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In conversation with Zoe Sivak Maura Cheeks is the author of Acts of Forgiveness, a debut novel that imagines a contemporary moment in which our government has approved reparations for Black Americans-but only if they can prove they are the descendants of enslaved people. Based on a feature-length article she produced during a masthead reporting residency at The Atlantic, R. Eric Thomas calls the book a ''generous and empathetic study of burden and inheritance, consequence and regret.'' Cheeks has contributed other writing to a variety of publications, including the Paris Review, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, Tin House, and Lenny Letter. Zoe Sivak is the author of Mademoiselle Revolution, an NPR Best Book of 2022. Zoe advocates for diverse stories and characters in historical fiction, where she strives to explore famous male figures through the lenses of the women beside them--women who could have existed, even if history left them behind. Zoe received her Juris Doctor and masters in public health in Philadelphia, where she continues her work in healthcare and shares a home with her partner, Adam, and two cats. Because you love Author Events, please make a donation to keep our podcasts free for everyone. THANK YOU! The views expressed by the authors and moderators are strictly their own and do not represent the opinions of the Free Library of Philadelphia or its employees. (recorded 2/21/2024)
Annabelle Gurwitch is an actress, activist, and the author of the New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist I See You Made an Effort. Her other books include: Wherever You Go, There They Are, and You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up (coauthored with Jeff Kahn). She was the co-host of Dinner & a Movie on TBS and has appeared on NPR, The Today Show, CBS Early Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, PBS, and numerous CNN and MSNBC programs. Her essays and satire have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, AARP, Real Simple, Prevention, The Los Angeles Book Review, The Daily Beast, Time.com, Next Tribe, Lenny Letter, Hadassah and The Hollywood Reporter, among other media outlets.She's also an extremely methodical (she might say obsessive compulsive?) person—one who starts planning her launch as she comes up with the book concept. And she works it—making lists, checking them way more than twice, reaching out to people she knows and doesn't know and ultimately making it so that her books have no option but to be successful.If you want practical steps on how to prepare both emotionally and literally for a release, this episode is packed with tips, tactics and other t-words!FOR MORE INFO, GO TO WWW.ONGOODAUTHORITYPOD.COM
My guest on this episode is Claire Cameron. Claire is the kind of person who has led canoe trips in Algonquin Park and worked as an instructor for Outward Bound. She has taught mountaineering, climbing, and whitewater rafting in Oregon and beyond. But also the kind of person whose writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, the Guardian, Lenny Letter, and Salon. Claire is the author of three novels, the most recent of which is The Last Neanderthal, which was published in 2017 by Doubleday Canada, and went on to be published in a dozen other countries. It was a bestseller in Canada, and was a finalist for the 2017 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. The Los Angeles Review of Books said about The Last Neanderthal that "Cameron pulls out all the literary stops in giving Neanderthals as much free rein, agency and authenticity as possible. . . . This could easily be the best book that shakes up the classic Neanderthal tropes in science fiction and fantasy." Claire and I talk about how she does her best writing when is able to write from inside out, rather than the outside in, how being diagnosed with a form of skin cancer after the publication of The Last Neanderthal changed not only what she wrote about next but how she engages with the outside world, and about how the idea of taking a dump in the woods is kind of central to the way her imagination works. Claire Cameron: claire-cameron.com Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Contact Nathan Whitlock at nathanwhitlock.ca/contact
In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to iO Tillett Wright about his childhood in New York, how growing up in the scarce environment and surrounded by poverty has shaped him, his journey to homeownership, how he cultivates abundance and inner peace in his life, and the importance of community-oriented work. iO Tillett Wright (@iolovesyou) is an author, screenwriter, producer, and podcast creator. He has been a public speaker, photographer, journalist, artist, curator, and actor. iO has exhibited and curated artworks in the US, Europe, and Japan. His writing and photos have been published in the NY Times, LA Times, Vogue, T Magazine, Lenny Letter, Interview Magazine, Oyster Magazine, Refinery29, etc. His words have been published by Knopf, Ecco, Editions Du Seuil, Il Saggiatore, Virago, Ecco, Penguin, and Suhrkamp Verlag. He is the author of Darling Days: A Memoir (Ecco, 2016), host and producer of The Ballad of Billy Balls (Cadence 13, 2019), and Power Trip, (NY Magazine, 2021/2022), creator of the TED talk “50 Shades of Gay,” and founder and photographer behind the Self Evident Truths project. He also made “Self Evident Truths: 10,000 portraits of queer America” (Prestel, 2020), wrote “Oasis: Modern Desert Homes” (2020), and the forthcoming “First Home”, both from Clarkson Potter. He occasionally sits on rocks holding bottles of cologne and feels like an ass about it. This episode also features The Economic Outlook with financial astrologer Susan Gidel. Susan, our resident economic cosmonaut, does what many humans have done before us for thousands of years: she looks to the stars to understand our economic present and predict our financial futures. For more guidance from Susan, sign up for her Red Letter Trading Days newsletter. A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. Thank you to my friends, Samantha McVey and Anney Reese, the Stuff Mom Never Told You Podcast hosts, for lending us their voices for our special PSA. The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon. Stay in touch and sign up for Paco's weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter. If you'd like to contact us about the show or ask Paco a question about finances, call our hotline at 833-ASK-PACO or email us at weirdfinancepod (at) gmail.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If you had to post a status update on your relationship with food, what would it say? Most people would say, it's complicated. You probably know all the right things to eat and right ways to eat, but somehow you end up making bad food decisions along the way. Maybe those decisions are made by stress, lack of willpower or not living in the moment. How will you ever reach your health goals if this cycle continues? Enter the food therapist, Shira Barlow. She'll teach you how to resist those food urges by addressing your emotional issues around food. Shira provides tips on how to make sustainable changes. Shira Barlow (Lenchewski), M.S., R.D., is a registered dietitian in private practice, nutrition expert and author of THE FOOD THERAPIST presented by Goop Press. She is the resident nutritionist at Goop and has been featured in magazines such as Glamour, Seventeen, O The Oprah Magazine, and Bon Appétit, and on sites like Refinery29, Lenny Letter, Man Repeller, Well+GOOD, and POPSUGAR Fitness, among others. After completing her master's degree in clinical nutrition at New York University and her dietetic residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, Shira started her private practice. She focuses on helping clients untangle their complex relationships with food, so they can make thoughtful choices that serve their ultimate goals, while still enjoying delicious food. Shira discusses the following: 3:00 we all have weird food things 3:20 why it's hard to change food habits 3:50 how Shira got into nutrition 6:30 why it's important to know what you don't want to do in life 8:15 how Shira's book “Food Therapy” is more than a meal plan and highlights the gap between a person's intentions and day to day actions 9:45 one of our biggest fears is we won't have the will power to change 10:00 how to understand what's standing in your way to make better food choices 10:20 most common food hangups people have - stressed, tired 10:40 willpower is not a skill to learn, but a limited resource 11:50 indulging in foods is one big misconception 12:30 indulging has nothing to do with vice or virtue 13:30 how to change our mindset about enjoying foods on vacations 15:30 advice for busy moms with no willpower left 16:45 how to actually live in the moment 19:15 ways to engage your will power to make better food choices 21:30 how to plan for our future self 23:30 why you need to make a connection to your future self 30:10 the “almond mom” trend explained 32:10 how to handle the pressure of moms passing down healthy habits to kids 33:00 why brides are really good at healthy food habits and how you can use their skills 34:13 shedding for the wedding culture: good or bad? 36:10 how to create self regulation techniques 38:25 3 tips to implement your better food choices 43:00 the more you enjoy food the easier it is to choose better 45:00 info on Shira's podcast 46:00 look at your past choices with curiosity of why you made bad choices 48:20 examine the relationship with yourself and food For more on Shira https://www.shirard.com/ Shira's Book https://www.shirard.com/the-food-therapist Shira's Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-instincts/id1652354278 Follow Shira on Social https://www.instagram.com/shira_rd Connect with Christine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinebullock/ Connect with Christine on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristineBullockFitness Follow Christine on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/chrissybullock/_created/ Text Christine questions at 1-310-361-8697 Sponsored by Kayo Body Care Kayo Body Care was the first to create Face Grade Body Care® products. Kayo believes in restoring vitality for your whole body both inside and out. Kayo's highly-potent formulas are designed to care for your skin and your body so that you can both look and feel your best. Shop Kayo's body care and supplement line - www.KayoBodyCare.com Use Code KISS20 for 20% off your first purchase
Dr. Dan and Jessica Grose (opinion writer at The New York Times, author, founding editor of Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter) discuss and examine the unrealistic expectations we place on mothers and her new book Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood.Dr. Dan and Jessica (mother of two daughters) discuss her parenting experiences, mom burnout, self-care, motherhood myths, double-standards, and more. This provocative episode pulls apart our ideas of American motherhood to explore how we can make parenting more humane for ALL parents.For more information about Jessica Grose visit her website www.jessicagrose.com and follow her on Instagram.Email your parenting questions to Dr. Dan podcast@drdanpeters.com (we might answer on a future episode).Follow us @parentfootprintpodcast (Instagram, Facebook) and @drdanpeters (Twitter).Listen, follow, and leave us a review on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Wondery, or wherever you like to listen!Don't forget, you can hear every episode one week early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery+ in the @WonderyMedia App.For more information:www.exactlyrightmedia.com www.drdanpeters.comFor podcast merch:www.exactlyrightmedia.com/parent-footprint-shopSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Today, Lydia Conklin talks to us about their collection RAINBOW RAINBOW, writing humor and joy, Lorrie Moore, deciding to publish their collection before their novel, working with Catapult, and more! Lydia Conklin has received a Stegner Fellowship, a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer's Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a Creative Writing Fulbright in Poland, a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, a Creative Writing Fellowship from Emory University, work-study and tuition scholarships from Bread Loaf, and fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, Djerassi, the James Merrill House, and elsewhere. Their fiction has appeared in McSweeney's, American Short Fiction, The Paris Review, One Story, and VQR. They have drawn cartoons for The New Yorker and Narrative Magazine, and graphic fiction for The Believer, Lenny Letter, and the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. They've served as the Helen Zell Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan and are currently an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt University. Their story collection, Rainbow Rainbow, was longlisted for the PEN/Robert W Bingham Award and The Story Prize. Sign up for Krys Malcolm Belc's online class, Writing Queer Memoir! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Author Lydia Conklin reads "Pioneer," a story from Rainbow Rainbow, their delightful debut collection of prize-winning stories, queer, gender-nonconforming, and trans characters struggle to find love and forgiveness, despite their sometimes comic, sometimes tragic mistakes. Lydia Conklin is an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt University. Previously they were the Helen Zell Visiting Professor in Fiction at the University of Michigan. They've received a Stegner Fellowship in Fiction at Stanford University, a Rona Jaffe Writer's Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, a Creative & Performing Arts Fulbright to Poland, work-study and tuition scholarships from Bread Loaf, and fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Djerassi, Hedgebrook, the James Merrill House, the Vermont Studio Center, VCCA, Millay, Jentel, Lighthouse Works, Brush Creek, the Santa Fe Art Institute, Caldera, the Sitka Center, and Harvard University, among others. They were the 2015-2017 Creative Writing Fellow in fiction at Emory University. Their fiction has appeared in Tin House, American Short Fiction, The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere, and is forthcoming from The Paris Review. They have drawn graphic fiction for Lenny Letter, Drunken Boat, and the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and cartoons for The New Yorker and Narrative Magazine.
Happy Thursday, pals! On today's show: Kanye West has his social media accounts locked and draws the ire of Gigi Hadid, why Prince Harry's memoir might never be released, Carrie Bickmore departs The Project, the oh-so juicy claims that this year's Miss USA pageant was “rigged”, and then, it feels like every corner of the internet is declaring “thin is in”. If that's the case, who's to answer for it? This week, Mich recommended watching Marriage on ABC iView and reading ‘What I Know' by Jessica Knoll in Lenny Letter. Zara recommended watching Virgin River on Netflix and listening to ‘Laughing About The Thing That Just Happened' on Hamish and Andy's The Remembering Project. Got some thoughts on today's episode you wanna share? Join in the convo over on our Insta @shamelesspodcast. Big thanks to Stylerunner for making this episode possible. Head over to www.stylerunner.com/au or in store to browse the collection. If you find something that tickles your fancy, use the discount code ‘SHAMELESS20' for 20% off everything from Stylerunner the Label, P.E. Nation, Exie, Alias Mae and On Running. (Offer ends midnight 16th October.) Want to support our show? We are sending air kisses, air tea, and air hugs (too far?) to anyone who clicks ‘follow' on Apple and Spotify. (Bonus hugs for anyone who leaves a five-star review, too!) Still not enough? Well! Our hearts! See below for everything else. Subscribe to the weekly ‘ASK SHAMELESS' newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gFbYLT Join our book club: https://www.instagram.com/theshamelessbookclub/ Check out our website: https://shamelessmediaco.com/ Write to the Shameless Mailbag: Email hello@shamelessmediaco.com Thanks for listening! We are very big fans of yours.
This week on Every Rom Com we’re discussing the music and the misery of “High Fidelity” with Courtney E. Smith, author of the 2011 book Record Collecting For Girls and host of the podcast “Songs in The Key Of Death.” We discuss John Cusack and Nick Hornby, memorable breakups on and off screen, and a whole lot of music! Courtney gives her picks for the top 5 rom com soundtracks, lays out some mixtape-making wisdom, and reviews your picks for best breakup songs! It’s an intersection of music nerds, film nerds, and feminists that you won’t want to miss! 0:00-16:06 Introducing Our Guest, Courtney E. Smith, Author Of Record Collecting For Girls; Courtney’s Top 5 Romantic Comedy Soundtracks Follow our guest Courtney E. Smith on Twitter @courtneyesmith or on Instagram @thecourtneyesmith. And be sure to check out her podcast, Songs in the Key of Death anywhere you get your podcasts! Courtney E. Smith is the author of RECORD COLLECTING FOR GIRLS (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), a music critic, and a recovering music industry gatekeeper. She began her career at MTV, quickly moving into the music programming department and yelling at everyone about indie rock until they listened and agreed to play it. She feels very lucky that worked out. While at MTV, Smith was the label rep for all the indie record labels in the known universe and programmed the only national indie rock video show, MTV2’s Subterranean. She also co-helmed the music programming for mtvU, the college music network, as well as creating their video award show, The Woodies. Since transitioning to music journalism and criticism, Smith has since been published by Billboard, Pitchfork, Salon, No Depression, Yahoo, and in a screed for Lenny Letter about the Rock Hall’s lack of women nominees that launched trend pieces in the New York Times and People, and caused Steve Miller, a curmudgeon rock star, to yell at the whole place that they needed to stop ignoring women. The trend has continued at every induction ceremony since. She’s been an editor and staff writer for CBS’s Radio.com and at Refinery29. At the latter, she made so much noise covering the Grammys and their mishandling of #MeToo and representation for women that the Recording Academy hired a crisis PR firm to handle her. Her coverage of the lack of representation for women at country radio caused tongues to wag all over Nashville and earned her a spot contributing an essay to WOMAN WALK THE LINE (UT Press, 2017). Presently, she’s the editor of Eater Dallas and yes, she will give you a food recommendation on request. Smith is the host and writer of the po
"Let's Deconstruct a Story" is a podcast where we read and discuss one short story with the author. In this episode, Lydia Conklin and Lillian Li will be discussing the story "Sunny Talks" first published in One Story in January 2022. This conversation was recorded live at Pages Bookshop in Detroit on June 24, 2022. This episode is part of a series of "Let's Deconstruct a Story" podcasts offered in collaboration with the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Michigan. The GPPL has committed to purchasing ten books by each author this season to give to their patrons! If you are a short story writer who has tried to make money in this game then you know what a big deal their support is to us! My hope is that other libraries will follow the GPPL's lead and be inspired to buy books by these talented short story writers. I will be contacting many libraries this year to suggest this programming. Please feel free to do the same if you enjoy this podcast. This podcast is also supported by Pages Bookshop in Detroit, and we would be extremely grateful if you purchased the book online through Pages here. Local bookstores won't survive without help from customers like you! Lydia Conklin is an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt University. Previously they were the Helen Zell Visiting Professor in Fiction at the University of Michigan. They've received a Stegner Fellowship in Fiction at Stanford University, a Rona Jaffe Writer's Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, a Creative & Performing Arts Fulbright to Poland, work-study and tuition scholarships from Bread Loaf, and fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Djerassi, Hedgebrook, the James Merrill House, the Vermont Studio Center, VCCA, Millay, Jentel, Lighthouse Works, Brush Creek, the Santa Fe Art Institute, Caldera, the Sitka Center, and Harvard University, among others. They were the 2015-2017 Creative Writing Fellow in fiction at Emory University. Their fiction has appeared in Tin House, American Short Fiction, The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere, and is forthcoming from The Paris Review. They have drawn graphic fiction for Lenny Letter, Drunken Boat, and the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and cartoons for The New Yorker and Narrative Magazine. Their story collection, Rainbow Rainbow, will be published in June 2022 by Catapult in the US and Scribner in the UK. Lillian Li is the author of the novel Number One Chinese Restaurant, which was an NPR Best Book of 2018, and longlisted for the Women's Prize and the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Granta, One Story, Bon Appetit, Travel & Leisure, The Guardian, and Jezebel. Originally from the D.C. metro area, she lives in Ann Arbor. The host of this podcast is Kelly Fordon and you can find out more about her at www.kellyfordon.com.
Jordan talks with Lydia Conklin about bucking the conventions of queer storytelling, how a childhood Oregon Trail reenactment led to one of the most memorable stories in Rainbow Rainbow, and the excitement of making big moves in life and art. MENTIONED: * The Oregon Trail (play here) * Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates * Intimacies by Katie Kitamura Lydia Conklin is an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt University. Previously they were the Helen Zell Visiting Professor in Fiction at the University of Michigan. They've received a Stegner Fellowship in Fiction at Stanford University, a Rona Jaffe Writer's Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, a Creative & Performing Arts Fulbright to Poland, work-study and tuition scholarships from Bread Loaf, and fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Djerassi, Hedgebrook, the James Merrill House, the Vermont Studio Center, VCCA, Millay, Jentel, Lighthouse Works, Brush Creek, the Santa Fe Art Institute, Caldera, the Sitka Center, and Harvard University, among others. They were the 2015-2017 Creative Writing Fellow in fiction at Emory University. Their fiction has appeared in Tin House, American Short Fiction, The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere, and is forthcoming from The Paris Review. They have drawn graphic fiction for Lenny Letter, Drunken Boat, and the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and cartoons for The New Yorker and Narrative Magazine. Their story collection, Rainbow Rainbow, was published in June 2022 by Catapult in the US and Scribner in the UK. For more Thresholds, visit us at www.thisisthresholds.com Be sure to rate/review/subscribe on your favorite podcast platform! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this last episode of season two of Cabana Chats, writer Lydia Conklin talks with Resort founder Catherine LaSota about fostering dogs, writing a story versus making a comic, and the places we can't bring our cell phones (thank goodness), among many other fascinating topics. Lydia Conklin is an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt University. Previously they were the Helen Zell Visiting Professor in Fiction at the University of Michigan. They've received a Stegner Fellowship in Fiction at Stanford University, a Rona Jaffe Writer's Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, a Creative & Performing Arts Fulbright to Poland, work-study and tuition scholarships from Bread Loaf, and fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Djerassi, Hedgebrook, the James Merrill House, the Vermont Studio Center, VCCA, Millay, Jentel, Lighthouse Works, Brush Creek, the Santa Fe Art Institute, Caldera, the Sitka Center, and Harvard University, among others. They were the 2015-2017 Creative Writing Fellow in fiction at Emory University. Their fiction has appeared in Tin House, American Short Fiction, The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere, and is forthcoming from The Paris Review. They have drawn graphic fiction for Lenny Letter, Drunken Boat, and the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and cartoons for The New Yorker and Narrative Magazine. Lydia's story collection, Rainbow Rainbow, was recently published by Catapult in the US and Scribner in the UK. Find out more about Lydia Conklin here: https://lydia-conklin.com Purchase RAINBOW RAINBOW by Lydia Conklin here: https://bookshop.org/a/83344/9781646221011 Join our free Resort community, full of resources and support for writers, here: https://community.theresortlic.com/ More information about The Resort can be found here: https://www.theresortlic.com/ You can find books for purchase by all of our Cabana Chats guests here: https://bookshop.org/lists/cabana-chats-podcast Cabana Chats is hosted by Resort founder Catherine LaSota. Our podcast editor is Jade Iseri-Ramos, and our music is by Pat Irwin. Special thanks to Resort assistant Nadine Santoro. FULL TRANSCRIPTS for Cabana Chats podcast episodes are available in the free Resort network: https://community.theresortlic.com/ Follow us on social media! @TheResortLIC
Bio: Zahra Tangorra is a Chef/ Culinary Consultant, Business Owner, Podcaster and Writer living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Her latest food project is Zaza Lazagna, launched in Winter 2021. Zahra and long time friend and coworker and Ryan Crossman partnered in creating ZAZA, and took their love of Italian American food and gracious hospitality, and adapted it into a heat and eat at home popup. ZAZA has been featured in a variety of publications including:The New Yorker, The Infatuation, Eater NY, Busboy and Brooklyn Magazine. Zahra hosts two podcasts on Heritage Radio Network, “Life's a Banquet”, and “Processing”. Zahra has written for various publications including “Lenny Letter”, “DVeight Magazine”, and Dana Cowin's upcoming “Speaking Broadly” zine. Beet Green and Leek Paté Ingredients 1 bunch beet tops 2 Leeks, tops removed, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 cup cilantro ½ cup parsley 1 cup walnuts 2 teaspoons minced garlic ½ t. salt ¼ t. cayenne pepper 1 t. cumin 2 t. Khmeli Suneli (Georgian Spice) 1 t. Tamari 1 Tbs Nutritional Yeast 3 Tbs. olive oil 1. Steam beet tops above 1” of water for 5 minutes. Let cool. 2. Squeeze out all water from beet tops. 3. Sauté leeks and celery in 1 Tbs. olive oil until soft. Add 1 Tbs. of water at a time if leeks and celery are sticking to pan. 4. Toast the walnuts for a few minutes in a heavy cast iron pan to bring out the flavor. 5. Puree beet tops in food processor. Add sautéed leeks and celery. Add toasted walnuts. 6. Add parsley and cilantro, along with all spices. Pulsate until fully blended and a smooth puree remains. 7. Dizzle in remaining 2 Tbs. of olive oil slowly, while food processor is running. 8. Adjust spices to taste. 9. Serve with crudités or crackers
Today on the podcast, we have acupuncturist Russell Brown; Founder of Poke Acupuncture LA, with over 15 years of experience practicing this ancient medicine with exquisite finesse. Using his distinctive voice and gentle wisdom, Russell advocates for a realisation of the constraints and meritocracy of the current whitewashed, capitalist-driven wellness industry. Russell is an educator and a brilliantly poetic writer who brings forth the kind of gentle healing one's soul longs to fall into at the end of the day. As a practitioner of acupuncture, Russell operates through the subtle energetic realms of Chinese medicine with ease, translating the insightful metaphors of this ancient knowledge into soothing remedies for the intensity of modern life. In this episode, Russell offers his nuanced perspective on the invention and westernised packaging of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the existence of cultural appropriation and privilege within the wellness industry, and how conscious social activism lies at the confluence of these topics. Tahnee and Russell discuss the Eight Extraordinary meridians, constitutional energy and life trajectory, The Five Elements, and the type of strength required of practitioners to support their patients through healing. "I want you to experience beauty for an hour every week, every two weeks. I want you to be removed from the story of your life. I think that's the only way we're going to survive, frankly, is to have a chance to cushion ourselves from how hard the world is with some softness. And that's how I practice acupuncture now. I want people to be given an opportunity to catch their breath, to float, to not feel like the world is coming at them in a hostile way" - Russell Brown Tahnee and Russell discuss: The Wei Qi. Yuan Qi (source Qi). The Five Elements. The eight extraordinary meridians. Doing the work of social activism. The whitewashing of the wellness industry. Stomach 36 and our relationship to nourishment. The importance of creating and nurturing as humans. The history of Traditional Chinese Medicine communism. The institutionalisation and education system around TCM. Becoming very clear on your perspective as a practitioner. Who Is Russell Brown? Russell Brown, L.Ac, studied journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and enjoyed a career in feature film development (including The Fast and the Furious films and Cruel Intentions) before quitting his job on a whim and enrolling in Emperor's College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. After passing the California State Board in 2007, Russell opened Poke Acupuncture in Los Angeles in 2009. Russell has operated pro-bono acupuncture clinics for the HIV/AIDS community in San Francisco and L.A. and was the in-house acupuncturist for the Alexandria House, a transitional home for women in Koreatown. He wrote a book on meditation titled Maya Angelou's Meditation 1814 and his writing on wellness has been published in several outlets including Bust and Lenny Letter. He sheepishly did acupuncture on Paris Hilton for her reality show in 2011, a real moment in time he only slightly regrets. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON APPLE PODCAST Resources: Poke Acupuncture Instagram Russell's website - Poke Acupuncture Subscribe to Poke Acupuncture Substack Q: How Can I Support The SuperFeast Podcast? A: Tell all your friends and family and share online! We'd also love it if you could subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes. Or check us out on Stitcher, CastBox, iHeart RADIO:)! Plus we're on Spotify! Check Out The Transcript Here: Tahnee: (00:01) Hi everyone. And welcome to the SuperFeast Podcast. Today's guest is an acupuncturist from Los Angeles who's been practising for over 15 years and has, in my opinion, one of the freshest voices in the industry. Tahnee: (00:12) He's an advocate for understanding the limitations of the industrial capitalist wellness machine, that's a mouthful. And he is an educator and a writer who, in my opinion, manages to put TCM theory into this most beautiful language and metaphor that's really accessible and relevant for modern humans. Tahnee: (00:29) And Russell also has an ex-film producer background. And if you're a 90s kid you'll know some of those movies. Fast and the Furious, Cruel Intentions. Tahnee: (00:36) So he's had this amazing 180 coming into this more subtle kind of energetic realm of traditional Chinese medicine. So I'm really excited to welcome you here today, Russell. Russell Brown: (00:48) Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm so excited. Tahnee: (00:50) Yeah, I'm so excited. Russell Brown: (00:51) I spent some time in Australia by the way in the 90s. Tahnee: (00:54) Did you? Russell Brown: (00:54) Yes. I went to Sydney and then I was young and took a tour of the outback, which I'm sure you guys hate, but- Tahnee: (01:01) Oh, nice. I love that. Russell Brown: (01:02) One of the stops was at this farm in a place called Coonabarabran, I think. Tahnee: (01:07) Yes. Russell Brown: (01:07) I just stayed there. And so I lived on this farm for, I think like two months, and just worked on this farm out there. Yeah. And it was great and it was not my real life and it was nice to be not in my real life. Tahnee: (01:19) And the stars. Russell Brown: (01:21) Beautiful. Insane. Tahnee: (01:23) Yeah. Russell Brown: (01:23) Obviously coming from LA, like we don't really have stars in LA like that, so it was all very shocking to me so I have very fond associations with Australia. Tahnee: (01:32) Yeah. They've actually preserved Coonabarabran, so the Warrumbungle is like a National Park there and that area is now a dark sky park, so. Russell Brown: (01:39) Oh wow. Tahnee: (01:40) They're trying to preserve it for yeah. Like, so you can't- Russell Brown: (01:42) Because otherwise the development would come in and sort of just make it- Tahnee: (01:45) Yeah. I don't know if they'd ever developed that [crosstalk 00:01:48] pretty far away. Yeah. But just more like, yeah, so people can't have, I don't know, flood lights on their farms or I don't know what people would do, but yeah. Tahnee: (01:56) So you're the founder of Poke Acupuncture and you've got this amazing clinic going. I actually heard about you through lots of sort of connections in LA and then started following you on Instagram. And it's been a delight following you for a few years. Russell Brown: (02:10) Thank you. It's so funny. Obviously I have such a take on wellness and part of that take is that I don't know that I need to be on Instagram. Russell Brown: (02:20) I don't know that acupuncturists need to be on social media. I don't think that I have such an issue with like content creation. I don't think that I personally need to be making more content, but I also think there's something sociologically interesting about it. Russell Brown: (02:33) And so I've sort of tried to find a use for Instagram that doesn't make me feel like a 17 year old. And I don't know if I'm succeeding at that personally, but I am enjoying the process of it most of the time. Tahnee: (02:48) Yeah. I vote for you. I've had a really love, hate relationship with the platform and I really hear you on that. And I think it's evolved in really positive and negative directions, but there's this positive where it's this place to yeah, like share ideas and connect and use the kind of medium for education and inspiration. Tahnee: (03:10) And I think you do a really good job of that and Wellness Trash Can just makes me laugh first of all. But also I'm always like, "This is so relevant big because we've got this culture," and something I've always said to my husband, the first time I went to LA was probably I think, seven or eight years ago. Tahnee: (03:26) And I remember being like, "It's so artificial here. No wonder the wellness industry came from here," and my husband kind of looked at me and he was like, "What are you talking about?" Tahnee: (03:33) And I'm like, "Well, everything's just plunked on top of the desert. It's not really meant to be here." And then we've got like this really toxic kind of culture there around aesthetic and lifestyle. And I'm sure you know all of that very, very well. Russell Brown: (03:52) Well, I also think about it in context of one of the things about Los Angeles and Australia too, but really LA, we don't have seasons here, right? Every day is exactly the same weather wise. It's going to be between 75 and 85, right? Russell Brown: (04:05) It's always going to be sunny. We have a couple weeks of rain, but there's no passing of time essentially. I wear the same thing to work every single day. I wear black t-shirt. I wear black pair of jeans every day. It doesn't really matter. Russell Brown: (04:15) And I think as a result, we don't get the passing of time. We don't see it. There's no, the jacket comes out, the jacket goes away. Now summers here we get to go to the pool. We go to the pool every day here and as a result our relationship with ageing is affected by that. Our relationship with the way the body passes through time is affected by that. Russell Brown: (04:38) And so I do think that wellness sort of came in as a sense of in part, because we have such a resistance to believing that we're ageing, people just can't believe that 10 years has passed because we didn't have any markers of that. Russell Brown: (04:50) And I always say like if you're a man especially, like women you guys have a cycle, you have a menstrual cycle that says a month has passed. But for me, I really can't believe time is passing. I don't have children. I don't see any of that. Russell Brown: (05:03) And so I think that wellness was really born a lot from this idea of how do I rectify the fact that I'm ageing even though I just can't believe it's to be true? And Los Angeles is really I feel like the epicentre of that. Tahnee: (05:17) And if we drill right down to what you speak about a lot in your work anyway, we're talking like this idea of capitalism and how it's driving this kind of constant work ethic. Tahnee: (05:28) And we can take that right back to the industrialization of the world and you speak about that online. The moving from it's a candle to get anything done at night to like, "Hey, we can electrify your whole house and you can watch TV or work on your computer or whatever." Russell Brown: (05:44) Have that computer in your pocket and then go into your bed and so you can have the computer with you in the bed, in the place where you're supposed to be resting. Russell Brown: (05:51) And then you wonder why you can't sleep because you've now made your bed into an office. And you're like, "I couldn't possibly meditate. There's just no way that could be." It's very, very complicated. Tahnee: (06:03) It's a trip. And even if there's not that seasonal variance, we used to have that nocturnal rhythm, so there'd be dark and you'd have to go to bed at some point. Tahnee: (06:14) I often think about that when I'm camping. I'm like, "Well, it gets a bit boring." You have a chat, you drink some wine and then you're like, "Well, let's go to bed." There's nothing else to do. Tahnee: (06:23) So it's like, yeah, I think we've lost that natural kind of push to shut down. And so I think LA really, you've got the film industry there, not just that, but a lot of other kind of economies in that area that are just driving this kind of constant, hectic pace. Tahnee: (06:40) And culturally, I think America too has had that anyone can achieve anything kind of push. And I see that in the wellness industry as well, it's almost like this kind of spiritual version of that sort of drive to succeed. Tahnee: (06:55) And if you put your mind to it, you can be anything you want to be and create anything you want. And sometimes I'm very concerned about how toxic that is, so. Is that something you see? Russell Brown: (07:04) Well, it's a lie, it's 100% a lie. And now like, especially lately in America being like, "Oh, actually it's still just intergenerational wealth." Russell Brown: (07:13) The entire idea of American meritocracy is a lie, but we use that lie as a dangling carrot to make everyone feel terrible for not doing enough. Russell Brown: (07:24) And I think the wellness industry is all braided up in that now. And that's part of the problem is that the foundation of it is that lie. It's not like manifesting, I don't believe and I don't think that's a thing. Russell Brown: (07:34) I think this idea that you're supposed to rise yourself up in the bootstraps because allegedly one person did it one time, because Oprah Winfrey came from nothing and became Oprah Winfrey. Russell Brown: (07:47) But she is the exception to the rule, which means that the rule is there that no one really can do it except for one person, two people, which are a complete, complete exception. Tahnee: (08:01) They're unicorns. Yeah. Russell Brown: (08:04) Totally. And now you are chasing a unicorn and thinking something is wrong with you is part of the problem, right? And that's the illusion of it all. Russell Brown: (08:13) And I think America is starting to rectify or at least reckon with that lie, that it's not true. And part of the racial reckoning that's happening right now in America is like, "Oh, a lot of this meritocracy, the manifesting nonsense is for white people." Russell Brown: (08:29) It's really not for any one of colour. It's certainly not for immigrants, queer people. It's really a very specific version of success that is not available to just about everyone. Russell Brown: (08:41) And wellness is a part of that and that's why I am critical of it now more than I was before is that I see it and I see myself as the beneficiary of a lot of it too. And I feel like it's a lot of my responsibility to speak out on it. Russell Brown: (08:55) One of the reasons why I am so critical of wellness and specifically acupuncture is because I am successful, but I am successful because I am a white man as an acupuncturist. Russell Brown: (09:05) And I understand that media outlets like to see me and like to give me press, because it's easier to project Asian tradition and culture onto me than it is to actually just speak to an Asian person or an Asian American person. Russell Brown: (09:22) And I feel that tension, even now on this podcast, I feel that tension. We're two white people talking about wellness and that feels odd to me. And I feel like it needs to be called out that I'm not from Asia. My ancestors are not from Asia. I learned this very generously from a Taiwanese woman in my school but I don't feel an ownership to this medicine. Russell Brown: (09:48) And I feel very strange being a representative of the medicine often publicly, because I don't know that it's the most appropriate. I do the best I can, but I don't like often that I feel like sometimes when Caucasian people take up the spaces in these conversations they are doing so at a disservice to their colleagues who are minorities and I wrestle with that myself. Tahnee: (10:19) Yeah. My husband, he has a comedy Instagram, he often says things like, "Look at the white people enjoying the empire," and it's as much a reflection on his own processes and people take it. They're like, "Oh, its not very kind." Tahnee: (10:35) But we know we need to process this our own way. And I see that in your work with Wellness Trash Can and these things, it's like it's as much a self reflection as it is criticising the industry and we are a part of the problem. Tahnee: (10:49) I have staff that are Sri Lankan and have different names and we've had people be really racist to them on the phone, like "Put me onto an Australian." And I'm like, "Jesus fucking Christ. You're buying Taoist tonic herbs from like two white people that have a company with some people with strange names in it. How can you be racist toward them?" Tahnee: (11:07) And it's just a funny situation sometimes. And I often think, we have this amazing person in China we work with, with sourcing. And I often think if I put him front and centre on our social media, people just they would freak out. They wouldn't get it. Russell Brown: (11:23) Well, that's the thing. What does it mean? Like what does it mean? Like what are we talking about here, especially like me as an acupuncturist, you're a yoga instructor. Tahnee: (11:32) What are we doing? Russell Brown: (11:33) What are we doing? And how did the industry become this place where it's like we have sort of appropriated a lot of these traditions. And now the industry wellness in general which is based on so many traditions of countries that are not Caucasian people. And yet the consumer is a white person who wants it to be a Caucasian thing and how that tension plays out. Russell Brown: (11:59) I don't exactly understand, I don't know what to do with it. I don't know what to do with it, except for talk about it as much as I can and signal boost the other of practitioners who I'm close with and who I really believe in who I think need more attention put on them than I do. Russell Brown: (12:19) But I don't know what it means about wellness. And it's one of the things that just makes me uncomfortable about wellness in general is knowing that how whitewashed it's become, how clean it all feels. Russell Brown: (12:30) And it didn't actually come from a place of cleanliness. It's like a very superficial cleanliness. Particularly last year in America, there was so much anti-Asian violence because of COVID. Tahnee: (12:42) And Trump. Russell Brown: (12:42) That's like the least of it, I could just talk about forever, but for me to see acupuncture, white, Caucasian acupuncture, saying nothing about the anti-Asian violence really didn't ever compute to me. Russell Brown: (12:58) And it would be like, "You owe your careers to Asian immigrants. You owe your careers to social activism on the part of racism. And now when racism is actually happening here in communities that are tangential to you and the work you do, you say nothing." Russell Brown: (13:12) And that really just pissed me off last year. It still pisses me off. And there are friends of mine who want their Instagram and their social media to sort of portray that same cleanliness. Russell Brown: (13:26) And I'm like, "The ship has sailed on that cleanliness." Your silence is what? What exactly do you think your silence is buying you around this? I don't understand it. Russell Brown: (13:37) And COVID has only made it worse because of all of the conservatism around masks and the vaccines and things. And I think a reckoning is coming. I just think that the wellness industry can't continue to operate like this with a lot of these lies really at the heart of it. Russell Brown: (13:56) And that's sort of where I ended up kind of going with my social media some of the time. And then sometimes I'm like, "Who needs to hear from me? I'm just like one more white guy who thinks that the world needs to my voice in it. And it doesn't." And I go back and forth with it. I go back and forth with it. Tahnee: (14:19) Yeah. I really hear you on that. And I find pushing the button sometimes on publication myself very challenging. So I'm sure you have the same feeling. Tahnee: (14:28) But I remembered you shared a whole piece on, is it Miriam Lee who was one of the advocates for Chinese medicine in your country and that was new to me. I didn't know that history. Tahnee: (14:39) And I was really grateful you shared that. And if you don't mind, would you mind sharing a little bit about that? Because you talked about the politicisation of like all these wellness people avoiding politics, but really to get where we are now this is what's had to happen. Russell Brown: (14:55) Well, Miriam Lee, we sort of consider her like the pioneer of Chinese medicine, at least on the west coast in America. She was a woman who came over from Asia I believe she came in 1969 and she was an acupuncturist in China. Russell Brown: (15:07) And then she set up in the Bay Area in California and she was not legally allowed to practise medicine at the time. No one was really legally allowed to practise acupuncture at the time, but they did. They practised acupuncture. Russell Brown: (15:19) And so she operated sort of under the radar and had a clinic and it was quite successful. And the versions of the story told of her is that eventually they found out about her. They came and arrested her and her patients came to court and demanded that she be freed. Russell Brown: (15:43) And as a result, she was given licence to practise acupuncture. And which paved the way for California to be able to have licence. Russell Brown: (15:51) The truth is is that she was not the meek, very subservient female acupuncturist that they portrayed. She was working with various organisations. She baited them to arrest her because she wanted to push the issue. And she actually had been lobbying for it. She bankrolled lobbyist's. She was out there actually doing the political work. Russell Brown: (16:15) And I think that the difference is interesting because in one version we get to sort of just be either the victims of politics or the heroes of politics. But her version is actually no, you have to be a social activist. Russell Brown: (16:31) The harder story to tell is this is a woman who knew exactly what she was doing and was doing it intentionally. And I think that that is a much better role model for acupuncture than just this very heroic tale of all of her patients worshipping her and wanting her to be able to practise. Russell Brown: (16:46) But actually she was out there working in Sacramento, which is the state capital, to make sure that this legislature went through. And I think that that is something that we don't talk about enough is that we have to be really doing the work of social activism and not just hoping that our patients speak on our behalf, which is the fantasy that is told about Miriam Lee. Tahnee: (17:09) Yeah. Russell Brown: (17:09) The part that's also tangential to that is that Miriam Lee was only arrested because essentially what happened was is this cohort of Caucasian men at UCLA essentially discovered acupuncture in the 70s. They had never even heard of it before and learned it in about a year and a half from a teacher here in Los Angeles. Russell Brown: (17:30) And as a result, they used their connections to get themselves permitted by the government to be able to practise medicine. But the terms of their permitting were that anyone who wasn't associated with medical school, they were with UCLA, anyone who wasn't associated with a medical school, then they became illegal. Russell Brown: (17:50) So Miriam Lee was only arrested because these white men decided that they should have control of the laws around acupuncture. And they then went on to found most of the acupuncture schools in America, the curriculum of what it takes to become an acupuncturist, and worked with most of the states around the licencing of acupuncture. Russell Brown: (18:11) And to me, that is the much bigger conversation is how it is that this group of white men basically decided that they should own the medicine, be responsible for the medicine, of which they had no connection to, to the detriment of the practitioners who actually this was their legacy. This was in their family. This was lineages of knowledge. Russell Brown: (18:33) And that's why I think of myself as someone who is now one more in a lineage of white men who thinks that they should be the spokesperson for this medicine. I don't like that. Russell Brown: (18:44) And I am very cautious of that because I understand how these things work. And I wonder, that when I am even on this podcast now talking to you, is there a Miriam Lee out there who's paying the price for my speaking on behalf of Chinese medicine in a way that perhaps I shouldn't be. And it's something that I think about. Tahnee: (19:05) Yeah. We have a friend, Rhonda Chang, who's a Chinese- Russell Brown: (19:10) Rhonda Chang's, and she was like, "I'm done, I'm not doing this anymore." Tahnee: (19:14) This is what I was going to say. She just was like, "This fucking system is broken and you've taken my medicine and you've turned it into something that it's not, and I'm taking it back." Tahnee: (19:26) And we've both been deeply inspired by her work and we spoke before we jumped on about the challenges of the institutionalisation and the education system around this work. Tahnee: (19:37) And people like her, I'd much rather sit at her feet than the feet of some of the people I was studying with, so yeah it's a really tricky situation. Tahnee: (19:48) And it sounds like you had a beautiful teacher from the little bit I've heard. Yeah. Could you tell us a little bit about your experience at school and how that went down? Russell Brown: (19:57) I had a few teachers, but my first real primary teacher was a woman named Christine Chang, who, the first time I saw her, she had a man in a headlock on the floor of the clinic because she was cracking his neck which, of course we're not really allowed to do, but she doesn't care. Russell Brown: (20:10) And she looked like a small woman wrestling a bear. And I was just like, "Who is this woman? I need to know everything she knows." Russell Brown: (20:18) And so I followed her around and basically just made her talk to me and she was from Taiwan and she was the first person that would look at it like a point I was needling. And she'd be like, "Who told you to needle that?" And I'd be like, "Oh, Dr. Jai." And she'd be like, "Don't listen to Dr. Jai. Dr. Jai is a communist." Russell Brown: (20:36) And I didn't know what she was talking about but come to find out that she's not wrong. I would be like, "No, Dr. Jai was born in America. I don't think she's a communist," because my understanding of what that was. Russell Brown: (20:51) But what she was actually basically saying is that how when the communist party took over China in the 40s and 50s, they basically created acupuncture out of nothing. Russell Brown: (21:01) It was an invented tradition that sort of took what they liked about eight principles and applied it to dialectical materialism, which is sort of communist ideas and sort of syphoned it down into a version of Chinese medicine that they could then package and sell to the west that would appeal to sort of Orientalism. Russell Brown: (21:25) But it stripped out a lot of the things that she really believed the medicine to be. And Rhonda Chang, that's exactly what she speaks about, is that this sort of communist hybrid that they've made is not interesting to her at all. And it doesn't speak to the lineage she understands. Russell Brown: (21:39) And so she is doing work that's around that but that's what my teacher was basically into and is that there was TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine is a communist invention, and she's from Taiwan where they didn't subscribe to the TCM. Russell Brown: (21:55) And so she was very strong about that and making me understand the difference between the two. And I was very fortunate of that. She was a real firecracker and just a very strong woman and taught me to be very strong in terms of my perspective on the medicine and having a perspective on the medicine. And I think that that's really ultimately what I teach. Russell Brown: (22:20) And when I work with students now is that I want to say that there's a lot of ways of looking at the medicine. This idea of TCM, that there's one thing, it was never true. It never looked like that in Asia. There's always different perspectives on this. Russell Brown: (22:36) Whether it's Five Element, all of them, whatever Rhonda Chang's doing. And the idea I always want is that you just see what you see and really own your perspective on it. Russell Brown: (22:47) I like to work with a lot of students on just honing that perspective. What is your version of it? Do you see the world through the eight extras? Do you see the world through secondary vessels? Do you see the body through whatever mechanics? Orthopaedic mechanics? Russell Brown: (23:02) But really becoming very clear on your own perspective is I think the most important thing. And I associate that with any success that I think that I have is that I've always had a pretty clear perspective. I see it the way I see it and I can own that. Russell Brown: (23:17) And I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that I'm a white man and so culture allows me to own my perspective in maybe a way that other people wouldn't. But I really think that that's the most important part of it. Tahnee: (23:27) Mm. Russell Brown: (23:29) I got that from my teacher. Tahnee: (23:30) Well, I'm interested in that because, this is from my background research, I believe you were raised Jewish? Russell Brown: (23:36) Yes. Tahnee: (23:37) In kind of a fairly alternative household model, which if you want to talk about that you can, and then you studied journalism, then you've ended up in film and then you suddenly had a restaurant like, "Okay, I'm going to go study TCM." Russell Brown: (23:51) Correct. You done your research. Tahnee: (23:51) What is Russell's journey? Because how did you find your voice in all that? Because it doesn't really like seem particularly clear from my side of the pitch. Russell Brown: (24:01) It's interesting. So yeah, I grew up Jewish is sort of a little bit of a stretch. I had a Bar Mitzvah, but that was about it and it was LA Jews. And my family was going through a very strange transition around the time of my Bar Mitzvah. Russell Brown: (24:17) My mom had just left my dad to be with a woman. And so she and Diane had gotten together. My dad got remarried right away after that. And so by the time I was like coming of age, whatever that actually looks like, at around 13, it had been a long couple of years. Russell Brown: (24:35) And so I just wanted to be done with that particular chapter and move on with my life. So I don't know that I ever really like thought like of myself as a Jewish person, even though my family was, but gosh, I never really thought about the full story. Russell Brown: (24:53) One of the things that I knew growing up was is that there's more to be felt than to be seen in the world. And I think I always sort of like that. I always thought that there was magic. I always thought there was magic. I just really thought that there was things that I could see that other people couldn't see and that those were the things that impressed me the most, that I liked the most. Russell Brown: (25:22) I had a grandfather who had a park and he would take us to the park and he knew every tree in that park in New York. And he would put bird seed in his mouth and the birds would sit on his chin and eat it out of his mouth because he would go there every day and the birds knew him. And I understood that to be the real world. I just knew that that was real and everything else was not. Russell Brown: (25:45) And he played music and I understood that that was real and music was real. And I think that from a very early age, I understood that beauty was the point. The point was beauty and finding beauty in the world that is becoming increasingly ugly has always mattered to me. Russell Brown: (26:03) And when I was, as you said, I got into the film industry and was working in films. And I think that that's a really beautiful service actually, out of the time to provide, I think we work hard, we deserve to be transported for a couple of hours to something else. I think we deserve to see other stories and to be transported by the stories of other people. Russell Brown: (26:23) And I thought that was a really beautiful service to provide. I worked on the Fast and Furious movies and though those movies are ugly in a lot of ways. I think what a beautiful gift to give young people, to say to a 17 year old, "You could be somewhere else for a few hours. You could be in a flying car for a few hours. You don't have to be in your life that is hard." Russell Brown: (26:47) And I still think that that's a beautiful gift and I knew that I wasn't going to be in that profession for long. But I still think that what I do now is a version of that. Russell Brown: (26:59) I want you to experience beauty for an hour every week, every two weeks. I want you to be removed from the story of your life. I think that's the only way we're going to survive, frankly, is to have a chance to cushion yourself from how hard the world is with some softness. Russell Brown: (27:17) And that's how I practise acupuncture now is I want people to be given an opportunity to catch their breath, to float, to not feel like the world is coming at them in a hostile way. What could it feel like to just be soft and to sit alone in the dark and wait for something to happen? Russell Brown: (27:40) I just think is such a beautiful way to be for a little bit of time, especially in Los Angeles where it's not like that. And it's hard and we drive cars and everything feels hard here in a way. Russell Brown: (27:51) It's easy here in LA, but it's also hard in that like parallel parking and all of that, the tiny streets and part of the Los Angeles lifestyle is it's a hustling lifestyle, right? Like these are people who are here to make things happen and that hustle is hard and it feels like it's coming at you. Russell Brown: (28:09) And I like to offer people a space where it doesn't feel like the world is coming at them for a little bit. And I think that's beautiful. I think that that's what I'm still offering is beauty. Russell Brown: (28:20) I like to think that I'm giving them a chance to feel what it could be like in a soft world where your grandfather gets birds to sit on his chin and eat out of his mouth. That's all really I'm trying to do. That's really all I'm trying to do. Russell Brown: (28:36) And so I don't know that I'm a great acupuncturist in that way. I don't know that I know the most about endometriosis or herbs, but I do know that that's how I'm trying to practise, is to give people that small space in their lives for some magic to fill it. Tahnee: (28:54) Hmm. What do you do for you to get that same thing? Russell Brown: (28:59) The best question. The blacksmith does not get his shoe shined. I go through phases where I'm good at it and where I'm bad at it. Russell Brown: (29:09) I had a place in the desert and the desert really helped me out a lot there because it is so quiet and it's so peaceful out there. I spend a lot of time with my dog. Tahnee: (29:17) Backpack. Russell Brown: (29:19) Backpack is my dog, but Backpack is really helpful because Backpack is a reminder that the world is polite. He's a very, very polite dog. He doesn't take anything for granted. He always asks for permission. Even like to sit on the couch, he looks at me like, "Will you please invite me on the couch?" Russell Brown: (29:36) And just being in relation to that kind of gentleness is incredibly healing for me. And it slows me down and he just wants me to put my face on his face and I just think that's the best. And I find that kind of sweetness is very, very medicinal for me. So we spend a lot of our time together when I'm not at work. Russell Brown: (30:01) I read a lot. I write a lot as you know. I really like to write and part of that writing is that I get to spend time with myself and it's a place of creation for me. And creation is really important for me. Russell Brown: (30:12) And so I have to remember that when I hit the send button on the Instagram post that I'm embarrassed about or that I think is too much it's as much because that kind of creation is very important for me. I don't toil over it too much. I just need to be able to make and to create. Russell Brown: (30:29) And that's how I sort of restore myself a lot is just with that kind of creation is helpful for me. I don't have kids. I'm not interested in parenting like that, but I do think that creation is still important. I think nurturing is still really important and that's how I nurture. Russell Brown: (30:49) I eat. I like to eat. I like to watch TV. I like to check out, I need that too. I need stupid. I have a boyfriend and he's a genius, but he's also very stupid. And that balance is very, very important for me. Russell Brown: (31:05) He's one of the stupidest geniuses I've ever met and will just make me laugh. We've been together a long time and I just can't believe he still makes me laugh, but those are some of the things I do. Yeah. Tahnee: (31:18) That's really nice. Do you receive treatment yourself from anyone or? Russell Brown: (31:21) I do. I go to an acupuncturist who does not know I'm an acupuncturist. Tahnee: (31:26) Secrets. Russell Brown: (31:27) Yeah. I don't need him to know. I prefer he think that I'm not so that I don't have an opinion or a position and I don't want to talk about acupuncture. Russell Brown: (31:39) So he thinks I'm a law clerk, which is a job I don't know what is. Tahnee: (31:41) I was going to say, what does a law clerk do? Russell Brown: (31:45) I have no idea. Actually someone told me, I can't say I don't know what it is, a lawyer finally told me a law clerk is a lawyer who works for a judge in America. Russell Brown: (31:53) So like when a judge does a whatever judges do when they make rulings and they write out their rulings, the law clerk writes it out. So that's what I do. My understanding is it is the most boring profession there is because there is no follow up question you could ask to a law clerk. Like there's no like, "Oh you wouldn't." And so he just never does. Russell Brown: (32:15) And whenever I've said I'm a law clerk, because I'll say at a party. Because sometimes I don't- Tahnee: (32:18) So just shut downs conversation. Russell Brown: (32:20) It just kills a conversation dead. Tahnee: (32:23) Love it. Russell Brown: (32:23) There's nothing you can ask. There's nothing you can ask about a law clerk, but there's something about being an acupuncturist, especially in LA, I don't want to talk about it. Russell Brown: (32:31) Especially in certain settings in LA, at an LA party, the minute you say you're an acupuncturist, then you're like in a whole place. And a lot of times I like it. My boyfriend's always like, "You will find some woman with a menstrual disorder at any party who wants to talk to you about her menses." Russell Brown: (32:48) And I love it. Nine times out of 10 I love it. But like I will always be at a party at a chocolate fountain talking about menstrual cramps and my boyfriend will always walk up and be like, "How? How did you find this woman to talk about her cramps with you?" Russell Brown: (33:00) But I like it most of the time, but sometimes you just don't want to talk about that. And so that's when you say you're a law clerk and people change the subject or they never speak to you again. Tahnee: (33:09) I'm so stealing this. Russell Brown: (33:11) Law clerk's the best. Tahnee: (33:13) There was a time about six or seven years ago, where if we said we worked with medicinal mushrooms, people would kind of back away. Russell Brown: (33:18) Oh, yeah. Tahnee: (33:20) But now it's unfortunately you're- Russell Brown: (33:26) You're just a law clerk. Tahnee: (33:26) Yeah. Got to get there. So on clinical practise, and I want to bring it around to that because we've spoken about this before we came on, but I have a little bit of background in understanding some of the basics of what acupuncture means to be as a practitioner and- Russell Brown: (33:40) You know more than the basics. I think you probably know more than most acupuncturists. Tahnee: (33:44) Well, yeah. I've had some really amazing mentors and like you said, people who are pushing back against that sort of communist industrial sort of model. Tahnee: (33:54) So they've pushed me to learn very deeply, which has been something I'm really grateful for. But I wouldn't feel comfortable sticking needles in someone just yet. Russell Brown: (34:04) You can do it. It's not that hard. Tahnee: (34:07) I know my husband's always like, "You can test it on me maybe." But yeah, some things I've really noticed about your work which I find interesting, is you work a lot with the eight extraordinaries. So for those that don't know, could you explain a little bit about and how you came to work with those in clinic? Russell Brown: (34:23) Absolutely. But people don't know is when they go to an acupuncturist, most of the time the acupuncturist is doing like, "We're working on the liver channel, working on the gallbladder channel." Russell Brown: (34:30) But when they say that they're talking about a very specific type of meridian. There's 12 primary meridians. And those are the ones that most acupuncturists use. Stomach channel, the heart channel. Those are meridians that deal with blood that go to the organ level. Russell Brown: (34:47) But when an acupuncturist is selecting to use the primary meridians, often they're doing that because those are the meridians that are taught most in schools, but not necessarily because those are the ones that are the most clinically relevant to what is happening with the patient. Russell Brown: (35:02) The primary channels are the middle level of energy in the body, but there's two other levels of energy that are accessible by acupuncture. Russell Brown: (35:08) There's Wei Qi, which is the superficial level of energy, which is deals with the skin and the musculature of the body. The Wei Qi levels have no organ connection. They're really just superficial levels. And you can access them through different types of meridians called the sinew channels and the diversion channels, which is a different type of meridian. Russell Brown: (35:31) And then there's the deepest level of energy that is below the blood level, that deals with something called Yuan Qi, which is source Qi, constitutional Qi, really the energy that is dealt with. Russell Brown: (35:43) And we sort of talk about more with destiny, like the actual curriculum of your life. And that is what the eight extras are. The eight extras are the deepest level. These are vessels that deal with the trajectory of your life. Russell Brown: (35:55) And I like them because often when you're dealing with the eight extras, when you deal with the primary channels, this is the thing that they don't tell you much is, the primary channels are a response to life. Russell Brown: (36:07) The thing happened and then it affected your body. And now it's in the meridians, the primary meridians. And so by the time you're working on the stomach channel, it's because of all the bad things that already happened to your stomach. Russell Brown: (36:18) When you deal with the eight extras, you're saying, "Life didn't matter." This is energy that was not affected by anything that happened to you after you were born, this is energy that is related to your constitution and what you have to learn in this lifetime. Russell Brown: (36:33) The directionality of your life, as given to you at birth, the minute of conception even. And so when you deal with eight extras, you're really dealing with life trajectory. And I often think that that's probably, for me, that's a more useful place for what I want to do with patients, which is to step back from the bad thing that happened and actually have some perspective on maybe what that bad thing means to the bigger story of your life. Russell Brown: (37:02) Or even to forget that the bad thing happened and actually see yourself as so much bigger than that all together. And that is how I think you get back to healing is to widen your imagination back to how you were actually considered before you were even born. Russell Brown: (37:17) And so the eight extras are a way for me to look at the body that way, or to explain the body that way. Could we just look at your primary resources? Could we look at the way you think of nourishment? Can we look at the way you think of curiosity? Russell Brown: (37:35) The eight extras are a really good set of metaphors for that curriculum I think. And so that's how I was always taught them. But again, it's about the selection of them. I don't do the eight extras on every patient. Some patients they have a stomach ache and they need to be worked on their stomach. And so then you do a primary channel and that's what it's there for. Russell Brown: (37:53) But what happens is because the boards tend to only test on the primary channels, acupuncturists don't learn anything but the primary channels. And so they think those are the only ingredients. But there's other options. Russell Brown: (38:04) And what we're talking about is they're Russian nesting dolls. It's like the primary's in the middle but there's bigger ones and they're smaller ones. And so I want to pick the nesting doll that is most appropriate to where my patient is and that I just want to have as many tools as possible. Tahnee: (38:21) Well, I've heard acupuncturist claim that you can't clinically work with the eight extraordinaries, which I know not to be true through people like yourself and other people I've worked and studied with. Tahnee: (38:32) They say, "Oh, once you're born, once you're incarnate there's no effect there." But my experience is that's not true. So what would you say to those people? They just haven't learned enough or? Russell Brown: (38:46) What we're talking about now is... Tahnee: (38:49) The woo woo. Russell Brown: (38:50) It's not even the woo woo. I'm just like, well, it's how literal you want to interpret anything as far as I'm concerned. Russell Brown: (39:00) I think that the primary meridians are metaphors, frankly. I think Stomach 36 is a point that everyone uses, which is like the big point for digestive function. Russell Brown: (39:10) But I don't actually think that when I put a needle into Stomach 36, it sends a signal into my stomach that helps me digest food better. I don't think of acupuncture as operating necessarily on the most literal level. Russell Brown: (39:23) And so I think of the eight extras in terms of all of that. I think all of the meridians are metaphors, frankly. I think they're all poems that I'm trying to talk to the body through. And again, that's what I'm speaking about before is that I think the whole thing is poetry, frankly. Russell Brown: (39:38) I think that the points are all poems. I think that the metaphor of Qi moving through the body, of feeling stagnant is the metaphor I think. The metaphor of how I digest the world, make sense of it, use it to make me stronger and dispose of the waste. That's the metaphor of digestion I think. Russell Brown: (40:02) And so perhaps none of it is true. I'm open to that possibility. But I do think that those metaphors are still powerful and I think they're more powerful than any medicine, frankly. Russell Brown: (40:12) And so that's where I come at it from. I can't say that you can or can't use certain vessels. I think it's sort of a silly conversation to have at some point. Tahnee: (40:24) So what do you think is happening when you needle 36? Is it your intention? You've been educated and you're sending that through that person? Russell Brown: (40:34) I'm not going to use Stomach 36 by itself. I'm going to use it in the context, the conversation about how one uses nourishment. What are we talking about when we talk about where you think nourishment is? What do you think it means to take something in and make sense of it? How much worth do you think you have that you deserve that nourishment? Russell Brown: (40:53) I think that there's when we get into stomach stuff, we're talking self worth obviously. We're talking about how much I want to take care of myself, how much I learned how to invest in this body, to invest in my life. Russell Brown: (41:07) And so I'm often involved in sort of a larger conversation when it comes to that. And that's why I think like my version of Stomach 36 is going to be different than your version of Stomach 36 because I have my own take on what digestion is and which is informed by my own mom issues. And which is what stomach is, is about how we- Tahnee: (41:31) Oh, I know all about that one. Russell Brown: (41:33) I'm sure. Yeah. As a mom and as a daughter, but like, yeah, how much I feel safe in the world and how much I trust nourishment and how much I trust to be continued to be taken care of in this lifetime and how much I trust my capacity to give care relative to my capacity to receive care. Russell Brown: (41:54) I think all of those things are involved in that. Stomach 36 is a particularly one because in five element tradition, it's the earth point on the earth channel, which means it is really about rectifying that relationship to digestion. Russell Brown: (42:07) It is saying, "You had it all wrong. You were confused actually about what that relationship to nourishment is." And so we are saying, "It's time to reset that relationship." Russell Brown: (42:19) So when you do Stomach 36, you're basically instructing the body that you're from an earth standpoint, your earth is confused and we're going to restart, which is why it's such a powerful point and why everyone uses it, because it is a way of basically resetting your understanding of basic nourishment on the deepest level there is. Russell Brown: (42:40) And that's why, for some acupuncturists, that's the only point they need to use. They only want that because the idea is that if I can get a patient to just understand clearly nourishment on a very basic level, then all the rest of the body processes will come back online. And I think there's some truth to that. Russell Brown: (42:58) So I do use Stomach 36 quite a bit, but I don't think that it's just going in there and telling my body to help me not be lactose intolerant anymore. I'm still lactose intolerant. Russell Brown: (43:12) But that's why like then you do earth points on the other meridians. And you're like, "Oh, Lung Nine is actually this beautiful point for saying nourishment... Grief is part of nourishment." Russell Brown: (43:22) That's what the lung points. The metal element is about loss and what the earth point on the lung channel is about saying is like, could you take all of that loss that you've experienced in your life and understand that even that was a way of taking care of yourself? That even that was a version of self love. Russell Brown: (43:38) That is the most beautiful thing I think Lung Nine is so beautiful as to say, "All of that loss you ever had, that heartbreak that you had, that was for you, that fed you too. There was actually nutrition in all of that loss." What a beautiful way of looking at that loss I think from point of nutrition, from the point of nourishment. I love Lung Nine. Russell Brown: (43:59) And doing Stomach 36 to say, "You've had it wrong. Now we're going to think of nourishment a new way. And you're going to take that understanding to lung, to your broken heart, to all that grief." Perfect treatment, as far as I'm concerned. Russell Brown: (44:12) Those two points, that's it, I'm done. I'm out. Those are primary channels. That's not secondary vessels, but that's a perfect treatment, I think. But that's how I look at it. Tahnee: (44:21) And your work, especially your writing I suppose, but even how you speak is so poetic and my husband was supposed to see you, but didn't get the chance because of COVID. Tahnee: (44:32) But I get the sense from your writing that you speak to your clients about their lives and use these beautiful metaphors from Chinese medicine. Tahnee: (44:42) And I think that's something I've really loved about your work is you bring a really fresh... A lot of people just repeat the wrote learned kind of chart of five element theory. Tahnee: (44:52) Deliver, "You might feel frustration or irritability." I get a little bit like, "Oh, okay, can we evolve this conversation now?" Tahnee: (45:00) And yeah, I think that it's not an embodied or useful way, I suppose of speaking to these things. And I wonder if you could, I know it's a long conversation, but could you give us a quick journey through the five elements from your perspective? Russell Brown: (45:16) I really think that the seasons are such a perfect way of looking at it. And that's why I sort of wrote about it recently is that we learn the five elements and then learn the seasons, which I think is sort of backwards because they're going to teach you wood, which is means nothing, right? Russell Brown: (45:30) They're going to teach you metal which means nothing. And these are all the things. Wood is frustration. What is anger? Wood is spring. Wood is green. And you're like, "Oh, okay." But they teach it that way because they're going to test you multiple choice. Right? So they just want to make sure that you've covered the bases. Russell Brown: (45:46) But I like to go the other way. I want to start with the season. By season I think of spring and that's wood, right? And what's spring about? Spring is about the force that was required for a seed to break through snow and want to grow. Russell Brown: (46:03) The liver and wood is about understanding the path forward. It's the journey that's taking you up. And that is really what we're talking about when we talk about wood. It is vision for the future, capacity to plan, knowing which way you want to go. Russell Brown: (46:21) The wood is the general, it's like, "This is how I want to go. I want to go this way. That's how it is." And that's what spring is. It takes a lot of energy to crack that seed open after winter and that's what the wood energy is. Russell Brown: (46:34) And so when you meet a wood personality type, those are aggressive people who know what they want, they are competitive and they're prone to anger. Russell Brown: (46:43) And the reason why they're prone to anger is because they want to grow so badly that when life gets in the way they take it personally. They don't understand that obstacles are part of growth. And they perceive it as a stagnation. They perceive that as someone blocking their capacity to grow, and that is what anger comes from. Russell Brown: (47:03) And so that's how you get to anger. You can't learn anger first. You have to understand that the end of it is where, oh, it's like, "Yeah, those people are really angry because they think that growth is supposed to just be a free flow of energy." And it's not. Growth comes with challenges. Russell Brown: (47:23) Kites rise against the wind, not with the wind. But if you think that the world is coming at you hostilely and it's trying to prevent you from manifesting the plan that you see so clearly in your mind, you're going to be frustrated all the time. Russell Brown: (47:35) And that's what a wood type is essentially. But that's how it is. So then you get through wood. Next is fire and fire is the culmination of that, that's summer, right? It's like the height of life. Russell Brown: (47:47) And I have always sort of joke that I never like fire because fire people tend to be so full of life and in LA a fire type is like an actor, right? We're a fire city. People come to LA because they're fiery. And I hate that. I never want to talk to those people generally. Russell Brown: (48:03) And as I was younger, I was like, "They're too vexing." Like that kind of fullness, that kind of like so much fire is about inspiration, being enlightened is fire, which could be annoying. Russell Brown: (48:15) And especially in LA and love is fire, which I find to be just sort of treacly and basic. But as I've gotten older, I'm like, "No, actually those people are right. What else is there?" It's what we're trying to do. We're trying to reach up to fire. Russell Brown: (48:32) That is the point of fire is that we should be looking for love. We should be inspired. We should want to be set on fire with excitement for living like that is the point. And that's summer. Russell Brown: (48:45) Summer's not my season. I don't like being hot and I don't like parties and I don't like splashing or in the pool, but I get it now that if you have come from snow and if you live in not LA, but you live in some place snowy, you love summer and you just want it to be sun and summer all the time. And that's really what the fire element is about. Russell Brown: (49:05) And then you get on the other side of fire and you're in fall, which is where I'm at now, which is about the pairing back. The bloom is over. And now we're actually coming into a state of decline again. Russell Brown: (49:18) And it's about the tree losing its leaves, but it doesn't lose the leaves for pain. It's losing the leaves because it's going into a state of hibernation and it's going back into a state of contraction. Russell Brown: (49:29) And I'm writing a lot about grief right now, and it's not that the grief is meant to break people's heart. It's about to see yourself clearly and what metal is about, metal is fall, and metal is about letting go of all of the things you thought you were, but you weren't really. Russell Brown: (49:46) And that's why the metal organs are the lungs and the large intestine, because the lungs and intestine are filters. The large intestine is saying, "All the things you ate that you said were who you are, you're not." And actually you could just let them go. It's a filter. Russell Brown: (50:01) That's the idea is just because you digested it, it didn't become who you were, your job isn't who you are, your mom isn't who you are, your role as a mother isn't who you are. There is an essential you underneath it. Russell Brown: (50:14) And if you could let those things go, you actually get a chance to see yourself more clearly. And you take that essential part of you into the hibernation of winter, which is what the water element is about. And that's where you go after that. Russell Brown: (50:28) Water is the conservation period. It's about saying, "I need to actually incubate for a little bit." Water is so interesting. And I'm looking at it now from a different point of view, which is that if you look at the five element cycle, water is the beginning. It's actually the beginning of life, but it's the dark part. Russell Brown: (50:46) And the idea is that life begins in darkness and then brightness comes out of darkness. And that's really what water is about saying, "It's going to be dark. Can you move through the fear to know that there's life on the other side of that?" Russell Brown: (51:03) And I think that that's so much part of the life experience is that the Big Bang itself was about light coming out of dark. Russell Brown: (51:11) And that's what the water element is about, is that this virtue is the wisdom of saying, "I don't know, but I am willing to go into darkness in my belief that life will come after this, that there will be something that comes after this. I'm not sure I'm making peace with that darkness because I believe that there is light that comes out of the darkness." Russell Brown: (51:35) And trusting that that is the case. And that's really where you get to when you get with the water element, which is why water types tend to be wise. Russell Brown: (51:44) We think of the water type is the wizard because the wizard is the one that's like, "I don't need to control things. I don't need to know everything. I'm actually just going to soften myself and move really slowly and trust that there's light here." Russell Brown: (51:58) And that then turns into spring again, which is the burst of light that comes out of that, which is insane. And it's deranged, completely insane that there would be grass growing under snow. I just think it's crazy. But that spring, it comes back around. Russell Brown: (52:16) And so I didn't do a great job explaining the five elements, oh, I skipped earth, shit. Earth is a tricky one. Tahnee: (52:21) Well, they can stick it in the middle and then nobody knows. Russell Brown: (52:24) Earth is in the middle. Either Earth is in the middle, earth is after every season or earth is in the fall, right? Is in that period of fall where it's harvest, but earth is about reaping what you sew basically. Russell Brown: (52:36) Earth is about saying after summer you actually get to collect all of the things that the summer gave you and bringing it back into a place of nourishment. Russell Brown: (52:45) Earth's the most important one for any of us who are listening, because it's all going to be healers who are listening and we're all earth types, because that's why we got into healing to begin with is because we all have inappropriate relationships with giving and receiving care. It's the only reason you become a healer to begin with. Russell Brown: (53:00) And hopefully we get that worked out, but that's also why we're all burnt out is because we give more care than we get. And that's the earth, that's the earth deficiency. Russell Brown: (53:11) But that's how I am looking at the cycle now. And I see that cycle in myself and I see that cycle in myself every day, because that cycle is every day when I wake up in the morning and then I crash at the end of the day. Russell Brown: (53:23) And I see that cycle in my patients and explaining some of that helps me contextualise a lot of where patients are. And I think it helps, like I said, to step back from where you are in the immediacy of your life and be like, "Oh, this is just one part in this big story." Russell Brown: (53:42) And actually the context is important because if you are lost in darkness and you are lost in grief right now, and you don't understand that the grief is so important and that it's actually incubating something very special in you. And you just think that all of the leaves on these trees are falling because it's sad and your heart is supposed to break for it. Russell Brown: (54:04) And you don't know that actually that tree is alive under there. It looks like it's dead, but it's not. And that is what actually metal is about, is that you are being stripped down to what is most bare in you so that when you come back, you come back stronger. Russell Brown: (54:19) I think that that's such an important part that we don't get from just talking about regular old metal and grief. I just think that parts of it are missed if you don't actually sort of put it in the context of all the other organs and elements. Tahnee: (54:34) Yeah. And I was taught the word poignancy, which is like the beautiful grief and then the counter to that almost, the courage that comes from facing what we don't want to face and actually that growth. Tahnee: (54:48) And that for me really transformed because I was a grief avoider for sure. Especially in my 20s. And yeah, I remember when I was taught that it was a bit of an epiphany for me. And you mentioned an epiphany earlier. Should we segue to epiphanies? Russell Brown: (55:06) I would love it. I'm in a class with an acupuncturist. I won't mention his name because there may be some patient confidentiality stuff, but I'm with a teacher who I've been with for years. And he's an acupuncturist and he's brilliant. Russell Brown: (55:20) But I also kind of think he's a little bit pompous in a way that a lot of- Tahnee: (55:26) They tend to be. Russell Brown: (55:28) Acupuncturists can be, and his arrogance does something visceral to me that makes it hard, but I just find him to be so brilliant. Russell Brown: (55:35) And so we're in this weekend courses now where we basically are watching him do intakes with patients and he does pulse and he doesn't actually do needles on anyone. It's all just intake. And then we talk about the patient after that. Russell Brown: (55:45) And so people in the class bring in a patient and normally the patients are of a certain type, just like, oh, maybe a little trauma, maybe a little psycho emotional stuff, because that's kind of his focus, but they're all interesting. Russell Brown: (56:00) But then a couple days ago I was in one over the weekend. We had this patient who was probably like a 45 year old electrician, like a blue collar guy, which isn't classically someone who would show up to an acupuncture workshop. Russell Brown: (56:16) And he was sort of doing a little bit of like he would talk to my teacher and then he would sort of talk to us, like he was kind of entertaining a little bit and wanted to sort of have a laugh and be a little bit of a performer for us, which I appreciated. Russell Brown: (56:30) But when it came down to it, he ultimately was talking about h
Draws in Spanish | Conversations with Latinx Visual Artists and Designers
When Katty decided to move with her now-husband from Bogotá, Colombia to Miami at age 19, her whole family thought she was crazy. She quickly learned that she would have to acclimate to a new way of life including learning that her aspirations for being an artist and illustrator couldn't be satisfied at the state university where she was attending college. It wasn't until she moved to DC and attended MICA where she found a community of fellow creatives and built the graphic design skills she needed to become a more well-rounded and professional illustrator. Her first big commission came from the art director at Lenny Letter - an opportunity Katty said she jumped at. She realized that this whole illustration thing could actually become a fulfilling career. You can now find Katty's colorful work featured on nbcnews.com, The Today Show, and many other notable clients such as Adobe, HBO Max, and even The New York Times. Nothing beats a recent project she calls “a dream job.” Katty created the key art for Disney's Diary of a Future President and hopes to do more key art in the future. We discuss the details of Katty's artistic process and how it has changed as she gains more experience and confidence in her craft. While her art is extremely recognizable from its bright color palette, something she says was influenced by her Colombian heritage, she also recognizes that she wants to evolve and change as an artist. Katty is experimenting with AR, ceramics, and photo collages making her a true multidisciplinary designer. Join me on this week's episode to hear more about how Katty approaches her work with originality and authenticity.Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or on your favorite podcast platform.Topics Covered:Katty's brave decision to move the U.S. from Colombia at age 19How her Colombian heritage influences her workBreaking down American and Colombian stereotypesHow her art and graphic design training are both used to create her workHer favorite and least favorite part of her workWhat's it's like to work for big brands like DisneyAdvice for young illustrators and designersCreating her new Skillshare courseResources Mentioned:Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)NBC News, The Today ShowDiary of a Future PresidentMiami Children's MuseumSkillshareGuest InfoConnect with Katty on Instagram and Youtube. You can also see more of her work on her website.Special OfferListeners of the podcast can get a free, undated weekly and monthly planner inspired by the show from our website here.Follow me between [Draws in Spanish] episodes:Our WebsiteInstagramYoutubeTikTok
“You have to take off that artist hat and you have to put on your business hat, when it comes to the business of being published.”— Natalie BaszileWhat's it like to knock it out of the park with your first novel?This episode is the third in a series of episodes covering creatives working in the entertainment industry, and features an interview with writer Natalie Baszile.Natalie's debut novel Queen Sugar received recognition from the San Francisco Chronicles as one of the Best Books of 2014, as well as a NAACP Image Award nomination… and was adapted into a television series on the Oprah network with Ava DuVernay at the helm.Not bad for a first book!Natalie's creative flame was lit when she took a short story class in her senior year of high school, which served as her introduction into the world of storytelling. She spent 11 years trying to fall in love with other work, but eventually found her way back to creative writing.She was afraid to take the leap — but deep down she knew that she had to follow her true creative path.During this fascinating discussion, Natalie shares her practical wisdom about the publishing process and how to fit creativity into your day, and explains how her brilliant new non-fiction book, We Are Each Other's Harvest, came into being.In this episode of the podcast, you'll discover:An overview of the exercise of shopping around a novel — and how to deal with the television optioning processHow to best structure your days when you have both a day job and a creative pursuitHow to distinguish between “perfect” and “good for right now” — and why it mattersAbout Natalie Baszile: Natalie has a M.A. in Afro-American Studies from UCLA and is a graduate of Warren Wilson College's MFA Program for Writers. Her novel Queen Sugar was named one of the San Francisco Chronicles' Best Books of 2014 and nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Her non-fiction work has appeared in Lenny Letter, The Bitter Southerner, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Rumpus.net and a number of anthologies.Highlights:01:42 Meet Natalie Baszile02:56 Fame & family04:48 Natalie's journey08:00 Back to school09:16 Writing Queen Sugar10:25 The publishing process & how to survive16:21 Dealing with rejection18:23 The TV optioning process32:00 Good v. perfect36:01 Vision of success39:53 Giving up too soonLinks:https://nataliebaszile.comIG: https://www.instagram.com/nataliebaszileTwitter: https://twitter.com/nataliebaszilehttps://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/311440/queen-sugar-tv-tie-in-by-natalie-baszilehttps://www.harpercollins.com/products/we-are-each-others-harvest-natalie-baszileJoin Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/artistinclusiveWebsite: https://www.artistinclusive.comConnecthttps://www.hollandcreative.iodaniel@hollandcreative.ioIG: https://instagram.com/conversioncopydesignhttps://www.dashofcopy.comanna@dashofcopy.comIG: https://instagram.com/dashofcopy
Pop culture tells us that great sex is a natural talent — you either have it or you don't — and that sex just happens naturally, with zero effort. Today's guest explodes those myths and tells us that for most people, learning to enjoy having sex takes lots of practice and some trial-and-error. For most people, having and loving sex comes easily, but they're not in the majority. Great sex is an ongoing exploration, not a singular, fixed destination. And everyone's sex life changes over time. To learn more or read the transcript, please visit the official episode page here. Guest Bio Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus is the co-founder and director of Maze Women's Sexual Health, the country's largest independent women's sexual health center. For 20 years, she has developed and overseen the treatment of thousands of women ages 18–81. A licensed clinical social worker with a master's in public health, a master's degree in social work, a master's degree in Jewish studies, and a PhD in human sexuality, Marcus has been profiled in numerous publications, including the New York Times Magazine and Lenny Letter, and she's a frequent guest on TV, radio, podcasts, and has lectured both nationally and overseas on a wide variety of women's issues. Learn more at DrBatSheva.com. About the Inside Mental Health Podcast Host Gabe Howard lives with bipolar disorder and is a nationally recognized speaker and podcast host. He is the author of the book, “Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations,” available from Amazon; signed copies available directly from the author. To learn more about Gabe, please visit gabehoward.com.
The hosts chat about languishing and flourishing, and maintaining important relationships during the lockdown. Bryde shows off her new vibrator (check it out visually at patreon.com/turnmeon), and reads a sweet obituary for a blind, bisexual, polyamorous goose named Thomas. Bryde and Jeremie chat with Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus about sexuality, vibrators, and her new book, "Sex Points". Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus is the founder and director of Maze Women's Sexual Health, the largest independent women's sexual health center in the country. For 20 years, she has developed and overseen the treatment of thousands of women ages 18–81. A Licensed Clinical Social worker with a master's in public health, a master's degree in social work, a master's degree in Jewish studies, and a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality, Dr. Marcus has been profiled in numerous publications, including the New York Times Magazine and Lenny Letter. She has also been a guest on MSNBC. $5+ PATRONS: check out the video version of today's foreplay! This episode and more have been transcribed thanks to Thisten: https://thisten.co/event/wmu9l See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
On episode 68 of the podcast, author Kaitlyn Greenidge joins me to talk about freedom and Libertie. Kaitlyn’s debut novel was the critically acclaimed, We Love You, Charlie Freeman. Her writing has also appeared in Vogue, Glamour, the Wall Street Journal, Elle.com, Buzzfeed, and the Virginia Quarterly Review. She was a contributing editor for LENNY Letter, is currently a contributing writer for The New York Times and recently became the Features Director of Harper’s Bazaar magazine. I invited Kaitlyn to talk about her stunning new novel, Libertie, which was just released on March 30, 2021. Libertie is a coming-of-age story that begins in the second half of the 19th century in New York. It is about a free-born Black woman named Libertie Sampson, who is the dark-skinned daughter of a light-skinned mother, who also happens to be a doctor. Libertie’s mother raises her daughter expecting her to follow in her footsteps into medicine as well. But after the Civil War is fought and the promises of Reconstruction beckon, Libertie imagines a different future for herself. So, when the opportunity to move to Haiti - where Black people are truly free - comes up, she takes it. During our illuminating conversation, where I promise there are no spoilers about the novel, Kaitlyn shares the real story Liberite was inspired by; why she wanted to write Black historical fiction that wasn’t about Black exceptionalism; what she thinks freedom is; and why her female characters are so powerful. We also talk about the writing life; Kaitlyn explains why she doesn’t believe in writer's block, and why she doesn’t think writers should hide from real life. This is a wonderfully inspiring episode with a brilliant and down-to-earth author. I hope you love it. Literary Links from the Show To learn more about Kaitlyn Greenidge, visit her website. You can purchase Libertie on bookshop.org or Amazon. During the episode, Kaitlyn mentioned the book, 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write by Sarah Ruhl. You might want to check it out. Both the Well Read Black Girl Book Club and Roxanne Gay have chosen Libertie as their May book read. Maybe you want to read along with them. If you loved this episode of the podcast, you might also love my interview with author Lauren Francis Scharma, whose historical novel, Book of the Little Axe, is also about a Black woman in search of true freedom. How to Support the Podcast Subscribe, rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. Share a link or our logo with your book-loving friends on social media. If you want to support the podcast financially, please shop for books on the My American Meltingpot online book store. Or you can leave me a tip via Pay Pal on the My American Meltingpot website. Thank you!
Bett Williams is a literary writer and psychedelic explorer, and the author of The Wild Kindness; A Psilocybin Odyssey (Dottir Press Fall, 2020), a memoir about growing mushrooms in the high desert of New Mexico. Her other works include The Wrestling Party and Girl Walking Backwards (St. Martin’s Press), which was named as one of the Ten Best Young Adult Queer Novels by Vogue Magazine. She has written for several publications including DoubleBlind, OUT Magazine, Flaunt, Lucid News and Lenny Letter.
On today's chapter of the Word Weaver Podcast I chat with Toronto-based writer and art curator, Tatum Dooley. Her writing has appeared in the Globe & Mail, Artforum, The Walrus, Vogue UK, Lenny Letter, TeenVogue and more. She is also the founder of Canadian Art Forecast, showcasing upcoming and mid-career Canadian artists.I loved getting to talk shop with Tatum! As we're currently in another lockdown, conversations like these really fill me up and motivate me to keep going. We chat, amongst other things, about:The current media landscape (click quota culture & quality journalism)Cultivating a creative community as an introvertLockdown writing routines/ritualsIf working in a bookstore is as romantic as it soundsHow to pitch freelance articles to editors (she's a pro!)Canadian Art Forecast and why art is needed now more than everWhat it was like working for TeenVogueWhat she's reading, watching and listening to these days!Substack newsletters Connect with TatumInstagram: @tatum_dooleyCanadian Art Forecast: @cdnartforecastWord Weaver Podcast LinksInstagram: @wordweaverpodcastWebsite: louiseclairejohnson.com/podcast#wordweaverpodcastIntro Song: Late July by Shakey GravesOutro Song: Way With Words by BahamasNEW episodes are posted weekly. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and screenshot/share the Word Weaver Podcast on social media as it helps more people find it! I appreciate it so much.Available on all podcast platforms including Apple iTunes and Stitcher.
Today on Work In Progress, Sophia is joined by Jenni Konner (@jennikonner)!Jenni is a television writer and producer who's worked alongside Lena Dunham as the co-executive producer and showrunner of Girls for all six of the hit show's seasons. She continued her partnership with Dunham on HBO's Camping while also working with her to create the popular feminist newsletter, Lenny Letter. Just last year, Jenni signed a multi-year overall deal with Fox 21 Television Studios, where she'll be creating, overseeing and producing various series for the studio's many platforms.On today's episode of Work In Progress, Sophia and Jenni discuss imposter syndrome, hippy progressive schools, the ins and outs of running a show, and how restaurant experience translates to producing. They also touch on Jenni's early career stints in development and as a Hollywood assistant, and how she forged her path as a TV writer under the mentoring wing of Judd Apatow. For anyone interested in the entertainment industry, this conversation really pulls back the veil and gets into all of the unseen work that goes into every production.Thank you to our sponsors for today's episode:Modern Fertility (modernfertility.com/WIP)NuCalm (wipNuCalm.com)
For Week Three of New Reads November, Alli and her guest dive into a discussion about TIffany D. Jackson's latest YA novel, Grown. Published in September 2020, Grown tells the story of an aspiring singer named Enchanted Jones who is swept into the scary world of beloved superstar Korey Fields. It's a commentary on power and influence and race and the way our society treats victims of sexual assault — and it offers so much important food for thought in this conversation! (Trigger warning: sexual abuse, rape, assault, child abuse, kidnapping, addiction)Hayley Krischer is a journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Marie Claire, Lenny Letter, and more. Her debut novel — Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf — is now available. Follow her on Instagram (@hayleykrischer) and Twitter (@hayleykrischer).
In this episode you meet Lolly Bowean. Lolly is the program officer for Media & Storytelling at the Field Foundation. Before joining the Field, she worked as a general assignment reporter at the Chicago Tribune for more than 15 years and had a particular focus on urban affairs, youth culture, housing, minority communities and government relations. She wrote primarily about Chicago’s unique African-American community and the development of the Obama Presidential Center. During her tenure, she covered the death of Nelson Mandela, how violence was lived and experienced in troubled neighborhoods, and the 2008 election and inauguration of President Barack Obama. Most recently, she wrote about the election of Chicago’s first African-American woman Mayor, Lori Lightfoot. In addition, she’s covered Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the last gathering of the original Tuskegee Airmen. Before joining the Chicago Tribune, Bowean covered suburban crime, government and environmental issues for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. She has been published in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, Lenny Letter and Longreads. She has served as a contributing instructor for the Poynter Institute and lectured at the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and is the former program officer for the Chicago Headline Club. She was a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and is a Studs Terkel Award winner. In 2019 she became the first African-American awarded the Gene Burd Urban Journalism Award. She is a Pulitzer prize nominated writer who lives on the South Side of Chicago. If you attended The CLIMB then you already know about Lolly Bowean, wordsmith extraordinaire. Her "what's your career story?" session had us all thinking about how we effectively articulate this career journey that we are on. Because everyone loved her so much I thought I'd bring her back so that we can hear a bit of her career story, spoiler alert, she was the first African-American awarded the Gene Burd Urban Journalism Award! Some of the things that stood out to me during our conversation were about: - Knowing what your sword is. - Attracting opportunities. - Public V. private career battles. - Shattering glass ceilings. - Belonging. Enjoy!
Visual artist and podcaster Elise Peterson talks with author Shayla Lawson about her recent book, This is Major: Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls & Being Dope, as well as their first Prince concerts, Mariah Carey, Frank Ocean, American Dolls, toxic masculinity, cancel culture, Black girl magic, and so much more.Shayla Lawson is the author of This is Major: Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls & Being Dope (Harper Perennial, 2020) and three poetry collections: I Think I’m Ready to See Frank Ocean (Saturnalia Books, 2018), A Speed Education in Human Being (Sawyer House, 2013) and Pantone. She has written for Tin House, PAPER, ESPN, Salon, Guernica, Vulture and New York Magazine, but she mostly writes for you. A MacDowell and Yaddo Artist Colony Fellow, Shayla Lawson curates The Tenderness Project with Ross Gay and writes poems with Chet’la Sebree (pronounced Shayla, no relation). She was raised in Lexington, Kentucky, is a professor at Amherst College and lives in Brooklyn, New York.Elise R. Peterson is a multimedia storyteller with a focus in visual arts, community building and writing currently based in Los Angeles, CA. Writing clips have appeared in Believer Magazine, Adult, PAPER MAGAZINE, ELLE, LENNY LETTER, and NERVE among others. Her multidisciplinary visual work is informed by the past, reimagined in the framework of the evolving notions of technology, intimacy and cross-generational narratives. Socially, it is her aim to continue to use art as a platform for social justice while making art accessible for all through exhibitions of public work and beyond. She has illustrated two children's books: How Mamas Love Their Babies, Feminist Press, and The Nightlife of Jacuzzi Gasket, Dottir Press. Elise hosted MANE, a online video series highlighting the intersection of culture and hair as told through the narratives of women via Now This News. She also founded and co-hosts Cool Moms: a bi-weekly podcast highlighting women who make their passions a priority. Elise continues to illuminate marginalized narratives through a limitless practice in storytelling.
Morgan Jerkins is the NYT bestselling author of This WIll Be My Undoing. She is a senior editor at Medium’s ZORA magazine. Her work has been featured in the New Yorker, Vogue, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Elle, Rolling Stone, Lenny Letter, and BuzzFeed, among many other outlets. She lives in New York. Her latest book is called Wandering In Strange Lands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Molly Caro May is a writer whose work explores body, place, and the foreign/familiar. Her latest book, Body Full of Stars: Female Rage and My Passage Into Motherhood, was named a “searingly eloquent memoir” by Kirkus and excerpted in TIME and Lenny Letter. Her first book, The Map of Enough: One Woman's Search for Place was called “addictive” by Elle Magazine. She teaches personal narrative and story workshops online and across the country and gave a TEDx talk called “Female Rage and Resilience in the Modern Era.” Her mission is to work with story as a healing tool. In this episode, you'll hear about: Her experience of the pandemic Body Full of Stars: Female Rage and My Passage Into Motherhood book The Map of Enough: One Woman's Search for Place book Postpartum story How to prioritize yourself Boundaries with your kids Be the change Mom guilt Metabolize your postpartum stories Writing workshops with Molly Morning Pages 31 Days of Writing Prompts: Learn More + Sign Up Birth Yourself Writing Workshop Transform Your Old Story Writing Workshop Website: MollyCaroMay.com Instagram: @mollycaromay
Where is all of the literary love for Queens? It’s right here at LIC Reading Series. Join them each week for stories, readings, and discussions with acclaimed writers, recorded with a live audience in the cozy carriage house of a classic pub in Long Island City, Queens, New York, and hosted by founder Catherine LaSota. This week, the podcast features the reading and panel discussion from the LIC Reading Series event on June 13, 2017, with Julia Fierro (The Gypsy Moth Summer), Brandon Harris (Making Rent in Bed-Stuy), and Hannah Tinti (The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley). Check out the readings from Tuesday in the prior episode! About the Readers: Julia Fierro is the author of the novels The Gypsy Moth Summer and Cutting Teeth. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Buzzfeed, Glamour, The Millions, Flavorwire, Lenny Letter, and other publications, and she has been profiled in Brooklyn Magazine, the L Magazine, The Observer, and The Economist. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, she founded The Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop in 2002, which has grown into a creative home to 5,000 writers in NYC, Los Angeles, and Online. Julia lives in Brooklyn and Santa Monica with writer Justin Feinstein and their two children. She travels country-wide to give talks on the craft of writing, the business publishing, and on building creative communities. Brandon Harris, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, has worked in the world of American independent film as a critic and programmer, producer and director, screenwriter and educator. His writings about cinema, politics, culture, and the intersections between them have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Guardian, VICE, Daily Beast, Variety, n+1, New Inquiry, Brooklyn Rail, In These Times, Hammer to Nail, and Filmmaker magazine, where he is a contributing editor. Hannah Tinti is the author of the bestselling novel The Good Thief, which won The Center for Fiction’s first novel prize, and the story collection Animal Crackers, a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her new novel, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, is a national bestseller and has been optioned for television. She teaches creative writing at New York University’s MFA program and co-founded the Sirenland Writers Conference. Tinti is also the co-founder and executive editor of One Story magazine, which won the AWP Small Press Publisher Award, CLMP’s Firecracker Award, and the PEN/Magid Award for Excellence in Editing. * This event was made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Where is all of the literary love for Queens? It’s right here at LIC Reading Series. Join them each week for stories, readings, and discussions with acclaimed writers, recorded with a live audience in the cozy carriage house of a classic pub in Long Island City, Queens, New York, and hosted by founder Catherine LaSota. This week, the podcast features the reading and panel discussion from the LIC Reading Series event on June 13, 2017, with Julia Fierro (The Gypsy Moth Summer), Brandon Harris (Making Rent in Bed-Stuy), and Hannah Tinti (The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley). Check out the panel discussion on Thursday! About the Readers: Julia Fierro is the author of the novels The Gypsy Moth Summer and Cutting Teeth. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Buzzfeed, Glamour, The Millions, Flavorwire, Lenny Letter, and other publications, and she has been profiled in Brooklyn Magazine, the L Magazine, The Observer, and The Economist. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, she founded The Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop in 2002, which has grown into a creative home to 5,000 writers in NYC, Los Angeles, and Online. Julia lives in Brooklyn and Santa Monica with writer Justin Feinstein and their two children. She travels country-wide to give talks on the craft of writing, the business publishing, and on building creative communities. Brandon Harris, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, has worked in the world of American independent film as a critic and programmer, producer and director, screenwriter and educator. His writings about cinema, politics, culture, and the intersections between them have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Guardian, VICE, Daily Beast, Variety, n+1, New Inquiry, Brooklyn Rail, In These Times, Hammer to Nail, and Filmmaker magazine, where he is a contributing editor. Hannah Tinti is the author of the bestselling novel The Good Thief, which won The Center for Fiction’s first novel prize, and the story collection Animal Crackers, a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her new novel, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, is a national bestseller and has been optioned for television. She teaches creative writing at New York University’s MFA program and co-founded the Sirenland Writers Conference. Tinti is also the co-founder and executive editor of One Story magazine, which won the AWP Small Press Publisher Award, CLMP’s Firecracker Award, and the PEN/Magid Award for Excellence in Editing. * This event was made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Where is all of the literary love for Queens? It’s right here at LIC Reading Series. Join them each week for stories, readings, and discussions with acclaimed writers, recorded with a live audience in the cozy carriage house of a classic pub in Long Island City, Queens, New York, and hosted by founder Catherine LaSota. This week, the podcast features the reading and panel discussion from the LIC Reading Series event on March 13, 2018, with Jared Harél (Go Because I Love You), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), and Rachel Lyon (Self-Portrait With Boy). About the Readers: Jared Harél is the author of Go Because I Love You (Diode Editions, 2018) and The Body Double (Brooklyn Arts Press, 2012). His poems have appeared in such journals as Tin House, Threepenny Review, the Southern Review, Massachusetts Review, Poetry Daily, Bennington Review, 32 Poems, and Newtown Literary. He has received the Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize from American Poetry Review, the William Matthews Poetry Prize from Asheville Poetry Review, and an Individual Artist Grant from Queens Council on the Arts. Harél teaches writing at Nassau Community College and lives in Queens, New York with his wife and two kids. Morgan Jerkins is a contributing editor at Catapult and a former Book of the Month judge. On the freelance side, her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, the Atlantic, ELLE, Lenny Letter, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, and BuzzFeed, among many others. Morgan runs a TinyLetter called Meraki. Her debut essay collection, This Will Be My Undoing, was released by Harper Perennial, and her next book, Wandering in Strange Lands comes out later this year. Rachel Lyon is the author of Self-Portrait With Boy, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s 2018 First Novel Prize and the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award. Her short work has appeared or is forthcoming in publications including One Story, Longreads, Joyland, and Electric Literature. Editor-in-Chief of Epiphany magazine and cofounder of the reading series Ditmas Lit, Rachel has taught at Catapult, the Sackett Street Writers Workshop, Slice Literary, and elsewhere. She lives in Brooklyn, her hometown. * This event was made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Where is all of the literary love for Queens? It’s right here at LIC Reading Series. Join them each week for stories, readings, and discussions with acclaimed writers, recorded with a live audience in the cozy carriage house of a classic pub in Long Island City, Queens, New York, and hosted by founder Catherine LaSota. This week, the podcast features the reading and panel discussion from the LIC Reading Series event on March 13, 2018, with Jared Harél (Go Because I Love You), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), and Rachel Lyon (Self-Portrait With Boy). Check back Thursday for the discussion! About the Readers: Jared Harél is the author of Go Because I Love You (Diode Editions, 2018) and The Body Double (Brooklyn Arts Press, 2012). His poems have appeared in such journals as Tin House, Threepenny Review, the Southern Review, Massachusetts Review, Poetry Daily, Bennington Review, 32 Poems, and Newtown Literary. He has received the Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize from American Poetry Review, the William Matthews Poetry Prize from Asheville Poetry Review, and an Individual Artist Grant from Queens Council on the Arts. Harél teaches writing at Nassau Community College and lives in Queens, New York with his wife and two kids. Morgan Jerkins is a contributing editor at Catapult and a former Book of the Month judge. On the freelance side, her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, the Atlantic, ELLE, Lenny Letter, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, and BuzzFeed, among many others. Morgan runs a TinyLetter called Meraki. Her debut essay collection, This Will Be My Undoing, was released by Harper Perennial, and her next book, Wandering in Strange Lands comes out later this year. Rachel Lyon is the author of Self-Portrait With Boy, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s 2018 First Novel Prize and the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award. Her short work has appeared or is forthcoming in publications including One Story, Longreads, Joyland, and Electric Literature. Editor-in-Chief of Epiphany magazine and cofounder of the reading series Ditmas Lit, Rachel has taught at Catapult, the Sackett Street Writers Workshop, Slice Literary, and elsewhere. She lives in Brooklyn, her hometown. * This event was made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Keah Brown is a journalist, freelance writer, and the creator of #DisabledAndCute. She is also the author of The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me.In The Pretty One, Keah muses on popular culture and media, family bonds, romantic relationships, and other universal human experiences. With wit and charm, Keah aims to shift the current culture and proper representation surrounding disability as she explores important topics in her life.The candid essays are written in a millennial voice with the passion of someone who hasn’t let her disability define her and who, instead, brings awareness to the struggles and triumphs of the disabled.Keah has spoken about the hashtag and about living with cerebral palsy in Teen Vogue, Essence.com, Catapult, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, and Lenny Letter among other publications. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from The State University of New York at Fredonia and has a love for popular culture and cheesecake. She lives in Western New York with her family.Keah’s cerebral palsy affects her right side and she is known for “smashing stigmas, empowering her community, and celebrating herself” (Teen Vogue). Keah hopes #DisabledAndCute, her work with Tommy Hilfiger, and her essay collection will expand the conversation about disability, give voice to the disabled, and inspire people from all walks-of-life. In this episode, Keah opens about living with a disability, defining herself by more than just one aspect of her life, breaking barriers and moving past negative stereotypes, the value in changing one's personal narrative and owning your story, dealing with hate and finding internal strength, practicing self-love, and more.FOLLOW KEAH:INSTA: @keah_mariaTWITTER: @keah_mariaWEBSITE: www.keahbrown.comBOOK: The Pretty OneCONTACT TARA:INSTA: @tara.mont / @trustandthriveYOUTUBE: Tara MontFACEBOOK: bit.ly/FBtaramontWEBSITE: www.tara-mont.comEMAIL: tara@tara-mont.com
Kimberly Drew is a writer, curator, and activist. She received her B.A. Smith College in Art History and African-American Studies. She first experienced the art world as an intern in the Director’s Office of The Studio Museum in Harlem. Her time at the Studio Museum inspired her to start the Tumblr blog Black Contemporary Art, sparking her interest in social media. Her writing has appeared in Vogue, Glamour, W, Teen Vogue, and Lenny Letter and she has executed Instagram takeovers for Prada, The White House, and Instagram. Drew recently left her role as the Social Media Manager at The Met after growing their audience by six million followers. In 2020 she is launching her much anticipated book Black Futures, created in collaboration with Jenna Wortham. Black Futures a collection of work - art, photos, essays, memes, dialogues, recipes, tweets, poetry, and more that tells the story of the radical, imaginative, bold, and beautiful world that black artists, high and low, are producing today.Kimberly Drew talks to Gem Fletcher about social media, the art world and how accessibility should be a priority for everyone.@museummammyRecorded in London, UKEdited by John WebbMusic by Judd Greenstein – Change from AwakeDesign by Ruby Wight See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Annabelle Gurwitch is an actress, activist, and the author of the New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist I See You Made an Effort. Her other books include: Wherever You Go, There They Are, and You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up (coauthored with Jeff Kahn). She was the co-host of Dinner & a Movie on TBS and has appeared on NPR, The Today Show, CBS Early Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, PBS, and numerous CNN and MSNBC programs. Her essays and satire have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, AARP, Real Simple, Prevention, The Los Angeles Book Review, The Daily Beast, Time.com, Next Tribe, Lenny Letter, Hadassah and The Hollywood Reporter, among other media outlets. She's also an extremely methodical (she might say obsessive-compulsive?) person—one who starts planning her launch as she comes up with the book concept. And she works it—making lists, checking them way more than twice, reaching out to people she knows and doesn't know and ultimately making it so that her books have no option but to be successful. If you want practical steps on how to prepare both emotionally and literally for a release, this episode is packed with tips, tactics and other t-words! WANT TO WRITE AND LAUNCH YOUR OWN BOOK? GET OUR FREE GUIDE TO WRITING A MEMOIR BY GOING TO WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM.
Michelle Tea has been a beloved author in feminist literary circles for over 20 years. Her books for grown-ups include Modern Tarot, Valencia, and Black Wave, she’s got a YA fantasy trilogy that includes Mermaid in Chelsea Creek, Girl at the Bottom of the Sea, and Castle on the River Vistula, and she’s now penning gorgeous astrology books for little ones. She’s written for Harper’s, The Believer, Artforum, Cosmopolitan, Lenny Letter, and Buzzfeed, she created Drag Queen Story Hour, and she founded the online parenting journal Mutha Magazine in 2013 after she and her wife welcomed a son. She is an Aquarius with a Leo rising and a Sagittarius moon and in this episode of BUST’s Poptarts Podcast, she opens up about queer parenting, politics, polyamory, and more!
Ashley C. Ford (http://www.ashleycford.net/) is a writer, media producer and host, living in Brooklyn by way of Indiana. She currently hosts PROFILE by BuzzFeed News, and is the former host of Brooklyn-based news & culture TV show, 112BK. Ford has written for The Guardian, ELLE, BuzzFeed, OUT Magazine, Slate, Teen Vogue, New York Magazine, Lenny Letter, INTO and she's working on her memoir, along with a collection of interviews (B-Side Chats) with her husband, Kelly Stacy. She has been named among Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 in Media (2017), Brooklyn Magazine's Brooklyn 100 (2016), and Time Out New York's New Yorkers of The Year (2017). And, like all humans, her journey has been anything but linear. In today's conversation, we explore the powerful and, at times, painful awakenings that led her to this joyfully real, confident, compassionate and supported season of work, love and life.Check out our offerings & partners: Everlane: Check out our personalized collection at Everlane.com/GOODLIFE plus, you’ll get free shipping on your first order.DoorDash: Get $5 off their first order of $15 or more when you download the DoorDash app (https://www.doordash.com/) and enter promo code GLP.Vistaprint: Get 500 high-quality, custom business cards starting at$9.99. Use code GLP at Vistaprint.com
Illustrator, author and teacher Andrea Pippins stops by the Creative Queso podcast to talk with host Jennifer Perkins. The ladies discuss the importance of a community impact not just on your career but also your creativity. Andrea has worked for Hallmark, Lenny Letter, Oprah’s O Magazine and countless others, including her own books: "We Inspire Me", the "I Love My Hair Coloring Book" and "Becoming Me". This episode shares the importance and impact of setting intentions, career pivots and money mantras. All of this, plus, the business of being creative and the creativity behind running a business.Find out more about Andrea PippinsWebsite http://www.andreapippins.comInstagram https://www.instagram.com/andreapippinsHOST: Jennifer Perkins http://creativequeso.com http://jenniferperkins.com PRODUCER: Myrriah Gossett MUSIC: Chris Boehk See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Jenni Konner always knew she wanted to work in entertainment, but she didn’t necessarily know that she’d find herself executive-producing one of the most talked-about TV shows of our time. On this week’s episode of Life Lessons, find out how Konner found her way to Girls (which she ran alongside Lena Dunham) after spending time in writing rooms on shows like Undeclared and Help Me Help You, and discover valuable lessons she’s learned along the way.
Lilliam Rivera is the guest. Her new YA novel, Dealing in Dreams, is available from Simon & Schuster. Rivera's previous novel, The Education of Margot Sanchez (February 2017) was nominated for a 2019 Rhode Island Teen Book Award, a 2017 Best Fiction for Young Adult Fiction by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), and has been featured on NPR, New York Times Book Review, New York magazine, MTV.com, and Teen Vogue, among others. She is a 2016 Pushcart Prize winner and a 2015 Clarion alumni with a Leonard Pung Memorial Scholarship. Lilliam has also been awarded fellowships from PEN Center USA, A Room Of Her Own Foundation, and received a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation and the Speculative Literature Foundation. Her short story "Death Defiant Bomba" received honorable mention in Bellevue Literary Review's 2014 Goldenberg Prize for Fiction, selected by author Nathan Englander. She recently received honorable mention in the 2018 James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award. Lilliam's work has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Lenny Letter, Tin House, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and more. She has been a featured speaker in countless schools and book festivals throughout the United States and teaches creative writing workshops. She lives in Los Angeles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We talk with Reese Piper, a professional stripper, writer, and journalist reporting on sex work, labor rights, and autistic culture. We talk about Reese’s life, her childhood and schooldays, her love of books and getting lost in her imagination. We talk about being different, about going off to college, and we talk about Reese’s long path to realizing that she was autistic, and about how she came to terms with that while working as a dancer. We also talk about the labor politics of strip clubs and what we can do to show support for our fellow workers in the sex industry. Additional links/info below... Reese's Twitter page and author page on Medium Reese Piper, Narratively, "Secret Life of an Autistic Stripper" Reese Piper, The Establishment, "Strip Club Raids and Closures Are Weapons of Gentrification" Antonia Crane, Lenny Letter, "Stripped Bare" Antonia Crane, Mel Magazine, "The Most Realistic Sex-Worker Portrayals in Pop Culture, According to Sex Workers" Samuel Braslow, LA Magazine, "L.A.'s Exotic Dancers Are Launching a Labor Movement" Susan Elizabeth Shepard, Vox, "It's International Whores' Day. Let's Talk About Why Strippers Need Better Labor Laws" We Are Dancers (WAD) USA Desiree Alliance SWOP - USA Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall" Traveling in Stereo, "What I Know" The Impossebulls, "HaveNots Mascot Revolution (SureShot Remix)"
Leah Dieterich is the author of the memoir Vanishing Twins: A Marriage (Softskull, 2018). Her essays and short fiction have been published by Lenny Letter, LitHub, Buzzfeed, Bomb magazine, and more. She lives between Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles, California with her husband and daughter. Her book is available for purchase everywhere! Amazon and most any indie bookstore you’d go to. Find her on twitter @leahdieterich and Instagram @andthetidewaswayout and visit her website: leahdieterich.com
We're back! Have you missed us? Dolly's tits-deep in her Everything I Know About Love tour (buy tickets here: faneproductions.com/dolly and the paperback is out now) and Pandora's essay, The Authentic Lie, for independent crowd-funding publisher, The Pound Project, is now open for pledging. Buy in online or mini book form, here! (Plus, there's a foreword by Elizabeth Day.) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/poundproject/the-pound-project-part-four-pandora-sykesThis week we discuss everything we've been enjoying since Christmas - what we've been watching, listening to and reading (a lot.) It's all listed below. Sign the The High Low's sub-editor and freelance journalist Anna Codrea Rado's brilliant open letter to the media, to secure #FairPayForFreelancers http://bit.ly/fairpayforfreelancers. Donate to help The Pool's staff and freelancers get paid: https://www.gofundme.com/help-the-pool-staff-and-freelancers-get-paid?pc=&rcid=r01-154905562015-fce176adade44eb7 E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.comTweet us @thehighlowshow Books Notes To Self, by Emilie Pine Ordinary People, by Diana EvansAll That Man Is, by David SzalayBecoming, by Michelle ObamaDuped, by Abby EllinThe Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather MorrisOnce More We Saw Stars, by Jayson GreeneVox, by Christina DalcherSmall Great Things, by Jodi PicoultA Spark of Light, by Jodi PicoultMy Year or Rest and Relaxation, by Odessa Moshfegh Swan Song, by Kelleigh Greenberg-JephcottBottled Goods, by Sophie van LlewynPutney, by Sofka ZinovieffInstead of a Letter, by Diana Athill The Orange, by Wendy Cope Watching & ListeningBros: After The Screaming Stops, available on BBC iPlayerOrigins With James Andrew Miller, on Sex And The City Bohemian Rhapsody, at cinemas nowThe Favourite, at cinemas nowMary Poppins Returns, at cinemas now Emily Blunt, interviewed on Fresh Air Alison Janney, on WTFSex Education, on Netflix nowFyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, on Netflix now Wendy Cope, on Desert Island DiscsDiana Athill, on Desert Island Discs Journalism Lauren Bravo for foodism https://foodism.co.uk/features/long-reads/romantic-food-myths-and-realities/ The World of Nora Ephron: a reading list https://foodism.co.uk/features/long-reads/romantic-food-myths-and-realities/ The Ten best life mantras of Diana Athill: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/10-best-life-mantras-brilliant-author-diana-athill/ Diana Athill interviewed for The Lenny Letter: https://www.lennyletter.com/story/diana-athill-interviewDolly's songs about places playlist -
Brad Listi talks with Leah Dieterich, author of the debut memoir VANISHING TWINS: A MARRIAGE (Soft Skull Press). Dietrich's essays and short fiction have been published by Lenny Letter, Buzzfeed, LitHub, and Bomb Magazine among others. She is also the author of a book of thank-you notes, entitled "thxthxthx: thank goodness for everything" (Andrews McMeel, 2011). She lives in Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It’s a rough year after a rough year after…a rough year. Writer, journalist, and #disabledandcute creator Keah Brown reminds us to celebrate our wins and find joy anyway. Keah has written for publications like Harper’s Bazaar, Teen Vogue, Essence, Catapult, Lenny Letter, The Rumpus, and Glamour. She also has cerebral palsy—and one day in 2017, she was feeling cute. So she posted a photo of herself with the hashtag #disabledandcute, and boom: she started a movement. Since then, she’s signed her first book deal, written about everything from Lilliam Rivera to Solange, and generally taken the world by storm. Plus, Roxane Gay thinks she’s great. What more is there to say? > We spend so much time with disability narratives either being used to prop up an able-bodied character, or to die for the emotional turmoil of an able-bodied character. And I’m just like, nope. I live at the end of this book, and I’m going to keep living, and you’re going to see more of me, because I’m not going anywhere. > —Keah Brown, writer and #disabledandcute creator Keah tells us all about: Starting the #disabledandcute movement Her Teen Vogue cover story on disabled representation in fashion Being named to The Root 100 list of most influential African-Americans Writing for Roxane Gay’s Unruly Bodies series The double-edged sword of being the “go-to disability writer” Working on her first essay collection, The Pretty One, due out from Atria Books next fall Relying on Demi Lovato, Paramore, and her friends to get through the hard parts Plus: Katel tells us all about her workshop with last week’s guest, Sonalee Rashatwar Sara has a very attractive knee surgeon Don’t miss Milena Paulina’s gorgeous photos of fat bodies Sponsors This episode of NYG is brought to you by: Shopify, a leading global commerce platform that’s building a world-class team to define the future of entrepreneurship. Visit shopify.com/careers for more. Harvest, makers of awesome software to help you track your time, manage your projects, and get paid. Try it free, then use code NOYOUGO to get 50% off your first paid month. Away makes stylish, high-quality luggage with amazing built-in features—like a laundry bag and USB charger. Use code NYG to save $20 today at awaytravel.com/nyg.
PLUS: Hailey Steinfeld in new Netflix movie AND a Judy Blume classic comes to the big screen!
Back in the summer, author Melissa Broder dropped into The Bindery to read and discuss her hilarious debut novel, The Pisces, and we were there to capture it. “A modern-day mythology for women on the verge,” according to the New York Times, The Pisces is the absrud and erotic recounting of one woman’s star-crossed relationship with a folkloric beau. Broder is the author of the essay collection So Sad Today and four poetry collections, including Last Sext. She writes the "So Sad Today" column at Vice, the astrology column for Lenny Letter, and the "Beauty and Death" column on Elle.com. In conversation with The Millions editor and The Golden State novelist, Lydia Kiesling. Recorded live at The Bindery.
#077 — A Kind of Freedom It takes a great deal of courage to leave a lucrative career that feeds your self-esteem for an uncertain future—especially if it takes years for the new venture to pay off financially. How do you learn to live in faith over fear, giving yourself the freedom to pursue something you love? Margaret Wilkerson Sexton was working at a prestigious law firm when she took that leap, leaving a job that garnered respect—and a lot of money—to try her hand at writing. Four years in, she had a novel that still hadn’t been published and her insecurity was growing. At a networking lunch, Margaret was invited to participate in a Djerassi year-long novel program, and that opportunity spawned A Kind of Freedom, a 2017 National Book Award Nominee and New York Times Notable Book of 2017. Today, Margaret joins me to share her journey from the law firm to a career as an author. She describes how parenting influences her writing practice and offers insight around the pros and cons of sleep training. Margaret also explains her surprise at the adjustment of adding a new baby to the family after managing twins with a certain level of grace. Listen in as Margaret offers a preview of the book she’s working on now and learn how she achieves her own ‘kind of freedom.’ FULL SHOW NOTES Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/077. EPISODE SPONSOR & SPECIAL OFFER This podcast is made possible by Alavita Nutrition, a tremendous resource when it comes to food, health, and wellness. The Alavita team is on a mission to make eating good food and understanding nutrition easier for busy moms. Head to https://www.alavitanutrition.com/ and use the code ‘startup pregnant’ for 20% off their self-paced programs or a nutrition consultation. All of our sponsor offers are available on our website for you to grab the perks and discounts offered to podcast listeners: http://startuppregnant.com/sponsors. LEARN MORE ABOUT MARGARET WILKERSON SEXTON Margaret Wilkerson Sexton studied creative writing at Dartmouth before attending law school at UC Berkeley. Her debut novel, A Kind of Freedom, was a 2017 National Book Award Nominee, a New York Times Notable Book of 2017, and a New York times Book Review Editors Choice. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Oprah.com, and Lenny Letter, among many other publications. Margaret’s Website Margaret on Facebook RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton Djerassi Resident Artists Program The Piano Lesson by August Wilson Joe Turner’s Come and Gone by August Wilson Fences by August Wilson Belo --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startuppregnant/message
In this episode, I talk to Ellen Freeman, a freelance writer and editor based in Mexico City. We cover topics such as advice to writers who are just starting out, the process of pitching, financial challenges of being a freelance writer, what makes a good story, and much more. Biography Ellen Freeman is a writer and editor who graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in Comparative Literature (Arabic & English) in 2011. Her writing has been published in Lenny Letter, Refinery29, Roads & Kingdoms, i-D, Travel Portland, Racked, Mental Floss, Ozy, October, Apartment Therapy, The Matador Network, The Fashion Spot, the Portland Mercury, and other online and print publications. She’s the Deputy Editor of Broccoli, a magazine for cannabis lovers, made by and for women. Together with Sharada Tolton, she created Muff, a zine about the new New Age. Selected Links From the Episode Ellen Freeman's Website Ellen Freeman's Instagram Broccoli Magazine Muff Zine Study Hall Newsletter Binders Full of Writing Jobs Facebook Group Who Pays Writers? Longform Podcast The Briefcase Technique The Changing Times Newspaper Midori.so Coworking KanbanFlow James Altucher Seth Godin Stephanie Madewell Anja Charbonneau Show Notes Episode Introduction [00:00:51] Advice for Writers Who Are Just Starting Out [00:02:12] Making a Living as a Freelance Writer [00:05:54] How to Pitch Stories to Editors [00:12:04] Short Episode Break – Support the Podcast [00:19:41] Ellen's Work Routines [00:20:31] Idea Generation [00:25:33] Writing Advice [00:27:39] Authentic Networking [00:29:38] What Makes a Good Story [00:35:55] Advice for Being a Better Writer and Creative Professional [00:38:30] Episode Outro [00:40:30] Full transcript and more at https://creative.voyage/
Keah Brown is a journalist, freelance writer, and the creator of the #DisabledAndCute hashtag. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Essence.com, Catapult, Glamour Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Lenny Letter among other publications. Her debut essay collection THE PRETTY ONE is forthcoming from Atria Books. In this episode, Keah talks about her forthcoming book, and what it took to complete the first Continue Reading…
Keah Brown is a journalist, freelance writer, and the creator of the #DisabledAndCute hashtag. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Essence.com, Catapult, Glamour Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, and Lenny Letter among other publications. Her debut essay collection THE PRETTY ONE is forthcoming from Atria Books. In this episode, Keah talks about her forthcoming book, and what it took to complete the first Continue Reading…
Mike sits down with novelist Liz Harmer, poet and community organizer Trevor K Allred, and a poet Shauna Barbosa to hear the work from their individual projects and discuss the power of audience, politics, the meaning of portals, the meaning of water, the magic of astrology and why fake bluster is important (AND SO MUCH MORE)! Trevor Kaiser Allred has work published in Boned Stories, Eunoia Review, and Pomona Valley Review, and was a poetry judge for DASH Literary Journal Vol 9. He is the Community Relations Manager at 1888 Center, and is a poet at The dA Center for the Arts. Liz Harmer is a Canadian writer living in California. Her essays, stories, and reviews have been published widely. In 2014 she won a National Magazine Award for Personal Journalism, and was a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. Her first novel, The Amateurs, is available in Canada. Shauna Barbosa is the author of the poetry collection Cape Verdean Blues (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018). Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Southeast Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Boulevard, Poetry Society of America, PBS Newshour, Lit Hub, Lenny Letter, and others. She is a 2018 Disquiet International Luso-American fellow. Shauna received her MFA from Bennington College in Vermont and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Writers’ Block Live! is recorded at the 1888 Center in Orange, California. 1888 Center programs are recorded and archived as a free educational resource on our website or with your favorite podcast app including Apple and Spotify. Each interdisciplinary episode is designed to provide a unique platform for industry innovators to share stories about art, literature, music, history, science, or technology. Produced in partnership with Brew Sessions. Producer and Host: Mike Gravagno Producers: Jon-Barrett Ingels and Kevin Staniec Manager: Sarah Becker Guests: Trevor K Allred, Liz Harmer, And Shauna Barbosa Audio: Brew Sessions Live
When you think of Lena Dunham, you probably think of her HBO-hit, Girls- and for good reason. She wrote, directed and starred in the series throughout its six seasons, garnering a huge fan base and carving out a definitive space for herself in the world of creative professionals. Since the end of Girls, she’s been directing her energy towards her podcast, Women of the Hour, and her online feminist newsletter, Lenny Letter, which she co-founded with Girls producer Jenni Konner. In this conversation from 2010, Tania and Lena talk feminism, youth, and Lena's semi-autobiographical breakout film, Tiny Furniture. At 23, Lena wrote, directed, and starred in the story of a recent post-grad who moves back to her mom’s Manhattan apartment as she struggles to find her path in life. This interview originally aired on Tania’s radio show, Sight Unseen, on KALX in Berkeley, California, and on Resonance FM in London. For this episode, we used music from Blue Dot Sessions, a clip from HBO’s “Behind the Scenes” of Girls, a clip from the Tiny Furniture trailer, and a clip from Girls.
Maries Artikel zum Wechselmodell: https://www.littleyears.de/blog/die-unfreiheit-kinder-zu-haben/ Und der angesprochene Lenny Letter: https://www.lennyletter.com/story/freedom-of-being-single-mom-isnt-what-i-expected Alibaba-GründerJack Ma über seine Perspektive auf die Zukunft der Bildung: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH-fdIkdL_Q Katharinas Post über den Leistungsdruck in unserem Bildungssystem: https://www.littleyears.de/blog/unsere-kinder-die-optimierungsmasse/ Und wie sie sich Schule anders wünscht für ihren Sohn: https://www.littleyears.de/blog/vom-werden-auf-reisen/
Have you seen Love? Ibiza? Life of the Party? Then you’ve witnessed the talent of Garance’s guest, Gillian Jacobs. They sat down in L.A. at Cliff’s Edge and talked about life, her Lenny Letter, being labeled « untalented » and how she learned to open up. For photos visit www.atelierdore.com. Pardon My French is released every Monday [...]
There’s no question that newsletters are on the rise. Legacy publishers are constantly launching new newsletter products. Quartz’s Obsession newsletter, for instance, picks seemingly random topics and goes deeps on them. Vox’s Voxcare newsletter, a favorite of mine, covers new developments in healthcare policy. But we’re also seeing a number of media startups that are producing newsletters without corresponding websites. The Hustle, a business-news oriented newsletter that has over 500,000 subscribers, keeps all its content contained within its newsletter and publishes none of it to its website. The same can be said for theSkimm, a female-focused newsletter launched by two former NBC producers, and Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter. So what’s the business model for these types of newsletters? Of course many of them rely on advertising, but we’re also seeing a number of new products enter the market that allow newsletter publishers to charge money to their subscribers, often in exchange for access to extra premium newsletters. For example, Hot Pod, a newsletter about the podcast industry, sends out a weekly free newsletter each Tuesday and a second one every Friday for subscribers who pay $7 a month. Given the rise of paid newsletters, we’ve seen a number of new platforms spring up to service this type of publisher. One of those platforms is Revue, a newsletter distribution platform that was designed with content publishers in mind. I interviewed its founder Martijn de Kuijper about the platform’s offerings and the best way for publishers to convert casual newsletter readers into paying subscribers.
Brad Listi talks with Melissa Broder, whose debut novel THE PISCES is available now from Hogarth Press. Broder is the author of four poetry collections, including LAST SEXT (Tin House, 2016), and the essay collection SO SAD TODAY (Grand Central, 2016). She writes the @sosadtoday Twitter feed, the So Sad Today column for VICE, the horoscopes for Lenny Letter, and the Beauty and Death column at Elle.com. She lives with her husband and her dog Pickle in Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome to episode forty of the Honest Mamas Podcast! Today, Melissa speaks to Alexa Wilding about Finding strength through her son's cancer diagnosis. Alexa is a musician, writer, and a twin mama. Tagged "the neo-Stevie Nicks" by The New York Times, Alexa's third album "Wolves" (2016) was called "an intimate howl" by Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter. The record was written in the hospital while she saw her son, Lou successfully through cancer treatment. Alexa has also shared this experience and its impact on her life as an artist on platforms such as The Glow, Mother and Style Like U. Her recent video on postpartum body acceptance for Allure magazine's “Dispelling Beauty Myths” series went viral within 24 hours, empowering women all over the world to embrace the journey from maidenhood to motherhood. After completing an MFA in Writing at The Writer’s Foundry, Brooklyn in 2017, Alexa and her family relocated to the Hudson Valley. She is currently working on her first book. What you’ll hear in this episode Insights into Alexa’s experience of caring for a son diagnosed with cancer Learning to accept that part of being a mother is not being able to control everything The importance of looking after yourself so you can look after others The need for Alexa to create a space of comfort at the hospital Understanding that it’s ok to ask for and receive help Learning to transition from care in the hospital to no care at home Resources http://www.alexawilding.com
We talked about social media, Chels' writing, podcast, Sell Me A Pup; and graphic novel, Dead Weight with Brooklyn-based illustrator and "Lenny Letter" contributor Danie Drankwalter. http://chelsnotchelsea.com https://www.machineculture.com/chels-harvey/ Sell Me A Pup podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sell-me-a-pup/id1259048087?mt=2 Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Country singer-songwriter Lindi Ortega joins Jen and Erin as a guest host this week! She discusses her new album, Liberty, and also expands on the Lenny Letter she wrote about suffering from body dismorphic disorder and how her life as a performer and musician has helped her deal with it.
Brad Listi talks with Shauna Barbosa, author of the poetry collection CAPE VERDEAN BLUES (University of Pittsburgh Press). Barbosa's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Boulevard, Lit Hub, Lenny Letter, Awl, Colorado Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Foundry, Wildness, The Atlas Review, PANK, and others. She is a Disquiet International Luso-American fellow and received her MFA from Bennington College in Vermont. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Brad Listi talks with bestselling author Jami Attenberg, whose latest novel, ALL GROWN UP, is now available in trade paperback from Mariner Books. Attenberg has written about sex, technology, design, books, television, and urban life for The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Lenny Letter and others. Her other books include INSTANT LOVE, THE KEPT MAN, THE MELTING SEASON, THE MIDDLESTEINS, and SAINT MAZIE. She lives in New Orleans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Lean the F*ck Out | Fempreneurs | Women Entrepreneurs | Female Business Owners
In this episode, we talk with Chelsey Goodan about her day jobs as a tutor and screenwriter and her side hustles supporting activism and as a board member of “A Call to Men”. Chelsey shares advice on how she balances her work with her activism and details about all the great work she is doing her organization, The Activist Cartel, and different ways we can teach men how to be better feminists. Running an Activist Side Hustle Episode Highlights Find what you really care about and there’s an organic progression of what will come to you. Don’t underestimate the work it will take. Personal discipline goes a long way for getting shit done. You have to hold yourself accountable, but having an accountability partner goes a long way. “Be a person that follows through and is good on their word.” Chelsey Goodan Chelsey Goodan is the founder of The Activist Cartel, a network of women and men dedicated to promoting women’s rights and equality. Every month, she focuses the nationwide group on a political, educational, or philanthropic topic around women’s equality and provides ways to take action. Additionally, Chelsey Goodan is a screenwriter in Hollywood, answering the plea for movies with vibrant, tenacious, and complex female-driven stories. Embracing many facets of the entertainment industry, she has worked on a wide range of films such as Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Jim Carrey’s The Number 23, and Judd Apatow’s Superbad. All of her experiences in film have supremely motivated her to lead the charge in increasing women’s representation. Moreover, her written articles often focus on how women’s progress intersects with men, whether that's turning the infamous former pick-up artist Neil Strauss, author of The Game, into a feminist, interviewing Tony Porter for Lenny Letter, or igniting conversation through humor in her article, “Can I Be the Dad?” On top of it all, Chelsey has run her own tutoring business for the last nine years. Guiding students 8-22 years old, Chelsey assists in everything from Calculus homework to college applications. She specializes in AP History classes and finds that the lessons always inspire her writing and activism since society is so prone to repeat mistakes. Her time spent prepping a big test like the ACT is often underscored by a deep mentorship of her students. Always working to be a positive role model, she finds great meaning from the moments when her teenage girls come to her with their concerns ranging from eating disorders to birth control. Her young boys often share their fears with her first, knowing she’ll have their back when they’re up against stressful parental pressure or an impending bad grade. She continues this mentorship long after she’s finished tutoring them. Chelsey recently became a Board Member for the nonprofit, A CALL TO MEN, which educates and activates men and boys to be a part of the solution in preventing violence and discrimination against women. She organizes their annual Los Angeles fundraiser, which she will host alongside Will Forte, David Wain, Sean Gunn, and Moon Zappa this year. A CALL TO MEN is now working with the Time’s Up leadership to engage men in entertainment to use their influence to advocate for equality. All of her life, Chelsey has been volunteering for equality-based causes, and organizing fundraising events. She grew up in Colorado Springs, graduated from New York University, married Music Producer Charles Goodan, and currently resides in Los Angeles. Follow Chelsey online at: The Activist Cartel: www.theactivistcartel.org Instagram: @chelseygoodanTwitter: @chelseydailey
LAST CHANCE to grab your seat for the online, live taping of Sex Gets Real to celebrate our 200th episode. Enter to join us here. It happens on March 22nd at 5pm Pacific, so this is your last chance. This week Dawn Serra is chatting with author Juniper Fitzgerald and artist Elise Peterson who created the book, "How Mamas Love Their Babies" - published by Feminist Press. The book is the first children's book to feature a sex worker and it's brilliant. So, Juniper, Elise, and Dawn talk about sex working mothers, the realities of being a new mom, why this book is so important, and what they learned along the way. Sex work should not be stigmatized and you are not a better feminist for not consuming sex work. Let's talk about why. Want to hear the funny bonus chat about Juniper and Elise's favorite memories from sex work? Well, pop over to Patreon and if you support the show at $3 and above, you can tune into all the bonus content from each week. patreon.com/sgrpodcast This episode is brought to you by HIMS. HIMS is an online men's wellness service that allows you to consult with a doctor and get treatment for hair loss, skincare, and sexual wellness all within minutes at a fraction of the cost. And, listeners get a special rate of $5 for your first month if you head to forhims.com/real. Check it out now! Follow Sex Gets Real on Twitter and Facebook. It's true. Oh! And Dawn is on Instagram. About Juniper Fitzgerald: Juniper is a mother, writer, academic, and former sex worker. Her work appears in Tits and Sass, Mutha Magazine, Pacific Standard, SeaFoam Magazine and others. She has a forthcoming essay in the anthology, The Red Umbrella Babies, is the author of the first children’s book to talk about sex work, How Mamas Love Their Babies, out by the Feminist Press, and is currently compiling a work of auto-theory on motherhood, sex work, and feminism. About Elise Peterson: Elise R. Peterson is a writer, visual artist and on camera personality living and working in New York. Writing clips have appeared in Adult, PAPER MAGAZINE, ELLE, LENNY LETTER, and NERVE among others. Her written work doubles as storytelling and investigating the nuance of identity and sexuality as it relates to marginalized communities. Her multidisciplinary visual work is informed by the past, reimagined in the framework of the evolving notions of technology, intimacy and cross-generational narratives. Socially, it is her aim to continue to use art as a platform for social justice while making art accessible for all through exhibitions of public work and beyond.
Spotify anunció que está expandiendo su ofrecimiento de audio para incluir "podcasts visuales" sobre noticias, política y entretenimiento. Entérate de las tendencias del podcasting en cinco minutos. NotiPod: Tu resumen diario para mantenerte al día con el podcasting. Tendencias Los nuevos podcasts, organizados por lista de reproducción, contarán con un componente multimedia que incluye texto, vídeo y fotos. Spotify está llamando al nuevo formato "Spotlight". Spotify Studio y Vídeo, está ahora dirigida por Courtney Holt, quien fuera el antiguo director de los estudios Maker de Disney. Para la nueva estrategia realizaron alianzas con más de ocho empresas de contenido. Algunas de estas son: BuzzFeed News, Cheddar, Crooked Media, Lena Dunham, Jenni Konner’s Lenny Letter, Gimlet Media, Genius, the Minefield Girl, Refinery29 y LeBron James’. También tendrán sus series originales como “RISE,” “Secret Genius,” “Spotify Singles” y el podcast “Viva Latino”. “Viva latino” es el podcast bisemanal que lanzó Spotify en noviembre pasado. Allí entrevistan a las grandes superestrellas de la música latina. Spotlight podcasts y los audiolibros incluirán "capas visuales", para mejorar la experiencia dentro de cada capítulo. Algunos de los programas serán versiones de podcasts ya disponibles en el servicio e inicialmente contendrán los mismos anuncios. Otros no tendrán anuncios durante la fase inicial de pruebas. El formato no cambiará mucho la interfaz actual de Spotify, sino que más bien complementa la experiencia auditiva. Cuando usted escucha un podcast visual con un componente de vídeo, por ejemplo, el vídeo aparecerá en el lado izquierdo de la aplicación. Inicialmente, Spotlight estará disponible sólo en los Estados Unidos. ↳ Este anuncio de Spotify implica más competencia para la radio terrestre particularmente con la audiencia entre las edades de 18-35 años. SoundCloud añadió un componente en tiempo real a sus métricas. La plataforma de audio está proveyendo datos sobre 'reproducciones', 'me gusta', 'comentarios', 'descargas', y otros en tiempo real. Las métricas se agregan por un período de 24 horas, a partir de la medianoche (hora de Berlín donde ubica la compañía). Descript sigue llamando la atención. En un artículo sobre herramientas digitales el blog de periodismo Pointer dice que Descript es una herramienta que hace que el trabajo de editar podcasts sea tan fácil como editar texto. En lugar de editar las ondas de audio, este software de Mac, transcribe el audio utilizando Google Speech. Luego, usted edita el texto como lo haría con cualquier editor de texto y Descript lo edita automáticamente para que coincida. La conclusión es que si estás editando un podcast vale la pena usar este programa. ¿Un curso para aprender cómo ‘no’ producir un podcast? Neil Patel es un excelente blogger y estratega de marketing de contenidos, aunque su video ‘Cómo comenzar un podcast’ no es lo mejor que ha hecho. Aparte del contenido valioso, la calidad visual del vídeo es de primera. Sin embargo, el sonido es terrible y la voz estridente. Lección número uno de este vídeo: grabe en un sitio donde no haya reflexión. Lección número dos: no hay que gritar para entusiasmar al público. Cómo los cambios de Facebook afectarán tu podcast. ¿Cómo deben sentirse los podcasters ante el anuncio de que Facebook mostrará menos noticias y contenidos de negocios? ¿Deberíamos estar preocupados sobre estos cambios? ¿Cómo este cambio afectará la forma en que promovemos nuestros podcasts? Se cree que las páginas se verán afectadas y muchos podcasts tienen una. Chris Huskins piensa que no hay porqué preocuparse. Sus argumentos son: ¡No hay ningún valor para simplemente publicar contenido en Facebook! El único contenido que importa es el contenido con el cuál la gente participa y comparte. Los Clickbaits serán empujados fuera de nuestros canales... Por ejemplo: engañar el sistema con mensajes que piden reacciones como votos, es sancionado y no ayudará. Las páginas de Facebook serán el producto más difícil de crecer orgánicamente. NotiPod Hoy ya aparece en el buscador de podcasts Listen Notes. Este es un impresionante buscador de podcasts que indexa inclusive el audio. Mantente al día. El mundo del podcasting está cambiando diariamente. Recibe en tu correo electrónico, de lunes a viernes, información sobre las tendencias del podcasting y recursos útiles para actualizar tu estrategia, crear o llevar un podcast a un nuevo nivel. Únete y recibe el boletín de Vía Podcast en tu email. ¡Subscríbete y no te pierdas nada!
Jamie Kern Lima, co-founder/CEO of It Cosmetics, is killing the beauty game right now. We talked to her about how she built her mega-brand, what it's like to lunch with Oprah, and if life is better as a blonde. Before that, we discuss Jess's dreamy escape to the Lush Spa, Jenn's mud-bath in the Dead Sea, and the Lenny Letter that begs the question, "Is exfoliation better than sex?" Hmmm. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Hey Lena. It’s Katie & Ronit. Listen, you do so much good. But we need you to be better! You’re a great writer, a smart woman, and a voice for your generation. So how is it you keep finding yourself on the wrong side of racism & rape accusations? Katie & Ronit are here to help Gabrielle Union collect you. LINKS: Lenny Letter Interview with Amy Schumer (bizarrely was searchable and clickable on Lenny Letter when we were doing research for this show, but just now when I went to link it there is an error page not found for the article on the Lenny Letter page. Here is the link for the cached article:) http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.lennyletter.com/culture/interviews/a527/the-lenny-interview-amy-schumer Lenny Letter Interview with Gabrielle Union: https://www.lennyletter.com/story/gabrielle-union-is-captain-of-team-fck-it Nerdist Podcast: https://nerdist.com/nerdist-podcast-lena-dunham/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Keah Brown is a journalist and writer whose work has appeared in Harpers Bazaar, Essence, Catapult, Teen Vogue, Lenny Letter and elsewhere. She is currently a senior entertainment writer at Cliché Magazine - a premier digital fashion magazine that highlights pop culture, fashion trends, celebrities, beauty, and more. In this episode, Keah tells the story of Continue Reading…
Keah Brown is a journalist and writer whose work has appeared in Harpers Bazaar, Essence, Catapult, Teen Vogue, Lenny Letter and elsewhere. She is currently a senior entertainment writer at Cliché Magazine - a premier digital fashion magazine that highlights pop culture, fashion trends, celebrities, beauty, and more. In this episode, Keah tells the story of Continue Reading…
Caca Dolce: Essays from a Lowbrow Life (Soft Skull Press) From a cult favorite and indie-press bestseller who has been called “the preeminent chronicler of Internet-age malaise” (Lena Dunham) and “an exquisite original” (Chloe Caldwell), a candid, tender, and very funny book about relationships, class, art, sex, money, and family. In a fresh, subversive voice that charts her trajectory from a dead-end California town to a burgeoning career as an author and illustrator, cult favorite Chelsea Martin returns with her debut essay collection, Caca Dolce: Essays from a Lowbrow LIfe. Blending the poignant wit of David Sedaris in his bestseller Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim with the feminist candor of Melissa Broder’s So Sad Today and Jessi Klein’s You’ll Grow Out of It, CACA DOLCE is a book about relationships, class, art, sex, money, and family—and about growing up weird, and poor, in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Chelsea examines her varied experiences: as an eleven-year- old atheist, trying to will an alien visitation to her neighborhood; fighting with her stepfather and grappling with a Tourette’s diagnosis as she becomes a teenager; falling under the sway of frenemies and crushes in high school; going into debt to afford what might be a meaningless education at an expensive art college; navigating the messy process of falling in love with a close friend; and struggling for independence from her emotionally manipulative father and her hometown family and friends. Praise for Caca Dolce: “Martin’s honest writing exists above the confines of fear and social norms. She is a breath of pure oxygen in a literary environment that often shies away from female grit. . . her writing is sweaty, uncomfortable, and enchanting. She taps into the consciousness of her past selves with precision and care, respecting the integrity and desires of those younger women. A sure hit for fans of Sara Benincasa’s Agorafabulous! and Lena Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl.” —Booklist (starred review) “A wild ride of a memoir, and a true glimpse into the mind of an artist as she’s figuring out what life is all about.” —Nylon “Martin, a writer who’s earned a cult following with her books Mickey and Even Though I Don’t Miss You, turns to nonfiction in her debut essay collection, bringing her irreverent voice to tales of childhood, crushes, art school and the California town she grew up in where people just can’t seem to leave.” —Huffington Post “The arc of growing self-awareness lends the story both gravity and an odd appeal.”—Kirkus Reviews “Deeply human—it’s a lonely book that made me feel less alone.” —Melissa Broder, author of So Sad Today “I highly enjoyed Caca Dolce—a weird, funny, moving, complex memoir that’s excitingly like if Diane Williams edited a 500-page novel down to 200 pages.” —Tao Lin, author of Taipei “Chelsea Martin is one of the best American writers alive. Savage and sharp, tender and hilarious, Martin’s Caca Dolce is a book like she’s never written before. You’ll only think one thing after reading it. Chelsea Martin can do anything.” —Scott McClanahan, author of The Sarah Book “Chelsea Martin delivers neon electric jolts of reality in deadpan perfection. Refreshing, hilarious, self-deprecating, as far from pretentious as you can get.” —Molly Brodak, author of Bandit “I’m probably not Chelsea Martin’s biggest fan because I’m sure she has legitimate stalkers, but I’m way up there. Gold, gold I tell ya.” —Mary Miller, author of The Last Days of California “If David Sedaris were younger, hipper, and had once subscribed to Cat Fancy, he might write like this.”—Elizabeth Ellen, author of Person/a Chelsea Martin is the author of Everything Was Fine Until Whatever;The Really Funny Thing About Apathy; Even Though I Don’t Miss You, which was named one of the Best Indie Books of 2013 by Dazed magazine; and Mickey. Her work has appeared in publications including Buzzfeed, Hobart, Lenny Letter, Vice, and Catapult, and chosen as a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2016. She is a comic artist and illustrator and the creative director of Universal Error and currently lives in Washington State.
Happy Thanksgiving. Mitch talks about Lavar Ball and how he is great television, the updated version of sexual education, why you should not write for Lenny Letter, what male humans can learn from male lions, and much more. R.I.P. Oni Wilson Twitter: @MitchelBrown_ IG: @MitchelBrown_ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mitch-brown/support
This week's episode of Monocycle is more like an episode of Bicycle because there are two stakeholders (wheels?) present in the conversation: myself and Lena Dunham. When I set out to interview her, I had a fairly strong sense of what we might talk about, like the evolution of Lenny Letter, life after Girls, New York vs. Los Angeles. What unfolded was a genuinely organic conversation about life, failing and succeeding and how similar they are, self esteem, family and love. While listening back to this episode, I realized it sounds less like a podcast recording and more like an intimate conversation, which, to me, is really the goal of an interview. I very much hope you enjoy the structure as we plan to continue rolling out various interviews over the course of the next couple of months. As always, any and all feedback is welcome, so sock it to me in the comment depository below. Happy birthday, btw!!! (What? It could be...)
This week Sonya interviews showrunner, writer and producer Jenni Konner. Jenni showran and wrote the HBO series Girls and together with Lena Dunham is the co-founder of Lenny Letter and the Random House imprint, Lenny Books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On this episode of Talk Like a Girl, we invite veteran comedy writer and all-around bad ass chica, Daley Haggar on the show to help us tackle the difficult topic of sexual harassment in the workplace. Stanford Law professor Deborah L. Rhode also joins us and helps us understand how non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements contribute to the problem. Follow Daley:Twitter: @d_haggarInstagram: @daleyhaggarFind Prof. Deborah L. Rhode:https://law.stanford.edu/directory/deborah-l-rhode/Resources for this Episode:Deborah L Rhode’s articles on sexual harassment in the workplace: https://hbr.org/2017/06/understanding-your-legal-options-if-youve-been-sexually-harassed https://hbr.org/2016/08/how-unusual-is-the-roger-ailes-sexual-harassment-case I have Daley Haggar’s op-ed at Lenny Letter.comhttp://www.lennyletter.com/work/a1024/why-im-snitching-on-hollywood-sexism
Brad Listi talks with Chelsea Martin, author of the essay collection CACA DOLCE: ESSAYS FROM A LOWBROW LIFE, available now from Soft Skull Press. Martin's other books include 'Even Though I Don’t Miss You', which was named one of the Best Indie Books of 2013 by Dazed magazine, and the novel 'Mickey.' Her work has appeared in Buzzfeed, Hobart, Lenny Letter, and Vice, and chosen as a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2016. She is a comic artist and illustrator and currently lives in Washington State. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Doreen St. Félix is only 25 but she has made a name for herself in the New York media scene. After graduating from Brown she started her career at "Lenny Letter", Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner's digital, feminist publication. While doing this, she was also freelancing for places like Pitchfork, New York Magazine, and The Fader. Now, she is a contracted writer with the New Yorker (at only 25!). She and Sam talk about her successes, today's media scene, and how she really loves the show Chopped. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music for the show is by Dylan Peck. Original illustrations by Krishna Shenoi: www.krishnabalashenoi.com. Learn more about Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso at www.talkeasypod.com
Jami Attenberg in conversation with Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney at Live Talks Los Angeles, March 21, 2017, discussing the writing life and her new novel, All Grown Up. The talk took place at the Moss Theatre in Santa Monica, CA. From the New York Times best-selling author of The Middlesteins comes a wickedly funny novel about a thirty-nine-year-old single, childfree woman who defies convention as she seeks connection. Jami Attenberg is the New York Times bestselling author of five novels, including The Middlesteins and Saint Mazie. She has contributed essays about sex, urban life, and food to The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Lenny Letter, among other publications. She divides her time between Brooklyn and New Orleans. “Jami Attenberg’s sharply drawn protagonist, Andrea, has such a riveting, propulsive voice that All Grown Up is hard to put down, but I urge you to resist reading it in one sitting. Both the prose and the author’s knowing excavation of one woman’s desires, compromises, strengths, and fears deserve closer attention. Like Andrea herself, this novel is beautiful and brutal, intelligent and funny, frank and sexy.”—Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, New York Times best-selling author of The Nest “Hilarious, courageous, and mesmerizing from page one, All Grown Up is a little gem that packs a devastating wallop. It’s that rare book I’m dying to give all my friends so we can discuss it deep into the night. I’m in awe of Jami Attenberg.” —Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette Who is Andrea Bern? When her therapist asks the question, Andrea knows the right things to say: she’s a designer, a friend, a daughter, a sister. But it’s what she leaves unsaid—she’s alone, a drinker, a former artist, a shrieker in bed, captain of the sinking ship that is her flesh—that feels the most true. Everyone around her seems to have an entirely different idea of what it means to be an adult: her best friend, Indigo, is getting married; her brother—who miraculously seems unscathed by their shared tumultuous childhood—and sister-in-law are having a hoped-for baby; and her friend Matthew continues to wholly devote himself to making dark paintings at the cost of being flat broke. But when Andrea’s niece finally arrives, born with a heartbreaking ailment, the Bern family is forced to reexamine what really matters. Will this drive them together or tear them apart? Told in gut-wrenchingly honest, mordantly comic vignettes, All Grown Up is a breathtaking display of Jami Attenberg’s power as a storyteller, a whip-smart examination of one woman’s life, lived entirely on her own terms. Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is the New York Timesbestselling author of The Nest,which has been translated into more than 25 languages and optioned for film by Amazon Studios with Sweeney writing the adaptation. She has an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. The Nest is her first novel.
This week we heard from Grey Jones, the teenage co-founder of Arts Not Parts, an initative using art to protest against bigotry. Co-founded along with Irregular Labs, artists such as Sia and Peaches have designed posters in support of transgender and non-binary youth using their bathroom of choice in schools. Find out more info about the project and download your own poster: www.artsnotparts.com Grey spoke to us in depth about how the initiative started, the current "bathroom bills" in the US, and how she navigates gender identity in an online space. We were also lucky enough to hear from Grey's unreleased EP "Clown In Residence" with her track "Boy Online". We took a look at news from a feminist perspective in Go Home, Everything Is Terrible. In good news... LCD Sound System’s Gavin Russom has come out as a trans woman in a recent interview with Pitchfork. After touring and recording with LCD Soundsystem last year, she took time off to focus on her own self-care, ultimately finding support in New York City’s large and diverse community of trans women. Polish first Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda swerved Trump’s handshake in Warsaw. Kesha released Praying, her first single in four years. In an essay published on Lenny Letter, Kesha speaks about surviving "feelings of severe hopelessness and depression" following her publically documented personal and legal battle with her ex-producer Dr Luke. The song was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney. Sound engineer Antonia Gauci helped track the song and Sydney all-female folk band All Our Exes Live In Texas feature on the song's backing vocals. Sydney-based Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander media professional Emily Nicol has curated Spotify’s Black Australia Playlist in celebration of Naidoc Week. And in bad news... Rob Kardashian shared images of his former partner Blac Chyna without her consent, which has some serious legal implications in regards to revenge porn laws in California, not to mention the effects of image-based abuse on victims. Sweden's biggest music festival Bravalla was cancelled for 2018 earlier this month after 27 sexual assaults were reported this year. Swedish comedian Emma Knyckare is organising a "man-free" music festival in response to the cancellation.
Ophira Edut is one half of The Astro Twins, a generation-defining pair of astrologers that have made the complex world of astrology accessible to millions. Ophi has been reading charts with her identical twin sister Tali for more than two decades, revealing the secrets of the zodiac to A-listers like Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Sting, and even Gloria Steinem. The twins’ astrological adventure all started when they were in NYC running their own alternative online magazine for women of all shapes, sizes, races, and sexualities. Publishing this ‘90’s-era Lenny Letter of sorts led them to start writing regular horoscopes, introducing them to the world of astrology that they love. Now the twins are undeniably a driving force in the astrological community, writing for dozens of major publications, launching a class on mindbodygreen.com, and most recently publishing their new book, “How To Get Along With Anyone: The AstroTwins’ Compatibility Book.” And with the recent surge of interest in astrology (which the twins obviously saw coming thanks to the stars), it’s clear that these gifted intuitives have more insight to share with us than ever. In this episode, we’re getting the scoop on all of those astrological phenomena that you need to know about—like what it really means when a planet goes retrograde and how to handle it (hello Mercury, we’re looking at you). Ophi also shares her insight on what to do if you’re in a relationship that’s astrologically incompatible, the best rituals to do under a full moon, and the real reason Hillary Clinton lost the election. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail sales@mindbodygreen.com. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here!
Jessamyn Stanley, acclaimed yoga teacher and body-acceptance advocate, joins us to discuss overcoming decades of dieting, healing from oppressive beauty standards, learning to accept her size and stop pursuing weight loss, the "yoga-industrial complex" vs. real yoga, her new book Every Body Yoga, being an Instagram sensation, navigating people's expectations of her as a yoga teacher, and lots more! Jessamyn Stanley is the author of Every Body Yoga, as well as an internationally recognized yoga teacher, award-winning Instagram star (@mynameisjessamyn), and body-positive advocate. She has been profiled by a wide range of media, including Good Morning America, TIME, New York, Glamour, Shape, People, Essence, Lenny Letter, and many others. When she’s not on the road teaching, she lives in Durham, North Carolina. Visit her online at JessamynStanley.com, on Twitter @JessNotJazz, and on Facebook at MyNameIsJessamyn. To learn more about Food Psych and get full show notes for this episode, go to christyharrison.com/foodpsych Join the Food Psych Facebook group to connect with fellow listeners around the world! Grab Christy's new free guide, 7 simple strategies for finding peace and freedom with food. You can also text "FOODPSYCH" to the phone number 44222 to get it on the go! Join Christy's intuitive eating online course at christyharrison.com/course
The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
The senior culture writer for Buzzfeed News and author of the debut novel Startup, Doree Shafrir, took a few minutes to talk with me about the early days at Gawker, her highly-anticipated fiction debut, and her tips for getting words onto the page. Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting. Start getting more from your site today! The veteran online journalist started out at the Philadelphia Weekly before taking a position at Gawker in 2006. She went on to work as an editor and staff writer for Rolling Stone, The New York Observer, and has contributed to publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Slate, The Awl, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, and WIRED. Her whip-smart debut novel is Startup, a satirical skewering of startup culture in New York City “…that proves there are some dilemmas that no app can solve.” Vanity Fair’s Nick Bilton, former tech and business columnist for the New York Times, said of the book, “I was hooked from the first page and found myself lost in a beautifully-written fiction that so succinctly echoes today’s bizarre reality.” Doree also co-hosts a podcast with husband and Nerdist alum, TV writer Matt Mira, titled “Matt and Doree’s Eggcellent Adventure,” described as an “…unintentionally hilarious journey through the world of infertility.” If you’re a fan of The Writer Files you can find us on Apple Podcasts, and please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews as soon as they’re published. In Part One of this file Doree Shafrir and I discuss: The writer’s journey from Gawker content creator to buzzworthy debut novelist How her user-generated Tumblr got her a book deal Why she doesn’t own her personal domain name How to research and create a believable antagonist The challenges she faced making the shift from journo to fictionist Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes If you’re ready to see for yourself why over 200,000 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — just go to Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress How Senior BuzzFeed Writer and Author of ‘Startup’ Doree Shafrir Writes: Part Two Doree-Shafrir.com Meet Startup Author Doree Shafrir – Tour Dates Startup: A Novel – Doree Shafrir www.PostCardsfromYoMomma.com Doree Shafrir is a culture writer for BuzzFeed Sex, Lies and Tech: How New Novel Skewers Startup Culture – Rolling Stone Episode 865: Nerdist Podcast – Doree Shafrir 24 Quotes That Will Inspire You To Write More – Doree Shafrir Doree Shafrir on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter The Transcript How Senior BuzzFeed Writer and Author of Startup Doree Shafrir Writes: Part One Voiceover: Rainmaker FM. Kelton Reid: Greetings, and welcome back to The Writer Files. I’m your host, Kelton Reid, here to take you on another tour of the habits, habitats and brains of renowned writers. This week, the senior culture writer for BuzzFeed News, and author of the debut novel, Startup, Doree Shafrir, took a few minutes to talk with me about the early days at Gawker, her highly anticipated fiction debut, and her tips for getting words onto the page. The veteran online journalist started out at the Philadelphia Weekly before taking a position at Gawker in 2006. She then went on to work as an editor and staff writer for Rolling Stone, The New York Observer, and has contributed to publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Slate, The Awl, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, and WIRED. Her whip smart debut novel is Startup, a satirical skewering of startup culture in New York City, that proves there are some dilemmas that no app can solve. Vanity Fair’s Nick Bilton, former tech and business columnist for the New York Times, said of the book, “I was hooked from the first page, and found myself lost in a beautifully written fiction that so succinctly echoes today’s bizarre reality.” Doree also cohosts a podcast with husband and Nerdist alum, TV writer Matt Mira, titled Matt and Doree’s Eggcellent Adventure, described as an unintentionally hilarious journey through the world of infertility. In part one of this file, Doree and I discuss the writer’s journey from Gawker content creator to buzzworthy debut novelist, how her user generated Tumblr got her a book deal, why she doesn’t own her own personal domain name, how to research and create a believable antagonist, and the challenges she faced making the shift from journo to fictionist. The Writer Files is brought to you by the all the new StudioPress Sites, a turnkey solution that combines the ease of an all-in-one website builder with the flexible power of WordPress. It’s perfect for authors, bloggers, podcasters, and affiliate marketers, as well as those selling physical products, digital downloads, and membership programs. If you’re ready to take your WordPress site to the next level, see for yourself why over 200,000 website owners trust StudioPress. Go to Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress now. That’s Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress. And if you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews as soon as they’re published. All right, we are rolling once again on The Writer Files podcast, with a special guest, Doree Shafrir. I hope I am pronouncing that correctly. Doree Shafrir: Yeah, you did a great job. Kelton Reid: Okay. Cool. I heard you on Nerdist, so I was kind of listening for how they were pronouncing it. Doree Shafrir: Excellent work. Kelton Reid: I did my homework there. Yeah, Doree is a writer for BuzzFeed, a veteran journalist, and has this debut novel coming out that’s just getting a ton of buzz, Startup: A Novel. When you say the title of the book, are you saying A Novel after you say Startup? Doree Shafrir: Yeah. My husband and I have a podcast, and it kind of started as a joke, because it sounds sort of pretentious to say, “Startup: A Novel.” But it is on the cover of the book. It says, “Startup,” and then it says, “A Novel,” underneath. So we just sort of started calling it that, and now we can’t stop. Kelton Reid: Fun, fun. Doree Shafrir: You don’t have to use the whole official title when you refer to it. Kelton Reid: We’ll call it Startup from here forward- Doree Shafrir: Sounds good. Kelton Reid: … just to listeners. As you mentioned, you are no stranger to the podcast universe. You have your own podcast with your husband, and that one is Matt and Doree’s Eggcellent Adventure. Not an Easter themed podcast. Doree Shafrir: No. Kelton Reid: You can give it a one sentence explanation. It is hilarious, by the way. Doree Shafrir: Oh, thank you. So my husband and I are doing IVF, and so the podcast is about our quest to try to make a baby using science. We’ve done almost 30 episodes now. Kelton Reid: Wow, wow. Yeah, it’s a lot of laughs for something so interesting and seemingly serious. Definitely, my wife and I were listening to it last night and chuckling quite a bit. Doree Shafrir: Oh, good. The Writer s Journey from Gawker Content Creator to Buzzworthy Debut Novelist Kelton Reid: So, I’ll point listeners to that one. I’ll link to it in the show notes. But we’re here to talk about writing, and you have been a journalist since quite a while, and you are presently a senior culture writer at BuzzFeed. Doree Shafrir: Yes. Kelton Reid: You’ve been in a lot of different places. It looks like you’ve worked for Rolling Stone. I know you were at Gawker, like way back in 2006, and done a lot of … You ve contributed to a lot of kind of high profile places. So, I’d love to start out by finding out where you came from, how you became this buzzy debut novelist. I know this is not your first book, either, but it’s your first piece of novel, fiction. So, take us back, for listeners who might not be familiar with your journey as a writer, how you got your start from way back in the college days to buzzy debut novelist. Doree Shafrir: Yeah, so I was an English and History major in college, and worked on the school paper. I did take a fiction writing class in college, but I never really thought of it as my thing. I was always much more interested in journalism and creative nonfiction. After college, my first job in journalism was at Philadelphia Weekly, an alt weekly in Philadelphia, where I was the arts and entertainment editor. I did that for a couple years, and then I went to Columbia Journalism School and got a Masters degree in Arts and Culture Journalism. Kind of continually on the journalism frontier. After journalism school, actually, I did a of couple internships. I did one internship while I was in journalism school, and then another internship the summer after at Slate. Then after that, I got a job at Gawker, and that was in 2006. Gawker was very edgy at the time, and it was a very high profile job in a certain segment of … A very specific slice of the world, it was a high profile job, that world being New York media. It was a good way for me to kind of get my name out in the New York media world. I think in that regard, it was very useful. It also taught me to write fast and not be precious about my writing, because I had to produce so much stuff when I was there. That’s probably why I was there for less than a year, because it was an extremely exhausting, draining job. From there I went to the New York Observer, and I was there for a couple years. Then, in 2009, when the recession really got going, they laid off about a third of the staff, and I got laid off. I started freelancing, and freelanced for a little while. Then in the fall of 2010, I got a job at RollingStone.com, editing. From there I went to BuzzFeed, and I’ve been at BuzzFeed since February of 2012. How Her User-Generated Tumblr Got Her a Book Deal Kelton Reid: Wow, wow. Cool. You had a Tumblr that became a book, and that one, also kind of a … What was it? Emails from people’s moms? Doree Shafrir: Yeah, it was emails and texts from people’s moms. We called it Postcards From Yo Momma, which was sort of a random name, but it blew up. This was in 2008, and it was really the beginning of the whole user generated content thing, and Tumblr had really just gotten popular, and a lot of people were using it for this kind of purpose. The Tumblr just got really popular, really fast, and we got a book deal almost immediately. Again, it was very much of the time. This was actually right before the recession happened, so our timing was really good in that regard. But it was around the time of I Can Haz Cheezburger? got really popular, and Stuff White People Like, and Passive Aggressive Notes, all of these blogs that were of a similar ilk. Then our book came out a year later. We didn’t really do that much writing for it. We wrote little intros to each chapter, my coauthor and I, Jessica Grose, who’s now the editor in chief of Lenny Letter. She and I arranged the chapters by theme, and we collected all these emails and texts on different themes and wrote little intros for each chapter. Why She Doesn t Own Her Personal Domain Name Kelton Reid: Nice, nice. Now I’m going to find it, because I want to look at those emails. It sounds funny. You’ve got this great website, Doree-Shafrir.com, which I’ll point to, which links out to a lot of your writing, of course the book. Doree Shafrir: I should say, it’s Doree-Shafrir.com. Kelton Reid: Oh, I’m sorry, yes. Doree Shafrir: I somehow lost my own URL, and now some domain squatter wants like $2700 to get it back. I was just like, “No.” Kelton Reid: Let s take the hyphen. Doree Shafrir: Yeah. Kelton Reid: Okay. Well, let’s talk about this fantastic debut novel, Startup. It’s been called one of the most anticipated books of 2017 by lots and lots of cool outlets. I want to sum up what the book is about, but maybe I will let you kind of give the … Doree Shafrir: Sure. The book is told from three different perspectives, one of which is a 28 year-old app founder named Mack McAllister. In a lot of a ways, he’s a prototypical tech bro. He started this mindfulness app. He starts the book seemingly on top of the world. He’s kind of a prince of the New York tech scene. But he also is in desperate need of new funding for his company, or else it is in danger of going under. He’s one of the characters. There’s another character named Katya Pasternack, she’s 24, and she is a reporter at website called Tech Scene, that is all about the tech world. She has just been told by her boss that the metric that she’s going to be evaluated on is changing from just straight traffic numbers to impact and engagement, and this is making her very anxious, and she feels like she needs to get a big story to keep her job. The third character is a 36 year-old woman named Sabrina, who is married to Katya’s boss, and who also happens to work for Mack. She is one of the oldest people in the office. Her boss is 26 years-old, and her boss has also been sleeping with Mack. Everyone’s lives are kind of intertwined in a way that very soon comes to a collision, of course. Kelton Reid: Yes, yes. It’s got this satirical bent. Kind of gets into the cult of optimism, I guess, and of course different privacy issues, and lots of stuff that we all kind of face on a daily basis, so it’s very timely. Nick Bilton, Vanity Fair, said he was hooked from the first page, and found himself lost in this beautifully written fiction that distinctly echoes today’s bizarre reality. In that nice Kirkus review it was called, “A page turning pleasure that packs a punch.” It’s a lot of fun. I just started reading it, and I am hooked, seriously. Doree Shafrir: Oh, good. Kelton Reid: It just sucked me right in. Doree Shafrir: Great. Kelton Reid: Of course, I’m kind of laughing to myself at the very, very well thought out and almost pointed examination of this world. So it’s pretty cool. You’re out there, you’re touring, meeting readers and doing that whole fun thing. So, congratulations on all the buzz and press that you’ve gotten so far. Doree Shafrir: Thank you so much. How to Research and Create a Believable Antagonist Kelton Reid: Yeah, yeah. I want to talk about process, and how you put this debut novel together. I know you’ve talked about it in some other places. When you started to work on it, how much time per day were you kind of … I know, this seems like second nature for you, this kind of world and talking about these folks, because you’ve written about quite a bit of culture and tech stuff. But, how did you research this New York startup world? Doree Shafrir: It is a world that I have worked in. It’s also a world that I have written about, so I was kind of familiar with it from a couple of different perspectives. When I started working on the book, I realized that the perspective that I was the least familiar with was the perspective of Mack, the company founder. It was really important to me to portray him, not just authentically, but also sympathetically, which was tough because he’s kind of a douchebag. But, if you turn him into too much of a caricature, then I felt like readers would be like, “Why am I even reading this? What is the point?” I really wanted to make him seem three-dimensional. So, I put on my reporter hat and reached out to a bunch of company founders who I knew, and had them reach out to people. Around a dozen people were very generous with their time, and just sat down with me, off the record, and I just kind of asked them questions about what their lives were like, and the issues that they face, the struggles that they face, what they felt people didn’t understand about being a company founder, what their day-to-day was like, all that kind of stuff. That was super helpful, in terms of just getting inside of Mack’s head. The Challenges She Faced Making the Shift from Journo to Fictionist Kelton Reid: That’s cool. All right. It seems like fiction was a switching of the brain for you to kind of do that. But it is so well wrought. How did you make that shift? Or, maybe, what spurred you to make that shift into fiction? Doree Shafrir: When I started working on the book … I’m now a full time writer at BuzzFeed News, but at the time I was editing and managing, I wasn’t really writing at all. I decided that I needed my own special project that was separate from BuzzFeed. I went into it with zero expectations. I said, “You know what? I’m going to write for a month. I’m going to write every day, and I’m just going to kind of see what happens. At the very least, it will just be like a good exercise and a way for me to sort of dislodge some of those things in my brain that haven’t really been used for a while.” But, as I started writing, I realized that I didn’t really want to write about myself. It seemed exciting to try to make something up. As I kept going, it not only felt exciting, it felt really liberating. I’ve been a journalist for like 13 years, and that life is … You have to pay such close attention to accuracy and the facts, and a story is what you discover. You can’t change the outcome of the story. You can’t change what people say, you can’t change what people think. You certainly can’t change what people have done. So, to kind of suddenly be in control of all of that, in a piece of my own writing, was extremely exciting to me and liberating. I was able to go on that for a while, and then I realized … After a little while, I realized that I was really enjoying creating characters and creating their worlds, but that the plot wasn’t really going anywhere. I was like, “Oh, yes, plot. The actual story. I must think about that.” I actually knew the broad strokes of the plot from pretty early on, but I realized that I didn’t exactly know how to get from point A to point B. That was really the challenge that took me quite some time to overcome. I rewrote the first 100 pages, probably, 20 times, because it just felt like I wasn’t getting it right, and that if the foundation, if the opening of the book wasn’t totally solid, than what came after was just going to be bad. Finding a Productive Environment in an Unusual Place Kelton Reid: Well, I think what I found interesting about the story of you writing it was that you had tried to go to somewhere quiet, off the beaten path, as writers often do, at like writer’s retreats, but that you found solace, and your most productive place was somewhere noisy? Doree Shafrir: Yeah. To me be more specific, I have this romantic notion of what a fiction writer does, and in my head that was, go to a remote cabin somewhere and isolate yourself for weeks, and just sort of revel in solitude. I tried that, and not only did I get super lonely, but I also, I was not that productive. I found the solitude to be overwhelming. When I was at the very end of my book, we’re talking maybe three weeks before it was due, and I thought, “Oh, crap. I need to finish this.” I should also say, from the very beginning, there was never a question in my mind about turning it in on time. I had no interest in asking for an extension or turning it in late. Maybe that’s the journalist in me. Kelton Reid: Oh, for sure. Doree Shafrir: It was due on June 1st, and I was like, “I am turning this in on June 1st no matter what.” I was talking to a friend of mine, another novelist, and I was like, “You know, I m thinking maybe I’ll go to Palm Springs for a few days. I live in Los Angeles, it’s not that far.” She was like, “What about Vegas?” I was like, “You know, that’s actually not the worst idea, because you can get a really nice hotel room for not that much money.” I’ve gone to Vegas a bunch, it’s not that far. So I was like, “Huh. Let me look into that.” Then it turned out that the week I was going to go, I got a huge room at the Cosmopolitan Hotel for really cheap. So I stayed there for four nights, and I was super productive. I think that the combination of having … The hotel room itself was super quiet. It was like a refuge. But then I was able to go downstairs and play blackjack and do all- Kelton Reid: Unplug. Doree Shafrir: Yeah, exactly. Also, be around people, which I had been missing at the other places. Kelton Reid: Right, right. Doree Shafrir: I had my most productive week there. Kelton Reid: That’s cool. That’s cool. All right, well, for a journalist who’s been working beats forever, and now a fictionist, have you ever run up against writer’s block? Is that something you believe in, or is it a myth? Doree Shafrir: Oh, I think writer’s block is totally real. Kelton Reid: Thanks so much for joining me for this half of a tour through the writer’s process. If you enjoy The Writer Files podcast, please subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating or a review on iTunes to help other writers find us. For more episodes, or to just leave a comment or a question, you can drop by WriterFiles.FM. And you can always chat with me on Twitter @KeltonReid. Cheers. Talk to you next week.
Laura and Alexa sit down with the founders of Lenny Letter to talk their transition from behind the paywall to working with brands, stories that bond us, perspective as innovation, and why they'd build Twitter themselves (@jack are you listening?!). Plus they dig into what’s happening in sports programming and the smart partnership between Bloomberg + Twitter.
Jessamyn Stanley tried to avoid falling in love with yoga several times in her life, but the universe had another plan for her. Now Jessamyn travels the world helping to shatter stereotypes of modern yoga (a physical exercise for thin, white women with money) by making yoga accessible for all bodies, all skill levels, and elevating yoga to a practice you do even when you’re not practicing. In her new book, Every Body Yoga, Jessamyn blends personal story with a simple home practice anyone can do with minimal funds. I love how she offers asanas you can practice depending on what’s going on in your life - like a series to do when you feel your emotions spiraling out of control. Beyond the conversation that yoga is indeed for every body, we also discussed how yoga helped her grow after being bullied in high school, helped her deal with depression, and heal her relationship with food and her body. Get a few sneak peak passages from my favorite parts of the book and then go out and get her book. It’s a gift to all bodies wanting to practice body kindness and experience the gentle, yet powerful impact of yoga. --- Get to know Jessamyn Jessamyn Stanley is the author of Every Body Yoga, as well as an internationally recognized yoga teacher, award-winning Instagram star, and body-positive advocate. She has been profiled by a wide range of media, including Good Morning America, TIME, New York, Glamour, Shape, People, Essence, Lenny Letter, and many others. When she’s not on the road teaching, she lives in Durham, North Carolina. Find Jessamyn online Jessamyn's Book - Every Body Yoga: http://jessamynstanley.com/book Website: http://jessamynstanley.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mynameisjessamyn Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessNotJazz Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mynameisjessamyn YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxJaVA4Tu6oQaHOppbt8qvA/featured --- You can subscribe to Body Kindness on iTunes and Stitcher. Enjoy the show? Please rate it on iTunes! - http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1073275062 Are you ready for Body Kindness? Get started today with my free e-course and on-demand digital training. Learn more - http://bit.ly/2k23nbT The New York Times Book Review calls Body Kindness “simple and true”. Publisher’s Weekly says it’s “a rousing guide to better health.” http://bit.ly/2k228t9 Watch my videos about why we need Body Kindness on YouTube. https://youtu.be/W7rATQpv5y8?list=PLQPvfnaYpPCUT9MOwHByVwN1f-bL2rn1V Did you enjoy the podcast? Please subscribe and rate it. Have a show idea or guest recommendation (even yourself!) E-mail podcast@bodykindnessbook.com to get in touch. Nothing in this podcast is meant to provide medical diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Individuals should consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice and answers to personal health questions.
I met Lena Dunham in 2014 when I interviewed her for an online magazine about her book and since then we’ve kept in touch. She has been a huge supportive influence, also having generously given me a quote for my book. She needs no introduction really but here it is. It is safe to say she is one of the most successful women in the biz right now. Lena Dunham is a Golden Globe winner, best known for writing, directing, producing and acting in Girls HBO. Her first big break was in 2010, when her film Tiny Furniture and won the South by Southwest Film Festival's best narrative feature award. In 2014 she released her book Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned which went on to be a New York Times Bestseller (no surprises there.) In 2015 she founded the online feminist Lenny Letter with her creative partner Jenni Konner. They have an advertising partnership with Hearst and they now have their own imprint at Penguin Random House. Her podcast Women of the Hour is also one of my favourites which you should definitely go and listen to. She is an outspoken advocate for Planned Parenthood and speaks honestly and openly about her struggles with endometriosis. It was an absolute treat getting to hang out with Lena on a fun sunny Friday morning in London in her hotel room. Love this episode. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
I'm Bored (Hat & Beard Press) Jess Rotter: I'm Bored is a Gary-Larson-meets-The Muppets variety show, a terrific trip composed of drawings filled with recurring characters--ranging from walruses to wizards to life warriors, who are all, like the rest of us, seeking their daily salvation. A wizard paddles on a lonely sea, his flag proclaiming "I'm trying." An ostrich hitchhikes in the desert, holding up a sign with her destination--"Bliss." A walrus wearing an AC/DC shirt looks mellowly at the viewer underneath the refrain "I'm bored." Part art book, part comic book compilation, and partly a skeptical but loving take on those Successories motivational posters for the office, this book (designed by the artist and with a foreword by Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte) features the whimsical, wonderfully whacked-out work of artist and illustrator Jess Rotter. Informed by a deep knowledge and love for the world of 1970s rock 'n' roll, the work of Jess Rotter was inspired by her father's vinyl covers and comic books growing up. "Part Peter Max, part Fritz the cat" (as Rotter described an early aesthetic influence), Rotter's illustrations have appeared on everything from public murals to album covers (to name a few: Best Coast, Linda Perhacs, Wooden Shjips, Country Funk Volumes I & II and This Record Belongs To), and on projects for clients including MTV, Converse, Target, Red Bull, Indiewire and Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter. Her T-shirt label, Rotter and Friends (launched in 2006) resulted in collaborative capsule collections for The Gap and Urban Outfitters, and official band merchandising for acts such as the Grateful Dead, Sly Stone, Rodriguez, Big Star, Kurt Vile and more.
This episode is one my favorite kind - one that touches on a wide range of topics with candor and curiosity. Andrea Pippins is an illustrator (you've seen some of her recent work in the Lenny Letter), designer, author, and generally amazing person. This conversation was rich with inspiring and funny stories and wisdom. Here's a sample of what we covered: -How Andrea got her start as a designer + illustrator -How Andrea faces her fears -The serendipitous story of Andrea's book deal -Andrea's natural hair journey and what inspired her book, I Love My Hair -the joys and complexities of splitting time between the United States and Sweden -work/life harmony -minimalism -much more Say hi to Andrea and tell her what you thought of this episode: @andreagpippins Show notes: bit.ly/BTB119
Girls showrunner, writer and director Jenni Konner (Girls, Lenny Letter) stops by the show to talk about the final season of Girls, being the "Mrs. Garrett of Girls," growing up a "fast kid" in Los Angeles, boarding school, her relationship with Lena Dunham, advice from Judd Apatow, working with her ex on Lenny Letter, protest marches, the power of speaking out, her career path, trolls, nudity, the nuances of power, what she was like in her 20s, having no sense of direction and so much more. We also did a round of Just Me Or Everyone. Check us out on Patreon: http://patreon.com/alisonrosen You probably need to buy a new ARIYNBF LOGO pin! This show is brought to you by Amazon (Clicking through the Amazon banner helps support the show. Thank you in advance for your support! Clear your cookies first and what the hell, make a bookmark!)
How does motherhood affect ambition? Guests Hana Schank and Elizabeth Wallace co-wrote "The Ambition Interviews" essay series for THE ATLANTIC and share their powerful findings with Atomic Moms. We talk about our desire to redefine ambition, the reason there are so few power couples, and why moms are juggling more than ever before. We also talk about Elizabeth’s two mom household and celebrate Hana's career move that was inspired by this project. Listen to our interview! Read these essays. And join our conversation on social media. About Our Guests: ELIZABETH WALLACE is a freelance writer who has been published in Lenny Letter, Domino, Parenting, and Redbook, and a former editor at Vogue, Nylon, Seventeen, Us Weekly, and Lucky. Elizabeth is a Brooklyn-based mother of two kids and avid practitioner of yoga, lunch making, and handcrafted cocktails. elizabethannwallace.wordpress.com. HANA SCHANK is a user experience consultant, author and essayist. Her writing appears frequently in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic and in other national publications and around the web. She is the author of two memoirs. Hana divides her time between Washington DC and Brooklyn, NY, where she lives with her family. www.hanaschank.me Please share this podcast with your friends! And don't forget to subscribe on iTunes.com/AtomicMoms. AtomicMoms.com Twitter/Instagram: @atomicmoms and Facebook: "Atomic Moms" page Atomic Moms is a modern parenting podcast celebrating the joys and complexities of caring for our children and ourselves. Host Ellie Knaus celebrates and commiserates with New York Times best-selling authors, acclaimed parenting experts, and bighearted moms all over the world. With 100+ episodes available for free on iTunes, we have been creating positive and empowering content for mothers since 2014.
On this weeks Pop Culture Confidential: Jenni Konner, executive producer, writer and co-showrunner of HBO's "Girls", alongside show creator and star Lena Dunham. Jenni Konner started her career as a writer on Judd Apatow’s Undeclared and went on to become co-exec producer, with Apatow, on the groundbreaking series Girls. We talk about the cultural impact of the series, her close collaboration and friendship with Lena Dunham, their new feminist newsletter The Lenny Letter and why season six of Girls will be it’s last! And Oscar Sunday is finally here! The great Kyle Buchanan, senior editor of New York Magazine/Vulture and Christina talk through what is the most confusing Oscar year ever! Is it three way race for Best Picture between The Revenant, Spotlight and The Big Short? Leo DiCaprio has been doing excellent campaign work, they say, what does that mean? All the last pro tips you will need to win your Oscar pool!
Melissa Broder is the author of four poetry collections. She is also the author of the new essay collection, SO SAD TODAY (Scribe 2016). The book is of the same name as the extremely popular account @sosadtoday which has amassed nearly 400,000 followers to date, including celebrity fans such as Sky Ferreira, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry. In May 2015 Broder went public as the creator of the account in Rolling Stone magazine (so rock and roll). Her book, So Sad Today speaks about her former addiction to drugs and alcohol, her eating disorders, love/relationships and therapy. Melissa is also a part time astrologer and creates the brilliant horoscopes for Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner’s Lenny Letter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Our Puerto Rican Mash-Up Laia Garcia, deputy editor of Lenny Letter, loves Seinfeld, avocados, and the melting pot that is America, not necessarily in that order. Say no kimonos! Say yes to sofrito! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Our Puerto Rican Mash-Up Laia Garcia, deputy editor of Lenny Letter, loves Seinfeld, avocados, and the melting pot that is America, not necessarily in that order. Say no kimonos! Say yes to sofrito! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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