And Then Suddenly

Winston Shaw was a freelance sound recordist filming on location in the Catskills. Spending days without reception, when he finally got service his cell exploded with texts about a job offer from HBO but because he had been unreachable, the position was already filled. Missing a rare creative opportunity, he decided to leave his artistic career in NYC for law school. Now a public defender in Sante Fe, we talk about his passion for criminal law and the realities of working in a broken justice system.

Additional Resources

• The Pairing Podcast
• Ways to get involved:
  • RAICES Texas
  • ACLU
  • Lambda Legal

In 2010, Kate Wallinga (Ignorance Was Bliss podcast) gave birth to her third child and didn't feel right. After being dismissed by her doctors, she learned she had a serious infection from being exposed to strep in the delivery room. Out of the four million women who give birth every year, only 100 get this kind of complication and only one of those women survive. We talk about the medical emergency that changed her mind, her life, and the new perspectives that come from surviving.

Additional Resources

• Ignorance Was Bliss podcast
  • On Facebook
  • On Instagram

The morning after the 2016 election, Amanda Frankel was in her bathroom when she learned that Hillary Clinton lost. Feeling paralyzed, she decided to fight. For the first time, she felt her day-to-day life had to be part of a growing movement. We talk about her decision to run for Congress against the long-time Democratic incumbent of NY-10, how she's creating policy with people in her community, and the challenges facing progressive candidates.

Additional Resources

• Amanda Frankel for Congress
  • Website
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
• AP: "Election 2018-Turnout"
• US Census: "Behind the 2018 U.S. Midterm Election Turnout"

During a fashion show that included her space inspired designs, Shoshana Swell realized she could create things that could bring people to alternative universes. When the Cornell University senior heard that NASA cancelled the first all-women spacewalk due to a lack of appropriately sized spacesuits, she jumped into action and created her company THIS IS MY SPACESUIT. We talk about inspiring the impossible through design, science, and her surprise trip to the Kennedy Space Center.

Additional Resources

• THIS IS MY SPACESUIT
  • On Instagram
  • On Facebook
• World Science Festival- The Right Stuff: What It Takes to Boldly Go

When he was a student at West Point, Brian Baker had a mystical experience. During a sermon on Maundy Thursday, he found God. Experiencing an intense feeling of love, the moment began his journey into the priesthood. Now ordained as an Episcopal priest for almost 30 years, we talk about how Christianity led him to become an LGBTQIA rights activist, the state of love in the country, and his time at Burning Man.

Additional Resources

• Brian's sermons:
  • Welcome Home
  • Religious AF
• www.deanbaker.org
• Brian on Facebook
• Brian's Burning Man Camp: Religious AF

Twenty-eight episodes and so many topics later, Season One is complete! Listen to the highlights and if you want to be a guest on Season Two, submit your information here.

Thanks so much for listening!

One week before our interview, Steven Pacheco was on a bus ride to Boston when the driver called the police on a young black passenger for being on his phone. While recording the event, Steven realized he was observing the policing of black and brown bodies in a new way. We talk about race, trauma, and how leadership opportunities are changing this self-proclaimed Renaissance man and his experience as a black man in America.

Two years ago, Uyen Trinh was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes and it forced her to reconsider her relationship with her body and every relationship in her life. As a refugee from Vietnam and growing up in foster care, she realized she had become the ultimate caregiver at the sacrifice of herself. We talk about self-care, what it takes to advocate for yourself, and how she reversed her diagnosis through a ketogenic diet.

In 1993, Paul Griffin unexpectedly lost his father and instantly everything changed. While dealing with grief for the first time, he began to do the work that would later become his theater organization, The Possibility Project. We talk about fathers, love and loss, and what it takes to be wise.

Additional Resources

• The Possibility Project
  • Website
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Julie Dombo was at an AT&T store in Derby, Kansas when she was shot during a robbery. That event on August 11, 2015 led to an extensive hospitalization and left Julie as a quadruple amputee. We talk about her totally changed life, the optimism needed to carry on, her mission to share her story, and America's relationship with guns.

Additional Resources

• Wichita Public Schools (video): Julie Dombo at Heights High School - March 13, 2018
• The Wichita Eagle: Julie Dombo wins another battle, this time conquering breast cancer
• BBC News: America's gun culture in 10 charts
• Everytown Research: Gun Violence in America