10/28/19 @9:30am pst - Dr. James Gordon, MD joined Janeane live on KUCI 88.9fm

LISTEN to today's show!

How do human beings recover from trauma or can they? In his latest book, The Transformation: Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma, renowned expert, Dr. James Gordon, MD, helps us understand that trauma is a human experience, not a pathological anomaly.

In The Transformation, Dr. Gordon, MD, discusses his comprehensive, evidence-based program to reverse the psychological and biological damage that trauma causes. Drawing on the latest scientific research, 50 years of clinical experience, timeless wisdom, and inspiring life stories, he shows how we meet the challenges that trauma brings, and discover the ordinary joys as well as the meaning and purpose of our lives.

James S. Gordon, MD , a Harvard-educated psychiatrist, is internationally recognized for using self-awareness, self-care, and group support to heal population-wide psychological trauma. He is founder and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C., a clinical professor at Georgetown Medical School, and was chairman (under Presidents Clinton and GW Bush) of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.

Dr. Gordon’s latest book, The Transformation: Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma, helps us understand that trauma will come sooner or later to all of us. Trauma, he explains, is a human experience, not a pathological anomaly. In The Transformation, he guides us step by step in a comprehensive evidence-based program to reverse the psychological and biological damage that trauma causes. He shows us, drawing on the latest scientific research, 50 years of clinical experience, timeless wisdom, and inspiring life stories, how we can, as we meet the challenges that trauma brings, discover the ordinary joys as well as the meaning and purpose of our lives. We come to know that our broken hearts can open with greater compassion and love.

More info at https://jamesgordonmd.com

The Transformation: Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma by James S. Gordon, M.D., in which the world-recognized authority on post-traumatic stress and acclaimed mind-body medicine pioneer is the first comprehensive, evidence-based program for reversing the psychological and biological damage caused by trauma.


The Transformation represents the culmination of Dr. Gordon’s fifty years as a practitioner, teacher, and advocate of integrative approaches to overcoming psychological trauma and stress. Offering eye-opening research, innovative prescriptive support, and inspirational stories, The Transformation for the first time gives the reading public clear guidance in the methods that Dr. Gordon has developed and that he and his team have used to relieve the suffering of hundreds of thousands of children and adults around the world.


Dr. Gordon’s work is grounded in a basic understanding:

Trauma will come to all of us, sooner or later

Each of us has the capacity to understand and heal ourselves.

So, what if we lived in a world where trauma was seen as an accepted, inevitable human experience, and not a pathological anomaly? What if healing and reversing trauma was the key to attaining the joy and fulfilment that every human deserves?


In this a field-tested approach to whole health. The Transformation, Dr. Gordon answers these questions and delivers an inviting narrative that allows readers to easily use his step-by-step evidence-based program—which so many others have used—to reverse the psychological and biological damage that trauma causes, and to restore their hope and heal themselves.


In his role as the founder and executive director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), Dr. Gordon has created and implemented what may well be the world’s largest and most effective program for healing population-wide trauma. He and his 130 international faculty have brought this program to populations as diverse as refugees from wars in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa; firefighters and U. S. military personnel and veterans and their families; student/ parent/teacher school shooting survivors; and Native American children and their families—as well as stressed out professionals, stay-at-home mothers, inner-city children, White House officials, health professionals and medical students, and people struggling with severe emotional and physical illnesses.

One published study of child survivors of war in Kosovo—the first randomized controlled trial of any intervention with war-traumatized children—is exemplary. After participating in an 11-week-long group where they learned the skills taught in The Transformation more than 80 percent of the children no longer had symptoms of PTSD.

10/28/19 @ 9:15am pst - Music plays a key role in healing from hidden loss ‘The Trumpet Lesson’ explores how societal attitudes about teenage pregnancy, race, adoption, family, and homosexuality affect personal integrity. Author Dianne Romain joined Janeane live on KUCI 88.9fm

LISTEN to today's show!

Mexico – A breathtaking look at the impact of a life-long secret occasioned by 1960’s attitudes toward teenage pregnancy and race, Dianne Romain’s debut novel, The Trumpet Lesson (She Writes Press, September 24, 2019), cross-examines music, family, and friendship in recovery from a lifetime of hidden longing, shame, and grief.


Fascinated by a young woman’s performance of “The Lost Child” in Guanajuato’s central plaza, painfully shy expatriate Callie Quinn asks the woman for a trumpet lesson — and ends up confronting her longing to speak of her own lost child, the biracial daughter she gave up for adoption more than thirty years before. Callie learns the value of playing and speaking from the heart. Yet, having convinced herself that she must remain silent for her daughter’s sake, Callie uses denial, dark humor, and evasion to guard her secret. She risks abandoning everyone she dares to love. But to speak, Callie must confront the deepest reasons for her silence, the ones she conceals from herself.


The Trumpet Lesson was recently announced as the winner in “Women’s Fiction” for the 2019 American Fiction Awards.

Dianne Romain grew up in Missouri and studied philosophy at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. After completing her PhD in Philosophy at UC Berkeley, she taught feminist ethics and philosophy of emotion at Sonoma State University and published Thinking Things Through, a critical thinking textbook. While in California, she practiced fiction writing techniques in a women’s writing group. In Guanajuato, where she lives with novelist Sterling Bennett, she took up the trumpet as research for her debut novel, The Trumpet Lesson. Her current writing projects set in Guanajuato include short stories and a second novel. Visit her at https://dianneromain.com/.


Praise for The Trumpet Lesson


“The Trumpet Lesson is a beautiful literary novel focused on healing and the families that are forged abroad.”

― Foreword Clarion Reviews

“Romain clearly renders the complex racial dynamics of the times in which the characters lived.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Dianne Romain’s daring and delightful first novel, The Trumpet Lesson, crosses boundaries, opens wounds, and heals them, too. This is a book for anyone who has known the pains and joys of families, both old and new. Are there lessons in this book that moves gracefully from Missouri to Mexico? Indeed there are. Those who go below the surface of the narrative will find them, and they will be amply rewarded for their efforts.”

— Jonah Raskin, author of A Terrible Beauty: The Wilderness of American Literature


“A beautiful story of a woman adapting to a foreign land, The Trumpet Lesson breathes with the authentic atmosphere of Guanajuato, colorful characters, how a trumpet lesson feels, musical lives, and plenty of philosophy. Bravo!”

— John Urness, soloist and principal trumpet of the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra


“Try as she might, Callie’s plan to hide from life after a fateful decision is doomed. This witty, heartwarming ‘lesson’ in human nature navigates the complexity of guilt, regret, and longing. It

shows how the heart will always find a way to form family, no matter how unconventional. All you have to do is learn to breathe — and perhaps buzz your lips.”

— Rita Dragonette, author of The Fourteenth of September



The Trumpet Lesson

Dianne Romain | September 24, 2019 | She Writes Press

Paperback ISBN: 978-1631525988 |

Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction




Royalties will be donated to the Laurie Frink Career Grant for young brass musicians and Mujeres Aliadas for women’s reproductive health.



In an interview, Dianne Romain can discuss:


Finding common ground between members of different cultures


Her backgrounds in philosophy and fiction and how they influence each other


How she learned to play the trumpet to get to know her trumpet-playing characters


Shifting gears in writing: her experience writing short fiction, analytic philosophy, and now literary fiction


Her fiction-writing journey and how it led her to this novel


Her decision to donate royalties to nonprofits





An Interview with

Dianne Romain





You grew up in Missouri and lived in California for many years. What drew you to move to Mexico? What role does location play in The Trumpet Lesson?


At SSU we had a number of students with Mexican heritage, and so I went to Mexico on sabbatical to improve my Spanish and learn more about Mexico. I fell in love at first sight with Guanajuato, a small, historic canyon city with stunning geography; colonial architecture; and international and national music, art, and literature. Something delightful and unexpected happens all the time.


As for The Trumpet Lesson’s location, Guanajuato offers a wealth of symbols: mazelike pathways, blind alleys, tunnels, and the Subterrania (a street that winds above a hidden river). There are mine shafts in the surrounding hills. Callie gets lost in town and she panics at dark mine shafts. She is lost and afraid of knowing herself. But there is gold to be found in dark places.

Can you tell us a little bit about the differences you’ve experienced in writing your textbook and your novel? Was there any unexpected overlap?

I wrote my textbook with two audiences in mind: undergraduates taking critical thinking and their professors. I wanted the textbook to be engaging and user-friendly for students and yet precise and thorough enough for their professors. I wrote the novel for an audience interested in character-driven fiction, music, and life outside the US. As for overlap, I do some story telling in the textbook. Both books highlight different ways to use language, address emotion, and invite reflection and compassion.


What has been your experience with music? Why focus so much of this novel on the trumpet?


I grew up with music. My mother sang around the house and for weddings and funerals. I sang in the church choir and high school chorus, took piano lessons, played flute in junior high, and banged a bass drum in the high school marching band. In graduate school I returned to the piano and took lessons off and on for years. I also played tin whistle and pounded out piano cords when we hosted Irish music parties at our old farm house in California. We also hosted piano concerts when my piano teacher or one of her students would come up from Berkeley. She and her husband performed for the launch of my text book. I took up the trumpet as research for The Trumpet Lesson.

As for the focus on the trumpet in the novel, I was looking for work in Guanajuato for a young woman from the US. The orchestra served that purpose. I like questioning stereotypes, so I made the woman first trumpet. In the novel Callie is hiding from others and from herself. You can’t hide when playing the trumpet. Callie has trouble breathing. You have to breath to play the trumpet.

What inspired you to write Callie’s story?

I was writing about a writing group member who had written stories of the other members of her group, but had not written her own story. It came to me one morning that she had relinquished a baby and had never told anyone. I was so moved that I began shaking. I knew then it was the story I needed to tell.

Did you find it difficult to write certain aspects of her story?

Writing Callie’s thoughts of losing her baby was the most painful emotionally. I added humor to the story as it was too difficult otherwise for me to manage the pain. As far as the writing craft, it was difficult tying all the subplots together: Armando’s lost dog, Armando’s troubled love life, Pamela’s relationship with her mother, the mysterious behavior of Callie’s mother. It was like trying to weave many colors and textures together in a coherent design. Or trying to have the elements of a meal be varied, complementary, and ready to be served at the appropriate time.

How has your background in philosophy influenced your writing?
My study of ethics relates to the difficulties the characters have with integrity, and my study of emotion relates to how I describe the inner lives of the characters. Because of my study of feminist philosophy I’m interested in the complexity of race relations, in stories with characters from marginalized groups, and in imagining a healthy society. Callie is from a white working-class family, fell in love with a black youth, and relinquished a baby. Societal attitudes in the 1960’s led her to experience her love and her loss alone. The novel offers an alternative society, where characters form a mutually supportive family with members from marginalized groups.

The Trumpet Lesson touches on so many aspects of life, race, sexuality, what family means, to name a few. Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away?

Reflection, compassion, and another view of Mexico. Readers tell me that they reflect on their own secrets and regrets when reading the novel. They feel comforted, too, by the novel. Readers also tell me that they feel more compassion for women who have relinquished babies. Many readers comment, too, on the descriptions of Guanajuato. One reader said she wanted to move there after reading the novel. I expect other readers will take away a different view of Mexico and Mexicans than the US press offers.

Dianne Romain grew up in Missouri and studied philosophy at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. After completing her PhD in Philosophy at UC Berkeley, she taught feminist ethics and philosophy of emotion at Sonoma State University and published Thinking Things Through, a critical thinking textbook. While in California, she practiced fiction writing techniques in a women’s writing group. In Guanajuato, where she lives with novelist Sterling Bennett, she took up the trumpet as research for her debut novel, The Trumpet Lesson. Her current writing projects set in Guanajuato include short stories and a second novel. Visit her at https://dianneromain.com/.

10/28/19 @9am pst - Mary Jane Black has released her debut work “She Rode a Harley” - she joined Janeane live on KUCI 88.9fm

LISTEN to today's show!

Mary Jane Black has released her debut work “She Rode a Harley” (She Writes Press, October 1, 2019). A tale of love and loss, “She Rode a Harley” depicts the true story of Mary’s escape from an abusive marriage when she falls in love with Dwayne, her soon-to-be second husband on a blind date. When Dwayne is diagnosed with cancer, Mary has to take on a new role as his caretaker, confronting the changes imminent in their relationship, and her life.


“With unsentimental language and unblinking courage, Mary Black recounts her big-life adventure—on Harleys, and off. If you’re looking for a great true-life love story, this one is it.” Joyce Maynard, author of The Best of Us


Motorcyclist’s memoir embodies love despite previous abuse

“She Rode a Harley” is a woman’s empowering tale of getting up on the seat of a Harley after experiencing decades of emotional mistreatment


AUSTIN, TX – Mary Jane Black’s debut memoir tells her inspiring story of finding love later in life, in the midst of abuse and pain. “She Rode a Harley” details the kick-ass adventures of a woman whose second husband, a biker since he was 13, taught her how to save herself by believing in her own strength, power, and individuality. Mary Jane writes courageously, as though her time spent riding Harleys has transferred to the page, with smooth, gliding transitions and powerful, engine-revving scenes.


In “She Rode a Harley,” a schoolteacher escapes an abusive marriage and finds a new love on a blind date. Mary Jane’s new man, Dwayne, is certain that riding a Harley will restore her confidence and, sure enough, Mary Jane ends up following the white lines with him through 15 years of marriage. Traveling together, they learn to be partners, both on and off the road, until Dwayne is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Mary Jane writes of caregiving, and the joy and pain inherent in a love meant to last.

“With unsentimental language and unblinking courage, Mary Black recounts her big-life adventure—on Harleys, and off. If you’re looking for a great true-life love story, this one is it.”

-- Joyce Maynard, author of The Best of Us

“She Rode a Harley is a vibrant memoir about love, loss, and second chances… There’s warmth and immediacy in Black’s story” -- Foreword Clarion Reviews

“A compelling narrative” -- Kirkus Reviews

In an interview, MARY JANE BLACK can discuss:
How she escaped an abusive marriage, and her advice for other women who are suffering in their marriages


Remarrying and becoming a step-parent later in life


Becoming a caretaker after Dwayne’s cancer diagnosis, and her advice for other cancer caretakers


How she built a Harley Davidson motorcycle


Being a female motorcyclist and how her experience differs from male motorcyclists on the road

ABOUT 

MARY JANE BLACK: studied English and journalism as an undergrad, and went on to pursue a master’s in English with a concentration on creative writing. Teaching writing and literature at the high school level for fourteen years, she nurtured her students’ voices as she hid her own. After long days of teaching, she would spend sleepless nights scribbling stories in tattered notebooks found in her classroom and writing short poems in the margins of her desk calendar. Her first memoir She Rode A Harley will be published by She Writes Press on October 1, 2019. Excerpts from it have been published in Shark Reef Journal and Oxford American Magazine. She now lives in Austin, where she is a literacy specialist for the State of Texas. Visit her at https://maryjaneblack.com/.


“She Rode a Harley: A Memoir of Love and Motorcycles”

Mary Jane Black | October 1, 2019 | She Writes Press

10/25/19 - Chef Vikas Khanna joined host Janeane Bernstein to talk about his film, The Last Color

LISTEN to today's conversation with Producer Vikas Khanna

Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9VQsr6XQ50

Starring: Neena Gupta, Aqsa Siddiqui, Rudrani Chhetri, Rajeshwar Khanna

Synopsis: The Last Color is a story of empowerment and friendship. Nine-year-old flower seller and tightrope walker Chhoti (Aqsa Siddiqui) befriends Noor (Neena Gupta), a 70-year-old widow living a colorless life of abstinence. Both outcasts yet vastly different people, Chhoti and Noor touch each other’s lives in profound ways. Chhoti promises hope to Noor as this poignant story of love, friendship, commitment and victory of the human spirit unfolds on the banks of River Ganges.

10/21/19 @ 9:30am pst - Actress/Producer Tanna Frederick joined Janeane Bernstein live on KUCI 88.9fm

LISTEN to today's conversation with featured guest, Tanna Frederick.


TWO WAYS HOME TRAILER:
https://vimeo.com/335734993

Awareness Film Festival Official Selection TWO WAYS HOME film on Bi-Polar Disorder couldn’t be more relevant as we approach Mental Ilness Awareness Week October 6-12. 



LOS ANGELES, CA (October 2, 2019) — Director Ron Vignone and Actress/Producer Tanna Frederick’s independent film circulating the festival circuit is definitely getting noticed as the nation is seeing a rise in reports by the media regarding mental illness. Their movie highlights bipolar disorder while also touching on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As recent high-profile events in the news should make clear, not even mental health advocates are invulnerable. 

TWO WAYS HOME is about a young woman returning home to rural Iowa while balancing her bi-polar disorder and struggling to care for her veteran grandfather, who is suffering with PTSD from wartime service, all while trying to reconcile with her estranged 12-year-old daughter. With an original screenplay by Richard Schinnow, TWO WAYS HOME was filmed and produced entirely in Iowa.

The narrative explores what society has deemed, until just recently, a taboo subject—mental illness. Without diminishing the film, TWO WAYS HOME both educates the audience about bi-polar disorder while bringing awareness. Frederick and Vignone are collaborating with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) www.nami.org who work tirelessly to remove judgment and stigma from mental illness.

The film recently won the “Women Empowerment Award“ Jury Prize at the 2019 Women Texas Film Festival, and continues to screen at various film festivals nationwide.

The film will screen in Los Angeles at The Awareness Festival October 8, 2019 at 6:30p.m. at Regal Cinemas LA: 1000 W Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca 90015.

Publicity Contact: Cher Culver PR: cher@cherculverpr.com Cast and Crew available for interviews Trailer and EPK available upon request www.twowayshomemovie.com Follow us at: Insta: @twowayshomemovie; Facebook: Two Ways Home; Twitter: @twowayshomemovi ###

10/21/19 @ 9:00am pst - Kim Perkins, Ph.D. joined Janeane Bernstein live on KUCI 88.9fm to talk about her life as a former a former pro speedskater and former journalist, and how she uses her Ph.D. in positive organizational psychology to focus on the science of optimum human experience at work

LISTEN to today's conversation with featured guest, Kim Perkins.

Kim holds a Ph.D. in positive organizational psychology from Claremont Graduate University. As chief behavioral scientist at NOBL, Kim has worked with leaders at companies as diverse as Warner Bros., Human Longevity, and the Getty Leadership Institute. A former journalist and pro athlete, Kim’s research helps companies get beyond reward and punishment to motivate their people through passion, purpose and flow

www.kimperkins.com

October 17th, 2019 - The Observatory in Santa Ana, California, featuring headliner Clairo, with openers Beabadoobee and Hello Yello.

Clairo - photo credit: J. Bernstein

October 17, 2019 - Clairo headlined at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California last week with opening acts Beabadoobee and Hello Yello. Beabadoobee, a Filipino-British indie artist, took the stage in her adorable mini side buns and genuine stage presence. She was full of spunk, charm, and charisma, and her fellow musicians had great chops, too. Their set list included songs with a fantastic mix of drums, bass, and of course, her beautiful singing voice. Even though she had an amp issue early on, she grabbed her acoustic guitar and killed her set list.
Clairo - photo credit: J. Bernstein


Beabadoobee - photo credit: J. Bernstein

Clairo took the stage later on around 9:45pm and the crowd went nuts. She's an extremely talented 21 year old from Boston, Massachusetts with meaningful songs that resonate with her fans. From her casual and genuine style to her singing, it is easy to see why Clairo is a worldwide sensation. With over 1 million followers on Instagram, Clairo had the venue packed with her supporters and fans. Her set list included songs from her latest album, Immunity, as well as some of her singles Bubblegum, Pretty Girl, Flaming Hot Cheetos, and 4ever. In between songs, there were numerous fans yelling,
“I LOVE YOU CLAIRO!!” and she would break from her composure, and respond with a heartfelt, “I love you, too!”

The audience loved her so much, and chanted for an encore. She played three more songs and then picked five very lucky people out of the audience to come on stage for a dance party. The look on their faces was pure joy and disbelief! She ended the dance party with hugs and thanking each fan individually.

Clairo is a class act with great vocals and a captivating stage presence. She made sure to walk the stage, shake hands, and connect with adoring fans, whether she was standing at the edge of the stage, above the pit or on either side of the venue. The emotion on her fans faces was a beautiful thing to witness. 

Clairo - photo credit: J. Bernstein