It's not often a woman's name appears next to the director credit. However, that's not the case when it comes to Elizabeth Williamson. Not only does she have a long list of credits to her name, Elizabeth also happens to be the Associate Artistic Director at Hartford Stage. And...she's also a dramaturg and theatrical literary advisor, who researches, adapts and interprets scripts, which she did for the Tony Award winning musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, The Flamingo Kid at Hartfor...
Mar 10, 2020•34 min•Ep. 201
Min Jung Kim's passion for and commitment to the art world is a rich and rewarding one. She happens to be the Director and CEO of Connecticut's 118 year old New Britain Museum of American Art, the oldest such museum in the country. Min has developed a series of exhibitions aimed at expanding the definition of American Art while reaching and engaging a broad and diverse audience. You'll want to listen as Min takes us on both her personal and professional journeys.
Mar 03, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 200
You are about to meet and get to know Yilian Canizares, a truly fascinating, unique, multi-talented violinist, vocalist and composer who makes beautiful music by artfully blending jazz, classical and her Afro-Cuban roots with her unique voice. Yilian's songs range from the poignant to the exuberant. Her warmth, enthusiasm and honesty are palpable and....contagious. You'll be hooked!
Feb 25, 2020•35 min•Ep. 199
Breanna Sinclaire's life is the stuff operas are written about. She happens to be the only operatic soprano in the world who is transgender. Born in Baltimore, Breanna made her way west - graduating from the California Institute of the Arts where she earned a BFA and where her transition began. There were some very dark days following graduation and her acceptance to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she earned an MFA. Breanna was the first transwoman in the opera program. She made h...
Feb 18, 2020•48 min•Ep. 198
Until relatively recently, the profession of intimacy coordinator in film and theater was virtually non-existent. But in the years since #MeToo, it's become much more in demand. You're about to meet and get to know intimacy choreographer Chelsea Pace, who is also a movement specialist, co-founder and head faculty of Theatrical Intimacy Education and Assistant Professor of Movement at the University of Maryland - Baltimore. For the past ten years, Chelsea has been working to develop ethical effic...
Feb 11, 2020•29 min•Ep. 197
Meet Dawn Saito, accomplished actress, writer, director, dancer, educator. She also happens to be a Butoh performer, which in case you aren't aware, is a form of Japanese dance theater that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivation. In her rich and varied career, Dawn has collaborated with major artists performing her work and theirs in the U.S., Europe, Asia, South America. We're excited for you get to know this passionate, engaging, multi-talented woman.
Feb 04, 2020•32 min•Ep. 196
Rotem Reshef, is a process-based action and installation artist who calls both New York and Tel Aviv home. Her work includes a range of techniques - peeling, pouring, combining natural and artificial sources and materials that shape various compositions on different canvases. Rotem's art deals with traces of human presence versus the appearance and disappearance of nature: seasonal changes, the impact and influence of color, tone and shade on our emotions and perceptions. Join us for fascinating...
Jan 28, 2020•32 min•Ep. 195
Dancer, educator, activist, all describe Denise Roberts Hurlin. Part of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Denise is a founding member of Parsons Dance. She's also taught at Julliard in Manhattan, New Hampshire's Keene State College and her alma mater, Purchase College. Denise also happens to be the founding director of Dancers Responding to Aids, a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Under her leadership DRA has produced more than 150 events including the annual Fire Island Dance Festival...
Jan 21, 2020•42 min•Ep. 194
Heather Booth is a force to be reckoned with and that's a very good thing! She is one of the country's leading strategists when it comes to progressive issue campaigns and driving issues in elections. Heather's organizing and commitment to social justice began during the civil rights, anti-Vietnam War and women's movements of the 1960s. She also started JANE, an underground abortion service in 1965 before Roe v Wade became law. We cover a lot of territory in this open, honest, impactful conversa...
Jan 14, 2020•34 min•Ep. 193
You're about to meet and get to know "Dr. Wang" Newton, a Taiwanese-born American performance artist, who specializes in the art of drag or 'drag king' performance. Assigned female at birth, Dr. Wang is gender-fluid and offers social commentary on culture and politics with comedic jabs. This is one open, honest conversation with a truly fascinating guest.
Jan 07, 2020•37 min•Ep. 190
Melissa Iwai has wanted to be a children's book author and illustrator as far back as she can remember. She has illustrated more than 30 picture books, beginning with Night Shift Daddy published in 2000. Melissa also wrote and illustrated Soup Day and Pizza Day. And speaking of soup and pizza - when she's not creating visual art, Melissa can be found in her kitchen, cooking, baking and developing new recipes. In fact, she was a 2010 Cooking Light Reader Recipe winner. We're so glad Melissa took ...
Dec 31, 2019•37 min•Ep. 192
How to describe Tracy Edwards? Let's start with determined, accomplished, ballsy, adventurous, passionate. In 1989, when she was in her mid-20's, Tracy and her crew of 11 females became the first-ever all-women's team to compete in the grueling, prestigious, 32,000 mile Whitbread Round the World sailing race that begins and ends in Southampton, England. How she managed to pull this off (besting male crews in their class, by the way) is the focus of the inspiring, empowering documentary, "Maiden....
Dec 24, 2019•52 min•Ep. 191
For Vivian Chew it's all about music. While working at ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), she founded the "ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards," which is celebrating its 32nd year. She's also the founder of TimeZone International, the first and only U.S. based African-American owned company that provides recording artists with a wide array of services. Vivian and her husband, Music Director/ Producer Ray are co-owners of Chew Entertainment, a premier production company. Ther...
Dec 17, 2019•50 min•Ep. 189
Cassandra Greene is a pastor, writer, director, producer, teacher, civil rights activist, domestic violence advocate...and...INSPIRATION. For more than a dozen years, she has directed the re-enactment of the infamous 1946 lynching murders of 2 black men and their wives on Georgia's Moore's Ford Bridge. Her efforts are chronicled in the film, "Always in Season." Cassandra has also conducted workshops, retreats and seminars on domestic violence, relationships and has also written plays and skits f...
Dec 10, 2019•27 min•Ep. 188
KT Sullivan is a woman of many talents. The Broadway actress (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Three Penny Opera with Sting) and singer has headlined at the Oak Room of the legendary Algonquin Hotel and one of those performances, "Rhyme, Women and Song," was featured on WNET, New York City's public television station. KT's also performed at Carneige Hall, Lincoln Center, 54 Below, Birdland, The Kennedy Center in D.C. to name just a few. She also happens to be Artistic Director of the Mabel Mercer Found...
Dec 03, 2019•31 min•Ep. 187
Put simply: the world needs more women like Elizabeth Suda! After two years working in the Merchandising Department of Coach, she bagged it all and headed for Laos. Elizabeth was on a mission to understand how local, sustainable crafts made by women could become part of the global fashion industry. It was there that she learned bout the Secret War in Laos (1963-1974), which left behind 80 million unexploded bombs. That trip made quite an impact, because before long, Article22 was born, and with ...
Nov 26, 2019•38 min•Ep. 186
You're about to meet one amazing, accomplished, committed woman who really is making a difference in the world. Not only is Dr. Anne Fishel a clinical psychologist, family therapist, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Family and Couple Therapy Program at Mass General, she's also the Executive Director and co-founder of The Family Dinner Project. Its goal is to encourage and help families have more frequent and meaningful dining experiences - cer...
Nov 19, 2019•33 min•Ep. 185
Did you know there are 15 million single moms living and working in the U.S? Dr. Marika Lindholm is certainly familiar with that statistic. She raised 2 children on her own after going through a divorce. Marika, who has a doctorate in sociology and taught at Northwestern for more than 15 years, realized that single mothers from all different backgrounds lacked much needed resources, support and connections. And so...ESME.com was born - Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere, an on-line community that o...
Nov 12, 2019•26 min•Ep. 184
Violist Molly Carr and pianist Anna Petrova make beautiful music together and audiences around the world are so grateful! Acclaimed international soloists, the two joined forces and formed the Carr-Petrova Duo. In August, 2018, they launched "Novel Voices," a year long initiative aimed at raising awareness of the lives and struggles of refugees around the world. They visited 8 camps in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East performing, holding workshops and filming the life stories of their divers...
Nov 05, 2019•38 min•Ep. 183
You are about to meet and get to know two extraordinary, passionate, committed women. Swiss filmmaker Barbara Miller* is the woman behind the powerful documentary #Female Pleasure. It follows five courageous women from different cultures as they struggle for justice and equality as they take charge of their own bodies. And one of those women is Leyla Hussein, a Somali-born, British psycho-therapist and social activist who was genitally mutilated at the age of seven. She has made it her mission t...
Oct 29, 2019•49 min•Ep. 182
Oct 22, 2019•28 min•Ep. 181
Born in France and based in Brooklyn, multi-disciplinary artist Prune Nourry works in sculpture, performance and video and was living her life, when in 2016, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It's a journey she shares in the first person film, "Serendipity." By doing so, Prune discovered new meaning in her impressive body of work and its serendipitous relationship to her own survival and mortality. She shares that and so much more in this truly fascinating, riveting and inspiring conversatio...
Oct 15, 2019•56 min•Ep. 180
Breanna Sinclaire's life is the stuff operas are written about. She happens to be the only operatic soprano in the world who is transgender. Born in Baltimore, Breanna made her way west - graduating from the California Institute of the Arts where she earned a BFA and where her transition began. There were some very dark days following graduation and her acceptance to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she earned an MFA. Breanna was the first transwoman in the opera program. She made h...
Oct 08, 2019•48 min•Ep. 179
Irene Taylor Brodsky happens to be an: Emmy and Peabody Award-winning, Oscar-nominated, director, producer, writer, cinematographer, whose documentaries have been shown in theaters, at festivals and on the small screen. Her first documentary feature "Hear and Now" was actually a memoir about her deaf parents. Her mom and dad are back on the big screen as is Irene's son Jonas, in her newest work "Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements." This is one very open, very personal conversation wit...
Oct 01, 2019•48 min•Ep. 178
Looking for a simple, delicious, nutritious, lo-cal snack minus artificial sweeteners? Look no further than SimpleProtein, the brain-child of Cathy Richards, who started the company in Canada in 2002. Linda Zink, whose career includes developing new products and bringing them to market, is part of the SimplyProtein female-founded team now based in Colorado. Linda, who spear-headed the re-formulation and expansion of SimplyProtein products into the U.S., takes us through that process and also tal...
Sep 24, 2019•32 min•Ep. 176
For Katie Thiroux, it's all about making music, which she does in a unique and captivating way. Katie's a jazz vocalist AND a virtuoso bass player. She's also a gifted composer. Dedicated to jazz education and student outreach, Katie's conducted master classes and workshops and also runs Hawaii's Jazz Maui Camp. Love swinging jazz? Then you'll love meeting and getting to know this talented, creative woman!
Sep 17, 2019•41 min•Ep. 177
Direct from Australia, Claudia Nankervis, who by the way, is not my first guest from the 'land down under.' That distinction goes to her filmmaker mom, who I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing a while back. Her dad, by the way, Brian Nankervis, co-hosts a RocKwiz, a popular tv music show back home. Needless to say Claudia was introduced to the arts at a young age and she's capitalized on that. She's worked in radio, interned at a film production company in NYC and worked at the Melbourne...
Sep 10, 2019•28 min•Ep. 173
Meet Gigi de Manio, one of the country's pre-eminent wedding photographers. Since forming Genevieve de Manio Photography ( www.demaniophotograpy.com ) in 1997, she's photographed more than 475 weddings and was there when Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky, Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent and John Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox all said their "I do's." Gigi's work has been featured in dozens of wedding magazines and newspapers, including Modern Bride, Boston Weddings as well as a profile i...
Sep 03, 2019•33 min•Ep. 175
Reading novels written by Kate Christensen can certainly turn into an addiction. Her characters are compelling, flawed and so relatable. The author of seven books, Kate won the 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award for her fourth novel, "The Great Man." Her most recent, "The Last Cruise," was published in 2018. She's also written two culinary memoirs, "Blue Plate Special" and "How to Cook a Moose," which won the 2016 Maine Literary Award for Memoir. Join us for an open, honest, really fascinating conversation...
Aug 27, 2019•39 min•Ep. 174
It's been a while since we first met and got to know the very funny and talented Ashley Nicole Black and so we thought it's time for a 'part 2.' Ashley, who was a former correspondent and part of the Emmy-winning writing team for "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee," is now a member of HBO's new comedy series, "A Black Lady Sketch Show." It's a big deal because the cast, writers room and director are all black women. There's lot to talk and laugh about with this open, honest, irreverent creative wom...
Aug 20, 2019•32 min•Ep. 172
