4/8/19 @9:45am pst - Musician/Composer Rachel Flowers and Filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano joined Janeane to talk about Rachel Flowers' up-coming Hearing is Believing Concert April 12 7pm Wilshire Ebell Theatre, Los Angeles

LISTEN to today's conversation
with the extraordinarily talented
Rachel Flowers and filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano 

EVENT PROMO VIDEO (4:00)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwN4vzWbi4Q
www.ymf.org/events


VIEW MOVIE TRAILER (2:23)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ6kw1cmMh4&feature=youtu.be


Filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano and his team have created a dynamic and engaging portrait of nearly two years in the life of a tight knit American family, a single mom and her two kids, living paycheck to paycheck in working class Oxnard, California, with Rachel’s stunning music as the soundtrack. “Hearing is Believing” revels in Rachel’s joyous and free-flowing love of song, illuminating the bonds of family and the divine mysteries of creativity. Rachel Flowers is a true survivor, a hyper-abled individual whose inspiring story has the potential to be a beacon of hope out there.

Appearing with Rachel in “Hearing is Believing” are Grammy winners Arturo Sandoval, Stevie Wonder, Dweezil Zappa, two-time Grammy nominated jazz pianist, Taylor Eigsti, the late Progressive Rock icon Keith Emerson, Hawaii ukulele master Benny Chong, and 50 members of the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony performing Rachel's original composition, “At The End Of The Day”.

Rachel has appeared at the Havana International Jazz Festival (2016), Progfest 2017 & 2018, and at the PDX Portland Jazz Festival (2018). She has shared the stage with Dweezil Zappa, Arturo Sandoval, Taylor Eigsti, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Marc Bonilla, Jordan Rudess, Steve Porcaro, Rick Wakeman, Burt Bacharach, Bob Reynolds, Cuban legends Bobby Carcassés, Bellita Y Jazz Tumbatá, and Orlando "Maraca" Valle, the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra and the Birmingham (UK) Symphony Orchestra.

Rachel has performed since her youth for Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Herb Alpert, and Wayne Shorter. She has three albums in release – “Listen” (2016), “Hearing is Believing Motion Picture Soundtrack” (2017), and “Going Somewhere” (2018). Rachel is a very active part of several jazz lineups in California and is composing original songs and works for orchestra, jazz combo, piano, and voice. At this point in her eventful musical career she is deeply exploratory, forging a variety of stylings as immensely accomplished as they are uniquely her own.




The Young Musicians Foundation, Hearing Is Believing Productions, & Rachel Flowers

invite you to attend this very special Screening & Concert Event coming up on

FRIDAY APRIL 12, 2019
7pm Wilshire Ebell Theatre, Los Angeles

If you are a Rachel Flowers fan or have just discovered the story and music of this astonishing young talent, we hope you won't miss this rare chance to see the film & Rachel, all in one night.

This is Rachel's L.A. Concert debut.
"Hearing is Believing" filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano will also attend.


This event is a benefit for the Young Musicians Foundation,
bringing musical opportunities to children and young adults since 1952.
This event will help support their important arts education work for years to come.


7pm Screening of

“Hearing is Believing”

a film by Lorenzo DeStefano


"Documents a Rare Talent" - NY Times

"A beautiful, inspiring film. When Rachel Flowers smiles the world explodes with joy" - Tom Schnabel KCRW Rhythm Planet

“Mind, be ready to be blown” – Harper’s Bazaar

"Rachel Flowers reminds me just why music is so powerful." - Dweezil Zappa

"...jaw-dropping talent on display." - LA Times

www.rachelflowersmusic.com / www.hearingisbelievingfilm.com / www.facebook.com/HearingisBelievingFilm/


Followed by…

RACHEL FLOWERS - LIVE IN CONCERT

with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra
Conducted by Lauren Wasynszuk

World Premiere of Rachel’s compositions

“OTHER VOICES” & “CONCERTO for ORGAN #1”



THE WILSHIRE EBELL THEATRE
4401 West 8th Street @ Wilshire Blvd. (corner of Lucerne & Wilshire)
Los Angeles, California 90005

4/8/19 - Filmmaker Tim Disney chats about his latest film WILLIAM, which opens in theaters this month!

Directed by Tim Disney 

LISTEN to today's conversation with Tim Disney!

Beyond being known as the great-nephew of Hollywood pioneer Walt Disney, Tim has enjoyed a dual filmmaking career as both a producer of environmentally and socially-conscious documentaries and a director (and writer) of narrative features. He served as executive producer on the documentaries “Gift of the Game,” “Racing Against the Clock,” 

“A Life Among Whales,” “The Price of Sugar” and “The Last Mountain.” Disney’s feature directing credits include “A Question of Faith” (also writer), “Tempesta” and “AmericanViolet.” He is also an executive producer on “Janis,” the upcoming biopic of singer Janis Joplin starring Michelle Williams.

Star academics, Doctors Julian Reed and Barbara Sullivan, fall in love with each other and with the idea of cloning a Neanderthal from ancient DNA. Against the express directive of University administrators they follow through on this audacious idea. The result is William: the first Neanderthal to walk the earth for some 35,000 years. William tries his best to fit into the world around him. But his distinctive physical features and his unique way of thinking--his “otherness”--set him apart and provoke fear. William’s story is powerful and unique, but his struggle to find love and assert his own identity in a hostile world is universal--and timeless.
Tim has directed strictly in the independent film world as opposed to the studio system, even though his legacy last name is one of the studios. This is particularly true with WILLIAM, a coming-of-age fantasy drama which he directed and co-wrote with J.T. Allen

DIRECTOR: Tim Disney
STARRING Will Brittain, Waleed Zuaiter, Maria Dizzia, and Beth Grant
SCREENPLAY: Tim Disney, J.T. Allen
PRODUCERS: Amar Balaggan, Jonathan DuBois.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Bill Haney, Peter Newman 

SHORT SYNOPSIS:

Star academics, Doctors Julian Reed and Barbara Sullivan, fall in love with each other and with the idea of cloning a Neanderthal from ancient DNA. Against the express directive of University administrators they follow through on this audacious idea. The result is William: the first Neanderthal to walk the earth for some 35,000 years. William tries his best to fit into the world around him. But his distinctive physical features and his unique way of thinking--his “otherness”--set him apart and provoke fear. William’s story is powerful and unique, but his struggle to find love and assert his own identity in a hostile world is universal--and timeless.

LONG SYNOPSIS:
Doctors Julian Reed (WALEED ZUAITER) and Barbara Sullivan (MARIA DIZZIA) are rising stars in their respective fields at elite Wallace University when they fall in love with each other--and with their mutual passion for the idea of cloning a Neanderthal. Their plan: to extract DNA from the world’s only non-fossilized Neanderthal remains, which were discovered by Reed’s boss and mentor, Dr. Godwin Thomas (BETH GRANT), and stored on the Wallace campus. Thomas named this Neanderthal “William” after William King, the Irish naturalist who, in 1864, first recognized Neanderthals as a separate species.


Against the express directive of Wallace President Bob Clayborn (PAUL GUILFOYLE) and the misgivings of some in the scientific community, Sullivan and Reed follow through on their audacious idea. Sullivan boldly decides to carry the embryo and the result is William: the first Neanderthal to walk the earth for some 35,000 years.

William proves a sweet, strong and happy child and develops rapidly. But the now-married Sullivan and Reed, who have become an academic power duo, soon argue over how to raise the boy. Reed believes William should continue to be monitored and researched while Sullivan’s maternal instincts overtake her scientific needs: She wants William to lead the life of a normal child, free from excess scrutiny. But is it possible?

The couple divorces and Sullivan takes William, now five, out of his laboratory “home” to start a new life as a single mother on Washington State’s remote Quiggan Island. Over time, William finds some measure of acceptance in the funky island community, but only up to a point. Even here his distinctive physical features, his powerful build and his unique way of thinking--his “otherness”--set him apart and can provoke fear in the less tolerant. When school bullies taunt him with calls of “caveman,” the usually kind William responds with a defensive show of strength that ends the harassment.

Once in high school, however, William (WILL BRITTAIN) finds himself with a pair of good-natured pals (FINN HANEY, KEVIN DZAH) as well as a romantic attraction to Judy (MORGAN TAYLOR CAMPBELL), his pretty co-star in the school musical, though William’s interest goes unreturned.

After high school graduation Sullivan wants William to remain in the relative safety of Quiggan Island. But Reed is adamant that William enroll at Wallace University to study and to participate once again in his research. William complies with his dad’s wishes and moves into his house near the University. There he forms a bond with Reed’s gentle, much younger, live-in girlfriend Sarah (SUSAN PARK), a tutor who’s also working toward her PhD. However, Sarah’s discontent with the driven, judgmental Reed brings her even closer to William.

But in the end the tension between Reed’s high expectations and William’s own emerging sense of identity explodes into open conflict. William accepts that there is no place for him in this world, but he leaves behind a surprising legacy.

“Wiliam” is a stirring, heartfelt, provocative and inventive look at nature, nurture and the limits and vastness of scientific possibility.

4/8/19 @9am pst - Cindy Kolbe joined Janeane to chat about her new memoir, Struggling with Serendipity

LISTEN to today's show featuring Cindy Kolbe


ABOUT CINDY KOLBE
Cindy is the author of the new Struggling with Serendipity memoir. She has been a lifelong disability advocate, even before her youngest daughter's spinal cord injury. She managed group homes, ran a non-profit, and taught literacy to adults with disabilities at a state institution. An active volunteer, she served on the Ohio Swimming Board of Directors as Adapted Chairperson for swimmers with a disability. She is a Peer Mentor, Guest Blogger, and Regional Champion for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. She supports other Warrior Momz and the international nonprofit AbleThrive. She also provided four years of personal care after Beth's spinal cord injury.

Cindy is a mom on a mission to share the power of hope and connection. Since March of 2016, Cindy published 50 articles related to disability and mental health in many different media. (Listed on her "Press and News" webpage!) She also writes a popular blog and her upcoming memoir, Struggling with Serendipity, will be available on April 9, 2019 everywhere books are sold.

Cindy attended Ohio State University as one of thirteen Freshman Scholars in 1976, and majored in English at Heidelberg College. She married her best friend John 41 years ago and raised three children in Tiffin, Ohio. Beth works as a lawyer, Ben is a librarian, and Maria teaches young students with disabilities. Cindy and John also lived in Massachusetts and South Carolina before his retirement from teaching. They recently moved to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley to be closer to their children. 

ABOUT HER BOOK
Cindy’s new memoir, Struggling with Serendipity, shares her battle with depression and guilt after her daughter injury. They shared unexpected adventures from their small town in Ohio to Seattle, Harvard, Capitol Hill, and around the world. Cindy is a writer with a blog and more than 50 articles since 2016 in Power of Moms, Motherly, AbleThrive, This Is My Brave, Reeve Foundation, and other media. She is on a mission to share a message of hope for those in crisis.


Cindy Kolbe
Book & Blog: Struggling with Serendipity
419.618.8477 | cindy@strugglingwithserendipity.com
www.strugglingwithserendipity.com/book

4/1/19 @9:45am pst - Peter Noble Darrow joined host Janeane Bernstein live on KUCI 88.9fm!

LISTEN to today's conversation!


The New York Times recently released an article on the “College Admissions Scandal,” exposing the parents of high school graduates who paid as much as $1.2 million to ensure their children’s acceptance to prestigious universities-- in most cases, kids were underqualified for their placements and unaware of their parents’ behavior.

Peter Noble Darrow provides commentary on how these parents’ are negatively affecting their children’s psyche as a result. A Millennial trust fund baby who spent his way too rapidly through his tony Upper East Side NY inheritance, this former 1%er is focusing on what really makes life valuable now...and sharing his lessons learned with readers in “Wise Millennial” (April 30, 2019). I've sent you a copy of his book already.

“I can understand and sympathize with the social pressures that society puts on higher education and parents' human desire to want to protect their children, but this is a microcosm of a larger gross confusion between ‘parental protection’ and emotional manipulation. This type of behavior robs children of their identity and any sense of self worth. I would even bet that this kind of behavior, even if successfully executed, would ultimately have an adverse psychological effect in the long run.” Darrow shares.

In “Wise Millennial” Peter Noble Darrow asks Millennials to think deeply about their parents’ expectations for their lives and find their own paths, instead.


Darrow shares his thoughts on “identity” in the college admission scandal.




In this insightful and personal debut, Peter shares much of his life story, blending anecdotes with the lessons they engender. Peter had a childhood that many would be envious of—he was born into privilege (both parents powerful business executives with tony backgrounds), attended the finest schools, and lived in luxury in the prestigious Upper East Side in New York City. Yet, in addition to the wealth of opportunity bestowed upon him, he has faced many challenges from his parent’s divorce to his father’s cancer diagnosis and eventual passing. In “Wise Millennial,” Peter shares that after “thousands of hours of therapy, introspection, and meditation, I finally began taking control of my life and creating my own opinions, most of which have evolved far beyond my family’s worldview.”

This collection of honest stories of setbacks and successes will inspire the motivated millennial reader.

In an interview, Peter will discuss:

How mindfulness can help Millennials and how Peter’s own meditation practice has impacted his life

Dating apps—the good, the bad and the ugly (and where the best dates can be found!)

How to launch a startup frugally (top lessons learned and mistakes to avoid)

The complexities of dating while also being a young entrepreneur dedicated to a growing business venture

What to do when you fail (and what to do with those feelings of failure!)


How to utilize your network and be a leader


Whether it is possible to keep “everyone” happy


How to choose a business partner


How to use screen time without mental health risks


How Millennials all over the U.S. can relate to this advice, in spite of Peter’s privilege



ABOUT

Peter N. Darrow is a Millennial, a native New Yorker, an entrepreneur, and an expert at learning from his mistakes. After earning an MBA in entrepreneurship from Babson College in 2014, Peter founded Darrow’s Farm Fresh restaurant in Union Square in NYC. He is the current founder of Veggie Dust, first ever vegetable seasoning for kids. A health and wellness entrepreneur with a passion for helping people, Peter has already seen much in the way of success and failure, and speaks to the challenges facing his generation, and dispels myths about what it’s like to supposedly “have it all.” Find out more about Peter at www.wisemillennial.com.

4/1/19 @9:30am pst author Irene O'Garden joined host Janeane Bernstein live on KUCI 88.9fm!

LISTEN to today's conversation!

What Others are Saying About Irene O’Garden’s Risking the Rapids (there are numerous other wonderful reviews!) 

For many years now, the poet, playwright, and memoirist Irene O'Garden has been a hero to me. I think of her as a walking, writing, beam of light. It is my hope that ...numberless others will come to know her gifts and, most of all, her captivating talent for wonder and marvel. —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic 

“Family is landscape,” writes Irene O’Garden in her breathtaking memoir, Risking the Rapids. She gives us a bold dose of both as she embarks on a remote river trip to help make sense of a family wild and dangerous. In her brave eloquence, O’Garden adds a thoroughly welcome voice to the rich vein of American literature on the singular healing powers of wilderness. —Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix, LA Times Book Prize winner and editor at Outside Magazine Risking the Rapids is a deep and powerful memoir. 

Irene O’Garden sifts through her family’s shared pain (and shared joy!) with elegance and care — searching for nothing less than ultimate understanding and supreme forgiveness.” —Martha Beck, Bestselling author, columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine 

Irene O’Garden has won or been nominated for prizes in nearly every writing category from stage to e-screen, hardcovers, children’s books as well as literary magazines and anthologies. Her criticallyacclaimed play Women on Fire (Samuel French), starring Judith Ivey, played to sold-out houses at Off-Broadway’s Cherry Lane Theatre, and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award. Her new play, Little Heart, won her a Berilla Kerr Playwriting Fellowship and was awarded full development at the New Harmony Play Project. O’Garden was awarded a Pushcart Prize for her lyric essay “Glad to Be Human,” (Untreed Reads.) Harper published her first memoir Fat Girl and Nirala Press recently published Fulcrum: Selected Poems, which contains her prize-winning poem “Nonfiction.” 

On January 31, 2019 O’Garden’s upcoming memoir, Risking the Rapids: How My Wilderness Adventure Healed My Childhood is being published by Mango Publishing. O’Garden’s poems and essays have been featured in dozens of literary journals and awardwinning anthologies (including A Slant of Light, USA Book award Best Anthology), and she has been honored with an Alice Desmond Award and an Oppenheimer for her children’s books. A seasoned and entertaining presenter both on stage and video, O’Garden has appeared at top literary venues: including The Player’s Club, the Bowery Poetry Club, Nuyorican Poetry Café, and KGB in Manhattan; The Poetry Café, Mycennae House and Vinyl Deptford in London, and all throughout the Hudson Valley. She’s a regular contributor to 650―Where Writers Read, in New York City and Sarah Lawrence College and has received several grants from Poets and Writers. 

Irene also presents to an audience of hundreds annually at the Global Seth Conference. O’Garden has presented at children’s literature conferences at Vassar and NYU and teaches poetry workshops at New York City schools. She is especially pleased to bring the national River Of Words program to Hudson Valley schools under the auspices of The Beacon Institute of Rivers and Estuaries. O’Garden is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild, The Authors Guild, Actor’s Equity Association, The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and The Society of Scribes. Irene O’Garden has lived joyfully with her husband John Pielmeier for over 40 years. Pielmeier, who is most known for his play Agnes of God, also writes movies and miniseries for television. In 2018 Scribner published his first novel, Hook’s Tale, and his stage adaptation of The Exorcist played London’s West End and will open in New York this year. They live and write in Garrison, NY. 

ireneogarden.com

4/1/19 @9:15am pst - Author Diane Les Becquets joined host Janeane on KUCI 88.9fm!

LISTEN to today's conversation!

Diane Les Becquets is the author of THE LAST WOMAN IN THE FOREST (March, 2019) and BREAKING WILD, both published by Berkley, Penguin Random House. BREAKING WILD, an Indie Next Pick and a national bestseller, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist. It was also the recipient of the Colorado Book Award in Fiction, the New Hampshire Outstanding Work of Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Reading the West Book Award in Fiction. Les Becquets is also the author of three young adult novels: THE STONES OF MOURNING CREEK (Kirkus starred review); LOVE, CAJUN STYLE (Booklist starred review) and SEASON OF ICE, the latter being the recipient of a Pen American Fellowship. Other awards she has received include a BCCB Blue Ribbon Award, the Maine Lupine Award, ALA Best Book of the Year, Foreward Reviews Gold Winner Book of the Year, Volunteer State Book Award Selection, and Garden State Book Award Finalist.

A former professor of English, Les Becquets has served as a judge for the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the Maine Arts Commission, and has taught writing workshops at venues across the country, including the University of Mississippi, Auburn University, the New Hampshire Writers' Project, the Department of Forestry, Writers Conference at Ocean Park, Writers in Paradise, the Arkansas Literary Festival, the Telluride Arts District, and at shelters for Katrina victims. She is a volunteer at Back in the Saddle Equine Therapy Center and an avid outdoors woman, enjoying archery, bicycling, snowshoeing, swimming, and backpacking with her dog, Izzy. Before moving to New Hampshire, where she now resides with her husband, she lived in a small ranching town in Northwestern Colorado for almost fourteen years, raising her three sons.

Diane Les Becquets is a member of the New Hampshire Writers' Project, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, and the Pen American Center.

Follow Diane on Goodreads.

Les Becquets’ new thriller, THE LAST WOMAN IN THE FOREST (Berkley Hardcover; on sale March 5) is a different kind of terrifying: in it, one woman suspects that the love of her life, her recently dead boyfriend, may have been a serial killer—and she could have been his next victim. This novel of suspense is a conversation-starter about how sociopathic, dangerous people exist in our midst and they are often impossible to spot, as well as a discussion about how women, unfortunately, do not enjoy the same freedoms as men when it comes to basic safety and solitude. This story stuck with me long after I finished the last page. And Publisher’s Weekly raves, “[An] elegantly written thriller… Eloquent, detailed descriptions of nature and of rescue dog training, survival techniques, and the peripatetic life of conservationists enrich the narrative.”



Some really interesting talking points:

· Les Becquets’ late husband was a forester who told her about the Connecticut River Murders of the 1980s: at least six women were stabbed and killed along the Vermont and New Hampshire border. The killer was never found.

· The stories of these women affected the author as she painfully remembered her own assault: being held at knifepoint for 12 hours in a trailer when she was eighteen, an ordeal she narrowly escaped from with her life. (One harrowing scene in THE LAST WOMAN IN THE FOREST is based on this very personal experience.)


· Les Becquets sought out retired criminal profiler and author of several books, John Philpin, who assisted law enforcement on the Connecticut River murder cases as well as 200 others (like the Jon Benet Ramsay case) during his incredible career. Philpin also served as a consultant on the TV show “Dexter,” helping the writers get into the mind of a serial killer. With Philpin’s help, Les Becquets was able to create the character of Tate, a conservationist working with her novel’s heroine that is charming and loving, but after he dies some troubling details of his life emerge. The sensational Netflix series “You” starring Penn Badgley and Bravo’s acclaimed “Dirty John” starring Connie Britton (based on the Los Angeles Times podcast of the same name) also illustrate the all-too-real terrifying notion that someone you meet and start to like—or love—may, in fact, be very dangerous.


· The author did extensive research with canine conservation units in the American wilderness. She would be happy to talk about these dogs and how they help us conserve the wildlife inhabiting our forests.


Les Becquets was on NPR/Morning Edition for Breaking Wild in 2016 if you are interested in taking a listen!

4/1/19 @9:00am pst - Author JB Jamison kicked off Monday's show!

LISTEN to today's conversation!

J.B. Jamison’s Emily Graham series has fascinating characters thrown into situations that are crazy enough to capture your attention, but just plausible enough to be believable.

He is a life-long believer in the power of stories. First as a pastor, then educator, creator of Centers for Innovation at multiple universities, Director of a national Game and Simulation academic degree program, a consultant for e-learning and brand development, John has used the power of story to bring about serious change and have some fun in the process.


ABOUT HIS LATEST BOOK

Emily Graham continues to tackle danger as thrilling adventures continue with third book in series, ‘Disbelief’

Agent Emily Graham is who she is today because of her family, because of her friends and colleagues, and because of her absolute belief that everyone should be treated fairly. She sees it as her role to make sure that those who do unfair things pay a price. She is a woman true to her beliefs.

But what happens when a group decides that their beliefs are the only acceptable ones and everyone else, including Agent Emily Graham, must bow their heads and surrender to them? What happens when, one by one, those things Emily believes in are shaken: her belief in family, her belief in friends and colleagues, and even her role as a protector of fairness?

Emily Graham has faced difficult times before, but in this third book of the series the greatest battle is a personal one. Will she bow? Will she survive? If she survives, who will she become?

In this third battle with a powerful enemy, Emily Graham is faced with completely redefining her life as she finds herself living in a world of…Disbelief!


In an interview, J.B. JAMISON will discuss:

Where he draws his inspiration for his stories and characters

The importance of setting in the Emily Graham series

Visiting the FBI headquarters to give the Agent in Charge a copy of “Disruption”

His take on conspiracy theories

How the St. Louis landfill provided inspiration for “Distraction”

The criminal aspect of the book, including betrayal and corruption