Gustavo Esteva (Deprofessionalized Intellectual, Author, and Activist) and I explore our thoughts, fears, and frustrations surrounding COVID-19 and its adverse effects on our lives. This is the first of a two-part discussion, which continues into episode # 24.

Recording Date: Thursday, January 14th, 2021

I interview high-profile Event Planner, Digital Strategist, Project/Relationship Manager, Digital Influencer Consultant, founder of Blue Salt Strategies, and dear friend, Aria Marinelli. We discuss Aria growing up with me as an outcast in wealthy Los Gatos (California), finding familial comfort watching The Sopranos, Aria starting her own mafia crew, finding her creative path, working with Al Gore on climate justice, learning from Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, social media as a useful tool for social change, street art, the time that I stole Aria’s car in high school, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, January 20th, 2021

To learn more about Aria visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariamarinelli

I interview Visual Artist, Clothing Designer, AirBnB Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Screenwriter, Madman, and dear friend, Patrick Hasson. We discuss Patrick’s early years growing up in Philadelphia, his father seeing art as a choice between a blue and red pen, wild sex in Naples, midnight drug running in Florida, unwillingly being protected in jail by the Aryan Brotherhood, speaking at film festivals while blackout drunk, directing the film Waiting, editing porn, Sexaholics Anonymous, creating art houses in Joshua Tree, Desert Rock, finding salvation through creating art, friendship, trust issues, a coworker shoving a dildo in Brian’s mouth, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, January 13th, 2021

To learn more about Patrick and his artwork visit: www.patrickhasson.com

To purchase prints of Patrick’s art visit: https://fineartamerica.com/art/patrick+hasson

USA Today article about Patrick: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2019/09/05/meet-joshua-tree-artist-painting-desert-rockers-like-josh-homme/2074687001/

In this eve before New Year’s Eve episode, I interview Visual Artist, Social Justice Activist, Green Party Member, and very dear friend, Nicole Raglin. As a special treat, former Editor-In-Chief of Atlas Obscura, Cofounder of Odd Salon (San Francisco/New York), Death Positive Advocate, Funeral Counselor, Writer, and my loving wife, Rachel Snyder co-hosts this episode as well. We discuss living with PTSD, trust issues, climate collapse, Imposter Syndrome, Nicole rejecting Kelsey Grammar, surviving the era of COVID-19, journeying down 2021’s Fury Road, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Rachel meeting Kato Kaelin, American fascism, racism, sugar daddies, Brian’s past cocaine use, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, December 30th, 2020

The (Blind) Man in Black interviews Actor, Comedian, LGBTQA Advocate, and TikTok legend, Kendahl Landreth. They discuss Kendahl’s early years growing up in a rural California Gold Rush town, her desire to perform immediately after leaving the birth canal, discovering/embracing her sexuality, uniting people through comedy, creating content during COVID-19, honoring her mother (Darla) through TikTok videos, relentlessly working on her material, barely escaping a burning building in New York City, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020

The (Blind) Man in Black interviews Director, Screenwriter, Educator, mentor and dear friend, Craig Belknap. They discuss Craig’s life, almost becoming a medical doctor, starting a theatre company in a mortuary, meeting Tennessee Williams in front of a grocery store on Fire Island, working with playwrights Christopher Durang, Dennis McIntyre, & Nicholas Kazan, getting started in television with Steven Bochco, being confronted by Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, & Robert De Niro after a performance, getting kinky with Jean Genet, creating a loving creative space for actors, brutal honesty, mining a script, discovering the joy of the rehearsal process, finding profound love with Roberto, and much more.

Recording Date: Thursday, December 17th, 2020

To learn more about Craig’s writing workshop, contact him here: [email protected]

The (Blind) Man in Black interviews International Advocate for Disability Rights, Policy Analyst, Independent Living Coordinator for the Vermont Center for Independent Living, Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Founder/Executive Director of Enlightening and Empowering People with Disabilities in Africa (EEPDAfrica) and friend, Dr. Grateful-Miranda Sefakor Komabu-Pomeyie. They discuss Sefakor’s life growing up in Africa, adapting to the affects of Polio, friendship, disability stigma, faith, reasonable accommodations, inclusion, equal access, SIT Graduate Institute, marriage rituals in Ghana, the importance of education, disability & sexuality, independent living culture, Brian surprising Sefakor by swearing, and much more.

Recording Date: Saturday, November 21st, 2020

To learn about Sefakor’s work with EEPDAfrica, please visit: http://www.eepdafrica.org

The (Blind) Man in Black interviews social/racial justice activists, mutual aid workers, and cofounders of the Nevada County Left Coalition (NCLC), Yinnon and Tor. They discuss their respective lives, Yinnon’s experiences growing up in Israel as a conscientious objector, communism, climate collapse, providing life-sustaining basic needs during COVID-19 through mutual aid, the affordable housing crisis, fascists being violent against peaceful Black Lives Matter marchers in Nevada City, the mission and current projects of the Nevada County Left Coalition, and much more.

Recording Date: Thursday, November 19th, 2020

Contact the NCLC: https://www.facebook.com/ncleftcoalition/

The (Blind) Man in Black interviews musician, visual artist, community leader, Executive Director of the California Heritage Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP) and Spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria – Nisenan Tribe, Shelly Covert. They discuss Shelly’s life growing up in Grass Valley, inherited trauma, the California Gold Rush, genocide, historical erasure, communal responsibility, ecological stewardship, tribal recognition, indigenous spirituality, living in “dos mundos,” forgiveness, Guns N’ Roses, and much more.

Preserve, Protect & Perpetuate Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Culture: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YWDDZWSBZJSD8

Visit the Nevada City Rancheria – Nisenan Tribe: https://www.nisenan.org/

Contact Shelly Covert: [email protected]

Recording Date: Wednesday, November 18th, 2020

The (Blind) Man in Black interviews songwriter, poet, actor, lead singer of the Brian Buckley Band, and Friend, Brian Buckley. Brian and Brian discuss creating music in the era of COVID-19, marriage, suicide, theatre, Nataki Garrett Myers (Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Sacramento, rejection, finding your “person,” panic attacks, hysterical blindness, love, radical empathy, and the (B)MIB mentions the theatrical premiere of Brian’s penis at Cal Arts four times in the first five minutes of the show.

Recording Date: Wednesday, November 11th, 2020