Podcasts about Sesame Street

Episode 710: Toby and Kyle discuss whether OpenAI is becoming too big to fail as there's been rumblings about a government backstop for its AI-fueled debt. Then, President Trump proposes a 50-year mortgage to help with affordability for aspiring home owners. And, Netflix drops a first-look of “Sesame Street” on its debut on the platform. Meanwhile, Starbucks drops a viral “bear cup” that sparked a fan frenzy but also backlash. Finally, what you need to know in the week ahead.  Learn more at usbank.com/splitcard  Get your MBD live show tickets here! https://www.tinyurl.com/MBD-HOLIDAY  Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.swap.fm/l/mbd-note⁠⁠⁠  Watch Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode Description: This Week in Music History - November 10-16 | Pink Floyd, Beatles, Fleetwood Mac & More Join host Buzz Knight and master of music mayhem and music historian Harry Jacobs for another captivating episode of This Week in Music History, covering November 10-16. Dive deep into legendary moments that shaped rock, pop, and cultural history. Featured Music History Highlights: Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” (Nov 10, 1975) - Discover the untold story behind this iconic album’s #1 UK chart debut and its heartbreaking connection to Syd Barrett, who unexpectedly appeared during recording sessions. Led Zeppelin IV (Nov 12, 1971) - Explore the album featuring “Stairway to Heaven,” “Black Dog,” and “Rock and Roll” that sold 37 million copies worldwide and earned 24x Platinum certification. Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” (Nov 13, 1965) - Harry reveals why this Abbey Road recording remains one of his favorite Beatles albums, featuring classics like “In My Life,” “Norwegian Wood,” and “Michelle.” Fleetwood Mac’s Self-Titled Album (Nov 15, 1975) - Learn about Stevie Nicks’ emotional dedication of “Landslide” to her father and the latest rumors about Lindsay Buckingham’s potential reunion with the band. Additional Topics Covered: • Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and the incredible story of “Candle in the Wind” selling 660,000 copies in one day after Princess Diana’s funeral • Freddie Mercury’s final public appearance (Nov 14, 1991) and his AIDS diagnosis announcement • Donna Summer’s disco classic “MacArthur Park” hitting #1 • Jimi Hendrix’s “Electric Ladyland” chart success • John Lennon’s only #1 solo single during his lifetime (you’ll be surprised which song it was!) • Sesame Street’s PBS debut and its cultural impact • Bob Dylan’s “New Morning” album evolution Perfect for: Classic rock enthusiasts, music history buffs, Beatles fans, Pink Floyd devotees, and anyone fascinated by the stories behind legendary albums. Subscribe to Taking a Walk podcast for weekly deep dives into music history with Buzz Knight and Harry Jacobs, your guides through rock and roll’s most memorable moments. #MusicHistory #ClassicRock #PinkFloyd #Beatles #LedZeppelin #FleetwoodMac #PodcastEpisode #TakingAWalk #RockHistory​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Big Bird, Oscar and Bert & Ernie were first introduced to America's children on 10th November, 1969, when Sesame Street made its small-screen debut. Designed to resemble a real inner-city street, its set and multicultural cast including African Americans was a groundbreaking concept. Aiming to address educational inequality, its creators Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morissette had been inspired by the idea that TV could help underprivileged kids get a leg-up by learning through engaging skits, songs, and lovable characters. The show became wildly popular, with 7 million children watching daily, and early studies showing viewers scored higher on educational tests.  Over time, the series tackled issues such as racism, death, autism and bullying. Arion, Rebecca and Olly recount how Jim Henson came on-board; reveal how racists in Mississippi refused to screen the series; and explain how this transformational show came about thanks to a dinner party gambit… Further Reading: • ‘How Sesame Street Helps Children Learn for Life' (PBS, 2017): https://www.pbs.org/education/blogs/pbs-in-the-classroom/how-sesame-street-helps-children-learn-for-life/ •  ‘Mississippi banned Sesame Street for showing Black and White kids playing' (The Washington Post, 2023): https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/02/05/sesame-street-ban-mississippi/ • ‘Sesame Street' (Children's Television Workshop, 1969): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9NUiHCr9Cs Love the show? Support us!  Join 

What's up, dudes? Remember looking in your stocking and finding a cool coloring book of your favorite characters? Charlie Ague from Closer to Christmas and Ague Designs and Alamo City Santa Jeremy Phelps  are here with me to break them down! Luckily, there's a great website Retro Reprints with hundreds of coloring and activity books to help with our quest.We look through several books by Random House and Golden published in the ‘80s. For example, the Snorks, or as some remember them, underwater Smurfs, engage in holiday activities throughout each page of their book. The Shirt Tales frolic and play amid the yuletide festivities in their own book as well. Spider-Man and the Muppets join the fun in their respective books.As we dig into each book, we examine which pages are easiest to color. We also look at the level of detail poured into the Muppet Babies book, and occasionally how certain pages are boring. Some pages are devoid of characters and feature would-be Christmas presents. Yay!Wuzzles? Check. Ewoks? Got ‘em. Twinkles the elf? Twinkles the elf?!?! So grab your box of 64 crayons, sharpen your colored pencils, and doodle along to this episode on ‘80s Christmas coloring books!Closer to ChristmasTwitter: @closertoxmas IG: @closertoxmasAgue DesignsIG: @aguedesignsAlamo City SantaIG: @alamocitysanta Etsy: North Pole General StoreFB: @northpolegeneralstore                                      IG: @northpole_generalstoreRetro ReprintsGive us a buzz! Send a text, dudes!Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com! Later, dudes!

Sesame Street debuted on this day and the Grammy nominees have been announced!

Bill Frost (CityWeekly.net, X96 Radio From Hell) and Tommy Milagro (SlamWrestling.net) talk Pluribus (!), Listener Mailbag (Tulsa King vs. The Chair Company set to an R.E.M. soundtrack), Bat-Fam, The Paper, Sesame Street's new streamer, Surviving Mormonism With Heather Gay, Roofman, Palm Royale, Playdate, The Beast In Me, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, In Your Dreams, Nouvelle Vague, SNL: Glenn Powell, the return of Landman, Ken Burns' The American Revolution, Rasslin' News, Movie Korner: Predator: Badlands and Americathon (1979), I Love LA, Have I Got News For You, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, The Thaw, Loot, and more.Drinking: Gin & Tonics made with Madam Pattirini Gin from OFFICIAL TV Tan sponsor Ogden's Own Distillery.Yell at us (or order a TV Tan T-shirt) @TVTanPodcast on Threads, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or Gmail.Rate us and comment: Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, Amazon Podcasts, Audible, TuneIn Radio, etc. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tvtanpodcast.substack.com

Back on this day in 1969 Sesame Street makes its debut.  KTAR Timeline is brought to you by Beatitudes Campus. 

Don't touch that dial! We're celebrating five (?!?!?) years of The Time Mousechine with a very special interview with Radio Disney's DJ Ernie D! We talk about his early days at the station, some of the most iconic moments in Disney Channel music history, and why it was so iconic and important. Plus, our annual podcast stats, our thoughts on Miley joining Sesame Street, and another "Dancing with the Debrief"! ----- Follow The Time Mousechine: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠ Follow Ernie D: ⁠Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Highlights of what's new in streaming for the week of November 8, 2025. Netflix Countdown: Jake vs. Tank (Nov. 8) Marines (Nov. 10) Sesame Street, volume 1 (aka season 56) (Nov. 10) Being Eddie (Nov. 12) Dynamite Kiss, season 1 (Nov. 12) Eloá the Hostage: Live on TV (Nov. 12) A Merry Little Ex-Mas (Nov. 12) Mrs. Playmen, season 1 (Nov. 12) Selling the O.C., season 4 (Nov. 12) The Beast in Me (Nov. 13) Delhi Crime, season 3 (Nov. 13) Had I Not Seen the Sun, part 1 (Nov. 13) Last Samurai Standing, season 1 (Nov. 13) Tee Yai: Born To Be Bad (Nov. 13) Unicorn Academy, chapter 4 (Nov. 13) The Crystal Cuckoo, season 1 (Nov. 13) In Your Dreams (Nov. 14) Jake Paul vs. Tank Davis (Nov 14) Lefter: The Story of the Ordinarius (Nov. 14) Nouvelle Vague (Nov. 14) Disney+ 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. EST) The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, season 3 (Nov. 13) LEGO Marvel Avengers: Strange Tails (Nov. 14) A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (Nov. 15) HBO Max Eddington (Nov. 14) The Seduction (Nov. 14) Paramount+ My Nightmare Stalker: The Eva LaRue Story (Nov. 13) Peacock Tiffany Haddish Goes Off (Nov. 13) Prime Video Playdate (Nov. 12) Malice, season 1 (Nov. 14) Apple TV+ Palm Royale, season 2 (Nov. 12) Come See Me in the Good Light (Nov. 14) Hallmark+ Christmas Above the Clouds (Nov. 8) A Keller Christmas Vacation (Nov. 8)

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In this episode, Professor Mouse and the Cosmologist discuss Sesame Street and consuming children's media as an adult. Munchie references galore. 

Anky Cyriaque, a filmmaker originally from Haiti who grew up in New York, brings a unique perspective to the cinema industry, deeply rooted in his belief that storytelling reigns supreme. Influenced by early childhood experiences with American TV shows like Sesame Street, Cyriaque emphasizes that "story is king," a philosophy he upholds in his directorial pursuits. He expresses concern over the cinema industry's current trajectory, where financial considerations often overshadow the narrative, diminishing the traditional theatrical experience and leading to what he views as a decline in storytelling quality. Cyriaque also critiques the rapid shift from theatrical releases to video on demand, arguing that this quick transition erodes the value of the cinematic experience, urging a return to prioritizing engaging narratives that captivate audiences.(00:02:45) Short Films: Directors' Personal Storytelling Investments(00:05:57) Film Influence on Career Paths(00:10:23) "Showcasing Director's Storytelling Skills Through Shorts"(00:19:11) Streaming Services' Influence on Independent Filmmakers' Visibility(00:29:34) Dynamic Landscape of Modern Visual Narratives(00:34:52) Media Consumption Shift: Streaming vs. Physical Ownership(00:44:02) Influencer-Driven Marketing in Movie Promotion(00:47:01) Evolution of Independent Film Distribution Strategies(00:52:19) Spielberg's Influence on Film Appreciationhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm3977697/

In the early 1970s, legendary collaborator and self-proclaimed non-musician Brian Eno famously designed a deck of 115 cards containing elliptical imperatives to spark in the user creative connections unobtainable through regular modes of work. He called his creation "Oblique Strategies." For the past six decades, artists the world over in every artistic medium have used Eno's strategy while attempting to overcome a lull in creative output.In 2025, moody-melodramatic-mediocre yet somehow still award-winning* hobby podcasters and self-proclaimed Lightnin' Lickers Jay and Deon found themselves uninspired when contemplating the potential theme of their upcoming forty-fifth episode. Together, they decided... to default back to the alphabet. Because they have a reasonably solid grasp of the alphabet and how it works. They had previously utilized the letters A thru L, so naturally, they went with M.Sonic contributors to the forty-fifth episode of Lightnin' Licks Radio podcast include:  Brothers Johnson, M. M. Knapps, James Todd Smith, Tone Loc. Prince Paul, Camp Lo, Dynasty, Mary Jane Girls. Dire Straits, Uncle Tupelo, various SesameStreet characters, Crash Test Dummies. Emma Ruth Rundle, Marraiges, Drab Majesty, Ted Lucus. The bible, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Sir Mix-a-Lot. The Rolling Stones, Mantronix, Afrika Bambaataa, Beck, De La Soul. Big Daddy Kane, CrooklynDodgers, Q-Tip, Masta Ace. M.F. Doom, Metal Fingers. Ducks Deluxe, Tyla Gang, The Motors, Brinsley Schwartz, Leif Garrett, Homer Simpson. The Impressions, MC 900-ft Jesus, Curtis Mayfield, Martha and the Muffins, Romeo Void, M & M. DanielLineau, Maps & Atlases, Bandeau, La Rosa Noir, Dave Matthes Band. The Music Machine, Alice Cooper, The Association, Rick Springfield, Joe Walsh, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks & Lindsay Buckingham. Joe “Beans” Espisito, Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens, The Main Ingredient, The Temptations, Seals & Croft, Stevie Wonder, Leon Ware. Alicia Keys, 21 Savage, J. Cole, and the Clockers.Please defend the rights of (y)our neighbors. Drink Blue Chair Bay responsibly. Stay warm and keep it in your pants.The Letter “M” mixtape:[side one] 1 mudhoney - night of the hunted 2 marth & the muffins - paint by number heart 3 the main ingredient - let me prove my love to you 4 the music machine - talk talk 5 masta ace  -nineteen ninety seventy something [side two] 1 the motors - forget about you 2 curtis mayfield - billy jack 3 marriages - skin 4 maps and atlases - vampires 5 mantronix - who is it [end]

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Macauley Culkin is doing a new Home Alone commercial, Donna takes a celebrity name spelling quiz and Sesame Street is coming to Netflix.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special episode of The Autism Little Learners Podcast, I'm celebrating 10 years of Sesame Workshop's Autism Initiative and the creation of the beloved character, Julia! I had the absolute joy of sitting down with Kama Einhorn and Dr. Abigail Bucuvalas from Sesame Workshop to talk about the incredible impact of authentic representation, inclusion, and collaboration with the autism community. We dive into how Julia was created to truly reflect the experiences of autistic children and families, the thoughtful research that goes into every Sesame Workshop project, and the global reach of their work. You'll also hear about puppeteer Stacey Gordon—whose personal connection to autism brings such authenticity to Julia's voice—and some exciting new projects on the horizon that continue to celebrate acceptance, understanding, and belonging for all children. Key Takeaways: Sesame Workshop's Autism Initiative has been making an impact for a decade. Julia was created to reflect the experiences of autistic children and promote understanding. Collaboration with autistic individuals, families, and experts is central to Sesame Workshop's process. Representation in media helps normalize conversations about autism and inclusion. Puppeteer Stacey Gordon brings personal insight and authenticity to Julia's character. Every piece of content is research-based and tested before release. The team continually evolves to ensure portrayals of autism are authentic and neurodiversity-affirming. Julia's story continues to grow — showing her friendships, family life, and even her communication with an AAC device. Free, bilingual resources are available for families at SesameWorkshop.org/Autism. The Autism Initiative has had a global impact, expanding to shows like Sisimpur in Bangladesh. Guest Bios: Before we jump in, I'd love to tell you a bit more about today's guests, Kama and Abby. Kama Einhorn As Senior Director of Content Design for Sesame Workshop's Global Education group, Kama Einhorn develops multimedia resources for children, parents, and providers. Before joining the Workshop in 2004, she wrote and edited early childhood teaching resources for Scholastic. Kama holds a master's degree in education from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Abigail Bucuvalas Dr. Abigail Bucuvalas is the Senior Director of Curriculum and Programs in the Global Education Department at Sesame Workshop. In this role, she leads the processes for curriculum development and program design, collaborates on monitoring and evaluation, and develops new project concepts within the areas of nature, health, and social norms and inclusion. Previously, she led education activities for LEGO Foundation-funded work in development and crisis-affected settings, managed educational content and partnerships for the Nigerian co-production of Sesame Street, and directed a professional development project for teachers in Ghana. Before joining Sesame Workshop, Abigail collaborated on health research in the U.S. and abroad, funded by the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health. She holds an Ed.D. in Health Education and an Ed.M. in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an A.B. in Psychology from Harvard University. Learn More: Explore all of Sesame Workshop's autism resources and celebrate Julia's 10th anniversary at www.sesameworkshop.org/autism.

We've got the biggest headlines from Hollywood and the music charts!

Entertainment journalist Kristyn Burtt joins Dave Weekley on Hotline from Los Angeles with a packed Hollywood update. The two discuss the debut of Sesame Street's move to Netflix, why it's being redesigned into bite-sized segments, and how it could boost Netflix's kids lineup. Kristyn also breaks down Jon Stewart's Comedy Central contract extension, the Stranger Things controversy involving Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour, and Kim Kardashian's Emmy ambitions. The segment wraps with Fox's planned Bewitched reboot — and whether anyone really asked for it

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Jill Swirsky as they enter the world of musical theater yet again, this time traveling to the land of Oz in Wicked (2024)! The film is an adaptation of the Broadway play, which was an adaptation of the novel by Gregory Maguire. We follow Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, the eventual Wicked Witch of the West, on her journey as a child and young adult. Along the way, she learns about her true magical abilities but ultimately becomes the villain of Oz when she uncovers a terrible secret. Along for the ride is Ariana Grande's Glinda (Galinda at the start!), who at first is antagonistic toward Elphaba but ultimately creates a powerful friendship. Jeff Goldblum shines as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Michelle Yeoh is truly a scary Madame Morrible. The story offers a rich well of psychological concepts, from ostracism and adolescent development in its wake, as well as Maslow's self-actualization theory. It's such a good story, you'll definitely end up defying gravity! Read Dr. Swirsky's Psi Chi blog Psychology Pop Culture Corner for contributions on more musicals! Also, check out these OER materials to use Sesame Street in developmental psychology. Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0. Episode Transcription Go to this link to read a transcript generated by Whisper AI Large V3 Model. Disclaimer: It is not edited and may contain errors!

Send us a text We go all Sesame Street this week and we are sponsored by the letter C. Community, Cooperation, Coordination , Compassion , this County, Country , Creeps , Civics, Cookies and yes that C word. Snow & I have a spirited conversation ( see what I did there ? ) about Halloween, Heidi Klum , Medusa , the ongoing shutdown , Paul Gosar being inept, the SNAP funding, teaching civics to a rock, The World Series , how hard it is to organize and the fundamental problem with the Democratic Party  Follow us at Reality Redemption on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky and Tik Tok

Welcome to TV Break, where Pop Break's Podcasts Editor Alex Marcus is joined by editor-in-chief Bill Bodkin, and TV Columnist Josh Sarnecky to talk about the happenings in television.Here's the format of the show:The Best Thing I Saw on TV Last Month (3:00) – Alex, Bill, & Josh talk about a show/episode/event they liked from the last month including Amazon's Gen V Season 2, Disney Plus' Marvel Zombies, AppleTV's The Morning Show, and HBO's It: Welcome to Derry. Newsbreak (29:29) – This month, they are discussing the news that Taylor Sheridan is moving to NBCUniversal, leaving Paramount behind at the end of his current deal in 2028. Streaming Wars (47:47) – Alex, Bill, & Josh each selected their top streamer of the month. Josh and Bill agree on Netflix's big month, as they flood the zone with Strange Things sponcon, Sesame Street shenanigans, and KPop Demon Hunter Halloween rerelease. Meanwhile, Alex stands up for Peacock thanks to its big Sheridan signing and streaming sports supremacy.New Series Spotlight (1:01:07) – This month we are shining the spotlight on Mubi's Hal and Harper. The series was written and directed by indie film sensation Cooper Raiff, and is a family dramedy exploring codependency and trauma in siblings, played in childhood and adulthood by Raiff and Lily Reinhart. The series also stars Mark Ruffalo and Betty Gilpin. Check out Alex's thoughts on Cooper's most recent film Cha Cha Real Smooth alongside fellow Pop Break Podcaster Courtney Stevenson (Blerd Watchers) on his former film podcast Cinema Joes.

In Composers, we explore how songs are created by people from long ago and today. We meet Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and learn how their lives shaped their sounds. We also hear from Sesame Street, and legendary Broadway composer Bill Sherman about writing catchy tunes with meaning. Listeners discover that anyone can start with a small idea and build a powerful piece of music.

  http://www.UnderThePuppet.com -  Stacey Weingarten is a puppeteer, puppet wrangler, director, writer, and producer who got her puppet start studying with John Tartaglia and later went on to work on the show Johnny and the Sprites. Since then, she's worked with The Muppets and Sesame Street, where she won an Emmy Award for her work on the show's 50th season.  She also has her own theatrical puppetry projects — Rescue Rue and Runaway Rue — that have played Off-Broadwayand at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.  I talk to Stacey Weingarten about all these projects and more, including her work on the upcoming The Muppet Show special for Disney+, on this episode of Under The Puppet. Plus, hear more of my conversation with Stacey Weingarten by becoming a Saturday Morning Media Patreon Patron.  Visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia for info and to help create more episodes like this. Connect with Stacey Weingarten: Website - https://www.saweingarten.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sayetc/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/stacey.weingarten.9 IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3899160/ Discussed on the show: John Tartaglia - https://saturdaymorningmedia.com/2019/02/utp-25/ Johnny and the Sprites – https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Johnny_and_the_Sprites Sesame Street – https://www.sesameworkshop.org The Muppets – https://muppets.disney.com Rescue Rue & Runaway Rue – https://www.rescuerue.com Fordham University Theatre Program – https://www.fordham.edu/theatre CTY (Center for Talented Youth) – https://cty.jhu.edu The O'Neill Puppetry Conference – https://www.theoneill.org/pup Tim Lagasse – https://www.timlagasse.com Jim Henson Company – https://www.henson.com Puppet Kitchen NYC – https://www.puppetkitchen.com John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tartaglia%27s_ImaginOcean Connect with the Show: http://www.instagram.com/underthepuppet https://www.facebook.com/underthepuppet http://www.twitter.com/underthepuppet Connect with Grant: http://www.MrGrant.comhttp://www.twitter.com/toasterboy https://instagram.com/throwingtoasters/ Art by Parker Jacobs Music by Dan Ring Edited by Stephen Staver ©2025 Saturday Morning Media - http://www.saturdaymorningmedia.com  

At an early age Edward Andrès Dennis always knew he wanted to be an artist. His fondest memories are of his mother reading books to him and watching Reading Rainbow. Day and night Edward was creating something, a doodle, some craft or writing a story in hopes of one day creating a book for children like himself to read. Edward created art through his teenage to adult life working for some of the most prestigious companies. His favorite times have been spent as a Special Education teacher in inner city Phoenix. Edward currently lives between Los Angeles, California and Phoenix, Arizona where he works as a freelance artist. His 2 life goals are to inspire children that look like him and that his children's books have an impact on youth and how they view the world.​Edward has worked with brands such as Toyota USA, Yakima racks, Disney, Giant/Liv Cycling, Sesame Street, Shimano, Epic Rides, Corel, Anheuser-Busch, Western Union and Giordana cycling. He has been in publications like Mountain flyer: the mountain bike journal, ImagineFX, Bicycling Magazine,Backcountry magazine, Outside business journal, Pure Nintendo and Nintendo force, Trail builder Magazine. He has also worked on several video games such as Super Ubie Island, Up Up Ubie and currently Super Ubie Island 2.​Edward has been recognized by the Latino Film Institute as a LatinX in Animation Spark Grant Finalist with Netflix for 2023 and is pursuing the adaptation of his children's books into an animated film/series. Edward is currently Writing and Directing his debut short film.

It's a Halloween special with Sal Vulcano and Gary Vider joining Mark and Sam, dressed up as your favorite Sesame Street crew—Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, and Elmo. It's candy, chaos, and comedy as the guys debate kids' TV, Blippi's wild past, and overpriced Italian dinners. Plus, Iceland adventures, Joe Pesci stories, and the world's worst toy memories. Sponsored by: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month Shopify trial https://www.shopify.com/DRUNK Get 50% off your first Factor box + free breakfast for a year with code DRUNK50OFF https://www.factormeals.com/drunk50off Subscribe to We Might Be Drunk: https://bit.ly/SubscribeToWMBD Merch: https://wemightbedrunkpod.com/ Clips Channel: https://bit.ly/WMBDClips Sam Morril: https://punchup.live/sammorril/tickets Mark Normand: https://punchup.live/marknormand/tickets ⸻ Produced by Gotham Production Studios @GothamProductionStudios | Producer: Matthew Peters #WeMightBeDrunk #MarkNormand #SamMorril #SalVulcano #GaryVider #HalloweenEpisode #ComedyPodcast #StandUpComedy #SesameStreet #BodegaCatWhiskey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

KID: "Mum, can we have Sesame Street?" MOTHER: "We have Sesame Street at home!" The Sesame Street at home is the Letter People.  IF YOU LIKE WHAT WE DO AND WANT TO HELP US CONTINUE; SUPPORT US ON PATREON: patreon.com/spreadthewhimsy   SUPPORT US ON KO-FI: ko-fi.com/spreadthewhimsy SUPPORT US WITH MERCHANDISE: whenwagonwheelswerebigger.com/w4bshop SUPPORT US FOR FREE: spread the word, spread the whimsy!   THREADS/INSTAGRAM: w4b_podcast BLUESKY: @w4bpodcast FACEBOOK: facebook.com/whenwagonwheelswerebigger TIKTOK: @w4b_podcast WEBSITE: whenwagonwheelswerebigger.com W4B theme composed by John Croudy W4B theme acoustic arrangement by Joe Beckhelling Additional musical contributions by R Gill

In this week's mini-sode, we are shining the spotlight on Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, "Avenue Q"! Not only did it win the Tony Award for Best Musical, but this edgy puppet-based musical beat out Wicked! It's a classic and a hit, and all the character actors out there gotta know it!Support the showHost/ Production/ Editing: Brennan StefanikMusic: Dylan KaufmanGraphic Design: Jordan Vongsithi@batobroadway on Instagram, Threads, and TikTokPatreon.com/batobroadway

This week, we're revisiting an all-timer. Salem, the North Shore city with a long and complicated history, is now in the midst of a new chapter: Halloweenmania! Beginning before the first leaf even turns, its annual Halloween Happenings attracts tourists from around the globe, packing the streets and causing headaches in surrounding towns. How did it get this way? To chat about this spooky phenomenon, I'm joined by brothers Adam and Art Antczak, a couple of dudes who have lived in and around Salem for decades. “A reject from Sesame Street” — the initial reaction to Gritty. Have feedback on this episode or ideas for upcoming topics? DM me on Instagram, email me, or send a voice memo. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CrimsonCASH Week 9 - Scott on vacation, so no time for a description. Just know there will be great B1G picks and some video of Sesame Street characters.

The AwesomeCast crew — Michael Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar — dive into another week of geeky goodness, from AI browsers and robo-pets to nostalgic tech and bizarre cable “hacks.” This Week's Awesome Topics •

The AwesomeCast crew — Michael Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar — dive into another week of geeky goodness, from AI browsers and robo-pets to nostalgic tech and bizarre cable “hacks.” This Week's Awesome Topics •

In this week's episode, we interview narrator Hollis McCarthy, who has narrated over 300 audiobooks, including many of THE GHOSTS and CLOAK MAGES. She is also co-author with her mother Dee Maltby of the MAGIC OF LARLION series, which you can learn more about at https://deemaltbyauthor.com/. This coupon code will get you 25% off the ebooks in the Dragonskull series at my Payhip store: DRAGONSKULL25 The coupon code is valid through October 27, 2025. So if you need a new ebook this fall, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT Introduction and Writing Updates (00:00): Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 273 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moller. Today is October 17th, 2025, and today we have an interview with audiobook narrator Hollis McCarthy. Hollis has narrated many audiobooks, including numerous books from the Ghost and Cloak Mage series, so we'll talk with her about that. Before we get to our main topic, we'll have Coupon of the Week and then a progress update on my current writing projects. This week's coupon code will get you 25% off the ebooks in the Dragonskull series at my Payhip store, and that coupon code is DRAGONSKULL25. The coupon code is valid through October 27th, 2025. So if you need some new ebooks to read for this fall, we've got you covered. And as always, the coupon code and the links to my store will be available in the show notes. Now for an update on my current writing projects. As of this recording, I am 80% of the way through the first round of edits in Cloak of Worlds, so making good progress and if all goes well, the book should be out before the end of the month. I'm also 14,000 words into Blade of Shadows, which will be my next main project after Cloak of Worlds is published, which means I also have to write the outline for Elven-Assassin soon, and that will be the fifth book in the Rivah series. In audiobook news, recording will be underway next week for Blade of Flames. That will be narrated excellently by Brad Wills. Ghost in Siege is now out. It should be available at of all the audiobook stories (except Spotify) and it should be available there in a few days. And that is the final book in my Ghost Armor series that is excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook and publishing projects, which makes for a good segue into our main topic, our interview with Hollis McCarthy, which begins now. 00:03:56 Interview With Hollis McCarthy Hi everyone. I'm here today with Hollis McCarthy, who is a classically trained actor. Hollis has played leads in regional and off-Broadway theater, specializing in Shakespeare. On CBS. she's been a recurring guest star judge on Bull, the president of Ireland on Bluebloods, and a senator on Netflix's House of Cards. She's narrated more than 300 books for a variety of publishers and is the proud co-author of her mom Dee Maltby's epic fantasy series, The Magic of Larlion. Hollis, thanks for coming on the show today. Hollis: My pleasure. Jonathan: So to start, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into acting and performing? Hollis: That's a great question. I think it all started with doing my little brother's Sesame Street finger puppets. He's 10 years younger than me, so I mean, I got to reread all my favorite books with him and I started voicing the finger puppets to Burt, Ernie and Cookie Monster and all those guys in the backseat of the car and playing all the characters. And then my brother went into theater. My other brother's seven years older than me, and I used to go see his shows up at the college when I was in high school and kind of fell in love with it there. I absolutely meant to be an aeronautical engineer/physicist like my dad, but it didn't end up working out. I fell in love with theater and went to Stratford. I had a dual major because I was in an honors program, so I didn't have to declare a major until my fifth year of undergrad. But then I went to Stratford up in Canada and I saw two Shakespeare shows in one day and that was it. I had to do that. That was what I loved. Jonathan: Well, since we've had many audiobooks together, I'm glad it worked out that way. Hollis: Me too. Yeah, so I got my BFA in acting, and then I got my MFA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in performance, and I was lucky enough to have some great coaches from the RSC and did a bunch more Shakespeare, and I've done that regionally a lot. And then I fell into audiobooks because I got tired of traveling, and I love to work from my home in my jammies. Jonathan: That is the dream. Speaking of that, could you tell us a bit more about how you sort of got into audiobooks or ended up doing a lot of that? Hollis: Yeah. Well, again, it starts with my childhood. My mom, who was a writer and an artist, she had, there were five of us kids and she would read out loud to us in the kitchen to keep us from fighting when we were cleaning up. So she started with Tolkien and Watership Down and Narnia and all of that. And then I got to, like I said, read to my little brother all my favorite books. And so I started doing all different voices for the characters and I always thought that was normal until, of course I volunteered to read in class in high school and people thought I was some sort of freak, but I always loved playing all the characters. And so when I started looking at staying home more and what could I do to work from home instead of being on the road for work, which was great for a long time, but then at some point you want to stay home and have a life as an actor as well as doing what you love. And audiobooks seemed a good fit. So my husband, who's also an actor, took a class from Paul Rubin here in the city in New York. We live in the New York area now. And he got a bunch of good tips from that that he passed on to me. And then my agent got me an audition with Audible and Mike Charzuk there. I came in and read a couple of pieces for him and he came back to the booth with a book he wanted me to start on. And from there I just kept building and got a lot of great indie authors through ACX like you. I don't know how many books we've done together now. Jonathan: It's over 30, I think. Yeah, 30 over the last seven years. So it's been a while. Hollis: And you're seriously, I mean, I'm not saying this because I'm on your blog, but your series are absolutely my favorites, especially because, yeah, the two series that I do, one is Nadia from the Midwest like me and then the other one with Caina, the epic fantasy world, which uses all my British and Irish bits and I absolutely love them. So yeah, I've just kept building up, getting in with a few more publishers now, which is harder to do and I just love it. Our first booth, when the pandemic hit, we had to build a booth at home and I had been going to studios in the city up until that point, but it hit pretty suddenly. It was obvious on St. Patrick's Day when it was like us going to the studio and people who were absolutely desperate folks were the only other ones on the street. We had to stay home. So my husband took our rapier blade (we fight with swords. We're actor combatants, like you said). He took two broadsword blades and a rapier blade, and he's handy with carpentry, fortunately. That's how he worked his way through school. He bracketed those to the wall and we ordered through Amazon before they kind of shut down too. We ordered packing blankets to hang over them and I ordered a new microphone and a new interface and it was trial and error for a bunch of days. And we had an engineer on call who talked us through how to run the software programs and stuff, how to set them up. And from there I've just kept recording at home. I sometimes still go into the studios when they have a budget where they can spring for a studio, but mostly they want you to work from home these days. So that's mostly what I do. Jonathan: Oh, building a recording booth out of swords. That's very Caina. Hollis: It's very Caina. I love Caina. Caina is me as a young woman. If I had been a superhero, I would've been a Caina. All my favorite roles in Shakespeare were the girl as boy ones. You asked, one of my favorite roles in theater was when I was at Alabama Shakespeare and I was playing Queen Elizabeth in Richard III and dressing in gorgeous gowns and being very seductive and very powerful and manipulative and all that. But in the earlier scenes, we did the three plays and in the Richard III and the Henry VI we did all three. And in the earlier scenes where Elizabeth wasn't in, I got to dress up and doublet and hose and I like stippled some stipple of beard on my face and climbed a siege ladder with a sword in one hand and did a spectacular pratfall running away from the bad guys and would slide on my stomach on the deck of the stage and I would come out into the lobby and the other guys who were playing my fellow fighters would be holding up rating cards for how far I'd slid that day. Jonathan: Sounds like very practical cardio. Hollis: Yeah, very. It was a lot of fun. That was probably my most fun I've ever done, though I also loved Beatrice and Much Ado, which I got to do twice because she's just so funny and witty and passionate. She's great, and Shakespeare, you know. Jonathan: Very good. So after all these audiobooks, what goes into preparing to record an audiobook? Hollis: That's a great question, too. It depends on the book, really. And I'm lucky enough to do a lot of series now, so when you're doing a series, it gets easier as you go along. I remember with the first ones I did for you, the first Caina, it probably took me an hour of prep to get through the first chapter. There were so many made up place names that I needed to figure out how to say, and then you have to be consistent. Even if they're made up, you still have to be consistent. So I really used my theater training there because I learned the international phonetic alphabet when I was in school, and so I can write down phonetic pronunciations and for each book, I'm old school with my prep, I'll keep a legal pad and I'll write down phonetic pronunciations, the word, page number, and the phonetic pronunciation for each word, so I have a record. You don't retain them from book to book. Pronunciations is a big part of what you do. Also, character voices, because again, you want to be true to the author's intent and you want to stay consistent. Again, for Caina, it became very complicated because you had to have Caina's basic voice, which is this [speaks in Caina's voice]. She started out a bit higher because she was younger. And then as she aged, she's gotten more medium pitch-wise, but then she was in disguise as various people. She was disguised as a cockney guy for a while, and she was an Irish guy for a while. And so for each of those personas, you have to notate for yourself in the script. Oh, now she has this accent. Now she has this one. And really for each chunk of dialogue, every time a character speaks, I'll put the initial of their name and if there are a lot of characters in the scene, I will have to differentiate between them pretty frequently. If it's two characters and I know them both very well, then I kind of have the shorthand in my head. So the different character voices I also put on my legal pad so I have a record, so Calvia sounds like this [speaks a line in the character's voice]. And sometimes I'll write down physical aspects of them so that I can just kind of feel the character. And after I do them for a while, the feel of the character will give me the voice and you write down everything that the author says about the character too. I'll just notate for myself that will oftentimes give you the voice. If it's a good author, which thank God you are, you write in different voices, which makes my job easier. Jonathan: The joke I sometimes say is I didn't do audiobooks for the first seven years I was publishing, and people would ask me, how do you pronounce this? I say, I don't care, pronounce it however you want. And then suddenly we started doing audiobooks and suddenly no, it matters very much how it's pronounced. Hollis: Yeah, exactly. It's funny, I'm just looking at my tablet. I have your Shield of Power up on my tablet. I've been reading that on the treadmill and at lunch. But yeah, we have to keep tabs. And when we have so many books now, I've started special folders just for the Ghost series and the Cloak series because a lot of times a character will show up from several books previous and I go, I remember them, but I don't remember what they sounded like. So I will have notated forward alto, slightly Irish or something like that for them. I have shorthand for all of it, and so I'll do that. Jonathan: Yeah, I spent a lot of time with Control + F searching through Word documents, trying to remember the first time I wrote this character and what they looked like. Hollis: Yeah, I bet you do. Some writers I guess do, well, if they don't do it all themselves. And if they have somebody who's like an administrative assistant, they have somebody who gives you, I've gotten these from authors before. Their assistant will send me a story log of characters with everything that's said about the character. I'm like, oh, well, that's very organized and helpful, but I would think it would be massively time consuming. Jonathan: It is. I did hire someone to help me with that this year. It was getting to be too much to go back and search through things and it is a very time consuming project, but once it's done, it's very helpful because it's quite easy to find things and look things up and refresh your memory. Hollis: I bet so. When I was working on my mom's books, we hired an editor and she did a spreadsheet, a database kind of different terms and characters and what was said about them. And I go back to that and amend it all the time now that I'm trying to write book eight. Jonathan: Yeah, that kind of thing is very helpful. But on a related topic of preparation, since you've done audiobooks, stage, and TV, how would say narrating audiobooks is different from the experience of doing theater or TV? Hollis: The major thing and the hardest thing for me when I was starting out was you can't move around all the time. I had an engineer at Audible. It was just, and a lot of times the chair is very important because if you move, what you're bound to do, if you're producing your voice correctly, you need to sit up and you need to use your hands to express yourself, and you have to have an absolutely silent chair. And the chairs at Audible at that time, were not absolutely silent. So every time I moved, the chair would squeak and we'd have to stop and start again. So that was very, very hard for me. In fact, I've been doing so much audiobooks now, and I also do TV and film, but that's gone to all for auditioning for that. It's all self tape, which means it's just like head and shoulders, so still you're just kind of using a little part of your body. And I had a theater callback for Pygmalion in the city the other day, in person, in a studio, in a rehearsal room. The day before, I used to do those all the time, and that's so rare now for them to do in-person auditions since the pandemic. But I put on my character shoes and my skirt and I practice just being bigger, opening my body up and doing all this stuff I learned to do in school and that you do when you're on stage to own the space because the space is the back wall of the theater. And that's a big difference between theater, film, TV, and audiobooks is the scope of it. When I did Beatrice, I was in an 1,100 seat unamplified stone amphitheater outdoors in Colorado. So you can imagine the scope physically and vocally is so big. And then for TV, film and you have to what they say, reach the back wall of whatever space you're in. Well, for film and TV, the back wall is the camera. It's right in front of your face a lot of the times. And the back wall is really kind of the inside of your head. It's almost like you have to have internal gaze so that the thoughts are just happening. You don't have to project them, you don't have to project your voice because all the equipment comes right to you, and all you have to do is feel the feelings and think the thoughts and the camera and microphone picked that up. Similarly with audiobooks, I'm just in a little tiny padded booth. My microphone is just a few inches from my face, and so I could be very, very intimate and everything gets picked up, and you have to do a lot less work for the emotion to come through. Again, really all you have to do is kind of feel the emotion. And for me, that's always for me is being in the moment and feeling the moment and letting that dictate the pace and the vocals and everything. I guess I'm pretty Method. I'm very Method, but that's how I trained. It's what works for me. Not every narrator is like that. There's a million different proper ways to narrate, and that's just my take on it. But everything is right there. So it's just kind of keeping it much smaller and more intimate. And in fact, when you want to be big like [character name's said in the character's] voice and he was yelling a lot, and I would have to pull back from the microphone to let his scope come out. Jonathan: Well, after 30 audiobooks together, I can say that method definitely works. Related to that, as we mentioned earlier, you're now at over 300 titles on Audible over the last 12 years. Congratulations for that. What would you say is most surprising or unexpected things about audiobooks you learned during that time? Hollis: Oh, well, it was very surprising that we could make a booth out of sword blades and blankets. That surprised me. Yeah, that's a great question. It's surprising to me how simple I can be. I went back and I had an author recently who wanted me to do a new chapter to begin and end a book that I had done like 2014, something like that, shortly after I started. And I thought at the time that I was really filling these voices and what I did was fine. You're always your own worst critic. But what I've discovered now is the more you do it, the more you record, the more you use your instrument every single day for 300 some books, the more effortless it becomes and the more depth you can bring to it. And as a young actor, we always resist that. My acting coach used to say, age and experience. There's no substitute for it. I'm like, yeah, yeah, but talent and hard work, that's something. But it's really true that just the repetition, there's no substitute for it. Those chapters that I did, they were the same voices basically. But when I went back and listened to the original, I was like, oh, it surprised me how without really changing anything mechanically, the work has just gotten deeper, more effortless, but it sounds better at the same time. Does that make sense? Jonathan: It does. Because you've probably noticed I've redesigned the covers for the Caina series like seven times over the last 10 years. And every time you think this is it, this is it. I'm done. This is good. And then with more practice, you look back and think, well, maybe I can improve this again, though. I suppose that's not often something that happens in the audiobook world where you get to go back and revisit something you did previously. Hollis: That is one of the hardest and most surprising things about audiobooks. And I've heard people say that this happens to every young narrator when they're starting out, you get through the first two chapters of a new book and you go, oh God, now I get it. I want to go back and start again. Well, there's no do overs with audiobooks. With audiobooks, “done is good” is what they always tell you when you're starting out. So even in film and TV, which you don't get much rehearsal for, you get a couple of run run-throughs, but with audiobooks, you got your prep. Not everyone does, but I always read the whole book before I start if possible, because otherwise you get surprises. But you get your one read through, your prep, and then you go and yes, you can stop. You can punch and roll, edit over. If you make a mistake, you go back half a line, you start again there. But there's no evolution of the work, which is what's great about series too, I think, because with the series you get, yeah, Caina was here last time I did her and now she's going through something new. And then the character grows and it becomes less and less effortful, but it also becomes like someone you really know so that it gets so much deeper and it's so much more fun to play with. Jonathan: That makes sense. 12 years really is a long time to have done audio narration or anything. So what do you think is the key to sticking it out for audiobooks for the long term? Hollis: Well, a lot of things make a difference. I didn't do it before this interview, which is why my voice is kind of rocky, but I always warm up in the morning when I'm setting up a session. I always do a vocal warmup. You got to get a good night's sleep, you have to drink water every couple of pages. I have a tea that I drink that keeps my stomach quiet because stomach gurgles is another bad thing about audiobooks. You have to eat very carefully and drink tea to keep your stomach quiet. You don't want to have to stop every time for that. And a lot of training, a lot of vocal training. I had Linklater training and the Lavan training, and Linklater to me is the most useful. And a lot of the stuff that applies to Shakespeare applies to audiobooks too. You warm up, you get yourself breathing, you warm up your resonators, your sinus, your mask resonators, the back of your head, your chest resonators. For the men [imitates male voice], you really have to have your chest warmed up, get the vibrations going here. And so I get all that kind of going before I sit down in the booth. And that also keeps you, then you keep your throat open so you're not hurting yourself. You have to have good posture so that the air can move from your diaphragm up to your throat and have it be open. And then optimally, like with Caina, Caina has a lot of mask resonance. Brits do; they are very far forward. So you really have to have all that warmed up and then that has to have no impediments between the front of your face all the way down to your diaphragm where the breath originates. And if you can do all that, then you could be an audiobook narrator. Also diction. I warm up my diction to everything from [imitates several vocal exercises] in just to get your mouth moving. You don't want lazy mouth with, there's a lot of enunciation in audiobooks that's important. But I also don't like, I really hate when you hear people enunciating. I don't like that. And with Caina, even though she's upper class, she's not like that. She's not pretentious. And certainly Nadia, you want to be able to understand what she says, but you don't want her to be enunciating. That be weird. So all of all that stuff I worked on in grad school and did all the Shakespeare plays, I would always get to the theater an hour early. You have to be there half hour for makeup and check in, but I would always get there an hour early and do at least 15 to 20 minutes of physical and vocal warmups. And so those habits have really helped me. I think I have pipes of iron, fortunately. I'm very lucky. So all that stuff really matters with audiobooks. Jonathan: It's amazing in how many different fields of life the answer seems to boil down to do the things you're supposed to over and over again forever. Hollis: Exactly. That's really true. When are we going to get old enough that we don't have to do that anymore? [laughs] Jonathan: Just one side question. What is Linklater training? I don't think I've heard that term before. Hollis: Oh, Kristen Linklater is, she's probably the biggest American vocal coach. She has a lot of books out there about voice and the actor and all of her training stems from allowing the breathing to drop in as she calls it, not forcing it to drop into the diaphragm, and then creating a pool of vocal vibrations that go from the diaphragm through an open throat to the resonators. And you can use every resonator in your body to project that sound. When I was doing Beatrice and Gertrude at Colorado Shakes in that unamplified stone amphitheater in the foothills of the Rockies, there was winds that would come down out of the mountains when we were on stage, and that theater was known for eating women's voices. And I had to thank God the vocal coach that summer was a Linklater coach, which is the method that I trained in, and he helped me work with even resonators. If you can imagine in your back, just using the whole chest box and shaking the vibrations through your body so that basically you're making your whole human skeleton an amplifier for the vocal energy coming from your breath. And that's Linklater. She's fascinating. If you ever want to study voice, you can't do better than Linklater, to my mind. Cicely Berry is another one I studied. She's the British guru for the RSC and the Royal Shakespeare Company and all those people, and she's great too. Jonathan: Well, that's just exciting. I learned something new today. Hollis: That's always good. Always learning from your books too about Medieval combat. Jonathan: We always want to learn something new every day, whether we like it or not. Hollis: Right. Jonathan: So to turn it around a little bit, what advice would you give a new indie author who is working with a narrator for the first time? Hollis: Oh yeah, I actually, I made some notes. I thought that was such a good question. Make sure that your narrator knows what you expect from them upfront. If you go through ACX, they have this great thing called the first 15 where your narrator is, if you're new to this author, you record the first 15 minutes of the book and you put that on ACX for your author to listen to and approve. You don't have to approve it if you don't like it. And in fact, if you don't like it, it's very important you don't approve it and you tell your narrator specifics about what you need them to change before they go on with the book. Because what you can't really do is once a book is recorded, say, oh, I really don't like it. I'm not going to pay you for it. I need you to go back and do it again. That's not acceptable and it will make narrators never want to work with you. But what's great about the first 15 is you have that chance to say, well, this voice was, she was a little higher than I wanted. I hear her in my head more as an alto because for me as a narrator, what I want to do is I want to take what you, Jonathan, hear your characters being as you're writing them in your head. I want to take that and translate that into an audiobook for you. So the more you give your narrators information about your characters, the better they're going to voice it. Also, if there's a style in your head, like with Nadia books, there's a little touch of noir there. It was a dark and stormy night kind of feel. If there's a style you kind of hear in your head, that would be a good thing to give them. But ACX has also, I think a character sheet where you can tell them about the different characters. You can fill that out for your narrator. That's tremendously helpful, age of the character, if you hear a vocal pitch range, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, any dialects, they need to know that. The narrator's nightmare is you finish up a book and you shouldn't do this, you should read ahead, but you get to the last line: “I love you, darling,” he said in his beautiful French accent. Jonathan: It explicitly shows up there for the first time. Hollis: Exactly. And then for the narrator, it's like, oh my God, I have to go back and rerecord everything this guy said, which is hours and hours and hours of work for you and your editor who will kill you. But yeah, let them know about all the character traits that you can and just, I think it's on the narrator too, to, I've been lucky with my authors, we always have a good give and take. I come from a theater background and you want to collaborate. You want to realize the author's vision and you want to be a partner in creating that. So try to be partners and give them more information than you think they need and use that first 15. It is totally acceptable to send it back and say, I'm going to need you to do this again, and I'm going to need these changes. And then once you get that ironed out, then you'll probably be ready to go ahead and have a book. And when you get the book, you won't be shocked and you'll be happy (hopefully) with the read. Is that helpful? Jonathan: It does. New authors, if you're listening to this, listen to that advice. Hollis: Yeah. Jonathan: Now for a slightly different topic, can you tell us about the Magic of Larlion books and how you ended up publishing that series? Hollis: Yeah. The Magic of Larlion is an epic fantasy adventures series seven, almost eight volumes. I'm working on finishing book eight now. The first book, Wizard Stone, my brilliant mother Dee Maltby started years and years ago, probably, gosh, maybe 20 years ago now, I think when my little brother moved out from home and she had an empty nest and she had more time to write, and she wrote Wizard Stone, and she sent it out a few places, and that was the only way you could get published back when she wrote it and didn't pursue it, she got discouraged, I think, by rejections from publishers, sat in her drawer for a while, and my sister-in-law, Dana Benningfield, who's also an actor, and she was my best friend even before she married my brother. I introduced them. So yeah, that was all me. She was an editor professionally for a while, and when she moved to Ohio where I'm from and was living with my brother and my parents lived right across the orchard, I told her about this book. And she wasn't editing at the time, she was kind of done with it, but she asked mom if she could read it. So she read it and edited it, and then it became a much better book and really encouraged my mom to keep writing, which I had been telling her to do for years. But hearing somebody who wasn't family, somehow giving her that input that it was really something special, changed her perspective. So she kept writing and she and I started, I was on the road doing Shakespeare a lot. We started trading chapters. She'd send me a chapter a week and I would edit it and send it back. And so Wizard Stone evolved from there into its current form, and then she started the next book, Wizard Wind and Wizard Storm. And we went that way through five and a half books. And my dad finally, when he retired from being a physicist, said he was going to, I always told you I'd get your published Dee, I'm going to take it down to the print shop and get a hundred copies made. And by this time I was working with you and a bunch of other great indie authors who were letting thousands of happy readers read their books through an independent platform. And I said, well, wait a minute. I could do better than that. So I convinced them to hire an editor that I had worked with, and I did the rewrites and got it through the pre-production process and hired a cover artist, very talented artist. And you and Meara Platt, another of my authors, gave me so much information and help. And we got it published in 2022, I believe. We had three ready to go. And we published those all within a month of each other. One a month for three months, and then four and five, and then six came. And I co-authored five, six, and seven because my mother was losing her sight and her hearing at that point. We got those done. We had six out and a lot of people reading them and loving them and reviewing them before my mom passed. And I think it's probably one of the most satisfying things I've done in my life, because not only do I love the books, and they're just a rip roaring, fantastic adventure-filled epic trip through this incredible world my mom invented. But when she was about to, one of the last things she said to me was, I told her how many people had read her books. I just went through the Kindle numbers and thousands of people in different countries and all over the world were reading and loving her books. And I told her that, and she said, that's all that matters. And she felt such a sense of pride in herself and accomplishment because they were being received for what they are, which is a brilliant creative flight of fancy, this magical world in the tradition of all the books she loved, always Tolkien. And so I promised her I'd finish it. So after she died, I published six and seven and I've got eight about 90% written now, and I'm hoping to bring that out by the end of the year, although I've been too darn busy with narration to really spend the time. I've got the big climactic Jonathan Moeller type battle at the end sketched in my head and on an outline, but I got to write that. And then we can get that out there and finish that too. Jonathan: Will you stop with eight or keep going after eight? Hollis: My feeling is that this series will culminate with book eight. It's been a long saga of Beneban, this young wizard who kind of gets flung off a mountain by his evil wizard master and has to master his fledgling wizardry powers and his magical sword to win his love Laraynia, a powerful sorceress, and save the kingdom. And that's book one. And there's ice dragons, and then they have kids, and then the later books have become much more about their kids. And the more I write, the more it's become about young women fighting with swords. Jonathan: Well, they say write what you know. Hollis: Defeating the bad guys. Plucky young women, overachieving, competing with men. And so I think that's all going to come to a head with book eight, and that will be the end of that series. But I do think I'm going to spin it off into possibly more on the younger characters. I don't know if it's going to be YA per se, I think it'll still be for adults, but more of a YA feel to it, the younger characters of the ice dragon riding school of battle and the wizarding school. I don't know if I want to make it schools necessarily, it might limit you too much. And that's kind of been done too. But I do think the ice dragons are going to figure largely in it. Oh, and I don't know, there's a plot point I probably shouldn't give away, but my mother's full name was Willa Dee Maltby. She writes under Dee Maltby and there is a character, a very magical character named Willa that shows up in this book eight. So I think Willa will be a big character going forward and the younger generation of women and some boys too. I like boys, I do. Jonathan: Well, I suppose if people want to know more, they will have to read and find out. Hollis: Yes. And please go to the website is deemaltbyauthor.com and everything you want to know (well, maybe not everything), but everything you can know for now is there. Jonathan: Well, I was going to ask you what you would say was the most rewarding things about publishing the books, but I think you covered that pretty well. On the flip side, what was the biggest unexpected challenge in publishing them? Hollis: The PR is hard. You seem to be great at it. I even did PR professionally to work my way through undergrad and then in between grad school and undergrad and after I graduated and I had an assistantship in it at my university. But the book world specifically is a whole different kind of PR and learning Amazon ads and Facebook ads and it's a lot. It's a lot. And again, you have been so helpful with it. And I mean, there are a lot of online resources out there too, which is great. But what I'm really finding, trying to do it part-time is overwhelming. You really need a full-time block of time to not only write the books, but then to publicize them the way they deserve to be publicized. Jonathan: Yeah, the tricky part is, as you said, book advertising is very different from anything else. I was talking with a guy who is an Amazon reseller for various toiletries and hygiene products and makes a good living doing that. I was telling him how much I pay per click on Amazon ads. He's just appalled. It's like, you can't make any money doing that. And then the flip side of that too is that Internet marketing is so different than any other form of PR, so it's just sort of constant challenge there. Hollis: I know, and I know I actually signed up for a TikTok account and I just don't, again at the time. Plus every time I turn it on, I'm like, I don't want to watch that. I'm allergic to the format. You'd think being an actor, being used to being on camera, I could come up easily with little things to do for the books and I probably could for TikTok. But again, just learning the platform and then applying yourself to it is just such a big time hack that I don't have that amount of time. I know that narrators are now more and more marketing themselves by recording themselves on camera narrating and putting that out there, which I can do, I guess. And that's why I got this ring light and everything. I can do that now. I haven't done anything with it, but I guess if some of the book work dries up, I'll be more motivated to do it. Jonathan: Well, that's how anything works. You try it and if you enjoy it and it works, keep doing it. And if you don't enjoy it and it doesn't work, no point in carrying on with it. Hollis: I think that's true. And you just have to keep learning too, as we know with everything. You got to keep learning new things. Jonathan: Well, this has been a very enjoyable interview and thank you for coming on the show. Hollis: My pleasure. Jonathan: Let's close out with one last question. You've obviously done a lot of theater, so what, out of all the productions you've done was the one you would say was your favorite or that you enjoyed the most? Hollis: I think I have to go back to Beatrice probably. I mean, the Alabama Shakes getting to play a man thing, that was a lot of fun. But Beatrice, we did a Wild West Much Ado about Nothing at Colorado Shakespeare. The premise was that I was the niece of Leonardo, who is the tavern keeper, the bar keeper in this Wild West world. And there was a bar fight opening this Wild West production, and I entered through a swinging tavern door with a six shooter in one hand and a bull whip in the other. And I shot the pistol and cracked the bull whip and broke up the fight and then got to do Shakespeare's incredible Beatrice and Benedict story from there. It was so much fun. Jonathan: It almost seems like the soundtrack could have been “I Shot the Sheriff.” Hollis: Yeah. Yeah, it really could. It was a heck of a lot of fun. Jonathan: Well, speaking of fun, it was good talking with you, and thank you for taking the time to be on the show. Hollis: Yeah, I am excited to start the next Cloak book soon. So I was going to offer to do a little snatch of you want the introduction for Cloak here? Jonathan: Oh, I think we'll save it for the Real Thing. Hollis: Oh, okay. All right. Well thank you, Jonathan. It's been a pleasure. Jonathan: It's been a pleasure. And see you soon for Cloak Mage #10. Hollis: Alright. So that was our interview with Hollis McCarthy. Thank you for coming on the show and giving us a very informative and entertaining interview. A reminder that the website with the Magic of Larlion books is deemaltbyauthor.com. So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave your review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy, and we'll see you all next week.

Cristiana Dell'Anna—celebrated for her cinematic flair and proud Neapolitan roots—brings vibrant energy to our latest deep dive into Italian American culture. We open with a whimsical idea: a Neapolitan-themed Sesame Street, setting the tone for a lively conversation that stretches from Abruzzo to Sicily. With humor and heart, we touch on everything from the sacred Sunday pot of gravy to iconic places like “Sopranoland,” tracing the indelible mark Italian culture has left on the American imagination. Cristiana's reflections on Southern Italy add both authenticity and emotional depth, making this episode as engaging as it is heartfelt. Our journey through Naples moves beyond culture into the city's boundless culinary creativity. Listeners are treated to the chaotic charm of a true Neapolitan kitchen—complete with a turkey baster pressed into heroic service while crafting the perfect rum baba. This story captures the ingenuity and joyful improvisation that define Campania's spirit, showing how resourcefulness in the kitchen mirrors the resilience of its people. Along the way, we also explore the evolution of    American identity, paying tribute to figures like Mother Cabrini as we weave together personal anecdotes and historical threads that celebrate a shared heritage. The conversation then turns reflective, examining how Italian culture is portrayed in modern media—from the raw realism of Gomorrah to the poignant storytelling of The King of Laughter. We consider how film and television shape, challenge, and sometimes distort the Italian image abroad. With a nod to the global revival of Italian cinema, we close with cautious optimism for its continued recognition and artistic growth. Ending on a lighthearted note, we share tales of on-set meals and the laughter that binds us—reminding listeners that, through all its transformations, the Italian American legacy endures: rich in passion, creativity, and community.    HER SOCIALS:  Instagram: @cristianadellanna_official Facebook: Cristiana Dell'Anna X: @CrisDellAnna

This week Andrew talks with Louis Henry Mitchell. Louis is the Creative Director of Character Design for Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street. Louis directs and oversees all aspects of character art for Sesame Workshop which includes everything from designing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons & floats to directing Sesame Street Muppet photo shoots. Louis also notably designed Sesame Street's Julia — the first Sesame Street character on the autism spectrum. Louis is the author of the new book Qreative Evolution: How to Question Everything to Find Your Creative Fulfillment. This is a moving conversation that will inspire you to follow your passions and stick with something (even amidst setbacks). Most importantly, it's a reminder that little moments of inspiration truly have the power to change our lives. ** Follow Andrew **Instagram: @AndrewMoses123Twitter/X: @andrewhmosesSign up for e-mails to keep up with the podcast at everybodypullsthetarp.com/newsletterDISCLAIMER: This podcast is solely for educational & entertainment purposes. It is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a physician, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional.

On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup.Also this hour: Today is National Grouch Day. Since at least the mid 1970s, the day has celebrated grouches everywhere, including and highlighting Oscar the Grouch of Sesame Street fame. It's billed as a day to embrace the inner grouch within us all, and maybe find a way to laugh about our sometimes over-the-top grumpiness. But does it seem like grouchiness is having too much of a moment? That too many of us, too often, are too angry, by default? We talk it over.And jazz saxophonist Walter Smith III talks about how growing up in Houston shaped his musical career. He pays homage to his home town in his latest album, wrly titled three of us are from Houston and Reuben is not. He performs from that recording, along with fellow Houston natives Jason Moran and Kendrick Scott, in a concert for DACAMERA Friday night at the Wortham Center.

Johnny Mac  presents five feel-good Halloween stories. He starts by discussing popular Halloween candies in various states, highlighting favorites like Candy Corn in Mississippi and Reese's in Nevada. He then mentions that Count von Count from Sesame Street will be making an appearance at Sesame Place for Halloween festivities, including a not-too-scary maze. Mack also talks about the Factory of Terror in Canton, one of the largest indoor haunted houses. For those not into haunted houses, Starbucks offers a variety of collectible Halloween drinkware. Finally, Mack humorously reviews knockoff Halloween costumes, emphasizing their legally distinct nature from famous characters.  Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed!Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories' with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!We now have Merch!  FREE SHIPPING! Check out all the products like T-shirts, mugs, bags, jackets and more with logos and slogans from your favorite shows! Did we mention there's free shipping? Get 10% off with code NewMerch10 Go to Caloroga.comGet more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com

Megan Piphus, the four-time Emmy Award-winning puppeteer and ventriloquist, tells us about her groundbreaking run on “Sesame Street” - and she might even bring Rev. Peppers along. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

It may not even be Halloween yet, but the holiday season is already on its way — and Orlando's theme parks are gearing up with some of the most magical celebrations of the year! In this episode of Mom Street USA, we're sharing 10 must-do holiday experiences for families across Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, and LEGOLAND Florida. From meeting Santa and the Grinch, to dazzling parades, festive food, and gingerbread displays, there's something for everyone to enjoy.We'll cover both ticketed events like Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, and free holiday offerings like the Christmas Tree Stroll at Disney Springs — so you can plan the perfect holiday trip that fits your family and your budget.✨ Here's what you'll find in this episode:

We know we say it all the time, but Ivy Austin is really a fascinating person. From her work on Broadway, in film and on television, to her work as a therapist in New York, she has led a unique and memorable life.For more information on her acting, you can check out her website, and for more information on her work as a therapist, check out her Couples Therapy website.

Interview Date: March 23rd, 2025Episode Summary:This episode spotlights Robert Garland, Artistic Director of Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH)—former principal dancer, DTH's first resident choreographer, and a Juilliard BFA graduate. Beyond the concert stage, Garland's work spans New York City Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Oakland Ballet, and commercial projects from Sesame Street to Nike and the NAACP Image Awards.Garland traces DTH's roots to Arthur Mitchell's 1969 vision and explains how Mitchell's lecture-demonstration model built audiences and access. He folds in a vivid business/history lesson on George Balanchine—from the Ballets Russes and Coco Chanel's short ballet skirt to the Harlem Renaissance's jazz influence that helped shape neoclassicism and, crucially, how smart repertoire and audience-building choices drove growth. On the business side, Garland stresses that relationships power opportunities and fundraising—“contacts become contracts”—and lifts the curtain on the theater's “cottage industry” (development, marketing, production, stage management). For dancers, he offers pragmatic guidance: cultivate musicianship and form, be multifaceted (social, lighting, admin), and understand cycles of work—pace your week so you peak for shows. He unpacks today's video-first auditions, urging care with presentation, while affirming many legitimate pathways (college, company route, or self-directed study).Show notes:(0:00) – Robert Garland introduction & career highlights(09:41) – Dance Theatre of Harlem origin & mission(14:55) – Juilliard audition story and scholarship journey(16:56) – Balanchine, Coco Chanel, and neoclassicism explained(25:51) – “Contacts = Contracts”: relationships fuel opportunities(33:16) – Careers beyond stage: marketing, production, education(38:27) – Arts education builds empathy and compassion(42:34) – Audition process and rise of video submissions(51:41) – Transition into commercial/TV work with hip-hop artists(1:12:11) – From dancer to choreographer to creative leadershipBiography:Artistic Director Robert Garland was a member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company from 1985-1998, achieving the rank of principal dancer. After creating a work for the DTH School Ensemble, Arthur Mitchell invited Mr. Garland to create a work for The Dance Theatre of Harlem Company and appointed him the organization's first Resident Choreographer. Before becoming DTH Artistic Director, he was Director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem school. In 2023, Mr. Garland was appointed the Artistic Director of Dance Theatre of Harlem. His works for the company include Higher Ground, New Bach, Return, Nyman String Quartet No. 2, and The Cookout among others, many are in his signature postmodern-urban-neo-classical style.  In addition to choreographing several ballets for DTH, Mr. Garland has also created works for New York City Ballet, Britain's Royal Ballet, Oakland Ballet and many others.  His commercial work has included music videos, commercials and short films, including the children's television show “Sesame Street”, a Nike commercial featuring New York Yankee Derek Jeter, the NAACP Image Awards, a short film for designer Donna Karan, and the “Charmin Cha-Cha” for Proctor and Gamble. Mr. Garland holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Juilliard School in New York City.Connect on Social Media:Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/robertgarlandWebsite - dancetheatreofharlem.org

In this episode, we explore the 50-year legacy of Toronto's kids' programming — from Uncle Chichimus and Canadian Howdy Doody to Razzle Dazzle, Today's Special, The Kids of Degrassi Street, and the birth of YTV. Ed and Ryan discuss the early days of CBC children's programming, the influence of Sesame Street, Francophone broadcasting in Ontario, and even the role of Christian programming in shaping the media landscape.If you love production history, nostalgia, and behind-the-scenes stories of classic CanCon, this episode is for you.Order Ed's book, Imagination: The Golden Age of Toronto Kids' TV, from Dundurn Press or your favourite bookseller.Written & Hosted by Ryan BarnettProduced by Ryan Barnett & Sonia GemmitiA Knockabout Media ProductionArchival audio courtesy of Retrontario.*This program and all relevant content is for educational purposes only and to the best of our knowledge is being used under Fair Dealing/Fair Use Act guidelines and within Canadian and United States standards of fair dealing/fair use* Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sonia Manzano knows you think of her as Maria on Sesame Street – and that's exactly the point. Growing up in the South Bronx in a household “ruled by domestic violence,” TV was Sonia's refuge as a child – but she never saw anyone who looked like her. Years later, when she landed the role of Maria on Sesame Street, Sonia made a choice. She wouldn't play a character; she would be herself – on purpose. For 44 years, she served as an authentic and beloved role model for millions of kids. More recently, she's created another iconic Latina heroine through the animated children's show Alma's Way — this one inspired by her childhood self. In this episode, Sonia reflects on growing up “at a time when Latin people were absolutely invisible,” the power of seeing yourself reflected in pop culture, and the music that accompanied her journey. Here are her songs. Numero 6 - Bobby Rodríguez y la Compañía Lamento Borincano - Rafael Hernandez When You Wish Upon A Star sung by Jiminy Cricket [aka Cliff Edwards] Please Mr. Postman - The Marvelettes I Wish I Knew How It Feels to Be Free - Nina Simone Bang! Bang! - Joe Cuba Sextet Sing - Joe Raposo, cast of Sesame Street

Welcome!

Tulsa-based, Emmy-winning puppeteer David Bizzaro has impressive show credits that include Sesame Street, The Muppets, Waffles + Mochi, and much more. And now, you have the chance to learn from a master! David is our featured guest on this week's Oklahoma Today Podcast. He talks all about his unique career and how you can sign up for one of his in-person classes, where you too can learn the secrets behind this captivating art form.  Also on this week's episode, the editors share which creative skill they'd like to learn, and podvents announces the annual opening of one of Oklahoma's favorite corn mazes. You won't want to miss it!

It's the season finale of A Prairie Dawn Companion, and Becca Petunia is wrapping up her look at the female Sesame Muppets of the 1970s. That's right: it's time to check back in on Betty Lou and Prairie Dawn in their late 70s book appearances. But also: What classic Sesame Street song is technically a feminist anthem? What can we expect to hear in Season 2 of this show? And wait a minute, shouldn't we have talked about Winnie Wiggins???Credits:Written, Hosted, and Edited by Becca PetuniaCharacter Art by Becca PetuniaPodcast Artwork by Joe HennesExecutive Producer: Joe HennesResearch Help: Tony Whitaker, Shane Keating, Scott HansonSpecial thanks to Muppet Wiki, Michal Richardson, Katilyn Miller, Eli Lee, and the whole ToughPigs team

This week we're joined by Tough Pigs writer, podcast host, and Sesame Street expert Becca Petunia to talk about more of Sesame Street anniversary specials. These fools LOVED celebrating their anniversaries with self-congratulatory specials! Thanksfully this time we've got Becca on to fill in the gaps and tell us all the stuff we don't know about Baby Natasha and Rodeo Rosie! If you need more Becca, check out A Prarie Dawn Companion on Tough Pig's podcast feed and Here Comes Tomorrow, a podcast exploring Grant Morrison's excellent X-men comics run! Check out http://kermitmentstuff.com/ to get your Kermitment merch! Kermitment has a Patreon! Running a podcast is deceptively expensive work, so by becoming our Patron, you help us cover those costs and allow us to do funner, cooler stuff in the future! Find out more here! Visit our website to find a link to the Kermitment Patreon and more fun stuff at http://Kermitment.com! If you can't get enough Kermitment, follow @Kermitment.com, where we'll tweet fun stuff and interact with our listeners! And you can follow each of us individually: Matt: @MatthewGaydos Sam: @im-sam-schultz  

You're listening to Burnt Toast! Today, my guest is Emily Ladau, a disability rights activist, and author of Demystifying Disability. Our conversation today is about the many intersections between anti-fatness and ableism. This is such an important conversation, even if you feel like you're new to both of these worlds. We investigate who is considered a “worthy” disabled person or a Good Fatty — and how these stereotypes so often pit two marginalization experiences against each other. Today's episode is free but if you value this conversation, please consider supporting our work with a paid subscription. Burnt Toast is 100% reader- and listener-supported. We literally can't do this without you!PS. You can take 10 percent off Demystifying Disability, or any book we talk about on the podcast, if you order it from the Burnt Toast Bookshop, along with a copy of Fat Talk! (This also applies if you've previously bought Fat Talk from them. Just use the code FATTALK at checkout.)Episode 213 TranscriptEmilyI am a disability rights activist. I am a wheelchair user. I'm the author of a book called Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally. It's a bit of a mouthful, but all of that is really just to say that I am very passionate about educating people about the disability experience, and doing it through a lens that recognizes that we're all at a different point on the journey of thinking about disability and talking about disability. I really want to welcome people into what I know can be a sometimes overwhelming and uncomfortable conversation.VirginiaYou have been a disability rights activist since you appeared on Sesame Street as a 10 year old. I saw the clip. It's just adorable, little baby Emily. I mean, first tell us about that if you want! Or if you're sick of talking about it, I get it. But I would also love to know: When did your disability rights work morph into fat liberation work? And how do you see these two spheres intersecting?EmilyOn the Sesame Street note, my family likes to joke that I am totally milking that, because it happened when I was 10. But that was the first moment that I really understood that disabled people do have a place in the media. Prior to that, I had not seen almost anyone who looked like me, with the exception of two books that I read over and over again. And one other little girl who was also on Sesame Street who used a wheelchair.VirginiaWow.EmilyAnd I'm sure maybe somewhere else out there, there were other things. But I was an early 90s kid, and the media had just not caught up to showing me that I belonged. So having that experience is something that I really don't take for granted.I like to joke that in many ways, I am the “typical” disabled person. If you look up a stock photo of someone with a disability, it's probably a white woman using a wheelchair. Oddly enough, she's probably also on a beach, holding her arms out. You know? VirginiaAs soon as you said it, I have a visual. I've seen that picture. Obviously, she's on a beach.EmilyYes, so I am sort of the cliche version. But at the same time, I'm not. Because there's sort of an “acceptable” disabled person, and she is the thin, pretty, white woman who is sitting in a wheelchair. I meet, I suppose, some of those traits, but I am someone who, in later years so far, has come to identify as fat and no longer sees that as the derogatory term that it was always leveraged towards me as.Any relationship that I have to fat liberation work has been sort of an evolutionary process for me. It's newer to me. I didn't understand when I was younger how that fit into disability rights work. But I see now that we can't have those conversations separately. First of all, every issue is a disability issue. So every issue impacts disabled people. And second of all, the disability community encompasses every identity, every body type, every experience. There are more than a billion disabled people around the world. So you absolutely have every single possible body type within the disability community. And if we are not talking about fat liberation, if we are not talking about LGBTQIA+ rights, if we are not talking about ensuring that our work is meaningfully intersectional, then it's not actually disability rights work.VirginiaBut it is tricky to figure out how all those things intersect and fit together for sure.EmilyI feel like I'm constantly playing a game of Tetris with that. And I don't mean that to say, oh, woe is me. But more so, how do we get society to recognize how those pieces interlock with one another?VirginiaDo you mind sharing a little bit about how anti-fatness shows up in your own experiences? Sometimes it's helpful to name those moments, because some people listening might think, oh, I've had that too, and I didn't know to name it as anti-fatness, or, oh, I've been on the wrong side of that. And it's helpful to hear why that was not helpful.EmilyThere is no clear direction to take this answer, because it's impacted me in two diametrically opposed ways.The first is that I have been judged incredibly harshly as being lazy, as being unhealthy, as being someone who maybe doesn't take care of myself in the way that I should. And the wheelchair is seen as the cause of that.On the flip side, I have also been treated as though disability is the only cause of anything going on in my body, and therefore I should be given a free pass if I am considered, as doctors would say, “overweight.”VirginiaIt's like, Oh, it's okay. You're in a wheelchair. What can we do? We can't expect you to go for a run.EmilyExactly. So you see what I mean. It's either one or the other. I'm either bad and lazy or it's like, oh, poor you. You can't get up and exercise.VirginiaBoth of those are such judgmental, patronizing ways to talk about you and your body.EmilyThey're super frustrating. I think that both of those are anti-fatness in their own right. But for me, it sends conflicting messages, because I'm trying to seek medical support for certain issues. And some doctors are like, “Lose weight!” And other doctors are like, “Well, we can't do anything because you're in a wheelchair.” And so both of those are very unhelpful responses.VirginiaOh man, it really speaks to the lack of intersectional care in medicine, that people don't know how to hold these two facts together and also give you comprehensive medical care at the same time.EmilyI wish that we could just have disabled people speaking with medical students as a requirement in every single medical school program. But instead, I feel like we're either completely relegated to the sidelines of conversations in medical school, or maybe we're brought up in very clinical and dehumanizing ways, and we don't stop to think holistically about a person.It's interesting, because my mom has often said—and I should note, she has the same disability that I do. So she's a wheelchair user as well. But she feels very strongly that a lot of other medical issues that I am dealing with now were overlooked when I was younger, because everybody was so hung up on my disability that nobody was offering me the support that I needed for other things that could have, in turn, prevented some of what I'm now navigating.So it seems like healthcare can't hold multiple truths at once.They can't think about your body and think about everything going on. It's either you're fat or you're disabled.VirginiaGod forbid you have a health condition that is not weight linked and not linked to your disability. That's going to throw them completely for a loop.EmilyYeah, it's very much a binary. I think that it's led to a lot of confusion among healthcare providers. Certainly, I know there have been delayed diagnoses on many, many things. I've also had it leveraged against me in terms of what I would consider chronic illness, because I would get sick pretty regularly when I was a child, and every time I would throw up, it would be thrown in my face: “Well you're eating poorly. You're not taking care of yourself.” And nobody thought to do anything to check what was actually going on. They just thought that I was not taking care of myself. Turns out I had gallstones and needed my gallbladder removed. But when people see the wheelchair, they don't take me seriously.VirginiaNo, and let's be clear: Gallstones is not a condition you can treat by eating salad. Like, that's not something you can nutrition your way out of.EmilyI could not lettuce my way out of that one.VirginiaAre there any strategies you've figured out that helps you get a doctor to cut through some of those biases, or cut through some of that noise and actually focus on what you need them to focus on?EmilyI have to rehearse what I want to say in a doctor's appointment. And I don't think I'm unique in that. I'm sure that there are plenty of people who put together their notes and think through very carefully what they want to say before they go. As much as doctors tend to be frustrated when the patient comes in and it's clear that they were reading WebMD, I've found I need to point them in the right direction, because at least it gets them started down the path that I'm hoping to explore.And I'm not saying that I think that I have years of medical school worth of expertise, but when I was little, I used to always complain to my parents, “You're not in my body. You don't know how I'm feeling.”VirginiaSo wise.EmilyAnd I think that that remains relevant. I'm not trying to be a difficult patient. But I have very strong awareness of what is happening internally and externally. And so if I come in and I seem like I have it together and I'm prepared, I feel like doctors take me more seriously. And I have a lot of privilege here, because I am a white woman. I communicate verbally. English is my first language. So in a lot of ways, I can prepare in this way. But I don't think I should have to, to get the medical care that I need.VirginiaDoctors should be meeting us where we are. We shouldn't be expected to do hours of homework in preparation in order to be treated with basic respect and dignity. And yet, it is helpful, I think, to hear okay, this labor can be beneficial, But it's a lot of extra labor, for sure.EmilyIt is, and I've broken up with doctors over it. And I've also had doctors who I think have broken up with me, for lack of a better way to put it.I have had multiple doctors who have just kind of said, “We don't know how to deal with you, therefore we are not going to deal with you.” And in seeking the care that I need, I have run into walls because of it, whether it's a literal, physical wall in the sense that I tried to seek care, because I was having GI distress. I tried to go see the doctor, and the doctor's office was not wheelchair accessible, and they told me it was my fault for not asking beforehand.VirginiaI'm sorry, what? They're a doctor's office.EmilyThe one place I actually thought I would be fine and not have to double check beforehand. So that's sort of the physical discrimination. And then getting into the office, I've had doctors who have said, “I'm sorry, I don't know how to help you.” Go see this specialist. I'm sorry, I don't know what I can do for you, and then not return my calls.VirginiaOh, I knew this conversation was going to make me mad, but it's really making me mad.EmilyAnd I say all of this is somebody, again, who has health insurance and access to transportation to get to and from doctors, and a general working knowledge of my own body and the healthcare system. But I mean, if it's this much of a nightmare for me, multiply that by other marginalized identities, and it's just absurd.VirginiaIt really is. You've kind of led us there already just in talking about these experiences, but I think there's also so much ableism embedded in how we talk about weight and health. And I thought we could unpack some of that a little bit. One that you put on my radar is all this fearmongering about how we all sit down too much, and sitting is killing us. And if you have a job that requires you to sit all day, it's taking years off your life. And yet, of course, people who use wheelchairs are sitting down. EmilyI think about this a lot, because I would say at least a few times a year some major publication releases an article that basically says we are sitting ourselves to death. And I saw one I know at least last year in the New York Times, if not this year,VirginiaNew York Times really loves this topic. They're just all over there with their standing desks, on little treadmills all day long.EmilyI actually decided to Google it before we chatted. I typed in, “New York Times, sitting is bad for you.” And just found rows of articles.EmilyThe first time that this ever really came up for me was all the way back in 2014, and I was kind of just starting out in the world of writing and putting myself out there in that way as an activist. And I came across an article that said that the more I sit, the closer I am to death, basically.It's really tough for me, because I'm sure there's a kernel of truth in the sense that if you are not moving your body, you are not taking care of your body in a way that works for you. But the idea that sitting is the devil is deeply ableist, because I need to sit. That does not mean that I cannot move around in my own way, and that does not mean that I cannot function in my own way, but it's just this idea that sitting is bad and sitting is wrong and sitting is lazy. Sitting is necessary.VirginiaSitting is just how a lot of us get things done every day, all day long.EmilyRight, exactly.VirginiaSure, there were benefits to lifestyles that involved people doing manual labor all day long and being more active. Also people died in terrible farming accidents. It's all part of that romanticization of previous generations as somehow healthier—which was objectively not true. EmilyYou make such a good point from a historical perspective. There's this idea that it's only if we're up and moving and training for a 5k that we're really being productive and giving ourselves over to the capitalist machine, but at the same time, doing that causes disability in its own way.VirginiaSure does. Sure does. I know at least two skinny runners in my local social circle dealing with the Achilles tendons ruptures. It takes a toll on your body.EmilyOr doing farm labor, as you were talking about. I mean, an agrarian society is great until you throw your back out. Then what happens?VirginiaThere are a lot of disabled folks living with the consequences of that labor. EmilyAnd I've internalized this messaging. I am not at all above any of this. I mean, I'm so in the thick of it, all the time, no matter how much work I read by fat liberation activists, no matter how much I try to ground myself in understanding that fatness does not equal badness and that sitting does not equal laziness, I am so trapped in the cycle of “I ate something that was highly caloric, and now I better do a seated chair workout video for my arm cycle.” And I say this because I'm not ashamed to admit it. I want people to understand that disabled people are like all other people. We have the same thoughts, the same feelings. We are impacted by diet culture.VirginiaGetting all the same messaging.EmilyWe are impacted by fat shaming. And I know that no matter what I would tell another person, I'm still working on it for myself.VirginiaWell, I always say: The great thing about fat liberation is you don't need to be done doing the work to show up here. We are all in a messy space with it, because it's it's hard to live in this world, in a body, period, And you have this added layer of dealing with the ableism that comes up. I mean, even in fat liberation spaces, which should be very body safe, we see ableism showing up a lot. And I'd love you to talk a little bit about how you see that manifesting.EmilyI think that this is a problem across pretty much every social justice movement. I just do Control F or Command F and type in the word “disability” on a website and see if it comes up in the mission statement, the vision, the values, what we care about, our issues. And so often it's not there and you have to go digging.And I don't say this to say that I think disability should be hierarchically more important than any other form of marginalization. I'm saying disability should be included among the list of marginalizations that we are focusing on, because it coexists with all other identities. And yet in a lot of fat liberation spaces, I still feel like I am not represented. I don't see myself. It's still a certain type of body, and that body is usually non-disabled or not disclosing that they have a non-apparent disability.I have a few people that I come across who I would say are in the fat liberation, fat activism spaces where they are also apparently disabled, and they are loud and they are proud about that. But for the most part, I still don't see myself. And I think that's where the ableism comes up, is that we are still celebrating only certain types of bodies. It's very interesting when you're in a space where the point is to celebrate all bodies, and yet all bodies are still not celebrated.VirginiaWell, and I want to dig into why that is, because I think it's something really problematic in how fat politics have developed in the last 10-20, years, As the Health at Every Size movement gathered steam and gathered a following, the message that was marketable, that was easy to center and get people interested and excited about, was you can be healthy at every size. And because we have such an ableist definition of what health is, that meant, let's show a fat person running. Let's show a fat person rock climbing. Let's show a fat ballerina. Let's show a fat weight lifter, and then you're automatically going to exclude so many people. So, so many people of other abilities.We had the folks from ASDAH on, who are the keepers of the Health at Every Size principles, and they've done a lot of work in recent years to start to shift this. They recognize that there was a real lack of centering disability, and I am really impressed with that. But in terms of the way the mainstream media talks about these concepts, certainly the way I talked about them in my own work for years, that mainstreaming of Health at Every Size was embedded with a lot of ableism.EmilyAnd I came to Health at Every Size pretty early on in my quest to lean into fatness and stop with the internalized body shame. But instead, I think it led to internalized ableism, because I then thought, well, if I'm not going to go climb Mount Everest, am I really living up to the principles of Health at Every Size?VirginiaThere was an expectation that we all had to be exceptional fat people. And that you had to be a mythbuster. And the reality is that fat people, just like any people, are not a monolith, and we don't all want to rock climb, and we can't all rock climb, and fatness can coexist with disability. It didn't make space for that.EmilyWe say the same thing about the disability community, And in the same way that there is the “good fat person,” there is the “good disabled person.” There's the disabled person who is seen as inspirational for overcoming hardship and overcoming obstacles. And I can't tell you how many times I have been patronized and infantilized and treated as though it's a miracle that I got out of bed in the morning. And I like to say to people, it's not inspiring that I got out of bed in the morning, unless you happen to know me well and know that I'm not a morning person, in which case, yes, it is very inspiring.VirginiaI am a hero today. Thank you for noticing.EmilyI mean, I say that as a joke, but it's true. There's nothing inspiring about the fact that I got out of bed in the morning, but in order to be performing at all times as the good disabled person, you have to show up in a certain way in the world. And I feel like that pressure is on me doubly, as a disabled fat person.Because not only do I have to be the good disabled person who is doing my own grocery shopping, but I need to be mindful about what it is that I'm grocery shopping for.I need to be eating the salad in front of people instead of something with a lot of cheese on it, right? So I feel like, no matter what I do when I'm in public, I'm putting on a performance, or at least I'm expected to. I've started to be able to work through that. Years of therapy and a healthy relationship. But for a very long time, if I wasn't the ideal disabled person and the ideal fat person in every way, then I was doing something wrong, rather than that society was wrong for putting that on me.VirginiaAnd it just feels like that's so much bound up in capitalism, in the way we equate someone's value with their productivity, with their ability to earn and produce and achieve. I haven't lived as a disabled person, but I have a kid with a disability, and in the years when we were navigating much more intensely her medical condition, I definitely felt the pressure to be the A+ medical mom, the mom of the disabled kid. There are a lot of expectations on that, too. I had to know the research better than any doctor in the room. I had to have all these strategies for her social emotional health. And I had to, of course, be managing the nutrition. And I can remember feeling like, when do I get to just exist? Like, when do we get to just exist as mother and daughter? When do I get to just be a person? Because there was so much piled on there. So I can only imagine lit being your whole life is another level.EmilyI feel like I'm always putting on a show for people. I always need to do my homework. I always need to be informed. And this manifested at such an early age because I internalized this idea that, yes, I'm physically disabled. I can't play sports. So I need to make academics into my sports, and I need to do everything I can to make sure I'm getting As and hundreds on every test. And that was my way of proving my worth.And then, well, I can't be a ballerina, but I can still participate in adaptive dance classes. And I try to get as close as I can to being the quote, unquote, normal kid. And let me say there's, there's nothing wrong with adaptive programs. There's nothing wrong with all of those opportunities. But I think that they're all rooted somewhat in this idea that all disabled children should be as close to normalcy as possible. Some arbitrary definition of it.VirginiaYes, and the definition of normal is again, so filtered through capitalism, productivity, achievement. We need different definitions. We need diversity. We need other ways of being and modeling. EmilyAbsolutely. And what it comes down to is your life is no less worth living because you're sitting down.VirginiaAmazing that you have to say that out loud, but thank you for saying it.EmilyI really wish somebody had said it to me. There's so much pressure on us at all times to be better, to be thinner, to make our bodies as acceptable as possible, in spite of our disabilities, if that makes sense.There are thin and beautiful and blonde, blue-eyed, gorgeous women with disabilities. And I'm not saying that that's my ideal. I'm just saying that's mainstream society's ideal. And that's the disabled woman who will get the role when the media is trying to be inclusive, who will land the cover of the magazine when a company is trying to be inclusive. But I don't feel like I'm part of that equation. And I'm not saying this to insult anybody's body, because everybody's body is valid the way that it is. But what I am saying is that I still don't feel like there's a place for me, no matter how much we talk about disability rights and justice, no matter how much we talk about fat liberation, no matter how much privilege I hold, I still feel like I am somehow wrong.VirginiaIt's so frustrating. And I'm sorry that that that has to be your experience, that that's what you're up against. It sucks.EmilyDo you ever feel like these are just therapy sessions instead of podcasts?VirginiaI mean. It's often therapy for me. So yes.Not to pivot to an even more uplifting topic, but I also wanted to talk about the MAHA of it all a little bit. Everything you're saying has always been true, and this is a particularly scary and vulnerable time to be disabled.We have a Secretary of Health who says something fatphobic and/or ableist every time he opens his mouth, we have vaccine access under siege. I could go on and on. By the time this episode airs, there will be 10 new things he's done that are terrifying. It's a lot right now. How are you doing with that?EmilyIt's really overwhelming, and I know I'm not alone in feeling that. And I'll say literally, two days ago, I went and got my covid booster and my flu vaccine, and I was so happy to get those shots in my arm. I am a big believer in vaccination. And I'm not trying to drum up all the controversy here,VirginiaThis is a pro-vaccine podcast, if anyone listening does not feel that way, I'm sorry, there are other places you can work that out. I want everyone to get their covid and flu shots.EmilyI give that caveat because in the disability community, there's this weird cross section of people who are anti-vaccine and think that it's a disability rights issue that they are anti-vaccine. So it's just a very messy, complicated space to be in. But I make no bones about the fact that I am very, very pro-vaccine.More broadly, it's a really interesting time to be disabled and to be a fat disabled person, because on the one hand, technically, if you're immunocompromised or more vulnerable, you probably have better vaccine access right now.VirginiaBecause you're still in the ever-narrowing category of people who are eligible.EmilySo somehow being disabled is working out in my favor a little bit at the moment, but at the same time, as I say that, RFK is also spreading immense amounts of incorrect information about disability, about fitness, about what bodies can and should be doing. And he's so hung up on finding the causes and then curing autism.VirginiaNobody asked him to do that.EmilyYeah. Like, no one. Or, actually, the problem is a few people said that they wanted it because people are very loud. Also, I saw that he reintroduced the Presidential physical fitness test.VirginiaLike I don't have enough reasons to be mad at this man. I was just like, what are you doing, sir?EmilySo on the one hand, he's sort of inadvertently still protecting disabled people, if you want to call it that, by providing access to vaccines. But mostly he's just making it a lot harder to survive as a disabled person.I am genuinely fearful for what is going to happen the longer he is at the helm of things and continues to dismantle basic access to health care. Because more people are going to become disabled. And I'm not saying that being disabled is a bad thing, but I am saying, if something is completely preventable, what are you doing?VirginiaRight? Right? Yes, if we lose herd immunity, we're going to have more people getting the things we vaccinate against.EmilyMany of the major players in the disability rights movement as it was budding in the 1960s and the 1970s were disabled because of polio. I am very glad that they existed. I am very, very glad that these people fought for our rights. I'm also very, very glad that there's a polio vaccine.VirginiaI guess this is a two part question. Number one, is there anything you want folks to be doing specifically in response to RFK? I mean, call your representatives. But if you have other ideas for advocacy, activism work you'd like to see people engaging in. And two, I'm curious for folks who want to be good disability allies: What do you want us doing more of?EmilyI am a big believer in focusing on things that feel attainable, and that doesn't mean don't call your reps, and that doesn't mean don't get out there and be loud. But sometimes starting where you are can make the most difference. And so if it feels really overwhelming and you're not gonna get up tomorrow and go to Washington, DC and join a protest, that's okay. If you don't feel like you have the capacity to pick up the phone and call your representatives tomorrow, that's okay, too. But if you can impact the perspective of one person in your life, I genuinely believe that has a ripple effect, and I think that we underestimate the power of that. Throw one stone in the ocean. All of those ripples create the wave. And so if you have somebody in your life who is being ableist in some way, whether it is through anti-vax sentiment, whether it is through the language that they use, whether it is through the assumptions that they make about people with disabilities, try to take the time to educate that person. You may not change the whole system. You may not even change that person's mind. But at least give them an opening to have a conversation, offer them the tools and the resources point them in the right direction. And I know that that's really hard and really exhausting, and that sometimes it feels like people are a lost cause, but I have been able to meet people where they are in that way. Where, if I show up with the research, if I show up with the resources, if I say I'm willing to meet you halfway here, I'm not demanding that you change all your views overnight, but will you at least give me a chance to have a conversation? That's genuinely meaningful. So that's my best advice. And I know that it's not going to change everything, but I'm still a believer in the power of conversation.VirginiaThat's really helpful, because I think we do avoid those conversations, but you're right. If you go in with the mindset of, I don't have to totally change this person on everything, but if I can move the needle just a little bit with them, that does something I think that feels a lot more doable and accessible.EmilyAnd I think it also is about honoring your own capacity. If you are a person who is marginalized in multiple ways, and you are tired of having those conversations, it is okay to set that weight down and let somebody else have the conversations.VirginiaThat is a good use of the able-bodied allies in your life. Put us to work tell us to do the thing because it shouldn't be on you all the time.EmilyAnd I'm more than happy to have these conversations and more than happy to educate but it's empowering when we can do it on our own terms, and we're not often given that opportunity, because we have to be activists and advocates for ourselves at every turn. And so sometimes when somebody else picks up that load, that means a lot.ButterEmilyI thought about this a lot.VirginiaEverybody does. It's a high pressure question.EmilyI am in the last stages of wedding planning. So my recommendation is more from a self care perspective. When you are in the throes of something incredibly chaotic, and when you are in the throes of navigating the entire world while also trying to plan something joyful—lean into that joy. My recommendation is to lean into your joy. I know I could recommend like a food or a TV show or something, but I think it's more about like, what is that thing that brings joy to you? I bought these adorable gluten-free pumpkin cookies that have little Jack O'Lantern faces on them. And I'm doing my re-watch of Gilmore Girls, which is a wildly problematic and fatphobic show, and ableist.VirginiaIt sure is. But it's such a good comfort watch too.EmilyIt's making me feel a little cozy right now. I think my recommendation is just lean into your joy. You don't need to solve all the world's problems. And I don't say that without complete and total awareness of everything going on in the world. I'm not setting that aside. But I'm also saying that if we don't take time to take off our activist hats and just be for a few moments, we will burn out and be much less useful to the movements that we're trying to contribute to.So I hope that is taken in the spirit with which it was given, which is not ignoring the world.VirginiaIt's clear you're not ignoring the world. But when you're doing a big, stressful thing, finding the joy in it is so great.Well, my Butter is a more specific, more tangible thing, but it's very much related to that, which is my 12 year old and I are getting really into doing our nails. And my Butter is bad nail art because I'm terrible at it, but it's giving me a lot of joy to, like, try to do little designs. I don't know if you can see on camera.EmilyI've been looking at your nails the whole time, and I love the color. It's my favorite color, but can you describe what's on it?VirginiaSo I've done like, little polka dots, like, so my thumb has all the polka dots in all different colors, and then every finger is like a different color of polka dots. I don't feel like the colors are translating on screen.EmilyAnd by the way, it's a bright teal nail polish.VirginiaIt's a minty green teal color. My 12 year old and I, we watch shows together in the evening after their younger sibling goes to bed. And we just like about once a week, she breaks out her Caboodle, which brings me great joy, as a former 80s and 90s girl, that has all her polishes in it, and we sit there and do our nails. And it's very low stakes. I work from home, it doesn't matter what my nails look like. Last night, I tried to do this thing where you put a star shaped sticker on, and then put the polish over it, and then peel off the sticker to have like a little star stencil. It was an utter fail, like I saw it on Instagram. It looked amazing. It looked like trash on my nails. But it's like, so fun to try something crafty that you can just be bad at and have fun with.EmilyOh, I love that for you. I really miss the days where I would wear like, bright, glittery eyeshadow and stick-on earrings.VirginiaIt is totally bringing me back to my stick on earring years. And I have all these friends who get beautiful nails done, like gels, or they have elaborate home systems. And I'm just, like, showing up to things with, like, a weird cat I painted on my nail that's like, half chipped off.EmilyI think that's the right vibe for the moment.VirginiaIt's super fun and a good bonding activity with tweens who don't always want to talk to their mom. So it's nice when we get there.EmilyYou're reminding me to go hug my mom.VirginiaPlease everyone, go hug your moms, especially if you were once 12 years old! Emily, this was wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Tell folks where we can find you and how we can be supporting your work.EmilyYeah. So I would say the best place to find me is Substack. My Substack is called Words I Wheel By or you can find me on Instagram. But most importantly, I just love connecting and being here to support people wherever they are on their journey. So I hope people will take me up on that.VirginiaThank you, and I always appreciate you in the Burnt Toast comments too. So thanks for being a part of the space with us.The Burnt Toast Podcast is produced and hosted by Virginia Sole-Smith (follow me on Instagram) and Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, and Big Undies.The Burnt Toast logo is by Deanna Lowe.Our theme music is by Farideh.Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.Thanks for listening and for supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiasolesmith.substack.com/subscribe

Dick Maitland has worked on the sound for over 4,700 episodes of Sesame Street, starting with the show back in 1969. 50 years into the show's run, Steve "Major" Giammaria joined the show as re-recording mixer, and had to quickly get up to speed on all the iconic sounds found on Sesame Street. Together they walk us through the sonic history of one of the most important television programs of all time. Dick talks about performing live foley & sound effects on set during the early days of filming, the importance of signature sounds to make the puppets "real", and how much focus Jim Henson put on the sounds of Sesame Street. Listeners in the Mexico City area, mark you calendars for the Tonebenders Event there on Oct 21st. Full details coming soon! SPONSOR: Sound Ideas' highly anticipated Mid-Year Sale has been extended for a limited time, but there are only a few days left! Unlock 50% off, on thousands of premium recordings, from epic cinematic sounds to authentic ambiences, ideal for any creative project. This applies to all Sound Ideas proprietary libraries. With over 45 years of experience, Sound Ideas delivers audio trusted by professionals worldwide. Head over to https://www.sound-ideas.com/ to learn more. Episode Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/328-sesame-street/ Podcast Homepage: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/ This episode is hosted by Timothy Muirhead

For nearly 5 decades, Sonia Manzano played the part of Maria on Sesame Street. She was the first Latina on the show – it was a big step forward for Latinas on TV! In 2021, she launched her own show called Alma's Way. It's an animated kids series about Alma Rivera, a 6-year-old Puerto Rican girl living in the Bronx.  This conversation was originally published in October of 2021.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

 This week on Friends Like Us, host Marina Franklin talks with Memo Salazar and Lorre Fisher.  We dive into the new, reimagined Hamilton! Discover the untold stories and truths behind the legendary figure through a powerful hip-hop lens. Tune in for insightful discussions and revolutionary perspectives!  Lorre Fisher is a Jamaican-born NY resident. She is an aspiring creative and community builder. She is excited to play the role of James Madison in this production.  She was a part of the October 2022 cast of A Sketch of New York as well as a cast member in a local production of The Vagina Monologues in 2019.  As an admitted attorney, she seeks ways to integrate her love of art with her penchant for human rights and liberation. Memo Salazar is a Mexican-born DGA director, writer, and activist… and a longtime resident of Queens, New York. As a director, his work ranges from Public Enemy music videos to Elmo tackling homelessness on Sesame Street. He has collaborated with theoretical physicist Brian Greene on a Ted Talk, won 3 Emmy awards, and produced an animated series for Rohingya refugee children exiled from their home country of Burma. As an activist, he is a recipient of Arena's Five Borough Future fellowship and the 2019 Queens Latinx leadership award for his community work. He is also the current co-chair of Western Queens CLT, which brings truly affordable housing and community-owned land to New York City.. Tickets to see Hamilton Oct. 22nd Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf. Writer for HBO's 'Divorce' and the new Tracy Morgan show on Paramount Plus: 'Crutch'.