Welcome to the eighth episode of the Troubled Artists Podcast. In today’s episode, I’m interviewing author and podcaster, Teri M. Brown.

Teri M. Brown is the author of three novels: Daughters of Green Mountain Gap, An Enemy Like Me, and Sunflowers Beneath the Snow. 10 Little Rules for a Double-Butted Adventure, an inspirational book about my tandem ride across the United States, released in February 2025. This ride consisting of 3102 miles during the summer of 2020 helped Teri heal her heart from an emotionally abusive 14-year marriage and get the courage to publish her first novel, which was a children's picture book, Little Lola and Her Big Dream. Teri is also the host of the Online for Authors podcast.

In this episode, we’ll be discussing her tandem bicycle journey, finding the courage as artists, and the positives and negatives of Artificial Intelligence.

Teri M. Brown’s Website: http://www.terimbrown.com/

Online for Author’s Podcast: https://youtube.com/@onlineforauthors?si=nKHUth1I-JDmP5xr

Welcome to the seventh episode of the Troubled Artists Podcast. In today’s episode, I’m interviewing Ali Khamseh.

Ali is a writer/director and Cinema Student from Iran, and has had quite a bit of experience making micro-budget movies and even a few documentaries (about Cinema of course). He also writes fiction stories and quite a lot of non-fiction and academic articles about movies and storytelling. Creativity is his life in a nutshell, and has tried to engrave his life in all forms of it. But first and foremost, Ali is a storyteller.

We’ll be discussing the wonders of cinema, Iranian culture that helped build art, and our favorite films and filmmaking techniques.

Ali Khamseh’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akhamseh88?igsh=OWp0a3l4bmhkaGI3

Ali Khamseh’s YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@ak88studios?si=6Aefeoxni49jEyj3

Ali Khamseh’s Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/OqTd

Welcome to the sixth episode of the Troubled Artists Podcast. In today’s episode, I’m interviewing author and fellow creative, Alex Mell-Taylor.

Alex is a trans, nonbinary writer who reports out from the digital trenches on pop culture and politics, often with an intersectional, queer bent. Their personal blog, Alex Has Opinions, has received hundreds of thousands of views and is growing every day. They are the editor and founder of the futurist magazine After the Storm, which has accepted stories from around the world. The Bubble We're In is their debut Romance novel.

We’ll be discussing artistic expression through diverse identities, transformative cultural tropes, and better representation in the LGBTQ community.

Alex Mell-Taylor’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexhasopinions?igsh=amJoMGNtcmc5M2Nq

Alex Mell-Taylor’s website: https://www.alexhasopinions.com/

Alex Mell-Taylor’s latest novel, “The Bubble We’re In”: https://a.co/d/dXkdkYd

Welcome to the fifth episode of the Troubled Artists Podcast. In today’s episode, I’m interviewing author, podcaster, and fellow screenwriter; Kirsten Rudberg.

Kirsten, an MDIV graduate and self-identified panentheist, is an accomplished author whose books were recently acquired by George R.R. Martin’s bookstore in Santa Fe. She is also a screenwriter, producer, and podcaster. A firm believer in the potential of humanity, Kirsten uses her voice across various mediums to inspire collective growth and compassion, with a particular passion for defending and preserving our shared environments.

We’ll be discussing her journey as an artist, as well as finding creativity in the small things.

Kirsten Rudberg’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edisonsucks1?igsh=MWUzNjJlNTJhbTR6dg==

Kirsten Rudberg’s Website: https://bytesizedblessings.com/

Kirsten Rudberg’s Podcast (SPOTIFY): https://open.spotify.com/show/7r8DfKhos3tiuy7LotXoH6

Kirsten Rudberg’s Podcast (APPLE PODCASTS): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/byte-sized-blessings/id1533828698

Happy 4th of July! Welcome to the fourth episode of the Troubled Artists Podcast. In today's episode, I'm interviewing author Amy L. Bernstein.

Amy L. Bernstein is an award-winning author, a former journalist, and a professional nonfiction book coach helping authors find their best path to publishing. She teaches writing and creativity workshops and brings an empowering message to writers and multi-media artists around the world. Her nonfiction book, Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration, won first place from BookFest 2025 for self-help and inspiration.

We'll be discussing her career as an author and many tips on helping shape the creative career.

Amy L. Bernstein's latest book, Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration: https://a.co/d/jargVfG

Amy L. Bernstein’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amylbernstein?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Amy L. Bernstein's Website: https://amywrites.live/

Welcome to the third episode of the Troubled Artists Podcast. In today's episode, I'm interviewing Amy Stricker, an actress from Chicago.

Amy Stricker was born and raised in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Illinois, and began her acting career at the ripe age of five as a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz. 

She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from The Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) at Roosevelt University, where she made her Auditorium Theatre debut in "VIVID: The Greenwood Tree," belting out Shakespearean love ballads.

Over the next several years, she performed with BrightSide Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Quest Theatre Ensemble, Refuge Theatre Project, and Big Noise Theatre Company.

Amy Stricker believes that art is the most effective means to bridge barriers, teach empathy, and showcase the humanity in all people. Her goal as an actor is to challenge viewers' indoctrinations, and inspire awareness, conversation, and activism through the stories she helps tell.

In this episode, we discuss her preparations for a role, struggles along her career, and advice to pass along up and coming artists.

Amy Stricker’s Website:

https://www.itsamystricker.com/

Amy Stricker’s Demo Reel:

https://vimeo.com/883622922

Amy Stricker’s Commercial Reel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PTht6j649U&t=1s

Amy Stricker’s IMDb Page:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11627114/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Amy Stricker’s Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/itsamystricker/?hl=en

Films and Commercials featuring Amy Stricker:

THE SLEIGHT (Short Film)

THE SLEIGHT | Illusion or Delusion? | Short Horror Film | Red Tower

YELLOW POLKA DOT (Purchase through Vimeo on Demand) 

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/yellowpolkadot/1049406638

CALEB WILLIAMS TOPPS COMMERCIAL

Caleb Williams enters the Topps Autograph Lab || Topps Chrome Football

Welcome to the second episode of the Troubled Artists Podcast. In today's episode, I'm interviewing Pete Berwick, an actor and musician from Chicago.

Pete Berwick has nearly half a century of experience in all avenues of entertainment. He has recorded, produced, and distributed seven critically acclaimed albums of his original music via his record label, Shotgun Records, written and published five books, and has worked on the production side as well as acted in over 100 film and television projects since 1989. As an actor in film, he has earned seven Best Actor awards from film festivals across the globe.   

He has worked with notables in the movie industry such as Samuel L. Jackson and Clarence Williams lll, and in the music industry, with Charlie Daniels and Travis Tritt. 

Berwick put together his first band, a punk rock outfit, in 1976, and by 1991 was signed to an independent record label in Nashville, where he made a respectful name for himself as an innovator and pioneer of alternative-country and cowpunk. 

He has managed and toured the nation with his various bands through the decades, while building an entertainment company called Big Top Entertainment, featuring variety acts, where he booked and produced 300 events a year for over 20 years.

In 2008 he co-produced and starred in an episode of ABC’s reality series, Wife Swap, and in 2017 appeared as a standup comedian on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. 

Berwick is founder and president of BPI (Berwick Productions International), an entertainment company that offers management, talent representation, promotion, music publishing and licensing, consultation, and film and television production.

Berwick’s most recent book is an exhaustive biography, titled Too Wild to Tame, a history of the Illinois music scene in the 70s, featuring a band called The Boyzz, who were at the forefront of the explosion of musical acts in the Chicago area being signed by major record labels from 1975-1980.

He continues to sign acts to his record label, represent talent, and manage his music catalog through Pete Berwick Publishing (BMI, Nashville), licensing dozens of songs annually for film and television.

We'll be discussing his creative start, how he develops his characters and much more advice surrounding his extensive career.

Pete Berwick I AIN’T HIM: My Life in Show Business, Whoever I Am BOOK: https://a.co/d/6qGX5La

Pete Berwick IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3251161/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_in_0_q_pete%2520berwick

Pete Berwick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peteberwick1/

Pete Berwick YouTube: https://youtube.com/@peteberwick?si=4Ac6UzmIvm8Ce9Ky

Films featuring Pete Berwick:

LOCKSMITH (2025)

https://youtu.be/pyr942nuKfA?si=u0SlUL6R-tbP7Wdo

FANATIC (2024)

https://tubitv.com/movies/100018444/fanatic

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY (2023)

https://tubitv.com/movies/100026964/degree-of-difficulty

TAGGED (2022)

https://tubitv.com/movies/673391/tagged

Welcome to the first episode of the Troubled Artists Podcast. In today's episode, I'm interviewing Joshua Boshell, an independent filmmaker from Chicago.

Joshua creates out of a passion for storytelling, world building, and sharing his values of friendship, loyalty and perseverance with others. His past projects have won awards at film festivals such as AIMAFF, Absurd and Under The Stars International, and selected at MidWest WeirdFest. He’s currently directing music videos and editing movies in Chicago whilst developing several larger, high-concept projects--including his feature-length debut as well as a sci-fi/horror series based on his latest award-winning directorial work, SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE.

We'll be discussing our creative struggles, making something out of little, and how limitations can actually benefit an artist.

Joshua Boshell’s Website: https://joshuaboshell.com/

Joshua Boshell’s Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/joshuaboshell?igsh=MXZpZG1sbDY0YTJybQ==

“Something Somewhere” A film by Joshua Boshell: https://youtu.be/AfikGTmGvno

“Something Somwhere” Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/something.somewhere.film?igsh=MWJtZ2Q3djNncWlvcQ==