Picture this, you’re five years old and your mom is cooking dinner, like she does every night. Suddenly the air around your home is filled with screams and gunfire. Robert Kabera, Stanford graduate, co-founder, and COO of Sync Energy A.I., survived the 1994 Rwandan Genocide with his family by hiding in tunnels, evading soldiers, and spending six years in refugee camps. But what would you do if after graduating from one of America’s most prestigious universities, you discovered that 90% of Africa...
Dec 07, 2021•48 min
Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Angela Rose right after the show. Special thanks to our sponsors: Mercato: Mercato is a grocery delivery service that supports local, independent merchants. Sign up for Mercato Green at https://www.mercato.com/ for unlimited free delivery and use the code THEONLYONE to get $20 off your first order! Voyage et Cie: Voyage et Cie's curator Melanie Apple has cultivated a pass...
Dec 01, 2021•19 min
Picture this: You’re seventeen and walking to your car after work and a man follows you, puts a knife to your throat, and puts you in his car. Angela Rose, victim empowerment advocate and founder of PAVE, which stands for Promoting Awareness | Victim Empowerment, kept her cool and remembered everything that happened to her the day that she was abducted and sexually assaulted. But what would you do if the first set of officers assigned to your case failed to make you and your parents feel safe? W...
Nov 30, 2021•49 min•Season 11Ep. 110
I love this story and was particularly in awe of the plain and beautiful way Mr. Shompole Ole Leroka brings us into what it was like to grow in Maasailand, Kenya in the 1930s and 40’s.. Dare to Defy captures the efforts of an individual in Africa as he breaks the constraints of ethnic traditions and carves a path for himself in a fast-changing world. Told in a detailed, humorous and captivating manner, the memoir traces the life of Shompole Ole Leroka as he moves from a pastoralist base by the S...
Nov 26, 2021•16 min
Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Zoë Ruderman right after the show. Special thanks to our sponsors: Mercato: Mercato is a grocery delivery service that supports local, independent merchants. Sign up for Mercato Green at https://www.mercato.com/ for unlimited free delivery and use the code THEONLYONE to get $20 off your first order! Smile Brilliant: You could have a dentist make your trays for three, four...
Nov 24, 2021•20 min
Imagine trying to get pregnant and each attempt was met with heartbreaking loss and disappointment? PEOPLE, Digital editor, Zoë Ruderman, spent hours and hours in doctor’s offices doing whatever was suggested in order to bring the baby she knew she was supposed to have into the world. So what would you do if your journey to becoming a mother included stressful rounds of IVF and several painful miscarriages? Would you keep your experiences to yourself or would you create a podcast, called Me Beco...
Nov 23, 2021•54 min•Season 11Ep. 109
Zibby Owens is the creator and host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. Zibby, named “NYC’s Most Powerful Book-fluencer” by New York magazine’s Vulture, conducts warm, inquisitive conversations with authors, making her daily show a top literary podcast as selected by Oprah.com in 2019 and 2020. Zibby is the Co-Founder and CEO of Zibby Books, a publishing home for fiction and memoir. She’s also the CEO of Moms Don’t Have Time To, a media company with multiple podcasts...
Nov 21, 2021•36 min
As the holidays are upon us, I thought it fitting to read an essay I wrote for the magnificent Catherine Gray’s Sober Spring blog called, How My Drinking Friend’s Helped me Stay Sober. Laura Cathcart Robbins is an author, freelance culture writer, and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room , living in Studio City, California. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diver...
Nov 19, 2021•12 min
Working in the fashion industry is full of glamour, beauty, allure, and STRESS. If you had a successful career but felt a calling to do something else, what would you do? Would you stay in the comfort of the known, or would you run towards the unknown? On this episode of Behind The Booty, host Kelly Nishimoto, Founder of Cute Booty Lounge, speaks with Mark Montano, Best-Selling Author, Designer, and TV Host, about his illustrious career from assisting a designer and interning for Oscar De La Ren...
Nov 18, 2021•42 min
Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Tim Barnes right after the show. Special thanks to our sponsors: Away: We love our new sponsor AWAY, the modern lifestyle brand that creates thoughtful products for every traveler and every kind of trip. Start YOUR 100-day trial and shop the entire Away line-up of travel essentials, including their best-selling suitcases, at AWAYTravel.com/theonlyone. Best Fiends: Join us...
Nov 17, 2021•18 min
What if you never experienced violence while growing up in your all-Black neighborhood, but when you moved to a city, which is less than 2% Black, violence found you for the first time? Tim Barnes, comedian and television writer grew up in South Central Los Angeles and was stabbed by a stranger after moving to the tony city of Santa Barbara, leaving him to wonder if it was a random stabbing or had he attacked because he was Black? But what would you do if every time you were presented with an op...
Nov 16, 2021•55 min•Season 11Ep. 108
Ginna Green is a strategist-consultant-movement-builder who is helping Jewish (and other) organizations change through her new firm, Uprise. She is on the boards of progressive Jewish groups including Bend the Arc and the Jews of Color Initiative and lives in Columbia, South Carolina, where she went to high school and college. Her interests include cooking, bourbon, and annihilating her four children at Scrabble, even on Shabbat. Visit: http://upriseforgood.com/ Listen: A Bintel Brief on Apple ...
Nov 14, 2021•41 min
We loved MJ’s episode so much that we asked her permission to read a couple of excerpts out of her critically acclaimed YA book, Badass Black Girl: Quotes, Questions, and Affirmations for Teens. Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, M.J. Fievre’s publishing career began as a teenager. Since then, M.J. has authored nine books in French that are widely read in Europe and the French Antilles. She works with underserved populations in need of writing as a form of therapy—even if they don’t realize that the...
Nov 12, 2021•15 min
Chronic illness and fatigue can happen to anyone and may lead to some very dark and challenging times. How would you look to heal yourself if every path you took seemed to be a dead end and the sickness continued? Host Kelly Nishimoto, Founder of Cute Booty Lounge, speaks with Tamra Dae, entrepreneur and fitness model, about her journey through various professional pursuits, breast implant illness, spiritual development, and how she is now using her platform to encourage others to return back to...
Nov 11, 2021•37 min
Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Christophe Denek right after the show. Special thanks to our sponsors: Mercato: Mercato is a grocery delivery service that supports local, independent merchants. Sign up for Mercato Green at https://www.mercato.com/ for unlimited free delivery and use the code THEONLYONE to get $20 off your first order! Smile Brilliant: You could have a dentist make your trays for three, ...
Nov 10, 2021•20 min
What if you were born with a rare form of dwarfism, and the doctors told your parents that you would never lead a normal life, that things like running, biking, or even walking without assistance might not be possible for you? 4’4, Actor/Stuntman, Pro Drummer, podcaster, and Surfer, Christophe Zajac Denek, found it challenging to watch the other kids grow taller around him, but he didn’t want to let that deter him from living life to the fullest. But what would you do if society told you to sta...
Nov 09, 2021•58 min•Season 11Ep. 107
“𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗺𝗲. 𝗜𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿” GoAskAlex is an 18+ performer, sex educator, and advocate for the representation of disabled bodies in pornography. She has spent the past six years as a webcam model and online companion. After becoming an ostomate in 2019 she focused her career on advocating for underrepresented bodies in adul...
Nov 07, 2021•42 min
Orlando “Ori” Spado is best known as The Hollywood Mob Boss and we were lucky enough to interview him (episode 106, The Only Accidental Gangster In The Room). You’ll want to hear him tell this particular story in his own words (and voice) but I had to read it to you because I love it so much. Orlando (Ori) Spado sold insurance for the Prudential Insurance Company where he was a leading agent for years. Eventually, he moved to Beverly Hills, California where he became known as a Hollywood fixer d...
Nov 05, 2021•15 min
Imagine fighting breast cancer and not only processing your own emotions but having to negotiate the reactions of others as well. Would you hide yourself away or work through the ups and downs of cancer treatment with your family and friends at your side? Host Kelly Nishimoto, Founder of Cute Booty Lounge, is back today with Jessica Coulthard & Elissa Kalver to conclude their eye-opening conversation on living with breast cancer and sharing that experience with others. This second part to th...
Nov 04, 2021•26 min
Scott Slaughter, co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room, has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Ori Spado right after the show. Special thanks to our sponsors: Away: We love our new sponsor AWAY, the modern lifestyle brand that creates thoughtful products for every traveler and every kind of trip. Start YOUR 100-day trial and shop the entire Away line-up of travel essentials, including their best-selling suitcases, at AWAYTravel.com/theonlyone. Mercato: Mercato is...
Nov 03, 2021•20 min
Imagine meeting the underboss of the Colombo crime family and unexpectedly ending up with a friendship that would last for the next 40 years. Orlando, “Ori” Spado, went from insurance salesman to Hollywood Mob Boss, until he went to federal prison on a Colombo crime family RICO indictment in 2008. But what would you do if after getting out of prison you had a chance to tell people what it was really like to be on the inside of a life that so many of us revere and fear? Would you be too afraid to...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 11Ep. 106
Catherine Kapphahn’s Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Me received The Center for Fiction’s Christopher Doheny Award. Her writing has appeared in Motherwell Magazine, Newtown Literary, the Feminist Press Anthology This is the Way We Say Goodbye , and CURE Magazine. Catherine is an adjunct lecturer at City University of New York at Lehman College in the Bronx, where her students’ brave stories continue to inspire her. Her upcoming book of poetry is called The Miseducation Of A Dyslexic G...
Oct 31, 2021•42 min
Peter Sage’s story is so incredible that we made his episode our season 10 finale The Only One In The Room Who Was Grateful To Be Imprisoned (Episode 99). Please don’t forget to go back and listen to his incredible interview after you hear today’s reading of two excerpts from his best-selling book, The Inside Track. Peter Sage was sent to the most violent prison in the UK as the only non-criminal prisoner. Instead of playing the victim, he chose to identify as a ‘secret agent of change’. He went...
Oct 29, 2021•17 min
What would you do if you were diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of forty...would you hide away and tell no one, living out your diagnosis alone with just those close to you? Or would you live it out loud by leaning into the process to help all of us better understand the nuances of what having breast cancer is really like? Host Kelly Nishimoto, Founder of Cute Booty Lounge and host of the brand new Behind The Booty podcast brings on Jessica Coulthard & Elissa Kalver to share their a...
Oct 28, 2021•32 min
Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Sofia Rose right after the show. Special thanks to our sponsors: Smile Brilliant: You could have a dentist make your trays for three, four hundred dollars, or you can head over to www.smilebrilliant.com and use their lab-direct mail process for a fraction of that. Just head over to www.smilebrilliant.com and use the coupon code ROOM for an exclusive The Only One In The Ro...
Oct 27, 2021•19 min
Imagine being an actress in an industry where the norm is twenty, white and thin and you are a proud forty-something Latina who identifies as fat. Sofia Rose, critically acclaimed Latina performer, published model, pioneering BBW pornstar became an adult film actress knowing that she’d be fetishized by some and criticized by others. But what would you do if you discovered that by simply being yourself on film, you made it possible for real women, women who looked like you to feel desirable? Woul...
Oct 26, 2021•58 min•Season 11Ep. 105
Hari Ziyad is a cultural critic, a screenwriter, and the editor-in-chief of RaceBaitr. They are a 2021 Lambda Literary Fellow, and their writing has been featured in BuzzFeed, Out, the Guardian, Paste magazine, and the academic journal Critical Ethnic Studies, among other publications. They are also currently a writer on the new season CBS show, The Neighborhood, and were previously a script consultant on the drama series David Makes Man (OWN), as well as Managing Editor of Black Youth Project, ...
Oct 24, 2021•38 min
We shared Jennifer Eikenhorst’s heart-wrenching/heartwarming story with you in season 10: The Only One Who Found Hope After A Deadly Accident (episode 96) . I encourage you to go back and listen as she unravels the events that lead to the death of a motorcyclist named David. This year on the 5th anniversary of his death, Jennifer wrote this beautiful essay and I asked her if we could share it with you. Jennifer Eikenhorst is the host of Accidental Hope podcast. She is a mom of four, a wife, and ...
Oct 22, 2021•15 min
Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Tonya Evans right after the show. Special thanks to our sponsors: Pitches With Bitches: Laura Cathcart Robbins and Stefanie Wilder Taylor are conducting a virtual pitching workshop on Oct 23rd from 11-1 pm (PT). We will tell you everything we know about getting your work published online to build up your resume. It will also include an up-to-date list of over 80 places to...
Oct 20, 2021•22 min
What if you, a tenured professor at a prestigious university wanted to buy your mother a home and the bank treated you like a suspect instead of a prospect? Dr. Tonya Evans, professor at Penn State Dickinson Law School who was recently named to the Forbes 50 over 50 list, in the category of investment, teaches her students how Crypto Currency can bypass the old guard gatekeepers and be the key to creating generational wealth for everyone, but especially for our underserved communities. But what ...
Oct 19, 2021•58 min•Season 11Ep. 104
