Latchkey Urchins & Friends

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In this episode, we interview comedian Alicia Simmons-Miracle about her and her family's trauma and how she processes through her stand-up comedy. Alicia Simmons Miracle was born in Newark, New Jersey. She is a Groundlings Sunday Company Alumni, she has been featured on stage at the Actors' Gang in Tim Robbins Break The Whip. Alicia has done stand-up comedy at The Laugh Factory, The Comedy Store, California's Funniest Female, and Jamie Foxx's Laugh a Palooza.

00:00 Anne and Alison catch up

22:15 Excerpt from Alicia's performance recorded live at Ladiesroom Comedy Fest

25:27 Interview with Alicia

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Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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We are thrilled to share this interview with Emily Munroe and Elise Schuster about healthy and inclusive sex education for children, teens, and people of all ages, and the app Okay So. OkaySo is a free, anonymous app for iOS and Android where you can ask any questions you have about sex, relationships, identity and more to teams of experts who provide personalized support and information. After this interview, Anne and Alison feel much more optimistic about kids these days growing into healthy adults.

Emily Munroe is a former Science and Comprehensive Sex Education Curriculum consultant in the Bay Area. Prior to Covid she taught Biology and CSE for middle and high schoolers for 10 years as well as advising students in their Genders and Sexualities Alliance. She also worked with BACHE (Bay Area Communities for Health Education) now known as CARDEA as a CSE curriculum consultant. She is on a temporary hiatus as a Sexpert on OkaySo. 

Elise Schuster, MPH, is a sexuality educator with 15 years of experience in pleasure-based sex education and youth development. Elise has a masters in public health from Columbia University with a specialization in sexuality and health and spent many years working at Babeland and The Door - a major youth development agency in New York City. Elise is the co-founder and Executive Director of OkaySo, a free online platform that connects young adults with questions about sex and mental health to experts they can't reach any other way.

 http://okayso.co, Instagram: @heyokayso

00:00 Anne and Alison catch-up

20:05 Research Corner with Alison: The Dutch Hunger Winter Studies

What The Dutch Hunger Winter data and studies taught us about how stress and trauma get passed down through generations.

23:40 Interview with Emily & Elise

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Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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Anne and Alison tell their toxic positivity recovery stories. 

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Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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We interview Yin Ling Leung, activist and a founding sister of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), whose parents immigrated from China to Hawaii. We look at the trauma of leaving your family and home community behind to move somewhere else, and how that trauma defines American society.  "Economic violence is any act or behavior which causes economic harm to an individual. Economic violence can take the form of, for example, property damage, restricting access to financial resources, education or the labor market, or not complying with economic responsibilities." (Wikipedia)

Interesting things to think about as we celebrate Thanksgiving or the new Day of Mourning this week in the US.

00:00 Introduction by Anne and Alison

Native American rights issues and Thanksgiving plans

7:42 Interview with Yin

Economic violence, economic mobility, the magic of books and spending time in nature, protective factors of childhood, and spam sandwiches.

About Yin Ling Leung:

Yin Ling Leung is the Chief Strategy Officer and the co-founder of Applied Research Works, a Palo Alto-based health technology company, where she works on her passion creating actionable metrics for addressing Whole Person Care (WPC) a framework for addressing health disparities.  Her life’s work has spanned organizing for better working conditions for sweatshop workers, preventing toxic exposure for vulnerable communities, reproductive health and justice and advocating for more democratic philanthropy.  

Leung held key leadership roles at Asian Immigrant Women Advocates, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Asians and Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF).  She was one of the original organizers and founding sisters of NAPAWF, the first national organization of its kind born out of the 1995 United Nations’ Women’s Conference in Beijing.  

In the past, Leung has also served as a strategist to the New World Foundation, Ford Foundation, Social Justice Fund Northwest, Women’s Funding Alliance, Communities for a Better Environment, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Leung spent her childhood in Hawai’i and is a graduate of Oberlin College and Stanford University.  She and her family lead a global nomadic existence spanning the SF Bay Area, Kolkata, India and Hawai’i.

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Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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In this episode, Alison and Tyler talk about their middle school trauma and how that may have contributed, albeit indirectly, to their party years and substance misuse in their teens and 20s. Tyler is a Registered Nurse with a BSN in San Diego, California. He is a father, husband, social change maker. In 2020 he was awarded a full scholarship for his nursing program as an Honors Fellow for Social Change. Tyler’s educational journey has spanned numerous areas of focus, including homelessness, poverty, and mental health disorders. He has provided care for several diverse populations, including those who find themselves homeless and those struggling with substance abuse disorders.

00:00 Anne and Alison catch up

Is smelling your own farts good for you? What we're reading right now. Goddess circles and trust. Anne gets religious on us.

15:40 Alison shares a disclaimer about the false science of smelling farts

18:35 Interview with Tyler Tamai

How to make the best ramen, growing up too fast, middle school trauma, Les Miserable and the themes therein, class struggles, methamphetamine, heroin, addiction, recovery, and social change. 

 

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Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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We interview Asheville-based painter and artist Alicia Armstrong about her experience growing up Gen X with feelings of alienation. She describes the empty toolbox with which she found herself as she emerged into adulthood. She shares what she has learned along the way about tools for life, self-care, and sanity. Alicia paints primarily on wood panels using graphite, oil, and charcoal; her process produces highly textural works, whose layers convey the beauty and struggle of movement and transition, capturing moments.   

00:00 Anne and Alison catch up

We talk about homelessness, childhood emotional neglect, feeling defective, and mental illness.

25:43 Interview with Alicia Armstrong

Self-care and life toolkit which includes regular strength training, meditation, and being sure to fight for others to have the same privileges we have.

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Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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In this episode, we interview Laura Hofmann, M. Ed. about parenting during COVID, trauma-informed career counseling, and The Great Resignation. Laura is an adjunct faculty Career Counselor and instructor at Miramar College in San Diego. She is a first-generation college student and holds a Masters of Education in Counseling & Guidance for Higher Education from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Her Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology was conferred by University of California, Berkeley. Her career in education and counseling spans nearly 15 years spent in adult and youth career services. 

00:00 Anne and Alison catch up

Anne and Alison read some podcast reviews! (Thank you!) We b*tch about the evils of Facebook, the patriarchy, MLMs, the US economy/political system, and more!

21:13 Interview with Laura Hofmann

Being a first-generation college student, parenting when you experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), parenting from the inside out, power, The Great Resignation, Latchkey free range childhoods, career planning, women's career issues, COVID child care issues, and more.

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Check out our bonus YouTube content.
Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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We talk with Tamara Hanna of Love and Loss Counseling who is a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist through The Grief Recovery Institute. We talk about the alternative dolls kids get instead of Barbies when they grow up in a Christian household, toys and clothes on layaway at Kmart (are you feeling nostalgic?), all the things large and small we need to grieve in our lives, recovering from childhood emotional neglect and childhood trauma, and like...where the f*ck were the adults?

00:00 Introduction: Alison & Anne catch up

Cults (again!), watching Lord of the Rings Extended Edition while high, who should and should not do drugs, avoidant attachment, which Enneagram type is most susceptible to joining a cult? and more.

20:00 Interview with Tamara Hanna, Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)

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Check out our bonus YouTube content.
Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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At the start of the pandemic, Alison started a little social project with her friends Emelia and Ian. They referred to it as their "cult" and it was a way to stay socially engaged and active during the stressful early pandemic. Ian is an active member and facilitator of Illuman men's groups and Emelia was a co-founder of the Merchants of Reality artist collective in San Francisco. They talk about the what, why, and how of intentional community building. 

00:00 Intro - Alison and Anne catch up

This includes discussion about the meltdowns in Target, patriarchy, holding space for feelings, jam bands,  running for mental health, suicidal ideation, social health, MMIW and historical trauma, and wealth hoarding. 

29:21 Interview with Emelia and Ian

Intentional communities, drum circles (and how weird we feel about them), getting a late start in life, finding your true vocation in your 30s, childlike play, getting stoned and watching ancient aliens.

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Check out our bonus YouTube content.
Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.

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This episode features Anne's husband, Tom Sherry, licensed social worker and therapist. He shares his "chill the f*ck out" parenting philosophy, ie how to back off and let your kid become who they were meant to be. Learn why as a kid he was not an urchin, latchkey, nor a ragamuffin, but a panda, rather. Deep dive on the different types of childhood neglect contrasted with overbearing anxious parents.

Follow us on Instagram.
Check out our bonus YouTube content.
Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.