KUCI: Get the Funk Out!

Four Day Weekend’s Frank Ford joins Janeane 10/16 at 9:45am pst to talk about his book, Happy Accidents: The Transformative Power of “Yes, And” at Wor...

Success is no accident – in fact, it’s an attitude. And no one knows that better than one of the country’s most enduring and successful improv comedy troupes, Four Day Weekend. For 20 years, Four Day Weekend has been delighting audiences with their uproarious improvised performances from their Ft. Worth theatre, and have magnified their success through producing commercials, products, and live events, and are now bringing the secret of their success to publication.
Happy Accidents: The Transformative Power of “Yes, And” at Work and in Life, to be published by Wiley in September 2017, teaches each reader how to facilitate a positive attitude and make the most of every opportunity by bringing the most valuable and productive skills from improvisation into your daily work and home life. “It’s a semi-autobiographical account of our journey over the last 20 years,” explains co-founder and co-author David Wilk. As their show’s success in the early days continued, the group quickly realized “We were running a business,” says Four Day Weekend’s Frank Ford. “We are not business people, and in those days, we were eighty percent show, twenty percent business. Now, we’re 80% business and 20% show.”
That shift required adopting a way of thinking that is the key to the secrets revealed in Happy Accidents. “The philosophy of ‘yes, and,’ worked so well for us on stage,” Ford continues. “We asked, well, what if that was our business model as well? It not only opened up our ability to communicate within the group, but opened us up to so many different business opportunities.”
One story in the book – about how the group parlayed an under-funded offer from a major company into a positive magazine article that eventually lead to delivering a major keynote presentation to members of the US Congress and meeting the President and performing for the troops – exemplifies how “we use the ‘yes, and’ philosophy to find solutions,” says Wilk. It’s worked for the group – in spades. A weekly comedy show and the ‘yes, and’ perspective have elevated the group to the point where they are now “Entrepreneur In Residence” at the business school at Texas Christian University.
“Business books rarely use the word ‘empathy,’” admits group member and co-author David Ahearn. “But the ‘yes, and’ philosophy helps you as a person. You look at life differently – you don’t see mistakes, you don’t see obstacles – you see workarounds, choices. You learn about active listening, how to be a better communicator.”
“After twenty years,” says Wilk, “our default now is ‘yes, and,’ and we don’t judge ideas. Being ‘yes, and’ people in a ‘no, but’ world – people want to work with you if you are a ‘yes, and’ person!”
Frank Ford
@4DayFrank
Co-Founder & Cast Member Four Day Weekend
http://fourdayweekend.com

Director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab and professor of neuroscience with over 100 scientific studies to his credit, Matthew Walker, Ph....

As the Director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab and professor of neuroscience with over 100 scientific studies to his credit, Matthew Walker, Ph.D. has devoted his career to understanding one of our most prevailing biological mysteries: sleep. In this brilliant exploration and the first of its kind by a leading expert in the field, WHY WE SLEEP: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (Scribner, on sale October 3), Walker illuminates the scientific discoveries that he and fellow researchers have led in the past two decades to help us understand the vital importance of sleep and how it can change our lives for the better.
Sleep is the ultimate health panacea. It enhances memory, makes you more creative; makes you look more attractive; keeps you slim and lowers food cravings; protects you from cancer and Alzheimer’s; wards off colds and the flu; lowers risk of heart attacks, stroke, and diabetes; abates depression and anxiety; and is one of the most important predictors of illness. Herein, Walker outlines how we have misunderstood and misused this powerful and necessary habit on both an individual and structural scale, offering straightforward advice on sleeping more and better.
Charting the fascinating experiments and breakthroughs in sleep science—from the serendipitous drug breakthrough helping PTSD patients from reliving their worst nightmares to testing Nobel Laureate Francis Crick’s hypothesis on the function of REM-sleep—WHY WE SLEEP is a clear-eyed primer and illuminating guide on how exactly we can sleep our way to health, longevity, and wellness.
More praise for WHY WE SLEEP:
“Simply a must-read. World-renowned neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker takes us on a fascinating and indispensable journey into the latest understandings of the science of sleep. And the book goes way beyond satisfying intellectual curiosity, as it explores the cognitive, health, safety and business consequences of compromising the quality and quantity of our sleep; insights that may change the way you live your life. In these super-charged, distracting times it is hard to think of a book that is more important to read than this one.”
—Adam Gazzaley, co-author of The Distracted Mind, founder and executive director of Neuroscape, and Professor of Neurology, Physiology, and Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco
“Most of us have no idea what we do with a third of our lives. In this lucid and engaging book, Matt Walker explains the new science that is rapidly solving this age-old mystery. Why We Sleep is a canny pleasure that will have you turning pages well past your bedtime.”
—Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard and author of Stumbling on Happiness
"In Why We Sleep, Dr. Matt Walker brilliantly illuminates the night, explaining how sleep can make us healthier, safer, smarter, and more productive. Clearly and definitively, he provides knowledge and strategies to overcome the life-threatening risks associated with our sleep-deprived society. Our universal need for sleep ensures that every reader will find value in Dr. Walker's insightful counsel."
—Mark R. Rosekind, Ph.D., former NHTSA Administrator, NTSB member, and NASA scientist
ABOUT MATTHEW WALKER, Ph.D.
Matthew Walker, Ph.D. is an award-winning neuroscientist and a leading world expert on sleep. He has appeared in several Google Tech talks and radio features on the BBC and NPR, including “Science Friday.” Dr. Walker was the feature of a CBS “60 Minutes” special entitled “The Science of Sleep.” He contributed to the recent National Geographic documentary Sleepless in America; the PBS NOVA special “Memory Hackers”; and, most recently, the BBC Horizon documentary Curing Alzheimer’s. He is a frequent international public speaker and offers workshops of various kinds to business leaders and technology firms.

Lauren Schneider, LCSW Clinical Director of Child & Adolescent Programs OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center, joins Janeane 10/16 9:15am pst!

Lauren, a nationally recognized authority on Children’s Grief, has provided trainings for mental health clinicians, educators, clergy, health care providers and graduate students throughout the community since 2000. Lauren is the author of "Children Grieve Too: A Handbook for Parents of Grieving Children". She also created “My Memory Book…for grieving children” as well as grief-related curricula for use at Camp Erin Los Angeles and in OUR HOUSE grief support groups. Lauren is the Associate Producer of “One Last Hug…and a few smooches” an Emmy award winning HBO documentary about Children’s Grief. She trains and supervises OUR HOUSE group leaders as well as MSW and MFT clinicians and students. Lauren maintains a private practice in Los Angeles specializing in grief and loss.
Lauren’s areas of specialty are:
· Talking to children after sudden deaths due to homicide, suicide, overdose or acts of terrorism- the more stigmatized and unusual the circumstances of the death the less likely adults are to feel comfortable talking to their children about the cause when someone they love has died.
· Children need to be told the truth in age appropriate language because they always find out the truth and they will feel anger, resentment or a lack of trust towards those who weren't honest with them if they aren't told the truth.
· Helping grown-ups understand how to explain these types of death and how to empower their children to create their own narrative so they can comfortably talk about it with friends.
· Preparing children for funerals or memorial services
· Fostering resiliency in grieving children
Published Articles, Books & Film:
· "Children Grieve too: A Handbook for Parents of Grieving Children."
· My Memory Book…for grieving children”
· Associate Producer of “One Last Hug…and a few smooches” an Emmy award winning HBO documentary about Children’s Grief.
http://www.ourhouse-grief.org

Director Jennifer Townsend joins me 10/16 at 9:00am pst on KUCI 88.9fm! JENNIFER TOWNSEND’S DOCUMENTARY “CATCHING SIGHT OF THELMA & LOUISE” WILL COMPE...

LOS ANGELES, OCT. 23, 2017 - Praised for its unique premise, “Catching Sight of Thelma & Louise” from director Jennifer Townsend, will be entered into competition at this year’s LAFemme International Film Festival, to be held Oct. 19-22 at the Regal Cinemas at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles.
The acclaimed film, which recently competed in the San Antonio Film Festival, DOCUTAH and the CATE Festival in Santa Monica, is a powerful, intimate, and timely film that dives off the edge into the truth of women’s experience in the world.
Director/producer Jennifer Townsend was not in the film business at all when she first encountered the now-classic road movie “Thelma & Louise” in 1991. Profoundly moved by what she’d seen, she wondered if others had been similarly affected by the film. Originally setting her sights on writing a magazine article about its cultural impact, she sent out a series of press releases to newspapers across the country in search of volunteers to fill out a questionnaire regarding their feelings about the cinematic landmark. Their responses were enlightening and disturbing.
More than 20 years later, the 75-year-old Townsend realized that if she was going to do something with the information she’d accumulated, now was the time, and “Catching Sight of Thelma & Louise” began to take shape.
Critic Kurt Gardner of Arts Beat LA praised the film’s insightful and often passionate interviews, calling the results fascinating. “Most all of the interviewees felt liberated by the film,” he wrote, “responding to the notion of female empowerment, which was something they hadn’t experienced in the cinema before.”
Brian Passey of The Spectrum was impressed with the process Townsend employed to tell her story, but commented that “...the most impactful elements of Townsend’s film occur when her subjects begin making comparisons between events in the film and incidents in their own lives, including numerous stories of sexual harassment and sexual assault.”
The film will be shown at LAIFF on Thursday, October 19th at 2PM at the Regal Cinema Complex at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles, 1000 West Olympic Blvd. Tickets are available at the box office or on the festival’s website at www.lafemme.org/festival.
For more information on the film or to interview director Jennifer Townsend, please contact LA Media Consultants, Deborah Gilels at 818-758-6509

Illustrator Johanna Basford, frequently credited with igniting the adult coloring book craze with her international bestsellers, joins Janeane 10/16/1...

Coming up 10/11/17, Janeane speaks with Phil Gaimon, a professional cyclist from 2006-2016, including two years in the World Tour. A perennial crowd f...

Phil Gaimon retired from laziness and computer games in 2004, and began riding a bike to lose weight. Years later, against all odds (and his parents’ wishes), he realized his lifelong dream of becoming a professional athlete. After years of amateur bicycle races, of sacrificing stability and living out of a suitcase while working his way through cycling’s minor leagues, he was signed to a team in the Pro Tour, the sport’s highest level. But once there, he found that turning pro didn’t instantly solve his problems. It didn’t make life easy, and it wasn’t quite what he thought.
DRAFT ANIMALS, is an insider’s look at the highest levels of professional cycling in the post-EPO (blood doping) era. From breakaway victories, to fending off overzealous water bottle-stealing Belgian fans, to dodging cars at 50 mph while getting your team leader an extra Clif bar, Gaimon pulls back the curtain on life in the WorldTour. But this is more than just a book about bike racing. It tells the story of what happens when you finally achieve the things you set out to, and how it might not be exactly what you expected when you began.
Interview Topics:
· You got started in professional bicycling much later than most other riders. How did that affect your career, both in terms of expectations and acceptance?
· 2013 is seen by many as the “post-doping” era, the year after countless professional bicyclists (including, most notably, Lance Armstrong) were exposed and banned from the sport. How did things change from one year to the next?
· Recently, motorized or mechanical doping has made headlines as a new way of cheating the system. How do the rigors of bicycling (and the split-second differences in times) lead to these new forms of doping?
· As someone who achieved his wildest dreams, and realized it wasn’t everything he’d expected, what advice would you give to others about following theirs?
· Where do you see the sport of cycling heading in the next few years?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phil Gaimon was a professional cyclist from 2009-2016, including two years in the World Tour with Garmin-Sharp and Cannondale. He’s the author of Pro Cycling on $10 a Dayand Ask a Pro, an ordained minister, amateur comedian, podcaster (host of “The Peloton Brief”), entrepreneur, and host of Phil’s Cookie Fondo. Phil is retired from racing, but still riding his bike for fun and Strava.
Twitter @philgaimon | http://philthethrill.net/

A​ ​smorgasbord​ ​of​ ​classic​ ​literary​ ​characters​ ​take​ ​on 21st-century​ ​technology​ ​in​ ​Stefan​ ​Soto’s​ ​new​ ​satire. Tune in 10/9 at 9:...

"OMG Don Quixote & Candide Seek Truth, Justice and, El Dorado in the Digital Age LOL." This book is a humorous reimagining of classic literary characters Don Quixote and Candide in the modern world. As they set off on a new adventure, you'll be swept into a world of literary lore, tongue-in-cheek humor, and unforgettable appearances by characters from Sherlock Holmes to Mr. Darcy.
In an interview, Stefan will talk about:
Reimagining classic characters
Incorporating humor into writing
The writing process
Writing multiple genres
Fans of classic literature rejoice! Don Quixote, Candide, and a huge cast of literary favorites are back in a grand new adventure set in the modern world. A perfect read for anyone who wished their favorite characters had more books, and for those who love literary
reimaginings, Soto’s novel stays true to the characters’ original spirit while infusing a wit and humor all his own.
From space shuttles to cell phones, Don Quixote and Candide battle their way through a hilarious collection of misadventures on an enticing twisting narrative in “OMG Don Quixote & Candide
Seek Truth, Justice and, El Dorado in the Digital Age LOL” (Argus Press, September 2017).
ABOUT​ ​THE​ ​BOOK
After years of living off their celebrity, Don Quixote and Candide join forces to seek adventure in the modern world. In this re-imagining of literary history the two meet Cyrano De Bergerac, Merlin, Sherlock Holmes, the crew of the Starship Enterprise, Tom
Sawyer, Huck Finn, Dean Moriarty, Elizabeth Darcy (nee Bennett) Mr. Darcy and multitude of historical figures, and share unexpected encounters with people from their past. While Don Quixote remains rooted in days of yore, Candide is preoccupied with exploiting all things modern. This rollicking fun-filled tale will entertain the well-educated and erudite reader with tongue-in-cheek humor. You are cordially invited to join Don and Candide on their quest to find truth, justice and El Dorado in the digital age.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STEFAN​ ​SOTO​ was raised by a Romani Princess and a Ukrainian circus performer. He resides on an English canal and has no known address. His early works were banned by most right-thinking European powers. The author invites readers to investigate Cervantes and Voltaire's original treatments of the title characters.

10/9/17 9:30am pst - author Sharon Weil joins host Janeane to discuss her latest work, ”The Changeability Playbook.”

We live in a time of fast moving and complex change on both the personal and the global level. Welcome or unwelcome, nothing is more certain than the constant and uncertain movement of change. Whether change is met with excitement or met with fear, we can easily become overwhelmed by all of that movement. How do we keep upbeat, optimistic and forward-moving?
"ChangeAbility" is the ability to effectively navigate change with more ease. In THE CHANGEABILITY PLAYBOOK, author Sharon Weil walks you through the personal and public changes of your own life and helps you find new approaches in meeting those changes. She teaches you how to locate yourself in change, and how to use her Seven Principles for Change to bring you new ideas and choices in navigating change.
Based on Weil’s acclaimed podcast, Passing 4 Normal: Conversations with Authors, Artists, Activists and Awakeners about Seeding Change in the World, and Sharon's previous book ChangeAbility: How Artists, Activists and Awakeners Navigate Change, this new book weaves together the insight, humor, compassion and hard-earned wisdom of those who have mastered the art of ChangeAbility in a wide range of applied experiences.
Sharon Weil has long been engaged in the conversation about courage and change as an author, activist, award-winning filmmaker, and somatic educator. She is the author of Donny and Ursula Save the World, a political, romantic mishap-adventure; and the host of the acclaimed podcast Passing 4 Normal.

Author Claire Bachan joins host Janeane 10/9/17 at 9:15am to talk about her latest book, ”Like a Diamond in the Sun”

ABOUT THE BOOK
What if you ran out of a beach cave to discover your return path was completely covered by deep water and the only way out was to climb treacherous, sharp edged rocks? What if you were shown how to trek across those rocks through your inner sight and feeling, often hanging on only by your fingertips, as the only alternative to drowning?
What if you were in a terrifying storm so bad you were in total blackness and could not tell whether you were on the right side of the road or even on the road? What if you heard a voice that said, keep your eyes straight ahead and I will see you through this?
"Like a Diamond in the Sun" is a collection of inspirational, true, personal stories of how the author overcame these and other incidents by relying on the Divine. Regardless of whether you consider yourself spiritual, religious or non-religious, these uplifting, self-help, motivational stories will recharge your energies, power boost your day and make you smile. They tell the awe-inspiring story of the special love that exists for each of us – love that blazes through our beings and world like a diamond in the sun.

10/9/17 - Spiritual healer, Dani Antman, shares her story of spiritual discovery in new memoir, ‘Wired for God.’ Antman joins host Janeane Bernstein a...

Dani Antman, an internationally known energy healer in Santa Barbara, CA where she treats people to create optimal wellness and increase their success and fulfillment in life. Dani shares her search for a spiritual path through the three traditions of Yogic Science, Kundalini Science, and Kabbalah in her new book, "Wired for God" (Turning Stone Press, August 2017). Dani's detailed journey of finding a new perspective on her childhood faith tradition, Judaism, and developing an interfaith spirituality provides a sense of hope and insight for those searching for their own spiritual path.
Dani will discuss:
Using interfaith traditions to find deeper spiritual meaning
Setting out to find your own spiritual path
Reconnecting with Judaism through yoga and inner spiritual thought
Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism
Yoga and spirituality
Kundalini experiences
Hands-on healing
When Dani Antman set out to search for a spiritual path, she never imagined she would end up where she started. In her compelling new memoir, “Wired for God: Adventures of a Jewish Yogi” (Turning Stone Press, August 2017), Antman describes her inter-spiritual journey, leading her back to Judaism.
Resonating with anyone who has felt the need to search for their own spirituality, “Wired for God” pulls together concepts from Eastern faiths and Judaism to create a beautiful picture of inter-spiritual discovery. Just as Antman paves her own route to spiritual truth, she paves the way for readers to find hope that they, too, can find their spiritual home.
ABOUT THE BOOK
​When the Judaism of her childhood doesn’t satisfy Dani Antman’s yearning for spiritual awakening, she embarks on a quest for a spiritual path. Dani finds herself immersed in the world of yoga, energy healing, and Kabbalah but her journey of inner transformation has only just begun. A healing crisis, misplaced trust and a failed marriage, intensify her desire for a teacher who can lead her to self-realization. Her prayers are answered in the form of a realized adept, a Swami from the faraway shores of Rishikesh, India, who initiates her in his lineage of Kundalini Science, the study of the Divine force within every human being that is the initiator of spiritual growth.
And so begins an incredible inner journey as Dani dedicates herself to a spiritual practice aimed at the
redirection and completion of a challenging Kundalini process related to her Jewish past. Paradoxically, with the completion of her process she experiences a triumphant return to the religion of her birth. “Wired for God” is the candid and compelling memoir of Dani Antman’s spiritual journey from mystical Judaism through Kundalini Science and back again, told in a conversational and informal style. Her story gives inspiration and hope to all sincere seekers looking to make real spiritual progress and find their own unique spiritual path.