KUCI: Get the Funk Out!

Janeane sits down with Fernande Raine, PhD, founder of The History Co: Lab, and producers Gabriel Hostin, Sydne Clarke, and Anya Duao talk about empow...

ABOUT UNTEXTBOOKED
A history podcast for the future. Brought to you by teen changemakers who are looking for answers to big questions. We interview famous historians who have some of the answers.
These intergenerational conversations bring the full power of history to you with the depth and vividness that most textbooks lack. Real history, to help you find answers to your big questions. Untextbooked makes history unboring forever.

KUCI’s Janeane Bernstein speaks with writer/director/actress Kathryne Isabelle Easton about her new film

"Borrelia Borealis", a film by writer/director/actress Kathryne Isabelle Easton, will have it's world premiere at the 2021 LaFemme International Film Festival, running October 14-17 held both virtually and at the Regal Cinema at LA Live.
Easton is a highly regarded filmmaker in the entertainment community whose previous work has garnered her such prestigious honors as double Academy Nicholl quarterfinalist for her scripts "Happy Birthday, Ray!" and "Hemorrhage." She directed the episodic series “Key Question” for Legendary Studios at Geek and Sundry, and she just wrapped principal photography directing her second independent feature film, “Valleyheart.”
"Borrelia Borealis" is a vividly lush, mystically haunting take on love and desire during an unprecedented US lockdown.
In the midst of a global pandemic and raging California wildfires, Beth, who suffers from life-threatening late-stage chronic Lyme disease, is forced to confront her personal demons in quarantine. After a particularly brutal day, she answers a random video call from a mysterious man, and soon an unlikely romance breaks open a boundless cosmic world through astral projection.
Easton has been a multi-hyphenate filmmaker for more than a decade. With her equally talented husband Matt Fore (Director of Photography/ Editor/Producer), the two established Abhorrent Behavior, a full service production company that has produced dozens of award-winning short films, web series, music videos, and two feature films since 2017.
MORE info: getthefunkoutshow.kuci.org

Founder Stephen Grey and Creative Director Ron Bush of Positive Identity speak to KUCI’s Janeane Bernstein

A movement dedicated to creating positive race relations by sharing inspiring stories of the good things that Asian, Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, White, and Mixed people are doing for each other and America!
ABOUT RON BUSH
Ron Bush is an African American LA based LGBTQIA stand up comedian, actor, and writer from Philadelphia, PA. Ron mixes personal stories with sharp social commentary to convey powerful messages to his audience. Ron studied acting and directing with John Coppola for 12 years, together they produced over 100 live sketch comedy shows at Studio C Artists, Theatre Row Hollywood. Ron has been a touring comedian for 8 years, had a monthly residency at The Comedy Store and was a paid regular at Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena.
His inspiration comes from over 20 years of experience as an executive in the tech industry, being raised by a divorced single mom, and being mentored by one of the countries leading Jungian based psychologist, gay activist, and first openly gay white professor at Howard University in the 70’s. Ron is recognized as a leading voice in the LA stand up LGBTQ comedy community. His podcast, Positive Identity, with Stephen Grey is gaining popularity as they talk about the positive aspects of racial issues in America today.
ABOUT STEPHEN GREY
Stephen Grey Is a filmmaker by day and a social advocate by night. Born with Autism (Asperger’s Syndrome), he grew up with a divergent experience from his White American background and came to see how influential identity and perception could be. He then set out to Hollywood to partner with the outsiders of society like him by making films to tell their stories and support them through advocacy. Stephen’s filmmaking themes focus on stories of people that society thought were bad but were good and are heavily defined by Race Relations, Autism, Identity, Culture and Morality. He has produced films that cover the cultural spectrum and worked with filmmakers from all backgrounds. Stephen deeply loves America and believes its people have done incredible things… and that there’s much more good to come. His advocacy has been his great passion.
He’s a member of the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity, The Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, The Color of Change and ran dinners for Herb Wesson’s EmbraceLA which brought together Angelenos to talk about race and identity. This focus on identity and perception culminated in the founding of Positive Identity, which seeks to spread inspiring media to show people of all races in a positive light, doing good things for each other and for America. Positive perception creates positive action and Positive Identity does just that.
Growing up he saw how when people read positive media about people with Autism that it changed how they saw him, and how he saw himself. This foundation spurred the focus on identity, race and perception and laid the foundation for Positive Identity where he aims to do good for all of society. He hopes that one day he will be a filmmaker advocate by day, and by night
Learn more: ThePositiveIdentity.com

Sky Bergman, Filmmaker Professor of Photography and Video Cal Poly State University talks about her film Lives Well Lived

Lives Well Lived celebrates the incredible wit and wisdom of people aged 75–100, who reveal their secrets for living a meaningful life. Encompassing 3,000 years of collective life experience, diverse people share life lessons about perseverance, the human spirit, and staying positive in the midst of life’s greatest challenges. Their stories will make you laugh, perhaps cry, but mostly inspire you.
Filmmaker Sky Bergman with her grandmother Evelyn Ricciuti,
the inspiration behind Lives Well Lived
About Sky Bergman, Filmmaker
Sky Bergman is an accomplished, award-winning photographer. Lives Well Lived is Sky’s directorial debut.
Her fine art work is included in permanent collections at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (National Library of France) in Paris. Her book, The Naked & The Nude: Images from the Sculpture Series, includes an introduction by Hèléne Pinet, curator of photography at the Rodin Museum in Paris. She has shot book covers for Random House and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., and magazine spreads that appeared in Smithsonian, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, Reader’s Digest, and Archaeology Odyssey.
Sky Bergman currently is a Professor of Photography and Video at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, CA.

Jennifer Friend, CEO of Project Hope Alliance, a nonprofit organization serving children experiencing homelessness in California

There are more than 28,000 homeless children attending Orange County Schools. For more than 25 years, Project Hope Alliance has been ending the cycle of homelessness, one child at a time. With you, we can end homelessness today and prevent homelessness tomorrow.
Visit www.projecthopealliance.org to learn more and join the movement.
Interested in becoming a corporate partner? Visit www.projecthopealliance.org/corporate-partnership
Please read:
To help homeless students, embed community services into campus life by JENNIFER FRIEND AND SEAN BOULTON
www.projecthopealliance.org
http://getthefunkoutshow.kuci.org

Laura Steuer and Donne Davis of Friendly Voices - Phone buddies for Seniors

Friendly Voices - Phone Buddies for Seniors
Improve seniors' well-being and reduce loneliness through phone friendship organization. Manage volunteer callers and senior clients based in three U.S. time zones. Organization featured in USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism and McKnight's Senior Living.
Phone buddies for seniors to reduce social isolation and improve well-being. Our weekly calls by trained, compassionate volunteers can serve seniors anywhere, whether living in facilities or at home.
Laura Steuer, founder and director. 20 years' experience with nonprofit and education, including a decade of phone outreach programs.
Donne Davis, co-founder. Columnist, blogger, and nonprofit leader on grandparenting and intergenerational communication. Donne Davis, founder of the GaGa Sisterhood, a national social network for enthusiastic grandmas, and author.
https://friendlyvoices.org/

Self-help title turns the trauma of being fired into opportunity An expert’s debut empowers women to be resilient after experiencing job loss

It’s no secret that pandemic job losses are affecting more women than men, with women losing employment at a rate 1.8 times greater than men. And even before the pandemic, job loss was proven to be an issue that often disproportionately affected women. A 2018 study by Fortune found that female CEOs are 45% more likely to get fired than their male counterparts, even when their companies are performing well.
Job loss is a common experience faced by women professionals spanning a wide-range of industries, interests, and experience levels. Which is why Robin Merle set out to destigmatize conversations surrounding being fired in her new book, Involuntary Exit: A Woman’s Guide to Thriving After Being Fired (She Writes Press, Oct. 19, 2021). A fast-paced and digestible self-help book, “Involuntary Exit” is based on Robin’s own expertise and her interviews with accomplished women who were suddenly severed from their organizations and navigated their way back to success.
MORE INFO: getthefunkoutshow.kuci.org

Coming up 10/29/21 at 9am on KUCI -- American singer-songwriter and keyboardist, Rachel Eckroth, currently keyboardist for St. Vincent and singer-song...

About Rachel Eckroth
Polymath (noun): a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning.
Music needs a term for this. What do you call one person who is a pianist, vocalist, keyboardist, composer, producer, arranger, band leader, sideman and more? Music may not have a term, but it does have a name: Rachel Eckroth.
Eckroth can lead with a bold vision or accompany with the subtle skills necessary to make another musician shine. Her combination of jazz experimentation and pop feeling form the engine behind her own work as a leader or co-leader on 20 albums, most recently The Garden on Rainy Days Records (2021). That same crossover talent is why she's been featured on voice and keyboards in the bands of Rufus Wainwright, St. Vincent, KT Tunstall, and Chris Botti.
Eckroth can hold an audience's attention in an intimate jazz club or on a massive concert stage. She did the latter when she opened for Rufus Wainwright's All These Poses Anniversary Tour, standing on stage alone with just her keyboards and her voice, weaving a sonic landscape that kept audiences enthralled. Eckroth is no stranger to television, either, having been a member of the house band on The Meredith Vieira Show and appearing on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Good Morning America with various artists.
READ MORE: http://getthefunkoutshow.kuci.org/

Accomplished, award-winning singer/guitarist/songwriter and instructor, Janet Robin, joins Janeane on KUCI 88.9fm

“From Randy Rhoads to Precious Metal, Lindsey Buckingham to John Carter Cash and all points in between – like a stint working with Meredith Brooks, opening for Midge Ure or appearing with Monte Montgomery – the ongoing tale of singer/guitarist/songwriter Janet Robin is a fascinating journey.” – Pollstar
Janet Robin can be defined in a single word: Musician.
Many people attempt to make music, but few earn that illustrious title. Those in this business reserve that label for the rare individuals who consistently demonstrate a high level of talent, perseverance, taste and sensitivity over a period of time. To these people making music is not simply a pastime; it is a matter of blood and guts. That a serious addiction to making music runs through Robin’s veins is made clear from a quick review of her career.
A Southern California native, Janet Robin’s musical education began the moment she met her guitar teacher, Randy Rhoads (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne). Under Rhoads’ tutelage, Janet became an ace six-string player and, while still in high school, parlayed this education into a position as the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band Precious Metal. Discovered by Rodney Bingenheimer of the legendary L.A. rock radio station KROQ, Precious Metal was soon signed to Polygram Records. Later moving to Chameleon/Capitol Records, Precious Metal released several albums, wrote with Heart, Poison and Cheap Trick, toured extensively and gained accolades from both fans and critics alike.
Following the demise of Precious Metal, Janet was picked by Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, band in support of his 1992 solo album, Out of the Cradle (Reprise Records). A consummate pro, working with Buckingham profoundly influenced her own guitar playing, singing and songwriting, as well as her general approach to the music business. She has stated, “Lindsey became sort of a mentor and inspired me to do my own solo work.” This new direction led to her 1998 debut solo album, Open the Door.
Released on her own label, Little Sister Records, Buzz Weekly described the CD as “smart, savvy, fuzzy, hooky pop.” She has seen songs from this album featured in film and television; most notably on the then popular T.V. show Felicity. Ever the road warrior, she supported the disc by opening for such acts as Heart, Colin Hay, Loudon Wainwright III and the Smithereens, steadily building a wide fan base. She has since continued to tour heavily and averages as many as 150 dates per year.
READ MORE: http://getthefunkoutshow.kuci.org

Kelechi Ubozoh, a Nigerian-American mental health consultant, advocate, writer, and published author

For nearly a decade, Kelechi has worked in the California mental health system in the areas of research and advocacy, community engagement, stigma reduction, and peer support. She began her career as an investigative reporter in New York City, and was the first student-reporter ever published in The New York Times.
After witnessing the impact of trauma and mental health issues on the people she was writing about, she decided to change her focus to providing direct mental health support. She relocated to California and started working at PEERS, a consumer-run mental health nonprofit. At PEERS, Kelechi supervised mental health programs, led communication operations, and partnered with Dr. Patrick Corrigan, on a project which provided mental health recovery story-telling trainings across 41 California counties. She also managed a Columbia University research project examining mental health stigma in the Chinese community with Dr. Lawrence Yang.
Kelechi transitioned to research and evaluation work at Resource Development Associates where she was a senior project manager, wrote grants, and conducted community-based participatory research spanning the fields of mental health, child welfare, education, and criminal justice.
A popular keynote speaker, Kelechi worked at CalMHSA as the Statewide Peer and Community Engagement Manager for a large technology project to bring digital mental health solutions to California counties. At CalMHSA, she conducted community outreach and engagement and facilitated listening sessions with over 250 stakeholders to develop digital mental health literacy programming. Kelechi also has a large body of work in suicide prevention, and published the book We’ve Been Too Patient in 2019.
Currently, Kelechi is a consultant working with clients dedicated to transforming mental health, substance use services, as well as justice system reform and workforce development.   Her areas of specialty are training, workshop delivery and design, meeting and retreat facilitation, planning and research, curriculum development,  and community engagement.
In summer of 2020, Kelechi Ubozoh dedicated her time to facilitating healing-centered spaces for black employees internationally to respond to the ongoing violence toward the black community. She also helped co-create the Discussions that Matter program with Heliana Ramirez, which placed peers and clinicians as co-facilitators of affinity groups to support important dialogue emerging in 2020 around race, mental health, radical healing, and moving toward liberation. In 2021, Kelechi was named a Mental Health Champion by the Steinberg Institute.
ABOUT KELECHI'S BOOK
We’ve Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health, Kelechi’s book with co-editor L.D. Green, was released from North Atlantic Books and distributed by Penguin Random House, July 2019.