No, I Know Podcast

Dear Podcast Listeners, In celebration of our upcoming 100th episode of The No, I Know Podcast, we present to you this special video message: "Listen to Your Vegetables". All Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin. noiknowpodcast.com

From two different cultures, Andy Dixon and Linda Polk found each other during the fourth decade of their lives, and love has dominated their relationship ever since.

Few observers would have predicted their union because Linda was raised by Conservative Christian parents who took her to church three times a week and seven days a week during annual revivals and Vacation Bible Schools. At just about the same time, Andy was participating in gang activities in the streets of Chicago under the loving watch of the men in his life who taught him the ways of organized crime. In the late 1970's, their paths went into seemingly opposite directions as Andy entered prison and Linda entered college.

They met for the first time in 1997 when Andy was less than a year away from his first scheduled meeting with a parole board, and Linda was assigned to work at the prison as a practicum student during her first semester of her Social Work Masters Degree program.

In 2016 they released a book they wrote together: Felonism: Hating in Plain Sight is a collection of true stories from convicts, family members, parole officers and prison staff woven together to present the fabric of institutionalized systemic oppression against individuals suspected or convicted of a felony and their communities.

Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin

The Constitution and it's 230-year-old language is pretty impenetrable, but how can we be expected to hold our elected leaders accountable when we're so in the dark? Well, our guest: Ben Sheehan has an answer. WHAT DOES THE CONSTITUTION SAY? A KID'S GUIDE TO HOW OUR DEMOCRACY WORKS , an adaptation of his successful book for adults, OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say. This witty and highly relevant annotation of our founding document for young readers is a go-to guide to how our government really works (or is supposed to work). Vetted for accuracy by experts in the field of constitutional law, this is an entertaining, humorous and accessible guide that explains what the Constitution actually lays out, for readers ages 8 and up. The overriding opinion being that kids and (all of us) need to understand the fundamentals to help them make sense of the chaos happening around them politically and socially—as well as to help them navigate how best they can affect change, no matter what side of the aisle they sit on. Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin.

Welcome to the new new new age! We try to keep a sense of humor and lightness but it's sometimes eclipsed and disrupted. How can we manage the stresses as we enter into 2022? We have been taking ourselves to the center of the forests around us as much as possible, for some forest bathing. What is that pray tell? You go out to that point in a forest, where you can feel the air change (more oxygenated), it's quiet (so so quiet) and you feel all the tension melt and you feel lighter, more giddy. Out in nature, we reflected on this past year, that is now in the rearview. Whether you are a long time podcast listener or recently found us, this will inspire you to revisit some of the gems (the amazing guests we managed to gather:) you may have missed from the 2021 podcast series. *All Music and Lyrics performed in this episode by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin. Including Performance of " Hearts Beat in Time" with Lyrics written by Dylan Alexander and Music by James Harrell.

This episode is part of our Going Green/Staying Green Series. Whatever generation you are a part of, you look around you at your environment, the land and nature around you (even if you live in a city) and define your relationship with it. Do you like what you see? What's challenging in it? What can you do? Do you take part of making it beautiful, of keeping it clean/sustainable, part of the caring for the plants and animals? There are generational differences to these questions but let's look at what can unite us around it. Young activists are stepping up to meet the challenges of climate change and sustainability and today we are chatting with The Youth Environmental Action Summit (YEAS) a community-based environmental education program here on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. YEAS's mission is to support young people in taking action on hyper-local environmental issues and to build up their capacity to lead and make the change they want to see. Each spring YEAS hosts an annual Youth Summit that brings together about 150 students, supports a year-round youth leadership program called the YEAS Ambassadors, and provides tools, resources, partnerships, and funds to support student-led action projects. Plus performances by Fenix Youth Project Poetry Performance from the No, I Know Podcast Live Event in October 2021. All other Music and Lyrics written by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin.

A new series begins! Travel with us on "Episode from the Road". First stop: Jewel of the Blue Ridge in Marshall, NC. We parked the little teardrop trailer we traveled with and our host Chuck Blethen took James and I on a tour of his spectacular property called Jewel of the Blue Ridge.

Over his lifetime, Chuck Blethen has been an Engineer, he studied geophysics, a businessman, inventor, entrepreneur, author, and lecturer, Chuck has 40 years' experience traveling and drinking wines. He has been a guest lecturer at various colleges and universities, in 68 countries and he speaks four languages. In addition to being the quintessential resource on muscadine grapes and growing them, Blethen has presented two TED talks on viticulture, is the author of two books on wine etiquette and entertaining, is a guest lecturer on wine aboard several cruise lines, trains judges for North Carolina wine competitions, plus he makes grape wines, country wines, Meade, cider, beer, grappa, raises Scottish highland cows and chickens, operates an RV campground, he enjoys his ham radio and so much more, are you ready? Here we go. All Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin.

I narrated my first audio book in 2005, a very large and little known book called Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, a giant series to kick off my career and here I am 90 books later and I have told many stories, which I love so much. And on this episode we have guest: Jeremy Forsyth, whom we have had the pleasure of working with and I narrated his book, The Little Fairleaf.

Jeremy Andrew Forsyth is a South African fantasy writer who is based in Johannesburg. Born and bred in the City Of Gold, he is working on carving his name in the literary world. He is the author of the epic fantasy, Upon the Sands, which is set in a fantastic world where mystery and magic come alive. His passion for writing all started at the tender age of 9. Forsyth's late grandmother who was also an author, would often read to him as a child, and those imaginative tales became an integral part of his life. His first writing exploits were immortalized in notebooks and his first cellular device: marking the start of what would later be his career.

Forsyth continues to be inspired by authors such as C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Sharon Penman to name a few. These authors' ability to construct creative tales that translate exquisitely to the reader, embolden Forsyth to do the same. He also finds inspiration in the great outdoors, history, Medieval history - with its plot twists that, even some of the greatest writers could never conjure to fictional life - has continuously fascinated Forsyth.

Forsyth's deep-set love of imaginative worlds, storytelling, reading, as well as his life lived and inspirations, have culminated in this serendipitous career path for him. In addition to "Upon the Sands", he has also the author of The Sun, Moon, Sand, and Star series, a collection of short stories which include The Evening Tide, The Broken Rose, The Missing, The Raven Heiress, and The Little Fairleaf.

All Music and Lyrics by Ilyana Kadushin and James Harrell.

Leave No Trace. An idea that began in the 60's by forest rangers on how to have a minimal impact on the land, that we should leave an outdoor area that we have been in, traveling through or enjoying, clean and without a trace of our human presence. According, to Leave No Trace-Center for Outdoor Ethics, There are Seven Principles of Leave No Trace and they can be applied anywhere — from remote wilderness areas, to local parks and even in your own backyard. Plan Ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces only, dispose of your waste properly, leave what you find (natural objects and cultural artifacts), minimize campfire impact, respect wildlife and be considerate of others.

I am sure you have driven down your street, other streets and highways, parking lots of stores and fast food restaurants and seen garbage strewn everywhere, evidence of human life everywhere. That is NOT leaving no trace, quite the opposite. A willful blindness to what we leave behind when we are done somewhere. Throwing your garbage out your car window? Someone else will pick it up for you? Well there are some awesome and generous humans (Restore the Shore and Craig Faunce Foundation) who do just that, we are going to hear about their groups, how we can support them and be inspired by them to also pitch in as we cannot rely on others to pick up after us.

All Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin

Lourdes Curaçao is an Acadian-Cree, a musician, producer, Air Force veteran and a recipient of an Air Force Humanitarian Service medal for her performance as a first responder. She is a former member of the American Indian Movement (1994-2000). An indigenous activist and empirical researcher in applied linguistics and counter-extremism . She currently livestreams on Twitch and works as Director of Research, Training and Outreach at BeyondBarriersUSA.org. She is a story-teller and spoken word performer, and is author of two books, one satire and one parody. This episode includes the radio play "As for Tomorrow" written and produced by James Harrell and performed by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin.All Music and Lyrics by Harrell and Kadushin.

Our guests for this Make A Difference Spotlight Episode are: Angela Morton, founder of Faith Over Fear Economic Empowerment Inc., a non-profit organization which helps minority businesses with a focus on black- owned businesses to become stronger and create sustainability in the community. We also speak with Pastor Martin Hutchison and Executive Director of Tri-Community Mediation who formed The Lower Shore Vulnerable Populations Task Force, in response to the need and disparity exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. All Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin.