Friday, July 30, 2021

ROWENA RICHIE Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health. Rowena Richie is a Gen2Gen Innovation Fellow and co-creator of For You.





ROWENA RICHIE
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health

Global Brain Health Institute
University of California, San Francisco | Trinity College Dublin
gbhi.org | www.youtube.com/c/GlobalBrainHealthInstitute | @GBHI_Fellows


Rowena Richie is a Gen2Gen Innovation Fellow and co-creator of For You, launching a creative movement of art making as gift giving between artists and elders. For more information, visit Encore.org/innovation or foryou.productions.

The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is a leader in the global community dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. Dementia is rapidly increasing around the world. By 2050, the number of people with dementia could triple from 50 million to 152 million, overwhelming families, communities, public health care systems, and economies throughout the world. GBHI works to reduce the scale and impact of dementia in three ways, by training and connecting the next generation of leaders in brain health through the Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health program; by collaborating in expanding preventions and interventions; by sharing knowledge and engaging in advocacy. Learn more at http://www.gbhi.org.

Press day coverage -- NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN -- featuring writer/director Malgorzata Szumowska (Elles, In the Name of) and her longtime collaborator Michal Englert


A film by Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert

Starring Alec Utgoff (Stranger Things)

Poland's Official Submission to the 93rd Academy Awards®


“Somewhere between Twin Peaks and Pasolini’s Teorema."

– Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily

Opens in Theaters on July 30 NY / August 6 LA


LISTEN to the press day conversation with
Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englerthost
and KUCI's
Janeane Bernstein


Never Gonna Snow Again is an unclassifiable meditation on class, immigration, and global warming shot through with Lynchian touches of the otherworldly and moments of sober beauty and unexpected humor. The film stars Alec Utgoff (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, “Stranger Things”) with Maja Ostaszewska, Agata Kulesza, Weronika Rosati, Katarzyna Figura, Andrzej Chyra, and Łukasz Simlat as the supporting cast.
 

Trailer Available HERE



Synopsis

On a gray, foggy morning outside a large Polish city, a masseur from the East named Zhenia (Alec Utgoff, Stranger Things) enters the lives of the wealthy residents of a gated community. With his hypnotic presence and quasi-magical abilities, he is able to get a residence permit and starts plying his trade. The well-to-do residents in their cookie-cutter suburban homes seemingly have it all, but they all suffer from an inner sadness, some unexplained longing. The attractive and mysterious newcomer's hands heal, and Zhenia’s eyes seem to penetrate their souls. To them, his Russian accent sounds like a song from the past, a memory of simpler times. The latest from writer/director Malgorzata Szumowska (Elles, In the Name of) and her longtime collaborator Michal Englert is an unclassifiable meditation on class, immigration, and global warming shot through with Lynchian touches of the otherworldly and moments of sober beauty and unexpected humor.


Director: Malgorzata Szumowska

Co-director: Michal Englert

Written By: Michal Englert & Malgorzata Szumowska



Producers: Michal Englert, Viola Fügen, Malgorzata Szumowska, Agnieszka Wasiak, Michael Weber, Mariusz Wlodarski



Cast: Alec Utgoff, Maja Ostaszewska, Agata Kulesza, Weronika Rosati, Katarzyna Figura, Andrzej Chyra, Łukasz Simlat



Cinematography: Michal Englert P.S.C.



Runtime Time: 113 minutes



Original title: Sniegu Juz Nigdy Nie Bedzie

International title: Never Gonna Snow Again

Original Language: Polish, Russian, French, Vietnamese

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Janeane speaks with Helen Dennis, a nationally-recognized leader and sought-after speaker on issues of aging and the new retirement. After 18 years and more than 875 columns, Helen continues to delight readers with her Successful Aging column for the Southern California News Group. The syndicated column reaches more than 1.6 million readers weekly.





Helen Dennis is a nationally-recognized leader and sought-after speaker on issues of aging and the new retirement. As one of the nation's foremost experts on preparing for the non-financial aspects of retirement, she has worked with more than 20,000 employees at corporations and universities to do just that.

These include senior executives, managers, factory workers, engineers, physicians, university faculty and staff, clergy, accountants and more. Helen is the co-founder of Project Renewment, 
a movement of career women defining their next chapters in life, and co-author of The Los Angeles Times Bestseller, Project Renewment:

The First Retirement Model for Career Women. Helen writes Successful Aging, a syndicated column for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group that reaches more than 1.6 million readers weekly. Author of nearly 100 articles, she also has edited two books: Retirement Preparation: What Retirement Specialists Need to Know and 14 Steps in Managing an Aging Work Force.

With an emphasis on employment, Helen has created innovative programs encouraging older adults to enter the labor force and has conducted research on employment and retirement issues as well as service as an expert witness for some of the largest class-action age discrimination suits in the U.S. She is a frequent speaker and appears at events in the United States and Europe.


Friday, July 23, 2021

Stacia Deutsch - #1 NYTimes Best Selling Author, who has written more than 300 kids books, ghost writer and more!




Stacia Deutsch is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 300 children’s books. She writes mostly chapter books and mid-grade, often for licensed characters. Stacia loves playing with known characters in worlds that already exist. Her career started with her own, award-winning, Blast to the Past series about four kids who time travel and meet famous people in history which was a result of her obsession with time travel stories! 

Stacia's first movie novelization was Batman: The Dark Knight and since then she has written many more. Most recently, she wrote the movie novel for Boss Baby 2. Mystery books are also a big love! She’s lucky to be one of many Carolyn Keenes having written several Nancy Drew and then, Boxcar Children written as Gertrude Chandler Warner. Currently, she is launching the Boxcar spin-off The Jessie Files. 

Stacia's newest titles include the Friendship Code for Girls Who Code/Penguin, seven novels for Spirit: Riding Free (Little Brown/Dreamworks), and LEGO stories, of course! Stacia lives on a California ranch with 4 horses, 3 dogs, and a cat that makes her sneeze.

Instagram: Staciadeutsch_writes
twitter: @staciadeutsch
RealMahjongg: Stacia_writes


Stacia's website

Monday, July 19, 2021

Speaker, author and researcher, Elinor Cleghorn, shares a trailblazing, conversation-starting history of misdiagnosis and myth in women’s health



LISTEN to the conversation with Elinor

ELINOR CLEGHORN

Elinor Cleghorn became an unwell woman ten years ago. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after a long period of being told her symptoms were anything from psychosomatic to a possible pregnancy. As Elinor learned to live with her unpredictable disease she turned to history for answers, and found an enraging legacy of suffering, mystification, and misdiagnosis. In her book UNWELL WOMEN: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World, Cleghorn traces the almost unbelievable history of how medicine has failed women by treating their bodies as alien and other, often to perilous effect. The result is an authoritative and groundbreaking exploration of the relationship between women and medical practice, from the "wandering womb" of Ancient Greece to the rise of witch trials across Europe, and from the dawn of hysteria as a catchall for difficult-to-diagnose disorders to the first forays into autoimmunity and the shifting understanding of hormones, menstruation, menopause, and conditions like endometriosis.

Packed with character studies and case histories of women who have suffered, challenged, and rewritten medical orthodoxy—and the men who controlled their fate—this is a revolutionary examination of the relationship between women, illness, and medicine. UNWELL WOMEN explores:


· The absurd practices and diagnoses of women throughout history: From female circumcision in the 1800s as a remedy for misunderstood diseases and prefrontal lobotomies as “cures” for ulcerative colitis in the 1950s, Cleghorn digs into the truly unbelievable and sometimes horrific treatment of women in medicine for millennia.

· How ancient sexism is still evident in medicine today: Women’s inferiority in modern medicine began with its founder, Hippocrates, who believed women were controlled by their uteruses and that their bodies were a weaker inverse of the male body. Medical myths about gender (especially the idea that women’s pain is more likely psychological or emotional) have led to a system that is more likely to offer women anti-depressants and tranquilizers than referral for further diagnosis.

· The fatal combination of misogyny and racism: Cleghorn explores the intersectionality women of color face in the medical field. Discrimination puts Black, Asian, Indigenous, Latinx, and those who don’t identify with gender norms in an even more precarious position when it comes to being heard by medical professionals. 22% of Black women in the US have experienced discrimination when visiting a doctor or clinic and many still believe that Black women have a higher pain tolerance. These are dangerous myths that can lead to poor medical care and even death.

· The hard-fought battles of feminist pioneers in the world of medical rights: All waves of feminism have been fighting for women’s medical rights. Cleghorn writes about the contributions of women from Charlotte Perkins Gilman (“The Yellow Wallpaper”) to Margaret Sanger, the American nurse, sex education pioneer, and birth control activist; and Clelia Duel Mosher, who normalized menstruation in the 1900s. These women made a stand for gender equality in medicine, but despite their good intentions, many of these women also had much to learn about making medicine inclusive and fair for more than wealthy, white women.

Elinor pays homage to the women who suffered so strides could be made, and shows how being unwell has become normalized in society and culture, where women have long been distrusted as reliable narrators of their own bodies and pain. But the time for real change is long overdue: answers reside in the body, in the testimonies of unwell women—and their lives depend on medicine learning to listen.



About the Author:

Elinor Cleghorn has a background in feminist culture and history, and her critical writing has been published in several academic journals, including Screen. After receiving her PhD in humanities and cultural studies in 2012, Elinor worked for three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford on an interdisciplinary arts and medical humanities project. 

She has given talks and lectures at the British Film Institute, where she has been a regular contributor to the education program, Tate Modern, and ICA London, and she has appeared on the BBC Radio 4 discussion show The Forum. In 2017, she was shortlisted for the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize, and she has since written creatively about her experience of chronic illness for publications including Ache (UK) and Westerly (AUS). She now works as a freelance writer and researcher and lives in Sussex.

Saturday, July 17, 2021

Closer to Fine, the debut novel by Jodi Rosenfeld candidly explores coming-of-age with meaningful discussions of sexuality, religion, mental health


Debut author Jodi Rosenfeld is releasing one of the most relatable, warmest new adult novels of the year, "Closer to Fine" (She Writes Press, May 25, 2021, ISBN: 978-1647420598), which follows 24-year-old Rachel Levine as she navigates anxiety, imposter-syndrome, and her traditional Jewish family–all while entering into a relationship with her new girlfriend, Liz.


About the book: 

Rachel is a psych student who knows the human brain but struggles to understand her own anxiety. Living with her conservative grandfather Zayde, she bonds with him over Jewish traditional rituals. But when a progressive female rabbi shakes up their community--and a new love interest, Liz, shakes up Rachel’s world--Rachel finds herself caught between tradition and exploration, loyalty and love, the person she is and the woman she wants to be. Here is a smart, heartfelt novel that proves “coming of age” is ageless, and we find ourselves when we’re least certain of who we are.

Author Jodi Rosenfeld is a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and acceptance-based therapies. Although "Closer to Fine" is not strictly autobiographical, Rosenfeld came out as bisexual and learned about feminist Judaism in her 20s.

“[Closer to Fine] will resonate for anyone who has ever struggled to find their place in the world” – Idit Klein, president and CEO of Keshet, for LGBTQ equality in Jewish life




In an interview, Jodi S. Rosenfeld discusses:


The inspiration behind “Closer to Fine”

Why several unique milestones mark Rachel’s personal growth – finding romance, coming out, and learning from therapy

The importance of therapy, and breaking the stigma surrounding mental health discussions, particularly regarding anxiety and OCD

How identity is explored in the novel, touching on the complex relationship between Judaism and feminism

What she hopes readers will take away from the novel


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jodi Rosenfeld is a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and acceptance-based therapies. She is a graduate of Tufts University and the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (now William James College). She lives with her husband and two teenage children in the western suburbs of Philadelphia and plans to enter rabbinical school in the very near future. Closer to Fine is her first novel. To learn more about her life and work, please visit: https://jodirosenfeld.com/

Former spy turned stay-at-home mom Christina Hillsberg provides a possible antidote for anxious parents in LICENSE TO PARENT: How My Career as a Spy Helped Me Raise Resourceful, Self-Sufficient Kids, a groundbreaking guide to raising resilient, self-sufficient children based on Christina’s experience as a CIA analyst.


"If Mr. and Mrs. Smith had kids and wrote a parenting book, this is what you'd get: a practical guide for how to utilize key spy tactics to teach kids important life skills--from self-defense to effective communication to conflict resolution." --Working Mother



Parents today have never had more reason to be concerned for the safety and security of their children. Former spy turned stay-at-home mom Christina Hillsberg provides a possible antidote for anxious parents in LICENSE TO PARENT: How My Career as a Spy Helped Me Raise Resourceful, Self-Sufficient Kids, a groundbreaking guide to raising resilient, self-sufficient children based on Christina’s experience as a CIA analyst. This unparalleled approach to child-rearing provides both an inside look into one of the world’s most clandestine organizations and a practical guide for how to utilize key spy tactics to teach kids important life skills—from self-defense to effective communication to conflict resolution.

Christina Hillsberg was a single, successful CIA analyst with a burgeoning career in espionage when she met fellow spy, Ryan, a hotshot field operative who turned her world upside down. They fell in love, married, and soon they were raising three children from his first marriage, and later, two more of their own.

Christina knew right away that there was something special about the way Ryan was parenting his kids, even if initially their obsession with surviving end-of-world scenarios and their ability to do everything from archery to motorcycle riding gave her pause. More than that, Ryan's kids were much more security savvy than most adults she knew. It wasn’t long after they married that she realized the secret to Ryan’s parenting success: he was using his CIA training and field experience in his day-to-day child-rearing. And why shouldn't he? The CIA trains its employees to be equipped to deal with just about anything. Shouldn't parents strive to do the same for their kids?

As Christina grew into her new role as a stepmom and later gave birth to their two children, she got on board with Ryan's unique parenting style—and even helped shape it using her own experiences at the CIA. Told through honest and relatable parenting anecdotes, Christina shares their distinctive approach to parenting and gives practical takeaways rooted in CIA tradecraft along the way. LICENSE TO PARENT aims to provide parents with the tools necessary to raise savvier, well-rounded kids who have the skills necessary to navigate through life.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Christina Hillsberg is a former CIA intelligence analyst, writer, and mom of five. She is the author of License to Parent: How My Career as a Spy Helped Me Raise Resourceful, Self-Sufficient Kids.

 


Renée K. Nicholson talks about her new memoir-in-essays, “Fierce and Delicate”



Hailed as “lyrical and fascinating” by Buzzfeed News, Renée Nicholson’s intentionally fractured memoir-in-essays, “Fierce and Delicate” (WVU Press, May 2021) is a book about the high-stakes world of professional ballet, and also about living with chronic illness. From pirouettes to knee replacements, Nicholson’s mastery of writing the body shines in each essay.



In an interview, Renée K. Nicholson will discuss:


How dance, writing, and teaching have each informed her creative life


Her writing process, and how these essays came to be


How she approached writing about ballet in a way that would be accessible to non-dancers, and why this is important to her


How this memoir-in-essays may align with and diverge from readers’ assumptions about both ballet and chronic illness


What narrative medicine is, and how it influences her understanding of chronic illness and writing


More about the book:


Renée Nicholson’s professional training in ballet had both moments of magnificence and moments of torment, from fittings of elaborate platter tutus to strange language barriers and unrealistic expectations of the body. In “Fierce and Delicate” she looks back on the often confused and driven self she had been shaped into and finds beauty in the small roles she performed. When, inevitably, Nicholson moved on from dancing, she discovered that she retained the lyricism and narrative of ballet even as she negotiated life with rheumatoid arthritis.


“remarkable... as breathtaking and beautiful as ballet itself” – Dinty W. Moore, author of Between Panic and Desire

Veteran dancer, Lillian Colon on her journey from being the First Latina Radio City Music Hall Rockette to performing in In the Heights





MEET LILLIAN COLON

Lillian Colon is a veteran dancer, having been in the entertainment industry since the age of 16. She currently teaches jazz in New York City. Among many of her accomplishments in the dance world, Lillian is the First Latina Radio City Music Hall Rockette and honored by the newspaper El Dario in 1997 as The Puerto Rican Woman of The Year. She has appeared as a Guest of Honor and Godmother in 3 Puerto Rican Day Parades.

Graduating from The High School of Performing Arts, Lillian began her career at Lincoln Center as a shark in West Side Story. After performing in various Latin night clubs, such as the Chateau Madrid, Lillian headed to the West Coast’s Los Angeles Playboy Club where she performed nightly in an act with Lainie Kazan. Since her roots were founded in the New York theatre world, Lillian performed at the famed Sacramento Music Circus

Lillian caught the eye of Steve Merritt and quickly became one of the lead dancers for the 61st Academy Award Show. She quickly became a favorite as a Steve Merritt dancer touring Mexico with Olga Breskin. Lillian performed in Olga’s TV show, night club act and the Spanish film, Nora La Rebelde. After returning from Mexico, Lillian became a dancer and assistant choreographer with Menudo ultimately replacing Miguel Gonz as their choreographer. A highlight of her career was having the opportunity to perform in Can Can with one of her idols, Chita Rivera. This experience introduced her to Alan Johnson, once one of entertainment's most talented choreographers. Among the many well known choreographers, Lillian also worked with Joe Layton, Donald McKayle and with the famed Michael Bennett in the 10th Anniversary of, A Chorus Line.

All this led to her dancing on the great stage that Lillian had always dreamed of, The New York Radio City Music Hall, as a Rockette in the Christmas Spectacular and as the first Latina Rockette.

Lillian currently lives in New York City with her husband Carlos and their daughter Roxanne.

WATCH NOW! I See Old People: A True Story About How Small Acts of Kindness Lead Us to Extraordinary Love and Connections that Defy Our Wildest Dreams. Janeane speaks with author Jeanne Corvese Hussin.




WATCH | LISTEN to Janeane's
conversation with Jeanne


Legally Separated and Unemployed with a Year to Kill – What Will Jeanne Do?

A unique and timely set of circumstances create the perfect storm for a woman on the cusp of multiple changes. Her somewhat flippant decision to volunteer sets the stage for profound relationships you won’t soon forget.

When the housing bubble burst in 2008, Jeanne Corvese Hussin found herself at a fork in the road. She could either continue her job as a senior vice president for a mortgage banker at a significant pay cut or take the year-long severance and travel with her son, Jason. She chose the latter.


Now what?


After Jason would go to bed, the nights stretched out before Jeanne like a long black highway cutting through the desert. She spent the hours flirting with men online but was often disappointed by the real person behind the dating profile.

Suddenly, she had an epiphany. Or maybe it was a message from God. She should find a way to give back. Drawn to senior citizens, Jeanne found herself at a local assisted living facility volunteering her time to memory care residents in a ward ironically named Recollections.

From her inspired impulse to serve emerge the colorful characters who comprise I See Old People©. You will never be the same.

In these pages, Jeanne tells the story of her family, her interactions with the seniors at Recollections, and finally, her storybook “never too late” romance in this extraordinary memoir.

I See Old People is much more than a book; it’s an experience.


About Jeanne Corvese Hussin
Jeanne Corvese Hussin is chief marketing officer for a financial services company based in Seattle. A compelling story teller, she has over 30 years' experience in brand marketing and public speaking. In her autobiography, "I See Old People," she shows how to lead with compassion and shares her remarkable love story.

Jeanne resides in Washington with her husband Joe and their two mixed dachshunds, Tasha Bear and Oscar. She volunteers her time visiting with seniors who suffer from dementia and enjoys spending time with her son Jason. 

Learn more at www.kindconversations.com.

Coming up 10/2 on KUCI - PBS SoCal new documentary, The Cheech - Janeane speaks with Director Varda Bar-Kar

The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture  of the Riverside Art Museum showcases the actor's collection of more than 700 pie...