Podcasts about Columbia Heights

The Roll Call podcast team is joined by Hassan Kamel and Ryan Munsey of Otto Kroeger Associates (OKA), who are in town to facilitate an emotional resilience course for the Columbia Heights Public Safety staff. In this episode, Hassan and Ryan explain how their three-day course can better prepare Columbia Heights first responders for the emotional challenges of front-line situations.

In the first Hearing the Council interview of 2025, Ward One Councilmember Brianne Nadeau discusses two of her initial legislative priorities for the New Year: her soon-to-be-introduced bottle deposit and Neighborhood Management Entities bills. Councilmember Nadeau discusses how the bottle (and can) deposit bill would aim to greatly reduce the amount of these items in our rivers and woods, as well as on our streets. Every resident and business would be empowered to tackle the dual goals of environmental protection and neighborhood beautification through this proposed measure. Additionally, she discusses how her proposed Neighborhood Management Entities bill would allow dense mixed use communities like Ward 1's U Street and Columbia Heights neighborhoods to better and more collaboratively tackle issues and projects, from cleanliness to safety to event planning. Plus, as always, we had the "fun round," where Councilmember Nadeau selected which of her colleagues would be best suited to join her in tackling a range of tasks, from putting on a puppet show to meeting with the Trump Administration.

Your work is not your job or career.  Your work is what you create. You get this.  But what if you're still searching for the thing that's yours which you create? Or if you've stumbled upon it, what if that thing isn't like everyone else's? While everyone else is creating tangible things that people can taste and touch, yours can't be.  What then?  I want you to know you're not alone in this.  Creating isn't always tangible.  Some people do create tangible things.   But many more create intangible experiences.    And that's great news.  It means the world of creating is much bigger and wider than you might have thought.   My guest on today's episode can tell you all about this because Katie MacDonald has done something truly remarkable.   She's taken what she's heard here on Reframe to Create and done the deep work of integrating it into her understanding of herself and her work.  She's let it give her a reframe and the result has been a powerful discovery of what she uniquely brings to the table.  And her unique contribution might be like yours--something intangible.  Learning this has changed not just how she shows up on her job but how she shows up in all of her life.  We also talk about how your unique work doesn't require that you go on a long journey to find it because you're already doing it in some way today.  Listen in because you might discover that you've already been doing the thing you've been searching to find.     About my guest:  Katie MacDonald is a public health professional, passionate about improving lives through increased access to quality health products and services. She has worked in health markets around the world to introduce new health commodities, promote policy change and build public private partnerships. Katie discovered her love for public health as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali and since then has lived and worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bangladesh. Katie enjoys making connections with people around the world and in her own neighborhood of Columbia Heights in Washington, DC through scuba diving, cooking, reading and running. Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-macdonald-mph/   Reference Episodes  Reframe to Create Episode 57 - Build and Diversify Your Work Portfolio  Reframe to Create Episode 56 - Liberate Your Work | Sawida Kamara  Reframe to Create Episode 86 - Don't Let Your Job Get in the Way of Your Work  About: The Reframe to Create podcast is hosted by Joy Spencer, an Executive Leadership and Storytelling Coach, Speaker, and Organizational Development Consultant working with professionals and leaders at all levels within organizations.  Joy leverages over 17 years of experience she gained while working to champion change in social justice movements, including those related to global access to essential medicines and consumer advocacy for online privacy.  This work required a dogged commitment to not merely challenging the status quo, but to reimagining and working towards creating an ideal future.  It is this commitment to creating that has shaped Joy's coaching philosophy and approach today. Using her signature C.R.E.A.T.E. framework, Joy guides her clients through a process to become incomparable in work so they can get paid to be themselves.   Follow Joy on LinkedIn  - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-spencer/

Heidi Kopischke, Shelter and Supportive Services Supervisor with the Alexandra House joins Will Rottler, Communications and Engagement Coordinator, and Tabitha Wood, COP Coordinator/Youth Outreach Officer. In this episode, Heidi shares with the Roll Call team the mission of the Alexandra House and how the Columbia Heights community can support its efforts.

Why does God need a name in the first place? John Mark argues that it's because there are many "gods". He surveys scripture passages relating to gods and demonic beings, not only warning us that they are real and should never be worshipped, but that Yahweh is the one true creator God and is higher than them all. Key Scripture Passages: Exodus 34v6-7, Exodus 12v12, Exodus 15v11, Exodus 20v2-4, Psalm 82, Mark 5v1-13, Ephesians 6v10-12This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for this episode goes to: Kayla from Nanaimo, British Columbia; Ross & Allison from Salem, Oregon; Josiah from Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Church on the Rock in Huntley, Illinois; and Jenna from Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Thank you all so much!If you'd like to pay it forward and contribute toward future resources, you can learn more at practicingtheway.org/give.

J.W. Marriott had a gift for seeing what the public needed and made sure to give it to them. Marriott is the epitome of Entrepreneur to Empire. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. Here's one of those. [ASAP Commercial Doors Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast. I'm Dave Young, sitting here with Stephen Semple, and we're talking about people that built empires. Empires, sir. Not just a little business, an empire. As usual, Stephen whispered the topic into my ear just as we were counting down to start recording. And the word is Marriott. I guess that's a name, the Marriott, I don't know if it was one guy or a family. I know that it ended up being a bunch of Marriott's involved, but the Marriott hotel chain. Stephen Semple: The Marriott Hotel chain. Marriott Corporation. Dave Young: I'll tell you what I know about them. And this is weird. A Mormon family? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And most of the brothers that were involved, maybe in the beginning, but anyway, they were all members of the same college fraternity that I was in. Stephen Semple: Is that right? Dave Young: I didn't know them, but that was the talk about them, "They're these BYU Sigma Chi's from Utah." Stephen Semple: And John Willard Marriott and his wife Alice, very devout Mormons and part of the origin of the Marriott chain actually starts with them doing a mission in New England. Dave Young: Cool. Anxious to hear the story. Stephen Semple: It started in March 5th, 1927 by John Willard Marriott, which is part of the reason why one of the Marriott's is the JW. Dave Young: Sure. This goes back way farther than I knew. I think by the time I was aware of them, this was the eighties. Wow. Big history. Stephen Semple: And today they have over 9,000 properties. There's a whole pile of different badges under it. Dave Young: Brands. Stephen Semple: And million and a half rooms, 400,000 employees. They do like 23 billion in revenue. And look, everyone knows the name Marriott. Dave Young: I think it qualifies as an empire. Stephen Semple: I think it does. And it starts with JW traveling to D.C, Washington, D.C after doing a mission in New England. And he experiences this really hot, humid summer, and he thinks to himself, "This city needs more places to buy cool drinks." He returns home to Utah. He finishes his degree at the University of Utah and returns to Washington where he buys an A&W franchise in Columbia Heights. Dave Young: Good idea. He should have invented air conditioning. I think we've talked about. Stephen Semple: That would've been a better idea. Dave Young: I always have to slide in some little weird bit of trivia that I know, but back in the days before air conditioning, the British Foreign Service actually paid people tropical pay when they were stationed in Washington, D.C. Stephen Semple: Wow, because it is so ugly in the summertime. Dave Young: It was dank and humid. Basically it's a city built on a swamp. Stephen Semple: It pretty much is. Dave Young: He buys an A&W franchise in? Stephen Semple: Columbia Heights. It's a suburb of D.C. It's great in the summer. Business is great in summer. Really slow in the winter. Because at the time, A&W did not sell food. They started off, first of all, it's just root beer. Now he gets permission to sell food, but does it under a different name called Hot Shop. Dave Young: Hot Shop. Shop or Shot? Stephen Semple:

Office Supervisor Karen Olson joins the podcast to reflect on her 35+ years with the City of Columbia Heights. Karen has worked with the Columbia Heights Police Department since 1985 in several capacities, including as office supervisor since 2010. From scheduling swearing-in ceremonies to overseeing office staff, Karen has been the department's heartbeat for numerous years.

Saka dawa is winding to an end. The sacred Tibetan Buddhist month of celebration and prayer surrounding the enlightenment of Buddha was led in part by 17-year-old Jalue Dorje from Columbia Heights, Minn. That's because when Dorje was a young child, the Dalai Lama confirmed that he is a reincarnation of a lama, or holy leader, from Tibet. That means he is destined to be a Buddhist monk and leader of peace. He's been studying to become a monk ever since. When he graduates from Columbia Heights High School in 2025, he plans to move to the Himalayas to continue his studies. For now, though, outside of Dorje's daily studies and prayers, he's an avid sports fan and sees participating in and watching sports as a way to practice his faith.

Sam Studer, independent filmmaker and Northfield High School graduate, talks about his movie “The Most Dangerous Gains.” The movie premiered May 5 at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights.

 Sam Studer, independent filmmaker and Northfield High School graduate, talks about his movie "The Most Dangerous Gains." The movie premiered May 5 at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. 

On this episode of A One Pint Stand, I sat down with the team behind Rail Werks Brewing Depot in Columbia Heights. They open up on June 1st and will be the first brewery in Columbian Heights. I chatted with Denise and William, the owners, Cory, the bar manager, and Kabel, the head brewer about the food and the drinks. They will be brewing up beer in the brewhouse and smoking BBQ in the kitchen. Give a listen!

Back when I worked for Michael Steele at the Republican National Committee, before Michael lost his mind, and before I became a non-Republican conservative, he made the staff go to an event in a mostly black area of Maryland. And, I watched as white Republicans did what white Republicans do. They became uncomfortable and changed the way they interacted with people. Right now is the best possible time to recruit black votes and what if we just acted neighborly? Do you think black people love that elections are getting rigged and they are the scapegoats that allow it to continue? We need to talk about how we can ask for black votes because it cannot be that hard.What does God's Word say? Galatians 3:26-2926 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.The Parable of the Good SamaritanEpisode 1,372 Links:Recent grad volunteering in DC with Catholic charity shot, killed while walking home from church; Realbuto found himself in DC via the Capuchin Franciscan Volunteer Corps.Black Fulton County resident leaves County Board of Commissioners in STUNNED SILENCE after calling out election interference, Fani Willis' corrupt affair to their FACES as other residents APPLAUDA few months ago, Columbia Heights residents were asked about rampant shoplifting at their local CVS. Residents sided with the looters. CVS just announced it is permanently shutting down this store next month.In 1976, the Shah of #Iran gave 60 Minutes his candid opinion of the Palestinian issue: “Palestinians must know that there is a limit to where they can go and bully the world…by terrorism and blackmailing and this and that…NEW: Moms for Liberty co-founder triggers Joy Reid on her own show and gets her to argue in *favor* of "r*pe" and "pedoph*lia" books in schools.Dean Phillips on Trump supporters: “I saw a line of people waiting in the cold for hours… every single one of them thoughtful, hospitable, friendly… frustrated that they feel nobody is listening to them but Trump. My party is completely delusional”4Patriots https://4Patriots.com/Todd See this week's discounts and deals before they are gone and get free shipping on orders over $97. Alan's Soaps https://alanssoaps.com/TODD Use coupon code ‘TODD' to save an additional 10% off the bundle price. Bioptimizers https://bioptimizers.com/todd Use promo code TODD for 10% off your order. Bonefrog https://bonefrogcoffee.com/todd Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions. Bulwark Capital Bulwark Capital Management (bulwarkcapitalmgmt.com) Call 866-779-RISK or visit online to get their FREE Common Cents Investing Guide. SOTA Weight Loss https://sotaweightloss.com SOTA Weight Loss is, say it with me now, STATE OF THE ART! GreenHaven Interactive Digital Marketing https://greenhaveninteractive.com Your Worldclass Website Will Get Found on Google!

Today our conversation is with Bo Menkiti. We had to break it into two different episodes because it was so good!In this episode we learn about Bo's background–growing up on the “other side of the tracks” in an immigrant neighborhood–he talks about how this shaped his perspective on finding value where others may not have seen it and his educational experiences at Harvard University.Then he takes us back to when he was COO of the nonprofit College Summitt and he had six weeks of mandatory vacation time on his hands. So he decided to buy and resale the six vacant houses next to him in Columbia Heights, DC. Fast forward and he now is CEO of the Menkiti Group, an integrated real estate services company focused on a double bottom line, measuring success in terms of positive social impact and financial returns. Bo is also the CEO and founding partner of Keller Williams Capital Properties, a residential real estate brokerage managed by the Menkiti Group.The Menkiti Group and Keller Williams Capital Properties have been recognized by Inc. magazine as being among the fastest growing private companies in the nation. They have also been named as two of the fastest growing inner city businesses in America by Fortune magazine.As his company grew more and more successful, it invested in eighteen different minority-owned development companies. With the investment from the Menkiti Group, these development companies were able to secure the financing they needed to make deals, catapulting them to success.There are a ton more fascinating life stories and development lessons that we can't even fit into this description. So take a listen! And don't forget to stay tuned for Part 2.Resources:Learn more at The Color of MoneyConnect with Bo on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bomenkitiLearn more about the Menkiti Group at menkitigroup.comBecome a real estate agent HEREConnect with Our HostsEmerick Peace:Instagram: @theemerickpeaceFacebook: facebook.com/emerickpeaceDaniel Dixon:Instagram: @dixonsolditFacebook: facebook.com/realdanieldixonLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dixonsolditYouTube: @dixongroupcompaniesJulia Lashay:Instagram: @iamjulialashayFacebook: facebook.com/growwithjuliaLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/julialashay/YouTube: @JuliaLashayProduced by NOVA MediaThis podcast is for general informational purposes only. The guest's views, thoughts, and opinions represent those of the guest and not KWRI and its affiliates and should not be construed as financial, economic, legal, tax, or other advice. This podcast is provided without any warranty, or guarantee of its accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or results from using the information.

Drew Zuehlke, Pastor of Hope Community Church in Columbia Heights, shares what it looks like to be someone who shows the goodness of God, pushing back the darkness in your own life and with the people God has placed around you.  Chapel date: 10/18/23

Episode 195: Today on “The Building Code,” Zach and guest host Courtney Mattern, director of brand and content marketing, are chatting with Victor Lebegue, CEO at VL Builders in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Tune in to the full episode to hear about how this young entrepreneur and his goals for changing  the construction industry for the better. And learn how managing two companies in two different states is possible with the help of project management software.   Join “The Building Code” Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebuildingcodecrew/   Follow us on social: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildertrend/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buildertrend/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/buildertrend LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buildertrend/  

When an influx of Afghan refugees started arriving in Minnesota after the fall of Kabul two years ago, the humanitarian nonprofit Alight jumped in to help them build new lives here.“We partnered with the state of Minnesota in setting up homes,” said Sonia Anunciacion, Afghan program lead for Minneapolis-based Alight. “So anything you'd think would go into a home, is what we put in there: culturally and religious specific items like prayer rugs, books in Dari and Pashto, Qurans, foods to make an Afghan meal.”But those items alone can't make a home.“As we were meeting this community, we heard a lot about isolation, depression,” Anunciacion recalled. “They're disconnected from the community now that they're spread across the Twin Cities. And there are so many barriers for them to have that sense of community again.”So Alight talked with some of the refugee women and made a discovery.“They told us they love to sew,” Anunciacion said. “And so we thought, what a great way to get the women together. We'll provide a safe space for them to just be free to get to know one another.”A lifeline of thread, wrapped around a spool or wound around a bobbin.And so that happened this summer, at Westwood Community Church in Bloomington, Minn. About 30 women gathered there on Wednesday nights, had dinner, got on-site child care, spent some time with a needle and their own sewing machine to take home, courtesy of Building Blocks of Islam, a charity based in Columbia Heights, Minn.Roqia Joya, a fellow refugee, was one of the guides for the group. She said clothing is a cultural touchstone for Afghan families — and isn't readily replicated, even elsewhere in the Islamic world, like Turkey and Iran. International shipping also can be prohibitively expensive, particularly from Afghanistan. “We do have over there, back in our country, this culture that people are sewing, especially in wedding parties or cultural parties,” she said through an interpreter.It's also a simple matter of practicality: Many Afghan refugees were suddenly uprooted, escaping with little more, literally, than the clothes on their backs. They left behind the support of their families, their jobs, their homes. Sewing lets them repair and tailor their clothes, readily and inexpensively.Laila Joya, who worked for an American cultural exchange program, said tailors and seamstresses back in Afghanistan readily shared their skills.“They had courses, and girls went there and learned how to sew, and then they sewed clothes for themselves and their families,” she said. “In Afghanistan, it was one of my favorite things that I learned.”And she kept at it after she and her husband fled to the U.S. two years ago, when she was pregnant with their first child.“Most of the time I go to the stores, and I buy some clothes and ... I don't like the way they are sewn, or it does not fit,” she said. “So it was my wish that I have something that I could sew for myself and it would fit and I would be comfortable with that.”She also likes making clothes for her daughter — and even brought her along as she joined other Afghan women at the sewing circle.Organizers of the group say they've seen it make a difference.“I think sewing is really therapeutic,” said Alight's Sonia Anunciacion. “Just looking back to when I first met these women — they were very pale. There [were] hardly any smiles, which is understandable. Now they are full of laughs. They gather together outside of our program as well. I just went to two engagement parties a couple weeks ago, and these women know each other through our programming. So it's made quite a difference in their lives.”Another group of 30 Afghan women started a new sewing circle in recent days. Alight is taking donations to help keep the program going. You can find out how to give at wearealight.org.

 Hosted by Nycci Nellis.  On today's show:                                                                                                                                                           -   Have you been to Mike Rafidi's YELLOW in Georgetown? The lil' Levantine cafe serves up delicious pastries - the lebneh-filled croissant is Nycci's kryptonite - pita-filled sandwiches and pizza that is not pizza. He is also the chef behind the too-many-awards-to-mention Albi in Navy Yard. The attention to detail at both these spots is what gets them all their accolades - and that includes the coffee program. In today is Ayat Elhag, the coffee director of YELLOW and Albi, where she helms a beverage program that blends creative, Levantine-inspired specialty drinks with intentionally sourced Counter Culture coffee; -   In 2018, Debby Portillo Gonzalez made a life-changing move to the DMV area from her native El Salvador. Here she and her husband established the 100% handcrafted barbecue operation 2Fifty Texas BBQ. Using exclusively offset smokers, they spearheaded the creation of a unique culinary experience at 2Fifty.  They are dedicated to developing a menu that has top-notch quality control and have now expanded to two locations; -   Chef Seng Luangrath was born in Laos and fled the country during the Vietnam War. During her stay in a refugee camp in Thailand's Nakhon Phanom province she learned how to cook from her camp neighbors and elders. In 2009, at the age of 40, she decided to go after her greatest passion - cooking. In 2010 she took over Padaek, previously Bangkok Golden, a Thai restaurant, where she slowly added Lao dishes of her own. Currently the restaurant offers both Thai and Lao menus. And then — in 2014 she opened Thip Khao, a Lao restaurant in Columbia Heights and home of the Lao Food Movement. And she is just getting started!  -   Christian Irabien is the visionary founder of Amparo Fondita, a remarkable restaurant that celebrates contemporary Mexican cuisine, particularly emphasizing the flavors and influences of coastal regions. Christian's commitment to quality and to showcasing the diverse culinary traditions of Mexico is evident in every meticulously crafted dish; -   And we are joined on RingCentral by Tiffany MacIsaac. The Buttercream Bakeshops founder grew up on Maui and her family lives there today.  She addresses the absolute horror and devastation that have taken place in Hawaii this week. The wild fires have wreaked havoc — and she has some ideas on how we can help.  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.

  Hosted by Nycci Nellis.   On today's show:                                                                                                                                                              -   Have you been to Mike Rafidi's YELLOW in Georgetown? The lil' Levantine cafe serves up delicious pastries - the lebneh-filled croissant is Nycci's kryptonite - pita-filled sandwiches and pizza that is not pizza. He is also the chef behind the too-many-awards-to-mention Albi in Navy Yard. The attention to detail at both these spots is what gets them all their accolades - and that includes the coffee program. In today is Ayat Elhag, the coffee director of YELLOW and Albi, where she helms a beverage program that blends creative, Levantine-inspired specialty drinks with intentionally sourced Counter Culture coffee;   -   In 2018, Debby Portillo Gonzalez made a life-changing move to the DMV area from her native El Salvador. Here she and her husband established the 100% handcrafted barbecue operation 2Fifty Texas BBQ. Using exclusively offset smokers, they spearheaded the creation of a unique culinary experience at 2Fifty.  They are dedicated to developing a menu that has top-notch quality control and have now expanded to two locations;   -   Chef Seng Luangrath was born in Laos and fled the country during the Vietnam War. During her stay in a refugee camp in Thailand's Nakhon Phanom province she learned how to cook from her camp neighbors and elders. In 2009, at the age of 40, she decided to go after her greatest passion - cooking. In 2010 she took over Padaek, previously Bangkok Golden, a Thai restaurant, where she slowly added Lao dishes of her own. Currently the restaurant offers both Thai and Lao menus. And then — in 2014 she opened Thip Khao, a Lao restaurant in Columbia Heights and home of the Lao Food Movement. And she is just getting started!   -   Christian Irabien is the visionary founder of Amparo Fondita, a remarkable restaurant that celebrates contemporary Mexican cuisine, particularly emphasizing the flavors and influences of coastal regions. Christian's commitment to quality and to showcasing the diverse culinary traditions of Mexico is evident in every meticulously crafted dish;   -   And we are joined on RingCentral by Tiffany MacIsaac. The Buttercream Bakeshops founder grew up on Maui and her family lives there today.  She addresses the absolute horror and devastation that have taken place in Hawaii this week. The wild fires have wreaked havoc — and she has some ideas on how we can help.  

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam are joined by friend of the show, Martin Di Caro of the Washington Times and host of the History as It Happens podcast. Later in the, Utah's Congressman Blake Moore calls in to talk about his work on the House Ways and Means Committee. -Martin Di Caro brings 25 years of broadcast journalism experience to the Washington Times. He has won numerous prestigious awards throughout his career in major media markets across the country. Before coming to the Times, Martin was a news anchor at Bloomberg Radio's Washington bureau. From 2012 to 2017, he covered transportation at NPR member station WAMU 88.5 in Washington, where his work on the yearslong Metrorail crisis earned Martin his second Edward R. Murrow award, which included hosting the radio station's first podcast, Metropocalypse. Martin worked as a reporter for AP Radio in New York and Washington for eight years starting in 2008. He lives in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of D.C. and his interests include reading history and following his beloved New York Jets. He can be reached at mdicaro@washingtontimes.com.-A native of Ogden, Blake Moore is a proactive problem solver committed to representing each and every constituent of Utah's First District. He is dedicated to reflecting Utah's values in Congress and finding solutions to the challenges facing the district and the state. Advocating for inclusive, pro-growth, and aspirational principles, Blake is amplifying Northern Utah's voice on a national level to ensure Utahns receive the service and representation they deserve.Blake currently serves as the first-ever Utah Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, where he sits on the Healthcare, Social Security, and Work and Welfare subcommittees. He also serves on the House Budget Committee to push for policies to reverse our national debt crisis and advocate for Utah's defense community. Blake continues to represent Hill Air Force Base as co-chair of the Armed Forces and Depot caucuses.Before being elected to Congress, Blake worked for small businesses and in the foreign service, experiences that now guide his work on domestic and foreign policy. As a Principal at Cicero Group, Blake worked primarily in the social impact, marketing research, and strategy practice areas leading projects and serving clients throughout Utah and the nation. He has expertise in education, financial services, public policy, healthcare, transportation, supply chain, and waste industries, and this work informs his customer service and problem solver approach in Washington, D.C., as he identifies ways to help the federal government better work for Northern Utah. His passion for helping organizations manage the change process drives his ambition to overcome partisan gridlock, improve federal agencies, and smartly streamline the nation's bureaucracy.Previously, Blake worked abroad in business development in the healthcare and financial services industries, which led him to understand the challenges that small businesses grapple with daily. Blake was also honored to serve in the Foreign Service for the U.S. Department of State, where he gained first-hand knowledge of America's international threats. This experience taught him to take seriously the United States' diplomatic apparatus, the readiness of the Armed Forces, and the nation's commitment to strengthening partnerships and alliances across the globe.Blake joined Congress in 2021 and served on the Armed Services, Natural Resources, and Budget committees during his first term. On these committees, he advocated for Hill Air Force Base and Utah's defense community, promoted domestic energy production, worked on addressing our debt and deficit crises, among several other efforts. Congressman Moore convened a Debt and Deficit Task Force in Ogden to create a framework of solutions with local leaders for how the federal government can grow the economy, save and strengthen vital programs, focus America's spending, and fix Congress's budgeting process. For these efforts, he was named a 2022 Fiscal Hero by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He also successfully pushed for provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act packages for FY22 and FY23 that support Hill Air Force Base's modernization efforts, Sentinel program, housing availability, and more.Blake was the most successful freshman Republican member in terms of legislation passed, with four bills signed into law by President Biden and several more passed through committee. His bills that became law are the Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act, the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act, the National Medal of Honor Act, the Modernizing Access to our Public Land Act, and provisions in the Afghanistan Accountability Act.Blake is an active and valued team player within the House Republican Conference, chosen to serve as an Assistant Whip on the Republican Whip Team, the House Armed Services Committee conferee on the China legislation conference committee, and co-chair of the bipartisan Depot, Air Force, and Future caucuses. Blake obtained a Master's in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University. He graduated from the University of Utah after serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Seoul, South Korea, and signing a scholarship to play as the quarterback at Utah State University. In high school, he was awarded the Wendy's National High School Heisman, an award honoring one male and one female senior for excellence in athletics, academics, and citizenship. He remembers fondly a conversation with a Heisman trustee after the ceremony. The trustee mentioned that it was Blake's Eagle Scout and other service projects that set him apart. Blake recalls thinking at that moment, “I'm not special; that's just the way kids are raised in Northern Utah!”Blake is married to Jane Boyer, his amazing, humorous, and very candid wife, who encourages him to take risks and pursue big things. Blake and Jane have four awesome and active boys who keep them on their toes- Max, George, Winston, and Franklin. Even with a congressional term under his belt, Blake's most prized title is “Little League Coach.”-Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com

Tina Turner dies at 83; Minneapolis and St. Paul each have top-5 park systems; the departure of GOP activist Howard Root; more DFL session victories; Jeff Stein makes his weekly Wednesday visit; woman indicted on money laundering; racism issues at a local Culver’s; Columbia Heights city councillor called on to resign over racist incidents; Duluth…

Do you have a particular food that reminds you of home? Maybe it's your grandma's spaghetti recipe, the lumpia your family used to make or the pozole from the Mexican restaurant down the street. Food has the power to comfort us and connect us with our families and cultures. And when we find a restaurant that serves those familiar foods, it can make us feel more at home. Listen back to a conversation from earlier this year, as MPR News host Angela Davis talks about two restaurants that did just that for many Minnesotans — Khyber Pass in St. Paul and Keefer Court in Minneapolis. Both restaurants closed in late 2022. And they're not the only ones: A handful of other longtime Asian-owned restaurants in the Twin Cities closed in 2022 — like Asia Chow Mein in Columbia Heights and David Fong's in Bloomington. The New York Times reported in 2019 the share of Chinese-owned restaurants in major metropolitan areas is on the decline.  Guests: Michelle Kwan is the former owner of Chinese bakery Keefer Court in Minneapolis. Keefer Court closed in Dec. 2022. Emel Sherzad  is the former owner of the Afghan restaurant Khyber Pass in St. Paul. Khyber Pass closed in Nov. 2022.  Ánh-Hoa Thị Nguyễn is a poet and writer raised in St. Paul by parents from Vietnam. She's worked in grocery stores and restaurants, and has written about the connection between food and cultural identity.

Do you have a particular food that reminds you of home? Maybe it's your grandma's spaghetti recipe, the lumpia your family used to make or the pozole from the Mexican restaurant down the street.Food has the power to comfort us and connect us with our families and cultures. And when we find a restaurant that serves those familiar foods, it can make us feel more at home.Listen back to a conversation from earlier this year, as MPR News host Angela Davis talks about two restaurants that did just that for many Minnesotans — Khyber Pass in St. Paul and Keefer Court in Minneapolis.Both restaurants closed in late 2022. And they're not the only ones: A handful of other longtime Asian-owned restaurants in the Twin Cities closed in 2022 — like Asia Chow Mein in Columbia Heights and David Fong's in Bloomington.The New York Times reported in 2019 the share of Chinese-owned restaurants in major metropolitan areas is on the decline. Guests: Michelle Kwan is the former owner of Chinese bakery Keefer Court in Minneapolis. Keefer Court closed in Dec. 2022.Emel Sherzad  is the former owner of the Afghan restaurant Khyber Pass in St. Paul. Khyber Pass closed in Nov. 2022. Ánh-Hoa Thị Nguyễn is a poet and writer raised in St. Paul by parents from Vietnam. She's worked in grocery stores and restaurants, and has written about the connection between food and cultural identity.

Two pizza guys with two unique journeys: John Puckett founded Caribou Coffee, grew it, sold it, and then bought into a Neapolitan Pizza joint called Punch. He shares Punch's growth and the choice to grow it slowly into a dozen locations. Fascinating story of how Punch's business flipped from mostly dine-in, to mostly delivery during the pandemic. Plus, Chris Kolstad made mistakes as a young man - how he went from prison to a business owner of the Pizza Man in suburban Columbia Heights, Minnesota.

Do you have a particular food that reminds you of home? Maybe it's your grandma's spaghetti recipe, the lumpia your family used to make or the pozole from the Mexican restaurant down the street.  Whatever the dish may be, food has the power to comfort us and to connect us to our families and our cultures. And when we find a restaurant that serves those familiar foods, it can make us feel more at home.  MPR News host Angela Davis talks about two restaurants that did just that for many Minnesotans — Khyber Pass in St. Paul and Keefer Court in Minneapolis. Both restaurants closed in late 2022. And they're not the only ones. A handful of other longtime Asian-owned restaurants in the Twin Cities closed in 2022 — like Asia Chow Mein in Columbia Heights and David Fong's in Bloomington. And the New York Times reported in 2019 the share of Chinese-owned restaurants in major metropolitan areas is on the decline.  Guests: Michelle Kwan is the former owner of Chinese bakery Keefer Court in Minneapolis. Keefer Court closed in December 2022.  Emel Sherzad  is the former owner of the Afghan restaurant Khyber Pass in St. Paul. Khyber Pass closed in November 2022.  Ánh-Hoa Thị Nguyễn is a poet and writer raised in St. Paul by parents from Vietnam. She's worked in grocery stores and restaurants, and has written about the connection between food and cultural identity.

Do you have a particular food that reminds you of home? Maybe it's your grandma's spaghetti recipe, the lumpia your family used to make or the pozole from the Mexican restaurant down the street. Whatever the dish may be, food has the power to comfort us and to connect us to our families and our cultures. And when we find a restaurant that serves those familiar foods, it can make us feel more at home. MPR News host Angela Davis talks about two restaurants that did just that for many Minnesotans — Khyber Pass in St. Paul and Keefer Court in Minneapolis. Both restaurants closed in late 2022. And they're not the only ones. A handful of other longtime Asian-owned restaurants in the Twin Cities closed in 2022 — like Asia Chow Mein in Columbia Heights and David Fong's in Bloomington.And the New York Times reported in 2019 the share of Chinese-owned restaurants in major metropolitan areas is on the decline. Guests: Michelle Kwan is the former owner of Chinese bakery Keefer Court in Minneapolis. Keefer Court closed in December 2022. Emel Sherzad  is the former owner of the Afghan restaurant Khyber Pass in St. Paul. Khyber Pass closed in November 2022. Ánh-Hoa Thị Nguyễn is a poet and writer raised in St. Paul by parents from Vietnam. She's worked in grocery stores and restaurants, and has written about the connection between food and cultural identity.

Fifteen-year-old Rahma Mohamud is in the cafeteria of her high school in Columbia Heights. It's lunchtime, the room is full of classmates and it smells like the nachos that are being served for a meal. But Rahma isn't eating right now. She's standing in front of a table piled with colorful scarves. It's World Hijab Day, and Mohamud and her friends from her school's Muslim Student Association have set up a booth to give their non-hijab-wearing classmates a chance to ask questions.“I feel some of the students who don't wear it don't really know what it is. They just see it and I feel like they might have questions but may be too shy to come up without seeming ignorant,” Mohamud said. “Today is just a day where everybody can just learn what it is, get questions that might be uncomfortable to them out of the way and just bring our community closer.” Mohamud has been wearing a hijab since kindergarten. Today her hijab is black — her favorite color — and it's made out of jersey. It's just easy to throw on, she said, and she likes that it stays in place easier than chiffon. She's also wearing a black abaya — a full-length dress, which she also loves — it's an easy, instant outfit. Click here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvjAgm8LYIMBut she wants her classmates to know how important the hijab is for her. “Hijab is something that's a choice. A lot of people when they talk about the hijab, they try to make it seem like it's something that's forced on Muslim women, but in reality, it's our own choice,” Mohamud said. “It's something that it might not be beautiful to some, but to us we feel like it's a beautiful choice to make and modesty is beautiful in our eyes.”While Mohamud is talking, a few students wander over from their tables to take a look at the booth. There's a mirror set up at the table and one of Mohamud's friends offers the girl, Lydia Kennedy, who's a senior, a chance to try a hijab on. “I guess it's World Hijab Day, so we came over to ask some questions — we were a little bit curious about the hijab,” Kennedy said. “I asked if there's a certain age you have to start wearing it, and they said, no, it can kind of be whenever you want.” The hijab booth was an idea thought up by members of Columbia Height's Muslim Student Association. Rehab Diriye, a senior, is the group's president. After the initial months of the pandemic, when she returned to in-person classes, she noticed her Muslim classmates were doing their daily prayers in random corners of the school. So she talked to other students and staff at the school, and she set up a prayer room, complete with rugs. “We just really wanted to unite the school and specifically the Muslim population and I think we accomplished that last year with events like a Ramadan event and culture night and we hope to continue that,” Diriye said.  This is the first year they've been able to put on the hijab day event. Diriye hopes she's able to communicate what it means to her to wear a hijab.“I love seeing other Muslim women and being identifiably Muslim. It's just a great feeling to say ‘Salaam Alaikum,' and then being able to recognize you as Muslim,” Diriye said. “Obviously there are downsides of that in terms of like, violence, thankfully I haven't been through any of those experiences.” Diriye said wearing a hijab is something that also has an effect on her Muslim friends. “I like making other Muslim women feel comfortable just by my presence and just because I wear hijab.” 

El puntaje de crédito es aquello que lo representa al momento de solicitar un préstamo, a la larga puede incluso ayudarle a ahorrar dinero. Sobre todos los detalles del crédito, cuáles son los factores que impactan de manera positiva o negativa, el reporte y el puntaje de crédito, nos habla Maritza Gonzalez, Gerente Comunitaria de Chase en Columbia Heights, Washington DC. Escuche la entrevista realizada por María Esther aquí,

In today's episode of The No Limits Selling Podcast, we have Yianni with us. He embarked on his journey in real estate after a long and successful career in global digital marketing where he worked with some of the world's most prominent brands. Today, he will be sharing some tips on thriving in a competitive real estate market. Yianni's tip:  Hire agents from diverse backgrounds and stay differentiated to Find opportunities that aren't publicly available and secure more off market properties. Guest Bio: Yianni served as the Group Managing Director of social@Ogilvy and was based in Sydney, Australia where he managed a staff of 16 people working across advertising, digital marketing, and communications disciplines. Under his leadership, the social@ogilvy team was able to double revenues, reduce costs, and win several prestigious awards across Asia-Pacific. He maintains an active real estate portfolio that includes rental units in Adam Morgan, U Street, and Columbia Heights, and is always excited to meet new people who share his energy for the dynamic Washington, D.C. property market. Find Yianni Konstantopoulos: Website, LinkedIn [EDITOR'S NOTE: This podcast is sponsored by No Limits Selling. It is a fun, fast-paced podcast that delivers hard-fought business advice that you can implement today to improve your sales and performance] Interested In Our Real Estate Coaching Services? Explore Our Website: Link Feeling Not Well Today? You Can Use Our Mindset Boosters App To amp Up Your Mood: Link Find us on Social Media:   LinkedIn | Facebook community | Instagram Like what do you listen to? Subscribe to our podcast! Ready to become fearless? We can help you become fearless in 60 days so you accomplish more in your career Schedule A 15 min Call with Umar

¿Vale la pena gastar tanto dinero en un objeto para sentirse apreciado o mostrar aprecio? En entrevista Maritza González, Gerente Comunitaria de Chase en Columbia Heights, Washington DC, nos habla sobre el gasto en esta temporada y además comparte su experiencia sobre cómo desde niña aprendió a ser prudente y sabia en el gasto. Escuche la entrevista,

DC Council is closer than ever to decriminalizing unlicensed street vending, but … as the year end nears, sellers pushing for the change may be running out of time. DCist's Hector Arzate has been talking to vendors about why these changes matter, and how they would affect street vendor corridors like the one in Columbia Heights. Sign up for our morning newsletter for more news about the city (and the 'burbs!). And follow us on Twitter for the same. We're at @citycast_dc. And we'd love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 2026422654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a post Thanksgiving Spreading Happiness Podcast complete with stuffing, turkey, 3 kinds of cranberry, gravy, green beans and so much more! The boys celebrated Thanksgiving with the family and had a lovely time. Plus, they talk about Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Gratitude Week (make sure to grab your socks, link below!).  John and Mark had lots of TV appearances including NewsMax, News12, Newsday and PIX11. Plus the usual haunts like good new, bad jokes, John's love life and more. Gobble, gobble! Business to highlight: Patrick's Pet Care https://patrickspetcare.com/ Patrick's Pet Care provides the highest level of care to all pets by creating an experience rooted in a genuine love of animals, a commitment to do the right thing, and a comprehensive, personal approach to meeting the needs of all the living creatures and people who depend on us. Patrick Flynn founded Patrick's Pet Care in March 2012 as a dog walking and pet sitting company in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC. His values for operating a pet care business are based on a genuine love of animals, lifelong learning, fostering local community, a commitment to do the right thing, and a personal approach to meeting the needs of all the animals and people who depend on Patrick's Pet Care. Fundamentally, Patrick aims to create thriving relationships between people and their animal companions, using science and consent based methods without fear, pain or force. His business has been recognized by readers of Washingtonian as a Top Pet Care Provider, and has been voted “Best of DC” three times by readers of Washington City Paper. Two locations in Washington DC Small Dog Day Care is located at 3303 11th Street NW in Columbia Heights. All Day Day Soga Care and Grooming for dogs up to 85 pounds at their Brookland location is 3509 12th Street NE Finding John's Crazy Socks: https://johnscrazysocks.com/  Hosted by John & Mark Cronin, co-founders of John's Crazy Socks. Visit John's Crazy Socks here: https://johnscrazysocks.com Follow @johnscrazysocks on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. The Spreading Happiness Podcast is produced by Launchpad 516 Studios. For show ideas, guest inquiries, general feedback, sponsorships and media inquiries, drop an email: thespreadinghapinesspodcast@lp516.com Information about Speaking Engagements with John and Mark: https://johnscrazysocks.com/pages/speaking-engagements-1  Subscribe to The Spreading Happiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts and get notified of new episodes, every Tuesday! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spreading-happiness-podcast/id1611218712 

Hosted by David and Nycci Nellis. On today's show: • Bill Jensen is co-owner and beverage director of the Tail Up Goat and the Reveler's Hour in Adams Morgan. Among many awards of note, he was honored with Michelin's 2021 Washington, D.C. Sommelier Award. He's in to treat us to some tastes and talk of his wine favorites from the Finger Lakes for your Thanksgiving table; • Lane Levine owns A Friendly Bread, launched four years ago as a fresh sourdough bread business. He has mastered that which previously seemed impossible - producing a preassembled, frozen, single-serve, heat-and-eat sourdough grilled cheese sandwich that heats to a crispy, gooey meal in under 10 minutes. We get to try some in studio; • Hungry yet? Get ready for more when James Wozniuk, owner and executive chef of the Makan Malaysian restaurant in Columbia Heights joins us. Makan is an immersion in the complexities and simple pleasures of Malaysian dining. And, by the way, Makan was included on the Michelin Bib Gourmand List in 2021 and 2022; • Chef Stefano Marzano is president, founder and culinary director of Mighty Meals, providing a convenient, healthy meal delivery service made with locally sourced ingredients by professional chefs, all from a menu that changes weekly.

A LINE OF VERSE was the winner of BEST PERFORMANCES at the March 2022 ROMANCE & RELATIONSHIPS Festival. https://www.oxfordcommafilms.com/ https://www.facebook.com/OxfordCommaFilms/ https://twitter.com/oxfordcommaflms https://www.instagram.com/oxfordcommav/ Director Biography - Vanessa Powers Vanessa M. H. Powers is a theater director, filmmaker, artist, coffee enthusiast, and occasional human being. She can often be found trying to be in too many places at once. She is always working on a host of projects with her film company, the Oxford Comma Film Cooperative. She is also gearing up for another season of directing with St. Matthew Community Theatre in Columbia Heights (crosses fingers for 2022.) In addition, she does video freelance work as an AD, Editor, DIT, and Script Supervisor. In her (clearly abundant) free time, she can be found trying to be a human - spending time with her supportive family, friends, and snort-tastic bulldogs. Playing on the Film Festival Streaming service later this month. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it's only $3.99 per month. Subscribe to the podcast: https://twitter.com/wildsoundpod https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod/ https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod

This week on the blog, a podcast interview with Dawn Brodey and Brian Forrest, talking about the various film versions of “Frankenstein” and “Dracula.”Dawn gave me 4.5 films to revisit: The 1931 version of Frankenstein, Frankenweenie (the feature and the short), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Young Frankenstein.Meanwhile, Brian assigned me the original Nosferatu, the 1931 Dracula, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, Dracula in Istanbul and Bram Stoker's Dracula. LINKSDawn's podcast (HILF): http://dawnbrodey.com/ - showsBrian's Blog and Vlog, Toothpickings: https://toothpickings.medium.com/ A Free Film Book for You: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/cq23xyyt12Another Free Film Book: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/x3jn3emga6Frankenstein (1931) Trailer: https://youtu.be/BN8K-4osNb0Frankenweenie Trailer: https://youtu.be/29vIJQohUWEMary Shelley's Frankenstein (Trailer): https://youtu.be/GFaY7r73BIsYoung Frankenstein (Trailer): https://youtu.be/mOPTriLG5cUNosferatu (Complete Film): https://youtu.be/dCT1YUtNOA8Dracula (1931) Trailer: https://youtu.be/VoaMw91MC9kAbbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (Trailer): https://youtu.be/j6l8auIACycHorror of Dracula (Trailer): https://youtu.be/ZTbY0BgIRMkBram Stoker's Dracula (Trailer): https://youtu.be/fgFPIh5mvNcDracula In Istanbul: https://youtu.be/G7tAWcm3EX0Fast, Cheap Film Website: https://www.fastcheapfilm.com/Eli Marks Website: https://www.elimarksmysteries.com/Albert's Bridge Books Website: https://www.albertsbridgebooks.com/YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BehindthePageTheEliMarksPodcastDawn and Brian TRANSCRIPT John: [00:00:00] Before we dive into the assignment you gave me—which was to watch stuff I hadn't seen and also rewatch stuff I had seen to get a better idea of who's done a good job of adapting these books—let's just jump in and talk a little bit about your area of expertise and why you have it. So, I'm going to start with you, Brian. I was very surprised after working with you a while to find out that you had a whole vampire subset in your life. Brian: A problem, you can call it a problem. It's fine. John: Okay. What is the problem and where did it come from? Brian: I was just vaguely interested in vampires for a while. When I was in my screenwriting days, someone had encouraged me to do a feature length comedy about vampires, and that led me to do a lot of reading. And then I just kind of put it aside for a while. And then I was, I had just finished a documentary for Committee Films and they said, do you have any other pitches? And I thought, and I said, you know, there's still people who believe in vampires even today, that could be really interesting. And I put together a pitch package. Then, the guy in charge of development said, [00:01:00]this is what we need to be doing. And then it stalled out. Nothing ever happened with it. And I said, what the hell. I could do this on my own. I could fly around and interview these people. And I did, I spent a couple years interviewing academics and some writers. And along the way, I started finding all these very intriguing moments in the history of either vampire lore or fiction or even just people who consider themselves vampires today. And all these things would connect to each other. It was a lattice work of vampires going back hundreds of years. It didn't fit the documentary, unfortunately, but I found it way too interesting. And I said, I need some kind of outlet for this. And so I started writing about it on Tooth Pickings. And that eventually put me in touch with people who were more scholarly, and it opened up a lot more conversations. And now I can't get out. I'm trapped. John: Well, the first sign is recognizing there's a problem. [00:02:00] Okay. Now, Dawn, you had a different entryway into Frankenstein. Dawn: Yeah, well, I was a theater major and a history minor at the University of Minnesota. Go Gophers. And, this was in the late nineties, early two thousands, when there were still a lot of jobs for people who had degrees and things like this. Or at least there was a theory that this was a reasonable thing to get educated in. And then I graduated in 2001, which was months after 9/11, when all those jobs went away. And so, I had this education so specific and what was I gonna do? And gratefully the Twin Cities is a great place for finding that kind of stuff. And one of my very first jobs out of college was at the Bakkan museum. So, the Bakkan museum was founded by Earl Bakkan, who is the inventor of the battery-operated pacemaker. And he has always, since childhood, been obsessed with the Frankenstein movie that came out in 1931. And he attributes [00:03:00]his great scientific invention and many others to a science fiction in general. And to the spark of the idea that comes from sources like this. So, when he opened the museum, he insisted that there'd be a grand Frankenstein exhibit. And that means going back to the book, and that meant going back to the author, Mary Shelley, who wrote the novel Frankenstein, she started writing it when she was 16.And so, I was hired because—boom, look at me—my degree is suddenly colliding, right? So, I was hired by the Bakkan museum to create a one-woman show about the life of Mary Shelley, where I would play Mary Shelley and would perform it within the museum and elsewhere. And through the course of that research, I read the novel for the second time, but then I read it for my third, fourth, fifth onwards and upwards. Because the show was about 45 minutes long, I referenced, you know, the novel, the books, the popular culture, the science behind it. And the deep dive just never stopped. And so long after I was required to do the research and the show was done and up, I just kept reading. [00:04:00] And it gave me the opportunity to meet experts in this field and the peripheral field, as I would sort of travel with this show and be an ambassador for the museum and stuff like that. And, yeah, it still curls my toes. John: All right, so with that background. I'm going to just be honest right here and say, I've read Dracula once, I've read Frankenstein once. So that's where I'm coming from, and both a while ago. I remember Frankenstein was a little tougher to get through. Dracula had a bit more of an adventure feel to it, but something I don't think has really been captured particularly well in all the movies. But they both have lasted and lasted and lasted.Why do you think those books are still, those ideas are still as popular today? Dawn: I will say that I think Frankenstein, it depends on what you mean by the idea. Because on the surface, just the idea of bringing the dead to life, is, I mean, the Walking Dead franchise is right now one of the most popular franchises. I mean, I think we are really pivot on this idea. And I remember saying to a friend once that the part in [00:05:00]Revelation where the dead rise is like the only part of the Bible that I don't question. It's like, oh, the dead will get up. You know, we always just seem to be real sure that at some damned point, they're getting up. And so I think that that is part of why that it sticks in our brains. But then the story around Frankenstein—especially as it was written in 1818—has so many universal and timeless themes, like ambition and what is right and wrong. And the question that Jurassic Park posed in 1995 and continues to—1993 around there—and continues to pose, which is: just because science is capable of doing something, should it do something? And how do we define progress? Surely the very idea of being able to beat death and not die seems to be kind of the ultimate goal. And here is someone saying, okay, so let's just say, yeah. We beat death and everyone goes, oh shit, that'd be terrible. [00:06:00] You know? And then also, I always love the idea of the creature, the monster, Frankenstein's creature himself, who has a lot of characteristics with which people have identified throughout history. Some people say, for example, that Mary Shelley's whole purpose for writing Frankenstein was a question of: didn't God do this to us, make us these ugly creatures that are imperfect and bumbling around and horrifying? And then once he realized that we weren't perfect, he fled from us in fear or fled. He just keeps going and every generation has a new media that tells the story a little bit better, a little bit different, and yeah, there we are. John: I will say that for me, the most memorable part of the book was the section where the monster is the narrator and is learning. And I think with the exception of Kenneth Branagh's film, it it's something that isn't really touched on that much. There's a little bit in Bride of Frankenstein, of him going around and learning stuff. But the sort of moral questions that he [00:07:00] raises as he's learning—what it is to be human—are very interesting in the book. And I wish they were in more of the movies, but they're not. So, Brian on Dracula, again, we have dead coming to life. Why do we love that so much? Brian: Well, it's one of the questions that made me want to make a film about it myself: why has the vampire been so fascinating for hundreds of years? Why does it keep coming back? You know, it ebbs and flows in popularity, but it never leaves. And it keeps seeming to have Renaissance after Renaissance. Dracula specifically, I think one of the interesting things about that novel is how many different lenses you can look at it through and not be wrong.People have looked at it through the lens of, is this thing an imperialist story? Is it an anti-imperialist story? Is it a feminist story? Is it an anti-feminist story? And you can find support for any of those views reading Dracula. And I think that some of it might be accidental; there's times where Dracula is catching up to whatever the cultural zeitgeist [00:08:00] is right now. And we look at Dracula and we say, oh, he was thinking about this back then. Or maybe Bram Stoker was just very confused and he had a lot of different ideas. John: All right, let's explore that a little deeper. You each gave me an assignment of some movies to watch or to re-watch that you felt were worth talking about, in relation to your subject of Frankenstein or Dracula. I'm going to start with Frankenweenie, just because I had not seen it. And in going through it, I was reminded—of course, as one would be—of watching Frankenweenie, I was reminded of Love, Actually. Because I came to the realization after years of Love, Actually being around that it—Love, Actually—is not a romantic comedy. It is all romantic comedies, all put into one movie. And Frankenweenie is all horror films. Condensed, beautifully and cleverly into one very tasty souffle. [Frankenweenie Soundbite] John: I stopped at a certain point making note of the references to other horror films. Just because there are so many of them. But the idea that it references everything from Bride of Frankenstein to Gremlins. They do a rat transformation that's right out of American Werewolf in London. The fact that they have a science teacher played by Martin Landau doing the voice he did as Bela [00:10:00] Lugosi in Ed Wood. I mean, it's a really good story that they just layered and layered and layered and layered. What was it about that movie that so captivated you? Dawn: Well, so much of what you just said. And also it seems to me the epitome of the accessibility of the story of Frankenstein. The idea that if anyone can think of any moment in which if I could bring someone back to life. But what I love about it too, is that the novel Frankenstein that is not Victor Frankenstein's motivation. It generally tends to be the motivation of almost every character, including the Kenneth Branagh character--at some point, he, when Elizabeth dies, his wife dies for the second time, he says, yes, I'm going to try to bring her back. But it is so not the motivation of the scientist in the book. It is just ambition. He just wants to do something no one else has done. And lots of people die around him and he really never, ever says to himself at any point in the novel, I wish I could bring them back, I'm going to bring them back. That's never, that's never part of it. He just wants to be impressive. And so, I love [00:11:00] that it starts with that pure motivation of wanting to bring the dead to life; just wanting to bring your dog back, so that it's so accessible for everyone watching it. Who wouldn't wanna try this? But then, even in that scene with the teacher, when he shows the frog. And he's demonstrating that if you touch a dead frog with electricity, its legs shoot up, which give the kid the first idea of bringing his dog back. Which is like a deep cut in, in the sense that that's nothing -- Mary Shelley herself and her friends were watching experiments exactly like that before she wrote the book: galvanism and animal magnetism were these really popular public demonstrations happening in London and elsewhere where they would do just that. But because electricity itself was so new, I mean, it blew people's hair back you know, that these dead frogs were flopping around. It was the craziest thing. And a lot of them were thinking to themselves, surely it is only a matter of time before we can, we're gonna have our dead walking around all the time. So, it was so circulating and so forward. [00:12:00] So it's not just movie references and it's not just Frankenstein references. That movie really includes source deep source references for how Frankenstein came to be. And I just love it. John: Which brings me to Frankenstein, the 1931 version, in which Colin Clive has a similar point of view to what you were talking about from the book. He just wants, you know, he wants to be God. [Frankenstein soundbite] John: What I was most impressed with about that movie or a couple things was: it starts, it's like, boom. We're in it. First scene. There there's no preamble. There's no going to college. There's no talking about it, right? It's like, they're starting in the middle of act two. And I think a lot of what we think of when it comes to Frankenstein comes from that movie, [00:13:00] that the stuff that James Whale and his cinematographer came up with and the way they made things look, and that's sort of what people think of when they think of Frankenstein. Now, as you look back on that movie, what are your thoughts on the, what we'll call the original Frankenstein? Dawn: Yeah. Well, I love it. You'll find with me and Frankenstein that I'm not a purist. Like I love everything. Like I have no boundaries. I think this is great. One of the things that 1931 movie did was answer—because it had to, anytime you take a novel and make it a movie, you take a literary medium and make it a visual medium, there's obviously going to be things that you just have to interpret that the author left for you to make for yourself individual. And in this instance, that individual is the cinematographer. So, we're gonna get their take on this. And one of the real ambiguous things that Mary Shelley leaves for you in the novel is the spark of life. What is the spark of life? She does not in any [00:14:00]detail describe lightning or static or any of the recognizable or, or future developments of how electricity would've been. Brian: I was shocked when I first read that book and saw how little space was devoted to that, that lab scene. It's blink of an eye and it's over. Dawn: “I gathered the instruments of life around me that I may infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my.” Period. I just, what I love is what I love about film in general is that they went, oh, spark being all right, girl, it's a dark and stormy night and you know, and there's chains and there's bubblers and there's a thing. And the sky opens. I mean, God bless you, like way to just take that thought. Make it vivid, make it, build a set, make us believe it. And it's so, so pervasive that in Frankenweinie, you know, which of course is about Frankensein. [00:15:00] Like that is one that they do: he's got the white robe that ties in the back and the gloves. And in Young Frankenstein, it's the, you know, that lab scene. And so I love that. And the other thing that they had to do was describe the look of the creature, make the creature—Frankenstein's monster himself—look so like something. Because she, similarly in the novel, says that he is taller than a regular man, has dark hair and yellow watery eyes. That's all we know about what the Frankenstein looks like. And so, in 1931, Boris Karloff with the bolts. And it's black and white, remember, we don't think his skin is green. That he turned green at some point is kind of exciting, but of course he was just gray, but just dead flesh, you know, rotten, dead walking flesh is what's frightening. And, I just thought that the movie did that so well, John: I think the makeup was kind of a green/gray, and that when color photos came out of it, that's why someone went, oh, [00:16:00] it's green, but it wasn't green. Brian: I thought I saw a museum piece of, you know, an actual makeup bit that Jack Pierce did and I thought it was greenish. Dawn: Yeah. Greenish/gray. I think, yeah, the rots, just kind of trying to capture the sort of rotten flesh. Brian: It's just like the bride's hair was red. Dawn: That's right. That's right. My day job here in Los Angeles is as a street improviser at Universal Studios, Hollywood. And two of their most treasured characters of course are Frankenstein and Dracula. So, while most people might separate them, John, they are usually arm and arm where I work every day. And the bride has recently come back to the theme park as a walking character, and they gave her red hair. We don't mess around. John: That's excellent. But you mentioned Dracula, let's jump into the 1931 Dracula. There's a connection point between the two that I want to mention, which is the amazing Dwight Frye, who is Fritz, I believe in Frankenstein. And I'm not the first one to mention his naturalistic [00:17:00] acting kind of putting him above everybody else in that movie. Famously, when he's running up the stairs, stopping to pull his socks up at one point. He's just really, really good in that. And then you see him in Dracula as the, essentially the Harker character. I think he was called Harker -- Brian: Yeah. Well, he's Renfield in Dracula. They merged those two characters. I thought it was a smart move for a first attempt at the film. Yeah. And Dwight Frye, he's in a lot of other Universal horrors, too. Dwight Frye often doesn't get the credit. He somehow was not the leading man he should have been. John: I don't know why that is. He turns up again as an assistant in Bride of Frankenstein. He's a towns person in Frankenstein meets the Wolfman. And then he tragically died on a bus ride to an auto parts job that he took because he wasn't getting any acting work, which was too bad. A really, really good actor. Brian: There is another intersection besides the fact that they were both produced by Junior. Lugosi was put into the [00:18:00] short, the trial film they shot for Frankenstein. I can't call it a short film, because it was never intended for release. But they shot a cinematic test reel and they had Lugosi play the monster, but he was under a sheet the whole time. I think he may have been able to pull the sheet off. It's a lost film. We don't know for sure. We just have kind of the recollections of a few crew people. John: I've never heard of that. I would love to see that. Brian: I would too. I think a lot of people would really love to see it, but it was as much a kind of a testing ground for Lugosi— whether they wanted him to be the monster—as it was for some of the techniques, the things they wanted to try in the film. And what I understand is the producer saw the test reel and they said, yes, we love this look, this is the look we want you to give us. And then it's whatever version of Lugosi not getting that part you want to believe: whether Lugosi turned it down or the producers didn't like him or something. But he ended up not taking that part. John: But he is of course always known as Dracula. So, what are your thoughts on their adaptation? Which [00:19:00]again is not the first adaptation but is the kind of first official? Brian: Yeah. The first to bear the name Dracula, although, well, I'll back up a second. Because some releases of Nosferatu called it Dracula. He would be named as Dracula in the subtitles, you know, because that's an easy thing to do in silent film, you can just swap that out however you want to. But yes, it's the first authorized official film adaptation. John: Well, let's back up to Nosferatu, just for a second. Am I wrong in remembering that the Bram Stoker estate—Mrs. Stoker—sued Nosferatu and asked that all prints be destroyed? And they were except one print remained somewhere? Brian: Close. That is the popular story that she sued Prana Films. She won the lawsuit. All films were set to be destroyed. Now there's a guy named Locke Heiss and a few others who've been doing some research on this. And they will tell you that there's no proof that a single print was ever destroyed. It's a more fun story to say that, you know, this one was snuck away and now we have the film. But there was no real enforcement mechanism for having all the theaters [00:20:00]destroy the film. Who was going to go around and check and see if they actually destroyed this film or not? Nobody, right? So maybe some people destroyed it. Maybe Prana Films destroyed their remaining copies. But the exhibitors kept all of theirs and there's different versions and different cuts that have been found. So, we know that some of these reels went out in different formats or with different subtitles or even different edits. And some of them have made their way back to us. John: There's some really iconic striking imagery in that movie. That haunts me still. Brian: What I always tell people is see the film with a good live accompaniment, because that still makes it hold up as a scary film. If you see a good orchestra playing something really intense when Orlok comes through that door. It feels scary. You can feel yourself being teleported back to 1922 and being one of those audience people seeing that and being struck by it. John: What do you think it would be like to have [00:21:00] seen that or Dawn to have seen the original Frankenstein? I can't really imagine, given all that we've seen in our lives. If you put yourself back into 1931, and Boris Karloff walks backwards into the lab. I would just love to know what that felt like the first time. Dawn: You know, what is so great is I was fortunate enough to know Earl Bakkan who saw the movie in the theater in Columbia Heights, Minnesota when he was 10 years old.And he went, he had to sneak in. People would run outta this, out of the theater, screaming. I mean, when they would do the close up of Frankenstein's Monster's face, you know, women would faint. And of course that was publicized and much circulated, but it was also true. People were freaking out. And for Earl Bakkan—this young kid—the fear was overwhelming, as you said. And also in this theater, I was lucky enough, I did my show in that theater for Earl and his friends on his 81st birthday. So, I got to hear a [00:22:00] lot of these stories. And they played the organ in the front of the curtain. Brian: Is this the Heights theater? Dawn: Yes, the Heights. Brian: Oh, that's an amazing space. Dawn: So, they played the organ in there and it was like, oh my God. And it was so overwhelming. So, I'm glad you asked that question because I was really fortunate to have a moment to be able to sort of immerse myself in that question: What would it have been like to be in this theater? And it was moving and it was scary, man. And yeah, to your point, Brian, the music and the score. I mean, it was overwhelming. Also, I think there's something that we still benefit from today, which is when people tell you going in this might be way too much for you, this might scare you to death. So just be super, super careful. And your heart's already, you know… John: And it does have that warning right at the beginning. Dawn: Yeah. Versus now when people sit you down, they're like, I'm not gonna be scared by this black and white movie from 1931. And then you find yourself shuffling out of the bathroom at top speed in the middle of the night. And you're like, well, look at that. It got me. Brian: That reminds me, there [00:23:00] was a deleted scene from the 1931 Dracula that was a holdover from the stage play. Van Helsing comes out and he breaks the fourth wall and he speaks directly to the audience. And he says something to the effect of—I'm very much paraphrasing—about how we hope you haven't been too frightened by what you've seen tonight, but just remember these things are real. And then black out. And they cut that because they were afraid that they were really going to freak out their audience. Dawn: It's like a war of the world's thing, man. It's oh, that's so great. I love that. [Dracula Soundbite] John: So, Brian, what is your assessment of the 1931 version? As a movie itself and as an adaptation of Stoker's work? Brian: The things they had to do to try to adapt it to film, which they borrowed a lot of that from the stage play. They used the stage play as their guide point, and I think they made the best choices they could have been expected to make. You know, there's a lot of things that get lost and that's unfortunate, but I think they did a decent job. I don't find the 1931 version scary. I like Bela Lugosi. I think he's a great Dracula. I think he set the standard. With the possible [00:25:00]exception of the scene where the brides are stalking Harker slash Renfield, I don't think the imagery is particularly frightening. The Spanish version, I think does a little bit better job. And you know the story with the Spanish version and the English version? Dawn: We actually talk about it on the back lot tour of Universal Studios. Because they shot on the same sets in some cases. Brian: Yeah. My understanding is that Dracula shot during the day, Spanish Dracula would shoot at night. So, they got to benefit maybe a little bit by seeing, okay, how is this gonna be shot? How did Todd Browning do it? Okay. We're gonna do it a little bit differently. It's a little bit of a cheat to say they move the camera. They do move the camera a lot more in the Spanish version, but the performances are a little bit different. I'm going to, I can't get her name out. The actress who plays the ingenue in the Spanish Dracula, I'm not going to try it, but you can see her kind of getting more and more crazed as time goes on and her head is more infected by Dracula. You see these push-ins that you don't see in the English version. There's blocking [00:26:00] that's different. I put together a short course where I was just talking about how they blocked the staircases scene. The welcome to my house, the walking through spider web. And how it's blocked very differently in the two versions. And what does that say? What are these two directors communicating differently to us? In one, Harker slash Renfield is next to Dracula. In one, he's trailing behind him. In one, we cut away from the spider web before he goes through. And in the other one, we see him wrestle with it. That's not really what you asked, John. Sorry, I got off on a tear there. John: I agree with you on all points on the differences between the two films. Although I do think that all the Transylvania stuff in the English version is terrific: With the coach and the brides. The Spanish version, the biggest problem I have is that their Dracula looks ridiculous. Brian: He's not Bela Lugosi. You're right. John: He looks like Steve Carell doing Dracula and there is no moment, literally no moment [00:27:00] where he is scary, whereas Lugosi is able to pull that off. Brian: There's a lot of people who have observed that the Spanish Dracula would be a superior film were it not for Bela Lugosi being such an amazing Dracula in the English version. John: He really, really nailed it. Brian: And since he learned his lines phonetically, he could have done the Spanish Dracula. Just write it out for him phonetically, because he didn't speak English very well. John: If we could just go back, you know, cause a lot of things in history we could change, but if we could just be at that meeting and go, Hey, why not have Bela do it? Okay. So then let's jump ahead, still in Dracula form, to Horror of Dracula. From 1958. With Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. [Soundbite from Horror of Dracula] Brian: For some people, Lee is the ultimate Dracula, and I think that's a generational thing. I think he's great. He's got the stage presence and I love Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. I don't like the film as a whole. It feels like I'm watching a play with a camera set back. It doesn't work for me the way it works for other people. That is personal taste. Don't come after me. John: It does, however, have one of the greatest, ‘Hey, we're gonna kill Dracula' scenes ever, with Peter Cushing running down the table and jumping up and pulling down the drapes and the sun. Brian: Oh, right. Interesting. Because in Dracula, the book, the sun is not deadly, remotely really. But that's [00:29:00]the influence of Nosferatu being pasted onto the Dracula cannon, that the sunlight is deadly to Dracula. Dawn: I remember having this fight very enthusiastically in the nineties when Bram Stoker's/Winona Ryder's Dracula came out and I was already sort of a literary nerd. And they were like, hey, they have a scene with him walking around during the day. And I was like, yeah, nerds. That's right. That's cuz vampires can walk around during the day.I was very already, like, you don't know anything, go back to history. Brian: And there's a seventies version where he's out on a cloudy day, but he is not hurt either. There suggestions in the book that he's more powerful at night. Dawn: He's a creature of the night. I always understood he had to wear sunglasses. He was sort of like a wolf. Like they show him as a wolf during the day; it can happen, but it's not great. Brian: I like the way they did it in the Gary Oldman version. He's suited up. He's got the sunglasses on. There's not a whole lot of skin exposed. But he's not [00:30:00] going to turn into smoke. John: Well, okay. Let's talk about that version and Kenneth Branagh's version of Frankenstein. Dawn: Ug. John: I'm not going to spoil anything here, when I say it doesn't sound like Dawn cared it. Dawn: You open this, you opened this can of worms. John, sit down for a second. Listen. He calls it: Mary Shelly's fucking Frankenstein. I inserted the fucking. I'm sorry, I wasn't supposed to say that. He calls it. He calls it. How dare you, Kenneth, Brannagh, call this Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. So that was A-number one. But I went into it all excited: It's Kenneth Brannagh. Love him. He calls it Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and he starts with the ship captain out at sea, just like the book. And so I pull up my little, you know, security blanket and I'm like, oh, Kenneth Brannagh, do this to me, buddy. Do it to me buddy. Show me Mary Shelley Frankenstein as a movie. [00:31:00] And then he just fucks it up, John. And he doesn't actually do that at all. It's a total lie. He screws up every monologue. He makes up motivations and then heightens them. And it's dad. The acting is capital B, capital A, capital D across the board. Everybody sucks in this movie. It looks bad. The direction is bad, and it has nothing to do. He tries to bring Elizabeth back to life. This is a huge departure from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Thank you very much, Mr. Brannagh, that's all I have to say for now. John: All right, I was fooled by the fact that he started at, at the north pole. Dawn: That's because he's tricking us, John. That's because it's the whole movie is a lie. John: Okay with that same mindset, what do we think of Bram Stoker's Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola? Dawn: I love that one. Brian: I'm afraid that I don't have, I can't match Dawn's intensity in either respect. Um, except I thought Robert DeNiro [00:32:00] was really good in Frankenstein. Dawn: But that's no, he's not. you're wrong. Your opinion is valid and wrong. Yeah, I'm kidding for listeners who don't know me. I am, I am kidding. Of course. Everybody's opinion is valid except for that one. Yeah. The movie, everything about that movie is bad. John: He is, I think, miscast. Dawn: And Helen Bonan Carter is one of the finest actresses of not just our generation, but of all time. And she sucks in this movie. John: Right. So. Bram Stoker's Dracula. Brian: Bram Stoker's Dracula. [Soundbite: Bram Stoker's Dracula] Brian: Also produced by Branagh. And I assume that is the connection, why they both start with the author's name. I always call it Coppola's Dracula because it gets too confusing to make that distinction. I thought it was a decent movie, but it didn't feel like Dracula. It felt like someone who had heard of Dracula and wrote a good script based on what they had heard. So many divergences that bothered me, although I think it's aged better than it felt the first time. I remember seeing it when it first came out in the nineties and not thinking much of it. And I think audiences agreed with me and it seems like it's been kinder, that audiences have been kinder to it as it's gotten older. John: Okay. Dawn, you love it. Dawn: I loved it. I loved it. It, you know what though? That was one of [00:34:00] those movies that unlike, unlike Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I can't look at with like an adult critical eye because I, what year did it come out? Was it like 90, 92? I'm like middle school getting into high school and like Winona Ryder was everything. Vampires are everything. I mean, Gary Oldman is the, is a great actor and it's so sexy, very sexy. The sex is Primo. And so I remember loving it, very moving. I don't remember comparing it as certainly not as viciously to the novel because I read Dracula after I had seen the movie. And so there's always that inherent casting where Nina is always going to be Winona Ryder. But I do remember really loving the Gothic convention of the letter and that the movie did seem to utilize and to great effect how letter writing can build suspense and give us different perspectives in a, in a unique cinematic way. Brian: [00:35:00] The two or three biggest stakes that film puts in the ground are not to be found in the book. So there's no love story in the book. There's no Vlad in the book. John: Can I interject there? Isn't that basically, didn't they just rip that off of Dark Shadows, The idea of my long lost love is reincarnated in this woman. I must connect with her. Brian: That is a good question, John. I'm glad you asked that because I call it the doppelganger love interest. Right? We first see that, the first time I know of it happening, I'm sure there's an earlier precedent, is in The Mummy, but then Dark Shadows does it. But that's not where Stoker, I mean, that's not where Coppola and a screenwriter claimed to have gotten the idea. They claimed to have gotten it from Dan Curtis's Dracula in 74. John: Dan Curtis, who produced Dark Shadows, with Barnabas Collins, falling in love with his reincarnated love. Brian: But Dan Curtis's Dracula comes out two years after Blacula. That has a reincarnated love interest. John: Not only does the Blaclua [00:36:00] have a reincarnated love interest, but if I'm remembering movie correctly at the end, when she says I don't want to go with you. He goes, okay. And he's ready to go home. It's like, sorry to bother you. Brian: No, uh, in Blacula, he commits suicide John: Oh, that's it? Yeah. He walks out into the sun. Brian: He goes home in a different way. John: Yes. He's one of my favorite Draculas, the very stately William Marshall. Brian: Yeah, absolutely. That is a favorite of mine. John: Anyway, you were saying stakes in the ground from Coppola's Dracula. Brian: Well, the, the love story, the equating Dracula with Vlad the Impaler. And I felt like they did Lucy really bad in that movie. They had her turn into a wanton harlot, which is not in keeping with the book. Some things are okay, but they really said these are the building blocks of our story and that bugged me. But Anthony Hopkins I liked, so, all right. Dawn: Alright, but see, this [00:37:00] the itch that still that still makes me wanna scratch though: why say Bram Stoker's Dracula? Why say Mary Shelley's Frankenstein? I mean, because I think you heard the venom, obviously. If they took Mary Shelley's name off that thing, you can make Frankenweenie. And I will love, like, I love Frankenweenie. Do your Frankenstein homage all day, all the time. But when you call, when you say it's Bram Stoker's, I think that this is what has been frustrating historians like me and getting high school students Ds in English class ever since. Because it just creates the false perception that you've basically read the book. Right. Or that you, if you know the thing you know the book and it's just a cheap ploy. And I don't like it. Brian: I think, somebody correct me on this, that there, there had been a plan to do a reboot of the Universal monster franchise, and these two movies were supposed to be the reboot of it. [00:38:00] And then they would've then done HG Wells' Invisible Man. John: The Mummy killed it. They've tried to reboot it several times. And that was the first attempt. Brian: Yeah, I've heard that called the dark universe. They were trying to do their own MCU. Dawn: Yeah. Well, at Universal Studios, there is of course in, in LA, in general, there's the property wars, you know? What what's, who has what? And sometimes those get really blurred. Like why does Universal Studios have Harry Potter? When we can see Warner Brothers from the top of our wall/ And that's obviously, you know, those things happen. But when it comes to like the IP or intellectual property, those original monsters are so valuable and they always are at Halloween. And then it's like, sort of, how can we capitalize on this? And yeah. And it's cross generational. Brian: All they really own right now is the look right? They own Jack Pierce's makeup job from Frankenstein. Dawn: But I think that that's exactly the point; [00:39:00] the delusion of what is it that you own if you own, you know, Frankenstein, whatever. But yes, there was definitely an interest to sort of revamp all of the original Universal Monsters they call them and it's the Mummy, Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Invisible Man. John: It's everybody who shows up in Mad Monster Party. Dawn: Exactly. [Soundbite: Mad Monster Party] Dawn: But yeah, The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise, was a tremendous flop. And I think that sort of took the wind out of everybody's sails. John: Let me ask you this, Dawn. If Mel Brooks had titled his movie, Mary Shelley's Young Frankenstein, instead of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, would you have a problem with that? Dawn: Yeah, no, but no, I would not have had a problem, because that would've been irony and juxtaposition. Not just a straight lie. John: So that brings us to some comedies. Young Frankenstein and Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, which I was very surprised and a little unnerved to [00:40:00] realize a few years back, Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein was made a mere 10 years before I was born. And I had always assumed it was way back then. And it's like, no, it wasn't all that way back then. It was pretty, pretty recently. Brian: That happened to me when I realized that Woodstock was only six years before my birth. And it always seemed like ancient history. John: Is that the common thing, Madame Historian? That people kind of forget how recent things were? Dawn: Oh yeah. Remember Roe V. Wade. Sorry, too soon. Brian: We're recording this on that day. Dawn: Yeah, absolutely. I think that it happens to everybody so much faster than you think it's going to. I remember looking around in the nineties feeling, well, surely the seventies was ancient history, you know, because they had That Seventies Show, which debuted as like a period piece. I am still very young and hip and happening and [00:41:00] they are in production for That Nineties Show right now. And I said to my husband, That Nineties Show. I was like, Jesus, I guess that's 20 years because I was in the nineties they did That Seventies Show. And he goes, no baby that's 30 years. And I was like, I'm sorry. I said, I'm sorry, what? He goes, the nineties was 30 years ago. And I just had to sit down and put my bunion corrector back on because these feet are killing me. John: All right. Well, let's just talk about these two comedies and then there's a couple other things I wanna quickly hit on. What are our thoughts on, let's start with Young Frankenstein? [Soundbite: Young Frankenstein] Dawn: I told you I'm not an idealist and we're not a purist about Frankenstein, but I am an enthusiast. So that is why I told you to watch Kenneth Branagh's movie, even though I hate it so much. And that is also why I love Young Frankenstein, because I think that it is often what brings people into the story. For many, many people, it introduces them to the creature. They may know literally nothing about Frankenstein except for Young Frankenstein. And that's actually fine with me because I'm a comedian myself. And I believe that parody is high honor. And often when you parody and satirize something, especially when you do it well, it's because you went to the heart of it. Because you got right in there into the nuggets and the creases of it. And there is something about Young [00:43:00] Frankenstein as ridiculous as it is that has some of that wildness and the hilarity and The Putting on the Ritz. I did find out from my Universal Studios movie history stuff, that that scene was very nearly cut out. Mel Brooks did not like it. And he just didn't like that they were doing it. And of course it's the one, I feel like I'm not the only one who still has to make sure that my beverage is not only out of my esophagus, but like aside, when they start doing it. [Soundbite: Young Frankenstein] Brian: And I understand they were about to throw away the sets from the 1931 Frankenstein when Mel Brooks or his production designer came up and said, Stop stop. We want to use these and they were able to get the original sets or at least the set pieces. John: I believe what it [00:44:00] was, was they got Kenneth Strickfaden's original machines. Ken Strickfaden created all that stuff for the 1931 version and had been used on and off, you know, through all the Frankenstein films. And it was all sitting in his garage and the production designer, Dale Hennessy went out to look at it because they were thinking they had to recreate it. And he said, I think it still works. And they plugged them in and they all still worked. Brian: Oh, wow. Dawn: Oh man. It's alive. John: Those are the original machines. Dawn: I didn't know that. That's fantastic. John: At the time when I was a young kid, I was one of the few kids in my neighborhood who knew the name Kenneth Strickfaden, which opened doors for me. Let me tell you when people find out, oh, you know of the guy who designed and built all those? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I know all that. One of my favorite stories from Young Frankenstein is when they sold the script. I forget which studio had said yes. And as they were walking out of the meeting, Mel Brooks turned back and said, oh, by the way, it's gonna be in black and white, and kept going. And they followed him down the hall and said, no, it can't be in black and white. And he said, no, it's not gonna work unless it's in [00:45:00] black and white. And they said, well, we're not gonna do it. And they had a deal, they were ready to go. And he said, no, it's gonna stay black and white. And he called up Alan Ladd Jr. that night, who was a friend of his, and said, they won't do it. And he said, I'll do it. And so it ended up going, I think, to Fox, who was more than happy to, to spend the money on that. And even though Mel didn't like Putting on the Ritz, it's weird, because he has almost always had musical numbers in his films. Virtually every movie he's done, he's either written a song for it, or there's a song in it. So, it's weird to me. I've heard Gene Wilder on YouTube talk about no, no, he didn't want that scene at all, which is so odd because it seems so-- Brian: I never thought about that, but you're right. I'm going in my head through all the Mel Brooks films I can remember. And there is at least a short musical interlude in all of them that I can think of. John: But let's talk then about what's considered one of the best mixes of horror and comedy, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein [00:46:00] [Soundbite: Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein] Brian: As with comedies of that age, it, it starts off slow, but then it starts to get very funny as time goes on. And all the comedy is because of Abbot and Costello. They are the, [00:47:00] the chemistry they have on screen. I don't know how much of that was actually scripted and how much of it was just how they rolled with each other. But it works really well. Not much of the comedy is provided by the monsters or the supporting cast or even there's maybe a cute, a few sight gags. But wouldn't you say most of the comedy is just the dynamics between them? John: It is. The scary stuff is scary and it's balanced beautifully at the end where they're being chased through the castle. The monsters stayed pretty focused on being monsters and Abbot and Costello's reactions are what's funny. Dawn: If I may, as someone who has already admitted I haven't seen much of the movie, it's feels to me like it may be something like Shaun of the Dead, in the sense that you get genuinely scared if zombie movies scare, then you'll have that same adrenaline rush and the monsters stay scary. They don't have to get silly. Or be a part of the comedy for your two very opposing one's skinny, one's fat, you know, and the way that their friendship is both aligning and [00:48:00]coinciding is the humor. Brian: I believe there is one brief shot in there where you get to see Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolfman all in the same shot. And I think that might be the only time that ever happens in the Universal Franchise. During the lab scene, does that sound right John? John: I think you really only have Dracula and the Wolfman. I'll have to look it up because the monster is over on another table-- Brian: Isn't he underneath the blanket? John: Nope, that's Lou Costello, because it's his brain that they want. And so they're fighting over that table. And then just a little, I have nothing but stupid fun facts. There's a point in it, in that scene where the monster gets off the table and picks up someone and throws them through a window. And Glenn Strange, who was playing the monster at that point -- and who is one of my favorite portrayers of the monster, oddly enough -- had broken his ankle, I believe. And so Lon, Chaney, Jr. put the makeup on and did that one stunt for him, cuz he was there. Brian: He did that as Frankenstein's monster? John: Yes. Frankenstein. Brian: I didn't know that. Yes, I [00:49:00] did not know that. So he plays both of those roles in that movie? John: Yes. Let me just take a moment to defend Glenn Strange, who played the monster three times: House of Dracula, House of Frankenstein, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. In House of Frankenstein, he is following up the film before that, which was Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, in which, in this very convoluted universe, Lugosi is playing the monster, even though he didn't wanna do it in 31. Because his brain in Ghost of Frankenstein had been put into the Monster's body. So, in Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, it is Lugosi as the Frankenstein monster. It is Lon Chaney Jr., who had played the monster in Ghost of Frankenstein, now back to playing Larry Talbot. So, it is Wolfman versus Frankenstein. And the premise of the script was he's got Ygor's brain and it's not connecting properly. He's gone blind. They shot that. They had tons of dialogue between the two characters of Larry Talbot pre-wolfman, and the monster, Bela Lugosi. And the executives thought it sounded silly. So they went in and they cut [00:50:00] out all of Lugosi's dialogue out of the movie. So now you have a blind monster stumbling around with his arms in front of him, but he doesn't talk. And if you look at the movie, you can see where he's supposed to be talking and they cut away quickly. And it's really convoluted. Glenn Strange who then has to play the monster next, looks at that and goes well, all right, I guess I'm still blind. I guess I'm still stumbling around with my arms in front of him. Which is the image most people have of the Frankenstein monster, which was never done by Boris in his three turns as the monster. So with, in that regard, I just think Glenn Strange did a great job of picking up what had come before him and making it work moving forward. Anyway, a couple other ones I wanna just hit on very quickly. Brian asked me to watch Dracula in Istanbul. Under the circumstances, a fairly straightforward retelling of the Dracula story. I would recommend it--it is on YouTube--for a couple of reasons. One, I believe it's the first time that Dracula has actual canine teeth. Brian: Yes. John: Which is important. But the other is there's the scene where he's talking to Harker about, I want [00:51:00] you to write three letters. And I want you to post date the letters. It's so convoluted, because he goes into explaining how the Turkish post office system works in such a way that the letters aren't gonna get there. It's just this long scene of explaining why he needs to write these three letters, and poor Harker's doing his best to keep up with that. That was the only reason I recommend it. Brian: That movie is based on a book called Kazıklı Voyvoda, which means The Warrior Prince and it was written in, I wanna say the 1920s or thirties, I wanna say thirties. It's the first book to equate Dracula and Vlad the Impaler, which I've come back to a couple times now, but that's significant because it was a Turkish book and the Turks got that right away. They immediately saw the name Dracula like, oh, we know who we're talking about. We're talking about that a-hole. It was not until the seventies, both the [00:52:00] fifties and the seventies, that Western critics and scholars started to equate the two. And then later when other scholars said, no, there, there's not really a connection there, but it's a fun story. And it's part of cannon now, so we can all play around with it. John: But that wasn't what Bram Stoker was thinking of? Is that what you're saying? Brian: No. No, he, he wasn't, he wasn't making Dracula into Vlad the Impaler. He got the name from Vlad the Impaler surely, but not the deeds. He wasn't supposed to be Vlad the Impaler brought back to life. John: All right. I'm going to ask you both to do one final thing and then we'll wrap it up for today. Although I could talk to you about monsters all day long, and the fact that I'd forgotten Dawn, that you were back on the Universal lot makes this even more perfect. If listeners are going to watch one Dracula movie and one Frankenstein movie, what do you recommend? Dawn, you go first. Dawn: They're only watching one, then it's gotta be the 1931 Frankenstein, with Boris. Karloff, of course. I think it has captured [00:53:00] the story of Frankenstein that keeps one toe sort of beautifully over the novel and the kind of original source material that I am so in love with, but also keeps the other foot firmly in a great film tradition. It is genuinely spooky and it holds so much of the imagery of any of the subsequent movies that you're only watching one, so that's the one you get. But if you do watch any more, you've got this fantastic foundation for what is this story and who is this creature? John: Got it. And Brian, for Dracula? Brian: I was tossing around in my head here, whether to recommend Nosferatu or the 1931 Dracula. And I think I'm going to have to agree with Dawn and say the 1931 for both of them, because it would help a viewer who was new to the monsters, understand where we got the archetypes we have. Now, why, when you type an emoji into your phone for Vampire, you get someone with a tuxedo in the slick back hair or, I think, is there a Frankenstein emoji? Dawn: There is, and he's green with bolts in his neck. [00:54:00] Brian: Yeah, it would. It will help you understand why we have that image permanently implanted in our heads, even though maybe that's not the source material. We now understand the origins of it. Dawn: And if I may too, there's, there's something about having the lore as founded in these movies is necessary, frankly, to almost understand what happens later. I mean, I get very frustrated in 2022, if there is a movie about vampires that takes any time at all to explain to me what a vampire is, unless you're breaking the rules of the vampire. For example, you know, like in Twilight the vampire sparkles, like a diamond when it's out in the sunshine and is the hottest thing ever. That's really great to know. I didn't know that about vampires. That wasn't necessarily true before, you know, but you don't need to take a lot of time. In fact, when you do read Dracula, one of the things for me that I found very frustrating was the suspense of what is it with this guy? They were like: He said we couldn't bring [00:55:00] garlic and they take all this time. And you're kind of as a modern reader being like, cuz he is a fucking vampire. Move on. Like we know this, we got this one. It's shorthand Brian: That's one snide thing I could say about the book is that there are times where Dracula's powers seem to be whatever his powers need to be to make this next scene creepy and move on to the next chapter. John: He was making it up as he went along. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This podcast is in Spanish in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Rafael Ulloa, vicepresidente ejecutivo de contenido para El Tiempo Latino DC, entrevista a Hugo Medrano, fundador del Teatro Gala en Columbia Heights, Washington, DC para el mes de la Herencia Hispana.

This episode of the Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast sponsored by Bearing Advisors, Jim Hunt interviews Leon Andrews, Jr the head of NLC R.E.A.L program.   A candid conversation about helping cities fight racism And, much more   7 Steps to an Amazing City:   Attitude Motivation Attention to Detail Zing Inclusiveness Neighborhood Empowerment Green Awareness   Thanks for listening and look forward to having you join us for the next episode.   Links Mentions During Show:   equalmeasure.org AmazingCities.org AmazingCities.org/podcast to be a guest on the podcast   About  Leon Andrews, JR. Leon T. Andrews, Jr. brings to Equal Measure more than 25 years of policy, management, and leadership experience, most recently as the inaugural leader of the National League of Cities' Race, Equity, And Leadership (REAL), which started as a CEO initiative and became a department within the organization. As the founder of REAL, Leon led NLC's strategy to help its members respond to racial tensions in their communities and address the historical, institutional, and systemic barriers that further inequity and racism in our nation's cities. During his time at NLC, where he also served as program director and senior fellow for NLC's Institute for Youth, Education & Families, Leon raised and managed over $25 million from foundations and corporate partners and provided direction to city officials and community leaders around the country on strategies for health and wellness, youth and workforce development, education reform, and civic engagement. Prior to his tenure at the National League of Cities, Leon completed a research fellowship at the Forum for Youth Investment. He has also worked with the United States Department of Justice, United States Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, the United States Public Interest Research Group, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, YouthBuild Pittsburgh, the Development Corporation of Columbia Heights, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and as an adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University. He has served as Board Chair for the National Recreation and Parks Association and ChangeLab Solutions. Along with his significant professional accomplishments, Leon brings to Equal Measure a compelling personal story that serves as the foundation for his lifelong focus on racial equity and community impact. He is a first-generation American whose grandmother, mother, and father moved to the U.S. from Guyana in the 1960s. Growing up in Washington, D.C., he developed a passion for football, playing the violin, and attended Howard University. He attributes those formative years, along with his time at Howard, to shaping his passion for building and sustaining communities. He lives with his wife, Dr. Kristine Andrews, and their three daughters in his childhood home.         About Your Host, Jim Hunt: Welcome to the “Building Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast” … The podcast for Mayors, Council Members, Managers, Staff and anyone who is interested in building an Amazing City.   Your host is Jim Hunt, the author of “Bottom Line Green, How American Cities are Saving the Planet and Money Too” and his latest book, “The Amazing City - 7 Steps to Creating an Amazing City”   Jim is also the former President of the National League of Cities, 27 year Mayor, Council Member and 2006 Municipal Leader of the Year by American City and County Magazine.   Today, Jim speaks to 1000's of local government officials each year in the US and abroad.   Jim also consults with businesses that are bringing technology and innovation to local government.   Amazing City Resources:   Buy Jim's Popular Books: The Amazing City: 7 Steps to Creating an Amazing City: https://www.amazingcities.org/product-page/the-amazing-city-7-steps-to-creating-an-amazing-city   Bottom Line Green: How America's Cities and Saving the Planet (And Money Too) https://www.amazingcities.org/product-page/bottom-line-green-how-america-s-cities-are-saving-the-planet-and-money-too   FREE White Paper: “10 Steps to Revitalize Your Downtown” AmazingCities.org/10-Steps   Hire Jim to Speak at Your Next Event: Tell us about your event and see if dates are available at AmazingCities.org/Speaking   Hire Jim to Consult with Your City or Town: Discover more details at https://www.amazingcities.org/consulting   Discuss Your Business Opportunity/Product to Help Amazing Cities: Complete the form at https://www.amazingcities.org/business-development   A Special Thanks to Bearing Advisors for the support of this podcast:  www.BearingAdvisors.Net

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam are joined by Martin DiCaro of The Washington Times and Adam Coleman, founder of Wrong Speak Publishing for a freedom-themed Fourth of July weekend special. -Martin Di Caro brings 25 years of broadcast journalism experience to the Washington Times. He has won numerous prestigious awards throughout his career in major media markets across the country. Before coming to the Times, Martin was a news anchor at Bloomberg Radio's Washington bureau. From 2012 to 2017, he covered transportation at NPR member station WAMU 88.5 in Washington, where his work on the yearslong Metrorail crisis earned Martin his second Edward R. Murrow award, which included hosting the radio station's first podcast, Metropocalypse. Martin worked as a reporter for AP Radio in New York and Washington for eight years starting in 2008. He lives in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of D.C. and his interests include reading history and following his beloved New York Jets.-Adam B. Coleman is the Author of “Black Victim To Black Victor“, Op-Ed Writer, Public Speaker, Host of “A Good Faith Space” Twitter Spaces show, and the Founder of Wrong Speak Publishing. Adam was born in Detroit but raised in a variety of states throughout America. He writes openly about his struggles with fatherlessness, homelessness, and masculinity. He is always questioning the world around him, even if they are uncomfortable questions to ask.He strongly believes that we should all have the ability to speak freely and is now advocating for people who feel voiceless to be heard.He is attempting to help change the narrative and the way we discuss cultural narratives by being honest, humble, and resolute. His articles have been published in The New York Post, Newsweek, The Post Millennial, The Federalist, Unherd, ScoonTV, Free Black Thought & Human Defense Initiative.He has also appeared on Newsmax, The Hill's “Rising” and “Fox & Friends” on FOX News.-Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com

In the basement of a Columbia Heights home, Baheerullah Shinwari offers an assortment of nuts and hot tea. There are enough almonds, pistachios and cashews to feed a dozen people, but there are only a few people seated on traditional Afghan floor cushions and rugs. Hospitality is an important part of his culture, the father of five explained. “Can I make you some lunch?” Shinwari offered in Pashto. Kerem Yücel for MPR News It is a tradition in Afghan culture to serve candy and nuts to the guests who come to the house. Kerem Yücel for MPR News Baheerullah Shinwari offers tea to Ahmad Shah during an interview. Since the United States pulled out of Afghanistan after a 20-year war last August, Minnesota has seen an influx of more than 1,500 newly arrived Afghans to the state. Among the Afghan evacuees was the Shinwari family which includes Baheerullah, his wife and five children, ranging in age from 2 to 13. All of them are learning English together. “Once they learn English, life will be easy for them,” Shinwari said. He adds that he hopes they will all become doctors.  The Shinwari family is not unlike other groups of new Minnesota residents, like Hmong and Somali refugees who arrived here in the 1970s and 1990s, who've come here to escape natural or man made-disasters. Five agencies in Minnesota have been at the forefront of efforts to resettle refugees: the International Institute of Minnesota, Minnesota Council of Churches, Arrive Ministries, Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota and Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota. Shinwari is still working on his English, so helping translate is Ahmad Shah, who worked as an interpreter in Afghanistan before coming to Minnesota himself in 2016. Kerem Yücel for MPR News Ahmad Shah (left) and Baheerullah Shinwari (right) pose for a photo in Shinwari's home. Shah founded the Afghan Community of Minnesota and also works with one of the five resettlement agencies in Minnesota, the Minnesota Council of Churches. When Shah first came to Minnesota there were about 300 Afghans in the state, he recalled. In the last several months since the end of the war, that number has grown to around 1,800 and counting. And they are relying heavily on the people like him who have already settled in for help with basic needs like transportation, filling out paperwork, finding work and enrolling children in schools.  “We make their connections with communities and different organizations,” Shah explained. “Then they will understand in the future and they can solve their own problems.” Shah said Shinwari was lucky he already had a cousin living in Minnesota who found him this home. The resettlement agencies help with six months of rent and other resources. For the Shinwari family, that time period has passed and this is the first month the Shinwaris are expected to pay all their bills on their own. Shah said that is when it is most important for the growing community to help one another. Shinwari, who has a background in military service working alongside Americans, found work as a security guard and then another job at Boston Scientific on his own, Shah said. Kerem Yücel for MPR News Baheerullah Shinwari and his son Yasser play in their home. Help is only temporary State Refugee Coordinator Rachele King explains the hard work is just beginning for many newly arrived Afghan individuals and families that came with nothing and have experienced a great deal of trauma. Assistance from the state resettlement agencies is not expected to be a long-term resource. “It is really buying people time to fully integrate and draw on the resiliency they have, skills they came with and the experience and hope and desire for a future here,” King said.   King explains individual presidential administrations set a cap for how many refugees the country will accept every year. Those numbers fell to historic lows under the Trump administration and continued below average under the Biden administration and during the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government then consults with the Minnesota Department of Human Services and resettlement agencies to see how many refugees they can reasonably accommodate when factoring in housing and other challenges. Kerem Yücel for MPR News Yasser, son of Baheerullah Shinwari, steps out from their home. In the case of Afghan evacuees, who worked along U.S. troops, King said the federal government created a parallel system for newly arrived Afghans that gives them humanitarian protection status for two years, but does not give them refugee status or a clear path to permanent residency, which is the goal since most fear for their lives if they returned to Afghanistan. “So that is a really huge question, challenge and concern for so many of the people who are here right now because it's an open question of what permanency looks like and what exact path that will take.” Congress recently declined to pass a measure, the Afghan Adjustment Act, that would have created a path to permanent residency for newly arrived Afghans. Sarah Brenes, the Refugee & Immigrant Program Director for The Advocates for Human Rights, said in the absence of an adjustment act, organizations like hers are working hard to mobilize volunteer attorneys to represent individuals and families in asylum claims, one of the two main paths to permanent status.  “We are partnering with other legal service providers, resettlement agencies and community organizations to also support those who may be eligible for Special Immigrant Visas based on their work with the U.S. Government while in Afghanistan,” Brenes said.   Besides questions about how they will be able to stay in the United States, Shah said many newly arrived Afghans are extremely worried about their family members or colleagues among the thousands of Afghan allies the U.S. left behind in its chaotic withdrawal. “Twenty-four hours per day, people searching for them to find them and kill them,” Shah said. “Their life is pretty dangerous.” A familiar story The stories of Afghan arrivals and those left behind remind historian Chia Youyee Vang of her own family story. Vang's family members were among some of the first Hmong arrivals in Minnesota in the 1970s. The Vietnam War had spread to Laos and the United States recruited the Hmong to fight against communism.  “We paid for this migration with the blood of our men and women who died on behalf of the American nation, although knowing nothing about it,” Vang said. Vang is now a historian, author and Vice Chancellor of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Vang described how war and natural disasters often lead to new groups arriving in Minnesota. While there are what she calls push factors, like war, there are also pull factors, like the hope for a better quality of life in the United States that lead to new arrivals and various forms of immigration. The first large group of immigrants arrived from Europe, mostly Norway, Sweden, Ireland and Germany. Hmong refugees began arriving in the mid 1970s, and Somali refugees began arriving in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Somali government led to extreme violence. People born in Mexico, India and Ethiopia also make up the largest groups of foreign-born Minnesotans, according to state researchers. Christopher Juhn for MPR News 2017 Aidarus Aden, a refugee from Somalia, holds a sign at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport on Jan. 29, 2017, in protest of the refugee ban that then-President Trump used an executive order to enact. Minnesota is also home to other, smaller refugee communities from around the world. According to a 2017 State Department report, in 2016 people from more than two dozen countries, including Myanmar, Belarus, Syria and Sri Lanka sought refuge in Minnesota.   As communities began to thrive over time, mostly in and around the Twin Cities, Vang explained they invited others to come through a process called chain migration.  “There are pockets all over the state, too, but they are mostly in the Twin Cities where there is a critical mass and you can have social support,” Vang said “So nothing different, in my opinion, than what the Norwegians and Swedes, nothing different than what they did.” New arrivals in workforce  Doualy Xaykaothao | MPR News 2016 Kaw Hai is the lead auto mechanic at SKD Auto Tek in St. Paul, here in October 2016. He's a refugee from the Karen State in Burma. According to 2017 data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, resettling refugees benefits the country's economy. While the exact yearly costs of refugee resettlement for Minnesota are difficult to determine, DHS receives approximately $5 million in yearly federal funds to support the statewide resettlement of refugees. State resettlement agencies reported that in fiscal year 2017, Minnesota ranked 13th in resettling refugees but was the highest per capita in the country. Thanks to a reputation as a welcoming state, Minnesota ranked first in the nation for secondary migration, which occurs when refugees move to Minnesota after an initial resettlement somewhere else. As consumers, immigrants, not just refugees, have an estimated more $650 billion in lifetime earnings and annual purchasing power of $5 billion, according to Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota. Immigrants pay an estimated $793 million in state and local taxes, annually. Immigrants are also a vital part of Minnesota's economy, according to state Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove. The state estimates 10 percent of Minnesota's labor force are born outside of the U.S. About 105,000 new foreign-born residents joined the state over the last decade. “In fact, the only reason we are growing at all is because of international immigration,” Grove said about Minnesota. Minnesota also has an historic more than 200,000 open jobs, which is part of the reason the state created an Office of New Americans — which started services during the pandemic to help get resources to struggling immigrant-owned businesses.  “I think a lot of businesses would like to access immigrant talent and they don't really know how,” Grove said. “Unless you're big enough to have the resources a larger company might have, finding that talent is harder.”  Grove hopes the office will provide more efficient and individualized resources to pair people with jobs that match any previous experiences.  “I think it's just an awakening from an economic perspective, let alone a moral one, that this is imperative,” Grove said. “We have got to make the welcome mat for immigrants in this state as good as it's ever been.” But the office is grant-funded, leaving its future funding uncertain.  Vang said as a more diverse and international population continues to grow in Minnesota, and as conflict across the world continues to drive more movement across the globe, the state has a unique opportunity to embrace change and flourish as a result. “As a historian I keep reminding others, the things happening now, they have happened before,” Vang said. “It is about how we respond to them.” Pay it forward Kerem Yücel for MPR News Baheerullah Shinwari and his son Yasser sit front of the their house in Columbia Heights on May 11. Baheerullah Shinwari has hope. Hope that he, his wife and their five children — with help from the community — will thrive. Shinwari also looks forward to the day his family can pay it forward and help other new arrivals to Minnesota.  “I am happy, life is going well.” Full series North Star Journey What should we cover next? Pass the Mic Immigrants and refugees in Minnesota Connecting past and present

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Chelsea Sobolik welcomes David Jimenez, manager of government affairs for Prison Fellowship. They discuss what Second Chance month is and why it is important for churches and communities to remember those in prison. They also discuss ongoing efforts to reform our prison and criminal justice systems in ways that promote the biblical ideas of justice, proportionality, and human dignity – without compromising public safety.Guest BiographyDavid Jimenez serves as the manager of government affairs for Prison Fellowship's advocacy and public policy team, where he oversees federal and state legislative campaigns. His background is in public policy advocacy and institution building, most recently as a primary manager for the American Enterprise Institute's outreach to college students, faculty, and administrators. As an undergraduate at Bowdoin College in Maine, Jimenez studied history and political theory. After graduating, he participated in the Hudson Institute's Political Studies Fellowship and was a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Romania.A proud alumnus of Prison Fellowship's internship program, he first became passionate about criminal justice reform while serving urban youth in New Jersey, where he saw up close the urgent need for restorative approaches to incarceration, law enforcement, and violence. He is passionate about theology, social policy, ethics, and culture. A Pittsburgh native, Jimenez lives in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C.Resources from the ConversationFollow Prison Fellowship's workSubscribe to ERLC's Policy Newsletter

As we continue to watch the devastating events in Ukraine unfold, the call to stand in solidarity with those suffering the ravages of war comes to all the faithful. As we joined with the whole Church in consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as we offer prayers and Masses for an end to the violence, as we give of our financial resources to help those in need, we strengthen our ties with our brothers and sisters across the world. But what does life look like for those in Ukraine? Right here in our own backyard, at Immaculate Conception school in Columbia Heights, eighth-grade teacher Maria Zownirowycz has a unique inside look, with many family members still in Ukraine. https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/immaculate-conception-eighth-graders-learn-ukrainian-easter-traditions-discuss-current-events/

According to the Anoka County Sheriff's Office, members of the Columbia Heights and Fridley Police Departments were called to the 3900 block of 3rd Street NE just before midnight Thursday night for a report of a person being shot. When they arrived, they found a girl, identified by the sheriff's office as 15-year-old Derryanna Davis, and performed lifesaving measures. However, Davis died at the scene. The Anoka County Sheriff's Office issued the following statement Friday afternoon:“This is a horrific loss of life. We will continue the investigation until the truth is found and justice is served. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends during this difficult time.” --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/leah-gordone/support

Hosted by David and Nycci Nellis. On today's show: The “Savor Bethesda” Restaurant Week takes place Thursday, Feb. 17 through Sunday, February 27, 2022. Joining us are Stephanie Coppula of the Bethesda Urban Partnership and by Roberto Pietrobono and Donnie White of Alatri Bros.; Our favorite vegan baker, Doron Petersan, is the founder of Sticky Fingers, D.C.'s premier vegan bakery in Columbia Heights. Last fall she rebranded the company, announcing a digital retail expansion offering her vegan products to ship nationwide. We check in to see how many new worlds she has conquered since; Philip Brandes founded Bravus, North America's first non-alcoholic craft brewery. We'll find out why; Chef Liz Rogers is founder and CEO of Creamalicious Ice Creams, the only Black-owned national ice cream brand. We get the inside scoop.

Senior Pastor, Michelene Verlautz, of St. Timothy's Lutheran Church in Columbia Heights, MN offers insight of how she's been uncovering opportunities to guide conflict scenarios to prevent families from engaging with adversarial traditional routes. Her story of pastoral leadership offers redemption to not only families and kids, but to the underserved populations within her community.  Directory of Mediators: www.thekatallassogroup.com/directory

Mike Max talks with Columbia Heights Boys Basketball Head Coach Willie Braziel about the impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., getting involved in AAU basketball, starting and organizing an AAU team and more.

In this episode, I interview Tyler Hambley from the Maurin House, a new Catholic Worker House in the suburbs of Minneapolis. The Hope of the Poor Tyler’s first experience of Catholic Worker-style life came when he was a divinity student in Durham, North Carolina. He started gathering with a small group to pray vespers every evening at a local Episcopalian church, and over time the group started meeting after vespers for meals. The church grounds had become a sort of hangout for the local homeless population. One of the intercession at vespers is “let the hope of the poor not be in vain”. As Tyler explained, we have to let our prayers become a lived reality, not just words. In this case, the embodiment of the prayer started by inviting some of the homeless to their community meals. Over time, friendships developed, and eventually, some members of this group started renting housing together and taking in the homeless. Things developed organically until there were three houses with around 20 people living in them as a community. Over time, however, Tyler and some of the other members of the community began to feel attracted to the Catholic Church. Eventually, Tyler’s family joined another family from the Durham community to start the Maurin House in Columbia Heights, a suburb of Minneapolis. Intellectual Influences The writers Stanley Hauerwas and Alasdair MacIntyre had a big influence on Tyler. They taught him the importance of shared practices in community life, of becoming a certain kind of person rather than making certain decisions. Hauerwas says that if one has to make a decision, all may have been lost. If we have to decide whether to act in a virtuous manner, it shows that we are not yet virtuous people. Becoming virtuous means acquiring certain virtuous habits of thought and action. We can only live as Christians by following a certain tradition as a community. As individuals, the best we can do is try to make good decisions, but as a community we can build a way of life within the Christian tradition. The Living Tradition Traditionalism, however, is dangerous, since traditionalists have a flawed understanding of the tradition. They think of it as if it were a static thing that stays unchanged. In reality, however, the tradition is a living thing, a story that we continue. A tradition or culture which is closed off from further experience and further development dies. The Benedict Option Rod Dreher’s “Benedict Option” is, at least in theory, inspired by MacIntyre’s book After Virtue. There is a lot of good in the Benedict Option idea, but the motivation is flawed. The Benedict Option is presented as an answer to the growing hostility of the surrounding culture. This is the wrong motivation for building community. Fear of the surrounding culture will not produce the kind of practices that will form persons in virtue. (In a recent podcast episode, I discussed the Benedict Option at length with Dr. Cameron Thompson.) The anger of “culture warrior” Catholics stems from a fear that they will lose access to the comforts and prestige of suburban American culture. The culture warriors are often seen as the opposites of the so-called “liberals”, who are willing to compromise their values to maintain the world’s favor. These two ideologies seem opposed to one another, and yet they are actually the same. Both are unwilling to reject the comfort of our consumer society, embrace voluntary poverty, and follow Christ through self-sacrificing service to the poor. Radical or Superficial The real division is not between progressives and conservatives, but between radical Christians and superficial ones. Christianity isn’t compatible with consumerism and the comfortable security obtained through insurance and high-paying jobs. This sort of comfort and security will inevitably undermine the Faith. In contrast, radical communities can provide their members with a different kind of support and security, based on mutual self-sacrifice and trust. For more on this topic, see our blog post about preppers and suburbanites. The Hospitable Family Christian parents are called to raise their children, of course. This does not, however, mean that they can ignore the needs of the wider community. In fact, as Tyler mentioned, the Catechism says that Catholic families “should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor.” In some ways, care for children and care for the poor are very similar and reinforce one another. Just as Christian couples are called to be open to life and the inconvenient demands it puts on them, we’re all called to be open to aiding the poor in a sacrificial manner. Both kinds of openness are part of building a “culture of life.” In both cases, those who give generously “receive back a hundred fold”. We shouldn’t see the poor or children merely as those we help. Rather, children, the poor, and all the weak and vulnerable mediate Christ for us. That's a very different perspective than the standard social justice one! Families living in community can experience a certain amount of tension between the demands of family life and the demands of community. On the other hand, Tyler explained that as a father he feels he needs community. Too much emphasis on the family unit can leave parents as isolated individuals accountable to no one. Accountability and obedience aren’t just for children; parents also need support, guidance, and correction from others. Advice on Starting a Community In closing, Tyler gave some advice to those who want to build community. It is best not to start with grand expectations or plans. Instead, it is better to find a few others with similar interests, and start engaging in shared practices: particularly in shared prayer, but also in shared meals and recreation. Out of the friendships that develop a community can grow over time. Learn more about the Maurin House at their website.

In today's episode we talk with Columbia Heights, DC's very own Anna Mvze! Anna Mvze was just on a Texas run and we caught her on her last night in Houston. We cover everything from new music, her time at Centro Popular in Fort Worth, meeting Krystall Poppin, music background, relationships, personal topics and much more. Tune in and get to know the woman behind the art. #TheOT Follow The Overthinkers Podcast IG: theoverthinkerspod Facebook: The Overthinkers Podcast Twitter: theotpod Follow Anna Mvze IG: annamvze Facebook: Anna Mvze Twitter: annamvze

Co-host PeggySue Imihy joins me, as we prepare to interview Minneapolis City Council candidate Elliott Payne. PeggySue is originally from Columbia Heights but didn't let that stop her from usurping the throne of Miss Northeast Minneapolis. She's put that life behind her and is now interviewing powerbrokers and narrating tweets on a podcast (in addition to a blossoming urban planning career). The best co-hosts make sure their partner is prepared, so I tease PeggySue about the extensive Google document she put together in a failed attempt to make me a better host. If you'd like to hear our interview with Elliott Payne, stay tuned for the next episode. Watch this episode and view other clips: youtube.com/wedgelive Join the conversation: twitter.com/wedgelive Support the show: patreon.com/wedgelive

Sean Clerkin is a legendary figure in the world of Minnesota amateur boxing. Sean did some amateur boxing as a young man in Ireland before making his way to the U.S. in 1963. For nearly a half-century, he has held leadership positions with the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves. He is the longtime president of the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Board of Directors and he also serves on the national board. Closer to home, he runs the Golden Gloves Firehouse Gym and boxing museum at 555 Mill St. NE in Columbia Heights. The museum is a must-see for fans of Minnesota boxing. In the following interview, Sean talks about his life in boxing, the current state of amateur boxing in Minnesota, and much more.   --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian-johnson492/support

Aaron and Amy Graham have been planting churches and reaching cities for nearly two decades. After planting in Boston, they moved to Washington, DC to plant District Church -- a church with a commitment to doing justice in the nation's capital. District Church is remarkably diverse, with 74 nations and 49 states represented in its congregation. Aaron has been named one of Washingtonian Magazine's 40 under 40. Aaron and his wife Amy are both pastors as well as adoption and foster care advocates. They founded DC127 with the mission to unite churches to reverse the foster care wait list in DC. They live in Columbia Heights with their two adopted kids Elijah and Natalie.