I have a fascinating discussion with Skateboarder, Musician, Social Worker, and friend, Glenn Hicks. We discuss Glenn’s formative years growing up with loving parents in the woods of North Carolina, embracing punk rock culture, his father pissing on Colonel Custer’s grave on a family road trip, how his grandfather fought racism with his custom dentures, discovering space through the art of skateboarding, playing side-stage for The Allman Brothers Band, working closely with Gavin Newsom as a valet parking manager in San Francisco, not meeting Bill Clinton, becoming a crisis counselor, living on the streets, discovering cockroaches taped to his office door, finding a dead body, and much more. Recording Date: Wednesday, December 15th, 2021. To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have a mutually compassionate conversation with Disability Rights Advocate, Activist, Statewide Community Organizer for the Disability Organizing Network (DOnetwork), and friend, Russell Rawlings. We discuss Russell’s formative years growing up on the plains of West Texas with Cerebral Palsy, pursuing his childhood dream of working for NASA, finding connection through the early days of the internet, attending Texas A&M University for computer science, moving to Sacramento to start a business, living in poverty, going to the emergency room to have his basic care needs met, finding support/work at Resources for Independent Living (RIL), performing improv, participating in Occupy Sacramento, working towards systemic economic change, running as a candidate for the Mayor of Sacramento, feeling the stress of being at extreme risk for COVID-19, the possibility of me performing stand-up comedy in Sacramento with Russell in 2022, and much more. Recording Date: Wednesday, December 8th, 2021. To learn about Russell’s work, please visit: www.disabilityorganizing.net To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

My Co-Host/Wife (Rachel Snyder) and I have a universally much needed conversation on Transforming Rage into Love with Deprofessionalized Intellectual, Author, Activist, and dear friend, Gustavo Esteva. After Gustavo sets the context for the conversation, Rachel shares experiences of transforming rage into love focusing on her father’s (Myc James) efforts to not externalize his own rage violently on her or others. In the second half of the conversation Gustavo offers global perspectives of rage and illustrates how the Zapatistas are transforming rage into love by “embracing a world where many worlds are embraced.” At the end of the discussion, Rachel explores forgiveness and Gustavo stresses the importance of hope as a part of the process of creating change within ourselves and others in order to construct a peaceful coexistence with all living beings. Recording Date: Saturday, December 18th, 2021. To learn about Rachel, please visit: www.rachelsjames.com To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

My Co-Host/Wife (Rachel Snyder) and I have a beautiful conversation with Musician, Actor, and our dear friend, Brian Buckley. Besides Brian playing three songs from his haunting new album (Color), we discuss Brian’s penis again, how acronyms are the death of language, Leonard Cohen’s version of “Hallelujah” versus Jeff Buckley’s version of the song, death of video/music retail stores, language of suicide, Brian’s vaudeville star grandfather, how Facebook means A LOT to Rachel, Brian making a child throw up at Denny’s, Rachel working in the funeral industry during COVID-19, experiencing grief from losing a life-long partner, and much more. Recording Date: Wednesday, November 17th, 2021. To learn about Brian’s band, please visit: www.brianbuckleyband.com To learn about Rachel, please visit: www.rachelsjames.com To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

My Co-Host/Wife (Rachel Snyder) and I have a joyfully intense conversation with Photographer, Master Electrician, Author, and dear friend, Aaron Briese. We discuss Aaron growing up as a gifted child in an abusive home, going through Navy boot camp, taking on hometown bullies, hitchhiking across America, living on the streets of Santa Monica, being in the grips of addiction, hustling drugs to survive, stealing the wrong guy’s gun, selling meth to Richard Ramirez, doing hard time in San Quentin, becoming a prison peer counselor for fellow HIV positive inmates, becoming a father, driving a taxi in San Francisco, earning the title of Master Electrician, writing his first book “Back in the Day,” finding a kindred spirit in Rachel, revisiting a few of their adventures during their 20 year friendship, paying people to eat painfully hot peppers, following his heart in Hungary by bringing home his person, exploring his passion for band photography, being grateful to be alive, leaving a legacy, keeping loved ones that have died alive by talking about them, and much more. Recording Date: Wednesday, November 24th, 2021. To purchase Aaron’s book, please visit: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/aaron-briese/back-in-the-day/ebook/product-18npdrm6.html?page=1&pageSize=4 To view Aaron’s photography, please visit Aa4on on Flickr. To learn about Rachel, please visit: www.rachelsjames.com

To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

My Co-Host/Wife (Rachel Snyder) and I have another stimulating conversation on the Art of Dying with Deprofessionalized Intellectual, Author, Activist, and dear friend, Gustavo Esteva. Rachel begins the discussion by sharing her experiences of preparing advanced directives as a death positive advocate, working with the grieving as a funeral counselor, and imparting her knowledge of assisting those making arrangements for end-of-life needs. During the second segment of the conversation, Gustavo shares his memories on celebrating life through the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and Rachel talks about her Posy Filled Pocket event commemorating the multi-day holiday. Lastly, the discussion ends in preparation for our next conversation on “Transforming Rage into Love.” Recording Date: Sunday, November 14th, 2021. To learn about Rachel’s latest death-positive work, please visit: www.posy-filledpockets.com To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have a humorous conversation with Director, Professor of Stand-Up Comedy, Author, and Founder/Director of the American Comedy Institute (ACI), Stephen Rosenfield. We discuss how Stephen told his father after dinner that he was “not masturbating at the moment,” how he began to coach comics as a theatre director, seeing Lenny Bruce perform live, the vulnerability of Richard Pryor, the importance of comedy within the context of the human experience, founding the American Comedy Institute in 1989, teaching a young Jim Gaffigan, being inclusive of people with disabilities, finding the joy of performing onstage, writing his book Mastering Stand-Up: The Complete Guide to Becoming a Successful Comedian, Stephen’s new book, and much more. Recording Date: Saturday, November 20th, 2021. To learn about Stephen’s work, please visit: www.comedyinstitute.com To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have a lovely conversation with Voice/Speech Professor, Actor, Musician, Author, and friend, Claudia Anderson. We discuss Claudia’s formative years in the Midwest, singing songs from musical’s to her siblings as a child, loving the harmonies of a choir, studying/teaching music, seeking intellectual stimulation through the art of acting, constantly returning to the human complexities of Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie, becoming a student of Kristin Linklater, writing the book Bringing Speech to Life with Louis Colaianni, loving the creative playfulness of her CalArts students, her working relationship with Fran Bennett, how we integrated the International Phonetic Alphabet pillows into our acting work, creating the voice of a character, performing in singing circles around the world during the pandemic, and much more. Recording Date: Saturday, November 13th, 2021. To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have a desperately needed conversation with Actor, Screenwriter, Musician, and dear friend, Arron Shiver. We discuss Arron’s formative years in Texas, his parents journeys from addiction to recovery, Arron’s aunt exposing him to the art of acting as a child, a hate/love relationship with Taos (New Mexico), discovering the first performance high in Noel Coward’s play Blithe Spirit, having “a tree inside himself,” our time together at CalArts, me wanting to “get off on it,” Arron sharing a cigarette with Ed Harris, watching his son (Jackson) grow into a good man, baking COVID-19 bread, collaborating with Cheryl Nichols, making music as Earl Buck, playing the psychopath Dean O’Banion in Boardwalk Empire, learning to tell stories with his father, Arron’s new film Doula, and much more. Recording Date: Saturday, November 6th, 2021. To learn about Arron’s latest creative projects, please visit: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1377287/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 To listen to Arron’s music on Instagram, please visit: @earlbuckmusic To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

My Co-Host/Wife (Rachel Snyder) and I have an intensely funny conversation with Painter, Illustrator, Socialist, Porn Editor, and dear friend, Fritz Striker. We discuss creating families of your own choosing, finding your tribes, being a born artist, horror movies/pornography, surviving addictions, booze-fueled brawling, poor life choices of our 20s, the San Francisco swing scene in the 1990s, Rachel’s short stint as a used car salesman, predicting tech busts/social media scandals, Rachel and Fritz graduating from booze hound lunatics to semi-responsible adults, why you don’t throw candy in classic cars, using pint glasses smashed into your face as punctuation marks for big decisions, yelling at strippers, raccoons in the closet, dead slumlords, loss/grief, following the money versus following your dreams, Rachel’s crazy and infamous Dad (Myc James), our murderous healthcare system, climbing out of the bottle and choosing to live, asking for help, those who live fiercely also loving fiercely, caregiving, the bonding power of humor, the beauty of swearing, the tragic loss of Eddie Dane, and much more. Recording Date: Wednesday, October 27th, 2021. To learn about Rachel’s latest death-positive work, please visit: www.posy-filledpockets.com To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com