Podcasts about Metropolitan Opera

What if everything you thought about consistency was wrong? In this session, Shirin Eskandani unravels the hidden pressures and privileges behind “showing up”—especially for moms. Discover why self-compassion, not perfection, is the real key to growth, and how redefining consistency can transform your daily life. This session will help you challenge old beliefs and find a kinder, more sustainable way to create consistency in the areas that matter most for you. Get the Basic Pass to watch and/or read each speaker session for free through Sunday, October 12th. Upgrade to the All-Access Pass for ad-free listening on a private podcast feed, + lifetime access to all content visual, audio, and written.    FREEBIE for all: Reclamation: 7 Day Guided Journal   Shirin Eskandani is a coach, writer and public speaker who has been featured as a wellness expert on the Today Show, The New York Times, The Doctors and Shape magazine. Prior to building her successful coaching business she was an award winning opera singer, performing at Carnegie Hall and The Metropolitan Opera. FOLLOW ON IG WEBSITE COACHING CERTIFICATION WEBSITE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Nicola Shulman is entranced by the life of a naturalist; and Larry Wolff enjoys a night at the opera - with added superheroes.'A year with Gilbert White: The first great nature writer', by Jenny Uglow'The amazing adventures of Kavalier & Clay', by Mason Bates and Gene Scheer, based on the book by Michael Chabon, Metropolitan Opera, New York, until October 11Produced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fortune hunter returns with his heiress bride from their honeymoon to collect her inheritance. Has he finally secured his ultimate prize?November 1933, as birthday girl Princes Barbara Hutton Mdivani turns 21, she seems to have it all a prince for a husband and a large fortune all her own and now is a fashion and pop culture icon. But will it be enough? What else could an heiress want? Other people and subjects include:Prince Alexis Mdivani, Princess Barbara Hutton Mdivani, Doris Duke, Cobina Wright, Frankly Hutton, Irene Hutton, “Jeem” James Jimmy Donahue, Aunt Jessie Woolworth Donahue, Woolworth “Woolie” Donahue, Prince Serge Mdivani, Prince David Mdivani, Mary McCormic – formerly Princess Mdivani, “Alfy” Alfred Vanderbilt, Jr., Dorothy “Dottie” Fell, Pola Negri, Elsa Maxwell, James Blakeley, Frank Woolworth, Edna Woolworth Hutton, Prince David – Prince of Wales – future King Edward VIII – future Duke of Windsor, British King George V, British Queen Mary, Mahatma Gandhi, William Waldorf Astor, Joan Crawford, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., magician & mind reader Dunninger, Martin Van Buren Morris, Bobby La Branche, Hank Topping, M. Dorland “Larry” Doyles, Jane Bride, John Watts Kearney, John Carney, Gordon Sayre, Sam Piza, Mae West, Irving Berlin, Moss Hart, Clifton Webb, Marilyn Miller, Dorothy Dilley, Oscar Shaw, Anne Harding, Harry Bannister, “As Thousands Cheer” musical revue, “Hot & Bothered” play, newsworthy, headlines, Great Scavenger Hunt, farewell party, birthday party, birthday cake, simple dinner, not exceptional, Hungarian orchestra, gypsy music, Chinese proverbs, fashion, jewelry, Prohibition, champagne, wine, E.F. Hutton financial firm, press, police, crowds, fanfare, New York City mayoral race, Communist or Socialist candidate, Fifth Avenue Hutton townhome, ocean liner Bremen, Music Box, Broadway, Central Park Casino, La Rue restaurant, Waldorf-Astoria hotel, Harlem Cotton Club, Georgian delegation, Soviet State of Georgia, Communist Russia, Paris, New York City, four Barbara Hutton biographies, two unnamed sources, Barbara Hutton by Dean Jennings, Million Dollar Baby by Philip Van Rensselaer Poor Little Rich Girl by David Heymann, In Search of A Prince by Mona Eldridge, Noel Coward song Poor Little Rich Girl, tv movie, Farrah Fawcett, plagiarism lawsuit, Ethel Waters, “Supper Time” song, lynching, President Herbert Hoover, White House, Grandpa Rockefeller, Radio City Music Hall, British royals, Metropolitan Opera, Al Jolson, Walt Disney, D.W. Griffith, Ina Claire, Marie Dressler, Louis Kaufman, Jr., “Kultur” play, Hitler, Nazi, “Fan Dancer” play, burlesque, Sally Rand, fan dancing, clubs, Harlem, Greenwich Village, overlaps and connections, missing panties - skanties, autographed sock, gossip, attention, big birthdays, perverted male gaze, pervy attention, female child stars turning 18, Olsen twins – Mary-Kate and Ashley, Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown, appearance, rapid aging, reduced makeup Pamela Anderson, plastic surgery, Jennifer Anniston, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, weight loss, Fen-Phen, Atkins, gastric bypass surgery, Ozempic, semiglutide, GLP-1, rapid weight loss, pressure and obsession to be thin, too thin, silhouette, slender silhouette in Flapper & Great Depression, curvy figure in World War II, Marilyn Monroe, stress, Donna & Medrano…--Extra Notes / Call to Action:Past Perfect Vintage Musichttps://www.pastperfect.com/radio/www.pastperfect.comThe Words & Music of Irving Berlin, a volume set with over 22 songs.https://www.pastperfect.com/product/the-words-and-music-of-irving-berlin-from-the-30s-40s/3 volume collection The Words & Music Multibuy with George Gershwin, Noel Coward, and Irving Berlin.https://www.pastperfect.com/product/words-music-series-cole-porter-irving-berlin-noel-coward-multibuy/Paris and New York and Fresedo by Jose Manuel Araquehttps://www.fresedo.de/2023/06/paris-and-new-york-before-fresedo.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawM0g-5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFxZ3F0eGpxSlhia0dJbDJmAR4drAk5RNvb7EmEToxQQvN7O3PNvb9rcV-IKI0LRxDspAzpsQ4NCU_cdbc46Q_aem_xbCrE49oWBqxv58TIuQmnwChapter 19: Fresedo in Parishttps://www.fresedo.de/2021/04/fresedo-en-paris.html?m=1&fbclid=IwY2xjawM0g85leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFxZ3F0eGpxSlhia0dJbDJmAR76oKJOS1DMAMBvlQsC9Qwslf8PzXJHXn-QueJLlMU6yz3qwaNW_1Moit7Ltw_aem_bnxS5maobk-N_cRuNbAhGAShare, like, subscribe --Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance BandsSection 1 Music: This Is The Missus by Sidney Kyte & His Piccadilly Hotel Band, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30sSection 2 Music: Shout for Happiness by Ray Noble & His Orchestra, Album The Great British Dance BandsSection 3 Music: Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue by The Savoy Orpheans, Album Fascinating Rhythm – Great Hits of the 20sEnd Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands--https://asthemoneyburns.com/X / TW / IG – @asthemoneyburnsX / Twitter – https://x.com/asthemoneyburnsInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/asthemoneyburns/Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/asthemoneyburns/

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Zilla Jones about her debut novel, The World So Wide (Cormorant Books, 2025). Felicity Alexander should be charming audiences at New York's Metropolitan Opera, not under house arrest in Grenada in October 1983, as rumours swirl that United States troops are preparing to invade.Born and raised in Winnipeg, the daughter of a Grenadian woman and an absent white father, Felicity is blessed with enviable beauty and an extraordinary singing voice. Arriving in London to study opera in 1965, she finds early success and joy on stage, as well as a sense of belonging in the arms of the charming Claude Buckingham. Members of the West Indian Students Association, Claude and his friends are law students and activists. They plan to return to Grenada to overthrow the corrupt dictator, “Uncle” Percy Tibbs. Felicity and Claude's intense affair cannot survive their diverging destinies. Claude brings revolution to Grenada and becomes a minister in the new Black Pearls of Freedom government; Felicity devotes herself to music, conquering the racism and sexism of the opera world to rise to international stardom. The brighter she shines, the more she struggles to find her place and purpose in life.Her career in ascendance, Felicity accepts an invitation to perform in Grenada. The red sky of revolution calls to her almost as much as the hope of Claude's embrace. But their reunion is interrupted by a coup. Surrounded by soldiers and guns, Felicity's voice is born anew. Zilla Jones is an African-Canadian anti-racist educator, lawyer, mother, and singer of Caribbean, Chinese, and European heritage, writing on Treaty 1 territory (Winnipeg). She was born in the UK and now lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a winner of the Journey Prize, a finalist for The Writers' Trust Bronwen Wallace Emerging Writers Award, and a finalist for the CBC Short Story Prize. Her writing has appeared in many literary journals including Event Magazine, The Fiddlehead, Prairie Fire, The Malahat Review, and Bayou Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Zilla Jones about her debut novel, The World So Wide (Cormorant Books, 2025). Felicity Alexander should be charming audiences at New York's Metropolitan Opera, not under house arrest in Grenada in October 1983, as rumours swirl that United States troops are preparing to invade.Born and raised in Winnipeg, the daughter of a Grenadian woman and an absent white father, Felicity is blessed with enviable beauty and an extraordinary singing voice. Arriving in London to study opera in 1965, she finds early success and joy on stage, as well as a sense of belonging in the arms of the charming Claude Buckingham. Members of the West Indian Students Association, Claude and his friends are law students and activists. They plan to return to Grenada to overthrow the corrupt dictator, “Uncle” Percy Tibbs. Felicity and Claude's intense affair cannot survive their diverging destinies. Claude brings revolution to Grenada and becomes a minister in the new Black Pearls of Freedom government; Felicity devotes herself to music, conquering the racism and sexism of the opera world to rise to international stardom. The brighter she shines, the more she struggles to find her place and purpose in life.Her career in ascendance, Felicity accepts an invitation to perform in Grenada. The red sky of revolution calls to her almost as much as the hope of Claude's embrace. But their reunion is interrupted by a coup. Surrounded by soldiers and guns, Felicity's voice is born anew. Zilla Jones is an African-Canadian anti-racist educator, lawyer, mother, and singer of Caribbean, Chinese, and European heritage, writing on Treaty 1 territory (Winnipeg). She was born in the UK and now lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a winner of the Journey Prize, a finalist for The Writers' Trust Bronwen Wallace Emerging Writers Award, and a finalist for the CBC Short Story Prize. Her writing has appeared in many literary journals including Event Magazine, The Fiddlehead, Prairie Fire, The Malahat Review, and Bayou Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Robert Marx is president of The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, one ofNew York City's leading arts philanthropies.  Since 1995, Rob has appeared on the Metropolitan Opera's live Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts as an intermission host, commentator and Opera Quiz panelist.  His many broadcast interview subjects have included the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, stage director Robert Wilson, and former Met general manager Joseph Volpe.  From 1989-99 he was executive director of Lincoln Center's New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.   Among many new initiatives there, he created the Library's first touring program, sending exhibitions about choreographers Alvin Ailey and George Balanchine, director Harold Prince, and stage designer Ming Cho Lee across America and to Asia.  Major collection acquisitions included the personal archives of choreographer Jerome Robbins, impresario Lincoln Kirstein, composer John Cage, stage designer Boris Aronson, and producer Joseph Papp.   From 1987-1989 Rob was director of the National Endowment for the Arts Theatre Program, and was director of the New York State Council on the Arts Theatre Program from 1976-1983.

Therese Curatolo is a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, globally acclaimed vocalist that lights up any room with her effervescent energy, charisma and retro vibe. Therese prides herself on her honest approach to songwriting, and her music has been described as retro Americana reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac and Paul MCartney. She has lent her voice to several established groups, such as Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Scary Pockets, and Cirque du Soleil, touring worldwide and amassing over 4,000,000 Spotify streams and 15,000,000 views on YouTube. Fans of her work with Scary Pockets and Postmodern Jukebox have called her a “singing pogo stick,” “a powerhouse” and a “vocal chameleon.” Therese has established herself as an artist on the rise singing alongside soul legends Stevie Wonder and Martha Reeves. Through the years, her versatile vocal power has taken her from the Metropolitan Opera to the big screen and iconic venues, like The Hollywood Bowl. Working with artists like Benson Boone & Brian May at ‘25 Coachella, Darren Criss & Niall Horan. Therese's next venture is releasing her body of work - she recently released her first EP “Ode To A Clown” in 2024 and is following it up with new singles: “Daniel” & her most recent, “Bsd Dreams” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Operaspymaster you may ask? Read on and listen to this episode. In this powerful and multifaceted episode of Unstoppable Mindset, we welcome Kay Sparling, former opera singer, PTSD survivor, and now debut novelist—as she shares her incredible life journey from international stages to the shadowy world of espionage fiction. Kay talks about the creation of her first novel, Mission Thaw, a gripping spy thriller based on her own real-life experiences volunteering with refugees in post-Cold War Europe. Kay and Michael discuss the inspiration behind her protagonist, CIA agent Caitlin Stewart, and how real-world trauma and service led Kay to use fiction as both a vehicle for healing and a call to action on the modern crisis of human trafficking. This is a conversation that transcends genres—music, espionage, activism, and resilience—all converging through the unstoppable spirit of a woman who refuses to stay silent. About the Guest: Kay Sparling was raised in the Midwest. At the age of seven, she began her professional singing career as Gretl in “The Sound of Music” and she continued to perform through high school. After graduation Kay attended University of Kansas and earned a BME in music education and a minor in Vocal Performance. She then attended graduate school in opera voice performance for one year at UMKC Conservatory of Music. She was awarded a grant to finish my graduate studies in Vienna, Austria. From there she won an apprenticeship at the Vienna State Opera. After moving to NYC to complete her second apprenticeship, Kay lived in Germany, Austria, and Italy for many years. In 1999 Kay returned to NYC and continued singing opera and became a cantor for the NYC diocese. After 9/11, she served as a cantor at many of the funeral and memorial masses for the fallen first responders. In 2003, Kay moved from NYC to the upper Midwest and started a conservatory of Music and Theatre where her voice students have been awarded numerous prestigious scholarships and won many competitions. In 2020, the pandemic shut down her conservatory, so she began training to be a legal assistant and now works in workers compensation. Back in 2013, Kay had started writing a journal as a PTSD treatment. She was encouraged to extend the material into a novel. After much training and several drafts, Mission Thaw was published in 2024. Kay is currently writing the second book in the Kaitlyn Stewart Spy Thriller Series. Ways to connect with Kay: Website: https://www.kaysparlingbooks.com X: https://x.com/MissionThaw/missionthaw/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/missionthaw.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/505674375416879 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-sparling-8516b638/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missionthaw/ Litsy: https://www.litsy.com/web/user/Mission%20Thaw About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:16 Well, hi everyone. Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. I'm your host, Mike hingson, and our guest today is a very fascinating individual. I was just teasing her a little bit about her email address, which is operaspy master@gmail.com I'm telling you, don't cross her. That's all I gotta say. Anyway, we'll, we'll get into all of that. But I really am glad that she is with us. Kay Sparling is a fascinating woman who's had an interesting career. She's written, she's done a number of things. She's used to be an opera, gosh, all sorts of stuff. So anyway, we'll get to all of it and we'll talk about it. I don't want to give it all away. Where would the fun in that be? Kay, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Kay Sparling ** 02:11 Well, thank you. I'm glad to be here. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:13 we're glad you're here. You're from up in Wisconsin. We were going to do this a couple of weeks ago, but you had all the storms, and it stole your internet and your power away, didn't   Kay Sparling ** 02:23 it? It sure did. Yeah, that was a terrible storm we had.   Michael Hingson ** 02:28 Yeah, that's kind of no fun. I remember years ago, I was talking to somebody on the phone. We were doing a sales call, and he said, I might not be able to stay on the phone because we're having a really serious storm, and he said it is possible that the lightning could hit the phone lines, and if it does, it could come in the house. And we talked for a few minutes, and then he said, I'm going to have to hang up, because I just felt a small shock, because the lightning obviously hit the phone line, so we'll have to talk later. And and he was gone. And we did talk later, though he was okay, but still, wow, yeah, there's a lot of crazy weather going on, isn't there? And we were just talking about the, we were just talking about the Canadian wildfires. They're No fun.   Kay Sparling ** 03:15 No, no. Just everywhere is having crazy weather.   Michael Hingson ** 03:20 Well, tell us a little bit about you growing up and all that sort of stuff, and telling me about the the early K   Kay Sparling ** 03:32 Well, growing up, I grew up in a farm community in the in the central Midwest, just you know, right in the middle of the bread basket, you might say, not near where you are now. No no, no further south and in very much agriculture time, I mean skipping ahead. I remember talking to a famous opera conductor when I was an apprentice, and I made some reference, and he goes, Well, how would you know that? And I said, because I grew up on a farm. And he went, Oh, get out here. Nobody makes it, you know, to a major European opera house from a farm. And I went, Well, I did. And later, I asked my mom to send me a picture, because we had had an aerial view taken of our homestead, and it was obvious for miles, all the way around the house and the barn and all, it was just corn fields and soybeans. You know what they showed   Michael Hingson ** 04:40 Illinois, Illinois, and so you showed it to him, yeah,   Kay Sparling ** 04:44 I showed it to him, and he was like, well, doggone, you're not lying. Like, No, I wasn't kidding you. I really did.   Michael Hingson ** 04:51 It shows how good I really am. See how far I progressed.   Kay Sparling ** 04:55 Well, you know, I was one of these kids. I. At five years old, I my parents took me to see sound and music at the theater, and during the intermission. Now I'm five years old, it's pretty late for me, right? But when we're in the concession stand, I tug at my mom's skirt, and I say, Mom, that's what I want to do. And she looks at me kind of funny, and she's kind of funny, and she's kind of confused. Well, what do you want to do work in a theater? You know, a movie theater? No, no, I want to do what those kids are doing on that on the movie screen. And she was like, Well, honey, you know, that's that's really hard to get somewhere like that. So that was when I was five. And then when I was seven, she just, you know, the all the school and the church were telling her, this kid's got a great voice, and they kept giving me solos and stuff. And so when I was seven, she put me in the Sangamon County Fair Little Miss competition. And of course, my talent was singing, so I just sang away. I really can't remember what I sang, but afterwards, a fellow came up to my parents and introduced himself, and he said that he was there, he had family, not, you know, in the area, and that he had grown up there, but since then, he he was in St Louis, and he said, we are, I'm a scout, and I'm looking, I'm an entertainment Scout, and I'm actually looking for, you know, the von trop children. We're going to do a big production, and we'd love to audition your daughter. Well, we were about, think it was an hour and a half away from St Louis, so my parents are like, wow, that'd be quite a commitment. But long story short, I did it, and that started my professional career. I was the youngest Bon Troy. You know, over cradle, yeah. And so it just went from there. And, you know, it was all Broadway, of course, and I did a lot of church singing, you know, it got to be by the time I was, you know, in high school, people were hiring me for weddings, funerals, all that kind of thing. And so I was a Broadway and sacred singer. Went to college. My parents said, you can't depend on a vocal performance degree. What if things don't work out? You have to have something fall back. So I went into vocal music ed at a very, very good school for that, and also music therapy, and, you know, continue being in their shows. And when I when I graduated, continued the Broadway, and one night I was also singing a little bit of jazz in Kansas City, where I was living, someone approached me. She was a voice teacher at the conservatory there, and that conservatory had an apprenticeship with the Kansas City Lyric Opera. And she said I knew you was an undergrad. My husband works where you, where you went to school, and I have been watching you for a long time. And I wish you quit this nonsense of singing Broadway and jazz and rock and everything and get serious, you know, and try opera. So I thought she was crazy to bring that up, but it wasn't the first time it had been brought up. So I have been teaching for a year, and at the end of that school year, I announced everyone I was going to graduate school and I was going to study opera. And so   Michael Hingson ** 08:55 what were you teaching?   Kay Sparling ** 08:57 I was teaching high school choir, okay, at a very big high school, very, very good choir department.   Michael Hingson ** 09:03 Now, by the way, after doing Gretel, did you ever have any other parts as you grew older in Sound of Music?   Kay Sparling ** 09:11 Okay, that's a very cool question. I am one of the few people that I know that can say I have sang every major role in Sound of Music sometime in my life. Ah, okay, because it was so popular when I was Oh, yeah. And as I would grow older, well now you're going to sing, you know, you just kept graduating up. And then pretty soon I sang quite a few Marias. And then after I was an opera singer. During covid, I was asked to sing Mother Superior. Mother Superior. Yeah, literally, have sung, you know, in a decades long career, I've sung every role in Sound of Music.   Michael Hingson ** 09:56 Cool. Well, that's great.   10:00 Yeah, so, so, anyway, so   Michael Hingson ** 10:02 you said that you were going to go study opera,   Kay Sparling ** 10:07 and I did a graduate school, and then I got the chance to get an international grant over to Europe, and so I decided to not finish my masters at that time and go over there and finish it, and most of all, importantly, do my first apprenticeship in Europe. And so I thought that was a great opportunity. They were willing. They were going to willing to pay for everything. And I said I would be a fool to turn this down. Yeah, so off I went, and that's kind of the rest of the story. You know, got a lot of great training, left Europe for a while, moved to New York City, trained best coaches and teachers in the world at the Metropolitan Opera and then, you know, launch my career.   Michael Hingson ** 11:04 So you Wow, you, you've done a number of things, of course, going to Europe and being in Vienna and places like that. Certainly you were in the the right place.   Kay Sparling ** 11:16 Yes, yes, definitely. You know, at that time in the in the middle 80s, United States was we had some great opera houses Iran, but we had very few. And it just wasn't the culture that it was in Europe, in Europe. And so, yes, there was a lot more opportunity there, because there was such a culture established there already.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 So you went off and you did Europe and saying opera, what were you a soprano? Or what were you that sounds like a way a little high for your voice?   Kay Sparling ** 11:59 Well, you have to remember, I'm a senior citizen now. So this is the way it worked for me, because we're talking decades from the age 27 and I quit singing at 63 so that's a very long time to sing opera. So I started out, as you know, there is a voice kind of category, and each one of those, we use a German word for that. It's called Foch, F, A, C, H, and you know, that is determined by the kind of vocal cords you have, and the kind of training and the literature you're singing, and hopefully that all meshes together if you have good coaches and a good agent and such. And I literally have seen so many different Fox lyric, lyric mezzo, then to, very shortly, lyric soprano, and then for a long time, spinto soprano, which would be the Puccini and a lot of them really popular things. And then I was, I felt I was quite lucky that my voice did have the strength and did mature into a Verdi soprano, which is a dramatic soprano, not many of those around. And so that was, that was an endeavor, but at the same time, that was a leg up. And so most of the time in my career, I sang the bigger Puccini, like, let's say Tosca, and I sang a lot of Verdi. So I was an Italian opera singer. I mostly sang in Italian, not to say that I didn't sing in German or French, but I did very little in comparison to the   Michael Hingson ** 13:56 Italian Well, there's a lot of good Italian opera out there, although mostly I don't understand it, but I don't speak Italian well.   Kay Sparling ** 14:07 The great thing about most houses now is, you know, you can just look at the back of the seat in front of you, and there's the translation, you know, yeah, that   Michael Hingson ** 14:18 doesn't work for me. Being blind, that doesn't work for you. Yeah, that's okay, though, but I like the music, yeah. So how long ago did you quit singing?   Kay Sparling ** 14:32 Um, just about, well, under, just a little under three years ago, okay?   Michael Hingson ** 14:38 And why did you quit? This was the right time,   Kay Sparling ** 14:42 senses or what I had a circumstance, I had to have throat surgery. Now it wasn't on my vocal cords, but it was on my thyroid, and unfortunately, the vocal cord nerve. They had to take out some Cyst On. My right thyroid, and then remove it too. And unfortunately, my vocal cords were damaged at that time, I would have probably be singing still now some you know, I mean, because dramatic sopranos just can go on and on and on. One of my mentors was Birgit Nielsen, famous singer from Sweden, and she was in my grandmother's generation, but she didn't, I went to work with her, and she demonstrated at 77 she could still pop out of high C. And I believe, I believe I would have been able to do that too, but you know, circumstances, you know, changed, but that's okay. Yeah, I had sung a long time, and at least I can speak. So I'm just very happy about that.   Michael Hingson ** 15:51 So when you did quit singing, what did you decide to go do? Or, or, How did, how did you progress from there?   Kay Sparling ** 16:01 Well, I had already made a transition where I had come in 2003 to the Midwest. I came back from New York City, where I lived many, many years, and I started a conservatory of music and acting, and then that kind of grew into a whole conservatory of music. So I was also a part time professor here in Wisconsin, and I taught voice, you know, one on one vocal lessons, so high school and college and graduate school, and so I had this huge studio. So when that happened, I wasn't getting to sing a whole lot, because I was much more focused on my students singing me at that point, especially the older ones, professional ones, and so, you know, I just kept teaching and and then I had started this book that I'm promoting now, and so that gave me more time to get that book finished   Michael Hingson ** 17:10 and published. What's the name of the book?   Kay Sparling ** 17:13 The book is called Mission, thaw.   Michael Hingson ** 17:16 Ah, okay, and what is it about   Kay Sparling ** 17:22 mission thaw is feminist spy thriller set at the very end of the Cold War in the late 80s, and the main protagonist is Caitlin Stewart, who it who has went over there to be an opera singer, and soon after she arrives, is intensely recruited by the CIA. They have a mission. They really, really need a prima donna Mozart soprano, which is what Caitlin was, and she had won a lot of competitions and won a grant to go over there, and so they had been vetting her in graduate school in the United States. And soon as she came to Europe, they they recruited her within a couple weeks of her being there, and she, of course, is totally blindsided by that. When they approach her, she had she she recognized that things were not exactly the way they should be, that people were following her, and she was trying to figure out who, are these people and why are they following me everywhere? Well, it ends up being young CIA agents, and so when the head chief and his, you know, the second chief, approach her, you know, she's not real happy, because she's already felt violated, like her privacy has been violated, and so she wasn't really too wonderful of listening to them and their needs. And so they just sort of apprehend her and and throw her in a car, in a tinted window Mercedes, and off they go to a park to talk to her, right? And so it's all like crazy movie to Caitlin. It's like, what is going on here? And, you know, she can tell they're all Americans, and they have dark suits on, even though it's very, very hot, and dark glasses, you know? So everything is just like a movie. And so when they approach her and tell her about what they need her to do, you know, and this would be in addition to the apprentice she is doing that, you know, she just gets up and says, I'm sorry I didn't come over and be in cloak and dagger. A, you know, ring, I'm getting out of here. And as she's walking away, the chief says, Well, what if you could help bring down the Berlin Wall? Well, now that stops her in her tracks, and she turns around. She goes, What are you kidding? I'm just a, you know, an opera apprentice from the Midwest grew up on a farm. What am I gonna do? Hit a high C and knock it down. I mean, what are you talking about?   Michael Hingson ** 20:28 Hey, Joshua, brought down the wealth of Jericho, after all. Well, yeah, some   Kay Sparling ** 20:34 later, someone tells her that, actually, but, but anyway, they say, well, sit down and we'll explain what we need you to do. And so the the initial job that Caitlin accepts and the CIA to be trained to do is what they call a high profile information gap. She has a wonderful personality. She's really pretty. She's very fashionable, so she can run with the jet set. And usually the jet set in Europe, the opera jet set is also where all the heads of states hang out, too. And at that time, the the Prime Minister was pretty much banking the Vienna State Opera where she was apprenticing. So he ends up being along with many other Western Austrian businessmen in a cartel of human trafficking. Who they are trafficking are all the the different citizens of the countries that USSR let go. You know, when you know just got to be too much. Remember how, oh yeah, we're going to let you go. Okay? And then they would just pull out. And there was no infrastructure. There was nothing. And these poor people didn't have jobs, they didn't have electricity. The Russian mafia was running in there trying to take, you know, take over. It was, it was chaos. And so these poor people were just packing up what they could to carry, and literally, sometimes walking or maybe taking a train into the first Western European country they could get to. And for a lot of them, just because the geographical area that was Austria. And so basically, the Austrians did not want these people, and they were being very unwelcoming and arresting a lot of them, and there was a lot of lot of bad behavior towards these refugees. And so the Catholic church, the Catholic Social Services, the Mennonite Relief Fund, the the UN and the Red Cross started building just tent after tent after tent on the edge of town for these people to stay at. And so the businessmen decide, well, we can traffic these people that have nothing over to the East Germans, who will promise them everything, but will give them nothing. But, you know, death camps, basically, just like in World War Two. So you have work camps, you have factories. They they don't feed these people correctly. They don't they don't give them anything that they promise to them in in the camps. And they say, Okay, be on this train at this time, this night. And then they stop somewhere in between Vienna and East Germany, in a very small train station in the middle of the Alps. And they have these large, you know, basic slave options. And unfortunately, the children in the older people get sent back to the camp because they don't need them or want them. So all the children get displaced from their families, as well as the senior citizens or anyone with a disability. And then, you know, the men and the women that can work are broken up as well, and they're sent to these, you know, they're bought by these owners of these factories and farms, and the beautiful women, of course, are sold to either an individual that's there in East German that just wants to have a sex aid, pretty much. Or even worse, they could be sold to an underground East Berlin men's club. And so terrible, terrible things happen to the women in particular, and the more that Caitlin learns. As she's being trained about what's happening, and she interviews a lot of these women, and she sees the results of what's happened, it, it, it really strengthens her and gives her courage. And that's a good thing, because as time goes through the mission, she ends up having to be much, much more than just a high profile social, you know, information gather. She ends up being a combat agent and so, but that that's in the mission as you read, that that happens gradually and so, what? What I think is really a good relationship in this story, is that the one that trains her, because this is actually both CIA and MI six are working on this, on this mission, thought and the director of the whole mission is an very seasoned mi six agent who everyone considers the best spy in the free world. And Ian Fleming himself this, this is true. Fact. Would go to this man and consult with him when he was writing a new book, to make sure you know that he was what he was saying is, Could this really happen? And that becomes that person, Clive Matthews become praying, Caitlyn, particularly when she has to start changing and, you know, defending herself. And possibly, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 26:38 so he becomes her teacher in   Kay Sparling ** 26:42 every way. Yes. So how   Michael Hingson ** 26:45 much? Gee, lots of questions. First of all, how much of the story is actually   Kay Sparling ** 26:50 true? All this story is true. The   Michael Hingson ** 26:53 whole mission is true. Yes, sir. And so how did you learn about this? What? What caused you to start to decide to write this story?   Kay Sparling ** 27:08 So some of these experiences are my own experiences. And so after I as an opera singer, decided to be a volunteer to help out these refugees. I witnessed a lot, and so many years later, I was being treated for PTSD because of what I'd witnessed there. And then a little bit later in Bosnia in the early 90s, and I was taking music therapy and art therapy, and my psychiatrist thought that it'd be a good idea if also I journaled, you know, the things that I saw. And so I started writing things, and then I turned it in, and they had a person that was an intern that was working with him, and both of them encouraged me. They said, wow, if, if there's more to say about this, you should write a book, cuz this is really, really, really good stuff. And so at one point I thought, Well, why not? I will try. So this book is exactly what happened Caitlin, you know, is a real person, and everyone in the book is real. Of course, I changed the names to protect people and their descriptions, but I, you know, I just interviewed a lot of spies that were involved. So, yes, this is a true story.   Michael Hingson ** 29:06 Did you do most of this? Then, after your singing career, were you writing while the career, while you were singing?   Kay Sparling ** 29:13 I was writing while I was still singing. Yeah, I started the book in 2015 Okay, and because, as I was taking the PTSD treatment and had to put it on the shelf several times, life got in the way. I got my my teaching career just really took off. And then I was still singing quite a bit. And then on top of it, everything kind of ceased in 2018 when my mother moved in with me and she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but Louie body Alzheimer's, which is a very, very rough time, and so I became one of her caretakers. So I quit singing, put that on hold, and I. I had to really, really bring down the number in my studio I was teaching and spend time here at home. And so I would take care of her, but then after she would go to bed, and she'd go to bed much earlier than I wanted to, that's when I write, and that's when I got the lion's share of this book written. Was during that time, it was a great escape from what I was dealing with, believe it or not, you know, even though there's some real graphic things in the book and all it wasn't, it was a nice distraction.   Michael Hingson ** 30:36 Wow, so you, you lived this, needless to say,   Kay Sparling ** 30:41 Yes, I did, and yes.   Michael Hingson ** 30:45 So you've talked a little bit about what happened to these countries after the collapse of the USSR and communism and so on, these eastern companies, companies, countries. Has it changed much over the years.   Kay Sparling ** 31:03 Oh, yeah, for instance, one, you know, I went to Budapest after they were freed, I guess is what usr would say. Stayed in a five star hotel, and we were lucky if we had running water and electricity at the same time. And every time you went down on the streets, all you'd see is lines, you know, I mean, just because there'd be all like, Red Cross, etc, would be there, and they'd have these big trucks they drove in every day, and it just got to be because they had nothing. If you saw a truck, you'd start running towards it and get in line. You didn't care what it was, you know, and it was. And then fights would break out because they wouldn't have enough for everyone. And then, like, you know, maybe someone's walking away with a bag of rice, and some of us knock them over the head and take, you know, and it was very hard, you know, I was a volunteer there, and it was very, very hard to see this, you know, desperation, one story that I'd like to tell, and I put it in the book. I was riding my bike, you know, on a Friday afternoon to get some groceries at the nearest supermarket where my apartment was, and at that time, they still had the European hours, so they were going to close at five o'clock, and they weren't going to open until seven or eight on Monday morning. So you had to make sure you got there to get your weekend supply. So I was on my way, and I was parking my bike, and this woman, refugee woman, runs up and she has two small children with her, and she's carrying a baby, and she's speaking to me in a language I did not know. I do speak several languages, but I don't know Slavic languages and so, but I'm getting the gist of it that she has nothing to eat, neither do her children, and so I'm patting her on the shoulder, and right when I do that, a policeman that was guarding the door of the supermarket came up to me and, like, grabbed me really hard, and told me in German that I was not To speak to them, and I was not to help them, because if you help them, they'll stay. And I said to him in German, I'm an American. I am not Austrian. I am here on a work visa, and I can do whatever the hell I want to do. Well, he didn't like that. And so I just walked away from him, and I went in the store. And so I got up everything I get. Think of the big need, you know, I never had a baby, so I was trying to kind of figure that out, yeah, and I had to figure it out in German, you know, looking at labels now. And so finally I got, I got some stuff, you know, the stuff I needed, and, and, and the stuff that I got for the family, and I checked out, and I'm pushing the cart, you know, towards them. And he runs up beside me and stops me, and he says, I am going to arrest you if you bring that. I told you not to help them. And I said, again, I don't think I'm breaking any laws. And he said, Oh yes, you are. And I said, Well, I didn't read that in the papers. I didn't see it on TV where anyone said. That you cannot help a refugee. And so we're going back and forth. And so, you know, I'm pretty strong, so I just keep pushing it towards it. Well, she's kind of running down the park, and I'm like, wait, wait, you know, because she's getting scared of this guy, you know, he has a gun, he has a nightstick. Of course, she's scared, and so, you know, I would say, No, no, it's okay, because I can't speak for language, right? And so I'm just trying to give her body language and talk. Well, finally she does stop, and I just throw I give the one sack to the little boy, and one second little girl, they just run and and then, you know, I'm talking to her and saying, you know, it's okay, it's okay. And he grabs me, and he turns me around and he spits in my face.   Michael Hingson ** 35:53 Wow. Talk about breaking the law. But anyway, go ahead.   Kay Sparling ** 36:00 Welcome to Austria in the late 80s. You have to understand their Prime Minister Kurt voltheim won on the Nazi ticket. Mm, hmm. At that very time, if you got on a bus and you saw these businessmen going to work, at least 50% of them were reading the Nazi paper. Okay, so we kind of know what, where his affiliations lie. You know, this policeman and, you know, and I was very aware, you know, of of that party being very strong. And so you have to watch yourself when, when you're a foreigner. And I was a foreigner too, just like her. And so after wiping my face, I mean, I really, really wanted to give him a kick or something, yeah, and I do, I do know martial arts, but I was like, no, no, gotta stay cool. And I just told her to run. And she did and caught up with the children, and, you know, kept running. So that was the first experience I had knowing how unwelcome these people were in Austria. Yeah, so I got involved, yeah, I got involved because I was like, this is absolutely not right.   Michael Hingson ** 37:31 And so the book is, in part, to try to bring awareness to all that. I would think   Kay Sparling ** 37:36 absolutely there are, there are bits of it are, they're pretty darn graphic, but it's all true, and it's all documented. Sometimes people about human trafficking, they think, oh, it's not in my backyard. I'm not going to think about that. Well, I live in a very small college town, around 17,000 people, and two months ago, on the front page of this small paper here in town, there were seven men that were arrested for many counts of human trafficking of underage women and prostitution. So guess what, folks, it is in your backyard. If it's in this little town, it's probably in yours too. And we have to be aware before we can do anything. So we have to open our eyes. And I hope this book opens the eyes of the reader to say, Oh, my God, I knew things were bad, but I didn't realize that torture, this kind of thing went on. Well, it does, and I the International Labor Union estimates that 21 million people are being you. You are victims of human trafficking right now, as we speak, throughout the world, that's a lot of people, a lot of people. So most likely, we've all seen some hint of that going on, it didn't register as it at the time. You know, if you're just walked out of a restaurant, and you're walking to your car that's parked on the street, and you happen to go by an alley and there's restaurants on that row, and all of a sudden you see people being kind of shoved out and put in a truck. That's probably human trafficking, you know? And you know, a lot of people don't pay attention, but like, if they stop and think that doesn't look right, and if those people look like they may be from another country, yeah. And all you have to do is call the authorities, you know, and other ways that you can help are by you know, that that you can get involved. Are, you know, donate to all the different organizations that are finding this now.   Michael Hingson ** 40:19 Was the book self published, or do you have a publisher?   Kay Sparling ** 40:25 I self published, but it's more of a hybrid publishing company that's kind of a new thing that's going on, and so I cannot learn all those different facets of publishing a book, right? It just wasn't in my, you know, skill set, and it also wasn't even interesting to me. I don't want to learn how to do graphic illustration. Okay? So what I did is I hired a hybrid company that had all these different departments that dealt with this, and I had complete artistic control, and I was able to negotiate a great deal on my net profits. So I feel that, after looking into the traditional publishing world and not being exactly pleased with it to say the least, I think that was the right business choice for me to make, and I'm very happy I did it.   Michael Hingson ** 41:46 How do you market the book then?   Kay Sparling ** 41:48 Well, that was, that was the tricky part that that publisher did have some marketing they started, but obviously now they agreed it wasn't enough. So at that point, I attended a virtual women's publishing seminar, and I really paid attention to all the companies that were presenting about marketing. And in that time, I felt one that I just was totally drawn to, and so I asked her if we could have a consultation, and we did, and the rest is history. I did hire her team and a publicist, Mickey, who you probably know, and, yeah, it's been going really great. That was the second smart thing I did, was to, you know, hire, hire a publicity.   Michael Hingson ** 42:50 Well, yeah, and marketing is one is a is a tricky thing. It's not the most complicated thing in the world, but you do have to learn it, and you have to be disciplined. So good for you, for for finding someone to help, but you obviously recognize the need to market, which is extremely important, and traditional publishers don't do nearly as much of it as they used to. Of course, there are probably a lot more authors than there used to be too. But still,   Kay Sparling ** 43:19 yeah, their their marketing has changed completely. I remember I had a roommate that became a famous author, and just thinking about when he started, you know, in the 80s, how the industry is completely changed. Mm, hmm, you know. So, yeah, it's, it's really tricky. The whole thing is very tricky. One thing that I also did is one of my graduate students needed a job, and so I've known her since, literally, I've known her since eighth grade. I have been with this student a long time, and she's done very well, but she really is a wiz at the social media. And so she made all my accounts. I think I have 12 altogether, and every time I do something like what I'm doing tonight, soon as it's released, she just puts it out there, everywhere and and I have to thank her from again that that's probably not my skill set.   Michael Hingson ** 44:37 Well, everyone has gifts, right? And the the people who I think are the most successful are the people who recognize that they have gifts. There are other people that have gifts that will augment or enhance what they do. And it's good that you find ways to collaborate. I think collaborating is such an important thing. Oh, yeah. All too many people don't. They think that they can just do it all in and then some people can. I mean, I know that there are some people who can, but a lot of people don't and can't.   Kay Sparling ** 45:12 Well, I've got other things. I've got going, you know, so maybe if I only had to do the book, everything to do with the book, that would be one thing, but I, you know, I have other things I have to have in my life. And so I think that collaboration is also fun, and I'm very good at delegating. I have been very good at delegating for a long time. When I started my school. I also started a theater company, and if you know one thing, it's a three ring circus to produce an opera or a musical, and I've done a lot of them, and yeah, I would have not survived if I didn't learn how to delegate and trust people to do their own thing. So what are you   Michael Hingson ** 45:58 doing today? What are you doing today? Besides writing?   Kay Sparling ** 46:04 Well, during covid, everything got shut down, and I didn't have an income, and I had to do something. And one of, believe it or not, one of my parents, of one of my students, is an attorney for the state of Wisconsin, and she was very worried. I mean, it looked like I might lose my house. I mean, I literally had no income. And so, you know, I was a small business person, and so she offered me very graciously to come work in the department of workers compensation in the legal Bureau at the state of Wisconsin. So I never have done anything like that in my life. I have never sat in a cubicle. I've never sat in front of a computer unless it was in its recording studio or something like that. So it was a crazy thing to have to do in my early 60s, but I'm a single woman, and I had to do it, and and I did, and it put me on solid ground, and that was one reason I couldn't finish the book, because I didn't have to worry about a live cookie. And so I am continuing to do that in so as in the day, that is what I do. I'm a legal assistant, cool.   Michael Hingson ** 47:32 And so when did mission thought get published?   Kay Sparling ** 47:38 Mission thought almost a year ago, in August of 2024 it launched, yes, okay, yeah. And it was very scary for me, you know, because my hybrid publishers up in Canada, and they were telling me, Well, you know, we're going to get you some editorial reviews and we're going to have you be interviewed. And you know, those very first things where my editor at at the publisher had told me it was one of the really a good book, and that was one of the cleanest books she ever had to edit. And so that kind of gave me some confidence. But you understand, look at my background. I I didn't go to school to be a writer. I had never studied writing. I hadn't done any writing up until now, and so to that was my first kind of sigh of relief when the editor at the publisher said it was really a good book, and then I started getting the editorial reviews, and they were all stellar, and they continue to be. And I'm, I'm still a little shocked, you know, because it takes time, I guess, for a person to switch gears and identify themselves as an author. But you know, after a year now, I'm feeling much more comfortable in my shoes about that. But at first it was, it was trying because I was scared and I was worried, you know, what people were going to think about the book, not the story, so much as how it was crafted. But it ends up, well,   Michael Hingson ** 49:15 it ends up being part of the same thing, and yeah, the very fact that they love it that that means a lot. Yeah, so is, is there more in the way of adventures from Caitlin coming up or what's happening?   Kay Sparling ** 49:30 Yeah, this is hopefully a trilogy, um of Caitlin's most important standout missions. And so the second one is set in the early 90s during the Bosnian war. And this time, she cannot use opera as a cover, because obviously in a war zone, there's no opera. And so she has to. To go undercover as either a un volunteer or Red Cross, and this time, her sidekick is not the Clive Matthews. He has actually started a special squad, combat squad that's going in because, of course, we, none of us, were really involved with that war, right? But that's what he's doing. And so, believe it or not, her, her sidekick, so to speak, is a priest that very early, goes on and sees, you know, this absolute ethnic cleansing going on, you know, massacres and and he tries to get the Catholic Church to help, and they're like, no, no, we're not touching that. And so he goes AWOL. And had been friends in Vienna with the CIA during the first book. He goes to the CIA and says, This is what's going on. I saw it with my own eyes. I want to help. And so he becomes Caitlin's sidekick, which is a very interesting relationship. You know, Caitlin, the opera singer, kind of, kind of modern girl, you know, and then you know, the kind of staunch priest. But they find a way to work together, and they have to, because they have to save each other's lives a couple times. And this is my favorite book of the three. And so basically what happens is called Mission impromptu, and I hope to have that finished at the end of this month. And the reason we call it impromptu is because her chief tells her to just get the information and get out, but her and the priest find out that there is a camp of orphaned boys that they are planning to come massacre, and so they they they basically go rogue and don't follow orders and go try to help the boys. Yeah. And then the third book, she has actually moved back to New York, and she's thinking, well, she does retire from the CIA, and it's the summer of 2001 and what happened in September of 2001 911 and so they call her right back in she literally had been retired for about three months.   Michael Hingson ** 52:35 Well, to my knowledge, I never met Caitlin, so I'm just saying Mm hmm, having been in the World Trade Center on September 11, but I don't think I met Caitlin anyway.   Kay Sparling ** 52:43 Go ahead. No, she wasn't in the towers, but no, I was in New York. And yeah, so they called her back right away. And so the third one is going to be called Mission home front, because that's been her home for a very long time. She's been living in New York.   Michael Hingson ** 53:01 Are there plans for Caitlin beyond these three books? I hope so.   Kay Sparling ** 53:08 I think it would be fun for her to retire from the CIA and then move back to the Midwest. And, you know, it turned into a complete fiction. Of course, this is not true stuff, but, you know, like kind of a cozy mystery series, right, where things happen and people can't get anyone to really investigate it, so they come to Caitlin, and then maybe her ex boss, you know, the chief that's also retired, they kind of, you know, gang up and become pi type, you know, right? I'm thinking that might be a fun thing.   Michael Hingson ** 53:46 Now, are mostly books two and three in the mission series. Are they also relatively non fiction?   53:53 Yes, okay,   Michael Hingson ** 53:57 okay, cool, yes. Well, you know, it's, it's pretty fascinating to to hear all of this and to to see it, to hear about it from you, but to see it coming together, that is, that is really pretty cool to you know, to see you experiencing have the book, has mission thought been converted by any chance to audio? Is it available on Audible or   Kay Sparling ** 54:21 anywhere it has not but it is in my plans. It's there's a little bit of choice I have to make do. I use my publisher and hire one of their readers you know to do it, someone you know, that's in equity, that type of thing. Or you know, my publicity, or people are also saying, well, because you're an actor, and, you know, all these accents, it might be nice for you to do to read your own book. Well, the problem is time, you know, just the time to do it, because I'm so busy promoting the book right now. And really. Right writing the second one that you know, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to pull that off, but I have my own records, recording studio in my voice studio downstairs, but it's just and I have all the equipment I have engineers. It's just a matter of me being able to take the time to practice and to get that done. So it's probably going to be, I'll just use their, one of their people, but yes, yeah, it's coming. It's coming. Well, it's,   Michael Hingson ** 55:29 it's tough. I know when we published last year, live like a guide dog, and the publisher, we did it through a traditional publisher, they worked with dreamscape to create an audio version. And I actually auditioned remotely several authors and chose one. But it is hard to really find someone to read the book the way you want it read, because you know what it's like, and so there is merit to you taking the time to read it. But still, as you said, there are a lot of things going on,   Kay Sparling ** 56:09 yeah, and I have read, you know, certain portions of the book, because some podcasts that I've been on asked me to do that, and I and I practiced and that, it went very well. And of course, when people hear that, they're like, Oh, you're the one that has to do this. You know Caitlin. You can speak her, you know her attitudes and all. And then you also know how to throw all those different accents out there, because there's going to be, like, several, there's Dutch, there's German, there's Scottish, high British and Austrian. I mean, yeah, yeah, Austrians speak different than Germans. Mm, hmm,   Michael Hingson ** 56:53 yeah, it's it's a challenge, but it's still something worth considering, because you're going to bring a dimension to it that no one else really can because you wrote it and you really know what you want them to sound like, Yeah, but it's a it's a process. I and I appreciate that, but you've got lots going on, and you have to have an income. I know for me, we started live like a guide dog my latest book when the pandemic began, because I realized that although I had talked about getting out of the World Trade Center and doing so without exhibiting fear, didn't mean that it wasn't there, but I realized that I had learned to control fear, because I learned a lot that I was able to put to use on the Day of the emergency. And so the result of that was that, in fact, the mindset kicked in and I was able to function, but I never taught anyone how to do that. And so the intent of live like a guide dog was to be a way that people could learn how to control fear and not let fear overwhelm or, as I put it, blind them, but rather use fear as a very powerful tool to help you focus and do the things that you really need to do. But it's a choice. People have to learn that they can make that choice and they can control it, which is kind of what really brought the book to to mind. And the result was that we then, then did it. And so it came out last August as well.   Kay Sparling ** 58:27 Oh, well, if you read my book, you'll see Caitlin developing the same skills you were just talking about. She has to overcome fear all the time, because she's never been in these situations before, and yet she has to survive, you know?   Michael Hingson ** 58:44 Yeah, well, and the reality is that most of us take too many things for granted and don't really learn. But if you learn, for example, if there's an emergency, do you know where to go in the case of an emergency? Do you know how to evacuate, not by reading the signs? Do you know? And that's the difference, the people who know have a mindset that will help them be a lot more likely to be able to survive, because they know what all the options are, and if there's a way to get out, they know what they are, rather than relying on signs, which may or may not even be available to you if you're in a smoke filled environment, for example, yeah,   Kay Sparling ** 59:22 yeah, you should know ahead of time. Yeah, you know, I know the state where I work. I I mostly work at home. I'm able to do that, but we do have to go in once a week, and we just changed floors. They've been doing a lot of remodeling, and that was the first thing, you know, the supervisor wanted us to do was walk through all the way for a tornado, fire, etc, and so we did that, you know, and that's smart, because then you're like, you say you're not trying to look at a chart as you're running or whatever,   Michael Hingson ** 59:56 and you may need to do it more than once to make sure you really know it. I know for me. I spent a lot of time walking around the World Trade Center. In fact, I didn't even use my guide dog. I used a cane, because with a cane, I'll find things that the dog would just automatically go around or ignore, like kiosks and other things. But I want to know where all that stuff is, because I want to know what all the shops are down on the first floor. Well, now that that is the case anymore, but it was at the time there was a shopping mall and knowing where everything was, but also knowing where different offices were, knowing who was in which offices, and then knowing the really important things that most people don't know about, like where the Estee Lauder second store was on the 46th floor of tower two. You know, you got to have the important things for wives, and so I learned what that was. Well, it was, it was, those are important things, but you'll learn a lot, and it's real knowledge. Someone, a recent podcast episode that they were on, said something very interesting, and that is that we're always getting information, but information isn't knowing it. Knowledge is really internalizing the information and making it part of our psyche and really getting us to the point where we truly know it and can put it to use. And that is so true. It isn't just getting information. Well, that's great. I know that now, well, no, you don't necessarily know it now, until you internalize it, until you truly make it part of your knowledge. And I think that's something that a lot of people miss. Well, this has been a lot of fun. If people want to reach out to you, is there a way they can do that?   Kay Sparling ** 1:01:40 Yeah, the best thing is my book website, K, Sparling books.com spelled and it would K, a, y, s, p, as in Paul, A, R, L, I N, G, B, O, O, K, s.com.com, okay, and you can email me through there. And all the media that I've been on is in the media section. The editorial reviews are there. There's another thing that my student heats up for me is the website. It's it's really developed. And so lots of information about the book and about me on on there. And one thing I want to mention is, just because of my background and all the all the people that you know, I know, a friend of mine is a composer, and he wrote a song, a theme song, because we do hope that someday we can sell this, you know, yeah, to for movie and, or, you know, Netflix, or something like that. And so he wrote a theme song and theme music. And I just think that's fun. And then I wanted my students saying, saying it. And then, you know, it's with a rock band, but it's, it's very James Bond, the kind of with a little opera, you know, involved too. But, you know, not a lot of authors can say that on their website, they have a theme song for their books.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:16 And where is   Kay Sparling ** 1:03:18 it? It would be under, it's going to be about the author. And there's a nice one of my other students is a graphic artist. She She did a graphic a scene of Caitlin with her ball gown, and she's got her foot up on a stool, and she's putting her pistol in her thigh holster, in I think, you know, it's kind of like a cartoon, and it quotes Caitlin saying, I bet you I'm going to be the only bell at the ball with this accessory pistol. And then right underneath that, that song, you can click it and hear it. We also are on YouTube mission. Thought does have its own YouTube channel, so you can find it there as well.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:05 So well, I want to thank you for being here and for telling us all the stories and especially about mission. I hope people will get it and read it, and I look forward to it coming out in audio at some point. Yes, I'll be lazy and wait for that, I I like to to get books with human readers. You know, I can get the print book and I can play it with a synthetic voice, but I, I really prefer human voices. And I know a lot of people who do AI has not progressed to the point where it really can pull that off.   Kay Sparling ** 1:04:38 Well, no, it cannot. Yeah, I totally agree with you there.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:42 So Well, thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening and watching us today. This has been fun. And as some of you know, if you listen to many of these podcasts, we have a rule on the podcast, you can't come on unless you're going to have fun. So we did have fun. We. You have fun? Yeah. See, there you go. I was gonna ask if you had fun. Of course, yes. So thank you all for listening. Love to hear from you. Love to hear what your thoughts are about today's episode. Feel free to email me at Michael H, i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, also, please give us a five star rating. We appreciate it. K, I'll appreciate it. And when this goes up, when you hear it, we really value those ratings and reviews very highly. If you know anyone else who ought to be a guest and KU as well, love to hear from you. Please introduce us. Kay, you'll have to introduce us to Caitlin, but But seriously, we always are looking for more guests. So if anyone knows of anyone who ought to come on and tell a story, we'd love to hear from you. But again, Kay, I want to thank you one last time. This has been great, and we really appreciate you being here.   Kay Sparling ** 1:05:59 Well, thank you for having me.   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:04 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Sasha Cooke is the 2x Grammy winning mezzo-soprano superstar opera singer. She's been called a “luminous standout” by The NY Times. She's had performances with the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera and others, and with over 90 symphony orchestras worldwide, frequently singing the works of Gustav Mahler. She is also the co-director of the vocal program at the Music Academy of the West. And she's related to "Bungalow Bill" of Beatles fame!My featured song is my reimagined version of The Who's “I Can't Explain” from the album Trippin by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link.------------------------------------------The Follow Your Dream Podcast:Top 1% of all podcasts with Listeners in 200 countries!Click here for All Episodes Click here for Guest List Click here for Guest Groupings Click here for Guest TestimonialsClick here to Subscribe Click here to receive our Email UpdatesClick here to Rate and Review the podcast—----------------------------------------CONNECT WITH SASHA:www.sashacooke.com—----------------------------------------ROBERT'S NEWEST SINGLE:“SUNDAY SLIDE” is Robert's newest single. It's been called “A fun, upbeat, you-gotta-move song”. Featuring 3 World Class guest artists: Laurence Juber on guitar (Wings with Paul McCartney), Paul Hanson on bassoon (Bela Fleck), and Eamon McLoughlin on violin (Grand Ole Opry band).CLICK HERE FOR ALL LINKSCLICK HERE FOR THE OFFICIAL VIDEO—-------------------------------------------ROBERT'S NEWEST ALBUM:“WHAT'S UP!” is Robert's new compilation album. Featuring 10 of his recent singles including all the ones listed below. Instrumentals and vocals. Jazz, Rock, Pop and Fusion. “My best work so far. (Robert)”CLICK HERE FOR THE OFFICIAL VIDEOCLICK HERE FOR ALL LINKS—----------------------------------------Audio production:Jimmy RavenscroftKymera Films Connect with the Follow Your Dream Podcast:Website - www.followyourdreampodcast.comEmail Robert - robert@followyourdreampodcast.com Follow Robert's band, Project Grand Slam, and his music:Website - www.projectgrandslam.comYouTubeSpotify MusicApple MusicEmail - pgs@projectgrandslam.com 

Was Norman Bel Geddes a brilliant visionary who shaped modern America, or just a master showman who sold us a dystopian future wrapped in chrome and streamlined curves?In this episode of History's Greatest Idiots, we delve into the fascinating and troubling life of the man who promised us flying cars, designed the Interstate Highway System, and convinced an entire generation that the future would resemble a 1950s toaster.What You'll Discover:How a high school dropout became "the 20th century's Leonardo da Vinci"The tragic family suicide that shaped Bel Geddes' obsession with perfect futuresWhy he changed his name from Norman Geddes to the exotic "Norman Bel Geddes"The revolutionary theater lighting techniques he invented that we still use today.How his GM Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair attracted 27,500 visitors dailyThe dark connection between his streamlined designs and eugenics beliefsWhy his beautiful concept cars were never built (but Mussolini offered $200k for them)How he helped create America's car-dependent urban nightmareThe sophisticated peep shows he designed alongside cities of tomorrow.From Broadway to Highways: Norman Bel Geddes revolutionized everything from Metropolitan Opera lighting to Chrysler Airflow automobiles. His 1932 book "Horizons" popularized streamlining as a design philosophy, while his "Magic Motorways" inspired the Interstate Highway System that transformed America.But behind the gleaming vision of progress lurked troubling ideas about human "improvement" and a corporate-sponsored future that prioritized cars over communities.⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/HistorysGreatestIdiots⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/historysgreatestidiots⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Artist: Sarah Chey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fiverr.com/sarahchey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Animation: Daniel Wilson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/wilson_the_wilson/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music: Andrew Wilson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/andrews_electric_sheep⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4675161203933184⁠⁠⁠

Was Norman Bel Geddes a brilliant visionary who shaped modern America, or just a master showman who sold us a dystopian future wrapped in chrome and streamlined curves?In this episode of History's Greatest Idiots, we delve into the fascinating and troubling life of the man who promised us flying cars, designed the Interstate Highway System, and convinced an entire generation that the future would resemble a 1950s toaster.What You'll Discover:How a high school dropout became "the 20th century's Leonardo da Vinci"The tragic family suicide that shaped Bel Geddes' obsession with perfect futuresWhy he changed his name from Norman Geddes to the exotic "Norman Bel Geddes"The revolutionary theater lighting techniques he invented that we still use today.How his GM Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair attracted 27,500 visitors dailyThe dark connection between his streamlined designs and eugenics beliefsWhy his beautiful concept cars were never built (but Mussolini offered $200k for them)How he helped create America's car-dependent urban nightmareThe sophisticated peep shows he designed alongside cities of tomorrow.From Broadway to Highways: Norman Bel Geddes revolutionized everything from Metropolitan Opera lighting to Chrysler Airflow automobiles. His 1932 book "Horizons" popularized streamlining as a design philosophy, while his "Magic Motorways" inspired the Interstate Highway System that transformed America.But behind the gleaming vision of progress lurked troubling ideas about human "improvement" and a corporate-sponsored future that prioritized cars over communities.⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/HistorysGreatestIdiots⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/historysgreatestidiots⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Artist: Sarah Chey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fiverr.com/sarahchey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Animation: Daniel Wilson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/wilson_the_wilson/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music: Andrew Wilson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/andrews_electric_sheep⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4675161203933184⁠⁠⁠

durée : 01:28:29 - Une heure et plus, un compositeur : Gustav Mahler - par : Aurélie Moreau - Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), né à Kaliště en Bohême, fut à la fois compositeur et chef d'orchestre. Directeur de l'Opéra de Vienne puis du Metropolitan Opera de New York, il est l'auteur de dix symphonies et de nombreux lieder, dans lesquels il élabora un langage musical d'une ampleur monumentale. Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

David Feheley is a technical director, with 20 years of experience, specializing in producing opera and productions in repertory. He is currently the technical director for the Metropolitan Opera.David studied theatrical production at York University in his native Toronto before joining the newly opened York University Student Centre as its production manager.  He managed all aspects of the Centre's program of concerts and events in its multi-use facility.He later branched out into the freelance world as a technical director before joining the production department at the Stratford Festival of Canada. He started as the Assistant Technical Director for the Festival Stage, and finished his time at the Festival as the assistant director of production.David moved into the world of opera when he joined the Canadian Opera Company in 2003. While there, he was part of the opening of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Canada's first purpose-built opera house, and the COC's Ring Cycle, Canada's first home-grown production of the Ring.David moved to the United States in 2013 to assume the position of technical and production director for the Houston Grand Opera. While in Houston, he continued his association with Wagner's Ring Cycle, as Houston produced its first Ring, the La Fura dels Baus production from Barcelona.Since 2016, David has been the technical director for the Met, overseeing all backstage operations as well as the construction work done in the scenery and scenic shops. The Met's season of 19 productions running in repertory also includes building and producing 6 new productions each year.The Ring Cycle has played a prominent role in his time at the Met. A major technical overhaul of Robert Lepage's 2010 production and its presentation as part of the 2019 season marked David's third Ring.

We speak with Mark Gould, who for almost three decades was the principal or co-principal trumpeter for the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. His book "Tales from the Pit" is an exceptionally frank and entertaining memoir about his years with the Met and his unlikely journey to get there.

When a prized debutante makes her debut, one heir is determined not to miss it.November 1933, one of the most prized debutantes of this season Virginia Kent has her first coming out ball. To not miss out, John Jacob Astor VI, aka “Jakey,” charters a vehicle to bring a crew to the party. Will a love match be made?Other people and subjects include:Princess Barbara Hutton Mdivani, Doris Duke, James H.R. Cromwell aka “Jimmy,” Eva Stotesbury, “Jakey” John Jacob Astor VI, Daisy Van Alen, William “Sam” Van Alen, Elizabeth “Betty” Kent, Woolworth “Woolie” Donahue, “Alfy” Alfred Vanderbilt, Jr., Atwater “Atty” Kent, Jr., Virginia “Ginnie” Kent, Atwater Kent, Mabel Lucas Kent, Jonathan Kent, George Vanderbilt, Mrs. Margaret Emerson Vanderbilt Baker Amory, Raymond Guest, Winston Guest, Dorothy “Dottie” Fell, Louise Brooks Howard, Pola Negri, Elsa Maxwell, Virginia “Birdie” Graham Fair Vanderbilt, Helen Dinsmore Astor, Isabel Dodge Sloane, Margaret “Peggy Dorrance, Charlotte Dorrance, Jane Johnson – future Mrs. Heminway, Mademoiselle Louise Millet of Paris, Mrs. Donner, Mrs. Barklie – the Barklies, the Houstons / the Hustons / the Houstons, the Lorimers, Pierre Barbey, Jr., Screven Lorillard, Richard “Dick” deRahm, Joseph Earle Stevens Jr., Ludlow Stevens, Eleanor “Ellie” Gould, Caroline Astor, British Queen Mary, Prince Albert – Duke of York – future King George VI, colorful debutante fashion trends, study abroad, Fermata school, Veiled Prophet Queen, bow at Court of St. James, Africa big game trip, African hunting expedition, polo, horse races, scavenger hunt, gag gift, Waldorf-Astoria, Bridlespur Hunt Club, Deer Creek Country Club, Barclay Hotel, Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Aquitania oceanliner, Kenya Colony, New York City, Philadelphia, Paris, Africa, St. Louis, Missouri, Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, St. Louis Dispatch, Atwater Kent Radio, Amos & Andy, Rudy Vallee, Ellie Kemper, Phillips Carlin, President Harry Truman, United Nations, costume parties, Halloween, fresh vegetables appetizer – celery & carrots with dip, Metropolitan Opera, Atwater Kent Radio Hour, NBC & CBS radio stations, Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball, Veiled Prophet Queen of Love and Beauty, post Civil War – Reconstruction era, John G. Priest, Suzanne “Suzie” Slayback, parade floats, Jinn, Bengal lancers, Louisiana Purchase, Mother Goose, racial tensions, Percy Brown, ACTION (the Action Council to Improve Opportunities for Negroes), robber Russell Hayes, historian Thomas Spencer, protests, Mexican entourage, Irish immigrants, African American Veiled Prophet Queen, Veiled Prophet – Grand Oracle, American Birthday Parade, class warfare, trade unions, St. Louis Republican – Missouri Republican newspaper, socialist newspaper St. Louis Labor, secret society, secret organization, Ku Klux Klan – KKK, Joseph Dacus, Frank James, Jesse James, misappropriation of image, photography, printing images, woodcut, idea of perfection, stress of perfections, cracks, pressures, scandal, 1958 film The Reluctant Debutante, Vincent Minelli, Sandra Dee, Rex Harrison, Queen Elizabeth II, Edward McLean, Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, Amazon, red flags, the need of friends and family,…--Extra Notes / Call to Action:Charisma on Command, YouTube Episode: $120,000 Was Stolen From Me… It Was My “Friend”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VPfz49JqrIShare, like, subscribe --Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance BandsSection 1 Music: Sweet Sixteen And Never Been Kissed by Blue Mountaineers, Albums The Great Dance Bands & Play Hits of the 30sSection 2 Music: As Time Goes By by Adelaide Hall, Album – Elegance 2Section 3 Music: I've Got An Invitation To Dance by Roy Fox, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30sEnd Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands--https://asthemoneyburns.com/X / TW / IG – @asthemoneyburnsX / Twitter – https://x.com/asthemoneyburnsInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/asthemoneyburns/Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/asthemoneyburns/

2025 is the 20th anniversary of 90.9 WRCJ and would be the 150th birthday of conductor Pierre Monteux. He led orchestras like the Boston Symphony and the Metropolitan Opera but had a unpopular debut in Paris of the Rite of Spring. Hear more in this feature from our very own Christa Grix.

This episode, we are thrilled to be joined by the artist William Kentridge. Born in 1955 in Johannesburg, South Africa - a city where he also now lives and works - William grew up under the pall of Apartheid. This experience deeply informs his practice, which frequently questions the historical record and examines the inequities and absurdities of our world.Working across multiple media, he combines drawing, writing, film, performance, and other collaborative practices to create works of art that are grounded in history, yet maintain a space for contradiction and uncertainty.In one of his now-signature techniques, William photographs his charcoal drawings and paper collages over time, recording scenes as they evolve. Working without a script or storyboard, he plots out each animated film, preserving every addition and erasure. This is visible, for instance, in the series Self Portrait as a Coffee Pot, which William launched on the online streaming service MUBI last year. In this nine-part series, he opens the doors to his Johannesburg studio to lay bare his creative process, reflecting on culture, history, and political memory as he does so.William's genre defying talents have also led him to create operas and theatrical productions since the 1990s. Of his many productions, we've been lucky to see a few, including his 2010 production for the Metropolitan Opera of Shostakovich's The Nose, as well as his 2023 production in Paris of "Waiting for the Sibyl."William's work has been exhibited in museums around the world, including the MoMA in New York, the Albertina in Vienna, the Louvre in Paris, and the Royal Academy of Arts in London, among many others. He is also, of course, in the collections of major museums across the globe. Most recently, here in New York, William presented a solo exhibition at Hauser and Wirth titled, “A Natural History of the Studio.”William is represented by Hauser and Wirth and Goodman Galleryhttps://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/william-kentridge/https://goodman-gallery.com/artists/william-kentridgeFollow us on Instagram for episode updates and exclusive behind the scenes content https://www.instagram.com/artfromtheoutsidepodcastSome artists discussed in this episodeHenri MatisseAlberto GiacomettiJackson PollockJacques Lecoq

Step into the Golden Age of Opera — without leaving the Adirondacks. In this episode of ADK Talks, Jane and Steve sit down with Caleb Eck, Director of Institutional Advancement at The Sembrich, a lakeside museum, performance venue, and cultural retreat in Bolton Landing, NY.Discover the remarkable life of Marcella Sembrich, the Polish coloratura soprano who conquered the great opera houses of Europe, starred in the first season of New York's Metropolitan Opera, and chose Lake George as her summer teaching studio. Caleb shares stories of her meteoric career, her deep love of nature, and her enduring legacy.We explore:How Marcella fell in love with the AdirondacksWhy she was the Taylor Swift of the Gilded AgeThe magic of her former estate on Lake GeorgeBehind the scenes of The Sembrich's summer festival & exhibitionsCollaborations that bring world-class talent to Bolton LandingWhy this cultural gem appeals to both opera fans and those who just love history, art, and stunning lake viewsWhether you're in the Adirondacks, Manhattan, Philly, Kansas City or beyond, this episode will inspire you to add The Sembrich to your must-visit list.Mentioned in this Episode:Sembrich Museum (Bolton Landing)Seagle Festival (Schroon Lake)Hyde Collection (Glens Falls)Izzy's Deli (North Creek near Gore Mountain)Love the show? Rate & review us—it helps other Adirondack lovers find us to discover more ADK insights.Subscribe and never miss our insider stories about the best people, places, and history of the Adirondacks.Share this episode with someone who loves history, travel, or the Adirondack Park. Let's spread the love for the Adirondacks together!Got a question about the Adirondacks you'd like us to answer on air? Please send it to info@adktaste.com or use the form available at ADKTaste.com.ADK Talks is brought to you by ADK Taste. We provide insight on the best places to stay, shop, eat and experience in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park in upstate New York. Visit our website, ADKtaste.com, and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcastinfo@nextdaypodcast.com

durée : 00:25:04 - Fondation du MET de New York - par : Anne-Charlotte Rémond - Créé par des américains "nouveaux riches" frustrés de se voir refuser l'entrée à l'Academy of Music, réservé aux vieilles familles nobles, le Metropolitan Opera de New York ouvre ses portes en 1883. - réalisé par : Philippe Petit Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show: Czechia defies trend: No recognition of Palestine, yet; Brno unveils Milan Kundera's final resting place; and, in our feature, we look back at Ruth Franková's interview with Adam Plachetka, one of Czechia's foremost opera singers, who this year celebrates ten years since his debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Enjoy!

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show: Czechia defies trend: No recognition of Palestine, yet; Brno unveils Milan Kundera's final resting place; and, in our feature, we look back at Ruth Franková's interview with Adam Plachetka, one of Czechia's foremost opera singers, who this year celebrates ten years since his debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Enjoy!

Episode 179:For today's guest episode it is a welcome return for Kay Daly to the podcast. In our second conversation Kay discusses Jonson's world view and how it differed from Shakespeare's, which we discussed in our first conversation plays. If you have not already done so, listening to that conversation, which is episode 177, and my recent episodes on Jonson's early plays ‘The Case Is Altered', ‘Every Man Out of his Humour' and ‘Every Man In His Humour' would be a good idea before listening to this conversation.Kay Daly is a writer, novelist, book and theatre reviewer, teacher, and public humanities advocate. Since earning her Ph.D. in English Literature from Northwestern University, she has written for a variety of publications and organizations including The Chicago Review of Books, TimeOut Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, WNET New York Public Media, The Library of Virginia's blog UnCommonwealth, Dramatics Magazine, and Centerstage Chicago. She also teaches adult enrichment courses focusing on arts and humanities at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Her debut novel ‘Wilton House', based on the life of 17th-century writer Lady Mary Wroth, will be published by Regal House Publishing in 2027Support the podcast at:www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.comwww.patreon.com/thoetpwww.ko-fi.com/thoetp Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Trice is the Executive Director of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre and has been since 2019. He has served as a producer for nearly 30 productions on Broadway, the West End, and National Tours. Trice is a three-time Tony Award winner for All The Way, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Porgy & Bess, though he gives away any credit to the fabulous actors, writers, and production crew. He is a five-time Tony nominee for Fiddler on the Roof, The Royal Shakespeare Company's Wolf Hall, You Can't Take It With You, The Glass Menagerie, and The Best Man. Other credits include: American Son, starring Kerry Washington; The Lifespan of A Fact, starring Daniel Radcliffe; American Buffalo; American Psycho; Lady Day At Emerson's Bar & Grill, starring Audra McDonald (Broadway & West End); The Realistic Joneses, starring Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, & Marisa Tomei; Blithe Spirit, starring Angela Lansbury (West End & National Tour); The Bridges of Madison County; and Glengarry Glen Ross, starring Al Pacino. Prior to his career in producing, Trice served as a Business Analyst with management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, an Artistic Administration Associate with The Metropolitan Opera, and a Strategic Growth Associate with alternative asset managers D.E. Shaw & Company. He holds degrees from Southern Methodist and Northwestern Universities.

Dan Peck is a tuba player, improviser, and composer. He performs with ensembles such as ICE (not that ICE) Wet Ink, and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, and NYC Ballet. He has toured internationally with his doom jazz trio The Gate and collaborated with artists such as Ingrid Laubrock and Anthony Braxton. Dan teaches at New Jersey City University and runs Tubapede Records, which focuses on experimental media from the NY area and beyond.

Episode 177:For today's guest episode it is a warm welcome for Kay Daly to the podcast. In our conversation Kay took the opportunity to give an overview of Shakespeare's world view as seen through his earlier plays and particularly the comedies. As you will hear we strayed a little into some later plays, but Kay's thoughts seemed particularly useful at this point as we are about to move away from the earliest plays and move onto new and very different experiments in comedy. I hope you enjoy the conversation and find useful as a kind of summary of what I have covered so far on the podcast in respect to Shakespeare.Kay Daly is a writer, novelist, book and theatre reviewer, teacher, and public humanities advocate. Since earning her Ph.D. in English Literature from Northwestern University, she has written for a variety of publications and organizations including The Chicago Review of Books, TimeOut Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, WNET New York Public Media, The Library of Virginia's blog UnCommonwealth, Dramatics Magazine, and Centerstage Chicago. She also teaches adult enrichment courses focusing on arts and humanities at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Her debut novel ‘Wilton House', based on the life of 17th-century writer Lady Mary Wroth, will be published by Regal House Publishing in 2027.Support the podcast at:www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.comwww.patreon.com/thoetpwww.ko-fi.com/thoetp Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in December I published my first episode honoring the superb soprano Gilda Cruz-Romo, as part of my series honoring Mexican opera singers. In my research, I amassed a large number of live recordings from which I intended to cobble together a second episode in honor of her upcoming birthday. I was distracted by some family issues and, her February birthday came and went, and now, alas, Gilda is no longer with us. But to pay tribute to this exceptional artists, I have assembled a brand new setlist which seeks to do at least partial justice to the breadth and depth of her exceptional career. After last week's episode featuring Carol Neblett, here is another exceptional soprano whose talent brought glory to the stage of the New York City Opera in the early days of her career and went on to become an important member of the Metropolitan Opera as well. We hear extended excerpts of a number of her Paraderollen, including Aida, Violetta, Manon Lescaut, Mimì, Leonora di Vargas, and Maddalena di Coigny, as well as two later-career roles that might surprise you. Guest artists heard on the episode include Silvano Carroli, Carlo Bergonzi, Cesare Siepi, Colenton Freeman, John Alexander, Gianfranco Cecchele, Enrico Di Giuseppe, Salvador Novoa, and Franco Corelli; conductors include Julius Rudel, Zubin Mehta, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Nino Sanzogno, and Riccardo Muti. Carol Neblett even puts in a brief appearance! Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody's core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody's Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

This lecture considers ‘You'll Never Walk Alone' from Carousel (1945). Perhaps Rodgers and Hammerstein's most operatic song, it was originally written for Metropolitan Opera star Christine Johnson but has gone on to be recorded by artists as diverse as Elvis Presley and Marcus Mumford and sung at both the Last Night of the Proms and Liverpool Football Club.This lecture will include live performances by international soprano and Grammy Award winner Rebecca Evans CBE.This lecture was recorded by Dominic Broomfield-McHugh on 2nd of May 2025 at Conway Hall, London.Dominic Broomfield-McHugh is Gresham Visiting Professor of Film and Theatre Music. He is also Professor of Music at the University of Sheffield and is a graduate of King's College London.His scholarship focuses on the American musical on stage and screen, and he has published eight books including Loverly: The Life and Times of 'My Fair Lady' (OUP, 2012), The Letters of Cole Porter (Yale, 2019) and The Oxford Handbook of the Hollywood Musical (2022).He is Associate Producer of the PBS documentary Meredith Willson: America's Music Man and has appeared on all the main BBC television and radio stations as well as NPR in America. He has given talks and lectures at the Sydney Opera House, New York City Center, the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Sadler's Wells, and Lincoln Center, among many others.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/operatic-showstopperGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

On this week's episode of Economic Update, Professor Wolff delivers updates on the political theater, of the U.S./Iran hostilities, the political shock of Zohran Mamdani's Democratic primary win in New York City, the withdrawal of union leaders from the Democratic National Committee, and the rising trade among BRICS crosses the $1 trillion milestone. In the second part of today's show, Prof. Wolff interviews two leaders of the musicians' union representing the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, New York City: Javier Gandara and Stephanie Mortimore.   The d@w Team Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff is a DemocracyatWork.info Inc. production. We make it a point to provide the show free of ads and rely on viewer support to continue doing so.  You can support our work by joining our Patreon community:  https://www.patreon.com/democracyatwork Or you can go to our website: https://www.democracyatwork.info/donate     Every donation counts and helps us provide a larger audience with the information they need to better understand the events around the world they can't get anywhere else.  We want to thank our devoted community of supporters who help make this show and others we produce possible each week.1:01  We kindly ask you to also support the work we do by encouraging others to subscribe to our YouTube channel and website: www.democracyatwork.info

Charles Lear has been writing about flying saucers/UFOs for several years and still finds the subject, and the stories of the people involved, fascinating. Besides his interest in all things fortean, his pursuits include paleontology, geology, hiking, bad movies, and mid-20th century electronic music. He has been a theatre person for most of his life. As a performer, he sticks to Shakespeare, and he makes his living as an I.A.T.S.E. Local One welder/carpenter in the construction shop of the Metropolitan Opera. This is the 2nd edition of “The Flying Saucer Investigators,” and he has another saucer/UFO-related book available, titled “Crashed Saucers and Malevolent Aliens.”THE FLYING SAUCER INVESTIGATORS is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Flying-Saucer-Investigators-Charles-Lear-ebook/dp/B0DYY6M7JHCRASHED SAUCERS AND MALEVOLENT ALIENS is available here:https://www.amazon.com/Crashed-Saucers-Malevolent-Aliens-Emergence/dp/B0CZTDXHCHCharles visits with Dean to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the start of 1947's "Summer of the Saucers", as well as the beginning of the modern UFO era, when pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine metallic-looking objects flying in formation, and at incredible speeds, near Mount Rainier, Washington. Arnold, after being hired by Raymond B. Palmer, became the world's first "flying saucer investigator". Charles talks about Palmer, Arnold, and many of the other significant researchers and writers in the early days of Ufology.This is a fascinating conversation, do not miss it!

The Horn Signal is proudly brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass. Join hosts John Snell and Preston Shepard as they interview horn players around the world.  Today's episode features Julie Landsman, former Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera and teacher at University of Southern California. About Julie: Principal horn with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 25 years, Julie Landsman is a distinguished performing artist and educator. She received a bachelor of music degree from The Juilliard School in 1975 under the tutelage of James Chambers and Ranier De Intinis, and has served as a member of the Juilliard faculty since 1989. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Landsman achieved her dream of becoming principal of the MET in 1985 and held that position until 2010. She has also shared her talent to many other ensembles within the city as a current member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and having performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic. Additionally, she has performed with numerous groups outside the city, including her co-principal position with the Houston Symphony, substitute principal position with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and recent performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra as Associate principal horn, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, principal horn. She has recorded for RCA, Deutsche Gramophone, CRI, Nonesuch and Vanguard labels, and is most famous for her performance of Wagner's “Ring” cycle as solo horn with the MET Opera under the direction of James Levine. Landsman has performed as chamber musician at many festivals and concert series, including the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center,  Orcas Island Chamber Music  Festival,  and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she appeared as a guest artist with the Guarneri Quartet. In the summers she performs and teaches at the Music Academy of the West , the Sarasota Music  Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival. World renowned as a master teacher, Julie Landsman holds faculty positions at The Juilliard School and Bard College Conservatory, and teaches frequently as a guest at the Curtis Institute. She has presented master classes at such distinguished institutions as The Colburn School, Curtis Institute, Eastman School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Manhattan School of Music, USC Thornton School of Music, Cal State Long Beach, Rowan University, University of Oklahoma, and University of Southern Mississippi, to name a few. She is also a visiting master teacher at the New World Symphony in Miami. Her international presence includes master classes in Norway, Sweden, and Israel.  In 2016 Landsman was an honored jury member at the ARD horn competition in Munich, Germany. Her students hold positions in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Washington National Opera Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and the American Brass Quintet. She recently received the “Pioneer Award” from the International Women's Brass Conference and was a featured artist at the International Horn Society Conference in 2012 and 2015. Her recent series of Carmine Caruso lessons on YouTube have led to further fame and renown among today's generation of horn players. Landsman currently resides in Santa Barbara, California.

John Coleman, Co-Chair of the Met AGMA Negotiating Committee, and Annie Hollister, Counsel for the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss their new one-year contract with the Metropolitan Opera.  David Madland, senior fellow and advisor to the American Worker Project at the Center for American Progress (CAP), joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss recent research on voter preferences, the disconnect between public opinion and policy implementation and the current state of unions and the middle class.

I'm going all out (literally) for this year's Pride celebrations, especially because the haters are out there in such force. Today I pay tribute to my fellow Milwaukeean, the marvelous bass-baritone Donald Gramm (1927-1983), one of the central house singers at both the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera from the 1960s through his premature death at the age of 56. Gifted with an intrinsically beautiful voice, an impeccable technique and an expansive range, he also was a crackerjack musician whose repertoire easily encompassed musical styles from florid Baroque music through the thorniest contemporary idioms. He is probably best celebrated these days for his commitment to American art song. This episode focuses on both his intrepid and thoughtful programming of such songs, as well as a cross-section of his achievements on the operatic stage. Though Gramm may not have been “out” by today's standards, he lived his life unapologetically and is still remembered today for his exacting yet bountiful musicianship and voice. It's a treat to revisit his legacy today. Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody's core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody's Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.  

Excerpt of the 19 May 1949 Kraft Music Hall, starring Al Jolson with Dorothy Kirsten. Ms. Kirsten leads the segment with an operatic aria befitting her status with the Metropolitan Opera. Following that, she and Jolson banter about a bit with the subject of opera. Jolson and Kirsten end the segment with a great rendition of "People Will Say We're In Love." The complete broadcast circulates with other Jolson radio shows on the Official Al Jolson Website at www.jolson.org.

Does acid reflux impact your singing performance?Perhaps you've searched the internet and found multiple articles on “The 10 Foods Singers Should Avoid” or medications promising to cure reflux.But before you start making radical changes to your diet, you might want to listen to this episode's guest. Duncan Rock is an acclaimed operatic baritone who's performed with the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera House, English National Opera, and Glyndebourne Festival Opera for over a decade.More importantly, he's a nutritionist and registered exercise professional with a Masters degree in Human Nutrition. He now uses his dual passions for singing and health to help performers maintain their health as they enjoy long, successful careers.According to Duncan, much of what allows singers and performers stay healthy comes not from a specialized exercise regimen or dietary supplements, but a common-sense approach to diet and personal fitness. His holistic take on healthy living makes his advice easy to follow and highly effective for vocal coaches and their students.  Listen as Duncan shares his expertise in nutrition and physiotherapy, and learn:(4:32) How a music scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama jumpstarted Duncan's decade-long career as a professional opera singer.(5:31) How the 2020 pandemic caused Duncan to switch gears and begin working as a nutritionist for the Voice Care Centre in London.(7:21) How Duncan's personal experiences with dieticians shaped his common-sense views towards nutrition and healthy diets.  (10:05) Why Duncan initially wasn't interested in working as a nutritionist for singers — and how this changed. (15:27) Why good, old fashioned advice on health and nutrition is the most valuable information you can receive in this age of polarized nutritional content.(16:47) Why singers should maintain balanced diets in an industry with performers like Luciano Pavarotti who don't always follow healthy eating habits. (20:43) What research says about how our diets affect our body composition, and how this affects our vocal performance. (23:22) Why being underweight can potentially be more damaging than being overweight or obese.(25:36) How nutritionist advice can help performing singers deal with stress and weakened immune systems.(28:42) The link between eating well and exercising(33:33) The common-sense approach to managing acid reflux.(37:36) The problems caused by myths surrounding singer nutrition(39:55) How the body positivity movement can place negative pressure on singers and performers who change their appearance by adopting healthier habits. (53:44) How vocal coaches benefit from a basic understanding of vocal nutrition in their classrooms.Get more nutritional advice from Duncan by visiting his website. Interested in a more in-depth consultation? Connect with him via email at duncanrocknutrition@gmail.com. You can also download Duncan's IVA webinar, Nutrition and Exercise for Singers — The Missing Link in Vocal Health and Longevity — from the Institute of Vocal Advancement.Tom and Heather have a lot of fascinating guests like Duncan lined up for our podcast! Make sure you meet them all by following us on the Vocal Advancement Podcast and see them by subscribing to our YouTube channel! Is there a teacher, performer, or researcher you think would make a great guest on our show? Email us at hello@vocaladvancement.com and let us know!About the Institute for Vocal AdvancementThe Institute of Vocal Advancement (IVA) was created to provide voice teachers with a support network to provide you with the best teaching tools and strategies to advance your career. Our trainers teach from the empathic mindset, showing you how to improve your own teaching style.Learn how our Teacher Training Programs can help advance your career. Use the code “iva20percent” to get 20% off your first year's course membership fee!

Just in time for Mother's Day, we are celebrating two, very special mothers this week…educator, mother (of 8), grandmother (of 13) and dear friend, Barbara Forste, and her daughter, award-winning actress, producer and publisher, Sarah Jessica Parker. Barbara Forste is a lifelong supporter of the arts and of literacy and education. She worked in market research for Procter & Gamble, as a second grade teacher, and as a child-wrangler at the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera and the American Ballet Theater. She is a co-founder and director of The Children's Circle, a national association for the education of young children. Her very busy daughter, Sarah Jessica Parker, has worked in theater since 1976 from the title role in Annie, to most recently with her husband, Matthew Broderick, in the revival of Neil Simon‘s comedy play, Plaza Suite. From theater to television and film, Sarah Jessica is known most widely for her portrayal of Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City and its sequel, And Just Like That; as well as the films based on the show, Sex and the City, and Sex and the City 2. Sarah Jessica is the publisher of SJP Lit, her own imprint in partnership with Zando Books. She recently executive produced the documentary, The Librarians, a film highlighting librarians across the country who have been fighting against book bans. It will be available for streaming soon.  Adelphi University hosted us at their annual Writers & Readers Festival this year where we were delighted to hold this conversation in front of a live audience of students, teachers, readers and writers. The Writers & Readers Festival was founded by Adelphi alumna and bestselling novelist Alice Hoffman. This is a conversation about how mothers can pass down their love of reading to change their children's lives and ours.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicole Cabell is an award-winning American soprano known for her rich voice and versatile artistry. Born in California with African American, Korean, and Caucasian heritage, she rose to international fame after winning the 2005 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. She has performed leading roles at top opera houses like the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera. Her acclaimed recordings include the solo album Soprano and performances in La Bohème and Imelda de' Lambertazzi. Cabell also serves as an Associate Professor of Voice at the Eastman School of Music, where she mentors young singers.

Joshua Conyers is an Assistant Professor of Voice at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, and a Grammy-nominated Baritone who is known for his captivating performances and recognized as one of the leading dramatic voices of today. He has performed with The Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, English National Opera, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, and many others. His recordings include the Grammy-nominated “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X” his debut solo album is “A Miracle in Legacy.” He says it tells his story of his “being born into the crucible of poverty, haunted by the specter of addiction and abuse.” He says “yet, amid the shadows, I found my guiding light in the melodies of classical music.” SONG 1: “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men from their Album II released in 1994. https://youtu.be/USR_0iImpcM?si=VDXE1s_O2toNwRkJ SONG 2: “Nessun Dorma” by Giacomo Puccini from the opera Turandot...performed here by Franco Corelli from the 1958 film of Turandot.https://youtu.be/fWokel5YxM8?si=_D9UEH6jKbz1Bo2G SONG 3: “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” by Eminem off his 2002 album The Eminem Show. https://youtu.be/4t2ETI2Lrjg?si=pgmx0aGLs4Tag6HASee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lizzie Lee is a genre-defying vocalist blending classical precision with the soul and spontaneity of New York's jazz tradition. Her voice—praised for its rich color and “acrobatics and élan”—offers a bold reinterpretation of the American Songbook and beyond. Raised in Alaska and trained in Paris and New York, Lizzie brings a rare combination of global sensibility and emotional connection to her work. Her debut album, 72nd Street, recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio, is a striking statement of identity: lush, lyrical, and rooted in both tradition and risk. The album features a stellar lineup including Joe Farnsworth (drums), Stacy Dillard (tenor sax), John Webber (bass), Joe Block (keys), and Rob Nuovo (guitar). With performances across NYC, the northeast and internationally, and acclaim from artists like Bill Frisell and David Broza, Lizzie is merging elegance with edge, storytelling with swing, while fast becoming a name to know among vocalists in the jazz world. In the classical genre, Lizzie is a dynamic soprano praised for her “brilliant coloratura, acrobatics, and élan” (Opera Magazine) and has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Lizzie debuted in Europe at Staatstheater Darmstadt and has received international acclaim for her roles as the Parrot in the world premiere of Mahosot: Architect of Dreams by Somtow Sucharitkul in Bangkok and as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro in NYC. She has appeared as a soloist with the Jenaer Philharmonie, Bergische Symphoniker, and in concerts in Vienna with Maestro Francisco Araiza. Her artistry has been shaped through work with legendary mentors such as Martina Arroyo and the late Dalton Baldwin, whose influence continues to inspire her interpretive depth and stylistic sensitivity. Lizzie has performed at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House and has worked closely with artists from many of the world's most prestigious theaters including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, and Opéra Bastille.

Daniela Candillari grew up in Serbia and Slovenia.  She holds a Doctorate in Musicology from the Universität für Musik in Vienna, a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and a Master of Music and Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance from the Universität für Musik in Graz. She is also a Fulbright Scholarship recipient.Daniela is in her fourth season as principal conductor at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In celebration of its 50th anniversary season, she is conducting the company's 44th world premiere, This House, with music by Ricky Ian Gordon and libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage and her daughter, Ruby Aiyo Gerber.Daniela made her New York Philharmonic debut in its inaugural season in the new David Geffen Hall, conducting cellist Yo-Yo Ma in Elgar's Cello Concerto.  And she made her “Carnegie Hall Presents” debut leading the American Composers Orchestra in a program of premieres.  Other engagements include debuts with the Metropolitan Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, and productions with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Opera, Detroit Opera, Orchestre Métropolitan Montreal, and Classical Tahoe Festival.Finally, Daniela has been commissioned by established artists including instrumentalists from the Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh Symphonies, as well as the three resident orchestras of Lincoln Center: the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the New York City Ballet. She is deeply involved with Music Academy of the West's programming for young artists and she recently participated in master classes and discussions at DePaul University, Chicago Humanities Festival, and Valissima Institute.It's a pleasure to have her with me on this episode.

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 and has since appeared in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway. He has performed in the world's great opera houses and symphony halls.In June 2024, he began his tenure as the general director and president of Opera Philadelphia.His most recent album, Anthony Roth Costanzo & Justin Vivian Bond: Only an Octave Apart was released in January 2022. His first solo album, ARC was released in September 2018 and nominated for the 2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. He also stars on the Metropolitan Opera's recording and DVD of Akhnaten which won the 2022 GRAMMY award for best opera recording.Anthony was the recipient of the 2020 Beverly Sills Award from the Metropolitan Opera, a winner of the 2020 Opera News Award, and the 2019 Musical America vocalist of the year.He graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University where he was awarded the Lewis Sudler Prize for extraordinary achievement in the arts, and where he has returned to teach.

In this conversation, we dive into the extraordinary creative partnership between two of the most celebrated figures in contemporary opera—librettist Gene Scheer and composer Jake Heggie. Together, Gene and Jake have brought to life some of the most powerful operatic works of our time, including Moby-Dick, Three Decembers, and It's a Wonderful Life. Their collaboration is not only rooted in artistic brilliance but also in a deep, long-standing friendship.Individually, their accomplishments are equally impressive. Gene Scheer has worked with a range of renowned composers, including Jennifer Higdon on Cold Mountain and Tobias Picker on An American Tragedy. He's also an accomplished composer in his own right—his song American Anthem was featured in Ken Burns' Emmy Award-winning documentary on World War II.Jake Heggie's groundbreaking first opera, Dead Man Walking, with a libretto by Terrence McNally, launched him into the spotlight. Since then, his work in art song and opera has made a lasting impact, earning him the title of Musical America's 2025 Composer of the Year. So who better to explore the dynamic between a librettist and a composer? In this two-part conversation, we unpack what makes a successful collaboration and how words and music come together to create something truly unforgettable.Part One's conversation took place during a particularly exciting time—Moby-Dick was being performed at the Metropolitan Opera. Throughout our discussion, the opera serves as a touchstone for understanding the creative process. We begin with a fundamental question: how do they do it? Specifically, how do hard work and patience shape their creative journey?We get into the nuts and bolts of collaboration—how they challenge and inspire each other to reach new heights. Gene shares insights into the stages of researching and writing a libretto, including the story of how saving $100 unexpectedly launched his career. And in his own words, Gene describes his role simply and powerfully: “My job is to write a libretto that inspires music.”[Subscriber Content]: In Part Two, we step back and learn more about Gene's early experiences—his time studying and singing in Vienna (including the month he saw 27 operas!). Jake opens up about the legendary Stephen Sondheim, a mentor and inspiration, and how Sweeney Todd changed his life. In fact, Jake dedicated Moby-Dick to Sondheim.Would you like more inspirational stories, suggestions, insights, and a place to continue the conversations with other listeners? Visit anthonyplog-on-music.supercast.com to learn more! As a Contributing Listener of "Anthony Plog on Music," you'll have access to extra premium content and benefits including: Extra Audio Content: Only available to Contributing Listeners. Podcast Reflections: Tony's written recaps and thoughts on past interviews, including valuable tips and suggestions for students. Ask Me Anything: Both as written messages and occasional member-only Zoom sessions. The Show's Discord Server: Where conversations about interviews, show suggestions, and questions happen. It's a great place to meet other listeners and chat about all things music! Can I just donate instead of subscribing? Absolutely! Cancel at anytime and easily resubscribe when you want all that extra content again. Learn more about becoming a Contributing Listener @ anthonyplog-on-music.supercast.com!

Legendary trumpeter Terence Blanchard is the first Black composer to have had an opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera. But, as he says, he isn't the first Black composer qualified to do so. This hour, we talk to musicians who are changing the face of opera by bringing new stories to the fore. GUESTS: Terence Blanchard: Executive Artistic Director at SF Jazz and Multiple Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer. He has performed as part of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and composed the scores for dozens of films, including Spike Lee films like BlacKkKlansman and Malcolm X. In 2021 he became the first Black composer to have had their opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera with Fire Shut Up in My Bones. He will be performing selections from Fire Shut Up in My Bones in Hartford on April 24th. Julia Bullock: Grammy Award-winning classical singer. She has curated a program that she performs called “History’s Persistent Voice.” It’s a multimedia project that includes poetry, visual art and music inspired by the songs of enslaved people. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SynopsisCarlos Salzedo, the most influential harpist of the 20th century, was born in Arcachon, France, on today's date in 1885. Salzedo transformed the harp into a virtuoso instrument, developing new techniques showcased in his own compositions and that others like Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Britten adopted in theirs.In 1921, Salzedo and Edgard Varese co-founded the International Composers Guild, promoting works by progressive composers like Bartok and Honegger. Salzedo's compositions for harp include both transcriptions as well as original works like Scintillation, probably his most famous piece, and Four Preludes to the Afternoon of a Telephone, based on the phone numbers of four of his students. He taught at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School, and offered summer courses in Camden, Maine. Hundreds of Salzedo pupils filled harp positions with major orchestras around the world. Salzedo himself entered the Paris Conservatory at 9 and won the premiere prize in harp and piano when he was 16. He came to America in 1909 at the invitation of Arturo Toscanini, who wanted him as harpist at the Metropolitan Opera, and — curious to note — Salzedo died in the summer of 1961, at 76, while adjudicating Metropolitan Opera regional auditions in Maine.Music Played in Today's ProgramCarlos Salzedo (1885-1961): Scintillation; Carlos Sazledo, harp; Mercury LP MG-80003

Duane Allen is a 1/4 of the Grammy, Dove, ACM and CMA winning, Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and a 59 year member of the Oak Ridge Boys, the one and only Duane Allen. Duane had formal training in both operatic and quartet singing before becoming a member of the Oaks in 1966. He is also a member of the Texas Gospel Music Hall of Fame and has even written a book on the history of Gospel music. He graduated from Paris Junior College, and then Texas A&M University at Commerce, Texas. He received a B.S. in Music from Texas A&M, studying with Metropolitan Opera stars Richard Webb and William Abbott. For his classical music degree, Duane concentrated on voice, piano, and composition.  Altogether, the Oaks have scored 12 gold, three platinum, and one double platinum album—plus one double platinum single—and had more than a dozen national Number One singles and over 30 Top Ten hits selling more than 41 million albums. #countrymusic #gospelmusic #music #recordingartist #countrymusichalloffame #gospelmusichalloffame #texasmusichalloffame #grandoleopry #noraleeallen #joebonsall #williamleegolden #richardsterban #gospelquartet #classicalmusic #goldrecords #platinumrecords 

Duane Allen is a 1/4 of the Grammy, Dove, ACM and CMA winning, Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and a 59 year member of the Oak Ridge Boys, the one and only Duane Allen. Duane had formal training in both operatic and quartet singing before becoming a member of the Oaks in 1966. He is also a member of the Texas Gospel Music Hall of Fame and has even written a book on the history of Gospel music. He graduated from Paris Junior College, and then Texas A&M University at Commerce, Texas. He received a B.S. in Music from Texas A&M, studying with Metropolitan Opera stars Richard Webb and William Abbott. For his classical music degree, Duane concentrated on voice, piano, and composition.  Altogether, the Oaks have scored 12 gold, three platinum, and one double platinum album—plus one double platinum single—and had more than a dozen national Number One singles and over 30 Top Ten hits selling more than 41 million albums. #countrymusic #gospelmusic #music #recordingartist #countrymusichalloffame #gospelmusichalloffame #texasmusichalloffame #grandoleopry #noraleeallen #joebonsall #williamleegolden #richardsterban #gospelquartet #classicalmusic #goldrecords #platinumrecords 

New Haven will build a new compost facility amid a state-wide waste crisis. Hearings began today over DNA evidence related to the Long Island serial killer case. Officials remind residents to be vigilant as we head into tick season. Plus, the Metropolitan Opera comes to Fairfield.

One Monday morning in 1958, Nina Lawson, Mistress of Wigs at the Metropolitan Opera, came into work to discover that someone had stolen thirty thousand dollars' worth of wigs from the Met. The theft made national headlines, and the FBI joined the hunt for the culprits.   Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com.   If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast. 

Award-winning director Michael Mayer has worked in a broad spectrum of media from theatre and opera to television and film. Current theatre: Swept Away, a new musical featuring songs of The Avett Brothers which opened November 19, 2024 on Broadway, the hit revival of Little Shop of Horrors now playing at the Westside Theatre, the national tour of his hit Broadway revival of Funny Girl (which starred Lea Michele) and the national tour of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, which recently ended its Broadway run.  Recent opera:  Jeanine Tesori and George Brant's new opera Grounded which opened the Metropolitan Opera season on September 23, 2024 with performances running until October 19. Upcoming opera: a new production of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera this season opening on December 31, 2024. Other Broadway credits include Adam Driver and Keri Russell in Burn This, Head Over Heels (featuring the songs of The Go-Go's), Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Tony Award, best musical revival, also National Tour), Spring Awakening (Tony Award/Best Musical and Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Director; also London, National Tour, Vienna, Tokyo, and Seoul productions); Green Day's American Idiot (also co-author, Drama Desk Award for Best Director; also US, UK and Asia tours); Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award/Best Musical also London and National Tour), Side Man (Tony Award/Best Play also London and Kennedy Center Productions),  A View from the Bridge (Tony Award/Best Revival),  Michael Moore's The Terms of My Surrender, Everyday Rapture, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Triumph of Love; off-Broadway credits include Lin-Manuel Miranda's 21 Chump Street (BAM), Chess (Kennedy Center), Love, Love, Love (Roundabout), Brooklynite (Also co-author, Vineyard), Whorl Inside A Loop (with Dick Scanlan, Second Stage), 10 Million Miles (Atlantic): Angels in America. London: a record-breaking West End run of Funny Girl and a UK tour. Tokyo: As You Like It (Toho Theatre). Film: A Home at the End of the World (Excellence in filmmaking, National Board of Review, GLAAD nomination), Single All the Way for Netflix, Flicka, The Seagull. He was featured in both the documentaries Those You've Known on HBO and Broadway Idiot. Television credits Include: SMASH (Pilot, producing director: Season One), two seasons of Alpha House (Amazon), and producer for the HBO film WIG. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut with a celebrated new production of Rigoletto, followed by a co-production (with the English National Opera) of Nico Muhly's Marnie, and a new production of La Traviata, which broke box office records. He directed the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori's Grounded at the Washington National Opera. Grounded  opened the Met's 24/25 season on September 23, 2024, and his new production of Aida will premiere at the Met on New Year's Eve 2024.  Additional Awards and fellowships: the inaugural Daryl Roth Creative Spirit award, Drama League Founders Award, Jefferson, Ovation, Alan Schneider, and Carbonell awards;  Fox Foundation, Drama League and TCG/NEA Directing Fellowships.   He serves on the Boards of SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society) and the Arthur Miller. Photos by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.Com- assisted by BrookeBellPhoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Czy można stać się gwiazdą Broadwayu, występować w Metropolitan Opera, zaczynając swoją drogę od etnografii w Krakowie? Paulo Szot, laureat nagrody Tony, udowadnia, że tak. W tym odcinku historia Brazylijczyka polskiego pochodzenia, któremu chęć poznania kultury rodziców i decyzja o wyjeździe na studia do Krakowa otworzyły drzwi do światowej kariery. **** Odkryj Amerykę na nowo! Poznaj fascynujące historie i praktyczne wskazówki, które pomogą Ci lepiej zrozumieć Stany Zjednoczone! Sięgnij po moje audiobooki i ebooki o Stanach Zjednoczonych. Słuchowiska pełne opowieści o kulisach pracy w USA a także niezwykłych miejscach, takich jak Hawaje, Alaska, Wielki Kanion czy Nowy Orlean. To także inspirujące historie z pierwszej ręki, które zabiorą Cię w niezapomnianą podróż po USA. Kupując ebooki i audiobooki, wspierasz moją pracę:

The Story of the Writing of “The Messiah” by George Friederic Handel. Metropolitan Opera Soloists, and The Tabernacle Choir. ACU Sunday Series.   The Messiah Story - Martin Jarvis, Metropolitan Opera Soloists, and The Tabernacle Choir ACU Sunday Series.   Guest Artist Martin Jarvis narrates The Messiah Story, with the accompaniment of Metropolitan Opera Soloists Tamara Mumford, Erin Morley, Tyler Simpson, and Ben Bliss, along with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. It tells the story of the writing of "The Messiah" by George Frideric Handel. Watch this presentation at- https://youtu.be/kv7WbDcFyRE?si=g-nYOzbbCsCMjfaA The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square 851K subscribers 223,328 views Dec 11, 2017 Purchase the full program on DVD and CD: DVD: http://bit.ly/2da33oL CD: http://bit.ly/2da1BCG Episode 4501B. December 20, 2015. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    American Conservative University Podcast (ACU) is not an official representative for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All opinions, selections and commentary are solely those of ACU.  We post a variety of selections from various Christian denominations.   For Come Follow Me lesson manual and materials visit- Come, Follow Me For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2023 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/come-follow-me/2023?lang=eng   For a list of 100+ episodes of ACU Sunday Series visit- https://www.podbean.com/site/search/index?kdsowie31j4k1jlf913=85cb8104bdb182c048b714ad4385f9e82a3aeb49&v=ACU+Sunday+Series+ Note- Click on “100 Episodes Found” in upper right corner.   For many different Podcasts based on the ‘Come Follow Me' program visit- https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=come+follow+me+   Subscribe to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the latest videos: http://bit.ly/1M0iPwY Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchofjesu... Twitter: @Ch_JesusChrist Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ChurchOfJes... Website: ChurchOfJesusChrist.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints   BYUEducationWeek Get a Free Book of Mormon | ComeUntoChrist Church of Jesus Christ https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org › requests › free-...   The Book of Mormon brings you closer to Jesus. Click to download a free digital copy of the Book of Mormon and learn about it with online missionaries.   -------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the Strength of Youth To help you find the Way and to help you make Christ's doctrine the guiding influence in your life, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has prepared a new resource, a revised version of For the Strength of Youth.   For over 50 years, For the Strength of Youth has been a guide for generations of Latter-day Saint youth. I always keep a copy in my pocket, and I share it with people who are curious about our standards. It has been updated and refreshed to better cope with the challenges and temptations of our day. The new version of For the Strength of Youth is available online in 50 different languages and will also be available in print. It will be a significant help for making choices in your life. Please embrace it as your own and share it with your friends. This new version of For the Strength of Youth is subtitled A Guide for Making Choices. To be very clear, the best guide you can possibly have for making choices is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the strength of youth. So the purpose of For the Strength of Youth is to point you to Him. It teaches you eternal truths of His restored gospel—truths about who you are, who He is, and what you can accomplish with His strength. It teaches you how to make righteous choices based on those eternal truths.13 It's also important to know what For the Strength of Youth does not do. It doesn't make decisions for you. It doesn't give you a “yes” or “no” about every choice you might ever face. For the Strength of Youth focuses on the foundation for your choices. It focuses on values, principles, and doctrine instead of every specific behavior. The Lord, through His prophets, has always been guiding us in that direction. He is pleading with us to “increase [our] spiritual capacity to receive revelation.”14 He is inviting us to “hear Him.”15 He is calling us to follow Him in higher and holier ways.16 And we are learning in a similar way every week in Come, Follow Me.   --------------------------------------------------------------------  Check out our ACU Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/ACUPodcast   HELP ACU SPREAD THE WORD!  Please go to Apple Podcasts and give ACU a 5 star rating. Apple canceled us and now we are clawing our way back to the top. Don't let the Leftist win. Do it now! Thanks. Also Rate us on any platform you follow us on. It helps a lot. Forward this show to friends. Ways to subscribe to the American Conservative University Podcast Click here to subscribe via Apple Podcasts Click here to subscribe via RSS You can also subscribe via Stitcher FM Player Podcast Addict Tune-in Podcasts Pandora Look us up on Amazon Prime …And Many Other Podcast Aggregators and sites ACU on Twitter- https://twitter.com/AmerConU . Warning- Explicit and Violent video content.   Please help ACU by submitting your Show ideas. Email us at americanconservativeuniversity@americanconservativeuniversity.com   Endorsed Charities -------------------------------------------------------- Pre-Born! Saving babies and Souls. https://preborn.org/ OUR MISSION To glorify Jesus Christ by leading and equipping pregnancy clinics to save more babies and souls. WHAT WE DO Pre-Born! partners with life-affirming pregnancy clinics all across the nation. We are designed to strategically impact the abortion industry through the following initiatives:… -------------------------------------------------------- Help CSI Stamp Out Slavery In Sudan Join us in our effort to free over 350 slaves. Listeners to the Eric Metaxas Show will remember our annual effort to free Christians who have been enslaved for simply acknowledging Jesus Christ as their Savior. As we celebrate the birth of Christ this Christmas, join us in giving new life to brothers and sisters in Sudan who have enslaved as a result of their faith. https://csi-usa.org/metaxas   https://csi-usa.org/slavery/   Typical Aid for the Enslaved A ration of sorghum, a local nutrient-rich staple food A dairy goat A “Sack of Hope,” a survival kit containing essential items such as tarp for shelter, a cooking pan, a water canister, a mosquito net, a blanket, a handheld sickle, and fishing hooks. Release celebrations include prayer and gathering for a meal, and medical care for those in need. The CSI team provides comfort, encouragement, and a shoulder to lean on while they tell their stories and begin their new lives. Thank you for your compassion  Giving the Gift of Freedom and Hope to the Enslaved South Sudanese -------------------------------------------------------- Food For the Poor https://foodforthepoor.org/ Help us serve the poorest of the poor Food For The Poor began in 1982 in Jamaica. Today, our interdenominational Christian ministry serves the poor in primarily 17 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Thanks to our faithful donors, we are able to provide food, housing, healthcare, education, fresh water, emergency relief, micro-enterprise solutions and much more. We are proud to have fed millions of people and provided more than 15.7 billion dollars in aid. Our faith inspires us to be an organization built on compassion, and motivated by love. Our mission is to bring relief to the poorest of the poor in the countries where we serve. We strive to reflect God's unconditional love. It's a sacrificial love that embraces all people regardless of race or religion. We believe that we can show His love by serving the “least of these” on this earth as Christ challenged us to do in Matthew 25. We pray that by God's grace, and with your support, we can continue to bring relief to the suffering and hope to the hopeless.   Report on Food For the Poor by Charity Navigator https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/592174510   -------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer from ACU. We try to bring to our students and alumni the World's best Conservative thinkers. All views expressed belong solely to the author and not necessarily to ACU. In all issues and relations, we hope to follow the admonitions of Jesus Christ. While striving to expose, warn and contend with evil, we extend the love of God to all of his children. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------