Ben Louis is one of our RFB hosts with his top rated show, https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/ben-talks/ I know Ben a bit from the station and his show, but he surprises me with his openness about discussing his recent breakup with his long-time girlfriend. Ben hasn't been in therapy before, and I have to say, I didn't expect our session to get this deep. So much so, that I invited Ben back the next week to do some follow up. Ben accepted, but then he had a chance to go to the Superbowl Parade, so he had to cancel. Go Eagles! Go Ben!

I really enjoy spending time with fellow RFB host Benjamin Louis, of the ever popular, Ben Talks. Over the last few years, we have done many an RFB boondoggle together. Also Ben has been my first guest of the year, this being the second year in a row.

In this session, we reflect on Ben’s previous two sessions, where his life has gone, where it’s going and how he’s grown.

Ben, 29, talks candidly and honestly about his relationship with his work, women, religion and his family. He’s come to realize how pursuing a long-term career in radio is his passion and priority right now above all else (including the chicks!). We also discover that Ben is a lot more like his dad than it might seem….

Follow Ben! @BenTalkShow Listen Live every Thurs. 5-7, and for past episodes: https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/ben-talks/

Jeanette is a professionally UCB, Second City, trained improvisor/comedian, etc. She met her husband when she was living in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles 2.5 years ago, to pursue comedy et al. She was getting going and then the pandemic hit.

The pandemic has made all of us rethink a lot, but for Jeanette the situation has moved her into other areas of performing that are satisfying for her, including writing, producing and performing in this one: Livin' Notoriously Notorious RBG.

In this therapy session, Jeanette reviews her thinking about why she moved to L.A., what that's been like and why she is seriously thinking of moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Check out more about Jeanette and her work here.

Great session today with Finley Christine! We talked about her experience at The Whitney Houston Biennial https://www.whitneyhoustonbiennial.com/ (mostly great), what she learned (engage with young collectors!) and her family and childhood-unconditional love and a hospice worker mother - and more that is too personal for writing here! See Finley's art here-she wallpapers DUMPSTERS all over the world! http://iamfinley.com/ #WhitneyHoustonBiennial #art #SPRING/BREAKArtFair #Finley

It’s likely you are familiar with Spencer Tunick’s work, but in case you are not, he’s the guy that organizes, photographs and exhibits huge sculptural, landscape type photographs of naked people. https://www.spencertunick.com/ Spencer and Kristin Bowler, check her/her work out here—https://www.instagram.com/krystlpink/—literally travel the US—all 50 states https://tinyurl.com/y9c2a4dp,—and the globe together https://www.amazon.com/Naked-World-Spencer-Tunick/dp/B007NE050Q, self-funding and producing these otherworldly bodyscapes. Spencer has been interviewed and documented widely, but rarely with his wife—and them as a couple. I have known Spencer and Kristin since the 90’s, when they were just dating and before they had their two girls, Seda and Isla now 13 and 11, so I was able to test out some of my Dr. Lisa theories. Here are some of the topics we discussed: • How Kristin and Spencer met. How they began dating • Reactions to my impression of their AMAZING girls • Reactions to Dr. Lisa’s take on their relationship as a couple • How Spencer’s work is influenced by his upbringing—helping his father take photographs of guests at a Catskill resort • Why their collaboration EVERYTHING SHE SAYS MEANS EVERYTHING which was a project involving 100 nude women at the 2016 Republican Convention in Cleveland http://spencertunickcleveland.com/ This was for me, a truly moving experience with visionary people. We dove in deep. Spencer’s limited edition books available here: https://nakedpavementbooks.com/

Brian Andrew Whitely installed a Donald Trump tombstone in Central Park that took him on a trip with reality, ie: the authorities, FBI, the media, death threat phone calls, that I don't think him, his wife and two children could have anticipated. If you know Brian casually, he's presents a stiff upper lip guy, but Dr. Lisa won't buy it and insists on digging deeper. Shout out to our mutual gallerist who recently exhibited the stone Christopher Stout! http://www.christopherstoutgallery.com/# #art #psychotherapy #brianandrewwhitely #christopherstout #trumptombstone #centralpark

Update 2020: Here's where the tombstone is residing as of this posting:

Anthony Haden-Guest (episode DLG249), author of The Last Party, email introduced to Myra Scheer—Myra was Steve Rubell’s assistant during his explosive years running the club that changed nightlife forever, Studio 54. Therefore, she had a front row seat.

Myra talks about her growing up in Georgia and what motivated her to come to New York where she found her way into one of the most crazy and glamorous scenes in history. I talked with her about the feeling of what made "Studio" a moment in time.

Myra has seen a lot but is not a bit jaded. She has a Sirius XM Radio show with Marc Beneke, the doorman/gatekeeper there:  Among other things, she is also devoted to working with The Felix Organization—a brilliant organization that helps children in foster care.

Personally, I became interested in Studio 54 at this time because of a project I did in 1978. After experiencing my own rejection at the club, I made and sold Studio 54 REJECT t-shirts to the “rejects” outside of Studio 54. When I found out the Brooklyn Museum was having a Studio 54 exhibition this spring of 2020, I reissued them to sell outside the Brooklyn Museum. This exhibition, Studio 54: Night Magic was exciting, fabulous and powerful exhibition—it did not disappoint . Myra was directly involved with curator Matthew Yokobosky in his process of developing the exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum. We spoke about that too—Myra’s original Norma Kamali sleeping bag coat on was display there—she told me how she got it!

In case you live in a part of the world with no news coverage, on October 3, 2020, Radio Free Brooklyn erected the “Wall of Lies,” a 50-foot by 10-foot outdoor mural with the 20,000+ lies told by Donald Trump (so far) while in office, documented and fact-checked by The Washington Post. The project was conceived and executed by RFB Executive Director Tom Tenney and Bushwick artist Phil Buehler.

I know Tom Tenney (our RFB station Executive Director) and Phil Buehler (my very own husband) all too well, so when I did this session with them to unpack the process of them collaborating together and how they felt/managed the global coverage, positive results, and just the logistics of this extraordinary project, I was personally invested in finding out how they seemingly worked so well together.

Turns out they really were a well-matched team that worked well without any of the friction I've experienced working with each of them separately. So the common denominator there is me-hmmm.

I don't usually talk about my own work that much, but I besides hosting this spectacular radio show I also have a visual art career! I have been showing my text painting series, The Thoughts in My Head for the past few years at a terrific gallery, VSOP Projects. The gallery owner/director is one of the best—Jonathan Weiskopf.

The exhibition at the gallery currently is 4 solo shows, each in individual rooms. Fearing that I was the most neurotic of the group, I thought it would be fascinating to talk with the other artists making their shows at the same time to find out what each of their experiences were.

I'll break it down for you:

Chiaozzo—That's Terri Chiao and Adam Frezza. They are a couple that have a large, professional grade studio practice. Like creating store windows around the world for Hermès professional. As Dr. Lisa, I've decided they have it all, a great marriage/art collaboration, a beautiful child that goes to the studio everywhere with them and a highly successful art practice. Plus—they're SO nice!!!

Maggie Avolio: Maggie is the youngest of this group, as she just graduated with an MFA from Stony Brook University in 2019. I can't say she's not accomplished though, check out her resume and list of awards!

Lisa Levy: As a professional, unlicensed therapist, I do not go into detail that often of all the things that I do when I'm not transmitting to you. I have a series of paintings that I've been making since 2011 that are literally the thoughts in my head. I collect hundreds a year and whittle out the best ones, making them into text paintings.

Kalup Linzy Is a genuine famous artist with his work in the collections of MoMA, The Whitney, Met, Studio Museum of Harlem, a teaching gig at Harvard as well as a Kalup's’ personal dream come true: his guest appearance on General Hospital, arranged by an admirer his admirer, collaborator, and fellow actor on the show, James Franco. I had the good fortune of meeting Kalup at the recent Satellite Art Fair. The more research I did about Kalup, I became curious about how someone from a tiny town without even a movie theater, let alone an art gallery or museum as well as having a schizophrenic mother, could become someone so respected and recognized in the art world where people are visiting museums before they can walk. So in this session, Kalup describes directly his growing up and difficulties he was faced with, but what comes through most clearly, is that Kalup had a lot of beauty in his life because he felt loved and cared for by family and community. This is a powerful demonstration of recognizing what really counts in life.. Huge shout out to Kalup for being so generous with his openness about his life. Now go see his solo exhibition which is up at Sean Horton Presents until Dec. 7. More about Kalup Linzy HERE.