POPPY HARLOW Emmy-nominated CNN news anchor shares her Christmas classic with lots of heart: THE BIGGEST LITTLE BOY: A CHRISTMAS STORY

POPPY HARLOW

Emmy-nominated CNN news anchor chats with
KUCI's Janeane Bernstein about her Christmas classic with lots of heart:

THE BIGGEST LITTLE BOY: A CHRISTMAS STORY

WATCH the conversation with Poppy Harlow below:

THE BIGGEST LITTLE BOY: A CHRISTMAS STORY is a sweet Christmas story about a little boy in search of the enormous Christmas tree of his dreams, who discovers that the holidays are about so much more than material things. Kirkus calls the debut picture book by CNN news anchor Poppy Harlow, “an engaging story that small children will relate to. Delightful and resonant.”

Luca loves BIG things. BIG trucks. BIG buildings. BIG bowls of pasta. But what he wants most is the biggest Christmas tree of all. With Christmas approaching, Luca goes in search of a special tree. But he soon finds out that what matters most is having a BIG heart.


In interviews, Poppy Harlow talks about:

· The personal inspiration for writing the book: While walking through a local Christmas tree market with her son Luca, then not even one year old, he reached out his hand and grabbed the branch of a tiny little Christmas tree. He held on as we passed by almost dragging the tree along with us. In that moment the idea came to write a book for her son and for families everywhere about slowing down and looking out for others.

· Influenced by Midwest upbringing: Poppy grew up in Minnesota, where the community knew and cared for neighbors as they would their own family. The spirit of the holidays is a good reminder to bring that kindness and generosity to others.

· Parenting two kids: Raising Luca (3) and Sienna (5) with her husband in Brooklyn, NY has given Poppy an even greater appreciation material things are not the most valuable in life, it’s having a big heart and the spirit of generosity and love that brings the most joy.

· From CNN to back-to-school: this fall, Poppy announced a hiatus from her hosting duties at CNN for a two-semester Master of Studies in Law degree program at Yale. This move was inspired by her father James Harlow, an intellectual property litigator who would bring his daughter to his law office, as well as from interviewing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recalled pursuing a law degree while caring for her young daughter and cancer-stricken husband.

Poppy Harlow has crafted a timeless Christmas story brimming with good cheer, and Ramona Kaulitzki’s vibrant artwork brings the festive holiday season to life. Harlow says of the book, “In a world evermore focused on what things we have instead of what fills our heart, my hope is that The Biggest Little Boy can remind us all (parents and children alike) what really makes us happiest.” THE BIGGEST LITTLE BOY reassures all young readers that they are special, just the way they are.

About Poppy Harlow 

Poppy Harlow is a twice-Emmy-nominated journalist who co-anchors the morning edition of CNN Newsroom and hosts the successful podcast Bossfiles with Poppy Harlow. Originally from Minnesota, she now lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Sinisa and their children Sienna and Luca. Please visit her online @poppyharlowcnn.

About Illustrator Ramona Kaulitzki: 

Ramona Kaulitzki's biggest passions have always been drawing and storytelling. She lives outside of Berlin where she works as a freelance illustrator. Please visit her online @ramonakaulitzki.

Writer/Director Sharee Silerio shares her short doc - "Black Girl, Bleu" - a short documentary featuring candid interviews with Black women – from a teacher to a community organizer and an entrepreneur – about how the “Strong Black Woman” stereotype impacts their mental wellness.

#blackmentalhealth #strongblackwoman #depression
Black Girl, Bleu Official Trailer | Short Doc | Sharee Silerio
Premiered Apr 12, 2021 

The official trailer for the short documentary “Black Girl, Bleu." 

In it, Black women share their struggles with mental wellness, including how stereotypical definitions of Black women, such as the "Strong Black Woman" myth, impact the mental health challenges they have been through, face and overcome. 

Director, Writer + Executive Producer: Sharee Silerio 

Director of Photography + Editor: Brittney Butler 

Website • https://blackgirlbleu.com/ Facebook • https://www.facebook.com/blackgirlbleu Instagram • https://www.instagram.com/black.girl..

#blackmentalhealth #strongblackwoman #depression #anxiety #mentalwellness #mentalhealth 

Connect with Sharee Silerio via: Website • http://shareesilerio.com 

Facebook • https://www.facebook.com/shareesilerio 

Instagram • https://www.instagram.com/shareesilerio 

Twitter • https://twitter.com/shareesilerio

ABOUT

“Black Girl, Bleu” is a short documentary featuring candid interviews with Black women – from a teacher to a community organizer and an entrepreneur – about how the “Strong Black Woman” stereotype impacts their mental wellness.

In this film, each woman shares intimate details about their struggles with mental health, including what has helped them overcome their challenges. Also, Black female therapists share insight regarding the particular mental health challenges Black women face along with resources, tips and tools to cultivate healing and self-love.

The “Strong Black Woman” stereotype, among others, has created such an abundance of shame, hopelessness and fear surrounding mental health concerns that it also has Black women who are hurting feeling like their only option is to suffer in silence rather than seek the care they desire and need.

It’s often difficult for the people around us to see that we are suffering when we are smiling, being promoted at work, making moves in our businesses or “balancing” our careers, families and love lives. It can be hard to make sense of depression, anxiety or an eating disorder when we are deemed “successful” in others’ eyes.

For Black women, this veil is even thicker, as societal and familial pressures, expectations and perceptions require them to be all things to everyone, at all times.

Through this documentary, we will deconstruct the stigmas surrounding mental health; encourage those around us to realize that mental illness does not “look” any particular way; create a safe, loving space for Black women to share their truth; and help Black women experiencing the same challenges see that they are not alone and healing is possible. We also want Black women to know that they matter, their pain matters and they are loved.

The mission, with this project and others, is to tell stories where Black women and girls exist as full human beings on screen and feel seen, heard, loved and affirmed beyond the screen.

 blackgirlbleu.com

TODAY - Monday 11/29/21 - Storyteller and New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds shares details on his latest book, Our Table with host Janeane Bernstein

LISTEN to today's show with special guest
Peter H. Reynolds

Creative visionary of The Word Collector, Happy Dreamer, and The Dot, #1 New York Times bestseller Peter H. Reynolds creates a tender, lyrical story of multigenerational love, tradition, and family coming together with gratitude and thanks.

Celebrated, bestselling creator Peter H. Reynolds brings his signature touch of love and kindness to this special, timely picture book, as families now, more than ever, are rediscovering and reevaluating what means the most: time together with one another.

Violet longs for the time when her family was connected: before life, distractions, and technology pulled them all away from each other. They used to gather at the table, with food and love, to make memories, share their lives, and revel in time spent together. But now her family has been drifting apart, and with nobody to gather around it, the table grows smaller and smaller.

Can Violet remind her family of the warmth of time spent together, and gather around the table once more?

A mystical fable that feels at once timeless and utterly of the present moment, Our Table is renowned, bestselling creator Peter H. Reynolds at his best. Exquisite, expressive watercolor tells a tender story, growing from monochrome into luscious, joyful color as Violet's family is reunited around the beloved table. An ode to traditions that unite families, Our Table brings readers together with a universal message of gratitude.

MORE INFO ABOUT PETER'S NEW BOOK: OUR TABLE. A cautionary tale about how technology can unplug us from each other. More info at https://lnkd.in/eNA8w9W #technology #balance #unplug #familyengagement

Coming up 11/29/21 at 9:30am pst -- Author Janice Horowitz covered health at Time Magazine for two decades and created and hosted Dueling Docs: The Cure to Contradictory Medicine for public radio. In her new book, Health Your Self What's Really Driving Your Care and How to Take Charge, she shares her critical insights, so you can successfully advocate for yourself.

Health Your Self: What's Really Driving Your Health and How to Take Charge 

By Janice M. Horowitz

LISTEN

The book is getting a lot of media attention. Newsweek gave it a five-page spread and PBS's Next Avenue (70 million subscribers) covered it, which was picked up by Yahoo News, MSN and Marketwatch.

Janice Horowitz covered health at Time Magazine for two decades and created and hosted Dueling Docs: The Cure to Contradictory Medicine for public radio.


DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S BEHIND YOUR DOCTOR’S MEDICAL DECISIONS?

The practice of medicine today has become so convoluted, so gigantically complicated, that you are often reduced to the least important consideration in your own care.

In Health Your Self: What's Really Driving Your Care and How to Take Charge (Post Hill Press, May 18, 2021) former veteran TIME magazine health journalist Janice M. Horowitz reveals the behind-the-scenes influences that compromise your health care every time your doctor writes a prescription, orders a test or selects a treatment plan. Health Your Self transforms you into a healthy skeptic, one who knows how to spot—and outsmart—hidden forces at work whenever you seek care.

Imagine you go to a doctor and a privacy curtain is drawn. On the other side of the curtain, a cadre of players is passing notes, each angling to have an agenda fulfilled that will have a dramatic—and too often detrimental—impact on your health. For example:


When a physician refers a patient to a colleague in a hospital, there’s a concealed influence: he gets a bonus.

When a patient is handed unnecessary antibiotics at urgent care, the doctor could be bucking for a five-star rating on a patient satisfaction survey. Enough of those, he gets a raise.

When a doctor has a CT-scanner in his office, he’s more likely to use it. On you. He’s likely trying to offset the cost of the machine, even if it means unnecessarily exposing you to high doses of radiation.

Health Your Self teaches you observation skills so keen, that you can sniff out these background influences and know exactly how to navigate around them. Horowitz encourages you to keep at it, until analyzing, questioning, and bravely speaking up become second nature whenever you’re faced with a health concern. Doctors will respect you all the more—and you’ll wind up with the best care possible.

Through relatable, real-life stories, Health Your Self takes you through the arc of your life, starting with birth, when doctors impose a hospital protocol called “active management of labor” that everyone on staff knows about, but not you—and ending in old age when you wind up taking medications that haven’t been tested on anyone in your age bracket. Each chapter concludes with What Can You Do tips, culminating in the final chapter, Take Charge, Take Care, that provides a definitive list of questions patients should ask themselves, and then, questions to ask out loud to their doctors.

Horowitz’s nearly two decades of experience as a health journalist, along with her own experience getting hit on the back of her head and becoming seriously debilitated as a result, are what turned her into a healthy skeptic. With Health Your Self, she shares her critical insights, so you too, can successfully advocate for yourself, including:

Importance of a Second Perspective: Don’t settle for just a second opinion, get a second perspective from a doctor in a different field altogether. For migraines, start with a neurologist, then try a pain specialist. For back problems, go to an orthopedist and then a physiatrist who specializes in muscles.

The Power of Big Pharma: To extend their reach—and profits—drug companies aim their medications at large swaths of the population. They target all young children by turning fairly normal behaviors, such as trouble focusing, into a full-fledged disease, and all older women by throwing drugs at naturally occurring weakened bones when alternative approaches, or doing nothing at all, may also work.

Understanding Doctors’ Motives: Physicians feel compelled to follow medical society guidelines, even if the research behind the guidelines is thin, or they don’t make sense for someone just like you, with your vitality, genes and all the imponderables you bring to a health situation. If something goes wrong, doctors can defend themselves with an easy rebuttal: “I did it by the book.”


“I have an abiding respect for doctors, who usually go into medicine for noble reasons, but my book reveals what patients can’t see, what’s going on behind the scenes, and crucially, what they can do about it,” says Horowitz. “My goal is to share with readers medical stories about people, many of whom are my own family and friends, and offer concrete advice. By the end of each chapter, they’ve not only had a good read, they’ve gained a sixth sense about exactly what they need to do when they go to a doctor.”



About the Author:

Janice M. Horowitz covered health for Time magazine for nearly two decades; created and hosted the public radio segment Dueling Docs: The Cure to Contradictory Medicine; and contributed to The Economist, Allure, and The New York Times. Learn more about Health Your Self at healthyourselfbook.com and connect with Janice M. Horowitz on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Advance Praise for Health Your Self:

“Backed with her twenty years of health reporting for Time, Janice M. Horowitz produced this eminently readable guide that empowers you to get the healthcare you really need. More knowledge, less waste, better care.”
—Frank Lalli, the Health Care DetectiveTM at NPR’s Robin Hood Radio



“This is a controversial book and I’m ready for the tough questions my patients are bound to ask after reading it.”
—Jane Farhi, Cardiologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City



“Finally, your own personal and portable patient advocate! Chock full of personal stories, this book is a public service. You’ll wind up the smartest person in the waiting room.”
—Lillie Rosenthal, D.O., New York City



“Health Your Self takes you behind the privacy curtain. When you turn the last page, you realize you were just handed everything it takes to get the best medical care possible.”
—Leslie Laurence, Co-author of Outrageous Practices

With people finally getting back to their doctors, Health Your Self shows readers how to do it right. Based on my two decades covering health for Time Magazine, the book reveals the hidden forces driving patients' health care, and, step-by-step provides the questions to ask to navigate around them.


Newsweek Q & A

Newsweek excerpt

PBS Next Avenue



Amazon link: Amazon

KUCI host Janeane Bernstein speaks with writer/director/actress Kathryne Isabelle Easton about her film, "Borrelia Borealis", which just had a world premiere at the 2021 LaFemme International Film Festival October 14-17 held both virtually and at the Regal Cinema at LA Live.

LISTEN 

Borrelia Borealis Trailer on Vimeo

"Borrelia Borealis"

Starring Kathryne Isabelle Easton • Anthony Goes • Maiya Reaves • Jack Herholdt

Written & Directed by Kathryne Isabelle Easton

DP: Matt Fore

abhorrentbehavior.com

KATHRYNE ISABELLE EASTON'S "BORRELIA BOREALIS"
TO MAKE WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 2021 LAFEMME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

“A beautiful, heartbreaking, illuminating and triumphant love letter to the power of stories…"


OCTOBER 7, 2021 - LOS ANGELES --"Borrelia Borealis", a film by writer/director/actress Kathryne Isabelle Easton, will have it's world premiere at the 2021 LaFemme International Film Festival, running October 14-17 held both virtually and at the Regal Cinema at LA Live.

Easton is a highly regarded filmmaker in the entertainment community whose previous work has garnered her such prestigious honors as double Academy Nicholl quarterfinalist for her scripts "Happy Birthday, Ray!" and "Hemorrhage." She directed the episodic series “Key Question” for Legendary Studios at Geek and Sundry, and she just wrapped principal photography directing her second independent feature film, “Valleyheart.”

"Borrelia Borealis" is a vividly lush, mystically haunting take on love and desire during an unprecedented US lockdown.

In the midst of a global pandemic and raging California wildfires, Beth, who suffers from life-threatening late-stage chronic Lyme disease, is forced to confront her personal demons in quarantine. After a particularly brutal day, she answers a random video call from a mysterious man, and soon an unlikely romance breaks open a boundless cosmic world through astral projection.

Easton has been a multi-hyphenate filmmaker for more than a decade. With her equally talented husband Matt Fore (Director of Photography/ Editor/Producer), the two established Abhorrent Behavior, a full service production company that has produced dozens of award-winning short films, web series, music videos, and two feature films since 2017.

"Borrelia Borealis" also features Anthony Goes, Maiya Reaves and Jack Herholdt. Matt Fore served as Director of Photography and Co-Producer with Easton, who also wrote, directed, and starred in the film, which is loosely based on her real-life experience with Lyme. Justin V. David created the ethereal original score. The film also features English electronic band LADYTRON.

"Writing is where it all starts for me, but it's not where it ends," she declares. “As a filmmaker, my mission is to tell compelling visual stories with women at the center. My main objective is to find the truth in filmic emotion, or the ‘root cause’— it’s in the heartbeat of our actors where the answers lie. It’s there that we can really start to explore the complex human condition, which I have dedicated my life to understanding more deeply and capturing on film.”

"Borrelia Borealis" will screen at the Regal Cinema at LA Live, 1000 Olympic Blvd. on October 15th at 4PM. Individual tickets can be purchased at the box office or by visiting https://lafemme.org.

Coming up 11/22/21 at 9:30am pst - Janeane sits down with Fernande Raine, PhD, founder of The History Co: Lab, and producers Gabriel Hostin, Sydne Clarke, and Anya Duao talk about empowering young people through narratives, the past, the future, and their role in the world

UnTextbooked is the podcast in which teenagers interview
leading historians, bringing you the power of good history
so we can build a better future.

LISTEN

ABOUT UNTEXTBOOKED
A history podcast for the future. Brought to you by teen changemakers who are looking for answers to big questions. We interview famous historians who have some of the answers.
These intergenerational conversations bring the full power of history to you with the depth and vividness that most textbooks lack. Real history, to help you find answers to your big questions. Untextbooked makes history unboring forever.

Winner of Spotify's 2021 Next Wave Award.

Fernande Raine, Ph.D. (she/her)

Founder of Got History?—an organization that believes in a world

where all young people can advance civic well-being

for themselves, society and the planet.

The History Co:Lab

www.thehistorycolab.org

www.thelearningcollab.org

www.untextbooked.com

Featured Producers 

Gabriel Hostin

Sydne Clarke

Anya Dua

Looking for ways to help out this holiday season? Here's a list of places that need volunteers!

Take some time this holiday season and throughout the year
to consider ways you can support organizations that help those in need.
Here are a few organizations that need your help.

There are more than 28,000 homeless children attending Orange County Schools. For more than 25 years, Project Hope Alliance has been ending the cycle of homelessness, one child at a time. 

Volunteer with Abound Food Care

Volunteer opportunities


Support some of the following organizations where
Janeane has donated food

Newport-Mesa Unified School District

Tustin Family & Youth Center

Colette's Children's Home

Mary's Kitchen

Orange County Rescue Mission

Mikah's Way

Families Together