3/2/20 @9:00am pst - Modern motherhood & mental health expert Katherine Wintsch joined host Janeane on KUCI 88.9fm

LISTEN to today's show with Katherine Wintsch

Modern motherhood & mental health expert Katherine Wintsch is founder CEO of The Mom Complex and author of SLAY LIKE A MOTHER: How to Destroy What’s Holding Your Back So You Can Live the Life You Want (paperback release March 3, 2020; Sourcebooks). In both her business and her book, Katherine’s goal is to help mothers embark on a new chapter in life as a parent – away from the self-defeating tendencies and feelings of inadequacy and toward the deeply held belief that you’ve always been more than enough as a mother and a woman.

“I loved this book! It’s packed with important and actionable advice.” —Eve Rodsky, author of Hello Sunshine book pick & New York Times best-selling book, Fair Play


While parents worry about their children being bullied, mothers bully themselves constantly with negative self-talk, yet think nothing of it. Watch this heartwarming video of mothers sharing their dragons of self-doubt. We constantly strive to pass ourselves off as perfect – but that act is exhausting. While the struggle of parenthood is real, the suffering is optional. It is time for moms to shift from worrier to warrior with Katherine’s practical solutions, including:

· How to start treating MORE like a four-letter word, and how to start saying NO.

· How to teach the negative voice in your head some manners.

· How to stop seeing the success of other women as an indictment against yourself.

· How to teach your children to be dragon slayers.

· How to avoid setting expectations that set you up for failure.

· How to make more time for me-time.


About Katherine WintschKATHERINE WINTSCH is an internationally recognized expert on the topic of modern motherhood. The majority of her expertise comes from studying the passion and pain points of mothers around the world—the rest is accumulated from a little trial and a whole lot of error while raising her own two children with her husband in Richmond, Virginia.

As the founder and CEO of The Mom Complex, Katherine and her team help develop innovative new products, services, and marketing strategies for the world’s largest mom-focused brands, including Walmart, Babyganics, Pinterest, Kimberly Clark, and the Discovery Network.

Katherine’s sought-after research and expertise have been featured by Today, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company, and she regularly writes about the topic of motherhood on her popular blog, In All Honesty, and for Working Mother magazine.



Additional Praise for SLAY LIKE A MOTHER:

"Slay Like a Mother is a feisty, clever, and fun blueprint for modern motherhood that belongs on every book shelf and in every diaper bag. No mom has time for a drippy self-help tome, and this guide cuts right to the point: when you turn your doubt into strength, the sky's the limit. As a woman and mother, you'll gain a newfound power, happiness, and ability to leap tall Lego buildings in a single bound." —Erin Falconer, author of How To Get Sh*t Done: Why Women Need to Stop Doing Everything So They Can Achieve Anything

"I love everything about this book. The tone, the candor, the acceptance that we must love ourselves first before we can slay anything in life. And it is so needed. We mothers are experts at thinking we are not good enough or do enough. It is time for us to let go of the guilt and let in the love. Thank you for this gift, Katherine. Slay on!" —Julie Foudy, former captain of the US Women's National Soccer Team, ESPN analyst and report, Olympic Gold Medalist

"Entertaining and honest, Katherine's story reveals that the most powerful force for changing your life is you."—Mel Robbins, author of the international bestseller The 5 Second Rule

"Life-changing. That is the only way to summarize the impact of Slay Like a Mother. As I devoured the transformative words of this book, I wished I'd had it during a desolate time in my life-but it was not too late. Every time fear, anxiety, inadequacy, or self-doubt gripped me, I opened Slay Like Mother. Waiting to inspire me was a relatable anecdote or fool-proof strategy with the power to help me say no, draw a boundary line, ask for help, and show up for my life. Slay Like a Mother is much more than a self-help book for women; it is the end of self-doubt and the beginning of self-love... and that is nothing short of life-changing." —Rachel Macy Stafford, New York Times bestselling author of Hands Free Mama



EXAMPLE TALKING POINTS 

1. Why did you write Slay Like a Mother?

2. What do you want mothers to know?

3. Talk about the difference between struggling and suffering.

4. What exactly is a “dragon of self-doubt” and what does living with it feel like?

5. When was your own dragon born, Katherine?

6. You say self-doubt doesn’t discriminate, tell me more.

7. What areas of a mother’s life are affected by self-doubt?

3/2/20 @9:15am pst - Katherine Keith - Endurance Racer and Author of the Debut Memoir: EPIC SOLITUDE

LISTEN to today's show with Katherine Keith

KATHERINE KEITH

Endurance Racer and Author of the Debut Memoir:

EPIC SOLITUDE

Blackstone Publishing

About the Author

Katherine Keith is a wilderness athlete, experience junkie, spiritual questor, long-distance dog musher, and mother to a fifteen-year-old daughter Amelia and thirty-five dogs, living above the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, Alaska (pop. 3,266). Professionally, and as a jack-of-all-trades survivalist, she is a small business owner, rural Alaska project director, energy engineer, commercial fisherman, and wellness advocate. Accomplishments such as completing six Ironman triathlons and five 1,000-mile dog sled races form the cornerstone of Katherine’s philosophy of generating grit through overcoming real-time obstacles. A never-ending dreamer, Katherine is currently pursuing climbing the seven tallest summits on every continent as a budding alpinist. EPIC SOLITUDE is her first book. Learn more at http://www.katherinekeith.com/.

Book Summary

Epic Solitude is a moving reflection on a harsh but ultimately inspiring life of endurance dog-racing, motherhood, grief resolution, and spiritual discovery in the Alaskan back country. Divorced at twenty from her high school sweetheart following a youth of abuse, mental illness, and eating disorders, Keith moves from Minnesota to the remote Alaskan wilderness to begin again, only to face the deaths of her newborn daughter, and then her husband the following year. Left to raise her second daughter on her own in the wilderness, Keith finds solace in the athleticism and solitude of traversing the sublime Alaskan tundra as a dog-musher, allowing her to reconnect and recover from past and present traumas as she learns to appreciate the beauty that life offers.

Praise

“A good read for fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.” —Working Mother, 20 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 by Working Mother

“This intense and uplifting treatise on self-exploration celebrates the resiliency of the human spirit.” —Publishers Weekly

“[Katherine Keith] tells her story with brutal honesty, unafraid to ask difficult questions and face the answers, while making clear the deep passion she feels for her sport and her love for her dogs. This is a story of survival and triumph in an unforgiving place, told by someone who understands that despite the solitude, the journey forward is always, somehow, a shared one.” —Booklist

2/25/20 - Dani Shapiro, New York Times Instant Bestselling Memoirist, Novelist and Host of the hit podcast Family Secrets shares her story about the staggering family secret uncovered by a genealogy test: an exploration of the urgent ethical questions surrounding fertility treatments and DNA testing, and a profound inquiry of paternity, identity, and love

LISTEN to today's conversation with  featured guest
Dani Shapiro.

DANI SHAPIRO
Instant New York Times bestselling memoirist, novelist and host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets, shares her story about the staggering family secret uncovered by a genealogy test: an exploration of the urgent ethical questions surrounding fertility treatments and DNA testing, and a profound inquiry of paternity, identity, and love – now in paperback

In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. She woke up one morning and her entire history—the life she had lived—crumbled beneath her.

This shocking revelation propelled Dani into a journalistic and personal quest that resulted in her latest memoir, INHERITANCE — the book she was literally born to write. Chronicling Dani’s journey to unlock the hidden story of her own identity, INHERITANCE, which became an instant New York Times bestseller in hardcover, is a gripping exploration of the secrets we keep from one another—out of shame, for self-protection, or in the name of love—and how to answer the fundamental question: What makes us who we are?


Dani Shapiro discusses:
· Her writing process for INHERITANCE and why she was driven to start writing in real time as the story was unfolding.

· How her own sense of identity -- a central theme of INHERITANCE – has changed over the course of her DNA discovery to now, as well as how it has affected so many readers on their own journeys of secrets and identity.

· Her advice to the millions of people who will take personal DNA tests (as many as 50 million are estimated to have received personal DNA test kits such as 23&Me and Ancestry for holiday gifts this past season alone). She shares her thoughts on how these tests have affected our society in both good and worrisome ways.

· Her hit podcast, Family Secrets, now in its third season, with over 7 million downloads.


INHERITANCE is a book about secrets—secrets within families, kept out of shame or self-protectiveness; secrets we keep from one another in the name of love. It is the story of a woman’s urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is a book about the extraordinary moment we live in—a moment in which science and technology have outpaced not only medical ethics but also the capacities of the human heart to contend with the consequences of what we discover.



About the Author

DANI SHAPIRO is the author of the memoirs Hourglass, Still Writing, Devotion, and Slow Motion and five novels including Black & White and Family History. Also an essayist and a journalist, Shapiro's short fiction, essays, and journalistic pieces have appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, One Story, Elle, Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, the op-ed pages of the New York Times, and many other publications. She has taught in the writing programs at Columbia, NYU, the New School, and Wesleyan University; she is cofounder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. Shapiro is the host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. She lives with her family in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

2/27/20 @9:30am pst - Joey Travolta spoke with host Janeane Bernstein about his film Carol of the Bells

LISTEN to today's show featuring Joey Travolta

Carol of the Bells (2019) 1h 40min | Drama | 19 October 2019 (USA) A young man with a troubled past seeks out his biological mother. His world is turned upside down upon discovering that she is developmentally disabled.

WATCH the TRAILER

A crew of 70% individuals with developmental disabilities recently produced Inclusion Films’ first feature length film, Carol of the Bells, directed by Joey Travolta. Fresh from earning the Audience Favorite Feature award at the San Diego International Film Festival in October - Carol of the Bells will release in multiple cities in December. Travolta teaches filmmaking to individuals with developmental disabilities at 6 partner studios across California via Inclusion Films. Carol of the Bells was produced in association with Futures Explored, Inc. and Options for All. 

“Carol of the Bells” was the world's first feature film production, where up to 70% of the crew had a developmental disability. Under the network and resources of Inclusion Films, this film was made within two weeks in Bakersfield, California.

Synopsis: A young father battles his past to find peace with his wife and son. Scott Johnson has always struggled with his secret adoption, and his life-changing moment as a child at Christmas time. Now, Scott has the answer to his greatest fear. Can he take the final step to bridge the truth about his first family and heal his wounds?

Director/Producer Joey Travolta shared “Carol of the Bells is a beautiful story by itself, but the way it was made is even more beautiful. Working with a crew where 70% are developmentally different offers insight into just how much they bring to the table when offered the opportunity. Having the opportunity is the key. Inclusion Films has a mission of inclusion - to train people with different abilities in the art of filmmaking. The soft skills learned in the training program can then be applied to other jobs and all aspects of their life.” 


When asked what drives his passion for inclusion, Travolta shared “My father raised us in an environment of inclusivity. Family was important, kindness was important, everyone was equal and everyone was welcome. That’s what first led me to being a special education educator. Partnering that passion for equality with filmmaking has become my life’s work. I want everyone to have that sense of belonging when they are trained by us, come to our camps or work with us on a film. That sense of belonging brought out the best in everyone - and allowed for an environment for this talented diverse team to create an award winning feature film. No small feat. I’m looking forward to sharing their work on Carol of the Bells and helping to create a shift in employment opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities.”



Director: Joey Travolta

Writer: JC Peterson

Producer: Dale J Oprandy

Editor: Chris Duguay

Cinematographer: Andy Ryan

Production Designer: Jo O'Meara


Cast: RJ Mitte (Breaking Bad), Yuly Mireles, Lee Purcell (Television and movies), Andrea F. Friedman, Elijah Maximus and Donna Pescow (Saturday Night Fever), Donna Mills (Television and movies)

2/27/20 - 9:15am pst - Angelou Exeilo spoke with host Janeane Bernstein about her book, Engage, Protect, Connect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders

Engage, Connect, Protect

Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders

by Angelou Ezeilo with Nick Chiles

LISTEN to today's show!

Angelou Exeilo on Engage, Protect, Connect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders. This is an important contribution to the ongoing conversation about our environment, and an inclusive one as well. For everyone looking to really make an impact, be of service, connect and bridge the cultural and generational divide, this is it! 

"Ezeilo's book is powerful, personal and practical. Speaking truth to power, she engages our hearts while challenging our comfort zones as it relates to race and the environment.— Carolyn Finney, Ph.D. author, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors

While concern about the state of our land, air, and water continues to grow, there is widespread belief that environmental issues are primarily of interest to wealthy white communities. Engage, Connect, Protect explodes this myth, revealing the deep and abiding interest that African American, Latino, and Native American communities – many of whom live in degraded and polluted parts of the country – have in our collective environment.

Part eye-opening critique of the cultural divide in environmentalism, part biography of a leading social entrepreneur, and part practical toolkit for engaging diverse youth, Engage, Connect, Protect covers:

>Why communities of color are largely unrecognized in the environmental movement

>Bridging the cultural divide and activate a new generation of environmental stewards

>A curriculum for engaging diverse youth and young adults through culturally appropriate methods and activities

A resource guide for connecting mainstream America to organizations working with diverse youth within environmental projects, training, and employment.

Engage, Connect, Protect is a wake-up call for businesses, activists, educators, and policymakers to recognize the work of grassroots activists in diverse communities and create opportunities for engaging with diverse youth as the next generation of environmental stewards.

Angelou Ezeilo is founder and CEO of the Greening Youth Foundation. A 2016 Ashoka Fellow. she is a member of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights' Women in Solidarity Society. She lives in Atlanta, GA and Victoria Island, Nigeria.

2/24/20 @9:00am pst - successful comic artist and visual designer, Sam Sawyer, joined Janeane live on KUCI 88.9fm

LISTEN to today's conversation with Sam Sawyer!

As a teenager in suburban Phoenix, aspiring artist Sam Sawyer couldn’t stop thinking about a story about a monster searching for an identity – an animated series that would feature a non-binary character as a hero.

Fast-forward a few years: now a successful comic artist and visual designer, Sam has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the animated series “SALEM: The Secret Archive of Legends, Entertainments, and Monsters,” featuring the vocal talent of Rob Paulsen (“Animaniacs”), Laura Bailey (“Critical Role” and “Dragon Ball Z”) and Adam McArthur (“Star vs. the Forces of Evil”). It’s the story of a “cryptid” (creature) named Salem, raised by the Boogeyman, who learns that they are adopted. Without a gender and without a core identity, Salem embarks on a journey of discovery among the world of faeries, goblins, and other cryptids.

Rob Paulsen said of Sam “She did what all the folks at Comic Con love about this whole experience. It’s not about anything but utter joy in expressing yourself, being creative and being accepted for who you are. I’m really proud of her.”

But Sawyer isn’t only determined to bring back the edgy animation of her youth; she’s also a veteran comic book artist, a published author, and designer of three Tarot decks. She appears at over 20 Comic Con events per year and was an artistic collaborator on the new Lindsey Stirling music video, “The Upside.”

With her pink and purple “hombre” style haircut and bright personality, the queer-identified Sawyer knew she was an artist from a young age. Despite leaving home early, and even being homeless for a time, her determination and talent allowed her to find a space for her unique artistic vision and gave her the confidence to keep conquering new frontiers.


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHerrVAmSkXZKxl9ngePrrw

Kickstarter campaign: www.thesalemseries.com


http://mysincerelysam.com/

2/18/20 - Janice Kaplan explores the powerful forces that have rigged the system—and celebrates the women geniuses past and present who have triumphed anyway—in her fascinating and timely new book, THE GENIUS OF WOMEN: From Overlooked to Changing the World

LISTEN to today's conversation with journalist and
New York Times bestselling author Janice Kaplan.

We tell girls that they can be anything, so why do 90 percent of Americans believe that geniuses are almost always men? When asked to name a genius, people mention Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and Steve Jobs. As for great women? In one survey, the only female genius anyone listed was Marie Curie. Journalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Gratitude Diaries, Janice Kaplan explores the powerful forces that have rigged the system—and celebrates the women geniuses past and present who have triumphed anyway—in her fascinating and timely new book, THE GENIUS OF WOMEN: From Overlooked to Changing the World.

We define genius almost exclusively through male achievement. Janice Kaplan set out to determine why the extraordinary work of so many women has been brushed aside. She realizes early on that genius is not just about possessing spectacular talent—it is about having that talent recognized. Blending memoir with one-on-one interviews with neuroscientists, psychologists, and dozens of women geniuses at work in the world today, she highlights how women are fighting to have their genius recognized, nurtured, and celebrated—and how society needs to shift to make that possible.



Kaplan reveals unexpected, paradigm shifting findings in THE GENIUS OF WOMEN, including:


· A new perspective on power: Defining genius as a combination of extraordinary talent and celebrity, Kaplan shows how women have often had only one half of the equation, and she explains the unconscious biases that keep their talents from being recognized.

· The traits that women geniuses share: Kaplan explores the qualities that allow some women to overcome obstacles and thrive no matter how challenging the circumstance. She shows how resisting stereotypes and labels, and facing the world in a positive way, can help all of us reach our potential.

· How we can help girls find their own genius: The messages girls receive from popular culture often contradict the Girl Power t-shirts they wear. Kaplan explores research showing how girls as young as six think that only boys can be geniuses—and she looks at the struggles women at all ages have over beauty and genius.

· Why women geniuses aren’t what you expect: Many of the women Kaplan interviewed were married with young children, and she shows how having a multi-faceted life contributes to genius, rather than detracting from it.

Some of the amazing women she talks to who are changing the world right now:

· Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe

· Jo Dunkley, astrophysicist at Princeton

· Tina Landau, Broadway director

· Shirley Tilghman, molecular biologist and former President of Princeton

· Frances Arnold, chemical engineer and Nobel Laureate

· Lise Eliot, neuroscientist who studies female and male brains

· Fei-Fei Li, global expert on AI and professor at Stanford

· Meg Urry, NASA scientist and physicist at Yale University

· Cynthia Breazeal, roboticist at MIT Media Lab
Some of the geniuses from history:

· Maria Anna Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sister. She was also brilliant musician, but her talent was never nurtured because it considered improper for a woman to perform in public. Instead, she was sent off to get married.

· Lise Meitner, physicist who discovered nuclear fission in the 1930s. The Nobel Prize went to her male lab partner since nobody believed that a woman would be capable of making such a huge discovery.

· Émilie du Châtelet, mathematician and philosopher who was one of the most respected thinkers of the 16th century. Anyone studying science at the time learned it from her books, but now she is remembered mostly in relation to a man—since she was Voltaire’s lover.


Across the generations, even when they face less-than-perfect circumstances, women geniuses have created brilliant and original work. Kaplan’s rousing examination of female genius will provoke, delight, anger, and inspire in equal measure, leaving readers hungry for change and ready to fight for it.



About the Author

Janice Kaplan has enjoyed wide success as a magazine editor, television producer, writer, and journalist. The former editor in chief of Parade magazine, she is the author or coauthor of fourteen books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Gratitude Diaries and I'll See You Again. She lives in New York City and Kent, Connecticut.


JaniceKaplan.com | Twitter: @JaniceKaplan2 | Instagram: janice.kaplan

2/17/20 @9:30am pst - Megan Angelo joins host Janeane to talk about Followers - A Novel

An electrifying story of two ambitious friends, the dark choices they make and the stunning moment that changes the world as we know it forever

HIGHLY RECOMMEND BY PEOPLE MAGAZINE · THESKIMM · KATIE COURIC’S “WAKE UP CALL” · ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY · VOGUE.COM · MARIE CLAIRE · PARADE.COM · BITCH MEDIA · HELLO GIGGLES · BUSTLE · BOOKLIST ·

“Megan Angelo’s “Followers,” with its terrific writing about terrifying ideas, is destined to be such a talker that you must read it immediately or risk being out of the loop when your friends start saying things like “She’s such a Marlow!” or “What Would Floss Do?”” —Washington Post
“This dark, pitch-perfect novel about our dependence on technology for validation and human connection is as addictive as social media itself.” —People

“Followers is an engaging confection wrapped around a thoughtful critique of how we live our lives online, and how we value others based on their curated personas.” —USA Today

“Meet, an all-too-real nightmare wrapped in an influencer bow...one you won’t be able to look away from.” —TheSkimm

“If anyone is going to explore a future version of our high-tech, internet-obsessed culture, please let it be Megan Angelo. Followers is pure gold.” —Abbi Jacobson, bestselling author and co-creator of Broad City

Orla Cadden is a budding novelist stuck in a dead-end job, writing clickbait about movie-star hookups and influencer yoga moves. Then Orla meets Floss—a striving, wannabe A-lister—who comes up with a plan for launching them both into the high-profile lives they dream about. So what if Orla and Floss’s methods are a little shady—and sometimes people get hurt? Their legions of followers can’t be wrong.

Thirty-five years later, in a closed California village where government-appointed celebrities live every moment of the day on camera, a woman named Marlow discovers a shattering secret about her past. Despite her massive popularity—twelve million loyal followers—Marlow dreams of fleeing the corporate sponsors who would do anything to keep her on-screen. When she learns that her whole family history is based on a lie, Marlow finally summons the courage to run in search of the truth, no matter the risks.

Followers traces the paths of Orla, Floss and Marlow as they wind through time toward each other, and toward a cataclysmic event that sends America into lasting upheaval. At turns wry and tender, bleak and hopeful, this darkly funny story reminds us that even if we obsess over famous people we’ll never meet, what we really crave is genuine human connection.

2/17/20 @9:45am pst - Ariana Neumann, author of the new memoir, WHEN TIME STOPPED A Memoir of My Father’s War and What Remains joins Janeane on KUCI 88.9fm from London

“Profound, gripping, and gut-wrenching…This heartbreaking and unforgettable memoir belongs in every library for the important history Neumann unearths.”

—Booklist, STARRED review

LISTEN to today's conversation with Ariana Neumann.

Ariana Neumann grew up as the beloved only child in a wealthy Venezuelan household, doted on by her glamorous mother and her father, Hans, a successful industrialist involved in arts, media and education. Hans was meticulous, the type who saved everything, with decades of correspondence filed carefully in his study. But when Ariana went to his home after his death, she found everything cleared away but the contents of one drawer. It contained two things: a file with letters from her and her mother and a grey cardboard box. The box held clues to Hans’s mysterious past – a past he never discussed with her while living. This box seemed to Ariana to be an invitation – or even an exhortation – to investigate what happened to Hans during his years in Europe, before he moved to South America. WHEN TIME STOPPED (Scribner, February 4, 2020) is the incredible and heartbreaking story of what Ariana discovered.

Hans (Handa to his family) was the youngest son of Otto and Ella. He was dreamy, a prankster and a poet. And he was nothing like his serious older brother, Lotar. The family split their time between an apartment in Prague and a beautiful home in the idyllic Bohemian countryside. Otto owned and ran a paint factory in Prague. Ella called her boys her “golden ones.” But clouds were gathering on the horizon. Otto, Ella, Lotar and Hans were Jewish. WHEN TIME STOPPED is the story of how a tragically few, very lucky members of the family survived. And Hans’s story is jaw-dropping. When Hans was about to be deported to a concentration camp, which he knew was a likely death sentence, this dreamy poet instead eluded the authorities and, with fake papers and a borrowed passport, traveled to Berlin, got a job, and once there, showing even more remarkable courage, gathered information for the Allies. Lotar stayed in Prague, and he and his parents, who were sent to camps, were helped by Lotar’s indomitable wife, Zdenka. Zdenka snuck in to Theresienstadt not once but twice, to make sure Otto and Ella had the food and supplies they needed to survive. She kept Lotar safe, too, and helped forge the papers Hans needed to get to Berlin. She is the undeniable heroine of this story, and her bravery and radiance shine through. Otto, never much of an artist, made a copper ring for Zdenka in the camp, as a token if his love for her and the only way he could thank her for all she did for the family. Today, Ariana Neumann wears that ring, made by the grandfather she never knew, on a chain around her neck.

Readers will come to know the remarkable and singular Neumanns in these pages: those who survived and those who did not. WHEN TIME STOPPED is a story of what remains after the horror of war recedes. What remains, says Ariana, is love. Love for the family that she has finally come to understand and for the family she will never know, but that she has rediscovered and brought beautifully to life in these pages.

More praise for WHEN TIME STOPPED:


“This book is utterly riveting: Ms. Neumann’s memoir reads like a detective novel, as she unravels her late father’s complex, agonizing yet inspiring trajectory. Conjuring the lives of her relatives murdered in the Holocaust, she brings their lost world to vivid life.”

—Claire Messud, New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor’s Children and The Woman Upstairs


“Ariana Neumann's beautiful, meticulously researched memoir is an extraordinarily moving story of a family’s lost history, a father’s well-kept secret, and a daughter who pieces it all together with courage, tenacity, and most of all, love.”

—Dani Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Inheritance, Devotion, and Still Writing


“This is a work of resistance against oblivion, a reminder against forgetting, an investigation driven by true love.”

—Stephen D. Smith, PhD, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation


“When Time Stopped is beautiful, deeply moving, and extraordinary in its reach and its depth. I felt such kinship with the way in which Ariana Neumann moved through the world in her journey. It is absolutely remarkable.”

—Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes


About the author:Ariana Neumann was born and grew up in Venezuela. She previously worked as a foreign correspondent for Venezuela’s The Daily Journal and her writing has also appeared in The European. She currently lives in London with her family. When Time Stopped is her first book.

2/17/20 at 9:15am pst - Modern motherhood & mental health expert Katherine Wintsch is founder CEO of The Mom Complex and author of SLAY LIKE A MOTHER: How to Destroy What’s Holding Your Back So You Can Live the Life You Want

Modern motherhood & mental health expert Katherine Wintsch is founder CEO of The Mom Complex and author of SLAY LIKE A MOTHER: How to Destroy What’s Holding Your Back So You Can Live the Life You Want (paperback release March 3, 2020; Sourcebooks). 

In both her business and her book, Katherine’s goal is to help mothers embark on a new chapter in life as a parent – away from the self-defeating tendencies and feelings of inadequacy and toward the deeply held belief that you’ve always been more than enough as a mother and a woman.

“I loved this book! It’s packed with important and actionable advice.” —Eve Rodsky, author of Hello Sunshine book pick & New York Times best-selling book, Fair Play


While parents worry about their children being bullied, mothers bully themselves constantly with negative self-talk, yet think nothing of it. Watch this heartwarming video of mothers sharing their dragons of self-doubt. We constantly strive to pass ourselves off as perfect – but that act is exhausting. While the struggle of parenthood is real, the suffering is optional. It is time for moms to shift from worrier to warrior with Katherine’s practical solutions, including:

· How to start treating MORE like a four-letter word, and how to start saying NO.

· How to teach the negative voice in your head some manners.

· How to stop seeing the success of other women as an indictment against yourself.

· How to teach your children to be dragon slayers.

· How to avoid setting expectations that set you up for failure.

· How to make more time for me-time.



About Katherine Wintsch

KATHERINE WINTSCH is an internationally recognized expert on the topic of modern motherhood. The majority of her expertise comes from studying the passion and pain points of mothers around the world—the rest is accumulated from a little trial and a whole lot of error while raising her own two children with her husband in Richmond, Virginia.

As the founder and CEO of The Mom Complex, Katherine and her team help develop innovative new products, services, and marketing strategies for the world’s largest mom-focused brands, including Walmart, Babyganics, Pinterest, Kimberly Clark, and the Discovery Network.

Katherine’s sought-after research and expertise have been featured by Today, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company, and she regularly writes about the topic of motherhood on her popular blog, In All Honesty, and for Working Mother magazine.


Additional Praise for SLAY LIKE A MOTHER:

"Slay Like a Mother is a feisty, clever, and fun blueprint for modern motherhood that belongs on every book shelf and in every diaper bag. No mom has time for a drippy self-help tome, and this guide cuts right to the point: when you turn your doubt into strength, the sky's the limit. As a woman and mother, you'll gain a newfound power, happiness, and ability to leap tall Lego buildings in a single bound." —Erin Falconer, author of How To Get Sh*t Done: Why Women Need to Stop Doing Everything So They Can Achieve Anything

"I love everything about this book. The tone, the candor, the acceptance that we must love ourselves first before we can slay anything in life. And it is so needed. We mothers are experts at thinking we are not good enough or do enough. It is time for us to let go of the guilt and let in the love. Thank you for this gift, Katherine. Slay on!" —Julie Foudy, former captain of the US Women's National Soccer Team, ESPN analyst and report, Olympic Gold Medalist

"Entertaining and honest, Katherine's story reveals that the most powerful force for changing your life is you."—Mel Robbins, author of the international bestseller The 5 Second Rule

"Life-changing. That is the only way to summarize the impact of Slay Like a Mother. As I devoured the transformative words of this book, I wished I'd had it during a desolate time in my life-but it was not too late. Every time fear, anxiety, inadequacy, or self-doubt gripped me, I opened Slay Like Mother. Waiting to inspire me was a relatable anecdote or fool-proof strategy with the power to help me say no, draw a boundary line, ask for help, and show up for my life. Slay Like a Mother is much more than a self-help book for women; it is the end of self-doubt and the beginning of self-love... and that is nothing short of life-changing." —Rachel Macy Stafford, New York Times bestselling author of Hands Free Mama



EXAMPLE TALKING POINTS / Q&A :

1. Why did you write Slay Like a Mother?

2. What do you want mothers to know?

3. Talk about the difference between struggling and suffering.

4. What exactly is a “dragon of self-doubt” and what does living with it feel like?

5. When was your own dragon born, Katherine?

6. You say self-doubt doesn’t discriminate, tell me more.

7. What areas of a mother’s life are affected by self-doubt?

Monday 2/10/20 at 9:00am pst - Pioneering Artist, BEATIE WOLFE, spoke with Janeane Bernstein live on KUCI 88.9fm

Beatie Wolfe at Willis Wonderland by Ross Harris

LISTEN to today's conversation with Beatie Wolfe.

"Musical weirdo and visionary" Beatie Wolfe is an artist who has beamed her music into space, been appointed a UN Women role model for innovation and held an acclaimed solo exhibition of her ‘world first’ album designs at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Named by WIRED Magazine as one of "22 people changing the world,” singer songwriter and innovator Beatie Wolfe is at the forefront of pioneering new formats for music that bridge the physical and digital, which include: a 3D theatre for the palm of your hand; a wearable record jacket - cut by Bowie/Hendrix’s tailor out of fabric woven with Wolfe’s music - and most recently an ‘anti-stream’ from the quietest room on earth and space beam via the Big Bang horn.

Beatie Wolfe - photo by Ross Harris

Music / Innovations / V&A Exhibition / UN Women / Instagram

TUNE IN February 10th at 9:30am pst on KUCI 88.9fm or streaming www.kuci.org, to hear Janeane's conversation with former teen idol, Leif Garrett, and details about his new memoir, Idol Truth, released on November 5, 2019 via Post Hill Press

LISTEN to my conversation 

with actor and teen idol, Leif Garrett.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Former teen idol Leif Garrett bares his soul for the first time ever, revealing his deepest secrets about the extraordinary highs and devastating lows he has survived over the years.

He was a hardworking child actor in the early 1970s, appearing on dozens of popular films and TV programs. Then he was offered a chance to make a record and “Leif Garrett, teen idol” was born. Millions of teenage girls all over the world covered their walls with his picture. His face adorned hundreds of international magazine covers as he became one of the biggest and most desired heartthrobs in history. There were jet-setting tours, TV specials, and hit records, along with an endless supply of beautiful women, alcohol, and ultimately, the drugs that sent this shooting star into the darkest depths of addiction. Idol Truth is a harrowing survivor’s story as well as a charmed tale filled with compelling pop culture characters—from Michael Jackson and Brooke Shields to John Belushi, Freddie Mercury, and many more. It’s the first time ever that Leif Garrett has come clean about his life, revealing all the details of his spectacular journey.

WATCH the book trailer.

ABOUT LEIF
Leif Garrett burst onto the scene in 1966 at the early age of five, debuting as an actor in the quintessential period film, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. Garrett starred in over sixty hit television shows, such as being the semi-regular on the critically acclaimed hit television shows, The Waltons and Family. But it was his portrayal of a pony express rider in the television special, Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion that garnered Garrett the honor of being inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame. From then on he continued to do more TV and film including Walking Tall and the hit television series, Three for the Road. This family drama was Garrett’s launching pad for the recording phenomena that was to occur.

Having achieved tremendous success as an actor, Garrett took on the music industry. He became a multi gold and platinum recording artist and one of the biggest teen idols of all time, gracing magazine covers all over the world. In 1977, Garrett released his self-titled debut album and climbed the music charts with his remakes of “Runaround Sue” (#13) and “Surfin’ USA” (#20). In 1978 he released his sophomore album entitled Feel The Need. The album quickly became a chart-topper with Leif’s biggest hit, “I Was Made For Dancin'."

After releasing three more albums, Garrett decided to turn his attention to acting once again, co-starring in Francis Ford Coppola’s film classic, The Outsiders in 1983. He continued to choose other notable roles in the eighties in movies such as Thunder Alley and Shaker Run. In 1991, Garrett appeared with fellow former teen idol, David Cassidy, in the seventies spoof, Spirit of ’76. Audiences were amazed and impressed with Garrett’s comedic ability and talent.

It was in 1998 when the music arena became reacquainted with Leif Garrett on VH1’s highly acclaimed Behind The Music series. The response from the viewing public was sensational and it has become one of the highest rated episodes of Behind The Music.
Garrett’s well-documented bouts with substance abuse generated headlines in the next two decades.

Garrett later formed a rock band and toured across the USA while still making appearances on television and doing some theater work. In 2006, Garrett appeared in the Celebrity Edition of Fear Factor. He won the grand prize of $50,000. In 2008, the producers of TruTV’s The Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest… added Garrett to their cast of celebrity commentators.

Garrett’s memoir, Idol Truth, will be released on November 5, 2019 via Post Hill Press. Idol Truth promises to be a no-holds barred look at the former teen idol’s life, crammer with untold personal stories, wild celebrity anecdotes, and many rare photos from Garrett’s private collection.

About the new memoir, Garrett says, “I’m writing it now because I think I can finally make sense of what happened to me over the years. I’ve thought about it for a long time, but I just need the right amount of distance from all these events. It’s not all going to be pretty, but it’s going to be honest.”

www.leifgarrett.net

2/3/20 @9:30am pst - LAURA HUANG, Harvard Business School Professor shared how to find our personal “edge” by turning adversity into advantage

LISTEN to today's show
featuring Laura Huang.


In EDGE: Turning Adversity into Advantage, Harvard Business School Professor Laura Huang shares the practical implications of her revolutionary research on advantage and disadvantage, showing us how we can all improve our chances of achieving our dreams. Arguing that personal success depends on more than our ideas and credentials, or even hard work and effort, Huang writes, “To get ahead, you need an edge—and if you don’t have one, you can make one.”

EDGE illuminates how success in all arenas of life—whether it’s landing a job, getting a raise, closing a deal, or acing a presentation—hinges not only on working hard and amplifying our strengths, but on shaping how others see our perceived flaws. Huang begins with the recognition that the world isn’t a level playing field. Some people have inherent advantages; others have to create advantages for themselves. Stereotyping, bias, and superficial perceptions, fairly or not, play a big role in how we’re seen by others and how far we can go, and we all have biases—about race, gender, age, religion, ability, sexual orientation, and more—that work for us or against us. The good news, Huang argues, is that we can turn adversity into advantage by harnessing the very stereotypes and qualities that seem like shortcomings and reframing them as assets that work in our favor. We can each find and create our own unique “edge.”


Laura Huang discusses:

· How hard work matters, but it takes more than effort to achieve and maintain success.

· That judgments about us are made quickly and can be difficult to shift.

· That bias doesn’t have to just be a setback; it can work to our advantage.

· The tools that we need to tap into what makes us special, with real-life examples that show how to turn weaknesses into strengths and create a personal edge, such as:

o Female entrepreneurs can flip investors’ biased questions to get deserved funding

o A first-time political candidate overcame voters’ doubts about his physical disability

o Patients can help guide patient-physician interactions to take control of their own health outcomes.

o To read subtle signals and cues in the workplace and change damaging perceptions.


EDGE gives readers the tools they need to be strategic about tapping into what makes them special. Using a combination of her extensive and profound research, her own experiences overcoming obstacles and bias, and the illuminating stories of others, Huang shows us how to turn weaknesses into strengths and create a personal edge in any situation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:LAURA HUANG is an associate professor at Harvard Business School and was named one of the 40 Best Business School Professors Under the Age of 40 by Poets & Quants. Previously, she was an assistant professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Her research has been featured in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, and Nature. Her research has won awards including a 2016 Kauffman Foundation Fellowship. Her speaking and consulting clients include Google, Uber, BlackRock, Keystone, Bionic, and the Level Playing Field Institute. EDGE is her first book. For More Information: https://laurahuang.net/

2/3/20 @9:15am pst - Director Liz Manashil joined host Janeane live on KUCI 88.9fm to talk about her film Speed of Life

SPEED OF LIFE

STARRING ANN DOWD & JEFF PERRY

AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL ON JANUARY 10

LISTEN to today's conversation with Liz Manashil.

David Bowie's death rocks the lives of June & Edward. The superstar’s passing rips a literal hole in the universe, sucking Edward in. Fast forward 24 years, an older June is shocked to find her once-beloved shot back out of this inter-dimensional portal, unchanged from his entry in 2016. The ensemble struggles to understand the extreme ch-ch-changes that have befallen them in this dramedy.

SPEED OF LIFE stars Ann Dowd, Ray Santiago, Vella Lovell, Sean Wright, with Allison Tolman and Jeff Perry. The film has a running time of 76 minutes and will not be rated by the MPAA. The film was written and directed by Liz Manashil.

Giant Pictures will release SPEED OF LIFE digitally on January 10 (Apple TV, Prime Video, Breaker, Vudu, Google Play, and local Cable, among others).

To view the trailer and for additional materials, go to: https://www.speedoflifefilm.com/

2/3/20 @9:00am pst - NYC writing professor David Puretz, releases his debut novel, The Escapist. He joined Janeane live on KUCI 88.9fm

NYC writing professor David Puretz,
releases his debut novel,
The Escapist.
LISTEN to our conversation on today's show.

ABOUT THE BOOK
When escape becomes a first line of defense, is it possible to ever face life's harsh realities? In his debut novel, The Escapist (Global City Press, January 28, 2020), David Puretz details one young man's seemingly never-ending quest for his missing father. Weaving topics like mental health, family conflict and abuse, drug addiction, and sexuality throughout a frame narrative structure, Puretz delves into the internal and external calamities that shape the human life and mind.

The only thing protagonist Billy Chute excels in is escaping. After finding that his father has escaped his own life and disappeared, Billy quits his job and sets out to find him. But what he may really be searching for is a path to free him from his past and give him a purpose and future.

More than a story of self-discovery, The Escapist takes an intimate look into the psyche of an unlikely protagonist. Billy turns to writing as he travels the country, and uses writing, in part, as a way to heal, make sense of things, and forgive. Within the narrative, he explores the adversity of family and self, desperate to create his own identity, but drug addiction and the lasting effects of past abuse take him deeper into an escape than he ever could have imagined.

"Sizzling, a brilliant work of imagination...unflinching in its depiction of our culture and political moment...with the relevance and pace of Kerouac's On the Road and the psychological brutality of Golding's Lord of the Flies."
- Michelle Yasmine Valladares, MFA Program Director at The City College of New York, author of Nortada, The North Wind, and the AMERICAS Poetry Festival's Poet of the Year.

"A perfect time in our country for the return of the anti-hero. So many young men begin an odyssey into adulthood only to find that the past, usually in the form of a father, is both the catalyst forward and the keeper of a locked gate to the future. The goal becomes not salvation but survival. David Puretz's debut novel alternates between life's realistic blows and a hallucinatory journey that may be his only route to selfhood."
- Linsey Abrams, author of Our History in New York, Double Vision, and Charting by the Stars.

"Author David Puretz has created a highly literary and poignant work that tells many tales through its single-character narrative... The Escapist is an accomplished work worthy of great praise, both for its excellent writing style and its apt perspective on our current sociopolitical time."
-- Readers' Favorite 5-Star Review

"Crisp, clear, and electrically charged, The Escapist is a burst of much needed vitality blowing through the miasma of late capitalism's nihilism and hypocrisy."
-- Brendan Kiely, New York Times bestselling author of Tradition

"The Escapist is a fast-paced novel about the miserable American road trip, sleeping outside of diners, failing to connect with hostile strangers and family members alike, and missing natural beauty for the chemical sunrise at the bottom of a pill bottle. Raising complicated questions about the nature of control, and drawing bold lines between state violence, family trauma, and self abuse, David Puretz has crafted a gut punch of a road novel for anyone who ever wondered what drove Hunter S. Thompson to drugs, and made Jack Kerouac want to leave it all behind for a dotted highway line."
- Chris L. Terry, author of the novels Black Card and Zero Fade

In an interview, David can not only discuss his own work, but also his experience as one of NYC’s premiere writing academics helping coach others pursuing careers in writing.



DAVID PURETZ EXPLORES INNER PSYCHE OF A WRITER IN DEBUT NOVEL

Publisher Global City Press premieres The Escapist


New York City – When escape becomes a first line of defense, is it possible to ever face life’s harsh realities? In his debut novel, The Escapist (Global City Press, January 28, 2020), David Puretz details one young man’s seemingly never-ending quest for his missing father. Weaving topics like mental health, family conflict and abuse, drug addiction, and sexuality throughout a frame narrative structure, Puretz delves into the internal and external calamities that shape the human life and mind.

The only thing protagonist Billy Chute excels in is escaping. After finding that his father has escaped his own life and disappeared, Billy quits his job and sets out to find him. But what he may really be searching for is a path to free him from his past and give him a purpose and future.


More than a story of self-discovery, The Escapist takes an intimate look into the psyche of an unlikely protagonist. Billy turns to writing as he travels the country, and uses writing, in part, as a way to heal, make sense of things, and forgive. Within the narrative, he explores the adversity of family and self, desperate to create his own identity, but drug addiction and the lasting effects of past abuse take him deeper into an escape than he ever could have imagined.


David Puretz is the author of The Escapist, a debut literary fiction novel exploring themes of mental health and self-discovery. He is the Editorial Director of the literary journal Global City Review and the creator and founder of the quarterly burly bird zine, which is sponsored by Fortroyal Foundation, a non-profit for the conservation and preservation of the arts. Puretz received an MFA in Creative Writing from The City College of New York and was a trailblazer for Ithaca College’s BA in Writing. Currently, Puretz resides in New York City where he teaches writing at Yeshiva University. For more information, visit https://globalcitypress.com/ or https://davidpuretz.com.



In an interview, David Puretz will discuss:


What a frame narrative is, and why he was drawn to this style for his debut novel


His experience writing short stories that evolved into this debut novel


How teaching writing has influenced his own writing


The value and the dangers he sees in using escapism as a coping mechanism


Patterns of abuse


Being at the helm of a literary start-up and writers’ collective