This was a really interesting talk I had with one of our newish hosts, David Rogers of the Down in Albion Show. Turns out he moved to NYC from the UK with his wife and 10 year old son about 18 months ago. David has had the wonderful opportunity to reinvent himself from a UK economist to a liaison between great bands in the UK and NYC.) He's also getting to spend more time with his son, who has a spot every week on David's radio show. This is clearly a great time in his life and his families life for growth. David is using this time to great results.

Join host David Rogers LIVE every Monday, 11am on his show, Down In Albion on an exploration of the best new and emerging music from the UK and Ireland. If you’re curious about new music, and wonder what tunes are making waves on the other side of the pond, tune in every Monday at 11am.

About David Rogers

David was born in Scotland, grew up in England, and spent much of his life living and working in London. He caught the live music bug early, attending his first gig at a village hall aged 14. David moved to New York a year ago and has dived headlong into the New York music scene, experiencing all genres from NYC post-punk to Appalachian folk. But his first love will always be independent British bands. This show is an opportunity to introduce the bands he loves to new audiences. In his spare time, you can usually find David browsing old books and vinyl, watching live music, sipping craft ales, climbing tall things or riding one of his vintage bikes around NY.

Down In Albion

Hosted by David Rogers LIVE every Monday at 11:00am

Join host David Rogers on an exploration of the best new and emerging music from the UK and Ireland. If you’re curious about new music, and wonder what tunes are making waves on the other side of the pond, tune in every Monday at 11am.

About David Rogers

David was born in Scotland, grew up in England, and spent much of his life living and working in London. He caught the live music bug early, attending his first gig at a village hall aged 14. David moved to New York a year ago and has dived headlong into the New York music scene, experiencing all genres from NYC post-punk to Appalachian folk. But his first love will always be independent British bands. This show is an opportunity to introduce the bands he loves to new audiences. In his spare time, you can usually find David browsing old books and vinyl, watching live music, sipping craft ales, climbing tall things or riding one of his vintage bikes around NY.

To enjoy Calvin now—I urge you to listen to his weekly 11pm Tuesday show—Lush Vibes or follow him on Twitch @Mejisticlv or on Instagram sounds.by.calvin

Calvin is one of our most popular hosts. He joined RFB in 2018 with his how Lush Vibes Radio close to his 400th episode. Calvin did two Dr. Lisa episodes at a very low point in his life—he'd experiences a lot of loss—both grandmothers, 2 uncles and he had been recently diagnosed with Type ONE diabetes, a chronic illness that has to be managed throughout the day, day in, day out which turned his life upside down.Cut to today, April 2026, six years later and it is obvious Calvin is thriving. He is integral to RFB now in so many ways as tech director, besides his weekly show he is doing all the RFB live shows at numerous venues around the city, blowing up on Twitch, getting paying dj gigs, PLUS he now has a healthy relationship with an awesome partner that he has lives with — in my opinion as a fake therapist, they are magic together!

This session with Calvin Williams, host of RFB's Lush Vibes Radio is timely inspiration for all of us, because as a society, we are all dealing with health issues right now.

About 5 years ago, Calvin had to deal with losing 3 close relatives in succession and how soon after that he was diagnosed with Type 1, Juvenile Diabetes which is rare for someone in their thirties. Calvin takes us through how he went through the hard years and how, just recently, he's starting to recognize himself again.

PLEASE NOTE: This is PART TWO of a very intense two part session with Calvin Williams. July 2020

This session with Calvin Williams, host of RFB's Lush Vibes Radio is timely inspiration for all of us, because as a society, we are all dealing with health issues right now.

About 5 years ago, Calvin had to deal with losing 3 close relatives in succession and how soon after that he was diagnosed with Type 1, Juvenile Diabetes which is rare for someone in their thirties. Calvin takes us through how he went through the hard years and how, just recently, he's starting to recognize himself again.

I have to say—this was pretty funny—comedian Matt and I got high together and went some places I don't think we would have gotten to—for one thing—I said the way he described his dad was hot.

I also check in with him about what Claude AI said when I asked:"What would be good advice to comedian matt ruby from a therapist?"

We talk about a lot of stuff. Matt describes his parents—a free-spirited woman from Manhattan and his dad, a lawyer, a prosecutor. They were introduced by his grandma and fell in love right away, His father loved comedy which was obv a huge influence on Matt.

We also go down a rabbit hole about the ego and the way ego can affect one's own creativity.

There's so much in here—and SO MUCH laughing!

Sponsored by KOAN pocket elixers.

More about Matt Ruby:

Website: mattrubycomedy

Instagram: @mattrubycomedy

Rubesletter

Latest Special: Bolo

BIO:

Matt Ruby is a comedian from New York City. His smart and dark brand of standup is "button-pushing" and "funny" according to the NY Times. His comedy has been filmed by Comedy Central, MTV, NBC/Seeso, and FOX. His newsletters (The Rubesletter and Funny How) have over 17,000 subscribers combined. He also hosts the podcast Kind of a Lot with Matt Ruby.

His latest standup special is BOLO. Standupworld on BOLO:

“Matt’s a New York comedy beast. He’s sharp, dark, and funny. BOLO is his awesome special on YouTube and it’s something truly worth checking out. It’s Matt at his best: raw, real, and ripping into life’s absurdities with a signature edge the New York Times called ‘button-pushing’ and ‘funny.’ His style’s a mix of cerebral gut-punches and pitch-black humor. We’re diving deep into how he crafted this one, what it’s like to sling jokes in today’s world, and why he’s one of the smartest voices in standup right now.”

Previously: In his comedy doc/special Substance, he performs 4 sets on 4 nights (1 high, 1 drunk, 1 sober, and 1 on shrooms). His previous special, Feels Like Matt Ruby is available on YouTube. His comedy albums (including Feels Like Matt Ruby and Hot Flashes,) are in regular rotation on Sirius and went top 10 on the iTunes Comedy charts. He's also been featured on CNN, The Huffington Post, New York magazine, Time Out, and more. 

He's a regular at the legendary Comedy Cellar and co-produces Hot Soup there (Tuesdays), one of NYC’s longest running independently produced comedy shows, and Good Eggs (Mondays and Wednesdays) at NY Comedy Club. He tours around the country and internationally too. Misguided Meditation is his one-man show about mindfulness, psychedelics, therapy, and death.

Bearing that in mind, I wanted to find out about Laura's own upbringing and teen years and how that has influenced her work. It turns out there were about two years in Laura's life that were filled with older friends and drugs. After that she chose to put her energy into art, got accepted to Tyler Art School and the rest is history. Art history to be specific.

Laura's work has been clearly ahead of it's time as well as an influence on the period we are living in today. Gen Z has picked up on one of her films from 2017, No Is Yes, depicting two teen girls with a crush on a rockstar they kill accidentally and then mutilate. Clips of it have gone viral on Tik Tok. Please check out her work, if you're not familiar, on her website and Vimeo.

BIO:     Laura Parnes’ critically acclaimed films and installations fuse comedy with pathos to probe social and political trauma. Informed by traditions and genres in narrative film, video art and queer theater, her work blurs the lines between conventions of storytelling and experimentation. The performers in her projects are often part of a diverse community of artists and musicians, many of whom are responsible for the rich underground scene in NYC, and who have shaped and affected other mainstream art cultures.

Laura Parnes has screened and exhibited her work widely in the US and internationally, including: The Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio; The Institute of Contemporary Art University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; The International Film Festival Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece., LOOP Festival, Barcelona, Spain; Light Industry, Brooklyn, NY; Kusthalle Winterhur, Switzerland; Overgaden- Institute for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark; iMOCA, Indianapolis, IN; Cinematexas, Austin, TX; Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania; Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Whitney Museum of American Art (1997 Whitney Biennial), NY; Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand; PSI Contemporary Art Center MoMA, NY; Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, FL; and Brooklyn Museum, NY.

Her solo exhibitions include Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY; Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY; Human Resources, LA, CA; Fitzroy Gallery, NYC, NY; LAXArt, LA, CA; Alma Enterprises, London, UK; Locust Projects, Miami, FL; Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, LA, CA; Participant Inc, NYC, NY and Deitch Projects, NYC, NY. She has had solo screenings at The MoMA, NYC, NY; The Kitchen, NYC, NY; MoMA PS1, LIC, NY; NYCATE 10-year Anniversary, presented by the School of Art Institute of Chicago and Video Data Bank, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL; Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA; Vtape, Toronto, Canada; and in a two-person screening at The MoMA, NYC, NY. She was presented by Participant Inc. in a two-person exhibition at No Soul for Sale at X Initiative, NYC, NY.

     Parnes is a 2021 MacDowell Fellow, a 2019 Yaddo Artist in Residence, a 2019 Wave Farm Media Arts Awardee, a 2016 Creative Capital Awardee, a 2014 NYFA recipient, a 2013 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellow and has lectured as a visiting artist at numerous institutions including Harvard University, Columbia University and UCLA. She has participated in panels at Yale University, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and MoMA PS1.

Btw: Did you also know that Matt Ruby is an AWESOME COMEDIAN?? HERE'S PROOF

More Matt Here: https://www.mattrubycomedy.com/ @mattrubycomedy/

The substack we discussed here:

https://mattruby.substack.com/p/incessantly-calling-men-toxic-is

Incessantly calling men toxic is a bad way to get their votes

How to win 'em over: Less dunking, more persuading.

It’s my fault. As ambassador of the elites, I take full responsibility for this defeat.First off, let’s admit it: He’s the greatest con man ever. The first time around, people might not have understood what was happening. This time, everybody knew — and they went for it anyway. When you get the marks to volunteer for the duping, you’ve achieved true con mastery.

Am I mad? Nah. Frustrated, but this is just who we are. It’s the same way I feel about the rise in antisemitism. We act like something new is happening, but really we just moved the rock and are now seeing what was underneath all along. I’d rather stare it in the face than pretend it’s not there. This is who we are.

(Also, let’s be real: I’m a white dude who lives in NYC so I’ll probably be insulated from the worst of it.)

Plus, I kinda saw it coming…

mattrubycomedy

#mattruby #mattrubycomedian

A post shared by @mattrubycomedy

“Butts in seats” is the comedy version of elections. It’s our way of saying, “Scoreboard!” The lesson we’ve learned: You can go on Colbert 15 times and it won’t have the impact of one Rogan appearance. Especially if you wanna reach dudes.

Ezra Klein explained this in the NYT:

She should’ve gone on Rogan, and much else besides…But Rogan is symbolic of something bigger. There is an alienation that’s grown between young men and much of the Democratic Party. For years, there’s been no real way of talking about masculinity in liberal circles that didn’t attach the word “toxic” before it. There’s been a reveling in growing female strength and a deep critique of male culture. You can have any view you want on the merits of that, but it’s had consequences.

The Republicans are the roast and the Democrats are the HR department. And America wants cruel jokes more than a DEI seminar.

If any/all of this annoys you, I return to this question: Do you want to win next time or nah?

Because what I’m really getting at…

It’s time to realize that incessantly calling men toxic is a bad way to get their votes.

The truth is men are suffering and retreating right now. Richard Reeves has been discussing this at length. Here's a taste.

I worry that we’re not signaling strongly enough to young men now we need you. We in very different spaces. We the families, we the mothers, we the labor market, we the community. Not just we need people, but we need you. And absent that sense of we need you, I think we see a lot of young men retreating. #mattruby #comedy #comedian

He's a really great comedian where you walk out thinking about what you were just laughing about. This episode stuck around in my head for a while—like a good acid trip. Matt really shared a lot of personal stuff.

He’s has a very successful career as a comedian performing regularly at The Comedy Cellar. His comedy is hilarious! Plus exceptionally smart, thoughtful and his work has some great messages about toxic masculinity, which was refreshing to hear from a straight dude. I harassed him to share more specifically about the points he is making, why those issues speak to him and where they come from (a prosecutor dad and artist mom). Matt understand his feelings and is very articulate, There’s a lot to draw you in.

More Matt:

BIO Matt Ruby is a NYC comedian that tells smart/dark jokes for people with a finely tuned BS detector. He's a regular at the Comedy Cellar in NYC, in regular rotation on SiriusXlllllllM, his album "Hot Flashes" went top 10 at iTunes, and he's been seen on Laughs on FOX, MTV's Girl Code, and The Comedy Show Show on NBC/Seeso. He's also the creator of Vooza, a video comic strip about the tech world (called the "The Spinal Tap of startups" by Mashable) and co-producer of Hot Soup, one of NYC’s longest running independently produced comedy shows. H

Outside of standup, he's the creator of Vooza, a video comic strip about the tech world that’s received millions of view and was called the "The Spinal Tap of startups" by Mashable and (SIGN UP FOR THIS!!! ) he’s the author of the Rubesletter, a weekly newsletter with over 15,000 subscribers.

Also, on a personal level—I really like this music. It has a genuine uncynical authenticity just like Tim.

Listen to PMFD on Spotify

Watch their Another Screen video

Another Screen by Pop Music Fever Dream, from their new EP, "Songs For Emotion."

Starring T. Seeberger, Carmen Castillo, Domenico Bancroft, and Nicole Harwayne

Directed by T. Seeberger

Produced by T. Seeberger, Carmen Castillo

Cinematography/Vfx by Sam Blieden (Instagram: @s.r.b)

Edited by Sam Blieden, T. Seeberger

Acting Coaching by Carmen Castillo

Special thanks to @TheFilmMakersCooperative

Pop Music Fever Dream is a post-punk/no wave band from NYC.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pmfd.nyc/?h...

Bandcamp: https://pmfd.bandcamp.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0SZRh...

Apple Music:   / pop-music-fever-dream  

Here's some great interviews with Tim:

https://swimintothesound.com/blog/2024/9/9/the-name-of-the-band-is-pop-music-fever-dream

https://www.bkmag.com/2023/10/02/inside-the-queer-punk-revolution/

#timseeberger #popmusicfeverdream

You’ll also hear how Alvaro, a good-looking young man, likes the ladies—and I’m here to tell you personally, as a witness and friend, he is very respectful of women.

https://www.youtube.com/@AlvaroJokesGamboa

rebelioncomedy : Mondays 6pm @bkmadecomedy

She's been in New York for 3 years. As Dr. Lisa, I'm thinking it must be disorienting to be an outsider until you move to New York and fit in. Going from being an outsider to fitting in will challenge anyone's view of themselves and therefore, their creative work. Sarah puts a lot of pressure on herself, but she's only 25 and has good footing to get to where she wants to go.

Casey and I talked on Dr. Lisa in 2017, LISTEN HERE, when he was single and I was trying to get him a date from a call-in. Now he's happily married to great woman, also a comic, Courtney McGuiness. Courtney is funny but also really good at all the things that are valuable that make for a great career as a designer. with a good, consistent salary and benefits. We take a deep dive into how this relationship has facilitated his growth as a human. Let's face it—women rock!

PS: My husband listened to Casey and I talking and it helped him understand me better. I actually did some good therapy for my own relationship on this one!

Insta: @caseyjsalengo

#comedy #unlicensedtherapy #comedians #caseyjsalengo #courtneymcguiness #therapy #creativework #creativestruggle #creativerewards #drlisa #drlisagivesashit

When I met Aamir at an open mic a few months ago I invited him on to discuss arranged marriage, as that is how his parents met. We have a deep discussion about Aamirs view of arranged marriage as well as his own thoughts about dating and sex. Aamir is Muslim, 22 years old and has very set ideas about women, staying pure and marriage. As Dr. Lisa, I tell him he sounds like he might be repressing some important feelings that would help his personal growth. He then lays an unexpected bombshell on me which changes our whole understanding of the discussion right there and then. (Go to timestamp 51:23) Conflict ensues, but we finish as mutually respected friends. Follow @aamirdoesstandup

Currently, she co-parenting her teenage son with her ex-wife and her ex-wife's partner and reinventing her work career, all while pursuing an increasingly active comedy career. She talks about how her perspective is changing along with circumstance out in the world.

Megan has learned a lot about men from raising her son who is doing well in school and has a girlfriend. She sees how boys are restricted from expressing emotions except for anger and mean girls make fun of emotional boys.

@megan_the_cossey

Ben's father is a preacher and Ben talks about the connection he has with his dad's work ethic and skills as a pastor 

Ben's SiriusXM Show: ⁠Sunday Mimosa,⁠ Sundays 5pm + midnight on channel 47, Instagram: ⁠@benlouisradio/⁠ #BenLouis #Siriusxm

Listen to Ben's personal and professional journey as recorded with Dr. Lisa annually since 2018:

Ben Louis: First session DLG1204 - 2018 Fellow RFB "Ben Talks" host, Ben Louis talks recent gf breakup.

Ben Lous: 2nd Session, DLG1840 2019 Ben Louis, host of RFB's BEN TALKS, comes in for a follow-up session!

Ben Louis: Third Session - DLG220 2020 Fellow RFB host, Benjamin Louis of BEN TALKS, talks candidly about his personal growth.

Ben Louis: Fourth Session DLG260 2021 Ben Louis, former RFB host is on the cusp of living his dream!

Ben Louis: Fifth Session DLG286 2022 Former RFB host (now at Sirius), Ben Louis, comes in for an annual check in with Dr. Lisa

Ben Louis: Sixth Session DLG319 2023 Former RFB Host now SiriusXM Host, Ben Louis. Ben's life in a creative career is inspiring.

Ben Louis Seventh Session DLG339 Sept. 2024/ Ben Louis has made it—now he’s under pressure. We know he’s got this.

Bryant went through some major upheaval in his relationship with his brother, when he and his brother first moved to NYC together and became roommates. There was conflict, with Bryant eventually moving out . They weren't in touch for about 2 years. In the beginning of this year Bryants' brother reached out and they actually spent time together about a week ago—it went well.

Bryant and his brother have a difficult background — their mother is disabled due to a car accident when Bryant was 8. Soon after the accident, Bryant's father left the family so he and his brother with a disabled mother, brought themselves up. Its so encouraging to hear Bryant talk so openly about his life and what his experiences have been like. Clearly this is a story of resilience, growth and hard work.

Dr. Lisa began her career as a self-proclaimed psychotherapist in 2001 and Sarah, on staff at the Arts & Ideas desk at the NY Times, wrote a feature story on Psychotherapy LIVE! READ IT HERE Lisa's live stage show where she did "Psychotherapy" on audience volunteers.

A LOT has happened in the last 25 years. Sarah has a 22 year old son and she's putting the finishing touches on a book of her drawings she did of him from birth to age 5 that is to be published soon. She discusses what effect it had on her to do those drawings, how she first dived into Freud's writing at age 15 (her father had his books in the house) and her impression of Psychotherapy LIVE! all those years ago (a good impression!) It's compelling to find these women with their separate journeys back in the same room, years away from when they first met in July, 2002.

Sarah Boxer Bio:

WHO AM I? 
​​I am a writer of non-fiction and graphic fiction from Colorado who now lives in Washington, D.C. I have drawn & written two psycho-comics -- In the Floyd Archives, based on Freud's case histories, and its post-Freudian sequel, Mother May I?  I have also written reviews and essays for The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, The Comics Journal, The L.A Review of Books, The New York Times, Photograph, Slate, and Artforum. Now I'm working on a third volume of my Shakespearean Tragic-Comics, a series that so far includes Hamlet: Prince of Pigs ​and Anchovius Caesar. For more detail, see my CV. 

WHO WAS I?
​​For many years I worked at The New York Times  (1989-2006) where I was, at various points, a photo critic, a Web critic, an arts reporter, an editor at The Week in Review, and an editor at The Book Review.  In 2008 Vintage published Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks From the Wild Web, an anthology that I edited. My first book, published by Pantheon in 2001 was In the Floyd Archives.

His upbringing was pretty wild: raised in 1990s Colorado by his father in a spiritual commune filled with tarot cards, alchemy experiments, and Native American rituals after his parents had a messy divorce (his mom literally punched his dad in the school playground). Despite growing up poor and dealing with instability, Kevin learned early on to embrace his theatrical, queer sensibility—dyeing his hair orange and wearing purple suits to middle school as an act of defiant self-expression that basically made bullies back off. He didn't formally start practicing Buddhism until his 30s, though it was always part of his world growing up in Boulder's spiritual scene.

Now he's making independent films the DIY way, gathering NYC creative friends to shoot projects over months without traditional Hollywood budgets or gatekeeping. His approach to everything—from Buddhism to filmmaking—seems to be about creating nurturing, non-judgmental spaces where people can express themselves authentically. The whole conversation reveals someone who turned a chaotic childhood into a superpower: an ability to see possibilities where others see obstacles and to gather communities around creative visions without manipulation or cruelty.

BIO: Kevin Townley is a writer, filmmaker, actor, singer, and meditation teacher. He began formally studying Buddhism in 2010 and currently practices with the Sokuko-Ji Zen community under the guidance of Kyoun Sokuzan. He has taught Buddhism and meditation for over a decade.

His film and television work include appearances in My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Men in Black III, The Detour, and Law & Order.

With his band, Bambï, Townley adapted Rossner’s Looking for Mr. Goodbar into the rock opera called GOODBAR, performed at The Public Theater. He has written extensively for the Waterwell theater company and Rookiemagazine.

He has also led hundreds of art tours in museums across the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

Martin's latest music video: Big Leather: Lemon Lanes 2025 

More of Martin's work HERE:

Leo Rauf's Band: https://bigleather.bandcamp.com/

Video of Dr. Lisa psychoanalyzing Martin and his dad, David Kramer

Ibhan is great with people and relationships, he has a girlfriend and a best friend, comedy co-creator and RFB radio show co-host James Azzaretti Episode 1925. James and Ibhan co-host James & Ibhan Radio Show—live Sundays at 11am!

Turns out Ibhan is conflict-avoidant, which is fine in his personal life, cause he's close to people that handle conflicts, but when the shit hits the fan at work it pushes him to get a new job and go to therapy. Once again proving we are all human. Also please note: Ibahn is cleaner than either his girlfriend or James.

Instagram: @doublelagaan @jamesandibhan
@chickenbigcomedy

Felix is an artist I've know for a long time and havent had a chance to really get to know. He's pretty well-known for his Good Luck Spots as Hug Spots along with his Bad Luck Spots and suicide spots Felix's work is interactive: people walking down the street notice the spots. While some may avoid them, others walk into them and others are inspired to kiss or hug.

Felix is driven to make art. He's truly lived the life of an artist risking a lot for his work including harrassment and homelessness.

Felix was born here six days after his mother came here from Columbia. They went back and Felix lived in a rural town there with his 2 brothers and one sister until he was 11, when his grandmother visited Columbia and brought him back with her. Through hard work and perserverance, Felix was able to attend Pratt Institute and the Art Students league, growing to become the successful working artist he is today.

More about Felix and his art HERE: https://www.felixmorelo.com/

Follow Felix on Instagram: @morelofelix

Sign up for Diego's Substack:
@fromthedeskofmadampresident HERE

He is a great Radio Free Brooklyn Host as well—his completely original improv show, No Suggestions is HILARIOUS. LISTEN HERE

I know from listening to this episode where he says he hasn't been in a relationship for three years and he's getting ready to be in one, so I thought this was something we could work on. Ralf generously shares why the realtionship was great, how he was taken by surprise when it ended and all the hard work and changes and BIG GROWTH he's gone through as a result. I felt super optimistic about him by the end—I hope he did too!

Instagram: @presciousgorgeousralf @nosuggestionpod

https://preciousgorgeous.com/

No Suggestion Podcast HERE

Ralf Jean-Pierre BIO:

Ralf Jean-Pierre aka Precious Gorgeous, is a first generation Haitian-American rapper-songwriter, actor, and comedian from Brooklyn, NY. He earned a BFA in Performing Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He has studied improv comedy at the People’s Improv Theater, and has studied clown with Christopher Bayes, Virginia Scott, and Eric Davis.

In 2012, Ralf and his collaborator Jolie Tong developed a one-man musical chronicling the true account of how Ralf spent all of 2012 riding his bicycle around the United States, performing a one-man Shakespeare on the streets called WHAT SHOULD BE THE FEAR, which debuted at Gamba Forest in 2017. Precious Gorgeous released the self-produced record Tryna Get My Live Together, the mixtapes TRIP and Brooklyn Petting Zoo, and Everyone Dies From a Bullet vol 1, a secret, underground covers record, all of which you can find on Precious Gorgeous’ music page. 

From 2018-2023 Ralf was a member of North Coast, NYC’s premier and hip-hop improv comedy team. Previously Ralf held a number of prestigious teaching artist positions, like teaching improv comedy to incarcerated youth for Drama Club, as well for working as teacher-performer Puppetry in Practice, and the NYU-Creative Arts Team.
Since 2022 Ralf has hosted the weekly improv comedy podcast No Suggestion, where has deep, thoughtful, meandering conversations with the funniest comedians in NYC, and creates improv comedy with them, live, based on those conversations. Ralf currently teaches as an adjunct professor for the Brooklyn College BFA and BA, NYU Tisch BFA, and Columbia University MFA acting programs.

Lana's comedy career has continued to accelerate and it's fun to hear about it (maybe not always fun for Lana—serious hard work!) Her 13 year old son has gotten into the act and opens for her, participates in creating and performing in her reels. Her husband is the director/filmmaker. Lana is always inspiring. And unstoppable. If you feel stuck, this is the episode for you.

Lana's Website HERE

Follow Lana's Insatgram HERE

Lana on TikTok HERE

Previous Dr. Lisa Episodes:

DLG344 This is a radical episode as comedian Lana Siebel does psychodrama with Dr. Lisa as her mother—it's CRA-ZY

DLG277 Lana Siebel is a rare find in the comedy world: talented, hilarious, smart and KIND.⁠

⁠DLG323 A funny/serious session with comedy mentor Lana Siebel.

Gavin was lucky and remains grateful today to his rock solid supportive family for getting him through all that and coming out ok. In my opinion, on an emotional development level, maybe even better. He's been in
remission since then, some 20+ years. He's still processing his
experience, since as he gets older his perspective changes, but he is
one happy dude!

He has found a passion for comedy in the past few years, performs regularly, has his own show @coldbeercomedy. And that's not all! Gavin met the love of his life 10 years ago (he's only 30 now!) and they are getting married Valentine's Day!!!!

I just wish I could bottle the rare version of Gavin's positivity
cause it is real and you can feel it-not like "influencer" fake
positivity.

We start talking about Lana's relationship with her mother and I suggest doing a "role-play" where I act as her mother and she says what she wishes she could say to her. I think we surprised ourselves on what came out of this. I know this sounds like a teaser, but it is seriously hard to describe. Absurd, hilarious and VERY REAL.

Check out Lana at these spots:@drybarcomedy SPECIAL @amazonprime @nycomedyfest @comedycellarusa HEADLINING Peckville, PA 9/28; VA 11/1 ; MD 11/16 & lots more tba

Instagram @lanasiebel

Hear Lana talk about being a refugee from Ukraine to American at 7 years old. how she built her comedy career, her husband and now 11-year old son (destined for comedy, I think) on our previous episodes here:

DLG277 Lana Siebel is a rare find in the comedy world: talented, hilarious, smart and KIND.

DLG323 A funny/serious session with comedy mentor Lana Siebel.

Since I am a pretend *shrink*, I wanted to talk to Charles about his life and emotional/creative development in relation to his work. After reading about Charles's family on his website, I was really curious to learn how his relationship with his father had a foundational role in Charles work as well as his relationships with mentors and students.

It was really interesting to hear about, as a young man, Charles formed a lot of relationships with other older photographers, inspiring him to became an innovative leading educator and world-renowned photographer.

A real treat was talking with Charles about the work he's making today. His face lights up with the childlike enthusiastic vibe thats as shiny and inspired as ever.

Instagram: @charlestraub

Charles Traub Bio

Charles Traub Website

Kevin is a professional sharer, so he didn't hold back with Dr. Lisa. He talks about his gay group therapy that shrinks kept quitting, his current shrink, what he's really like vs. the onstage version of Kevin, some of his dating experiences, how relationships with his fellow members of "The State" developed throughout the show, and how there will never be enough downloads to make him happy.

Doing research on Brian, I observed that in his writing, he was an art writer that often gave voice to the voiceless, writing in a compelling manner about issues at the intersection of art and social causes that might otherwise go unnoticed. This recent piece in ArtNet about a rediscovered David Wojnarowicz mural in Kentucky is a great example.

The other observation I had about Brian is how he doesn't inject himself into his work or even his career. Unlike many other art writers, (NO JUDGEMENT) , you don't see him sipping drinks at lavish art parties, and dinners, although I am sure he's invited and likely attends them.

Which spurred me on to find out why not—what in Brian's personality influences his work?

I found out he was a drummer in a punk band, 2nd youngest of five boys and a hellofalot more. Cheers to Brian for being a good sport!

Bio: Brian Boucher covers art-world news in New York. He has also written for publications such as the New York Times, Playboy, New York Magazine, Frieze, Art in America and ARTnews. He studied art history at Vassar College and Williams College.

Insta: @brianbboucher

George Hayward is a brilliant guy and a brilliantly original comedian. I met him at a favorite open mic at @PineBoxRockShop run by @steve_malden and @bobby.condon.

George is very smart and talented, but his work ethic is a super power with his LASER FOCUS on standup is phonomenal.

George has quite a life story. His mother is black, his father is white. Education was the top priority in his family, George is a testament to that. He got a full scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy, then a BA from Harvard and a AB/JD degree from Stanford.

Here's a story about how a kid who once thought he might become an astrophysicist, put himself through a rigorus education and found himself exceeding at standup. George has been on many prestigious New Faces shows and is well on his way to a thriving standup career. Not bad for a guy who's been in NYC for only a year.

Here's some of the videos we discuss in this session:

Take Ya Time: George Hayward Live From Pine Box | Stand-up Set 14:00

George Hayward Delivers The Good News in 1997 First Communion 1:04 ( Clip of George lecturing as a child )

The Good News: George Hayward Addresses the 1Ls at Stanford Law School 25:00 The 25 min set to the Stanford law students that started it all

Talk to Em: George Hayward Addresses the MBAs at Stanford Business School 1:10:24 - the 60-min set with no previous open mics that started George on his professional path

Mick's webseries HERE.

Mick's previous episode on Dr. Lisa HERE.

Mick DIflo has appeared on Amazon Prime’s ‘Hunters’, AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live, Inside Amy Schumer, and was a contributing writer to ‘The Idiot’s Guide to Jokes’, Jest Magazine, The Huffington Post and thecomedyconsultant.com.

His webseries ‘Mick: Don’t Be So Positive’, written & directed by Roger Aylward, is based on Mick’s standup comedy. The webseries won Best International Webseries at Dublin’s International Comedy Film Festival and Mick received Special Mention for Best Actor. The series also received an honorable mention award at Worldwide Short Film Festival in London. More about Mick Diflo ⁠HERE⁠.

Here's a bit of what we talked about: Mick started using drugs at 11, had hepatitis twice by 17, and became a successful boxer with 10 wins out of 13 fights. But addiction derailed his boxing career when he developed double vision from too many punches.

He got sober at 28 in 1984 with his brother's help - that's 41 years clean now. After recovery, he worked as an addiction counselor for 15 years before accidentally falling into comedy. What started as an acting class in Philadelphia turned into sketch comedy, and when his group couldn't make a New York show, he went solo and discovered stand-up.

Now he's been doing comedy professionally for 21 years, recently released an album called "Don't Be So Positive," and created an award-winning web series. His dark humor draws from his life experiences, which makes perfect sense. He's been married to Rita for 21 years - they met in recovery, got engaged after 9 months, and she now "heckles" him during his acts while working on her own novel. Despite everything he's been through, Mick has this calm, philosophical outlook and uses comedy to process his experiences.

Paradise Lost (Tuesdays) 100 2nd Ave., New York, NY, 10003

Public Records upstairs cocktail lounge (Friday/Saturday) 233 Butler St, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Misha Wurman is 27-year-old bartender who Dr. Lisa has basically watched grow up since he was born. He's got this really interesting mixed background - Afro-Caribbean on his mom's side and Russian/Swedish/Jewish on his dad's side. Growing up was pretty complicated because he'd spend weekdays with his mom and grandma in Spanish Harlem, then weekends with his dad in this fancy SoHo loft. When his mom got sick, he ended up living with his dad's parents in Rhode Island for over six years.

How He Got Into Bartending Misha went to Hampshire College to study film, but while he was there, he discovered craft cocktails at this bar called The Dancer on the Lower East Side. Now he works at two spots - Paradise Lost and Public Records - making these fancy $18-28 cocktails. He's got this whole creative approach where he calls it "making potions" and comes up with wild combinations like a white mezcal Negroni with cold brew. Every drink he makes has its own story behind it.

What Makes Him Good At It The thing is, all that bouncing between different family situations as a kid actually made him really good at reading people and handling different personalities. He sees bartending as more than just mixing drinks - it's about meeting people where they're at emotionally, whether they're out having fun or dealing with something heavy. He loves how collaborative the whole cocktail scene is, and you can tell he's found a way to blend his artistic side with his natural people skills.

@saraschaefer1

Crafting Through It on YouTube

This is a great session with Sarah Schaefer, a comedian and artist who's created a fascinating art exhibit called "A Few Slight Concerns" - three miniature rooms at 1:12 scale representing her personal anxieties. There's a hotel room (from years of touring comedy clubs), a green room where comedians wait before performing, and her own craft room. She's literally "minimizing" her problems by turning spaces where she's had obsessive, anxious thoughts into art she can put on a shelf and walk away from.

Sarah's been doing comedy for 23 years and has performed everywhere from Comedy Central to Netflix, but she's questioning whether to stay in the industry because of the moral compromises it seems to require. She grew up in Richmond where her mom ran an amazing charity operation feeding homeless people, which gave her strong values but also this sense that her own problems weren't "big enough" to matter. Recently diagnosed with ADHD, she now understands her obsessive, hyperfocused work style - like how she gets so absorbed making miniatures that her workspace becomes what her husband calls a "nest."

The interview captures this really relatable struggle of being a creative person trying to figure out meaningful work when the world feels chaotic. Sarah's doing a solo show called "Going Up" that combines comedy with miniatures, and she's honestly wrestling with whether art matters and what direction to take her career next.

Bill and Jen explore and illuminate their ideas and innovations with Dr. Lisa. They discuss their various projects and processes, (their first project together was in 2008), leading up to this fair and where they are now—getting work into art lovers hands, especially if those folks don't have the disposable income to buy art.

Such a fun talk to hear how Jen and Bill have really honed their thinking and process, keeping in mind the desire to make these fairs and interventions scaleable and sustainable simply so the plans can be implemented anywhere.

I encourage you to listen to this episode as Bill and Jen describe this important project which seeks to go beyond an art fair and open a dialogue about so much more—such as what is the value of art and what is the social purpose of it?

The basics of the Zero Art Fair ⁠HERE⁠

JEN DALTON

https://www.jenniferdalton.com/ @jendalton_

Bio: Jennifer Dalton (born 1967) is an American artist. She received her Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in 1997.

Dalton's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally, including the FLAG Art Foundation in New York, the Curator's Office in Washington, DC, Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna), Contemporary Museum in Baltimore and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. She was also included in La Superette at Deitch Projects, Participant Inc. and The Cult of Personality: Portraits of Mass Culture at Carriage Trade, both in New York.

She has been an artist-in-residence at numerous artist colonies, including the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Vermont Studio Center, Millay Colony for the Arts and the Smack Mellon Studio Residency Program. She was a recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2002.

WILLIAM POWHIDA

https://williampowhida.com/ @williampowhida

BIO: William Powhida (born 1976) is an American visual artist and former art critic.Powhida's work is critical and addresses the contemporary art world. Powhida received his Master of Fine Arts in painting from Hunter College in January 2002.

He is currently represented by Postmasters Gallery (NY), Charlie James Gallery (LA), Poulsen Gallery (DK), and Platform Gallery (WA). He holds a BFA in Painting from Syracuse University and an MFA in painting from Hunter College. His work has been written about in the New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, The Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic, ArtFCity, The Guardian, the New Yorker, New York Magazine, and October among other publications. His work in the collections The San Diego Museum of Art, The Henry Art Museum, The Crocker, The Orange County Museum of Art, Casa Maaud, and JP Morgan Chase.

Here's James show on Radio Free Brooklyn: James & Ibhan Radio Show:
Hosted by James Azzaretti & Ibhan Kulkarni LIVE every Sunday at 11:00am

James & Ibhan are Brooklyn Comedians who's lived and performed in the area for close to a decade. These golden voiced gods will regal you with wit, charm, smarm, and calm. Music, special guests, and special bits. Only here, only now.

Insta:

James Azzaretti: @snazzaretti

Ibhan Kulkarni: @doublelagaan

@jamesandibhan
@chickenbigcomedy

Konstantin and Vlada are in NYC on the last leg of their tour throughout the U.S. to accept an award from the US Embassy in Kiev. (I may have some award details wrong here, but you get the point.)

As they agreed to be on the show, I told them I wanted to focus on discussing their relationship in such an intense situation, especially since they had begun their practice as wedding photographers. I mean talk about a growth experience! Beyond my imagination.
I found them fascinating. And do you know what I found out? When they were first married Va was a chic princess. Always perfectly clean and perfectly coiffed. But then, trenches….

MORE INFO:

THEIR INCREDIBLE PHOTO WORK: https://www.ukrainianphotographers.com/en/photographers/kostiantyn-and-vlada-liberov

A detailed photo story about their experience during the invasion in Odesa, Ukraine: https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/en/stories/viyna-tse-ne-statystyka-a-konkretna-lyudyna-zi-svoim-konkretnym-strashnym-gorem

A fantastic 14 min. doc about them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDt_PK1SU1c

Instagram: ⁠@libkos⁠

Website: https://www.libkos.com/

Listening to Caroline talk about her childhood and having been home-schooled, she helped me understand why home-schooling can be a really damaging experience. And maybe that's one big reason why, when she moved to NYC, she went alcohol-crazy (who wouldn’t? + also simplifying) —if you want to know details, you have to listen.

Anyway, here’s someone who really turned their life around and getting very close to achieving more of her goals. Her comedy is going great, she’s in a healthy 4-year relationship and soon, she will be certified as a  Vet Tech and making bank $$$.  @carolineblaircomic

Tom Tenney, the station co-founder, (along with Rob Pritchard), was my first guest patient when I began my show on May 15, 2015 and this session with Tom is exactly 10 years later, this time Tom is my 10th anniversary guest patient so we have plenty to reflect on as well as looking forward. Tom's entire life was Radio Free Brooklyn for many years in an obsessive way, which as a fake shrink is why he was able to make something so major into an organization that currently thrives with other capable people now leading the charge.Tom's life has evolved during the last 10 years: from Bushwick to Washington Heights, new psych meds, from being single for a very long time, to a successful thriving relationship with a wonderful woman who he lives with in a nice place and a job in retail while he continues to evolve his new ideas. Radio Free Brooklyn had changed so many lives over the last 10 years, but possibly no one more than Toms.Tom's show:
Previous

May 15, 2015— Dr. Lisa psychoanalyzes RFB co-founder Tom Tenney

May 14, 2020— Tom Tenney, Radio Free Brooklyn’s Executive Director return’s to Dr. Lisa’s couch in honor of RFB’s 5th anniversary and it’s on his birthday too!

Nov, 2020—Breaking down the WALL OF LIES experience with creators Tom Tenney and Phil Buehler.

Leslie had some heavy shit go down in the past year with her husband having medical problems and emergency room visits where Leslie was the point person in a series of stressful situations. A huge out pooring of support from folks during this difficult period for Leslie and Kyle took them as a big surprise, I know these guys, so I will say it makes sense that people would rush to help this kind, generous and hardworking couple. Thankfully, he's much better now, and we are still working on Leslie accepting help from other people. (She says her professional shrink is too!)

Here's Leslie's previous Dr. Lisa Gives A Shit episodes:

2019: DLG218 Comedian, Writer, Musician, Singer Leslie Goshko and I demonstrate the value of creative people supporting each other.

2016: DLG1646_Leslie Goshko is great at too many things.

More about Leslie Goshko HERE

Dr. Lisa wants to know haw an artist as accomplished as Gabrielle is hasn’t put the regular amount of navel gazing that most artists put into their work—what connects Gabrielle to these stories made personal by the people that tell them?

After much discussion it seems as if Gabrielle is maybe just grounded and fulfilled on her own that she is able to be generous and connect with her neighbors by making them the stars of her art and photographs.

Thinking later, after the session, I thought maybe since she got along so well and felt understood by her parents, so perhaps instead of a typical adolescent rebellion to the authority of her parents, her rebellion manifested in reaction, as a professor, to the authority of academia.

About The Cities We Need

Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani is an urbanist, curator, and artist practicing new modes of public arts, design, and urban research for community engagement, and is author of Contested City: Art and Public History as Mediation at New York's Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (University of Iowa Press, 2018). She is principal of the design and research studio Buscada and teaches urban studies and public art at the New School. She was a post-doctoral fellow in visual culture at the International Center of Photography and holds a PhD in environmental psychology from the Graduate Center, CUNY. She regularly consults with arts and culture organizations on community and art engagements and strategic visioning. Her creative practice has been shown at institutions including MIT, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Center for Architecture, Artists Alliance/Cuchifritos Gallery & Project Space, the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, and Tate Britain. Her work on cities, culture, and photography has appeared in journals, including Visual Studies, Urban Omnibus, Space and Culture, Society & Space, and Buildings & Landscapes. She lives in New York City.

Joseph grew up in Dayton, Ohio, the son of a lawyer father and insurance salesman mother. It seems as if Joseph had a lot of conflict with his parents, but has some thoughtful things to say about forgiveness. He is someone who works hard on himself, physically, emotionally and spiritually. His creative work is instinctual whether it's songwriting, music,, poetry or visual art.

Joseph Arthur started working in high school with a band of guys all older than him, 5 nights a week making  a good living so he never went to college or even needing to look for a side job.

An outspoken voice about his opinions about vaccines during the pandemic, along with the birth of his daughter around the same time, affected his career and recharged it. His opportunity to revisit his career and opened a lot of new doors and he's now enjoying life now more than ever.

https://josepharthur.com/ #josepharthur

@joseph_arthur

Song/Video RISE

Current Tour

Scooter’s work is amazing and so instinctual- he cannot not do it. Even though he’s worked with big names like he is as humble as can be. So much to learn from his perspective—growing up as a gay man in a tiny town in Arizona. I have to say I was envious hearing of all the free-range outdoor time he had, but alas the town, it’s sounds really small and devoid of gays which means a pretty homogenous group of people (boring!)

Scooter is the best of what an artist is—someone fueled by their work and satisfied because of it. He complimented me a lot, so I’m going to give him an A as a guest rating.

Follow and learn more about Scooter HERE: https://www.scooter-laforge.com/ Instagram @scooterlaforge @scooter_laforge_a_life_of_art/

BIO: Scooter Laforge began his love affair with art at a very young age while growing up in the small town of Las Cruces, New Mexico. His burning desire to render things beautifully began with his singer/songwriter mother, and his landscape painting father; both equally inspired his creativity and lust for art.

Laforge’s work can be characterized as Pop Art partnered with abstract expressionism and Dutch classicism. His paintings and drawings are portraitures, landscapes, and objective subject matter, utilizing his special painting techniques and incorporating his homoerotic, in your face, non-apologetic lifestyle.  Like Golden Books on acid, his work employs a 50’s illustrated storybook technique, modernized by 70’s color palettes and are influenced heavily by gay pornography, cute fluffy animals, and sometimes iconic cartoons (i.e. SpongeBob Square Pants, The Cookie Monster, and Popeye and Brutis) which are reoccurring characters and themes within his work. 

LaForge earned his BFA from the University of Arizona in 1993,[5] and began his career as a painter in San Francisco.[6] He moved to New York City in 2001,[3] where he attended the Cooper Union School of Art under a fellowship.[8] His art is in the collections of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art[9] and Beth Rudin DeWoody.[10]

LaForge has a line of hand-painted, unique clothing items that are sold through fashion stylist Patricia Field.[11] He has twice collaborated with Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck.[12][13] His clothing has been worn by Susanne Bartsch,[14] Sandra Bernhard,[15] Beyoncé,[8] Miley Cyrus,[6] Boy George,[3] Debbie Harry,[8] Nicki Minaj,[3] Madonna,[8] Iggy Pop,[3] Rihanna,[6] and Lil Wayne.[3]

I note in the beginning of this session with Joe Kelley is that a first impression presents as a physically large, outgoing, charismatic person who is going to just through his natural vibe likely more often than not becomes the focus of many of the rooms he enters. It's a natural gift that he has. I ask him about it, and in this session we find out if's a double-edged sword and also in the ways that it is. Joe had a traumatic experience with his group of friends in high school. The residue of it is evident today. Does Joe's large personality and physical appearance make people jealous? its seems thats something that his mother and I agree on.

About Joe Kelley

Joe Kelley is a seasoned music industry professional with over a decade of experience in artist relations, booking, and concert and content production. Since 2010, Joe has been actively involved in the music scene, making significant contributions to the industry.

Joe's passion for promoting talented artists led him to manage the internationally renowned online performance platform, BalconyTV, in New York. During his tenure, he played a key role in discovering and showcasing emerging artists, helping them gain exposure to a global audience.

With a strong focus on fostering talent, Joe joined Billboard as the head of artist relations. In this influential position, he oversaw most of Billboard's artist bookings across all departments, showcasing his extensive expertise and network within the industry. Additionally, Joe created and curated the long-running BillboardLive series, which became a highly acclaimed franchise showcasing exceptional live performances from renowned artists.

Following his success at Billboard, Joe joined Magus Entertainment to work alongside a small team as management for Duran Duran and other acts. In this role, he contributed to the production of Duran Duran's 15th studio album, Future Past, and was instrumental in coordinating a series of festival appearances and a long-awaited tour. His work with Magus Entertainment underscored his capability to manage high-profile artists and navigate the complexities of the music industry.

Kambri Crews is an extraordinary woman. Not only in her notable achievements (NYT bestselling author, QED comedy club founder/owner, just to name a few), but also how her hard-to-imagine childhood as the only child of 2 deaf parents, growing up between a shack and a trailer in rural Texas, having a father in jail because of violence against his girlfriend that she witnessed. 

As a performer, club owner, publicist, writer, producer, Kambri has a full pedigree in the comedy world, as well as being married to comedian Christian FInnegan, Comedy Central, James Corden”, “Good Morning America” and “The Today Show”. (And even Dr. Lisa!—episode 291 + episode 314.

It's a joy to have Kambri on Dr. Lisa at this particular moment in time. She's concluding an 11 year stint of owning/creating a beloved (voted #1 venue in NYC by TimeOut New York readers 2022) comedy venue and is turning the reins to a hand-picked, new owner, comedian and friend, Hannah Lieberman, who is eager to embrace her new mantle as owner of

QED. Kambri will still be involved though, she's not going anywhere!

It seems like this is perhaps, the first time in her life, Kambri feels she has

finally accomplished enough that she can take her time deciding on where to put her

focus next. In the meantime there's always ice skating and watercoloring to do...

Though I don't usually have close friends on, (I'm trying to be a real shrink, remember?!!), I make an exception here so Jane and I can exchange some college stories and we can talk about Jane and Peter's parenting adventures with their two boys, Jeremy and Ben, now both in their mid-thirties and doing well.

Jane would invite me to stay with her family in New York City in the later 70's and her parents were a big influence on me. They were very sophisticated for a young person like me and they opened my mind to a lot of new things. Her father, Len Mogel was the publisher of the National Lampoon in it's heyday, so some fun stories from that time too. I moved to the East Village right after college and Jane had her own place in the city by then, so we had a lot of fun running around NYC in those years too!

Art is healing. Millers journey through comedy has made him a happy man. He has a close circle of comedy friends and is producing a show of his friend @tahaakahn Halalarious It's coming to the @sohoplayhouse May9, 2025 Sohohttps://ci.ovationtix.com/35583/production/1228838. 

Follow Miller HERE: @themillermark

Miller is obsessed with sports! Listen to his podcast HERE: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/miller-mark3

He’s studying sociology at Pace university and he also founded and fronts a band, Holiem. Roman is all about his music and his band. Dr. Lisa is a bit verklempt listening to a young person who has found his true love - and his excitement of starting out on his journey in music. He is also in love with his girlfriend-personally - I had a little counter transference of envy witnessing his excitement of the world that’s open to him at this phase in his life. He’s humble and grateful to his folks, his 2 brothers and his girlfriend. 

Listen to his music on Spotify HERE: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5HQOT0L9FSN2ek1xiVJHpM?si=oiDsRZlBQy-Sx-G_XMvGig

Follow Roman on Instagram HERE: @holiem__

Nick enjoys this of course! but he has reservations. Is he spending time (euphemism, you know what I mean) with them because it's what he wants or is it more that he's just not turning it down?

Nick talks about his childhood and his family (challenging) and where he is now. He is extremely forthcoming and if I wanted to I could make this summary into lascivious clickbait but I have too much integrity for that! Damnit!

Anyway, Nick is very articulate and self-aware with a great heart. You can learn a lot about how men see women from this session and maybe even a sexual health session. I know I did!

See Nick perform! Feb. 15, 7pm https://www.secondcity.com/shows/new-york/struggle-bus-nyc

Follow Nick @nickviagas

So it was super cool to have gotten to know her and her work process before she came on the show. Yoshie is the first artist in her family and also (first) second generation. Yoshie trained as a professur in great and Latin, but at 30 took a turn and discovered art.

Yoshie is very self-effacing, but in my fake-shrink opinion—I think shes self-effacing mostly because she cant quite grasp how successful she is at something so unusual and personal.

I also think her humility is part of the secret sauce which makes her work so good.

See Yoshie's work and more HERE

Follow Yoshie on Instagram: @yoshie_sakai_studio

Yoshie's Artist Statement:

I create characters that respond and negotiate contemporary social issues of cultural identity, gender roles, and familial and personal relationships. As a subtly transgressive undercover cultural agent, I expose the absurdities of manipulative social structure while humorously struggling and reveling in those structures as a participant.

By staging my videos within intimate installations that become psychological and imaginative playhouses, I give form to our vulnerability and evoking, sometimes, nervous laughter. My sculptures are created from found objects and composed into imaginary characters and interior sceneries grounded in both tangible and fantastical domesticity. I use tropes including East Asian soap operas, Hollywood musicals, and the wellness industry to expose the anxieties of aspiration, model minority myths, and filial piety through the lens of the longstanding, yet under-represented Japanese American community in South Los Angeles.

My ongoing project has been an East Asian/Asian American hybrid soap opera video installation series called “KOKO’s Love,” where I challenge the “model minority” myth to reveal the guise of superficial “perfection” of being a 1.5 generation Japanese American woman—the “.5” feeling of not belonging to either the first generation or the second. Loosely autobiographical, I felt it was important to write, produce, direct, and play every character as a performative process.

My work is about accessibility while nurturing human connection. I plan to focus on grandparents and the challenges within a family structure of varying generations in order to encompass a wider audience beyond “KOKO’s Love.” My work can function as a a critique of capitalism’s production of space and ways of being, while also drawing on popular forms of entertainment and media to engage diverse audiences, especially those historically devalued, ignored, and seen as burdens.

People often ask, “Why are you so happy all of the time?” and my response is “It’s better than crying.” Ultimately, in my work I would like to continue the exploration of humor as a complicated intersection where hope, happiness, anxiety, and darkness reside much like our society, a tension-filled existence of both criticality and complacency.

Claire Pelllegrino has known of me since she was born because I am a leading character in her parent's, Jean Galton and Ron Pellegrino's origin story.

I was really close to her mother bacaue we both worked for the same difficult boss at our first jobs in advertising. And I met her Dad while I was working at other agency freelance. I dated him for about 6 months. And as Claire already knows, they met at an apartment party I had. Ron and I had broken up by then and were good friends, and as was Jean and I, even though we were no longer working together. It seems like Jean and Ron were a case of love at first sight. And in my very own home.

And as I tell Claire-he traumatized me once on a date for not letting me to get off a bus in New Jersey to the bathroom. Looking back I'm glad he dissuaded me—we'd still be wandering around NJ.

Even tho I had nothing to do with shaping her now, I do take pride in her report that her parents were a good match and me cause of me. The weird thing for her I think is that even though, she's never seen me interact with her parents, I knew so m much about them. It made me so pleased to hear Claire discuss how happy and grateful for her parents doing such a great job in raising her which she describes beautifully.

Claire is a super talented comedian. Check her out on Insta! @pellegrino_claire

Follow Sarah on Instagram + TikTok @sarahbarnitt

Poet, novelist, aesthete. https://stephanievalente.com/

 Stephanie Athena Valente lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her published works include Hotel Ghost, waiting for the end of the world, Little Fang, and Spell Work (Bottlecap Press & Giallo). Featured writing includes Witch Craft Magazine, Maudlin House, and Hobart. She is the associate editor at Yes, Poetry. Sometimes, she feels human. stephanievalente.com

Stephanie Valente - Internet Girlfriend

56k dial-up. Ouija boards. Crushes.

Internet Girlfriend explores the intersection of the internet, the occult, and sexuality.

These poems mirror the abyss: divination, webcamming, myth, instant messages, queerness, witchcraft—all in the name of trying to feel something.

Praise for Internet Girlfriend

Stephanie Valente’s Internet Girlfriend oozes with style. In an age of Y2K nostalgia, this collection of poems somehow makes the dial-up days feel glamorous while also experimenting with form in such a way that makes me excited for the future, assuming it will contain more poetry like this. These poems are a mystical time warp, a sequined occult ritual, and a lip gloss kiss stain emoji all at once. Valente writes: “please make / everything feel / opalescent // now and / forever” & that is exactly what every single poem in this collection does. — Kailey Tedesco, author of She Used to be on a Milk Carton, Lizzie, Speak, and FOREVERHAUS

Peter is an excellent artist! Check out his work HERE: https://www.peterschenck.com/

Follow him HERE @pbschenck

Check out Franklin's music HERE

@franklinrossman @guitarsoverguns

Franklin Rossman Bio:

Growing up, Franklin Rossman always knew one thing—he was going to make his mark in Hip-Hop! As a kid, the Brooklyn, New York native soaked up all of the culture and sounds around him. JAY-Z, the Notorious B.I.G. and Nas helped to inspire Franklin’s musical tastes and aspirations. With that, Franklin began creating, and his first works were a series of mixtapes under the stage name, The Incomparable Shakespeare.

Franklin established himself as a talented lyricist early on with appearances on Sirius XM’s Sway In The Morning, Showoff Radio with Statik Selektah, and MTV. He’s performed alongside Hip-Hop luminaries including Slick Rick, The Lox, and has collaborated with the likes of Kool G. Rap, Sean P, and others.

In addition to music, Franklin is intimately involved in education. He developed and piloted a Hip-Hop ELA curriculum. His work explores literacy through Hip-Hop, bringing a socially and culturally relevant approach to learning across schools and community organizations. For multiple summers, in partnership with Harlem Children’s Zone, he helped coordinate literacy-based programming at Columbia University. With over a decade of experience in the classroom and the entertainment industry, Franklin remains committed to youth development.

Guitars over Guns Mission Statement:

Kids are awesome. They’re creative. They’re fearless. They’re bursting with energy and hungry for knowledge. They know how to make the most of every opportunity.

But kids from our most vulnerable communities don’t always have the chance to discover just how awesome they can be. These kids are filled with promise. They have big dreams and bold stories to tell. And yet, due to circumstances and systems beyond their control, they don’t always know that they have the freedom to choose a path of their own.

At Guitars Over Guns, we’re changing that through music, because we believe that music, combined with strong, consistent mentorship, can reshape the trajectory of a student’s life.

Gulliame is a fellow RFB host-hes only 24 and hes been doing his show since April. He does his radio show with his cohost Max Randall. who today, unfortunately, had to work. Even though I've benn aware of his show,and met Max, this is the first time I've met Guillaume in person. He is studying to be an actual credentialed psychotherapist at the New School. He also has 2 part time jobs, one as a student crisis councelor and one as a substance- abuse councelor. He seems to have had a decent chilhood with some discussion around his father being a high-achieving workaholic. Guillame talks about his dad's influence in reference to how much Guillame values his relationships. At the end of the day Guiallame is concerned he is not focussing on him music enough to satisfy him and with a little digging, we find out his organization and discipline could be better. He's taken steps recently to improve so we agree to meet again in 6 months to chart his progress—stay tuned!

Metro Artcast

Hosted by Max Randall and Guillaume Mourere

LIVE every Friday at 2:00pm

LISTEN HERE!!!: https://www.radiofreebrooklyn.org/show/metro-artcast/

@elijah.mesh

unyielding force of good (silly)🪲

@bigquestionsshow 11/14 🎟️👇🏻

@ratattooeee

big-questions-comedy-show.eventbrite.com

Also WATCH Bob Denver:

Gilligan's Island: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/gilligans-island https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilligan%27s_Island

The Many Loves of Dobie Gilllis: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-many-loves-of-dobie-gillis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Many_Loves_of_Dobie_Gillis

More about Justin

Website @justinmlinville

IMBD

We have a deep dive exploration and by the end of the show we have come up with some satisfying results.

More about Shawn HERE

Follow Shawn HERE

Keenan is a super high energy, driven, professional comedian who is charming, out-going, social and dating. He’s always busy, but maybe he needs to slow down and settle in when he is ready. Time marches on, he’s in his 30’s now, so, when does he really focus on this aspect of his life? As we unpack this issue, we uncover a tool that Keenan can develop and rely on to make this journey feel safe and easier.

Find out more about Keenan Steiner and where to see him perform HERE. Follow him HERE.

I’ve admired Dave Zackin’s work on Instagram for years, so when I opened a very small gallery at the Bushwick Comedy Collective to bring funny art to comedians, I was THRILLED when Zackin said yes. His show opens at The Dog House Gallery at The Brooklyn Comedy Collective, Friday,137 Montrose Ave., Friday, Sept.13, 6-9pm. It will be up through Oct. 21, 2024.

I was curious about Dave. His work is literally the funniest work I see on Instagram, plus he sells everything he makes, yet he works on his own, not interested in expanding his practice into a gallery/art world situation as many artists would aspire too.

I learn a lot from Dave in this session. A lot about how he came to do what he does, which involves a completely original practice of repurposing other people’s rejected pottery in the pottery studio. Dave’s life has balance, a job he loves, his art-making that he loves and most of all his wife and 7-year-old son. Dave turns out to be a great example of simply how to live.

We also discuss this wonderful film that Dave made in 2002 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design, titled Tunanoodle, so I’m including it HERE.

See Dave’s work on Instagram HERE. Dave’s website is HERE.

Here's some quotes I found from Dave that helps explain his work/process.

"I grew up in Newton, next to Boston, but have been in Brooklyn for the past 18 years. I have always collected junk, and as a kid, I drew on my old adam/colecovision computer with a permanent marker. I drew on the old black and white tv we had in the attic. Drawing on top of things made them mine, and made them more than just junk. I did some drawings of Fred Flinstone as a kid and then added a mustache and told people they were drawings of my dad. I like modifying things to change their meanings."

"I create functional artwork made from discarded pots at a community ceramic studio in Brooklyn, NY. The challenge is to make something new out of half-finished pottery. 

I was never great at drawing from life, but I know how to put eyes and noses together to make some funny faces. The first ceramic studio I worked at had a big pile of unwanted pottery in the back yard that they let people glaze for free to test out different glaze combinations. I quickly became obsessed with drawing faces and writing notes on the discarded dishes. I loved that quick throw-away jokes could be applied to a material that, if not dropped on the floor, could last for thousands of years. "

Dave Zackin Bio

Dave Zackin is a designer and a fine artist working in New York City. Zackin earned a bachelor’s degree in animation at the Rhode Island School of Design, a Master of Public Health at the Hunter/CUNY School of Public Health, and a Master in Urban Studies at Queens College. His short animated film, Tunanooda, was screened in more than eighty film festivals, including New Directors, New Films at Lincoln Center, and the Kodak New Filmmakers' Showcase at Cannes, and won top prizes at the Student Emmys and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Zackin's work has been featured in Chronicle Books' The Where, They Why, and The How, and in Time Out New York Magazine. He is the designer of the now ubiquitous City of New York Public Space Recycling Bins, recycling how-to stickers and hundreds of posters, public health info-sheets, and other things for the City of New York.

Instagram: @benlouisradio/

#BenLouis #Siriusxm

Listen to Ben's personal and professional journey as recorded with Dr. Lisa annually since 2018:

Ben Louis: First session DLG1204 - 2018 Fellow RFB "Ben Talks" host, Ben Louis talks recent gf breakup.

Ben Lous: 2nd Session, DLG1840 2019 Ben Louis, host of RFB's BEN TALKS, comes in for a follow-up session!

Ben Louis: Third Session - DLG220 2020 Fellow RFB host, Benjamin Louis of BEN TALKS, talks candidly about his personal growth.

Ben Louis: Fourth Session DLG260 2021 Ben Louis, former RFB host is on the cusp of living his dream!

Ben Louis: Fifth Session DLG286 2022 Former RFB host (now at Sirius), Ben Louis, comes in for an annual check in with Dr. Lisa

Ben Louis: Sixth Session DLG319 2023 Former RFB Host now SiriusXM Host, Ben Louis. Ben's life in a creative career is inspiring.

If you go back to the first episode in 2018, the very beginning of Ben's radio career, you can hear Ben has just fallen in love with radio and it's disrupting his life—his girlfriend had just dumped him—if only Ben could have looked into the future at that moment—

More about Ben @benlouisradio/

Listen to Ben's personal and professional journey as recorded with Dr. Lisa annually since 2018:

Ben Louis: First session DLG1204 - 2018 Fellow RFB "Ben Talks" host, Ben Louis talks recent gf breakup.

Ben Lous: 2nd Session, DLG1840 2019 Ben Louis, host of RFB's BEN TALKS, comes in for a follow-up session!

Ben Louis: Third Session - DLG220 2020 Fellow RFB host, Benjamin Louis of BEN TALKS, talks candidly about his personal growth.

Ben Louis: Fourth Session DLG260 2021 Ben Louis, former RFB host is on the cusp of living his dream!

Ben Louis: Fifth Session DLG286 2022 Former RFB host (now at Sirius), Ben Louis, comes in for an annual check in with Dr. Lisa

More about Marilena HERE.

I learned so much from this session with Shonali. She creates purely from the need to create and grow. I kicked the emotional tires and she honestly just seems like a naturally happy, yet driven creative person, self-motivated—with a key ingredient—HARD WORK! Oh and a great family, which she appreciates.

Further Bio: She is a member of the popular comedy collective Variety Shac, with Chelsea Peretti, Heather Lawless and Andrea Rosen. Shonali was the host of the Shac’s popular Upright Citizen’s Brigade live show. She has also created television pilots for the Adult Swim and IFC networks. She wrote and directed the short film, Sardines Out Of A Can which was screened in 6 cities across the globe including Madrid, Spain; Bangalore, India and won best romantic comedy short at the Bare Bones International Film Fest 2014. She has her own independent music and comedy record label called Little Lamb Recordings.  She was one of the leaders of Ultrababyfat who was featured in David Cross’ tour DVD Let America Laugh. Shonali has released eight albums including her solo full length release 100 Oaks Revival and those with her rock n’ roll outfits,Tigers and Monkeys and Ultrababyfat. Tigers and Monkeys' newest album Saturday Destroyer was released in September 2018. Shonali can be seen in the feature length romantic comedy, Isn’t It Romantic which was released in February 2019. 

There's so much more about Shonali—check out her website and Instagram

More about Jake Flores—he has an interesting background:

Flores was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Houston.[3] His father, a chemist, is Mexican-American; his mother, who is white, is originally from the Midwest.[3][4][5] He is descended from Juan José Arredondo, a Mexican anarchist who worked with Ricardo Flores Magón during the Mexican Revolution.[3][6]

Stand-up comedy

Flores began performing comedy in Austin, Texas, when he was 19, after dropping out of the University of Texas at Austin.[1][7][8][9][10] In 2007, he performed in the finals of NBC's Stand Up For Diversity contest.[11] He moved to Brooklyn, New York, at age 27 to further his comedy career.[8][12][13]

Flores is politically leftist and anticapitalist.[5][6][14] His outspokenness has led to controversy. He received national attention when a series of Twitter jokes about Cinco de Mayo, cultural appropriation, and killing ICE agents led to an investigation by Homeland Security, including a visit by several agents to his apartment.[9][15] The incident was written about in publications including Reason and The New York Post,[16] and Flores was interviewed about it on several podcasts including Chapo Trap House.[4][5][11][14] He also discusses the incident on his album Bad Omen.[17]

His comedy takes inspiration from the anarchic energy of punk music; Flores has also called himself a "big fan" of Lenny Bruce, explaining to one interviewer that "like him, I also had a run in with the state over comedy, and am a leftist."[18] Jake Kroeger of website The Comedy Bureau called Flores "hysterical and pointedly different from everyone else".[19] The Bushwick Daily called his comedy "low-key, but subversive".[9]

He has performed across the U.S.,[1] and at festivals including Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest,[20] SXSW,[21] The Fest in Gainesville, Florida,[21] Moontower Comedy Festival,[8] New Orleans' Hell Yes Fest,[22] the touring road show of Comedy Central's Roast Battle,[8][23] and at events for the anti-capitalist streaming service Means TV.[24][25]

He has written for The New York Observer,[26] Cracked,[27] and the New York Times,[28] and has contributed to Vice magazine.[29]

More about Margot here:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/85206/margot-berwin

https://www.margotreadstarot.com/

Get your cards read by Margot in person or electronic method of your choice: Skype, phone, Facetime, text, up to you! Set up an appointment: margot.berwin@gmail.com

Don't let my haranging Willy Hartland, the call in guest in the first few minutes, get in your way. This exchange turns out to be completely relevant to the reading! The day after this aired I actually had a marketing meeting with him and he completely changed the direction of his pitch and poster.

Help support a great animated film by a former Daria + Beavis and Butthead artist. on his Kickstarter. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/artichoke/the-artichoke

 His childhood experiences motivated him to heal and help others has given him a more than full life as an artist: an actor, a writer, director, teacher, coach. Galinsky's suburban life drew him to find out directly how struggling people lived. Galinsky has been running youth writing workshops in Riker's Island for the past 7 years, so he helps us imagine what life is like in Riker's; the teens who are held there what they dream of, how they got there, what they hope to accomplish upon release. After this session, I felt that if there were more Galinsky's and if there was a pipeline for people to become Galinskys, the world would be a better place. When asked about this, Robert says, we're a consumer society and we don't have the will to deal with these issues. I agree, but I will think about incarcerated teens differently because of our talk.

https://linktr.ee/galinskynow

Sign up! Go see his play when you it's running ! https://thebenchplay.com/home

Based on true stories and real people, The Bench, set in urban decay and rubble, explores the emotional heartbreak of five homeless characters and the catastrophic hysteria surrounding AIDS in the late 1980’s. It’s solo theater, where one actor plays five characters, written in dialogue form.

“A slice of life carved from the lower depths. Galinsky brings a wrenching realism to his material." LA Times-- 

“If you enjoy the work of Anna Deavere Smith or 'Humans of New York" you're in for a treat. Galinsky transforms himself into a living ghost. His vital solo piece, is the most important kind of urban voyeurism. It puts a smile on your lips and moisture in your eyes.” Theater Is Easy

“Director Jay O. Sanders has built a career on roles that are inseparable from the worlds that spawned them; that same sensibility is certain to be in evidence in the play The Bench.” DEADLINE Hollywood

“Galinsky is a theatre operative, impresario, and a bundle of energy and curly black hair.” Wall Street Journal

BIO: Galinsky is a contributing writer to The Fresh Toast, is Head Speaker Coach for TEDxTeen, TEDxFultonStreet, and teaches writing and performance at Rikers Island Jail, through the non-profit Literacy for Incarcerated Teens and GalinskyCoaching.com. His work as an artist activist has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, and on The VIEW, NPR, ABC Nightline News and many media outlets.

LISTEN: https://orcd.co/beec

FOLLOW: https://www.instagram.com/blak.emoji/

WEBSITE: https://www.blakemoji.com/

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQRzhUzTsBs

BIO: BLAK EMOJI

Blak Emoji is the brainchild of NYC producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Kelsey Warren. Blending pop inspirations with an emphasis on electronic music, synth sounds and intricate writing, Kelsey's sonic dream is brought to life.

The debut Blak Emoji EP, "INTRO" (2017) was the first of several releases with two albums, a sophomore EP and the latest album "ECLECTRO." Warren has received a variety of accolades from notable publications including Rolling Stone, Afro-Punk, Line Best Of Fit, BUST, Clash Magazine, Vampire Freaks and Tape Op. Blak Emoji songs "Velvet Ropes & Dive Bars" and "Poison To Medicine" made their way to ABC's Quantico while "Sapiosexual" appeared in several indie films.

Warren was immersed in soul/R&B and pop music growing up in South Jersey. But after learning piano concertos, jazz guitar standards, drums and other instruments, Warren became addicted to hip-hop, punk, minimalist classical. He supplemented his ever-expanding musical taste with a dense love of electronic music and synth inspiration from Kraftwerk to Prince to NIN.

Quarantine didn't prove to slow down Warren who spent the duration of the pandemic producing numerous artists and directing music videos. He dropped an avant-electronic instrumental Blak Emoji album called "Antidote". In 2022, Blak Emoji was signed to ECR Music Group. The first single release after joining the ECR label is "MAINSTAY," which is one of his most successful to date. This February, ECR will release a deluxe edition of "ECLECTRO" with bonus tracks.

We dig into his influences, life history and I quiz him about the thinking behind some of his work. Especially the romantic stuff, ladies! Enjoy!

More about Babak Ganjei and his work HERE. His work is VERY AFFORDABLE—SHOP HERE.

Follow Babak on instagram HERE.

More about Babak for anything about him I may have missed.

Sadia clearly makes her own choices. Like deciding when she was 19 that she wanted to wear her hijab full time.She’s a comedian who recently published a book: Love Bomb: Sadia takes the time to school me (us) in the realities of being a sex-positive hijab wearer. She’s doing a great job of eradicating stereotypes as we demonstrate by successfully eradicating some of mine.

More about Sadia:

Sadia co-created and hosted the award-winning podcast, 'No Country For Young Women', which tackles love, life, and work from a multicultural perspective.

A writer with an undeniable voice, Sadia's debut book ‘Sex Bomb’ navigates the nuances of British Asian life with candor and wit.

Check out her book SEX BOMB HERE Check out her website HERE

ABOUT HER BOOK SEX BOMB: Sadia is a comedian who loves sex. She is also a hijab-wearing Muslim woman. The two are in a lifelong relationship, but it's complicated.

Sadia Azmat has many different sides to her, she is the good Muslim sister and the loud and proud comedian, she is the quiet and loving friend and the horny and outspoken one. So why does everyone put her in a box and expect her to choose between one or the other?

In a life of ups and downs, swings and roundabouts, Sadia has learnt the hard way that she can embrace her sexuality and be a proud British-Indian Muslim. From discovering her sexual identity after seeing a copy of Asian Babes on the shelf in the corner shop to rejecting an arranged marriage and feeling distanced from her culture; from her experience dating white and Asian men to her tumultuous relationship with her headscarf, Sadia is unafraid to spill the honest truth.

Sadia finds the funny in every experience she has and this book explodes with personality, warmth and joy. This book is for anyone who has ever felt different or alone; allow this book to fill you up and propel you forward, because we all deserve to feel like a Sex Bomb.

This question from an interview by Sara Murkett in the Huffington Post describes what people often wonder when they see the body of Campbell’s work:

"It seems to me that to make the work that you do, you would need to have a good sense of industrial design, architectural planning, design and math. Is this something that came naturally to you or something that had to develop because that was the kind of work that you wanted to make?" 

We went deeper into what Beth’s influences, (church, youngest of 7, etc...) and experiences, (living in a small town, childhood hours roaming outside, etc..), led her to conceptualize and realize her ideas. Beth is an original human with a deep connection to her work and a rarely seen commitment to realizing her vision in her work to a level of perfection, no matter what obstacle she needs to wrestle to get there.

Follow Beth HERE: @bethcampbell7

BIO (Beth's body of work is vast , diverse and philosophical. I invite you to do your own research!)

BETH CAMPBELL, BORN IN ILLINOIS IN 1971, RECEIVED HER BFA FROM TRUMAN STATE

UNIVERSITY, KIRKSVILLE, MO (1993), AND HER MFA FROM OHIO UNIVERSITY, ATHENS, OH (1997), AFTER WHICH SHE ATTENDED THE SKOWHEGAN SCHOOL OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE, MADISON, ME (1997). SHE CURRENTLY LIVES AND WORKS IN BROOKLYN, NY.

CAMPBELL HAS HELD OVER A DOZEN SOLO EXHIBITIONS AT GALLERIES AND INSTITUTIONS INCLUDING KATE WERBLE GALLERY, NEW YORK, NY (2019, 2017, 2012); THE ALDRICH CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM, RIDGEFIELD, CT (2017); ANNE MOSSERI-MARLIO GALERIE, BASEL, CH (2014); COUNTRY CLUB, CHICAGO, IL (2012); JUNE LEE CONTEMPORARY ART, SEOUL, KOREA (2011); SCULPTURE CENTER, CLEVELAND, OH (2010); MANIFESTA 7 (2008); NICOLE KLAGSBRUN GALLERY, NEW YORK, NY (2008, 2005, 2004); THE PUBLIC ART FUND (2007); AND WHITE COLUMNS, NEW YORK, NY (2000). IN 2007, SHE PRESENTED A SOLO PROJECT, FOLLOWING ROOM, AT THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK, NY.

HER WORK HAS BEEN SHOWN IN NEW YORK AT VENUES INCLUDING MOMA PS1, THE NEW

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY, ARTISTS SPACE, AND THE BLOOMBERG FINANCIAL OFFICES IN CONJUNCTION WITH SCULPTURE CENTER. CAMPBELL HAS ALSO BEEN FEATURED IN EXHIBITIONS AT THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART (PITTSBURGH, PA); THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM (PITTSBURGH, PA); CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER (CINCINNATI, OH); OK CENTER (LINZ, AT); HALES GALLERY (LONDON, UK); AND EX3 CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, (FLORENCE, IT).

HER WORK HAS BEEN REVIEWED IN ARTFORUM, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NEW YORKER, ART LIES: A CONTEMPORARY ART QUARTERLY, THE NEW CRITERION, ART IN AMERICA, TIMEOUT NEW YORK, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, ARTNEWS, THE BROOKLYN RAIL, BOMB, THE VILLAGE VOICE, AND THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

CAMPBELL RECEIVED A GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP IN 2011, A RESIDENCY AT KOHLER ARTS

CENTER IN 2010, AND A LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY FELLOWSHIP IN 2009. OTHER GRANTS AND

FELLOWSHIPS INCLUDE THE JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER ARTS CENTER, ARTS/INDUSTRY RESIDENCY

(2010), THE POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION GRANT (2006), AND THE REMA HORT MANN

FOUNDATION ART GRANT (2000).

HER WORK IS INCLUDED IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, NY; THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK, NY; ALTOIDS CURIOUSLY STRONG COLLECTION, THE NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, NEW YORK, NY; THE NEW SCHOOL, NEW YORK, NY; BLOOMBERG RADIO AND NEWS, NEW YORK, NY; AND LANDMARKS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, AUSTIN, TX.

It was illuminating for me to hear Suzanne talk about her values and hard work that has led her to have the life she has. She is passionate about setting an example for women to make empowered choices for themselves. Ok, she was given a great dad and a great work ethic… and she is smart and too, but she is not full of shit, and she makes that clear. Suzanne has not cut any rungs out on her ladder up. This woman has the healthiest boundaries of any of my guests ever (and myself too, of course.)

Also, Dr. Lisa thinks because she was a world class skater, that was helpful too. Girls learn a lot of how to function in society from sports. And discipline and responsibility—those qualities are priceless. But honestly, out of all of this, and Suzanne’s had some big obstacles too, it seems obvious is the thing that brings her true joy, is being a mom to 11-year-old actress, Sydney Bea. She’s 11 and she’s already working!

Suzanne is a founding member of an awesome new immersive museum — The Museum of Broadway! Visit and learn more about it HERE. And if you’d like to follow the adventures of a young actress on Instagram, this is the account Suzanne manages for her daughter, Sydney Bea: https://www.instagram.com/sydneybeasbway/

and Patrick Bayley about their brand new collective Yea Man Spa Global which did a project that solicited sex stories in public,

set up a warren of office cubicles and then encouraged fair goers to answer the phones and Surprise!

It was such a blast talking to these guys about their (only a month old!) art collective and how they hit the ground running from Day 1 and how they see their future. Bright! I have

never heard of a collective that seems so all-in tight. Maybe that’s because they all met while working service jobs at an illegal café together.

I’m going to let this excerpt from NEW YORK POST explain why Yea Man Spa Global ahit was right out of the gate at the recent SPRING/BREAK Art Fair…

“Sex stories the focus of new Midtown exhibit that says ‘f—k you’ to

art world…

"F--k Stories" exhibit at the Spring/Break Art Show features raunchy stories told

through red telephones.

“F—k Stories” is the inaugural work from Yea Man Spa Global, a newly formed artist

collective in NYC. They transformed a dingy office space into a wacky call center.

Raunchy sex-in-NYC tales like these are at the center of the “F—k Stories” exhibit at the

Spring/Break Art Show in Midtown now showing through Sept. 11.

The 60 anonymous storytellers responded to ads posted throughout the city that said,

“Call us to spill it all … your most raucous, your most bizarre … the dirty, and the strange.”

The responses were wild. …” FULL ARTICLE WITH PHOTOS HERE

See and SHOP Yea Man Spa Global’s work HERE It’s very affordable!

learn more about Schrager, her wide-ranging work and career HERE:

https://leahschrager.com/

Instagram @leahschrager @onaartist

Leah Schrager and I were aware of each other because we both do therapy as an art endeavor. Leah does work as Sarah White, the Naked Therapist. But her work is much more multifaceted than just one character and one medium. We had a fascinating discussion where we hopefully helped clarify what her controversial work is about since it rides the line between pornography and art and is often (I believe) misunderstood.

I start this session by blurting out to my guest, ArtNet's National Art Critic, Ben Davis, that I have an art critic crush on him because I do! And I barely know him. Ben is one of the most insightful, honest, direct and hilarious art writers I have ever read. He really stands out to me in his art writing in that he is able to place art in a cultural, economic and social context in a very articulate, comprehendible way, while somehow uniquely incorporating a great sense of humor which makes his work a pleasure to read. Let's give ArtNet a BIG SHOUTOUT too for having Ben in his role there!

I dig into whether Ben sees himself they way I see him, as a bit of a rebel in the art world, and turns out Ben had an unusual childhood which I think, gives him a certain objectivity on culture. Ben grew up on a sailboat! This somehow full-on blows my my mind and I have a lot of gee wiz type questions to get to the root of Ben’s perspective on the world from his unusual traveling environment growing up.

Ben has just published a new book which we touch on, but mostly I implore him to describe how other art people process his writing. And then I find out about how he grew up which is awesome and not like anyone I've met. I think his upbringing has allowed him to be more objective than most but still with less cynicism than myself and many other folks—you know who you are!

BEN'S WEBSITE: http://www.benadavis.com/

BEN'S NEW BOOK: Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1662-art-in-the-after-culture

BEN"S HIGHLY ACCLAIMED PREVIOUS BOOK: 9.5 Theses on Art and Class https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/503-9-5-theses-on-art-and-class

ARTICLES THAT BEN WROTE THAT WE REFER TO IN THIS EPISODE:

http://www.benadavis.com/archives/2021/3/31/i-looked-through-all-5000-images-in-beeples-69-million-magnum-opus-what-i-found-isnt-so-pretty

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/madonna-beeple-2112374

https://news.artnet.com/opinion/inside-nft-rush-axie-infinity-dreamverse-alesso-2042849

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kaws-what-party-brooklyn-museum-1948026

https://news.artnet.com/opinion/dutch-museum-nail-salon-emily-in-paris-art-2063605

https://news.artnet.com/opinion/artreview-power-100-culturetrack-superblue-merch-2045335

LISA LEVY SCOPE ART FAIR 2006: "My Kid Could Have Done That.": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPzvshzOgp8

I dug in heartily and got to know Edward a bit through this session. He’s an introvert with an extrovert’s career. He’s from a long line of self-starters. He’s had mentors like Steve Lewishttps://stevelewisdesign.com/clubs We delve into how he’s gotten to where he is and took a look at where he’s heading. His club is great. If you like comedy-check it out.

Holly is a true self-made woman with a highly energetic, generous spirit and is the least judgmental of all beings, including humans that I know. She shares amazing and funny stories of the men and her associates that she worked with as a Dominatrix as well as growing up in rural Pennsylvania, and coming to NYC with some musician friends that were traveling there.

Waggytail Rescue is the real deal. A great community of volunteers and fosterers. If you've ever thought about fostering a dog, you can't go wrong working with Waggytail Rescue. They look out for their fosters every step of the way. They also have great comedy benefits (Janeane Garafalo has headlined many of them), music bingo benefits and more. If you're looking to foster, adopt or just be a volunteer with an awesome group of people—definitely check it out!!!

Website: https://www.waggytailrescue.org/

Donate: https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/2328924

Contact: supermistress@gmail.com

Don Pocella Bio: Born and raised in Modesto, California, Don Porcella’s artwork has been exhibited at galleries and museums around the world including the United States, China, Greece, Germany, France, Denmark, Colombia and Mexico. Porcella’s art has been published in the New York Times, NY Arts, Fiber Arts Magazine, Chelsea Now, San Francisco Magazine and the Village Voice. He has a BA in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego, a BFA from California College of Arts and Crafts and an MFA from Hunter College in New York. Porcella’s work is included in public and private collections across the United States and Europe. Porcella has received grants from the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island, the Brooklyn Arts Council, an EAF Fellowship from Socrates Sculpture Park, the 2012 West Collects Prize, an artist residency at the Museum of Arts and Design, and a 2014 Swatch Art Residency in Shanghai. In 2015 Porcella collaborated with an artist from Iran and the work was exhibited at the Venice Biennial. In 2016, Porcella created 4 installations for the Hermes Maison in Shanghai, China that was published in over 100 television, online and print media in the US and China. In 2018, Porcella created 7 installations for the Hermes boutique in Manhattan, NY which was featured in Architectural Digest, NY Magazine and Yahoo.

Christian Williams Bio: (Kiffy the pit) is an artist from Buffalo, NY working primarily in digital art, pen and ink, and currently adding painting to his arsenal. His style is heavily inspired by cartoons with his own little splash of chaos. His art captures the blissful & free nature of childish creativity a lawless smash up of the first thing that comes to his mind. 

Wild Geese Gallery: Wild Geese Gallery is a multi-media collaborative space created by artist Pearce Green during the pandemic with the backing of Wild Geese Productions, which became a gathering place for young artists making new work. The gallery invites renowned artists to collaborate, exchange ideas, share experiences and, with the enthusiasm of our supportive community, help grow the next generation of artists. 473 Amsterdam Ave. (Between 82+83 St.).

More about Don's work HERE. Follow Don on Instagram HERE.

Follow Kiffy on Instagram HERE.

Nowadays she is focused on her book and workshop, How to Make Mistakes on Purpose



Dr. Lisa is upfront about her counter-transference. She identities with Laurie as far as age and career in commercial art, except Laurie soared where Dr. Lisa feels she flailed partly because of her self-esteem. Well, also, Laurie IS exceptionally talented. Laurie is unusual as a creative person in that she is so grounded and forward moving with her abilities. Laurie gives us insight as to how she got that way — her ability to thrive through her childhood with strong survival skills.

More about Laurie HERE: www.rosenworld.com

Follow Laurie HERE: https://www.instagram.com/rosenworld

Get Laurie's Book: How to Make Mistakes on Purpose HERE: https://found.ee/howtomakemistakesonpurpose

LAURIE ROSENWALD BIO

Laurie Rosenwald is an author, designer, painter, and educator whose impressive body of work encapsulates her vivacious, outspoken, and colorful personality. Her most recent book, How to Make Mistakes on Purpose, which was the subject of her TEDx Talk and is accompanied by a touring workshop of the same name, gives readers and audiences insight into the beautiful world of creating through intentional acts of randomness - a way of working that helps individuals get unstuck and discover new skill sets. The workshop has been conducted for major businesses and brands like Google, Starbucks, Scholastic, Buzzfeed, and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few. 

Fast, loose, and fun ultimately sums up Laurie’s one-of-a-kind design style. Additional written works include: All The Wrong People Have Self-Esteem, And to Name But Just a Few: Red Yellow Green and Blue, and New York Notebook, as well as several essays for Communication Arts and other notable publications.

Over her career, Laurie’s work has included animation, product design, and both online and print media for companies like The Atlantic, Bloomingdale's, the city of Paris, Coca-Cola, Fiorucci, Ikea, JWT, Knopf, Neiman Marcus, Nickelodeon, Ogilvy, Random House, Shiseido, Sony, Sundance Channel, Virgin, The Wall Street Journal, Warner Brothers, The Whitney Museum.

Her typeface, Loupot, designed in collaboration with Cyrus Highsmith, is published by Occupant Fonts. Her illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and Vanity Fair, among many other publications. 

Outside of her career as a designer, Laurie has taught both Graphic Design and Illustration at The School of Visual Arts and Parsons School of Design, as well as Pratt Institute and New York University. She has been awarded by the Type Directors Club, Art Directors Club, American Illustration, Print Magazine, Communication Arts, and AIGA, and was nominated for the medal of AIGA and an Emmy Award.

Since that time Michaels career as a comedian has really accelerated and he stopped by the Radio Free Brooklyn Studios while he's in NYC performing. See him while he's in NYC HERE. Recently Michael was hired by the Jordon Harbinger podcast to research and co-host his featured Sunday show-Skeptical Sundays. The most recent episode (hasn’t even aired yet) that he’s researched is about the use of pornography. Did you know that there’s a rising (pardon the pun) problem with young men who can no longer get erections with actual women? And the younger they start the harder it is to get their brains rewired so they can have sex without porn.

We learn that Regilio has had a problem seeing out of one eye since birth and had to wear an eyepatch until around the age of 7. He grew up in a strict Catholic household where he was the king of outsiders in school. You'll have to listen, but there's so many crazy hijinks that happened because his school decided he was gay (he's not-though he is a sincere, hearty ally) and told his parents. He got beat up and bullied a lot. All this to say he is now an accomplished comedian and musician who is very happily married. https://www.michaelregiliocomedy.com/

I had 3 topics to discuss with Myq-we got to touch on all of them. Some of these topics followed up from a 2020 Dr. Lisa episode, DLG235 Comedian Myq Kaplan has an Myq-like, productive journey to a good quarantined relationship. And there's another episode with Myq from 2016, titled: 1601_DLG_Comedian Myq Kaplan talks about his previous therapy w/ Dr. Lisa

How do you manage to have such a healthy, mature relationship with your girlfriend Rini? Does your use of psychedelics help you with understanding yourself and does it help with this?

Your relationship with language seems like the medium you use for your art (comedy). How did your specific relationship with language come into being?

Since the last time we spoke on air was during the pandemic—curious to know what effect the pandemic had for you, especially as a touring comic.

More about Myq and his upcoming show IMPERFECT, June 1, Union Hall, BK Tickets HERE

Myq Kaplan has been a comedian for 20 years, a human for 44, and a philosophy guy for WHAT EVEN IS TIME?! In "ImPerfect," Kaplan offers advice to his past self on subjects ranging from traditional marriage to polyamory, quantum mechanics to psychedelics, Moby Dick to Nintendo, reflecting on potential improvements as a man, a partner, and matter/energy comprising an infinitesimal portion of the universe. Infinitesimal, but acclaimed: in their review of his 2018 Edinburgh debut, Chortle said Kaplan "...should be making any comedy connoisseur’s ‘to see’ list." And that's the PAST! See how much more perfect "ImPerfect" is NOW.

With special guests Nadia Pinder and Liz Glazer

Myq Kaplan has appeared on the Tonight Show, Conan, Letterman, James Corden, Seth Meyers, Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing, and America’s Got Talent. He has a one-hour standup special on Amazon, “Small, Dork, and Handsome,” and two podcasts, The Faucet and Broccoli and Ice Cream. His debut album, “Vegan Mind Meld,” was one of iTunes’ top 10 comedy albums of the year, and his newest album, “A.K.A.,” debuted at #1 and was called “invigoratingly funny” by the NY Times! Thanks for reading this!

7:00pm Doors / 7:30pm Show

$12 advance / $15 at the door

Ages 21+

*This event will be mixed seated/standing. Arrive early for best seat selection.

It wasn't a straight line for Lindsay, there was a career in journalism, a book: BOW DOWN Lessons from Dominatrixes on how to get everything you want. Her book talks about a world where the usual power dynamic is turned on its head. Where women not only stop apologizing, but seize—and enjoy—control. Lindsay really went behind the scenes and got to know the culture—so interesting to hear her take on it.

She also talked about a turning point in her life where she became a comedian. We talk in detail about this too. Her husband has been by her side for most of this, so it really rounds out our session to hear about how her life integrated whatever she threw at it to get to the place she's happy to be in today.

There's too many chapters in Lindsay's life for me to write here—just listen to the fucking episode! — but we covered mostly all of them including two successful podcasts for financially challenged: SPENT and TEACH ME HOW TO MONEY

Anyway, I looked up SMART PLUS FUNNY in the dictionary and I found this photo posted here. It's by the outlandishly talented photographer Mindy Tucker.

I loved spending time with David on air and you will too. He's a very sharp, disciplined creative person, from a family of six kids, he was born in a small town in Pennsylvania. He had a salesman father—his family moved around A LOT. And church every Sunday—which can be conflicting for a young person who knows he's gay, As a professional comedian, David has lived in San Francisco to New York to London and now he's in town!. Because of his large family upbringing, David has really developed an independence and resilience that has allowed him to thrive in the crazy entertainment industry.

Award winning cabaret comedian, David Mills returns to Pangea with his new song and rant routine, glamour + despair with Jody Shelton on piano.

Two nights- Saturday April 22 + April 29

TICKETS HERE

A hysterically jaded look at life on the edge of the apocalypse, the show combines Mills’ biting wit with his signature takes on classic jazz and pop songs. Mills turns his acidic humour on today’s harrowing headlines, while skewering the unrelenting horrors of contemporary life and then, throws in a song.

If you can’t sing as night falls, when can you?

It’s a hilarious romp through the boneyard of contemporary culture. Art, politics, social media, casual sex and violence, and more. From his perspective as an American based in London, David Mills sees the absurdity of all of it and picks it apart with razor sharp gags and incisive satire.

Mills’ previous show BITTER ENDINGS, seen at Pangea in 2019 and 2020, received raves with Stephen Mosher of Broadway World declaring it ‘one of the most flawlessly constructed nights of comedy one is likely to see’ and ‘blisteringly smart, achingly funny, uncompromisingly bold, staunchly unapologetic, blissfully original and completely, totally, absolutely enjoyable’.

If that doesn’t convince you… you can stay home and watch the Masked Singer.

You deserve it.

All Sales are Final.

There is a $20 minimum per person (food or beverage).

Online tickets are $20. Tickets at the door are $25 (Cash Only).

The house opens at 9:00pm for food and beverage service. Pangea is known for its delicious food. Please join us for dinner.

Seating is first come first served. Please arrive early.

More about David Mills here: https://www.itsdavidmills.com/

Instagram: davidmillsdept/

To understand Pablo and his work, you really need to listen to this episode of how he has evolved into the artist he's become. Pablo was born in 1971 in Mexico City to a family of classical musicians. His brother, 9 years older, was a poet and a philosopher. Pablo describes how his day to day, his brother was teaching him, opening his mind and having him read all this heavy philosophy shit at a young age. So while you were playing Nintendo, he was reading Nietzsche.

All of this powerful and unusual education helped create a precocious young man. When Pablo was still in his twenties, he was awarded a Creative Capital Grant to realize his project: School of Panamerican Unrest. The core of the project consisted of a traveling schoolhouse which made 30 stops between the U.S. state of Alaska and Chile's Antártica Chilena province between May and September 2006, following the entire length of the Pan-American Highway.

Pablo's unlimited, curiosity, drive and generous desire to connect with so many disparate communities makes for an extremely compelling Dr. Lisa session like nothing I've ever heard. You can enjoy Pablo's latest project, Beautiful Eccentrics HERE.

Instagram: helguerapablo

Website: http://pablohelguera.net/

BIO:

Pablo Helguera (Mexico City, 1971) is a New York based artist working with installation, sculpture, photography, drawing, socially engaged art and performance. Helguera’s work focuses in a variety of topics ranging from history, pedagogy, sociolinguistics, ethnography, memory and the absurd, in formats that are widely varied including the lecture, museum display strategies, musical performances and written fiction.

His work as an educator has usually intersected his interest as an artist. This intersection is best exemplified in his project, “The School of Panamerican Unrest”, a nomadic think-tank that physically crossed the continent by car from Anchorage, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, making 40 stops in between. Covering almost 20,000 miles, it is considered one of the most extensive public art projects on record as well as a pioneering work for the new generation of artworks regarded under the area of socially engaged art.

Pablo Helguera performed individually at the Museum of Modern Art /Gramercy Theater, in 2003, where he showed his work “Parallel Lives”. His musical composition, “Endingness” has been performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Helguera has exhibited or performed at venues internationally too many to name…His work has been reviewed in …. Art in America, Artforum, The New York Times, ArtNews, amongst others. In 2008 he was awarded too many to name

Helguera has worked since 1991 in a variety of contemporary art museums, most recently as head of public programs at the Education department of the Guggenheim Museum in New York (1998-2005). From 2007 to 2020, he was Director of Adult and Academic programs at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He has organized close to 1000 public events in conjunction with nearly 100 exhibitions. In 2010 he was appointed pedagogical curator of the 8th Mercosul Biennial in Porto Alegre, Brazil, which took place in September, 2011. He is currently Assistant Professor of Arts and Entrepreneurship at the College of Performing Arts at the New School in New York.

He is represented by Kent Fine Art in New York and Enrique Guerrero Gallery in Mexico City.

He is the author of many books, including Education for Socially Engaged Art (2011) and The Parable Conference (2014).

He writes a weekly column titled Beautiful Eccentrics.

Follow Colin on Instagram @colinmemaybe

More about Colin HERE: https://www.colinjradcliffe.com/

Philip is the chilliest version of a Type A personality that I have met. He’s warm, welcoming, exuding a contagious sort of joy. The most obvious question in my mind was “How does he do it all?”, but our session went far past that simple question. Philip is a multitalented, (improv, singing, dancing, writing, teaching) creative person who is running a collective with 3 linked locations and a staff of 20 people, since 2018, all while doing his own work!

My take is Philip is that he is an unusual combo of talent, drive and business smarts. You don’t often meet people like him with this much talent and drive, establishing collectives for creative people, I think because most people that have that combo of skills go for the money. Comedy is not a get rich quick pursuit.

I read this autobiographical story that Philip had written for Medium before our interview and it lent some insight on Philip. It's helps illuminate where some of that leadership and fearlessness in his nature may led him to give us The Brooklyn Comedy Collective. Here’s just the very beginning of that story:

“Can I change?

I’ve been trapped by that question, in a loop I can’t break, most of my life.

I broke the loop once — my Senior Year of Catholic high-school, when I stood up during Mass and told a crowd of my classmates — and assorted nuns, deacon, and priest — that Jesus would want me to “Tell you all right now I’m gay.”

It was the most authentic moment of my life.”

BIO: Philip Markle has performed and produced in hundreds of shows and taught students internationally, from Berlin to Bali. Philip graduated from Northwestern University and trained in improv in Chicago at The Annoyance, iO, and Second City before moving to NYC in 2013 to launch The Annoyance Theater NY, where he acted as its Director for four years. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Brooklyn Comedy Collective in Williamsburg. Performance highlights include musically improvising with Baby Wants Candy in Chicago and BLANK: The Musical Off-Broadway. As a storyteller, he has performed at The Moth and The Paper Machete - and is a writer on Medium.com with 400k+ reads. He executive produced, wrote, and acted in the digital shorts series "The Annoyance Presents" on IFC's Comedy Crib. Philip first performed his show SPARKLE HOUR to rave reviews in the 2013 NY International Fringe Festival and has regularly produced it since, including multiple runs at Joe's Pub and as part of the 2021 and 2022 NY Comedy Festival. You can listen to his album of queer comedy songs “AT THE GAY BATHHOUSE” on your favorite streaming music platform.

Follow him on socials @philipsparkle

Website: https://philipmarkle.com

Brooklyn Comedy Collective Website: https://www.brooklyncc.com/

Tickets for Philip Markel's monthly show The Sparkle Hour HERE

When I first met Lana, not long ago, she was just on the verge of transitioning from the pandemic into doing comedy full-time. In this episode we talk about how Lana is living her goal of performing comedy—on stage almost everyday!—as her job. It means driving/traveling to perform, going out every night to do her work and all that comes with it, while maintaining a close relationship with her growing son and her husband. I think the fact that her kid enjoys being funny and making videos with her helps. At this point Lana and I know each other pretty well so we have lots of laughs.

She'll be headlining in Atlantic City 3.15.23 - more info on her Instagram! Follow Lana on Instagram! @lanasiebell

July is not normal and I mean that in the best way. She is brash opinionated, kind smart and funny.

July has a lot to say and holds nothing back in this wide ranging discussion about society, motherhood and how she believes that helping others makes your life better.

Check out Julie's band, HIGH & TIGHT HERE

Amira R. Martin is one of those people you look at and think wow I could never be able to be like that. And yet Amira is also the person that will pull you up with her. She is the founder and director of MA Therapy, LLC, which is committed to the healing of Black and Brown communities. They have three current, active divisions- Therapists For Black Girls/Women, Therapists For Black Males, and The Black Speakers Institute. They also have a sister company called Therapy Essentials.  Mission Statement: "Our Mission is to significantly contribute to the healing of our community by providing culturally relevant, non racist, non sexist, bias free psychotherapy while simultaneously creating a strong collective of Black and Brown healers and aiding in their professional growth. We work to create a long standing impact and contribution to positive mental health outcomes in our community." 

Amira shares what her childhood was like growing up as one of seven children with a single mom, a mentally ill dad as well as the beauty she was able to internalize from both her mom and her dad.

This was Amira’s drive to be a therapist. She know runs a huge organization with about 60 other therapists working with her.

She and I talk frankly about racism in the mental health profession as well as the lack of available training to increase the number of black and brown therapists. Amira is actually DOING something about it by training therapists and working with communities of color.

It was also fun to discuss her new children's book, inspired by her 6 year old daughter, titled "The Prettiest Girl." It's a children's book that teaches children that beauty is something that comes from the inside that they can develop. I like the way Amira put it, “You’re only going to be smokin’ ¼ of your life, so you better have something going on inside."

More about Amira R. Martin: Amira Martin, LCSW-R is a dynamic and passionate mental health therapist, entrepreneur, and author who is dedicated to creating safe and supportive therapy spaces for Black and Brown communities. With over 20 years of experience as a clinical psychotherapist and program administrator, Amira is also a mentor and guide for Black and Brown therapists as they navigate the field and pursue professional growth and licensure. In addition to running her own successful online platforms – AmiraForHer.com, AmiraForHim.com, TheBlackSpeakersInstitute.com, and PhenomenalPrivatePracticewithAmira.com – Amira is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of Social Work and a mother. Through her dedication and commitment to her craft, Amira is constantly seeking out new ways to support and empower her community.

Amira Martin, LCSW-R

Founder of MA Therapy, LLC

AmiraForHer.com

AmiraForHim.com

Coming Soon- AmiraForThem.com

Private Practice Training Course

Private Practice FAST track course

TheBlackSpeakersInstitute.com

PhenomenalPrivatePracticewithAmira.com

My Published Work

phone 646-662-4049

Copy: David Cote is a theater critic, playwright, and opera librettist who has written for numerous publications such as 4 Columns, Observer, The A.V. Club and Time Out New York. He’s written popular companion books about the Broadway hits Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Wicked, Jersey Boys, and Spring Awakening. His operas have been produced in New York, London, Nashville, Chicago, and Cincinnati. In his past life as an actor, he worked with Richard Foreman, Richard Maxwell and Iranian exile auteur Assurbanipal Babilla. He is also one of three artists taking part in the inaugural Ecker Fellows Program at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute, which aims to explore connections between psychoanalysis and art — therefore he is a perfect guest/patient and our session does not disappoint.

David is from a tiny town in New Hampshire—Gilmanton Iron Works, which has a population of 3,945 (it was about 2,200 when he grew up). Grace Metalious’ scandalous bestselling novel and TV show Peyton Place was inspired by the town. Taken from his bio, he self-describes as “a weird little adopted kid in rural New Hampshire devouring my Globe Illustrated Shakespeare.”

David and I take a deep dive into his growing up as an adopted child and what that meant to him personally, and how it affected his life up until now, after he has faced a tragedy of losing his wife, Katy, to cancer at the way-too-young age of 48. They were together for nine years. David talks about how he met his wife, their first date, her career in audiobooks, and about grief, in a way that you can sense how it affects him. Through this, you can see how David's passion and connection to his writing practice illuminate the power in the way creative work can help us live.

Das Fürlines from New York City, USA were an influential, all-female "punk-polka" band in the mid-1980s, renowned for their rousing performances.

Contents

• 1History
• 2Members
• 3Albums
• 4References
• 5Further reading
• 6External links

History[edit]

Das Fürlines appeared on the US TV shows Entertainment Tonight and Andy Warhol's 15 Minutes in 1985, and released their debut album Das Fürlines Go Hog Wild on their own label, Palooka Records. Their next album, Lost in the Translation (1986), was a lot more contextual than Go Hog Wild. In 1988, they released a concept album, The Angry Years, which was inspired by the self-help book Women Who Love Too Much. They split up acrimoniously in 1988 after a spate of betrayal and infighting during a tour. They released the four-CD compilation Bratwurst, Bierhalls, and Bustiers: The Box Set, which contained various outtakes, B-sides, and rarities. They reformed in 1996 to perform a few benefit concerts to raise money for lead singer Wendy Wild's medical bills. She died of cancer in 1996.

Members[edit]

·      Wendy Wild – vocals, banjo, guitar (b. Wendy Andreiev, August 31, 1956, USA, d. October 26, 1996, New York)

·      Holly Hemlock – guitar, vocals

·      Deb O'Nair – keyboards, vocals, accordion

·      Liz Luv – bass guitar

·      Rachel Schnitzel – drums,

I’ll be honest. Deb O’Nair was a famous musician living the life in NYC headlining all the clubs, Mudd Club, while I was going to an office everyday.

It was an honor when Deb reached out to me to express interest in discussing the trauma she’s dealing with around having been abandoned at birth until she was adopted at 5 months old by her parents. Deb contacted her birth mother about 20 years ago and learned more about her early life after her mother died in 2020. In this session we get some sense of Deb life growing up in a strict catholic home and breaking out, moving to NYC and getting involved in the music business and touring with bands as a young person very much on her own.

"SEAN SPADA is the real deal, a hard-working, consummate-pro piano everyman who would never dream of insultingly patronizing the sad sacks at the bar because clearly he identifies with and counts himself among the sad sacks at the bar new album The Wild Ride… but either way it's a ride that never flies off the rails thanks to the ever-present guard rails of Sean’s sensitive, skillful piano playing to the point where I’m moved to proclaim The Wild Ride the world’s first psychedelic piano lounge yacht-rock-run-aground rock operetta, a character study of a piano man who may be “Set Up To Self Destruct” but who’s nonetheless “Getting on the Highway” with predictable results perhaps but all the more stirring for seeing it coming..."

I've know Sean for a while and his music/music career has evolved in a pretty exciting way. He's got mad skills! The visualization of his music in his videos have added a serious creative level to the work as well. Sean is candid and articulate about the ideas behind his work and the music business in general. There is a lot of kidding around in this episode because neither he nor I take ourselves too seriously which is part of the fun here.

And YOU CAN SEE SEAN with his band The Dopplegangers LIVE 12/29 at @ourwickedlady Tickets HERE

LISTEN to the new album HERE

More about Sean Spada here:

https://www.seanspada.com/

https://www.instagram.com/seanspada/

Subscribe to Christian Finnegan's new Substack: https://newmusicforolds.substack.com/ and keep you up to date with his expertly curated new music.

I listen to new music. I’m perpetually chasing that new car smell. I spend hours every week scrolling through various New Release sections and indiscriminately clicking play. Results are inconsistent, but that’s okay—it’s primarily an avoidance mechanism! But as a result, I always have at least one new song to love.

More about Christian HERE: https://christianfinnegan.com/ Twitter: @ChristFinnegan

HERE'S an earlier Dr. Lisa Episode where Christian talks about his recent special: Show Your Work

BIO: Christian Finnegan is a stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City. In high school he attended Walnut Hill, a boarding school focused programs in the performing, visual, and creative arts located in Natick, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of NYU where he studied acting and playwriting. He began his stand up career in 1995 in New York and regularly performs at comedy clubs and colleges around the country.

Over the years, Christian has been a fixture on Comedy Central, having starred in his own one hour stand up special “Au Contraire”, as well as “Comedy Central Presents”, “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn” and countless network interstitials. He’s also appeared on “Conan”, “The Late Late Show with James Corden”, “Good Morning America” and “The Today Show”.

When not on tour, Christian Finnegan can usually be found in Queens helping his wife, author Kambri Crews, with her venue QED Astoria or walking their faithful pooches, Griswold and Chief Billy Bowlegs.

She is currently waiting for the paperwork so she can go back and see her husband. This session is very moving; Kate made real the surrealistic nature of not being able to imagine a war and then one day you are in it. Kate has gotten some work here and is helping teach art to Ukraine high school students who have moved here and are in a school that is half American and half Ukrainian. She does not have a concrete plan yet, which is unsettling yet freeing at the same time. Dr. Lisa was grateful for this growth experience she got from meeting Kate.

Here's one example of Kates work. Follow her here: https://www.instagram.com/katestremoukhova/ And check out her work and more on her website HERE: https://stremoukhova.com/

We had a deep, satisfying as well as amusing! conversation about sexual currency. For example we discussed how would you parent a 11 year old girl who had developed large breasts, knowing she would be a magnet for attention. What is the responsibility that women have to other women for promoting and using their own sexual currency? It was great to sit down to have a direct and mutually respectful, not without humor conversation about stuff you're not supposed to talk about. Bottom line on Jacq is-she is an entrepreneur and an advocate for sex workers. She's super hard working, creative, self-motivated, resourceful—great with people and would likely be successful at any endeavor she focused on. So go to her site and buy some of her merch!

Photo by: Rachel Lena Esterline

Here's an excerpt from her book, The Beaver Show: "I dance. Naked. For large (and occasionally insultingly modest) sums of money."

It all started five years ago in Sydney, Australia when she was just 23: “I still wanted to be a traveler, just not a poor one anymore. So I shaved my legs and bush, showed up to the first Google search result that came up for ‘gentlemen’s club Sydney,’ got naked for this old fat guy named Jim and, to my surprise, I liked it. A lot.”

Stripping is about feeling powerful, sexy, and endlessly curious about how far a dude’s kinks will go (‘show me your armpits’) and how much he is willing to pay for them ($1200).

And the money’s sexy.

In this session, Dr. Lisa takes a deep dive into what Abby learned about herself while in pandemic shutdowns: alcohol, humanity, fantastic new developments in alcohol-free drinks. She is putting her new ideas into action—this lady is an inspiration!

Here's a quote from the press release of Jen's exhibition that will highlight the genesis in topics we covered in this emotionally transparent session: There is so much to apologize for. And almost everyone does a terrible job of it, when they try at all. No amount of money seems to smooth the process from mistakes and bad behavior to self-awareness and reckoning. Famous people are terrible role models in this regard, as so in so many others; their vague, slow-to-emerge statements are designed to imply the bare minimum of contrition and help their careers survive another day. Each text is a shrewdly-honed gem that its crafters hope will dissipate a controversy or deflect attention; taken all together they expose the values of those in power and our culture at large. We’re living through a boom-time for disingenuousness, gaslighting and DARVO*, wholly of a piece with the faux authenticity seen elsewhere in our culture. Mistakes Were Made connects some of these dots. More about this exhibition and photos HERE: https://www.frontroomles.com/motherinlawsarchive  

Also—there were so many great artists that Jen curated into the show: Featuring:

Chloë Bass, Celeste Fichter, Ghost of a Dream, Susan Hamburger, Lisa Levy, Alyssa McClenaghan, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Sal Muñoz, Andrew Ohanesian, William Powhida, Marshall Reese and Nora Ligorano, Michelle Vaughan, Senon Williams. 

BIOGRAPHY

Liam McEneaney is a 2019 Academy Nicholl quarterfinalist. Two of his screenplays placed in the 2020 Final Draft Big Break Contest, and are both semifinalists in the 2021 Atlanta Film Festival.

Most recently, he was a contributing writer for GARY BUSEY: PET JUDGE.

Touted as one of the "100 Best Comedians of All Time" by GQ Spain, his concert film, 'Tell Your Friends!', had its world premiere at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival.

Liam has made many TV appearances, including on Showtime, Comedy Central, Vh1, and IFC, as well as on podcasts like WTF with Marc Maron and radio shows like The Howard Stern Wrap Up Show.

His writing credits include shows on Comedy Central, and contributing to Weekend Update and Hannibal Buress' set on The Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber. His byline has appeared in Maxim, and many obscure magazines.

He is trained at Upright Citizens Brigade in LA for sketch writing and improv.

Tell Your Friends! The Concert Film! (SXSW Film Festival)

Rubenstein creates work from the point of view of women's pleasure. She paints famous sexy men, performing cunninglingus on women, from the pov of the woman who is being pleasured. In another series, "Thirsty," men's genitals are replaced with wall-mount bottle openers. And she make lots of beautiful paintings of penises. There is humor in her work which makes it smart, fun to look at and discuss

It was great to hear her experiences and thought process on how she began to do this work. One important life event for her was that her family moved to the U.S. from Russia when she was 9. The whole family had to start their life over from scratch. Being from Russia, having to learn English, not fitting in as a 9 year old is a lot for any child to manage. Alexandra is very smart, thoughtful, open and articulate in bringings us into understanding her experiences that inspired her work. A great example of a strong woman This episode was very impactful for me.

@therubinstein

https://www.alexandrarubinstein.com/

Here's a previous session I did with Jon from 2021 where we talk more in depth about his background growing up and his escapades as a performing musician. https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO5057730694.mp3?updated=1638205945

Check out Jon's extremely popular radio show: Race to the Bottom

Artist Eric Doeringer's latest project is an appropriation of a project artist Tom Sachs is doing. What is "appropriation art" you ask? Appropriation, similar to found object art is "as an artistic strategy, the intentional borrowing, copying, and alteration of preexisting images, objects, and ideas"

It's so fun hearing Eric talk about his experience creating the work, the adventure of launching it in the desert, and going to one of Tom Sach's launch with hundreds or rockets, art collectors and a formally dressed staff.

Eric's project intersects with the NFT world as well and I learned a lot from Eric about his process and the process of incorporating NFT's and why he decided to use Eric Doeringer Rocket Factory Tokens (EDRFTs) which are archival prints instead.

Eric's Factory: https://www.ericdoeringerrocketfactory.com/ Tom Sach's Factory: https://tomsachsrocketfactory.com/

More about Eric Doeringer's work: Follow Eric: https://www.instagram.com/ericdoeringer/

More about Tom Sach's work: https://www.tomsachs.com/

All those emotions are what she uses to inspire her work and expresses her thoughts through her paintings. In this episode, Dr. Lisa, (Lisa Levy), Sharilyn Neidhardt, Gallerist/curators M Charlene Stevens, Roman Kalinovski, Moderator/artist, Christopher Stout discuss the artwork, the relationships to Skye and the whole adventure. There's an artist talk at the gallery, Sat. May 28, 4pm. Come by!

Arcade Project Curatorial — Artist talk, Sat. May, 28, 4-5pm, 56 Bogart St., Ground Floor. L train to Morgan Ave. Across the street from subway station.

SHOW IS UP through June 3! Arcade Projects Curatorial - 56 Bogart, gallery hours are Thu - Sun 12 - 6p, ARTIST TALK on Sat May 28 at 4p!

HUGE SHOUT OUT TO PUMPS BAR, 1089 Grand St., Bk NY 11211 718.599.2474 for their kindness and generosity for hosting a photo shoot for Skye! All Skye's bar photos by Reven Wurman Photography.

At the time of this session, Eryn has just finished school literally less than a week earlier. We get to hear about her full-on job hunt, a valuable new friend and share some of the excitement/trepidation as she embarks on the next phase in her life. I’m excited to see where she lands. I’ll report in again when it happens!

Leigh Celent is a great musician and a gold standard of anyone leading a band. She’s been on before where we discussed her evolution and process a bit so this time we got insight into what someone who leads a band and lives a life in music which is means being out in crowds is routine for her . Leigh is the real deal—she navigated a pandemic to come out stronger and more creatively committed than ever. 3 new songs are included in this episode.

http://www.castleblackmusic.com/

https://soundcloud.com/castleblackmusic

Previous episode with Leigh Celent from 2018

Paris is a smart, beautiful, charming and funny. I am grateful for all the first hand knowledge she shared candidly and am glad to be able to hopefully create more awareness about a neurological condition that in my opinion, is greatly misunderstood. We can help neurodivergent people just by learning about them and better understanding them!

Follow Paris Campbell on TikTok, Insta and Twitter @stopitparis

Learn more about autism HERE and HERE

• And HERE! What people with autism wish you knew: 'We want to be understood, not hidden away'

https://nationalautismassociation.org/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2022/04/28/autism-awareness-what-autistic-community-wishes-you-knew/9542346002/ 3

What is Autism?

• Autism is a bio-neurological developmental disability that generally appears before the age of 3
• Autism impacts the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction, communication skills, and cognitive function. Individuals with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities
• Individuals with autism often suffer from numerous co-morbid medical conditions which may include: allergies, asthma, epilepsy, digestive disorders, persistent viral infections, feeding disorders, sensory integration dysfunction, sleeping disorders, and more
• Autism is diagnosed four times more often in boys than girls. Its prevalence is not affected by race, region, or socio-economic status. Since autism was first diagnosed in the U.S. the incidence has climbed to an alarming one in 44 children in the U.S.
• Autism itself does not affect life expectancy, however research has shown that the mortality risk among individuals with autism is twice as high as the general population, in large part due to drowning and other accidents.
• Currently there is no cure for autism, though with early intervention and treatment, the diverse symptoms related to autism can be greatly improved and in some cases completely overcome.

Autism Facts & Stats

• Autism now affects 1 in 44 children; over half are classified as having an intellectual disability or borderline intellectual disability
• Boys are four times more likely to have autism than girls
• About 40% of children with autism do not speak. About 25%–30% of children with autism have some words at 12 to 18 months of age and then lose them. Others might speak, but not until later in childhood
• Autism greatly varies from person to person (no two people with autism are alike)
• The rate of autism has steadily grown over the last twenty years
• Comorbid conditions often associated with autism include Fragile X, allergies, asthma, epilepsy, bowel disease, gastrointestinal/digestive disorders, persistent viral infections, PANDAS, feeding disorders, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, OCD, sensory integration dysfunction, sleeping disorders, immune disorders, autoimmune disorders, and neuroinflammation.
• Autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder, yet most underfunded
• A 2008 Danish Study found that the mortality risk among those with autism was nearly twice that of the general population
• Children with autism do progress – early intervention is key
• Autism is treatable, not a hopeless condition

Richard Pasquarelli is a New York based artist whose paintings study the psychological relationships between our minds and the physical world.

He has what he refers to as Organizational OCD. This condition was originally pointed out to him around 10 years ago by his then teen-aged sons after a long period of watching their dad continuously straighten out everything around the house, including their casually placed backpacks. It was a bit of a wake up call for Richard and he went into a deep dive researching his condition, including attending a professional conference on hoarding and visiting hoarders' homes, immersing himself in their environment and personal stories.

RIchard Pasquarelli's journey is a great example of how art is healing. Not only did Richard's experience inspire a plethora of new work for him, it helped him understand humanity and himself a whole lot better. I was fascinated and filled with questions as Richard parsed his feelings and experiences about himself, his perfectionism, and what he's learned about himself from connecting with hoarders who are the exact opposite of him. And of course how all of this has manifested in his work. Plus loads of laughing. Richard is a fun guy who's not afraid of who he is.

Richard describes his understanding about his work: My paintings study the physical manifestation of psychological states of mind. Through analysis of my own compulsions for perfection and order, and research into mental health, psychology, the physical properties of nature, and philosophy, I seek a better understanding of the connections between mind and matter.

To build upon my research, I have immersed myself into the study of OCD and hoarding disorder by conducting field research in the homes of people affected by these conditions. The knowledge gained through my interviews and the thousands of photographs I take during my visits have become integral parts of my process. By creating artworks based on these spaces, I have come to perceive our physical surroundings as a manifestation of the psyche. My paintings are more than representations of people’s possessions, they are portraits of their minds.

RIchard's Website HERE.

Richard's Instagram HERE.

Drew Prochaska is a Brooklyn-based writer/performer and two-time Moth StorySlam winner, who has been featured on the “RISK!” and “Stories in Session” podcasts. Drew was the creator of the SPOILER Comedy Film Project, a bi-annual film night featuring original films by some of today’s top comedy stars. A graduate of The Tisch School of Arts Dramatic Writing Program, Drew’s writing was regularly featured on the website of Running with Scissors author Augusten Burroughs.

John Blesso: John Blesso is a writer, storyteller, mediocre guitar player, singer and woodworker, and artisanal fabricator of “gabbagoul.” He’s one of the producers of The Artichoke live storytelling series and the author of Sharehouse Confidential. He lives in Beacon, NY.

Most importantly, Bill is getting married and just bought a house in Old Chatham, NY with his fiance, a terrific artist—Aaron Michael Skolnick. Aaron's work is connected to. nature—Aaron does plein air painting, so living in Houston full time just wasn't practical for them.

Here's a quote from Bill's Instagram: Just bought a house from 1830 in Old Chatham NY - I’ve never lived out of the city before and I’m very excited to learn new ways of living at 61, @aaron_michael_skolnick studio is the priority and we will be up there full-time for the summer and then I’ll be back-and-forth between Houston and Hudson valley at least for part of the 22/23 gallery season while figuring out how to contribute to the Hudson Valley Art Community."

This is such a great session. Bill is a blast, honest and direct and entertaining. We discussed so many things, both art related and personal.

More about Bill Arning and his projects HERE. Instagram HERE.

More about his Gay Art Collection HERE. Instagram HERE.

Dr. Lisa is curious about this phenomenon: Anna is a combination of brains, talent, drive, beauty, charisma, outsized confidence and a felon in jail.

In this session, Noah and Dr. Lisa talk about Anna's personality, motivations and her work which leads them to a deeper discussion about art, celebrity, society and (as Noah put it)—the "pixie dust" aura of art.

Details about Noah's participation in a recent group show with Anna Delvey and Alfredo Martinez HERE.

More about Noah Becker and his painting HERE.

More about Whitehot Magazine HERE.

Noah Becker Bio: Noah Becker is an American and Canadian artist and jazz saxophonist who has been based in New York City for the past twenty years. His paintings have been exhibited at art institutions worldwide, including the Vancouver Art Gallery in Canada. Aside from his visual art production, Becker publishes Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, an art journal featuring writings by art critics, such as Donald Kuspit, Anthony Haden-Guest and Phoebe Hoban. The writings of Becker have also appeared in Art in America, Interview Magazine, Canadian Art, Huffington Post and Artvoices.

Show Your Work is a standup special about playing the hand you’re dealt. Filmed in a tiny backyard at the height of the pandemic, Christian Finnegan brings his brand of hilarious and insightful ‘social autopsy’ to topics that range from the dumb (pharmaceutical names, baguettes) to the super dumb (QAnon). More than that, Show Your Work celebrates the determination to keep moving forward when the world has gone haywire. Onward!

Christian was just as open in this Dr. Lisa session about the feelings, logistics and creative process behind the making of this special and how it came into being. Christian has a long list of comedy credentials and other strictly standup specials, so this is a great roadmap of how he made such hilarious standup work in such an entertaining, yet authentic, genuine way. 

Brilliantly directed and edited by director Victor Varnado and editor, Steven Rosenfeld. And Christian's wife, Kambri Crews is the owner of QED, where the special is filmed, as well as a contributor to the project in a myriad of ways—some of which are covered in this talk.

James Kalm has a great video of the opening of this show. You can see the work and feel the excitement in the room HERE.

More about Rick Prol: Born: 1956, New York, NY. Cooper Union, BFA, 1980, also studied at New York Studio School, 1975-76. Currently lives and works in New York City. 

Rick Prol started showing his work in 1982, during the heyday of the East Village art scene of the 1980s. The East Village scene embraced the idea of a community of experimental artists living in and thriving off of the grittiness and cultural richness of the area. 

Prol quickly became an icon of the era, known for his dark yet vibrant, cartoonish descriptions of fantastical murder and mayhem in the rat-infested urban jungle. Prol's paintings incorporate various styles including Art Brut and Expressionism, laced with various art historical references and laden with sincere depictions of the urban human condition. 

In addition to painting, Prol's studio practice includes work in a variety of media such as sculpture, drawing, installation and writing. Prol writes "My work is a form of self portraiture and is a kind of prophesy-voodoo, it is strongly influenced by my surroundings but only as a starting off point. My intent is for a universal message." 

Termed as a "Veteran Master of Gothic Angst" by Edward Leffingwell of Art in America, March, 2004, Prol has exhibited widely over the years, as well as curated exhibitions including East Village A.S.U., 2004, at the B-Side Gallery in the East Village, in response to the exhibition East Village U.S.A. at the New Museum, in New York.

Recent surveys of his work have been presented at the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH and The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY. He has presented solo exhibitions with Hal Bromm, B-Side Gallery, Willoughby Sharp, and Andrew Kreps in New York; Barbara Farber in Amsterdam; and Leeahn Gallery in South Korea; and has been included in group exhibitions at Artists Space and PS1, among others. Prol’s work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Holocaust Museum, and Smithsonian Libraries.

Follow RIck Prol on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/rickprol/

ALSO you can learn a lot from listening to him talk about his approach to work. Think of it this way—Chris is the product of both parents his mother and father each had successful careers in project management at blue chip companies. Getting shit done well is definitely baked into his nature. So not sure if everyone can try this at home, but you will see what I mean and give it a whirl.

More about Chris Gersbeck: 

Chris Gersbeck, is a producer, publicist, and podcaster born and raised in Queens, NY. He is sometimes credited as C.S. Gersbeck. He attended college at SUNY Plattsburgh.

Chris first became involved in the New York City comedy scene in 2014 as a stand-up comedian, but stepped back from performing in 2018 to focus on producing & promoting live comedy and podcasts under the banner of Dumb Industries. During that time, he began co-producing Open Riff Night with Frank Conniff, a live show where anyone could riff on clips of bad movies at QED in Astoria, Queens. He also produced Movies R Dumb, a live-riffing show that often featured Frank Conniff, and Dave Hill's Podcasting Incident (now known as The Dave Hill Goodtime Hour) along with comedian Dave Hill for the Maximum Fun network.

Chris has since gone on to work behind-the-scenes for the podcasts RISK! and Keith and The Girl, as well as the Zoom reunion show for the comedy troupe The State in June 2020. Since July 2020, he has produced and hosted each of The Mads Are Back's monthly livestreams. He is also the producer of The Mary Jo Pehl Show.

I met Adam Amram when I was spending a month in Beacon NY at my own DIY artist residency. A terrific artist, Adam Amram was nearby in an official residency at a prestigious gallery, Mother, nearby. In this session we dig into the head of Adam and how his childhood experiences—his family moved to the US from Israel when he was 4years old—may have influence on his work. Adam has a very tight relationship with his family and his partner. Dr. Lisa thinks he need to develop more boundaries and with his neighbors.

Dr. Lisa is VERY IMPRESSED with this artist's work—very much worth a trip to Beacon for anyone who is curious about what is happening in the contemporary art world.

Check out/follow David's work on his instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/dkramer5000/

View David's current show online at Freight + Volume HERE:

VISIT IN PERSON HERE:

DAVID KRAMER ...I Am The Boss of Me 39 Lispenard St.

February 25 – April 2, 2022

David Kramer

...I'm The Boss of Me

February 25th - April 2nd 

Opening Reception February 25th 4 -6pm

If you want to take a deep Kramer dive, here's the previous episodes:

2015_ 1523_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO6413307743.mp3

2016_DLG1642_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO3553091892.mp3?updated=1629298932

2018_DLG188_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO1908055909.mp3

2019_DLG200_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO3640250017.mp3

2020_DLG254_https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO5166403587.mp3

2019_DLG208_And here's a DLG session with David's son, MARTIN KRAMER when he first went to film school in Montreal: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO6042795578.mp3

More about Guy and his work HERE.

This time Ben is exploding with so much great news—a promotion, an apartment, a wonderful relationship! But there are challenges—one in particular that we discuss. As usual Ben doesn't hold back. He's 31 now with adult stuff to deal with.

Here's the earlier episodes—

Ben Louis: First session DLG1204 - 2018

Ben Lous: 2nd Session, DLG1840 2019

Ben Louis: Third Session - DLG220 2020

Ben Lous: Fourth Session DLG260 2021

The easiest way to describe what Joseph Keckler makes is music. But that doesn't begin to cover it-the Vice Articles, videos, books and EVERYTHING.. The New York Times declared him a “major vocal talent” who “shatters conventional boundaries. In this session we explore Joseph's creative process and how he handles the press making such a fuss about him. He is very genuine the whole time I am asking him bull-in-a-china-shop questions. I got to meet him because he is the talent for the Art F City Benefit this year and I am helping plan it. LISTEN TO THIS MUSIC - completely unique and undescribable: http://www.josephkeckler.com/

Hnry and We Color Live's Jocelyn Simone come to the studio where Hnry and I go deep into what his experience was like and how it affected him, creatively and otherwise. It seems that Hnry has taken fairly extreme circumstances and put them to great use in his own weird development. More about Hnry Flwr HERE

YOU CAN SEE Hnry Flwr LIVE Jan. 29!!! - TICKETS HERE

We Color Live PRESENTS: WAITING ROOM OF THE GREAT BEYOND

In celebration of HNRY FLWR’s first official release since 2017’s “Brilliant” (GoldFlakePaint) FLOWERAMA EP, We Color Live presents WAITING ROOM OF THE GREAT BEYOND— A carefully curated bill of the top up and coming crooners, JW Francis, Big Bliss and Viktor Longo of New York City to celebrate the release of the “Waiting Room” single. Julia Cumming (Sunflower Bean) will be hosting and DJ-ing throughout the evening.

***Please come dressed to express your highest self

There is so much to experience with Adrienne Truscott. I heartily recommend looking further into her/her work here: http://www.adriennetruscott.com/

About Shirley Weir

Shirley Weir introduces herself as a Menopause Chick. Sore boobs, sleep deprivation, depression and brain fog led Shirley to her doctor’s office, the book store and “Dr. Google,” but she was left feeling confused, overwhelmed and alone. So she created Menopause Chicks to empower women to talk openly about perimenopause and menopause. Now she leads a private online community with an average of 15,000 questions and comments every month. Women regard the group as a trustworthy space to get their questions answered and to confirm they are not alone.

I've interviewed Eric before about previous intensive long-term art projects, but each of his projects has a fully unique process in the execution of the work since each project demands a different execution. Basically, Eric can make anything. His process borders on performance art which is integral to the creation of the work, but not obvious in the viewing of it, unless the viewer contemplates, "How the f*ck did someone make this?" Memory Ware Flats consists of (3) 4x6' framed pieces, each weighs 150lbs.The process of making them involves procuring, sifting through little "memory" pieces and uses a mosaic type of process in the realization of it. One aspect of the beauty of this work is the joy and simplicity in the initial viewing of the work, which belies its complexity.

Eric and his wife Cathay moved several times during the 3-year period during the creation of this work. The work started about a year before the pandemic and culminated in a fabulous show at A Hug From the Art World, October, 2021. Eric's work/life during this period involved making about one painstaking square foot a day. Our Dr. Lisa session illuminates a hard-to imagine artist's journey as well as a testament to the tenacity and dedication of a real-deal artist.

Follow Eric on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericdoeringer/

His website: https://www.ericdoeringer.com/

More information about the origins of memory ware which began in folk art as household items:

History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_jug

Examples of folk art memory ware: https://www.pinterest.com/ginnysass/memory-ware/

Follow Sean here: @seangibbs108 More Sean here: https://www.goodonecomedy.com/

Friends, I had a very vulnerable talk with Dr. Lisa Levy mostly about how and why I founded my art consulting agency Studio Associate, but naturally, it also includes my upbringing, the pivotal shift of watching my dad pass away when I was 20, my diverse work experience in the arts, and the balancing act of maintaining a creative career with professionalism. I'm literally terrified about this being public but here's to authenticity and overcoming my fears of people seeing the real me.

Also I wanted Jen to tell us about her emotional support resources, but we ran out of time. I asked me to her send her thoughts to pass along to you—here they are:My most recent sources of support, and inspiration frankly, are the 8 badass businesswomen/artists in the group text thread titled Witchsaic; my roommate/bandmate/artist/best friend Angela Simione; Studio Associate artist Catherine Haggarty; and my partner Andrew Ohanesian. You have to find a few people to truly get to know, and to allow to get to know you, with whom you can provide honest feedback, constructive criticism, and support. My (albeit small and unconventional) biological family supported me growing up however they could, and my NYC artist family supports me in my crazy, passion-driven endeavors now. I truly believe that reciprocating honest encouragement is the key to success.

Most of our session was about Mike’s upbringing, being queer from childhood and born to a mother who enlisted into the Air Force when Mike was very young. Mike was left with his grandparents—he never met his dad.

When Mike’s mother left the service, she moved to Michigan with Mike’s new stepdad—a macho air force guy, and they sent for Mike. Mike Lived in Michigan with them and half-siblings from age 8-11, when his aunt came to visit and immediately got him out of his unhealthy environment. Cut to Mike’s adulthood where his struggles with the inevitable confusion he had with masculinity and identity led him to suicidal ideation, which got him into therapy, which he is still working through. This was definitely a job for a licensed professional!

More about Mike HERE:

Lana came to the U.S. with her parents and older brother from the Ukraine at 7 years old. She shares the story of her coming to America with her family and the effect it has had on her. Her journey includes ranking #7 in the U.S. for ballroom dancing, eating disorders, therapy and a particularly healthy, healing relationship with her husband and son. We got deep. Lana is a delight in so many ways but not a top candidate for a lazy beach vacation, though she is super fun to watch and/or spend time with.

For more about Lana: https://www.instagram.com/lanasiebel/

Also, Shawn and Dr. Lisa explore Shawn's relationship with his mother for signs of intimacy resistance, since Shawn is single. Why??

More about Shawn HERE:

And here: Shawn Wickens (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Mr. Robot, Blue Bloods) is an award-winning comedian and co-founder of NYC's ironically-titled Bad Theater Fest and Bad Film Fest. He also has a weekly live show, The Stoner Morning Show at The Tiny Cupboard (Monday Nights) and Facebook livestream (Saturday Mornings).

Time Out New York says, "Expect a set that hilarious, delirious and refreshingly raw." His shows have been Critics' Picks by Pittsburgh City Paper, Rochester City News, and The Athens News. When not performing in and around New York City he has performed in New Orleans, Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Hartford and more.

His first comedy album is available on Spotify and iTunes. If you look him up on Amazon, you might even find a few books he's written.

He has several bodies of earlier work (check out this HILARIOUS piece about him on CNN from 1997 that inspired Alex VonFurstenberg) that are different from his work today, most notably as Alex Vonfurstenberg where he surreptitiously made his way into major social functions and was photographed with celebrities. He has a great story about being photographed with (then) president Bill Clinton.

If you really want the dirt on David’s upbringing and his relationship with his father you’ll want to check out our Dr. Lisa session we had from 2016 HERE.

Follow David Henry Nobody Jr. on Instagram HERE. See more about David's and his work and varied projects on his website.

Current exhibition: NEGATIVE INFLUENCER 😈Resemblagè....New York Artist..Upcoming show: NFTism with @institutco Sept 10th curated by @kennyschachterfoundation.app/@davidhenrynobodyjr/crying-onion-man-82064

Dr. Zelifoff has a partnership with one of our excellent RFB sister shows, Objection to the Rule. She and her team have coordinated a series of interviews with the NYU National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Center for Investigating of Environmental Hazards (CIEH). Objection to the Rule is hosted by Emily Scott, Jasmin Smith and Theresa Robinson. Episodes are available HERE:

More about Dr. Zelikoff: Dr. Zelikoff is a professor in the Dept. of Environmental Medicine at the Grossman School of Medicine in NYC. She has over 25 years of experience in toxicology and environmental health which is that branch of public health concerned with reducing those factors in the environment like air and water pollution that affect human health and disease. Her scientific research focuses on the toxic health effects of inhaled air pollutants like ozone and air particles, as well as effects from toxic materials from tobacco and electronic cigarettes, fires and diesel exhaust. Over the last decade, studies in her laboratory have also focused on the effects of inhaled environmental toxic materials, including electronic cigarettes during pregnancy and their effects on neurodevelopment, cardiovascular disease, birth outcomes, obesity, behavior and reproductive success. Her studies have revealed that early life exposure to e-cigarette aerosols can affect childhood behavior, brain function and lung disease in the adults and that such effects can occur even without nicotine present. In addition to a very active research program,

Dr. Zelikoff is a Director for Community engagement in the Center for Investigational and Environmental Hazards working with underserved populations and Native Americans in the NYC metropolitan area. Over the last 20 years, she has also guided over 50 graduate and undergraduate students in the field of environmental health. 

Dr Grant Brenner is a board certified physician-psychiatrist, an entrepreneur, author, teacher, speaker and not-for-profit board member. He has been featured on a variety of top ranked psychology resources and media as a thought leader and contributor. In other words, he’s a highly qualified professional unlike myself. At least I have people to call on!

Dr. Brenner has been involved with many traumatic situations including 9/11—he wrote a book based on his experience and knowledge, so it was great to get his valuable insights. We discussed a range of subjects including how people in different circumstance, parents, single people, couples can effectively cope. And he talked about what he’s been seeing in his practice as well. I found this session reassuring since simply hearing from a pro that this is indeed as crazy as it feels and we are all developing from it together in real time—that’s all anyone can do. But there is an opportunity for growth in all of us. The bonus of the episode is that Grant has a worthy sense of humor, so he makes it easy(ier?) to talk about dark shit.

Here's another great resource that Dr. Brenner is deeply involved with, Neighborhood Psychiatry— a great organization that is affordable and takes insurance. Also I LOVE his writings for Psychology Today—you can find them here. Here's a recent article about psychology in context of the Covid 19 pandemic, "What can 9/11 teach us about mental health for COVIS-19?" based on Dr. Brenner's experience in the wake of 9/11.

Also it becomes obvious that I have no control over my dog.

Bio: Grant Hilary Brenner MD, FAPA

Grant Hilary Brenner, MD, FAPA is a psychiatrist and an expert on mental health, relationships, and self-care and wellness who has been featured on CBS Radio, NPR, and more. Dr. Brenner brings nearly two decades of consultation, workshops, speaking engagements, therapy, and coaching to his clients, who range from individuals seeking to overcome emotional obstacles and build resilience to executives seeking to optimize their performance in the workplace. He writes Psychology Today’s popular “ExperiMentations” blog and he is the co-author of Relationship Sanity: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Relationships and Irrelationship: How We Use Dysfunctional Relationships to Hide from Intimacy and an author and editor of the book Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience: Integrating Care in Disaster Relief Work. He is a 2004 recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation for his disaster mental health work in New York City following September 11th, and he also received the Ivan Goldberg Distinguished Service Award for his efforts to bring mental health awareness to a wider and more diverse audience. He is co-founder of Neighborhood Psychiatric Associates of Manhattan and serves on the faculty of the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital and on the Board of Directors of Vibrant Emotional Health (formerly MHA-NYC). He lives in New York.

More about the exhibition: My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake is an exhibition initially conceived in 2018 when artist Rebecca Goyette’s father passed away and she placed her childhood home on the market. Goyette immediately started to create a ceramic replica of the house, fashioned after a dollhouse that her father had crafted when she was five. For Goyette, who has an interest in magic, Childhood Home was designed to set off prosperous intentions. She ended up selling her father’s actual house to a man wearing a shirt that read: “My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake.” Goyette was dressed in red, carrying a lobster-shaped purse so she could safely carry the sizable check back home to NYC on the Greyhound bus. Goyette saw this comical exchange as a face-off between Lobster Queen and Snake Man.

See Rebecca's video she created for the exhibition HERE.

See the work from the show and read the full press release HERE.

Rebecca's website HERE.

About Wilson (Dr. Wil):

Wilson McDermut has a PhD in psychology, and lives and works in New York City, where he performs regularly in clubs and anywhere else that will let him.

He is a regular at Broadway Comedy Club and The Comic Strip Live (Late Night) in New York City, and has performed across the country from Maine to Missouri. An active member of the Gotham Comedy Foundation (a non-profit organization affiliated with Gotham Comedy Club), Wilson runs a monthly comedy show for patients and their families at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

In addition to performing at most of the major clubs in New York City, he appeared on BBC America's Crash Course in Comedy with Richard Hammond. 

In collaboration with New Media Comedy, Wilson performs under the name Dr. Wil. New Media Comedy and Dr. Wil post comedy content on Instagram and Facebook. These short comedic videos touch on a variety of topics all related to psychology in one way or another. Follow @newmediacomedy and @dr._wil to for more comedy.

Eric Doeringer Bio (excerpted from Wikipedia-read in full HERE.) : (born July 1, 1974] is an artist currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Brown University in 1996 with a B.A.[2] and received an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1999.[3] Doeringer is on the faculty at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts.

Eric Doeringer's "Bootlegs" are small copies of work by eminent contemporary artists including Richard Prince and Lisa Yuskavage. Doeringer reproduces the artworks using "collage, digital photography, paint and varnish".[5] Doeringer can make between six and fifteen paintings each day and told The New York Times in a 2005 interview that his process is "like an assembly line".[6] On Saturdays beginning in 2001, he set up a vending table in Chelsea, Manhattan on West 24th Street. Small canvases reproducing contemporary paintings lined the table. Paintings by the original artists (sold within a short walking distance from Doeringer's stand) cost tens of thousands of dollars, while Doeringer's copies sold for less than $100. His total profit in a day of selling paintings has sometimes reached $1500.[ Time Out stated that Doeringer is "famous for bootlegging art on the streets of New York".[7]

Conceptual art recreations In 2008, Doeringer began making larger, more faithful recreations of works of Conceptual art by artists like Sol LeWitt, Lawrence Weiner, Edward Ruscha, and On Kawara. New York magazine called a 2009 exhibition of Doeringer's Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings "perfectly executed" and "a genuine aesthetic experience, not just a knowing scold."

In 2012, The New York Times art critic Ken Johnson reviewed Doeringer's solo exhibition at the Mulherin + Pollard gallery titled "The Rematerialization of the Art Object". In the front room, Doeringer displayed "well-made simulations" of Damien Hirst's spot paintings and Richard Prince's Marlboro cowboy advertisements. In the back room, Doeringer presented imitations of three artists: Edward Ruscha (counterfeit books), Charles Ray photographs of himself wearing various clothes in imitation of Ray's All My Clothes), and Andy Warhol (a film mimicking Warhol's Empire by recording the Empire State Building). Johnson wrote that Doeringer's "distinction is his focus not on canonical works of Modernism but on famous Conceptualist pieces that are themselves art about art". In 2013, the Toronto Star's Murray Whyte reviewed Doeringer's Survey, "a series of his exacting knock-offs of the late 20th century's greatest art hits". In addition to containing imitations of works by Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, and Andy Warhol, the exhibition also contained imitations of Sol LeWitt's wall drawings and Lawrence Weiner's spray paintings. Art critic Murray Whyte wrote that Doeringer is "less heretic than prophet, putting the towering genius of a previous generation to its own test".

Listen/watch BEEZLORD on Spotify Soundcloud TikTok Twitch

Andrew's work is conceptual. He creates environments for people to experience, but in a way that they may not even realize they are experiencing art. Check out his work on Pierogi's site so you can see what I mean. Here's one example: House Party, where Andrew built Ohanesian built an insanely detailed replica of a suburban house in the middle of a Pieogi's Boiler room. It was up for about a month and people could hang out and party there. Here's a video of it. All of Andrew's work gets a ton of press-do your own research!

Besides getting a view into the mind of Ohansian's creative process, we got a chance to explore his relationship with his parents, his father mostly. If you listen to this episode you will understand how his opthamologist father was a standard bearer and inspiration for Andrew.

House Party video by James Kalm.

Harkness Granger is hilarious plus doesn't present a lot of boundaries which makes for a fascinating conversation. We talked about comedy, but mostly his sexual development along with his first relationship in high school, where Dr. Lisa is relentless about getting the details.

Check out Harkness Granger HERE

Win Weird Prizes-you will automatically be entered in the raffle:

• A free therapy session with an official Dr. Lisa prescription written just for you!

• A t-shirt that says, "Please don't judge me by the people I'm with."

• A boomerang with the words, "I'd like to get rid of my insecurities."

Listen to the episode and you will discover:

• Marina who is SO sophisticated, her favorite TV show is 90 Day Fiance.

• Harkness collects toilet paper rolls.

• Jen wears her high school gym shorts to bed way too often.

• If it were up to Paul, he would eat the most gross Chinese food every night.

These are two very glamorous, successful art world couples and they are just as basic as your partner is/will be!

Learn more about them here.

Marina Granger/The Artist Advisory

Harkness Granger/Comedian and DJ

Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw

Voting ends Midnight, Wednesday, Feb. 24. All wInners announced Thursday, Feb 25, 2pm on Dr. Lisa Gives A Sh*t!

HERE's THE DEAL:• LISTEN TO THE SHOW • VOTE for the most annoying couple HERE• DEADLINE FEB. 17, Midnight• WINNERS ANNOUNCED 2pm FEB, 18 HERE

If you're rather not be alone this Valentine's Day, this show will DEFINITELY cheer you up!! If you are quarantining with another person, this contest will show you-you are not alone! Particularly in an apartment situation and you are not a bit fed up with the other person YOU ARE A LIAR. Stop idealizing relationships-you are too old to play Barbies!

My personal countertransference— Phil (my husband) is so annoying to me but people keep saying how nice he is-how this possible???

This show will combat the "perfection" of relationships we all see on social media and to help everyone realize that no matter how much you love somebody, when you get close to them, eventually they will annoy you in some way and vice-versa. We are all human!

RULES:• Each person in the couple answers questions to illuminate what they personally find annoying about their partner.• Listen closely, because YOU the listener will be voting!• Vote by email: drlisa@radiofreebrooklyn.org DM me @drlislevysp or facebook-just search and message me!• Winners will be announced on air Thurs. Feb. 18, 2pm LISTEN HERE

ABOUT OUR COUPLES:

Marina & Harkness Granger—She's a successful artist advisor with her own practice, The Artist Advisory. He's well know all over town as a comedian and DJ. Two of the best dressed people you could lay eyes on and a well curated home to boot. Two very smart, good-looking, chic people who can both wear white flawlessly, but we as we find out, they have other flaws way less noticeable, except to each other.

Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw: With art exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum and feature stories in The New York Times, these two have the enviable profile of a couple that creates great art together. Like Marina and Harkness, they are endlessly fashionable with Jen always gorgeous in the clothes she makes herself. What we don't see are the gym shorts she wears to bed that Paul wishes would get lost in the laundry.

Check out Noah's Instagram posts I refer to @whitehotmagazine See his fantastic paintings and more @newyorkbecker and on his website.

John is a father of a 12 year old boy who is deep into SHOW music and OPERA. We do a deep dive and find out how the love of music has translated through generations of Rasos.

John's show, This Music Hour is live every Monday at 5pm on Radio Free Brooklyn.

More about John Raso

John has been a denizen of NYC rock shows since he convinced his older sister to take him along to first rock show at the age of 8. This experience eventually lead to a career in the music industry doing publicity and marketing for labels including SST and Atlantic Records as well as a stint at LiveNation. Today, John is an executive at music rights administrator, The Harry Fox Agency. Four decades later, he still believes that a week without live music is just not a week worth having.

More about Susan and NEW IN NEW YORK: Hosted by Susan Rousseau. New York is wild. But being new in New York is Out. Of. Control. On this show, we’ll bring you some of the funniest, most fascinating stories from the people who somehow found their way to the city that never sleeps, knowing if they could make it here, they could make it anywhere, because hot damn. It’s hard. Each week, a new guest shares their uniquely personal good, bad, ugly, embarrassing, hilarious adventures with listeners. What brought them here? What keeps them here? What makes them want to leave? You get to hear all of the messy details of their new in New York life, accompanied by the soundtrack of their time in the five boroughs. And if you have something to say about living in this amazing, insane, beautiful, expensive, and diverse city (and we all know everyone does), call in and share your own experiences with us!

Listen LIVE every Tuesday at 9:00 am

Category: Comedy, Music, Talk

About Susan Rousseau

Susan works in television and finally made her way to New York 4 years ago, after a long stint in Chicago and short stints in Montreal and Los Angeles. She falls in and out of love with this city on a daily basis but can’t imagine ever leaving.

When not asking lots of questions on this show, she’s asking lots of questions to strangers at bars… or asking lots of questions at her job as an interview producer for Desus & Mero.

Both films are metaphorical but are directly born of Martin's emotional conflicts that he articulates surprisingly well for any adult filmmaker, and especially for one so young. Personally, I find it impressive to see any art that is so in touch and unafraid of personal revelations. In this case, as metaphors they are done tastefully as well, leaving plenty of room for interpretation and any viewer to see themselves in. We first discuss Empty Nest. The film shows an elderly woman at home and a dream she has about a young man whos photo is in a frame near an empty bird cage. We assume it's the woman's grandson. Martin and I discuss how this film was inspired by his feelings about leaving his parents, his grandfather at the time he was leaving New York for college in Montreal, right before he made this film. It was deep! Then on to Blue Cowboy. This involves Martin's thoughts about sexual identity which are also very well articulated and maybe too complex for me to describe accurately here since during this session, I learned a lot from Martin and don't want to interpret the conversation here. Martin and I were careful respecting boundaries and I think we did a good job. Listen to it for yourself!!!-do I have to tell you everything!

Emily Flake began cartooning for The New Yorker in 2008 and has had more than a hundred cartoons published in the magazine since. Her cartoons, essays, and illustrations have also appeared in Mad, the New York Times, the New Statesman, the Wall Street Journal, the Globe and Mail, and in many other publications. Her most recent book is “That Was Awkward: The Art and Etiquette of the Awkward Hug.” More about Emily HERE: https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/emily-flake

I think we got a lot done!

Although personally I am sad to have seen Ben leave RFB for a great career move, I am secretly proud and THRILLED. But that's not all, Ben has improved his relationship with his family and "the ladies." Ben is in a healthy, supportive relationship which he is very satisfied and happy in.

It is nice, (inspiring, really!) to see someone progress in their life in such a positive way, through their own honest hard work and efforts, But let's not get too idealistic here—he was late in getting our management reports filed a few times.

If you're interested in a deep dive on Ben's up's and down's (our first episode includes a break-up), here's the links:

PREVIOUS EPISODES:

Ben Louis: First session - 3 years ago Follow up to that session, 9 months later.

Ben Louis: Second Session - 2 years ago

Also we talk about Ben's girlfriend's business—check it out!! http://www.royalgoodiesbox.com/

In this session, we reflect on Ben’s previous two sessions, where his life has gone, where it’s going and how he’s grown.

Ben, 29, talks candidly and honestly about his relationship with his work, women, religion and his family. He’s come to realize how pursuing a long-term career in radio is his passion and priority right now above all else (including the chicks!). We also discover that Ben is a lot more like his dad than it might seem….

Follow Ben! @BenTalkShow Listen Live every Thurs. 5-7, and for past episodes: https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/ben-talks/

The pandemic has made all of us rethink a lot, but for Jeanette the situation has moved her into other areas of performing that are satisfying for her, including writing, producing and performing in this one: Livin' Notoriously Notorious RBG.

In this therapy session, Jeanette reviews her thinking about why she moved to L.A., what that's been like and why she is seriously thinking of moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Check out more about Jeanette and her work here.

Update 2020: Here's where the tombstone is residing as of this posting:

Myra talks about her growing up in Georgia and what motivated her to come to New York where she found her way into one of the most crazy and glamorous scenes in history. I talked with her about the feeling of what made "Studio" a moment in time.

Myra has seen a lot but is not a bit jaded. She has a Sirius XM Radio show with Marc Beneke, the doorman/gatekeeper there:  Among other things, she is also devoted to working with The Felix Organization—a brilliant organization that helps children in foster care.

Personally, I became interested in Studio 54 at this time because of a project I did in 1978. After experiencing my own rejection at the club, I made and sold Studio 54 REJECT t-shirts to the “rejects” outside of Studio 54. When I found out the Brooklyn Museum was having a Studio 54 exhibition this spring of 2020, I reissued them to sell outside the Brooklyn Museum. This exhibition, Studio 54: Night Magic was exciting, fabulous and powerful exhibition—it did not disappoint . Myra was directly involved with curator Matthew Yokobosky in his process of developing the exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum. We spoke about that too—Myra’s original Norma Kamali sleeping bag coat on was display there—she told me how she got it!

I know Tom Tenney (our RFB station Executive Director) and Phil Buehler (my very own husband) all too well, so when I did this session with them to unpack the process of them collaborating together and how they felt/managed the global coverage, positive results, and just the logistics of this extraordinary project, I was personally invested in finding out how they seemingly worked so well together.

Turns out they really were a well-matched team that worked well without any of the friction I've experienced working with each of them separately. So the common denominator there is me-hmmm.

The exhibition at the gallery currently is 4 solo shows, each in individual rooms. Fearing that I was the most neurotic of the group, I thought it would be fascinating to talk with the other artists making their shows at the same time to find out what each of their experiences were.

I'll break it down for you:

Chiaozzo—That's Terri Chiao and Adam Frezza. They are a couple that have a large, professional grade studio practice. Like creating store windows around the world for Hermès professional. As Dr. Lisa, I've decided they have it all, a great marriage/art collaboration, a beautiful child that goes to the studio everywhere with them and a highly successful art practice. Plus—they're SO nice!!!

Maggie Avolio: Maggie is the youngest of this group, as she just graduated with an MFA from Stony Brook University in 2019. I can't say she's not accomplished though, check out her resume and list of awards!

Lisa Levy: As a professional, unlicensed therapist, I do not go into detail that often of all the things that I do when I'm not transmitting to you. I have a series of paintings that I've been making since 2011 that are literally the thoughts in my head. I collect hundreds a year and whittle out the best ones, making them into text paintings.

Check out David's work on Instagram! @dkramer5000

Fareeha Khan, Felipe Di Poi, Lorelei Ramirez, Marissa Goldman, Tawanda Gona, Tim Platt, Whitley Watson

I knew Lorelei Ramirez a bit and always loved her work so I asked her and an animator, Felipe Di Poi, who's work I loved as well, to talk about how visual art has been a good outlet for them during these trying times. I'd like to share a "before times" session I did with the Bricks artistic director, Theresa Buckheister as well.

As I always maintain, artists are like cockroaches, they will remain through everything—so here's some proof of that.

BIO: is the author of Warcries, as well as the 2018-2019 Franklin Furnace Fund Recipient, the 2018 Ragdale Alice Judson Hayes Fellowship Recipient, 2017 EMERGENYC Hemispheric Institute Fellow as well as the 2013- 2014 Queer Art Mentorship Queer Art Literary Fellow. Additionally, her work '"Desert Flowers" was shortlisted and selected for performance by the Women's Playwriting International Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. 

More about GOODW.Y.N and her performance/writing HERE. Follow her on Instagram: goodw.y.n9

In my position as a comfortably old enough to be his mother self-proclaimed psychotherapist, I was able to dig into the reasons behind Steele’s completely single status until this past year—he is now in his mid-twenties. Let’s say it may have something to do with his relationship with his mother—a very good one at that! Also Steele surprises me with a conclusion at the end of the episode.

Listen to songs from Steele's Top Secret Songs HERE. More of Steele's music HERE.

Instagram: @steelerkratt 

Twitter: @brooklynsteel_e

More about Anthony's book with cartoons and verses HERE.

Sherry has a lot of training and experiences. She talks about her own life, the effects of quarantine for all of us and the influence of her parents having been holocaust survivors.

More about Sherry HERE.

David is a charming, humble and extremely bright man. It's fascinating to speak with him about slavery, his art and the emotional impact and perspective his childhood has brought him.

 David has been a star of the previous 2 SPRING/BREAK Art Shows-more about his work here:

• SPRINGBREAK-2019-FACT-AND-FICTION-David-B-Frye-The-Lincoln-Paintings

• David's work in the New York Times

• More David Frye Paintings

In doing research in preparation to have Michele on my show, I came across a podcast she had done with another goddess comedian, Judy Gold. Michele laid out a history with was so deep and complex starting with the death of her mother at age 10 and the insanity that comes with not having a point person in your life. Michele is a great storyteller and a fascinating survivor—I encourage you to listen to the account which is detailed and inspiring. What someone can do without a college degree! Here's the links to the podcast - it's 3 parts-if you just listen to the first one, you can get the idea—only 1/2 hr. long! Michele and Judy PART 1 -  Michele and Judy PART 2 - Michele and Judy PART 3

Michele relates stories of her childhood in context of our session about how she got to where she is now and her take on what happened. How she got through her childhood, moved out, started a business career, got screwed up, straightened out and is currently a highly sought out comic for luxury cruises is an amazing, inspiring feat. I'm hoping I can get Michele back sometime when she returns from her job of making people laugh on cruise ships around the world,j literally, for a living..

BIO: Howard Halle is the Editor-at-large for Time Out New York as well as Chief Art Critic and Editor of the Art section. He joined TONY on August 1, 1995 as part of the staff at the launch of the magazine and has worked here since.

He taught 20th-century art history at the Corcoran Gallery School of Art in Washington D.C. before moving to NYC in 1981 to serve as the Curator for the The Gallery and Performance Art program at The Kitchen, one of the city's oldest non-profit arts centers. Additionally, he organized exhibitions at galleries and other institutional venues, including the Centre George Pompidou in Paris. Before coming to Time Out, he was Assistant Art Editor at Grand Street, an arts and literary quarterly.

And.. In an act of shameless Dr. Lisa self-promotion, here's an enjoyable story about me by Halle from 2016: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/can-do-spirit-artist-to-sit-naked-on-a-toilet-in-a-10-hour-performance-012616

Fariaz's Facebook post hit a nerve with many and drew me in to request a therapy session with actor and comedian Fariaz Rabbani. This session with him helped me understand the emotional trauma of being an undocumented immigrant. It also made me realize how there are people around me that i know that can be in this situation and I might not even realize it.

FARIAZ RABBANI writes: Being undocumented - especially while growing up here, is not something I'd wish on my enemy. It's psychological torture. I can't express it in words. It's been a never-ending self quarantine from society. COVID is the closest example I can give. You look out and see all the things you could do, all the ways you're wasting your time on this earth, but you're stuck in a space. But before DACA it was worse - can't travel, constant paranoia about where you are and what could go wrong, because bad luck doesn't mean just going to jail - but possibly having to leave the country and go to a place that you hardly know. All the while life is passing you by with no end in sight.

I graduated from college in 2006 (with zero financial aid) and then 2006 ended, 2007 ended, 2008 ended, 2009, ended, 2010 ended, 2011 ended - all these years I couldn't work a job on the books, or a even apply to a job I wanted to do, or drive, or travel - I didn't even have an ID card (I cried the day I got my first ID in the mail).

Even getting on a Greyhound was out of the question because there were news reports about ICE checking documents at random stops. In all this I tried to stay positive but eventually I grew angry and bitter. Even my stand up got very angry and not very funny. I would just go on stage and say the most horrible thing I could think of - because I stopped caring. I had no future, no agent, manager would be interested in me, it was my way of self-sabotaging. When I started stand up people would say you're very likable - but by 2011 the common feedback was "you need to be more likable on stage". I just had no outlet for any of the frustration, I was experiencing.

I still remember when I read in June 2012 that Obama was signing an executive order creating the DACA program. I think I read it 4-5x just to make sure what I was reading made sense and I wasn't dreaming. It really opened up my life - but like COVID - it was like a phase 3 opening. You can now do a lot of things you couldn't before but you know you're still not living a normal life.

I still worry every time I go to an audition when they ask for citizenship status. I know I can't audition for jobs outside the US. I worry if my rep will drop me b/c my opportunities are so limited.

The cruelty of keeping so many people in limbo by the government is hard to justify. Due to DACA I am able drive, work, travel in the US - but I can't leave the US, and visit my parents in Bangladesh. Why? I don't know. What does US gain by keeping 700k ppl trapped? Not to mention the cruelty of using this population as political pawns. Let's hope Nov brings about a change, and 2021 is a good year.

263You, Michael Adam Kaplan, Johnny MacDonald and 260 others

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MORE ABOUT FARIAZ HERE: http://fariaz.com/

In this session, we examine Sean's thinking behind his music/writing, which is, I have to say, fairly philosophical After that heavy discussion, he paints an entertaining picture of what it's like to be in a band on a cruise ship—how easily Covid would spread and the dynamics of the different work forces on the ship.

On the day of this post, Sean is premiering a fabulous NEW SONG AND VIDEO on LOOK AT MY RECORDS—Check it out HERE.

More about Sean and his music, etc. HERE.

This session was a great opportunity to look back on the past 5 years to dig into how Radio Free Brooklyn has changed his life (and many people's lives, including his co-director and RFB Board President, Rob Pritchard).

I know Tom pretty well, but there was a lot of learning here. We talked about his way of relating with us has changed and why. And I really enjoyed what he said about how being of service is a fundamental value/talent that runs in his family which include nurses and teachers.

If you really want a deep dive into the head of Tom Tenney and what kind of person starts a non-profit radio station, listen to Episode #001 of Dr. Lisa Gives A Shit from May 13 2015. It was also the first Dr. Lisa Gives A Shit show ever!

Tom hosts Frequency Theory on RFB every Thursday, 8-10pm.

If you want to give Tom a birthday gift, you can do so HERE.

BIO: Tom Tenney (Executive Director) was the founder and Director of the annual RE/Mixed Media Festival in NYC. He has been producing theatrical events since the 1980’s, working with a diverse group of artists – from Robert Wilson to DJ Spooky – and his long-running late-night series Grindhouse-A-Go-Go! was the flagship show at Surf Reality’s House of Urban Savages on the Lower East Side from 1998-2002. His sound pieces have been heard on PRX Remix Radio, GMFE Sound Experience, Deep Wireless Festival and Streaming Festival 6. Tom got his M.A. in Media Studies from the New School and his B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fun Arts) from Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He has been a guest lecturer at the School of Visual Arts and an adjunct Media Studies professor at Hofstra University and New Jersey City University. Tom is the host of Frequency Theory on RFB, and recently published a DIY guide to starting an Internet radio station.

I feel like I should have paid Claudi Love for this session. Her positive vibe transcends our Zoom and I just feel better having been in her presence. Claudi is an artist in every sense of the word—someone who can't stop creating. I love how her sensibility exudes from the decor of the space she's in.

Claudi is the frontwomen from a highly successly NYC band, Pinc Louds. Enjoy and connect with them here and on instagram @pinclouds Listen to their music here:

Here's a quote from Claudi where she expressed her intentions perfectly—from a interview on ADHOC—" I feel more alive when I perform. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t. Recording is all fine and dandy, but there’s nothing like playing live and seeing how people react; making people dance; making real human connections. Even more so in the subway, where people don’t come predisposed to listen to you and you’ve got everything to prove. But both there and in venues, our goal is to bring a little bit of life into people’s lives; to get them out of their brains and feel real feelings. I want to show people that magic is real and that they can make some at home. That’s about it."

Myq was polyamorous for a long time. He is now in a 4 years-long committed relationship. Myq describes the journey of where he began: married young, divorced, then polyamorous for years and how he transitioned to a monogamous relationship with his girlfriend-after they had been living together for a period of time. We discuss how being polyamorous has heightened his awareness of how to have a positive and productive relationship.

Myq's brand new album A.K.A. is FABULOUS!!!! You can get it HERE.

Myq Kaplan is a comedian named Mike Kaplan. He has performed on the Tonight Show, Conan, the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Late Late Show with James Corden, in his own half-hour Comedy Central Presents special, and in his own one-hour special on Netflix and now Amazon, “Small, Dork, and Handsome.” He has been a finalist on Last Comic Standing and recently appeared on America’s Got Talent. His debut album “Vegan Mind Meld” was one of iTunes’ top 10 comedy albums of the year. Listen to Myq's podcast: "Broccolli and Ice Cream" HERE.

I was thrilled to have M Charlene Stevens, founder and Editor-in Chief of Arcade Project as my guest/patient. I've know Charlene for years, introduced originally to her by artist, curator, Christopher Stout. Charlene, if you don't know her is a presence in any room, gallery or museum. She is a meticulously fashionable, gorgeous, tall, woman with a generous and gregarious personality. 

In this session, we dig into what's behind all that, Charlene talks about "imposter syndrome," her relationship with her mother and how it's changed after she passed away. I love hearing the description of Charlene's mother, a real leader in the community and the conflicts Charlene has in processing all that. 

I don't mean this to sound too heavy. Charlene is someone who's always on a path to growth and this is an inspiring story along with the birth of Arcade Project four years ago.

https://www.arcadeprojectzine.com/Arcade Project curates a mix of high and low culture. We focus primarily on visual art while providing a platform for performing artists, pop culture critics, poets, playwrights, bloggers, activists, philosophers, storytellers and more.

Emily is so inspiring because she is making a huge difference in our world and she is just like anyone else. No special advantages of any sort, she has to work for a living—no background in politics, etc. In this session Emily talks about her interest in letter writing at a young age, dealing with a sexual harassment situation at age 14 and her ability to get results influences her into being who she is today. In a poignant twist, Emily has recently lost her day job due to the pandemic. She takes us through her experience of getting let go over Zoom. We also find out her boyfriend is shy! Such great company on this show with Andrew Epstein who is an invaluable partner in her campaign with his vast experience and smarts. We also have the privilege of being joined by RFB's own Emily Scott, host of Objection To The Rule, who knows a shit ton more about local politics, etc. than I do!

Here's a good description of Theresa from a Greenpointer story: Theresa Buchheister is a successful artist because she is a generous one; through multiple festivals and off-the-beaten-path venues, clandestine locales and dive hives, she has created myriad opportunities for creators of various stripes to express themselves and their craft. How fitting that she should rise to be The Brick’s new Artistic Director. The Brick - btw folks, this is a special, important place if you haven't heard) (579 Metropolitan Avenue) has long been a haven for comediennes, interpreters of classics, and everything in between. Now, Theresa — founder of the lauded and Brooklyn-based Exponential Festival — takes her vast producorial and artistic know-how to Williamsburg’s vital and ever-evolving destination for cutting-edge theatrical experience.

Here's her website again-check it out-she does SO many different things!!!

The other part of this session is between Dylan and myself, with Meryl taking the shrink role. I had offended Dylan about four years ago when we were on stage together. And that’s all I’m saying. This is the closest I’ve come to crying on the mic though! And with all this going on, we barely got to touch on the fact that Dylan is the current Miss Subways!! https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/nyregion/Miss-Subways-NYC.html

Here's some info about Meryl Meisler, an incredible photographer artist. You can see her work and all that stuff here: Her bio is too long for this post but you’ll recognize these places in it: Meisler has received fellowships, grants and residencies from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Light Work, YADDO, The Puffin Foundation, Time Warner, Artists Space, C.E.T.A., the China Institute and the Japan Society. Her work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Historical Society, Dia Art Foundation, MASS MoCA, Islip Art Museum, Annenberg Space for Photography, the New Museum for Contemporary Art, New-York Historical Society, Steven Kasher Gallery, The Whitney Museum of American Art and in public spaces including Grand Central Terminal, South Street Seaport, Photoville and throughout the NYC subway system. Full bio here.

More about Dylan Mars Greenberg: It’s insane how much great work she’s accomplished and she’s only 22! The most inspiring way to find out about Dylan is from this wonderful documentary by Piano Whitman that I totally recommend: http://nobudge.com/main/woman-from-mars. And here’s a headline from when she was only 19! "How a 19 Yr Old Directed & Sold 6 Feature Films with Dylan Mars Greenberg".

More about his seven feature films and music videos with notable artists on her Wikipedia page here.

Armed with an acquired wit and intelligence that was born from the streets of NYC, Christopher Albert, also once an inhabitant of Los Angeles, is set to emerge as one of the funniest, charming, yet eccentric writers and humorists of our day.

Though Christopher has produced content for Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike, his true talents are rooted in entertainment and comedy. Christopher has had the unique opportunity to study the craft of humor with the best: instructors from the famed Comedy Store and Second City Hollywood, as well as invaluable insight from veteran comedy writers. 

​Christopher’s brutally honest approach to humor is evident in his litany of fearless content. His works include the writing and production of Junk and Jam, absurdly edgy content, satirically animated graphics, and humorous programming – including the Junk and Jam Hour talk-radio broadcast, and Junk and Jam Live cablecast program.

​As a performer, Christopher has been afforded opportunities to share his talents on many stages including the historic Apollo Theater, with appearances on the Rosie O’ Donnell Show, Billboard Music Awards and features on MTV and PBS. He has also performed on and produced an array of successful live comedy showcases, featured alongside many top comedians.

​His collection of humorous writings include his novel, The Kettle Black: The Chronicles of Mia and Rocco, and autobiographical short stories for the series, A Crack Baby’s Bible.

​Writer, producer, performer, humorist and host Christopher Albert is humbled by his life’s experiences, and believes that humor is much more than just a singular tool used to escape the harsh realities of our world, it actually enriches it.

​Lisa Lampanelli fondly referred to him as an ‘anal astronaut’

Ariana Grande’s Dad praised him as a ‘creative professional’

…and Mariah Carey once gave him a disingenuous hug.

With all that, Eric continues to look for new challenges, which is probably why he got to where he is anyway.

Eric is also a serious collector of of amateur 1950s three-dimensional photography was featured in 3D: Double Vision, a survey exhibit at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). He also contributed an essay to the exhibition catalog. He continues to share his collection with small groups in his Midcentury Stereopanorama shows, which are often held at The City Reliquary. Eric’s 3D work has been profiled in the New York Times and Atlas Obscura. 

More about Eric and his work HERE.

Chris Gersbeck is a comedian, producer and writer based in Queens, NY. He currently produces and makes regular appearances on comedy podcasts Dave Hill: History Fluffer, Dave Hill’s Podcasting Incident, and So… You’re Canadian with Dave Hill which is on the Maximum Fun network. Chris also produces numerous live comedy events throughout New York City under the banner of Dumb Productions, Inc. and handles publicity for several popular podcasts including RISK! and Keith and The Girl. Along with comedian Frank Conniff (TV’s Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000), Chris produces Open Riff Night, a show where anyone can riff on clips of awful movies. If you want to strike up a conversation with him, just bring up Star Wars. https://chris-gersbeck.com/

Check out Sharilyn's work here: https://sharilynart.com/

Sharilyn does a lot of important work with Meer Musa and Tim Gowan for Trans-cen-der, their monthly artist review series! https://www.facebook.com/transcenderart

I have work in her current exhibition, Body Beautiful and have chatted with her at some of her events, but didn't really get to understand how she makes so much happen as well as look while looking beautiful and polished. I also didn't understand where her deep passion for helping female artists came from. Until now. Her background , natural intelligence and hard work explain some of it, but it's her experiences really count. I learned a lot about Indira and got some good advice too!

Here's what Indira said about this session,:

December 19 at 10:50 AM · 

Thank you Lisa Levy for your thought provoking interview with me for your radio show Dr. Lisa Gives A Shit on Radio Free Brooklyn. We covered everything from my growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, to my rather colorful family, my career as a fashion photographer, why I launched The Untitled Space gallery, and my interests in feminism - among a ton of other topics in the 1 hour talk - so if you have a moment to take a break, I invite you to check it out. I think I learned a few things about myself along the way as well!

Leslie and I support each other’s work consistently and it REALLY HELPS. The last time Leslie visited the station was exactly 3 years ago this month so she returns to update up. 3 years ago, Leslie had just started performing at Loser’s Lounge at Joe’s Pub as well as pianist and host for Karaoke at Sid’s Gold. Today those have both turned into regular gigs for her. She outlines her other music director gigs she’s been doing, including an upcoming night at a fancy benefit to honor Seth Rogan and his dad, Mark.

I also get Leslie, despite her resistance, to talk about the intense thrice-weekly gym workout with a trainer that she began a year ago and the effect it’s had on her psyche. Leslie is an example of how hard work, discipline, and oh yeah, talent! can lead to great things Also please note: we found out more about Mark Rogan,, Seth Rogan’s father. He worked for a non-profit organization and as an assistant director of the Workmen's Circle Jewish fraternal organization

John is undeniably funny and original. When he shows up to the studio this time he is also clean and healthy as a whistle. As he says so himself, “he looks years younger.”

John openly dives right into describing his battle with bipolar illness. What’s so interesting, hearing about it from him, is that he has truly educated himself on his illness and the myriad ways, medical and otherwise, diet, yoga, etc. to cope with it. So as an unlicensed shrink, I learned a lot—he understands all the drugs quite well and how they work too. He’s really helpful at articulating his feelings and experiences as well.

John is inspiring too. His drive to cope with bipolar is directly connected to his passion for comedy, because he wants to keep doing it. He’s in a great place right now – so glad to have him back in Brooklyn! If you're interested in hearing even more about John's bipolar experience, you can add on this episode of the Keith and The Girl podcast: http://www.keithandthegirl.com/show-detail/5679/goofygrapes-w-john-f-odonnell.aspx

At the beginning of this episode: Howard Eckstut, a boy from camp that liked me and visited me at my home after camp calls in-we haven't talked in 50 years! We reminisce about a co-ed swim. and more

GET HIS SPECIAL HERE

John F. O'Donnell (JFOD) is currently a “Political Correspondent” on the comedy news television program Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp on RT America. According to the Comedy Central Insider, "John F. O'Donnell is one of the more explosive comics in New York City. On stage, he's like a tightly capped liter of soda filled with lit fireworks." John has been featured in The New York Times, The LA Times and The Huffington Post, as well as being one of Comedy Central's Fresh Faces of Comedy. John is also the co-creator and host of the 8-city hit show, 50 First Jokes. JFOD was been given a Congressional Press Credentials for Redacted Tonight, which, if you know him, seems like a terrible breach of security.

Anyways - we talk about the relationship that they album is based on and I have to say, I think Gillians processing her relationship through this work has been very healing for her. We also chat about the bands creative process, play some more of the music from the new album and basically have a blast. Really like Gillian's no bullshit attitude here! Btw: It's on

Jesse is an expert. She calls her healing practice Enhanced Living through Acupuncture, Herbs, and Alchemy.

She's been practicing with Ayahuasca for over 25 years. Jesse has a shamin she works with regularly in her travels to Peru to do "ceremony," They have become good friends. She have traveled with him all over Peru in small groups, and have taken several trips to Colombia with him as well. 

Also, Jesse is a very successful and down to earth human, not just some nutcase, so I get her to tell us what her take is. I find her experiences and perspective authentic.

Jesse has full command of a wide range of healing practices which she draws from to use with her clients. She has published several books and recently completed a documentary film: The I Ching, Ancient Consciousness, and the Creation of Chinese Medicine.

Ken Perlstein is a successful actor with a great career (recurring role on Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, touring comedian, accomplished writer, etc. https://www.kenperlstein.com/ Ken has written a new TV pilot, How Am I Doing? a story about a middle aged man struggling with his acting career, his relationship with his daughter and addiction, which is making the festival rounds. As Ken states in the GoFundMe Page:

My dream of creating this pilot began with looking at my own struggles and challenges, raising a family, being a husband and a father, keeping my sobriety, all while continuing to pursue my career as an actor.

This pilot must get to air. Please donate on the Go Fund Me page and see the sizzle reel for it or go see the full pilot at the Golden Door FIlm Festival on September 22, 2019.

Jude's band Moon Palace is SO GOOD. We play some of the music throughout so you will see what I mean. A new record drops August 23. LISTEN TO MOON PALACE HERE: https://www.moonpalacemusic.com/ More about Moon Palace: Moon Palace is a queer Seattle rock band led by identical twin sisters Cat Biell (guitar, vocals) and Carrie Biell (bass, vocals). The twins began writing songs together as teenagers, cultivating a musical bond made particularly significant as children of two Deaf parents. Joined by Jude Miqueli (drums) and Darcey Zoller (cello, synth), the Biells write hook-driven, nature-inspired psychedelia with dreamy guitar discord and unique sibling harmonies.

"An evening of dangerous ideas and radical inquiry into what it means to be human, right now! Right here!"

Penny and I talk in depth about a lot of what's on her mind which are topics in the show, such as the failed promise of the internet, and the culture we live in. So much thinking here from someone who's traveled the world and seen it all. Penny's FABULOUS SHOW is at JOE'S PUB, Tues., Aug. 13, Tues., Aug. 20 and Tues., Aug. 27. Tickets $20 which is a bargain for Joe's Pub - GET TICKETS HERE! Penny Arcade's Bio is a must read, here's the first sentence, "Since first climbing out of her bedroom window at age 14 to join the fabulously disenfranchised world of queers, junkies, whores, stars, deviants and geniuses she has become one of the most influential performers in the world." Read the rest HEREAnd more about Penny, including video HERE

Owning her image is central to Schrager’s art practice. She has spent years creating work in which she is the photographer, model, and artist in order to facilitate an institutional critique of the standard exploitative practices of the fashion and arts industries. The impulse to sexually shame women, however, is one of the reasons Schrager invented Ona in the first place.

Follow Leah Schrager on Instagram: @leahschrager

More about Leah and her work here: https://leahschrager.com/

This interview took place on July 11, a short time before artist/activist/photographer, Savannah Spirit’s 44th birthday which is a year to the date of her mother’s unexpected death at age 73. In this session, Savannah generously and openly articulates the experience she went through and the subsequent personal growth she, as well as her father and brother, have developed individually and as a family, going forward. A turning point for her is a meeting a friend takes her to in January of this past year. I think this episode will be a true gift to anyone who has or is currently experiencing grief or has a mission to grow as a human. Scroll down to read the notes from Savannah in preparing herself for this session.

MORE ABOUT SAVANNAH and her work: https://savannahspirit.photography/

FOLLOW on Instagram- @savannahspirit.artist

Savannah's Notes: 

- My mom was my first champion cheerleader as an artist and photographer, always supportive of my projects and vision, when I lost her, I felt I lost my biggest supporter. I then have realized I have to be own cheerleader and champion now. -Turning point came to a head early January just after the New Year. A friend took me to an AA meeting (although I'm not an alcoholic my father is and it shed light.) I bawled my eyes out at that meeting because of the stories I heard, it inspired me to let go of my anger from my mom's death so I did -on a person who felt deserved it.... -I literally googled, "When your mother dies on your birthday..." and the Reddit post which came up. This particular entry was amazing because it was as if my mother was talking to me directly about why she died the day I was born... -My father's and my relationship seemed so solid but after mom died it was revealed that we had to work on things. Mom was always the buffer... the journey of repairing things with my dad has been ongoing and very difficult. Her death has also revealed things that I had to change (she enabled.) Even though her death has been horrible and terrible in every way, realizations had to happen and changes I had to make were necessary. -Been revisiting Elton John since I saw the film "Rocketman"- I was listening to the song the other day and like a flood grief struck me because I thought the lyrics were so poignant. They remind me of what my dad is going through. Not tethered to reality nor to earth because of losing mom.

"I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife

It's lonely out in space

On such a timeless flight

And I think it's gonna be a long long time

Till touch down brings me round again to find

I'm not the man they think I am at home

Oh no, no, no, I'm a rocket man

Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone" -My very close friends have become my family. 

This episode sounds heavy, but somehow there's a lightheartedness to it. Also, I found Rachel through this great interview in the Bushwick Daily.

In this episode, I coerce George into making a lot of this session into therapy about me, while putting George on the spot. I must say he’s a great sport about trying to help me resolve some difficult questions I still have about myself as a functioning adult in a workplace. It’s interesting to hear George’s take on our shared experiences, what George’s natural abilities are and how he’s succeeded in a highly cutthroat, competitive environment. George has a lot of his own great insights and anecdotes about working as a creative person in a corporate environment. Afterwards, I had a thought that perhaps George’s role as a dad gave him more distance from himself in order to survive in the workplace – maybe? I dunno.

One of George’s gifts is his wildly popular ad blog that is relatable to anyone who works in any business. George’s humor gets to the heart of the challenge of being a human in this world. 

Art critic/writer and now curator, Jillian Steinhauer hit a collective nerve with a powerfully meaningful exhibition she’s curated at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts titled In the Presence of Absence. The show is described briefly here by Mary Louise Schumacher, "When it comes to grief, our culture values the stiff upper lip. But stoic composure comes with a price. It keeps the realities at arm’s length, including truths about the erasure, enslavement and slaughter of Native Americans and Africans. A small show in New York, “In the Presence of Absence,” suggests that mourning may be a means of empowerment and a way through. It is a show that requires a certain openness, a bit of courage even, to experience." — Picking up on a line in exhibition statement from Jillian, it says, This exhibition is dedicated to Henrietta, Suzanne, and Bronia. We learn that two of these women are Jillian's grandmothers, and the third is her partners mother, who have all passed away in the past three years. Jillian takes us on an examination of how she activated her own interest in art, artists and art writing to take her on a journey of healing and understanding grief and death as a personal, as well as a universal level. Talking about these topics and the exhibition helps demonstrate that facing grief is of course sad, but also can be comforting, uplifting and helps us recognize each other as human across all boundaries. A true demonstration that art is healing.

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A long term art world teammate of mine, close friend, artist and former gallerist Christopher Stout talks about his latest work at Lichtunfire and his interest and exploration of the concept of Gay Abstraction in his work. It’s a fascinating topic because it is an emerging term, one that Christopher is helping to define. Stout also gives us a hint about the new project he is commandeering to catalogue the past and present of art in Bushwick from 2010 on.