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This episode was originally released on 7/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes beginning with this episode on the birth of radio. ___________ In Breaking Walls episode 81, we spotlight the life and career of one of the twentieth century's most famous comedians, Fred Allen. Amongst other comedians and entertainers, almost no one was beloved as much as him. His comedic feud with Jack Benny was legendary, as were his battles with network executives and sponsors. Highlights: • John Sullivan is Born in Boston • What growing up in Boston with his aunt was like • How his job at the Boston Public library began his career in show business • Learning to Juggle and Early Amateur Performances • Harry LaToy and how Johnny Sullivan became Fred St. James • Freddie James: The World's Worst Juggler • Becoming Fred Allen and going on Broadway • Allen's Radio Birth—Bath Towels, Laxatives, and Mayonnaise • Town Hall Tonight is Born • Jack Benny—The Feud of the Century • Mr. Ramshaw— an Eagle on the loose • Changing networks • Texaco and Problems with NBC • King for a Day • Bowing out gracefully • Fred Allen: Memoirist • What's my Line? • Final Days The reading material used in today's episode was: • The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning • Treadmill to Oblivion & Much Ado About Me … both by Fred Allen Selected Music featured in today's Episode was: • Swingin' on a Star by Bing Crosby • Over There recorded live by George M. Cohan • Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo
MUSICWeekend one of Coachellais in the books, and many attendees secured their tickets through aninstallment plan. Highlights: Weezerslipped in a cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" during theirSaturday set at Coachella, the same song they covered for 2021's 'Blacklist',an album of Metallica songs performed by different artists. Queen guitarist Brian May popped up from the Coachella stage on Friday night to helpsinger Benson Boone perform "Bohemian Rhapsody". GreenDay's Billie Joe Armstrong made a surprise appearance during The Go Gosperformance at Coachella on Friday night, one of the first shows from the newwave legends since 2022. Lady Gaga's headlining set Friday night was epic, and some people arealready calling it the best in the history of Coachella. Weird AlYankovic made his Coachella debut . . . joining Yo Gabba Gabba for the classic Muppettrack "The Rainbow Connection". During Green Day's seton Saturday night, their pyro accidentally lit a nearby palm tree on fire. MissyElliott went full-on "Transformers",starting her set as a car, before morphing into herself. CharliXCX brought out some bigguns for her set: Troye Sivan, Billie Eilish, and Lorde. ACalifornia man was arrested after he allegedly admitted a bomb threat on theCoachella Music Festival. Britney Spears touched down in Mexico the other day for alittle vacation and one of her body guards was carrying a BABY DOLL wrapped ina pink blanket as they got off the plane. Van Halen's only number-one song, 1984's “Jump,” hassurpassed a billion streams on Spotify. Alex Van Halen says, "Thanks to all the fans forlistening!" TVMickey Rourke's time on the UK's "Celebrity BigBrother" was mercifully short. He's been bounced from the show due to "inappropriatelanguage" and "unacceptable behavior." Blue Origin's firstall-female space crew is going into space this morning. "WhiteLotus" Season 3 star Aimee Lou Wood has been pretty vocal about not liking the attention she getsfor her "unique" teeth. So she wasn't very amusedwhen "Saturday Night Live" parodied her looks thisweekend. MOVING ON INTO MOVIENEWS:A new doc, out now,explores the life of John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono after The Beatles'split: 'One to One: John & Yoko' chronicles their move and life in early70s New York City through a collage of audio recordings and remastered concertfootage. RIP:Actor Nicky Katt,from "Boston Public" and "Dazed andConfused", passed away. No word on the cause of death. He was only 54. Director Ted Kotcheffdied. He was 94. His films include "First Blood","Weekend at Bernie's", and the underseen masterpiece "Wakein Fright". AND THAT IS YOUR CRAP ON CELEBRITIES! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
MUSIC Weekend one of Coachella is in the books, and many attendees secured their tickets through an installment plan. Highlights: Weezer slipped in a cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" during their Saturday set at Coachella, the same song they covered for 2021's 'Blacklist', an album of Metallica songs performed by different artists. Queen guitarist Brian May popped up from the Coachella stage on Friday night to help singer Benson Boone perform "Bohemian Rhapsody". Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong made a surprise appearance during The Go Gos performance at Coachella on Friday night, one of the first shows from the new wave legends since 2022. Lady Gaga's headlining set Friday night was epic, and some people are already calling it the best in the history of Coachella. Weird Al Yankovic made his Coachella debut . . . joining Yo Gabba Gabba for the classic Muppet track "The Rainbow Connection". During Green Day's set on Saturday night, their pyro accidentally lit a nearby palm tree on fire. Missy Elliott went full-on "Transformers", starting her set as a car, before morphing into herself. Charli XCX brought out some big guns for her set: Troye Sivan, Billie Eilish, and Lorde. A California man was arrested after he allegedly admitted a bomb threat on the Coachella Music Festival. Britney Spears touched down in Mexico the other day for a little vacation and one of her body guards was carrying a BABY DOLL wrapped in a pink blanket as they got off the plane. Van Halen's only number-one song, 1984's “Jump,” has surpassed a billion streams on Spotify. Alex Van Halen says, "Thanks to all the fans for listening!" TV Mickey Rourke's time on the UK's "Celebrity Big Brother" was mercifully short. He's been bounced from the show due to "inappropriate language" and "unacceptable behavior." Blue Origin's first all-female space crew is going into space this morning. "White Lotus" Season 3 star Aimee Lou Wood has been pretty vocal about not liking the attention she gets for her "unique" teeth. So she wasn't very amused when "Saturday Night Live" parodied her looks this weekend. MOVING ON INTO MOVIE NEWS: A new doc, out now, explores the life of John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono after The Beatles' split: 'One to One: John & Yoko' chronicles their move and life in early 70s New York City through a collage of audio recordings and remastered concert footage. RIP: Actor Nicky Katt, from "Boston Public" and "Dazed and Confused", passed away. No word on the cause of death. He was only 54. Director Ted Kotcheff died. He was 94. His films include "First Blood", "Weekend at Bernie's", and the underseen masterpiece "Wake in Fright". AND THAT IS YOUR CRAP ON CELEBRITIES! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ethan's In Other News delivers a wild ride through Coachella surprises, celebrity tributes, and generational confusion. The crew reacts to a star-studded Coachella Weekend 1—Lady Gaga's theatrical headlining set, Bernie Sanders introducing Clairo, and Brian May joining Benson Boone to perform Bohemian Rhapsody (to a crowd that had no clue who he was). Nicky Katt, known for Dazed and Confused and Boston Public, sadly passes at 54. The Breakfast Club cast reunites for the first time in 40 years at C2E2, but fans hoping for a sequel are out of luck. And Katy Perry ditches American Idol for good, walking away from $25 million a season to reclaim her pop star status.
In this special episode, we take a nostalgic look back at the early recordings that sparked our popular movie review format. This episode is a fun compilation of guests sharing their favorite school-related movies and TV shows, along with their thoughts on what's realistic — and what's not — about those stories. Our guests represent voices from across the country, including Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas, Missouri, Montana, Arizona, Wisconsin, California, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, Kentucky, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Rhode Island. Each guest answered two key questions: What is your favorite school-related TV show or movie? What is unrealistic about that movie or TV show? The answers ranged from heartwarming classics to laugh-out-loud comedies and inspiring dramas. Here's a breakdown of the most mentioned titles: School of Rock - 6 mentions Abbott Elementary - 4 mentions Remember the Titans - 2 mentions Grease - 2 mentions The Sound of Music - 1 mention Dead Poets Society - 1 mention Home Alone - 1 mention Annie - 1 mention Welcome Back, Kotter - 1 mention Dangerous Minds - 1 mention Summer School - 1 mention Top Gun - 1 mention Stand and Deliver - 1 mention To Sir, With Love - 1 mention Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 1 mention Fast Times at Ridgemont High - 1 mention Most Likely to Succeed - 1 mention Gilmore Girls - 1 mention Glee - 1 mention The Long Game - 1 mention A Christmas Story - 1 mention Billy Madison - 1 mention The OC - 1 mention The Breakfast Club - 1 mention I Love Lucy - 1 mention Friday Night Lights - 1 mention Yesterday - 1 mention Old School - 1 mention Boston Public - 1 mention Freedom Writers - 1 mention Ted Lasso - 1 mention Back to School - 1 mention Whether you're a fan of inspiring educators, unforgettable student antics, or heartwarming school stories, this episode is packed with entertaining insights from guests who know education best. Tune in to hear what your peers are watching and maybe add a few new titles to your must-watch list! Connect with host, Kevin Stoller: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinstoller/ Episode 224 of the Better Learning Podcast Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com. For more information on our partners: Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) - https://www.a4le.org/ Education Leaders' Organization - https://www.ed-leaders.org/ Second Class Foundation - https://secondclassfoundation.org/ EDmarket - https://www.edmarket.org/ Catapult @ Penn GSE - https://catapult.gse.upenn.edu/ Want to be a Guest Speaker? Request on our website
What is your favorite school related tv show or movie? In this episode, we feature our annual compilation of interviews conducted at the EDSpaces conference in Houston. This year, with a twist of breaking down the best tv show and movies related to education! Our guests were asked two key questions: What is your favorite school related tv show or movie? What is unrealistic about that movie or tv show? The guest list includes 3 people from Pennsylvania, 2 from Utah, 5 from Texas, 5 from Missouri, 2 from Montana, 3 from Arizona, 2 from Wisconsin, 3 from California, 2 from Florida, 1 from the states of Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, Kentucky, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota and Rhode Island. Here are the tallies for each of the movies mentioned: School of Rock - 6 Abbott Elementary - 4 Remember the Titans - 2 Grease - 2 The Sound of Music - 1 Dead Poets Society - 1 Home Alone - 1 Annie - 1 Welcome Back, Kotter - 1 Dangerous Minds - 1 Summer School - 1 Top Gun - 1 Stand and Deliver - 1 To Sir, With Love - 1 Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 1 Fast Times at Ridgemont High - 1 Most Likely to Suceed - 1 Gilmore Girls - 1 Glee - 1 The Long Game - 1 A Christmas Story - 1 Billy Madison - 1 The OC - 1 The Breakfast Club - 1 I Love Lucy - 1 Friday Lights - 1 Yesterday - 1 Old School - 1 Boston Public - 1 Freedom Writers - 1 Ted Lasso - 1 Back to School - 1 Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com. Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Find out more about Kevin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinstoller/. For more episodes of the Better Learning Podcast, visit https://www.betterlearningpodcast.com/ Episode 210 of the Better Learning Podcast Kevin Stoller is the host of the Better Learning Podcast and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve, a national leader for educational furniture. Learn more about creating better learning environments at www.Kay-Twelve.com. For more information on our partners: Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) - https://www.a4le.org/ Education Leaders' Organization - https://www.ed-leaders.org/ Second Class Foundation - https://secondclassfoundation.org/ EDmarket - https://www.edmarket.org/ Catapult @ Penn GSE - https://catapult.gse.upenn.edu/ Want to be a Guest Speaker? Request on our website
Episode Notes S5E38 -- Join us as we dive into the mind of the amazing Jon Abrahams. He'll be telling tales of being Bobby in Scary Movie(2000) to his newest role in Terrifier 3 and much much more. Jon Avery Abrahams (born October 29, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in several films such as Sonny Poncelet in Dead Man Walking (1995), Bobby Prinze in Scary Movie, Denny Byrnes in Meet the Parents (both 2000), and Dalton Chapman in House of Wax (2005). HELPFUL LINKS: VETERANS: https://www.va.gov/.../mental-health/suicide-prevention/ https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ https://homebase.org/programs/get-care/ ADDICTION: https://lp.recoverycentersofamerica.com/.../continuum-of.../ https://www.refreshrecoverycenters.com/reclaim-your-life.../ https://drughelpline.org/ Due you know someone that has lost their lives due to addiction? Or even someone that has made a full recovery? Reach out to Johnny Whitaker so they can help to celebrate the lives lost/ lives recovered at overdoseawareness0831@gmail.com NEWS FLASH: You can now purchase Toking with the Dead full novel here https://a.co/d/7uypgZo https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../toking.../1143414656... You can see all your past favorite episodes now streaming on https://redcoraluniverse.com/ OR Show your support by purchasing FB stars. Send stars to the stars fb.com/stars Toking with the Dead: https://www.stilltoking.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TokingwiththeDead?tn=-]C-R https://www.instagram.com/stilltokingwith/?hl=en https://twitter.com/thetoking?lang=en https://pinecast.com/feed/still-toking-with Check out Toking with the Dead Episode 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awhL5FyW_j4 Check out Toking with the Dead Episode 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaUai58ua6o Buy awesome Merchandise! https://www.stilltoking.com/toking-with-the-dead-train https://teespring.com/stores/still-toking-with Our booking agent: https://www.facebook.com/AmyMakepeace https://www.facebook.com/groups/3770117099673924 Sponsorship Opportunities: https://www.stilltoking.com/become-a-sponsor or email us at bartlett52108@gmail.com thetokingdead@gmail.com ————————————— Follow our guest https://www.jonabrahams.net/ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0009016/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Abrahams https://www.instagram.com/therealjonabrahams/?hl=en https://www.cameo.com/realjonabrahams... ———————— Follow Still Toking With and their friends! https://smartpa.ge/5zv1 https://thedorkeningpodcastnetwork.com/ ————————————— Produced by Leo Pond and The Dorkening Podcast Network https://TheDorkening.com Facebook.com/TheDorkening Youtube.com/TheDorkening Twitter.com/TheDorkening MORE ABOUT THE GUEST: Abrahams was born in New York City. He attended Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn. Abrahams' great-uncles were actor Mack Gray – long time confidant of entertainers George Raft, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra – and stuntman and fight coordinator Joe Gray. His father is the artist Martin Abrahams. Abrahams made his film debut in Larry Clark's Kids. His other feature credits include Scary Movie, Meet the Parents, My Boss's Daughter, Boiler Room, and House of Wax. On television, Abrahams has appeared on Boston Public, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Second Generation Wayans, The Mentalist, and Criminal Minds. He was also "DJ Jonny" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for season four. Find out more at https://still-toking-with.pinecast.co Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/still-toking-with/671e20b2-ff6d-48e5-aaaa-ee174f06b396
Professor Joseph Allen directs the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard Chan School of Public Health. His expertise extends far beyond what makes buildings healthy. He has been a leading voice and advocate during the Covid pandemic for air quality and ventilation. He coined the term “Forever Chemicals” and has written extensively on this vital topic, no less other important exposures, which we covered In our wide-ranging conversation. You will see how remarkably articulate and passionate Prof Allen is about these issues, along with his optimism for solutions.A video snippet of our conversation: buildings as the 1st line of defense vs respiratory pathogens. Full videos of all Ground Truths podcasts can be seen on YouTube here. The audios are also available on Apple and Spotify.Transcript with External Links and Links to AudioEric Topol (00:00:06):Well, hello. It's Eric Topol from Ground Truths and I am just delighted to have with me, Joseph Allen from the Harvard School of Public Health, where he directs the Healthy Buildings Program that he founded and does a whole lot more that we're going to get into. So welcome, Joe.Joseph Allen (00:00:24):Thanks. It's great to be here. I appreciate the invitation.Joe Allen's Background As A DetectiveEric Topol (00:00:28):Well, you have been, as I've learned, rocking it for many years long before the pandemic. There's quite a background about you having been a son of a homicide detective, private eye agency, and then you were going to become an FBI agent. And the quote from that in the article that's the Air Investigator is truly a classic. Yeah, you have in there, “I guarantee I'm the only public health student ever to fail an FBI lie detector polygraph in the morning and start graduate school a few hours later.” That's amazing. That's amazing.Joseph Allen (00:01:29):All right. Well, you've done your deep research apparently. That's good. Yeah, my dad was a homicide detective and I was a private investigator. That's no longer my secret. It's out in the world. And I switched careers and it happened to be the day I took the polygraph at the FBI headquarters in Boston, was the same day I started graduate studies in public health.Sick vs Healthy Buildings (Pre-Covid)Eric Topol (00:01:53):Well, you're still a detective and now you're a detective of everything that can hurt us or help us environmentally and my goodness, how grateful we are that you change your career path. I don't know anyone who's had more impact on buildings, on air, and we're going to get into chemicals as well. So if we go back a bit here, you wrote a book before the pandemic, talk about being prescient. It's called Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Can Make You Sick - or Keep You Well with John Macomber, your co-author. What was it that gave you the insight to write a book before there was this thing called Covid?Joseph Allen (00:02:41):Yeah, well, thanks for making the connection too, my past career to current career. For many years, I thought there wasn't a connection, but I agree. There's actually a lot of similarities and I also am really appreciative. I am lucky I found the field of Public Health, it's clearly where I belong. I feel like I belong here. It's a place to make an impact that I want to make in my career. So yeah, the Healthy Buildings book, we started writing years before the pandemic and was largely motivated by, I think what you and others and other people in my field have known, is that buildings have an outsized impact on our health. Yet it's not something that comes to the forefront when you ask people about what matters for their health. Right, I often start presentations by asking people that, what constitutes healthy living? They'll say, I can't smoke, I have to eat well.(00:03:30):I have to exercise. Maybe they'll say, outdoor pollution's bad for you. Very few people, if any, will say, well, the air I breathe inside my building matters a lot. And over the years I had started my public health career doing forensic investigations of sick buildings. People really can get sick in buildings. It can be anything from headaches and not being able to concentrate all the way to cancer clusters and people dying because of the building. And I've seen this in my career, and it was quite frustrating because I knew, we all knew how to design and operate buildings in a way that can actually keep people healthy. But I was frustrated like many in my field that it wasn't advancing. In other words, the science was there, but the practice wasn't changing. We were still doing things the wrong way around ventilation, materials we put in our building, and I would lecture over and over and give presentations and I decided I want to try something new.(00:04:22):I do peer-reviewed science. That's great. I write pieces like you for the public, and I thought we'd try a longer form piece in a book, and it's published by Harvard Press. John Macomber for those who know is a professor at Harvard Business School who's an expert in real estate finance. So he'd been talking about the economic benefits of healthier buildings and some hand waving as he describes around public health. I've been talking about the public health benefits and trying to wave an economic argument. We teamed up to kind of use both of our strengths to, I hope make a compelling case that buildings are good for health and they're also just good business. In other words, try to break down as many barriers as we can to adoption. And then the book was published right as Covid hit.Indoor Air Quality and CognitionEric Topol (00:05:05):Yeah. I mean, it's amazing. I know that typically you have to have a book almost a year ahead to have it in print. So you were way, way ahead of this virus. Now, I'm going to come back to it later, but there were two things beyond the book that are pretty striking about your work. One is that you did all these studies to show with people wearing sensors to show that when the levels of CO2 were high by sensors that their cognition indoors was suffering. Maybe you could just tell us a little bit about these sensors and why aren't we all wearing sensors so that we don't lose whatever cognitive power that we have?Joseph Allen (00:05:56):Well, yeah. First I think we will start having these air quality sensors. As you know, they're starting to become a lot more popular. But yeah, when I first joined the faculty full-time at Harvard, one of the first studies I conducted with my team was to look at how indoor air quality influences cognitive function. And we performed a double-blind study where we took people, office workers and put them in a typical office setting. And unbeknownst to them, we started changing the air they were breathing in really subtle ways during the day, so they didn't know what we were doing. At the end of the day, we administered an hour and a half long cognitive function battery, and like all studies, we control for things like caffeine intake, baseline cognitive performance, all the other factors we want to account for. And after controlling for those factors in a double-blind study, we see that indoor air quality, minor improvements to indoor air quality led to dramatic increases in cognitive function test scores across domains that people recognize as important for everyday life.(00:06:59):How do you seek out and utilize information? How do you make strategic decisions? How do you handle yourself during a crisis and importantly recover after that crisis? I don't mean the world's ending crisis. I mean something happens at work that's stressful. How do you handle that and how do you respond? Well, it turns out that amongst all the factors that influence how we respond there, indoor air quality matters a lot. We call that study the COGfx Study for cognitive function. We replicated it across the US, we replicated it across the world with office workers around the world, and again, always showing these links, the subtle impact of indoor air quality on cognitive function performance. Now, that also then starts to be the basis for some of the economic analysis we perform with my colleague at Harvard Business School. We say, well, look, if you perform this much better related to air quality, what would happen if we implemented this at scale in a business?(00:07:51):And we estimate that there are just massive economic gains to be had. On a per person basis, we found and published on this, that's about $6,000 to $7,000 per person per year benefit across a company. It could lead to 10% gains to the bottom line performance of the company. And again, I'm a public health professor. My goal is to improve people's health, but we add a lens, mental health, brain health is part of health, and we add the economic lens to say, look, this is good for a worker of productivity and the costs are downright trivial when you compare it against the benefits, even just including the cognitive function benefits, not even including the respiratory health benefit.Eric Topol (00:08:33):And I mean, it's so striking that you did these studies in a time before sensors were, and they still are not widely accepted, and it really helped prove, and when we start to fall asleep in a group session indoors, it may not just be because we didn't have enough sleep the night before, right.Joseph Allen (00:08:56):It's funny you say that. I talk about that too. It's like, do we actually need the study to tell us to quantify what we've all experienced these bad conference rooms, you get tired, you can't concentrate, you get sleepy while you're driving your car. Yeah, a whole bunch of other factors. Maybe the speaker's boring, but a key factor is clearly indoor air quality and things like good ventilation, the chemical load in the space are all contributing.Eric Topol (00:09:20):Yeah. No, it's pretty darn striking. Now we're going to get into the pandemic, and this of course is when your work finally crystallized that you've been working on this for years, and then finally your collaboration with some of the aerosol experts. It was a transdisciplinary synergy that was truly extraordinary. And when you were on 60 Minutes last October, you said, “Think about the public health gains we've made over the past hundred years. We've made improvements to water quality, outdoor air pollution, our food safety, we've made improvements to sanitation: absolute basics of public health. Where has indoor air been in that conversation?” You brought it to us. I mean, you led the Lancet Commission on this. You've done a White House Summit keynote. You had a lot of influence. Why did it take us to finally wake up to this issue that you've been working on for years?Covid is Airborne, DenialJoseph Allen (00:10:31):Yeah. Well, I appreciate that, but I also liked what you started with. I mean, there's been a lot of us pulling on this, and I think one of the magical moments, if you could say that when the pandemic happened was that it forced these collaborations and forced a lot of us in our field to be a bit more vocal. And even that comment about the gains we made in public health, that comes from an article that we co-authored with 40 plus scientists around the world in science, trying to drive home the point that we've ignored one of the key factors that determines our health. We were all frustrated at the beginning of the pandemic. The first piece I wrote was January 2020, talking about healthy buildings as the first line of defense, airborne spread, ventilation, filtration. I could not get it published. I could not get it published.(00:11:20):So I moved it to an international paper. I wrote it in the Financial Times in early February, but it wasn't until mid-March that the Times took my piece on this airborne spread buildings ventilation. At the same time, we know people like Linsey Marr, Rich Corsi, many others, Shelly Miller out there publishing, doing the fundamental research, all trying to elevate, and I think we started to find each other and say, hey, someone's trying to hit the medical journals. We're not landing there. I'm trying to hit the Times, and we're not landing there. We're trying to get the reporters to pay attention. It's not landing there. Let's team up. Let's write these joint pieces. And I think what happened was you saw the benefit of the collective effort and interdisciplinary expertise, right? We could all start to come together, start instead of having these separate voices, a little bit of a unified voice despite important scientific minor disagreements, but start to say, hey, we started elevate each other and said, this is really important. It's the missing component of the messaging in the early days of the pandemic, and to know how to defend yourself.Eric Topol (00:12:20):Well, I think a lot of people think the big miss, and I know you agree, was the lack of recognition of aerosol transmission instead of just liquid droplets. But what you brought to this was really your priors on the buildings themselves and the ventilation systems and air quality that was highly, I mean, critical to it isn't just the aerosol, it's obviously how buildings are set up. Now, there's an amazing piece of course that appeared in the summer of 2021 called the Air Investigator, which profiled you, and in it brings up several things that finally are, we're starting to get our act together. I mean, ultimately there was in May 2023 years later, the CDC says, we're going to do something about this. Can you tell us what was this very distinct new path that the CDC was at least saying? And also couple that with whatever action if or not action has been taken.Joseph Allen (00:13:33):Yeah. So there really was a monumental shift that took, it was years in development, but we finally won the argument, collectively that airborne spread was the dominant mode of transmission. Okay, we got that. Then the question is, well, what changes? Do we actually get guidance here? And that took a little bit longer. I give Rochelle Walensky a lot of credit when she came into the CDC, we talked with her about this. That's when you start to first see ventilation starts showing up and the guidance, including guidance for schools. So I think that was a big win, but still no one was willing to set an official target or standard around higher ventilation rates. So that's important. Early in the pandemic, some people started to hear a message, yes, ventilation is important. What's the obvious next question, well, how much, what do I need? So in the summer of 2020, actually Shelly Miller and I collaborated on this.(00:14:23):We published some guidance on ventilation targets for schools. We said four to six air changes per hour (ACH) and target that. Well, it wasn't until 2023, spring of 2023 that you mentioned that CDC published target ventilation rates, and they went with five air changes per hour, which is right where we were talking about in summer 2020. It's what the Lancet of COVID-19 Commission adopted, but it's momentous in this way. It's the first time in CDCs history they've ever published a ventilation rate target for health. Now, I know this seems slow at the time, and it was, but if we think about some of the permanent gains that will come out of the pandemic. Pandemic changes society and science and policy and practice this, we are never going back. Now buildings will be a first line of defense for respiratory pathogens going forward that can no longer be ignored. And now we have the published target by CDC. That's a big deal because it's not just a recognition, but there's actually something to shoot for out there. It's a target I happen to like, I think there are differences between different scientists, but ultimately we've lifted the floor and said, look, we actually have to raise ventilation rates and we have something to shoot for. The public needed that kind of guidance a lot earlier, of course, but it was a big deal that it happened. It's just too bad it took until spring 2023.Eric Topol (00:15:46):Yeah, I certainly agree that it was momentous, but a year plus later, has there been any change as a result of this major proclamation, if you will?Joseph Allen (00:15:59):Well, I actually see a lot of change from a practitioner level, but I want to talk about it in two aspects. I see a lot of schools, universities, major companies that have made this shift. For example, in the 60 Minutes piece, I talk that I advised Amazon and globally they're measuring indoor air quality with real-time sensors in their buildings. I've worked with hundreds of school districts that have made improvements to indoor air quality. I know companies that have shifted their entire approach to how they design and operate their buildings. So it's happening. But what really needs to happen, Eric, if this movement is going to benefit everyone, is that these targets need to be codified. They need to go into building codes. It can't just be, oh, I've heard about this. So I made the decision. I have the resources and the money to make this improvement.(00:16:44):To create a healthy building or a healthy school, we need to be sure this gets built into our code. So it just becomes the way it's done. That is not happening. There are some efforts. There are some bills at the national level. Some states are trying to pass bills, and I have to say, this is why I'm optimistic. It feels very slow. I'm as frustrated as anybody. I wanted this done before the pandemic. As soon as the pandemic hit, we saw it. We knew what we needed to get done. It didn't happen. But if we think about the long arc here and the public health gains we're actually, it's remarkable to me that we actually have bills being introduced around indoor air quality that ASHRAE has set a new health focused target for the first time really in their history. CDC, first time. New buildings going up in New York City designed to these public health targets. That's really different. I've been in this field for 20 plus years. I've never seen anything like it. So the pace is still slow, but it really is happening. But it has to reach everybody, and the only way that's going to happen is really this gets into building codes and performance standards.The Old Efficient Energy BuildingsEric Topol (00:17:52):Yeah. Well, I like your optimistic perspective. I do want to go back for a second, back decades ago there was this big impetus to make these energy efficient buildings and to just change the way the buildings were constructed so that there was no leak and it kind of set up this problem or exacerbated, didn't it?Joseph Allen (00:18:19):Yeah. I mean, I've written about this a lot. I write in the book our ventilation standards, they've been a colossal mistake. They have cost the public in terms of its health because in the seventies, we started to really tighten up our building envelopes and lower the ventilation rates. The standards were no longer focused on providing people with a healthy indoor space. As I write in the book, they were targeted towards minimally acceptable indoor air quality, bare minimums. By the way that science is unequivocal, is not protective of health, not protective against respiratory pathogens, doesn't promote good cognitive function, not good for allergies. These levels led to more illness in schools, more absences for teachers and students, an absolute disaster from a public health standpoint. We've been in this, what I call the sick building era since then. Buildings that just don't bring in enough clean outdoor air. And now you take this, you have a building stock for 40 years tighter and tighter and tighter bumps up against a novel virus that spread nearly entirely indoors. Is it any wonder we had, the disaster we had with COVID-19, we built these bills. They were designed intentionally with low ventilation and poor filtration.Optimal Ventilation and FiltrationEric Topol (00:19:41):Yeah. Well, it's extraordinary because now we've got to get a reset and it's going to take a while to get this done. We'll talk a bit about cost of doing this or the investment, if you will, but let's just get some terms metrics straight because these are really important. You already mentioned ACH, the number of air changers per hour, where funny thing you recommended between four and six and the CDC came out with five. There's also the minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV). A lot of places, buildings have MERV 8, which is insufficient. We need MERV 13. Can you tell us about that?Joseph Allen (00:20:23):Yeah, sure. So I think when we think about how much, you have two ways to capture these respiratory particles, right? Or get rid of them. One is you dilute them out of the building or you capture them on filters. You can inactivate them through UV and otherwise. But let's just stay on the ventilation and filtration side of this. So the air changing per hour is talking about how often the air is change inside. It's an easy metric. There are some strengths to it, there's some weaknesses, but it's intuitive and I'll you some numbers so you can make sense of this. We recommended four to six air changes per hour. Typical home in the US has half an air change per hour. Typical school designed to three air changes per hour, but they operate usually at one and a half. So we tried to raise this up to four, five, or six or even higher. On the filtration side, you mentioned MERV, right? That's just a rating system for filters, and you can think about it this way. Most of the filters that are in a building are cheap MERV 8 filters, I tend to think of them as filters that protect the equipment. A MERV 13 filter may capture 80 or 90% of particles. That's a filter designed to protect people. The difference in price between a MERV 8 and a MERV 13 is a couple of bucks.(00:21:30):And a lot of the pushback we got early in the pandemic, some people said, well, look, there's a greater resistance from the better filter. My fan can't handle it. My HVAC system can't handle it. That was nonsense. You have low pressure drop MERV 13 filters. In other words, there really wasn't a barrier. It was a couple extra bucks for a filter that went from a MERV 8 might capture 20 or 30% to a filter, MERV 13 that captures 80 or 90% with very little, if any impact on energy or mechanical system performance. Absolute no-brainer. We should have been doing this for decades because it also protects against outdoor air pollution and other particles we generate indoors. So that was a no-brainer. So you combine both those ventilation filtration, some of these targets are out there in terms of air change per hour. You can combine the metric if we want to get technical to talk about it, but basically you're trying to create an overall amount of clean air. Either you bring in fresh outdoor air or you filter that air. It really is pretty straightforward, but we just didn't have some of these targets set and the standards we're calling for these minimum acceptable levels, which we're not protective of health.Eric Topol (00:22:37):So another way to get better air quality are these portable air cleaners, and you actually just wrote about that with your colleagues in the Royal Society of Chemistry, not a journal that I typically read, but this was an important article. Can you give us, these are not very expensive ways to augment air quality. Can you tell us about these PACs ?Joseph Allen (00:23:06):These portable air cleaners (PACs), so the same logic applies if people say, well, I can't upgrade my system. That's not a problem for very low cost, you could have, these devices are essentially a fan and a filter, and the amount of clean air you get depends on how strong the fan is and how good the filter is. Really pretty simple stuff here, and you can put one of these in a room if it's sized right. My Harvard team has built tools to help people size this. If you're not quite sure how to do it, we have a technical explainer. Really, if you size it right, you can get that four, five or six air changes per hour, very cheap and very quickly. So this was a tool I thought would be very valuable. Rich Corsi and I wrote about this all through the summer of 2020 to talk about, hey, a stop gap measure.(00:23:50):Let's throw out some of these portable air cleaners. You increase the air changes or clean air delivery pretty effectively for very low cost, and they work. And now the paper we just published in my team a couple of days ago starts to advance this more. We used a CFD model, so computational fluid dynamics. Essentially, you can look at the tracers and the airflow patterns in the room, and we learn a couple things that matter. Placement matters, so we like it in the center of the room if you can or as close as possible. And also the airflow matters. So the air cleaners are cleaning the air, but they're also moving the air, and that helps disperse these kind of clouds or plumes when an infected person is breathing or speaking. So you want to have good ventilation, good filtration. Also a lot of air movement in the space to help dilute and move around some of these respiratory particles so that they do get ventilated out or captured in a filter.Eric Topol (00:24:40):Yeah. So let me ask you, since we know outdoors are a lot safer. If you could do all these things indoors with filtration, air changing the quality, can you simulate the outdoors to get rid of the risk or markedly reduce the risk of respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and others?Joseph Allen (00:25:04):Yeah, you can't drop it to zero. There's no such thing as zero risk in any of these environments. But yeah, I think some of the estimates we've seen in my own team has produced in the 60-70% reduction range. I mean, if you do this right with really good ventilation filtration, you can drop that risk even further. Now, things like distancing matter, whether or not somebody's wearing a mask, these things are all going to play into it. But you can really dramatically drop the risk by handling just the basics of ventilation and filtration. And one way to think about it is this, distance to the infector still matters, right? So if you and I are speaking closely and I breathe on you, it's going to be hard to interrupt that flow. But you can reduce it through good ventilation filtration. But really what it's doing also is preventing super spreading events.(00:25:55):In other words, if I'm in the corner of a room and I'm infectious and you're on the other side, well if that room is sealed up pretty good, poor ventilation, no filtration, the respiratory aerosols are going to build up and your risk is going to increase and we're in there for an hour or two, like you would be in a room or office and you're exposed to infectious aerosol. With good ventilation filtration, those respiratory particles don't have a chance to reach you, or by the time they do, they're much further diluted. Linsey Marr I think was really great early in the pandemic by talking about this in terms of cigarette smoke. So a small room with no ventilation filtration, someone smoking in the corner, yeah, it's going to fill up over time with smoke you're breathing in that secondhand smoke. In a place with great ventilation filtration, that's going to be a lot further reduced, right? You're not going to get the buildup of the smoke and smoke particles are going to operate similarly to respiratory particles. So I think it's intuitive and it's logical. And if you follow public health guidance of harm reduction, risk reduction, if you drop exposure, you drop risk.(00:26:58):The goal is to reduce exposure. How do we do that? Well, we can modify the building which is going to play a key role in exposure reduction.Eric Topol (00:27:06):Now, to add to this, if I wear a sensor or have a sensor in the room for CO2, does that help to know that you're doing the right thing?Joseph Allen (00:27:17):Yeah, absolutely. So people who are not familiar with these air quality sensors. They're small portal air quality sensors. One of the things they commonly measure is carbon dioxide. We're the main source of CO2 inside. It's a really good indicator of ventilation rate and occupancy. And the idea is pretty simple. If the CO2 is low, you don't have a buildup of particles from the respiratory tract, right? And CO2 is a gas, but it's a good indicator of overall ventilation rate. This room I'm in right now at the Harvard School of Public Health has air quality sensors. We have this at Harvard Business School. We have it at the Harvard Health Clinics. Many other places are doing it, Boston Public schools have real-time air quality monitors. Here's the trick with CO2. So first I'll say we have some guidance on this at the Harvard Healthy Buildings page, if people want to go look it up, how to choose an air quality sensor, how to interpret CO2 levels.Carbon Dioxide Levels(00:28:04):But here's a way to think about it. We generally would like to see CO2 levels less than 800 parts per million. Historically, people in my field have said under 1,000 is okay. We like to see that low. If your CO2 is low, the risk is low. If your CO2 is high, it doesn't necessarily mean your risk is high because that's where filtration can come in. So let me say that a little bit better. If CO2 is low, you're diluting enough of the respiratory particles. If it's high, that means your ventilation is low, but you might have excellent filtration happening. Either those MERV 13 filters we talked about or the portable air cleaners. Those filters don't capture CO2. So high CO2 just means you better have a good filter game in place or the risk is going to be high. So if you CO2 is low, you're in good shape. If it's high, you don't quite know. But if you have bad filtration, then the risk is going to be much higher.Eric Topol (00:29:01):I like that 800 number because that's a little lower than some of the other thresholds. And why don't we do as good as we can? The other question about is a particulate matter. So we are worried about the less than 5 microns, less than 2.5 microns. Can you tell us about that and is there a way that you can monitor that directly?Joseph Allen (00:29:25):Sure. A lot of these same sensors that measure CO2 also measure PM 2.5 which stands for particular matter. 2.5 microns is smaller, one of the key components of outdoor air pollution and EPA just set new standards, right? WHO has a standard for 5 microgram per cubic meter. EPA just lowered our national outdoor limit from 12 to 9 microgram per cubic meter. So that's a really good indicator of how well your filters are working. Here again, in a place like this or where you are, you should see particle levels really under 5 microgram per cubic meter without any major source happening. What's really interesting about those like the room I'm in now, when the wildfire smoke came through the East coast last year, levels were extraordinary outside 100, 200, 300 microgram per cubic meter. But because we have upgraded our filters, so we use MERV 15 here at Harvard, the indoor levels of particles stayed very low.(00:30:16):So it shows you how the power of these filters can actually, they do a really good job of capturing particles, whether it be from our lungs or from some other source. So you can measure this, but I'll tell you what's something interesting, if you want to tie it into our discussion about standards. So we think about particles. We have a lot of standards for outdoor air pollution. So there's a national ambient air quality standard 9 microgram per cubic meter. We don't have standards for indoor air quality. The only legally enforceable standard for indoor particles is OSHA's standard, and it's 5,000 microgram per cubic meter 5,000.(00:30:59):And it's absurd, right? It's an absurdity. Here we are EPAs, should it be 12, should it be 9, or should it be 8? And for indoors, the legally enforceable limit for OSHA 5,000. So it points to the big problem here. We talked about earlier about the need for these standards to codify some of this. Yes, we have awareness from the public. We have sensors to measure this. We have CDC now saying what we were saying with the Lancet COVID-19 Commission and elsewhere. This is big movement, but the standards then need to come up behind it and get into code and new standards that are health focused and health based. And we have momentum, but we can't lose it right now because it's the first time in my career I felt like we're on the cusp of really getting this and we are so close. But of course it's always in danger of slipping through our fingers.Regulatory Oversight for AirEric Topol (00:31:45):Well, does this have anything to do with the fact that in the US there's no regulatory oversight over air as opposed to let's say Japan or other places?Joseph Allen (00:31:57):Yeah, I mean, we have regulatory oversight of outdoor air. That's EPA. There's a new bill that was introduced to give EPA more resources to deal with indoor air. EPA has got a great indoor air environments division, but it doesn't have the legally enforceable mandate or statute that we have for outdoor. So they'd give great guidance and have for a long time. I really like that group at EPA, but there's no teeth behind this. So what we have is worker health protections at OSHA to its own admission, says its standards are out of date. So we need an overhaul of how we think about the standards. I like the market driven approach. I think that's being effective, and I think we can do it from voluntary standards that can get adopted into code at the municipal level. I think that's a real path. I see it happening. I see the influence of all this work hitting legislators. So that's where I think the most promising path is for real change.The Risks of Outdoor Air Pollution Eric Topol (00:33:03):Yeah, I think sidestepping, governmental teeth, that probably is going to be a lot quicker. Now, before we get to the cost issue, I do want to mention, as you know very well, the issue of air pollution in Science a dedicated issue just a few weeks ago, it brought up, of course, that outdoor air pollution we've been talking about indoor is extraordinary risk for cancer, dementia, diabetes, I mean everything. Just everything. And there is an interaction between outdoor pollution and what goes on indoor. Can you explain basically reaffirm your concern about particulate matter outdoors, and then what about this interaction with what goes on indoors?Joseph Allen (00:33:59):Yeah, so it's a great point. I mean, outdoor pollution has been one of the most studied environmental pollutants we know. And there's all of these links, new links between Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson's disease, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular health, you named it, right? I've been talking about this and very vocal. It's in the book and elsewhere I called the dirty secret of outdoor air pollution. The reality is outdoor air pollution penetrates indoors, and the amount depends on the building structure, the type of filters you have. But let's take an infiltration value of say 50%. So you have a lot of outdoor air pollution, maybe half of that penetrates inside, so it's lower, the concentration is lower, but 90% of the breaths you take are indoor. And if you do the math on it, it's really straightforward. The majority of outdoor air pollution you breathe happens inside.(00:34:52):And people, I think when they hear that think, wait, that can't be right. But that's the reality that outdoor pollution comes inside and we're taking so many breaths inside. Your total daily dose of outdoor air pollution is greater from the time you spend inside. I talk about this all the time. You see any article about outdoor air pollution, what's the cover picture? It's someone outside, maybe they're wearing a mask you can't really see. It's smoky hazy. But actually one of the biggest threats is what's happening inside. The nice thing here, again, the solutions are pretty simple and cost-effective. So again, upgrade from MERV 8 to MERV 13, a portable air cleaner. We are just capturing particles on a filter basic step that can really reduce the threat of outdoor air pollution inside. But it's ignored all the time. When the wildfire smoke hit New York City. New York City's orange, I called colleagues who are in the news business.(00:35:48):We have to be talking about the indoor threat because the guidance was good, but incomplete. Talk about Mayor Adams in New York City. Go inside, okay, that's good advice. And go to a place that has good filtration or they should have been giving out these low cost air cleaners. So just going inside isn't going to protect your lungs unless you're actually filtering a lot more of that air coming in. So trying to drive home the point here that actually we talk about these in silos. Well, wildfire smoke and particles, Covid and respiratory particles, we're all talking about these different environmental issues that harm our health, but they're all happening through or mediated by the building performance. And if we just get the building performance right, some basics around good ventilation, good filtration, you start to address multiple threats simultaneously. Outdoor air pollution, wildfire smoke, allergens, COVID-19, influenza, RSV, better cognitive function performance, anxiety. You start addressing the root cause or one of the contributors and buildings we can then start to leverage as a true public health tool. We have not taken advantage of the power of buildings to be a true public health tool.Eric Topol (00:36:59):Oh, you say it so well, and in fact your Table on page 44 in Healthy Buildings , we'll link it because it shows quantitatively what you just described about outdoor and indoor cross fertilization if you will. Now before leaving air pollution outdoors, indoors, in order for us to affect this transformation that would markedly improve our health at the public health individual level, we're talking about a big investment. Can you put that in, you did already in some respects, but if we did this right in every school, I think in California, they're trying to mandate that in schools, in the White House, they're mandating federal buildings. This is just a little piece of what's needed. This would cost whatever trillions or hundreds of billions of dollars. What would it take to do this? Because obviously the health benefits would be so striking.What's It Gonna Cost?Joseph Allen (00:38:04):Well, I think one of the issues, so we can talk about the cost. A lot of the things I'm talking about are intentionally low cost, right? You look at the Lancet of COVID-19 Commission, our report we wrote a report on the first four healthy building strategies every building should pursue. Number one commission your building that's giving your building a tune-up. Well, guess what? That not only improves air quality, it saves energy and therefore saves money. It actually becomes cost neutral. If not provides an ROI after a couple of years. So that's simple. Increase the amount of outdoor air ventilation coming in that has an energy cost, we've written about this. Improved filtration, that's a couple bucks, really a couple bucks, this is small dollars or portable air cleaners, not that expensive. I think one of the big, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has written this famous paper people like to cite that shows there's $20 billion of benefits to the US economy if we do this.(00:38:59):And I think it points to one of the problems. And what I try to address in my book too, is that very often when we're having this conversation about what's it going to cost, we don't talk about the full cost benefit. In other words, we say, well, it's going to cost X amount. We can't do that. But we don't talk about what are the costs of sick buildings? What are the costs of kids being out of school for an entire year? What are the costs of hormonal disruption to an entire group of women in their reproductive years due to the material choices we make in our buildings? What are the costs to outdoor air pollution and cardiovascular disease, mental health? Because we don't have good filters in our buildings that cost a couple dollars. So in our book, we do this cost benefit analysis in the proforma in our book, we lay out what the costs are to a company. We calculate energy costs. We say these are the CapEx costs, capital costs for fixed costs and the OpEx costs for operating expenditures. That's a classic business analysis. But we factor in the public health benefits, productivity, reduced absenteeism. And you do that, and I don't care how you model it, you are going to get the same answer that the benefits far outweigh the cost by orders of magnitude.Eric Topol (00:40:16):Yeah, I want to emphasize orders of magnitude. Not ten hundred, whatever thousand X, right?Joseph Allen (00:40:23):What would be the benefit if we said we could reduce influenza transmission indoors in schools and offices by even a small percent because we improve ventilation and filtration? Think of the hospitalization costs, illness costs, out of work costs, out of school costs. The problem is we haven't always done that full analysis. So the conversation gets quickly to well, that's too much. We can't afford that. I always say healthy buildings are not expensive. Sick buildings are expensive. Totally leave human health out of that cost benefit equation. And then it warps this discussion until you bring human health benefits back in.Forever ChemicalsEric Topol (00:40:58):Well, I couldn't agree more with you and I wanted to frame this by giving this crazy numbers that people think it's going to cost to the reality. I mean, if there ever was an investment for good, this is the one that you've outlined so well. Alright, now I want to turn to this other topic that you have been working on for years long before it kind of came to the fore, and that is forever chemicals. Now, forever chemicals, I had no idea that back in 2018 you coined this term. You coined the term, which is now a forever on forever chemicals. And basically, this is a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but no one will remember that. They will remember forever chemicals. So can you tell us about this? Because this of course recently, as you know well in May in the New Yorker, there was an expose of 3M, perhaps the chief offender of these. They're everywhere, but especially they were in 3M products and continue to be in 3M products. Obviously they've been linked with all kinds of bad things. What's the story on forever chemicals?Joseph Allen (00:42:14):Yeah, they are a class of chemicals that have been used for decades since the forties. And as consumers, we like them, right? They're the things that make your raincoat repel rain. It makes your non-stick pan, your scrambled eggs don't stick to the pan. We put them on carpets for stain resistance, but they came with a real dark side. These per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, as I say, a name only a chemist could love have been linked with things like testicular cancer, kidney cancer, interference with lipid metabolism, other hormonal disruption. And they are now a global pollutant. And one of the reasons I wrote the piece to brand them as forever chemicals was because I'm in the field of environmental health. We had been talking about these for a long time and I just didn't hear the public aware or didn't capture their attention. And part of it, I think is how we talk about some of these things.(00:43:14):I think a lot about this. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, no one's going to, so the forever chemicals is actually a play on their defining feature. So these chemicals, these stain repellent chemicals are characterized by long chains of the carbon fluorine bond. And when we string these together that imparts this and you put them on top of a product that imparts the property of stain resistance, grease resistance, water resistance, but the carbon fluorine bond is the strongest in all of organic chemistry. And these chains of the carbon fluorine bond never fully break down in the environment. And when we talk in my field about persistent organic pollutants, we talk about chemicals that break down on the order of decades. Forever chemicals don't break down. They break down the order of millennia. That's why we're finding them everywhere. We know they're toxic at very low levels. So the idea of talking about forever chemicals, I wanted to talk about their foreverness.(00:44:13):This is permanent. What we're creating and the F and the C are the play on the carbon-fluorine bond and I wrote an article trying to raise awareness about this because some companies that have produced these have known about their toxicity for decades, and it's just starting the past couple of years, we're just starting to pay attention to the scale of environmental pollution. Tens of millions of Americans have forever chemicals in their drinking water above the safe limit, tens of millions. I worked as an expert in a big lawsuit for the plaintiffs that were drinking forever chemicals in their water that was dumped into the drinking water supply by a manufacturing company. I met young men with testicular cancer from drinking forever chemicals in their water. These really has escaped the public's consciousness, it wasn't really talked about. Now of course, we know every water body, we use these things in firefighting foams or every airport has water pollution.(00:45:17):Most airports do. Firefighters are really concerned about this, high rates of cancer in the firefighter population. So this is a major problem, and the cleanup is not straightforward or easy because they're now a global pollutant. They persist forever. They're hard to remediate and we're stuck with them. So that's the downside, I can talk about the positives. I try to remain an optimist or things we're doing to try to solve this problem, but that's ultimately the story. And my motivation was I just to have people have language to be able to talk about this that didn't require a degree in organic chemistry to understand what they were.Eric Topol (00:45:52):Yeah, I mean their pervasiveness is pretty scary. And I am pretty worried about the fact that we still don't know a lot of what they're doing in terms of clinical sequela. I mean, you mentioned a couple types of cancer, but I don't even know if there is a safe threshold.Joseph Allen (00:46:16):Eric, I'll tell you one that'll be really interesting for you. A colleague of mine did a famous study on forever chemicals many years ago now and found that kids with higher levels of forever chemicals had reduced vaccine effectiveness related to these chemicals. So your point is, right, a lot of times we're using these industrial chemicals. We know a couple endpoints for their affecting our bodies, but we don't know all of them. And what we know is certainly alarming enough that we know enough to know we shouldn't be using them.Eric Topol (00:46:51):And you wrote another masterful op-ed in the Washington Post, 6 forever chemical just 10,000 to go. Maybe you could just review what that was about.Joseph Allen (00:47:02):Yeah, I've been talking a lot about this issue I call chemical whack-a-mole. So forever chemical is the perfect example of it. So we finally got people's attention on forever chemicals. EPA just regulated 6 of them. Well, guess what? There are 10,000 if not many more than that. Different variants or what we call chemical cousins. Now that's important for this reason. If you think about how we approach these from a regulatory standpoint, each of the 10,000 plus forever chemicals are treated as different. So by the time EPA regulates 6, that's important. It does free up funding for cleanup and things like this. But already the market had shifted away from those 6. So in other words, in the many thousand products that still use forever chemicals, they're no longer using those 6 because scientists have told people these things are toxic years ago. So they switch one little thing in the chemical, it becomes a new chemical from a regulatory perspective.(00:47:57):But to our bodies, it's the same thing. This happens over and over. This has happened with pesticides. It happens with chemicals and nail polish. It happens in chemicals in e-cigarettes. It happens with flame retardant chemicals. I wrote a piece in the Post maybe six years ago talking about chemical whack-a-mole, and this problem that we keep addressing, these one-off, we hit one, it changes just slightly. Chemical cousin pops up, we hit that one. Five years later, scientists say, hey, the next one doesn't look good either. We're doing this for decades. It's really silly. It's ineffective, it's broken, and there are better ways to handle this going forward.Eric Topol (00:48:31):And you know what gets me, and it's like in the pharma industry that I've seen the people who run these companies like 3M that was involved in a multi-decade coverup, they're never held accountable. I mean, they know what they're doing and they just play these games that you outlined. They're still using 16,000 products, according to the New Yorker, the employee that exposed them, the whistleblower in the New Yorker article.Joseph Allen (00:48:58):That was an amazing article by Sharon Lerner talking to the people who had worked there and she uncovered that they knew the toxicity back in the seventies, and yes, they were still making these products. One of the things that I think has gotten attention of some companies is while the regulations have been behind, the lawsuits are piling up.Joseph Allen (00:49:21):The lawsuit I was a part of as an expert for that was about an $800 million settlement in favor of the plaintiffs. A couple months later is another one that was $750 million. So right there, $1.5 billion, there's been several billion dollars. This has caught the attention of companies. This has caught the attention of product manufacturers who are using the forever chemicals, starting to realize they need to reformulate. And so, in a good way now, that's not the way we should be dealing with this, but it has started to get companies to wake up that maybe they had been sleeping on it, that this is a major problem and actually the markets have responded to it.Eric Topol (00:50:02):Well, that's good.Joseph Allen (00:50:03):Because these are major liabilities on the books.Eric Topol (00:50:05):Yeah, I mean, I think what I've seen of course with being the tobacco industry and I was involved with Vioxx of course, is the companies just appeal and appeal and it sounds really good that they've had to pay $800 million, but they never wind up paying anything because they basically just use their muscle and their resources to appeal and put it off forever. So I mean, it's one way to deal with it is a litigation, but it seems like that's not going to be enough to really get this overhauled. I don't know. You may be more sanguine.Joseph Allen (00:50:44):No, no, I agree with you. It's the wrong way. I mean, we don't want to, the solution here is not to go after companies after people are sick. We need get in front of this and be proactive. I mentioned it only because I know it has made other companies pay attention how many billion does so-and-so sue for. So that's a good signal that other companies are starting to move away from forever chemicals. But I do want to talk about one of the positive approaches we're doing at Harvard, and we have a lot of other partners in the private sector doing this. We're trying to turn off the spigot of forever chemicals entering the market in the first place. As a faculty advisor to what we call the Harvard Healthier Building Materials Academy, we publish new standards. We no longer buy products that have forever chemicals in them for our spaces.(00:51:31):So we buy a chair or carpet. We demand no forever chemicals. What's really neat about this is we also say, we treat them as a whole class. We don't say we don't want PFOA. That's one of the regulated chemicals. We say we don't want any of the 10,000. We are not waiting for the studies to show us they act like the other ones. We've kind of been burned by this for decades. So we're actually telling the suppliers we don't want these chemicals and they're delivering products to us without these chemicals in them. We have 50 projects on our campus built with these new design standards without forever chemicals and other toxic chemicals. We've also done studies that a doctoral student done the study. When we do this, we find lower levels of these chemicals in air and dust, of course. So we're showing that it works.(00:52:19):Now, the goal is not to say, hey, we just want to make Harvard a healthier campus and the hell with everybody else. The goal is to show it can be done with no impact to cost, schedule or product performance. We get a healthier environment, products look great, they perform great. We've also now partnered with other big companies in the tech industry in particular to try and grow or influence the market by saying, look how many X amount of purchasing dollars each year? And it's a lot, and we're demanding that our carpets don't have this, that our chairs don't have it, and the supply chain is responding. The goal, of course, is to just make it be the case that we just have healthy materials in the supply chain for everybody. So if you or I, or anybody else goes to buy a chair, it just doesn't have toxic chemicals in it.Eric Topol (00:53:06):Right, but these days the public awareness still isn't there, nor are the retailers that are selling whether it's going to buy a rug or a chair or new pots and pans. You can't go in and say, does this have any forever chemicals? They don't even know, right?Joseph Allen (00:53:24):Impossible. I study this and it's hard for me when I go out to try and find and make better decisions for myself. This is one of the reasons why we're working, of course, trying to help with the regulatory side, but also trying to change the market. Say, look, you can produce the similar product without these chemicals, save yourself for future lawsuits. Also, there's a market for healthy materials, and we want everybody to be a part of that market and just fundamentally change the supply chain. It's not ideal, but it's what we can do to influence the market. And honestly, we're having a lot of impact. I've been to these manufacturing plants where they have phased out these toxic chemicals.Eric Topol (00:54:03):That's great to hear.Joseph Allen (00:54:06):And we see it working on our campus and other companies' campuses.Eric Topol (00:54:10):Well, nobody can ever accuse you of not taking on big projects, okay.Joseph Allen (00:54:15):You don't get into public health unless you want to tackle the big ones that are really going to influence.Micro(nano) PlasticsEric Topol (00:54:20):Well, that's true, Joe, but I don't know anybody who's spearheading things like you. So it's phenomenal. Now before we wrap up, there's another major environmental problem which has come to the fore, which are plastics, microplastics, nanoplastics. They're everywhere too, and they're incriminated with all the things that we've been talking about as well. What is your view about that?Joseph Allen (00:54:48):Well, I think it's one, well, you see the extent of the pollution. It's a global pollutant. These are petrochemicals. So it's building up, and these are fossil fuel derivatives. So you can link this not just to the direct human health impacts, the ecosystem impacts, but also ecosystem and health impacts through climate change. So we've seen our reliance on plastics grow exponentially over the past several decades, and now we're seeing the price we're paying for that, where we're seeing plastics, but also microplastics kind of everywhere, much like the forever chemicals. Everywhere we look, we find them and we're just starting to scratch a surface on what we know about the environmental impacts. I think there's a lot more that can be done here. Try to be optimistic again, at least if you find a problem, you got to try and point to some kind of solution or at least a pathway towards solutions.(00:55:41):But I like some of the stuff from others colleagues at Yale in particular on the principles of green chemistry. I write about them in my book a little bit, but it's this designing for non-permanence or biodegradable materials so that if we're using anything that we're not leaving these permanent and lasting impacts on our ecosystem that then build up and they build up in the environment, then they build up in all of us and in our food systems. So it seems to me that should be part of it. So think about forever chemicals. Should we be using chemicals that never break down in the environment that we know are toxic? How do we do that? As Harvard, one of the motivating things here for forever chemicals too, is how are we ignoring our own science? Everyone's producing this science, but how do we ignore even our own and we feel we have responsibility to the communities next to us and the communities around the world. We're taking action on climate change. How are we not taking action on these chemicals? I put plastics right in there in terms of the environmental pollutants that largely come from our built environment, food products and the products we purchase and use in our homes and in our bodies and in all the materials we use.Eric Topol (00:56:50):When you see the plastic show up in our arteries with a three, four-fold increase of heart attacks and strokes, when you see it in our testicles and every other organ in the body, you start to wonder, are we ever going to do something about this plastic crisis? Which is somewhat distinct from the forever chemicals. I mean, this is another dimension of the problem. And tying a lot of this together, you mentioned, we are not going to get into it today, but our climate crisis isn't being addressed fast enough and it's making all these things exacerbating.Joseph Allen (00:57:27):Yeah, let me touch on that because I think it is important. It gets to something I said earlier about a lot of these problems we treat as silos, but I think a lot of the problems run through our buildings, and that means buildings are part of the solution set. Buildings consume 40% of global energy.(00:57:42):Concrete and steel count for huge percentages of our global CO2 emissions. So if we're going to get climate solved, we're going to have to solve it through our buildings too. So when you start putting this all together, Eric, right, and this is why I talk about buildings as healthy buildings could potentially be one of the greatest public health interventions we have of this century. If we get it right, and I don't mean we get the Covid part, right. We get the forever chemicals part, right. Or the microplastics part, right. If you start getting this all right, good ventilation, better filtration, healthy materials across the board, energy efficient systems, so we're not drawing on the energy demand of our buildings that are contributing to the climate crisis. Buildings that also address climate adaptation and resilience. So they protect us from extreme heat, wildfire smoke, flooding that we know is coming and happening right now.(00:58:37):You put that all together and it shows the centrality of buildings on our collective health from our time spent indoors, but also their contribution to environmental health, which is ultimately our collective human health as well. And this is why I'm passionate about healthy buildings as a real good lens to put this all under. If we start getting these right, the decisions we make around our buildings, we can really improve the human condition across all of these dimensions we're talking about. And I actually don't think it's all that hard in all of these. I've seen solutions.Eric Topol (00:59:12):I'm with you. I mean, there's innovations that are happening to take the place of concrete, right?Joseph Allen (00:59:20):Sure. We have low emission concrete right now that's available. We have energy recovery ventilation available right now. We have real time sensors. We can do demand control ventilation right now. We have better filters right now. We have healthy materials right now.(00:59:33):We have this, we have it. And it's not expensive if we quantify the health benefits, the many, many multiple benefits. So it's all within our reach, and it's just about finding these different pathways. Some of its market driven, some of it's regulatory, some of it's at the local level, some of it's about raising awareness, giving people the language to talk about these things. So I do think it's the real beginning of the healthy buildings era. I really, truly believe it. I've never seen change like this in my field. I've been chasing sick buildings for a long time.Joseph Allen (01:00:11):And clearly there's pathways to do better.Eric Topol (01:00:13):You're a phenom. I mean, really, you not only have all the wisdom, but you articulate it so well. I mean, you're leading the charge on this, and we're really indebted to you. I'm really grateful for you taking an hour of your busy time to enlighten us on this. I think what you're doing is it's going to keep you busy for your whole career.Joseph Allen (01:00:44):Well, the goal here is for me to put myself out of business. We shouldn't have a healthy buildings program. It just should be the way it's done. So I'm looking forward to the time out of business, hopefully have a healthy building future, then I can retire, be happy, and we'll be onto the next big problem.Eric Topol (01:00:57):We'll all be following your writings, which are many, and fortunately not just for science publications, but also for the public though, they're so important because the awareness level as I can't emphasize enough, it's just not there yet. And I think this episode is going to help bring that to a higher level. So Joe, thank you so much for everything you're doing.Joseph Allen (01:01:20):Well, I appreciate it. Thanks for what you're doing too, and thanks for inviting me on. We can't get the word out unless we start sharing it across our different audiences, so I appreciate it. Thanks so much.Eric Topol (01:01:28):You bet.***********************************************A PollThanks for listening, reading or watching!The Ground Truths newsletters and podcasts are all free, open-access, without ads.Please share this post/podcast with your friends and network if you found it informative!Voluntary paid subscriptions all go to support Scripps Research. Many thanks for that—they greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for 2023 and 2024.Thanks to my producer Jessica Nguyen and Sinjun Balabanoff for audio and video support at Scripps Research.Note: you can select preferences to receive emails about newsletters, podcasts, or all I don't want to bother you with an email for content that you're not interested in. Get full access to Ground Truths at erictopol.substack.com/subscribe
Paul Jerome is a Haitian-American actor, writer, director, and producer, whose career spans theatre, television, and film. As an actor, his credits include roles in ABC's Sister, Sister, The Drew Carey Show, and Spin City. He's also been on FOX's 9-1-1 and Boston Public, BET's Twenties, and The DL Chronicles. The gay-themed LOGO series created by filmmakers Quincy LeNear and Deondray Gossfield. As a writer and producer, Paul has worked on shows like The Big Dick Mike Show and B-Boy Bear. One of his more recent projects includes the film, Maxie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Boston Art Podcast sits down with Boston Public Art Triennial's executive director, Kate Gilbert. What is the Triennial? What are they planning? How will this change Boston's art community? Listen to hear all of that and more.
A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight, we're going to continue to highlight the podcast Continental Shifts created by bi-coastal educators Gabriel Anthony Tanglao and Estella Owoimaha-Church who embark on a voyage in search of self, culture and the ancestors. TRANSCRIPT Episode 4 with Yan Yii Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express. Swati Rayasam: [00:00:35] Good evening, everyone. You're listening to Apex Express Thursday nights at 7 PM. My name is Swati Rayasam and I'm the special editor for this episode. Tonight, we're going to continue to highlight the podcast Continental Shifts created by bi-coastal educators Gabriel Anthony Tanglao and Estella Owoimaha-Church who embark on a voyage in search of self, culture and the ancestors. Last time we featured the ConShifts podcast, gabriel and Estella talked about anti-blackness in the PI community. And tonight they're talking to union leader and educator Yan Yii about creating culturally relevant classrooms, the importance and emotional toll of teachers being a social safety net for marginalized students, and the ever-growing union presence in education. If this is your first touch into the ConShifts podcast, I strongly recommend diving into the apex archives on kpfa.org, backslash programs, backslash apex express. But for now, let's get to the show. Yan Yii: [00:01:38] But what about the other 179 days? We can't just celebrate them for one day a year. Or one month a year. We can't just say, okay, Black History Month and we're done. We have to celebrate our students all year long. Because, and we need to change the curriculum. You know, we talked about decolonizing curriculum. I am purposeful in the books that I choose to use in my classroom because, yes, I can teach “Number the Stars” for the 600th time, or maybe I can decide to use a book that reflects my students. Gabriel: [00:02:10] How do we attract API educators into the workforce and support them throughout their professional journey? In this episode, we rap with Yan Yii on increasing the number of API educators that are coming through our teacher pipeline and emerging as union leaders. Estella: [00:02:26] What up, what up? Tālofa lava, o lo'u igoa o Estella. My pronouns are she/her/hers, sis, and uso. Gabriel: [00:02:32] What's good, family? This is Gabriel. Kumusta? Pronouns, he/him. Estella: [00:02:36] I have the pleasure of introducing our guest today, Yan Yii. Yan is a fifth grade teacher in Canton, Massachusetts, local board president of the Canton Teachers Association. NEA Board of Director for Massachusetts and serves as the Northeast Regional Director for the NEA Asian and Pacific Islanders Caucus. We want to be intentional, though, about not centering our professions above who we are. So Yan, could you please share with us who you are, how do you identify, and who are your people? Yan Yii: [00:03:05] Hi, as you said, I'm a fifth grade teacher. I'm in my 14th year of teaching. In Massachusetts public schools and I am one of six or seven Asian Pacific Islander NEA board of directors. And I think that number has doubled since last year, which is pretty exciting. I would say that I am a proud daughter of two immigrant Chinese parents. My dad grew up in Malaysia and my mom grew up in Hong Kong and you know being Chinese has always been a huge part of who I am, but it's also been an interesting divide growing up in America because, I've always been split between speaking English and speaking Chinese, you know, even an elementary level, my life was so split in two having my Chinese school on Sundays while all my friends went to church and then going to American school during the week. And that was a huge part of my life separating out, you know, who I was at school and who I was at home, what I spoke at school and what I spoke at home. And, you know, it's funny being bilingual. My friends have always asked like, “When did you learn how to speak English?” And I'm like, “I don't remember.” I know I went to school speaking English. I know that my brothers have always only spoken to me in English, but my parents only speak Cantonese to me. You know, Boston is a huge Cantonese community or it used to be anyways, it's a little more mixed now in our Chinatown, but it's an interesting divide because I remember being in college and having friends who made fun of the way I talked my English was spoken weirdly from my American friends and my Chinese was off for my Chinese friends. It was this difficulty finding a place where you really belong but I would say a huge part of why I became an educator was because of learning about my identity and being that kid who always loved school. I mean, I'm the kind of kid who didn't mind homework because I loved school so much. I was going home and playing school with my little brother and I remember, you know being 10 or 11 and my brother convincing me there was school in the middle of a snowstorm and I walked all the way to school because I wanted to be there and then I promplty went home because there was no school but it, you know, it's, it's some of those interesting things. Like growing up, aside from going to Chinese school, I really didn't see a teacher who looked like me. Now, I've loved each and every single teacher I ever had. I loved making that connection with them, but I think it was really disappointing to not see anybody who looked like me, except when I went to Chinese school where everybody looked like me. So it was this place where I never really felt like I belonged. I grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts, which is pretty diverse. And in eighth grade, we moved to Stoneham, which is 98 percent white and all of a sudden it felt like I had even less of an identity. Like I didn't know who I was supposed to be. And there was no one really who looks like me. And the few that did look like me were either adopted or didn't speak the language or they didn't share the same culture as me. I think that's the reason why when I went to college, I went to Simmons University, and the minute I got in there I signed up for Chinese classes. I became an East Asian studies major, even though I am not a history person at all. Because I felt like I needed to find my identity and I joined the Asian Students Association like, it was literally grasping at anything that could help me feel like I had some sort of identity. Gabriel: [00:06:40] That's such a powerful point in thinking about how much seeing your culture and identity reflected throughout your educational experience would matter. Even though it was absent, it causes us to want to explore and like you said, grasp for spaces where we can connect with people who share that identity and share that culture. So, part of our conversation here today is really to unpack the landscape of public education and thinking about how API educators aren't largely represented, depending on what state or local or part of the country you're from. But, Yan, I wanted to ask you, from your perspective as an API educator and a union leader with perspective across the state, but also nationally, why do you think there are so few API educators in the workforce? Yan Yii: [00:07:35] Well, I think part of that, especially in the East Asian culture, is built into our culture, right? It's this idea of is being a teacher a good enough job? I mean, I know when I came home from college and said i'm going into education that was my junior year of college I had already said that I was going to be a psychologist and all of a sudden I came home and I said I'm gonna be a teacher. And no one was upset that I wanted to be a teacher, but they were like, “Are you sure that's the journey for you? Are you sure that's where you want to be? Do you know how much a teacher makes? Is that a good enough job for you?” But like I said, I've always loved education. I think it's the perfect job for me. I think these, it's one of those professions that you're kind of born into. But I don't think it's celebrated among many cultures. Particularly like my Chinese parents, they didn't deter me from being a teacher, but they did say, “Is this the right path for you? Because we don't want to have to worry about you.” But I think also when you don't see yourself reflected in the field when you don't see other AAPI teachers or people working in education, that it makes you feel like there's not a place for you. And it's always about that sense of belonging. Even when I've seen other educators come into the field, if they don't feel like they have someone they can connect with, or, you know. You're facing microaggressions every single day and believe me, I have seen microaggressions in my community where I work, and I have been there for 14 years. And they're never, I would like to believe they're not, they don't come from malintent, but it feels that way sometimes. And I think that when you feel like an island, it becomes very difficult for people to stay in the profession. Gabriel: [00:09:15] Can definitely relate to that portion. Just again, that whole idea that we need to have representation in part so we can see ourselves in those roles. And the question that you ask, is being a teacher a quote, good enough job? And that narrative playing out in perhaps immigrant family experiences with the whole idea of migrating to the United States is to try to climb this ladder of socioeconomic elevation in some way. I wanted to also ask Estella, since you know, our co host here is a classroom educator out in California. Do you feel like there's a strong representation of API educators throughout the West Coast in California? Or how is the perception of API representation out there in your spaces? Estella: [00:10:10] In my observations I would say definitely not enough, especially as a PI educator, as a Samoan educator, definitely not enough. Part of the reason why I chose to become an educator, and I feel like there's a list of reasons why I chose education as my profession, and I agree with Yan it is definitely like a calling, right? Like folks who choose this, this is a lifestyle. And it's far more than just a job or a career and so there are so many reasons why I chose to be a teacher. But one reason why I chose specifically to make sure that I came back home to teach aside from my great aunt saying to me right before she passed away, I was the first in my family to go to college. First to finish and my aunt before she passed, she said, “You know, all of that will do no good if you stay in your ivory tower.” After hearing her say that and then losing her, I was very much committed to making sure that I came back home to teach. Early on in my career when I was younger or still in school, I was always feeling like, you know, I want to, I want to travel and teach. I'm going to go, I want to go to Japan. I want to go to Switzerland. I want to go to all these places and teach. And after my aunt said that, I was like, why? Why would I, why would I do that? I need to go home and teach. I need to go back to South Central to South LA and teach and so I ended up coming back to the South Bay to teach because I had assumed that this was going to be a place where I could teach Black and Samoan kids just like me. Because I had never had a Samoan teacher. I had never had a PI teacher ever in my life and I did have Black teachers and that's only because my parents were very deliberate in sending me to a Black school in South LA, for elementary school. But the experience changed in public high school and so I was committed to coming back home to be in a space where I knew I would see Tongan kids, Samoan kids, Fijian kids and then when I got here, my second year teaching and I was like, where, where are my peoples? Where is everybody? Like, I know that when I was a kid, this was because my mom went to Gardena High School. I just knew like growing up, I saw Samoans all over the place and suddenly there were none at the school that I was teaching at. And in my years teaching in the South Bay, I taught in the South Bay for six, nearly seven years. It was a continuous decline of enrollment of PI students. There's a whole host of reasons. One reason, right off the bat, and it goes to everything that Yan has already said, there was no sense of belonging. Or cultural understanding of any of those students in addition, or similarly, there's a continual decline of Black families in our schools in this area. And I'm not saying that the decline has anything to do with, like, the influx or rise of other populations. I think it needs to be pinned squarely on the fact that PI Students are not receiving the support, academic supports they need, or the social emotional supports they need. There is research to show that there is a push out of PI girls and Black girls. They are more likely to be suspended or expelled and pushed out of our schools. In addition, if the boys are not playing football, there's not a lot of support or welcoming or belonging created for those students and definitely no teachers who can connect to them on, on a cultural level or literally speak the language and there's probably a great deal of linguistic needs that aren't being met. They might speak English, but if their first language was Samoan they probably need a lot more EL supports that we don't have programs built for. And so students are leaving, parents are opting for private education or other places where they should go. So I think, I don't know how to name it, but there has to be a correlation with the student population and the number of educators that are also in the space. I'm here to teach students who, you know, I assume or imagine probably going through very similar things I went through as a kid, and there's no one here for me to teach. You know what I mean? Like, like what I set out to accomplish, I don't know that I will be able to. Gabriel: [00:14:47] Stella, there were two things from what you just shared that are resonating for me. First, the push out of PI and Black students in schools. I think it's important to note that when we think about API: Asian and Pacific Islanders that we perceive this group of people or group of students as a monolith. And when you disaggregate the data, Even though the perception is that API as an aggregate is more highly educated, has higher socioeconomic status, et cetera, et cetera, that when you disaggregate the data, it's important to understand what the impact is on the various communities that exist within that umbrella of API. The other thing you said Estella, about coming back and it being a calling to connect with students that you reflect and reflect you and your cultural identity. That resonated with me when I was teaching in the classroom in Bergenfield, New Jersey. It was one of the largest Filipino populations in New Jersey. Jersey City, I think is the highest Filipino population, but part of my experience there and being able to connect with Filipino students and families. It made that passion grow even more. So part of what I wanted to ask Yan and Estella both is. If we have listeners listening to this podcast right now, say young API folks that are thinking about their calling and exploring their direction in their future, what about teaching inspires passion for you that would make it attractive for API folks listening to this podcast, be inspired to consider choosing this as a direction in their life's path. Yan Yii: [00:16:40] I think one of the things that really resonates with me as an educator and the reason why I love it so much, you know, I've been back and forth with my involvement in my local union and the fact that it takes me away from my classroom, it's the connections that I make with my students. That, I think that's the most important thing to me, like, how I connect with my students, how I can support them, whether it's through, you know, a few years ago I started a fifth grade, like, show choir. Might have been a little bit Glee inspired, but, you know, it's the fact that my students were willing to give up their recess once a week to come sing with me and dance with me. And, art club after school, they're willing to give up their time, but it's that making those connections with the students and then having those students come back and say, you really changed my life. When I first started teaching, I had a student who was probably the most happy go lucky child I'd ever seen. And she wrote to me years later and said, “You saved my life. Like I was in such a hard place,” and this is, I'm talking about a nine year old child, when she was in my class and she said, “I was in such a bad place and my home life was not good. And, and you made me feel loved.” And that's what we're supposed to do as educators. We're supposed to make our students feel loved. And I think especially when I talk about this in terms of Asian Pacific Islander identity, when you don't feel that connection to your classroom and you don't feel like your teacher sees that part of you, because you know, I hear educators say a lot, “Oh, I, I don't see color.” And I'm always like, but when you don't see color, it's the danger of a single story, right? You're only seeing one part of your student, you're seeing the academics of that student. But, you know, I remember a few years ago, one of the big things I've always done in my classroom is celebrate Lunar New Year, because it's a huge celebration for my family. I wanted to share that with my students, and you know, two boys in one of my coworker's class had said, they were so excited to share about their culture and what they do at home. And she's like, well, then that was great. And I said, yes, it was. But what about the other 179 days? We can't just celebrate them for one day a year, or one month a year. We can't just say, okay, Black History Month and we're done. We have to celebrate our students all year long. And we need to change the curriculum. You know, we talk about decolonizing curriculum. I am purposeful in the books that I choose to use in my classroom because yes, I can teach Number the Stars for the 600th time, or maybe I can decide to use a book that reflects my students. And, you know, that's why I started my year off with Seedfolk, because I wanted to talk about what cultures coming together looked like, and you know, one of my students immediately said, he's like, “Wow, I could see myself in that book.” And that's what I want to hear from my students. I can see myself in that book. And it's not the same whitewashed characters over and over and over again, because my students are gaining nothing from that. And it's, it's trying to make that relevant throughout the entire school and not just my classroom. But making that connection with my students I would say is what makes my job worth getting up for every single day. Estella: [00:19:37] It is not lost on me that this is what episode four and nearly every guest we have had on this show, every single one of us have said that an important part of our journey was cultural or ethnic studies. At some point in our life, probably undergrad, graduate school, we made a very conscious choice to seek it out and go after it. And it was crucial to our becoming who we are, right? We've had professors, educators, social workers on the show, and every single person has stated that cultural studies was somewhere in their journey. So that's not lost on me that you said earlier that, you know, that was an important part also of your journey. Even though you're not, you're like history [blows a raspberry], but [laughs] it was still an important part of becoming who you are as an educator and a leader. And I wanted to just call that out. You also mentioned how important it was to find a place of belonging, and I guess I struggle with actually encouraging young people to become educators, in part because I don't know that the profession itself serves us the way it should. Right? Like, as a union leader, as a educator, as a Black woman, as a PI woman, I don't know that our field has figured out how to take care of us the way it should and I don't, I feel guilty, I guess, pushing young people to move into education. And that bothers me, right? Because the other, the flip side of that is we're having this conversation: How do we get more educators in classrooms? And I'm struggling because I know we need more API representation in the field. But then I'm like, do I want to do that to people I care about? Because this profession does not lend itself to self care. We are not taught in our training programs how to create collectives or community you know, to survive our field. We don't have open and honest conversations through that credentialing program about how we survive in this field you know. How do we deal with a lot of us are empaths, right? Like we are in this and we lead with our hearts. And when you're dealing with your trauma and then a whole host of secondhand trauma. I didn't take a class on that. You know [laughs] how to deal with your own emotions and carrying the weight of everything your kids are going through and you're trying to, you know, help them as best as you can, while also dealing with your own. There was nothing to prepare me for that part of this, this industry. And I think that those of us who this is our calling we just put our heads down and we fight through and we push as hard as we can to show up, to continue to show up for our kids. But oftentimes it is absolutely at our detriment. We are self sacrificing martyrs more times than I think we should be. I'm just being honest, I'm not saying I plan on walking away from my classroom anytime soon, but I just wanted to, to state that. I definitely agree that the biggest thing that keeps me inspired or in the classroom is the relationships with students. The amount of times they, I mean, I teach high school, I'm secondary, so I've got ninth through twelfth graders, and every single grade level is its own special brand of hilarious. And I just love, I love those moments in between the lesson. I love the moment where they absolutely take charge of the lesson. I love moments where students are, you know, correcting and calling me out because I know learning is happening. I know that they, something has been ignited and lit and they're questioning and they're being curious and they're pushing back and they're thinking critically. So I welcome all of those moments and those are the best moments that keep me in the classroom and similar stories when kids come back or write me messages like miss, you know, I just, you know, thank you or I can't wait for my younger sibling to be in your class or, you know, whatever the case may be, those are definitely the things that keep you in the classroom or keep you willing to keep coming back. Even though the profession does not look out for us or protect us or take care of us. Virtual teaching, if nothing else, has pointed out how bad these silos have gotten. Because during this virtual teaching, and I don't know about other folks, but my experience has been I feel absolutely disconnected from colleagues. I could go a whole week without ever talking to another colleague. And it's just me and students logging into Zoom and logging out. And so this has sort of made those silos even worse in some cases. But what I was thinking about when you were talking is there's an added layer of culture. Like, if we're having conversations about intersectionality that I think teachers of color deal with, that API teachers deal with, that other teachers may not fully understand and those microaggressions that you talk about, sometimes I don't even like using the word microaggression because I, like you said, I feel like nah that was just aggressive, bro like you, you didn't have to say what you said, the way you said it. It wasn't, there was nothing micro about that. That was just straight up aggression. Cause like you, just unnecessary. And so there's this added layer of like cultural and I guess this and I feel like I'm talking to circles now, but this goes back to feeling like the profession doesn't take care of us. And there's an added layer to that for Black teachers for Latinx teachers for API teachers. And so not only do we then burden the responsibility or we shoulder the burden of having to show up for every single kid who looks like us and sharing those experiences as first generation Americans and immigrant students, but we also then have the extra task of showing up for all the educators across the field who also share in, you know, why I had to go all the way to college just to figure out who I am and what my calling is and find a place where I could be and exist and belong. Yan Yii: [00:26:17] I just wanted to say, you know, I think that the demand of educators because I'm mentoring a brand new teacher this year. She's literally a one year teacher And she was made for this, right? Like, she was made to be an educator, but there are times where I'm like, you probably shouldn't do this. Like, if there's still time for you to get out, I've already put too many years into this. You know, I think back, you know, when the Boston Marathon bombing happened, and then the next day when my students came to school, they said, “What are you going to do to protect me?” So, so all of a sudden, and my fifth graders are 10 years old. All of a sudden, I'm not just your teacher now. Now I'm your protector. That is my job to sacrifice myself, and I would willingly do it for any of my students. To protect them. And then on top of it, now we're in a pandemic and we're learning in person. So, you know, I'm, I'm going to be 100 percent honest. I was exposed at school and I'm under isolation right now. Thankfully tested negative, but this is another layer that students have to deal with. And as students that now they're worried that they're going to one get us sick. And if we get sick, you know, there's another layer of trauma and I feel like everywhere I turn, there's more trauma and more administrators telling us, you should take care of yourself, but also I'm going to give you new curriculum. I'm going to give you this, this and this to do, but I'm not gonna take anything off your plate, but also take care of yourself. And I want to be able to tell new teachers it will change because let's be honest, public education has been a pendulum. It goes to the extreme, and then it comes back because someone goes, Whoa, what are we doing? But I think there's a lot of pressure on educators constantly to do the right thing and then to always put their students first. And you're right, we end up sacrificing ourselves and our, our mental health and our well being for our students. How many teachers, you know, who probably have taken home like a student who doesn't have a home or is spending their own money to buy students lunches or, or buy students clothes or whatever else they need to do, whatever else they need to do for their students. And we give and we give and we give, especially, you know, anytime we can, and I don't ever want to not do that. But when you think about a brand new educator coming in, you go, you still have time, like, and it's a terrible, terrible way to feel. But, one of the things that, you know, we started an Asian mentorship program this, last year, and honestly, it's been a breath of fresh air to not be alone and we went from 12 people last year to 40 people this year. And it's been like, wow, there are other people who are going through the same thing I'm going through and there are other people seeing what I'm seeing and on top of it being an educator of color, you have people, especially in your first three years of education that will doubt your abilities in the job because you probably got it because of the color of your skin, at least in their opinion. Right? And you're fighting, like, if I didn't have a super ethnic sounding name, if I could, if I could have hidden that, I would have, because I wanted people to know that I did it on my merit and not because of the color of my skin. That I didn't get this job because I'm Asian, but I got this job because I'm a good educator and I got to keep this job because I'm a good educator, not because of affirmative action. And there are so many different layers that we have to deal with as educators of color on top of everything else we're already dealing with. Estella: [00:29:45] After the shooting in Florida at… Yan Yii: [00:29:48] Stoneman Douglas. Estella: [00:29:50] Yes. Yeah, there you go. Stoneman Douglas. Thank you. After that shooting, I remember at our school, it was my 10th graders were doing, you know, school shooter drills or having conversations about what to do if there's a school shooter on campus. And my students, I remember their response was very similar. Like, what do we do, miss? And them being very vocal about like, I don't trust teachers, miss. Like who's going to take a bullet for me, miss? And when I thought about it, I was like, hold up. There's not one teacher on campus. And then students stopped and thought, and they're like, well, I mean, I guess I'm coming to this room and we can figure it out together. And I had to have an conversation with students about like, now that I'm a mother and a wife. My perspective has changed, right? Like my first year of teaching, maybe it would have been, you know, and I can't say what I would do in a terrible moment like that, but you know, I know that my first year teaching my attitude was probably more like I will do whatever to protect my students. I took an oath, right? I'm going to protect my students. And after having my daughter, I had a conversation with another educator, you know, we're talking about. What do we do in, in events like a school shooting? And she said to me, “I know that you are willing to take care of your students. We, we know that no one is questioning that you are a good educator, but your responsibility now is different because you have a child to make it home to.” And that cut real deep and hit different. And I, [long pause, tearing up] I questioned whether or not I could stay in the profession and how much longer I could stay in the profession. If what we had to deal with was going to continue to bombings, shootings, pandemics, I have a child to make it home to and a husband to take care of. And I don't know how much more, you know, folks expect. For us to be willing to sacrifice and watching the conversations online about open up schools, go back to schools. Teachers are whining. Teachers are this, that, and the other. When just nine months ago, it was, “Oh my God, I never knew how much you guys do in the classroom every day.” And then to suddenly like this quick shift to just go back to the classroom. It doesn't instill me with a whole lot of faith. And I honestly don't know where I was going. I was just thinking about what you said about, you know, the bombing and having that conversation with kids. And while I know that students need to feel and know that we're going to take care of them, I definitely had a conversation with students. An honest conversation. And I said, I don't, I don't know. I know that I'm, I will do everything that I can. And if this is the room that you feel safe coming to, this is the room you need to be at. And I've practiced with students, like, you know, we've had large fights where the school gets shut down and we go under lockdown and I've gone outside and just yanked kids into my room as quickly as I can. As soon as that lockdown sound goes on. And we've practiced, like we've had conversations like, “Miss, we gon bust that window out. We'll make a rope ladder,” like whatever it is, like we've had those conversations and I just hate that we have to have those conversations. Like, I really hate that that's normal now. Gabriel: [00:33:49] The amount of pressure that educators are feeling, especially in this moment, being the nurturers, caregivers, and now being asked to be the protectors. The overwhelming workload, the self sacrifice physically, mentally, emotionally, and as Yan mentioned, in some cases, financially, even dealing with the Eurocentric curriculum, in some ways is a form of emotional violence. That we as educators are expected to perpetuate onto our students and that it takes its own toll. In addition to the quote, microaggressions that are really aggressions, there's a lot and what I also heard from you both is that it's really the relationships with the students, with some colleagues, with creating communities of affinity spaces, where you can share some experiences, cultural identity, and as Yan was describing that mentorship program, building those relationships internally. Those are the things that keep the weight on this scale as even as it can be to keep you connected and committed, at least in this moment. Swati Rayasam: [00:35:14] You're tuned in to APEX Express on 94.1 KPFA, 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley, 88.1. KFCF in Fresno and online at kpfa.org. Coming up is the song “Depressure” by Nu Nasa, off of the Khamsa music project. MUSIC That was the song “Depressure” by Nu Nasa, off of the Khamsa music project. And now back to the ConShifts podcast. Gabriel: [00:38:52] So, Yan, just a question I had for you, being involved in union leadership in your local, state, and national level, specifically in the spaces that lean into cultural affinity. And address racial inequity within the union spaces, having that space, platform, experience network in what ways, what drew you to that for what reason do you now serve in leadership roles in that way? And, what would you say to folks that are currently API educators, but not as involved in their union at the current moment? What would you say to those folks? Yan Yii: [00:39:32] So I took a class a few years ago, maybe like two years ago on how to not burn out. And I was like, wouldn't there be irony if I burned out while taking this class on how to not burn out. But it's things that you're passionate about will never burn you out. They'll, they'll energize you to do more work. Right. You know, I have a painting here and I think it's a Gabriel Tanglao quote. We rise by lifting others. I painted it a few years ago. And it's always, I'm always searching because basically how I got involved was somebody said, “Hey, you'd be really good as a building rep.” And then a few years later, they were like, “You should step into the role of secretary.” And then it was, “You should consider running for union president.” And I became the NEAA pick because you Gabe you told me “You should try this out.” And I said, well, okay, I'll give it a shot, right? Because part of union work is about identifying other leaders and we rise by lifting others, right? It's not about the power grab. It's not about staying in power. You know, one of the big things I pushed in my local is we need term limits because a healthy union has turnover. There's a reason why we only have eight years allowed for a president, right? You can, you can serve a total of two terms because if someone has more than two terms, they tend to go, you know, like, what is it? Absolute power corrupts. And, you know, we want to avoid that and, I'm less concerned about, um, corruption in teacher unions than I am about complacency. If the same person is in charge for 20 years, great, because then they will always do the work. But guess what? That person is going to retire at some point. You know, I've been union president for four years now, and I'm stepping down at the end of this year, because I think it's time for someone else to step up. And I think that, you know, this is not a top down, it's a bottom up. Like, we have to all work together. And we are all part of the union. So it drives me absolutely insane when someone says, “But what is the union doing for me?” And I turn around and say, “You're the union. We are all the union.” Like it can't, you can't just look at me and think that I'm going to do things for you because I am your spokesperson as your president, not your dictator. It's not my job to make these decisions. In fact, I try to step back as much as possible to allow decisions to be made by the membership versus made by me. And I think, you know, I remember being in Dallas, I want to say four or five years ago, and we were in a very, very large room for a very small group of people. I want to say there were maybe four people and one of them was a friend who was not Asian that I dragged into the room with me so that she could also be there. And then my first RA at the, for NEA, we had a small room of people. And when we were in Minnesota. And even when we were in Houston, we didn't have enough chairs. It was the most exciting thing in the world to me. Our group has gotten so large. They put us in a small room and we didn't have enough chairs. And you feel comfortable. Like, I love the term we use in APIC, Ohana, like family. We're family together. Like it is our APIC family. Like we're small, but, but we're mighty, right? Like we want to have that voice and we want to fight for what's right for not just us, but for, for everyone. And I think, you know, I've, I've managed to do that in my role serving 6 years on EMAC and it was, you know, like most recently we had conversations about how to decolonize curriculum throughout Massachusetts and, you know, like the idea that I'm one person what can I do? I can change what I'm choosing to teach in my classroom with a little teacher autonomy. I can choose to not only read whitewashed curriculum. I can find a paired text of this is what happened during this time in history. I can focus my readings during Black history month on different people instead of just Martin Luther King. Not that that's not important, but why are we only getting one perspective? There are so many historical Black figures. And if we're not pushing that, are we waiting for our students to push for it? Because they might not know too, because they've never been exposed to it. And I do think we live in a time where kids are pushing more and more and more against whitewashed curriculum, but we as educators have to do our job too. And it's making that connection with each other and not feeling so alone in that journey. Gabriel: [00:43:57] Yeah, nah, we definitely started the conversation around how union leadership creates spaces. And part of what you kind of illustrated through that is it's an opportunity to lift up more people, more educators, specifically more API educators into spaces to learn with each other and grow with each other. Specifically with the decolonizing curriculum conversation, I remember that you and I had a chance to collaborate in some spaces around decolonizing curriculum, and it was through the union space that we connected even Estella and I connected through the union spaces. So that's a place to find the community of folks. That you know, are doing that critical work. So I loved your response. I wanted to also just talk more broadly about the educator pipeline for API folks. Do you have any thoughts on ways that we can expand this API educator pipeline? And if you wanted to integrate some of the work that you're doing with your mentorship program into that conversation. So part one, how do we attract more educators into the profession and workforce? Part two, how do we continue to support those educators throughout their professional journey? Yan Yii: [00:45:18] So I'm going to start with part two, because I feel like part two has to happen in order for part one to happen, right? I think we need to work on retaining educators, particularly AAPI educators, because coming into the profession, and then we don't feel supported and people will leave. And I think part of this is helping people to not feel like an island, but also making people feel like there's a sense of belonging in the field. Because if everyone is constantly looking at you like you don't belong, then you're not going to stay. Unless you have a lot of fight in you, which many of us do [laughs] but when everything is working against you and there's so much pressure on you already. Not having a sense of belonging is really going to drive you from the profession. Now, once we build up that, you know, like, and what I love about this mentorship program, and I know you're using the word pipeline, and we started with that term, and we pulled away from it because we feel like it tends to have a negative connotation. When I hear the word pipeline, I think school to prison pipeline. Right? So we had changed it to a mentorship program because really, you know, especially this year we've talked about it. It's not just the veterans mentoring newer teachers or even aspiring educators. It's that we all have so much to learn from each other, regardless of where we are. My mentee at my school, she and I talk every single day, and she's constantly showing me new things, and I've been an educator for 14 more years than she has. And it's this idea that it's a group of, like, this is a learning experience for everybody, not just the person who is brand new, and it's not just me as a veteran who has something to offer. Now, in terms of getting more people to come into the profession, particularly more AAPI educators, one, it's seeing us in the field. Seeing themselves reflected in the field. Two, I think it's changing the narrative about the respect this job deserves. You know, Estella said it before we live in a time where 6 months ago you said everybody loves teachers. Right? And then all of a sudden we became enemy number one. And that was really hard for me to stomach as a union leader and as an educator. I know, you know, I was personally attacked on my personal Facebook because of some of the union work I was doing and trying to advocate for the safety of my educators. And someone has said, it sounds like you don't really want to be in the classroom. Maybe you should consider a change of profession. And I was like, first of all, this is my personal Facebook. Second of all, I had your child in fifth grade, so I know you know what a good educator I am. And if you remembered what a good educator I was, you would know that I care more about these students than I do about my own safety sometimes. So maybe we should take a step back and think about what we're saying before we start attacking educators. But it's having that connection and being able to support them and changing that narrative. But I also think it's not, it's not like, you know, right now we were like, okay, we're going to find AAPI students in college who are already in education. Well, guess what? There aren't very many of them. Like, we need to get to you before that. We need to get to them in high school. We need to get to them in middle school and elementary school, we need to dig as deep as we can. And part of that digging is going to be reflecting ourselves in the education field. I think if you don't see yourself there and you don't see that as a possibility and if people are constantly telling you, don't be a teacher, it's not worth it, or you won't make enough money or those who can do, and those who can't teach. Like all of those feelings, that's what prevents people from being, becoming educators. And I will say this as, as much as my Chinese mom complained about me becoming a teacher when she talks to my aunties she's always like, “And my daughter is doing this in her classroom and you should see the pictures of her classroom. And then she's always saying to my nieces and nephews, you should listen to your auntie, she's a teacher. She knows what she's doing.” Right. So like that always makes me feel a little bit better because for years I was like, did I choose the right profession? I think when I turned 30, I was like, okay, this is it. Am I going to stay here? Because I'm investing in my retirement now. Or am I going to consider changing my career and honestly, I can't see myself doing anything else. Estella: [00:49:40] I had the same thought at 30. [Laughs] Am I in it or, or am I going somewhere else? And my dad was the same way with, you know, “Are you sure? Teaching?” Also, I was a double major in theater. It was Black studies and theater. And I knew I was going into education and I don't know what it is about Nigerian parents, but it's “Theater? You're going to be a clown for the rest of your life?” Like that's, that was the thought process. Like excuse m?. But, I wonder how much of that, because it's come up in previous episodes and, and Gabe, you mentioned too about, you know, the need of immigrant children to push and push and push and do great in school and speak, you know, in Nigerian family “speak the King's English” is what we say. And I wonder how much of that. is just a product of assimilation or trying to align with whiteness. And so, I mean, I hate it. Kind of makes my skin crawl. And you know, and then of course that imposter syndrome, it just looms. It just like nags and looms. And I don't know what to do with those, those feelings or thoughts because I know first gen kids are gonna deal with that I don't, like, I don't know how to help kids move past that, honestly, because it's not something I've ever learned to fully cope with, move past, or deal with. Every time I think I'm in my stride and I've dealt with those emotions, again, I'm still feeling like, did I do enough? Is this good enough? But then, like you said, then I hear my dad go, “Oh, well, my daughter, blah, blah, blah.” And I'm like, really dad? Cause when I told you I switched my major, you, you show that that is not what you said. But anyway, you mentioned like our API spaces is like Ohana. And one thought that I'm having. You know, and thinking about how we make sure that we've got safe affinity spaces for API educators and our union is definitely one of those spaces with our ethnic caucuses at the state level and the national level. There definitely is still some area for growth within our affinity spaces along the lines of generational issues, but also in the ways in which anti- blackness or racism creeps in, right? Like I think that there is, and I don't know how to define it, segment it, weed it out, but there's definitely a generational difference between, I'd say, you know, teachers who are currently within their, like, first 10 years to our educators who, you know, they're 20 plus year veterans. We don't necessarily see eye to eye when it comes to cultural ethnic issues. And part of that might be because our education, once we found those cultural spaces of belonging in college, I imagine probably looked very different for some of our elders in the profession. And so I think our level of race or critical race consciousness is not in the same place and so I think there needs to be a level of some just personal reflective work on the individual level, but also as a collective, like as an Ohana, like we need to have some of these really hard conversations together and continuously, so that we can move forward towards solidifying some sort of collective identity. I think that there's probably far more API educators out there in the field that may not yet identify as API because they may be in a different place in their cultural identity work. They might be in a very different place. Because whoever named us API, right, like they fit a whole bunch of nationalities and cultures into one category. Whole different groups of people, islands, like nation states, bunched up into this API term. And so there might be a whole bunch of folks out there that's like “API. What's an API?” when that's probably technically where they would belong if they knew what box to click on, you know what I mean? And so I think part of our work is defining who we are and then like [laughs] doing the marketing work to make sure educators in the field know. Hey, this is your affinity space over here. We've got your back. Your Ohana is right here. If you, you know, come on over, join us, take a seat. And, and then we can continue to do that reflective work, transformation work. Gabriel: [00:54:24] As we close today, I'd love to ask you, what is one thing that gives you hope in this moment where hope may be hard to find? Yan Yii: [00:54:34] I think one of the things that makes me hopeful is that at my very last class of 2020, it was December 22nd, I asked my students, what is one thing you are thankful for, from this past year? And they were like, “The fact that I can come to your class,” like come to school. Like I had kids who wanted to be in school, whatever capacity we were going to do this, they wanted to be there. And that meant the world to me, the connections we've made. And you know, one of the things, even, even being in hybrid, You know, I worry every day about the impact of that. But I see how close my cohort A is to themselves, like, and I see how close my cohort B is, and I do a lot of work where, you know, the students, like, I teach synchronously all day long, so the student, they, they are constantly working with each other and the bond that they have as a class. I think that's what makes me really hopeful. And, you know, in terms of being a API educator, the thing that makes me the most hopeful is that we tripled in size in our mentorship program that we're out there. And we just have to find, like you, you have to dig a lot, because especially in Massachusetts, many of our AAPI educators are actually not, in the same union. They're part of the AFT and not the NEA because they're part of Boston Public, which is the largest local we have. And some of us are literally islands alone in Western, in a small, small rural town in Western Massachusetts, but the fact that they found us and they said, this is, this is, this is where I feel like I'm connecting. Like it's the connections that we're making that I think allow me to be hopeful. Estella: [00:56:11] Fa'afetai Tleilava. Thank you for listening. Gabriel: [00:56:13] Salamat. Thank you for listening. Estella: [00:56:14] We want to thank our special guest, Yan one more time for rapping with us tonight. We appreciate you. Gabriel: [00:56:19] Continental Shifts Podcast can be found on Pod Beam, apple, Spotify, Google, and Stitcher. Estella: [00:56:26] Be sure to like and subscribe on YouTube for archived footage and grab some merch on our site Gabriel: [00:56:31] and join our mailing list for updates at conshiftspodcast.com. That's C-O-N-S-H-I-F-T S podcast. com and follow us at con underscore shifts on all social media platforms. Estella: [00:56:49] Dope educators wayfinding the past, present, and future. Gabriel: [00:56:53] Keep rocking with us fam. We're going to make continental shifts through dialogue, with love, all together. Estella: [00:56:58] Fa'afetai Thanks again. Tōfā, deuces. Gabriel: [00:57:02] Peace. One love. Swati Rayasam: [00:57:08] Please check out our website, kpfa.org backslash program backslash apex express. To find out more about the show tonight and to find out how you can take direct action. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. Apex express is produced by Miko Lee, along with Paige Chung, Jalena Keene-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaida, Kiki Rivera, Nate Tan, Hien Ngyuen, Cheryl Truong, and me Swati Rayasam. Thank you so much to the team at KPFA for their support and have a great night. The post APEX Express – 6.6.24 Continental Shift-API Educator Pipeline appeared first on KPFA.
ABOUT THE RAPAPORTS AND RAPAPORT'S REALITY Welcome to Rapaport's Reality with Kebe and Michael Rapaport. This is the launch of the reality television podcast that the whole reality world has been waiting for. Mr. & Mrs. Rapaport are bonded by their love of reality television and are inviting you into their living room. They are dissecting the drama and giving praise to the greatest form of entertainment on television today. They're diving into real-time shows and re-watching all the biggest and the best series.Episodes available here: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-rapaports-reality-with-ke-171162927/ MORE INFO ON RAPAPORT'S REALITY (FROM RADIO ONLINE) iHeartPodcasts, together with Michael and Kebe Rapaport, have debuted the new weekly podcast entitled "Rapaport's Reality." New episodes will be available each Wednesday. Hosts actor/comedian and podcaster Michael Rapaport, and his wife, actor and soon-to-be podcast Rookie of the Year candidate Kebe Rapaport, are the new power couple in the world of reality television analysis. The Rapaports will invite fans into their living room to spill the tea, dissect the drama and give praise to the greatest form of entertainment on television today.Michael has appeared on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" over 30 times and has generated a fan base of dedicated reality television followers thanks to his honesty and call-it-like-he-sees-it breakdowns. Kebe, the apple of his eye, will be tagging into the limelight as these two encyclopedias of all things current, past and future reality TV give the scoop on all the drama."Rapaport's Reality" is co-produced by DBPodcasts and will join "I Am Rapaport: Stereo Podcast" as the second podcast with Michael Rapaport and iHeartPodcasts.MICHAEL RAPAPORT BIO (FROM IMDB) A New Yorker through and through, Michael Rapaport was born on March 20, 1970, in Manhattan, to June Brody, a radio personality, and David Rapaport, a radio program manager. He is of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish descent.Rapaport moved to Los Angeles to try stand-up comedy following high school graduation (which came after a series of expulsions), but he never lost, forgot or deserted his New York roots. It's embedded in his work and is a major part of his low-keyed charm and ongoing appeal. His early idols were also New Yorkers (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, etc.).Within a short amount of time Michael moved from the live comedy stage to working in front of a camera. The two developed an immediate rapport. A guest spot on the TV series China Beach (1988) led to a starring role in the quirky interracial indie Zebrahead (1992), which clinched it for him. This, in turn, led to a string of standout parts in films, such as Christian Slater's pal in True Romance (1993), an edgy collegiate-turned-skinhead in Higher Learning (1995) and a sympathetic none-too-bright boxer in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995), all enabling him to build up a higher profile.In later years, Michael managed to show his ease at offbeat comedy, demonstrating a kid-like, goofy charm as Lisa Kudrow's cop boyfriend for a few episodes on Friends (1994) and as teacher Danny Hanson on Boston Public (2000).He later formed his own production company, Release Entertainment, in search of that one big breakout role that could nab top stardom for him. In later years, his offbeat character leads included an inducted mafioso in Kiss Toledo Goodbye (1999); a hit man in the action comedy A Good Night to Die (2003); a comic book fanatic in the sci-fi comedy Special (2006); a trouble-making buddy in crime drama Inside Out (2011); a man helping out his former gangster neighbor in the dramedy Once Upon a Time in Queens (2013); and a married guy trying to get his mojo back in the comedy My Man Is a Loser (2014). For the most part, however, he served extremely well in support of other prominent stars with weird-to-bizarre featured roles for Woody Allen in his crime comedy Small Time Crooks (2000); for Arnold Schwarzenegger in the futuristic actioneer The 6th Day (2000); for Will Smith in the romantic /comedy Hitch (2005); for Ray Romano and Kevin James in the comedy crimer Grilled (2006); for Billy Bob Thornton in the action comedy The Baytown Outlaws (2012); for Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in the crime comedy The Heat (2013); and for Tom Hanks in the biopic Sully (2016).Rapaport married writer Nicole Beatty in 2000 and divorced seven years later after having two children. In 2016, he married actress Kebe Dunn.#RapaportsReality #MichaelRapaport #KebeRapaport #RealityTV #PodcastLife #iHeartPodcasts #DBPodcasts #ComedyGold #ActingLegend #TVAddicts #PopCultureJunkies #BravoTV #WatchWhatHappensLive #RealityTVLovers #PodcastersOfYouTube #EntertainmentNews #CelebrityInterviewsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-am-refocused-radio--2671113/support.
Welcome to the Girls Gone Hallmark podcast! Join your hosts, Megan and Wendy, as they dive into the beloved "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" franchise all summer long. In today's episode, your favorite Hallmark duo dive into a Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Episodes 6-10 review. Don't miss out—tune in now to catch their insightful and fun-filled reviews! See the Signed, Sealed, Delivered SUMMER schedule here Are you watching "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" for the first time? Email us at meganandwendy@gmail.com or let's talk about it in the Girls Gone Hallmark Facebook Group! We Need Your 5-STAR Ratings and Reviews Spotify Podcast listeners: Spotify allows listeners to rate podcast episodes. Once you listen to a podcast for at least 30 seconds, you get the option to rate it between one and five stars. Return to the podcast's main page and tap the star icon. Then, tap submit. About "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" Episode 6 The title of episode 6 is called "The Future Me' First premiered on Sunday May 25, 2014 Director: Lynne Stopkewich who previously directed episode 5 Writesr: Martha Williamson, Kerry Lenhart (known for the series “Boston Public” and the 1996 short lived series “Mr & Mrs Smith”), and John J. Sakmar (previously worked on “Boston Public,” “Psych” and “Make It or Break It.” Co-Stars: Marilu Henner appears as Glynis Rucker. Marilu has 107 acting credits and is probably best known for her roles as Elaine Nardo in "Taxi." She's done an incredible about of work for Hallmark, including 19 Aurora Teagarden movies. This was her one and only appearance in "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." Andrea Brooks plays Miss Special Delivery rival Kimmi. This role appears to be her first project for Hallmark. She has gone on to co-star in 80 episodes of “When Calls the Heart” as well as a number of Hallmark movies. Jessica Kishner Morgan played bride Ellie. Jessica has just a handful of acting projects and this was her only for the network. Jeremy Raymond plays boyfriend Bobby. Jeremy has 25 acting credits and has appeared in several "Star Trek" projects, "American Gods," "Psych," and others. About "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" Episode 7 The title of episode 7 is called "Something Good" First premiered on Sunday, June 1, 2014 Director: Scott Smith Written by: Martha Williamson, Brandi Harkonen, and Dean Batali (who has a deep resume of writing for shows like “That ‘70s Show,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the “Good Witch.”) Co-Stars: Valerie Bertinelli plays Rebecca Starkwell. Bertinelli is probably best known for her roles on “One Day at a Time,” “Touched By an Angel,” and “Hot in Cleveland.” She's also did in 14 seasons of “Valerie's Home Cooking” and co-hosted 12 seasons of the “Kids Baking Championship” - both for the Food Network. Adam DiMarco played Billy James. He has 46 acting credits, including the last season of HBO's “White Lotus” where he played Albie. Nicole Fraissinet played Jennifer. This was her first project for Hallmark but went on to appear in “The Nine Lives of Christmas” and a couple of episodes of the “Good Witch.” We also have a small appearance by Chris Gauthier who played Serge. Chris has appeared in many Hallmark movies, including hits like “Three Wise Men and a Baby” and “The Christmas House.” We'll always remember Chris as Todd on “Date My Dad.” Sadly, Chris passed earlier this year from an unspecified short illness. About "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" Episode 8 Episode 8 is called "Dark of Night" First premiered on Sunday, June 8, 2014 Directed by Scott Smith Writers: Martha Williamson and Brandi Harkonen Co-stars: Valerie Bertinelli returns as Rebecca Starkwell. Kimberley Sustad plays Melissa. This wasn't Kimberley's first project for Hallmark as she has appeared in “A Bride for Christmas” in 2012 but since "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" in 2014, Sustad has gone on to star in so many incredible Hallmark movies.
rWotD Episode 2572: Tom McCarthy (director) Welcome to random Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a random Wikipedia page every day.The random article for Sunday, 19 May 2024 is Tom McCarthy (director).Thomas Joseph McCarthy (born June 7, 1966) is an American filmmaker and actor who has appeared in several films, including Meet the Parents and Good Night, and Good Luck, and television series such as The Wire, Boston Public and Law & Order.McCarthy has received critical acclaim for his writing and directing work for the independent films The Station Agent (2003), The Visitor (2007), Win Win (2011), and Spotlight (2015), the last of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, won McCarthy the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.McCarthy also co-wrote the film Up (2009) with Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, for which they received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. McCarthy also wrote Million Dollar Arm (2014), and directed and executive-produced for the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017).This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:43 UTC on Sunday, 19 May 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Tom McCarthy (director) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm Danielle Neural.
This weekend is Mother's Day, which means it's also Duckling Day. In this episode, I chat with the president of the Friends of the Boston Public Garden about the park's history, its dire state in the 1970s, and the iconic children's book that inspired both the city's favorite statue and this annual tradition. Plus, a crude Ben Franklin bumper sticker, questions about Sam Adams beer and Celtics' fans, and a book recommendation. If you're a local business who'd like to advertise on the podcast, please send me an email. For merch, head to Explainbostontome.com.Follow me on Instagram @explainbostontome. Send us a Text Message.
Wesley Jonathan is an American actor best known for his starring role as Jamal Grant in the NBC sitcom City Guys (1997–2001), Gary Thorpe in the sitcom What I Like About You (2002–2006), Sweetness in the film Roll Bounce (2005), Noah Cruise in the film Crossover (2006), and Fletcher "Stamps" Ballentine on TV Land's The Soul Man (2012–2016). Jonathan has starred, co-starred, or made guest appearances in several movies and television shows including: Sister, Sister, Moesha, Boy Meets World, Smart Guy, Thea, Baywatch, A Different World, Boston Public, Crossover, National Lampoon's Bag Boy, Divine Intervention (2007 film), Roll Bounce, and the 1995 film Panther as Bobby Hutton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wesley Jonathan is an American actor best known for his starring role as Jamal Grant in the NBC sitcom City Guys (1997–2001), Gary Thorpe in the sitcom What I Like About You (2002–2006), Sweetness in the film Roll Bounce (2005), Noah Cruise in the film Crossover (2006), and Fletcher "Stamps" Ballentine on TV Land's The Soul Man (2012–2016). Jonathan has starred, co-starred, or made guest appearances in several movies and television shows including: Sister, Sister, Moesha, Boy Meets World, Smart Guy, Thea, Baywatch, A Different World, Boston Public, Crossover, National Lampoon's Bag Boy, Divine Intervention (2007 film), Roll Bounce, and the 1995 film Panther as Bobby Hutton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On connait les séries, on connait peu les showrunners. Et connait-on les séries oubliées de showrunners connus ? C'est la question. Ryan Murphy, Aaron Sorkin, Phoebe Waller-Bridge ont un énorme CV mais ils n'ont pas fait que des hits ! Retour sur quelques séries qu'on a un peu oubliées. 0:00 2:10 Studio 60 on the sunset strip d'Aaron Sorkin (A La Maison Blanche) en DVD 9:30 Single Parents de Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl) sur Disney+ 15:25 Everwood de Greg Berlanti (Arrowverse) en import DVD 23:00 Boston Public de David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal) 31:00 Point Pleasant de Marti Noxon (UnREAL) en DVD 34:20 Popular de Ryan Murphy(Glee, AHS) en import DVD 37:48 Crashing de Pehobe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) en import DVD, et VOD ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ▶ Les causeurs sur Twitter / X
Episode Notes S5E7 Join us as we dive into the mind of Actor Richard Walters. He''l take us on his journey from "Boston Public" to "My Bloody Valentine 3D" Richard John Walters (born November 15, 1961) is an American film and television actor, best known for playing Harry Warden in the 2009 horror film, My Bloody Valentine 3D. Walters was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Walters attended the West Virginia University and Duquesne University School of Law earning the Juris Doctor degree. He is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania. Walters enjoys playing the guitar, ballroom dancing, wrestling, rugby, crew, skiing, and swimming. NEWS FLASH You can now purchase Toking with the Dead full novel here https://a.co/d/7uypgZo https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../toking.../1143414656... You can see all your past favorite episodes now streaming on https://redcoraluniverse.com/ OR Show your support by purchasing FB stars. Send stars to the stars fb.com/stars Toking with the Dead: https://www.stilltoking.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TokingwiththeDead?tn=-]C-R https://www.instagram.com/stilltokingwith/?hl=en https://twitter.com/thetoking?lang=en https://pinecast.com/feed/still-toking-with Check out Toking with the Dead Episode 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awhL5FyW_j4 Check out Toking with the Dead Episode 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaUai58ua6o Buy awesome Merchandise! https://www.stilltoking.com/toking-with-the-dead-train https://teespring.com/stores/still-toking-with Sponsorship Opportunities https://www.stilltoking.com/become-a-sponsor or email us at bartlett52108@gmail.com thetokingdead@gmail.com ————————————— Follow our guest https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1312263/ https://www.amazon.com/.../amzn1.dv.gti.2314eb9e-7e61.../ https://www.facebook.com/richard.j.walters ———————— Follow Still Toking With and their friends! https://smartpa.ge/5zv1 https://thedorkeningpodcastnetwork.com/ ————————————— Produced by Leo Pond and The Dorkening Podcast Network https://TheDorkening.com Facebook.com/TheDorkening Youtube.com/TheDorkening Twitter.com/TheDorkening Dead Dork Radio https://live365.com/station/Dead-Dork-Radio-a68071
On connait les séries, on connait peu les showrunners. Et connait-on les séries oubliées de showrunners connus ? C'est la question. Ryan Murphy, Aaron Sorkin, Phoebe Waller-Bridge ont un énorme CV mais ils n'ont pas fait que des hits ! Retour sur quelques séries qu'on a un peu oubliées. 0:00 2:10 Studio 60 on the sunset strip d'Aaron Sorkin (A La Maison Blanche) en DVD 9:30 Single Parents de Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl) sur Disney+ 15:25 Everwood de Greg Berlanti (Arrowverse) en import DVD 23:00 Boston Public de David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal) 31:00 Point Pleasant de Marti Noxon (UnREAL) en DVD 34:20 Popular de Ryan Murphy(Glee, AHS) en import DVD 37:48 Crashing de Pehobe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) en import DVD, et VOD ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ▶ Les causeurs sur Twitter / X
Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 1079, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Elemental Latin 1: Aurum. gold. 2: Ferrum. iron. 3: Plumbum. lead. 4: Argentum. silver. 5: Kalium. potassium. Round 2. Category: The Real Adams Family 1: Let's drink a beer to the memory of this man who died in Boston Oct. 2, 1803, aged 81. Sam Adams. 2: In 1900 Brooks Adams predicted that in 50 years these countries would be the world's 2 main powers. the United States and Russia. 3: On becoming president, he said he was "less possessed of your confidence... than any of my predecessors". John Quincy Adams. 4: Henry Adams lived in this city, and there's a memorial to his wife Clover in Rock Creek Cemetery there. Washington, D.C.. 5: In 1848 Charles Francis Adams was on the ticket of this 2-word party formed to oppose the extension of slavery. the Free Soil Party. Round 3. Category: Beantown Tv 1: We learned of 3 people who'd never been in Cliff Clavin's kitchen when he played "Jeopardy!" on this sitcom. Cheers. 2: Julie Bowen, Candice Bergen and Rene Auberjonois get lawyered up on this David E. Kelley drama. Boston Legal. 3: Bruce Greenwood, Ed Begley Jr. and Denzel Washington played doctors at St. Eligius on this drama. St. Elsewhere. 4: In the '70s he played Banacek, a suave Beacon Hill P.I.; in the '80s he led "The A-Team" and blew up a lot of stuff. (George) Peppard. 5: Sharon Leal, Jeri Ryan and Chi McBride educated us on this David E. Kelly drama. Boston Public. Round 4. Category: Consciousness Of Stream Writing 1: Mark Twain's memoir "Life on" it tells tales of one of America's great rivers. the Mississippi. 2: Jonathan Schneer's history of this river includes an account of the 1215 negotiation of the Magna Carta on its banks. the Thames. 3: Whistle a happy tune and name this Pierre Boulle World War II P.O.W. novel that was made into an Oscar-winning film. Bridge on the River Kwai. 4: Alan Moorehead published histories of these 2 main branches of the world's longest river. the Blue Nile and the White Nile. 5: 4 men on a canoe trip in this James Dickey novel fight to survive the wild Cahulawassee River and scary locals. Deliverance. Round 5. Category: Call Me Cat. With Cat in quotation marks 1: Something very appealing to people is likened to this "feline" herb of the mint family. catnip. 2: 19th c. consumers liked buying from folks they knew, so Mr. Montgomery Ward might send a personal note if you ordered from this. the catalog. 3: This No. 1 hit has haunted fathers since 1974 as they watch time pass all too quickly as their sons grow up. "Cat's In The Cradle". 4: Someone full of big talk without being able to back it up is said to be "all hat, no" this. cattle. 5: You're sitting in this idiomatic "seat" when you have a position of great advantage. the catbird seat. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/ AI Voices used
Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, joins Radio Boston to talk about what's next at 'Mass. and Cass' now that encampments have been removed and how her office plans to support those who used to live there.
That sound you heard Sunday afternoon was the bubble busting that contained the Bears' hopes for the 2023 season. Let the next sound you hear be Sid and Lakeena breaking down what went happened in the team's 12th (!!!) straight loss, dating back to 2022. Also, the rest of the NFL Week 2 slate as well as the latest week in college. Another tight weekend in MLB, Old School TV Monday and more. 3:38 - NFL Week 2 recap: What went wrong for the Bears against the Bucs?; Chiefs beat the Jaguars; Ravens beat the Bengals; Falcons hold off the Packers; 49ers beat NFC West division rival Rams; Commanders defeat Broncos in a thriller;Cowboys continue their dominance against the Jets; Studs and Duds 56:33 - CBF Week 3 recap: Colorado holds off Colorado State; Georgia, Texas and Michigan rebound after early game scares; Florida upsets Tennessee.; Washington hammers Michigan State behind a huge performance from Michael Penix Jr'; Alabama rebounds against USF, but is there still cause for concern? 1:23:34 - MLB talk: D'Backs swept the Cubs; Orioles and Rays clinch; Dodgers clinch the NL West again; Things are still in the AL West, as Shohei is done for the year after cleaning out his locker; This week's games 1:36:56 - NBC Sports' Noah Eagle will join father Ian for ten Brooklyn Nets' games in the broadcast booth this upcoming season; All but three MNF games will simulcast on ABC and ESPN due the ongoing Hollywood strikes; HBO cancels Winning Time; Our early take on CW's Inside The NFL 1:44:26 - Old School TV Monday salutes the critically-acclaimed FOX drama Boston Public; Aces eliminate the Sky from the playoffs Subscribe to WARR Media Podcasts and follow WARR on YouTube for all the latest on our movement and stay tuned for upcoming episodes and specials from your guys. WARR Media provides the best independent coverage of sports and culture -- feel free to share our content and rate us well here or wherever else you find our podcasts. Thanks for listening. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/warrmedia/message
The very first words that we read in scripture are, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And as we dive further into the creation story we come to realize just how creative God is! The creativity of God doesn't stop with Genesis, however. This quality of God weaves itself throughout the entirety of the Biblical narrative. Join host Trillia Newbell and Blair Linne today for a discussion all about God and His creativity. Blair Linne is an author, speaker, actress, and Christian spoken word artist. She has appeared in numerous theater productions, commercials, and television shows including Days of Our Lives, Alias, Malcolm in the Middle, Boston Public, The Parkers and American Dreams, as well as her own Saturday morning show, SK8 (Skate) on NBC. Blair has toured globally and is known as one of the originators of the Christian Spoken Word genre. At 13, she was one of the youngest contributors at The World Stage Anansi writer's workshop. Since then, she has written poetry for Sprite, Neutrogena, NBC, and the Gospel Coalition. She has been featured on ABC's Nightline, 102.3 KJLH, Revive Our Hearts, the Los Angeles Times, and several Christian Hip Hop albums. Proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ through spoken word is her passion. She lives with her husband Shai and their three children in Philadelphia. Blair serves in discipling women at Risen Christ Fellowship. This Week's Reading: Ecclesiastes 1- Isaiah 7See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
L.E.A.P: Listen, Engage, Allow and Process on Your Healing Journey
Welcome to Rock Your Shine: After you've been cracked wide open. On this show, I sit down with people from all over the world to hear their transformational stories on their deep grief and loss journeys. In this episode, we delve into the depths of grief and loss with Jon Hazilla, who has experienced unimaginable pain. Jon shares his heartbreaking journey of losing three siblings and going through a divorce while processing deep grief. Discover the transformative power of 'heart play' and gain insights into understanding your own dark place. Jon opens up about his experience with therapy and his thoughts on medication. We explore practical tools to pull yourself out of a dark place and discuss whether Jon took time to withdraw and shut everything out. Navigating the loss of his siblings and the impact of divorce on handling other losses are explored. We delve into the topic of receiving signs from the other side and how Jon tapped into music and playfulness as sources of healing. Discover how Jon found moments of joy while still in darkness. We also explore what Jon's relationship with his ex-wife looks like post-divorce and gain insights into his journey of self-love. Jon Hazilla has performed and/or recorded with: Jo Anne Brackeen, James Williams, John Hicks, Billy Taylor, Aaron Goldberg, Ray Drummond, Ron Carter, George Garzone, Benny Golson, Billy Pierce, Steve Grossman, Larry Coryell, Kenny Wheeler, Sheila Jordan, Ran Blake, John Clayton, and Max Roach. He continues to perform in countless global festivals from the Azores to Costa Rica, Warsaw, Rome, Nice, Serbia, and Kyoto, to name a few. He is a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music. He received a National Endowment Award in 1987, The Robert Porter Memorial Advancement Award in Education from the American Federation of Teachers in 2002, a Berklee Fellowship Grant in 2006, and the Steelgrass residency in Kauai, Hawaii in 2012. Jon has produced eight CDs as a leader, and recorded over 45 more as a sideman. Berklee Press published his first book Mastering the Art of Brushes in 2002, and its second edition in 2017. His second book Rhythmic Reflections on Creative Teaching was published by Mosaic Eye Publishing in 2013. Hal Leonard released his DVD Brush Control in 2008. He is co-founder of “Jazz on Wheels,” a volunteer group of musicians that performs free concerts at Boston Public libraries for inner-city children. He was a mentor for the City Music Program, volunteered for Habitat for Humanity helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina, was music facilitator for Project COMMON BOND serving young adults from around the world who have experienced trauma, and is artistic coordinator for Peace by Piece, a community trauma outreach program in South Boston. He is a certified hospice volunteer for Aseracare Hospice. He was a Pastoral Associate at First Parish in Brookline (Unitarian Universalist) and taught in the Religious Exploration program. He has run over 40 marathons and one ultra, and has a PR of 2:38. Jon is a professor at Berklee College of Music where he has taught since 1987. Jon's natural gift for teaching keeps him in high demand in and around Boston and worldwide. Join us as we navigate the depths of loss, find healing, and embrace the resilience of the human spirit. **TRIGGER WARNING** This episode covers sensitive subject matter and is not suitable for all listeners. If this topic could be a trigger for you, listen to this episode with a friend, a sibling, a loved one or a parent so you can talk about any emotions that come up for you. The contents of this episode are not intended to replace therapy and should not be taken as such. If you need immediate help, please call the crisis hotline listed below in our resources. Listen in as we talk about: [2:45] The 3 siblings he has lost [5:25] Going through a divorce and processing deep grief and loss at the same time [8:15] The power of ‘heart play' [12:50] Understanding your dark place [13:50] Seeing a therapist and his thoughts on medication [16:00] Tools to pull yourself out of a dark place [20:10] Did he take time to withdraw and shut everything out? [22:55] Navigating the loss of his brother [24:15] Did the loss from divorce help him handle the other losses in his life? [27:35] Receiving signs from the other side [32:45] Tapping into music and playfulness [40:00] Finding joy while still in darkness [47:10] What his relationship with his ex-wife looks like post-divorce [49:15] What self love looks like for Jon today [51:35] Hope is… Resources mentioned in this episode: Book: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Mining-River-Sibling-Grief/dp/1732888892/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Rock+On%3A+Mining+for+joy&qid=1570199126&sr=8-1 Coure: L.E.A.P 6 week virtual course: https://rockyourshine.com/l-e-a-p-into-light-and-healing-6-week-virtual-course/ Grief Hotline: https://www.griefresourcenetwork Connect with Susan http://instagram.com/susan.casey/ https://www.facebook.com/Susan-E-Casey-101187148084982 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDcl58l8qUwO3dDYk83wOFA https://rockyourshine.com/ https://www.tiktok.com/@leapwithsusan?
This week, Swanson, Kiorein and Stairmaster HBOMax's rebranding as Max and take a deep dive into the stable of characters that make up McDonaldland. Then, the boys play a rousing game of Guess Who's Coming with ChatGPT as the special third player. Will they be able to defeat the A.I. or has it grown too powerful? Later, the gang sit down to watch early 00s high school drama Boston Public and wonder why more TV shows don't include F plots. ★ Support this podcast ★
Carman and Lima's Emerging Podcast Scene - Thursday March 9 - Episode 160. Michael Rapaport joined Ken and Lima to discuss his upcoming shows at the Cleveland Improv, his career, Chris Rock - Will Smith, Cleveland food scene, etc... Check out the entire podcast below and tune in live on Tuesdays and Thursdays immediately following the Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima for live editions of the show on the 92.3 The Fan XTRA stream. Michael Rapaport is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in over sixty films since the early 1990s, and starred on the sitcom The War at Home. He also appeared in Boston Public, Friends, Prison Break, Justified, and Atypical. Some of his notable film roles include True Romance (1993), Higher Learning (1995), Metro (1997), Cop Land (1997), Deep Blue Sea (1999), The 6th Day (2000), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), Big Fan (2009), and The Heat (2013). He also directed the award winning documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011).” He's also the host of the world wide phenomenon “I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast.”
Carman and Lima's Emerging Podcast Scene - Thursday March 9 - Episode 160 Michael Rapaport joined Ken and Lima to discuss his upcoming shows at the Cleveland Improv, his career, Chris Rock - Will Smith, Cleveland food scene, etc... Check out the entire podcast below and tune in live on Tuesdays and Thursdays immediately following the Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima for live editions of the show on the 92.3 The Fan XTRA stream. Michael Rapaport is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in over sixty films since the early 1990s, and starred on the sitcom The War at Home. He also appeared in Boston Public, Friends, Prison Break, Justified, and Atypical. Some of his notable film roles include True Romance (1993), Higher Learning (1995), Metro (1997), Cop Land (1997), Deep Blue Sea (1999), The 6th Day (2000), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), Big Fan (2009), and The Heat (2013). He also directed the award winning documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011).”He's also the host of the world wide phenomenon “I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast.”
UPtv, the television destination for uplifting entertainment, will debut a new movie Sweet on You starring Haylie Duff and Rob Mayes and written and directed by Marla Sokoloff. Sweet on You will premiere Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. ET, as part of UPtv's Flirty February stunt of romance movie debuts every Sunday. In Sweet on You, Kate Davies (Duff) has always lived a sweet, simple life in the idyllic town of Cedar Creek. She owns the town's famous pie shoppe, Pearls Pie Place, that she runs with her bestie, Bree (Chelsea Alden). Kate recently lost her Mom and has been trying to pick up the pieces of her life, when she meets city goer Drew Ellis (Mayes). Unbeknownst to Kate, Drew is in town to claim land that he inherited and has plans to turn the land into soulless tract homes. Once Drew realizes his land runs right through Pearls Pie Place, his heart is stuck between his family's wishes…or a chance at love. Sweet on You is executive produced by Jeffrey Schenck, Zelma Kiwi and Barry Barnholtz with Gene George serving as co-executive producer. The movie is written and directed by Marla Sokoloff with story by Haylie Duff. About UP Entertainment UP Entertainment, home to UPtv, AspireTV, AspireTV Life, UP Faith & Family and Cine Romántico, is the destination for uplifting entertainment for passionate and diverse audiences across the leading cable, satellite and streaming platforms. UPtv is the trusted network for adults seeking positive programming with relatable stories about relationships, filled with love and laughter, through exclusive premiere movies, box-office hit films and beloved series. AspireTV is the premier network for Black culture and urban lifestyle programming featuring original productions in food, home and fashion. AspireTV Life is the first free ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel dedicated to sharing the experiences of the multicultural audience through cooking, fashion, travel, design and more. UP Faith & Family is the leading streaming service in uplifting entertainment and includes exclusive access to original productions from the UP Entertainment family of brands. Additionally, UP Entertainment in partnership with PixL Dos, manages and distributes Cine Romántico, a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel featuring the best of Hollywood TV romance movies in Spanish. UP Entertainment's award-winning pro-social initiative, “UPlift Someone,” has inspired over 200 million people to uplift others through its social videos and dedicated UPlift Someone Facebook page and website.https://uptv.com/movies/sweet-on-you/Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/UPtv/ Instagram – @UP_TV Twitter - @UPtv Official website - www.UPtv.comHaylie Duff BioThe older sister of actress and teen pop sensation Hilary Duff, Haylie Duff kicked off her career by focusing more on her skills in front of the camera than her talents behind a microphone. Though she would pen the occasional tune for her younger sibling, it was screen roles in such television hits as Chicago Hope, Boston Public, and (alongside her sister) Lizzie McGuire that first opened the eyes of the public to the talents of the ambitious rising starlet. Born just two years prior to her sister, Haylie made her screen debut alongside Hilary in the female Western True Women before branching out into features with supporting performances in Dreams in the Attic and I Love Your Work. It was during this period of her career that Haylie would contribute to the soundtracks of such films as A Cinderella Story, Stuck in the Suburbs, and Raising Helen, with a memorable performance in the cult hit Napoleon Dynamite serving well to offer her some indie exposure in addition to her mainstream success. A subsequent return to the small screen found Haylie making a notable impression in That's So Raven, Joan of Arcadia, and 7th Heaven, and in 2006 it was finally time to join Hilary on the big screen (as sisters no less) for the riches-to-rags comedy Material Girls. Also that same year, Haylie made her Broadway debut as the character Amber Von Tussle in the musical Hairspray. In 2008 Haylie hosted the MTV reality competition show Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods, in which singers competed to star in the upcoming production of the Broadway musical of the hit film Legally Blonde.
Tous les soirs, retrouvez l'histoire du jour par l'édition du soir de Ouest-France. Crédit musique : Cuisine - Nctrnm / freearchivemusic.org (cc by 4.0) Crédit image : Boston Public library
Tous les soirs, retrouvez l'histoire du jour par l'édition du soir de Ouest-France. Crédit musique : Cuisine - Nctrnm / freearchivemusic.org (cc by 4.0) Crédit image : Boston Public library
Mega-TV producer and showrunner David E. Kelley's numerous cult dramas, dark comedies and crime mysteries include: L.A. Law, From the Hip, Chicago Hope, Doogie Howser, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Picket Fences, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Snoops, Mystery Alaska, Lake Placid, Boston Public, Boston Legal, Harry's Law, Monday Mornings, The Crazy Ones, Goliath, Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes, Goliath, Big Little Lies, Hulu's Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing, Big Sky, The Lincoln Lawyer, Big Shots and Anatomy of a Scandal. He currently as of the recording was attached to helm the upcoming Peacock's The Calling, Love and Death and a new interpretation of Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent for Apple TV+! Was he basically Steven Bochco 2.0 or did he evolve into his new formula? What cancelled show needed another year on the air? Why is he so good at blending legal tropes with witty dark off-color comedy? And more admiration of this TV producing legend. MAIN LINKS: LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/JURSPodcast Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/JackedUpReviewShow/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2452329545040913 Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackedUpReview Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacked_up_podcast/ SHOW LINKS: YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCIyMawFPgvOpOUhKcQo4eQQ iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-jacked-up-review-show-59422651/ Podbean: https://jackedupreviewshow.podbean.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Eg8w0DNympD6SQXSj1X3M Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jacked-up-review-show-podcast/id1494236218 RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/the-jacked-up-review-show-We4VjE Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1494236218/the-jacked-up-review-show-podcast Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9hNDYyOTdjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz Anchor: https://anchor.fm/s/a46297c/podcast/rss PocketCasts: https://pca.st/0ncd5qp4 CastBox: https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Jacked-Up-Review-Show-Podcast-id2591222
You name it, Michelle Elkin has done it. She has had her hand in almost all facets of the industry - TV, film, theatre, education, all of it. She lives and breathes it. We chat about: how to stay grounded through the up's and down's of the industryher favorite way to cast dancersthe differences in creating for film vs. stageand oh so much more!Michelle on InstagramMichelle Elkin has served as Choreographer most recently for an episode of Young Sheldon (season 6, airing this Fall) and is currently in rehearsals for “13 the Musical”. Other Credits include Sutton Foster and Jonathon Groff Live At Lincoln Center for PBS, the tv series Younger, an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Young Sheldon with Jason Alexander and David Hasselhoff. She was seen on Netflix as a co star in Gilmore Girls “Winter”. She also choreographed the TV show Me and My Grandma with Rhea Perlman, as well as a Southwest Airlines web spot. Select Theater credits include a Regional Production of Something Rotten, The Goodbye Girl (MTG), Broadway To The Rescue (Montalban Theater), Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Broadway World Awards Nominee) Sister Act The musical (Broadway World Awards Nominee, Scenie Award), a piece for the NSO Pops Opening at Kennedy Center and “Children Of Eden” (Broadway World Awards Nominee). She also created musical numbers featuring Sutton Foster and special guest Joshua Henry for the National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center, the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and the Houston Symphony at Jones Hall. She has also lent her choreographic talents to the hit ABC Family show, Baby Daddy, a TNT pilot titled “Dawn” directed by Sam Raimi as well as a production of Little Shop Of Horrors in Tampa, FL, the feature films Wild Hogs and What Just Happened, as well as Emmy award winning television shows, Boston Legal, Weeds, Lifetime's reality show “Your Mama Don't Dance”, Warren The Ape on MTV, Marvin, Marvin on Nickelodeon, as well as the tap sequences in ABC Family's Bunheads. She made her professional debut at the age of 8 in the movie musical “Annie”. Since then, she continued to work in numerous film, television, commercial, and theater projects as a dancer and assistant choreographer such as Bunheads, Boston Legal, Joan Of Arcadia, Boston Public, Ally McBeal, Charmed, American Idol, the tv series Fame LA, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That 70's Show, Tracey Takes On, The Country Bears, Batman and Robin, Austin Powers I-III, A Time For Dancing, and Elizabethtown. She was the Associate Choreographer for the films, Semi-Pro, Tropic Thunder, 10 Things I Hate About You, Cinderelmo, Looney Tunes: Back In Action, 13 Going on 30, Starsky and Hutch, tv series Viva Laughlin, Dancing With The Stars, the musical, Sister Act at Pasadena Playhouse, as well as the 58th Emmy Awards with Conan O' Brien, the 63rd Emmy Awards with Jane Lynch and 81st Academy Awards with Hugh Jackman. Michelle was also the Associate Choreographer of the Broadway show, Wonderland at the Marriott Marquis Theater.Hey y'all! I'm the voice behind the DC:U pod and MNTR MGMT. After 15 years in the industry as a choreographer, dancer, producer, educator and more, I'm now working closely with dance artists on professional development, business skills and digital enhancement. Curious? join the mntrU Crew or book a 1:1 sesh.Connect with me on Insta @mntr.mgmt
Jessalyn Sarah Gilsig is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Lauren Davis in Boston Public, Gina Russo in Nip/Tuck, Terri Schuester in Glee, and as Siggy Haraldson in Vikings. In season two of "Big Shot," Marvyn Korn (Stamos) returns to Westbrook with a new fire, ready to show that his basketball team belongs in D-2 and that he's still the championship-winning, powerhouse coach he was in the NCAA. Marvyn's latest plan toward relevance is to get his team broadcast on ESPN and his method is to recruit an unlikely player: Ava (Echeagaray), a gutsy beach volleyball phenom whose public tantrum got her ousted from her own sport. Between losing their assistant coach Holly Barrett (Gilsig) to a rival school, new friction amongst teammates, a sudden and unexpected proximity to boys, and off-the-court disasters that no one could've predicted, this season, the Westbrook Sirens have even more to prove. Cast Sophia Mitri Schloss, John Stamos, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jessalyn Gilsig, Nell Verlaque, Tiana Le, Tisha Custodio, Cricket Wampler, Sara Echeagaray, Samuel Taylor, Charlie Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Michael Rapaport returned to the show for the first time in 5 years (we have settled our differences) for a fun chat about the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, and his podcast "I am Rapaport Stereo Podcast."Michael Rapaport is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in over sixty films since the early 1990s, and starred on the sitcom The War at Home. He also appeared in Boston Public, Friends, Prison Break, Justified, and Atypical. Some of his notable film roles include True Romance (1993), Higher Learning (1995), Metro (1997), Cop Land (1997), Deep Blue Sea (1999), The 6th Day (2000), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), Big Fan (2009), and The Heat (2013). He also directed the award winning documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011).Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
A monkeypox case in a Boston Public school, Adam Levine is one of the most foul men on the planet
ABOUT MICHAEL RAPAPORT AND I AM RAPAPORTEvery Tuesday and Friday, listeners will hear Michael share his strong, funny & offensive points of view on life, sports, music, film & everything in between. Since launching in 2014, the "I Am Rapaport: Stereo Podcast" has amassed 45+ million downloads and released 925+ episodes -- Michael has never missed a week. Michael has interviewed celebrity guests such as Martin Scorsese, Shaquille O'Neal, Mike Tyson, Ice Cube, Charlamagne Tha God, Ellen Pompeo, Allen Iverson, Juliette Lewis, Method Man, among others. Michael has also performed his show live at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal & Toronto and sold out a 30+ city live tour around the United States & Canada.MICHAEL RAPAPORT BIOMichael Rapaport is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in over sixty films since the early 1990s, and starred on the sitcom The War at Home. He also appeared in Boston Public, Friends, Prison Break, Justified, and Atypical. Some of his notable film roles include True Romance (1993), Higher Learning (1995), Metro (1997), Cop Land (1997), Deep Blue Sea (1999),The 6th Day (2000), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), Big Fan(2009), and The Heat (2013). He also directed the award winning documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011).He's also the host of the world wide phenomenon "I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast"https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-i-am-rapaport-stereo-podca-27879602/https://www.iamrapaport.com/
Today on Too Opinionated, actress Sarah Hagan! Sarah is known for her work on Freaks and Geeks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 90210, Sun Choke, NCIS, Greys Anatomy, Undeclared, Medium, Ally McBeal and Boston Public. Want to watch: YouTube Meisterkhan Pod (Please Subscribe) Check out the website: Meisterkhan.com
WTOP Entertainment Reporter Jason Fraley chats with comedian Michael Rapaport, who performs live at the D.C. Improv this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They discussed his favorite roles from "True Romance" to "Friends" to "Boston Public."
This week The TV Boys sit down to discuss Nicole Kidman. You already know about her films, so pull up a chair and learn about her TV work as well.
David E. Kelley's Massachusetts-set saga (and partially connected to the St. Elsewhere and Boston Public universes!) is still pretty edgy and available to stream on Hulu all these years later. David Wolf returns to once again embark on why this show is still unlike any other morality tale! What was it like for people like David who embarked on similar legal careers when this was hot? Did spin-off show Ally McBeal not date too terribly well or was it already sorta overhypd to begin with? Is Boston Legal the rare type of stand-alone comedy program that showed how one can make a rare well-done casting change while being too brilliant for its own good? And more grim yet fascinating takes on courtroom outbursts, freaky criminal clients and Denny Crane quotes! MAIN LINKS: LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/JURSPodcast Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/JackedUpReviewShow/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackedUpReview Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacked_up_podcast/ SHOW LINKS: YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCIyMawFPgvOpOUhKcQo4eQQ iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-jacked-up-review-show-59422651/ Podbean: https://jackedupreviewshow.podbean.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Eg8w0DNympD6SQXSj1X3M Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jacked-up-review-show-podcast/id1494236218 RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/the-jacked-up-review-show-We4VjE Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1494236218/the-jacked-up-review-show-podcast Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9hNDYyOTdjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz Anchor: https://anchor.fm/s/a46297c/podcast/rss PocketCasts: https://pca.st/0ncd5qp4 CastBox: https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Jacked-Up-Review-Show-Podcast-id2591222
www.lauragardner.orgLaura was born on Saint Patrick's Day with her fraternal twin, Lynn. They began their acting career at 5 as “Lullaby Kids” in THE WIZARD OF OZ at Camp Monroe in the Catskills. Laura left her twin behind in her pursuit of acting and found herself working professionally before she hit her teens.Laura trained at Boston University School of the Arts, Rutgers University and Herbert Berghof Studios where she studied with Uta Hagen, Carol Rosenfeld and Ken McMillan.Laura appeared on Broadway in SMILE with Jodi Benson (the little Mermaid). Her off B'way credits include THE COCKTAIL HOUR with Nancy Marchand, Bruce Davison and Keene Curtis, OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY with Kevin Conway, and WELDED directed by Jose' Quintero. She toured nationally in SHOWBOAT (with Pat Harrington and Anita Gillette), DOONESBURY (with Greg Edelman and Marin Maisie), OLIVER (with Andrea McCardle and Richard Kline) and MY FAIR LADY (with Jodi Benson and Ian Ogilvy). Her extensive regional credits include the Arena Stage(DC), Huntington Theatre (Boston), Cleveland Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, and the NC Shakespeare Festival in roles that ranged from Lady Macbeth to Miss Hannigan. L.A. credits include 6 plays for the Pasadena Playhouse, Will Geer Botanicum, Westwood Playhouse, Tiffany Theatre, Fountain Theatre, Deaf West and the Celtic Arts Centre. She is a member of the ROAD THEATRE and ROGUE MACHINE.Some of her TV and film credits include SEAL TEAM, ANIMAL KINGDOM, OUTCAST, THE ROMANOFFS, CRIMINAL MINDS, THE GILMORE GIRLS, CASTLE, ER, TORCHWOOD, THE WEST WING, JUDGING AMY, BOSTON PUBLIC, PARTY OF FIVE, LAW AND ORDER LA, LA LAW, ER, CHEERS, FRESH OFF THE BOAT and many morel You may have seen Laura and her actor husband, Frank Collison recurring on the NBC hit, MY NAME IS EARL.
Blair Linne is an author, speaker, actress, and Christian spoken word artist. She has appeared in numerous theater productions, commercials, and television shows including Days of Our Lives, Alias, Malcolm in the Middle, Boston Public, The Parkers and American Dreams, as well as her own Saturday morning show, SK8 (Skate) on NBC. Blair has toured globally and is known as one of the originators of the Christian Spoken Word genre. At 13, she was one of the youngest contributors at The World Stage Anansi writer's workshop. Since then, she has written poetry for Sprite, Neutrogena, NBC, and the Gospel Coalition. She has been featured on ABC's Nightline, 102.3 KJLH, Revive Our Hearts, the Los Angeles Times, and several Christian Hip Hop albums. Proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ through spoken word is her passion. She lives with her husband Shai and their three children in Philadelphia. Blair serves in discipling women at Risen Christ Fellowship. She is a contributing writer in the devotional His Testimonies, My Heritage, and her brand new book Finding My Father: How the Gospel Heals the Pain of Fatherlessness just released October 1st of this year. In this episode, Blair discusses: Her testimony and what it was like being a Christian while working as an actress What it was like making the decision to step away from her acting career How God uses her gift and love for spoken word poetry to share the gospel Her experience growing up with a single mom and her inspiration for writing her book How the church can minister to single moms and the fatherless …and more! Books mentioned: Finding My Father: How the Gospel Heals the Pain of Fatherlessness https://amzn.to/3lRYocL His Testimonies, My Heritage: Women of Color on the Word of God https://amzn.to/2YYctgl When Light Meets Water: A Collection of Poetry https://amzn.to/3BW9GlM The Perfection of Beauty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kY9In41R1A
Actresses, moms and real-life girlfriends Rebecca Gayheart, Sharon Leal and Yvonna Kopacz-Wright came together in The Locher Room on March 11, 2021 to help raise money and awareness for Los Angeles based Chrysalis: A non-profit organization Changing Lives Through Jobs. This trio of ladies have been good friends for over two decades and will come together to discuss their friendship, motherhood, their careers and help raise money for this homeless organization.Rebecca Gayheart broke into television with a series of television commercials for Noxzema in the early 1990. In 1992, Gayheart was cast on ABC's Loving as Hannah Mayberry. Other roles include: Antonia Marchette in Beverly Hills 90210 opposite the late Luke Perry, Ugly Betty, Vanishing Son, Earth 2, Nothing to Lose, Scream 2, G.B.F, Urban Legend, Jawbreaker, Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangmans' Daughter, Shadow Hours, The Cleaner, and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Gayheart made her Broadway debut in a production of Steel Magnolias.Sharon Leal made her TV debut as Dahlia Crede on Guiding Light in 1996. She joined the Broadway cast of Rent before joining the San Francisco leg of the first national tour. Leal landed the plum roles of Michelle Morris in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls and the role of Marilyn Sudor on Fox's Boston Public for it's entire run. She has also appeared as Vanessa Lodge in the series Hellcats and as M'gann M'orzz (Megan in human form) on Supergirl in Seasons 2,3, and 5. Yvonna Kopacz-Wright entered a Seventeen magazine modeling contest at 18 which earned her a trip to the Wilhelmina Agency in New York City. After modeling for two years, she returned to California where she completed two years at the University of California at Berkeley before joining the cast of the daytime drama Days of our Lives as Wendy Reardon. Since then she has appeared in various TV shows and movies, such as Cosby, Damages, Unforgettable, Perfect Stranger and more. She has had a recurring role on Blue Bloods as Detective Ava Hotchkiss and is currently appearing on Law and Order: SVU as Dr. Darby Wilder.Yvonna is also a beekeeper who is extremely passionate about educating others on the current situation of the honey bee, including what we can do to help them from extinction. She takes care of her own hives, volunteers at kids schools and community centers teaching the youth about the importance of bees in our eco system, and uses social media as a platform for spreading her knowledge. Check out Lomar Farms below.CHRYSALISChrysalis is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a pathway to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals by providing the resources and support needed to find and retain employment.Their philosophy is that a steady job is a key step in a person's transition out of poverty and onto a pathway to self-sufficiency. Chrysalis' core employment services are designed to meet clients where they are and support them during every phase of their self-directed job search.Since 1984, Chrysalis has served more than 71,000 low-income and homeless individuals, carrying out John Dillon's vision of changing lives through jobs. Learn more about how they have continued to grow their approach for 36 years, offering a second chance to and empowering our clients, who are ready for change.
In this part two of my interview with Set Decorator Jan Pascale we discuss her beginnings in Pittsburgh as a set painter on "Mr. Rogers"! Then the obvious shift to Roger Corman films. Her early work propping then moving to set decorating on films like "Forever Young", "Dracula Dead and Loving It", TV shows like "Gidion's Crossing" and "Boston Public", then decorating "Training Day". Her string of heavy dramas intermixed with hilarious comedies like "Good night and Good Luck", "Anchman", "Spiderwick Chronicles", "Kicking and Screaming", "Leatherheads", "Horrible Bosses", "Argo", "Suburbacon", "VEEP", "All the Way", "Vice" and the upcoming "Maverick", the sequel to "Top Gun" and she is currently working on the Obi-Wan series for Disney. Jan's beginnings to now is an extraordinary carer of decorating the screen.
After last week's Pop Culture Happy Hour match, it's only right that friend of that show Margaret H. Willison should play with us this week. She's here with her co-hosts of the Appointment Television podcast Kathryn VanArendonk and Andrew Cunningham. They'll kick off the competition with an audio quiz about TV production company logos before moving into a one-letter-off game with slightly modified versions of popular TV shows. And we can only hope they've boned up on the knowledge needed for this week's lightning round! This is it for regulation play for our Season Two Battle of the Podcasts! Next week, our returning champions from the season will come back for the playoffs! Support Us On Patreon
After last week's Pop Culture Happy Hour match, it's only right that friend of that show Margaret H. Willison should play with us this week. She's here with her co-hosts of the Appointment Television podcast Kathryn VanArendonk and Andrew Cunningham. They'll kick off the competition with an audio quiz about TV production company logos before moving into a one-letter-off game with slightly modified versions of popular TV shows. And we can only hope they've boned up on the knowledge needed for this week's lightning round! This is it for regulation play for our season two Battle of the Podcasts! Next week, our returning champions from the season will come back for the playoffs! NOTES ⚠️ Inline notes below may be truncated due to podcast feed character limits. Full notes are always on the episode page.
After last week's Pop Culture Happy Hour match, it's only right that friend of that show Margaret H. Willison should play with us this week. She's here with her co-hosts of the Appointment Television podcast Kathryn VanArendonk and Andrew Cunningham.They'll kick off the competition with an audio quiz about TV production company logos before moving into a one-letter-off game with slightly modified versions of popular TV shows. And we can only hope they've boned up on the knowledge needed for this week's lightning round!This is it for regulation play for our Season Two Battle of the Podcasts! Next week, our returning champions from the season will come back for the playoffs!Support Us On Patreon
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