Nicholas Rodriks joins me today to have a nice rip on our friend Brogan Graham. And after we move on from that, we learn more about Nick as a former lacrosse player, NP Baltimore co-leader, and current owner of Fishercat River Company- a guiding and fly fishing company which uses that platform for improved education on conservation and environmental justice. It also might be important to note that he has his Masters in Public Health and knows a lot about the injustices in the city of Baltimore...as well as trash. He knows a lot about trash. We talk about it all so turn the volume up (apparently Nick likes to whisper-talk on the phone) and enjoy!

Winnie Lok is on the show today! Winnie is my kind of runner, she LOVES to race. With over 250 road races and many trail and ultras under her belt, she loves the racing atmosphere and a great swag bag. Today we dive right into her recent race experience, just finishing the Speed Project hours before our call. Winnie's team was originally planning on participating in a different virtual race when they were asked to change their team name "Black Lives Matter" to something "less political" days before the start of the race. Unwilling to neutralize for the sake of other people's comfort, Winnie and her team decided to withdraw from that race. We get into this entire story and more on today's episode!

Three years ago I sat down with my friend Jorge and got to know him even better. We talked about growing up in NY and CT, how he ended up out west, and his first time ever camping. We started to discuss the barriers to entry in the outdoors for marginalized populations, but never truly got into the meat of the topic. Today, years later and what feels like decades later of growth for both Jorge and I, we return to this conversation as he catches me up on what he has been up to in Lander, Wyoming. Jorge is still that fun, goofy guy, who chooses to sleep on the deck in a tent, wear pizza hats to make people laugh, and make fun of you for being so white. It's why I am just one of many who love this guy so much. But you can hear such a stark difference in how he speaks about his job and, more importantly, his purpose of improving both representation in the outdoors and mentorship to the youth community. He's the best, and I hope you love this conversation that probably could have gone on for 3 more hours.

This week is a short catch up with my friend Brogan Graham. After I officially stepped away from the November Project HQ team last week, BG wanted to check in and requested to interview me. As always, we went off the rails a little bit, but it’s a fun little trip down memory lane as we discuss NP cities and leaders from years past and a host of topics in between. Back to our regularly scheduled interviews next week!

Today I’m chatting with my friend Maggie. Maggie MayKei is a longtime member of November Project NYC and Brooklyn, where she is a current co-leader. Over the past couple years she has written some beautifully powerful blogs on the NP website which provide insight into her life as an Asian-American growing up and living in Brooklyn NY. As November Project has begun to pivot and continue working towards becoming a more inclusive space, Maggie has emerged as a leader amongst leaders, which is something she might not admit, so I’ll do it for her. While we are all examining our role in the white supremacist society in which we live, Maggie has been working alongside us reflecting on how the Asian-American population also contributes to anti-black racism.

Today I am honored to share with you a conversation I had with Dana Bogan. Dana and I get in deep almost immediately which is something I think she excels at as a medical social worker and just simply a caring individual. We discuss the intersectionality of being a bi-racial woman with a physical disability and mental health disorder and how she has been unpacking each one of those identities and looking back on the experiences she had growing up. She’s an incredible speaker, writer, oh! And a sub 3 marathoner. The talent is oozing out of her and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Today we have another cross over episode from November Project the show, hosted by Tywon Thompson. Tywon is joined by two NP co-leaders, Kayode Adigun out of November Project Baltimore and Kwamye Boateng from November Project Kelowna in Canada. Both of these men have also written some very powerful blog posts in the past few months which are on the November Project website so I encourage you to read those as well. Thank you to all three men for giving us your time, giving us some good laughs, and some further insight into your stories!

Adeoti Ashiru joins us today! Adeoti is a first generation Nigerian American and grew up in Rhode Island before attending Northeastern University in Boston before eventually heading out west where she lives in Santa Cruz County today. While I have known Ade since 2013, I was eager to get to know more of her story. She talks about her parents and their relationship to racism, moving to the USA in their early 20's, and then raising two children in a predominately white neighborhood and school system. She speaks to navigating these spaces and finding her voice along the way. I also spend a lot of time gushing about her as a vocalist, which I hope you were able to hear for yourself on our instagram account. If you want to hear more, check out Baby And The Luvies on spotify. Thank you to Adeoti for this lovely conversation!

Today’s episode of Wisconsin Notes, has current co-leader of November Project Dallas, Tywon Thompson, as the host with guests Claudia Thompson and Vinnie Cent. These three have been in the NP world for years. They have experienced the ups and downs of the grassroots movement and have graciously given us their time and words on how they would like to see November Project improve. My hope is that you listen to this entire episode and truly hear their stories and how each leader and member can make the space safer for all those who attend, especially the Black members of our community. Listening to them chat feels like you are sitting in on 3 old friends catching up, and it’s both pure joy and wonderfully honest. Thank you to Tywon, Claudia and Vinnie, and thank you for listening!

We interrupt the Youtube episodes with another important topic, the uterus! Last week, the Supreme Court undercut access to birth control under Obamacare. Under the Affordable Care Act, churches and synagogues were automatically exempted from the birth control insurance mandate but not automatically exempt, were nonprofits like religiously affiliated universities, charities and hospitals, which employ millions of people who want their health insurance plans to cover birth control for themselves and their family members. This changes that.

Today I have former November Project San Diego co-leader and current NP Minneapolis member, Shira Klane, Nurse Practitioner, on to discuss all things birth control. This episode is not only for people who identify as women or have female anatomy, this is for everyone! Learn more so you can better support your partner, sister, mother, friend, neighbor, and know what you are talking about when you head to the polls.