Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is the one and only Luke Grooms and his nerd love is Dolly Parton. Woah. It's awesome.

Musical theatre/opera singer and terrible movie enthusiast!  Luke recently returned to the NYC area from the World tour of The Phantom of the opera, traveling throughout Asia and the Middle East. Luke had perform d all over the world including covering at the Metropolitan Opera, touring the US with Phantom and creating Dwight/God in the New York premiere and Off-Broadway premier of Jerry Springer:The Opera(where he first met Sasha!) He is an avid Wonder Woman lover, in fact the first book he ever owned was a Wonder Woman book accompanied by a fisher price record that read it to you!!  

Luke recommends:
Dolly Parton's America Podcast

Socials: @LukeGrooms1

Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka

Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is the one and only Gil Lang and his nerd love is watches. Woah. It's awesome.

Watch website Gil Recommends:
HODINKEE

Socials: @GLang48

Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka

Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is the one and only Kathryn Lounsbery and her nerd love is The Office. Woah. It's awesome.

Kathryn Lounsbery is a creative empath and music coach based in Los Angeles. She holds a master’s degree in classical piano but don’t let that fool you. She mostly listens to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” on a daily basis. She is happily married to Helen and tends to her 2.5 year old Teddy (human); 9 year old Twiggy (dog angel), and 5 year old Bruce (cat man) on a daily basis.

The Office podcasts Kathryn recommends:
Office Ladies
The Michael Scott Podcast Company

Socials: @ThatPianoGirlKat

Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka

Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is the Evan Schweitzer and his nerd love is The NYC Subway. Woah. It's awesome.

Actor, improviser, and Brooklyn native, Evan, wasn't allowed to ride the subway alone as a kid but that didn't stop his fascination with underground trains. What are some of the nooks and crannies that lie just beneath the bustling streets of the Big Apple? Evan is psyched to share!

Recs from Evan!
https://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_index/

     -This creator has made some amazing maps of not just the NYC system but also the system in Boston. There are maps about extensions that were never built (including that S. 4th Street station) as well as abandoned sections and provisions built into the current system for future expansion. Twitter: @vanshnook

https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Main_Page

   -This website has such a detailed history about mass transit in NYC and it includes lots of historical maps. 

https://forgotten-ny.com/

   -This website gives you some detailed history about long-forgotten parts of NYC, not just the subway. 

@NYC_Awaken on Twitter

  - Some great photos of the inner workings of the NYC subways system. 

Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka

Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is the one and only Cory Wyszynski and his nerd love is The Simpsons. Woah. It's awesome.

CoRy is a storyteller turned photo alchemist. He is an actor, the author of the sci-fi mindbender, U-turn at Next Synapse, co host of See No Evil, a horror videogame play through podcast, and a genre narrative improvisor. Now a days, time is spent home•bound, fighting unseen horror for better health. Since 2021, CoRy launched a design shop on threadless and created a late night show! From the Couch, which included segments recorded from Stanford Hospital for its season finale, is available on Youtube! 

Socials: @corywysz (Twitter, Insta-germ)

Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka

Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is the one and only Ben Farley and his nerd love is Dungeon Mastering. Woah. It's awesome.

Ben Farley has been playing in or running TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons since 2008. Previous to that, he was an avid tabletop war gamer for many years.

Helpful D&D links from our guest:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMZ04s0SU1glq6SrAVQCbHwFeFXGko_v0

https://www.youtube.com/user/mcolville

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdMl19aDv5e_2l_AeJRXp2g

Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka

Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is Dr. Stephen Harvey and his nerd love is Ancient Egypt. Woah. It's awesome.

Stephen Harvey is an archaeologist and historian of ancient Egypt, and has had a career as a university professor, museum curator, and freelance consultant and lecturer on  archaeological tours.  He received his BA in Archaeological Studies at Yale in 1987 and his PhD. in Egyptian Archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998.  Steve has participated in archaeological projects in the US, Egypt, Turkey, and Syria, and since 1988 has been actively involved with excavations at Abydos in southern Egypt, most prominently as Director of the Ahmose and Tetisheri Project at Abydos, exploring the last-known royal pyramids of Egypt.  HIs discoveries at Abydos include the earliest known scenes of Egyptian horse and chariot warfare, and the identification of the last known Egyptian queen's pyramid.  He has been interviewed for and consulted on many international television documentaries, including the series “Scanning the Nile/Mystères du Nil,” (France, 2020); several episodes of “Unearthed” (Windfall Films, 2018-2021); “Mysteries at the Museum” (Travel Channel, 2018); “Building Pharaoh’s Chariot” (NOVA, PBS 2013); “Egypt: Engineering an Empire” (History Channel); and “Egypt’s Golden Empire” (PBS), and “Lost Treasures of Egypt” (National Geographic), in addition to national and local news programs in the US.

“Legend of the Pyramid Kings.”  Season 3 Episode 2 of “Lost Treasures of Egypt,” National Geographic Channel (2021):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkZnEoHEg4o&list=PLAFqvZkNguNu7j9We-gJhNSgdThV2LHVS

“Building Pharaoh’s Chariot,” for NOVA (PBS).  (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Loti-WBK_k

“Egypt: Engineering an Empire,”  The History Channel (2006).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cdUxZuarL0&t=4340s

There are other recent films available for purchase from the "Unearthed" series" on Discovery Science channel:

“Unearthed” Season 9 Episode 7, “Egypt’s Cult Kings.” (2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48BNh_gZ7aM

“Unearthed” Season 7 Episode 3 “Secrets of the Black Pyramid.” (2020)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkKMK_r6Ikw

“Unearthed” Season 3, Episode 9, “Mystery of the Cursed Pyramid,” (2019)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppxtYdsvMuw


Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka

Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is the one and only Frankie Marrone and his nerd love is Musical Theater Overtures. Woah. It's awesome.

An eternal student of musical theatre, Frankie Marrone grew up spending ALL of his  money on Cast Albums and endlessly listening to them reading the liner notes. As an actor and performer he has been in shows and cabarets in California, Boston, and New York, and in 2011 was named Cabaret Idol in Los Angeles. He now is the artistic director at Trinitas Arts Conservatory where he directs and teaches Musical Theatre, Musical Theatre History, and Acting. He is currently in the masters in directing program at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a musical theatre alumn from the Boston Conservatory where he met the lovely Sasha Weiss.

www.trinitasarts.org

Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka

Welcome back to The Nerd Expansion! Today's guest is the lovely Katie Horwitch and her nerd love is Self-talk. Woah. It's awesome.

Katie Horwitch is a nationally-recognized writer, speaker, mindset coach, activist, and the founder of WANT: Women Against Negative Talk. She has spoken across the country – from SXSW and Lululemon to corporate workshops and creative non-profits – about self-confidence, living fearlessly, and shifting the emotional DNA that’s helped shape our negative self-talk patterns. She is the host of the top-rated self-talk podcast WANTcast: The Women Against Negative Talk Podcast, where she tackles subjects like loneliness, jealousy, and self-worth, and interviews visionary women about taking a proactive approach to life’s high highs and low lows. Some of her recent clients include organizations and executives at brands like Equinox, Salesforce, Whole30, Morgan Stanley, MeUndies, and more. She is currently working on her first book.

Hosted By: Nick Bowan & Sasha Weiss
Theme song written by Korrie Yamaoka
Performed by Sasha Weiss & Korrie Yamaoka