Sarah Goodyear, Brooklyn-based journalist and novelist, has a life story with a recurring pattern: she's twice risen out of bad circumstances by sheer force of will. She tells us how she made her way into her dream school, and later into a happy marriage, by believing in herself and keeping a steadfast commitment to her work. We also chat about her current work on The War On Cars, a podcast about the century-long, ongoing battle to reclaim our cities from the automobile.

Introducing Bushwick Junction Short Cuts, a series of brief narratives built from live episodes of Bushwick Junction.

The first tells the story of Amna Shamim, a digital nomad who works as a writer and marketer from all over the world.

You can listen to Amna's unedited interview in episode 29.

Abbi Coulter is an Aussie transplant, advertising project manager, part-time cosmetolgist, dog mom, and cancer survivor. She tells us she envies people who make decisions easily, but in hindsight realizes that she's approached her most pivotal moments with impressive decisiveness. And she shares that her version of a happy ending is a life where she continually commits to learning new things.

Amna Shamim is a digital nomad who works remotely from all over the world as a writer and visibility consultant. She tells us about a big decision she was entrusted with as a child, and then about a relative lack of decisionmaking as a young adult, when she took the life steps that came most easily to her. But the decisions that formed the life she has now — the ones to find a career she loves, let go of a home in NYC, and travel all over the world — happened in increments. Bonus topic: which decisions are truly irreversible?

Audio producer Cher Vincent tells us about the courage it took to walk away from what she thought was her path, not once but twice: first, getting into her dream medical school but deciding not to go, then, leaving the career she chose instead in education. But when you're as curious about the world as Cher is, you never run out of options.

Amit Khera breaks the Bushwick Junction mold to focus on ONE big decision: his decision to found Soul Collective, a directory of conscious community-based events in NYC.

Billy Crosby's tone is deceiving: in this episode, he tells us his heavy lifestory with a lighthearted ease. He felt isolated as a young person, got fired from his dream job, got married and divorced two times over, and battled addiction and depression all the while. Why so cheerful, then? Because in recent years, Billy has found comfort and success as a radio DJ and visual artist, proving to us that after all great struggles lie better things.

April Soetarman is an experience designer, architect, and creator of art experiments with code, words and guerrilla street art at WeirdSideProjects.com. One of her latest projects feels right at home on Bushwick Junction: it's an exhibit called the Museum of Almost Realities, a collection of artifacts from the life you might have had. We talk about April's almost realities, and how she decided on the ones that actually occurred.

Conceptual artist and professional DJ Maria Chavez shares the story of her life's work in sound. From a condition at birth that affected her relationship to sound, to a not-quite-satisfying experience in the Houston underground electronic scene, Maria knew she needed an artistic outlet that made room for her indidviduality. So when she discovered abstract turntablism, the practice became the center of the career, taking her all over the world to perform and teach about improvisation.

Chicago Figueroa is a barber and musician who's on a mission to be happy. We talk through Chicago's past lives as a raver, a goth, an audio engineer, and a female-presenting person before taking hormones and getting top surgery. Listen as we talk through taking your well-being into your own hands, and jam to Chicago's band, Permanant Wave.