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Monday, June 5, 2023

Coming up June 5th @ 9:00am - Best-seller serial memoirist, author and brilliant humorous artist Eve O. Schaub. Her new book, “Year of No Garbage,” is the documentation of her going one full calendar year with her family and creating zero garbage.




A YEAR OF NO GARBAGE by Eve O. Schaub

New Book from Skyhorse Publishing – Earth Day 2023 – April 22 by hysterical serial best-seller memoirist Eve O. Schaub

"Eve’s brave and honest experiment reveals the shocking impact of the throwaway society we’ve become and at the same time showing small ways we can all do better.” —Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founder of Plastic Free July


Year of No Garbage is Super Size Me meets the environmental movement.

In this book Eve O. Schaub, humorist and stunt memoirist extraordinaire, tackles her most difficult challenge to date: garbage. Convincing her husband and two daughters to go along with her, Schaub attempts the seemingly impossible: living in the modern world without creating any trash at all. For an entire year. And- as it turns out- during a pandemic.

In the process, Schaub learns some startling things: that modern recycling is broken, and single stream recycling is a lie. That flushable wipes aren’t flushable and compostables aren’t compostable. That plastic drives climate change, fosters racism, and is poisoning the environment and our bodies at alarming rates, as microplastics are being found everywhere, from the top of Mount Everest to the placenta of unborn babies.
If you’ve ever thought twice about that plastic straw in your drink, you’re gonna want to read this book.

Watch these Video Assets:

WE DON’T HAVE ANY GARBAGE - Eve O. Schaub with Steven He

Garbage Makeover 1.4M followers

What’s Bad about Wipes, Masks, that contain Plastic: Don’t use, don’t flush, ever know what they’re made of?

What’s the deal with “cartons?”

What Happens To NYC’s 3.2 Million Tons Of Trash

Monday, May 29, 2023

Coming up 6/12 at 9:00am - Cindy Alexander, a brilliant and multifaceted songwriter, a singer, a storyteller


Cindy Alexander is brilliant and multifaceted, like a prism in sunlight. She’s a songwriter, a singer, a storyteller. She’s a mother of twins and a daughter of mother nature. Fans of her music know she’s beautifully messy and heaven-sent. This award-winning singer-songwriter has a cult following and an independent streak. Affectionately called “Pnut” by her fans, Alexander has a voice that defies her petite stature. In one moment, she hits rich and earthy lows; in the next, she adds the trill of a coloratura soprano. But technical prowess is hardly the headline: Alexander shares her entire being through music. “In art, we have to be vulnerable. Art is an open heart and a naked soul,” she attests.

Fans recognize Alexander’s charismatic vulnerability from the stage. She forges powerful connections, reminding audiences that it’s okay to laugh, cry, or even embrace irreverent humor in the midst of a breakdown. Over time she earned an illustrious reputation as an entertainer, winning over audiences and reviewers alike across multiple continents. Alexander is also a fearless lyricist. Her songwriting traverses personal narrative while plucking at universal human themes. She interrogates spirituality, sexuality, history, and the human condition. From her breast cancer recovery journey to the loss of her mother to dementia, her lyrics lay it bare. “I can’t pretend that everything’s okay, because it’s not,” Alexander says. “But, I always see the light. My journey to find the light is almost always through music.”
This Los Angeles native was born with a song on her lips and a story in her heart. Alexander’s grandmother was a music teacher who encouraged her singing from an early age. Later, she was discovered and mentored by the leader of a children’s choir, who also happened to be “voice coach the stars,” Cantor Nathan Lam. Later, Alexander received further training at the acclaimed USC School of Drama. But before long, Shakespeare’s sentiment that “all the world’s a stage” had lured her away from the theater — she realized the best part she could play was herself.

For many years, Alexander toured as an independent artist across the US, Asia, and Europe, and even the far-flung islands of Barbados and Guantanamo Bay. Alexander’s adventure always followed the fans, and her blossoming global community returned the love by crowdfunding her creative endeavors. Alexander has had the good fortune to work with a legion of talented musicians and producers throughout her career. She’s laid tracks with Grammy Award-winning engineer Ross Hogarth and co-written songs with Grammy Award–Winning songwriters Dennis Matkosky and Gary Harrison, as well as noted producer Dave Darling. Her most significant long-time collaborators are The Bacon Brothers (Michael and Kevin Bacon). “The reason I created my first CD was that I was asked to go on tour with the Bacon Brothers after opening their show at The Troubadour. At the time, I didn’t have anything to sell! Dave Darling took my scrappy demos and produced my first record, which actually sold out on that tour and blew up on Amazon,” Alexander shared. Kevin and Michael Bacon remain dear friends and touring companions. Despite her star-studded Rolodex, Alexander stayed away from big-name labels to preserve her artistic independence.

She won NBC’s Star Tomorrow competition, hosted by David Foster, but turned down the associated record deal. The move caught the attention of producer Kirk Pasich, who’d long followed Alexander’s career. Upon hearing of Alexander’s breast cancer diagnosis, Pasich extended an offer to fund her current album personally. Within the year, Pasich had cofounded Blue Élan Records and signed Cindy Alexander as its first artist. In 2021, Pasich founded KZZ Music alongside producers Zackary Darling and Zachary Ross. This new production company held unique appeal for Alexander because it would function as a launchpad, test-driving radical ideas and making connections outside the boundaries of the traditional label system. Alexander signed a production deal with KZZ in 2022, ahead of the 2023 release of her album Messy. “The title track on the album is ‘Messy,’ because life IS messy, but I embrace it. Sometimes I am gracefully in command of my chaos, and other times I trudge through kicking and screaming. But I have the experience and perspective to work it through in my creative space.

We pushed boundaries this time. I went to places I hadn’t gone in years and even explored new territory. The result is much more emotional and soulful, and the spectrum of sound and writing is much greater than my previous releases,” Alexander reveals. “I’m not in a box. I definitely jumped outside and ripped it up.” The musical palette of Messy is exceptionally enhanced by producer/bass player Paul Bushnell and an all-star studio band. “Paul is a groove monster. I met him early in my career at Genghis Cohen — this funky little club in Hollywood where I followed my hometown musical heroes through the 90s. Back then, he played with everyone, gigging three times a night,” Alexander shares. Today Paul is Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s bass player, but his touring resume also includes noted artists such as Elton John, Sarah McLachlan, and Alanis Morissette. “I feel so blessed to be connected with Paul. He’s insanely talented, super funny, and he really gets me,” Alexander says. Dave Levita (Stevie Nicks, Lana Del Rey, Morrissey) returns to Cindy’s dream team on guitar, joined by Zac Rae on keys (Death Cab for Cutie, Leonard Cohen, Ringo Starr) and Thomas Lang on drums (Peter Gabriel, Robbie Williams, Glen Hughes). “The recording process was non-judgmental and collaborative. Paul came in with a fantastic roadmap, but he let us explore and get a little crazy along the adventure.

As the engineer, Zackary Darling was the special sauce. He’s been a part of my musical journey for many years and brought so much heart to the project.” The key single on Messy has a pretty messy origin story itself. “Call Us What We Are (F***ed)” came together after the artist had a frustrating day in the studio working alongside her husband. Eventually, he stormed off to go to bed, leaving Cindy to work out her angst on her guitar. Hours later, she rejoined him in bed. He asked what she’d been doing, and she replied, “I’ve been writing a f**king hit.” Listening to the track, it’s hard to argue. It’s a pop-rock cocktail that makes you want to dance (and maybe kick something). Playful percussive electronic elements frame the verses, then the chorus transitions to a full riot rock. In terms of vocals, it’s like Lily Allen got bored of being adorable and handed the mic to Fiona Apple to tell it like it is. “I know a lot of my fans will see this as a shift away from the tone of my last few records — and I’m excited about that. They’re going to say, there she is! She’s back!” Alexander shares.

Another single on Messy is “Life #9.” It embraces an aughts-style pop-rock tone and Americana instrumentality. “This track was born out of a conversation I had with my co-writer Paul Trudeau, on how hard it is to raise teenagers today,” Alexander said. With twin girls on the cusp of adulthood, she’s experiencing this whirlwind parenting moment firsthand. But beyond the typical trials of maturation, today’s teens are coming of age against a darker backdrop, with dangers like online manipulation and bullying, Fentanyl, and sex trafficking. “The song is about someone who’s gained wisdom through their mistakes, but struggles to impart that wisdom to a generation that doesn’t want to listen,” Alexander says. After I came up with the title, I googled numerology and learned that I am, indeed, on life path number nine, so that information became significant as I continued to write for this record.” You can hear the magic when Messy is released in Summer, 2023. 

Today, Cindy Alexander lives in Big Sur in her “House without Windows,” where she communes with woodland creatures and the wilderness (catch that track on her forthcoming album!). Alexander also engages in charitable efforts through music, benefiting The Kay Yow Cancer Fund, Animal Friends Rescue, and the Alzheimer’s Association. You can look forward to new music and fresh creative projects from Cindy later this year.

Monday, May 8, 2023

Steph Jagger, author of Everything Left to Remember, joins host Janeane Bernstein on KUCI 88.9fm



Steph Jagger, author of Everything Left to Remember (a Flatiron Books/Macmillan paperback joins host Janeane on KUCI 88.9fm. Steph is a world-record-breaking skier whose most recent memoir chronicles her road trip with her mother, who is battling Alzheimer’s, through America’s national parks. An adventure full of horseback riding, hiking, and “tenting” out West, this poignant journey explores our understanding of our own identities and relationships when those we love the most no longer remember who they are.


"With keen insight and thoughtful prose that captures both the emotions involved and the significance of the natural world in the author’s life, she recalls their journey across the Rockies, where they shared moments of loss, endured times of frustration, and found genuine joy in nature.... A beautiful yet heart-wrenching tribute to the mother-daughter relationship." —Kirkus, starred review


About Everything Left to Remember:

This inspirational mother-daughter memoir follows two women on a poignant journey through a landscape of legacy and loss. As they road-trip through the national parks of the American West, they explore the ever-changing terrain of dementia, deep remembrance, and motherhood.

Steph Jagger lost her mother before she lost her. Stricken with an incurable disease that slowly erases all sense of self, Steph’s mother struggles to remember her favorite drink, her favorite song, and—perhaps most heartbreaking of all—Steph herself. As the woman who loved and raised her begins to slip away, Steph makes a promise: to write her mother’s story before it’s entirely lost.

Aware of her mother’s waning memory, Steph proposes a camping trip—which her mother, on the urging of Steph’s father, agrees to embark upon. An adventure full of horseback riding, hiking, and “tenting” out West quickly turns into one woman’s reflection on the mysteries tucked inside ourselves and our ancestry—and what it means to love someone who doesn’t quite remember the person she spent her lifetime becoming.

A staggeringly beautiful examination of how stories are passed down through generations and from Mother Nature, Everything Left to Remember brings us the wisdom of remembrance under the constellations of the vast Montana sky.

About the author:

Steph Jagger is a sought-after mentor and coach whose offerings guide people toward a deeper understanding of themselves and their stories. Her work, including speaking and facilitating, lies at the intersection of loss, the nature of deep remembrance, and the personal journey of re-creation. Steph grew up in Vancouver, Canada and now lives and works on Bainbridge Island, WA. Everything Left to Remember is Steph’s second book. Her first, Unbound, was published in 2017.

Rae Segerstrom gives us a journey through Shelby History

Race Through Time and Iconic Automotive History

From the earliest GT350's, rare GT500KR's to Carroll Shelby's final wish: the 1000HP GT500. 

The Segerstrom Shelby Event Center is built around the love of the automobile and all the wonders that have come and gone along the road. Come in for an awesome walk among these classic beauties. The stories they tell are the stuff of legend.


The Segerstrom Shelby Event Center collections are some of the finest in the world. With street and racing Cobras, high-performance Mustangs and rows of nostalgic petroliana, there is something for everyone to ogle over. Our commitment to excellence in preservation and education shows in every detail.


Welcome to two of the most unique experiences in the world. Whether you want to wander among our amazing collection, or host a private event surrounded by the collection, you and yours are in for a unique treat. From daily visits to guided educational tours (coming soon), from casual conferences to formal dress affairs, you are in for something special whenever you drop by.


WHO WE ARE


The Segerstrom Shelby Event Center is a place of preservation, education, and celebration. The automobiles and artifacts in this collection conjure memories of a recent past filled with power. This power is unique to America and Southern California. The act of saving and preserving the specialties within these walls is near to our hearts, as is our commitment to helping those who need it most.

Carroll Shelby also wanted the best for everyone around him. He became a legend by doing what he loved with unparalleled passion. His creations breathe fire and stoke the imagination of all who yearn for that truly American goal: Freedom.



WHY WE ARE HERE


Profits from the Segerstrom Shelby Event Center go to the Shriners for Children Medical Center — Pasadena and the Carroll Shelby Foundation.

The Shriners for Children Medical Center — Pasadena provides comprehensive medical, surgical and rehabilitative care to children up to age 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burn scars, and cleft lip and palate. Medical Center patients receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the families' ability to pay.

The Carroll Shelby Foundation provides medical assistance for those in need, including children, as well as educational opportunities for young people. The Foundation has continued to aid children battling deadly diseases, while expanding its reach into the classroom through the Northeast Texas Community College’s Carroll Shelby Automotive Technology Center.

COME FOR A TOUR

There is a lot to discover on any visit to the Segerstrom Shelby Event Center. Taking a guided tour will let you in on even more stories about our collections. Private tours are available for groups large and small. You are able to book a group tour during our regular public viewing hours, visit with your car club, or request a special tour.

Monday, April 24, 2023

GOOD DIFFERENT by Meg Eden Kuyatt (Ages 8-12) is an extraordinary novel-in-verse about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her difference from a promising new voice in children’s literature.



Inspired by Meg's own experience living on the spectrum and largely “passing” as neurotypical, GOOD DIFFERENT is an extraordinary novel-in-verse about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her difference.


“This is like the next "Wonder." Written by a young woman with autism, "Good Different" is a prose poem about what it means to own your neurodiversity. It examines how these undercurrents affect life, school, friendships and family, and how to turn pain into prose. Kuyatt is gifted and her parents' lifelong insistence that her neurodivergent features were her superpowers has propelled her to keep writing and sharing, advocating and illuminating, and building a community of thinkers. This story will make any neurodivergent person feel less alone but will also be a balm for all families who contend with this on a daily basis. Short and sweet, eye-opening and original, "Good Different" should be required reading, especially at schools.”


GOOD MORNING AMERICA
recommends GOOD DIFFERENT by Meg Eden Kuyatt on a list of “13 Books to Spring Into Reading” curated by Zibby Owens!

An extraordinary novel-in-verse about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her difference, for fans of Starfish and Counting by 7’s.


MEG EDEN KUYATT

“Relatable, profound and beautifully heartfelt. I loved it.”

—Elle McNicoll, author of the Schneider Family Book Award Honor-winning A Kind of Spark

Inspired by the author’s experience living on the spectrum as someone who largely “passes” in society as neurotypical, GOOD DIFFERENT by Meg Eden Kuyatt (On sale April 4, 2023 | Ages 8-12 | Scholastic Press) is an extraordinary novel-in-verse about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her difference from a promising new voice in children’s literature. A poignant and much-needed addition to books about the autism experience, GOOD DIFFERENT will appeal to fans of Starfish and A Kind of Spark and leave a lasting impression on all its readers.

Selah knows her rules for being normal. She always, always sticks to them. This means keeping her feelings locked tightly inside, despite the way they build up inside her as each school day goes on, so that she has to run to the bathroom and hide in the stall until she can calm down. So that she has to tear off her normal-person mask the second she gets home from school, and listen to her favorite pop song on repeat, trying to recharge. Selah feels like a dragon stuck in a world of humans, but she knows how to hide it. Until the day she explodes and hits a fellow student.

Selah's friends pull away from her, her school threatens expulsion, and her comfortable, familiar world starts to crumble. But as Selah starts to figure out more about who she is, she comes to understand that different doesn’t mean damaged. Can she get her school to understand that, too, before it’s too late?

MEG EDEN KUYATT is a neurodivergent author and college-level creative writing instructor. She is a 2020 Pitch Wars mentee, and the author of poetry books. When she isn’t writing, she’s probably playing Fire Emblem. If she could be a Pokémon, she’d be Charizard. Find her online at www.megedenbooks.com or on Instagram at @meden_author.

Talking Points from Meg Eden Kuyatt (GOOD DIFFERENT)

“Gifted and talented” kids may just be another term for neurodivergent…and may be a title that’s causing more damage than good.

Meg can expand on feedback she received as a “gifted and talented kid” that was meant to be encouraging but instead, instilled in her the expectation that everything she does must be extraordinary and the repercussions this had when she hit adulthood.

The Complicated Politics of Passing as Neurotypical—and Writing as Autistic

Meg can expand on feedback received about her work of masking/passing autistic characters and how they have been invalidated by readers because they do not meet their limited understanding of what it means to be autistic.

Surviving as a Neurodivergent Person: The Ableism in Everyday Life

Meg can expand on ableism in workplace expectations, of what it means to be a “team player,” and how 9-5 isn’t really sustainable for neurodivergent folks, which is supported by unemployment statistics.



“High-functioning” (and other problems with how we talk about autism)

Meg can expand on the ableism in how we talk about autism: Asperger’s, “high-functioning”, the puzzle piece, etc.

Monday, April 3, 2023

Monday 4/3 9am LIVE on KUCI - NATURAL BEAUTY, the debut novel by Ling Ling Huang

NATURAL BEAUTY, the debut novel by Ling Ling Huang, is a gorgeously written, razor-sharp book, which follows an unnamed narrator into an elite, beauty-obsessed world where perfection comes at a staggering cost. Lush, sensual, and bitingly funny, NATURAL BEAUTY examines questions of consumerism, self-worth, race, and identity while eviscerating the beauty and wellness industry. Huang mines her personal experience as a professional musician, child of immigrants, and former wellness store employee for a book that brilliantly weaves together satirical, horror, and thriller elements. NATURAL BEAUTY has been optioned for a TV series to be produced by Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu and Yellowjackets executive producer Drew Comins.



ABOUT THE BOOK
Shifting between the past and present, the narrator recalls her childhood as a piano prodigy and daughter of Chinese immigrants while attempting to make sense of her present life as the newest employee of Holistik—a high-end wellness store in New York City known for its remarkable, ethically-sourced products and extravagant procedures. She begins working at the mysterious store to pay for her parents’ care after an accident leaves them debilitated, but it soon becomes clear that there is more to Holistik, and its exceptionally attractive employees, than meets the eye.

As she falls deeper into the world of Holistik, learning of increasingly absurd treatments—remoras that suck out cheap Botox, eyelash extensions made of spider silk, emotional support ducklings bred to imprint on their owners—she also becomes close with Helen, the stunning niece of the store’s owner. Their relationship blossoms in surprising ways, as they both ingest and absorb all manner of beautifying products. Day by day, the narrator grows both more suspicious of and entrenched in the world of Holistik.

INTERVIEW TOPICS FOR LING LING HUANG’S NATURAL BEAUTY

· How Ling Ling’s time working in a high-end NYC wellness store inspired the narrative

· America’s obsession with Eurocentric beauty standards, and the fear that the beauty industry relies on

· How the privileged often use methodologies that certain cultures use to survive as trends (or why appropriation is problematic)

· Writing women’s bodies as sites of horror, surveillance, and intrusion

· The importance of family and heritage, especially in relation to assimilation

· The joys and challenges of shifting from one art form (music) to another (writing)


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ling Ling Huang is a writer and violinist. She plays with several ensembles including the Music Kitchen, Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra, Shattered Glass, and Experiential Orchestra, with whom she won a Grammy award in 2021. Natural Beauty is her first novel.



linglinghuang.com / Instagram: @violingsquared

Monday, March 13, 2023

Monday March 13th 9:00am - Jon B. Gould, Dean of the School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine



About Jon Gould



DEAN

Jon Gould is a distinguished scholar in justice policy, social change and government reform who has held key positions in the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Science Foundation. He assumed the deanship on Jan. 1, 2022.

Gould leads the nation’s first school of social ecology, established in 1970 in response to high demand for more socially relevant research. For more than 50 years, the school has been an internationally recognized pioneer in developing interdisciplinary approaches to social problems. Its highly ranked faculty in criminology, law and society; urban planning and public policy; and psychological science engage in research and education to foster informed social action and make the world a better place.

Gould’s expertise covers justice policy, social change and government reform. He was the principal investigator for the Preventing Wrongful Convictions Project, a multiyear research initiative funded by the National Institute of Justice. He is the author of five books and more than 100 articles and reports on such diverse subjects as erroneous convictions, indigent defense, prosecutorial innovation, police behavior, hate speech, sexual harassment and international human rights.

Gould has filled a range of government leadership roles, including senior policy adviser in the U.S. Department of Justice and director of the Law & Social Sciences Program at the National Science Foundation. In 2015, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts appointed him as reporter for a committee of the federal courts evaluating the operation of the Criminal Justice Act. Gould is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a former U.S. Supreme Court Fellow and a former trustee of the Law & Society Association. He received the Administration of Justice Award from the U.S. Supreme Court Fellows Alumni Association in 2017.