the only one in the room podcast

No matter where one lives, what one does for a living often defines how they’re perceived, for better or for worse. When a person with multiple sclerosis or other chronic conditions desires to work, that person and their employer face numerous issues - some legal, some moral, and some practical. During the first decades of the MS movement, people with MS had little or no protection against employment discrimination because of disability, and there were some who thought that those with a diagnosis of MS should retire. The disability rights movement is transforming the way that people with disabilities perceive themselves and the way that the public perceives them. But is that transformation happening fast enough? And is it as far-reaching as it needs to be? Here to dive into this with us today is Joseph Schneiderwind.  Joe Schneiderwind graduated with a BS in Engineering Physics in 2009 and an MS in Applied Mathematics in 2011. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005 and by 2014 he was heavily dependent on a wheelchair. After leaving a Ph.D. program in 2016 due to further progression of his disability, he spent a few years acclimating to this new "norm," and is now attending Metropolitan State University of Denver seeking licensure to teach secondary mathematics. Check out Dr. Janelle Johnson HERE & HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s On My Nightstand reading is titled, “Hi, My Name Is Laura…” and is a favorite from my blog archives. Although it’s a few years old, I feel the message is more relevant now than ever. Especially with the spike in alcohol consumption and overdose-deaths during the pandemic. Along with the whole “sober curious” movement that’s currently sweeping the nation. You can find this post and more of my blogs here: On our THE ONLY ONE IN THE ROOM WEBSITE Or on LAURA'S BLOG WEBSITE Laura Cathcart Robbins is an author, freelance culture writer, and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, living in Studio City, California. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her recent articles in Huffpo and The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a 2018 LA Moth StorySlam winner and currently sits on the advisory board for the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival. Laura is also a founding member of Moving Forewords, the first national memoirist collective of its kind. Find out more about her on her website, or you can look for her on Facebook, on Instagram, and follow her on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Kim Strobel right after the show. Don't miss our new Friday series On My Nightstand. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonlyonepod.com Also visit the website for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like live events, appearances, featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine feeling like you were the only one in the room dealing with crippling fear? Podcaster, happiness, educational, and empowerment coach, Kim Strobel dealt with panic attacks as a teen and young adult. She struggled to do simple things, like drive to work or even walk to the mailbox. But what would you do if it got so bad that you pleaded with God to take your life, and you received a message that you were made for more? Would you dismiss it as a delusion and prepare to die? Or would you become the Chief Happiness Officer of your life and show others how to overcome their fears? More From Kim Strobel: Visit the website: https://kimstrobel.com Listen to the podcast: She Finds Joy Check out her coaching program Big Bold & Brave Finding Kim Strobel: Instagram: @kimstrobeljoy Twitter: @strobeled Be sure not to miss Scott Talks on Wednesdays, our Sunday release called Sunday Edition & our brand new series On My Nightstand releasing on Fridays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Asian Americans have fought in every American war since the civil war (on both sides) and yet they make up only about 4% of today’s US armed forces. The fact that today’s guest has toured on the USNS Mercy three times definitely piqued my interest. But the fact that hate incidents and violence against Asian-Americans have increased sharply during the COVID 19 pandemic, inspired me to contact him. I wanted to know how it felt to be an Asian-American aboard a hospital ship during a pandemic that was referred to by then-president Donald Trump as the “Chinese virus” or the “Kung Flu.” Here to help us dive into this, we have Phong Trac, a Lieutenant Commander in the Medical Service Corps of the United States Navy. http://www.mercy.navy.mil/  Be sure not to miss our weekly full episodes on Tuesdays, Scott Talks on Wednesdays and our brand new series On My Nightstand on Fridays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s On My Nightstand reading is from the essay titled, The Reveal, from the critically acclaimed, bestselling essay collection, Greyboy: Finding Blackness In A White World by Cole Brown. Cole Brown is a Philly kid; he matured in the city's predominately white private schools and neighborhoods. During his undergraduate years at Georgetown University, Cole began writing his first book, Greyboy: FInding Blackness In A White World. You can listen to Cole’s episode of  The Only One In The Room: Cole Brown Is The Only One Who Is Always The Only One Episode 61 and find out more about Cole here: https://colebrown.com/ Be sure not to miss our weekly full episodes on Tuesdays, Scott Talks on Wednesdays & Sunday Edition every Sunday by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Irina Gonzalez right after the show. Don't miss our new Friday series On My Nightstand. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonlyonepod.com Also visit the website for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like live events, appearances, featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if while growing up, the messaging you got as a girl was that either you were “normal” and were attracted to boys, or you were a lesbian and were attracted to girls? Nothing in between. Editor, freelance writer, and podcaster, Irina Gonzalez, knew from an early age that either the messaging was wrong or there was something wrong with her because she was just attracted to people, regardless of their gender. So what would you do if after discovering that you were bisexual, the person with whom you fell in love happened to be a man? Would you be relieved to feel “normal” and put your bisexual identity aside? Or would you realize that normal is just a setting on a dryer and live out loud in your truth? More from Irina Gonzalez: Visit her website: http://irinagonzalez.com Listen to her podcast Pandemic Mama Finding Irina Gonzalez: Twitter & Instagram: @msirinagonzalez Be sure not to miss Scott Talks on Wednesdays, our Sunday release called Sunday Edition & our brand new series On My Nightstand releasing on Fridays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Here’s the thing, I’m not hating on anyone who decides that homeschooling, Catholicism, or being a stay-at-home-mom is their path. What I’m hating on is how so many people, women included, impose on other women how they’re supposed to live. It’s like there’s only one good way to mother and everything else falls in the “not good enough” category.”  -Mia Hemstad Mia Hemstad is a mom of two little kids, a full-time paid family leave advocate, mental health advocate, and self-care coach. She began creating content online because in 2013 she was facing a mental health crisis, and had no idea who or where to turn to for support as mental illness was never discussed in her family, so she decided to be a voice in this space by sharing her own experiences of overcoming Postpartum Depression and Postpartum Anxiety, as well as living with diagnosed PTSD, anxiety, and depression. https://www.miahemstad.com/ Instagram: @miahemstad Check out her YouTube channel: Mia Hemstad Be sure not to miss our weekly full episodes on Tuesdays, Scott Talks on Wednesdays and our brand new series On My Nightstand on Fridays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s On My Nightstand-read is from the chapter titled, Terrors from the New York Times best-selling memoir, Heavy, by Keise Laymon.  Kiese Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon’s bestselling memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, won the 2019, Andrew Carnegie Medal, for Excellence in Nonfiction, the 2018 Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media, and was named one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years by The New York Times. The audiobook, read by the author, was named the Audible 2018 Audiobook of the Year. Heavy was a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Nonfiction and the Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction. It was named a best book of 2018 by the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, NPR, Broadly, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly.  You can listen to Kiese’s episode of The Only One In The Room here (once the link is live) and find more of Kiese’s work on his website here https://www.kieselaymon.com/  Be sure not to miss our weekly full episodes on Tuesdays, Scott Talks on Wednesdays & Sunday Edition every Sunday by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Kiese Laymon right after the show. Don't miss our new Friday series On My Nightstand. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonlyonepod.com Also visit the website for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like live events, appearances, featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Picture this: You have a book to write, a memoir which contains so much raw truth that you'd rather write a lie instead. Writer, author, and professor, Kiese Laymon, wrote about the weight: The weight of racism, the weight of obesity, and the weight of sex, gambling, and familial love. And addressed the whole thing to his mother. But what would you do if publishing your book would mean naming all the secrets you’d spent a lifetime avoiding? Would you put your life on blast and let the whole world in? Or would you take the easier, softer way and write a lie that you could live with? More From Kiese Laymon: Visit his website: https://www.kieselaymon.com Buy his book Heavy or check out some of his other books Finding Kiese Laymon: Instagram & Twitter: @kieselaymon Be sure not to miss Scott Talks on Wednesdays, our Sunday release called SUNDAY EDITION & our brand new series On My Nightstand releasing on Fridays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How many people can say that they grew up on studio lots and learned one of Hollywood’s best-kept secrets from their mother? We’re truly excited to bring this conversation with Hollywood/literary legend, Jill Schary Robinson. Jill Schary Robinson was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of two artists. Her father was Oscar and Tony winner Dore Schary, head of MGM during the ‘40s and ‘50s, the only writer to ever run a film studio. Her mother, the painter M. Svet, studied at the Art Students League in New York. During the ‘60s, she wrote on revolutionary women’s issues for Cosmopolitan and covered political trials for the Soho Weekly News. Her first memoir, With a Cast of Thousands, was a runaway hit. During the late fifties and sixties, she also interviewed political and film personalities on KPFK and had a talk show on KLAC. Jill was given a lifetime grant in 2005 to develop the non-profit Wimpole Street Writers program, which continues in London and Los Angeles, where she has run workshops for the Veteran’s Administration, working with Veteran’s with PTSD, encouraging them to release the stories they fear to tell. She also hosts workshops twice a week for all writers including playwrights and screenwriters. The only rule, “No pages, no dinner.”  www.jillscharyrobinson.com  www.wimpolestreetwriters.com  Twitter: @JillSRobinson  Instagram: @jillschary Facebook: @jillscharyrobinson   Be sure not to miss our weekly full episodes on Tuesdays, Scott Talks on Wednesdays and our brand new series On My Nightstand on Fridays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s On My Night Stand-read, Enter-Racial, was written by Laura Cathcart Robbins. It is the story of when she flew to Richmond, Virginia to meet her boyfriend Scott’s father for the first time, while he lay dying in the ICU. You’ll hear her talk about the fear of being a Black woman walking into the seat of the confederacy and meeting a man on his deathbed, who up until that moment, had no idea that she was Black. Laura Cathcart Robbins is an author, freelance culture writer, and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, living in Studio City, California. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her recent articles in Huffpo and The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a 2018 LA Moth StorySlam winner and currently sits on the advisory board for the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival. Laura is also a founding member of Moving Forewords, the first national memoirist collective of its kind. Find out more about her on her website, or you can look for her on Facebook, on Instagram, and follow her on Twitter. Be sure not to miss our weekly full episodes on Tuesdays, Scott Talks on Wednesdays & SUNDAY EDITION every Sunday by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Rebecca Metz right after the show. Don't miss our new On My Nightstand series releasing every Friday. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonlyonepod.com Also visit the website for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like live events, appearances, featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if, while growing up, you found that you preferred sneakers to heels and jeans to dresses? And because you didn’t really fit in with your peers, you thought maybe if things were different, if you were different, life might be easier. Actress, Rebecca Metz, chimed in once on set and joined the chorus of women talking about going on a diet. But what would you do if your co-worker wondered aloud why you would want to alter yourself for a part, when you were already working? Would you dismiss her comment as flattery and start counting calories? Or would you realize that being comfortable in your own skin is actually your greatest asset?   More from Rebecca Metz: Website: http://rebeccametz.com Finding Rebecca Metz: Twitter & Instagram: @therebeccametz Be sure not to miss Scott Talks on Wednesdays, our Sunday release called SUNDAY EDITION & our brand new series On My Nightstand releasing on Fridays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In December of 2010, the House and Senate voted in favor of repealing and over-turning the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." President Obama then signed it into law in December of 2010 and then the following year, the nation decided that homosexuals would no longer fear discharge from the military by admitting to their sexual preference. Over 13,000 servicemen and women were discharged for being gay while the don't ask, don't tell policy was in effect. Today, we have Vaughn Rush, a male entertainer and Iraq War veteran who lives in San Diego California. Originally from Jamaica, Queens, New York, Vaughn grew up studying theater and dance. He served 7 years in the military as a Behavioral Health Specialist and Combat medic, deploying to Iraq in 2010 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Facebook: seanvaughncarter  Instagram: @deadliftdance Be sure not to miss our weekly full episodes on Tuesdays, Scott Talks on Wednesdays & brand new series On My Nightstand on Fridays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I was one of those bookish kids who grew up to be a bookish adult.  I love to read almost as much as I love to write - and writing is like oxygen for me - it’s that essential.  But reading fills me up and makes me whole in a way that little else does. So as a result, I always have a pile of articles, blog posts, dog-eared chapters, memoirs and essays, stacked on my nightstand. Every one of them is precious to me, to be cherished, read over and over, highlighted, and stickie noted.  I’m so excited that I’m going to get to share a reading with you every Friday, on our new segment of the Only One In The Room called On my Nightstand. Some of the readings will be mine, others will be from some of my favorite writers and authors, with their permission, of course.  And I hope you continue to listen every Tuesday and Sunday when we drop a new, incredible Only One story from one of our amazing guests. Make sure you're subscribed to the show so that you don't miss the first episode of On My Nightstand on Friday February, 12th, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Cara Jones right after the show. Don't miss our Now Normal series releasing every Thursday. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonlyonepod.com Also visit the website for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like live events, appearances, featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine being born into a cult, and being told that you were a rarity, a Blessed Child, born without original sin. Cara Jones, story coach, writer, former Emmy Award-Winning journalist, and documentary filmmaker was raised in the Unification Church, and at nineteen years old, got married in a stadium along with 10,000 other couples to a man chosen for her by its leader, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. But what would you do if after leaving the church, you wanted to reexamine what it was like to grow up in the “moonies?” Would you spend seven years making a documentary about your life and your family? Or would you keep quiet and leave the past in the past? More From Cara Jones: Visit the website: http://cara-jones.com Finding Cara Jones: Instagram: @thisiscarajones Be sure not to miss our weekly full episodes on Tuesdays and Scott Talks now released on Wednesdays by subscribing to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join our Only One In The Room Facebook Group if you'd like to ask a question of any of our upcoming guests for this series.  Also visit the website www.theonlyonepod.com for the latest from our host Laura Cathcart Robbins like featured articles and more. We love hearing from you in the comments on iTunes and while you're there don't forget to rate us, subscribe and share the show! All of us at The Only One In The Room wish you safety and wellness during this challenging time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices