Joining Janeane on Wednesday June 25th 9:30am - Peabody award-winning filmmaker Mikaela Shwer talks about her latest film focused on the troubled teen Industry - THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT

Mikaela Shwer

Director, Producer, Editor

Listen to today's show featuring Mikaela Shwer.

Troubled Teen Industry documentary THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT is screening at the DWFLA on June 29. We would love to invite you to the screening. 

Logline: What does it mean to be a survivor? Generations of children have been left with this question in the wake of abuse suffered at the hands of the Troubled Teen Industry, an unregulated network of for-profit institutions claiming to fix wayward teenagers. 

Decades later, they are fighting back. Filmed over the course of nine years, "The Kids Are Not Alright" is an intimate portrait of trauma following three families’ journeys as they work to shed light on the devastating impacts of institutional abuse, pursue healing in the absence of justice, and fight to hold abusers accountable.

Check out the trailer here.

About Mikaela 
Peabody award-winning filmmaker Mikaela Shwer (Allen v. Farrow editor/co-producer; HBO's Last Call editor) is having her Los Angeles premiere of her second feature documentary Dances with Films LA on June 29th, 2025. Filmed over the course of 9 years, TKANA features the personal journey and advocacy work of Liz Ianelli (also known as Survivor 993) - culminating in her efforts that led to an federal investigation and indictment of an alleged abuser, with a court case coming up in 2025.

Mikaela is a documentary filmmaker and editor who loves to embrace storytelling with intimacy and impact. Her debut feature documentary, Don’t Tell Anyone/No Le Digas a Nadie, broadcast on PBS/POV in the fall of 2015 and was honored with the George Foster Peabody Award. In 2016, she worked with PBS to direct, produce, and edit eight short documentaries about the pursuit of the American dream for the national online series, Re:Dream. She is an Associate of the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley and a fellow of the Logan Nonfiction Program, the Film Independent Documentary Lab, and the DART Center Documentary Film Fellowship.


Mikaela’s editing career spans 15 years, editing projects for PBS, HBO, Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV. She worked as an Editor, Writer, and Co-Producer on the four-part documentary series Allen v. Farrow (HBO) for which she was honored with 2 Emmy nominations for her work. Other recent editing work includes the Netflix documentary series, Harry & Meghan, which became the all-time most watched documentary on Netflix, and the documentary series, Last Call (HBO) which was released to critical acclaim in July of 2023 for its sensitivity and attention to care for the victims.

Mental health: contributor and team care 

This is a story rife with trauma and it took special care to complete in a way that our contributors feel seen and emboldened by sharing their story, even though it brings up so many awful memories. Mikaela spent years cultivating her relationships with the people in her film, offering transparency, collaboration, trust, and sometimes protection in every way she could.

Over the years, Mikaela has continued to educate herself on how to operate better as a filmmaker in these trauma-filled spaces through many peer groups, therapy, and most recently - being selected for the Columbia School of Journalism Dart's Cent Documentary Film Fellowship to speak and learn about ethics and mental health in journalism.
Mikaela also works on high profile true crime documentaries and has become known for sharing dark stories with impact, care, and centering the victims.

Festivals

World Premiere

Dances with Films New York 2024

Best Documentary Feature, Audience Choice Award

December 7, 2024

Regal Union Square

New York City

Dances with Films Los Angeles 2025

Sunday June 29, 2025, 10:00 am

TCL Chinese 6 Theaters

Hollywood, California

Wyoming International Film Festival

Friday, June 11, 2025, 2:10 pm

Pathfinder Building II

1400 E College Drive

Cheyenne, WY​

Milwaukee Film Festival

Saturday, April 26, 2025

12:45 pm

Monday, May 5, 2025

3:00 pm

Oriental Theatre

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Poppy Jasper Film Festival

Best Woman Directed Documentary Feature

Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature

April 13, 2025

1:00 pm

Morgan Hill Community Playhouse

Morgan Hill, California

Atlanta Documentary Film Festival

DOCUFEST

Best Director

March 22, 2025

3:00 pm

Limelight Theater

Atlanta, Georgia

Garden State Film Festival

March 29, 2025

9:15 pm

Berkeley Continental

Asbury Park, New Jersey

Arizona International Film Festival

April 5, 2025

2:00 pm

The Screening Room

Tucson, Arizona

Website: https://www.thekidsarenotalrightdoc.com

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

Joining Janeane on Wednesday June 25th at 9:00am pst - award-winning author Heather Clark shares a stunning debut novel: the story of an intense first love haunted by history and family memory, inspired by the startling WWII scrapbook of Clark’s own grandfather, hidden in an attic until after his death.

From the award-winning author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, a stunning debut novel: the story of an intense first love haunted by history and family memory, inspired by the startling WWII scrapbook of Clark’s own grandfather, hidden in an attic until after his death.

Listen to today's show with Heather Clark.

“An elegant, unsettling novel about the burden of history and the illusions of love.” —Sana Krasikov, author of The Patriots

The traumas of the past and the aftershocks of fascism echo and reverberate through the present in this story of a lifechanging seduction.

Harvard, 1996. Anna is about to graduate when she falls hard for Christoph, a visiting German student. Captivated by his beauty and intelligence, she follows him to Germany, where charming squares and grand facades belie the nation’s recent history and the war’s destruction. Christoph condemns his country’s actions but remains cryptic about the part his own grandfather played. Anna, meanwhile, cannot forget the photos taken by her American GI grandfather at the end of the war, preserved in a scrapbook only she has seen.

As Anna travels back and forth to Germany to deepen her relationship with the elusive Christoph, her perspective is powerfully interrupted by chapters that follow both of their grandfathers during the war. One witnesses the plight of Holocaust victims in the days after liberation and helps capture Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, while the other fights for Nazi Germany. Their fragmented stories haunt Anna and her lover two generations later—and may still tear them apart.

Not a “World War Two novel” in the traditional sense, The Scrapbook delivers a consuming tale of first love, laced with a backstory of dark family legacies and historical conscience.
Not a “World War Two novel” in the traditional sense, The Scrapbook delivers a consuming tale of first love, laced with a backstory of dark family legacies and historical conscience.


“A potent story of two lovers, one American and one German, reckoning with the legacy of WWII … It’s a revelation.” —Starred review, Publishers Weekly

“Clark writes about this milieu with grace and elegance, capturing Anna’s emotional frustration in acute detail… Clark ultimately sells the idea that a present-day relationship can be shaped by forces that reside in a past we’d prefer to ignore.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Heather Clark’s THE SCRAPBOOK is a masterpiece. This beautifully crafted, quietly devastating love story reminds us of the epic impact of the Second World War across continents and through generations, its scars perhaps most poignantly felt in the intimate interactions between two solitary people.”
—Rebecca Donner, New York Times bestselling author of All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days

“Through an exquisitely observed love affair, Clark explores how the Nazis’ lingering legacy can still haunt the lives of those born long after the war. A stunningly good novel.”
—Julia Boyd, author of A Village in the Third Reich

“An elegant, unsettling novel about the burden of history and the illusions of love. With a biographer’s eye for detail and a novelist’s grasp of human frailty, The Scrapbook traces the fault lines between past and present, between nations and individuals, revealing how history lingers—not in grand narratives, but in intimate entanglements.”
—Sana Krasikov, author of The Patriots

Here's the New York Times piece on Heather and her grandfather's scrapbook, and her essay in The Boston Globe on the photos on Dachau. #1 Reviewed book of the week, too.


Link here: https://bookmarks.reviews/the-best-reviewed-books-of-the-week-6-20-2025/
And People's June pick! https://people.com/peoples-best-books-of-june-2025-11745252

More about THE SCRAPBOOK:

The traumas of the past and the aftershocks of fascism echo and reverberate through the present in this story of a life changing seduction.
Harvard, 1996. Anna is about to graduate when she falls hard for Christoph, a visiting German student. Captivated by his beauty and intelligence, she follows him to Germany, where charming squares and grand facades belie the nation’s recent history and the war’s destruction. Christoph condemns his country’s actions but remains cryptic about the part his own grandfather played. Anna, meanwhile, cannot forget the photos taken by her American GI grandfather at the end of the war, preserved in a scrapbook only she has seen.

As Anna travels back and forth to Germany to deepen her relationship with the elusive Christoph, her perspective is powerfully interrupted by chapters that follow both of their grandfathers during the war. One witnesses the plight of Holocaust victims in the days after liberation and helps capture Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, while the other fights for Nazi Germany. Their fragmented stories haunt Anna and her lover two generations later—and may still tear them apart.


Author Bio: 

HEATHER CLARK earned her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Harvard University and her doctorate in English from Oxford University. Her recent awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship; the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism; the Slightly Foxed Prize for Best First Biography; a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Fellowship; a Leon Levy Biography Fellowship at the City University of New York; and a Visiting U.S. Fellowship at the Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library. 

A former Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing, she is the author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath; The Grief of Influence: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes; and The Ulster Renaissance: Poetry in Belfast 1962-1972. Red Comet was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the LA Times Book Prize in Biography, and was a New York Times Top Ten Book of 2021. Red Comet was also a "Book of the Year" in The Guardian, The Times (London), The Daily Telegraph, The Boston Globe, Lit Hub, The Times of India, Trouw (Netherlands), and elsewhere, and has been translated into five languages. Clark's work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Harvard Review, Time, Air Mail, Lit Hub, and The Times Literary Supplement. She lives outside of New York City.

THE SCRAPBOOK Q&A



Leslie Rossman
510-847-7477
www.openbookpublicity.com

Wednesday June 18th at 9:00am - Babs Walters, author of “Facing the Jaguar” (She Writes Press, June 17, 2025), a powerful memoir on surviving childhood sexual abuse in which Babs shares her story of healing after 70 years of secrecy.

Listen to today's episode featuring Babs Walters

After holding onto a dark secret for nearly 70 years, an abuse survivor finds healing in sharing her story.

Palm Beach, FL –For fans of “The Glass Castle” and “Educated,” an abuse survivor-turned-advocate examines the full circle of generational trauma, resilience, and healing in “Facing the Jaguar” (She Writes Press, June 17, 2025).


The average person can keep a secret for forty-seven hours. Babs Walters held onto the worst kind of secret for nearly 70 years.

Since age 11, Babs suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her father. His edict–children should be seen and not heard–defined her childhood. Desperate to be loved and seeking approval, Babs absorbed both the responsibility and the shame that was not hers to begin with.

Now, decades later, Babs Walters shows us how uncovering the truth is a critical step to healing. “Facing the Jaguar” is an inspirational story of resilience and courage—a story that proves anything is possible when we claim our truth and shine a light in even the darkest of places. As Babs says, “We are not what happens to us. We are the meaning and purpose we give to what happens to us.”

Babs Walters, author of “Facing the Jaguar” (She Writes Press, June 17, 2025), a powerful memoir on surviving childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in which Babs shares her story of healing after 70 years of secrecy.
Babs is a seasoned public speaker with RAINN’s speakers bureau, and she’d be a great fit for an interview discussing child safety, generational trauma and speaking out as a necessary step toward healing.

Since age 11, Babs suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her father. His edict–children should be seen and not heard–defined her childhood. Desperate to be loved and seeking approval, Babs absorbed both the responsibility and the shame that was not hers to begin with. Now, decades later, Babs Walters shows us how uncovering the truth is a critical step to healing. “Facing the Jaguar” is an inspirational story of resilience and courage—a story that proves anything is possible when we claim our truth and shine a light in even the darkest of places. As Babs says, “We are not what happens to us. We are the meaning and purpose we give to what happens to us.”

Babs Walters is a speaker, advocate, and author as well as a survivor of domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse. She brings difficult subjects to the surface through the power of storytelling. With a Masters’ in Counseling Human Relations, Walters developed creative, healing, journal-writing workshops for women in alcohol and drug recovery. During her corporate career, she led workshops on Preventing Sexual Harassment and continues to teach women to raise their voices today. Babs lives in Florida where she teaches Jazzercize and enjoys time with family. Learn more at: www.babswalters.com

Contact: Jackie Karneth

jackie@booksforward.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Facing the Jaguar: A Memoir of Courage and Confrontation

Babs Walters | June 17, 2025 | She Writes Press | Nonfiction, Memoir

Praise for “Facing the Jaguar"

“In this honest and raw memoir, Walters exposes a secret that burdens the souls of countless children–because most don't tell. Her story is a plea to all adults to believe and help the courageous children who do tell. An important and brave journey from a frightened child to an empowered woman.”

–Feather Berkower, M.S.W., Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Educator and author of “Off Limits: A Parent's Guide to Keeping Kids Safe from Sexual Abuse”



“‘Facing the Jaguar’ is one of the few books that will hold you spellbound from the very first page to the last. Walters is a beautiful writer and I look forward to reading more of her work. I also applaud her bravery, courage, and strength in sharing her story.

–Readers’ Favorite




“‘Facing the Jaguar’ is a powerful story of reclamation. Without offering advice or excuses, Walters’ reveals what it takes to heal. This is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand a survivor’s journey or for survivors looking for healing and hope.”

–Jane Epstein, author of “I Feel Real Guilty: A Memoir of Sibling Sexual Abuse”




“‘Facing the Jaguar’ is a chilling, honest account of parental abuse, but it is also a story of hope, tenacity and the belief that with hard work and a determination to understand, the cycle of generational trauma can be terminated.”

–Patti Eddington, author of “The Girl with Three Birthdays: An Adopted Daughter’s Memoir of Tiaras, Tough Truths and Tall Tales”

About the author…

Babs Walters: is a speaker, advocate, and author as well as a survivor of domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse. She brings difficult subjects to the surface through the power of storytelling.

With a Masters’ in Counseling Human Relations, Walters developed creative, healing, journal-writing workshops for women in alcohol and drug recovery. During her corporate career, she led workshops on Preventing Sexual Harassment and continues to teach women to raise their voices today. 

Babs lives in Florida where she teaches Jazzercize and enjoys time with family. Learn more about her life and work at www.babswalters.com and on Instagram @walters.babs

In an interview, Babs Walters can discuss:

• How holding onto secrets causes us harm, and why it’s important to share stories of abuse as a path toward healing
• How we should talk about generational trauma and ways to put a stop to cycles of abuse
• What she wants people to know about child safety
• How to forgive without compromising on boundaries
• Steps we can all take to find healing after life-changing pain

RESOURCES

Brave Voices – the Library of Congress

https://bravevoices.org/

General resources for family secret keepers

The National Domestic Violence Hotline

1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)

www.ndvh.org



National Child Abuse Hotline

1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)

www.rainn.org



National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

1-800-273-8255 (TALK)

www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Coming up June 18th at 9:30am pst - A Great Teacher, Robert Reich, Inspires Hope in this Intimate Portrait on Aging, Education, and Leadership in a Time of Crisis THE LAST CLASS with Robert Reich

Presents A Great Teacher, Robert Reich, Inspires Hope in this Intimate Portrait on Aging, Education, and Leadership in a Time of Crisis THE LAST CLASS with Robert Reich

Opening in NY June 27th at Quad Cinema

Expanding to Multiple US Cities

*Official Selection - 2025 DC/DOX*


Directed by Elliot Kirschner

Produced by Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse, Josh Melrod

Executive Produced by Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse, Ian Cheney



"Who are the teachers today? Who is trying to make sense of the common experiences? Are there people around who are interpreting what we have learned? I'm not sure there are. And that worries me.” **

“Democracy is not a spectator sport. Learning is not a spectator sport. It's active!” **



** Robert Reich in The Last Class



American political economist, professor, author and social media sensation Robert Reich worked under presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. He served as Secretary of Labor in President Bill Clinton’s cabinet, and as a member of President Barack Obama’s economic transition advisory board. Reich is known for his work on economic inequality and as a champion of public education and American democracy. He is among one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals.


The Last Class is a nuanced and deeply personal portrait of Reich as he reflects on a period of immense transformation, personally and globally. It is also a love letter to education. The former Secretary of Labor might be famous for his public service, best-selling books, and viral social media posts, but he always considered teaching his true calling. Now, after over 40 years and an extraordinary 40,000 students, Reich is preparing for his last class.



RT: 71 Minutes

Website


Publicity Contacts

Falco Ink. | 212-445-7100

Adrianna Valentin, AdriannaValentin@falcoink.com

Alex Pelchar, AlexPelchar@falcoink.com

Coming up Wednesday June 4th at 9:00am PT - Bestselling author, beloved PBS and podcast host, Kelly Corrigan, talks about her new book, Marianne the Maker, written with her daughter, debut author Claire Corrigan Lichty. Marianne the Maker just may be the antidote to the current epidemic of depression and anxiety children are facing today

LISTEN to today's show

Bestselling author, beloved PBS and podcast host Kelly Corrigan. You may know Kelly’s podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders--it's a top 1% podcast that has hosted guests from Bono to Bryan Stevenson, David Byrne to Dr. Francis Collins (to name a few). Kelly has been called the “voice of a generation” from O Magazine and “the Poet Laureate of the ordinary” by the Huffington Post. But closer to home, she has moved me to tears listening to her — I've watched her relate her way into our hearts.


In the forthcoming lead summer title from Penguin Young Readers, MARIANNE THE MAKER (on-sale: 6/3/25), Kelly Corrigan and her daughter, Claire Corrigan Lichty, make the case for making—which just may be the antidote to the current epidemic of depression and anxiety children are facing today. At a time when arts education programs are being cut at a more vicious pace than ever before, studies show that using our hands to create has incredible benefits: reduction in anxiety, improvement in memory, and for children. Making is vital to their development: tinkering and hands-on play develops new ways of thinking, instills confidence and resourcefulness, and helps make connections.


Here's Kelly's TED Talk, as well as some articles in case you need some inspiration to go make something with your hands today!

The New York Times on Making

Heart Mind Online on the benefits of hands-on play

Montessori.org on the benefits of hands on learning for early childhood


ABOUT THE BOOK
From bestselling author Kelly Corrigan and her daughter debut author Claire Corrigan Lichty comes a new picture book about a determined young inventor!

Marianne's days are filled with schedules, structure, and soccer. There's just one problem: Marianne is a maker. She needs every minute of her weekends to scheme and dream, draw and design, to build and rebuild! This is the story of how a creator with a crackerjack imagination finds a not-so-great way to skip practice and create her masterpiece. But will her dad understand?

Told in delightful rhyme that bounces across George Sweetland's gorgeous collage-style illustrations (chock full of hidden gems,) Marianne the Maker is sure to kindle the creative spark that lives inside all of us.

Kelly's storytelling expertise brings this research to life, and her daughter, Claire's, tech-arts integration provides modern context. Their mother-daughter dynamic demonstrates intergenerational impact, along with real examples from both traditional and digital making.

Review
"A thoughtful role model for aspiring inventors."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Kelly Corrigan has been called “the voice of her generation” by O: The Oprah Magazine and “the poet laureate of the ordinary” by HuffPost. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tell Me More, The Middle Place, Lift, and Glitter and Glue. Between books, she hosts a podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders, featuring intimate conversations with high IQ/EQ types about well-being, purpose, and impact. Marianne the Maker, a collaboration with Kelly's daughter, Claire, is her second book for children. (Kelly managed to write Hello World! all by herself.)

Claire Corrigan Lichty is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a double major in computer science and drama. She writes code, stories, and jokes for stand-up, which she has performed in small clubs in Bozeman, Montana and downtown Manhattan. She's been a glue gun kid since she developed fine motor skills and hopes to be a maker indefinitely.

George Sweetland is a freelance illustrator and has illustrated over ten children’s picture books. When he isn’t illustrating or teaching elementary school students, he's having dance parties and watching movies with his wife, two sons, and their energetic golden doodle in their home in Connecticut.