Host J.R. Jamison sits down with Vietnamese poet and novelist Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai—author of the international bestsellers The Mountains Sing and Dust Child–to talk about writing the American and Viet Nam war from Vietnamese perspectives and how volunteering for international peace organizations has influenced how she tells stories.

Photo Credit – Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, photo provided.

This Dreamscape® Recording from the book, The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is text copyright ©2020 by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. Published by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc., New York. Sound copyright ℗2020 by Dreamscape Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Dreamscape® Media, LLC. www.dreamscapepublishing.com.

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with filmmaker Colin Askey, who directed the PBS documentary Love in the Time of Fentanyl, and the two are joined by Sarah Blyth and Trey Helten from the Overdose Prevention Society, the harm reduction organization featured in the film that brings people in from the streets and saves lives by providing a safe and welcoming place to use drugs.

Photo Credit – Colin Askey, photo provided.

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with author, actor, and activist Sara Sharpe to talk about radical love and empathy, and the organization she founded called The Letters Project, a bridge-building organization that provides space for an ongoing series of love letters from her—a liberal, left-leaning woman—to a conservative, right-leaning friend.

Photo Credit – Sara Sharpe, photo provided. 

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with Julio Vincent Gambuto—author of Please Unsubscribe, Thanks!, a book about taking back our time, attention, and purpose in a post-pandemic world. The two explore Julio’s feature film, Team Marco, that follows the life of a boy who’s always plugged in until his grandpa makes him play outside.

Photo Credit – Julio Vincent Gambuto, photo provided.

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with FRONTLINE filmmaker, producer, and journalist Ursula Liang to talk about her latest film Two Strikes, a documentary short that follows the two strikes law in Florida that put a former West Point cadet struggling with PTSD and alcoholism in prison for life without the possibility of parole. The two also explore how to tell authentic stories through print and film.

Photo Credit – Ursula Liang, photo provided.

Chapters –

[00:00] Introduction

[01:00] Filmmaker and Journalist Ursula Liang

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with GLAAD award-winning journalist Samantha Allen—author of Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States, and the novels Patricia Wants to Cuddle and the forthcoming Roland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet.

Photo Credit – Samantha Allen, photo provided.

[00:00] Introduction

[01:00] Writing Unexpected Plot Lines and Finding Community with Award-winning Author Samantha Allen

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with Jim Fielding, a C-suite executive who spent 30 years leading some of the world’s most beloved media and retail brands, including The Gap, Disney, Claire’s, DreamWorks, and 20th Century Fox. Jim’s latest book, All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive’s Journey to Living and Leading Authentically, was released last year, and in their conversation the two explore lessons on empathy and cracking the rainbow ceiling.

Photo Credit – Jim Fielding, photo provided. 

[00:00] Introduction

[01:00] J.R. and Jim Fielding on Living and Leading Authentically

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with award-winning photographer, author, and peace activist John Noltner to talk about photography as a form of storytelling that explores the common humanity that unites us, and they discuss Noltner’s latest book, Lessons on the Road to Peace, that covers his 45,000-mile journey across the U.S.

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with Hollywood screenwriter, author, and producer Abdi Nazemian, who was born in Iran in the 1970s and at age two became an immigrant during the 1979 Iranian revolution. Today, he uses his identity and story as a gay Iranian-American to help build empathy and understanding, penning such works as his award-winning young adult novel Like A Love Story and associate producing the film Call Me By Your Name that starred Timothée Chalamet.

Photo Credit – Marc Ohrem-Leclef.

Host J.R. Jamison sits down with award-winning middle-grade and young adult author Leah Johnson to talk about writing authentic stories for kids, the harmful effects of book banning in America, and the founding of Loudmouth Books—her banned titles bookstore in the heart of her hometown.

Photo Credit – Provided by Leah Johnson.