Shows
Talking to Strangers (About Music)In the Midst of Chaos, Finding CalmWhen confusion reigns, where do you turn? We are strangers to ourselves in these moments, unfocused and unclear. I often turn to the piano, or other musical instruments to get at and get out what's going on inside. More even than writing, composing music allows thoughts and feelings to flow through me unencumbered (or, at least, less encumbered than the more rational reasoned way I sometimes feel I have to write, or talk.)In this episode, I play some piano and talk through some ideas about how we go about expressing ourselves and getting at the confusing...
2022-06-2843 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Fans of Phoebe Bridgers Cite 'Collective Catharsis'What makes us love a musician? The connection with a performer and their music is not unlike other loves probably, a slightly inexplicable alchemy that hits us hard, right off the bat.Seeing a long line of people waiting mid-morning for the best seats for the Phoebe Bridgers benefit concert in Prospect Park last week, I was curious: why do these folks love her so much they’d wait all day in the hot sun to get as close as possible?So I asked. I’d never even heard of the 27-year-old indie phenom til the n...
2022-06-2116 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Moxie the Band: The Read on The Future is GreatMy interaction with the young band Moxie is a direct result of saying 'yes.' "Can a band stay with us a couple of nights?" my son Eli asked a couple weeks back and--based on my love of strangers, especially meeting them in my house--I didn't skip a beat. "Yes," I said. And so it was that I found myself in my kitchen with four of the most lovely dynamic clear-headed young people ever, the Brattleboro, VT-based members of the fast-rising Moxie the Band, in the early days of their Summer 2022 East Coast tour.
2022-06-1336 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Cool Drummer Chick: Dani MarkhamWhen I sat down to write about Dani Markham, the first thing I did was look up "cool." Even though it was the first word that came to mind when I thought to describe her, I guess I don't really know why, or what 'cool' really means...Obviously, like all words, 'cool' is subjective. But what came up from psychologists who study perceptions of human behavior were qualities like 'attitude and behavior seen as uniquely their own" and "accepting who you are, showing up authentically, being kind to everyone." Cool, it seems, means becoming the p...
2021-10-181h 00
Talking to Strangers (About Music)How Naked Can We Be?For this episode, I sat down naked at the piano. Sometimes, it is only through music and rhythm that I am able to get at what I'm REALLY thinking and feeling, what I want to express. Sometimes, often, words don't work. I so like to express my naked thoughts and ideas. And I like to hear other people's. People often can see that in my eyes, in my body language. They tell me things, sometimes things they haven't told anybody else. I often wonder what that is, why people feel they can say things to me that t...
2021-06-2918 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Jason Naradzay - Relabeling Ex-Cons 'Humans'Trust is an interesting thing. To talk to someone, to engage with them, is to offer them a sort of trust. When I first talked to Jason Naradzay a few years back, it was to interview him for a piece I was writing in support of Musicambia, a nonprofit music education organization he had been involved with during his time served at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. He was out of Sing Sing and applying the therapeutic skills he'd learned inside the prison to help those still there. He knew firsthand the crucial importance of music and self expression to...
2021-06-1750 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Jamee & Leonissa: An Artful Miami ConnectionI knew that Jamee Jurecki and Leonissa Morris were to be my pals back when I first encountered them in December of 2017. As we stood there in front of the long mirrors of the communal bathroom at the Posh Hostel in South Beach, brushing our teeth and hair, preparing to hit the town, it was very clear. We had come to Miami on our own, adventurous ladies staying at a low-cost high-style hostel by the beach during the city's fabulous Art Basel show, and we were definitely gonna be able to hang together, and have a blast. J...
2020-11-231h 04
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Ourida, the Courageous SingerOn Facebook the other day, someone posed the question, "what career did you dream of having when you were a kid?" I didn't skip a beat. "A singer!" I responded. My sister and I spent countless hours singing into a tape recorder (yes, a tape recorder, with cassette tapes whose plastic film we often had to detangle and re-roll with a pen. I am that old.) There was something about the freedom of belting out one's more melodramatic emotions full on with a fake microphone in the mirror that was truly amazing. Maybe that's why I'm so e...
2020-10-0755 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Designer, Color Maven, Dog Whisperer Nora FishI first met Nora Fish in a little cafe named Parco, in Park Slope. She had a beautiful German Shepherd named Annika and an adorable pug named Tootsie. As she reminds me during this podcast, she and I "were constantly complimenting each other's boots!" I have always admired Nora's style, from the great knit ponchos she makes herself to the gorgeous knit sweaters she has made for her dog, my dog and so many others, including those four-legged creatures she so lovingly invites to stay with her when their owners go away. In addition to dogs--including her n...
2020-10-0234 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)How Do You Illustrate Meaning? Talk to James YangWhen James Yang came to my kids' school to talk about his illustrated children's book back in 2013, I was immediately struck by its powerful simplicity. I had just started volunteering at a school where kids didn't get to meet authors like my kids did, and I invited James to join. We reminisced during this podcast about that day, about how the kids swarmed around him as he showed them on a big piece of butcher paper taped to the wall how to make the simple shapes and designs of the robots and planets found in his book. Seven years...
2020-09-3052 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)When the Stranger is Your TeenagerIt was quite the coup to get one of my teenagers to come on to the podcast. After all, they are independent humans with ideas of their own about how to live life, and doing my bidding often takes low priority, as it should be. Over the years, I humiliated them bi-weekly with my Fearless Parenting column in the Brooklyn Paper, subjected them to a few awkward photo/video shoots for newspaper and TV and regularly interrupt family outings by...yes, talking to strangers (at one point stopping to give them gold stars.) But I am thrilled and humbled...
2020-09-3024 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Talking with Plants: Permaculturist Emily SauseWhen I first met the lovely Emily Sause a few years back, she was 'head of community'for a stunning Manhattan co-working space called The Assemblage. It was part of her job to be welcoming, but she seemed to go above and beyond with her bright-eyed enthusiasm. While I didn't end up joining the super-cool workspace, I did manage to come for a couple of events, including Emily's 'vocal toning' workshop, which was one of the more relaxing deeply meditative hours of my life. We got together a number of times for fun events--hers or mine--and I so...
2020-09-2932 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)The Games We Play with Strangers...Scrabble with Sarah and RobertoI met Roberto at Cafe Martin in Park Slope. He was a mathematician/philosopher working there between gigs. A song had come on and I asked a question about it, and he said how popular it was with the French kids. He said it with a bit of a scoff. He sounded French but...”where are you from?” I asked before I guessed.“I’m Italian,” he said. He grew up in Monaco though. Maybe I learned that then, or later, that relationship between his Italian roots and growing up in France. It read on his face, though, hi...
2020-09-2710 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Musician/Barista Ben: A Chat at Java JoeWhen I run out of coffee, I am always glad because it means I can take a walk over to Java Joe. For so many years, I have been going to this little shop on 8th Street, in Park Slope, to buy their deliciously strong Black Magic espresso beans. The shop is adorable, run by a lovely frank Irish lady, and besides the INCREDIBLE mint malted milk balls (a holiday gift staple) I always have a good chat. In this episode, I went in for beans and a new mug (I have too many, but always want a new...
2020-09-2626 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Drumming Up Trust: Finding Rhythm with StrangersIn this episode, I head to the beach to drum, and I talk a bit about how we learn to trust ourselves and others. It's not easy. I often use the metaphor of music, and work with people, including homeless men, to try to get at thoughts about connection, and trust and flexibility through drumming together. What we can create together, quickly, us strangers, with a little music, is nothing short of magic. Have a drum or something to hit your hands on to make rhythm with me at the beginning. Listen as I talk about a recent experience...
2020-09-2421 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Samir LanGus: Playing the Sintir in AdidasWhat I loved about Samir LanGus from the first time I saw him was how comfortably he seemed to mix cultures seamlessly and stylishly. As a Moroccan musician steeped in the classically spiritual Gnawa music of his homeland, he is always sporting American fashions like his favored Adidas jackets or running pants along with more traditional Moroccan garb. The look is representative of Samir's extremely nimble balance of traditional and modern, which has shown up in the collaborations he has forged with all different kinds of musicians including British L.A.-based DJ Bonobo, who partnered with his band...
2020-09-2321 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Discussing Fear & Other Emotions with Facebook 'Friend' Chris RaelI'm "friends" on Facebook with a lot of people I've never met. Maybe we have mutual friends, maybe they read something of mine or listened to my podcast, maybe I heard them play somewhere. Neither Chris Rael nor I remember exactly how we became "friends," though we have a long list of friends in common, mostly musicians (since he is one.) Even though we've never met, I reached out to Chris recently after a post of his caught my eye, and asked if he would be on my podcast to discuss it. In it he said: "Our...
2020-09-2233 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Talking to My Therapist (Friend): Mubasher NaseerI try not to take advantage of my friendship with veteran psychoanalyst Mubasher Naseer. After all, he is clearly easy to talk to, listens well and has many years' experience helping people sort out relationships and other of life's strains and stresses with his sage advice. Since we met, roughly six years ago, Mubasher is always a good person to chat with about what's happening in the world and what people are feeling, including he and I. It is nice to hear what a mental health professional feels outside of the professional setting. I enjoy the back and forth...
2020-09-2047 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Pianist James Carney Talks ShopSince meeting jazz pianist James Carney seven or so years ago in a little bar in Park Slope, I have sat many times in various venues to see and hear him tickle the ivories, his fingers flying fast across the keys masterfully to create rhythms that resound in the soul. It was a pleasure to sit with him again and hear a few of these sounds, this time in his new PianoWorks studio in Brooklyn's cool Industry City complex. While musical performances came to a halt during Covid, James decided to expand upon the piano tuning/repair work he...
2020-09-1925 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Hilary Robertson: Styling a Beautiful TruthIt is fitting that in our chat, in her sumptuous living quarters in the Fort Greene area of Brooklyn, stylist/creative director Hilary Robertson would quote Keats' Ode to a Grecian Urn. She waved her hand this way and that with her usual English dramatic flair, and the crisp striped fabric of the full-length dress shirt she wore shifted slightly. "'Truth is Beauty, and Beauty Truth' or something like that," she said, eyes up toward the soaring brownstone parlor ceiling as she rendered the perfectly apropos words. I remembered then, with a smile, the moment...
2020-09-181h 00
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Saskia Layden Kaya: Teacher of Yoga, and LoveI first met Saskia Layden (now Saskia Layden Kaya) when she was teaching yoga to children at Still Waters in a Storm, a storefront after-school program in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Her smile and laugh lit up the room, and the children gathered around her, all over her, like puppies. I knew immediately I needed her to teach the kids in my own program for InspireCorps, at PS81, and when she did...I was blown away. She had no doubts, not a single qualm it seemed. She knew exactly what the kids needed, and she gave it to...
2020-09-1742 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)The Serious Stylings of Jazz Guitarist Andy BiancoIt is fitting that I am posting this episode of Talking to Strangers late at night, as that's when I met today's guest, jazz guitarist Andy Bianco. We met at Korzo, a Park Slope restaurant and bar, during one of the late great Konceptions Music Series shows put on by pianist James Carney and his wife Heidi Bayer. He wasn't playing that night, but I would hear him on a number of subsequent occasions, both in bars and in my house, where he began to teach my son. As much as I try, with this podcast and...
2020-09-1642 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Trainer Stanley Mills: Believe, and the Body will FollowBelieving in yourself can be a hard thing. With Stanley Mills' sure smile and easy laugh, and his gentle prodding, it seems easier. Stanley has been a personal trainer for over 20 years, though his body seems to defy that that's even possible! It is his physique that is physically impressive, but it is his amazing positivity that really drives one forward. I can hear his voice in my head sometimes, "You can do it Steph..." Everyone in my family except my oldest son has used Stanley as a trainer at the Y. I worried about him during th...
2020-09-1405 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Deep Chat with My Contractor & The PlumbersWhen you buy a house and decide to gut renovate it, you are suddenly in contact with a lot of strangers you have to learn to trust. Last November, I hired upstate contractor Andy Kane from Peak Builders, and he began to work on the fixer-upper we'd purchased in Elka Park, NY. It has been 10 months since then, and there have been an amazing cast of characters Andy has brought in do the plumbing and electrical, to tile the bathrooms, fix the roof, deliver the wood, to paint and help him with all the massive amount of carpentry. Despite...
2020-09-1419 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Talking to my Teenage Stranger Self, Working at a 50s DinerIt's funny to remember back nearly four decades ago to a time and place, to a 50s diner in Tucson, Arizona in the 80s. That young girl in the too-tight Laverne shirt making shakes behind the ice cream counter was me, Steph Saull. I found this recording I made talking about that time (and digressing, of course, onto other seemingly related topics) and I thought it was fascinating how I seem to recall details then that I'm not even sure about now, a little more than a year later. I posit theories and try to ascribe to my own...
2020-09-1317 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)The Music of a Stranger: Pierre-Yves Plat at the Sunset in ParisDiscovering a fabulous musician you've never heard of at a club, alone in a foreign city is...well, it is an amazing, life-affirming highly connected experience, one I wholeheartedly recommend. Rolling through recordings on my phone, searching for a podcast for Day 4 of my 30-day lead-up to 50, I happened upon a performance I'd recorded at the Sunset Sunside Jazz Club in Paris back in May of 2017. I'd gone on vacation with my mom and sisters, but no one else felt like going out, so I headed out myself to the Sunset, which a friend had recommended. Sitting down in...
2020-09-1214 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Alex Grant: A Free-Range LifeTrying to title this podcast, I was uncharacteristically at a loss for words. It's hard to put Alex in a box. He said he would go into one, but only if he knew who he was in there with...Ha. This is why Alex and I have become great friends and confidants over the last five years, ever since we met on the lunchroom balcony of the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY a place seekers like us go to...well, find. In addition to whatever we learned in our workshops, Alex and I found each other. He smiled at m...
2020-09-1051 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Artist Per Adolfsen: Teaching Us to SeeThere is definitely something about the cadence of someone's voice. At the crowded poolside bar at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach, on a gorgeous night when the Art Basel art fair had taken over the city, Per Adolfsen's urgent yet mellifluous Danish tone broke through the din. There had been some drinks consumed, surely, that fueled his passionate outcries, but it was obvious from the moment my friend Miok and I met him that Mr. Adolfsen was a force. Honesty is always powerful. The same tone showed through in the art we saw of our new friend's the...
2020-09-0948 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Joelle Provost: Sculpting to Save the EnvironmentI am always amazed at the power of instantaneous connection. The moment I met Joelle Provost at a diner in Brooklyn Heights is a perfect example. A wide-eyed young artist/art teacher, she struck me right away as a powerful force, one I wanted to get to know. I shortly thereafter visited her on the wide porch of the Ditmas Park Victorian she was living in with other artists to view her work, and I knew my instincts were correct: this young woman is gifted with a great vision, and the power to change things for the better through...
2020-08-3144 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Photographer Giles Clement, UnfilteredWhen we sat down together recently at an outdoor cafe on my corner, in Park Slope, I liked Giles Clement immediately. Though he might use one as a photographer, it was clear from his comment about the waitress that in conversation he had no filter. Just my style. I was told weeks ago by my friend Maggie to call Giles. Maggie is the owner of the Krooked Cafe in Tannersville near my new house in the Catskill Mountains of New York, and she is a special human, mother to all. When she left me a message to "...
2020-08-0443 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Meeting Monica On the TrailSitting at a lookout on a beautiful Catskills trail, staring out toward the Hudson Valley framed below, I caught sight of a young woman running along. She seemed wet, and I wondered aloud to her if there was water from where she'd come. It was a hot day and I was looking to dive in somewhere. She came to a complete stop to regard me, and clearly considered my question a responsibility. She began looking in earnest on her phone for how to guide me to water. She hadn't been in any. She was just covered in sweat actually...
2020-07-2009 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Tara & Earl: Partners in Dance & LifeWhy are Tara Sanders & Earl Legister, Jr. together? "We always connected on the dance floor," Tara says emphatically. And Earl agrees. Of course, there is no way of ever knowing, exactly, what brings two people together, on the dance floor and off. That alchemy is long-studied, long-pondered. But for the last year-plus, the strange chemical equation called 'love' has Tara and Earl in its grips, and they are dancing together, and inspiring others to do the same, especially recently."When Covid first hit, and I was taking stock, I thought 'how can we...
2020-06-2952 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Finding Common Ground with Southern Historian Dr. Edward LeeI found Dr. Edward Lee on Facebook, not exactly sure how. He is a renown professor of history at South Carolina's Winthrop University, an author and lecturer who looks back with reason on the 20th Century. He has more than 4,000 friends on Facebook, humans of all kinds, former students, friends, and strangers he has made friends with from around the world in his efforts to understand what happens, and why. He is clearly much respected for his open ears and open mind. Recently, Dr. Lee posted about his morning walks, and how nature reminded him of the g...
2020-06-1938 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)A Little Rhythm, PeopleReason + Flexibility + Love. This is how we get in tune with the stranger within us, and the stranger outside.Nose to the wind...breathe it in. In this episode, we feel our way through. Join us on our journey.
2020-05-2528 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)A Recipe for 'Friendship': Chai with Navodita SinghThe concept of "friend" on Facebook is a strange one. So often, people request to be 'friends' from all over the world, and I don't even know them. "Why do you accept?" my husband asks. And I think about this. What better way to interact and learn about people from all over the world quickly and easily then social media? Seven years ago, a request came in from a young woman in India named Navodita Singh. I accepted. In the ensuing years, Navodita--a beautiful always-smiling dancing woman-- has liked a variety of my posts, and...
2020-05-1428 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Agni Zotis: The Art of the Silver LiningWhen I first met NYC artist Agni Zotis at a cafe near her apartment/studio in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, I knew she was a force to be reckoned with. In her iconic gravelly voice, inflected with a little Greek, by way of Queens, she offered up tales of the nonprofit she created to bring kids much-needed meditation and art, May Kids Transform. And she spoke of the inspiration she'd found for her latest series at the time -- amazing fluorescent depictions of the cosmos, backlit. When I brought my own InspireCorps interns to her place to get...
2020-05-0557 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Singer Pi Jacobs: All There is to Do is Dance and Sing...The great Americana singer Pi Jacobs has a wonderful idea of how to cope in the face of Covid-19: dance and sing. In her newly released single off her Two Truths And a Lie album, called "No Sin to Be Poor," the effervescent Jacobs recalls her own childhood poverty, and how they managed to get through it by having fun and being silly. "There's no shame in needing help," she says in our chat. And while many people now might need that help, there is never a better time to find creative expressive ways of dealing with it. Her v...
2020-04-2744 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)At Home with The Lone Bellow's Brian ElmquistA major silver lining of the current pandemic is that one can find usually VERY BUSY people at home, and eager to chat. One-time stranger, longtime friend Mr. Brian Elmquist has been very busy in recent years on the road around the world with his spectacularly popular 'Americana' band, The Lone Bellow. But I was able to catch up with him at home in Nashville with his lovely wife and beautiful kids and chat about a whole lot of things including his LIVE streaming concert on Instagram TONIGHT at 10 EST for the great NYC venue Rockwood Music Hall, where...
2020-04-0945 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Guitarist Guru Raed El-KhazenTo me, Raed El-Khazen is one of the best examples of how talking to strangers changes the course of one's life. It's hard to know what to say about this man I met 12 years ago at Dizzy's Diner in Park Slope, hard to pin down exactly why when his eyes sparkled at me and his gravelly voice spoke I felt the need to look more closely at myself and at the world. He has that affect on people:) Raed is a musician, and a dedicated devotee of learning and thinking about the ways in which humans need to pursue...
2020-03-2447 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Nena's Test of the Love UniverseI met Nena Hribar at my friend Saskia's wedding in Fethiye, Turkey, last spring. She is from the tiny European country of Slovenia, and was one of 14 women from all over the world--a mini United Nations--with whom I sat naked in the sauna at a beautiful Turkish Bath (otherwise known as a Hamam). We found ourselves together at the airport in Dalaman, waiting for a plane to Istanbul, and I recorded our chat. I've been looking for the perfect opportunity to put our amazing conversation out into the world, and today seems like it. Today, I drew th...
2020-03-1026 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Teens on Inspiration and That Pesky Inner VoiceAfter an awesome rhythmic drum session and a collaborative chalkboard drawing (beautiful!), my new interns Jalissa and Breanna sat down with me over popcorn and chamomile tea to discuss...well, how they might stay inspired a la Kobe Bryant, to whom they dedicated their gorgeous art work. I talk too much in this, filling in the silence too often with my own thoughts, which is exactly what teachers and adults do badly, so shame on me. These ladies are bright and engaged when given half a chance, totally creative and instinctively smart. We (including me) need to give them...
2020-02-1141 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Tutorial: How to Talk to a StrangerMy intern, Abby, and I were talking about self expression. She is 16 and admittedly quiet. "How do you do it? Talk to strangers?" she asked. So I decided to show her. We went to Barnes & Noble. We looked around, and I told her I would buy her a journal, and a pen so that she could better connect to her thoughts. We first need to connect to what we think before we are ready to express it. Abby spent a while choosing the journal and pen she wanted. We bought them, and then headed to the...
2020-01-0825 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Artist Claudia Vieira: Tracing the ConnectionSince I've known her, Brazilian artist Claudia Vieira has played with lines. Drawing them, using tape to make them, on walls and floors and various surfaces. Her line is continuous, spiraled, repetitive. It is an immersion, a self-reflective cathartic, healing experience of the crossing of space and time, both for the artist and the viewer/participant. Her creations are trance-like journeys, meditations that connect one place to another, one time to another, the world to itself. She and I have not been strangers for a long while, since the first time I encountered her years back and w...
2019-12-1039 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Creativity with Nature: Talking to Artist/Store Owner Randy TompkinsRandy makes things from bones and stones, hence the name of his amazing shop in Tannersville, NY: Bones & Stones. He also makes things from animals and bugs. I was incredibly impressed with the creativity of Randy's work, how he takes things from the natural world and creates other things, like lighting fixtures and pipes. It is, of course, ancient practice to utilize our natural resources in creative ways, but sometimes we can forget. Randy is a wonderful breath of fresh air, a fascinating reminder to appreciate what is all around and imagine how we might use it for something...
2019-10-2305 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Open UpI talk to people all the time who are afraid to talk to strangers. You can see it in the set of their shoulders, the way they slump forward. You can see it in the way they avoid your gaze, how they look anywhere but in your eyes. I do what I can. I say something about their shirt or their dress, guess something about how they might be feeling about the weather or how long they've been working their shift, how tired or frustrated they must feel about living life, whether in a big Park Slope Brownstone or...
2019-10-0407 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Embracing Nature: Melissa SutkowsiI came across actor/producer Melissa Sutkowski in the park one day this summer, sitting at a tree stump 'desk.' I laughed at the site of her, chilling there with her laptop, which seemed so natural, literally. We got into a conversation about the incredible importance of appreciating nature and it turns out the subject is one of the main themes of Melissa's latest project, a documentary called 'The Messengers.' Listen to the podcast to hear more about her amazing project. When she told me about it, I got the chills...How was it that the exact...
2019-09-0914 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Discovering Neighbor Woody GoldbergWoody Goldberg and I met years ago in a little cafe in Park Slope called Parco that has since closed. I caught up with him recently in another cafe nearby, Couleur Cafe, and we shared old memories of a bygone time, and talked about his new work as an extra for film and TV...He is, apparently, easily typecast as "an old Brooklyn guy." He is an awesome character, not surprising he has been discovered. I so enjoy meeting up with neighborhood folks like Woody. It can only happen if you make a point of...Talking to Strangers!
2019-07-1825 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)The Crystal Ladies: Akilah & SeherCrystal healing is something I'm interested in, and I always buy pieces of rock and stone that appeal to me. I love reading about what they are meant to bring into my life, though I'm always terrible at remembering. When I arrived recently at the Omega Institute, a retreat center in Rhinebeck, NY, for the Juno Women's Leadership Residency I had applied for (and received), I went straight to the bookstore. I figured I'd treat myself to a few crystals and things to support me spiritually throughout the weekend. I was hoping to make some breakthroughs on h...
2019-07-0709 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Dexter Nurse, Appreciating FreedomI like to tell Dexter that he is the best guest I've ever had in my house, and I've had a lot of guests. His appreciation of my hors d'ouvres the night he came to perform as an alumni of the Musicambia program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility was seriously unparalleled. He is one of the most joyous enthusiastic people I have ever had the pleasure to know. It was probably not easy for Dexter to walk into some stranger's house in Park Slope. It was definitely not easy to talk to a group of people about spending time...
2019-06-3044 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Hip Hop Artist/Emcee Spiritchild Pushes Peace Through Polyamory:"Critical Revolutionary Hip Hop Pedagogy." He said it fast, like he would on stage. But I had to stop him, to get him to explain. Spiritchild's work with youth, and in the prison system, with homeless and refugees through programs including Urban Art Beat is something to stop and pay attention to. It's critical. And revolutionary. It uses Hip Hop as a creative tool to engage and inspire collaboration in a new way, an engaging way. And, oh yeah, part of his 'revolution' is to open up more dialogue about polyamory. We talk a lot in our looooooong conversation...
2019-06-221h 15
Talking to Strangers (About Music)A Sit-Down with Up-and-Coming Songwriter Alex Gasser LondonoSometimes, at a party, there is a particular person who stands out. Maybe it's their smile, or their seemingly-ironic mustache. You start talking, and you keep talking. Such was the case with Alex Gasser Londono, a funny whip-smart young Berklee grad with an admittedly ironic mustache who has come to New York to play bass, guitar and compose beautiful songs like "Who is Who," which I was lucky enough to have him sing to me in my living room in this episode. We discuss the challenges of making it in NYC as a musician, and the challenges of making...
2019-06-1528 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Kindred Spirit Ruby FrazierMy meeting Ruby Frazier was a complete fluke. It was a case of being at the school where I do my workshop too early, and chancing upon a breakfast, and being asked to talk about my work with InspireCorps, and having Ruby come up to me afterward to say she does very similar work with her Drama for Success organization. We are both bent on using the arts to build confidence, and character. We had a great conversation about our mutual goals, two kindred spirits brought together by happenstance, just the way it should be when we talk to...
2019-06-0824 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)At a 'Hookah' Bar with The Jungle's Mohamed SarrarWhen you drive around with a friend looking for something exciting in New York City, you usually find it. Last week, my friend Judy and I ended up in La Sultana, a Hookah bar in the East Village. Even though I'd tried the hookah, or "shisha" in Turkey, we prevailed upon the gentleman sitting next to us down the bench in the cozy back den for advice. We ended up talking to Mohamed Sarrar for a while. It turns out he was in New York to drum, sing and act in a play called "The Jungle" at St. Ann's...
2019-06-0124 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)The Verizon PhilosopherWhen Juan came in to install my new Verizon Fios, he caught sight of a photograph I have of a heavy naked man at the top of a seesaw laughing at the skeleton below. The piece, by Art Toulinov, fascinated him, and it sparked a great conversation about the realities of the human condition, among them nudity and death. I love it that my art by Art brought us immediately into a deep conversation, my favorite thing with strangers!
2019-05-2507 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Talking to Leigh Blake about Helping StrangersMy neighbor, Leigh Blake, has been a tireless humanitarian for many years. She has started a myriad of phenomenally successful organizations to help complete strangers over the years, including AIDS charities Keep A Child Alive and Arms Around The Child. Her latest project, Fund a Mom, is an amazing grassroots effort to prove that small monthly cash gifts directed to women creates a lasting impact. She started in India with a group of destitute mothers in the slums of Jaipur 9 months ago, and has built up the program to help 40 women turn their lives and the lives of their...
2019-05-1644 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Strangers Who Give the Incarcerated a New Title: MusiciansI was introduced to Jessie Kilguss a number of years back when I was writing a story about local Brooklyn songwriters with a country twang. We were strangers then, but I interviewed her and we connected over work she was doing with an organization called Musicambia. The organization brought music to incarcerated people in the hope of helping them define themselves as something far more positive than 'prisoners'. We had coffee a number of times before I figured how to get involved. I threw Musicambia a party, and their alumni from their program at Sing Sing came to my...
2019-05-1034 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Strangers in IstanbulI love to travel, in large part because it requires that you talk to A LOT of strangers. On my recent trip to Istanbul, I wandered about for three days. Among the many friendly people I met, I came across a student who'd recently moved to Istanbul who was visiting the Blue Mosque like I was, the owner of a drum shop who gave me a demo of the beautiful Turkish Darbouka I bought, and the owner of a variety of shops that sold everything from jewelry to carpets, who took me through them and chatted about his own...
2019-05-0733 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Wholistic Prescriptions? Exploring Solutions with Pharmacist Cathy RakersI met Cathy years ago through a mutual friends' surprise party in New Orleans. We totally clicked when we met, and here we are, years later, sitting on a bench outside a cafe in Brooklyn, talking about the health and well-being of the homeless people she works with as a pharmacist with a nonprofit in Portland, and the work I do here at a women's shelter. We get into some really interesting terrain talking about the use and overuse of drugs and how, maybe, just maybe, we can start to also "prescribe" joyful activities like drumming and cooking with...
2019-04-2632 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Junkyard Self-Expression Queen: Monika WuhrerI met artist Monika Wuhrer a few years back. I'd been told about her magic from a number of people. And, indeed, working with her at her gallery and at PS81 has been a joy. My friends were right, we have so much in common. Mostly, we both agree that freedom of expression is crucial to helping us be who we are, and the raw materials we use to express ourselves don't matter. It is around us all the time, what we need in order to build our character. For her growing array of KoKo NYC kids' classes in...
2019-04-2048 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Selling Consumer Brands: Doug ZarkinAre marketers evil? Doug Zarkin didn't seem to be at all when I sat down with him to chat in the lobby of the midtown offices of global optical business Luxottica, for whom he is the VP-Chief Marketing Officer of the Pearle Vision chain. I met Doug a lifetime ago when I wrote about the Mark brand he was running for Avon in an article for Advertising Age. He has since run a variety of top brands including Victoria Secret's Pink and Calvin Klein, and has become an oft-quoted expert on how to build consumer loyalty. He reached out...
2019-04-1845 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)The Stranger At the Gate...I saw a man and his son peering through the gate of my building. A normal person might have been aggravated at the infringement of privacy, but I saw an opportunity to meet someone new, and welcome them. Turns out he had come to the building, an old clock factory, to show his son, Elijah, because it's mentioned in my neighbor Selina Alko's book. Small world. Listen in to my chat with Sam about the history of Brooklyn (my building included) and lots of interesting factoids about NYC, and thoughts about the openness of people here.
2019-04-1314 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Talking to a Taxi DriverI found myself late one night careening home with a lovely man from Bangladesh, whose name I'm not even sure how to spell. It was a great conversation, filled with his positive psychology about people and the world. We are, indeed, social beings, and taking the time to connect to one another, especially when we share small intimate spaces like cars, can be pretty special.
2019-04-0621 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Music Missionary Baba JiweI heard him before I saw him, the saxophonist in the tunnel in Prospect Park. I stood there a while listening, recording the beautiful sound of the music reverberating off the walls. And then I spoke to Baba Jiwe Damudillard. He plays there, and often pulls in others to play with him. Music brings people together, all kinds of strangers. Baba Jiwe's mission is to make that happen more.
2019-03-3015 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Offering Voice to the Audience: Sung Uni LeeMaybe it was when she began "Slapping the Salami," or when she sheepishly admitted the "salami" was actually Kielbasa. Or maybe it was when (Sung) Uni Lee asked for volunteers (for a Bangers and Mash-eating contest) and talked about the importance of breaking the boundaries between performer and audience when I knew I had to go up and talk to her. In this episode, taped just after The Bushwick Book Club's medley of performances around the book "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith at Barbes, Uni and I chat about the power of engaging audiences in new ways, and lots...
2019-03-2317 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)A Meditation on Love, After DisappointmentAah, the fearlessness of loving another human! With the opening up of ourselves to another, we become vulnerable. With the great joy of love comes also great disappointment. And yet to stay closed against love, to harden our hearts...that, to me, is the greatest sadness of all. Connection is crucial. We learn so much about ourselves in the compare and contrast with another. We must learn to breathe through the pain of love, and persevere. This podcast is a meditation I recorded along with some piano to help you through that difficult process.
2019-03-1608 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)When the 'Stranger' is Your Spouse...In this episode, I sit down with my husband, Geordie, to discuss how we first met, and how we have morphed and changed in the two-plus decades since that moment. Marriage is a union that requires constant adaptation. It is not a license or vows that keep two people connected, it is a daily challenge to communicate your needs, listen to someone else's, and decide whether it works or not to be together. Even with a commitment to honesty and caring for one another, there are many moments of loneliness, and a questioning..."who is this person in my...
2019-03-1641 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Talking to Yourself: The Stranger WithinWhen I talk about strangers, I am usually referring to someone else, someone that I don't know yet, that I meet on the subway or at a party, or in a bar. But, recently, it occurred to me that I am often the stranger. And sometimes, frankly, I don't know how to talk to myself. Can I be as compassionate with myself as I can with a stranger on the street? Can I listen closely to myself? I share with others this idea, wondering how they might speak to themselves when things inside their head get...strange. In this...
2019-03-0805 min
Talking to Strangers (About Music)Fun with Fritz!A chat with performance artist/filmmaker Fritz Donnelly in his Williamsburg, Brooklyn studio about connecting in real time (even if, sometimes, that includes screens.) Fritz was a friend from the moment we met. I immediately appreciated the statement he was making by being A Man in Tights, and have in the ensuing years continued to admire his efforts to push people in disarming ways out of their comfort zone with his bravery and humor. Tune in!
2019-03-041h 08
Talking to Strangers (About Music)In Jamaica, with Charmaine Davis-ElliottTop 5 Reasons I LOVED my trip to Jamaica: #5. Roadside jerk stands. Yum. #4. The amazing blue/green of the Caribbean Sea.#3. Hiking through the bush with Damon, our amazingmachete-wielding guide who cut open almonds, guavasand gave us an incredible fish and yam lunch by Kwaaman Falls.#2. Surf lessons, jerk and ganga at Boston Bay. #1. Meeting this incredible like-minded lady, Charmaine Davis-Elliott, a self-named "Hustling Housewife" and an awesome spirit! We chattedabout her beautiful blessed life in her bungalow overlooking the sea at Strawberry Fields Together, in Robin...
2019-02-2527 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)Joelle Provost: A Beautiful Perspective on Environmental IllsI sat down (over the phone) with my gorgeous friend/former stranger, Joelle Provost. She has moved back to the Bay Area, where she's from, but our memories of meeting and connecting in Brooklyn are strong. It's amazing how quickly one can recognize a true kindred spirit. Joelle and I chat about how and why she makes art, and the amazing alchemy that brings people together in the world.
2019-02-1548 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)Lunch with Artists Sean Qualls & Jonathan BlumI sat down with local Park Slope artists Sean Qualls and Jonathan Blum, both artists whose amazing work I've purchased, to talk about their new collaboration. We talked about art, race, identity and who we consider our 'tribe.'
2019-02-051h 09Talking to Strangers (About Music)Tuning in to 2019...Steph talks about the power of a true resolution...Sometimes, we are strangers to ourselves, and we have to tune in to figure what we want for the year ahead!
2019-01-1105 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)Talkin' Bout Mastery with Matt KeatingSteph sits down with Talking to Strangers producer/songwriter/guitarist Matt Keating in his West Village studio, Djanglewood. The conversation turns to the difference between artistic Masters and regular folk (and if there is one), and how we get good at what we do a lot - so we should be careful what we do!
2018-12-1314 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)Guitar Center Guy - TreyThere are some spots that are go-to places to talk to strangers. For me, Guitar Center is one of them...cool guys behind the counter always good for some interesting conversation. This trip to Guitar Center with my friend Leigh Blake, to buy an Airboard and a guitar strap for my son for Chanukah, did not disappoint. Trey Wolfe --an actor, musician, Guitar Center Guy--obliged me, and we had a lovely conversation.
2018-12-0506 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)A Smile is Like an InvitationWith so many people on the subway, who to choose to talk to? The person who smiles back clearly seems the most receptive, and so it was this stranger, a lovely young woman on the F train, who Steph chose to speak with. It turns out she talks to strangers too...
2018-11-2708 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)Uber ManEver have a great conversation with your Uber driver? Join Steph as she crosses the cultural divide in a trip from Brooklyn into New York City. Talking to Strangers is always illuminating!
2018-11-1206 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)Animal InstinctSteph talks with another dog owner on her walk with her little pooch Ginger. It's amazing how different dogs can be in the way they interact! Just like us...
2018-11-1202 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)Talking to Strangers JingleListen to the catchy jingle (lyrics and vocal, Steph Thompson; guitar, percussion and production, Matt Keating)
2018-11-1200 minTalking to Strangers (About Music)Talking to Strangers IntroHost Steph Thompson explains why she talks to strangers, and how Talking to Strangers helps us feel less lonely.
2018-11-1201 min