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

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About Jon Gould


DEAN

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

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

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

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

Monday March 13th 9:30am - Veteran journalist, cable news political analyst and human rights activist Goldie Taylor joins host Janeane to talk about her new book, The Love You Save

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Goldie Taylor is a veteran journalist, cable news political analyst and human rights activist. Currently a contributing editor at The Daily Beast, where she writes about national politics and social justice issues, Taylor has been a working journalist for over thirty-five years. She got her start as a staff writer at the Atlanta Journal Constitution and as a desk assistant with CBS News Atlanta.

The former television news and communications executive has been featured on nearly every major network—including NBC News, MSNBC, ABC News, BBC, BET News, SkyNews, CNN and HLN—and she has been a guest on programs such as HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, The Dr. Phil Show, The Steve Harvey Show, Tom Joyner Morning Show, and Good Morning America. Taylor is a frequent guest on a full host of local and national radio shows, including NPR’s All Things Considered, 1A and Barbershop, and has been regularly published in print and digital publications. In recent years, she has written for Rolling Stone, Salon, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Creative Loafing, St. Louis Post Dispatch, The Grio, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, Ebony, and Essence among others.

In November 2015, Taylor penned the cover story for Ebony Magazine about the legacy of comedic icon Bill Cosby and made a cameo appearance on BET’s Being Mary Jane. She was a contributing producer for “CNN Presents: The Atlanta Child Murders” and has been an executive consultant to the presidents of both NBC News and CNN Worldwide.

A sought-after public speaker, Taylor has addressed audiences at—among others—the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Harvard University, Morehouse College, Emory School of Law, Princeton University, Duke School of Law, National Association of Black Journalists, University of Missouri School of Journalism and The King Center.

A somewhat less than devoted runner, late blooming golf, and self-professed connoisseur of mediocre whiskey, Taylor has three grown children and three grandchildren. She lives in Boston where she is senior vice president and chief communications and marketing officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.


www.goldietaylor.com

New York Times bestselling author and education expert, Alexandra Robbins, shares a riveting, must-read, year-in-the-life account of three teachers, combined with reporting that reveals what’s really going on behind school doors

ALEXANDRA ROBBINS

New York Times bestselling author and education expert shares a riveting, must-read, year-in-the-life account of three teachers, combined with reporting that reveals what’s really going on behind school doors

New York Times bestselling author and award-winning investigative reporter Alexandra Robbins excels at immersive reporting that allows her to shine a bright light on the real, lived experiences of different facets of American life. Her incredibly timely new book features a vital profession that affects every single one of us: Teachers.

Writing about and supporting teachers has long been a focus for Robbins, and she is a highly sought voice on the plight of teachers, penning powerful pieces for The New York Times (Teachers Deserve More Respect) and others. Her new book, THE TEACHERS: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession is the result of Robbins’ intensive shadowing of three individual teachers over the course of a year, heavy reporting, and interviews with hundreds of teachers nationwide. It’s an eye-opening look at what is really going on in America’s schools and how teachers need our support now more than ever. It also contains some unexpected firsthand experience, which helped Robbins connect to the teacher community more than she could have imagined.



Join Alexandra Robbins as she discusses such topics as:



· Teachers’ secret codes, strategies, and other confessions: Teachers dish about parent conferences, staff meetings, educator code words, district practices that are hazardous for students and staff, and what they really think about administrators, parents, and more

· There’s not a “teacher shortage,” there’s a retention problem: Qualified candidates abound, but teachers are leaving in droves because of paltry salaries, stressful working environments, schools’ lack of resources and short-staffing, and sometimes dangerous expectations.

· Teacher “burnout” is a myth: This popular term is misleading, emblematic of a larger systemic problem, and does more harm than good.

· Librarians, specialty teachers (e.g., music, art, PE), and ESOL teachers are often treated as lower tier: For example, although research clearly shows that having a school librarian increases student success, many districts cut the position to save money. Robbins talks with librarians and other specialty teachers about their unique career hurdles.

· Schools become political sparring grounds: From lies about critical race theory to unprecedented censorship, politicians are reaching into classrooms and disrupting teachers’ ability to teach.

· Parents often make teaching more difficult: Helicopter parents, parents with political agendas, aggressive parents, parents who are completely checked out – all of these can get in the way of how the teacher can best serve their students.

· How you can support teachers in your school or community: Robbins asks real teachers what they need from parents and community members. There are ways we can all help.



Interspersed among the teachers’ stories—a seeming scandal, a fourth-grade whodunit, and teacher confessions—are hard-hitting essays featuring cutting-edge reporting on the biggest issues facing teachers today, such as school violence; outrageous parent behavior; inadequate support, staffing, and resources coupled with unrealistic mounting demands; the “myth” of teacher burnout; the COVID-19 pandemic; and ways all of us can help the professionals who are central both to the lives of our children and the heart of our communities.



About the Author:

Alexandra Robbins, the author of five New York Times bestselling books and a Goodreads Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, is an award-winning investigative reporter who also has been honored for “Distinguished Service to Public Education.” She has written for several publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, and has appeared on hundreds of television shows, including 60 Minutes, Today, CBS Mornings, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The View, and The Colbert Report.

Coming up 3/5 @9:30am - From Showing Off to Showing UP By Nancy Regan

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“One of the most beautiful, powerful, inspiring memoirs I have ever read. When [Nancy Regan] seemingly effortlessly interviewed everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Madonna to Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe on CTV’s Live At 5, which at its peak was bringing in a quarter of a million viewers every night, she appeared to be the most confident person imaginable. This – it transpires in brutally honest prose – was not the case, and this bizarre dichotomy is outlined in profound detail in this memoir /self-help book.”


̶ James Mullinger, host of Mullinger Meets Canadians podcast

From Showing Off

to Showing UP

An Impostor’s Journey from Perfect to Present

Nancy Regan

An intimate memoir and guide to overcoming imposter syndrome, stage fright, perfectionism, and embracing our most authentic selves, from the former host of Live at 5.


“My life was perfect. I was confident and outgoing. I was a deliriously happy wife and mother. I loved my job. That all sounds great, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, every one of those statements is false. I was false.”


This might seem like shocking honesty, but to Nancy Regan, it’s simply the result of dropping a mask she clung to for decades. In her first book, the former television broadcaster gives us a behind-the-scenes account of her experience hosting a newsmagazine with a daily audience of over a quarter million—and interviewing some of the biggest celebrities in the world—all while studiously concealing fear, insecurity, and self-doubt. With remarkable candour, Regan describes how she created the illusion of having it all together because she didn’t want anyone to know how close she was to falling apart.


In From Showing Off to Showing UP, Regan explores in lyrical prose how overcoming these challenges enriched her life and now fuels her ability to help others through her work as a presentation coach. Weaving together memoir and self-help, this intimate book takes readers on a compelling journey—from Regan’s childhood growing up in the thorny world of politics, through highlights and lowlights of her TV career, to what she considers her greatest personal accomplishment: self-acceptance. Featuring soulful lessons from her conversations with such luminaries as Oprah and bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love) and serving up some of Regan’s favourite practices for staying grounded in presence, From Showing Off to Showing UP is a powerful roadmap for living a more authentic life.

Nancy Regan is a professional communicator whose dynamic career includes tv and podcast hosting, emceeing, and presentation coaching. She has a passion for storytelling which she brings to every interaction and conversation—whether she’s assisting a business leader in sharing their vision, or helping an individual preserve their life story for future generations.


Nancy built her reputation as the highly rated host of CTV’s Atlantic’s Live at 5 for fifteen years. She also served as the national host of CTV’s Good Morning Canada and That News Show on TVTropolis, and has interviewed some of the most famous people on the planet—including Oprah, Madonna, Russell Crowe, and Harrison Ford. Nancy is also an actor, having appeared in tv and film productions such as Haven, Trailer Park Boys, and Reversible Errors. Visit nancyregan.ca for more information. From Showing Off to Showing UP hit the Globe and Mail Bestseller list upon publication.





Praise for From Showing Off to Showing UP:


“One of the most beautiful, powerful, inspiring memoirs I have ever read. When [Nancy Regan] seemingly effortlessly interviewed everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Madonna to Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe on CTV’s Live At 5, which at its peak was bringing in a quarter of a million viewers every night, she appeared to be the most confident person imaginable. This – it transpires in brutally honest prose – was not the case, and this bizarre dichotomy is outlined in profound detail in this memoir /self-help book.”

̶ James Mullinger, host of Mullinger Meets Canadians podcast


“A podcaster, host, emcee and more, [Regan] openly and strikingly describes battling through intense feelings of imposter syndrome at work and an at-times obsessive fear of failure. It’s remarkably candid writing for someone who has almost universally been seen on air entirely together, composed, even relaxed.”

–Atlantic Business Magazine


“As Miles Davis famously said, ‘Man, sometimes it takes a long time to sound like yourself.’ I have struggled for years as a broadcaster to do this. Nancy Regan taught me how. For that, I will be forever grateful. It’s all in this book.”

—Mary Lynk, CBC radio journalist and podcast host


“A beautiful call to live a more authentic and fearless life. Insightful, funny, and unblinking in its self-examination. Read it, and you may get to know yourself a little better.”

–Anne Bérubé Ph.D., author of The Burnout Antidote and Be Feel Think Do

March 6th @9:00am - Professor June Ahn shares details on the collaboration between UCI and the Anaheim Union High School District, a partnership funded by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

$1.1M grant from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative formalizes partnership between UC Irvine and Anaheim Union High School District

Project aims to help instill a sense of purpose in students as they prepare for their futures

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Years of emphasizing high-stakes tests may have dampened the joy of learning and, some argue, insufficiently prepared students to thrive in a modern workforce that values innovation and creativity. Some schools have implemented practices like capstone projects, ePortfolios and work-based learning programs designed to give students a sense of purpose in their learning and equip them to succeed in their future careers or college pursuits.

Do these promising programs have the intended effect? And what can schools learn from others who’ve tried them?

Researchers from the School of Education at University of California, Irvine will try to answer these questions through a collaborative research project with Anaheim Union High School District. The partnership will be funded by a $1.1 million grant over three years from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

“The School of Education is honored to partner with Anaheim Union High School District to build on its stellar programs and forward-thinking efforts to improve the student learning experience for the school district and beyond. This partnership exemplifies how a collaboration works to co-design and apply cutting-edge research to practice to transform educational efforts to benefit students,” says Frances Contreras, UCI School of Education dean and professor, and the research project’s co-principal investigator.

“Major questions remain about how to best implement these programs and what kinds of impacts one might expect from successfully enacting these kinds of practices,” says June Ahn, UCI associate professor of education and one of the lead researchers on the project. “Our partnership will work from what AUHSD is already doing, to help provide an evidence base that other districts can build from as a model.”

You can read more about the partnership here

Coming up Monday @9:30am - THE SISTERS WE WERE by Wendy Willis Baldwin - inspired by a true story

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"This book echoes the real-life relationship between the author and her sister, who herself once weighed 531 pounds before her life-changing bariatric surgery…

Readers will be eager for more from this debut author." —BOOKLIST


"Insightful and empathetic...a solid entry for titles with plus-sized heroines"—Library Journal

Sourcebooks Landmark is excited to publish THE SISTERS WE WERE by Wendy Willis Baldwin (January 2023, Trade Paperback Original, $16.99). Inspired by the real-life experience of the author and her sister, the novel follows two estranged sisters on their complicated yet ultimately triumphant journey toward futures of their own designs. A cinematic tale of sisterhood and hope, THE SISTERS WE WERE is an uplifting and powerful story about two women taking their lives into their own hands.

When Pearl was just a kid, her mother was imprisoned for manslaughter. Her “perfect” sister, Ruby, grew up and left Pearl behind, fleeing to a new city and recreating herself. Now, still living in the childhood home in which her mother committed the crime, Pearl is struggling with her weight—a frustrating daily obstacle that becomes a life-threatening diagnosis—and she commits to bariatric surgery. Surprisingly, Ruby agrees to return and help Pearl during the recovery period. While Pearl thought losing the weight would be the key to her new life, she begins to realize she will never be able to step into her future if she and her sister can’t reconnect and work together to put past trauma behind them.

For fans of The Chicken Sisters comes THE SISTERS WE WERE, a novel that is funny, hopeful, and bursting with heart. As the author’s sister Tiffany describes it, “What I can tell you is that the flawed but fierce sister bond between Pearl and Ruby is a beautiful example of art imitating life.”

The Sisters We Were is WENDY WILLIS BANDWIN’S debut novel. Together, she and her sister host the Life After Fat Pants Podcast. A native of Texas, Baldwin now lives on a farm in New Hampshire with her husband, her dogs, and thousands of honeybees.

Coming up 1/26/23 @9:00am - LIVE on KUCI 88.9fm - Marilyn Moss Rockefeller is back to share part two of her intricate life story!

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Marilyn Moss Rockefeller is back to take us on a deeper dive into her new book, Mountain Girl: From Barefoot to Boardroom. In this enthralling memoir, Rockefeller details her colorful journey from her humble beginnings on an Appalachian farm to the helm of a multimillion-dollar company. Although she faced immense challenges and instability during her youth, Rockefeller’s tenacity, determination, and innate charm led her to a life filled with extraordinary experiences and remarkable people.
These include:

· Hosting Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground at her home during one of his art shows

· Participating in a private cooking lesson at Julia Child’s home

· Traveling with Carroll Shelby and the Ford Racing Team

· Helping celebrated designer Bill Moss build “paper” dome houses in North Haven

· Transforming Moss Inc, a struggling small business, into a multi-million-dollar company

· Crashing a Rockefeller’s plane (which in turn, sparked a romance that led to marriage!)




ABOUT

From the mountains of West Virginia to the executive suite of a million-dollar company to marrying into America's most famous family, Marilyn Moss Rockefeller's life has been one long adventure. Rockefeller's childhood reads like a sad country song, but the heartbreak and pain only fueled her determination to grab the world by the harness and ride with her dynamic combination of guts, luck, charm, and intellect. Along the way, she appeared nude in an art film, crashed a plane and lived to tell about it, and co-founded the iconic Moss Tents. Her memoir Mountain Girl is a moving recollection of a notorious and victorious life―one that shows how a little spitfire and a lot of soul can take a person from barefoot in Appalachia to the boardrooms of industry without losing that special something or selling out. In her own words, Rockefeller writes about a remarkable life that has been "well-lived, and a hoot to boot."

Coming up March 6th at 9:00am on KUCI! Professor Ahn in conversation with host Janeane Bernstein about the School of Education at University of California, Irvine and the collaborative research project with Anaheim Union High School District. The partnership will be funded by a $1.1 million grant over three years from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Years of emphasizing high-stakes tests may have dampened the joy of learning and, some argue, insufficiently prepared students to thrive in a modern workforce that values innovation and creativity. Some schools have implemented practices like capstone projects, ePortfolios and work-based learning programs designed to give students a sense of purpose in their learning and equip them to succeed in their future careers or college pursuits.

Do these promising programs have the intended effect? And what can schools learn from others who’ve tried them?

Researchers from the School of Education at University of California, Irvine will try to answer these questions through a collaborative research project with Anaheim Union High School District. The partnership will be funded by a $1.1 million grant over three years from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

“The School of Education is honored to partner with Anaheim Union High School District to build on its stellar programs and forward-thinking efforts to improve the student learning experience for the school district and beyond. This partnership exemplifies how a collaboration works to co-design and apply cutting-edge research to practice to transform educational efforts to benefit students,” says Frances Contreras, UCI School of Education dean and professor, and the research project’s co-principal investigator.

“Major questions remain about how to best implement these programs and what kinds of impacts one might expect from successfully enacting these kinds of practices,” says June Ahn, UCI associate professor of education and one of the lead researchers on the project. “Our partnership will work from what AUHSD is already doing, to help provide an evidence base that other districts can build from as a model.”



You can read more about the partnership here.

Coming up Monday 2/20 at 9:00am - UCI students, Chloe Ford and Ashley Garcia, who are both majoring in Psychological Science and part of WISE Pac, join host Janeane

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to today's show
featuring UCI students
Chloe Ford and Ashley Garcia

About Chloe Ford

Chloe is a 4th year double-major in Psychological Science & Criminology, Law and Society. She is a part of Wise Pac's education cluster and the Co-Director of Design.

About Ashley Garcia

Ashley Garcia, is a second year Psychological Science major in the school of Social Ecology. She is currently looking into exploring her interest in Urban Planning and how psychology can be applied to the field.

Coming up Monday 2/13/23 at 9:00am - retired KNBC weather reporter Fritz Coleman and veteran radio producer/documentarian Louise Palanker are now co-hosts of MEDIA PATH PODCAST

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Hosted by Fritz Coleman and Louise Palanker, Media Path takes you along on a scenic tour through books, movies, TV, podcasts and music related to a given topic of captivation. We are exploring entertainment, politics, history, true crime, world events and all of their intriguing intersections. Go beyond binging with Media Path.

“And now, here’s Fritz Coleman with the weather.”

For nearly four decades, Los Angelenos came to know and love Fritz Coleman through his gig as the weather reporter on KNBC, where his affable demeanor (honed in his early years of stand-up comedy) made him a staple of local news. But when he retired from his weather gig two years ago, Coleman knew he wasn’t done working. “That 11 o’clock news kept me from a lot of things,” he recalls. “Now I could do all those things that massage my soul, be curious more, and discover more.”

That’s the impetus behind MEDIA PATH PODCAST, co-hosted by Fritz and Louise Palanker, veteran radio producer and documentarian. With 100 episodes released so far, MEDIA PATH is a look back at what has defined our media for the past half-century. With guests as eclectic as Congressional leader Adam Schiff, television legend Henry Winkler, Grammy winning songwriter Diane Warren, and “Double Dare” host Marc Summers, each week is a journey down a new path of remembering, learning, and reevaluating our shared memories and histories.

Every show includes discussion of current cultural events and recommendations from the hosts, as well as extended, deep-dive discussions with figures who have had meaningful and memorable impact on the media world we experience. While many of the subjects will be familiar to Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers, the spirit of inquisitiveness, curiosity, and sharing that Fritz and Louise bring to each episode will ring familiar to newer generations who may be hearing about these subjects, people, and stories for the first time.

For Louise Palanker, who has been producing radio entertainment for decades and successful podcasts since 2005, that sense of serious and thoughtful discovery and discussion is what drives the podcast: “We can rediscover the things that matter to us and celebrate what we love.” For Coleman, the show is a new way for him to share his passion and curiosity about the world in the same charitable spirit that earned him Congressional recognition as “Humanitarian of the Year” for his work with the American Red Cross. “It’s a great release valve of the pent-up energy from forty years of weather reporting,” he says.

And now – back to you Fritz and Louise, for more journeys on the MEDIA PATH.

Louise Palanker

https://www.mediapathpodcast.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MediaPathPodcast

https://twitter.com/mediapathpod

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWUN22O9UK_jgfnj3fpk8hw

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/media-path-podcast/id1523737060

Spotify Podcasts

https://open.spotify.com/show/2GIOzZ87s5lSDn2GEO5whQ?si=-deJ3gxJRnCk3tFt4ASiaw&nd=1

https://mailchi.mp/2d9d2ee8758b/vicki-lawrence-and-karen-knotts-on-one-show

Coming up Monday 2/6 at 9am pst - Charlotte Gale, who bought an island for $339,000, first had to prove to the old owner she could spend a night there by herself. Join me as I learn more about how this life-changing purchase revealed insightful lessons for all of us.

Located on a private islet off the coast of Addison, Maine, and has panoramic views of the surrounding Wohoa Bay.

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About Charlotte Gray:

Graduated with MS degree in Chemistry; Food Science and Nutrition from
Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Mother of three sport athlete son!

Food scientist/food product developer for major food corporations.

Cooking and nutrition instructor for children K-8 grade and at the Tech School

Kitchen designer, home color designer

Florist, gardener, flower and orchid grower

Licensed Massage Therapist - manual lymphatic drainage therapist

Discussion points:

• Doing what people only dream of doing!
• What are you some personal insights you had while staying on the island?
• Love yourself, because you are never alone!
• Having a greater sense of gratitude
• Don't let fear and doubts control your life and limit you
• There are possibilities in yourself and this experience was very grounding
• There is beauty in struggle
• Surprised by the headline feature about you on Yahoo?
• Were you scared staying there at first?
• How have people reached out to you? Do they want to lead retreats there? How do you get there? How long does it take to get there? How many people can stay there?
• What would you like listeners to know about the experience of staying there?
• How can they find more information?

www.Wohoabayisland.com

Coming up Monday 1/30/23 9am - ROCK AUTISM TO PARTNER WITH CENTER FOR LEARNING UNLIMITED FOR NEURODIVERSITY IN ENTERTAINMENT BENEFIT CONCERT ON FEBRUARY 5th

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Los Angeles– January 6, 2023 – SonMax Music announces the Founder of Rock Autism, Max Muscato, is now launching a tour for Autism Acceptance and will feature an exclusive night of live music also featuring Dave Nolf Band at The Hotel Cafe Los Angeles on February 5th that will also benefit Torrance’s Center For Learning Unlimited.

Muscato developed a new wave of music and film opportunities for youth with Autism and is taking the nonprofit with him on tour. Along the way, he will be donating a portion of the ticket sales to Rock Autism Multimedia Vocational Programs - music and film production workshops and internships for students on the spectrum.

Max’s story is entwined with his brother Sonny, a gifted drummer with Autism who was physically and mentally abused in assisted living facilities, used as a drug mule for drug dealers, tossed in and out of jail and shot by a drunk corrections officer. Max led the charge for change to save him by founding Rock Autism, to develop young leaders within the Autism community by providing music and film workshops for autistic youth, keeping them free from depression, isolation, addiction and suicide -- all very real issues affecting the Autism community today.

“After my brother was shot, he struggled with addiction and thoughts of suicide.” Muscato says. “I'm ready to take the stage at The Hollywood Bowl and share these songs with the world.” Max's powerful songs written about his brother's struggle with Autism and addiction is a deep-rooted catalyst that drives his passion and career.

As a professional singer-songwriter who cannot read music, Max Muscato is the embodiment of a burning fireball inside a master-of-your-own-destiny-attitude. Armed with a Fender American Stratocaster, fierce determination, and a broad network of connections, he is the last man to bet against. Max’s anguish for his family coupled with his enthusiasm and passionate belief in a better way for his brother stirs a movement within a community to raise awareness for adults with Autism like Sonny who have been left behind by a broken system.

Max's song, “Sonnyboy” sounds a warning to the public of the life-and-death situation youth with Autism face, a song that becomes the anthem of a movement: Rock Autism. Max’s mind is a missile that flies ferociously to free his brother from the poisonous grip of addiction and gang life. He envisions a world where Sonny could have a place living and working, in music and society. A place that trains youth with Autism in music, film and technology so they can not only survive, but thrive in the world creatively. Rock Autism, a miniscule nonprofit, is going to change the future and is just the kind of underdog story people can get behind. Max sees all of it: Sonny Muscato back behind the kit performing with his family at the legendary Shea’s Performing Arts Center.

That's the climax of “Night of Sunnyboy” the documentary in the works that will tell the story of Max, a young musician, and his father bonding through playing music with their struggling autistic brother and son, Sonny. After Sonny is almost fatally shot, the family is forced to build a movement to save him from crime, addiction, incarceration and suicide. The Muscatos, relatable underdog characters, express the pain of living behind an invisible curtain in the special needs world and step up to reveal Autism at its fullest potential on stage in the spotlight. The movie shifts our empathy and communicates the real story of Autism in the only way that makes sense - music. Perseverance through adversity will be a major theme in the film and the only way this family knows how to operate.

Their Rock Autism mission is to support individuals on the autism spectrum to develop a craft in music, film, and the multimedia arts that leads to employment in their given field of interest; keeping them free from isolation, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, incarceration, and suicide. Rock Autism aims to donate to local Autism and Children’s Centers in each city on Max Muscato's Night Of Sonnyboy Tour, and also invite the Autism community to become a part of the production crew for the night, shooting photos and video of the event that could be featured in the documentary.

Tickets can be purchased here. 

For more information about the Night of Sonnyboy Tour or to interview Max Muscato, please contact Deborah Gilels at deborah@lamediaconsultants.net.

Coming up 1/23/23 9:30am pst - Filmmaker Zuzana Lova and subject Isabella Grosso talk about the documentary film She Is… presented by Gravitas Ventures

Gravitas Ventures

presents

She Is…

a documentary film by

Zuzana Lova

Available on Demand 1/17/23

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iTunes Pre-Order

Rotten Tomatoes

TRAILER

She Is…

82 MINUTES | DOCUMENTARY | DRAMA | COLOR | ENGLISH | NR TV-14

Directed by

Zuzana Lova

Written by

M.L. Bordner

Director of Photography

Nathan Kim

Executive Producers

Zuzana Lova & Isabella Grosso

Ron Umphenour & Ann Umphenour

Co-Executive Producers

Erin Melendez, Erica Taylor & Jason Taylor

Edited by

Benjamin Shearn

Featuring

Isabella Grosso, Shawna Whitlock, Erin Melendez, Jordan Funkey

SYNOPSIS

Our hybrid documentary follows the story of Isabella Grosso, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. In her quest to heal, Isabella discovered a sense of empowerment through the power of dance and founded SHE-IS, a non profit combining the art of dance with therapy.

As she embraces the experience of self-love through movement, Isabella sets out on an international journey to help other survivors of sexual abuse and sex trafficking find healing.

ABOUT DIRECTOR ZUZANA LOVA

Born and raised in the Czech Republic and currently living in Los Angeles, Zuzana has been a professional dancer for over 18 years and has been working closely with survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking for over 7 years. She is very passionate about documentary filmmaking and she is driven to honestly portray the lives of survivors. She Is... is her directorial debut and she hopes this film will help shift the focus from the abuse to the life of healing and survivorship in aftercare, as a survivor's hopes and dreams often come alive during this time.

ABOUT SUBJECT ISABELLA GROSSO

A California native to parents of Italian and Spanish decent, Isabella is a professional dancer who began twirling in her family’s living room at three years old. Educated at the Debbie Allen Academy, Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, and Julliard, her repertoire includes Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Salsa, and Swing.

She is known for the high energy, creativity, and passion she brings to dance and has danced for many top industry artists (Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Pitbull), and made many TV show appearances ("The Mentalist,” "Desperate Housewives,” "Victorious,” "Switched at Birth”).

But the path to her professional dance career didn’t come easily. At the age of five years old, Isabella was abused for the first time. By the time she was 17, she was abused by seven different people, and none of them were a stranger to her.

After years of attempting to heal from her trauma, she finally found solitude in dance. Dance helped her discover a sense of empowerment and reconnection with her body, and allowed her to work through trauma to find a healing mind-body connection. After personally experiencing the power of dance in survivorship, Isabella set out to share her experiences with others.

In September 2014, she founded She-Is to help survivors of sexual abuse and sex trafficking find healing through dance. Today, her work with She-Is has become her greatest life passion and purpose.

SOCIAL MEDIA

IMDB: She Is... - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheis_powerful/

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The Beall Center for Art + Technology presents Difference Machines: Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art. Difference Machines addresses the complex relationship between the technologies we use and the identities we inhabit. Janeane speaks with co-curators, University of Buffalo Professor Paul Vanouse and Buffalo AKG Art Museum Curator Tina Rivers Ryan

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Irvine, Calif., January 17, 2023 – The Beall Center for Art + Technology is pleased to announce Difference Machines: Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art, opening January 28 through April 29, 2023. This marks the second iteration and the first of three tour stops throughout the United States for the exhibition.

In response to ongoing conversations about systemic inequities, Difference Machines: Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art presents a diverse group of seventeen artists and collectives who creatively reimagine the digital tools that shape our lives. The exhibition includes projects that span the last three decades, ranging from software-based and internet art to animated videos, bioart experiments, digital games, and 3-D printed sculptures.

Together, these works explore the aesthetic and social potential of emerging technologies. Some emphasize how digital tools can be repurposed to tell more inclusive stories or imagine new ways of being. Others show how becoming visible within digital systems can be a trap that leads to the technological exclusion, surveillance, and exploitation of marginalized communities. Dynamic and interactive, these projects transform the space in the gallery into a laboratory for reflecting on and experimenting with our increasingly powerful “difference machines” in the hopes of achieving a more equitable future.

The exhibition is co-curated by University at Buffalo Professor Paul Vanouse and Buffalo AKG Art Museum Curator Tina Rivers Ryan, who bring to the project over thirty years of experience working with media art, as well as their own personal experience of how technology can both help and harm marginalized communities.

“Since Difference Machines opened in Buffalo in the fall of 2021, the question of how technology shapes and reflects identity has become both more mainstream and more urgent,” explains Ryan. “We are grateful to our institutional partners for ensuring that more people will have the opportunity to experience these moving, thought-provoking artworks, and to imagine how we might work through the uses and abuses of technology towards a more equitable future.”

While recent exhibitions around the world have surveyed the impact of technology on the arts or examined what it means to be human in the digital age, Difference Machines is the first large-scale exhibition at a major museum to explore the connections between technology and systemic inequity, as manifested in problems like algorithmic bias and digital redlining.

“I’m interested in artists who recognize that technologies are social, active, and value-laden and not neutral tools, and who can leverage these qualities to take on larger questions and broader issues,” said Vanouse. “We especially wanted to emphasize that artists who work with technology can be critical of it—while simultaneously expanding our horizons of what technology, and art, can be.”



A public opening reception will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2–5 p.m. at the Beall Center for Art + Technology on the UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts campus. Admission is free and open to the public. For inquiries or to schedule a guided tour, please contact Associate Director Fatima Manalili at fatima.m@uci.edu or (949) 824-6206.



For visitor protocols related to COVID-19 and up-to-date information, please visit the UCI Forward website at uci.edu/coronavirus.



Difference Machines: Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art is supported by The Beall Family Foundation.

Coming up 1/23/23 - LIVE on KUCI 88.9fm - Marilyn Moss Rockefeller, author of MOUNTAIN GIRL: From Barefoot to Boardroom

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Marilyn Moss Rockefeller discusses her new book, Mountain Girl: From Barefoot to Boardroom. In this enthralling memoir, Rockefeller details her colorful journey from her humble beginnings on an Appalachian farm to the helm of a multimillion-dollar company. Although she faced immense challenges and instability during her youth, Rockefeller’s tenacity, determination, and innate charm led her to a life filled with extraordinary experiences and remarkable people.

These include:

· Hosting Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground at her home during one of his art shows

· Participating in a private cooking lesson at Julia Child’s home

· Traveling with Carroll Shelby and the Ford Racing Team

· Helping celebrated designer Bill Moss build “paper” dome houses in North Haven

· Transforming Moss Inc, a struggling small business, into a multi-million-dollar company

· Crashing a Rockefeller’s plane (which in turn, sparked a romance that led to marriage!)




ABOUT

From the mountains of West Virginia to the executive suite of a million-dollar company to marrying into America's most famous family, Marilyn Moss Rockefeller's life has been one long adventure. Rockefeller's childhood reads like a sad country song, but the heartbreak and pain only fueled her determination to grab the world by the harness and ride with her dynamic combination of guts, luck, charm, and intellect. Along the way, she appeared nude in an art film, crashed a plane and lived to tell about it, and co-founded the iconic Moss Tents. Her memoir Mountain Girl is a moving recollection of a notorious and victorious life―one that shows how a little spitfire and a lot of soul can take a person from barefoot in Appalachia to the boardrooms of industry without losing that special something or selling out. In her own words, Rockefeller writes about a remarkable life that has been "well-lived, and a hoot to boot."