at these issues, and the thing that at least is I guess slightly comforting to me is that this election cycle, LGBT has kind of taken a back seat in some ways. That to me means it's being used as less of a wedge issue, or kind of people view it as less of a wedge issue. I think that's promising. I think that there's also an inherent risk to that, which I alluded to in one of the last questions. I mean if you look at workplace equality, housing equality, transgender rights, look at what's going on in North Carolina; there's a lot that we really need to still accomplish. I think to the extent that people feel like, 'Okay we got marriage so we can move on,' which frankly is what a lot of people from the kind of straight- or to be more politically correct, non-LGBTQ population, that's how a lot of them view it is, 'Okay they got marriage last year so they're all set.' The reality is that's not true, but I also understand- kind of like you said the fact that we're still having some of these race inequality issues, essentially fifty years after we went through a whole racial equality movement, is just absolutely insane to me. And to me when people say, 'Well what do you think the importance of LGBT organizations-' like mine going forward are going to be. I think number one there's still stuff to accomplish, but number two, if we look at women's equality movement, and the black equality movement in particular, those are still ongoing, and to think that we're done and that we're going to politically at least get to a point where we're in the clear, we have nothing to worry about, I think it's naïve. I think the reality is we need to continue to be a pretty cohesive community, and I think that there are a lot of ways to do that, and the way that my organization kind of thinks about that is we want to bring these students together who are ultimately at the end of the day most likely to go onto jobs that are well-positioned within corporations, and pay well, and presumably they'll amass some sort of power, and I think one of the things we're really starting to focus on is how do we plant that seed that gets them to think about how they can number one, support each other, but more importantly, how can they support the rest of the LGBTQ community that may not have that same power, privilege and money? How can they essentially be giving back to their peers who are not as privileged as they are? And I think that's kind of the next wave of LGBT movement, is some of us are doing exceedingly well, particularly if you're a white, cisgender, gay male. Some people are not in as good a position, and how do we lift those people up? Jenn T Grace: Yeah I feel like you've kind of said so much because it's almost like you're helping enable an army that can kind of infiltrate from the inside of the corporate walls. And I think that with marriage equality, or even to some degree kind of the non-discrimination legislation that is still kind of in limbo, but the states that have adopted some kind of policies to protect their LGBT work force, so many of them have done so under the pressure of the corporations within those given states. So this seems like it's definitely the long term game strategy that you're kind of viewing, but it really- I think to some degree only takes one individual LGBT person, or even ally within an organization to really affect the type of change that's needed in order to continue to kind of propel things forward. Matt Kidd: Yup absolutely, and I spent a day last week at the Out and Equal Workplace Summit, and a lot of the conversations that I was either part of or sat in, really kind of talked about how it's at the end of the day, particularly within corporations, getting stuff done, getting influence can come from two directions, it can come from kind of top down or bottom up, and it really takes passionate individuals to make that happen. The challenge that I think a lot of corporations right now face is that yes you're having these C-level folks, somebody like a Marc Benioff really step it up and taking some bold, bold actions. And you have some really passionate kind of lower level employees particularly amongst the millennials. But then you kind of have this layer of middle management, and frankly in my opinion to be middle management in a corporation sucks. You're getting a lot of pressure to perform from both ends, you can't take as many risks as you want, and so that is actually where I think a lot of kind of social justice movements within corporations kind of hit friction. It's not actually because of the C-suite, it's because of middle management, and it's essentially a fear, it's a fear for their own careers. And so I think as we think about who we want to influence and whom we should be talking to, I think those are kind of the key stakeholders. As we think about how we can leverage corporations in particular for this. I think yes, if you can get the attention of the CEO that's great, and it lets you make what I would essentially say are like headline plays. Something that you do that kind of is there for a day or two and then potentially goes away. To make something that's really long-lasting, you really need to build it into the culture, and a lot of that deals with middle management and influencing them. And so I think as we think about whom we should be talking to, and where we can make relationships personal, I think it's with those middle managers that really is key. Jenn T Grace: Yeah and I had an experience this past year. So I have a corporate client that's a Fortune 100, and I've been helping them- I did an LGBT training for their staff, just kind of marketing wise how to get their salespeople communicating in the right ways. And it was kind of a really fun experience, and that was- I don't know, maybe two years ago, and earlier this year they reached out to me to say, 'Hey we recognize that our CEI score is atrocious, and we see that we're not able to attract the right type of talent because it's just so bad and we're really putting people off.' And it's not that they weren't practicing it internally, but the number on the page was- it was a ten. So I worked with them, and their HR department, and their marketing department, and they had top down buy-in. So I was expecting kind of a Herculean effort to be had of like this is going to be a slog, we're working with an all-white male board of directors who isn't really all about diversity, let alone LGBT, and I was beyond shocked with how easy it moved through because the top executives were saying, 'This is something that's important to us, this is what we have to do.' But it's what you were saying, it was the mid-level manager which is usually where things kind of go to die when- any type of initiative. Like somehow it just doesn't either get passed going upward, or doesn't get below going downward, and there's always- obviously I'm making a broad generalization, but in my experience anyway, this is what I've seen happen. And it was because that mid-level management was like, 'You know what? This is important. It's important to us from a how do we position our business as- how do we position ourselves as the employer of choice?' And it's amazing that they managed to get themselves up to a ninety with just working with me for six months to really just kind of get their internal stuff together, because again they were already doing it, they just weren't really getting the credit for it. So I think that there's a lot to be said because it was one marketing person in that organization of like 18,000 employees who was saying, 'Our CEI sucks. We have to do something about it.' And she's an ally to the community no less, not even part of the community and was like, 'We have to fix this.' So I think that that should give hope and inspiration to a lot of the young people that are students and going through Reaching Out because they really do have an impact to change so many people, it's just I think if you time the messaging right, you time the conversation at the right time, you talk to the right people eventually- and I'm sure my particular contact was having these conversations for quite some time before I was able to actually come in and deliver, but it took her to stand up to be like, 'This isn't right. We need to fix this.' And I think that anyone has that true potential, but in a lot of ways I feel like the stars have to kind of align to really kind of see that such quick progress. Because especially in corporate it does take a lot of time to do anything usually. Matt Kidd: Yeah, you know I think that there is increasing pressure on some of these organizations to really look at diversity numbers, metrics. When I throw around the word diversity, generally speaking I'm really talking about recruiting. I think if that pressure continues, and I think the pressure on that will actually fall on middle management, that by default is going to start making this part of the culture because people will think about, 'Well what can we be doing to affect this?' So I think setting some metrics in the hopes of companies essentially to task for you know, 'Gosh you really have no women.' I think it's a really important thing to do and I think over time that will start to change the culture of these organizations inherently as well. Jenn T Grace: Yeah and I think it's great that your focus is on MBA students because like you said, they are well-positioned by the time they hit the corporate workplace, so they automatically have an added layer perhaps credibility kind of bringing to the table, even if they are kind of in a very low position, you know that they're going to inevitably kind of succeed through the ranks based on what they're setting out to do. Matt Kidd: Yeah absolutely. Jenn T Grace: So switching gears just a little bit and thinking about earlier on, you were talking about for you, Reaching Out is likely not going to be something that you're kind of tied to for life. Do you think about how- like right now is your name- I'm just going down a path of personal branding here. In looking at your name, are you finding that it's becoming synonymous with Reaching Out, or Executive Director of Reaching Out? And are you consciously trying to think about how to gradually- not disconnect because of course your name is everything and it certainly plays a huge factor into your role, but just kind of from a general standpoint of thinking of like, 'How would I actually unravel this down the road should I need to?' Matt Kidd: Yeah, no I think that is top of mind for me lately. I think that actually if you look at a lot of LGBT organizations you have people who in a lot of ways, the person is interchangeable with the organization. So you look at like Out & Equal, and you think of Selisse Berry. You look at Out Leadership, you think of Todd Sears. And there are numerous cases like that, and unfortunately I think that there's a danger not only to the individual I think as they think about kind of their next chapter, although for some of these folks there may not be another chapter, they may decide to retire. But I think there's kind of a challenge for somebody like me where this certainly is- hopefully, knock on wood, not going to be the last chapter of my career, and so at one level you want to be associated with this but you don't want it to be your entire brand. I think there's also a danger for the organization because if it becomes so entrenched in kind of my personal brand, then the organization risks- if I'm not there and not present, people could say things like, 'Oh it was not the same as it was when Matt was there,' and I don't think that's good for the organization either. I increasingly as we do events and trying to do things to put a spotlight on our other stuff [Inaudible 00:2926] are students, because I think at the end of the day those are the people who are working equally as hard as I am, and maybe aren't always the face and voice but I think we should position them more to be in those kinds of situations. So there is a risk and I am thinking about how we slowly kind of unwind that a bit, and I think essentially lifting other people up is a huge component of that. Jenn T Grace: Yeah and I partially asked the question because in- everything is always clearer in hindsight, but when I was running the Connecticut LGBT Chamber of Commerce which I did for quite a number of years, and I was the Executive Director I remember that when I left that position the organization essentially imploded, and it took awhile to kind of regain its legs, and it certainly- this was a number of years ago at this point, so everything is on the up and up now, but it definitely was a significant hit because- and it wasn't anything that I intentionally had done from the onset. I wasn't trying to build the organization the Jenn way, it just happened to be a very small organization, not a lot of people. I relied heavily on volunteers and our board, and it was just a matter of we've got to do what we've got to do to get these events going, to get our members happy, and it just happened to be me that was always in front of people. So I think that that's a risk generally for anybody in a position like you're in now. Matt Kidd: I think it's a risk for any kind of small to mid-sized organization really to be honest, and part of why we built out our staff is certainly because if we continued on the trajectory that when it was essentially just me as a staff member with some contractors and volunteers, I was going to burn out which would not benefit anyone, and we wouldn't be able to expand and grow the way that we wanted to. But the second is like it essentially puts the institutional memory of an organization really in that one person, and if you lose that one person, back when we were kind of that staff of one plus some contractors, if I got hit by a bus not that the organization wouldn't continue on, but that would be really problematic. Today knock on wood that's not going to happen, but if it did I have full faith that between kind of the staff embers that we have and how we've kind of been able to lift them up and then have them kind of take over some things, I think that frankly things would go on without missing much of a beat. Jenn T Grace: Yeah which is such a good sustainable place to be in, which is not always what is accessible to every organization because they're not really kind of thinking about secession planning and what lies ahead, or if this key person were to not be here for whatever number of reasons, how do we kind of carry on without skipping a beat. And I would imagine- my gut says, and based on people that I know in Executive Director positions for other nonprofits, I feel like most of them are not necessarily thinking that forward in terms of 'what would we do in the situation?' So rather it's a reactive versus proactive. Matt Kidd: Yeah and you know I'll be honest, in the LGBT space in particular, I think we have a responsibility to start to think about secession planning, and the large reason actually is that if you look at the vast majority- not all, but the majority of LGBT social justice organizations, they're run by white cisgender gay men, and I don't think that that's the face of the movement going forward. And so I think we really need to kind of pause as a movement in general and think about how can we bring in the faces and the voices that maybe aren't heard as well right now, and put them into leadership roles? And I think we're really at an inflection point where it's time for those of us who- kind of going back to what I was saying before, are fairly privileged within the LGBTQ community, to lift up those who are not and make them heard, and I think that's one way that we can do that. And so I hope that as a lot of other LGBT organizations have [Inaudible 00:33:27] retire, or switch to something else, that that's something that they're starting to think about. Jenn T Grace: Yeah and so I'm curious to hear your thoughts, and if you've been paying attention to this at all, but I had someone from BuzzFeed reach out to me last week- and again we're recording this on October 12th, so whenever this does come out, it's obviously all a little bit in the past. But I had somebody reach out for my comment on the After Ellen platform kind of disbanding. So what you're talking about I think really kind of goes into that entirely of the face of the community is really gay, white, cisgender men, and we know that that is by far not the reality of the community. But when we look at something like a website, like After Ellen which was kind of a flagship type of lesbian driven centric platform and content generator for so many years. So for that to kind of no longer exist in the capacity that it did, and the reason being is that there just wasn't enough advertiser interest, it's almost like how do we combat that from recognizing that it's not just what this kind of stereotypical highly sought after demographic is, when we ourselves are kind of continuing to perpetuate that that is all there is when we know that that's not. Matt Kidd: Yeah, no I do know what you mean. The After Ellen thing is frankly a little surprising to me. I think some of what they struggled with is the business model issue, but some of it is- and also from firsthand experience, one of the things that I'm really focused on and the organization is, is really frankly trying to drive more LBTQ into business school and business in general. And so we started an initiative about probably three or four years ago now that we call Out Women in Business, and we hold a conference in New York, and it's a challenging audience to attract. I think each year it gets a little bit better, and there are some people like Leanne Pittsford with Lesbians Who Tech, who have something really special and magical there, but I mean Leanne will even tell you, like for her trying to attract an audience sometimes is a challenge as well. And so that's kind of a community thing, and I think it all starts with kind of visible leadership, and I think slowly but surely with folks like Megan Smith for example, we are carving out a space and leadership examples for the LBTQ community in particular, so I think that that's kind of a key component to it. But there aren't a lot of sources. After Ellen was one, there are what, maybe a couple- three or four others that are significant that are left, and that's pretty shocking. And then you get into other pretty gay-focused media sources; like to me, Towleroad or something like that is frankly pretty gay-focused. So that is a disturbing thing when you consider the fact that particularly bisexual women I think are the majority of the LGBTQ community. And so that's one of these moments where we should pause and say, 'Are we really reflecting what's out there, and is that part of why something like After Ellen isn't failing, it's because there's a representation issue.' Jenn T Grace: Yeah I feel like it's interesting because if you look at just kind of general demographic data, it shows that women are more likely to be the primary purchasers of households. So even in just looking at that as women as a more influential audience for buying whatever it happens to be, it seems like it just doesn't add up. And then I think about it, and I wonder if gay men, or any male within the LGBTQ community, is it because there is a bigger sense of community of like actually gathering that makes it easier to see them as a demographic to reach versus women are far more just kind of blending in with the individual cultures in which they live, whether that's geography, or whether it's different areas of interest. It's just really fascinating. When I was talking to the woman at BuzzFeed, I was just saying like, 'This is my lesbian perspective, but you should probably reach out to a cisgender gay male and get their point of view as well because there's got to be some underlying thing that's kind of here, and I do get the question quite often of how do I target lesbians, or how do I find lesbians to market to? And most often my advice is you just have to market to them as women first typically, and then go from there and be inclusive in that approach. But that's not necessarily what's going to be really kind of sexy to an advertiser to say, 'Oh this is a demographic I should invest in.' Matt Kidd: Yeah and you know, I think it goes back beyond just media. So if you look at a given city, and you look at like a nightlife scene for example, generally speaking you'll probably find a handful, probably three or four of what you would consider kind of 'gay bars,' and you might find one bar that caters towards LBTQ women. And I think that's there- I think it goes back to your clusters of people, you see them more visibly, and again I think the more that we can think about how we bring communities together, who's representing them; I think these are all really, really important things for the movement as we go forward, particularly with social justice organizations. Jenn T Grace: Yeah, absolutely. And do you see any kind of influence or impact on like the Reaching Out students? Because they are MBA focused, that obviously puts them in a different kind of track, but do you see that that's being another avenue for just kind of shedding light and awareness on all of this? Matt Kidd: I think interestingly enough we're at the point where we even have cisgender men kind of saying, 'What can we do to be getting more women here?' So like it's becoming front of mind for people. I would say for us probably even as recently as five or six years ago, we were the white gay male conference. And you know, I looked at the metrics this year, it's getting better. It's still not there, I think we were slightly under 50% Caucasian, so that's in my mind kind of a good change, although I think a lot of that frankly is being driven by international students who are at business schools. But the number of women in these programs is picking up a little bit each year, but we're not talking- we're talking like a percent each year. So the difference between like 26% and 27% and we really need to be focusing on it. And for me, I mean this is one of my big passions, is how can we drive this and we're fortunate to have a board chair who is a lesbian identifying woman herself, and both of us feel very passionately about it so we've convinced everyone to really put some money behind our mouths on this. And I think we're slowly making progress, it's just not as fast as I think any of us would like, and to be honest we just haven't figured out the silver bullet. So I'll say if any of your listeners know, please feel free to reach out because this is something that- it's not that we don't want them in business school, we actually desperately want them and so frankly do the business schools. I think the challenge that we run into, number one is a little bit of marketing to them, which like you said I think it starts with just marketing to women in general, and I think it gets a little bit more specific. But the other thing is, as I talk to a lot of LBTQ women and say, 'Hey have you ever considered business school?' the responses are pretty much, 'No that's not something that's really top of mind,' and ultimately when you kind of keep pushing it comes down to they're not seeing a community like themselves so they feel like it's not a place for them to be. And so it's a little bit of chicken or egg, but we've got to tell them that, 'This is a place where you're wanted,' and frankly if we start talking about the trans community it gets even harder. I had a conversation with the Executive Director of Campus Pride probably about a month ago now, and he was saying when he talks to his trans students- so these are all undergrad students, he says, 'What do you want to do in the future?' He said it's maybe one in a hundred that's saying some form of business, and the rest of it is something that might be more in the social justice space, or arts space, or even legal, and the fact that this really isn't on their radar and they don't see it as a place for them is a big problem. Jenn T Grace: Yeah and I think it's more of a systemic issue that is much broader than LGBTQ. It really kind of stems from what children are exposed to, and what classes they are exposed to in their elementary schools for example, and just kind of going through and in Connecticut we have a lot of stem type of schools that are popping up. So if either of my children who are in third and fourth grade, if they were interested or showed any inclination toward that stuff, then we could absolutely kind of push them in that direction. But I feel like school is so watered down now that there's just- it's focused on like the bare necessities and not really exposing children, and middle or high school to all of the things that they could be. And I feel like- and Lord knows that is going to be a fight that is not going to be won anytime soon. But I feel like it really- there's just such a systemic issue at play, and the LGBTQ community is really just a microcosm of a bigger- of the community of everyone. So I think we just see the issues because we are such a concentrated microcosm of the larger kind of landscape that we're all operating in. Matt Kidd: I agree. Totally agree. Jenn T Grace: Well it's already- we've already been chatting for 45 minutes which seems crazy at this point. But I would love to kind of ask you a final question and then just give you kind of free reign to tell everyone how to go about finding you. Matt Kidd: Sure. Jenn T Grace: But my question would be if we're thinking about people who are listening to this, who may be business owners, maybe they're in a professional sphere, they're LGBTQ, they're trying to kind of make a first step, or a first foray into identifying and really kind of honing in on what's meaningful to them, and how that might translate into their own personal brand, or the positioning of what they're doing. Do you have anything that maybe you've learned through your career that might be helpful that could kind of shortcut that process for them? Matt Kidd: Yeah I think what I have found kind of throughout my career is that- and I know this sounds kind of cliché, particularly for kind of any LGBTQ folks, but authenticity sells. By talking about stories that I've really gone through, and that's why I'll use something like my experience around the day when Matthew Shepard died makes it more relatable and it makes people kind of understand you and what you're doing a little bit better. And so I'll say from kind of a personal brand point of view, I'm one of these people that for the most part I'm a pretty open book and keep it that way. I think even about like social media. If a student wants to add me on Facebook, go for it because frankly at this point I live pretty authentically and intentionally so because it makes me more human and it makes me more real and it makes people more willing to collaborate and to connect with you. And so I think don't be afraid of that, don't try to hide that because I think the reality is it probably opens more doors than it closes at this point. So never forget that, and always just kind of go back to your roots and kind of what you care about. At the end of the day, that is what it's all about, and if you don't care about something you probably shouldn't be doing it. Jenn T Grace: I feel like that's such good wisdom. Really being mindful of what you stand for and just being transparent from the onset. It certainly will save you a lot of headache later. Matt Kidd: Absolutely. Jenn T Grace: So for anyone who was inspired by this conversation and interested in connecting with you, how would you go about directing them to do that? Matt Kidd: Yeah please. So Reaching Out is online at www.ReachingOutMBA.org. Please visit our website. If you're an MBA yourself, we do have an online community that you can join. It's on that website and it's called Reaching Out Connect, so it's our individual member platform, so we certainly encourage you to do that. If you're part of the LBTQ community, we certainly would welcome and love to have you with us at the Out Women in Business Conference in New York which will be March 31st of 2017. So certainly join us because like I said, we do want to bring that community together, and that is open to non-MBAs so you don't need an MBA to be there, and I would say less than half of the folks who are there have an MBA, so you're certainly welcome for that. And then people can always find me online, LinkedIn, Twitter and if you search very carefully you can find me on Facebook. I'm usually pretty open to adding people on any of the platforms so you can hear what I have to say about things, because like I said I am my authentic self out there. Jenn T Grace: That's awesome. Well thank you so much for spending some time today, and I feel like there's a lot that can be gained for the listeners from our conversation, so thank you for that. Matt Kidd: Absolutely, thank you Jenn. Jenn T Grace: Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If there are any links from today's show that you are interested in finding, save yourself a step and head on over to www.JennTGrace.com/thepodcast. And there you will find a backlog of all of the past podcast episodes including transcripts, links to articles, reviews, books, you name it. It is all there on the website for your convenience. Additionally if you would like to get in touch with me for any reason, you can head on over to the website and click the contact form, send me a message, you can find me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all at JennTGrace. And as always I really appreciate you as a listener, and I highly encourage you to reach out to me whenever you can. Have a great one, and I will talk to you in the next episode.
Nicole Dennis-Benn is the author of the highly acclaimed debut novel, Here Comes the Sun, a New York Times Editors' Choice, which has received a starred Kirkus Review and is deemed one of the best books to read this summer and beyond by New York Times, NPR, BBC, BuzzFeed, Book Riot, Bookish, Miami Herald, Elle, O Magazine, Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, Flavorwire, After Ellen, BookPage, Cosmopolitan, Brooklyn Magazine, among others. Dennis-Benn has also been shortlisted for the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
For those new to the show or those who have been listening from the beginning, Tracy will be hosting The Girl Show every other Friday (we had to change the schedule for this show). While the show will be geared towards girls who like girls, all are welcome. We do not discriminate. The show this week is Tuesday, October 12 at 4:00 EST. The amazing Tucky Williams will be joining the show!! Tucky is the creator, writer and star of the award-winning series Girl/Girl Scene. Her latest project is Dagger Kiss, a web fantasy series, the first to focus on two women in love. She has starred in many movie projects. Tucky was named to The Advocate's 40 under 40 which is a list of most influential LGBTQ individuals under the age of 40. She was also elected #9 on AfterEllen.com's "Hot 100" which is a list of the hottest 100 women on earth. To find out more about Tucky, you can check out her website: www.luckytucky.com. We will also be introducing one of the sponsors of The Girl Show tomorrow - Tomboy Toes!! Great company and great shoes! Follow on Twitter at @tomboytoes and check out the website at www.tomboytoes.com. The call-in number to the show is 215-383-3795. If you miss any of our shows, you can find them on this site via podcasts! We appreciate every single one of our listeners! We are nothing without you!!
This week on Lady Problems, the MTV News podcast dedicated to pop culture’s treatment of women, Hazel Cills and Teo Bugbee sub in for host Rachel Handler to talk to former AfterEllen editor-in-chief Trish Bendix about the implosion of lesbian media. Bendix worked with AfterEllen for ten years, when the site was one of only two lesbian media companies on the internet. But when AfterEllen was taken over by Evolve Media, for the first time, the fate of the site rested on the decisions of mostly straight men — men who, according to Bendix, shrugged that responsibility right off their shoulders. Beyond the murky fate of lesbian media, in this episode we also cover Rolling Stone misgendering Laura Jane Grace, a new law that will protect actresses from internet age-truthers, and the magical mystery tour of Robert Downey Jr.’s hairy, hairy body in the 2004 weirdo classic Fur. Feel free to find Hazel, Teo, and Rachel on Twitter and say hi, or call us with your Lady Problem at 205-677-5239 — yes, that is 205-677-LADY, and if you think we’re not going to remind people of that every single week, then you must not know Lady Problems.
Well, 2016 continues to suck! The newest strike to add to the list is that the world renowned lesbian pop culture and entertainment website, AfterEllen, effectively shut down this week. Becca and Shannon try to fathom why and how we missed the warning signs. We also list the few alternatives out there and look for a silver lining in this devastating loss to the LGBT and Queer community. And, as always, we finish with recommendations. Follow us on Twitter @BWGPodcast
Most of you know we save the best for Fridays! This Friday, in addition to our usual conversations, we will be joined by none other than Trish Bendix. As you know, Trish was the incredible editor for AfterEllen.com. Sadly, we learned this week that this website that is so important to many of us is making big changes - and not ones we like. We must stand hand in hand as women, queer women, and keep our place in the media among other parts of our community. We will be discussing what happened with Trish. Try to find out what is really happening with AE. Most of all, we want to offer our support to Trish and give her the respect she deserves along with the AE writing team. Joining me as always is Delina Roberts, our Entertainment Consultant. Delina is a marketing consultant, writer and founder of the lesbian-centric entertainment news website LezFlix.com. LezFlix.com provides articles, reviews and interviews on films, TV shows and web series for lesbians and bisexual women. The show starts at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST. Our call-in number is 215-383-3795. Thanks for all of your support!!
Sinclair Sexsmith (you might know them as Sugarbutch) is here this week and we are talking ALL about kink, BDSM, and power dynamics. We take a look at Sinclair's journey from submissive to Top to Dominant to Daddy and Master. What is it like to live in a 24/7 Master slave dynamic? How can people learn more? We also discuss using BDSM to heal trauma and depression - it's a fine line, but it can be a powerful practice. Plus, what is Submissive Playground? Sinclair shares the details. I am so excited to share this chat with you, so settle in and let's do this. Follow Sex Gets Real on Twitter and Facebook. It's true. Oh! And Dawn is on Instagram. Resources discussed in this episode "My Secret Garden" by Nancy Friday "Slavecraft" by a grateful slave and Guy Baldwin "Dear Raven and Joshua: Questions and Answers about Master/Slave Relationships" by Joshua Tenpenny and Raven Kaldera About Sinclair Sexsmith Sinclair Sexsmith is "the best-known butch erotica writer whose kinky, groundbreaking stories have turned on countless queer women" (AfterEllen), who "is in all the books, wins all the awards, speaks at all the panels and readings, knows all the stuff, and writes for all the places" (Autostraddle). Their short story collection, Sweet & Rough: Queer Kink Erotica, was a 2016 finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.Sinclair leads the 8-week online ecourse Submissive Playground (submissiveplayground.com) annually, where there is no wrong way to be submissive They identify as a white genderqueer butch dominant, a survivor and an introvert, and use the pronouns they, them, theirs, themself. Follow all their writings at > patreon.com/mrsexsmith. You can also follow Sinclair on Twitter @mrsexsmith, Facebook, Fetlife, and Instagram. Listen and subscribe to Sex Gets Real Listen and subscribe on iTunes Check us out on Stitcher Don't forget about I Heart Radio's Spreaker Pop over to Google Play Use the player at the top of this page. Now available on Spotify. Search for "sex gets real". Find the Sex Gets Real channel on IHeartRadio. Hearing from you is the best Contact form: Click here (and it's anonymous)
Since many of you are headed to that thing in the desert, we've decided to post this week's Armory Podcast a few days early. We owe our pal, Mancub, a special thanks for introducing us to this week's talented guest, Heather M out of Brooklyn. This mix was recorded live at the renowned Electric Forest Festival in Michigan earlier this summer and we're loving it. Press play. Get down. Heather M goes after "Feel Good" music! Native Texan turned Brooklynite, Heather M's love affair with music started at an early age. She began playing the piano and the alto saxophone by the time she was 12, and her love of music blossomed through her teen years and into her early 20's when she dove head first into the world of deejaying. Heather M began her Career as a commercial House artist, making radio friendly songs and deejaying for high profile artists like opening for Justin Timberlake in LA for his Suit & Tie release etc. In 2014, She found the underground scene. This changed her entire persona and music style to strictly Tech House/House/Deep House genres. Now respected as one of NYC's rising players, Heather M is Co founder of the new famed event "Risky Business”, a Tech House movement that combines an EDM festival vibe with an underground environment; attracting both commercial and underground club goers. She's becoming a staple in the underground scene and working with well-known promoters around the globe. She's been written up in Vice, Dancing Astronaut, Edm Sauce, Edm Network, Magnetic Mag, After Ellen, and she has releases on labels Armada, Cr2, Zulu, Big Alliance, Crowd and Solmatic. For more information on Heather M visit: https://soundcloud.com/djheatherm_music https://www.facebook.com/heathermofficial http://www.heather-m.com/ Artwork by www.jempanufnik.com
Write This Way: How to Find and Develop a Niche in Your Writing, A Roundtable Discussion Writers are an eclectic group of people and often have a range of interests. This roundtable discussion, moderated by Keysha Whitaker, explores whether writers should clarify and narrow their interests to develop a personal brand and gives advice on how to develop their own beats. The roundtable features writers Jason Bittel, Kristina Marusic, and Shannon Reed. Jason Bittel writes about weird animals for a living. Beautiful animals. Intelligent animals. Animals that eat the eyeballs of other animals. You can find his read his work at Slate, Fast Company, National Geographic News, onEarth Magazine, and Smithsonian Magazine. In another lifetime, he trapped wild boars for the federal government. Follow him on Twitter (@bittelmethis) or visit his website: www.bittelmethis.com Kristina Marusic is a freelance journalist focusing on stories related to LGBT equality, feminism, food politics, social and environmental justice, and the 2016 presidential election. Her reportage and first-person essays have been featured in Slate, Women's Health, AfterEllen, the Advocate, Creative Nonfiction, Flyway and others, and she formerly worked as a full-time staff writer for MTV News. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of San Francisco and is at work on a memoir. Follow her on Twitter (@KristinaSaurusR) or visit his website: www.kristinamarusic.com/ Shannon Reed writes monthly for The New Yorker's "Shouts and Murmurs" department and is a frequent contributor to McSweeney's Internet Tendency. Other credits include the Washington Post, BuzzFeed, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Narratively, Guernica, Kweli Journal, the Glassblock, Poets & Writers, and many more. She is at work on her first novel.
The Blaze with Lizzie and Kat! The Original Beverly Hills 90210 Podcast
We're so excited to finally have writer Kim Hoffman on our Beverly Hills 90210 podcast! Kim's been listening to The Blaze since the beginning, and has written essays for AfterEllen, Huffington Post, and more, such as “What My ‘90s Childhood and Popular LGBT Idols Have in Common.” This super-sized podcast about one of the series' least well-remembered episodes was one of the most fun that we've ever had recording. Also, it includes perhaps the best Chuck's Corner segment that we've ever had the privilege of sharing with our listeners. What we were drinking: old fashionedsWhat we were eating: SusieCakes cookies
0:46 Intro to Anna & her path 2:55 Evolution of writing & career path 4:44 Episode 283 Anna on Dan Savage’s Lovecast 6:00 Sexuality is complicated 10:44 “My heart is gay and my vagina is less discriminatory” 12:13 San Francisco turned me straight 13:33 Anna’s Coming Out Story and the complexities of sexuality 20:51 Coming out response 22:46 The LGBT Youth and a more accepting society 23:31 Pegging Men 26:40 Experiences and your writing 27:56 After Ellen & other advice columns 30:59 Gender Roles, Labels and much more 32:52 The Lesbian Sex Haiku book with Cats 36:01 Writing hand experiences as a healer 39:07 Where to find Anna For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nakedinsideout/message
My guest is Ellen Datlow, the editor of the upcoming anthology CHILDREN OF LOVECRAFT, as well as THE DOLL COLLECTION. She's also the editor of THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR series, LOVECRAFT'S MONSTERS, LOVECRAFT UNBOUND, and many other books. She talks about common mistakes writers make, what editors really do, and more! After Ellen's interview, we discuss Batman v Superman.
This week we welcome Natasia Langfelder, who wrote this article for AfterEllen about female couples we 'shipped before shipping was a thing. We explore the idea of same sex couples that never happened and discuss the various reasons why they didn't. Do you have a favorite? Be sure to share with us on twitter (@shippingroompod)
Jonny and Stacy discuss the projects that are keeping them so busy lately, the Rowan County Clerk in Kentucky who still won't give out marriage licenses, the raid on RentBoy.com, and TERF activist Cathy Brennan's law suit against AfterEllen. We are still conducting the fall membership pledge drive for the station; please support the station that hosts us at WDBX.org.
Jonny and Stacy discuss the projects that are keeping them so busy lately, the Rowan County Clerk in Kentucky who still won't give out marriage licenses, the raid on RentBoy.com, and TERF activist Cathy Brennan's law suit against AfterEllen. We are still conducting the fall membership pledge drive for the station; please support the station that hosts us at WDBX.org.
KITTENS IN A CAGE is a must-watch women-in-prison comedy series. Jillian Armenante has officially created your new favorite show." AfterEllen.com Directed By Jillian Armenante Written By Jillian Armenante -based on the play by Kelleen Conway Blanchard. Email: kittensinacage@gmail.com Website: http://www.kittensinacage.com/ Here is the official Trailer... http://youtu.be/80sJIclvIAU Here is the show... www.kittensinacage.com
Gotham TV Podcast - The longest running podcast about Gotham on Fox
You can email us at feedback@gothamtvpodcast.com or email john@gothamtvpodcast.com or derek@gothamtvpodcast.com Show Notes Written by Rebecca Dameron (A supervising Producer on the whos who also wrote episodes of The Following) and directed by Guy Ferland (Directed of Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead, Homeland and three episodes of The Torchwood series Miracle Day). After assassins attack Wayne Manor looking for Selina Kyle, Cat and Bruce are forced to go on the run into the dark and seedy underbelly of Gotham. While Alfred works with Detective Harvey Bullock to track down the heir to the Wayne family fortune, Jim Gordon follows another lead to the man he believes is responsible for the attack, Dick Lovecraft. All the while Falcone is trying to root out a mole...or is it a Fish...or is it a Penguin in his organisation after the loss of all his money. As Bruce and Alfred are reunited and Cat is safe from harm (for now) the partnership of Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock is broken up by a spiteful and vengeful mayor James Aubrey. The GCPD, Arkham and Gotham will never be the same again! News If you haven't caught it yet we have released a brand new live interview with Victoria Cartagena and Andrew Stewart-Jones. It's an hour long interview with lots of fun tidbits and behind the scenes insight into Gotham's MCU. Victoria Cartagena and Erin Richard's characters Renee and Barbara have been nominated for an AfterEllen.com award for best lesbian couple on TV vote at afterellen.com. Channel 5 have advised us that the release date for the next episode of Gotham has yet to be decided in the UK. We will update as soon as we have confirmation of the date. The release date of the pilot for Season 1 was only announced two weeks before it aired in the UK so we hope to have a confirmed announcement in early 2015. DC Connected News Syfy are developing a Superman prequel TV series 'Krypton' written by Man of Steel writer and Constantine Showrunner David S. Goyer. The pitch is “Years before the Superman legend we know, the House of El was shamed and ostracized. This series follows The Man of Steel’s grandfather as he brings hope and equality to Krypton, turning a planet in disarray into one worthy of giving birth to the greatest Super Hero ever known.” Thanks for listening we'll be on break for the Christmas period and will return in the New Year when Gotham returns to Channel 5 in the UK for the second half of season 1. Derek & John Gotham TV Podcast If you have any questions or comments you can contact us any of the following ways: You can email us at feedback@gothamtvpodcast.com @gothamtvpodcast on Twitter Facebook.com/gothamtvpodcast or just search "Gotham TV Podcast" on Facebook. You can leave us a voicemail on Skype just search for Gotham TV Podcast. You can also connect with us on Google + at gothamtvpodcast. Date recorded: 16/12/2014 Date published: 17/12/2014 MP3, 1h 31 mins, 128kbps, 83.5 MB
Comedian Amber Tozer was selling mattresses on Craig's List. No really, she was selling mattresses on Craig's List with no deviant sex involved. Really. Not even a reach around.
Luego de 3 meses de hibernación, las Budines están de vuelta. En este décimo podcast hablamos sobre: -Lip Service -El Hot 100 de Afterellen. -Glee -Out with Dad -Delirios varios.
Luego de 3 meses de hibernación, las Budines están de vuelta. En este décimo podcast hablamos sobre: -Lip Service -El Hot 100 de Afterellen. -Glee -Out with Dad -Delirios varios.
One of the more unusual fellows that you will encounter in the Kentucky indie film community, Eric Butts is a very talented guy who brings a depth of technical and historical knowledge to any project that he delves into. In addition to being a filmmaker, he is also a very capable talent in music, perfectly capable of being a one-man rock band in a studio environment.I had the pleasure of working with Eric when I directed Shadows Light, and I can say that you will find few people as passionate about film and storytelling as Eric. More recently, Eric has dived into the world of CGI, including 3D modeling and animation. In this IMM spotlight, we visited with Eric to find out how things are going, what's on the horizon, and to give readers a little idea about the man himself. -Stephen Zimmer, for Indie Movie Masters Blog Interview, March 10, 2010 SZ: You are a man capable of wearing many hats, in terms of writing, producing, directing, doing CGI, editing, etc. How would you describe yourself these days, in relation to your career?EB: I've started referring to myself as an artist, but I always cringe a little, because it sounds so pretentious. I've also enjoy being called a Renaissance man. Ultimately, I'd like to be known as a director, maybe an editor and musician as well. I love doing all the other stuff I do, because it's fun to want to learn something and then actually do it, but I really only do it because not a lot of other people can in my current budget levels. I've found it to be a lot cheaper to buy a book and spend some time and just do it myself. That just spilled over to my friends, most of whom are film people as well. A lot of them are very talented too and sometimes they have projects I HAVE to be a part of. I just love making stuff!SZ: What first got you into pursuing an independent film career?EB: I was just sort of born wanting to do it. I started playing music at 2 and started writing by 3. I just never wanted to do anything else. Part of it is because I grew up loving movies. My folks let me watch whatever I wanted at a young age. I spent so much time in video stores, that at one point I actually listed a video clerk as an emergency contact for my school. My mom loved horror and my Dad's into Sci-Fi. My first movie ever was "Alien" when I was 6 months old. Everyone in the theater thought "Oh great, here's comes the screaming baby" but I apparently stayed transfixed on the screen the whole time. Plus, my folks have always been very supportive of my creative thinking! Reality can suck! Sometimes I'd rather create and live in my own worlds and film making allows that on a constant basis.SZ: What are some of the things that you like especially about the world of indie film?EB:No release date deadlines, which is great when you can't spend money, cause time is usually the indie film maker's friend! That can also be a problem. I come from the school of thought that art is never released, it escapes! There's always going to be more you can do to make things better and the more time you have with a project the more things you start wanting to fix. Eventually, you have to just let it go and let it be what it's going to be, then maybe, someday, you can pull a Lucas and go back and fix things, something I've never had a problem with people doing by the way. Other than that, I've never seen much difference between indie and Hollywood for me. I'm going to make what I want to make, period. I would like to make a living at it eventually, but I HAVE to make what makes me happy first! Luckily, most of my ideas are for summer blockbuster types of films, which makes it hard for me to write scripts I can afford to do. Now, with my CG, I'm capable of a lot more!SZ: Conversely, what are the biggest negatives about working in indie film, besides the obvious money restraints?EB: Really all the drawbacks stem from lack of funds. Scheduling is next to impossible. If you need more than a couple actors to get together at the same time, you can quickly find your hair turning gray... ask Jerry Williams. Extras are impossible to find in any large number. The talent pool is thin compared to the choices you have when you can pay people. Sometimes getting people to take what you're doing seriously can be difficult, because a lot of times they think it's just going to be something fun to do and don't realize how much work it actually is! SZ:You’ve been delving into the world of 3D modeling and animation lately. How is that going? EB: It has been insanely fun! CG was something I used to think was way out of my abilities, but I've always had ideas that require CG! I made a short 30 minute film when I was 15, so it would have been around 1995, that movie had a bunch of CG morphing in it, some of the shots were even pretty good. Last year I upgraded all my software and had some minor 3D capabilities, which gave me some really cool Ideas for some CG movies. I quickly find I couldn't do too much with what I had. I started looking into videos of CG programs and quickly found Lightwave and out of the three major CG programs, it was the one in my price range, but also seemed easy to use. I decided to get it. I also knew I was limited in my 3D motion tracking and after some research found a great program called SynthEyes. It's one of the industry standards and surprisingly cheap, for what it is. I then found out, my favorite show, "Battlestar Galactica" (Modern) used Lightwave and Syntheyes for 95% of their CG and their CG is incredible! So I was totally sold. Lightwave is amazing. Right out of the box with very little knowledge at all I was able to start making some cool stuff and within a month I had some shots that could have been in Galactica! So I'm very pleased. Don't get me wrong, I love practical effects too, I grew up a Savini fan, but I'm also a George Lucas fan. So I've always loved both and some projects of mine require more CG and some require more Practical and I don't understand why so many people hate CG so much, I've always believed one of the reasons people like movies is to see things they never could in real life.SZ: Rumor has it that you have a "modest" DVD and BluRay collection, and that you are a "bit" of a film historian. So, name a few of your favorite directors, and why are they your favorites?EB: He, he, ha. Yeah, "Modest." I have around 2,000 DVD's and about 600 Blu-rays. Plus, I still have a bunch of laserdiscs and some VHS. My dad has a collection bigger than mine! I LOVE movies. You learn more about filmmaking from watching movies than anywhere else, except on-set experience. You even learn more from bad movies than you do good ones. As for my favorite directors, Lloyd Kaufman I believe to be an underrated genius. Most people just lumps his films in with the rest of the Troma catalouge, but his films are so much more than that! It's kind of like Jerry William's films. On the surface that can be enjoyed as gross out weird comedies, but if you look deeper, you start to realize how well thought out, clever and smart his films are. I'm also a huge fan of George Romero, I love the way he gets very real performances in bizzare situations. He know's how to make the characters matter. I love the visual style of Dario Argento and Peter Jackson. I love the "Lord of the Rings" films, but his earlier work is just as incredible, especially "Heavenly Creatures". Some one who's new to directing, but has been around as a writer for a while is Ron Moore. This guy changed my life and the way I approach writing. I will see ANYTHING he's involved with and know it will be good!SZ: Zeppo was one of the bigger projects that you have been involved with. How was it working with Debbie Rochon and Loyd Kaufman?EB: Well "Zeppo: Sinners from Beyond the Moon!" was an incredible experience. It took us 3 years and a lot of learning, but the whole thing was just one fun experiment. I love the movie and it is pretty much everything Jerry Williams and I wanted it to be, but we knew starting out that part of the fun of the project was going to be in how we tried doing a little bit of eveything, it was my first time compositing shots. A couple of them turned out pretty good, but I learned A LOT about green screen from that shoot. The whole thing was like that, just always trying things and sometimes being succesful and even when we weren't it still worked for the type of film it was meant to be. It was sort of like the idea of film school, it was a safe place to fail. One place we did NOT fail was in casting Lloyd and Debbie! Jerry and I both had grown up being Troma fans, so Lloyd Kaufman is just a god to us, and as I've gotten older and continued to love his films, I've learned how much of a truely underrated genius Lloyd is! And Debbie... Debbie I'd been a fan of for a long time and even though she's appeared in a few films that weren't quite as good as others, she's always been consistently exellent. Lloyd and Debbie both are the kind of people who, before you meet them, you think they're going to be cool, but once you meet them, they're WAY cooler than you could have ever imagined! We still all keep in touch and will be working together soon. Debbie stepped my game up as an actor on Zeppo. Getting to work with her so closely as an actor taught me alot, and ever since then when I act in films I try to bring that level of focus.SZ: How have things gone with Zeppo since completion? Where can people buy/rent/view it right now?EB: Well after screening Zeppo in a few festivals we had tried to get distribution and we kept hearing the same thing... " we love Zeppo, but can't do any foreign sales with black and white movies." So for a moment we made some dvds and started selling it ourself, but that kind of became a pain for us to deal with, so we finally found this thing called Create Space on Amazon. It's a pretty cool deal. We have control over what the product is and all we have to do is collect a bit of money for the discs. This is a great sevice for indie filmmakers, especially one's like me and Jerry who just want to make movies and not deal with all the rest of it! So, with in a month or two, Zeppo will be availbe on VOD and DVD through Amazon. SZ: You have worked quite a bit with rising cult film legend Jerry Williams. Do you consider him to be sane? Secondly, can you give some really good dirt on him? (humor intended in this question!!!!) EB: Jerry Williams is INCREDIBLE!! He has a completly unique vison in his films. On the surface they're these weird random comedies, but if you pay close attention you see there's a definate message and interesting storyline going on. He deserves major cult status, because his films are always hilarious and within seconds, you KNOW it's a Jerry William's movie. He's also a great guy, he's part of my family. Much like Lloyd Kaufman, you can't judge Jerry based on his films alone. He's a down to earth guy who's nice and willing to help everyone as long as they're not being too crazy.Is he sane? Yes, but I belive that's because his films are outlets for his insanity. I'm actually slightly worried about what will happen to him while he's on hiatus to raise his new baby, but luckily he's spent a great deal of time getting footage lately, so he'll have plenty to edit. I have some dirt on Jerry for sure...so here's a little bit. Jerry drives his car very slow! SZ: One of your newest projects is Girl/Girl Scene. What is it? Who’s involved?EB: Girl/Girl Scene is amazing! It's not something I would have expected to be involved with, but it was such a great opportunity, I'd be a fool to say no. It's executive produced by Nic Brown and Written by Tucky Williams. Nic called me up and told me he and Tucky were wanting to make a dramatic lesbian web series. At first I wasn't so sure, but I really enjoy hanging out with Tucky and Nic and I was excited by the idea of getting to focus on Directing. Then I got the pilot script from Tucky and I was sold. I knew she was a talented actress and I've come to realize she is an equally talented writer. The script was really good. In my first reading I found that I cared about the characters and was left wanting to know what happens next, so that was a good sign. Then Tucky started casting all these incredible actors which made my job a whole lot easier. All I ever really had to focus on was how I wanted to tell the story visually, and having that much time to devote to one line of thought led to some really great choices. I've been editing it and have most of a rough cut done and it's great! It really draws you in and engages you, plus it's got some great humor in it. Shooting on HD has really been amazing. I've watched some of the scenes on Blu ray and it's a REAL show. You could put this next to any drama out there and it looks just as good. I've since read the script for episode 2, and oh man... The pilot does a great job of letting you know who these people are and what they're about, but episode 2 is going to hook people! We're about 4 to 6 weeks away from revaling the pilot for free, online at girlgirlscene.comSZ: The trailer has been having some tremendous success recently. Describe how that all unfolded and what kind of response you are seeing.EB: It's been great! At first we posted it on the Girl/Girl Scene FaceBook group page. It was there for 24 hours first and we had great feedback pouring in. Then we posted it on YouTube and DailyMotion. YouTube was getting about 500 views a day in the beginning and DailyMotion wasn't doing much, untill AfterEllen.com posted our trailer on their site. Within six hours the trailer gained over 2,000 views. The real good part is, now, about a week after posting it, we're still seeing really good traffic. Some days are fifty views, some days are two hundred, this leads me to belivie Girl Girl Scene is building some word of mouth. After about 2 weeks we're at around eight thousand views total. I knew this was turning out to be a great project on all parts, but I am a bit surprized how quickly it's getting out there when we've barely even promoted it!SZ: What other projects are on the near horizon for Eric Butts? Can you give us a scoop perhaps?One of the downsides to people finding out I'm as good as I say I am, is that I now get offered all kinds of stuff all the time. Sometimes I have to miss out on things I really want to do because I'm too busy. I mean, people should still ask me, because if I can help I will. Right now I've been directing and doing all of post production on "Girl/Girl Scene", I've been editing a behind the scene documentary for Jacob Ennis' "Red River", I'm helping out with a fun project Billy Boyd is doing as an actor and VFX, I'm acting, composing the score and doing MAJOR VFX on Roni Jonah's "Malfunction" with Billy Boyd and Sven Granlund, plus I may be editing it as well. I've got one more role to film for Jerry Williams before his baby break. I'm trying to write a couple new scripts for myself and finish a new Record I've been putting off for a long time now. I'm also starting advance pre-production on a feature film I want to make this summer, it's a very dark fun monster movie in the tone of "Feast" or "Return of the Living Dead." But I need to work on a beach for a week and that may prove just out of reach of our resources for this year, in which case I'll move to a back up script I have for a much darker Argento inspired Giallo film. I have a bunch of stuff coming out soon too. I acted in Roni Jonah's "Trepan:Redux". I was a HUGE fan and supporter of the original and when I was given the chance to be in a new version of it, I came prepared and gave the best performance I've given yet. I was also in "The Last Temptation of Fluffy" and did a VFX shot for it, as well as creating the poster. There should be countless Jerry Williams films coming out soon that I'm in. "Zombie Hombre" was just released for free online and I played my twin brother. The cool thing was that the footage was shot a few years apart and I look very different in both roles. Also, I'm in "Cornball Classics" that is available on Amazon Video on Demand. Plus, how could I forget the upcoming "Trouser Snake!"SZ: Anything else that you feel inquiring minds want to know about Eric Butts?I'm obsessed with the modern "Battlestar Galactica" and "Caprica" and you should be too! I LOVE action figures and have a HUGE collection of modern "Star Wars" figures, including hundreds of Clone Troopers. I can't get enough U.K. Wildcats basketball! SZ: If people would like to follow or connect with you or your projects(including beautiful single women), what are your links for sites and social networking? www.zeppothemovie.comwww.girlgirlscene.comMyspace.com/EricButts (I don't uses this site much anymore)And I'm on FaceBook all the time, but there are a few Eric Butts' on there so make sure you get the right one!
QNews: get involved in your community! HRC is looking for new panel members. Also, can you guess which political wife is now supporting gay marriage? Now when will the Obamas be in to have their NoH8 photos taken? Is lesbian imagery in clothing a thing of the past? Rainbow Rumors: Charlie reviews AfterEllen's First Lesbian/Bi People's Choice Awards. Tyra Banks brings up the topic "Is Gay the New Black?". Charlie wants you to check out a new gallery showing queer content art in San Francisco. Interview: Debra Walker - Lesbian candidate for Supervisor of District 6! Ms. Walker dishes on what's going on in the community and what her plans are for the future of District 6.
Tom is our special guest host and she shares with us the old school code name for lesbians and her experience in social work working with queer youth. Q News: The latest update on Obama's White House Initiatives related to the gay community, grand marshals selected for SF Gay Pride Parade, Alan Keyes, former presidential candidate and father of LGBT activist Maya Keyes, arrested, and what to do about homophobic Miss California? Rainbow Rumors: Charlie shares with us the top ten women of the 2009 AfterEllen.com Hot 100 list We've done several shows regarding how lesbian and ftm communities interact now. But we never really hear anything about male to female transpersons who identify as lesbians. In this episode, special guest Sherilyn Connelly, an mtf lesbian, answers our many questions: such as why mtf lesbians seem to be invisible, her acceptance in the lesbian community, and her experiences as a single gal looking for other women to date. To learn more about Sherilyn Connelly, please visit her website at http://www.sherilynconnelly.com/
PRODUCER | DIRECTOR | WRITER - This week our guest is Emmy Award winner, MARY LOU BELLI. Some of her credits include: "The Game," the spinoff to "Girlfriends" on the CW which she directed for seven consecutive seasons. She directed the pilot of the Web series, "3Way" winner of 2 logo awards and The AfterEllen.com 2008 Visibility Awards for Best Lesbian/bi Web Series. With over 100 episodes to her credit, Mary Lou directed "Living with Fran" starring Fran Drescher, "Misconceptions" starring Jane Leeves, and "Eve" starring hip hop artist Eve, as well as "The Hughleys," "Charles in Charge," "Major Dad," and "Sister, Sister." Mary Lou received BET nominations for directing "Girlfriends" and "One on One" as well as a Prism Award for "Girlfriends." After receiving a BA in theatre from Penn State, Mary Lou acted in musical theatre and soaps in New York, followed by a Los Angeles career producing and directing theatre with over 75 play productions to her credit. She is the co-author of two books: "The Sitcom Career Book." and "Acting for Young Actors" found on Amazon.com and her personal website. WEBSITE: sitcomcareer.com
In a break from the usual format, we feature excerpts from conversations with podcast listeners Lilian & Theresa (who visited Los Angeles all the way from Singapore!), Ken, and Lauren. Thanks so much all of you! You can also view a short (1:31) video taken by Siena, of when we were recording this Ep, here. And another video (2:04) that didn't get into the Ep, here. (Pictured: a mooncake with the character for "money" or "gold" on it.)Ongoing ContestThe Prize: a Girl Meets Girl Podcast stickerEnter By: telling us where you'll stick it. Post your answers in the comments or email us at mail at girlmeetsgirlpodcast dot comFeatured Song"I Won't Shed A Tear" by MAKENALinks in this Epmore about The Mid-Autumn Festival a.k.a. Moon FestivalLei's Hawaiian BBQSprinkles cupcakesmore info on SingaporeTiger Balm808Talk podcastMAKENA on AfterEllen.comMAKENA on GoldSea.comThe Lost Podcast with Jay and Jackthe massive bruise on Lauren's thighIf you like the show, please vote for it at PodcastAlley; thanks!Where would you stick a girlmeetsgirlpodcast.com sticker? Comments welcome below. ...and everybody be careful out there!