Coming up! Jerry Saltz, senior art critic at New York magazine and its entertainment site Vulture, winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for criticism - Saltz shares details of his latest book - ART IS LIFE: Icons and Iconoclasts, Visionaries and Vigilantes, and Flashes of Hope in the Night

ART IS LIFE: Icons and Iconoclasts, Visionaries and Vigilantes, and Flashes of Hope in the Night is a deliciously readable survey of the art world in turbulent times by New York Times bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize Winner, and “One of the most powerful art critics today” (TIME OUT) Jerry Saltz. A former truck driver and self-described “failed artist,” Saltz has become one of the art world’s most accessible and instructive voices. Since the 1990s, he has been an indispensable cultural voice: witty and provocative, he has attracted contemporary readers to fine art as few critics have. An early champion of forgotten and overlooked women artists, Saltz has celebrated the pioneering work of African American, indigenous, LGBTQ+, and other long-marginalized creators. He has also become beloved online, amassing a more than a million dedicated followers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

“Jerry Saltz’s voice has been one of the most valued in the art world as both a critic and a champion of artistic works and their creators. Now, [Saltz] takes stock of the cultural landscape over the last two decades to make the case that art in all its forms, from the provocative to the political, is vital for our existence.” – Time Magazine


In ART IS LIFE, Jerry Saltz draws on two decades of work to offer a real-time survey of contemporary art as a barometer of our times. Chronicling a period punctuated by dramatic turning points—from the cultural reset of 9/11 to the rolling social crises of today—Saltz traces how visionary artists have both documented and challenged the culture. ART IS LIFE offers Saltz’s eye-opening appraisals of trailblazers like Kara Walker, David Wojnarowicz, Hilma af Klint, and Jasper Johns; provocateurs like Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, and Marina Abramović; and visionaries like Jackson Pollock, Bill Traylor, and Willem de Kooning. Saltz celebrates landmarks like the Obama portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, writes searchingly about disturbing moments such as the Ankara gallery assassination, and offers surprising takes on figures from Thomas Kinkade to Kim Kardashian.


With his signature blend of candor and conviction, Jerry Saltz argues in ART IS LIFE for the importance of the fearless artist—reminding us that art is a kind of channeled voice of human experience, a necessary window onto our times. The result is an openhearted and irresistibly readable appraisal by one of our most popular and perceptive cultural observers.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry Saltz is the senior art critic at New York magazine and its entertainment site Vulture, and the author of the New York Times bestseller How to Be an Artist. In 2018 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. A frequent guest lecturer at major universities and museums, he has spoken at Harvard University, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and many other venues, and has taught at Columbia University, Yale University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and elsewhere.

Tune in November 7th, 2022 at 9:30am and meet UC Irvine's School of Education Dean Frances Contreras

Frances Contreras
Dean and Professor, UCI School of Education

LISTEN

On January 1, 2022, Dr. Frances Contreras officially began her tenure as dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Education. The third dean in school history, Contreras is the first Chicana/Latina dean to head a school of education in the University of California system.

A first-generation college student, Contreras joins the UCI School of Education from UC San Diego, where she was associate vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion and a professor in the Department of Education Studies at UC San Diego. These roles, she explained, prepared her with a foundation in which she enlists diverse viewpoints and perspectives, critically examines change and growth, and oversees processes to improve efficiency and fairness.

Contreras is a UC alumna, earning a bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley, a master’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University.

With this in mind, Contreras, a SoCal native, looks to expand the reach and impact of the UCI School of Education for its students, UCI, and surrounding K-12 community. Entering its 10th year and already ranked No. 7 in the nation among public schools of education, Contreras calls the UCI School of Education a “diverse, vibrant and influential school.”

“Our school was founded with a mission to improve the educational equity, access and outcomes for individuals of all backgrounds, from infancy to adulthood. The research, curriculum, programs, and partnerships undertaken to achieve this aim make the UCI School of Education unlike any other school in the nation,” Contreras said. “We are working to serve as a national model for putting research into practice and for practice influencing research, while simultaneously serving as an exemplar of inclusive excellence in our programs, research, pedagogy, partnerships, centers, curriculum, admissions and hiring practices.”


​Learn more about Dean Contreras, her vision for the UCI School of Education, and the impact she hopes to make on communities across the nation.

11/7 at 9:00am pst LIVE on KUCI 88.9fm - One of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau tells her remarkable story--Tova Friedman's THE DAUGHTER OF AUSCHWITZ

THE DAUGHTER OF AUSCHWITZ

My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope

by Tova Friedman and

Malcolm Brabant

LISTEN

A powerful memoir by one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.

"I am a survivor. That comes with a survivor's obligation to represent one and a half million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis. They cannot speak. So I must speak on their behalf."

Tova Friedman was one of the youngest people to emerge from Auschwitz. After surviving the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in Central Poland where she lived as a toddler, Tova was four when she and her parents were sent to a Nazi labour camp, and almost six when she and her mother were forced into a packed cattle truck and sent to Auschwitz II, also known as the Birkenau extermination camp, while her father was transported to Dachau.

During six months of incarceration in Birkenau, Tova witnessed atrocities that she could never forget, and experienced numerous escapes from death. She is one of a handful of Jews to have entered a gas chamber and lived to tell the tale.

As Nazi killing squads roamed Birkenau before abandoning the camp in January 1945, Tova and her mother hid among corpses. After being liberated by the Russians they made their way back to their hometown in Poland. Eventually Tova's father tracked them down and the family was reunited.

In The Daughter of Auschwitz, Tova immortalizes what she saw, to keep the story of the Holocaust alive, at a time when it's in danger of fading from memory. She has used those memories that have shaped her life to honor the victims. Written with award-winning former war reporter Malcolm Brabant, this is an extremely important book. Brabant's meticulous research has helped Tova recall her experiences in searing detail. Together they have painstakingly recreated Tova's extraordinary story about the world's worst ever crime.


ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Tova Friedman is eighty-four years old and lives in New Jersey, USA. She is one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz and uses her vivid memories to write and speak against anti-Semitism and prejudice. She was the director of a nonprofit social service agency for twenty-five years and continues to work as a therapist.

Malcolm Brabant is a veteran, award-winning veteran foreign correspondent. Brabant has reported from over 80 countries.

Praise for THE DAUGHTER OF AUSCHWITZ

" Enriched by Friedman’s earnest reckonings with her trauma and hard-won sense of optimism, this is a poignant testament to survival and faith."

–Publishers Weekly

“I read this book with gratitude and urgency. Gratitude for the courage Tova Friedman has shown in deciding to share her story. We are all the beneficiaries of such powerful witness. The urgency comes from the knowledge that as time marches on such vivid voices are becoming increasingly rare. Read this book, cherish the lessons. It is a book rooted in the terrible events of another time, but the truths it reveals are eternal.”

–Fergal Keane, author of Wounds: A Memoir of War & Love


"An unforgettable and deeply moving story. Malcolm Brabant brilliantly evokes the world of the ghetto and of Auschwitz through the eyes of Tova Friedman, a small child who survived the brutality of the Holocaust."

–Jeremy Bowen, author of Six Days: How the 1967 War Shaped the Middle East

“[A] heartrending, lyrical account of a young girl’s survival during the Holocaust.”

—Reader’s Entertainment Magazine

THE DAUGHTER OF AUSCHWITZ

My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope

by Tova Friedman and Malcolm Brabant

Hanover Square Press

September 6, 2022

Coming up Monday 11/7 at 9:15am pst on KUCI 88.9fm - "Catch the Bus” a short film written, produced and directed by Chloe Owens and starring her Dad, Peyce Byron

LISTEN

"Catch the Bus” a short film written, produced and directed by Chloe Owens, will screen at the 10th Annual Studio City Film Festival ion Monday November 7th at 7:30PM at the Laemmle Noho 7 in North Hollywood.

“Catch the Bus” tells the story of James (Peyce Byron), an older gentleman who is the last to audition to be a television sports anchor. Initially sized up to be a no by producer Marlene (Krista Unverferth). James, who took two buses to get to the audition, presses forward to get the job of his dreams. Will he win over the irritable Marlene? The film lightly touches upon ageism and the instant judging we use on others.

Byron, a graduate of Northeastern University, celebrates his 15th year as the Lead Singer of The Platters Live. He is not only a singer and songwriter of Gospel and R&B music, but also a two-time award-winning actor which includes an NAACP Image Award for Best Actor in a lead role and the ADA Award for Best Actor performing as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Most recently Byron won for Best Actor in the International Independent Film Awards for his role in “Catch the Bus”. His latest single “You Can Give Love” and CD “Whosoever” are available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, CD Baby, Google Play Music and all online and streaming music stores.

Owens studied Film a year abroad at Reading University in England, and later graduated from Rutgers University. She moved to NYC where she ran a cable TV show on MNN and wrote, directed, and produced a popular webseries. She won BEST SHORT SCREENPLAY in the WESCREENPLAY DIVERSITY COMPETITION and BEST SCREENPLAY in the ROADMAP DIVERSITY WRITING COMPETITION. Chloe was also a finalist in the AT&T SHAPE contest which allowed her the experience of shooting on WB studio lot. Additionally, Owens placed in a number of other screenwriting competitions. Most recently, she won BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM for “Catch the Bus” at the International Independent Film Festival. Chloe is now in post-production on W.I.L.S.D.M - a short film she wrote & directed; that will enter the festival circuit in 2023. Owens is currently writing a feature screenplay, based on her award-winning short film: Catch the Bus. She's excited to meet producers interested to help bring the film to life.


“When I was young, I got to watch my dad win Best Actor from the ADA for his portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King” says Owens. “That was quite a special night for us! However later that year, I would move back east to live with my mom. Some time afterwards my dad experienced a work-related injury, which set his acting dreams back for many years. About a decade ago I returned to L.A, and over time rediscovered how talented my father is. Currently he is the lead singer in The Platters, and performs around the country. His voice is hypnotic; it lifts people up. I encouraged my father to begin acting again, and during Covid lockdown I got him into some virtual classes. I made this film to help pump up my Dad’s acting reel. For me, it was akin to my dad winning Best Actor when I was a kid. Only now, it’s a film directed by his daughter.”


To purchase tickets:



Studio City Film Festival:



Home | StudioCity Film Festival for Filmmakers

Peter Orner, author of STILL NO WORD FROM YOU, talks about his latest book, his role as director of creative writing at Dartmouth College, and how he gets his inspiration

LISTEN

A new collection of pieces on literature and life by the author of Am I Alone Here?, a finalist for the NBCC Award for Criticism. Stationed in the South Pacific during World War II, Seymour Orner wrote a letter every day to his wife, Lorraine. She seldom responded, leading him to plead in 1945, “Another day and still no word from you.” Seventy years later, Peter Orner writes in response to his grandfather’s plea: “Maybe we read because we seek that word from someone, from anyone.”

From the acclaimed fiction writer about whom Dwight Garner of The New York Times wrote, “You know from the second you pick him up that he’s the real deal,” comes Still No Word from You, a unique chain of essays and intimate stories that meld the lived life and the reading life. For Orner, there is no separation. Covering such well-known writers as Lorraine Hansberry, Primo Levi, and Marilynne Robinson, as well as other greats like Maeve Brennan and James Alan McPherson, Orner’s highly personal take on literature alternates with his own true stories of loss and love, hope and despair. In his mother’s copy of A Coney Island of the Mind, he’s stopped short by a single word in the margin, “YES!”—which leads him to conjure his mother at twenty-three. He stops reading Penelope Fitzgerald’s The Beginning of Spring three quarters of the way through because he knows that finishing the novel will leave him bereft. Orner’s solution is to start again from the beginning to slow the inevitable heartache.

Still No Word from You is a book for anyone for whom reading is as essential as breathing.

Coming up Monday 10/3 at 9:30am - Kelley Lê executive, Director of the Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPs), director of the University of California Irvine Science Project

LISTEN to today's show featuring Kelley Lê

ABOUT
Kelley Lê has been in the educational field for over a decade as a high school science educator, instructional coach, and educational leader. She is currently the executive director of the Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPs), director of the University of California Irvine Science Project, Friends of the Planet NCSE Award winner (2022), and author of, Teaching Climate Change for Grades 6-12: Empowering Science Teachers to Take on the Climate Crisis Through NGSS (2021). She also serves as a board member for Ten Strands, CAELI Professional Learning Hub member, CLEAN Accelerating Climate Capacity, Engagement, and Leadership Summit (ACCELS) Forum planning committee member, and a Climate Reality Corps Mentor.

8/29/22 at 9am pst - Jane Esselstyn, R.N., a fresh, charismatic voice in the plant-based movement talks about her new book, BE A PLANT-BASED WOMAN WARROIR: Live Fierce, Stay Bold, Eat Delicious co-written with her Mom, Ann Esselstyn

LISTEN

The Esselstyn family is three generations plant-based strong. Ann Esselstyn’s husband Caldwell Esselstyn ran one of the studies on a plant-based diet to fight heart disease and wrote a bestselling book on the subject. Her son Rip Esselstyn wrote a several bestselling books/cookbooks, has a food line in Whole Foods, and a popular podcast on the subject. Ann and her daughter Jane Esselstyn have been the women behind the curtains the whole time, developing the recipes and food plans. BE A PLANT-BASED WOMAN WARROIR: Live Fierce, Stay Bold, Eat Delicious, is Ann and Jane’s own book specifically for women, filled with amazing recipes, notes on women's health, celebrates of the power of a plant-based lifestyle.


Encouraged to create recipes without dairy and meat when her husband’s research pointed to the impact of diet on reversing disease, Ann began feeding her family creative, plant-based meals more than thirty years ago. Ann and Jane are bolts of energy from the same strike of lightning and have become fierce, big-spirited advocates for a plant-based lifestyle, reaching hundreds of thousands of fans through their previous books and their popular YouTube channel. At eighty-six and fifty-six, respectively, Ann and Jane are pictures of ageless health and vibrancy and BE A PLANT-BASED WOMAN WARROIR illuminates how plants powerfully support a woman’s body and mind.

BE A PLANT-BASED WOMAN WARROIR includes more than 125 recipes, from Apple Flax Flapjacks and Black Ramen Bowls, to Portobello Sliders with Green Goddess Sauce, to Mint Chip Outta Sight Brownies. And it includes big-flavored dinners like Sweet Potato and Cashew Ricotta Lasagna and Plant-Based Pad Thai, sure to tempt even the most reluctant vegetable-focused eaters. Full of life, captivating energy, and delicious food, this cookbook brings readers to the Esselstyn family table, where plants and joy are at the center.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Jane Esselstyn, R.N., is a fresh, charismatic voice in the plant-based movement. She brings her passion, energy, and can-do attitude to her presentations, cooking demonstrations, and cookbooks. As well as being a nurse, researcher, middle school sex ed teacher, and mother of three, Jane hosts a popular YouTube channel with her spitfire mother, Ann Crile Esselstyn. Jane created the recipes for the #1 New York Times bestseller Plant-Strong and The Engine 2 Seven-Day Rescue Diet. She is the coauthor of The Engine 2 Seven-Day Rescue Diet with her brother, Rip Esselstyn and of The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook with Ann, who is her next-door neighbor in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ann Crile Esselstyn has been called "the Julia Child of plant-based-cooking." She was an award-winning English teacher for twenty-seven years, all while juggling raising four children, coaching, and figuring out how to cook delicious and appealing plant-based, oil-free food (pre-internet!). Ann's singular focus is on creating recipes to prevent and reverse heart disease, and she collaborates with her husband, Dr. Caldwell B Esselstyn Jr., in counseling patients. Ann and her daughter, Jane, also feature heart-healthy recipes on their YouTube channel. Ann graduated from Smith College and received a master's in education from Wheelock College. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, next door to Jane.