Outside the Box with Dr. Janeane Bernstein

Marianne's days are filled with schedules, structure, and soccer. There's just one problem: Marianne is a maker. She needs every minute of her weekends to scheme and dream, draw and design, to build and rebuild! This is the story of how a creator with a crackerjack imagination finds a not-so-great way to skip practice and create her masterpiece. But will her dad understand?Told in delightful rhyme that bounces across George Sweetland's gorgeous collage-style illustrations (chock full of hidden gems). Marianne the Maker is sure to kindle the creative spark that lives inside all of us.Kelly's storytelling expertise brings this research to life, and her daughter, Claire's, tech-arts integration provides modern context. Their mother-daughter dynamic demonstrates intergenerational impact, along with real examples from both traditional and digital making.Review"A thoughtful role model for aspiring inventors."--Kirkus ReviewsBestselling author, beloved PBS and podcast host, Kelly Corrigan, talks about her new book, Marianne the Maker, written with her daughter, debut author Claire Corrigan Lichty. Marianne the Maker just may be the antidote to the current epidemic of depression and anxiety children are facing today.In the forthcoming summer title from Penguin Young Readers, MARIANNE THE MAKER (on-sale: 6/3/25), Kelly Corrigan and her daughter, Claire Corrigan Lichty, make the case for making—which just may be the antidote to the current epidemic of depression and anxiety children are facing today. At a time when arts education programs are being cut at a more vicious pace than ever before, studies show that using our hands to create has incredible benefits: reduction in anxiety, improvement in memory, and for children. Making is vital to their development: tinkering and hands-on play develops new ways of thinking, instills confidence and resourcefulness, and helps make connections.

Nurit Siegel Smith, recent honoree at the 2025 She Rocks Awards, is the Executive Director of Music Forward Foundation, a national 501c3 organization part of the Live Nation Entertainment family with a mission to transform lives, empower careers, and champion a more inclusive music industry. Prior to Music Forward, she held key positions spanning two decades at various arts and entertainment organizations including Blue Man Group, Highways Performance Space, SAG-AFTRA Foundation, and Grand Performances. otbseries.com

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Sarah Kennedy, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the Assistant Program Director for Orange  County Survivor Support Services of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. Sarah began her social work career in community mental health  serving children and adolescents involved in the child welfare system.  Her experience also includes  providing mental health services to incarcerated women as well as emergency crisis response services in  partnership with law enforcement. Sarah joined Didi Hirsch in 2022. As Assistant Program Director,  Sarah continues to be dedicated to serving the Orange County community in brining awareness and  accessibility to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention services. didihirsch.org

Peggy Rajski (she/her) is an Oscar-winning filmmaker, LGBTQ+ ally/activist, and  entrepreneurial leader. A long-time feature film producer in the world of  entertainment, Rajski made her directorial debut on the short film Trevor (1994), a  poignant comedy about a young teen whose world is turned upside down when  word spreads at school that he might be gay, and his thoughts turn toward  suicide. Trevor went on to win the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short in  1994, and eventually led Rajski to create The Trevor Project, the world’s leading organization providing crisis intervention services and suicide prevention programs  for LGBTQ+ young people since founding in 1998. She served as the organization’s Executive Director during its critical startup years and has remained on the Board of  Directors since. In film, Rajski has produced multiple award-winning feature films, served as the Dean of LMU’s top 10-ranked School of Film and Television from 2018-2021,  accepted appointment as inaugural head of the NYU-Tisch Graduate Film Program’s creative producing program from 2010-2018 including overseeing development of the core curriculum, and has conducted master classes and  workshops on producing and pitching in the U.S. and abroad throughout her  career.  From November 2022-July 2024, she stepped in as Interim CEO at The Trevor  Project at the Board’s request to help steward the now 500+ person organization’s  transition to a new chapter. Her goal from founding day to today is ensuring Trevor  thrives as a vital, industry-leading lifesaving resource for LGBTQ+ young people at a  critical moment in their lives.Learn more about Peggy 

Your Reality, a short film written and starring Tatjana Anders and directed by Top Tarasin, which seeks to highlight the impact of gaslighting, has recently surpassed over six million views on YouTube. The film, which has received 17,000 comments from people sharing their own experiences with gaslighting, follows a successful PR manager who slowly loses her grip on reality after falling in love with a charming yet manipulative photographer. Gaslighting is the action of repetitively (and often brazenly) lying to someone to manipulate, and ultimately control them and the relationship. It could be divided into four different types: outright lying, manipulation of reality, scapegoating and coercion. According to the Office of National Statistic, the Crime Survey for England & Wales estimated that 2.1 million people aged 16 or older (1.4 million women and 751,000 men) experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2023. Over 889,000 incidents (excluding Devon & Cornwall) of domestic abuse were recorded by the police in England and Wales, but just over 39,000 were convicted. The National Domestic Violence Hotline found that 95% of contacts made in 2020 stated they were experiencing emotional abuse. Gaslighting can also be seen in the workplace, with a 2019 study conducted by MRH Global finding that over 54% of respondents, from a pool of over 3000 people, say they had experienced gaslighting at work. Gaslighting is not exclusive to domestic or professional relationships and has also been found to exist in para social relationships between an audience and a public figure or politician. A para social relationship develops when an audience can feel they know and trust a public figure in question due to their cultivated perception or shared ideals despite not knowing the individual in real life. Speaking about the project, Anders explains why she wanted to make the short:“Your Reality was inspired by a close friend of mine, whose happiness, confidence, and self-worth has been demolished by a gaslighting ex. Seeing the devastating impact it had on her and how long it took for her to recover made me want to raise awareness on this topic. With over six million views on YouTube, I am deeply touched by the overwhelming response to our short film. However, the number of comments and messages I receive from (predominantly) women about how much they can relate to the main character is genuinely concerning - it made me want to do more around this topic. That’s why I’m currently working on a feature film version with award-winning director / producer Matthew Wortman. The feature focuses not only on how the story ends, but also on the root cause of gaslighting, which usually starts with parents.” In a 2023 article, Choosing Therapy highlighted the issue of gaslighting within paternal relationships. Stating “Gaslighting parents use toxic ways to manipulate and control their children, such as distorting the facts, denying a child's experience, or playing the victim. In adulthood, the effects of being raised by gaslighting parents can include low self-esteem and a heightened risk for mental health disorders.” Growing up in Ukraine, Anders moved to Germany at the age of ten. Learning a new language and culture made her hyper-observant of the people around her - a gift she now channels into her film work. After completing a degree in Business, she decided to follow her passion for acting and filmmaking instead, creating films that have a meaningful message and a potential for life-changing impact.

Free Mom Hugs’ mission is to celebrate the LGBTQIA community through visibility, conversation and education and hugs.   Valencia Foster is the Free Mom Hugs Southern California State Chapter Lead, and a native of Los Angeles. Valencia has had a long and rewarding career in pharmaceutical and biotech sales and marketing. Currently, she is an Associate Director in  field marketing as a Thought Leader Liaison with a pioneering biotech company. Valencia ‘s passions include her allyship advocacy for the LGBTQIA community. She has held the position of Southern Chapter Leader for the national nonprofit organization, Free Mom Hugs, for the last 5 years.  Free Mom Hugs’ mission is to celebrate the LGBTQIA community through visibility, conversation and education and hugs.   The Free Mom Hugs Story Free Mom Hugs was founded by Sara Cunningham, a Christian mother in conservative Oklahoma, who spent years rejecting her son Parker's sexuality, after he came out to her. Conflicted by her love for her son and her spirituality, Sara exhaustively searched faith and sexuality for answers. What she learned would transform her journey from the church to the pride parade. As Sara became involved in the LGBTQIA+ community, the hurt, shame and injustice they frequently experience was painfully clear. Remembering that she too was once in the crowd that rejected this loving, vibrant community, Sara took action. On Saturday, June 20, 2015, Sara wore a homemade button with the words “Free Mom Hugs” to the Oklahoma City Pride Festival. She offered hugs to anyone who made eye contact. The first hug Sara gave was to a beautiful girl who whispered, “It’s been four years since I got a hug from my mom because I’m a lesbian.” Sara embraced her and hundreds more that day, and many shared similar stories with every embrace. That day Free Mom Hugs — a nationwide movement of love, visibility and acceptance for the LGBTQIA+ community — was born. In 2018, Sara created a Facebook post that instantly went viral: “PSA: If you need a mom to attend your same-sex wedding because your biological mom won’t, call me. I’m there. I’ll be your biggest fan. I’ll even bring the bubbles.” The shockwaves of the post catapulted Sara and Parker’s story into the national spotlight. Shortly after, the movement took another leap forward when Free Mom Hugs was established as a national nonprofit. Today, Free Mom Hugs has chapters in all 50 states and other initiatives forming globally. The group’s growing force of more than 14,000 volunteers is a national groundswell dedicated to empowering the world to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community through visibility, conversation and education. ⁠Free Mom Hugs Story⁠ Valencia Foster (she/her) Free Mom Hugs SoCal State Chapter Lead 

On this week’s episode of Outside the Box, Janeane sits down with GRAMMY award-winning musician and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Matt Sorum. Sorum discovered the power of music at an early age after seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and being captivated by Ringo Starr on the drums. Sorum’s professional music career spans decades with world-renowned bands including The Cult, Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, as well as solo albums and collaborations with artists from every genre of music. Sorum opens up about his family of music makers who shared their love of music with him early in life from his grandfather who was a professor of music at Long Beach State University to his mother who was a music instructor and Superintendent of Music at twenty-six schools in Orange County, California. Matt’s brothers were also musicians, as well. Matt also talks about his impactful Adopt the Arts Foundation he started in 2012 alongside Golden Globe award and Emmy award-winning Actor Jane Lynch to provide underserved elementary schools with high-quality music education curriculum and resources.  For more information, visit www.AdopttheArts.org Follow Outside the Box on Instagram and TikTok @otbseres Keep up with Dr. Janeane Bernstein @janeanebernstein on Instagram. www.janeanebernstein.com www.otbseries.com

Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story. He recently published The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story. He's also published Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories; All the Comfort Sin Can Provide; Nothing Short Of: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story; and Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo. His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and he has been anthologized in collections such as Norton’s New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, Flash Fiction America, Best Small Fictions, and Best Microfiction. His essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Literary Hub, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer.Find Grant online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Listen to his podcast Write-minded and subscribe to his newsletter Intimations: A Writer's Discourse.

Heidi is a pioneer in social change finance and business, and a mother of two children. After serving as a wealth manager at UBS Wealth Management, in 2014 she founded Anastasia Finance and serves as an impact investing guide/concierge to women, millennials and their families and help activate global systemic change.When imagining what would be needed to achieve moonshots such as the SDGs by 2030, she realized that we needed people with the best imaginations in the world: kids. Thus, she started Dream Tank with Ashley Kulik in July of 2016. Heidi believes the power and creative genius of kids can innovate a better future for all. She thrives in building in mentorship and community connection to this end. Her dream is to grow Dream Tank globally to further amplify the voices of youth and their participation in meaningful and bold community change.ABOUT DREAM TANKDream Tank inspires and empowers kids and teens to put their passion, creativity, and energy to work in making their communities better through social ventures that address one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by building a social entrepreneurship ecosystem (accelerator centers, curriculum, mentors, digital platform/tools and micro-loans) designed specifically for Youth to solve economic and environmental problems in their communities, and the world.

Rewind to 2020, and there we were in the pandemic. I felt isolated, depressed and disconnected socially - until I signed up for my first CanAm Ryker riding class and life has never been the same. Thanks Saddlebackridertraining and Jonathan Armstead, Global Partnerships Manager for Can-Am On-Road, for taking the time to talk to me about his role at one of the most forward thinking and inclusive companies around. The mental, physical and emotional benefits of riding a Can-Am three-wheeled motorcycle are hard to put into words. You'll have to experience it for yourself. The Can-Am Spyder and Ryker are three-wheeled motorcycles manufactured by Can-Am motorcycles, a division of Bombardier Recreational Products.ABOUT JONATHAN ARMSTEADI'm the Global Partnerships Manager for Can-Am On-Road, managing our brand ambassadors, content creators, influencers and celebrities. When I'm not on the open road (with my 3WV, of course), I'm a content creator under the pseudonym Jon the Dad, creating relatable videos surrounding parenting, relationships and childhood nostalgia. I'm also a musician and have a 90s cover band called Topanga. I live in Dallas, TX with my wife and two kids (4 and 2).Learn more: CanAm

Kylee McGrane-Zarnoch is the Founder and Executive Director of A Moment of Magic Foundation, a mental health advocate, and content creator that has amassed more than 100,000 followers across social media.In December 2014, Kylee had the idea to dress up like a princess and visit local children's hospitals. After her first visit to a 202 bed hospital in New York, she fell in love and A Moment of Magic was born.After a little bit of magic in November 2016, A Moment of Magic's story went viral, grossing more than 65 million views worldwide. The international attention helped the organization gain the momentum needed to make Kylee's dream come true and allow A Moment of Magic to be adopted by Colleges and Universities across the United States.Today, A Moment of Magic has engaged more than 1,300 college student volunteers from more than 30 colleges and universities to partner with 300+ hospitals and NPO's to provide creative programming to more than 100,000 children.Under the banner of A Moment of Magic, Kylee has spoken as a business, female empowerment, volunteerism and advocacy expert for companies and organizations including Get Your Play Online, the American Red Cross, and Penn State University. She has been featured in over 100 international publications including the New York Post, USA Today, CNN, and The Today Show. Kylee is a President George H.W. Bush Daily Point of Light Honoree, a Sara Blakely and Spanx Red Backpack Fund Recipient, and New York Yankees HOPE Week Honoree.Today, Kylee uses her platform to advocate for causes she cares most about, including mental health, the power of creativity and vulnerability, and chasing your dreams (especially the ones that seem impossible). She creates spaces where others can feel empowered to understand their vulnerability as a superpower rather than a weakness, to craft and share your story, and to dream big dreams and chase them fearlessly.

Willie is currently the Stan Richards Professor of Creative Advertising at SMU's Temerlin Advertising Institute, where he teaches classes related to creativity and portfolio development. Willie Baronet was the owner and creative director of GroupBaronet from 1992-2006. His design and advertising work has been featured in CA, Graphis, The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), NY Art Directors, The One Show, Print, Annual Report Trends, The Type Directors Club among others.In 2013 he was given the AIGA Fellow award, the highest honor an AIGA chapter can bestow upon one of its members.He has spoken to business and creative organizations including TEDxSMU, and has judged many creative competitions including the prestigious Communication Arts Annual.Willie has an MFA in Arts and Technology from UTD in 2011. He has been featured in group exhibitions including “Art as a Medium for Action” at Hoxton Arches, London , “Truth to Power” in Philadelphia in conjunction with the DNC, and “INVASIONEN/INVASIONS” in Hamburg, Germany. He has also had solo exhibitions across the U.S.Willie has been buying and collecting homeless signs since 1993 as part of a long term art project "WE ARE ALL HOMELESS." In 2014 he began a 31-day cross country trip to buy signs in 24 cities, which was the subject of the documentary Signs of Humanity (now available on Amazon Prime), which premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival and has been accepted into 7 additional festivals. The project has been featured in dozens of international and local media, including Yahoo! News, NPR - All Things Considered, The Huffington Post, Al Jazeera America and Fast Company’s blog, posted by Katie Couric. An UpWorthy video about the project has been viewed over 6.4 million times.Willie is a 1982 graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He has taught advertising design at Brookhaven Community College, Texas A&M at Commerce, TCU, and has served as visiting faculty for the MA Program at Syracuse University.https://linktr.ee/WillieBaronet

Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning director Julie Cohen speaks with host Dr. Janeane about her latest film, EVERY BODY - a revelatory investigation of the lives of intersex people, created in partnership with NBC News StudiosCohen directed the project alongside producers Tommy Nguyen and Molly O'Brien and consulting producer Shana Knizhnik. Executive Producers are Elizabeth Fischer, Liz Cole, Noah Oppenheim and Andy Berg.The film tells the stories of three individuals who have moved from childhoods marked by shame, secrecy, and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adulthoods after each decided to set aside medical advice to keep their bodies a secret and instead came out as their authentic selves. Actor and screenwriter River Gallo (they/them), political consultant Alicia Roth Weigel (she/they), and Ph.D. student Sean Saifa Wall (he/him) are now leaders in a fast-growing global movement advocating for greater understanding of the intersex community and an end to unnecessary surgeries. Woven into the story is a stranger-than-fiction case of medical abuse, featuring exclusive footage from the NBC News archives, which helps explain the modern-day treatment of intersex people.otbseries.com

APAIT has held a distinctive record of providing high quality programming through its vision – to advocate, educate, and achieve optimal health and well-being for vulnerable communities. APAIT’s mission is to positively impact the quality of life for vulnerable communities experiencing behavioral health challenges, housing insecurity, and at-risk for HIV/AIDS.APAIT is grounded by its core values of compassion, commitment, communication, empowerment, integrity, mentorship, respect, and teamwork. Established in 1987 as a grassroots AIDS service organization (ASO) for Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) who were dying alone from AIDS-related stigma and shame.Headquarters are located at 3055 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90010 in Koreatown. APAIT historically reaches out to the diverse multi-ethnic communities of LA and Orange counties who identify as LGBTQIA-2S, immigrants and refugees, at-risk for HIV/STIs, housing insecure, and with behavioral health lived experience. Service delivery is tailored from a trauma-based care approach composed of a multi-disciplinary team providing an integrated model of behavioral health treatment, health education and prevention, housing, research, and HIV/AIDS support.APAIT programming includes outpatient behavioral health counseling, psychiatry, support groups, intensive case management, patient navigation, benefits counseling, housing support, HIV/STI testing, primary care and outpatient HIV specialty referral, and community based participatory research.https://www.apaitonline.org

As a teen, Aidan did work exchange programs for Lines Ballet of San Francisco, American Conservatory Theatre and San Francisco Academy for the Performing Arts under legendary opera singer Richard Nichol. Once Aidan became documented, he went on to perform in over 30 theatrical productions with some of the best theatre companies in the nation including American Conservatory Theatre, American Musical Theatre, McCoy Rigby Productions, San Francisco Shakespeare and Berkeley Rep Theatre. He also found success in the world of commercials, television and film. He has booked over 30 national commercials and his television and film credits include: Casual (Hulu), Kingdom (Hulu), Conan (NBC) Atom TV (Comedy Central) to name a few. He has been seen on NBC, Amazon Prime, PBS, CBS, TV Guide Channel, Hulu, Comedy Central and numerous feature films, shorts and commercials.When Aidan was new to the world of stand-up comedy, he quickly gained a reputation in the Los Angeles comedy scene as "a comic to watch." Since then, he's become an internationally touring headliner and earned a verified social media following with his viral videos. Aidan has produced live theater, developed projects with Laugh Factory Productions, Reel TV Films, Totally LA, and more. He is the Founder of Solar Shark Productions, where he produced and starred in his own scripted reality TV show, Aidan Park: On the F-List. The Hollywood Improv hosted its premiere. Aidan has written and produced over a dozen theatre projects in California and produced comedy shows at some of the top clubs in Hollywood. In addition to his monthly shows at Flappers Comedy Club and The Hollywood Improv, Aidan created a brand of comedy shows called Rainbow Pop for LGBT audiences. Rainbow Pop lived at the Laugh Factory Hollywood.He booked some of the world’s top comedic talent to appear on stage including stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Margaret Cho, Nicole Byers, Sherri Shepherd, Whitney Cummings and many more! Rainbow Pop ran for four years to great success and accolades. The show boasted successful collaborations with LGBT-focused advocacy groups including: Aids Healthcare Foundation, EQCA, and No H8 Campaign. Rainbow Pop was also a commercial success. Aidan negotiated sponsorship deals with more than 20 local businesses and corporations including Orange Theory Fitness, The Body Factory, The Hustler Store and The Chateau Marmont. more: otbseries.com

Sky Bergman, Filmmaker, Professor Emeritus of Photography and Video at California Polytechnic State UniversityTalks about #ageism, #filmmaking, #photography, #intergenerational, and #diversityequityinclusionSky 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.www.skybergmanproductions.com

Heidi Zuckerman is CEO and Director of the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) and a globally recognized leader in contemporary art. She is host of the podcast About Art and author of the Conversation with Artists book series.Appointed in January 2021, Zuckerman led the museum in opening its new home in October 2022 designed by Morphosis Architects under the direction of Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne. The state-of-the-art 53,000 square foot building is double the size of the museum’s former location in Newport Beach. In a salute to OCMA's thirteen female founders, the opening collection exhibition will be 13 Women, organized by Zuckerman. This is the second building project she has completed. Zuckerman is the former 14-year CEO and Director of the Aspen Art Museum.After reimagining the museum as a world-class institution, she founded its annual ArtCrush gala, raised more than $130 million and built a new, highly acclaimed museum with Shigeru Ban, the 2014 Pritzker Prize winner for architecture. At the Aspen Art Museum, Heidi Zuckerman curated the exhibitions Wade Guyton Peter Fischli David Weiss (2017), Yves Klein David Hammons/David Hammons Yves Klein (2014), Lorna Simpson: Works on Paper (2013), Mark Grotjahn (2012) and Fred Tomaselli (2009).From 1999 to 2005 she was the Phyllis Wattis MATRIX Curator at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, where she curated more than forty solo exhibitions of international contemporary artists such as Peter Doig, Shirin Neshat, Teresita Fernández, Julie Mehretu, Doug Aitken, Cai Guo-Qiang, Tacita Dean, Wolfgang Laib, Ernesto Neto, Simryn Gill, Sanford Biggers, Ricky Swallow and Tobias Rehberger.Formerly she was the Assistant Curator of 20th-century Art at The Jewish Museum, New York, appointed in 1993, and curated Light x Eight: The Hanukkah Project, Contemporary Artist Project: Kristin Oppenheim and Louis I. Kahn Drawings: Synagogue Projects which traveled to The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.She has curated more than 200 museum exhibitions during her career and is the author of numerous books including a widely loved children’s book The Rainbow Hour with artist Amy Adler.She was recently appointed to be an Arts Commissioner for the City of Costa Mesa.Zuckerman earned a BA in European History from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Art History from Hunter College at CUNY and holds a Harvard Business School Executive Education certification.

Chicago native Michael Fosberg has spoken at nearly a thousand high schools, colleges, government agencies, corporations, law firms and not-for-profits over the past fifteen years, utilizing his award winning autobiographical story, told in the form of a one-man play, as an entry point for meaningful dialogues on race and identity.His work with groups such as; The Boeing Company, United Way Worldwide, PNC Financial Services, and The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency is reshaping the way organizations talk about leadership, authenticity and inclusion. Michael has been a frequent guest in the media speaking on these issues, and his latest book, Nobody Wants to Talk About It: Race, Identity and the Difficulties in Forging Meaningful Conversations, offers readers seven important tools to engage in authentic dialogue.In 2011 he published his much lauded memoir, Incognito: An American Odyssey of Race and Self-Discovery. He also launched a series of unique virtual e-learning programs using his play as the entry point for delving into uncomfortable conversations and, more recently, Incognito the Podcast - a deep dive into the variety of methods people use to collaborate inclusivel

Terra Lopez is Backline's Community Manager and head of Artist Partnerships. Terra works directly with artists, brands, and partners to help spread general awareness about Backline's life-saving services while also engaging with the Backline community via social media content and messaging. more: otbseries.com

Sam Lamott is a single dad, college drop-out, ex-meth head, who came out of a ten-year bender at the age of twenty-two with severe clinical depression, a two-year-old, and zero life skills. Simply put, there is nobody more genuinely curious about how to be a human being. Featured in Itunes New and Noteworthy 2018. Featured in Apple top 200 podcasts in Health 2018. Featured in Apple top 200 podcasts in Self-Help 2018. Founder http://HelloHumans.co/