So Important: The Interview Podcast!

In 1937, the Nazi regime in Germany foreclosed upon a building in the heart of Berlin that was owned by Dina Gold's family. They received significantly less than market value in return. This is Dina's amazing and inspirational story of all that she did to see that justice for her family was served. 

This is a story of determination, commitment, and conviction, and never giving up when the cause is just. Dina's story is an inspiration for all of us, and here it is in her own words. 

Dina's book about her effort can be found here, on Amazon, or wherever great books are sold. Dina also maintains a website dedicated to her story, and a Facebook page that is informative and always interesting.

Thank you, Dina, for spending time with me, and sharing your amazing story!

Hello friends! Today we're talking with Mike Edison on his new book, Sympathy For The Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters. Mike and I share a deep and abiding love for Mr. Watts, the drummer of the Rolling Stones. There are few like him in the rock and roll world, and as Mike and I agree, the world is a MUCH better place with him in it. As Keith Richards says, without Charlie Watts, there's no Rolling Stones. A point on which Mike and I heartily agree!

I love Charlie Watts, and I love this book. And I loved talking with Mike about our favorite drummer. As Mike notes, the Stones were smart enough to hire a jazz cat as their drummer - and the rest is history. I know you'll love hearing from Mike about why Charlie Watts matters!

Here's a link to the book on Amazon, and here's a link to Mike's website which has oodles of good stuff worth checking out. And for you play along at home types, here's a playlist I put together featuring some of Charlie's best songs. All the songs that Mike and I discuss - and many others - are on the playlist!

BONUS: Mike and I discuss the Stones' 2016 masterpiece, Blue and Lonesome, featuring covers of classic blues songs. Here's a playlist with all of those songs, as well as the original recordings. Enjoy every minute!

If you've got a second, please like us on I-Tunes and leave a nice review, and share the episode with your friends. All those things help and are appreciated. 

See you soon, and thank you, Mike!

All - had a wonderful conversation with Steve Pindar, the Founder of Roberto's Kids, a charitable organization dedicated to building social and community responsibility - through baseball! The organization is named, as you may have guessed, after the great Pittsburgh Pirate, Roberto Clemente. Roberto was a legendary ballplayer, and a great humanitarian as well. We talked about Roberto, how he inspired Steve's organization, and the great work that Roberto's Kids does, all around the world, to meet its mission. 

You may recall that last year at this time, we talked with Karen Struble Meyers about the Fred Rogers Foundation, and the relevancy of Fred's message to this day and age. So I thought that the time was right to find inspiration in another Pittsburgh icon, and that's what you'll hear about today. But something else also inspired the timing of this episode.

It was 47 years ago almost to this day when a small plane carrying Roberto, and loaded with supplies for the survivors of a devastating earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua, crashed and killed Roberto and the plane's crew. So the timing was right to remember Roberto, and all that he did to make the world a better place. 

Here's a link to Steve's organization, Roberto's Kids. It's worth checking out, and it's great to meet folks like Steve so dedicated to making the world a better place. 

Thanks, and see you soon. In the meantime, have a great New Years and enjoy the holiday season!

Hello friends, and welcome to a special thanksgiving-day episode! Little surprise here for ya - decided to talk about something interesting and important to me - the birth of rock and roll drumming!

Have some fun listening to how the backbeat - the basis of rock and roll drumming - came about. Lots of great music here...and get to know Earl Palmer (pictured), DJ Fontana, Clifton James, and many other greats who developed the feel and sound of early rock drumming. I had a lot of fun putting this episode together, and I hope you have a lot of fun listening!

And here's a playlist of full versions of all the songs played in the episode, plus a few others. Enjoy!

Don't forget to get to I-Tunes and leave a nice review, tell your friends about the show, and have a great thanksgiving! See you soon and enjoy!

Monte

Welcome friends! We're back from a short hiatus and talking with Moshe Engelberg - our first repeat guest - about his recent book, The Amare Wave: Uplifting Business by Putting Love to Work! Moshe talks about an alternative business model to what we're used to - and has the numbers to back up his arguments! It's fair to say that I've known Moshe a very long time...and I always appreciate his positive, and affirmative approach to overcoming the challenges we all face, every day. This is the ethos he brings to his subject, and I am so happy to have the chance to share his thoughts with you!

Moshe led his strategic consulting firm Researchworks, Inc. for almost thirty years. He now leads workshops, speaks regularly at both large and more intimate gatherings, provides leadership consulting to businesses looking for new ways of moving forward, and of course he is diligently spreading the word about the Amare Wave.  He's an inspiring individual, and a true friend of the show!

You can pre-order Moshe's book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and elsewhere, and you can contact Moshe at [email protected]. He's very personable!

I hope you enjoy our conversation and thank you, Moshe!

In the midst of the Cold War, when the United States and the Former Soviet Union had - literally - tens of thousands of nuclear weapons pointed at each other, there were nonetheless efforts to find areas of cooperation.  One such area was Scientific Cooperation, where many of the scientists, engineers, and other experts who helped build nuclear weapons found ways to cooperate, in order to perhaps defuse tensions, keep lines of communication open, and advance scientific discovery in the name of advancing common interests. 

Dr. Gerson Sher was in the midst of such efforts for many years, and has written a truly seminal - and fascinating - book about his experience. The book is entitled From Pugwash to Putin: A Critical History of U.S. - Soviet Scientific Cooperation, and it tells an amazing story from a man in the midst of such efforts. Gerson talks about what the work was trying to achieve, some of the great characters involved in these efforts, and lessons learned for pursuing such cooperation today - a vastly different international environment. 

Gerson's book is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and everywhere else that quality books are sold. I highly recommend that you check it out! 

Other news department: As many of you know, our little podcast has been expanding its reach lately. In addition to most podcast carriers, Apple, and other sources, So Important! is now available on Stitcher, Google Play, and the great Spotify! So please do subscribe and spread the word, and if there's a platform where you'd like to see us, let me know! 

Special episode in the works for episode 25 - watch this space!

Thank you for being a loyal listener, and welcome to our new ones! We talk to a variety of folks here, and we keep it short! So tune in, tell your friends, all those good things! Spread the Word!

Thank you Gerson!

Hello friends! Had a great conversation with Christopher McKittrick on his new book about the Rolling Stones and their career-long relationship with New York City! I thoroughly enjoyed the book and could have chatted with Christopher for hours - like me, he's a dyed-in-the-wool Rolling Stones fan. He also resides in and loves New York City, and had lots to say about the relationship between the city and the Stones. A fun talk and a GREAT read!

Christopher is a prolific writer - a good place to start is on Amazon, where you can check out his Author Central Site. His website is worth a look too - a great place to learn more about our guest. 

And hey, if you aren't familiar with the Rolling Stones and just gotta learn more...well, do a google search and if you're lucky, something might come up!

Thank you Christopher, and I hope everyone enjoys our conversation!

Monte

Greetings friends, 

I'd like you to meet Dr. Ben Canha, who has written a PhD dissertation on a critically important, and absolutely fascinating, topic: how humor can play a role in helping to treat the opioid crisis in America. Dr. Canha teaches nursing at the University of Maryland. He also spent many years working on addiction treatment issues at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Canha has observed for years how humor can play a role in helping folks deal with addictive health issues; he is one of, if not the, first to apply this to the opioid crisis specifically. I greatly appreciate Ben spending time with me, and I have great admiration for the work he is doing. I think after hearing our conversation, you will too. 

Thank you again, Ben!

NOTE: You may have noticed that I rarely spend time at the beginning or end of the episode asking you to go to I-Tunes and give the show a good review. And new listeners may note that there is no such plea at the end of this broadcast. In short, I don't want to detract from the guest. But I do want to mention how important that is, and ask that if you enjoy the broadcast with Ben, you give the podcast a good review, share with a friend or two, and pass along to those that may be interested. It's easy to share, and it means a lot. Thank you!

Well, it's Memorial Day Weekend, and that means baseball! Join me in talking with Cesar Brioso about his recent book, Last Seasons In Havana: The Castro Revolution and the End of Professional Baseball in Cuba."  Cesar is a digital producer for USA Today Sports, where he served as baseball editor from 2003 to 2004, and traces his lineage to Havana - a topic we briefly discuss at the end our conversation.

The book is an absolutely fascinating read, chronicling how the revolution brought an end to professional baseball in Cuba - but never dampened the passion of the Cuban people for the game they dearly love.

The book is filled with unforgettable characters and anecdotes, and we barely skimmed the surface in our talk - so that means, you gotta read the book! And you can purchase it on Amazon and just about everywhere. 

You can check out the facebook page for the book, and follow Cesar on Twitter at @cbrioso - a great way to keep up with Cesar's guest appearances. It's a great book, and please do check it out!

Thank you, Cesar!

And may I make a plea to listeners everywhere to follow the podcast, give it a good review in I-Tunes, all those good things. I usually don't push on all that in the podcast itself, but it's important and appreciated. Thanks!

Tom Mirenda knows orchids. He is the Chairman of the American Orchid Society's Preservation Committee and he has traveled the world investigating, and talking about, the many species of orchids that inhabit our planet. Currently living in Hawaii - a great launching point for investigating the world's orchids - Tom has been a mainstay of the Orchid community for many, many years. He worked for over 15 years as the Orchid Collection Specialist at the Smithsonian Institution, and until recently was the leading Orchid authority at the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden on the "Big Island," a locale notably lush with all manner of orchids. Tom writes extensively for Orchids magazine and other orchid-focused publications, and he has co-authored a book on orchids, entitled The Book of Orchids.

As I said, the man knows his orchids! 

Tom and I talked extensively about the beauty and attraction of the orchid, and the important work Tom is undertaking to help preserve orchids in light of climate change and other factors. It was a pleasure speaking with Tom. I learned a lot, and I hope you do as well!

In addition to the links provided above, you can keep up with Tom on his Facebook page and his book is widely available, including on Amazon. I hope you enjoy my chat with Tom - I certainly did!

Thank you Tom, and thank you everyone for listening!